How do you access ARGV in Mathematica?

Question

I'd like to write command line scripts in Mathematica, but I can't seem to find an Argv[i_Integer] like function. (The docs are FANTASTIC otherwise.)

Answer 1

It seems that $ScriptCommandLine is the variable you would need for this, assuming you're using MathematicaScript for scripting. If you use math or MathKernel -script it would be $CommandLine.

Other relevant discussions: a rather old one and one in the MMA toolbag.

Answer 2

$CommandLine works for Mathematica, MathematicaScript, MathKernel, and math.

args.ma:

#!/usr/bin/env MathKernel -script

Print[$CommandLine]

Example:

$ ./args.ma a b c
{"MathKernel", "-script", "./args.ma", "a", "b", "c"}

Answer 3

I'm fond of passing things in using environment variables:

http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/ref/Environment.html