-
@Retention(RUNTIME) @Target({TYPE,LOCAL_VARIABLE,FIELD,PACKAGE,METHOD}) public static @interface CommandLine.Command
Annotate your class with
@Command
when you want more control over the format of the generated help message. From 3.6, methods can also be annotated with@Command
, where the method parameters define the command options and positional parameters.@Command(name = "Encrypt", mixinStandardHelpOptions = true, description = "Encrypt FILE(s), or standard input, to standard output or to the output file.", version = "Encrypt version 1.0", footer = "Copyright (c) 2017", exitCodeListHeading = "Exit Codes:%n", exitCodeList = { " 0:Successful program execution.", "64:Invalid input: an unknown option or invalid parameter was specified.", "70:Execution exception: an exception occurred while executing the business logic."} ) public class Encrypt { @Parameters(paramLabel = "FILE", description = "Any number of input files") private List<File> files = new ArrayList<File>(); @Option(names = { "-o", "--out" }, description = "Output file (default: print to console)") private File outputFile; @Option(names = { "-v", "--verbose"}, description = "Verbose mode. Helpful for troubleshooting. Multiple -v options increase the verbosity.") private boolean[] verbose; }
The structure of a help message looks like this:
- [header]
- [synopsis]:
Usage: <commandName> [OPTIONS] [FILE...]
- [description]
- [parameter list]:
[FILE...] Any number of input files
- [option list]:
-h, --help prints this help message and exits
- [exit code list]
- [footer]
-
-
Optional Element Summary
Optional Elements Modifier and Type Optional Element Description boolean
abbreviateSynopsis
Specifytrue
to generate an abbreviated synopsis like"<main> [OPTIONS] [PARAMETERS...] [COMMAND]"
.boolean
addMethodSubcommands
Specify whether methods annotated with@Command
should be registered as subcommands of their enclosing@Command
class.String[]
aliases
Alternative command names by which this subcommand is recognized on the command line.String
commandListHeading
Set the heading preceding the subcommands list.String[]
customSynopsis
Specify one or more custom synopsis lines to display instead of an auto-generated synopsis.Class<? extends CommandLine.IDefaultValueProvider>
defaultValueProvider
Class that can provide default values dynamically at runtime.String[]
description
Optional text to display between the synopsis line(s) and the list of options.String
descriptionHeading
Set the heading preceding the description section.String[]
exitCodeList
Set the values to be displayed in the exit codes section as a list of"key:value"
pairs: keys are exit codes, values are descriptions.String
exitCodeListHeading
Set the heading preceding the exit codes section, may contain"%n"
line separators.int
exitCodeOnExecutionException
Exit code signifying that an exception occurred when invoking the Runnable, Callable or Method user object of a command.int
exitCodeOnInvalidInput
Exit code for command line usage error.int
exitCodeOnSuccess
Exit code for successful termination.int
exitCodeOnUsageHelp
Exit code for successful termination after printing usage help on user request.int
exitCodeOnVersionHelp
Exit code for successful termination after printing version help on user request.String[]
footer
Optional text to display after the list of options.String
footerHeading
Set the heading preceding the footer section.String[]
header
Optional summary description of the command, shown before the synopsis.String
headerHeading
Set the heading preceding the header section.boolean
helpCommand
Set this attribute totrue
if this subcommand is a help command, and required options and positional parameters of the parent command should not be validated.boolean
hidden
Sethidden=true
if this command should not be included in the list of commands in the usage help of the parent command.boolean
mixinStandardHelpOptions
Adds the standard-h
and--help
usageHelp options and-V
and--version
versionHelp options to the options of this command.Class<? extends CommandLine.IModelTransformer>
modelTransformer
Returns the model transformer for this command.String
name
Program name to show in the synopsis.String
optionListHeading
Set the heading preceding the options list.String
parameterListHeading
Set the heading preceding the parameters list.Class<? extends CommandLine.IParameterPreprocessor>
preprocessor
Returns the preprocessor for this command.char
requiredOptionMarker
Prefix required options with this character in the options list.String
resourceBundle
Set the base name of the ResourceBundle to find option and positional parameters descriptions, as well as usage help message sections and section headings.CommandLine.ScopeType
scope
Returns whether subcommands inherit their attributes from this parent command.String
separator
String that separates options from option parameters.boolean
showAtFileInUsageHelp
Specifytrue
to show a[@<filename>...]
