Add option --alias

Makefile

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ yt-dlp: yt_dlp/*.py yt_dlp/*/*.py
 	chmod a+x yt-dlp
 
 README.md: yt_dlp/*.py yt_dlp/*/*.py
-	COLUMNS=80 $(PYTHON) yt_dlp/__main__.py --help | $(PYTHON) devscripts/make_readme.py
+	COLUMNS=80 $(PYTHON) yt_dlp/__main__.py --ignore-config --help | $(PYTHON) devscripts/make_readme.py
 
 CONTRIBUTING.md: README.md
 	$(PYTHON) devscripts/make_contributing.py README.md CONTRIBUTING.md

README.md

@@ -381,6 +381,22 @@ ## General Options:
                                      configurations by reverting some of the
                                      changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
                                      default behavior" for details
+    --alias ALIASES OPTIONS          Create aliases for an option string. Unless
+                                     an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
+                                     prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
+                                     according to the Python string formatting
+                                     mini-language. Eg: --alias get-audio,-X
+                                     "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
+                                     creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
+                                     takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
+                                     "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
+                                     All defined aliases are listed in the
+                                     --help output. Alias options can trigger
+                                     more aliases; so be carefull to avoid
+                                     defining recursive options. As a safety
+                                     measure, each alias may be triggered a
+                                     maximum of 100 times. This option can be
+                                     used multiple times
 
 ## Network Options:
     --proxy URL                      Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.

yt_dlp/__init__.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 __license__ = 'Public Domain'
 
 import itertools
+import optparse
 import os
 import re
 import sys
@@ -45,11 +46,18 @@
     setproctitle,
     std_headers,
     traverse_obj,
+    variadic,
     write_string,
 )
 from .YoutubeDL import YoutubeDL
 
 
+def _exit(status=0, *args):
+    for msg in args:
+        sys.stderr.write(msg)
+    raise SystemExit(status)
+
+
 def get_urls(urls, batchfile, verbose):
     # Batch file verification
     batch_urls = []
@@ -66,7 +74,7 @@ def get_urls(urls, batchfile, verbose):
             if verbose:
                 write_string('[debug] Batch file urls: ' + repr(batch_urls) + '\n')
         except OSError:
-            sys.exit('ERROR: batch file %s could not be read' % batchfile)
+            _exit(f'ERROR: batch file {batchfile} could not be read')
     _enc = preferredencoding()
     return [
         url.strip().decode(_enc, 'ignore') if isinstance(url, bytes) else url.strip()
@@ -810,10 +818,10 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
     if opts.dump_user_agent:
         ua = traverse_obj(opts.headers, 'User-Agent', casesense=False, default=std_headers['User-Agent'])
         write_string(f'{ua}\n', out=sys.stdout)
-        sys.exit(0)
+        return
 
     if print_extractor_information(opts, all_urls):
-        sys.exit(0)
+        return
 
     with YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
         actual_use = all_urls or opts.load_info_filename
@@ -827,13 +835,13 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
             # If updater returns True, exit. Required for windows
             if run_update(ydl):
                 if actual_use:
-                    sys.exit('ERROR: The program must exit for the update to complete')
+                    return 100, 'ERROR: The program must exit for the update to complete'
-                sys.exit()
+                return
 
         # Maybe do nothing
         if not actual_use:
             if opts.update_self or opts.rm_cachedir:
-                sys.exit()
+                return
 
             ydl.warn_if_short_id(sys.argv[1:] if argv is None else argv)
             parser.error(
@@ -842,30 +850,30 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
 
         try:
             if opts.load_info_filename is not None:
-                retcode = ydl.download_with_info_file(expand_path(opts.load_info_filename))
+                return ydl.download_with_info_file(expand_path(opts.load_info_filename))
             else:
-                retcode = ydl.download(all_urls)
+                return ydl.download(all_urls)
         except DownloadCancelled:
             ydl.to_screen('Aborting remaining downloads')
-            retcode = 101
+            return 101
-
-    sys.exit(retcode)
 
