Develop Reference

Using the '--help' command in argparse

I am using the argparse library but for whatever reason I'm having difficult printing the -h argument. Here is the entire source I have:
# df.py
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Dedupe assets in our library.')
parser.add_argument('--masters', nargs='?', default=None, type=int, help='Enter one or more ids.')
if __name__ == '__main__':
print ('hi')
I was under the impression that entering in the --h flag via:
$ python df.py --help
Would automatically print the help stuff for the file using argparse but I seem to be making false assumptions. It seems like I also have to add in something like this into my code?
if '--help' in sys.argv: print (parser.parse_args(['-h']))
What is the 'proper' way to print out the help args when using the argparse library?

You forgot to actually parse the arguments; if you put parser.parse_args() in after defining the parser, it would respond to -h/--help. Typically, you'd do something like:
args = parser.parse_args()
so that the args object can be used to access the parsed argument data.
I'll also note that the argument parsing should almost certainly be controlled by the if __name__ == '__main__': guard; if you're not being invoked as the main script, parsing the command line is unusual, to say the least. Idiomatic code would look something like:
# df.py
def main():
import argparse # Could be moved to top level, but given it's only used
# in main, it's not a terrible idea to import in main
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Dedupe assets in our library.')
parser.add_argument('--masters', nargs='?', type=int, help='Enter one or more ids.')
args = parser.parse_args()
print ('hi')
# Do something with args.masters or whatever
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

Passing main arguments after subparser arguments

Imagine you've got common arguments for several subparsers:
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument(
"--learn_rate",
type=float,
)
subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(help='task', dest='lib')
spacy_parser = subparsers.add_parser(
"spacy",
)
args = vars(parser.parse_args())
From the command line, you have to run python test.py --learn_rate 2 spacy. Is it possible to make it so that python test.py spacy --learn_rate 2 also works?

learn_rate isn't an option common to your subparsers; it's an option on the main command, which is available to your code regardless of which subparser gets invoked. If you truly want to share an option among multiple subparsers as in your second use case, you need to define it in a parent parser.
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
shared_parent = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
shared_parent.add_argument(
"--learn_rate",
type=float,
)
subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(help='task', dest='lib')
spacy_parser = subparsers.add_parser(
"spacy",
parents=[shared_parent]
)
args = vars(parser.parse_args())
Allowing --learn_rate to be used in either position is trickier. While you could define the shared_parent parser first, then add it to the main parser as well with parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(parents=[shared_parent]), the subcommand will overwrite whatever value you specify from the main parser with the default if you don't use the option from the subparser. Working around this behavior of argparse would probably require a custom action at the very least.

This works:
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter
)
subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(help='task', dest='lib')
spacy_parser = subparsers.add_parser(
"spacy",
help="Spacy's Textcat",
formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter,
)
ulmfit_parser = subparsers.add_parser(
"ulmfit",
help="Fastai's ULMFiT",
formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter,
)
for subparser in subparsers.choices.values():
subparser.add_argument(...)

Use argparse to send arguments to function within Python script

I am in the bit of a weird situation where I need a Python function to run from within a script, with the script then called from my main code.
I wanted to use the subprocess module, and know how to use it to pass arguments to a pure script, but the thing is, I need to pass the arguments to the nested Python function within, most of which are optional and have default values.
I thought arparse would help me do this somehow.
Here is an example of what I am trying:
## Some Argparse, which will hopefully help
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
## All arguments, with only "follow" being required
parser.add_argument('file_name', help='Name of resulting csv file')
parser.add_argument('sub_name', help='Sub-name of resulting csv file')
parser.add_argument('follow', help='Account(s) to follow', required=True)
parser.add_argument('locations', help='Locations')
parser.add_argument('languages', help='Languages')
parser.add_argument('time_limit', help='How long to keep stream open')
args = parser.parse_args()
## Actual Function
def twitter_stream_listener(file_name=None,
sub_name='stream_',
auth = api.auth,
filter_track=None,
follow=None,
locations=None,
languages=None,
time_limit=20):
... function code ...
... more function code ...
...
...
## End of script

If you are passing arguments to functions all you need to do is feed them into the function when you're executing them:
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("-o", "--output_file_name", help="Name of resulting csv file")
parser.add_argument("-s", "--sub_name", default="stream_", help="Sub-name of resulting csv file")
parser.add_argument("-f", "--follow", help="Account(s) to follow", required=True)
parser.add_argument("-loc", "--locations", default=None, help="Locations")
parser.add_argument("-lan", "--languages", default=None, help="Languages")
parser.add_argument("-t", "--time_limit", default=20, help="How long to keep stream open")
options = parser.parse_args()
# then just pass in the arguments when you run the function
twitter_stream_listener(file_name=options.output_file_name,
sub_name=options.sub_name,
auth=api.auth,
filter_track=None,
follow=options.follow,
locations=options.locations,
languages=options.languages,
time_limit=options.time_limit)
# or, pass the arguments into the functions when defining your function
def twitter_stream_listener_with_args(file_name=options.output_file_name,
sub_name=options.sub_name,
auth=api.auth,
filter_track=None,
follow=options.follow,
locations=options.locations,
languages=options.languages,
time_limit=options.time_limit):
# does something
pass
# then run with default parameters
twitter_stream_listener_with_args()

