[getopt-sig] there isn't really any discussion here

[Derek Harland]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Ward" <gward@python.net>

[defns snipped --- I'll agree those]

>   required option
>     an option that must be supplied on the command-line; this is
>     an oxymoron and I personally consider it poor UI design.
>     (I gather Russ Cox agrees with me.)  Any getopt replacement should
>     make it fairly easy to implement required options, though, because
>     lots of people want them.

Its only an oxymoron as you describe it as "option".  I think of it this way
... "options" often come in a few flavours which are analgous to a GUI.  A
boolean option (eq python -i) is like a check box, its true or its false.  A
required option is often more like a radio button ... there can be lots of
groups of them and you must select *something* for each group.  Maybe I dont
wrap my brain correctly, but many scripts in my domain often require such
inputs, and I dont want to force the user to make them positional, and hence
dependent on order, i dont think you can trust users to do that.  Users will
always be invoking --help just to see the order. (frankly, its really that I
dont trust *myself* to get them in order)

The only "optional part" here is the value, the *parameter* itself is
required.  I think if you replace the word option with parameter its more
meaningful.

But I think this is just quibbling over crumbs.

Des.