arghandle 1.2.1

A simple, clean alternative to argparse

ArgHandle

A simple, lightweight alternative to argparse. No confusion, no boilerplate, just clean argument handling for your CLI tools.

Built because argparse is overkill for most scripts. ArgHandle gives you exactly what you need: register args, match them, print help, done.

Installation

pip install arghandle

Quick Start

from arghandle import ArgHandle

cli = ArgHandle()
cli.ProgramName("mytool")

cli.RegisterArg(["--version", "-v"], HelpMsg="Prints the version and exit")
cli.RegisterArg(["build"], HelpMsg="Build the project")
cli.RegisterArg(["--output", "-o"], StrictIndex=2, StrictIndex_ExitOnError=True, HelpMsg="Output file")

cli.PrintOnNoArgs("No arguments provided. Use --help or -h for usage.", Exit=True)
cli.HandleHelp()

if cli.IsArgInActualArgs("--version") or cli.IsArgInActualArgs("-v"):
    raise SystemExit("mytool v1.1.0\n")

if cli.IsArgInActualArgs("build"):
    output = cli.SetVariableToIndex(2)
    print(f"Building: {output}")

Running mytool --help prints:

mytool --help/-h called:
  [--help, -h]: Prints this help message and exit
  [--version, -v]: Prints the version and exit
  [build]: Build the project
  [--output, -o]: Output file

API

ArgHandle()

Main class. Instantiate once at the start of your program.

cli = ArgHandle()

---

ProgramName(string: str)

Sets the program name shown in the help header.

cli.ProgramName("mytool")

---

RegisterArg(Flags, StrictIndex=None, StrictIndex_ExitOnError=False, *, HelpMsg)

Registers an argument to the help screen and optionally enforces a strict position in sys.argv.

• Flags: list of flags/commands (e.g. ["--version", "-v"])
• StrictIndex: if set, the arg must appear at this index in sys.argv
• StrictIndex_ExitOnError: if True, exits with an error when the arg is at the wrong index; if False, returns StrictIndexBroken
• HelpMsg: description shown in help output

cli.RegisterArg(["--version", "-v"], HelpMsg="Prints the version and exit")
cli.RegisterArg(["--output", "-o"], StrictIndex=2, StrictIndex_ExitOnError=True, HelpMsg="Output file")

Returns:

Return Type	Meaning
Registered	Successfully registered
NotRegistered	Empty or invalid flags list
NoKwargs	No HelpMsg provided
OverlimitKwargs	More than one kwarg passed
StrictIndexBroken	Arg not at required index and StrictIndex_ExitOnError=False

---

HandleHelp(Exit=True)

Checks if --help or -h is in args and prints the help screen. Exits by default.

cli.HandleHelp()

Output format:

mytool --help/-h called:
  [--help, -h]: Prints this help message and exit
  [--version, -v]: Prints the version and exit

---

PrintOnNoArgs(string, Exit=False)

Prints a message if no arguments are passed. Optionally exits.

cli.PrintOnNoArgs("No arguments provided.", Exit=True)

---

IsArgInActualArgs(String) -> bool

Returns True if the string is present anywhere in sys.argv[1:].

if cli.IsArgInActualArgs("build"):
    ...

---

IsArgMatch(String, AtIndex) -> bool

Returns True if the string matches the arg at a specific index in sys.argv[1:].

if cli.IsArgMatch("build", 0):
    ...

---

SetVariableToIndex(Index) -> str | IndexOutOfRange

Returns the value of sys.argv at the given index. Returns IndexOutOfRange if the index doesn't exist.

output = cli.SetVariableToIndex(2)
if isinstance(output, IndexOutOfRange):
    raise SystemExit("No value provided at index 2\n")
print(output)  # "myfile.c"

---

ArgCount() -> int

Returns the total number of arguments including the script name.

print(cli.ArgCount())

---

Return Types

All return type classes are importable directly:

from arghandle import (
    Registered,
    NotRegistered,
    NoKwargs,
    OverlimitKwargs,
    StrictIndexBroken,
    IndexOutOfRange
)

---

Real World Example

ArgHandle was built as part of AutoBuild, a Make-like build system with its own .abuild syntax. Check it out to see ArgHandle in action in a real project.

License

GPLv3, see LICENSE for details.