You can specify defaults in the argparse section (if that is what you are trying to achieve):
#!/usr/bin/python
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument('--argument', default = 'something', type = str, help = 'not helpful')
parser.add_argument('--arg2', default = None, type = str, help = 'not helpful')
args = parser.parse_args()
def foo(arg , arg2 ):
print(arg)
if not arg2 is None:
print(arg2)
foo(args.argument, args.arg2)
Then calling:
$ ./test.py
something
$ ./test.py --argument='somethingelse'
somethingelse
$ ./test.py --arg2=123
something
123
$ ./test.py --arg2='ipsum' --argument='lorem'
lorem
ipsum
Is this helpful?

You can do it like that:
import argparse
## Actual Function
def twitter_stream_listener(file_name=None,
sub_name='stream_',
auth=api.auth,
filter_track=None,
follow=None,
locations=None,
languages=None,
time_limit=20):
# Your content here
if __name__ == '__main__':
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
## All arguments, with only "follow" being required
parser.add_argument('follow', help='Account(s) to follow')
parser.add_argument('--file_name', help='Name of resulting csv file')
parser.add_argument('--sub_name', help='Sub-name of resulting csv file')
parser.add_argument('--locations', help='Locations')
parser.add_argument('--languages', help='Languages')
parser.add_argument('--time_limit', help='How long to keep stream open')
args = parser.parse_args()
twitter_stream_listener(file_name=args.file_name, sub_name=args.sub_name, follow=args.follow,
locations=args.locations, languages=args.languages, time_limit=args.time_limit)
follow will be the only required argument and the rest optional. Optional ones have to be provided with -- at the beginning. You can easily use the module with subprocess if you need it.
Example call using command line:
python -m your_module_name follow_val --file_name sth1 --locations sth2

How to use python argparse with args other than sys.argv?

Is there a way to use argparse with any list of strings, instead of only with sys.argv?
Here's my problem: I have a program which looks something like this:
# This file is program1.py
import argparse
def main(argv):
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
# Do some argument parsing
if __name__ == '__main__':
main(sys.argv)
This works fine when this program is called straight from the command line. However, I have another python script which runs batch versions of this script with different commandline arguments, which I'm using like this:
import program1
arguments = ['arg1', 'arg2', 'arg3']
program1.main(arguments)
I still want to be able to parse the arguments, but argparse automatically defaults to using sys.argv instead of the arguments that I give it. Is there a way to pass in the argument list instead of using sys.argv?

You can pass a list of strings to parse_args:
parser.parse_args(['--foo', 'FOO'])

Just change the script to default to sys.argv[1:] and parse arguments omitting the first one (which is the name of the invoked command)
import argparse,sys
def main(argv=sys.argv[1:]):
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("--level", type=int)
args = parser.parse_args(argv)
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Or, if you cannot omit the first argument:
import argparse,sys
def main(args=None):
# if None passed, uses sys.argv[1:], else use custom args
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("--level", type=int)
args = parser.parse_args(args)
# Do some argument parsing
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Last one: if you cannot change the called program, you can still do something
Let's suppose the program you cannot change is called argtest.py (I added a call to print arguments)
Then just change the local argv value of the argtest.sys module:
import argtest
argtest.sys.argv=["dummy","foo","bar"]
argtest.main()
output:
['dummy', 'foo', 'bar']

Python argparse now has a parameter nargs for add_argument (https://docs.python/3/library/argparse.html).
It allows us to have as many arguments as we want for a named parameter (here, alist)
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("--alist", nargs="*")
args = parser.parse_args()
print(args.alist)
All command line values that follow --alist are added to a list.
Example:
$ python3 argparse-01.py --alist fred barney pebbles "bamm bamm"
['fred', 'barney', 'pebbles', 'bamm bamm']
As you see, it is allowed to quote the arguments, but not necessary unless you need to protect a space.

Call function based on argparse

I'm new to python and currently playing with it.
I have a script which does some API Calls to an appliance. I would like to extend the functionality and call different functions based on the arguments given when calling the script.
Currently I have the following:
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("--showtop20", help="list top 20 by app",
action="store_true")
parser.add_argument("--listapps", help="list all available apps",
action="store_true")
args = parser.parse_args()
I also have a
def showtop20():
.....
and
def listapps():
....
How can I call the function (and only this) based on the argument given?
I don't want to run
if args.showtop20:
#code here
if args.listapps:
#code here
as I want to move the different functions to a module later on keeping the main executable file clean and tidy.

