python library for user input

Question

I am implementing a small command line tool in python that needs to ask the user a couple of questions. I use

raw_input('Are you male or female?')

all the time. Now I would like to be able to deal with dumb users (or those too lazy to read/remember the documentation), so I need to check whether the answer makes sense.

gender = ''
while gender not in ['male', 'female']:
    gender = raw_input('Are you male or female?')

I am wondering whether there exists something like argparse that would automate this problem, something like

import inputparse 
gender = inputparse.get_input(prompt='Are you male or female?', type=str, possible_input=['male', 'female'])

and would take care of automatic checking etc.?

Answer 1

This question is quite old, but I'm researching it today. The library pyinputplus is recommended by Al Swigert in Automate the Boring Stuff With Python

Answer 2

From the accepted answer to this question: the cmd library might be of interest to you.

"The Cmd class provides a simple framework for writing line-oriented command interpreters."

This Python Module of the Week page features it, and it has some examples and explanations.