Let us say I have a file
myfile.py
"""
long documentation of myfile.py
...
"""
# tons of stuf
# this include some functions and their documentation
and I would like to do
bash $ python myfile.py -h
such that it displays all the documentation but does not execute the tons of stuff. (I don't care if the option is --help instead of -h.)
I am pretty sure I have already seen it somewhere but I can't find it. Is it related to this question and to this second question?
argparse
Using argparse, You can display the __doc__ string by passing it to the description parameter of Argparse
#!/usr/bin/env python
"""
long documentation of myfile.py
...
"""
# tons of stuf
# this include some functions and their documentation
if __name__ == '__main__':
from argparse import ArgumentParser
parser = ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
# Add your arguments here
parser.add_argument("-f", "--file", dest="myFilenameVariable",
required=True,
help="write report to FILE", metavar="FILE")
args = parser.parse_args()
print(args.myFilenameVariable)
Run the python file
$ python myfile.py --help