argparse output suxx

[techtonik]

$ python -m wheel
usage: __main__.py [-h]
                   {keygen,sign,unsign,verify,unpack,install,install-scripts,convert,version,help}
                   ...
__main__.py: error: too few arguments

It should be at least:

$ python -m wheel
usage: python -m wheel [command]

commands:
    keygen                 - bla-bla-bla
    sign
    unsign
    verify
    unpack
    install
    install-scripts
    convert
    version
    help
                   ...
wheel: error: too few arguments

[techtonik]

--help output also suxx:

> py -2 -m wheel -h
usage: __main__.py [-h]
                   {keygen,sign,unsign,verify,unpack,install,install-scripts,convert,version,help}
                   ...

positional arguments:
  {keygen,sign,unsign,verify,unpack,install,install-scripts,convert,version,help}
                        commands
    keygen              Generate signing key
    sign                Sign wheel
    unsign              Remove RECORD.jws from a wheel by truncating the zip
                        file. RECORD.jws must be at the end of the archive.
                        The zip file must be an ordinary archive, with the
                        compressed files and the directory in the same order,
                        and without any non-zip content after the truncation
                        point.
    verify              Verify a wheel. The signature will be verified for
                        internal consistency ONLY and printed. Wheel's own
                        unpack/install commands verify the manifest against
                        the signature and file contents.
    unpack              Unpack wheel
    install             Install wheels
    install-scripts     Install console_scripts
    convert             Convert egg or wininst to wheel
    version             Print version and exit
    help                Show this help

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

I don't get why people want to name commands as positional arguments and options as optional arguments. I mean if you want to name commands to be something else, you should have the freedom, but by default the names should be sane.

[techtonik]

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11070268/argparse-python-remove-subparser-list-in-help-menu
• http://techtonik.rainforce.org/2016/11/help-formatting-problem-with-argparse.html

The proper way to fix this is to export argparse state in nested data structure and format it.