File size: 27,978 Bytes
9273228
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
# Argparse Tutorial

author
:   Tshepang Mbambo

::: currentmodule
argparse
:::

This tutorial is intended to be a gentle introduction to `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"}, the recommended command-line parsing module in the Python standard library.

:::: note
::: title
Note
:::

The standard library includes two other libraries directly related to command-line parameter processing: the lower level `optparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module (which may require more code to configure for a given application, but also allows an application to request behaviors that `argparse` doesn\'t support), and the very low level `getopt`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} (which specifically serves as an equivalent to the `!getopt`{.interpreted-text role="c:func"} family of functions available to C programmers). While neither of those modules is covered directly in this guide, many of the core concepts in `argparse` first originated in `optparse`, so some aspects of this tutorial will also be relevant to `optparse` users.
::::

## Concepts

Let\'s show the sort of functionality that we are going to explore in this introductory tutorial by making use of the `ls`{.interpreted-text role="command"} command:

``` shell-session
$ ls
cpython  devguide  prog.py  pypy  rm-unused-function.patch
$ ls pypy
ctypes_configure  demo  dotviewer  include  lib_pypy  lib-python ...
$ ls -l
total 20
drwxr-xr-x 19 wena wena 4096 Feb 18 18:51 cpython
drwxr-xr-x  4 wena wena 4096 Feb  8 12:04 devguide
-rwxr-xr-x  1 wena wena  535 Feb 19 00:05 prog.py
drwxr-xr-x 14 wena wena 4096 Feb  7 00:59 pypy
-rw-r--r--  1 wena wena  741 Feb 18 01:01 rm-unused-function.patch
$ ls --help
Usage: ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...
List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default).
Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified.
...
```

A few concepts we can learn from the four commands:

- The `ls`{.interpreted-text role="command"} command is useful when run without any options at all. It defaults to displaying the contents of the current directory.
- If we want beyond what it provides by default, we tell it a bit more. In this case, we want it to display a different directory, `pypy`. What we did is specify what is known as a positional argument. It\'s named so because the program should know what to do with the value, solely based on where it appears on the command line. This concept is more relevant to a command like `cp`{.interpreted-text role="command"}, whose most basic usage is `cp SRC DEST`. The first position is *what you want copied,* and the second position is *where you want it copied to*.
- Now, say we want to change behaviour of the program. In our example, we display more info for each file instead of just showing the file names. The `-l` in that case is known as an optional argument.
- That\'s a snippet of the help text. It\'s very useful in that you can come across a program you have never used before, and can figure out how it works simply by reading its help text.

## The basics

Let us start with a very simple example which does (almost) nothing:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.parse_args()

Following is a result of running the code:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py
$ python prog.py --help
usage: prog.py [-h]

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
$ python prog.py --verbose
usage: prog.py [-h]
prog.py: error: unrecognized arguments: --verbose
$ python prog.py foo
usage: prog.py [-h]
prog.py: error: unrecognized arguments: foo
```

Here is what is happening:

- Running the script without any options results in nothing displayed to stdout. Not so useful.
- The second one starts to display the usefulness of the `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module. We have done almost nothing, but already we get a nice help message.
- The `--help` option, which can also be shortened to `-h`, is the only option we get for free (i.e. no need to specify it). Specifying anything else results in an error. But even then, we do get a useful usage message, also for free.

## Introducing Positional arguments

An example:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("echo")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    print(args.echo)

And running the code:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py
usage: prog.py [-h] echo
prog.py: error: the following arguments are required: echo
$ python prog.py --help
usage: prog.py [-h] echo

positional arguments:
  echo

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
$ python prog.py foo
foo
```

Here is what\'s happening:

- We\'ve added the `~ArgumentParser.add_argument`{.interpreted-text role="meth"} method, which is what we use to specify which command-line options the program is willing to accept. In this case, I\'ve named it `echo` so that it\'s in line with its function.
- Calling our program now requires us to specify an option.
- The `~ArgumentParser.parse_args`{.interpreted-text role="meth"} method actually returns some data from the options specified, in this case, `echo`.
- The variable is some form of \'magic\' that `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} performs for free (i.e. no need to specify which variable that value is stored in). You will also notice that its name matches the string argument given to the method, `echo`.

