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Python Argparse Cheatsheet
Basic argparse template for a Python 3 program named program.py:
Template
import argparse
def parse_args(args):
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description="This is my program"
)
# Required positional args (no '--')
parser.add_argument("path_to_file", type=str, default="/file/path/", help="Path to logs")
# Optional keyword args (yes '--')
## String
parser.add_argument("--str_flag", type=str, default='random', help="Split strategy")
## Float
parser.add_argument("--float_flag", type=float, default=0.4, help="Percent in train split")
## Boolean flag
parser.add_argument("--bool_flag", action='store_true', default=False, help="If set, run eval")
# Required keyword args (yes '--' and `required=True`)
## String
parser.add_argument("--required_flag", required=True, type=str, default='name', help="Run name")
# Multiple choice
choices = [ 'low', 'medium', 'high']
parser.add_argument("--choice", choices=choices, default='yes', help="Confidence")
if __name__ == '__main__':
parse_args(args)
...
Running
Run program.py from the command line as follows:
python3 program.py logs.txt \
--str_flag random \
--float_flag 0.8 \
--bool_flag \
--required_flag trial_10 \
--choice medium
Usage
Later in program.py, we can use the arguments as follows:
path_to_file: str = args.path_to_file # "logs.txt"
split_strat: str = args.str_flag # "random"
train_percent: float = args.float_flag # 0.8
is_eval: bool = args.bool_flag # True
name: str = args.required_flag # "trial_10"
choice: str = args.choice # "medium"
References
- https://mkaz.blog/code/python-argparse-cookbook/