3 files changed, 22 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
index 52f74e1367e9..0ae482689e3c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-report.c
@@ -676,7 +676,7 @@ int cmd_report(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix __maybe_unused)
         OPT_STRING('w', "column-widths", &symbol_conf.col_width_list_str,
                    "width[,width...]",
                    "don't try to adjust column width, use these fixed values"),
-        OPT_STRING('t', "field-separator", &symbol_conf.field_sep, "separator",
+        OPT_STRING_NOEMPTY('t', "field-separator", &symbol_conf.field_sep, "separator",
                    "separator for columns, no spaces will be added between "
                    "columns '.' is reserved."),
         OPT_BOOLEAN('U', "hide-unresolved", &report.hide_unresolved,
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
index 1457d6639b60..01626be2a8eb 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ static int get_value(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *p,
 {
         const char *s, *arg = NULL;
         const int unset = flags & OPT_UNSET;
+        int err;
 
         if (unset && p->opt)
                 return opterror(opt, "takes no value", flags);
@@ -114,13 +115,29 @@ static int get_value(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *p,
                 return 0;
 
         case OPTION_STRING:
+                err = 0;
                 if (unset)
                         *(const char **)opt->value = NULL;
                 else if (opt->flags & PARSE_OPT_OPTARG && !p->opt)
                         *(const char **)opt->value = (const char *)opt->defval;
                 else
-                        return get_arg(p, opt, flags, (const char **)opt->value);
-                return 0;
+                        err = get_arg(p, opt, flags, (const char **)opt->value);
+
+                /* PARSE_OPT_NOEMPTY: Allow NULL but disallow empty string. */
+                if (opt->flags & PARSE_OPT_NOEMPTY) {
+                        const char *val = *(const char **)opt->value;
+
+                        if (!val)
+                                return err;
+
+                        /* Similar to unset if we are given an empty string. */
+                        if (val[0] == '\0') {
+                                *(const char **)opt->value = NULL;
+                                return 0;
+                        }
+                }
+
+                return err;
 
         case OPTION_CALLBACK:
                 if (unset)
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h
index 97b153fb4999..59561fd86278 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ enum parse_opt_option_flags {
         PARSE_OPT_LASTARG_DEFAULT = 16,
         PARSE_OPT_DISABLED = 32,
         PARSE_OPT_EXCLUSIVE = 64,
+        PARSE_OPT_NOEMPTY  = 128,
 };
 
 struct option;
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@ struct option {
 #define OPT_LONG(s, l, v, h)        { .type = OPTION_LONG, .short_name = (s), .long_name = (l), .value = check_vtype(v, long *), .help = (h) }
 #define OPT_U64(s, l, v, h)         { .type = OPTION_U64, .short_name = (s), .long_name = (l), .value = check_vtype(v, u64 *), .help = (h) }
 #define OPT_STRING(s, l, v, a, h)   { .type = OPTION_STRING,  .short_name = (s), .long_name = (l), .value = check_vtype(v, const char **), (a), .help = (h) }
+#define OPT_STRING_NOEMPTY(s, l, v, a, h)   { .type = OPTION_STRING,  .short_name = (s), .long_name = (l), .value = check_vtype(v, const char **), (a), .help = (h), .flags = PARSE_OPT_NOEMPTY}
 #define OPT_DATE(s, l, v, h) \
         { .type = OPTION_CALLBACK, .short_name = (s), .long_name = (l), .value = (v), .argh = "time", .help = (h), .callback = parse_opt_approxidate_cb }
 #define OPT_CALLBACK(s, l, v, a, h, f) \