I have the following options_description: po::options_description config("Configuration File or Command Line"); config.add_options() ("run-time,t", po::value(&runTime_)-default_value(1440.0), "set max simulation duration") ("starting-iteration,i", po::value(&startingIteration_)-default_value(1), "set starting simulation iteration") ("repetitions,r", po::value(&repetitions_)-default_value(100), "set number of iterations") ... ; As you can see the three shown have a long,short names employed. The long versions all work. However, none of the short ones do, and each time I try a -t 12345.0 or a -i 12345, etc., I get the following from Program_Options: std::logic_error: in option 'starting-iteration': invalid option value I'm using Boost 1.42 on Win32. Any thoughts on what might be going on here? Thanks!