entry in the synopsis and parameter list of the usage help message.boolean
showDefaultValues
Specifytrue
to show default values in the description column of the options list (except for boolean options).boolean
showEndOfOptionsDelimiterInUsageHelp
Specifytrue
to show a[--]
"End of options" entry in the synopsis and option list of the usage help message.boolean
sortOptions
Specifyfalse
to show Options in declaration order in the option list of the usage help message (or to sort options by their order index if set).boolean
sortSynopsis
Specifyfalse
to show options in declaration order in the synopsis of the usage help message (or to sort options by their order index if set).Class<?>[]
subcommands
A list of classes to instantiate and register as subcommands.boolean
subcommandsRepeatable
Returns whether the subcommands of this command are repeatable, that is, whether such subcommands can occur multiple times and may be followed by sibling commands instead of only by child commands of the subcommand.String
synopsisHeading
Set the heading preceding the synopsis text.String
synopsisSubcommandLabel
Specify the String to show in the synopsis for the subcommands of this command.boolean
usageHelpAutoWidth
Iftrue
, picocli will attempt to detect the terminal width and adjust the usage help message accordingly.int
usageHelpWidth
Set theusage help message width
.String[]
version
Version information for this command, to print to the console when the user specifies an option to request version help.Class<? extends CommandLine.IVersionProvider>
versionProvider
Class that can provide version information dynamically at runtime.
-
-
-
Element Detail
-
name
String name
Program name to show in the synopsis. If omitted,"<main class>"
is used. For declaratively added subcommands, this attribute is also used by the parser to recognize subcommands in the command line arguments.- Returns:
- the program name to show in the synopsis
- See Also:
CommandLine.Model.CommandSpec.name()
,CommandLine.Help.commandName()
- Default:
- "<main class>"
-
-
-
aliases
String[] aliases
Alternative command names by which this subcommand is recognized on the command line.- Returns:
- one or more alternative command names
- Since:
- 3.1
- Default:
- {}
-
-
-
subcommands
Class<?>[] subcommands
A list of classes to instantiate and register as subcommands. When registering subcommands declaratively like this, you don't need to call theCommandLine.addSubcommand(String, Object)
method. For example, this:@Command(subcommands = { GitStatus.class, GitCommit.class, GitBranch.class }) public class Git { ... } CommandLine commandLine = new CommandLine(new Git());
is equivalent to this:// alternative: programmatically add subcommands. // NOTE: in this case there should be no `subcommands` attribute on the @Command annotation. @Command public class Git { ... } CommandLine commandLine = new CommandLine(new Git()) .addSubcommand("status", new GitStatus()) .addSubcommand("commit", new GitCommit()) .addSubcommand("branch", new GitBranch());
Applications may be interested in the following built-in commands in picocli that can be used as subcommands:CommandLine.HelpCommand
- ahelp
subcommand that prints help on the following or preceding commandAutoComplete.GenerateCompletion
- agenerate-completion
subcommand that prints a Bash/ZSH completion script for its parent command, so that clients can install autocompletion in one line by runningsource <(parent-command generate-completion)
in the shell
- Returns:
- the declaratively registered subcommands of this command, or an empty array if none
- Since:
- 0.9.8
- See Also:
CommandLine.addSubcommand(String, Object)
,CommandLine.HelpCommand
- Default:
- {}
-
-
-
addMethodSubcommands
boolean addMethodSubcommands
Specify whether methods annotated with@Command
should be registered as subcommands of their enclosing@Command
class. The default istrue
. For example:@Command public class Git { @Command void status() { ... } } CommandLine git = new CommandLine(new Git());
is equivalent to this:// don't add command methods as subcommands automatically @Command(addMethodSubcommands = false) public class Git { @Command void status() { ... } } // add command methods as subcommands programmatically CommandLine git = new CommandLine(new Git()); CommandLine status = new CommandLine(CommandLine.getCommandMethods(Git.class, "status").get(0)); git.addSubcommand("status", status);
- Returns:
- whether methods annotated with
@Command
should be registered as subcommands - Since:
- 3.6.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.addSubcommand(String, Object)
,CommandLine.getCommandMethods(Class, String)
,CommandLine.Model.CommandSpec.addMethodSubcommands()
- Default:
- true
-
-
-
separator
String separator
String that separates options from option parameters. Default is"="
. Spaces are also accepted.- Returns:
- the string that separates options from option parameters, used both when parsing and when generating usage help
- See Also:
CommandLine.setSeparator(String)
- Default:
- "="
-
-
-
version
String[] version
Version information for this command, to print to the console when the user specifies an option to request version help. Each element of the array is rendered on a separate line.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.This is not part of the usage help message.
