Subject: ANNOUNCE: Getopt::Tabular 0.1
From: [email-masked] (Greg Ward)
Date: 19 Nov 1996 18:14:28 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.announce,comp.lang.perl.misc

Getopt::Tabular
                                version 0.1
                             11 November, 1996

Getopt::Tabular is a Perl 5 module for table-driven argument parsing,
vaguely inspired by John Ousterhout's Tk_ParseArgv.  There is very
extensive pod documentation enclosed with the package.

Some nice features of Getopt::Tabular are:
  
* Command-line arguments are carefully type-checked, both by pattern and
  number---e.g. if an option requires two integers, GetOptions makes sure
  that exactly two integers follow it!

* The valid command-line arguments are specified in a data structure
  separate from the call to GetOptions; this makes it easier to have very
  long lists of options, and to parse options from multiple sources
  (e.g. the command line, an environment variable, and a configuration
  file).

* Getopt::Tabular can intelligently generate help text based on your option
  descriptions.

* The type system is extensible, and if you can define your desired
  argument type using a single Perl regular expression then it's
  particularly easy to extend.

* To make your program look smarter, options can be abbreviated and come in
  any order.

It is available from

    ftp://ftp.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/users/greg

or through CPAN at

    http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-author/GWARD

To install Getopt::Tabular:

    perl ./Makefile.PL
    make install

That's it!  There's no test code yet, but there is a demo program that
shows off several of the module's features.  And the documentation is quite
extensive; only a few minor features aren't covered.

Email problems, questions, bug reports, etc. to [email-masked].

--
Greg Ward - Research Assistant              [email-masked]
Brain Imaging Centre (WB201)                 voice: (514) 398-4965 (or 1996)
Montreal Neurological Institute                fax: (514) 398-8948
Montreal, Quebec, Canada  H3A 2B4