| Server IP : 121.121.20.254 / Your IP : 216.73.216.165 Web Server : Microsoft-IIS/10.0 System : Windows NT WEB-SERVER 10.0 build 20348 (Windows Server 2022) AMD64 User : IUSR ( 0) PHP Version : 8.3.28 Disable Function : NONE MySQL : ON | cURL : ON | WGET : OFF | Perl : OFF | Python : OFF | Sudo : OFF | Pkexec : OFF Directory : C:/Python312/Doc/html/howto/ |
Upload File : |
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" data-content_root="../">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Upgrading optparse code" />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://docs.python.org/3/howto/argparse-optparse.html" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Python documentation" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Originally, the argparse module had attempted to maintain compatibility with optparse. However, optparse was difficult to extend transparently, particularly with the changes required to support nar..." />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://docs.python.org/3/_static/og-image.png" />
<meta property="og:image:alt" content="Python documentation" />
<meta name="description" content="Originally, the argparse module had attempted to maintain compatibility with optparse. However, optparse was difficult to extend transparently, particularly with the changes required to support nar..." />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="200">
<meta property="og:image:height" content="200">
<meta name="theme-color" content="#3776ab">
<title>Upgrading optparse code — Python 3.12.10 documentation</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pygments.css?v=b86133f3" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pydoctheme.css?v=23252803" />
<link id="pygments_dark_css" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pygments_dark.css?v=5349f25f" />
<script src="../_static/documentation_options.js?v=e5e5df70"></script>
<script src="../_static/doctools.js?v=9bcbadda"></script>
<script src="../_static/sphinx_highlight.js?v=dc90522c"></script>
<script src="../_static/sidebar.js"></script>
<link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"
title="Search within Python 3.12.10 documentation"
href="../_static/opensearch.xml"/>
<link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" />
<link rel="index" title="Index" href="../genindex.html" />
<link rel="search" title="Search" href="../search.html" />
<link rel="copyright" title="Copyright" href="../copyright.html" />
<link rel="next" title="getopt — C-style parser for command line options" href="../library/getopt.html" />
<link rel="prev" title="Argparse Tutorial" href="argparse.html" />
<link rel="canonical" href="https://docs.python.org/3/howto/argparse-optparse.html">
<style>
@media only screen {
table.full-width-table {
width: 100%;
}
}
</style>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pydoctheme_dark.css" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" id="pydoctheme_dark_css">
<link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="../_static/py.svg" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/copybutton.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/menu.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/search-focus.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/themetoggle.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/rtd_switcher.js"></script>
<meta name="readthedocs-addons-api-version" content="1">
</head>
<body>
<div class="mobile-nav">
<input type="checkbox" id="menuToggler" class="toggler__input" aria-controls="navigation"
aria-pressed="false" aria-expanded="false" role="button" aria-label="Menu" />
<nav class="nav-content" role="navigation">
<label for="menuToggler" class="toggler__label">
<span></span>
</label>
<span class="nav-items-wrapper">
<a href="https://www.python.org/" class="nav-logo">
<img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Python logo"/>
</a>
<span class="version_switcher_placeholder"></span>
<form role="search" class="search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" class="search-icon">
<path fill-rule="nonzero" fill="currentColor" d="M15.5 14h-.79l-.28-.27a6.5 6.5 0 001.48-5.34c-.47-2.78-2.79-5-5.59-5.34a6.505 6.505 0 00-7.27 7.27c.34 2.8 2.56 5.12 5.34 5.59a6.5 6.5 0 005.34-1.48l.27.28v.79l4.25 4.25c.41.41 1.08.41 1.49 0 .41-.41.41-1.08 0-1.49L15.5 14zm-6 0C7.01 14 5 11.99 5 9.5S7.01 5 9.5 5 14 7.01 14 9.5 11.99 14 9.5 14z"></path>
</svg>
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="search" name="q" />
<input type="submit" value="Go"/>
</form>
</span>
</nav>
<div class="menu-wrapper">
<nav class="menu" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<label class="theme-selector-label">
Theme
<select class="theme-selector" oninput="activateTheme(this.value)">
<option value="auto" selected>Auto</option>
<option value="light">Light</option>
<option value="dark">Dark</option>
</select>
</label>
<div>
<h4>Previous topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="argparse.html"
title="previous chapter">Argparse Tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<h4>Next topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="../library/getopt.html"
title="next chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">getopt</span></code> — C-style parser for command line options</a></p>
</div>
<div role="note" aria-label="source link">
<h3>This Page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a Bug</a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/main/Doc/howto/argparse-optparse.rst"
rel="nofollow">Show Source
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
</div>
</div>
<div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="Related">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
accesskey="I">index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../library/getopt.html" title="getopt — C-style parser for command line options"
accesskey="N">next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="argparse.html" title="Argparse Tutorial"
accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>
<li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
<li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> »</li>
<li class="switchers">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
</li>