 
 def main(argv=None):
     try:
-        _real_main(argv)
+        _exit(*variadic(_real_main(argv)))
     except DownloadError:
-        sys.exit(1)
+        _exit(1)
     except SameFileError as e:
-        sys.exit(f'ERROR: {e}')
+        _exit(f'ERROR: {e}')
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
-        sys.exit('\nERROR: Interrupted by user')
+        _exit('\nERROR: Interrupted by user')
     except BrokenPipeError as e:
         # https://docs.python.org/3/library/signal.html#note-on-sigpipe
         devnull = os.open(os.devnull, os.O_WRONLY)
         os.dup2(devnull, sys.stdout.fileno())
-        sys.exit(f'\nERROR: {e}')
+        _exit(f'\nERROR: {e}')
+    except optparse.OptParseError as e:
+        _exit(2, f'\n{e}')
 
 
 from .extractor import gen_extractors, list_extractors

yt_dlp/options.py

@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+import collections
+import contextlib
 import optparse
 import os.path
 import re
 import shlex
+import string
 import sys
 
 from .compat import compat_expanduser, compat_get_terminal_size, compat_getenv
@@ -15,6 +18,7 @@
     SponsorBlockPP,
 )
 from .postprocessor.modify_chapters import DEFAULT_SPONSORBLOCK_CHAPTER_TITLE
+from .update import detect_variant
 from .utils import (
     OUTTMPL_TYPES,
     POSTPROCESS_WHEN,
@@ -29,15 +33,9 @@
 
 
 def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None, ignore_config_files='if_override'):
-    parser = create_parser()
+    root = Config(create_parser())
-    root = Config(parser)
-
     if ignore_config_files == 'if_override':
         ignore_config_files = overrideArguments is not None
-    if overrideArguments:
-        root.append_config(overrideArguments, label='Override')
-    else:
-        root.append_config(sys.argv[1:], label='Command-line')
 
     def _readUserConf(package_name, default=[]):
         # .config
@@ -73,7 +71,7 @@ def _readUserConf(package_name, default=[]):
 
     def add_config(label, path, user=False):
         """ Adds config and returns whether to continue """
-        if root.parse_args()[0].ignoreconfig:
+        if root.parse_known_args()[0].ignoreconfig:
             return False
         # Multiple package names can be given here
         # Eg: ('yt-dlp', 'youtube-dlc', 'youtube-dl') will look for
@@ -92,22 +90,44 @@ def add_config(label, path, user=False):
     def load_configs():
         yield not ignore_config_files
         yield add_config('Portable', get_executable_path())
-        yield add_config('Home', expand_path(root.parse_args()[0].paths.get('home', '')).strip())
+        yield add_config('Home', expand_path(root.parse_known_args()[0].paths.get('home', '')).strip())
         yield add_config('User', None, user=True)
         yield add_config('System', '/etc')
 
+    opts = optparse.Values({'verbose': True, 'print_help': False})
+    try:
+        if overrideArguments:
+            root.append_config(overrideArguments, label='Override')
+        else:
+            root.append_config(sys.argv[1:], label='Command-line')
+
         if all(load_configs()):
             # If ignoreconfig is found inside the system configuration file,
             # the user configuration is removed
-        if root.parse_args()[0].ignoreconfig:
+            if root.parse_known_args()[0].ignoreconfig:
                 user_conf = next((i for i, conf in enumerate(root.configs) if conf.label == 'User'), None)
                 if user_conf is not None:
                     root.configs.pop(user_conf)
 
