| :mod:`argparse` --- Parser for command-line options, arguments and sub-commands |
| =============================================================================== |
| |
| .. module:: argparse |
| :synopsis: Command-line option and argument parsing library. |
| .. moduleauthor:: Steven Bethard <steven.bethard@gmail.com> |
| .. sectionauthor:: Steven Bethard <steven.bethard@gmail.com> |
| |
| .. versionadded:: 3.2 |
| |
| **Source code:** :source:`Lib/argparse.py` |
| |
| -------------- |
| |
| .. sidebar:: Tutorial |
| |
| This page contains the API reference information. For a more gentle |
| introduction to Python command-line parsing, have a look at the |
| :ref:`argparse tutorial <argparse-tutorial>`. |
| |
| The :mod:`argparse` module makes it easy to write user-friendly command-line |
| interfaces. The program defines what arguments it requires, and :mod:`argparse` |
| will figure out how to parse those out of :data:`sys.argv`. The :mod:`argparse` |
| module also automatically generates help and usage messages and issues errors |
| when users give the program invalid arguments. |
| |
| |
| Example |
| ------- |
| |
| The following code is a Python program that takes a list of integers and |
| produces either the sum or the max:: |
| |
| import argparse |
| |
| parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Process some integers.') |
| parser.add_argument('integers', metavar='N', type=int, nargs='+', |
| help='an integer for the accumulator') |
| parser.add_argument('--sum', dest='accumulate', action='store_const', |
| const=sum, default=max, |
| help='sum the integers (default: find the max)') |
| |
| args = parser.parse_args() |
| print(args.accumulate(args.integers)) |
| |
| Assuming the Python code above is saved into a file called ``prog.py``, it can |
| be run at the command line and provides useful help messages:: |
| |
| $ prog.py -h |
| usage: prog.py [-h] [--sum] N [N ...] |
| |
| Process some integers. |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| N an integer for the accumulator |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --sum sum the integers (default: find the max) |
| |
| When run with the appropriate arguments, it prints either the sum or the max of |
| the command-line integers:: |
| |
| $ prog.py 1 2 3 4 |
| 4 |
| |
| $ prog.py 1 2 3 4 --sum |
| 10 |
| |
| If invalid arguments are passed in, it will issue an error:: |
| |
| $ prog.py a b c |
| usage: prog.py [-h] [--sum] N [N ...] |
| prog.py: error: argument N: invalid int value: 'a' |
| |
| The following sections walk you through this example. |
| |
| |
| Creating a parser |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| The first step in using the :mod:`argparse` is creating an |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` object:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Process some integers.') |
| |
| The :class:`ArgumentParser` object will hold all the information necessary to |
| parse the command line into Python data types. |
| |
| |
| Adding arguments |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Filling an :class:`ArgumentParser` with information about program arguments is |
| done by making calls to the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` method. |
| Generally, these calls tell the :class:`ArgumentParser` how to take the strings |
| on the command line and turn them into objects. This information is stored and |
| used when :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` is called. For example:: |
| |
| >>> parser.add_argument('integers', metavar='N', type=int, nargs='+', |
| ... help='an integer for the accumulator') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--sum', dest='accumulate', action='store_const', |
| ... const=sum, default=max, |
| ... help='sum the integers (default: find the max)') |
| |
| Later, calling :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` will return an object with |
| two attributes, ``integers`` and ``accumulate``. The ``integers`` attribute |
| will be a list of one or more ints, and the ``accumulate`` attribute will be |
| either the :func:`sum` function, if ``--sum`` was specified at the command line, |
| or the :func:`max` function if it was not. |
| |
| |
| Parsing arguments |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` parses arguments through the |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method. This will inspect the command line, |
| convert each argument to the appropriate type and then invoke the appropriate action. |
| In most cases, this means a simple :class:`Namespace` object will be built up from |
| attributes parsed out of the command line:: |
| |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--sum', '7', '-1', '42']) |
| Namespace(accumulate=<built-in function sum>, integers=[7, -1, 42]) |
| |
| In a script, :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` will typically be called with no |
| arguments, and the :class:`ArgumentParser` will automatically determine the |
| command-line arguments from :data:`sys.argv`. |
| |
| |
| ArgumentParser objects |
| ---------------------- |
| |
| .. class:: ArgumentParser(prog=None, usage=None, description=None, \ |
| epilog=None, parents=[], \ |
| formatter_class=argparse.HelpFormatter, \ |
| prefix_chars='-', fromfile_prefix_chars=None, \ |
| argument_default=None, conflict_handler='error', \ |
| add_help=True) |
| |
| Create a new :class:`ArgumentParser` object. Each parameter has its own more |
| detailed description below, but in short they are: |
| |
| * description_ - Text to display before the argument help. |
| |
| * epilog_ - Text to display after the argument help. |
| |
| * add_help_ - Add a -h/--help option to the parser. (default: ``True``) |
| |
| * argument_default_ - Set the global default value for arguments. |
| (default: ``None``) |
| |
| * parents_ - A list of :class:`ArgumentParser` objects whose arguments should |
| also be included. |
| |
| * prefix_chars_ - The set of characters that prefix optional arguments. |
| (default: '-') |
| |
| * fromfile_prefix_chars_ - The set of characters that prefix files from |
| which additional arguments should be read. (default: ``None``) |
| |
| * formatter_class_ - A class for customizing the help output. |
| |
| * conflict_handler_ - Usually unnecessary, defines strategy for resolving |
| conflicting optionals. |
| |
| * prog_ - The name of the program (default: |
| ``sys.argv[0]``) |
| |
| * usage_ - The string describing the program usage (default: generated) |
| |
| The following sections describe how each of these are used. |
| |
| |
| description |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Most calls to the :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor will use the |
| ``description=`` keyword argument. This argument gives a brief description of |
| what the program does and how it works. In help messages, the description is |
| displayed between the command-line usage string and the help messages for the |
| various arguments:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='A foo that bars') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: argparse.py [-h] |
| |
| A foo that bars |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| By default, the description will be line-wrapped so that it fits within the |
| given space. To change this behavior, see the formatter_class_ argument. |
| |
| |
| epilog |
| ^^^^^^ |
| |
| Some programs like to display additional description of the program after the |
| description of the arguments. Such text can be specified using the ``epilog=`` |
| argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser( |
| ... description='A foo that bars', |
| ... epilog="And that's how you'd foo a bar") |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: argparse.py [-h] |
| |
| A foo that bars |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| And that's how you'd foo a bar |
| |
| As with the description_ argument, the ``epilog=`` text is by default |
| line-wrapped, but this behavior can be adjusted with the formatter_class_ |
| argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`. |
| |
| |
| add_help |
| ^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| By default, ArgumentParser objects add an option which simply displays |
| the parser's help message. For example, consider a file named |
| ``myprogram.py`` containing the following code:: |
| |
| import argparse |
| parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| parser.add_argument('--foo', help='foo help') |
| args = parser.parse_args() |
| |
| If ``-h`` or ``--help`` is supplied at the command line, the ArgumentParser |
| help will be printed:: |
| |
| $ python myprogram.py --help |
| usage: myprogram.py [-h] [--foo FOO] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo FOO foo help |
| |
| Occasionally, it may be useful to disable the addition of this help option. |
| This can be achieved by passing ``False`` as the ``add_help=`` argument to |
| :class:`ArgumentParser`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', add_help=False) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='foo help') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [--foo FOO] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| --foo FOO foo help |
| |
| The help option is typically ``-h/--help``. The exception to this is |
| if the ``prefix_chars=`` is specified and does not include ``-``, in |
| which case ``-h`` and ``--help`` are not valid options. In |
| this case, the first character in ``prefix_chars`` is used to prefix |
