Can argparse accept argument value as key=val pairs

Question

I am trying to implement below option by using argparse(can't use any other tool like docopt because of project requirement):-

cli.py --conf key1=value1, key2=value2, kay3=value3
or
cli.py --conf key1=value1 key2=value2 key3=value3

So far I have tried type=json.loads or dict but not helping. One possible solution is to use type=str and then later parse it to dict. Do you guys know any other better solution which I am missing.. Thanks in advance.

Note- Can't use --key1=value1 --key2=value2 --key3=value3 because I don't want to restrict count and name of key/value. It will help in supporting new key/val in future.

Answer 1

Since you commented that you must use the cli as it is written, This is another solution. In argparse i would define the conf argument like this:

parser.add_argument('--conf', nargs='*')

With nargs='*' all the arguments following that would be in the same list which looks like this ['key1=value1', 'key2=value2', 'key3=value3']

To parse that list and get a dict out of it, you can do this:

parsed_conf = {}
for pair in conf:
    kay, value = pair.split('=')
    parsed_conf[key] = value

Now call your program like this (without commas):

cli.py --conf key1=value1 key2=value2 key3=value3

And it should work

Answer 2

I would use type=str and parse it later, perhaps with json, but the main problem with that would be the way you are writing your command:

cli.py --conf key1=value1, key2=value2, kay3=value3

The spaces split each pair to a different argument. If you use either method you suggested it would not work. Instead make sure that they are all one argument:

cli.py --conf="key1='value1', key2='value2', kay3='value3'"

That way this large argument is ready to be parsed as json