<li>
</li>
<li id="cpython-language-and-version">
<a href="../index.html">3.12.10 Documentation</a> »
</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-1"><a href="../library/index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-2"><a href="../library/allos.html" >Generic Operating System Services</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-3"><a href="../library/argparse.html" accesskey="U"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">argparse</span></code> — Parser for command-line options, arguments and subcommands</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href="">Upgrading optparse code</a></li>
<li class="right">
<div class="inline-search" role="search">
<form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="search" name="q" id="search-box" />
<input type="submit" value="Go" />
</form>
</div>
|
</li>
<li class="right">
<label class="theme-selector-label">
Theme
<select class="theme-selector" oninput="activateTheme(this.value)">
<option value="auto" selected>Auto</option>
<option value="light">Light</option>
<option value="dark">Dark</option>
</select>
</label> |</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="document">
<div class="documentwrapper">
<div class="bodywrapper">
<div class="body" role="main">
<section id="upgrading-optparse-code">
<span id="id1"></span><h1>Upgrading optparse code<a class="headerlink" href="#upgrading-optparse-code" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>Originally, the <a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#module-argparse" title="argparse: Command-line option and argument parsing library."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">argparse</span></code></a> module had attempted to maintain compatibility
with <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#module-optparse" title="optparse: Command-line option parsing library. (deprecated)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse</span></code></a>. However, <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#module-optparse" title="optparse: Command-line option parsing library. (deprecated)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse</span></code></a> was difficult to extend
transparently, particularly with the changes required to support
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">nargs=</span></code> specifiers and better usage messages. When most everything in
<a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#module-optparse" title="optparse: Command-line option parsing library. (deprecated)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse</span></code></a> had either been copy-pasted over or monkey-patched, it no
longer seemed practical to try to maintain the backwards compatibility.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#module-argparse" title="argparse: Command-line option and argument parsing library."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">argparse</span></code></a> module improves on the <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#module-optparse" title="optparse: Command-line option parsing library. (deprecated)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse</span></code></a>
module in a number of ways including:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>Handling positional arguments.</p></li>
<li><p>Supporting subcommands.</p></li>
<li><p>Allowing alternative option prefixes like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">+</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p>Handling zero-or-more and one-or-more style arguments.</p></li>
<li><p>Producing more informative usage messages.</p></li>
<li><p>Providing a much simpler interface for custom <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">type</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">action</span></code>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>A partial upgrade path from <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#module-optparse" title="optparse: Command-line option parsing library. (deprecated)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse</span></code></a> to <a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#module-argparse" title="argparse: Command-line option and argument parsing library."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">argparse</span></code></a>:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>Replace all <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#optparse.OptionParser.add_option" title="optparse.OptionParser.add_option"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse.OptionParser.add_option()</span></code></a> calls with
<a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument" title="argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ArgumentParser.add_argument()</span></code></a> calls.</p></li>
<li><p>Replace <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">(options,</span> <span class="pre">args)</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">parser.parse_args()</span></code> with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">args</span> <span class="pre">=</span>
<span class="pre">parser.parse_args()</span></code> and add additional <a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument" title="argparse.ArgumentParser.add_argument"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ArgumentParser.add_argument()</span></code></a>
calls for the positional arguments. Keep in mind that what was previously
called <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">options</span></code>, now in the <a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#module-argparse" title="argparse: Command-line option and argument parsing library."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">argparse</span></code></a> context is called <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">args</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p>Replace <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#optparse.OptionParser.disable_interspersed_args" title="optparse.OptionParser.disable_interspersed_args"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse.OptionParser.disable_interspersed_args()</span></code></a>
