diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index dda523f..65abf76 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Usage
 
 The *getopt* module provides two functions:
 
-    parse([#option{}], Args :: [string()]) -> {ok, {Options, NonOptionArgs}} | {error, {Reason, Data}}
+    parse([#option{}], Args :: string() | [string()]) -> {ok, {Options, NonOptionArgs}} | {error, {Reason, Data}}
     usage([#option{}], ProgramName :: string()) -> ok
 
 The ``parse/2`` function receives a list of ``option`` records (defined in
@@ -102,19 +102,19 @@ e.g. For a program named ex1.escript with the following option specifications:
                 }
         ].
 
-And this command line invocation:
+And this command line:
 
-    $ ./ex1.escript -h myhost --port 1000 -x myfile.txt dummy1 dummy2
+    Args = "-h myhost --port 1000 -x myfile.txt dummy1 dummy2"
 
-The arguments would be:
+Which could also be passed in the format the ``main/1`` function receives the arguments in escripts:
 
     Args = ["-h", "myhost", "--port", "1000", "-x", "myfile.txt", "dummy1", "dummy2"].
 
-So, the call to ``getopt:parse/2``:
+The call to ``getopt:parse/2``:
 
     > getopt:parse(OptSpec, Args).
 
-Would return:
+Will return:
 
     {ok,{[{host,"myhost"},
           {port,1000},
@@ -125,11 +125,11 @@ Would return:
 
 Also, the call to ``getopt:usage/2``:
 
-    > getopt:usage(OptSpec, "ex1.escript").
+    > getopt:usage(OptSpec, "ex1").
 
-Would show on *stdout*:
+Will show (on *stdout*):
 
-    Usage: ex1.escript [-h <host>] [-p <port>] [--dbname <dbname>] [-x] <file>
+    Usage: ex1 [-h <host>] [-p <port>] [--dbname <dbname>] [-x] <file>
 
       -h, --host                    Database server host
       -p, --port                    Database server port
diff --git a/src/getopt.erl b/src/getopt.erl
index 6bae983..d79a725 100644
--- a/src/getopt.erl
+++ b/src/getopt.erl
@@ -21,15 +21,21 @@
 -export([parse/2, usage/2]).
 
 
--spec parse([option_spec()], [string()]) -> {ok, {[option()], [string()]}} | {error, {Reason :: atom(), Data :: any()}}.
+-spec parse([option_spec()], string() | [string()]) -> {ok, {[option()], [string()]}} | {error, {Reason :: atom(), Data :: any()}}.
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
-%% @spec parse(OptSpecList::[option_spec()], Args::[string()]) -> [option()].
+%% @spec parse(OptSpecList::[option_spec()], Args::string() | [string()]) -> [option()].
 %% @doc  Parse the command line options and arguments returning a list of tuples
 %%       and/or atoms using the Erlang convention for sending options to a
 %%       function.
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
-parse(OptSpecList, Args) ->
+parse(OptSpecList, CmdLine) ->
     try
+        Args = if
+                   is_integer(hd(CmdLine)) ->
+                       string:tokens(CmdLine, " \t\n");
+                   true ->
+                       CmdLine
+               end,
         parse(OptSpecList, [], [], 0, Args)
     catch
         throw: {error, {_Reason, _Data}} = Error ->
diff --git a/src/test/getopt_test.erl b/src/test/getopt_test.erl
index b478ced..28c4803 100644
--- a/src/test/getopt_test.erl
+++ b/src/test/getopt_test.erl
@@ -184,9 +184,8 @@ parse_1_test_() ->
      {ShortArg#option.help,        ?_assertMatch({ok, {[{short_arg, "value"}], []}}, parse([ShortArg], [[$-, ShortArg#option.short], "value"]))},
      {ShortDefArg#option.help,     ?_assertMatch({ok, {[{short_def_arg, "default-short"}], []}}, parse([ShortDefArg], []))},
      {ShortInt#option.help,        ?_assertMatch({ok, {[{short_int, 100}], []}}, parse([ShortInt], [[$-, ShortInt#option.short], "100"]))},
-     {"Unsorted multiple short form options and arguments",
-      ?_assertMatch({ok, {[short, short2, short3], ["arg1", "arg2"]}},
-                    parse([Short, Short2, Short3], ["arg1", [$-, Short#option.short, Short2#option.short, Short3#option.short], "arg2"]))},
+     {"Unsorted multiple short form options and arguments in a single string",
+      ?_assertMatch({ok, {[short, short2, short3], ["arg1", "arg2"]}}, parse([Short, Short2, Short3], "arg1 -abc arg2"))},
      {"Short form option and arguments",
       ?_assertMatch({ok, {[short], ["arg1", "arg2"]}}, parse([Short], [[$-, Short#option.short], "arg1", "arg2"]))},
      {"Short form option and arguments (unsorted)",