cmd2 0.4, now with testing

cmd2 0.4 has been released. Its biggest new feature is transcript-based testing. Basically, you can write a test suite for your cmd2-based application just this easily:

1. Add to your application script (suppose it's myCmd2App.py):

from cmd2 import Cmd2TestCase
class TestMyAppCase(Cmd2TestCase):
    CmdApp = CmdLineApp
    transcriptFileName = 'exampleSession.txt'

parser = optparse.OptionParser()
parser.add_option('-t', '--test', dest='unittests', action='store_true', default=False, help='Run unit test suite')
(callopts, callargs) = parser.parse_args()
if callopts.unittests:
    sys.argv = [sys.argv[0]]  # the --test argument upsets unittest.main()
    unittest.main()
else:
    app = CmdLineApp()
    app.cmdloop()

2. Run a session of your application. Run all the commands you want to test.

3. Cut-and-paste your entire session into exampleSession.txt.

4. Run python myCmd2App.py -t

Ta-da! cmd2 runs runs your app, issues all the commands saved in exampleSession.txt, and verifies that they produce the same output as in your transcript. Now you can change your app fearlessly without bugs sneaking in.

Finally, cmd2 is now available for Python 2.4 through 2.6.