Note however that, although the help display looks nice and all, it currently is not as helpful as it can be. For example we see that we got `echo` as a positional argument, but we don\'t know what it does, other than by guessing or by reading the source code. So, let\'s make it a bit more useful:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("echo", help="echo the string you use here")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    print(args.echo)

And we get:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py -h
usage: prog.py [-h] echo

positional arguments:
  echo        echo the string you use here

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
```

Now, how about doing something even more useful:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", help="display a square of a given number")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    print(args.square**2)

Following is a result of running the code:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "prog.py", line 5, in <module>
    print(args.square**2)
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for ** or pow(): 'str' and 'int'
```

That didn\'t go so well. That\'s because `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} treats the options we give it as strings, unless we tell it otherwise. So, let\'s tell `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} to treat that input as an integer:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", help="display a square of a given number",
                        type=int)
    args = parser.parse_args()
    print(args.square**2)

Following is a result of running the code:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4
16
$ python prog.py four
usage: prog.py [-h] square
prog.py: error: argument square: invalid int value: 'four'
```

That went well. The program now even helpfully quits on bad illegal input before proceeding.

## Introducing Optional arguments

So far we have been playing with positional arguments. Let us have a look on how to add optional ones:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("--verbosity", help="increase output verbosity")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    if args.verbosity:
        print("verbosity turned on")

And the output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py --verbosity 1
verbosity turned on
$ python prog.py
$ python prog.py --help
usage: prog.py [-h] [--verbosity VERBOSITY]

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --verbosity VERBOSITY
                        increase output verbosity
$ python prog.py --verbosity
usage: prog.py [-h] [--verbosity VERBOSITY]
prog.py: error: argument --verbosity: expected one argument
```

Here is what is happening:

- The program is written so as to display something when `--verbosity` is specified and display nothing when not.
- To show that the option is actually optional, there is no error when running the program without it. Note that by default, if an optional argument isn\'t used, the relevant variable, in this case `args.verbosity`, is given `None` as a value, which is the reason it fails the truth test of the `if`{.interpreted-text role="keyword"} statement.
- The help message is a bit different.
- When using the `--verbosity` option, one must also specify some value, any value.

The above example accepts arbitrary integer values for `--verbosity`, but for our simple program, only two values are actually useful, `True` or `False`. Let\'s modify the code accordingly:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("--verbose", help="increase output verbosity",
                        action="store_true")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    if args.verbose:
        print("verbosity turned on")

And the output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py --verbose
verbosity turned on
$ python prog.py --verbose 1
usage: prog.py [-h] [--verbose]
prog.py: error: unrecognized arguments: 1
$ python prog.py --help
usage: prog.py [-h] [--verbose]

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
  --verbose   increase output verbosity
```

Here is what is happening:

- The option is now more of a flag than something that requires a value. We even changed the name of the option to match that idea. Note that we now specify a new keyword, `action`, and give it the value `"store_true"`. This means that, if the option is specified, assign the value `True` to `args.verbose`. Not specifying it implies `False`.
- It complains when you specify a value, in true spirit of what flags actually are.
- Notice the different help text.

### Short options

If you are familiar with command line usage, you will notice that I haven\'t yet touched on the topic of short versions of the options. It\'s quite simple:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", help="increase output verbosity",
                        action="store_true")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    if args.verbose:
        print("verbosity turned on")

And here goes:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py -v
verbosity turned on
$ python prog.py --help
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v]

options:
  -h, --help     show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbose  increase output verbosity
```

Note that the new ability is also reflected in the help text.

