---
title: arguments
framework: foundation
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Property
path: foundation/process/arguments
---

# arguments

The command arguments that the system uses to launch the executable.

## Declaration

```swift
var arguments: [String]? { get set }
```

## Parameters

- `arguments`: An array of NSString objects that supplies the arguments to the task. If arguments is nil, the system raises an NSInvalidArgumentException.

## Discussion

Discussion The NSTask object converts both path and the strings in arguments to appropriate C-style strings (using fileSystemRepresentation) before passing them to the task through argv[]. The strings in arguments don’t undergo shell expansion, so you don’t need to do special quoting, and shell variables, such as $PWD, aren’t resolved.

## See Also

### Configuring a process

- [currentDirectoryURL](foundation/process/currentdirectoryurl.md)
- [environment](foundation/process/environment.md)
- [executableURL](foundation/process/executableurl.md)
- [qualityOfService](foundation/process/qualityofservice.md)
- [standardError](foundation/process/standarderror.md)
- [standardInput](foundation/process/standardinput.md)
- [standardOutput](foundation/process/standardoutput.md)