I have script with a long list of optional arguments where I recently added the option to pass the arguments through a file. The code for this is below: I first add the from_file args and then parse_known_args. Everything works except for the -h flag. The output when calling this flag only refers to the arguments added before the parse_known_args call.
Question: how can I get the help option to recognize all arguments after the parse_known_args call?
# grab values from file_parser or default
def getInitVar(variable, parser, default, varList=False):
if parser:
if varList:
return [o.strip() for o in parser.get('constants',variable).split(",")] if parser.has_option('constants',variable) else default
else:
return parser.get('constants',variable) if parser.has_option('constants',variable) else default
else:
return default
# first parser for to/from file parameters
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description='', prefix_chars='-+', formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter)
# Meta variables
group = parser.add_argument_group('Meta Variables', '')
group.add_argument('--to_file', dest='toinitfile', nargs='?', const=DEF_INIT_FILE, default=None,
help='write flag values to text file')
group.add_argument('--from_file', type=str, dest='frominitfile', default='',
help='reads flag values from file')
args, remaining_argv = parser.parse_known_args()
# create second parser for reading from files
if args.frominitfile:
conf_parser = SafeConfigParser()
conf_parser.read(args.frominitfile)
else:
conf_parser = None
group = parser.add_argument_group('Some Group', 'blah blah')
group.add_argument('-someFlag', dest='somevar', default=getInitVar('corpdb', conf_parser, DEF_VAR),
help='Some help.')
....
Output when using the -h flag:
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
Meta Variables:
--to_file [TOINITFILE]
write flag values to text file (default: None)
--from_file FROMINITFILE
reads flag values from file (default: )
EDIT: Added some details (as suggested in the comments) to my code as to why I am calling parse_known_args:
- I create the parsers and add two arguments:
from_fileandto_file - Parse the arguments. If
from_fileis present I create a second parser and read the input variable. - Continue adding arguments to the parser. Default value is a function to which I pass the second parser and default value.
EDIT: Finally figured out how to do this, posted the answer below.