Getopt::Mixed 1.10 Copyright 1995 Christopher J. Madsen This module is obsolete. Getopt::Mixed provides GNU-style option processing for Perl 5 scripts, with both long and short options. Please see the documentation at the end of the module for instructions on its use and licensing restrictions. However, some time ago Getopt::Long was changed to support short options as well, and it has the huge advantage of being part of the standard Perl distribution. So, Getopt::Mixed is now effectively obsolete. I don't intend to make any more changes, but I'm leaving it available for people who have code that already uses it. For new modules, I recommend using Getopt::Long like this: use Getopt::Long; Getopt::Long::Configure(qw(bundling no_getopt_compat)); GetOptions(...option-descriptions...); You can use Makefile.PL to install Getopt::Mixed, but all you really need to do is copy lib/Getopt/Mixed.pm to your Perl library. There are two sample scripts in the examples/ directory. They accept the following options and associated arguments: -a, --apples=N Mandatory real number argument --apricots=N Mandatory real number argument -b[N] Optional integer argument -c No arguments -d[STRING] Optional string argument -f, --file=STRING Mandatory string argument --pears=N Mandatory real number argument -?, --help No arguments -V, --version No arguments Since these are just sample scripts, the options don't actually mean anything. simple demonstrates the simple method of using Getopt::Mixed, and flexible demonstrates the flexible method.