CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonargparse
Legion
Legion

Reputation: 474

Python argparse default values not working

I'm experimenting with argparse, the program works, but default values don't work. Here's my code:

'''This simple program helps you in understanding how to feed the user input from command line and to show help on passing invalid argument.'''

import argparse
import sys

def calc(args):
    #Enable variables within the function to take on values from 'args' object. 
    operation = args.operation
    x = args.x
    y = args.y

    if (operation == "add"):
        return x + y
    elif (operation == "sub"):
        return x - y

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="This is a summing program")   #parser is an object of the class Argument Parser.
parser.add_argument("x", type=float, default=1.0, help="What is the first number?") #add_argument is a method of the class ArgumentParser.
parser.add_argument("y", type=float, default=1.0, help='What is the second number?')
parser.add_argument("operation", type=str, default="add", help='What operation? Can choose add, sub, mul, or div')
args = parser.parse_args()
print(str(calc(args)))

This simple program work, however attempting to call it without values returns the following error:

usage: cmdline.py [-h] x y operation
cmdline.py: error: the following arguments are required: x, y, operation

Where am I going wrong?

Upvotes: 11

Views: 19501

Answers (3)

jbcoe
jbcoe

Reputation: 3921

You are missing nargs='?'. The following works:

import argparse
import sys 

def calc(args):
    #Enable variables within the function to take on values from 'args' object. 
    operation = args.operation
    x = args.x
    y = args.y

    if (operation == "add"):
        return x + y 
    elif (operation == "sub"):
        return x - y 

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="This is a summing program")   #parser is an object of the class Argument Parser.
parser.add_argument("x", nargs='?', type=float, default=1.0, help="What is the first number?") #add_argument is a method of the class ArgumentParser.
parser.add_argument("y", nargs='?', type=float, default=1.0, help='What is the second number?')
parser.add_argument("operation", nargs='?', type=str, default="add", help='What operation? Can choose add, sub, mul, or div')
args = parser.parse_args()
print(str(calc(args)))

Upvotes: 7

Legion
Legion

Reputation: 474

@jbcoe - I think you have a few typoes in your code, but thank you, it works! Here's the solution, cleaned up:

'''This simple program helps you in understanding how to feed the user input from command line and to show help on passing invalid argument. It uses the argparse module.'''

import argparse

def calc(args):
    #Enable variables within the function to take on values from 'args' object. 
    operation = args.operation
    x = args.x
    y = args.y

    if (operation == "add"):
        return x + y
    elif (operation == "sub"):
        return x - y

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="This is a summing program")   #parser is an object of the class Argument Parser.
parser.add_argument("x", nargs='?', type=float, default=1.0, help="What is the first number?") #add_argument is a method of the class ArgumentParser.
parser.add_argument("y", nargs='?', type=float, default=2.0, help='What is the second number?')
parser.add_argument("operation", nargs='?', type=str, default="add", help='What operation? Can choose add, sub, mul, or div')
args = parser.parse_args()
print(str(calc(args)))

Upvotes: 1

BoarGules
BoarGules

Reputation: 16942

Change these lines to indicate that you want named, optional command-line arguments (so "-x" not "x"):

parser.add_argument("-x", type=float, default=1.0, help="What is the first number?") #add_argument is a method of the class ArgumentParser.
parser.add_argument("-y", type=float, default=1.0, help='What is the second number?')

Upvotes: 5

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