How to parse multiple nested sub-commands using python argparse?

Question

I am implementing a command line program which has interface like this:

cmd [GLOBAL_OPTIONS] {command [COMMAND_OPTS]} [{command [COMMAND_OPTS]} ...]
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Answer 1

Built a full Python 2/3 example with subparsers, parse_known_args and parse_args (running on IDEone):

from __future__ import print_function

from argparse import ArgumentParser
from random import randint


def main():
    parser = get_parser()

    input_sum_cmd = ['sum_cmd', '--sum']
    input_min_cmd = ['min_cmd', '--min']

    args, rest = parser.parse_known_args(
        # `sum`
        input_sum_cmd +
        ['-a', str(randint(21, 30)),
         '-b', str(randint(51, 80))] +
        # `min`
        input_min_cmd +
        ['-y', str(float(randint(64, 79))),
         '-z', str(float(randint(91, 120)) + .5)]
    )

    print('args:\t ', args,
          '\nrest:\t ', rest, '\n', sep='')

    sum_cmd_result = args.sm((args.a, args.b))
    print(
        'a:\t\t {:02d}\n'.format(args.a),
        'b:\t\t {:02d}\n'.format(args.b),
        'sum_cmd: {:02d}\n'.format(sum_cmd_result), sep='')

    assert rest[0] == 'min_cmd'
    args = parser.parse_args(rest)
    min_cmd_result = args.mn((args.y, args.z))
    print(
        'y:\t\t {:05.2f}\n'.format(args.y),
        'z:\t\t {:05.2f}\n'.format(args.z),
        'min_cmd: {:05.2f}'.format(min_cmd_result), sep='')

def get_parser():
    # create the top-level parser
    parser = ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(help='sub-command help')

    # create the parser for the "sum" command
    parser_a = subparsers.add_parser('sum_cmd', help='sum some integers')
    parser_a.add_argument('-a', type=int,
                          help='an integer for the accumulator')
    parser_a.add_argument('-b', type=int,
                          help='an integer for the accumulator')
    parser_a.add_argument('--sum', dest='sm', action='store_const',
                          const=sum, default=max,
                          help='sum the integers (default: find the max)')

    # create the parser for the "min" command
    parser_b = subparsers.add_parser('min_cmd', help='min some integers')
    parser_b.add_argument('-y', type=float,
                          help='an float for the accumulator')
    parser_b.add_argument('-z', type=float,
                          help='an float for the accumulator')
    parser_b.add_argument('--min', dest='mn', action='store_const',
                          const=min, default=0,
                          help='smallest integer (default: 0)')
    return parser


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()