argparsemd

A package that extends Python argparse.ArgumentParser with Markdown help.

intro

For documentation purposes it might be useful to be able to produce the help text of a python program in markdown format.

This package implements a subclass of argparse.ArgumentParser and automatically adds a -md option that will produce the same information as the -h option but as markdown. The -h keeps on working as before.

An example is shown in the section example

requirements

No external requirements but be aware that this only has been tested with Python 3.11.

It might work with earlier or later versions but because the argparse package doesn't lend itself very well to subclassing without rewriting hundreds of lines of code, your mileage may vary.

warning

This package does not have a test-suite and may break everything you touch. Use at your own risk.

installation

Install it directly from PyPi

pip install argparsemd

or alternatively, download it from GitHub

git clone https://github.com/varkenvarken/argparsemd.git
cd argparsemd
python setup.py install

example

from argparsemd import ArgumentParserMD

parser = ArgumentParserMD(description="Do nothing but showcase markdown help")
parser.add_argument(
    "-f",
    "--filename",
    default="sample.png",
    help="Output filename. use - for stdout.",
)
parser.add_argument("--width", type=int, default=400, help="Width in pixels")
parser.add_argument(
    "--height",
    type=int,
    default=200,
    help="Height in pixels",
)
parser.add_argument(
    "-c",
    "--character",
    action="store_true",
    default=False,
    help="Height and width are in character units",
)
args = parser.parse_args()

If you save this as pyprog.py and call that with python myprog -md, his will result in the following markdown output:

    # myprog.py:

    ```

    usage: myprog.py [-h] [-md] [-f FILENAME] [--width WIDTH] [--height HEIGHT] [-c]

    ```

    Do nothing but showcase markdown help

    ## options:
    - **-h**, **--help** 

    show this help message and exit

    - **-md** 

    print Markdown-formatted help text and exit.

    - **-f**, **--filename** [sample.png]

    Output filename. use - for stdout.

    - **--width**:int [400]

    Width in pixels

    - **--height**:int [200]

    Height in pixels

    - **-c**, **--character** [False]

    Height and width are in character units

Which in a preview will show up as:

myprog.py:

usage: myprog.py [-h] [-md] [-f FILENAME] [--width WIDTH] [--height HEIGHT] [-c]

Do nothing but showcase markdown help

options:

• -h, --help

  show this help message and exit

• -md

  print Markdown-formatted help text and exit.

• -f, --filename [sample.png]

  Output filename. use - for stdout.

• --width:int [400]

  Width in pixels

• --height:int [200]

  Height in pixels

• -c, --character [False]

  Height and width are in character units