[New-bugs-announce] [issue23814] argparse: Parser level defaults do not always override argument level defaults

[Karl O. Pinc]

New submission from Karl O. Pinc:

In the argparse library parser library, contrary to the documentation,
parser-level defaults do not always override argument-level defaults.

https://docs.python.org/3.5/library/argparse.html#argparse.ArgumentParser.set_defaults

says "Note that parser-level defaults always override argument-level defaults:"

(And so does the python 3.3 docs.)

The docs then provide this example:

  >>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
  >>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default='bar')
  >>> parser.set_defaults(foo='spam')
  >>> parser.parse_args([])
  Namespace(foo='spam')

But it is only true that parser-level defaults override argument-level
defaults when they are established after the argument is added.

The output below shows an argument level default overrideing
a parser level default.

$ python3
Python 3.3.2 (default, Jun  4 2014, 11:36:37) 
[GCC 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-4)] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import argparse
>>> parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
>>> parser.set_defaults(foo='spam')
>>> parser.add_argument('--foo', default='bar')
_StoreAction(option_strings=['--foo'], dest='foo', nargs=None, const=None, default='bar', type=None, choices=None, help=None, metavar=None)
>>> parser.parse_args([])
Namespace(foo='bar')

It seems that whichever default is set last is the one which is used.
Or perhaps there are not argument level defaults and parser level
defaults, there are just defaults, period.  (It might, possibly,
be nice if there _were_ both argument and parser level defaults
and parser level defaults had priority.  Then this would not be
a documentation bug.)

----------
assignee: docs at python
components: Documentation
messages: 239632
nosy: docs at python, kop
priority: normal
severity: normal
status: open
title: argparse: Parser level defaults do not always override argument level defaults
type: behavior
versions: Python 3.3

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue23814>
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