Features requiring only parameter changes¶
Several aspects of a cmd2
application’s behavior
can be controlled simply by setting attributes of App
.
A parameter can also be changed at runtime by the user if
its name is included in the dictionary app.settable
.
(To define your own user-settable parameters, see Other user-settable parameters)
Case-insensitivity¶
By default, all cmd2
command names are case-insensitive;
sing the blues
and SiNg the blues
are equivalent. To change this,
set App.case_insensitive
to False.
Whether or not you set case_insensitive
, please do not define
command method names with any uppercase letters. cmd2
expects all command methods
to be lowercase.
Shortcuts¶
Special-character shortcuts for common commands can make life more convenient for your
users. Shortcuts are used without a space separating them from their arguments,
like !ls
. By default, the following shortcuts are defined:
?
- help
!
- shell: run as OS-level command
@
- load script file
@@
- load script file; filename is relative to current script location
To define more shortcuts, update the dict App.shortcuts
with the
{‘shortcut’: ‘command_name’} (omit do_
):
class App(Cmd2):
Cmd2.shortcuts.update({'*': 'sneeze', '~': 'squirm'})
Default to shell¶
Every cmd2
application can execute operating-system
level (shell) commands with shell
or a !
shortcut:
(Cmd) shell which python
/usr/bin/python
(Cmd) !which python
/usr/bin/python
However, if the parameter default_to_shell
is
True
, then every command will be attempted on
the operating system. Only if that attempt fails
(i.e., produces a nonzero return value) will the
application’s own default
method be called.
(Cmd) which python
/usr/bin/python
(Cmd) my dog has fleas
sh: my: not found
*** Unknown syntax: my dog has fleas
Timing¶
Setting App.timing
to True
outputs timing data after
every application command is executed. The user can set
this parameter
during application execution.
(See Other user-settable parameters)
Echo¶
If True
, each command the user issues will be repeated
to the screen before it is executed. This is particularly
useful when running scripts.
Debug¶
Setting App.debug
to True
will produce detailed error stacks
whenever the application generates an error. The user can set
this parameter
during application execution.
(See Other user-settable parameters)
Other user-settable parameters¶
A list of all user-settable parameters, with brief comments, is viewable from within a running application with:
(Cmd) set --long
abbrev: False # Accept abbreviated commands
autorun_on_edit: False # Automatically run files after editing
colors: True # Colorized output (*nix only)
continuation_prompt: > # On 2nd+ line of input
debug: False # Show full error stack on error
echo: False # Echo command issued into output
editor: vim # Program used by ``edit``
feedback_to_output: False # include nonessentials in `|`, `>` results
locals_in_py: True # Allow access to your application in py via self
prompt: (Cmd) # The prompt issued to solicit input
quiet: False # Don't print nonessential feedback
timing: False # Report execution times
Any of these user-settable parameters can be set while running your app with the set
command like so:
set abbrev True