code: def validate_args(args):
      
      if not args.minutes and not args.start_time:
          print("Error: missing --minutes or --start-time")
          return False
      if args.minutes and args.start_time:
          print("Error: --minutes shouldn't be specified if --start-time is used")
          return False
      if args.end_time and not args.start_time:
          print("Error: --end-time can't be used without --start-time")
          return False
      if args.minutes and args.minutes <= 0:
          print("Error: --minutes must be > 0")
          return False
      if args.start_time and not TIME_FORMAT_REGEX.match(args.start_time):
          print("Error: --start-time format is not valid")
          print("Example format: '2015-11-26 11:00:00'")
          return False
      if args.end_time and not TIME_FORMAT_REGEX.match(args.end_time):
          print("Error: --end-time format is not valid")
          print("Example format: '2015-11-26 11:00:00'")
          return False
      if args.batch_size <= 0:
          print("Error: --batch-size must be > 0")
          return False
      return True
docs: Basic option validation. Returns False if the options are not valid,
      True otherwise.
  
      :param args: the command line options
      :type args: map
      :param brokers_num: the number of brokers