Merge pull request #3759 from jdfreder/help_fix

nbconvert: Provide a more useful error for invalid use case.

We now print the help message if no notebooks were converted

IPython/config/application.py

@@ -1,576 +1,576 b''
 # encoding: utf-8
 """
 A base class for a configurable application.
 
 Authors:
 
 * Brian Granger
 * Min RK
 """
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #  Copyright (C) 2008-2011  The IPython Development Team
 #
 #  Distributed under the terms of the BSD License.  The full license is in
 #  the file COPYING, distributed as part of this software.
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Imports
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 import logging
 import os
 import re
 import sys
 from copy import deepcopy
 from collections import defaultdict
 
 from IPython.external.decorator import decorator
 
 from IPython.config.configurable import SingletonConfigurable
 from IPython.config.loader import (
     KVArgParseConfigLoader, PyFileConfigLoader, Config, ArgumentError, ConfigFileNotFound,
 )
 
 from IPython.utils.traitlets import (
     Unicode, List, Enum, Dict, Instance, TraitError
 )
 from IPython.utils.importstring import import_item
 from IPython.utils.text import indent, wrap_paragraphs, dedent
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # function for re-wrapping a helpstring
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Descriptions for the various sections
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # merge flags&aliases into options
 option_description = """
 Arguments that take values are actually convenience aliases to full
 Configurables, whose aliases are listed on the help line. For more information
 on full configurables, see '--help-all'.
 """.strip() # trim newlines of front and back
 
 keyvalue_description = """
 Parameters are set from command-line arguments of the form:
 `--Class.trait=value`.
 This line is evaluated in Python, so simple expressions are allowed, e.g.::
 `--C.a='range(3)'` For setting C.a=[0,1,2].
 """.strip() # trim newlines of front and back
 
 # sys.argv can be missing, for example when python is embedded. See the docs
 # for details: http://docs.python.org/2/c-api/intro.html#embedding-python
 if not hasattr(sys, "argv"):
     sys.argv = [""]
 
 subcommand_description = """
 Subcommands are launched as `{app} cmd [args]`. For information on using
 subcommand 'cmd', do: `{app} cmd -h`.
 """.strip().format(app=os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]))
 # get running program name
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Application class
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 @decorator
 def catch_config_error(method, app, *args, **kwargs):
     """Method decorator for catching invalid config (Trait/ArgumentErrors) during init.
 
     On a TraitError (generally caused by bad config), this will print the trait's
     message, and exit the app.
     
     For use on init methods, to prevent invoking excepthook on invalid input.
     """
     try:
         return method(app, *args, **kwargs)
     except (TraitError, ArgumentError) as e:
-        app.print_description()
         app.print_help()
-        app.print_examples()
         app.log.fatal("Bad config encountered during initialization:")
         app.log.fatal(str(e))
         app.log.debug("Config at the time: %s", app.config)
         app.exit(1)
 
 
 class ApplicationError(Exception):
     pass
 
 class LevelFormatter(logging.Formatter):
     """Formatter with additional `highlevel` record
     
     This field is empty if log level is less than highlevel_limit,
     otherwise it is formatted with self.highlevel_format.
     
     Useful for adding 'WARNING' to warning messages,
     without adding 'INFO' to info, etc.
     """
     highlevel_limit = logging.WARN
     highlevel_format = " %(levelname)s |"
     
     def format(self, record):
         if record.levelno >= self.highlevel_limit:
             record.highlevel = self.highlevel_format % record.__dict__
         else:
             record.highlevel = ""
         
         return super(LevelFormatter, self).format(record)
             
 
 class Application(SingletonConfigurable):
     """A singleton application with full configuration support."""
 
