Argument files

Command lines can become very long when multiple options are specified. To keep your command lines short and avoid any potential issues with terminals that don't support very long command lines, you can make use of argument files to define your optional arguments:

• Create an argument file and specify this on the dcover create command line using [@<argumentFile>...] - see Argument files below.

• Use a .args file which is applied to dcover create and/or dcover upload commands by default - see Default argument files below.

Argument files

Arguments can be defined in a plain text file with an arbitrary name, e.g. myargs.txt. This file can then be passed to dcover create by adding the option @myargs.txt.

For example: dcover create @myargs.txt

Arguments passed in this way can be added to the file - one per line or separated by a space on the same line. Comments can also be added.

Example file:

--verbose --batch
--patch-only=C:\Users\MyUserName\myproject\patch.diff
# We don't want to create tests for this class (this is a comment).
--exclude=a.class.i.want.ToIgnore.

PowerShell

If you're using the argument files feature with PowerShell, typically on Windows, you may experience the following error:

The splatting operator '@' cannot be used to reference variables in an expression.

In this case make sure that you quote the config argument file to stop PowerShell from trying to interpret the @ symbol.

For example: dcover create '@myargs.txt'

Default argument files

If you have a certain set of arguments that you frequently use with dcover create or dcover upload, you can add them to the plain text files in the following locations instead of using the @ notation on the command line:

• .diffblue/create.args

• .diffblue/upload.args

This will allow you to run a command with common arguments, without having to repeatedly specify them on the command line. These files are command-specific, so any arguments added to .diffblue/create.args will only affect the dcover create command and likewise any arguments added to .diffblue/upload.args will only affect the dcover upload command. Without these files in the particular location, all desired arguments will have to be specified when running the relevant command.

As with the "standard" argument files detailed above, arguments passed using default argument files can be added one per line or separated by a space on the same line. Comments can also be added.

Example file:

--verbose --batch --maven
# Always use this class name for tests written by Diffblue Cover (this is a comment).
--class-name-template="${CLASS_NAME}AItests"

Conflicts & overrides

In general, you should avoid conflicts between command line and argument file options, but note the following:

• Command line options take priority and will override options specified within argument files.

• Options defined in argument files specified on the command line using the @ annotation will override options specified within default argument files (.args files).

• The --maven and --gradle options are mutually exclusive and cannot be overridden. If you add these parameters to your argument files, you will need to temporarily remove the option to specify a different value.

• To override arguments, you can either specify an alternative <value> (for arguments that require a value) or set the argument to true / false as needed. For example, using the sample arguments as we did before:

--verbose --batch
--patch-only=C:\Users\MyUserName\myproject\patch.diff
# We don't want to create tests for this class (this is a comment).
--exclude=a.class.i.want.ToIgnore.

If we wanted to quickly disable the verbose option and change the patch file, specify the following on the command line (the remaining options would be unchanged and be applied as normal):

dcover create @myargs.txt --verbose=false --patch-only=C:\myjavaproject\patch.diff