code: def parse_user_params(user_params):
      
      if user_params:
          params = {}
          try:
              for param in options.params.split(','):
                  param_key, param_value = param.split('=', 1)
                  params[param_key] = param_value
          except ValueError as e:
              sys.stdout.write("Invalid params specified. Should be in format: <key=value>[,<key=value>..]\n")
              sys.exit(1)
          return params
      else:
          return {}
docs: Parse the user params (-p/--params) and them as a dict.