Changeset 391 for python/trunk/Doc/library/optparse.rst

Timestamp:

Mar 19, 2014, 11:31:01 PM (11 years ago)

Author:

dmik

Message:

python: Merge vendor 2.7.6 to trunk.

Location:

python/trunk

Files:

• . (modified) (1 prop)
• Doc/library/optparse.rst (modified) (53 diffs)

python/trunk/Doc/library/optparse.rst

@@ -1 @@
-:mod:`optparse` --- More powerful command line option parser
-============================================================
+:mod:`optparse` --- Parser for command line options
+===================================================
 
 .. module:: optparse
-   :synopsis: More convenient, flexible, and powerful command-line parsing library.
+   :synopsis: Command-line option parsing library.
+   :deprecated:
 .. moduleauthor:: Greg Ward <gward@python.net>
-
+.. sectionauthor:: Greg Ward <gward@python.net>
 
 .. versionadded:: 2.3
 
-.. sectionauthor:: Greg Ward <gward@python.net>
-
+.. deprecated:: 2.7
+   The :mod:`optparse` module is deprecated and will not be developed further;
+   development will continue with the :mod:`argparse` module.
+
+**Source code:** :source:`Lib/optparse.py`
+
+--------------
 
 :mod:`optparse` is a more convenient, flexible, and powerful library for parsing
@@ -60 +66 @@
 .. code-block:: text
 
-   usage: <yourscript> [options]
-
-   options:
+   Usage: <yourscript> [options]
+
+   Options:
      -h, --help            show this help message and exit
      -f FILE, --file=FILE  write report to FILE
@@ -103 +109 @@
    execution of a program.  There are many different syntaxes for options; the
    traditional Unix syntax is a hyphen ("-") followed by a single letter,
-   e.g. ``"-x"`` or ``"-F"``.  Also, traditional Unix syntax allows multiple
-   options to be merged into a single argument, e.g.  ``"-x -F"`` is equivalent
-   to ``"-xF"``.  The GNU project introduced ``"--"`` followed by a series of
-   hyphen-separated words, e.g.  ``"--file"`` or ``"--dry-run"``.  These are the
+   e.g. ``-x`` or ``-F``.  Also, traditional Unix syntax allows multiple
+   options to be merged into a single argument, e.g. ``-x -F`` is equivalent
+   to ``-xF``.  The GNU project introduced ``--`` followed by a series of
+   hyphen-separated words, e.g. ``--file`` or ``--dry-run``.  These are the
    only two option syntaxes provided by :mod:`optparse`.
 
    Some other option syntaxes that the world has seen include:
 
-   * a hyphen followed by a few letters, e.g. ``"-pf"`` (this is *not* the same
+   * a hyphen followed by a few letters, e.g. ``-pf`` (this is *not* the same
      as multiple options merged into a single argument)
 
-   * a hyphen followed by a whole word, e.g. ``"-file"`` (this is technically
+   * a hyphen followed by a whole word, e.g. ``-file`` (this is technically
      equivalent to the previous syntax, but they aren't usually seen in the same
      program)
 
    * a plus sign followed by a single letter, or a few letters, or a word, e.g.
-     ``"+f"``, ``"+rgb"``
-
-   * a slash followed by a letter, or a few letters, or a word, e.g. ``"/f"``,
-     ``"/file"``
+     ``+f``, ``+rgb``
+
+   * a slash followed by a letter, or a few letters, or a word, e.g. ``/f``,
+     ``/file``
 
    These option syntaxes are not supported by :mod:`optparse`, and they never
@@ -150 +156 @@
    people want an "optional option arguments" feature, meaning that some options
    will take an argument if they see it, and won't if they don't.  This is
-   somewhat controversial, because it makes parsing ambiguous: if ``"-a"`` takes
-   an optional argument and ``"-b"`` is another option entirely, how do we
-   interpret ``"-ab"``?  Because of this ambiguity, :mod:`optparse` does not
+   somewhat controversial, because it makes parsing ambiguous: if ``-a`` takes
+   an optional argument and ``-b`` is another option entirely, how do we
+   interpret ``-ab``?  Because of this ambiguity, :mod:`optparse` does not
    support this feature.
 
