# ltcdr > the complete solution for node.js command-line programs Latest version **2.2.1** (published 2014-03-18) · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install ltcdr pnpm add ltcdr yarn add ltcdr bun add ltcdr ``` ## Health **Score 15/100 (F)** — status: abandoned. Positive: no vulnerabilities. Warnings: low downloads; no types; no esm support. Negative: abandoned; low maintenance score. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 2.2.1 | | Published | 2014-03-18 | | First published | 2014-03-18 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | TypeScript types | none | | Module format | CommonJS | | Node | >= 0.6.x | | Dependencies | 0 | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 10 | | Author | TJ Holowaychuk | | Maintainers | cwmma | | Keywords | command, option, parser, prompt, stdin | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/ltcdr - Repository: https://github.com/calvinmetcalf/ltcdr - Issues: https://github.com/calvinmetcalf/ltcdr/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/ltcdr ## Alternatives - [babylon](https://npm.io/package/babylon.md) — 5.1M weekly downloads - [csscolorparser](https://npm.io/package/csscolorparser.md) — 3.7M weekly downloads - [expr-eval-fork](https://npm.io/package/expr-eval-fork.md) — 1.5M weekly downloads - [@leeoniya/ufuzzy](https://npm.io/package/@leeoniya/ufuzzy.md) — 247.7K weekly downloads - [xml-parser](https://npm.io/package/xml-parser.md) — 78.4K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 2.2.1 (latest) — 2014-03-18 - 2.2.0 — 2014-03-18 - 2.1.0 — 2014-03-18 ## README # Lieutenant Commander [![Build Status][1]][2] The complete solution for [node.js](http://nodejs.org) command-line interfaces, a fork of [commander](https://github.com/visionmedia/commander.js). ## Installation ``` $ npm install ltcdr --save ``` ## Commands & Actions ```js #!/usr/bin/env node program .command('initialize [env]') .alias('init') .alias('i') .description('initializes a deploy config for the given environment') .option('-b, --branch [name]', 'Which branch to use') .action(function(env, options) { var branch = options.branch || 'master'; env = env || 'prod'; console.log('initialized %s environment for %s branch', env, branch); }) .parse(process.argv); // deployer initialize alpha // deployer init beta // deployer i prod ``` Commands can also have aliases, so the following is equivalent: ```js program .command('generate') .aliases(['gen', 'g']) .description('generate a new config') .action(generate); // is equivalent to program .command('generate') .description('generate a new config') .action(generate); program .command('gen') .description('generate a new config') .action(generate); program .command('g') .description('generate a new config') .action(generate); ``` Aliases are optional, and can take a string or an array, e.g. `alias('s')` or `aliases(['s', 'sup'])`. ## Option parsing Options with lieutenant commander are defined with the `.option()` method, also serving as documentation for the options. The example below parses args and options from `process.argv`, leaving remaining args as the `program.args` array which were not consumed by options. ```js #!/usr/bin/env node var program = require('ltcdr'); program .version('0.0.1') .option('-p, --peppers', 'Add peppers') .option('-P, --pineapple', 'Add pineapple') .option('-b, --bbq', 'Add bbq sauce') .option('-c, --cheese [type]', 'Add the specified type of cheese [marble]', 'marble') .parse(process.argv); console.log('you ordered a pizza with:'); if (program.peppers) console.log(' - peppers'); if (program.pineapple) console.log(' - pineapple'); if (program.bbq) console.log(' - bbq'); console.log(' - %s cheese', program.cheese); ``` Short flags may be passed as a single arg, for example `-abc` is equivalent to `-a -b -c`. Multi-word options such as "--template-engine" are camel-cased, becoming `program.templateEngine` etc. ## Automated --help The help information is auto-generated based on the information lieutenant commander already knows about your program, so the following `--help` info is for free: ``` $ ./examples/pizza --help Usage: pizza [options] Options: -V, --version output the version number -p, --peppers Add peppers -P, --pineapple Add pineapple -b, --bbq Add bbq sauce -c, --cheese Add the specified type of cheese [marble] -h, --help output usage information ``` ## Coercion ```js function range(val) { return val.split('..').map(Number); } function list(val) { return val.split(','); } program .version('0.0.1') .usage('[options] ') .option('-i, --integer ', 'An integer argument', parseInt) .option('-f, --float ', 'A float argument', parseFloat) .option('-r, --range ..', 'A range', range) .option('-l, --list ', 'A list', list) .option('-o, --optional [value]', 'An optional value') .parse(process.argv); console.log(' int: %j', program.integer); console.log(' float: %j', program.float); console.log(' optional: %j', program.optional); program.range = program.range || []; console.log(' range: %j..%j', program.range[0], program.range[1]); console.log(' list: %j', program.list); console.log(' args: %j', program.args); ``` ## Custom help You can display arbitrary `-h, --help` information by listening for "--help". Commander will automatically exit once you are done so that the remainder of your program does not execute causing undesired behaviours, for example in the following executable "stuff" will not output when `--help` is used. ```js #!/usr/bin/env node /** * Module dependencies. */ var program = require('../'); function list(val) { return val.split(',').map(Number); } program .version('0.0.1') .option('-f, --foo', 'enable some foo') .option('-b, --bar', 'enable some bar') .option('-B, --baz', 'enable some baz'); // must be before .parse() since // node's emit() is immediate program.on('--help', function(){ console.log(' Examples:'); console.log(''); console.log(' $ custom-help --help'); console.log(' $ custom-help -h'); console.log(''); }); program.parse(process.argv); console.log('stuff'); ``` yielding the following help output: ``` Usage: custom-help [options] Options: -h, --help output usage information -V, --version output the version number -f, --foo enable some foo -b, --bar enable some bar -B, --baz enable some baz Examples: $ custom-help --help $ custom-help -h ``` ## .outputHelp() Output help information without exiting. ## .help() Output help information and exit immediately. ## .parse() Starts processing the arguments, without any input it processes `process.argv`, otherwise you can pass in an array of arguments. ## Links - [API documentation](http://visionmedia.github.com/commander.js/) - [ascii tables](https://github.com/LearnBoost/cli-table) - [progress bars](https://github.com/visionmedia/node-progress) - [more progress bars](https://github.com/substack/node-multimeter) - [examples](https://github.com/calvinmetcalf/ltcdr/tree/master/examples) - [prompts](https://github.com/SBoudrias/Inquirer.js) [1]: https://travis-ci.org/calvinmetcalf/ltcdr.svg?branch=master [2]: https://travis-ci.org/calvinmetcalf/ltcdr --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/ltcdr · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._