- Returns:
- a string or an array of strings with version information about this command (each string in the array is displayed on a separate line).
- Since:
- 0.9.8
- See Also:
CommandLine.printVersionHelp(PrintStream)
- Default:
- {}
-
-
-
versionProvider
Class<? extends CommandLine.IVersionProvider> versionProvider
Class that can provide version information dynamically at runtime. An implementation may return version information obtained from the JAR manifest, a properties file or some other source.- Returns:
- a Class that can provide version information dynamically at runtime
- Since:
- 2.2
- Default:
- picocli.CommandLine.NoVersionProvider.class
-
-
-
mixinStandardHelpOptions
boolean mixinStandardHelpOptions
Adds the standard-h
and--help
usageHelp options and-V
and--version
versionHelp options to the options of this command.Note that if no
version()
orversionProvider()
is specified, the--version
option will not print anything.For internationalization: the help option has
descriptionKey = "mixinStandardHelpOptions.help"
, and the version option hasdescriptionKey = "mixinStandardHelpOptions.version"
.- Returns:
- whether the auto-help mixin should be added to this command
- Since:
- 3.0
- Default:
- false
-
-
-
helpCommand
boolean helpCommand
Set this attribute totrue
if this subcommand is a help command, and required options and positional parameters of the parent command should not be validated. If a subcommand marked ashelpCommand
is specified on the command line, picocli will not validate the parent arguments (so no "missing required option" errors) and theCommandLine.printHelpIfRequested(List, PrintStream, PrintStream, Help.Ansi)
method will returntrue
.- Returns:
true
if this subcommand is a help command and picocli should not check for missing required options and positional parameters on the parent command- Since:
- 3.0
- Default:
- false
-
-
-
headerHeading
String headerHeading
Set the heading preceding the header section.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- the heading preceding the header section
- See Also:
CommandLine.Model.UsageMessageSpec.headerHeading()
,CommandLine.Help.headerHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- ""
-
-
-
header
String[] header
Optional summary description of the command, shown before the synopsis. Each element of the array is rendered on a separate line.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- summary description of the command
- See Also:
CommandLine.Model.UsageMessageSpec.header()
,CommandLine.Help.header(Object...)
- Default:
- {}
-
-
-
synopsisHeading
String synopsisHeading
Set the heading preceding the synopsis text. The default heading is"Usage: "
(without a line break between the heading and the synopsis text).May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- the heading preceding the synopsis text
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.synopsisHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- "Usage: "
-
-
-
abbreviateSynopsis
boolean abbreviateSynopsis
Specifytrue
to generate an abbreviated synopsis like"<main> [OPTIONS] [PARAMETERS...] [COMMAND]"
. By default, a detailed synopsis with individual option names and parameters is generated.- Returns:
- whether the synopsis should be abbreviated
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.abbreviatedSynopsis()
,CommandLine.Help.detailedSynopsis(int, Comparator, boolean)
- Default:
- false
-
-
-
customSynopsis
String[] customSynopsis
Specify one or more custom synopsis lines to display instead of an auto-generated synopsis. Each element of the array is rendered on a separate line.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- custom synopsis text to replace the auto-generated synopsis
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.customSynopsis(Object...)