@@ -164 +170 @@
    "required option" is self-contradictory in English.  :mod:`optparse` doesn't
    prevent you from implementing required options, but doesn't give you much
-   help at it either.  See ``examples/required_1.py`` and
-   ``examples/required_2.py`` in the :mod:`optparse` source distribution for two
-   ways to implement required options with :mod:`optparse`.
+   help at it either.
 
 For example, consider this hypothetical command-line::
 
-   prog -v --report /tmp/report.txt foo bar
-
-``"-v"`` and ``"--report"`` are both options.  Assuming that :option:`--report`
-takes one argument, ``"/tmp/report.txt"`` is an option argument.  ``"foo"`` and
-``"bar"`` are positional arguments.
+   prog -v --report report.txt foo bar
+
+``-v`` and ``--report`` are both options.  Assuming that ``--report``
+takes one argument, ``report.txt`` is an option argument.  ``foo`` and
+``bar`` are positional arguments.
 
 
@@ -259 +263 @@
                      attr=value, ...)
 
-Each option has one or more option strings, such as ``"-f"`` or ``"--file"``,
+Each option has one or more option strings, such as ``-f`` or ``--file``,
 and several option attributes that tell :mod:`optparse` what to expect and what
 to do when it encounters that option on the command line.
@@ -272 +276 @@
 string overall.
 
-The option strings passed to :meth:`add_option` are effectively labels for the
+The option strings passed to :meth:`OptionParser.add_option` are effectively
+labels for the
 option defined by that call.  For brevity, we will frequently refer to
 *encountering an option* on the command line; in reality, :mod:`optparse`
@@ -288 +293 @@
 
 * ``options``, an object containing values for all of your options---e.g. if
-  ``"--file"`` takes a single string argument, then ``options.file`` will be the
+  ``--file`` takes a single string argument, then ``options.file`` will be the
   filename supplied by the user, or ``None`` if the user did not supply that
   option
@@ -334 +339 @@
    (options, args) = parser.parse_args(args)
 
-When :mod:`optparse` sees the option string ``"-f"``, it consumes the next
-argument, ``"foo.txt"``, and stores it in ``options.filename``.  So, after this
+When :mod:`optparse` sees the option string ``-f``, it consumes the next
+argument, ``foo.txt``, and stores it in ``options.filename``.  So, after this
 call to :meth:`parse_args`, ``options.filename`` is ``"foo.txt"``.
 
@@ -347 +352 @@
 
 Let's parse another fake command-line.  This time, we'll jam the option argument
-right up against the option: since ``"-n42"`` (one argument) is equivalent to
-``"-n 42"`` (two arguments), the code ::
+right up against the option: since ``-n42`` (one argument) is equivalent to
+``-n 42`` (two arguments), the code ::
 
    (options, args) = parser.parse_args(["-n42"])
    print options.num
 
-will print ``"42"``.
+will print ``42``.
 
 If you don't specify a type, :mod:`optparse` assumes ``string``.  Combined with
@@ -363 +368 @@
 If you don't supply a destination, :mod:`optparse` figures out a sensible
 default from the option strings: if the first long option string is
-``"--foo-bar"``, then the default destination is ``foo_bar``.  If there are no
+``--foo-bar``, then the default destination is ``foo_bar``.  If there are no
 long option strings, :mod:`optparse` looks at the first short option string: the
-default destination for ``"-f"`` is ``f``.
+default destination for ``-f`` is ``f``.
 
 :mod:`optparse` also includes built-in ``long`` and ``complex`` types.  Adding
@@ -379 +384 @@
 ---are quite common.  :mod:`optparse` supports them with two separate actions,
 ``store_true`` and ``store_false``.  For example, you might have a ``verbose``
-flag that is turned on with ``"-v"`` and off with ``"-q"``::
+flag that is turned on with ``-v`` and off with ``-q``::
 
    parser.add_option("-v", action="store_true", dest="verbose")
@@ -388 +393 @@
 see below.)
 
-When :mod:`optparse` encounters ``"-v"`` on the command line, it sets
-``options.verbose`` to ``True``; when it encounters ``"-q"``,
+When :mod:`optparse` encounters ``-v`` on the command line, it sets
+``options.verbose`` to ``True``; when it encounters ``-q``,
 ``options.verbose`` is set to ``False``.
 
