how to add command line flags to distutils setup script?

[skip]

Suppose I have a setup.py script which imports distutils.core.setup. Is
there some way to, for example, add a command line flag to the build command
so that I can run it like

python setup.py build --frob=True

? I see that the setup function takes an options parameter but the
distutils.core.setup doc says little other than that it is a string and
"default options for the setup script". There is also a script_args
parameter, but the docs are similarly mum about what exactly it's used for.
A posting by Greg Ward announcing it in Aug 2000 says script_args is a sub
for sys.argv[1:].

Pointers to other documentation or tutorials on the topic cheerfully
appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Martin v. Löwis]

Suppose I have a setup.py script which imports distutils.core.setup. Is
there some way to, for example, add a command line flag to the build command
so that I can run it like

python setup.py build --frob=True

?

You should inherit from the build command, extend the user_options
attribute, and pass the new class as "build" class into the commands
dictionary of setup. You might need to extend initialize_options and
finalize_options as well.

Regards,
Martin