config-argument-parser 0.1.1

A module for building command-line interface from configuration.

config-argument-parser

A module for building command-line interface from configuration.

Motivation

Configuration files are highly readable and useful for specifying options, but sometimes they are not convenient as command-line interface. However, it requires writing a lot of code to produce a CLI. This module automates the building process, by utilizing the Python standard libraries configparser and argparse. It has features below.

• The comments are parsed as help messages. (Most libraries do not preserve the comments.)
• Consistent format between configuration and script provides ease of use.
• Only a few lines are needed to build a CLI.

Usage

Create an example script example.py:

import args

parser = args.ConfigArgumentParser()
parser.read("config.ini")
parser.add_arguments(shorts="snb")  # or parser.add_arguments()
parser.parse_args()

print("Configs:", parser.defaults)
print("Args:", parser.args)

Create a configuration file config.ini in the same directory:

[DEFAULT]
# Help message before argument. Optional.
a_string = 'abc'
a_number = 1.23  # inline comments are omitted
# Help can span multiple lines.
# This is another line.
a_boolean = False

Show help, python example.py -h:

usage: example.py [-h] [-s A_STRING] [-n A_NUMBER] [-b]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -s A_STRING, --a_string A_STRING
                        Help message before argument. Optional. (default: abc)
  -n A_NUMBER, --a_number A_NUMBER
  -b, --a_boolean       Help can span multiple lines, this is another line.
                        (default: False)

Regular run, python example.py:

Configs: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_number': 1.23, 'a_boolean': False}
Args: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_number': 1.23, 'a_boolean': True}

Run with options, such as python example.py -b -n 1:

Configs: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_number': 1.23, 'a_boolean': False}
Args: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_number': 1.0, 'a_boolean': True}

Installation

Install from PyPI:

pip install config-argument-parser

Alternatively, after git clone and cd into this repo, install in development mode:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -e .[dev]
pre-commit install

Uninstall:

pip uninstall config-argument-parser