| the help options:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', prefix_chars='+/') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [+h] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| +h, ++help show this help message and exit |
| |
| |
| prefix_chars |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Most command-line options will use ``-`` as the prefix, e.g. ``-f/--foo``. |
| Parsers that need to support different or additional prefix |
| characters, e.g. for options |
| like ``+f`` or ``/foo``, may specify them using the ``prefix_chars=`` argument |
| to the ArgumentParser constructor:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', prefix_chars='-+') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('+f') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('++bar') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('+f X ++bar Y'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='Y', f='X') |
| |
| The ``prefix_chars=`` argument defaults to ``'-'``. Supplying a set of |
| characters that does not include ``-`` will cause ``-f/--foo`` options to be |
| disallowed. |
| |
| |
| fromfile_prefix_chars |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Sometimes, for example when dealing with a particularly long argument lists, it |
| may make sense to keep the list of arguments in a file rather than typing it out |
| at the command line. If the ``fromfile_prefix_chars=`` argument is given to the |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor, then arguments that start with any of the |
| specified characters will be treated as files, and will be replaced by the |
| arguments they contain. For example:: |
| |
| >>> with open('args.txt', 'w') as fp: |
| ... fp.write('-f\nbar') |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(fromfile_prefix_chars='@') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-f') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-f', 'foo', '@args.txt']) |
| Namespace(f='bar') |
| |
| Arguments read from a file must by default be one per line (but see also |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.convert_arg_line_to_args`) and are treated as if they |
| were in the same place as the original file referencing argument on the command |
| line. So in the example above, the expression ``['-f', 'foo', '@args.txt']`` |
| is considered equivalent to the expression ``['-f', 'foo', '-f', 'bar']``. |
| |
| The ``fromfile_prefix_chars=`` argument defaults to ``None``, meaning that |
| arguments will never be treated as file references. |
| |
| |
| argument_default |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Generally, argument defaults are specified either by passing a default to |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` or by calling the |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.set_defaults` methods with a specific set of name-value |
| pairs. Sometimes however, it may be useful to specify a single parser-wide |
| default for arguments. This can be accomplished by passing the |
| ``argument_default=`` keyword argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`. For example, |
| to globally suppress attribute creation on :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` |
| calls, we supply ``argument_default=SUPPRESS``:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(argument_default=argparse.SUPPRESS) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '1', 'BAR']) |
| Namespace(bar='BAR', foo='1') |
| >>> parser.parse_args([]) |
| Namespace() |
| |
| |
| parents |
| ^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Sometimes, several parsers share a common set of arguments. Rather than |
| repeating the definitions of these arguments, a single parser with all the |
| shared arguments and passed to ``parents=`` argument to :class:`ArgumentParser` |
| can be used. The ``parents=`` argument takes a list of :class:`ArgumentParser` |
| objects, collects all the positional and optional actions from them, and adds |
| these actions to the :class:`ArgumentParser` object being constructed:: |
| |
| >>> parent_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False) |
| >>> parent_parser.add_argument('--parent', type=int) |
| |
| >>> foo_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(parents=[parent_parser]) |
| >>> foo_parser.add_argument('foo') |
| >>> foo_parser.parse_args(['--parent', '2', 'XXX']) |
| Namespace(foo='XXX', parent=2) |
| |
| >>> bar_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(parents=[parent_parser]) |
| >>> bar_parser.add_argument('--bar') |
| >>> bar_parser.parse_args(['--bar', 'YYY']) |
| Namespace(bar='YYY', parent=None) |
| |
| Note that most parent parsers will specify ``add_help=False``. Otherwise, the |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` will see two ``-h/--help`` options (one in the parent |
| and one in the child) and raise an error. |
| |
| .. note:: |
| You must fully initialize the parsers before passing them via ``parents=``. |
| If you change the parent parsers after the child parser, those changes will |
| not be reflected in the child. |
| |
| |
| formatter_class |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` objects allow the help formatting to be customized by |
| specifying an alternate formatting class. Currently, there are four such |
| classes: |
| |
| .. class:: RawDescriptionHelpFormatter |
| RawTextHelpFormatter |
| ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter |
| MetavarTypeHelpFormatter |
| |
| :class:`RawDescriptionHelpFormatter` and :class:`RawTextHelpFormatter` give |
| more control over how textual descriptions are displayed. |
| By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` objects line-wrap the description_ and |
| epilog_ texts in command-line help messages:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser( |
| ... prog='PROG', |
| ... description='''this description |
| ... was indented weird |
| ... but that is okay''', |
| ... epilog=''' |
| ... likewise for this epilog whose whitespace will |
| ... be cleaned up and whose words will be wrapped |
| ... across a couple lines''') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [-h] |
| |
| this description was indented weird but that is okay |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| likewise for this epilog whose whitespace will be cleaned up and whose words |
| will be wrapped across a couple lines |
| |
| Passing :class:`RawDescriptionHelpFormatter` as ``formatter_class=`` |
| indicates that description_ and epilog_ are already correctly formatted and |
| should not be line-wrapped:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser( |
| ... prog='PROG', |
| ... formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter, |
| ... description=textwrap.dedent('''\ |
| ... Please do not mess up this text! |
| ... -------------------------------- |
| ... I have indented it |
| ... exactly the way |
| ... I want it |
| ... ''')) |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [-h] |
| |
| Please do not mess up this text! |
| -------------------------------- |
| I have indented it |
| exactly the way |
| I want it |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| :class:`RawTextHelpFormatter` maintains whitespace for all sorts of help text, |
| including argument descriptions. |
| |
| :class:`ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter` automatically adds information about |
| default values to each of the argument help messages:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser( |
| ... prog='PROG', |
| ... formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', type=int, default=42, help='FOO!') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='*', default=[1, 2, 3], help='BAR!') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar [bar ...]] |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| bar BAR! (default: [1, 2, 3]) |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo FOO FOO! (default: 42) |
| |
| :class:`MetavarTypeHelpFormatter` uses the name of the type_ argument for each |
| argument as the display name for its values (rather than using the dest_ |
| as the regular formatter does):: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser( |
| ... prog='PROG', |
| ... formatter_class=argparse.MetavarTypeHelpFormatter) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', type=int) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', type=float) |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo int] float |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| float |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo int |
| |
| |
| conflict_handler |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` objects do not allow two actions with the same option |
| string. By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` objects raises an exception if an |
| attempt is made to create an argument with an option string that is already in |
| use:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo', help='old foo help') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='new foo help') |
| Traceback (most recent call last): |
| .. |
| ArgumentError: argument --foo: conflicting option string(s): --foo |
| |
| Sometimes (e.g. when using parents_) it may be useful to simply override any |
| older arguments with the same option string. To get this behavior, the value |
| ``'resolve'`` can be supplied to the ``conflict_handler=`` argument of |