by using <a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#argparse.ArgumentParser.parse_intermixed_args" title="argparse.ArgumentParser.parse_intermixed_args"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">parse_intermixed_args()</span></code></a> instead of
<a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#argparse.ArgumentParser.parse_args" title="argparse.ArgumentParser.parse_args"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">parse_args()</span></code></a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Replace callback actions and the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">callback_*</span></code> keyword arguments with
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">type</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">action</span></code> arguments.</p></li>
<li><p>Replace string names for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">type</span></code> keyword arguments with the corresponding
type objects (e.g. int, float, complex, etc).</p></li>
<li><p>Replace <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#optparse.Values" title="optparse.Values"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse.Values</span></code></a> with <a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#argparse.Namespace" title="argparse.Namespace"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Namespace</span></code></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#optparse.OptionError" title="optparse.OptionError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse.OptionError</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="../library/optparse.html#optparse.OptionValueError" title="optparse.OptionValueError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">optparse.OptionValueError</span></code></a> with
<a class="reference internal" href="../library/argparse.html#argparse.ArgumentError" title="argparse.ArgumentError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ArgumentError</span></code></a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Replace strings with implicit arguments such as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">%default</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">%prog</span></code> with
the standard Python syntax to use dictionaries to format strings, that is,
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">%(default)s</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">%(prog)s</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p>Replace the OptionParser constructor <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">version</span></code> argument with a call to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">parser.add_argument('--version',</span> <span class="pre">action='version',</span> <span class="pre">version='<the</span> <span class="pre">version>')</span></code>.</p></li>
</ul>
</section>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="Main">
<div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
<div>
<h4>Previous topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="argparse.html"
title="previous chapter">Argparse Tutorial</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<h4>Next topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="../library/getopt.html"
title="next chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">getopt</span></code> — C-style parser for command line options</a></p>
</div>
<div role="note" aria-label="source link">
<h3>This Page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a Bug</a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/main/Doc/howto/argparse-optparse.rst"
rel="nofollow">Show Source
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div id="sidebarbutton" title="Collapse sidebar">
<span>«</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
<div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="Related">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
>index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../library/getopt.html" title="getopt — C-style parser for command line options"
>next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="argparse.html" title="Argparse Tutorial"
>previous</a> |</li>
<li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
<li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> »</li>
<li class="switchers">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
</li>
<li>
</li>
<li id="cpython-language-and-version">
<a href="../index.html">3.12.10 Documentation</a> »
</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-1"><a href="../library/index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-2"><a href="../library/allos.html" >Generic Operating System Services</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-3"><a href="../library/argparse.html" ><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">argparse</span></code> — Parser for command-line options, arguments and subcommands</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href="">Upgrading optparse code</a></li>
<li class="right">
<div class="inline-search" role="search">
<form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="search" name="q" id="search-box" />
<input type="submit" value="Go" />
</form>
</div>
|
</li>
<li class="right">
<label class="theme-selector-label">
Theme
<select class="theme-selector" oninput="activateTheme(this.value)">
<option value="auto" selected>Auto</option>
<option value="light">Light</option>
<option value="dark">Dark</option>
</select>
</label> |</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="footer">
©
<a href="../copyright.html">
Copyright
</a>
2001-2025, Python Software Foundation.
<br />
This page is licensed under the Python Software Foundation License Version 2.
<br />
Examples, recipes, and other code in the documentation are additionally licensed under the Zero Clause BSD License.
<br />
See <a href="/license.html">History and License</a> for more information.<br />
<br />
The Python Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation.
<a href="https://www.python.org/psf/donations/">Please donate.</a>
<br />
<br />
Last updated on Apr 08, 2025 (11:58 UTC).
<a href="/bugs.html">Found a bug</a>?
<br />
Created using <a href="https://www.sphinx-doc.org/">Sphinx</a> 8.2.3.
</div>
</body>
</html>