python optparse, how to include additional info in usage output?

Question

Using python\'s optparse module I would like to add extra example lines below the regular usage output. My current help_print() output looks like this:

usage: ch         


        

Answer 1

Another idea on how to do this would be disabling the default behavior for -h and printing your own help screen, which can include the default one:

from optparse import OptionParser

parser = OptionParser(add_help_option=False, 
                      epilog="This can't be easily\n multilined")
parser.add_option('-h', '--help', dest='help', action='store_true',
                  help='show this help message and exit')

(options, args) = parser.parse_args()

if options.help:
    parser.print_help()
    print 'now we have an epilog'
    print 'with as many lines as you wish'
    sys.exit()

That is basically what the parser does with the default behavior of add_help_option=True, excluding of course the prints.

But, in all honesty, I'd also prefer a way to simply add any given number of description lines in the beginning and in the end.