| :class:`ArgumentParser`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', conflict_handler='resolve') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo', help='old foo help') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='new foo help') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [-h] [-f FOO] [--foo FOO] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| -f FOO old foo help |
| --foo FOO new foo help |
| |
| Note that :class:`ArgumentParser` objects only remove an action if all of its |
| option strings are overridden. So, in the example above, the old ``-f/--foo`` |
| action is retained as the ``-f`` action, because only the ``--foo`` option |
| string was overridden. |
| |
| |
| prog |
| ^^^^ |
| |
| By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` objects uses ``sys.argv[0]`` to determine |
| how to display the name of the program in help messages. This default is almost |
| always desirable because it will make the help messages match how the program was |
| invoked on the command line. For example, consider a file named |
| ``myprogram.py`` with the following code:: |
| |
| import argparse |
| parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| parser.add_argument('--foo', help='foo help') |
| args = parser.parse_args() |
| |
| The help for this program will display ``myprogram.py`` as the program name |
| (regardless of where the program was invoked from):: |
| |
| $ python myprogram.py --help |
| usage: myprogram.py [-h] [--foo FOO] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo FOO foo help |
| $ cd .. |
| $ python subdir\myprogram.py --help |
| usage: myprogram.py [-h] [--foo FOO] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo FOO foo help |
| |
| To change this default behavior, another value can be supplied using the |
| ``prog=`` argument to :class:`ArgumentParser`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='myprogram') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: myprogram [-h] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| Note that the program name, whether determined from ``sys.argv[0]`` or from the |
| ``prog=`` argument, is available to help messages using the ``%(prog)s`` format |
| specifier. |
| |
| :: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='myprogram') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help='foo of the %(prog)s program') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: myprogram [-h] [--foo FOO] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo FOO foo of the myprogram program |
| |
| |
| usage |
| ^^^^^ |
| |
| By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` calculates the usage message from the |
| arguments it contains:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs='?', help='foo help') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='+', help='bar help') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo [FOO]] bar [bar ...] |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| bar bar help |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo [FOO] foo help |
| |
| The default message can be overridden with the ``usage=`` keyword argument:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', usage='%(prog)s [options]') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs='?', help='foo help') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='+', help='bar help') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [options] |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| bar bar help |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo [FOO] foo help |
| |
| The ``%(prog)s`` format specifier is available to fill in the program name in |
| your usage messages. |
| |
| |
| The add_argument() method |
| ------------------------- |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.add_argument(name or flags..., [action], [nargs], \ |
| [const], [default], [type], [choices], [required], \ |
| [help], [metavar], [dest]) |
| |
| Define how a single command-line argument should be parsed. Each parameter |
| has its own more detailed description below, but in short they are: |
| |
| * `name or flags`_ - Either a name or a list of option strings, e.g. ``foo`` |
| or ``-f, --foo``. |
| |
| * action_ - The basic type of action to be taken when this argument is |
| encountered at the command line. |
| |
| * nargs_ - The number of command-line arguments that should be consumed. |
| |
| * const_ - A constant value required by some action_ and nargs_ selections. |
| |
| * default_ - The value produced if the argument is absent from the |
| command line. |
| |
| * type_ - The type to which the command-line argument should be converted. |
| |
| * choices_ - A container of the allowable values for the argument. |
| |
| * required_ - Whether or not the command-line option may be omitted |
| (optionals only). |
| |
| * help_ - A brief description of what the argument does. |
| |
| * metavar_ - A name for the argument in usage messages. |
| |
| * dest_ - The name of the attribute to be added to the object returned by |
| :meth:`parse_args`. |
| |
| The following sections describe how each of these are used. |
| |
| |
| name or flags |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` method must know whether an optional |
| argument, like ``-f`` or ``--foo``, or a positional argument, like a list of |
| filenames, is expected. The first arguments passed to |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` must therefore be either a series of |
| flags, or a simple argument name. For example, an optional argument could |
| be created like:: |
| |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo') |
| |
| while a positional argument could be created like:: |
| |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar') |
| |
| When :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` is called, optional arguments will be |
| identified by the ``-`` prefix, and the remaining arguments will be assumed to |
| be positional:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['BAR']) |
| Namespace(bar='BAR', foo=None) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['BAR', '--foo', 'FOO']) |
| Namespace(bar='BAR', foo='FOO') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'FOO']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [-f FOO] bar |
| PROG: error: too few arguments |
| |
| |
| action |
| ^^^^^^ |
| |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` objects associate command-line arguments with actions. These |
| actions can do just about anything with the command-line arguments associated with |
| them, though most actions simply add an attribute to the object returned by |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`. The ``action`` keyword argument specifies |
| how the command-line arguments should be handled. The supported actions are: |
| |
| * ``'store'`` - This just stores the argument's value. This is the default |
| action. For example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo 1'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo='1') |
| |
| * ``'store_const'`` - This stores the value specified by the const_ keyword |
| argument. (Note that the const_ keyword argument defaults to the rather |
| unhelpful ``None``.) The ``'store_const'`` action is most commonly used with |
| optional arguments that specify some sort of flag. For example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_const', const=42) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=42) |
| |
| * ``'store_true'`` and ``'store_false'`` - These store the values ``True`` and |
| ``False`` respectively. These are special cases of ``'store_const'``. For |
| example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--bar', action='store_false') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo --bar'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar=False, foo=True) |
| |
| * ``'append'`` - This stores a list, and appends each argument value to the |
| list. This is useful to allow an option to be specified multiple times. |
| Example usage:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='append') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo 1 --foo 2'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=['1', '2']) |
| |
| * ``'append_const'`` - This stores a list, and appends the value specified by |
| the const_ keyword argument to the list. (Note that the const_ keyword |
| argument defaults to ``None``.) The ``'append_const'`` action is typically |
| useful when multiple arguments need to store constants to the same list. For |
| example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--str', dest='types', action='append_const', const=str) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--int', dest='types', action='append_const', const=int) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--str --int'.split()) |
| Namespace(types=[<class 'str'>, <class 'int'>]) |
| |
| * ``'count'`` - This counts the number of times a keyword argument occurs. For |
| example, this is useful for increasing verbosity levels:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--verbose', '-v', action='count') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-vvv'.split()) |
| Namespace(verbose=3) |
| |
| * ``'help'`` - This prints a complete help message for all the options in the |
| current parser and then exits. By default a help action is automatically |
| added to the parser. See :class:`ArgumentParser` for details of how the |
| output is created. |
| |
| * ``'version'`` - This expects a ``version=`` keyword argument in the |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` call, and prints version information |
| and exits when invoked:: |
| |
