allow multiple --config-file

[mzagrabe]

Hello,

Thanks for configargparse!

I have a use-case where I'd like to specify --config-file multiple times on the command line and have all the config files used.

./application --config-file scenario-A.yaml --config-file common.yaml ./application --config-file scenario-B.yaml --config-file common.yaml

Where common.yaml holds the configs that are common between scenario A and B. But it appears that common.yaml just takes precedence over the scenario-*.yaml config files. I'd like both files to be used as they contain different key-value pairs.

I believe (know?) that I can have a separate option:

./application --config-file scenario-A.yaml --common-config common.yaml ./application --config-file scenario-B.yaml --common-config common.yaml

But that method lacks the elegance of the first option. It also (somewhat) violates the DRY principle as I'd simply like to specify the --config-file option multiple times.

Thanks for considering this feature request and thanks for configargparse!

-m

[ronhanson]

I guess you could do that with ENV or command line options. Use the config file for common options. Then use command line options for overriding the specifics. Also there is a default config file location, that can be overriden with --config-file. But using more than one implies ordering/stacking behavior. I can't think of an elegant way to handle that.

[mzagrabe]

Hey Ronan,

On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 9:46 AM Ronan Delacroix [email protected] wrote:

I guess you could do that with ENV or command line options.

Sure. That is what I did:

          '--secondary-config-file',
          '-s',
          is_config_file = True,

Use the config file for common options. Then use command line options for overriding the specifics.

One could. I'd rather keep everything in a config file - hence the "config" part of configargparse.

Also there is a default config file location, that can be overriden with --config-file. But using more than one implies ordering/stacking behavior.

No more of a ordering stacking behavior than using:

is_config_file = True

for multiple parameters.

I can't think of an elegant way to handle that.

I would pick an order and document it. If folks (like me) want to make use of multiple --config-file arguments, then we know what we're getting ourselves into.

That is, pick either:

first match wins or last match wins

for each argparse parameter.

Thanks for responding!

-m

[itkovian]

This is a feature I would certainly be able to use. Multiple options or simply providing a list of config files in the first (and only) --config-file argument