## Combining Positional and Optional arguments

Our program keeps growing in complexity:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", type=int,
                        help="display a square of a given number")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", action="store_true",
                        help="increase output verbosity")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.square**2
    if args.verbose:
        print(f"the square of {args.square} equals {answer}")
    else:
        print(answer)

And now the output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v] square
prog.py: error: the following arguments are required: square
$ python prog.py 4
16
$ python prog.py 4 --verbose
the square of 4 equals 16
$ python prog.py --verbose 4
the square of 4 equals 16
```

- We\'ve brought back a positional argument, hence the complaint.
- Note that the order does not matter.

How about we give this program of ours back the ability to have multiple verbosity values, and actually get to use them:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", type=int,
                        help="display a square of a given number")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", type=int,
                        help="increase output verbosity")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.square**2
    if args.verbosity == 2:
        print(f"the square of {args.square} equals {answer}")
    elif args.verbosity == 1:
        print(f"{args.square}^2 == {answer}")
    else:
        print(answer)

And the output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4
16
$ python prog.py 4 -v
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v VERBOSITY] square
prog.py: error: argument -v/--verbosity: expected one argument
$ python prog.py 4 -v 1
4^2 == 16
$ python prog.py 4 -v 2
the square of 4 equals 16
$ python prog.py 4 -v 3
16
```

These all look good except the last one, which exposes a bug in our program. Let\'s fix it by restricting the values the `--verbosity` option can accept:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", type=int,
                        help="display a square of a given number")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", type=int, choices=[0, 1, 2],
                        help="increase output verbosity")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.square**2
    if args.verbosity == 2:
        print(f"the square of {args.square} equals {answer}")
    elif args.verbosity == 1:
        print(f"{args.square}^2 == {answer}")
    else:
        print(answer)

And the output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4 -v 3
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v {0,1,2}] square
prog.py: error: argument -v/--verbosity: invalid choice: 3 (choose from 0, 1, 2)
$ python prog.py 4 -h
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v {0,1,2}] square

positional arguments:
  square                display a square of a given number

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbosity {0,1,2}
                        increase output verbosity
```

Note that the change also reflects both in the error message as well as the help string.

Now, let\'s use a different approach of playing with verbosity, which is pretty common. It also matches the way the CPython executable handles its own verbosity argument (check the output of `python --help`):

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", type=int,
                        help="display the square of a given number")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", action="count",
                        help="increase output verbosity")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.square**2
    if args.verbosity == 2:
        print(f"the square of {args.square} equals {answer}")
    elif args.verbosity == 1:
        print(f"{args.square}^2 == {answer}")
    else:
        print(answer)

We have introduced another action, \"count\", to count the number of occurrences of specific options.

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4
16
$ python prog.py 4 -v
4^2 == 16
$ python prog.py 4 -vv
the square of 4 equals 16
$ python prog.py 4 --verbosity --verbosity
the square of 4 equals 16
$ python prog.py 4 -v 1
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v] square
prog.py: error: unrecognized arguments: 1
$ python prog.py 4 -h
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v] square

positional arguments:
  square           display a square of a given number

options:
  -h, --help       show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbosity  increase output verbosity
$ python prog.py 4 -vvv
16
```

- Yes, it\'s now more of a flag (similar to `action="store_true"`) in the previous version of our script. That should explain the complaint.
- It also behaves similar to \"store_true\" action.
- Now here\'s a demonstration of what the \"count\" action gives. You\'ve probably seen this sort of usage before.
- And if you don\'t specify the `-v` flag, that flag is considered to have `None` value.
- As should be expected, specifying the long form of the flag, we should get the same output.
- Sadly, our help output isn\'t very informative on the new ability our script has acquired, but that can always be fixed by improving the documentation for our script (e.g. via the `help` keyword argument).
- That last output exposes a bug in our program.

Let\'s fix:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", type=int,
                        help="display a square of a given number")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", action="count",
                        help="increase output verbosity")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.square**2

    # bugfix: replace == with >=
    if args.verbosity >= 2:
        print(f"the square of {args.square} equals {answer}")
    elif args.verbosity >= 1:
        print(f"{args.square}^2 == {answer}")
    else:
        print(answer)

And this is what it gives:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4 -vvv
the square of 4 equals 16
$ python prog.py 4 -vvvv
the square of 4 equals 16
$ python prog.py 4
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "prog.py", line 11, in <module>
    if args.verbosity >= 2:
TypeError: '>=' not supported between instances of 'NoneType' and 'int'
```

- First output went well, and fixes the bug we had before. That is, we want any value \>= 2 to be as verbose as possible.
- Third output not so good.

Let\'s fix that bug:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("square", type=int,
                        help="display a square of a given number")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", action="count", default=0,
                        help="increase output verbosity")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.square**2
    if args.verbosity >= 2:
        print(f"the square of {args.square} equals {answer}")
    elif args.verbosity >= 1:
        print(f"{args.square}^2 == {answer}")
    else:
        print(answer)

We\'ve just introduced yet another keyword, `default`. We\'ve set it to `0` in order to make it comparable to the other int values. Remember that by default, if an optional argument isn\'t specified, it gets the `None` value, and that cannot be compared to an int value (hence the `TypeError`{.interpreted-text role="exc"} exception).

And:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4
16
```