| >>> import argparse |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--version', action='version', version='%(prog)s 2.0') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--version']) |
| PROG 2.0 |
| |
| You can also specify an arbitrary action by passing an object that implements |
| the Action API. The easiest way to do this is to extend |
| :class:`argparse.Action`, supplying an appropriate ``__call__`` method. The |
| ``__call__`` method should accept four parameters: |
| |
| * ``parser`` - The ArgumentParser object which contains this action. |
| |
| * ``namespace`` - The :class:`Namespace` object that will be returned by |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`. Most actions add an attribute to this |
| object. |
| |
| * ``values`` - The associated command-line arguments, with any type conversions |
| applied. (Type conversions are specified with the type_ keyword argument to |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`.) |
| |
| * ``option_string`` - The option string that was used to invoke this action. |
| The ``option_string`` argument is optional, and will be absent if the action |
| is associated with a positional argument. |
| |
| An example of a custom action:: |
| |
| >>> class FooAction(argparse.Action): |
| ... def __call__(self, parser, namespace, values, option_string=None): |
| ... print('%r %r %r' % (namespace, values, option_string)) |
| ... setattr(namespace, self.dest, values) |
| ... |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action=FooAction) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', action=FooAction) |
| >>> args = parser.parse_args('1 --foo 2'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar=None, foo=None) '1' None |
| Namespace(bar='1', foo=None) '2' '--foo' |
| >>> args |
| Namespace(bar='1', foo='2') |
| |
| |
| nargs |
| ^^^^^ |
| |
| ArgumentParser objects usually associate a single command-line argument with a |
| single action to be taken. The ``nargs`` keyword argument associates a |
| different number of command-line arguments with a single action. The supported |
| values are: |
| |
| * ``N`` (an integer). ``N`` arguments from the command line will be gathered |
| together into a list. For example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs=2) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs=1) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('c --foo a b'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar=['c'], foo=['a', 'b']) |
| |
| Note that ``nargs=1`` produces a list of one item. This is different from |
| the default, in which the item is produced by itself. |
| |
| * ``'?'``. One argument will be consumed from the command line if possible, and |
| produced as a single item. If no command-line argument is present, the value from |
| default_ will be produced. Note that for optional arguments, there is an |
| additional case - the option string is present but not followed by a |
| command-line argument. In this case the value from const_ will be produced. Some |
| examples to illustrate this:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs='?', const='c', default='d') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?', default='d') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('XX --foo YY'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='XX', foo='YY') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('XX --foo'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='XX', foo='c') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(''.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='d', foo='d') |
| |
| One of the more common uses of ``nargs='?'`` is to allow optional input and |
| output files:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('infile', nargs='?', type=argparse.FileType('r'), |
| ... default=sys.stdin) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('outfile', nargs='?', type=argparse.FileType('w'), |
| ... default=sys.stdout) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['input.txt', 'output.txt']) |
| Namespace(infile=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='input.txt' encoding='UTF-8'>, |
| outfile=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='output.txt' encoding='UTF-8'>) |
| >>> parser.parse_args([]) |
| Namespace(infile=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='<stdin>' encoding='UTF-8'>, |
| outfile=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='<stdout>' encoding='UTF-8'>) |
| |
| * ``'*'``. All command-line arguments present are gathered into a list. Note that |
| it generally doesn't make much sense to have more than one positional argument |
| with ``nargs='*'``, but multiple optional arguments with ``nargs='*'`` is |
| possible. For example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs='*') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--bar', nargs='*') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('baz', nargs='*') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('a b --foo x y --bar 1 2'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar=['1', '2'], baz=['a', 'b'], foo=['x', 'y']) |
| |
| * ``'+'``. Just like ``'*'``, all command-line args present are gathered into a |
| list. Additionally, an error message will be generated if there wasn't at |
| least one command-line argument present. For example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='+') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('a b'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=['a', 'b']) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(''.split()) |
| usage: PROG [-h] foo [foo ...] |
| PROG: error: too few arguments |
| |
| * ``argparse.REMAINDER``. All the remaining command-line arguments are gathered |
| into a list. This is commonly useful for command line utilities that dispatch |
| to other command line utilities:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('command') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('args', nargs=argparse.REMAINDER) |
| >>> print(parser.parse_args('--foo B cmd --arg1 XX ZZ'.split())) |
| Namespace(args=['--arg1', 'XX', 'ZZ'], command='cmd', foo='B') |
| |
| If the ``nargs`` keyword argument is not provided, the number of arguments consumed |
| is determined by the action_. Generally this means a single command-line argument |
| will be consumed and a single item (not a list) will be produced. |
| |
| |
| const |
| ^^^^^ |
| |
| The ``const`` argument of :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` is used to hold |
| constant values that are not read from the command line but are required for |
| the various :class:`ArgumentParser` actions. The two most common uses of it are: |
| |
| * When :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` is called with |
| ``action='store_const'`` or ``action='append_const'``. These actions add the |
| ``const`` value to one of the attributes of the object returned by |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`. See the action_ description for examples. |
| |
| * When :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` is called with option strings |
| (like ``-f`` or ``--foo``) and ``nargs='?'``. This creates an optional |
| argument that can be followed by zero or one command-line arguments. |
| When parsing the command line, if the option string is encountered with no |
| command-line argument following it, the value of ``const`` will be assumed instead. |
| See the nargs_ description for examples. |
| |
| The ``const`` keyword argument defaults to ``None``. |
| |
| |
| default |
| ^^^^^^^ |
| |
| All optional arguments and some positional arguments may be omitted at the |
| command line. The ``default`` keyword argument of |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`, whose value defaults to ``None``, |
| specifies what value should be used if the command-line argument is not present. |
| For optional arguments, the ``default`` value is used when the option string |
| was not present at the command line:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default=42) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo 2'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo='2') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(''.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=42) |
| |
| If the ``default`` value is a string, the parser parses the value as if it |
| were a command-line argument. In particular, the parser applies any type_ |
| conversion argument, if provided, before setting the attribute on the |
| :class:`Namespace` return value. Otherwise, the parser uses the value as is:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--length', default='10', type=int) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--width', default=10.5, type=int) |
| >>> parser.parse_args() |
| Namespace(length=10, width=10.5) |
| |
| For positional arguments with nargs_ equal to ``?`` or ``*``, the ``default`` value |
| is used when no command-line argument was present:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='?', default=42) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('a'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo='a') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(''.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=42) |
| |
| |
| Providing ``default=argparse.SUPPRESS`` causes no attribute to be added if the |
| command-line argument was not present.:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default=argparse.SUPPRESS) |
| >>> parser.parse_args([]) |
| Namespace() |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '1']) |
