options.c File Reference

⚙️ Main entry point for unified options parsing with mode detection More...

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Data Structures
struct	binary_level_opts_t
	Create a new options_t struct with all defaults set. More...

Functions
bool	has_action_flag (void)
	Check if an action flag was detected.
options_t	options_t_new (void)
	Initialize options by parsing command-line arguments.
options_t	options_t_new_preserve_binary (const options_t *source)
	Create new options struct, preserving binary-level fields from source.
asciichat_error_t	options_init (int argc, char **argv)
	Initialize options by parsing command-line arguments with unified mode detection.

Detailed Description

⚙️ Main entry point for unified options parsing with mode detection

Purpose: Implements options_init() - the unified entry point that:

1. Detects mode from command-line arguments (server, client, mirror, acds, etc.)
2. Parses binary-level options (–help, –version, –log-file, etc.)
3. Routes to mode-specific parsing using preset configurations
4. Loads configuration files if –config specified
5. Validates all options with cross-field checks
6. Publishes options via RCU for lock-free thread-safe access

Architecture:

The parsing flow is:

options_init(argc, argv)
  ├─ Mode Detection
  │  └─ Checks for --help, --version, mode keywords, session strings
  ├─ Binary-Level Option Parsing
  │  └─ Handles: --help, --version, --log-file, --verbose, --quiet, etc.
  ├─ Get Mode-Specific Preset (unified)
  │  └─ Uses options_preset_unified() from presets.h
  ├─ Mode-Specific Option Parsing
  │  └─ Builder parses remaining args for the detected mode
  ├─ Configuration File Loading (if --config specified)
  │  └─ Loads and merges TOML config file
  ├─ Validation
  │  └─ Applies defaults, validates ranges, cross-field checks
  └─ RCU Publishing
     └─ Makes options available via options_get() and GET_OPTION()

Key Components:

• detect_mode_and_parse_binary_options(): Mode detection and binary-level parsing
• options_preset_unified(): Preset config for all modes (from presets.h)
• options_config_parse_args(): Builder-based parsing of mode-specific options
• Configuration file loading (if –config specified)
• options_state_init() and options_state_set(): RCU publishing

Option Lifecycle in options_init():

1. Create default options via options_t_new()
2. Detect mode from argv
3. Parse binary-level options (may exit for –help, –version)
4. Get mode-specific preset from registry
5. Parse mode-specific options into options struct
6. Load config file if specified
7. Validate all options with defaults
8. Initialize RCU state
9. Publish options for lock-free access

Error Handling:

• Invalid options → ERROR_USAGE (usage already printed to stderr)
• File errors → ERROR_IO or ERROR_CONFIG
• Validation failures → ERROR_VALIDATION with context message
• Success → ASCIICHAT_OK

Thread Safety:

• options_init() must be called exactly once before worker threads
• After options_init() completes, options are read-only
• Access via lock-free GET_OPTION() macro from worker threads
• Optional updates via options_set_*() functions

Author

Zachary Fogg me@zf.nosp@m.o.gg

Date

January 2026

Definition in file lib/options/options.c.

Function Documentation

options_t_new_preserve_binary()

options_t options_t_new_preserve_binary

(

const options_t *

source

)

Create new options struct, preserving binary-level fields from source.

This version of options_t_new() extracts binary-level options from a source struct before performing a full reset, then restores them after. This allows binary-level options (–quiet, –verbose, –log-level, etc.) to persist through multiple reset cycles without manual save/restore code.

Parameters

source

The options struct to extract binary-level fields from (NULL-safe)

Returns

New options_t with defaults and binary-level fields preserved

Definition at line 714 of file lib/options/options.c.

                                                                 {
  // Extract binary-level options before reset
  binary_level_opts_t binary = extract_binary_level(source);
 
  // Create fresh options with all defaults
  options_t opts = options_t_new();
 
  // Restore binary-level options (overwrite defaults)
  restore_binary_level(&opts, &binary);
 
  return opts;
}

References options_t_new().

Referenced by options_init().