You can go quite far just with what we\'ve learned so far, and we have only scratched the surface. The `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module is very powerful, and we\'ll explore a bit more of it before we end this tutorial.

## Getting a little more advanced

What if we wanted to expand our tiny program to perform other powers, not just squares:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("x", type=int, help="the base")
    parser.add_argument("y", type=int, help="the exponent")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", action="count", default=0)
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.x**args.y
    if args.verbosity >= 2:
        print(f"{args.x} to the power {args.y} equals {answer}")
    elif args.verbosity >= 1:
        print(f"{args.x}^{args.y} == {answer}")
    else:
        print(answer)

Output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v] x y
prog.py: error: the following arguments are required: x, y
$ python prog.py -h
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v] x y

positional arguments:
  x                the base
  y                the exponent

options:
  -h, --help       show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbosity
$ python prog.py 4 2 -v
4^2 == 16
```

Notice that so far we\'ve been using verbosity level to *change* the text that gets displayed. The following example instead uses verbosity level to display *more* text instead:

    import argparse
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("x", type=int, help="the base")
    parser.add_argument("y", type=int, help="the exponent")
    parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", action="count", default=0)
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.x**args.y
    if args.verbosity >= 2:
        print(f"Running '{__file__}'")
    if args.verbosity >= 1:
        print(f"{args.x}^{args.y} == ", end="")
    print(answer)

Output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4 2
16
$ python prog.py 4 2 -v
4^2 == 16
$ python prog.py 4 2 -vv
Running 'prog.py'
4^2 == 16
```

### Specifying ambiguous arguments

When there is ambiguity in deciding whether an argument is positional or for an argument, `--` can be used to tell `~ArgumentParser.parse_args`{.interpreted-text role="meth"} that everything after that is a positional argument:

    >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
    >>> parser.add_argument('-n', nargs='+')
    >>> parser.add_argument('args', nargs='*')

    >>> # ambiguous, so parse_args assumes it's an option
    >>> parser.parse_args(['-f'])
    usage: PROG [-h] [-n N [N ...]] [args ...]
    PROG: error: unrecognized arguments: -f

    >>> parser.parse_args(['--', '-f'])
    Namespace(args=['-f'], n=None)

    >>> # ambiguous, so the -n option greedily accepts arguments
    >>> parser.parse_args(['-n', '1', '2', '3'])
    Namespace(args=[], n=['1', '2', '3'])

    >>> parser.parse_args(['-n', '1', '--', '2', '3'])
    Namespace(args=['2', '3'], n=['1'])

### Conflicting options

So far, we have been working with two methods of an `argparse.ArgumentParser`{.interpreted-text role="class"} instance. Let\'s introduce a third one, `~ArgumentParser.add_mutually_exclusive_group`{.interpreted-text role="meth"}. It allows for us to specify options that conflict with each other. Let\'s also change the rest of the program so that the new functionality makes more sense: we\'ll introduce the `--quiet` option, which will be the opposite of the `--verbose` one:

    import argparse

    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
    group.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", action="store_true")
    group.add_argument("-q", "--quiet", action="store_true")
    parser.add_argument("x", type=int, help="the base")
    parser.add_argument("y", type=int, help="the exponent")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.x**args.y

    if args.quiet:
        print(answer)
    elif args.verbose:
        print(f"{args.x} to the power {args.y} equals {answer}")
    else:
        print(f"{args.x}^{args.y} == {answer}")

