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actually dump configuration
author Jeff Hammel <jhammel@mozilla.com>
date Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:25:52 -0700
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1 configuration
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2 =============
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4 multi-level unified configuration for python consumption
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5
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6 - you have a (python) program that wants to read configuration from
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7 configuration files (I currently support JSON and YAML) and also
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8 from the command line
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9
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10 - you want to be able to serialize and deserialize configuration
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13 Basic Usage
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14 -----------
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15
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16 The ``configuration.Configuration`` class is an abstract base
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17 class that extends ``optparse.OptionParser``. The form of the
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18 configuration is dictated by setting the ``options`` attribute on your
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19 subclass. ``options`` is a dictionary of the form::
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20
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21 {'name': {<value>}}
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22
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23 ``name`` is the name of the configuration option, and ``value`` is a
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24 ``dict`` that gives the form of the option.
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25
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26 ``Configuration`` transforms these options into ``OptionParser`` options.
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27
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28 Options for ``value`` include:
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29
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30 * help : what the option is about (translated to command line help)
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31 * default: default value for the option
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32 * required: if a true value, this option must be present in the
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33 configuration. If ``required`` is a string, it will be displayed if
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34 the option is not present. If the default is defined, you won't
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35 need required as the default value will be used
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36 * type: type of the option. Used to control the parsing of the option
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37 * flags: a list that, if present, will be used for the command line
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38 flags. Othwise, the option name prepended by ``--`` will be used.
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39 To disable as a command line option, use an empty list ``[]``
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40
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41 In addition, you may extend ``Configuration`` and have additional
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42 useful items in the ``value`` dict for ``options``.
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43
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44 For an example, see
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45 http://k0s.org/mozilla/hg/configuration/file/c831eb58fb52/tests/example.py#l7
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48 Configuration Files
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49 -------------------
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50
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51 Config files are useful for (IMHO) A. complicated setup;
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52 B. reproducibility; C. being able to share run time configurations.
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53 The latter is mostly useful if the configuration contains nothing
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54 machine-specific (e.g. the path to an executable might vary from
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55 machine to machine) or if the configuration is overridable from the
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56 command line.
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58 ``configuration`` features the ability to serialize (dump) and deserialize
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59 (load) configuration from a pluggable set of formats. By default,
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60 ``--dump <filename>`` will dump the resultant configuration (that
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61 gathered from the command line options and loaded configuration files)
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62 to a file of format dictate by the file extension (Example:
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63 ``--dump mydumpfile.json`` will use JSON format). The flag for the
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64 option, e.g. ``--dump``, may be set via the ``dump`` parameter to
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65 ``Configuration``'s constructor.
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66
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67 ``Configuration`` instances can also deserialize data. The normal case of
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68 using configuration is when you want to be able to read from
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69 configuration files. By default, ``Configuration`` instances read
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70 positional arguments for configuration files to be loaded. If you
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71 specify a ``load`` argument to the ``Configuration`` constructor, this
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72 option will be used instead. Likewise, the file extension will be
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73 used to determine the format.
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75 The `configuration package <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/configuration>`_
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76 requires ``json``(``simplejson`` on older python) and ``PyYAML`` so
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77 these serializers/deserializers are available if you install the package.
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80 Extending Configuration
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81 -----------------------
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82
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83 ``configuration`` is designed to be pluggable. While you get a useful
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84 set of behaviour out of the box, most of the handlers for
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85 ``configuration`` may be manipulated to do what you want to do.
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87 ``Configuration``'s constructor takes an argument, ``types``, which is
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88 a dictionary of callables keyed on type that translate
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89 ``Configuration.options`` into ``optparse`` options. If one of
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90 ``Configuration.options`` type isn't specified (or is ``None``), then
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91 the default is used (``configuration.base_cli`` unless you override this).
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92 If not passed, a ``Configuration`` instance uses ``configuration.types``.
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94 The callables in ``types`` should take the option name and value
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95 dictionary and should return the args and keyword args necessary to
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96 instantiate an ``optparse.Option``.
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98 ``Configuration``'s constructor also accepts an option,
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99 ``configuration_providers``, that is a list of
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100 serializers/deserializers to use. These should be objects with a list
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101 of ``extensions`` to use, a ``read(filename)`` method that will load
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102 configuration, and a ``write(config, filename)`` method to write it.
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103 ``read`` should return the read configuration.
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104 If ``write`` is not present the provider cannot serialize.
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106 TODO
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107 ----
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108
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109 * Add http://k0s.org/hg/ConfigOptionParser and deprecate it
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111 ----
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113 Jeff Hammel
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115 http://k0s.org/mozilla/hg/configuration