How to parse same argument twice or more than once to python script?

Question

I have written a python script which uses argeparse module for handling arguments. e.g.

Test_Dual.py -g Linux

Now, I want to give it two options for same argument, like

Test_Dual.py -g Linux -g ESX -g Windows

How can I do that?

Python supports multiple way to parse command line arguments. Which module or library you are using? — Mikko Ohtamaa, Feb 05 '15 at 06:16

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 05 '15 at 06:25

You can do as follows:

import argparse

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=("Program desciption"))


parser.add_argument("-g", "--full-name-of-g", action='append',
                    help="what is g option for")

args = vars(parser.parse_args())

print(args['full_name_of_g'])

Prints:

['Linux', 'ESX', 'Windows']

mgilson · Answer 2 · 2015-02-05T06:32:26.023

2

You want the 'append' action to add_argument. This will accumulate values into a list -- once for each time the command line argument is present. e.g.

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()  # yadda yadda
parser.add_argument('-g', action='append')

fake_args_for_demo = '-g Linux -g ESX -g Windows'.split()
namespace = parser.parse_args(fake_args_for_demo)

print(namespace.g)  # ['Linux', 'ESX', 'Windows']

edited Feb 05 '15 at 06:32

answered Feb 05 '15 at 06:19

mgilson

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How to parse same argument twice or more than once to python script?

2 Answers2