code: def parse_args(arguments, wrapper_kwargs={}):
      
      # make a socket that replies to message with the grid
  
      # if we are running mpi we want to know the rank
      args = {}
      positional = [
          'engine',
          'configfile',
      ]
      for key in positional:
          args[key] = arguments['<' + key + '>']
  
      #  integer if not 'random'
      port = arguments['--port']
      args['port'] = port if port == 'random' else int(port)
  
      # integer, default 1
      interval = arguments['--interval']
      args['interval'] = int(interval) if interval else 1
      # boolean
      args['pause'] = bool(arguments['--pause'])
      args['bmi_class'] = arguments['--bmi-class']
      args['output_vars'] = arguments['-o']
      args['tracker'] = arguments['--track']
  
      return args
docs: MMI Runner