| Namespace(foo='1') |
| |
| |
| type |
| ^^^^ |
| |
| By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` objects read command-line arguments in as simple |
| strings. However, quite often the command-line string should instead be |
| interpreted as another type, like a :class:`float` or :class:`int`. The |
| ``type`` keyword argument of :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` allows any |
| necessary type-checking and type conversions to be performed. Common built-in |
| types and functions can be used directly as the value of the ``type`` argument:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', type=int) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', type=open) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('2 temp.txt'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='temp.txt' encoding='UTF-8'>, foo=2) |
| |
| See the section on the default_ keyword argument for information on when the |
| ``type`` argument is applied to default arguments. |
| |
| To ease the use of various types of files, the argparse module provides the |
| factory FileType which takes the ``mode=`` and ``bufsize=`` arguments of the |
| :func:`open` function. For example, ``FileType('w')`` can be used to create a |
| writable file:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', type=argparse.FileType('w')) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['out.txt']) |
| Namespace(bar=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='out.txt' encoding='UTF-8'>) |
| |
| ``type=`` can take any callable that takes a single string argument and returns |
| the converted value:: |
| |
| >>> def perfect_square(string): |
| ... value = int(string) |
| ... sqrt = math.sqrt(value) |
| ... if sqrt != int(sqrt): |
| ... msg = "%r is not a perfect square" % string |
| ... raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError(msg) |
| ... return value |
| ... |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', type=perfect_square) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('9'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=9) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('7'.split()) |
| usage: PROG [-h] foo |
| PROG: error: argument foo: '7' is not a perfect square |
| |
| The choices_ keyword argument may be more convenient for type checkers that |
| simply check against a range of values:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', type=int, choices=range(5, 10)) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('7'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=7) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('11'.split()) |
| usage: PROG [-h] {5,6,7,8,9} |
| PROG: error: argument foo: invalid choice: 11 (choose from 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) |
| |
| See the choices_ section for more details. |
| |
| |
| choices |
| ^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Some command-line arguments should be selected from a restricted set of values. |
| These can be handled by passing a container object as the *choices* keyword |
| argument to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`. When the command line is |
| parsed, argument values will be checked, and an error message will be displayed |
| if the argument was not one of the acceptable values:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='game.py') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('move', choices=['rock', 'paper', 'scissors']) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['rock']) |
| Namespace(move='rock') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['fire']) |
| usage: game.py [-h] {rock,paper,scissors} |
| game.py: error: argument move: invalid choice: 'fire' (choose from 'rock', |
| 'paper', 'scissors') |
| |
| Note that inclusion in the *choices* container is checked after any type_ |
| conversions have been performed, so the type of the objects in the *choices* |
| container should match the type_ specified:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='doors.py') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('door', type=int, choices=range(1, 4)) |
| >>> print(parser.parse_args(['3'])) |
| Namespace(door=3) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['4']) |
| usage: doors.py [-h] {1,2,3} |
| doors.py: error: argument door: invalid choice: 4 (choose from 1, 2, 3) |
| |
| Any object that supports the ``in`` operator can be passed as the *choices* |
| value, so :class:`dict` objects, :class:`set` objects, custom containers, |
| etc. are all supported. |
| |
| |
| required |
| ^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| In general, the :mod:`argparse` module assumes that flags like ``-f`` and ``--bar`` |
| indicate *optional* arguments, which can always be omitted at the command line. |
| To make an option *required*, ``True`` can be specified for the ``required=`` |
| keyword argument to :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', required=True) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'BAR']) |
| Namespace(foo='BAR') |
| >>> parser.parse_args([]) |
| usage: argparse.py [-h] [--foo FOO] |
| argparse.py: error: option --foo is required |
| |
| As the example shows, if an option is marked as ``required``, |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` will report an error if that option is not |
| present at the command line. |
| |
| .. note:: |
| |
| Required options are generally considered bad form because users expect |
| *options* to be *optional*, and thus they should be avoided when possible. |
| |
| |
| help |
| ^^^^ |
| |
| The ``help`` value is a string containing a brief description of the argument. |
| When a user requests help (usually by using ``-h`` or ``--help`` at the |
| command line), these ``help`` descriptions will be displayed with each |
| argument:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='frobble') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true', |
| ... help='foo the bars before frobbling') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='+', |
| ... help='one of the bars to be frobbled') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-h'.split()) |
| usage: frobble [-h] [--foo] bar [bar ...] |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| bar one of the bars to be frobbled |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo foo the bars before frobbling |
| |
| The ``help`` strings can include various format specifiers to avoid repetition |
| of things like the program name or the argument default_. The available |
| specifiers include the program name, ``%(prog)s`` and most keyword arguments to |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`, e.g. ``%(default)s``, ``%(type)s``, etc.:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='frobble') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?', type=int, default=42, |
| ... help='the bar to %(prog)s (default: %(default)s)') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: frobble [-h] [bar] |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| bar the bar to frobble (default: 42) |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| As the help string supports %-formatting, if you want a literal ``%`` to appear |
| in the help string, you must escape it as ``%%``. |
| |
| :mod:`argparse` supports silencing the help entry for certain options, by |
| setting the ``help`` value to ``argparse.SUPPRESS``:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='frobble') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', help=argparse.SUPPRESS) |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: frobble [-h] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| |
| metavar |
| ^^^^^^^ |
| |
| When :class:`ArgumentParser` generates help messages, it needs some way to refer |
| to each expected argument. By default, ArgumentParser objects use the dest_ |
| value as the "name" of each object. By default, for positional argument |
| actions, the dest_ value is used directly, and for optional argument actions, |
| the dest_ value is uppercased. So, a single positional argument with |
| ``dest='bar'`` will be referred to as ``bar``. A single |
| optional argument ``--foo`` that should be followed by a single command-line argument |
| will be referred to as ``FOO``. An example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('X --foo Y'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='X', foo='Y') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: [-h] [--foo FOO] bar |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| bar |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo FOO |
| |
| An alternative name can be specified with ``metavar``:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', metavar='YYY') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', metavar='XXX') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('X --foo Y'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='X', foo='Y') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: [-h] [--foo YYY] XXX |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| XXX |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo YYY |
| |
| Note that ``metavar`` only changes the *displayed* name - the name of the |
| attribute on the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` object is still determined |
| by the dest_ value. |
| |
| Different values of ``nargs`` may cause the metavar to be used multiple times. |
| Providing a tuple to ``metavar`` specifies a different display for each of the |
