Now --*.help output shows options without init_args (#533)

CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ The semantic versioning only considers the public API as described in
 paths are considered internals and can change in minor and patch releases.
 
 
+v4.31.0 (2024-06-??)
+--------------------
+
+Changed
+^^^^^^^
+- Now ``--*.help`` output shows options without ``init_args`` (`#533
+  <https://github.com/omni-us/jsonargparse/pull/533>`__).
+
+
 v4.30.0 (2024-06-18)
 --------------------
 

jsonargparse/_actions.py

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     argument_error,
     change_to_path_dir,
     default_config_option_help,
+    get_import_path,
     get_typehint_origin,
     import_object,
     indent_text,
@@ -387,8 +388,7 @@ def print_help(self, call_args, baseclass, dest):
             baseclasses = [baseclass]
         if not any(is_subclass(val_class, b) for b in baseclasses):
             raise TypeError(f'{option_string}: Class "{value}" is not a subclass of {self._basename}')
-        dest += ".init_args"
-        subparser = type(parser)()
+        subparser = type(parser)(description=f"Help for {option_string}={get_import_path(val_class)}")
         subparser.add_class_arguments(val_class, dest, **self.sub_add_kwargs)
         remove_actions(subparser, (_HelpAction, _ActionPrintConfig, _ActionConfigLoad))
         args = self.get_args_after_opt(parser.args)

jsonargparse_tests/conftest.py

@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
     set_docstring_parse_options(style=DocstringStyle.GOOGLE)
 
 
+columns_env = {"COLUMNS": "200"}
+
 is_cpython = platform.python_implementation() == "CPython"
 is_posix = os.name == "posix"
 
@@ -153,7 +155,7 @@ def source_unavailable():
 
 def get_parser_help(parser: ArgumentParser, strip=False) -> str:
     out = StringIO()
-    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"COLUMNS": "200"}):
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, columns_env):
         parser.print_help(out)
     if strip:
         return re.sub("  *", " ", out.getvalue())
@@ -162,7 +164,7 @@ def get_parser_help(parser: ArgumentParser, strip=False) -> str:
 
 def get_parse_args_stdout(parser: ArgumentParser, args: List[str]) -> str:
     out = StringIO()
-    with redirect_stdout(out), pytest.raises(SystemExit):
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, columns_env), redirect_stdout(out), pytest.raises(SystemExit):
         parser.parse_args(args)
     return out.getvalue()
 

jsonargparse_tests/test_subclasses.py

@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ def test_subclass_union_help(parser):
     help_str = get_parser_help(parser)
     assert "Show the help for the given subclass of Calendar" in help_str
     help_str = get_parse_args_stdout(parser, ["--op.help", "TextCalendar"])
-    assert "--op.init_args.firstweekday" in help_str
+    assert "--op.firstweekday" in help_str
 
 
 class DefaultsDisabled:
@@ -204,8 +204,8 @@ def func_subclass_untyped(c1: Union[int, UntypedParams]):
 def test_subclass_allow_untyped_parameters_help(parser):
     parser.add_function_arguments(func_subclass_untyped, fail_untyped=False)
     help_str = get_parse_args_stdout(parser, [f"--c1.help={__name__}.UntypedParams"])
-    assert "--c1.init_args.a1 A1" in help_str
-    assert "--c1.init_args.a2 A2" in help_str
+    assert "--c1.a1 A1" in help_str
+    assert "--c1.a2 A2" in help_str
 
 
 class MergeInitArgs(Calendar):
@@ -529,11 +529,12 @@ def test_subclass_nested_parse(parser, prefix):
 
 def test_subclass_nested_help(parser):
     parser.add_argument("--op", type=Nested)
-    help_str = get_parse_args_stdout(parser, [f"--op.help={__name__}.Nested", "--op.init_args.cal.help=TextCalendar"])
-    assert "--op.init_args.cal.init_args.firstweekday" in help_str
+    help_str = get_parse_args_stdout(parser, [f"--op.help={__name__}.Nested", "--op.cal.help=TextCalendar"])
+    assert "Help for --op.cal.help=calendar.TextCalendar" in help_str
+    assert "--op.cal.firstweekday" in help_str
 
     with pytest.raises(ArgumentError) as ctx:
-        parser.parse_args([f"--op.help={__name__}.Nested", "--op.init_args.p1=1"])
+        parser.parse_args([f"--op.help={__name__}.Nested", "--op.p1=1"])
     ctx.match("Expected a nested --\\*.help option")
 
 
@@ -580,7 +581,8 @@ def test_subclass_class_name_parse(parser):
 def test_subclass_class_name_help(parser):
     parser.add_argument("--op", type=Union[Calendar, GzipFile, None])
     help_str = get_parse_args_stdout(parser, ["--op.help=GzipFile"])
-    assert "--op.init_args.compresslevel" in help_str
+    assert "Help for --op.help=gzip.GzipFile" in help_str
+    assert "--op.compresslevel" in help_str
 
 
 class LocaleTextCalendar(Calendar):
@@ -1318,7 +1320,7 @@ def test_add_subclass_tuple(parser):
     assert isinstance(init.c, TupleBaseB)
 
     help_str = get_parse_args_stdout(parser, [f"--c.help={__name__}.TupleBaseB"])
-    assert "--c.init_args.b1" in help_str
+    assert "--c.b1 B1" in help_str
 
 
 def test_add_subclass_required_group(parser):

jsonargparse_tests/test_typehints.py

@@ -590,7 +590,7 @@ def test_union_new_syntax_simple_types(parser):
 def test_union_new_syntax_subclass_type(parser):
     parser.add_argument("--op", type=eval("Calendar | bool"))
     help_str = get_parse_args_stdout(parser, ["--op.help=calendar.TextCalendar"])
-    assert "--op.init_args.firstweekday" in help_str
+    assert "--op.firstweekday" in help_str
 
 
 # callable tests