for (String arg : cliRequest.args) {
            if (isAltFile) {
                // this is the argument following -f/--file
                Path path = topDirectory.resolve(stripLeadingAndTrailingQuotes(arg));
                if (Files.isDirectory(path)) {
                    topDirectory = path;
                } else if (Files.isRegularFile(path)) {
                    topDirectory = path.getParent();