@@ -429 +434 @@
 
 First, consider the verbose/quiet example.  If we want :mod:`optparse` to set
-``verbose`` to ``True`` unless ``"-q"`` is seen, then we can do this::
+``verbose`` to ``True`` unless ``-q`` is seen, then we can do this::
 
    parser.add_option("-v", action="store_true", dest="verbose", default=True)
@@ -487 +492 @@
                           "or expert [default: %default]")
 
-If :mod:`optparse` encounters either ``"-h"`` or ``"--help"`` on the
+If :mod:`optparse` encounters either ``-h`` or ``--help`` on the
 command-line, or if you just call :meth:`parser.print_help`, it prints the
 following to standard output:
@@ -493 +498 @@
 .. code-block:: text
 
-   usage: <yourscript> [options] arg1 arg2
-
-   options:
+   Usage: <yourscript> [options] arg1 arg2
+
+   Options:
      -h, --help            show this help message and exit
      -v, --verbose         make lots of noise [default]
@@ -514 +519 @@
      usage = "usage: %prog [options] arg1 arg2"
 
-  :mod:`optparse` expands ``"%prog"`` in the usage string to the name of the
+  :mod:`optparse` expands ``%prog`` in the usage string to the name of the
   current program, i.e. ``os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])``.  The expanded string
   is then printed before the detailed option help.
 
   If you don't supply a usage string, :mod:`optparse` uses a bland but sensible
-  default: ``"usage: %prog [options]"``, which is fine if your script doesn't
+  default: ``"Usage: %prog [options]"``, which is fine if your script doesn't
   take any positional arguments.
 
@@ -532 +537 @@
 
   Here, "MODE" is called the meta-variable: it stands for the argument that the
-  user is expected to supply to :option:`-m`/:option:`--mode`.  By default,
+  user is expected to supply to ``-m``/``--mode``.  By default,
   :mod:`optparse` converts the destination variable name to uppercase and uses
   that for the meta-variable.  Sometimes, that's not what you want---for
-  example, the :option:`--filename` option explicitly sets ``metavar="FILE"``,
+  example, the ``--filename`` option explicitly sets ``metavar="FILE"``,
   resulting in this automatically-generated option description::
 
@@ -541 +546 @@
 
   This is important for more than just saving space, though: the manually
-  written help text uses the meta-variable "FILE" to clue the user in that
-  there's a connection between the semi-formal syntax "-f FILE" and the informal
+  written help text uses the meta-variable ``FILE`` to clue the user in that
+  there's a connection between the semi-formal syntax ``-f FILE`` and the informal
   semantic description "write output to FILE". This is a simple but effective
   way to make your help text a lot clearer and more useful for end users.
@@ -552 +557 @@
    ``None``), ``%default`` expands to ``none``.
 
+Grouping Options
+++++++++++++++++
+
 When dealing with many options, it is convenient to group these options for
 better help output.  An :class:`OptionParser` can contain several option groups,
 each of which can contain several options.
 
-Continuing with the parser defined above, adding an :class:`OptionGroup` to a
-parser is easy::
+An option group is obtained using the class :class:`OptionGroup`:
+
+.. class:: OptionGroup(parser, title, description=None)
+
+   where
+
+   * parser is the :class:`OptionParser` instance the group will be insterted in
+     to
+   * title is the group title
+   * description, optional, is a long description of the group
+
+:class:`OptionGroup` inherits from :class:`OptionContainer` (like
+:class:`OptionParser`) and so the :meth:`add_option` method can be used to add
+an option to the group.
+
+Once all the options are declared, using the :class:`OptionParser` method
+:meth:`add_option_group` the group is added to the previously defined parser.
+
+Continuing with the parser defined in the previous section, adding an
+:class:`OptionGroup` to a parser is easy::
 
     group = OptionGroup(parser, "Dangerous Options",
@@ -569 +595 @@
 .. code-block:: text
 
