argparse Prints options per flag name when only once is necessary
#101599
Comments
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I agree that such a verbosity clutters the help output so it should be deduplicated into a description column. Also, there is no corresponding example in https://docs.python.org/3/library/argparse.html. I mark it as a feature request, not a bug because such a verbosity explains things in direct, dumb, undesirable but working way. |
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@bethard, @bitdancer as prominent contributors into |
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Not just multiple choices, it does the same thing for metavar placeholders: import argparse
if __name__ == "__main__":
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument(
'-m', '--metric',
choices=["accuracy", "precision", "recall"],
help="By which metric trick'd be thee met, Ric?")
parser.add_argument(
'-d', '--debug', metavar='DEBUG_LEVEL',
action='store', type=int,
help="Set the debug level (default: 0)")
parser.parse_args(["-h"])$ python3 ./ap.py --help
usage: ap.py [-h] [-m {accuracy,precision,recall}] [-d DEBUG_LEVEL]
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-m {accuracy,precision,recall}, --metric {accuracy,precision,recall}
By which metric trick'd be thee met, Ric?
-d DEBUG_LEVEL, --debug DEBUG_LEVEL
Set the debug level (default: 0)Points for consistency, I guess, but " |
If the option with argument has short and long names, output argument only once, after the long name: -o, --option ARG description instead of -o ARG, --option ARG description
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And update the docs? For example, at least: https://docs.python.org/3.13/howto/argparse.html#combining-positional-and-optional-arguments I didn't spot any in the library reference, but it needs checking too: https://docs.python.org/3.13/library/argparse.html#module-argparse cc @Jokimax |
…103372) If the option with argument has short and long names, output argument only once, after the long name: -o, --option ARG description instead of -o ARG, --option ARG description
…103372) If the option with argument has short and long names, output argument only once, after the long name: -o, --option ARG description instead of -o ARG, --option ARG description
…utorial (pythonGH-124025) (cherry picked from commit e5b0185) Co-authored-by: Savannah Ostrowski <savannahostrowski@gmail.com>
…utorial (pythonGH-124025) (cherry picked from commit e5b0185) Co-authored-by: Savannah Ostrowski <savannahostrowski@gmail.com>
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Thanks all! |
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Bug report
When running a command line program with the
--help/-hflag withargparse, if another flag has multiple names and choices to pick from, the options are printed multiple times instead of just once. For example, the program below:Will print
usage: argparse_test.py [-h] [-m {accuracy,precision,recall}] options: -h, --help show this help message and exit -m {accuracy,precision,recall}, --metric {accuracy,precision,recall}Notice that the flag choices are printed out twice, once for each flag name. This is redundant and negatively impacts readability. The program should output:
usage: argparse_test.py [-h] [-m {accuracy,precision,recall}] options: -h, --help show this help message and exit -m, --metric {accuracy,precision,recall}Your environment
Linked PRs
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