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Command Line Arguments in C

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Command Line Arguments in C

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kireetiv2005
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Command Line Arguments in C

Credits: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/command-line-arguments-in-c-
cpp/
The most important function of C is the main() function. It is mostly defined with
a return type of int and without parameters.
int main() {
...
}
We can also give command-line arguments in C. Command-line arguments are
the values given after the name of the program in the command-line shell of
Operating Systems. Command-line arguments are handled by the main()
function of a C program.
To pass command-line arguments, we typically define main() with two
arguments: the first argument is the number of command-line
arguments and the second is a list of command-line arguments.
Syntax
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { /* ... */ }
or
int main(int argc, char **argv) { /* ... */ }
Here,
 argc (ARGument Count) is an integer variable that stores the number of
command-line arguments passed by the user including the name of the
program. So if we pass a value to a program, the value of argc would be 2
(one for argument and one for program name)
 The value of argc should be non-negative.
 argv (ARGument Vector) is an array of character pointers listing all the
arguments.
 If argc is greater than zero, the array elements from argv[0] to argv[argc-
1] will contain pointers to strings.
 argv[0] is the name of the program , After that till argv[argc-1] every
element is command -line arguments.
For better understanding run this code on your Linux machine. Also, If you’re
interested in learning how command line arguments can enhance the
functionality of your programs, the C Programming Course Online with Data
Structures covers this topic thoroughly
Example
The below example illustrates the printing of command line arguments.
C
// C program named mainreturn.c to demonstrate the working
// of command line arguement
#include <stdio.h>

// defining main with arguments


int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
printf("You have entered %d arguments:\n", argc);

for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {


printf("%s\n", argv[i]);
}
return 0;
}

Output
You have entered 4 arguments:
./main
geeks
for
geeks
for Terminal Input
$ g++ mainreturn.cpp -o main $ ./main geeks for geeks
Note: Other platform-dependent formats are also allowed by the C standards;
for example, Unix (though not POSIX.1) and Microsoft Visual C++ have a third
argument giving the program’s environment, otherwise accessible through
getenv in stdlib.h. Refer C program to print environment variables for details.
Properties of Command Line Arguments in C
1. They are passed to the main() function.
2. They are parameters/arguments supplied to the program when it is
invoked.
3. They are used to control programs from outside instead of hard coding
those values inside the code.
4. argv[argc] is a NULL pointer.
5. argv[0] holds the name of the program.
6. argv[1] points to the first command line argument and argv[argc-1] points
to the last argument.
Note: You pass all the command line arguments separated by a space, but if the
argument itself has a space, then you can pass such arguments by putting them
inside double quotes “” or single quotes ”.
Example
The below program demonstrates the working of command line arguments.
// C program to illustrate
// command line arguments
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
printf("Program name is: %s", argv[0]);
if (argc == 1)
printf("\nNo Extra Command Line Argument Passed "
"Other Than Program Name");
if (argc >= 2) {
printf("\nNumber Of Arguments Passed: %d", argc);
printf("\n----Following Are The Command Line Arguments Passed----");
for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++)
printf("\nargv[%d]: %s", i, argv[i]);
}
return 0;
}
Output in different scenarios:
1. Without argument: When the above code is compiled and executed without
passing any argument, it produces the following output.
Terminal Input
$ ./a.out
Output
Program Name Is: ./a.out
No Extra Command Line Argument Passed Other Than Program Name
2. Three arguments: When the above code is compiled and executed with
three arguments, it produces the following output.
Terminal Input
$ ./a.out First Second Third
Output
Program Name Is: ./a.out
Number Of Arguments Passed: 4
----Following Are The Command Line Arguments Passed----
argv[0]: ./a.out
argv[1]: First
argv[2]: Second
argv[3]: Third
3. Single Argument: When the above code is compiled and executed with a
single argument separated by space but inside double quotes, it produces the
following output.
Terminal Input
$ ./a.out "First Second Third"
Output
Program Name Is: ./a.out
Number Of Arguments Passed: 2
----Following Are The Command Line Arguments Passed----
argv[0]: ./a.out
argv[1]: First Second Third
4. A single argument in quotes separated by space: When the above code
is compiled and executed with a single argument separated by space but inside
single quotes, it produces the following output.
Terminal Input
$ ./a.out 'First Second Third'
Output
Program Name Is: ./a.out
Number Of Arguments Passed: 2
----Following Are The Command Line Arguments Passed----
argv[0]: ./a.out
argv[1]: First Second Third

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