Since it seems like you want to run one, and only one, function depending on the arguments given, I would suggest you use a mandatory positional argument ./prog command, instead of optional arguments (./prog --command1 or ./prog --command2).
so, something like this should do it:
FUNCTION_MAP = {'top20' : my_top20_func,
'listapps' : my_listapps_func }
parser.add_argument('command', choices=FUNCTION_MAP.keys())
args = parser.parse_args()
func = FUNCTION_MAP[args.command]
func()

At least from what you have described, --showtop20 and --listapps sound more like sub-commands than options. Assuming this is the case, we can use subparsers to achieve your desired result. Here is a proof of concept:
import argparse
import sys
def showtop20():
print('running showtop20')
def listapps():
print('running listapps')
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
subparsers = parser.add_subparsers()
# Create a showtop20 subcommand
parser_showtop20 = subparsers.add_parser('showtop20', help='list top 20 by app')
parser_showtop20.set_defaults(func=showtop20)
# Create a listapps subcommand
parser_listapps = subparsers.add_parser('listapps', help='list all available apps')
parser_listapps.set_defaults(func=listapps)
# Print usage message if no args are supplied.
# NOTE: Python 2 will error 'too few arguments' if no subcommand is supplied.
# No such error occurs in Python 3, which makes it feasible to check
# whether a subcommand was provided (displaying a help message if not).
# argparse internals vary significantly over the major versions, so it's
# much easier to just override the args passed to it.
if len(sys.argv) <= 1:
sys.argv.append('--help')
options = parser.parse_args()
# Run the appropriate function (in this case showtop20 or listapps)
options.func()
# If you add command-line options, consider passing them to the function,
# e.g. `options.func(options)`

There are lots of ways of skinning this cat. Here's one using action='store_const' (inspired by the documented subparser example):
p=argparse.ArgumentParser()
p.add_argument('--cmd1', action='store_const', const=lambda:'cmd1', dest='cmd')
p.add_argument('--cmd2', action='store_const', const=lambda:'cmd2', dest='cmd')
args = p.parse_args(['--cmd1'])
# Out[21]: Namespace(cmd=<function <lambda> at 0x9abf994>)
p.parse_args(['--cmd2']).cmd()
# Out[19]: 'cmd2'
p.parse_args(['--cmd1']).cmd()
# Out[20]: 'cmd1'
With a shared dest, each action puts its function (const) in the same Namespace attribute. The function is invoked by args.cmd().
And as in the documented subparsers example, those functions could be written so as to use other values from Namespace.
args = parse_args()
args.cmd(args)
For sake of comparison, here's the equivalent subparsers case:
p = argparse.ArgumentParser()
sp = p.add_subparsers(dest='cmdstr')
sp1 = sp.add_parser('cmd1')
sp1.set_defaults(cmd=lambda:'cmd1')
sp2 = sp.add_parser('cmd2')
sp2.set_defaults(cmd=lambda:'cmd2')
p.parse_args(['cmd1']).cmd()
# Out[25]: 'cmd1'
As illustrated in the documentation, subparsers lets you define different parameter arguments for each of the commands.
And of course all of these add argument or parser statements could be created in a loop over some list or dictionary that pairs a key with a function.
Another important consideration - what kind of usage and help do you want? The different approaches generate very different help messages.

If your functions are "simple enough" take adventage of type parameter https://docs.python.org/2.7/library/argparse.html#type
type= can take any callable that takes a single string argument and
returns the converted value:
In your example (even if you don't need a converted value):
parser.add_argument("--listapps", help="list all available apps",
type=showtop20,
action="store")
This simple script:
import argparse
def showtop20(dummy):
print "{0}\n".format(dummy) * 5
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("--listapps", help="list all available apps",
type=showtop20,
action="store")
args = parser.parse_args()
Will give:
# ./test.py --listapps test
test
test
test
test
test
test

Instead of using your code as your_script --showtop20, make it into a sub-command your_script showtop20 and use the click library instead of argparse. You define functions that are the name of your subcommand and use decorators to specify the arguments:
import click
#click.group()
#click.option('--debug/--no-debug', default=False)
def cli(debug):
print(f'Debug mode is {"on" if debug else "off"}')
#cli.command() # #cli, not #click!
def showtop20():
# ...
#cli.command()
def listapps():
# ...
See https://click.palletsprojects.com/en/master/commands/

# based on parser input to invoke either regression/classification plus other params
import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("--path", type=str)
parser.add_argument("--target", type=str)
parser.add_argument("--type", type=str)
parser.add_argument("--deviceType", type=str)
args = parser.parse_args()
df = pd.read_csv(args.path)
df = df.loc[:, ~df.columns.str.contains('^Unnamed')]
if args.type == "classification":
classify = AutoML(df, args.target, args.type, args.deviceType)
classify.class_dist()
classify.classification()
elif args.type == "regression":
reg = AutoML(df, args.target, args.type, args.deviceType)
reg.regression()
else:
ValueError("Invalid argument passed")
# Values passed as : python app.py --path C:\Users\Abhishek\Downloads\adult.csv --target income --type classification --deviceType GPU

You can evaluate using evalwhether your argument value is callable:
import argparse
def list_showtop20():
print("Calling from showtop20")
def list_apps():
print("Calling from listapps")
my_funcs = [x for x in dir() if x.startswith('list_')]
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("-f", "--function", required=True,
choices=my_funcs,
help="function to call", metavar="")
args = parser.parse_args()
eval(args.function)()