cmd2

A python package for building powerful command-line interpreter (CLI) programs. Extends the Python Standard Library’s cmd package.

The basic use of cmd2 is identical to that of cmd.

1. Create a subclass of cmd2.Cmd. Define attributes and do_* methods to control its behavior. Throughout this documentation, we will assume that you are naming your subclass App:

   from cmd2 import Cmd
   class App(Cmd):
       # customized attributes and methods here
   

2. Instantiate App and start the command loop:

   app = App()
   app.cmdloop()
   

Resources

• cmd
• project bug tracker
• cmd2 project page
• PyCon 2010 presentation, Easy Command-Line Applications with cmd and cmd2: slides, video

These docs will refer to App as your cmd2.Cmd subclass, and app as an instance of App. Of course, in your program, you may name them whatever you want.

Contents:

• Overview
• Features requiring no modifications
  • Script files
  • Comments
  • Commands at invocation
  • Output redirection
  • Python
  • Searchable command history
  • Quitting the application
  • Abbreviated commands
  • Misc. pre-defined commands
  • Transcript-based testing
• Features requiring only parameter changes
  • Case-insensitivity
  • Shortcuts
  • Default to shell
  • Timing
  • Echo
  • Debug
  • Other user-settable parameters
• Features requiring application changes
  • Multiline commands
  • Parsed statements
  • Environment parameters
  • Commands with flags
  • poutput, pfeedback, perror
  • color
  • quiet
  • select
• Alternatives to cmd and cmd2

Compatibility

Tested and working with Python 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 3.1; Jython 2.5

Indices and tables

• Index
• Module Index
• Search Page