Hi, Pulled this from a larger application to isolate to the problem: -d ./tmp or -d "./tmp" doesn't go to directory string but is with the positionals: #include #include <iostream> #include <exception> #include <string> #include <cstring> #include <memory> #include <fstream> #include "boost/program_options.hpp" int main(int argc, char** argv) { try { boost::program_options::positional_options_description p; p.add("input-file", -1); std::string directory = "./"; boost::program_options::options_description visible("Allowed options"); visible.add_options() ("input-file", boost::program_options::valuestd::string>(), "input files can be *.xml, *.pdb, *.mol2, *.mtz, *.cif, *.csv, and *.sdf. Csv and sdf formats are for NMR calculations. csv lists the atoms for which the shifts will be computed. 1st line containts the Header: \"Chain\",\"Residue ID\",\"Sequence\",\"Atom Name\",\"Unbound ppm\",\"Bound ppm\". Then atoms may be listed i.e \"A\",\"MET\",231,\"CE\",10.30,10.50. sdf file contains the ligands for a CSP calculation. ") ("directory,d", boost::program_options::valuestd::string(&directory)->implicit_value("./"), "Directory for publishing output.") ; boost::program_options::options_description all("Allowed options"); all.add(visible);//.add(hidden); boost::program_options::variables_map vm; boost::program_options::store(boost::program_options::command_line_parser(argc, argv).options(all).positional(p).run(), vm); boost::program_options::notify(vm); std::vectorstd::string fileList = vm["input-file"].as < std::vector < std::string >> (); for (unsigned int fileListIndex = 0; fileListIndex < fileList.size(); fileListIndex++) { std::cout<<" "<