| arguments:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-x', nargs=2) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', nargs=2, metavar=('bar', 'baz')) |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [-h] [-x X X] [--foo bar baz] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| -x X X |
| --foo bar baz |
| |
| |
| dest |
| ^^^^ |
| |
| Most :class:`ArgumentParser` actions add some value as an attribute of the |
| object returned by :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`. The name of this |
| attribute is determined by the ``dest`` keyword argument of |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`. For positional argument actions, |
| ``dest`` is normally supplied as the first argument to |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('XXX'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='XXX') |
| |
| For optional argument actions, the value of ``dest`` is normally inferred from |
| the option strings. :class:`ArgumentParser` generates the value of ``dest`` by |
| taking the first long option string and stripping away the initial ``--`` |
| string. If no long option strings were supplied, ``dest`` will be derived from |
| the first short option string by stripping the initial ``-`` character. Any |
| internal ``-`` characters will be converted to ``_`` characters to make sure |
| the string is a valid attribute name. The examples below illustrate this |
| behavior:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-f', '--foo-bar', '--foo') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-x', '-y') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-f 1 -x 2'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo_bar='1', x='2') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo 1 -y 2'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo_bar='1', x='2') |
| |
| ``dest`` allows a custom attribute name to be provided:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', dest='bar') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo XXX'.split()) |
| Namespace(bar='XXX') |
| |
| |
| The parse_args() method |
| ----------------------- |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.parse_args(args=None, namespace=None) |
| |
| Convert argument strings to objects and assign them as attributes of the |
| namespace. Return the populated namespace. |
| |
| Previous calls to :meth:`add_argument` determine exactly what objects are |
| created and how they are assigned. See the documentation for |
| :meth:`add_argument` for details. |
| |
| By default, the argument strings are taken from :data:`sys.argv`, and a new empty |
| :class:`Namespace` object is created for the attributes. |
| |
| |
| Option value syntax |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method supports several ways of |
| specifying the value of an option (if it takes one). In the simplest case, the |
| option and its value are passed as two separate arguments:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-x') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-x X'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=None, x='X') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo FOO'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo='FOO', x=None) |
| |
| For long options (options with names longer than a single character), the option |
| and value can also be passed as a single command-line argument, using ``=`` to |
| separate them:: |
| |
| >>> parser.parse_args('--foo=FOO'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo='FOO', x=None) |
| |
| For short options (options only one character long), the option and its value |
| can be concatenated:: |
| |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-xX'.split()) |
| Namespace(foo=None, x='X') |
| |
| Several short options can be joined together, using only a single ``-`` prefix, |
| as long as only the last option (or none of them) requires a value:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-x', action='store_true') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-y', action='store_true') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-z') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-xyzZ'.split()) |
| Namespace(x=True, y=True, z='Z') |
| |
| |
| Invalid arguments |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| While parsing the command line, :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` checks for a |
| variety of errors, including ambiguous options, invalid types, invalid options, |
| wrong number of positional arguments, etc. When it encounters such an error, |
| it exits and prints the error along with a usage message:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', type=int) |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar', nargs='?') |
| |
| >>> # invalid type |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'spam']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar] |
| PROG: error: argument --foo: invalid int value: 'spam' |
| |
| >>> # invalid option |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--bar']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar] |
| PROG: error: no such option: --bar |
| |
| >>> # wrong number of arguments |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['spam', 'badger']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo FOO] [bar] |
| PROG: error: extra arguments found: badger |
| |
| |
| Arguments containing ``-`` |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method attempts to give errors whenever |
| the user has clearly made a mistake, but some situations are inherently |
| ambiguous. For example, the command-line argument ``-1`` could either be an |
| attempt to specify an option or an attempt to provide a positional argument. |
| The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method is cautious here: positional |
| arguments may only begin with ``-`` if they look like negative numbers and |
| there are no options in the parser that look like negative numbers:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-x') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='?') |
| |
| >>> # no negative number options, so -1 is a positional argument |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-x', '-1']) |
| Namespace(foo=None, x='-1') |
| |
| >>> # no negative number options, so -1 and -5 are positional arguments |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-x', '-1', '-5']) |
| Namespace(foo='-5', x='-1') |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-1', dest='one') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', nargs='?') |
| |
| >>> # negative number options present, so -1 is an option |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-1', 'X']) |
| Namespace(foo=None, one='X') |
| |
| >>> # negative number options present, so -2 is an option |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-2']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [-1 ONE] [foo] |
| PROG: error: no such option: -2 |
| |
| >>> # negative number options present, so both -1s are options |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-1', '-1']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [-1 ONE] [foo] |
| PROG: error: argument -1: expected one argument |
| |
| If you have positional arguments that must begin with ``-`` and don't look |
| like negative numbers, you can insert the pseudo-argument ``'--'`` which tells |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` that everything after that is a positional |
| argument:: |
| |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--', '-f']) |
| Namespace(foo='-f', one=None) |
| |
| |
| Argument abbreviations |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| The :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` method allows long options to be |
| abbreviated if the abbreviation is unambiguous:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-bacon') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('-badger') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-bac MMM'.split()) |
| Namespace(bacon='MMM', badger=None) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-bad WOOD'.split()) |
| Namespace(bacon=None, badger='WOOD') |
| >>> parser.parse_args('-ba BA'.split()) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [-bacon BACON] [-badger BADGER] |
| PROG: error: ambiguous option: -ba could match -badger, -bacon |
| |
| An error is produced for arguments that could produce more than one options. |
| |
| |
| Beyond ``sys.argv`` |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| Sometimes it may be useful to have an ArgumentParser parse arguments other than those |
| of :data:`sys.argv`. This can be accomplished by passing a list of strings to |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args`. This is useful for testing at the |
| interactive prompt:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument( |
| ... 'integers', metavar='int', type=int, choices=range(10), |
| ... nargs='+', help='an integer in the range 0..9') |
| >>> parser.add_argument( |
| ... '--sum', dest='accumulate', action='store_const', const=sum, |
| ... default=max, help='sum the integers (default: find the max)') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['1', '2', '3', '4']) |
| Namespace(accumulate=<built-in function max>, integers=[1, 2, 3, 4]) |
| >>> parser.parse_args('1 2 3 4 --sum'.split()) |
| Namespace(accumulate=<built-in function sum>, integers=[1, 2, 3, 4]) |
| |
| |
| The Namespace object |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. class:: Namespace |
| |
