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C/C++ API Documentation | 2026.1

# Options::GetValue( char opt, int subopt )

Returns the value of a flag previously stored by `Options::Parse()`.

Virtual? | No |
Class | `Options` |
Arguments | `char opt` | The flag to check
| `int subopt` | Return the argument associated with the `subopt`-th occurrence of the `opt` flag on the command line.
Returns | `StrPtr *` | The value of the flag. This is “true” for flags which, when provided, do not take a value, and `NULL` if the flag is not provided

## Notes

You must call `Options::Parse()` before calling `GetValue()`.

If a flag does not occur on the command line, `GetValue()` returns `NULL`.

If a flag is provided without a value, `GetValue()` returns “true”.

If a flag appears only once on a command line, extract the value of its arguments by calling `GetValue()` with a `subopt` of zero, or use the `[]` operator.

If a flag occurs more than once on a command line, extract the value supplied with each occurrence by calling `Options::GetValue()` once for each occurrence, using different `subopt` values.

## See also

- `Options::Parse()`

- `Options::operator[]`

## Example

Executing the following code produces the following output:

Copy

    $ getvalue -h -c1 -c2 -d3

    opts.GetValue( h, 0 ) value is true
    opts.GetValue( c, 0 ) value is 1
    opts.GetValue( c, 1 ) value is 2
    opts.GetValue( d, 0 ) value is 3

Copy

    #include &lt;stdhdrs.h&gt;
    #include &lt;strbuf.h&gt;
    #include &lt;error.h&gt;
    #include &lt;options.h&gt;

    int main( int argc, char **argv )
    {
        // Parse options.
        Error *e = new Error();
        ErrorId usage = { E_FAILED, "Usage: getvalue -h for usage." };

        Options opts;

        // strip out the program name before parsing
        argc--;
        argv;

        char *ParseOpts = "ha:b:c:d:e:f:";
        opts.Parse( argc, argv, ParseOpts, OPT_ANY, usage, e );

        if ( e-&amp;gt;Test() )
        {
            StrBuf msg;
            e-&amp;gt;Fmt( &amp;amp;msg );   // See Error::Fmt()
            printf( "ERROR:\n%s", msg.Text() );
            return 1;
        }

        char *iParseOpts = ParseOpts;
        int isubopt;
        StrPtr *s;

        // Print values for options.
        while( *iParseOpts != '\0' )
        {
            if ( *iParseOpts != ':' )
            {
                isubopt = 0;
                while( s = opts.GetValue( *iParseOpts, isubopt ) )
                {
                    printf( "opts.GetValue( %c, %d ) value is %s\n",
                            *iParseOpts, isubopt, s-&amp;gt;Text() );
                    isubopt;
                }
            }
            iParseOpts++;
        }
        return 0;
    }

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