Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.lang.python > #83443

Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used?

Show all headers | View raw

I noticed in use that if an option with the 'append' action isn't
used, argparse assigns None to it rather than an empty list, &
confirmed this interactively:

#v+
>>> import argparse
>>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
>>> parser.add_argument('--foo', action='append')
_AppendAction(option_strings=['--foo'], dest='foo', nargs=None, const=None, default=None, type=None, choices=None, help=None, metavar=None)
>>> parser.add_argument('--bar', action='append')
_AppendAction(option_strings=['--bar'], dest='bar', nargs=None, const=None, default=None, type=None, choices=None, help=None, metavar=None)
>>> parser.parse_args('--foo 1 --foo 2'.split())
Namespace(bar=None, foo=['1', '2'])
#v-

This makes it a bit more trouble to use:

  if options.bar:
     for b in options:bar
        do_stuff(b)

instead of

  for b in options.bar
     do_stuff(b)

which is (of course) what I was doing when I discovered the None.  Is
there any benefit to the user from this, or is it just an "accident"
of the way argparse is written?


-- 
The history of the world is the history of a privileged few.
                                            --- Henry Miller

Back to comp.lang.python | Previous | Next — Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2015-01-09 14:44 +0000
  Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Skip Montanaro <skip.montanaro@gmail.com> - 2015-01-09 08:57 -0600
    Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2015-01-09 15:25 +0000
  Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2015-01-09 10:12 -0500
    Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2015-01-26 13:43 +0000
      Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Peter Otten <__peter__@web.de> - 2015-01-26 15:04 +0100
        Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2015-01-26 15:50 +0000
          Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-01-26 09:13 -0700
            Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Jussi Piitulainen <jpiitula@ling.helsinki.fi> - 2015-01-26 18:29 +0200
              Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-01-26 17:18 +0000
              Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-01-26 11:23 -0700
              Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-01-26 11:26 -0700
  Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Wolfgang Maier <wolfgang.maier@biologie.uni-freiburg.de> - 2015-01-09 16:50 +0100
    Re: Why does argparse return None instead of [] if an append action isn't used? Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2015-01-26 13:43 +0000

csiph-web