cpython/Doc/libgetopt.tex

\section{Standard Module \sectcode{getopt}}

\stmodindex{getopt}
This module helps scripts to parse the command line arguments in
\code{sys.argv}.
It supports the same conventions as the \UNIX{}
\code{getopt()}
function (including the special meanings of arguments of the form
\samp{-} and \samp{--}).  Long options similar to those supported by
GNU software may be used as well via an optional third argument.
It defines the function
\code{getopt.getopt(args, options [, long_options])}
and the exception
\code{getopt.error}.

The first argument to
\code{getopt()}
is the argument list passed to the script with its first element
chopped off (i.e.,
\code{sys.argv[1:]}).
The second argument is the string of option letters that the
script wants to recognize, with options that require an argument
followed by a colon (i.e., the same format that \UNIX{}
\code{getopt()}
uses).
The third option, if specified, is a list of strings with the names of
the long options which should be supported.  The leading \code{'--'}
characters should not be included in the option name.  Options which
require an argument should be followed by an equal sign (\code{'='}).
The return value consists of two elements: the first is a list of
option-and-value pairs; the second is the list of program arguments
left after the option list was stripped (this is a trailing slice of the
first argument).
Each option-and-value pair returned has the option as its first element,
prefixed with a hyphen (e.g.,
\code{'-x'}),
and the option argument as its second element, or an empty string if the
option has no argument.
The options occur in the list in the same order in which they were
found, thus allowing multiple occurrences.  Long and short options may
be mixed.

An example using only \UNIX{} style options:

\bcode\begin{verbatim}
>>> import getopt, string
>>> args = string.split('-a -b -cfoo -d bar a1 a2')
>>> args
['-a', '-b', '-cfoo', '-d', 'bar', 'a1', 'a2']
>>> optlist, args = getopt.getopt(args, 'abc:d:')
>>> optlist
[('-a', ''), ('-b', ''), ('-c', 'foo'), ('-d', 'bar')]
>>> args
['a1', 'a2']
>>> 
\end{verbatim}\ecode

Using long option names is equally easy:

\bcode\begin{verbatim}
>>> s = '--condition=foo --testing --output-file abc.def -x a1 a2'
>>> args = string.split(s)
>>> args
['--condition=foo', '--testing', '--output-file', 'abc.def', '-x', 'a1', 'a2']
>>> optlist, args = getopt.getopt(args, 'x', [
...     'condition=', 'output-file=', 'testing'])
>>> optlist
[('--condition', 'foo'), ('--testing', ''), ('--output-file', 'abc.def'), ('-x', '')]
>>> args
['a1', 'a2']
>>> 
\end{verbatim}\ecode

The exception
\code{getopt.error = 'getopt.error'}
is raised when an unrecognized option is found in the argument list or
when an option requiring an argument is given none.
The argument to the exception is a string indicating the cause of the
error.  For long options, an argument given to an option which does
not require one will also cause this exception to be raised.