diff --git a/c/dsls/Makefile.am b/c/dsls/Makefile.am
index f858b7057..32578df9c 100644
--- a/c/dsls/Makefile.am
+++ b/c/dsls/Makefile.am
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS=	-I${srcdir}
 AM_CFLAGS=	-std=gnu99
 
 noinst_PROGRAMS=	lemon
-lemon_SOURCES=		lemon.c
+lemon_SOURCES=		lemon.c \
+			lemon_option.c \
+			lemon_option.h 
 
 noinst_LTLIBRARIES=	libdsl.la
 # if we don't want to distribute the generated sources, move them to a nodist_libfoo_la_SOURCES variable
diff --git a/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig b/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig
index 869115217..a398baf44 100644
--- a/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig
+++ b/c/dsls/Makefile.no-autoconfig
@@ -105,8 +105,8 @@ ex2_lexer.c ex2_lexer.h: ex2_lexer.l ./ex_ast.h
 	flex --prefix=ex2_lexer_ --outfile=ex2_lexer.c --header-file=ex2_lexer.h ex2_lexer.l
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
-lemon: lemon.c lempar.c
-	$(DSLCC) -o lemon lemon.c
+lemon: lemon.c lemon_option.c
+	$(DSLCC) -o lemon lemon.c lemon_option.c
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
 clean:
diff --git a/c/dsls/lemon.c b/c/dsls/lemon.c
index 9e5c1f234..bbce0c1ce 100644
--- a/c/dsls/lemon.c
+++ b/c/dsls/lemon.c
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#include "lemon_option.h"
+
 #ifndef __WIN32__
 #   if defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
 #	define __WIN32__
@@ -66,20 +68,6 @@ void Configlist_reset(/* void */);
 /********* From the file "error.h" ***************************************/
 void ErrorMsg(const char *, int,const char *, ...);
 
-/****** From the file "option.h" ******************************************/
-struct s_options {
-	enum { OPT_FLAG=1,  OPT_INT,  OPT_DBL,  OPT_STR,
-				 OPT_FFLAG, OPT_FINT, OPT_FDBL, OPT_FSTR} type;
-	char *label;
-	char *arg;
-	char *message;
-};
-int    OptInit(/* char**,struct s_options*,FILE* */);
-int    OptNArgs(/* void */);
-char  *OptArg(/* int */);
-void   OptErr(/* int */);
-void   OptPrint(/* void */);
-
 /******** From the file "parse.h" *****************************************/
 int Parse(/* struct lemon *lemp */);
 
@@ -1576,281 +1564,6 @@ char *msort(char *list, char **next, int (*cmp)())
 	return ep;
 }
 