-    usage:  [options] arg1 arg2
-
-    options:
-      -h, --help           show this help message and exit
-      -v, --verbose        make lots of noise [default]
-      -q, --quiet          be vewwy quiet (I'm hunting wabbits)
-      -fFILE, --file=FILE  write output to FILE
-      -mMODE, --mode=MODE  interaction mode: one of 'novice', 'intermediate'
-                           [default], 'expert'
-
-      Dangerous Options:
-      Caution: use of these options is at your own risk.  It is believed that
-      some of them bite.
-      -g                 Group option.
+   Usage: <yourscript> [options] arg1 arg2
+
+   Options:
+     -h, --help            show this help message and exit
+     -v, --verbose         make lots of noise [default]
+     -q, --quiet           be vewwy quiet (I'm hunting wabbits)
+     -f FILE, --filename=FILE
+                           write output to FILE
+     -m MODE, --mode=MODE  interaction mode: novice, intermediate, or
+                           expert [default: intermediate]
+
+     Dangerous Options:
+       Caution: use these options at your own risk.  It is believed that some
+       of them bite.
+
+       -g                  Group option.
+
+A bit more complete example might involve using more than one group: still
+extending the previous example::
+
+    group = OptionGroup(parser, "Dangerous Options",
+                        "Caution: use these options at your own risk.  "
+                        "It is believed that some of them bite.")
+    group.add_option("-g", action="store_true", help="Group option.")
+    parser.add_option_group(group)
+
+    group = OptionGroup(parser, "Debug Options")
+    group.add_option("-d", "--debug", action="store_true",
+                     help="Print debug information")
+    group.add_option("-s", "--sql", action="store_true",
+                     help="Print all SQL statements executed")
+    group.add_option("-e", action="store_true", help="Print every action done")
+    parser.add_option_group(group)
+
+that results in the following output:
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+   Usage: <yourscript> [options] arg1 arg2
+
+   Options:
+     -h, --help            show this help message and exit
+     -v, --verbose         make lots of noise [default]
+     -q, --quiet           be vewwy quiet (I'm hunting wabbits)
+     -f FILE, --filename=FILE
+                           write output to FILE
+     -m MODE, --mode=MODE  interaction mode: novice, intermediate, or expert
+                           [default: intermediate]
+
+     Dangerous Options:
+       Caution: use these options at your own risk.  It is believed that some
+       of them bite.
+
+       -g                  Group option.
+
+     Debug Options:
+       -d, --debug         Print debug information
+       -s, --sql           Print all SQL statements executed
+       -e                  Print every action done
+
+Another interesting method, in particular when working programmatically with
+option groups is:
+
+.. method:: OptionParser.get_option_group(opt_str)
+
+   Return the :class:`OptionGroup` to which the short or long option
+   string *opt_str* (e.g. ``'-o'`` or ``'--option'``) belongs. If
+   there's no such :class:`OptionGroup`, return ``None``.
 
 .. _optparse-printing-version-string:
@@ -595 +675 @@
    parser = OptionParser(usage="%prog [-f] [-q]", version="%prog 1.0")
 
-``"%prog"`` is expanded just like it is in ``usage``.  Apart from that,
+``%prog`` is expanded just like it is in ``usage``.  Apart from that,
 ``version`` can contain anything you like.  When you supply it, :mod:`optparse`
-automatically adds a ``"--version"`` option to your parser. If it encounters
+automatically adds a ``--version`` option to your parser. If it encounters
 this option on the command line, it expands your ``version`` string (by
-replacing ``"%prog"``), prints it to stdout, and exits.
+replacing ``%prog``), prints it to stdout, and exits.
 
 For example, if your script is called ``/usr/bin/foo``::
@@ -612 +692 @@
    Print the version message for the current program (``self.version``) to
    *file* (default stdout).  As with :meth:`print_usage`, any occurrence
-   of ``"%prog"`` in ``self.version`` is replaced with the name of the current
+   of ``%prog`` in ``self.version`` is replaced with the name of the current
    program.  Does nothing if ``self.version`` is empty or undefined.
 
