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A Java library for parsing command line options
There is a newer version: 6.0-alpha-3
/*
 The MIT License

 Copyright (c) 2004-2014 Paul R. Holser, Jr.

 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
 a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
 "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
 without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
 distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
 permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
 the following conditions:

 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
 included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
 NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
 LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
 OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
 WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
*/

package joptsimple;

import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Describes options that an option parser recognizes, in ways that might be useful to {@linkplain HelpFormatter
 * help screens}.
 *
 * @author Paul Holser
 */
public interface OptionDescriptor {
    /**
     * A set of options that are mutually synonymous.
     *
     * @return synonymous options
     */
    Collection options();

    /**
     * Description of this option's purpose.
     *
     * @return a description for the option
     */
    String description();

    /**
     * What values will the option take if none are specified on the command line?
     *
     * @return any default values for the option
     */
    List defaultValues();

    /**
     * Is this option {@linkplain ArgumentAcceptingOptionSpec#required() required} on a command line?
     *
     * @return whether the option is required
     */
    boolean isRequired();

    /**
     * Does this option {@linkplain ArgumentAcceptingOptionSpec accept arguments}?
     *
     * @return whether the option accepts arguments
     */
    boolean acceptsArguments();

    /**
     * Does this option {@linkplain OptionSpecBuilder#withRequiredArg() require an argument}?
     *
     * @return whether the option requires an argument
     */
    boolean requiresArgument();

    /**
     * Gives a short {@linkplain ArgumentAcceptingOptionSpec#describedAs(String) description} of the option's argument.
     *
     * @return a description for the option's argument
     */
    String argumentDescription();

    /**
     * Gives an indication of the {@linkplain ArgumentAcceptingOptionSpec#ofType(Class) expected type} of the option's
     * argument.
     *
     * @return a description for the option's argument type
     */
    String argumentTypeIndicator();

    /**
     * Tells whether this object represents the non-option arguments of a command line.
     *
     * @return {@code true} if this represents non-option arguments
     */
    boolean representsNonOptions();
}