## Command line

**doctest** works quite nicely without any command line options at all - but for more control a bunch are available.

**Query flags** - after the result is printed the program quits without executing any test cases (and if the framework is integrated into a client codebase which [**supplies its own ```main()``` entry point**](main.md) - the program should check the result of ```shouldExit()``` method after calling ```run()``` on a ```doctest::Context``` object and should exit - this is left up to the user).

**Int/String options** - they require a value after the ```=``` sign - without spaces! For example: ```--order-by=rand```.

**Bool options** - they expect ```1```/```yes```/```on```/```true``` or ```0```/```no```/```off```/```false``` after the ```=``` sign - but they can also be used like flags and the ```=value``` part can be skipped - then ```true``` is assumed.  

**Filters** - a comma-separated list of wildcards for matching values - where ```*``` means "match any sequence" and ```?``` means "match any one character".
To pass patterns with intervals use ```""``` like this:  ```--test-case="*no sound*,vaguely named test number ?"```. Patterns that contain a comma or a backslash can be escaped with ```\``` (example: ```--test-case=this\,test\,has\,commas\,and\,a\\\,backslash\,followed\,by\,a\,comma```).
If a backslash is followed by neither ```\``` nor ```,``` it's left as is, e.g. ```--test-case="Test that \ works correctly"```.
Be careful: your shell may use ```\``` for escaping as well, so `\` may actually get consumed by the shell instead of doctest.

All the options can also be set with code (defaults/overrides) if the user [**supplies the ```main()``` function**](main.md).

| Query Flags | Description |
|:------------|-------------|
| ```-?``` &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ```--help``` ```-h``` | Prints a help message listing all these flags/options |
| ```-v``` &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ```--version``` | Prints the version of the **doctest** framework |
| ```-c``` &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ```--count``` | Prints the number of test cases matching the current filters (see below) |
| ```-ltc``` ```--list-test-cases``` | Lists all test cases by name which match the current filters (see below) |
| ```-lts``` ```--list-test-suites``` | Lists all test suites by name which have at least one test case matching the current filters (see below) |
| ```-lr``` ```--list-reporters``` | Lists all registered [**reporters**](reporters.md) |
| **Int/String Options** | <hr> |
| ```-tc``` &nbsp; ```--test-case=<filters>``` | Filters test cases based on their name. By default all test cases match but if a value is given to this filter like ```--test-case=*math*,*sound*``` then only test cases who match at least one of the patterns in the comma-separated list with wildcards will get executed/counted/listed |
| ```-tce``` ```--test-case-exclude=<filters>``` | Same as the ```-test-case=<filters>``` option but if any of the patterns in the comma-separated list of values matches - then the test case is skipped |
| ```-sf``` &nbsp; ```--source-file=<filters>``` | Same as ```--test-case=<filters>``` but filters based on the file in which test cases are written |
| ```-sfe``` ```--source-file-exclude=<filters>``` | Same as ```--test-case-exclude=<filters>``` but filters based on the file in which test cases are written |
| ```-ts``` &nbsp; ```--test-suite=<filters>``` | Same as ```--test-case=<filters>``` but filters based on the test suite in which test cases are in |
| ```-tse``` ```--test-suite-exclude=<filters>``` | Same as ```--test-case-exclude=<filters>``` but filters based on the test suite in which test cases are in |
| ```-sc``` &nbsp; ```--subcase=<filters>``` | Same as ```--test-case=<filters>``` but filters subcases based on their names. Does not filter test cases (they have to be executed for subcases to be discovered) so you might want to use this together with ```--test-case=<filters>```. |
| ```-sce``` ```--subcase-exclude=<filters>``` | Same as ```--test-case-exclude=<filters>``` but filters based on subcase names |
| ```-r``` ```--reporters=<filters>``` | List of [**reporters**](reporters.md) to use (default is ```console```) |
| ```-o``` &nbsp; ```--out=<string>``` | Output filename |
| ```-ob``` &nbsp; ```--order-by=<string>``` | Test cases will be sorted before being executed either by **the file in which they are** / **the test suite they are in** / **their name** / **random**. The possible values of ```<string>``` are ```file```/```suite```/```name```/```rand```/```none```. The default is ```file```. **NOTE: the order produced by the ```file```, ```suite``` and ```name``` options is compiler-dependent and might differ depending on the compiler used.** |
| ```-rs``` &nbsp; ```--rand-seed=<int>``` | The seed for random ordering |
| ```-f``` &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ```--first=<int>``` | The **first** test case to execute which passes the current filters - for range-based execution - see [**the example python script**](../../examples/range_based_execution.py) |
| ```-l``` &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ```--last=<int>``` | The **last** test case to execute which passes the current filters - for range-based execution - see [**the example python script**](../../examples/range_based_execution.py) |
| ```-aa``` &nbsp; ```--abort-after=<int>``` | The testing framework will stop executing test cases/assertions after this many failed assertions. The default is 0 which means don't stop at all. Note that the framework uses an exception to stop the current test case regardless of the level of the assert (```CHECK```/```REQUIRE```) - so be careful with asserts in destructors... |
| ```-scfl``` ```--subcase-filter-levels=<int>``` | Apply subcase filters only for the first ```<int>``` levels of nested subcases and just run the ones nested deeper. Default is a very high number which means *filter any subcase* |
| **Bool Options** | <hr> |
| ```-s``` &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ```--success=<bool>``` | To include successful assertions in the output |
| ```-cs``` &nbsp; ```--case-sensitive=<bool>``` | Filters being treated as case sensitive |
| ```-e``` &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ```--exit=<bool>``` | Exits after the tests finish - this is meaningful only when the client has [**provided the ```main()``` entry point**](main.md)  - the program should check the ```shouldExit()``` method after calling ```run()``` on a ```doctest::Context``` object and should exit - this is left up to the user. The idea is to be able to execute just the tests in a client program and to not continue with its execution |
| ```-d``` &nbsp; ```--duration=<bool>``` | Prints the time each test case took in seconds |
| ```-m``` &nbsp; ```--minimal=<bool>``` | Only prints failing tests |
| ```-q``` &nbsp; ```--quiet=<bool>``` | Does not print any output |
| ```-nt``` &nbsp; ```--no-throw=<bool>``` | Skips [**exceptions-related assertion**](assertions.md#exceptions) checks |
| ```-ne``` &nbsp; ```--no-exitcode=<bool>``` | Always returns a successful exit code - even if a test case has failed |
| ```-nr``` &nbsp; ```--no-run=<bool>``` | Skips all runtime **doctest** operations (except the test registering which happens before the program enters ```main()```). This is useful if the testing framework is integrated into a client codebase which has [**provided the ```main()``` entry point**](main.md) and the user wants to skip running the tests and just use the program |
| ```-ni``` &nbsp; ```--no-intro=<bool>``` | Omits the framework intro in the output |
| ```-nv``` &nbsp; ```--no-version=<bool>``` | Omits the framework version in the output |
| ```-nc``` &nbsp; ```--no-colors=<bool>``` | Disables colors in the output |
| ```-fc``` &nbsp; ```--force-colors=<bool>``` | Forces the use of colors even when a tty cannot be detected |
| ```-nb``` &nbsp; ```--no-breaks=<bool>``` | Disables breakpoints in debuggers when an assertion fails |
| ```-ns``` &nbsp; ```--no-skip=<bool>``` | Don't skip test cases marked as skip with a decorator |
| ```-gfl``` ```--gnu-file-line=<bool>``` | ```:n:``` vs ```(n):``` for line numbers in output (gnu mode is usually for linux tools/IDEs and is with the ```:``` separator) |
| ```-npf``` ```--no-path-filenames=<bool>``` | Paths are removed from the output when a filename is printed - useful if you want the same output from the testing framework on different environments |
| ```-spp``` ```--skip-path-prefixes=<string>``` | Remove the longest matching one in [**a list of prefixes**](configuration.md#doctest_config_options_file_prefix_separator) from any file path in the output - similar to ```-npf```, but can preserve some context by not removing the entire relative paths. Try: ```--spp=${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/:${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/``` |
| ```-nln``` ```--no-line-numbers=<bool>``` | Line numbers are replaced with ```0``` in the output when a source location is printed - useful if you want the same output from the testing framework even when test positions change within a source file |
| ```-ndo``` ```--no-debug-output=<bool>``` | Disables output in the debug console when a debugger is attached |
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All the flags/options also come with a prefixed version (with ```--dt-``` at the front by default) - for example ```--version``` can be used also with ```--dt-version``` or ```--dt-v```.

