14.3.4.7 Callback example 4: check arbitrary condition

Of course, you could put any condition in there--you're not limited to checking the values of already-defined options. For example, if you have options that should not be called when the moon is full, all you have to do is this:

def check_moon(option, opt_str, value, parser):
    if is_moon_full():
        raise OptionValueError("%s option invalid when moon is full"
                               % opt_str)
    setattr(parser.values, option.dest, 1)
[...]
parser.add_option("--foo",
                  action="callback", callback=check_moon, dest="foo")

(The definition of is_moon_full() is left as an exercise for the reader.)

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