argparse

Define information that will appear when the user wants help. The string helptext contains the usage that will appear with -h or --help.

ArgumentParser(description=helptext)

Add a positional argument

• positional arguments are valid if only one option is provided
• do not require - at the beginning of the string
• help string is what is printed next to the argument name in the help dialog

ArgumentParser.add_argument("x", type=int, help="the base")

Add a named parameters

• - is required at the beginning of the string
• values need to be passed after = or <space>
• no longer behaves as a positional argument

ArgumentParser.add_argument('-r','--radius',type=int,required=True,help='radius)

Add a group of mutually exclusive arguments (may not be used together)
Usage appears as [-v | -q] indicating one of the options may be used. Many invocation options can be added to the same argument:

qv=ArgumentParser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
qv.add_argument("-v","--verbose", action="store_true")
qv.add_argument("-q","--quiet","-s","--silent", action="store_true",help='quiet/silent mode')