RuFaS Command Line Arguments#

Overview#

Command line arguments are simple parameters passed during program execution that allow the user to affect the operation of the RuFaS simulation. This reference will go over each of the current options and what their effect is on the simulation.

Available Arguments (updated 05/23/2024)#

  • -h, –help: A good place to start if you want a quick reminder of all the available arguments and what each of their effects is. This option displays all the currently available command line argument options and then exits without running a simulation.

  • -g, –no-graphics: This option allows you to prevent the generation of graphics. When specified, no graphical plots or charts will be created for all tasks run.

  • -v, –verbose: This option specifies which log types the user wants to be printed out in the terminal during the simulation. This is a helpful tool for simulation evaluation. Options are: errors, warnings, logs, none and credits. E.g. python main.py -v warnings. Selecting credits will print out RuFaS version information and a disclaimer only. Selecting errors will print out errors and credits only. Selecting warnings will print out warnings, errors and credits. Selecting logs will print out all 4. The default option is none.

  • -c, –clear-output: This option clears the output directory before running the simulation. Helpful to keep your output folder clean, clear, and under control. The default value if not specified by the user is false meaning the directory will not be cleared.

  • -i, –exclude_info_maps: This option tells Task Manager’s Output Manager to exclude data collected in info_maps from the output generated while managing tasks. The default setting is false meaning info_maps will be included in the output.

  • -o, –output-dir: This argument allows the user to specify which directory will be cleared if using the -c option. EXERCISE CAUTION when using this option. The default directory is output/.

  • -s, –suppress-log-files: This option will stop the Task Manager from writing its logs (logs, errors, warnings, and other miscellaneous information) to files.

  • -l, –logs-dir: This option tells the Task Manager which directory it should write log files in, if it writes log files. The default directory is output/logs.

  • -m, –metadata-depth-limit: This option will override the limit for how deeply “nested” input passed to RuFaS is allowed to be. The default is 7.

  • -p, –path-to-metadata: This option can be used to provide the path to the metadata containing the reference to the tasks that will be run by RuFaS. For example, the command to run herd_init_metadata.json would be python main.py -p input/metadata/herd_init_metadata.json. If this flag is not used, RuFaS will run task_manager_metadata.json.

Examples for copy-paste#

Print out warnings and error messages during simulation:

python main.py -v warnings

Clear output folder:

python main.py -c

Specify an output directory:

python main.py -o output/mydirectory

Specify a directory for Task Manager’s logs to be written to:

python main.py -l outputs/task_manager_logs

Limit the maximum depth of nested inputs to RuFaS:

python main.py -m 5

Multiple Arguments#

You can pass one or combine multiple command line arguments when executing the program.

For example maybe you want to suppress Task Manager’s log files (-s) and also clear your output folder (-c). You could do this with:

python main.py -cs (you can string multiple different args together).

or

python main.py -sc

or the recommended method

python main.py -c -s

When passing multiple arguments, if one of the arguments requires a specific choice (e.g. verbose), you want that to either be last in a grouped set of arguments or to be on its own with the choice for it immediately after. For this example we’re using the -v for verbose and setting it as block.

python main.py -cv logs

or

python main.py -c -v logs

If you do try to pass a choice to an argument that doesn’t take one, you will get an error message and it’s not the end of the world.