- Default:
- {}
-
-
-
synopsisSubcommandLabel
String synopsisSubcommandLabel
Specify the String to show in the synopsis for the subcommands of this command. The default is"[COMMAND]"
. Ignored if this command has no subcommands.- Since:
- 4.0
- Default:
- "[COMMAND]"
-
-
-
descriptionHeading
String descriptionHeading
Set the heading preceding the description section.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- the heading preceding the description section
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.descriptionHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- ""
-
-
-
description
String[] description
Optional text to display between the synopsis line(s) and the list of options. Each element of the array is rendered on a separate line.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- description of this command
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.description(Object...)
- Default:
- {}
-
-
-
parameterListHeading
String parameterListHeading
Set the heading preceding the parameters list.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- the heading preceding the parameters list
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.parameterListHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- ""
-
-
-
optionListHeading
String optionListHeading
Set the heading preceding the options list.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- the heading preceding the options list
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.optionListHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- ""
-
-
-
sortOptions
boolean sortOptions
Specifyfalse
to show Options in declaration order in the option list of the usage help message (or to sort options by their order index if set). Note that picocli cannot reliably detect declaration order in commands that have both@Option
-annotated methods and@Option
-annotated fields. The default (true
) is to sort alphabetically.- Returns:
- whether options should be shown in alphabetic order.
- Default:
- true
-
-
-
sortSynopsis
boolean sortSynopsis
Specifyfalse
to show options in declaration order in the synopsis of the usage help message (or to sort options by their order index if set). Note that picocli cannot reliably detect declaration order in commands that have both@Option
-annotated methods and@Option
-annotated fields. The default (true
) is to sort alphabetically.- Returns:
- whether options in the synopsis should be shown in alphabetic order.
- Since:
- 4.7.6
- Default:
- true
-
-
-
defaultValueProvider
Class<? extends CommandLine.IDefaultValueProvider> defaultValueProvider
Class that can provide default values dynamically at runtime. An implementation may return default value obtained from a configuration file like a properties file or some other source.Applications may be interested in the
CommandLine.PropertiesDefaultProvider
built-in default provider that allows end users to maintain their own default values for options and positional parameters, which may override the defaults that are hard-coded in the application.- Returns:
- a Class that can provide default values dynamically at runtime
- Since:
- 3.6
- Default:
- picocli.CommandLine.NoDefaultProvider.class
-
-
-
showDefaultValues
boolean showDefaultValues
Specifytrue
to show default values in the description column of the options list (except for boolean options). False by default.Note that picocli 3.2 allows embedding default values anywhere in the option or positional parameter description that ignores this setting.
- Returns:
- whether the default values for options and parameters should be shown in the description column
- Default:
- false
-
-
-
showAtFileInUsageHelp
boolean showAtFileInUsageHelp
Specifytrue
to show a[@<filename>...]
entry in the synopsis and parameter list of the usage help message. (The entry is not shown if expanding parameter files is disabled.)- Since:
- 4.2
- Default:
- false
-
-
-
commandListHeading
String commandListHeading
Set the heading preceding the subcommands list. The default heading is"Commands:%n"
(with a line break at the end).May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- the heading preceding the subcommands list
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.commandListHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- "Commands:%n"
-
-
-
footerHeading
String footerHeading
Set the heading preceding the footer section.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- the heading preceding the footer section
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.footerHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- ""
-
-
-
footer
String[] footer
Optional text to display after the list of options. Each element of the array is rendered on a separate line.May contain embedded format specifiers like
%n
line separators. Literal percent'%'
characters must be escaped with another%
.- Returns:
- text to display after the list of options
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.footer(Object...)