     # The name of the application, will usually match the name of the command
     # line application
     name = Unicode(u'application')
 
     # The description of the application that is printed at the beginning
     # of the help.
     description = Unicode(u'This is an application.')
     # default section descriptions
     option_description = Unicode(option_description)
     keyvalue_description = Unicode(keyvalue_description)
     subcommand_description = Unicode(subcommand_description)
 
     # The usage and example string that goes at the end of the help string.
     examples = Unicode()
 
     # A sequence of Configurable subclasses whose config=True attributes will
     # be exposed at the command line.
     classes = List([])
 
     # The version string of this application.
     version = Unicode(u'0.0')
 
     # The log level for the application
     log_level = Enum((0,10,20,30,40,50,'DEBUG','INFO','WARN','ERROR','CRITICAL'),
                     default_value=logging.WARN,
                     config=True,
                     help="Set the log level by value or name.")
     def _log_level_changed(self, name, old, new):
         """Adjust the log level when log_level is set."""
         if isinstance(new, basestring):
             new = getattr(logging, new)
             self.log_level = new
         self.log.setLevel(new)
     
     log_datefmt = Unicode("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", config=True,
         help="The date format used by logging formatters for %(asctime)s"
     )
     def _log_datefmt_changed(self, name, old, new):
         self._log_format_changed()
     
     log_format = Unicode("[%(name)s]%(highlevel)s %(message)s", config=True,
         help="The Logging format template",
     )
     def _log_format_changed(self, name, old, new):
         """Change the log formatter when log_format is set."""
         _log_handler = self.log.handlers[0]
         _log_formatter = LevelFormatter(new, datefmt=self.log_datefmt)
         _log_handler.setFormatter(_log_formatter)
 
     log = Instance(logging.Logger)
     def _log_default(self):
         """Start logging for this application.
 
         The default is to log to stderr using a StreamHandler, if no default
         handler already exists.  The log level starts at logging.WARN, but this
         can be adjusted by setting the ``log_level`` attribute.
         """
         log = logging.getLogger(self.__class__.__name__)
         log.setLevel(self.log_level)
         log.propagate = False
         _log = log # copied from Logger.hasHandlers() (new in Python 3.2)
         while _log:
             if _log.handlers:
                 return log
             if not _log.propagate:
                 break
             else:
                 _log = _log.parent
         if sys.executable.endswith('pythonw.exe'):
             # this should really go to a file, but file-logging is only
             # hooked up in parallel applications
             _log_handler = logging.StreamHandler(open(os.devnull, 'w'))
         else:
             _log_handler = logging.StreamHandler()
         _log_formatter = LevelFormatter(self.log_format, datefmt=self.log_datefmt)
         _log_handler.setFormatter(_log_formatter)
         log.addHandler(_log_handler)
         return log
 
     # the alias map for configurables
     aliases = Dict({'log-level' : 'Application.log_level'})
 
     # flags for loading Configurables or store_const style flags
     # flags are loaded from this dict by '--key' flags
     # this must be a dict of two-tuples, the first element being the Config/dict
     # and the second being the help string for the flag
     flags = Dict()
     def _flags_changed(self, name, old, new):
         """ensure flags dict is valid"""
         for key,value in new.iteritems():
             assert len(value) == 2, "Bad flag: %r:%s"%(key,value)
             assert isinstance(value[0], (dict, Config)), "Bad flag: %r:%s"%(key,value)
             assert isinstance(value[1], basestring), "Bad flag: %r:%s"%(key,value)
 
 
     # subcommands for launching other applications
     # if this is not empty, this will be a parent Application
     # this must be a dict of two-tuples,
     # the first element being the application class/import string
     # and the second being the help string for the subcommand
     subcommands = Dict()
     # parse_command_line will initialize a subapp, if requested
     subapp = Instance('IPython.config.application.Application', allow_none=True)
 
     # extra command-line arguments that don't set config values
     extra_args = List(Unicode)
 
 
     def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         SingletonConfigurable.__init__(self, **kwargs)
         # Ensure my class is in self.classes, so my attributes appear in command line
         # options and config files.
         if self.__class__ not in self.classes:
             self.classes.insert(0, self.__class__)
 
     def _config_changed(self, name, old, new):
         SingletonConfigurable._config_changed(self, name, old, new)
         self.log.debug('Config changed:')
         self.log.debug(repr(new))
 
     @catch_config_error
     def initialize(self, argv=None):
         """Do the basic steps to configure me.
 
         Override in subclasses.
         """
         self.parse_command_line(argv)
 
 
     def start(self):
         """Start the app mainloop.
 