@@ -635 +715 @@
 Handling user errors is much more important, since they are guaranteed to happen
 no matter how stable your code is.  :mod:`optparse` can automatically detect
-some user errors, such as bad option arguments (passing ``"-n 4x"`` where
-:option:`-n` takes an integer argument), missing arguments (``"-n"`` at the end
-of the command line, where :option:`-n` takes an argument of any type).  Also,
+some user errors, such as bad option arguments (passing ``-n 4x`` where
+``-n`` takes an integer argument), missing arguments (``-n`` at the end
+of the command line, where ``-n`` takes an argument of any type).  Also,
 you can call :func:`OptionParser.error` to signal an application-defined error
 condition::
@@ -650 +730 @@
 error status 2.
 
-Consider the first example above, where the user passes ``"4x"`` to an option
+Consider the first example above, where the user passes ``4x`` to an option
 that takes an integer::
 
    $ /usr/bin/foo -n 4x
-   usage: foo [options]
+   Usage: foo [options]
 
    foo: error: option -n: invalid integer value: '4x'
@@ -661 +741 @@
 
    $ /usr/bin/foo -n
-   usage: foo [options]
+   Usage: foo [options]
 
    foo: error: -n option requires an argument
@@ -743 +823 @@
       A version string to print when the user supplies a version option. If you
       supply a true value for ``version``, :mod:`optparse` automatically adds a
-      version option with the single option string ``"--version"``.  The
-      substring ``"%prog"`` is expanded the same as for ``usage``.
+      version option with the single option string ``--version``.  The
+      substring ``%prog`` is expanded the same as for ``usage``.
 
    ``conflict_handler`` (default: ``"error"``)
@@ -763 +843 @@
 
    ``add_help_option`` (default: ``True``)
-      If true, :mod:`optparse` will add a help option (with option strings ``"-h"``
-      and ``"--help"``) to the parser.
+      If true, :mod:`optparse` will add a help option (with option strings ``-h``
+      and ``--help``) to the parser.
 
    ``prog``
-      The string to use when expanding ``"%prog"`` in ``usage`` and ``version``
+      The string to use when expanding ``%prog`` in ``usage`` and ``version``
       instead of ``os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])``.
 
-
+   ``epilog`` (default: ``None``)
+      A paragraph of help text to print after the option help.
 
 .. _optparse-populating-parser:
@@ -810 +891 @@
 
 Each Option instance represents a set of synonymous command-line option strings,
-e.g. :option:`-f` and :option:`--file`.  You can specify any number of short or
+e.g. ``-f`` and ``--file``.  You can specify any number of short or
 long option strings, but you must specify at least one overall option string.
 
@@ -816 +897 @@
 :meth:`add_option` method of :class:`OptionParser`.
 
-.. method:: OptionParser.add_option(opt_str[, ...], attr=value, ...)
+.. method:: OptionParser.add_option(option)
+            OptionParser.add_option(*opt_str, attr=value, ...)
 
    To define an option with only a short option string::
@@ -973 +1055 @@
 
    Help text to print for this option when listing all available options after
-   the user supplies a :attr:`~Option.help` option (such as ``"--help"``).  If
+   the user supplies a :attr:`~Option.help` option (such as ``--help``).  If
    no help text is supplied, the option will be listed without help text.  To
    hide this option, use the special value :data:`optparse.SUPPRESS_HELP`.
@@ -1011 +1093 @@
 
   If :attr:`~Option.dest` is not supplied, :mod:`optparse` derives a destination
-  from the first long option string (e.g., ``"--foo-bar"`` implies
+  from the first long option string (e.g., ``--foo-bar`` implies
   ``foo_bar``). If there are no long option strings, :mod:`optparse` derives a
-  destination from the first short option string (e.g., ``"-f"`` implies ``f``).
+  destination from the first short option string (e.g., ``-f`` implies ``f``).
 
   Example::
@@ -1044 +1126 @@
                        action="store_const", const=2, dest="verbose")
 
-  If ``"--noisy"`` is seen, :mod:`optparse` will set  ::
+  If ``--noisy`` is seen, :mod:`optparse` will set  ::
 
      options.verbose = 2
@@ -1079 +1161 @@
      parser.add_option("-t", "--tracks", action="append", type="int")
 
-  If ``"-t3"`` is seen on the command-line, :mod:`optparse` does the equivalent
+  If ``-t3`` is seen on the command-line, :mod:`optparse` does the equivalent
   of::
 
@@ -1085 +1167 @@
      options.tracks.append(int("3"))
 
