argparse exclusive argument group error unintelligible
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stdlib
type-bug
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 77.2k
- Forks
- 35.9k
- PR merge metrics
- PR metrics pending
Description
Bug report
Bug description:
import argparse
import os.path
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument(
"--debug",
action="store_true",
help="print out debugging information",
)
# Added optional branch argument
parser.add_argument(
"-b",
"--branch",
default="main",
help="branch name to store commits in (default: main)",
)
parser.add_argument(
"--non-interactive",
action="store_true",
help="disable interactive prompts for missing author information, pass --yes to lfs import",
)
parser.add_argument(
"--template",
default=os.path.join(
os.path.dirname(__file__), "template"
),
help="add files from this directory to every revision",
)
parser.add_argument(
"--object-format",
default="sha256",
help="git object format to use (default: sha256)",
)
parser.add_argument(
"--changelog",
nargs="?",
const=pkg_base,
help="use changelog for commit messages, "
f"package name is guessed ({pkg_base}) or can be specified",
)
repo_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True)
repo_group.add_argument(
"--stdout",
action="store_true",
help="output git fast-import data to stdout",
)
repo_group.add_argument(
"repository",
nargs="?",
help="import package into this git repository if --stdout is not given",
)
args = parser.parse_args()
$ python3 osc_fast_export.py
usage: osc_fast_export.py [-h] [--debug] [-b BRANCH] [--non-interactive] [--template TEMPLATE]
[--object-format OBJECT_FORMAT] [--changelog [CHANGELOG]] (--stdout |
repository)
osc_fast_export.py: error: one of the arguments --stdout repository is required
The sentence
one of the arguments --stdout repository is required
is unintelligible. I wrote the code so I know why the output is like this but this is supposed to be read by a user who never looked at the code. The grammar of that sentence is broken.
CPython versions tested on:
3.13
Operating systems tested on:
Linux
Linked PRs
- gh-157134
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the argparse mutually exclusive-group entry point shown in the report and reproduce the command with neither --stdout nor repository. Trace the resulting required-argument diagnostic and its existing coverage; done means the user-facing message is grammatical and clearly explains the requirement, with a regression test for this case.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 30/100