# separate_arguments

Parse space-separated arguments into a semicolon-separated list.

    separate_arguments(<var> <NATIVE|UNIX|WINDOWS>_COMMAND "<args>")

Parses a UNIX- or Windows-style command-line string “<args>” and stores a semicolon-separated list of the arguments in `<var>`. The entire command line must be given in one “<args>” argument.

The `UNIX_COMMAND` mode separates arguments by unquoted whitespace. It recognizes both single-quote and double-quote pairs. A backslash escapes the next literal character (`\"` is `"`); there are no special escapes (`\n` is just `n`).

The `WINDOWS_COMMAND` mode parses a Windows command-line using the same syntax the runtime library uses to construct argv at startup. It separates arguments by whitespace that is not double-quoted. Backslashes are literal unless they precede double-quotes. See the MSDN article Parsing C Command-Line Arguments for details.

The `NATIVE_COMMAND` mode parses a Windows command-line if the host system is Windows, and a UNIX command-line otherwise.

    separate_arguments(<var>)

Convert the value of `<var>` to a semi-colon separated list. All spaces are replaced with ‘;’. This helps with generating command lines.