-  If, a little later on, ``"--tracks=4"`` is seen, it does::
+  If, a little later on, ``--tracks=4`` is seen, it does::
 
      options.tracks.append(int("4"))
+
+  The ``append`` action calls the ``append`` method on the current value of the
+  option.  This means that any default value specified must have an ``append``
+  method.  It also means that if the default value is non-empty, the default
+  elements will be present in the parsed value for the option, with any values
+  from the command line appended after those default values::
+
+     >>> parser.add_option("--files", action="append", default=['~/.mypkg/defaults'])
+     >>> opts, args = parser.parse_args(['--files', 'overrides.mypkg'])
+     >>> opts.files
+     ['~/.mypkg/defaults', 'overrides.mypkg']
 
 * ``"append_const"`` [required: :attr:`~Option.const`; relevant:
@@ -1107 +1200 @@
      parser.add_option("-v", action="count", dest="verbosity")
 
-  The first time ``"-v"`` is seen on the command line, :mod:`optparse` does the
+  The first time ``-v`` is seen on the command line, :mod:`optparse` does the
   equivalent of::
 
@@ -1113 +1206 @@
      options.verbosity += 1
 
-  Every subsequent occurrence of ``"-v"`` results in  ::
+  Every subsequent occurrence of ``-v`` results in  ::
 
      options.verbosity += 1
@@ -1156 +1249 @@
      parser.add_option("--secret", help=SUPPRESS_HELP)
 
-  If :mod:`optparse` sees either ``"-h"`` or ``"--help"`` on the command line,
+  If :mod:`optparse` sees either ``-h`` or ``--help`` on the command line,
   it will print something like the following help message to stdout (assuming
   ``sys.argv[0]`` is ``"foo.py"``):
@@ -1162 +1255 @@
   .. code-block:: text
 
-     usage: foo.py [options]
-
-     options:
+     Usage: foo.py [options]
+
+     Options:
        -h, --help        Show this help message and exit
        -v                Be moderately verbose
@@ -1213 +1306 @@
 
 ``"choice"`` options are a subtype of ``"string"`` options.  The
-:attr:`~Option.choices`` option attribute (a sequence of strings) defines the
+:attr:`~Option.choices` option attribute (a sequence of strings) defines the
 set of allowed option arguments.  :func:`optparse.check_choice` compares
 user-supplied option arguments against this master list and raises
@@ -1235 +1328 @@
 
 ``values``
-   object to store option arguments in (default: a new instance of
-   :class:`optparse.Values`)
+   a :class:`optparse.Values` object to store option arguments in (default: a
+   new instance of :class:`Values`) -- if you give an existing object, the
+   option defaults will not be initialized on it
 
 and the return values are
@@ -1269 +1363 @@
 .. method:: OptionParser.disable_interspersed_args()
 
-   Set parsing to stop on the first non-option.  For example, if ``"-a"`` and
-   ``"-b"`` are both simple options that take no arguments, :mod:`optparse`
+   Set parsing to stop on the first non-option.  For example, if ``-a`` and
+   ``-b`` are both simple options that take no arguments, :mod:`optparse`
    normally accepts this syntax::
 
@@ -1300 +1394 @@
 
    Return true if the OptionParser has an option with option string *opt_str*
-   (e.g., ``"-q"`` or ``"--verbose"``).
+   (e.g., ``-q`` or ``--verbose``).
 
 .. method:: OptionParser.remove_option(opt_str)
@@ -1353 +1447 @@
 
 At this point, :mod:`optparse` detects that a previously-added option is already
-using the ``"-n"`` option string.  Since ``conflict_handler`` is ``"resolve"``,
-it resolves the situation by removing ``"-n"`` from the earlier option's list of
-option strings.  Now ``"--dry-run"`` is the only way for the user to activate
+using the ``-n`` option string.  Since ``conflict_handler`` is ``"resolve"``,
+it resolves the situation by removing ``-n`` from the earlier option's list of
+option strings.  Now ``--dry-run`` is the only way for the user to activate
 that option.  If the user asks for help, the help message will reflect that::
 
-   options:
+   Options:
      --dry-run     do no harm
      [...]
@@ -1371 +1465 @@
    parser.add_option("--dry-run", ..., help="new dry-run option")
 