| Simple class used by default by :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` to create |
| an object holding attributes and return it. |
| |
| This class is deliberately simple, just an :class:`object` subclass with a |
| readable string representation. If you prefer to have dict-like view of the |
| attributes, you can use the standard Python idiom, :func:`vars`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo') |
| >>> args = parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'BAR']) |
| >>> vars(args) |
| {'foo': 'BAR'} |
| |
| It may also be useful to have an :class:`ArgumentParser` assign attributes to an |
| already existing object, rather than a new :class:`Namespace` object. This can |
| be achieved by specifying the ``namespace=`` keyword argument:: |
| |
| >>> class C: |
| ... pass |
| ... |
| >>> c = C() |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(args=['--foo', 'BAR'], namespace=c) |
| >>> c.foo |
| 'BAR' |
| |
| |
| Other utilities |
| --------------- |
| |
| Sub-commands |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.add_subparsers() |
| |
| Many programs split up their functionality into a number of sub-commands, |
| for example, the ``svn`` program can invoke sub-commands like ``svn |
| checkout``, ``svn update``, and ``svn commit``. Splitting up functionality |
| this way can be a particularly good idea when a program performs several |
| different functions which require different kinds of command-line arguments. |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` supports the creation of such sub-commands with the |
| :meth:`add_subparsers` method. The :meth:`add_subparsers` method is normally |
| called with no arguments and returns a special action object. This object |
| has a single method, :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_parser`, which takes a |
| command name and any :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor arguments, and |
| returns an :class:`ArgumentParser` object that can be modified as usual. |
| |
| Some example usage:: |
| |
| >>> # create the top-level parser |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true', help='foo help') |
| >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(help='sub-command help') |
| >>> |
| >>> # create the parser for the "a" command |
| >>> parser_a = subparsers.add_parser('a', help='a help') |
| >>> parser_a.add_argument('bar', type=int, help='bar help') |
| >>> |
| >>> # create the parser for the "b" command |
| >>> parser_b = subparsers.add_parser('b', help='b help') |
| >>> parser_b.add_argument('--baz', choices='XYZ', help='baz help') |
| >>> |
| >>> # parse some argument lists |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['a', '12']) |
| Namespace(bar=12, foo=False) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'b', '--baz', 'Z']) |
| Namespace(baz='Z', foo=True) |
| |
| Note that the object returned by :meth:`parse_args` will only contain |
| attributes for the main parser and the subparser that was selected by the |
| command line (and not any other subparsers). So in the example above, when |
| the ``a`` command is specified, only the ``foo`` and ``bar`` attributes are |
| present, and when the ``b`` command is specified, only the ``foo`` and |
| ``baz`` attributes are present. |
| |
| Similarly, when a help message is requested from a subparser, only the help |
| for that particular parser will be printed. The help message will not |
| include parent parser or sibling parser messages. (A help message for each |
| subparser command, however, can be given by supplying the ``help=`` argument |
| to :meth:`add_parser` as above.) |
| |
| :: |
| |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--help']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo] {a,b} ... |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| {a,b} sub-command help |
| a a help |
| b b help |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --foo foo help |
| |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['a', '--help']) |
| usage: PROG a [-h] bar |
| |
| positional arguments: |
| bar bar help |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['b', '--help']) |
| usage: PROG b [-h] [--baz {X,Y,Z}] |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| --baz {X,Y,Z} baz help |
| |
| The :meth:`add_subparsers` method also supports ``title`` and ``description`` |
| keyword arguments. When either is present, the subparser's commands will |
| appear in their own group in the help output. For example:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title='subcommands', |
| ... description='valid subcommands', |
| ... help='additional help') |
| >>> subparsers.add_parser('foo') |
| >>> subparsers.add_parser('bar') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-h']) |
| usage: [-h] {foo,bar} ... |
| |
| optional arguments: |
| -h, --help show this help message and exit |
| |
| subcommands: |
| valid subcommands |
| |
| {foo,bar} additional help |
| |
| Furthermore, ``add_parser`` supports an additional ``aliases`` argument, |
| which allows multiple strings to refer to the same subparser. This example, |
| like ``svn``, aliases ``co`` as a shorthand for ``checkout``:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers() |
| >>> checkout = subparsers.add_parser('checkout', aliases=['co']) |
| >>> checkout.add_argument('foo') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['co', 'bar']) |
| Namespace(foo='bar') |
| |
| One particularly effective way of handling sub-commands is to combine the use |
| of the :meth:`add_subparsers` method with calls to :meth:`set_defaults` so |
| that each subparser knows which Python function it should execute. For |
| example:: |
| |
| >>> # sub-command functions |
| >>> def foo(args): |
| ... print(args.x * args.y) |
| ... |
| >>> def bar(args): |
| ... print('((%s))' % args.z) |
| ... |
| >>> # create the top-level parser |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers() |
| >>> |
| >>> # create the parser for the "foo" command |
| >>> parser_foo = subparsers.add_parser('foo') |
| >>> parser_foo.add_argument('-x', type=int, default=1) |
| >>> parser_foo.add_argument('y', type=float) |
| >>> parser_foo.set_defaults(func=foo) |
| >>> |
| >>> # create the parser for the "bar" command |
| >>> parser_bar = subparsers.add_parser('bar') |
| >>> parser_bar.add_argument('z') |
| >>> parser_bar.set_defaults(func=bar) |
| >>> |
| >>> # parse the args and call whatever function was selected |
| >>> args = parser.parse_args('foo 1 -x 2'.split()) |
| >>> args.func(args) |
| 2.0 |
| >>> |
| >>> # parse the args and call whatever function was selected |
| >>> args = parser.parse_args('bar XYZYX'.split()) |
| >>> args.func(args) |
| ((XYZYX)) |
| |
| This way, you can let :meth:`parse_args` do the job of calling the |
| appropriate function after argument parsing is complete. Associating |
| functions with actions like this is typically the easiest way to handle the |
| different actions for each of your subparsers. However, if it is necessary |
| to check the name of the subparser that was invoked, the ``dest`` keyword |
| argument to the :meth:`add_subparsers` call will work:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest='subparser_name') |
| >>> subparser1 = subparsers.add_parser('1') |
| >>> subparser1.add_argument('-x') |
| >>> subparser2 = subparsers.add_parser('2') |
| >>> subparser2.add_argument('y') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['2', 'frobble']) |
| Namespace(subparser_name='2', y='frobble') |
| |
| |
| FileType objects |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. class:: FileType(mode='r', bufsize=None) |
| |
| The :class:`FileType` factory creates objects that can be passed to the type |
| argument of :meth:`ArgumentParser.add_argument`. Arguments that have |
| :class:`FileType` objects as their type will open command-line arguments as files |
| with the requested modes and buffer sizes:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--output', type=argparse.FileType('wb', 0)) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--output', 'out']) |
| Namespace(output=<_io.BufferedWriter name='out'>) |
| |
| FileType objects understand the pseudo-argument ``'-'`` and automatically |
| convert this into ``sys.stdin`` for readable :class:`FileType` objects and |
| ``sys.stdout`` for writable :class:`FileType` objects:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('infile', type=argparse.FileType('r')) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['-']) |
| Namespace(infile=<_io.TextIOWrapper name='<stdin>' encoding='UTF-8'>) |
| |
| |
| Argument groups |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.add_argument_group(title=None, description=None) |
| |
| By default, :class:`ArgumentParser` groups command-line arguments into |
| "positional arguments" and "optional arguments" when displaying help |
| messages. When there is a better conceptual grouping of arguments than this |
| default one, appropriate groups can be created using the |
| :meth:`add_argument_group` method:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', add_help=False) |
| >>> group = parser.add_argument_group('group') |
| >>> group.add_argument('--foo', help='foo help') |
| >>> group.add_argument('bar', help='bar help') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [--foo FOO] bar |
| |
| group: |
| bar bar help |
| --foo FOO foo help |
| |
| The :meth:`add_argument_group` method returns an argument group object which |
| has an :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` method just like a regular |