The default prefix is ```--dt-```, but this can be changed by setting the [**```DOCTEST_CONFIG_OPTIONS_PREFIX```**](configuration.md#doctest_config_options_prefix) define.

All the unprefixed versions listed here can be disabled with the [**```DOCTEST_CONFIG_NO_UNPREFIXED_OPTIONS```**](configuration.md#doctest_config_no_unprefixed_options) define.

This is done for easy interoperability with client command line option handling when the testing framework is integrated within a client codebase - all **doctest** related flags/options can be prefixed so there are no clashes and so that the user can exclude everything starting with ```--dt-``` from their option parsing.

If there isn't an option to exclude those starting with ```--dt-``` then the ```dt_removed``` helper class might help to filter them out:

```c++
#define DOCTEST_CONFIG_NO_UNPREFIXED_OPTIONS
#define DOCTEST_CONFIG_IMPLEMENT
#include "doctest.h"

class dt_removed {
    std::vector<const char*> vec;
public:
    dt_removed(const char** argv_in) {
        for(; *argv_in; ++argv_in)
            if(strncmp(*argv_in, "--dt-", strlen("--dt-")) != 0)
                vec.push_back(*argv_in);
        vec.push_back(NULL);
    }

    int          argc() { return static_cast<int>(vec.size()) - 1; }
    const char** argv() { return &vec[0]; } // Note: non-const char **:
};

int program(int argc, const char** argv);

int main(int argc, const char** argv) {
    doctest::Context context(argc, argv);
    int test_result = context.run(); // run queries, or run tests unless --no-run

    if(context.shouldExit()) // honor query flags and --exit
        return test_result;

    dt_removed args(argv);
    int app_result = program(args.argc(), args.argv());

    return test_result + app_result; // combine the 2 results
}

int program(int argc, const char** argv) {
    printf("Program: %d arguments received:\n", argc - 1);
    while(*++argv)
        printf("'%s'\n", *argv);
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
```

When run like this:

```
program.exe --dt-test-case=math* --my-option -s --dt-no-breaks
```

Will output this:

```
Program: 2 arguments received:
'--my-option'
'-s'
```

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