[Python-Dev] Proposed standard module: Optik (original) (raw)

Greg Ward gward@python.net
Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:10:25 -0500

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On 11 February 2002, Guido van Rossum said:

No immediate objection, although there are some other fancy options packages around, and IMO you have to explain why Optik is better.

Well, here's what I like about Optik:

• it ties short options and long options together, so once you define your options you never have to worry about the fact that -f and --file are the same

• it's strongly typed: if you say option --foo expects an int, then Optik makes sure the user supplied a string that can be int()'ified, and supplies that int to you

• it automatically generates full help based on snippets of help text you supply with each option

• it has a wide range of "actions" -- ie. what to do with the value supplied with each option. Eg. you can store that value in a variable, append it to a list, pass it to an arbitrary callback function, etc.

• you can add new types and actions by subclassing -- how to do this is documented and tested

• it's dead easy to implement simple, straightforward, GNU/POSIX- style command-line options, but using callbacks you can be as insanely flexible as you like

• provides lots of mechanism and only a tiny bit of policy (namely, the --help and (optionally) --version options -- and you can trash that convention if you're determined to be anti-social)

Anyways, read the docs at optik.sourceforge.net for the whole deal.

Can we change the name? Optik is nice for a standalone 3rd party module/package but a bit too fancyful for a standard library module.

Sure, no problem.

It could be a new function in getopt:

from getopt import OptionParser [...] parser = OptionParser()

I guess that's OK if we're agreed that Optik is the be-all, end-all option-parsing tool. (I happen to think so, but I'd like to get opinions from a few other python-dev'ers before I let this go to my head.) I'm pretty cool to names like "super_getopt" or "fancy_getopt", despite having perpetrated precisely the latter in the Distutils. ;-(

    Greg

-- Greg Ward - geek-at-large gward@python.net http://starship.python.net/~gward/ Know thyself. If you need help, call the CIA.

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