Is there the CommandLineToArgvA function in windows c/c++ (VS 2022)? - c++

Question

There is the CommandLineToArgvW() function, which is CommandLineToArgv + W, where this W means wide char (wchar_t in C/C++). But the CommandLineToArgvA() function that should exist, such as GetCommandLineW() and GetCommandLineA(), does not exist, apparently.
char:
int argv;
char **argv = CommandLineToArgvA(GetCommandLineA(), &argc);
wide char:
int argv;
wchar_t **wargv = CommandLineToArgvW(GetCommandLineW(), &argc);
Well, I searched every corner of the Internet for the term CommandLineToArgvA() and the most I found was this function in Linux Wine... I want to know, does this function exist, and if yes, is it normal that it is "hidden"? Otherwise, does it really not exist?
edit: The question was whether there was the CommandLineToArgvA function in the Windows API, however, it does not exist (comment by Remy Lebeau). The answer I checked as correct is the one that best explains how to use the existing CommandLineToArgvW function and turn the wchar_t into char, which will provide the same result that would be provided with the CommandLineToArgvA function if it existed.

Answer 1

I don’t think you should try parsing your own command-line string. Windows does it one way. Trying to write duplicate code to do the same thing is the Wrong Thing™ to do.
Just get the command-line, then use the Window facilities to convert it to UTF-8.
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <shellapi.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "Shell32")
void get_command_line_args( int * argc, char *** argv )
{
// Get the command line arguments as wchar_t strings
wchar_t ** wargv = CommandLineToArgvW( GetCommandLineW(), argc );
if (!wargv) { *argc = 0; *argv = NULL; return; }
// Count the number of bytes necessary to store the UTF-8 versions of those strings
int n = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < *argc; i++)
n += WideCharToMultiByte( CP_UTF8, 0, wargv[i], -1, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL ) + 1;
// Allocate the argv[] array + all the UTF-8 strings
*argv = malloc( (*argc + 1) * sizeof(char *) + n );
if (!*argv) { *argc = 0; return; }
// Convert all wargv[] --> argv[]
char * arg = (char *)&((*argv)[*argc + 1]);
for (int i = 0; i < *argc; i++)
{
(*argv)[i] = arg;
arg += WideCharToMultiByte( CP_UTF8, 0, wargv[i], -1, arg, n, NULL, NULL ) + 1;
}
(*argv)[*argc] = NULL;
}
Obtains an argv just like the one main() gets, with a final NULL element
and writeable and all.
Interface is easy enough. Don’t forget to free() the result when you are done with it. Example usage:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void f(void)
{
int argc;
char ** argv;
get_command_line_args( &argc, &argv );
for (int n = 0; n < argc; n++)
printf( " %d : %s\n", n, argv[n] );
free( argv );
}
int main(void)
{
f();
}
Enjoy!