[Tutor] getopt question

[Michael Janssen]

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Xuer wrote:

> an example from 'Python Programming for Beginners'
>
> trygetopt.py
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> #!/usr/bin/python
>
> import sys,getopt
> try:
>         options, xarguments = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:],'ha')
> except getopt.error:
>         pass
>
> print options
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ./trygetopt.py -ha
> get result
> [('-h', ''), ('-a', '')]
>
> but ./trygetopt.py -h 123 -a 456
> get the result
> [('-h', '')]
>
> While I expect the result would be
> [('-h', '123'), ('-a', '456')]
>
> what's the matter?
> thanks in advance. :)

when you want to have a option with a parameter, then you have to
instruct getopt so. getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:],'h:a:') is the syntax for
this (A colon behind any option that needs a parameter).  It might
be that you then *have* to specify a parameter on commandline.

Why not using optparse? It's newer and worth the change (ease of use,
automatic help output). Consult the Library Reference for this.


Michael