[Python-Dev] Application configuration (was: PEP 389: argparse)

[Oleg Broytman]

On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 09:23:22AM -0600, m h wrote:
> Perhaps this is OT, but since command line parsing is part of
> configuration, I figure I'd throw it out there.  My scripts often have
> configuration that the command line can override and I loosely follow
> the example hierarchy[0] listed in The Art of Unix Programming.
> 
> Some configuration I want in a config file (but I want to override
> from the command line) and sometimes it's very nice to use environment
> variables for configuration.

   The idea was discussed in the list many years ago but it seems to be
forgotten now.

> Does anyone else have interest in such functionality?  Is it outside
> the realm of this PEP?

   It is outside the scope of this particular PEP, but it is certainly an
interesting idea.
   Actually it is the Right Thing, but I doubt it is possible to implement
such a generic configuration *framework* in the Python standard *library*.
Applications use different configfile layouts, some programs use w32
registry instead of configfiles...

Oleg.
-- 
     Oleg Broytman            http://phd.pp.ru/            phd at phd.pp.ru
           Programmers don't die, they just GOSUB without RETURN.