def alignmaxnumber(max_align, count_entries):
    """
    A function that ascertains if max_align option was provided. If no
    max_align is provided by the user (with the -k option) then max_align
    will be set to the number of entries in fastas, i.e., the total number of
    sequences present in all fastas provided as input
    Parameters
    ----------
    max_align: str
        The args passed with -k, if any
    count_entries: float
        The number of entries in fasta

    Returns
    -------
    k_value: str
        The value to be set for -k option for bowtie2

    """
    if max_align:
        k_value = max_align
    else:
        k_value = str(count_entries)
    return k_value
