pvpython commmand line options help is misleading
Running pvpython --help
gives:
Usage: ./bin/pvpython [OPTIONS]
[General Guidelines]
Values for options can be specified either with a space (' ') or an equal-to sign ('='). Thus, '--option=value' and '--option value' are equivalent.
Multi-valued options can be specified by providing the option multiple times or separating the values by a comma (','). Thus, '--moption=foo,bar' and '--moption=foo --moption=bar' are equivalent.
Short-named options with more than one character name are no longer supported, and should simply be specified as long-named option by adding an addition '-'. Thus, use '--dr' instead of '-dr'.
Options:
-h,--help Print this help message and exit
-v,--verbosity ENUM:verbosity
Log verbosity on stderr as an integer in range [-9, 9] or INFO, WARNING, ERROR, or OFF. Defaults to INFO(0).
-V,--version Print version number and exit.
-d,--dr,--disable-registry Skip user-specific applications settings and configuration options.
[Option Group: Debugging / Logging]
Logging and debugging options
Options:
--enable-bt Generate stack-trace on crash, if possible.
--cslog TEXT:filename Filename to use to generate a ClientServerStream log.
-l,--log TEXT:filename[,ENUM:verbosity] ...
Additional log files to generate. Can be specified multiple times. By default, log verbosity is set to INFO(0) and may be overridden per file by adding suffix `,verbosity` where verbosity values are same as those accepted for `--verbosity` argument.
[Option Group: MPI]
MPI-specific options
Options:
--mpi Excludes: --no-mpi Initialize MPI on current process, even if not necessary.
--no-mpi Excludes: --mpi Skip initializing MPI on current process, if not required.
--use-mpi-ssend (Env:PARAVIEW_USE_MPI_SSEND)
Use 'MPI_SSend' instead of 'MPI_Send', whenever possible. Useful for debugging race conditions in distributed environments.
[Option Group: Plugins]
Plugin-specific options
Options:
--plugin-search-paths TEXT ...
Specify search paths for plugins when looking up plugins by name.
--plugins TEXT ... Specify plugins to load on startup.
--test-plugin,--test-plugins TEXT:DEPRECATED ...
Use '--plugins' instead.
--test-plugin-path,--test-plugin-paths TEXT:DEPRECATED ...
Use '--plugin-search-paths' instead.
[Option Group: Connection options]
Options affecting connections between client/server processes
Options:
--connect-id INT=0 An identifier used to match client-server connections. When non-zero, the client and server processes must used identical identifier for the connection to succeed.
--hostname TEXT Override the hostname to be used to connect to this process. By default, the hostname is determined using appropriate system calls.
--url,--server-url TEXT Excludes: --server
Server connection URL. On startup, the client will connect to the server using the URL specified.
-s,--server TEXT Excludes: --url
Server resource name. On startup, the client will connect to the server using the resource specified.
--servers-file TEXT ... Additional servers configuration file(s) (.pvsc) to use.
[Option Group: Rendering]
Rendering specific options
Options:
--force-offscreen-rendering Excludes: --force-onscreen-rendering
If supported by the build and platform, create headless (offscreen) render windows for rendering results.
--force-onscreen-rendering (Env:PV_DEBUG_REMOTE_RENDERING) Excludes: --force-offscreen-rendering
If supported by the build and platform, create on-screen render windows for rendering results.
[Option Group: Display Environment]
Display/Device specific settings.
Options:
--disable-xdisplay-test Skip all X-display tests and OpenGL version checks. Use this option if you are getting remote-rendering disabled errors and you are positive that the X environment is set up properly and your OpenGL support is adequate (experimental).
--displays TEXT ... Specify a list of rendering display or device ids either as a comma-separated string or simply specifying the option multiple times. For X-based systems, this can be the value to set for the DISPLAY environment. For EGL-based systems, these are the available EGL device indices. When specified these are distributed among the number of rendering ranks using '--displays-assignment-mode' specified.
--displays-assignment-mode ENUM=round-robin Needs: --displays
Specify how to assign displays (specified using '--displays=') among rendering ranks. Supported values are 'contiguous' and 'round-robin'. Default is 'round-robin'.
[Option Group: Stereo]
Stereo rendering options
Options:
--stereo Enable stereo rendering.
--stereo-type INT Needs: --stereo
Specify the stereo type to use. Possible values are 'Crystal Eyes', 'Red-Blue', 'Interlaced', 'Dresden', 'Anaglyph', 'Checkerboard', or 'SplitViewportHorizontal'.
--eye-separation FLOAT Needs: --stereo
Specify eye separation distance.
[Option Group: Experimental]
A collection of miscellaneous options that are largely experimental or infrequently used.
Options:
--multi-servers Enable the client to connect to multiple independent servers at the same time.
however, many of the listed options have no effect at all with pvptyhon, eg:
--plugin*
--url
This can be very confusing to users.