Our program is now simpler, and we\'ve lost some functionality for the sake of demonstration. Anyways, here\'s the output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py 4 2
4^2 == 16
$ python prog.py 4 2 -q
16
$ python prog.py 4 2 -v
4 to the power 2 equals 16
$ python prog.py 4 2 -vq
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v | -q] x y
prog.py: error: argument -q/--quiet: not allowed with argument -v/--verbose
$ python prog.py 4 2 -v --quiet
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v | -q] x y
prog.py: error: argument -q/--quiet: not allowed with argument -v/--verbose
```

That should be easy to follow. I\'ve added that last output so you can see the sort of flexibility you get, i.e. mixing long form options with short form ones.

Before we conclude, you probably want to tell your users the main purpose of your program, just in case they don\'t know:

    import argparse

    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="calculate X to the power of Y")
    group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
    group.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", action="store_true")
    group.add_argument("-q", "--quiet", action="store_true")
    parser.add_argument("x", type=int, help="the base")
    parser.add_argument("y", type=int, help="the exponent")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    answer = args.x**args.y

    if args.quiet:
        print(answer)
    elif args.verbose:
        print(f"{args.x} to the power {args.y} equals {answer}")
    else:
        print(f"{args.x}^{args.y} == {answer}")

Note that slight difference in the usage text. Note the `[-v | -q]`, which tells us that we can either use `-v` or `-q`, but not both at the same time:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py --help
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v | -q] x y

calculate X to the power of Y

positional arguments:
  x              the base
  y              the exponent

options:
  -h, --help     show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbose
  -q, --quiet
```

## How to translate the argparse output

The output of the `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module such as its help text and error messages are all made translatable using the `gettext`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module. This allows applications to easily localize messages produced by `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"}. See also `i18n-howto`{.interpreted-text role="ref"}.

For instance, in this `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py --help
usage: prog.py [-h] [-v | -q] x y

calculate X to the power of Y

positional arguments:
  x              the base
  y              the exponent

options:
  -h, --help     show this help message and exit
  -v, --verbose
  -q, --quiet
```

The strings `usage:`, `positional arguments:`, `options:` and `show this help message and exit` are all translatable.

In order to translate these strings, they must first be extracted into a `.po` file. For example, using [Babel](https://babel.pocoo.org/), run this command:

``` shell-session
$ pybabel extract -o messages.po /usr/lib/python3.12/argparse.py
```

This command will extract all translatable strings from the `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module and output them into a file named `messages.po`. This command assumes that your Python installation is in `/usr/lib`.

You can find out the location of the `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module on your system using this script:

    import argparse
    print(argparse.__file__)

Once the messages in the `.po` file are translated and the translations are installed using `gettext`{.interpreted-text role="mod"}, `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} will be able to display the translated messages.

To translate your own strings in the `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} output, use `gettext`{.interpreted-text role="mod"}.

## Custom type converters

The `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module allows you to specify custom type converters for your command-line arguments. This allows you to modify user input before it\'s stored in the `argparse.Namespace`{.interpreted-text role="class"}. This can be useful when you need to pre-process the input before it is used in your program.

When using a custom type converter, you can use any callable that takes a single string argument (the argument value) and returns the converted value. However, if you need to handle more complex scenarios, you can use a custom action class with the **action** parameter instead.

For example, let\'s say you want to handle arguments with different prefixes and process them accordingly:

    import argparse

    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prefix_chars='-+')

    parser.add_argument('-a', metavar='<value>', action='append',
                        type=lambda x: ('-', x))
    parser.add_argument('+a', metavar='<value>', action='append',
                        type=lambda x: ('+', x))

    args = parser.parse_args()
    print(args)

Output:

``` shell-session
$ python prog.py -a value1 +a value2
Namespace(a=[('-', 'value1'), ('+', 'value2')])
```

In this example, we:

- Created a parser with custom prefix characters using the `prefix_chars` parameter.
- Defined two arguments, `-a` and `+a`, which used the `type` parameter to create custom type converters to store the value in a tuple with the prefix.

Without the custom type converters, the arguments would have treated the `-a` and `+a` as the same argument, which would have been undesirable. By using custom type converters, we were able to differentiate between the two arguments.

## Conclusion

The `argparse`{.interpreted-text role="mod"} module offers a lot more than shown here. Its docs are quite detailed and thorough, and full of examples. Having gone through this tutorial, you should easily digest them without feeling overwhelmed.