def extract_variable_name(attribute_name: str):
    """
    Function used to transform attribute names into cheetah variables

    attribute names look like standard shell arguments (--attr-a),
    so they need to be converted to look more like python variables (attr_a)
    Parameters
    ----------
    attribute_name : str
     name of the attribute

    Returns
    -------
    transformed name
    """
    return attribute_name.lstrip("-").replace("-", "_")