         Override in subclasses.
         """
         if self.subapp is not None:
             return self.subapp.start()
 
     def print_alias_help(self):
         """Print the alias part of the help."""
         if not self.aliases:
             return
 
         lines = []
         classdict = {}
         for cls in self.classes:
             # include all parents (up to, but excluding Configurable) in available names
             for c in cls.mro()[:-3]:
                 classdict[c.__name__] = c
 
         for alias, longname in self.aliases.iteritems():
             classname, traitname = longname.split('.',1)
             cls = classdict[classname]
 
             trait = cls.class_traits(config=True)[traitname]
             help = cls.class_get_trait_help(trait).splitlines()
             # reformat first line
             help[0] = help[0].replace(longname, alias) + ' (%s)'%longname
             if len(alias) == 1:
                 help[0] = help[0].replace('--%s='%alias, '-%s '%alias)
             lines.extend(help)
         # lines.append('')
         print os.linesep.join(lines)
 
     def print_flag_help(self):
         """Print the flag part of the help."""
         if not self.flags:
             return
 
         lines = []
         for m, (cfg,help) in self.flags.iteritems():
             prefix = '--' if len(m) > 1 else '-'
             lines.append(prefix+m)
             lines.append(indent(dedent(help.strip())))
         # lines.append('')
         print os.linesep.join(lines)
 
     def print_options(self):
         if not self.flags and not self.aliases:
             return
         lines = ['Options']
         lines.append('-'*len(lines[0]))
         lines.append('')
         for p in wrap_paragraphs(self.option_description):
             lines.append(p)
             lines.append('')
         print os.linesep.join(lines)
         self.print_flag_help()
         self.print_alias_help()
         print
 
     def print_subcommands(self):
         """Print the subcommand part of the help."""
         if not self.subcommands:
             return
 
         lines = ["Subcommands"]
         lines.append('-'*len(lines[0]))
         lines.append('')
         for p in wrap_paragraphs(self.subcommand_description):
             lines.append(p)
             lines.append('')
         for subc, (cls, help) in self.subcommands.iteritems():
             lines.append(subc)
             if help:
                 lines.append(indent(dedent(help.strip())))
         lines.append('')
         print os.linesep.join(lines)
 
     def print_help(self, classes=False):
         """Print the help for each Configurable class in self.classes.
 
         If classes=False (the default), only flags and aliases are printed.
         """
+        self.print_description()
         self.print_subcommands()
         self.print_options()
 
         if classes:
             if self.classes:
                 print "Class parameters"
                 print "----------------"
                 print
                 for p in wrap_paragraphs(self.keyvalue_description):
                     print p
                     print
 
             for cls in self.classes:
                 cls.class_print_help()
                 print
         else:
             print "To see all available configurables, use `--help-all`"
             print
 
+        self.print_examples()
+
+
     def print_description(self):
         """Print the application description."""
         for p in wrap_paragraphs(self.description):
             print p
             print
 
     def print_examples(self):
         """Print usage and examples.
 
         This usage string goes at the end of the command line help string
         and should contain examples of the application's usage.
         """
         if self.examples:
             print "Examples"
             print "--------"
             print
             print indent(dedent(self.examples.strip()))
             print
 
     def print_version(self):
         """Print the version string."""
         print self.version
 
     def update_config(self, config):
         """Fire the traits events when the config is updated."""
         # Save a copy of the current config.
         newconfig = deepcopy(self.config)
         # Merge the new config into the current one.
         newconfig.merge(config)
         # Save the combined config as self.config, which triggers the traits
         # events.
         self.config = newconfig
 
     @catch_config_error
     def initialize_subcommand(self, subc, argv=None):
         """Initialize a subcommand with argv."""
         subapp,help = self.subcommands.get(subc)
 
         if isinstance(subapp, basestring):
             subapp = import_item(subapp)
 
         # clear existing instances
         self.__class__.clear_instance()
         # instantiate
         self.subapp = subapp.instance(config=self.config)
         # and initialize subapp
         self.subapp.initialize(argv)
     
     def flatten_flags(self):
         """flatten flags and aliases, so cl-args override as expected.
         
         This prevents issues such as an alias pointing to InteractiveShell,
         but a config file setting the same trait in TerminalInteraciveShell
         getting inappropriate priority over the command-line arg.
 
         Only aliases with exactly one descendent in the class list
         will be promoted.
         
