Python argparse value range help message appearance

Question

I have an argument for a program that is an integer from 1-100 and I just don\'t like the way that it shows up in the -h help message when using argparse (it literally lists 0,

Answer 1

Use the metavar parameter of add_argument().

For example:

norse = parser.add_argument_group('Norse')
norse.add_argument('-n', '--norse', required=False, help='Run the Norse IPViking scan.', action='store_true')
norse.add_argument('--threshold', required=False, type=int, choices=range(0,101),
                   metavar="[0-100]", 
                   help='Threshold (0-100) denoting at what threat level to provide additional data on an IP \
                        address. Default is 49.', default=49)

Test:

from argparse import ArgumentParser

norse = ArgumentParser()

norse.add_argument('-n', '--norse', required=False, help='Run the Norse IPViking scan.', action='store_true')
norse.add_argument('--threshold', required=False, type=int, choices=range(0,101), metavar="[0-100]", help='Threshold (0-100) denoting at what threat level to provide additional data on an IP address. Default is 49.', default=49)


norse.print_help()

Results

usage: -c [-h] [-n] [--threshold [0-100]]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help           show this help message and exit
  -n, --norse          Run the Norse IPViking scan.
  --threshold [0-100]  Threshold (0-100) denoting at what threat level to
                       provide additional data on an IP address. Default is
                       49.