Order of command parameters/arguments

[erinod]

Hi all,
So Ive seen different things when it comes to command arguments, sometimes people use a "-" before or after the parameter letter and sometimes not. Why is this?

Also how do I find out if the order of the parameter matters? Is this in the man pages?

Thanks,

Erin

[Irithori]

Depends on the implementation.

For example, a simple bash script takes arguments only in a defined order, also called positional parameter.

Here, three arguments are given to bashscript.sh
#bashscript.sh 1 A file

Inside bashscript.sh, $1 has the value 1, $2 is A, $3 is file.

This works. But a more sophisticated approach is to use getopt
You will notice, that e.g. the order of arguments does not matter anymore.

And yes. In doubt, a man page will tell how a tool shall be used.