How to handle main option with Getopt

Question

I want to handle a feature which seems to me almost natural with programs, and I don't know how to handle it with Getopt perl package (no matter Std ot Long).

I would like something like:

./perlscript <main option> [some options like -h or --output-file some_name]

Options will be handled with - or --, but I want to be able to let the user give me the main and needed option without dashes.

Is Getopt able to do that, or do I have to handle it by hand?

Answer 1

It sounds as though you are talking about non-options -- basic command-line arguments. They can be accessed with @ARGV. The Getopt modules will pass regular arguments through to your script unmolested:

use strict;
use warnings;
use Getopt::Long;

GetOptions (
    'foo'   => \my $foo,
    'bar=s' => \my $bar,
);

my @main_args = @ARGV;

# For example: perl script.pl --foo --bar XXX 1 2 3
# Produces:    foo=1  bar=XXX  main_args=1 2 3
print "foo=$foo  bar=$bar  main_args=@main_args\n";

Answer 2

If you want to have it written without a -, and it's also not optional (as you specifiy), then by any reasoning it isn't an option at all, but an argument. You should simply read yourself via

my $mainarg = shift

and then let Getopt do its thing. (You might want to check $#ARGV afterwards to verify that the main argument was actually given.)