         opts, args = root.parse_args()
-    if opts.verbose:
+    except optparse.OptParseError:
-        write_string(f'\n{root}'.replace('\n| ', '\n[debug] ')[1:] + '\n')
+        with contextlib.suppress(optparse.OptParseError):
-    return parser, opts, args
+            opts, _ = root.parse_known_args(strict=False)
+        raise
+    except (SystemExit, KeyboardInterrupt):
+        opts.verbose = False
+        raise
+    finally:
+        verbose = opts.verbose and f'\n{root}'.replace('\n| ', '\n[debug] ')[1:]
+        if verbose:
+            write_string(f'{verbose}\n')
+        if opts.print_help:
+            if verbose:
+                write_string('\n')
+            root.parser.print_help()
+    if opts.print_help:
+        sys.exit()
+    return root.parser, opts, args
 
 
 class _YoutubeDLHelpFormatter(optparse.IndentedHelpFormatter):
@@ -133,10 +153,11 @@ def format_option_strings(option):
 
 class _YoutubeDLOptionParser(optparse.OptionParser):
     # optparse is deprecated since python 3.2. So assume a stable interface even for private methods
+    ALIAS_TRIGGER_LIMIT = 100
 
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__(
-            prog='yt-dlp',
+            prog='yt-dlp' if detect_variant() == 'source' else None,
             version=__version__,
             usage='%prog [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]',
             epilog='See full documentation at  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#readme',
@@ -144,6 +165,29 @@ def __init__(self):
             conflict_handler='resolve',
         )
 
+    _UNKNOWN_OPTION = (optparse.BadOptionError, optparse.AmbiguousOptionError)
+    _BAD_OPTION = optparse.OptionValueError
+
+    def parse_known_args(self, args=None, values=None, strict=True):
+        """Same as parse_args, but ignore unknown switches. Similar to argparse.parse_known_args"""
+        self.rargs, self.largs = self._get_args(args), []
+        self.values = values or self.get_default_values()
+        while self.rargs:
+            try:
+                self._process_args(self.largs, self.rargs, self.values)
+            except optparse.OptParseError as err:
+                if isinstance(err, self._UNKNOWN_OPTION):
+                    self.largs.append(err.opt_str)
+                elif strict:
+                    if isinstance(err, self._BAD_OPTION):
+                        self.error(str(err))
+                    raise
+        return self.check_values(self.values, self.largs)
+
+    def error(self, msg):
+        msg = f'{self.get_prog_name()}: error: {msg.strip()}\n'
+        raise optparse.OptParseError(f'{self.get_usage()}\n{msg}' if self.usage else msg)
+
     def _get_args(self, args):
         return sys.argv[1:] if args is None else list(args)
 
@@ -223,11 +267,44 @@ def _dict_from_options_callback(
         setattr(parser.values, option.dest, out_dict)
 
     parser = _YoutubeDLOptionParser()
+    alias_group = optparse.OptionGroup(parser, 'Aliases')
+    Formatter = string.Formatter()
+
+    def _create_alias(option, opt_str, value, parser):
+        aliases, opts = value
+        try:
+            nargs = len({i if f == '' else f
+                         for i, (_, f, _, _) in enumerate(Formatter.parse(opts)) if f is not None})
+            opts.format(*map(str, range(nargs)))  # validate
+        except Exception as err:
+            raise optparse.OptionValueError(f'wrong {opt_str} OPTIONS formatting; {err}')
+        if alias_group not in parser.option_groups:
+            parser.add_option_group(alias_group)
+
+        aliases = (x if x.startswith('-') else f'--{x}' for x in map(str.strip, aliases.split(',')))
+        try:
+            alias_group.add_option(
+                *aliases, help=opts, nargs=nargs, type='str' if nargs else None,
+                dest='_triggered_aliases', default=collections.defaultdict(int),
+                metavar=' '.join(f'ARG{i}' for i in range(nargs)), action='callback',
+                callback=_alias_callback, callback_kwargs={'opts': opts, 'nargs': nargs})
+        except Exception as err:
+            raise optparse.OptionValueError(f'wrong {opt_str} formatting; {err}')
+
+    def _alias_callback(option, opt_str, value, parser, opts, nargs):
+        counter = getattr(parser.values, option.dest)
+        counter[opt_str] += 1
+        if counter[opt_str] > parser.ALIAS_TRIGGER_LIMIT:
+            raise optparse.OptionValueError(f'Alias {opt_str} exceeded invocation limit')
+        if nargs == 1:
+            value = [value]
+        assert (nargs == 0 and value is None) or len(value) == nargs
+        parser.rargs[:0] = shlex.split(
+            opts if value is None else opts.format(*map(shlex.quote, value)))
 
