--- a/configuration/config.py	Mon Mar 26 16:40:35 2012 -0700
+++ b/configuration/config.py	Mon Mar 26 16:54:37 2012 -0700
@@ -251,3 +251,21 @@
 
         # return parsed arguments
         return options, args
+
+    ### serialization/deserialization
+
+    def configuration_provider(self, format):
+        """configuration provider guess for a given filename"""
+        for provider in self.configuration_providers:
+            if format in provider.extensions:
+                return provider
+
+    def serialize(self, filename, format=None):
+        """serialize configuration to a file"""
+
+    def deserialize(self, filename, format=None):
+        """load configuration from a file"""
+
+        extension = os.path.splitext(filename)[-1]
+        if not extension:
+            return None

--- a/tests/unit.py	Mon Mar 26 16:40:35 2012 -0700
+++ b/tests/unit.py	Mon Mar 26 16:54:37 2012 -0700
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 class ConfigurationUnitTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_cli(self):
+        """test command line interface"""
+
         example = ExampleConfiguration()
 
         # parse command line arguments
@@ -32,6 +34,9 @@
         self.assertEqual(example.config['activeTests'], ['ts'])
         self.assertEqual(example.config['browser_path'], '/home/jhammel/bin/firefox')
 
+    def test_configuration_providers(self):
+        """test file-based configuration providers"""
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()