         """
         # build a tree of classes in our list that inherit from a particular
         # it will be a dict by parent classname of classes in our list
         # that are descendents
         mro_tree = defaultdict(list)
         for cls in self.classes:
             clsname = cls.__name__
             for parent in cls.mro()[1:-3]:
                 # exclude cls itself and Configurable,HasTraits,object
                 mro_tree[parent.__name__].append(clsname)
         # flatten aliases, which have the form:
         # { 'alias' : 'Class.trait' }
         aliases = {}
         for alias, cls_trait in self.aliases.iteritems():
             cls,trait = cls_trait.split('.',1)
             children = mro_tree[cls]
             if len(children) == 1:
                 # exactly one descendent, promote alias
                 cls = children[0]
             aliases[alias] = '.'.join([cls,trait])
         
         # flatten flags, which are of the form:
         # { 'key' : ({'Cls' : {'trait' : value}}, 'help')}
         flags = {}
         for key, (flagdict, help) in self.flags.iteritems():
             newflag = {}
             for cls, subdict in flagdict.iteritems():
                 children = mro_tree[cls]
                 # exactly one descendent, promote flag section
                 if len(children) == 1:
                     cls = children[0]
                 newflag[cls] = subdict
             flags[key] = (newflag, help)
         return flags, aliases
 
     @catch_config_error
     def parse_command_line(self, argv=None):
         """Parse the command line arguments."""
         argv = sys.argv[1:] if argv is None else argv
         
         if argv and argv[0] == 'help':
             # turn `ipython help notebook` into `ipython notebook -h`
             argv = argv[1:] + ['-h']
 
         if self.subcommands and len(argv) > 0:
             # we have subcommands, and one may have been specified
             subc, subargv = argv[0], argv[1:]
             if re.match(r'^\w(\-?\w)*$', subc) and subc in self.subcommands:
                 # it's a subcommand, and *not* a flag or class parameter
                 return self.initialize_subcommand(subc, subargv)
 
         # Arguments after a '--' argument are for the script IPython may be
         # about to run, not IPython iteslf. For arguments parsed here (help and
         # version), we want to only search the arguments up to the first
         # occurrence of '--', which we're calling interpreted_argv.
         try:
             interpreted_argv = argv[:argv.index('--')]
         except ValueError:
             interpreted_argv = argv
 
         if any(x in interpreted_argv for x in ('-h', '--help-all', '--help')):
-            self.print_description()
             self.print_help('--help-all' in interpreted_argv)
-            self.print_examples()
             self.exit(0)
 
         if '--version' in interpreted_argv or '-V' in interpreted_argv:
             self.print_version()
             self.exit(0)
         
         # flatten flags&aliases, so cl-args get appropriate priority:
         flags,aliases = self.flatten_flags()
 
         loader = KVArgParseConfigLoader(argv=argv, aliases=aliases,
                                         flags=flags)
         config = loader.load_config()
         self.update_config(config)
         # store unparsed args in extra_args
         self.extra_args = loader.extra_args
 
     @catch_config_error
     def load_config_file(self, filename, path=None):
         """Load a .py based config file by filename and path."""
         loader = PyFileConfigLoader(filename, path=path)
         try:
             config = loader.load_config()
         except ConfigFileNotFound:
             # problem finding the file, raise
             raise
         except Exception:
             # try to get the full filename, but it will be empty in the
             # unlikely event that the error raised before filefind finished
             filename = loader.full_filename or filename
             # problem while running the file
             self.log.error("Exception while loading config file %s",
                             filename, exc_info=True)
         else:
             self.log.debug("Loaded config file: %s", loader.full_filename)
             self.update_config(config)
 
     def generate_config_file(self):
         """generate default config file from Configurables"""
         lines = ["# Configuration file for %s."%self.name]
         lines.append('')
         lines.append('c = get_config()')
         lines.append('')
         for cls in self.classes:
             lines.append(cls.class_config_section())
         return '\n'.join(lines)
 
     def exit(self, exit_status=0):
         self.log.debug("Exiting application: %s" % self.name)
         sys.exit(exit_status)
 
     @classmethod
     def launch_instance(cls, argv=None, **kwargs):
         """Launch a global instance of this Application
         
         If a global instance already exists, this reinitializes and starts it
         """
         app = cls.instance(**kwargs)
         app.initialize(argv)
         app.start()
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # utility functions, for convenience
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 def boolean_flag(name, configurable, set_help='', unset_help=''):
     """Helper for building basic --trait, --no-trait flags.
 
