Treat Options without parameterless constructor as immutable

src/CommandLine/Core/InstanceBuilder.cs

@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Globalization;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Reflection;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using CommandLine.Infrastructure;
 using CSharpx;
 using RailwaySharp.ErrorHandling;
-using System.Reflection;
 
 namespace CommandLine.Core
 {
@@ -61,11 +62,12 @@ static class InstanceBuilder
                 .OfType<OptionSpecification>()
                 .Memoize();
 
-            Func<T> makeDefault = () =>
+            Func<T> makeDefaultImmutable = () => ReflectionHelper.CreateDefaultImmutableInstance<T>((from p in specProps select p.Specification.ConversionType).ToArray());
+
+            Func<T> makeDefault =
                 typeof(T).IsMutable()
-                    ? factory.MapValueOrDefault(f => f(), () => Activator.CreateInstance<T>())
-                    : ReflectionHelper.CreateDefaultImmutableInstance<T>(
-                        (from p in specProps select p.Specification.ConversionType).ToArray());
+                    ? () => factory.MapValueOrDefault(f => f(), () => typeof(T).HasParameterlessConstructor() ? Activator.CreateInstance<T>() : makeDefaultImmutable())
+                    : makeDefaultImmutable;
 
             Func<IEnumerable<Error>, ParserResult<T>> notParsed =
                 errs => new NotParsed<T>(makeDefault().GetType().ToTypeInfo(), errs);
@@ -110,7 +112,7 @@ static class InstanceBuilder
 
                 //build the instance, determining if the type is mutable or not.
                 T instance;
-                if(typeInfo.IsMutable() == true)
+                if (typeInfo.IsMutable() && (!factory.IsNothing() || typeInfo.HasParameterlessConstructor()))
                 {
                     instance = BuildMutable(factory, specPropsWithValue, setPropertyErrors);
                 }

src/CommandLine/Core/ReflectionExtensions.cs

@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ public static bool IsMutable(this Type type)
             // Find all inherited defined properties and fields on the type
             var inheritedTypes = type.GetTypeInfo().FlattenHierarchy().Select(i => i.GetTypeInfo());
 
-            foreach (var inheritedType in inheritedTypes) 
+            foreach (var inheritedType in inheritedTypes)
             {
                 if (
                     inheritedType.GetTypeInfo().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance).Any(p => p.CanWrite) ||
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ public static bool IsMutable(this Type type)
             return false;
         }
 
+        public static bool HasParameterlessConstructor(this Type type)
+        {
+            return type.GetTypeInfo().GetConstructor(Type.EmptyTypes) != null;
+        }
+
         public static object CreateDefaultForImmutable(this Type type)
         {
             if (type.GetTypeInfo().IsGenericType && type.GetTypeInfo().GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(IEnumerable<>))
@@ -156,7 +161,7 @@ public static object CreateDefaultForImmutable(this Type type)
 
         public static object AutoDefault(this Type type)
         {
-            if (type.IsMutable())
+            if (type.IsMutable() && type.HasParameterlessConstructor())
             {
                 return Activator.CreateInstance(type);
             }

src/CommandLine/Parser.cs

@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public ParserResult<T> ParseArguments<T>(IEnumerable<string> args)
         {
             if (args == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("args");
 
-            var factory = typeof(T).IsMutable()
+            var factory = typeof(T).IsMutable() && typeof(T).HasParameterlessConstructor()
                 ? Maybe.Just<Func<T>>(Activator.CreateInstance<T>)
                 : Maybe.Nothing<Func<T>>();
 

tests/CommandLine.Tests/Unit/Issue890Tests.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+using System.Linq;
+using CommandLine.Tests.Fakes;
+using CommandLine.Text;
+using FluentAssertions;
+using Xunit;
+using Xunit.Abstractions;
+
+//Issue #890
+//When options class is mutable but doesn't have a parameterless constructor parsing fails.
+
+namespace CommandLine.Tests.Unit
+{
+    public class Issue890Tests
+    {
+        const char OptionSwitch = 'o';
+        [Fact]
+        public void Create_mutable_instance_without_parameterless_ctor_should_not_fail()
+        {
+            const string optionValue = "val";
+
+            var result = Parser.Default.ParseArguments<Options>(new string[] { $"-{OptionSwitch}", optionValue });
+
+            Assert.Equal(ParserResultType.Parsed, result.Tag);
+            Assert.NotNull(result.Value);
+            Assert.Equal(optionValue, result.Value.Opt);
+            Assert.Empty(result.Errors);
+        }
+        private class Options
+        {
+            public Options(string opt)
+            {
+                Opt = opt;
+            }
+            [Option(OptionSwitch, "opt", Required = false)]
+            public string Opt { get; set; }
+        }
+    }
+}