# config-argument-parser
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A package help automatically create command-line interface from configuration or code.
It contains two modules CAP🧢(`ConfigArgumentParser`) and TAP🚰(`TypeArgumentParser`).
Read the documentation [here](http://config-argument-parser.readthedocs.io/).
## Motivation
Configuration files are highly readable and useful for specifying options, but sometimes they are not convenient as command-line interface. However, it requires writing a lot of code to produce a CLI. This package automates the building process, by utilizing the Python standard libraries `configparser` and `argparse`.
The design is to minimize the changes to your original scripts, so as to facilitate maintenance.
## Features
- Only a few extra lines are needed to build a CLI from an existing script.
- The comments are parsed as help messages. (Most libraries do not preserve the comments.)
- Consistent format between configuration and script provides ease of use.
## Usage
### Case 1: create CLI from an object
If you used class to store arguments, create a script `example.py` as below. Default arguments are defined as class attributes, and parsed arguments are stored as instance attributes. The good is that auto-completion can be triggered in editors.
For the best practice, see [Case 4](#case-4-create-cli-from-a-dataclass-object-preferred).
```Python
import configargparser
class Args:
# Help message of the first argument. Help is optional.
a_string = "abc"
a_float = 1.23 # inline comments are omitted
# Help can span multiple lines.
# This is another line.
a_boolean = False
an_integer = 0
args = Args()
parser = configargparser.ConfigArgumentParser()
# if `shorts` is provided, add short options for the first few arguments in order
parser.parse_obj(args, shorts="sfb")
print(args.a_string)
print(args.a_float)
print(args.a_boolean)
print(args.an_integer)
```
In fact, only the snippet below is added to the original script. Moreover, removing this minimal modification does not affect the original script.
```Python
import configargparser
parser = configargparser.ConfigArgumentParser()
parser.parse_obj(args)
```
Show help, `python example.py -h`:
```console
usage: example.py [-h] [-s A_STRING] [-f A_FLOAT] [-b] [--an-integer AN_INTEGER]
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-s A_STRING, --a-string A_STRING
Help message of the first argument. Help is optional. (default: abc)
-f A_FLOAT, --a-float A_FLOAT
(default: 1.23)
-b, --a-boolean Help can span multiple lines. This is another line. (default: False)
--an-integer AN_INTEGER
(default: 0)
```
Run with options, for example, `python example.py -b -f 1`:
```console
abc
1.0
True
0
```
Note that the values are changed.
### Case 2: create CLI from configuration
If you used configuration file, create an example script `example.py`:
```Python
import configargparser
parser = configargparser.ConfigArgumentParser()
parser.read("config.ini")
parser.parse_args(shorts="sfb")
print("Configs:", parser.defaults)
print("Args: ", parser.args)
```
Create a configuration file `config.ini` in the same directory:
```ini
[DEFAULT]
# Help message of the first argument. Help is optional.
a_string = 'abc'
a_float = 1.23 # inline comments are omitted
# Help can span multiple lines.
# This is another line.
a_boolean = False
an_integer = 0
```
Regular run, `python example.py`:
```console
Configs: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_float': 1.23, 'a_boolean': False, 'an_integer': 0}
Args: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_float': 1.23, 'a_boolean': False, 'an_integer': 0}
```
Run with options, such as `python example.py -b -f 1`:
```console
Configs: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_float': 1.23, 'a_boolean': False, 'an_integer': 0}
Args: {'a_string': 'abc', 'a_float': 1.0, 'a_boolean': True, 'an_integer': 0}
```
### Case 3: create CLI from script itself
If you used global variables, create a script `example.py`, with the variables defined at top of file as below:
```Python
# [DEFAULT]
# Help message of the first argument. Help is optional.
a_string = "abc"
a_float = 1.23 # inline comments are omitted
# Help can span multiple lines.
# This is another line.
a_boolean = False
an_integer = 0
# [END]
import configargparser
parser = configargparser.ConfigArgumentParser()
parser.read_py("example.py")
parser.parse_args(shorts="sfb")
# update global variables
globals().update(parser.args)
print(a_string)
print(a_float)
print(a_boolean)
print(an_integer)
```
Use it as in case 1. For example, `python example.py -b -f 1`:
```console
abc
1.0
True
0
```
### Case 4: create CLI from a dataclass object (preferred)
Suppose you have a script `example.py` below, which uses a `dataclass` object to store arguments:
```Python
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass
class Args:
# Help message of the first argument. Help is optional.
a_string: str = "abc"
a_float: float = 1.23 # inline comments are omitted
# Help can span multiple lines.
# This is another line.
a_boolean: bool = False
an_integer: int = 0
args = Args()
print(args.__dict__)
```
Add these lines to the script to create CLI:
```Python
import configargparser
parser = configargparser.TypeArgumentParser()
parser.parse_obj(args, shorts="sfb")
print(args.__dict__)
```
Use it as in case 1. For example, `python example.py -b -f 1` to change the values:
```console
{'a_string': 'abc', 'a_float': 1.0, 'a_boolean': True, 'an_integer': 0}
```
## Installation
Install from PyPI:
```bash
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install config-argument-parser
```
Alternatively, install from source:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/yuanx749/config-argument-parser.git
cd config-argument-parser
```
then install in development mode:
```bash
git checkout main
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -e .
```
or:
```bash
git checkout dev
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -e .[dev]
pre-commit install
```
Uninstall:
```bash
pip uninstall config-argument-parser
```
## Notes
This package uses [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).