swiftlang/swift-package-manager

[SR-7831] `ArgumentParser` parses short option and option-argument without delimiting space as a single (likely unrecognised) option

Open

#4800 opened on May 31, 2018

View on GitHub
 (6 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Swift (10,145 stars) (1,462 forks)batch import
buggood first issue

Description
Previous ID SR-7831
Radar rdar://problem/36340481
Original Reporter @aciidb0mb3r
Type Bug
Votes 0
Component/s Package Manager
Labels Bug, StarterBug
Assignee None
Priority Medium

md5: 96d5acc7cd3ec4326fc64597be212962

Issue Description:

`ArgumentParser` parses short option and option-argument without delimiting space as a single (likely unrecognised) option.

For example, if an option is added to the parser with a short name of `-n`, `ArgumentParser` parses `-n 2` as the “n” option with “2” as its option-argument.

But it parses `-n2` as the unknown option `n2`.

Where long options are prefixed with `--`, it is common for CLI to treat `-n2` and `-n 2` identically.

This probably also implies `ArgumentParser` doesn’t handle adjoining flags (e.g. parsing `-abc` identically to `-a -b -c`) — but I haven’t tested this.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
swift
Domain
clitooling
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Swift programmingCLI argument parsing
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60
Research direction
Look at the ArgumentParser source in the Swift Package Manager repo, focusing on how short options are parsed. The issue describes that ' n2' is treated as an unknown option instead of ' n' with argument '2'. Examine the parsing logic for option argument separation and consider how to allow concatenated short options and their arguments, similar to common CLI behavior. Also check for handling of adjoining flags (e.g., ' abc' as ' a b c'). The existing comments and the StarterBug label suggest a localized fix.