enumprint.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Print a horizontal or vertical enumeration.

Need to figure out how many characters tall or wide something is in a pinch?
This is the commandline utility for you!
"""
import argparse

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
    description='Print a horizontal or vertical enumeration.')
parser.add_argument('-l', '--length', type=int, default=99,
                    help='Number of characters to print. Default: 99')
direction = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True)
direction.add_argument('-H', '--horizontal', action='store_true',
                       help='Print numbers horizontally')
direction.add_argument('-V', '--vertical', action='store_true',
                       help='Print numbers vertically')
args = parser.parse_args()


FORMAT_STR = '{{:0={}}}'.format(len(str(args.length)))  # zero-pad numbers

if args.horizontal:
    # horizontal test
    nums = [FORMAT_STR.format(num) for num in range(1, args.length+1)]
    digits = map(list, nums)
    lines = [''.join(row) for row in zip(*digits)]

    [print(line) for line in lines]

if args.vertical:
    # vertical test
    nums = [FORMAT_STR.format(num) for num in range(1, args.length+1)]

    [print(line) for line in nums]