     Parameters
     ----------
 
     name : str
         The name of the flag.
     configurable : str
         The 'Class.trait' string of the trait to be set/unset with the flag
     set_help : unicode
         help string for --name flag
     unset_help : unicode
         help string for --no-name flag
 
     Returns
     -------
 
     cfg : dict
         A dict with two keys: 'name', and 'no-name', for setting and unsetting
         the trait, respectively.
     """
     # default helpstrings
     set_help = set_help or "set %s=True"%configurable
     unset_help = unset_help or "set %s=False"%configurable
 
     cls,trait = configurable.split('.')
 
     setter = {cls : {trait : True}}
     unsetter = {cls : {trait : False}}
     return {name : (setter, set_help), 'no-'+name : (unsetter, unset_help)}
 

IPython/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py

@@ -1,236 +1,226 b''
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 """NBConvert is a utility for conversion of .ipynb files.
 
 Command-line interface for the NbConvert conversion utility.
 """
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #Copyright (c) 2013, the IPython Development Team.
 #
 #Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 #
 #The full license is in the file COPYING.txt, distributed with this software.
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #Imports
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # Stdlib imports
 from __future__ import print_function
 import sys
 import os
 import glob
 
 # From IPython
 from IPython.core.application import BaseIPythonApplication, base_aliases, base_flags
 from IPython.config import catch_config_error, Configurable
 from IPython.utils.traitlets import (
     Unicode, List, Instance, DottedObjectName, Type, CaselessStrEnum,
 )
 from IPython.utils.importstring import import_item
 
 from .exporters.export import export_by_name, get_export_names, ExporterNameError
 from IPython.nbconvert import exporters, transformers, writers
 from .utils.base import NbConvertBase
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #Classes and functions
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 nbconvert_aliases = {}
 nbconvert_aliases.update(base_aliases)
 nbconvert_aliases.update({
     'format' : 'NbConvertApp.export_format',
     'notebooks' : 'NbConvertApp.notebooks',
     'writer' : 'NbConvertApp.writer_class',
 })
 
 nbconvert_flags = {}
 nbconvert_flags.update(base_flags)
 nbconvert_flags.update({
     'stdout' : (
         {'NbConvertApp' : {'writer_class' : "StdoutWriter"}},
         "Write notebook output to stdout instead of files."
         )
 })
 
 
 class NbConvertApp(BaseIPythonApplication):
     """Application used to convert to and from notebook file type (*.ipynb)"""
 
     name = 'ipython-nbconvert'
     aliases = nbconvert_aliases
     flags = nbconvert_flags
     
     def _classes_default(self):
         classes = [NbConvertBase]
         for pkg in (exporters, transformers, writers):
             for name in dir(pkg):
                 cls = getattr(pkg, name)
                 if isinstance(cls, type) and issubclass(cls, Configurable):
                     classes.append(cls)
         return classes
 
     description = Unicode(
         u"""This application is used to convert notebook files (*.ipynb)
         to various other formats.""")
 
     examples = Unicode(u"""
         The simplest way to use nbconvert is
         
         > ipython nbconvert mynotebook.ipynb
         
         which will convert mynotebook.ipynb to the default format (probably HTML).
         
         You can specify the export format with `--format`.
         Options include {0}
         
         > ipython nbconvert --format latex mynotebook.ipnynb
         
         You can also pipe the output to stdout, rather than a file
         
         > ipython nbconvert mynotebook.ipynb --stdout
         
         Multiple notebooks can be given at the command line in a couple of 
         different ways:
   
         > ipython nbconvert notebook*.ipynb
         > ipython nbconvert notebook1.ipynb notebook2.ipynb
         
         or you can specify the notebooks list in a config file, containing::
         
             c.NbConvertApp.notebooks = ["my_notebook.ipynb"]
         
