argparse subparser usage message hides main parser usage

[MartindAnjou]

BPO	20333
Files	issue20333.patch sample.py

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = None
created_at = <Date 2014-01-21.16:46:08.797>
labels = ['type-feature', 'library']
title = 'argparse subparser usage message hides main parser usage'
updated_at = <Date 2014-05-09.21:27:37.768>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/MartindAnjou'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2014-05-09.21:27:37.768>
actor = 'paul.j3'
assignee = 'none'
closed = False
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['Library (Lib)']
creation = <Date 2014-01-21.16:46:08.797>
creator = "Martin.d'Anjou"
dependencies = []
files = ['35203', '35204']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 20333
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 2.0
messages = ['208670', '218199']
nosy_count = 3.0
nosy_names = ['bethard', 'paul.j3', "Martin.d'Anjou"]
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = None
stage = None
status = 'open'
superseder = None
type = 'enhancement'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue20333'
versions = ['Python 3.3']

Linked PRs

• GH-64532: Include parent's required optional arguments in subparser usage #142355

[MartindAnjou]

Consider the following code:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import argparse

# create the top-level parser
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
parser.add_argument('--file', help='A filename', required=True)
subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(help='sub-command help')

# create the parser for the "a" command
parser_a = subparsers.add_parser('a', help='a help')
parser_a.add_argument('bar', type=int, help='bar help')

# create the parser for the "b" command
parser_b = subparsers.add_parser('b', help='b help')
parser_b.add_argument('--baz', choices='XYZ', help='baz help')

The help for subparser a is obtained with: parser.parse_args(["a","--help"])

usage: PROG a [-h] bar

positional arguments:
 bar bar help

optional arguments:
 -h, --help show this help message and exit

When the user follows the help, the user gets it wrong:
parser.parse_args(["a","10"])

usage: PROG [-h] --file FILE{a,b} ...
PROG: error: argument --file is required

The correct way to use the subparser is:
parser.parse_args(["--file","file","a","10"])

But the problem is that the original help message is not telling the user that this is the correct way. When asking for the "a" subparser help, the usage message should also reveal the main parser arguments. Continuing with the example, something like this should be appropriate:

usage: PROG [-h] --file FILE a [-h] bar

This is how the argparse Java port works.

[paulj3]

When add_subparsers creates the _prog_prefix it uses a list of positionals. That makes sense, since a subparser argument is positional, so the user needs to know where it fits in the broader scope of positionals.

But it intentionally skips the 'optionals'. The problem in the example for this bug is that its 'optional' is 'required'. A fix is to include all 'required optionals' along with positionals in the usage prefix.

Attached is a partial patch that does this.

I also question whether it makes sense to include 'mutually_exclusive_groups' in this usage formatting, since all actions in such a group must be non-required. And such a group can include at most one positional (with ? or *). A MXG is marked only if all of its actions are present in the usage list.

The programmer can also customize the subparsers usage with the 'prog' keyword of either the 'add_subparsers' or 'add_parser' commands. I illustrate this in the attached 'sample.py' script.

'test_argparse.py' does not seem to test this issue much. Atleast it isn't bothered by these tweaks.

Note that any arguments added to the main parser after the 'add_subparsers' command will not appear the subparser usage, since this is defined when the subparsers are created.