| :class:`ArgumentParser`. When an argument is added to the group, the parser |
| treats it just like a normal argument, but displays the argument in a |
| separate group for help messages. The :meth:`add_argument_group` method |
| accepts *title* and *description* arguments which can be used to |
| customize this display:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG', add_help=False) |
| >>> group1 = parser.add_argument_group('group1', 'group1 description') |
| >>> group1.add_argument('foo', help='foo help') |
| >>> group2 = parser.add_argument_group('group2', 'group2 description') |
| >>> group2.add_argument('--bar', help='bar help') |
| >>> parser.print_help() |
| usage: PROG [--bar BAR] foo |
| |
| group1: |
| group1 description |
| |
| foo foo help |
| |
| group2: |
| group2 description |
| |
| --bar BAR bar help |
| |
| Note that any arguments not in your user-defined groups will end up back |
| in the usual "positional arguments" and "optional arguments" sections. |
| |
| |
| Mutual exclusion |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. method:: add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=False) |
| |
| Create a mutually exclusive group. :mod:`argparse` will make sure that only |
| one of the arguments in the mutually exclusive group was present on the |
| command line:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group() |
| >>> group.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true') |
| >>> group.add_argument('--bar', action='store_false') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo']) |
| Namespace(bar=True, foo=True) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--bar']) |
| Namespace(bar=False, foo=False) |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['--foo', '--bar']) |
| usage: PROG [-h] [--foo | --bar] |
| PROG: error: argument --bar: not allowed with argument --foo |
| |
| The :meth:`add_mutually_exclusive_group` method also accepts a *required* |
| argument, to indicate that at least one of the mutually exclusive arguments |
| is required:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG') |
| >>> group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True) |
| >>> group.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true') |
| >>> group.add_argument('--bar', action='store_false') |
| >>> parser.parse_args([]) |
| usage: PROG [-h] (--foo | --bar) |
| PROG: error: one of the arguments --foo --bar is required |
| |
| Note that currently mutually exclusive argument groups do not support the |
| *title* and *description* arguments of |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument_group`. |
| |
| |
| Parser defaults |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.set_defaults(**kwargs) |
| |
| Most of the time, the attributes of the object returned by :meth:`parse_args` |
| will be fully determined by inspecting the command-line arguments and the argument |
| actions. :meth:`set_defaults` allows some additional |
| attributes that are determined without any inspection of the command line to |
| be added:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('foo', type=int) |
| >>> parser.set_defaults(bar=42, baz='badger') |
| >>> parser.parse_args(['736']) |
| Namespace(bar=42, baz='badger', foo=736) |
| |
| Note that parser-level defaults always override argument-level defaults:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default='bar') |
| >>> parser.set_defaults(foo='spam') |
| >>> parser.parse_args([]) |
| Namespace(foo='spam') |
| |
| Parser-level defaults can be particularly useful when working with multiple |
| parsers. See the :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_subparsers` method for an |
| example of this type. |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.get_default(dest) |
| |
| Get the default value for a namespace attribute, as set by either |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.add_argument` or by |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.set_defaults`:: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default='badger') |
| >>> parser.get_default('foo') |
| 'badger' |
| |
| |
| Printing help |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| In most typical applications, :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` will take |
| care of formatting and printing any usage or error messages. However, several |
| formatting methods are available: |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.print_usage(file=None) |
| |
| Print a brief description of how the :class:`ArgumentParser` should be |
| invoked on the command line. If *file* is ``None``, :data:`sys.stdout` is |
| assumed. |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.print_help(file=None) |
| |
| Print a help message, including the program usage and information about the |
| arguments registered with the :class:`ArgumentParser`. If *file* is |
| ``None``, :data:`sys.stdout` is assumed. |
| |
| There are also variants of these methods that simply return a string instead of |
| printing it: |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.format_usage() |
| |
| Return a string containing a brief description of how the |
| :class:`ArgumentParser` should be invoked on the command line. |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.format_help() |
| |
| Return a string containing a help message, including the program usage and |
| information about the arguments registered with the :class:`ArgumentParser`. |
| |
| |
| Partial parsing |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.parse_known_args(args=None, namespace=None) |
| |
| Sometimes a script may only parse a few of the command-line arguments, passing |
| the remaining arguments on to another script or program. In these cases, the |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_known_args` method can be useful. It works much like |
| :meth:`~ArgumentParser.parse_args` except that it does not produce an error when |
| extra arguments are present. Instead, it returns a two item tuple containing |
| the populated namespace and the list of remaining argument strings. |
| |
| :: |
| |
| >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() |
| >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='store_true') |
| >>> parser.add_argument('bar') |
| >>> parser.parse_known_args(['--foo', '--badger', 'BAR', 'spam']) |
| (Namespace(bar='BAR', foo=True), ['--badger', 'spam']) |
| |
| |
| Customizing file parsing |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.convert_arg_line_to_args(arg_line) |
| |
| Arguments that are read from a file (see the *fromfile_prefix_chars* |
| keyword argument to the :class:`ArgumentParser` constructor) are read one |
| argument per line. :meth:`convert_arg_line_to_args` can be overriden for |
| fancier reading. |
| |
| This method takes a single argument *arg_line* which is a string read from |
| the argument file. It returns a list of arguments parsed from this string. |
| The method is called once per line read from the argument file, in order. |
| |
| A useful override of this method is one that treats each space-separated word |
| as an argument:: |
| |
| def convert_arg_line_to_args(self, arg_line): |
| for arg in arg_line.split(): |
| if not arg.strip(): |
| continue |
| yield arg |
| |
| |
| Exiting methods |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.exit(status=0, message=None) |
| |
| This method terminates the program, exiting with the specified *status* |
| and, if given, it prints a *message* before that. |
| |
| .. method:: ArgumentParser.error(message) |
| |
| This method prints a usage message including the *message* to the |
| standard error and terminates the program with a status code of 2. |
| |
| .. _upgrading-optparse-code: |
| |
| Upgrading optparse code |
| ----------------------- |
| |
| Originally, the :mod:`argparse` module had attempted to maintain compatibility |
| with :mod:`optparse`. However, :mod:`optparse` was difficult to extend |
| transparently, particularly with the changes required to support the new |
| ``nargs=`` specifiers and better usage messages. When most everything in |
| :mod:`optparse` had either been copy-pasted over or monkey-patched, it no |
| longer seemed practical to try to maintain the backwards compatibility. |
| |
| A partial upgrade path from :mod:`optparse` to :mod:`argparse`: |
| |
| * Replace all :meth:`optparse.OptionParser.add_option` calls with |
| :meth:`ArgumentParser.add_argument` calls. |
| |
| * Replace ``(options, args) = parser.parse_args()`` with ``args = |
| parser.parse_args()`` and add additional :meth:`ArgumentParser.add_argument` |
| calls for the positional arguments. Keep in mind that what was previously |
| called ``options``, now in :mod:`argparse` context is called ``args``. |
| |
| * Replace callback actions and the ``callback_*`` keyword arguments with |
| ``type`` or ``action`` arguments. |
| |
| * Replace string names for ``type`` keyword arguments with the corresponding |
| type objects (e.g. int, float, complex, etc). |
| |
| * Replace :class:`optparse.Values` with :class:`Namespace` and |
| :exc:`optparse.OptionError` and :exc:`optparse.OptionValueError` with |
| :exc:`ArgumentError`. |
| |
| * Replace strings with implicit arguments such as ``%default`` or ``%prog`` with |
| the standard Python syntax to use dictionaries to format strings, that is, |
| ``%(default)s`` and ``%(prog)s``. |
| |
| * Replace the OptionParser constructor ``version`` argument with a call to |
| ``parser.add_argument('--version', action='version', version='<the version>')`` |