import argparse

def parse_arguments():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
        description="Scan directories and print/compile file contents."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "paths",
        nargs='+',
        help="List of files or directories to scan."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-t", "--file-types",
        nargs='+',
        default=[],
        help="Filter by file types (e.g., .txt, .log)."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-x", "--ignore-file-strings",
        nargs='+',
        default=[],
        help="Ignore files and folders containing these strings."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-S", "--show-hidden",
        action='store_true',
        dest='show_hidden',
        default=False,
        help="Include hidden directories and files in the scan."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-v", "--verbose",
        action='store_true',
        help="Enable verbose mode."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-N", "--no-comments",
        action='store_true',
        help="Remove comments from the displayed content based on file type."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-z", "--compress",
        action='store_true',
        help="Compress code (for supported file types)."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-p", "--path-contains",
        nargs='+',
        default=[],
        help="Display files whose paths contain one of these strings."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-C", "--content-contains",
        nargs='+',
        default=[],
        help="Display files containing one of these strings in their content."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-G", "--no-gitignore",
        action='store_true',
        help="Do not respect .gitignore files during scan."
    )
    parser.add_argument(
        "-b", "--scan-binary-files",
        action='store_true',
        help="Scan binary files as well (by default these are ignored)."
    )
    # Convert show_hidden to ignore_hidden for downstream use
    args = parser.parse_args()
    args.ignore_hidden = not args.show_hidden
    return args