Parsing command-line arguments on Windows

[Mateusz Loskot]

(I originally posted to the mailing list, thread ​Parsing command-line arguments on Windows, but I suspect it is a bug, hence the ticket.)

TL;TR: Boost.Test arguments parser is not handling Windows CLI patterns/rules correctly.

Here is table with four example of command-line input on Windows and expected values of 'argv' elements, according to the rules when interpreting arguments, escape sequences etc.: ​https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/17w5ykft.aspx

Here is simple program to test those rules with 'boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite' machinery:

///////// Boost.Test program ///////////////////////////////////////
#define BOOST_TEST_MAIN
#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(argv_parsing)
{
    auto argc = boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite().argc;
    auto argv = boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite().argv;
    for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) std::printf("%d: %s\n", i, argv[i]);
}

and the four rules tested:

F:\test_boost\Debug>test_boost.exe "abc" d e
Running 1 test case...
0: test_boost.exe
1: abc
2: d
3: e

F:\test_boost\Debug>test_boost.exe a\\b d"e f"g h
Running 1 test case...
0: test_boost.exe
1: a\\b
2: de
3: fg
4: h

F:\test_boost\Debug>test_boost.exe a\\\"b c d
Running 1 test case...
0: test_boost.exe
1: a\"b
2: c
3: d

F:\test_boost\Debug>test_boost.exe a\\\\"b c" d e
Running 1 test case...
0: test_boost.exe
1: a\\b
2: c
3: d
4: e

Results summary: Boost.Test gives different arguments in the runs, than presented in the MSDN article above.

#2 (input: a\\b d"e f"g h)
#4 (input: a\\\\"b c" d e)

I can't see any caveats mentioned in the documentation http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_59_0/libs/test/doc/html/boost_test/tests_organization/test_suite/master_test_suite.html

---

Just in case, here is the test confirming what is expected output on Windows for those rules/argument patterns:

#include <cstdio>
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) std::printf("%d: %s\n", i, argv[i]);
}

and the four runs

F:\test_cpp2015\Debug>test_cpp2015.exe "abc" d e
0: test_cpp2015.exe
1: abc
2: d
3: e

F:\test_cpp2015\Debug>test_cpp2015.exe a\\b d"e f"g h
0: test_cpp2015.exe
1: a\\b
2: de fg
3: h

F:\test_cpp2015\Debug>test_cpp2015.exe a\\\"b c d
0: test_cpp2015.exe
1: a\"b
2: c
3: d

F:\test_cpp2015\Debug>test_cpp2015.exe a\\\\"b c" d e
0: test_cpp2015.exe
1: a\\b c
2: d
3: e 

[Raffi Enficiaud]

Hi,

There are a lot of bug fixes on the command line parsing scheduled for boost 1.60. Would you please try the master branch (should work on VC 2013/2015)?

[Mateusz Loskot]

Hi,

I'm happy to confirmed the bug has been fixed in the current master. Boost.Test now parses the sample arguments above correctly (tested with VS2015).

Thank you!

[Mateusz Loskot]

Parsing of the four sample argument sets works

[Raffi Enficiaud]

Thank you for your feedback!