-At this point, the original :option:`-n/--dry-run` option is no longer
+At this point, the original ``-n``/``--dry-run`` option is no longer
 accessible, so :mod:`optparse` removes it, leaving this help text::
 
-   options:
+   Options:
      [...]
      -n, --noisy   be noisy
@@ -1409 +1503 @@
 
    Print the usage message for the current program (``self.usage``) to *file*
-   (default stdout).  Any occurrence of the string ``"%prog"`` in ``self.usage``
+   (default stdout).  Any occurrence of the string ``%prog`` in ``self.usage``
    is replaced with the name of the current program.  Does nothing if
    ``self.usage`` is empty or not defined.
@@ -1473 +1567 @@
 ``callback`` is a function (or other callable object), so you must have already
 defined ``my_callback()`` when you create this callback option. In this simple
-case, :mod:`optparse` doesn't even know if :option:`-c` takes any arguments,
+case, :mod:`optparse` doesn't even know if ``-c`` takes any arguments,
 which usually means that the option takes no arguments---the mere presence of
-:option:`-c` on the command-line is all it needs to know.  In some
+``-c`` on the command-line is all it needs to know.  In some
 circumstances, though, you might want your callback to consume an arbitrary
 number of command-line arguments.  This is where writing callbacks gets tricky;
@@ -1528 +1622 @@
    is the option string seen on the command-line that's triggering the callback.
    (If an abbreviated long option was used, ``opt_str`` will be the full,
-   canonical option string---e.g. if the user puts ``"--foo"`` on the
-   command-line as an abbreviation for ``"--foobar"``, then ``opt_str`` will be
+   canonical option string---e.g. if the user puts ``--foo`` on the
+   command-line as an abbreviation for ``--foobar``, then ``opt_str`` will be
    ``"--foobar"``.)
 
@@ -1604 +1698 @@
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-Here's a slightly more interesting example: record the fact that ``"-a"`` is
-seen, but blow up if it comes after ``"-b"`` in the command-line.  ::
+Here's a slightly more interesting example: record the fact that ``-a`` is
+seen, but blow up if it comes after ``-b`` in the command-line.  ::
 
    def check_order(option, opt_str, value, parser):
@@ -1622 +1716 @@
 
 If you want to re-use this callback for several similar options (set a flag, but
-blow up if ``"-b"`` has already been seen), it needs a bit of work: the error
+blow up if ``-b`` has already been seen), it needs a bit of work: the error
 message and the flag that it sets must be generalized.  ::
 
@@ -1692 +1786 @@
 conventional Unix command-line parsing that :mod:`optparse` normally handles for
 you.  In particular, callbacks should implement the conventional rules for bare
-``"--"`` and ``"-"`` arguments:
-
-* either ``"--"`` or ``"-"`` can be option arguments
-
-* bare ``"--"`` (if not the argument to some option): halt command-line
-  processing and discard the ``"--"``
-
-* bare ``"-"`` (if not the argument to some option): halt command-line
-  processing but keep the ``"-"`` (append it to ``parser.largs``)
+``--`` and ``-`` arguments:
+
+* either ``--`` or ``-`` can be option arguments
+
+* bare ``--`` (if not the argument to some option): halt command-line
+  processing and discard the ``--``
+
+* bare ``-`` (if not the argument to some option): halt command-line
+  processing but keep the ``-`` (append it to ``parser.largs``)
 
 If you want an option that takes a variable number of arguments, there are
@@ -1771 +1865 @@
 
    where ``option`` is an :class:`Option` instance, ``opt`` is an option string
-   (e.g., ``"-f"``), and ``value`` is the string from the command line that must
+   (e.g., ``-f``), and ``value`` is the string from the command line that must
    be checked and converted to your desired type.  ``check_mytype()`` should
    return an object of the hypothetical type ``mytype``.  The value returned by
@@ -1883 +1977 @@
 and appending it to an existing list, ``"extend"`` will take multiple values in
 a single comma-delimited string, and extend an existing list with them.  That
-is, if ``"--names"`` is an ``"extend"`` option of type ``"string"``, the command
+is, if ``--names`` is an ``"extend"`` option of type ``"string"``, the command
 line ::