         > ipython nbconvert --config mycfg.py
         """.format(get_export_names()))
     # Writer specific variables
     writer = Instance('IPython.nbconvert.writers.base.WriterBase',  
                       help="""Instance of the writer class used to write the 
                       results of the conversion.""")
     writer_class = DottedObjectName('FilesWriter', config=True, 
                                     help="""Writer class used to write the 
                                     results of the conversion""")
     writer_aliases = {'FilesWriter': 'IPython.nbconvert.writers.files.FilesWriter',
                       'DebugWriter': 'IPython.nbconvert.writers.debug.DebugWriter',
                       'StdoutWriter': 'IPython.nbconvert.writers.stdout.StdoutWriter'}
     writer_factory = Type()
 
     def _writer_class_changed(self, name, old, new):
         if new in self.writer_aliases:
             new = self.writer_aliases[new]
         self.writer_factory = import_item(new)
 
 
     # Other configurable variables
     export_format = CaselessStrEnum(get_export_names(),
         default_value="full_html",
         config=True,
         help="""The export format to be used."""
     )
 
     notebooks = List([], config=True, help="""List of notebooks to convert.
                      Wildcards are supported.
                      Filenames passed positionally will be added to the list.
                      """)
 
     @catch_config_error
     def initialize(self, argv=None):
         super(NbConvertApp, self).initialize(argv)
         self.init_notebooks()
         self.init_writer()
 
     def init_notebooks(self):
         """Construct the list of notebooks.
         If notebooks are passed on the command-line,
         they override notebooks specified in config files.
         Glob each notebook to replace notebook patterns with filenames.
         """
 
         # Specifying notebooks on the command-line overrides (rather than adds)
         # the notebook list
         if self.extra_args:
             patterns = self.extra_args
         else:
             patterns = self.notebooks
 
         # Use glob to replace all the notebook patterns with filenames.
         filenames = []
         for pattern in patterns:
             
             # Use glob to find matching filenames.  Allow the user to convert 
             # notebooks without having to type the extension.
             globbed_files = glob.glob(pattern)
             globbed_files.extend(glob.glob(pattern + '.ipynb'))
 
             for filename in globbed_files:
                 if not filename in filenames:
                     filenames.append(filename)
         self.notebooks = filenames
 
     def init_writer(self):
         """
         Initialize the writer (which is stateless)
         """
         self._writer_class_changed(None, self.writer_class, self.writer_class)
         self.writer = self.writer_factory(parent=self)
 
     def start(self):
         """
         Ran after initialization completed
         """
         super(NbConvertApp, self).start()
         self.convert_notebooks()
 
     def convert_notebooks(self):
         """
         Convert the notebooks in the self.notebook traitlet
         """
         # Export each notebook
         conversion_success = 0
         for notebook_filename in self.notebooks:
 
             # Get a unique key for the notebook and set it in the resources object.
             basename = os.path.basename(notebook_filename)
             notebook_name = basename[:basename.rfind('.')]
             resources = {}
             resources['unique_key'] = notebook_name
             resources['output_files_dir'] = '%s_files' % notebook_name
 
             # Try to export
             try:
                 output, resources = export_by_name(self.export_format,
                                               notebook_filename, 
                                               resources=resources,
                                               config=self.config)
             except ExporterNameError as e:
                 print("Error: '%s' exporter not found." % self.export_format,
                       file=sys.stderr)
                 print("Known exporters are:",
                       "\n\t" + "\n\t".join(get_export_names()),
                       file=sys.stderr)
                 sys.exit(-1)
-            # except Exception as e:
-                # print("Error: could not export '%s'" % notebook_filename, file=sys.stderr)
-                # print(e, file=sys.stderr)
             else:
                 self.writer.write(output, resources, notebook_name=notebook_name)
                 conversion_success += 1
 
         # If nothing was converted successfully, help the user.
         if conversion_success == 0:
-
-            # No notebooks were specified, show help.
-            if len(self.notebooks) == 0:
-                self.print_help()
-
-            # Notebooks were specified, but not converted successfully.  Show how
-            # to access help.
-            else:
-                print('For help, use "ipython nbconvert --help"')
+            self.print_help()
+            sys.exit(-1)
 
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Main entry point
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 launch_new_instance = NbConvertApp.launch_instance