     general = optparse.OptionGroup(parser, 'General Options')
     general.add_option(
-        '-h', '--help',
+        '-h', '--help', dest='print_help', action='store_true',
-        action='help',
         help='Print this help text and exit')
     general.add_option(
         '--version',
@@ -344,6 +421,18 @@ def _dict_from_options_callback(
             'Options that can help keep compatibility with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc '
             'configurations by reverting some of the changes made in yt-dlp. '
             'See "Differences in default behavior" for details'))
+    general.add_option(
+        '--alias', metavar='ALIASES OPTIONS', dest='_', type='str', nargs=2,
+        action='callback', callback=_create_alias,
+        help=(
+            'Create aliases for an option string. Unless an alias starts with a dash "-", it is prefixed with "--". '
+            'Arguments are parsed according to the Python string formatting mini-language. '
+            'Eg: --alias get-audio,-X "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}" creates options '
+            '"--get-audio" and "-X" that takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to '
+            '"-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0". All defined aliases are listed in the --help output. '
+            'Alias options can trigger more aliases; so be carefull to avoid defining recursive options. '
+            f'As a safety measure, each alias may be triggered a maximum of {_YoutubeDLOptionParser.ALIAS_TRIGGER_LIMIT} times. '
+            'This option can be used multiple times'))
 
     network = optparse.OptionGroup(parser, 'Network Options')
     network.add_option(

yt_dlp/utils.py

@@ -5153,11 +5153,12 @@ def parse_http_range(range):
 
 class Config:
     own_args = None
+    parsed_args = None
     filename = None
     __initialized = False
 
     def __init__(self, parser, label=None):
-        self._parser, self.label = parser, label
+        self.parser, self.label = parser, label
         self._loaded_paths, self.configs = set(), []
 
     def init(self, args=None, filename=None):
@@ -5170,14 +5171,16 @@ def init(self, args=None, filename=None):
                 return False
             self._loaded_paths.add(location)
 
-        self.__initialized = True
+        self.own_args, self.__initialized = args, True
-        self.own_args, self.filename = args, filename
+        opts, _ = self.parser.parse_known_args(args)
-        for location in self._parser.parse_args(args)[0].config_locations or []:
+        self.parsed_args, self.filename = args, filename
+
+        for location in opts.config_locations or []:
             location = os.path.join(directory, expand_path(location))
             if os.path.isdir(location):
                 location = os.path.join(location, 'yt-dlp.conf')
             if not os.path.exists(location):
-                self._parser.error(f'config location {location} does not exist')
+                self.parser.error(f'config location {location} does not exist')
             self.append_config(self.read_file(location), location)
         return True
 
@@ -5223,7 +5226,7 @@ def _scrub_eq(o):
         return opts
 
     def append_config(self, *args, label=None):
-        config = type(self)(self._parser, label)
+        config = type(self)(self.parser, label)
         config._loaded_paths = self._loaded_paths
         if config.init(*args):
             self.configs.append(config)
@@ -5232,10 +5235,13 @@ def append_config(self, *args, label=None):
     def all_args(self):
         for config in reversed(self.configs):
             yield from config.all_args
-        yield from self.own_args or []
+        yield from self.parsed_args or []
+
+    def parse_known_args(self, **kwargs):
+        return self.parser.parse_known_args(self.all_args, **kwargs)
 
     def parse_args(self):
-        return self._parser.parse_args(self.all_args)
+        return self.parser.parse_args(self.all_args)
 
 
 class WebSocketsWrapper():