-/************************ From the file "option.c" **************************/
-static char **argv;
-static struct s_options *op;
-static FILE *errstream;
-
-#define ISOPT(X) ((X)[0]=='-'||(X)[0]=='+'||strchr((X),'=')!=0)
-
-/*
-** Print the command line with a carrot pointing to the k-th character
-** of the n-th field.
-*/
-static void errline(int n, int k, FILE *err)
-{
-	int spcnt, i;
-	spcnt = 0;
-	if (argv[0])  fprintf(err,"%s",argv[0]);
-	spcnt = strlen(argv[0]) + 1;
-	for(i=1; i<n && argv[i]; i++){
-		fprintf(err," %s",argv[i]);
-		spcnt += strlen(argv[i]+1);
-	}
-	spcnt += k;
-	for(; argv[i]; i++) fprintf(err," %s",argv[i]);
-	if (spcnt<20) {
-		fprintf(err,"\n%*s^-- here\n",spcnt,"");
-	} else {
-		fprintf(err,"\n%*shere --^\n",spcnt-7,"");
-	}
-}
-
-/*
-** Return the index of the N-th non-switch argument.  Return -1
-** if N is out of range.
-*/
-static int argindex(int n)
-{
-	int i;
-	int dashdash = 0;
-	if (argv!=0 && *argv!=0) {
-		for(i=1; argv[i]; i++){
-			if (dashdash || !ISOPT(argv[i])) {
-				if (n==0)  return i;
-				n--;
-			}
-			if (strcmp(argv[i],"--")==0)  dashdash = 1;
-		}
-	}
-	return -1;
-}
-
-static char emsg[] = "Command line syntax error: ";
-
-/*
-** Process a flag command line argument.
-*/
-static int handleflags(int i, FILE *err)
-{
-	int v;
-	int errcnt = 0;
-	int j;
-	for(j=0; op[j].label; j++){
-		if (strncmp(&argv[i][1],op[j].label,strlen(op[j].label))==0)  break;
-	}
-	v = argv[i][0]=='-' ? 1 : 0;
-	if (op[j].label==0) {
-		if (err) {
-			fprintf(err,"%sundefined option.\n",emsg);
-			errline(i,1,err);
-		}
-		errcnt++;
-	} else if (op[j].type==OPT_FLAG) {
-		*((int*)op[j].arg) = v;
-	} else if (op[j].type==OPT_FFLAG) {
-		(*(void(*)())(op[j].arg))(v);
-	} else if (op[j].type==OPT_FSTR) {
-		(*(void(*)())(op[j].arg))(&argv[i][2]);
-	} else {
-		if (err) {
-			fprintf(err,"%smissing argument on switch.\n",emsg);
-			errline(i,1,err);
-		}
-		errcnt++;
-	}
-	return errcnt;
-}
-
-/*
-** Process a command line switch which has an argument.
-*/
-static int handleswitch(int i, FILE *err)
-{
-	int lv = 0;
-	double dv = 0.0;
-	char *sv = 0, *end;
-	char *cp;
-	int j;
-	int errcnt = 0;
-	cp = strchr(argv[i],'=');
-	*cp = 0;
-	for(j=0; op[j].label; j++){
-		if (strcmp(argv[i],op[j].label)==0)  break;
-	}
-	*cp = '=';
-	if (op[j].label==0) {
-		if (err) {
-			fprintf(err,"%sundefined option.\n",emsg);
-			errline(i,0,err);
-		}
-		errcnt++;
-	} else {
-		cp++;
-		switch (op[j].type) {
-			case OPT_FLAG:
-			case OPT_FFLAG:
-				if (err) {
-					fprintf(err,"%soption requires an argument.\n",emsg);
-					errline(i,0,err);
-				}
-				errcnt++;
-				break;
-			case OPT_DBL:
-			case OPT_FDBL:
-				dv = strtod(cp,&end);
-				if (*end) {
-					if (err) {
-						fprintf(err,"%sillegal character in floating-point argument.\n",emsg);
-						errline(i,((unsigned long)end)-(unsigned long)argv[i],err);
-					}
-					errcnt++;
-				}
-				break;
-			case OPT_INT:
-			case OPT_FINT:
-				lv = strtol(cp,&end,0);
-				if (*end) {
-					if (err) {
-						fprintf(err,"%sillegal character in integer argument.\n",emsg);
-						errline(i,((unsigned long)end)-(unsigned long)argv[i],err);
-					}
-					errcnt++;
-				}
-				break;
-			case OPT_STR:
-			case OPT_FSTR:
-				sv = cp;
-				break;
-		}
-		switch (op[j].type) {
-			case OPT_FLAG:
-			case OPT_FFLAG:
-				break;
-			case OPT_DBL:
-				*(double*)(op[j].arg) = dv;
-				break;
-			case OPT_FDBL:
-				(*(void(*)())(op[j].arg))(dv);
-				break;
-			case OPT_INT:
-				*(int*)(op[j].arg) = lv;
-				break;
-			case OPT_FINT:
-				(*(void(*)())(op[j].arg))((int)lv);
-				break;
-			case OPT_STR:
-				*(char**)(op[j].arg) = sv;
-				break;
-			case OPT_FSTR:
-				(*(void(*)())(op[j].arg))(sv);
-				break;
-		}
-	}
-	return errcnt;
-}
-
-int OptInit(char **a, struct s_options *o, FILE *err)
-{
-	int errcnt = 0;
-	argv = a;
-	op = o;
-	errstream = err;
-	if (argv && *argv && op) {
-		int i;
-		for(i=1; argv[i]; i++){
-			if (argv[i][0]=='+' || argv[i][0]=='-') {
-				errcnt += handleflags(i,err);
-			} else if (strchr(argv[i],'=')) {
-				errcnt += handleswitch(i,err);
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	if (errcnt>0) {
-		fprintf(err,"Valid command line options for \"%s\" are:\n",*a);
-		OptPrint();
-		exit(1);
-	}
-	return 0;
-}
-
-int OptNArgs() {
-	int cnt = 0;
-	int dashdash = 0;
-	int i;
-	if (argv!=0 && argv[0]!=0) {
-		for(i=1; argv[i]; i++){
-			if (dashdash || !ISOPT(argv[i]))  cnt++;
-			if (strcmp(argv[i],"--")==0)  dashdash = 1;
-		}
-	}
-	return cnt;
-}
-
-char *OptArg(int n)
-{
-	int i;
-	i = argindex(n);
-	return i>=0 ? argv[i] : 0;
-}
-
-void OptErr(int n)
-{
-	int i;
-	i = argindex(n);
-	if (i>=0)  errline(i,0,errstream);
-}
-
-void OptPrint(){
-	int i;
-	int max, len;
-	max = 0;
-	for(i=0; op[i].label; i++){
-		len = strlen(op[i].label) + 1;
-		switch (op[i].type) {
-			case OPT_FLAG:
-			case OPT_FFLAG:
-				break;
-			case OPT_INT:
-			case OPT_FINT:
-				len += 9;       /* length of "<integer>" */
-				break;
-			case OPT_DBL:
-			case OPT_FDBL:
-				len += 6;       /* length of "<real>" */
-				break;
-			case OPT_STR:
-			case OPT_FSTR:
-				len += 8;       /* length of "<string>" */
-				break;
-		}
-		if (len>max)  max = len;
-	}
-	for(i=0; op[i].label; i++){
-		switch (op[i].type) {
-			case OPT_FLAG:
-			case OPT_FFLAG:
-				fprintf(errstream,"  -%-*s  %s\n",max,op[i].label,op[i].message);
-				break;
-			case OPT_INT:
-			case OPT_FINT:
-				fprintf(errstream,"  %s=<integer>%*s  %s\n",op[i].label,
-					(int)(max-strlen(op[i].label)-9),"",op[i].message);
-				break;
-			case OPT_DBL:
-			case OPT_FDBL:
-				fprintf(errstream,"  %s=<real>%*s  %s\n",op[i].label,
-					(int)(max-strlen(op[i].label)-6),"",op[i].message);
-				break;
-			case OPT_STR:
-			case OPT_FSTR:
-				fprintf(errstream,"  %s=<string>%*s  %s\n",op[i].label,
-					(int)(max-strlen(op[i].label)-8),"",op[i].message);
-				break;
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 /*********************** From the file "parse.c" ****************************/
 /*
 ** Input file parser for the LEMON parser generator.