- Default:
- {}
-
-
hidden
boolean hidden
Sethidden=true
if this command should not be included in the list of commands in the usage help of the parent command.- Returns:
- whether this command should be excluded from the usage message
- Since:
- 3.0
- Default:
- false
-
-
-
resourceBundle
String resourceBundle
Set the base name of the ResourceBundle to find option and positional parameters descriptions, as well as usage help message sections and section headings.See
CommandLine.Model.Messages
for more details and an example.- Returns:
- the base name of the ResourceBundle for usage help strings
- Since:
- 3.6
- See Also:
CommandLine.Model.ArgSpec.messages()
,CommandLine.Model.UsageMessageSpec.messages()
,CommandLine.Model.CommandSpec.resourceBundle()
,CommandLine.setResourceBundle(ResourceBundle)
- Default:
- ""
-
-
-
usageHelpWidth
int usageHelpWidth
Set theusage help message width
. The default is 80.- Since:
- 3.7
- See Also:
CommandLine.Model.UsageMessageSpec.width()
- Default:
- 80
-
-
-
usageHelpAutoWidth
boolean usageHelpAutoWidth
Iftrue
, picocli will attempt to detect the terminal width and adjust the usage help message accordingly. End users may enable this by setting system property"picocli.usage.width"
toAUTO
, and may disable this by setting this system property to a numeric value. This feature requires Java 7 or greater. The default isfalse
- Since:
- 4.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.Model.UsageMessageSpec.autoWidth()
- Default:
- false
-
-
-
exitCodeOnSuccess
int exitCodeOnSuccess
Exit code for successful termination. 0 by default.- Since:
- 4.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.execute(String...)
- Default:
- 0
-
-
-
exitCodeOnUsageHelp
int exitCodeOnUsageHelp
Exit code for successful termination after printing usage help on user request. 0 by default.- Since:
- 4.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.execute(String...)
- Default:
- 0
-
-
-
exitCodeOnVersionHelp
int exitCodeOnVersionHelp
Exit code for successful termination after printing version help on user request. 0 by default.- Since:
- 4.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.execute(String...)
- Default:
- 0
-
-
-
exitCodeOnInvalidInput
int exitCodeOnInvalidInput
Exit code for command line usage error. 2 by default.- Since:
- 4.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.execute(String...)
- Default:
- 2
-
-
-
exitCodeOnExecutionException
int exitCodeOnExecutionException
Exit code signifying that an exception occurred when invoking the Runnable, Callable or Method user object of a command. 1 by default.- Since:
- 4.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.execute(String...)
- Default:
- 1
-
-
-
exitCodeListHeading
String exitCodeListHeading
Set the heading preceding the exit codes section, may contain"%n"
line separators.""
(empty string) by default.- Since:
- 4.0
- See Also:
CommandLine.Help.exitCodeListHeading(Object...)
- Default:
- ""
-
-
-
exitCodeList
String[] exitCodeList
Set the values to be displayed in the exit codes section as a list of"key:value"
pairs: keys are exit codes, values are descriptions. Descriptions may contain"%n"
line separators.For example:
@Command(exitCodeListHeading = "Exit Codes:%n", exitCodeList = { " 0:Successful program execution.", "64:Invalid input: an unknown option or invalid parameter was specified.", "70:Execution exception: an exception occurred while executing the business logic."})
- Since:
- 4.0
- Default:
- {}
-
-
-
scope
CommandLine.ScopeType scope
Returns whether subcommands inherit their attributes from this parent command.- Since:
- 4.6
- Default:
- picocli.CommandLine.ScopeType.LOCAL
-
-
-
modelTransformer
Class<? extends CommandLine.IModelTransformer> modelTransformer
Returns the model transformer for this command.- Since:
- 4.6
- Default:
- picocli.CommandLine.NoOpModelTransformer.class
-
-
-
preprocessor
Class<? extends CommandLine.IParameterPreprocessor> preprocessor
Returns the preprocessor for this command.- Since:
- 4.6
- See Also:
CommandLine.IParameterPreprocessor
- Default:
- picocli.CommandLine.NoOpParameterPreprocessor.class
-
-