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diff --git a/docs/alternatives.rst b/docs/alternatives.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbf2ae2 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/alternatives.rst @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +============================ +Alternatives to cmd and cmd2 +============================ + +For programs that do not interact with the user in a continuous loop - +programs that simply accept a set of arguments from the command line, return +results, and do not keep the user within the program's environment - all +you need are sys_\ .argv (the command-line arguments) and optparse_ +(for parsing UNIX-style options and flags). + +.. _optparse: http://docs.python.org/library/optparse.html#module-optparse + +.. _sys: http://docs.python.org/library/sys.html#module-sys + +.. _curses: http://docs.python.org/library/curses.html#module-curses + +.. _cmd: http://docs.python.org/library/cmd.html#module-cmd + +The curses_ module produces applications that interact via a plaintext +terminal window, but are not limited to simple text input and output; +they can paint the screen with options that are selected from using the +cursor keys. However, programming a curses_-based application is not as +straightforward as using cmd_. + +Several packages in PyPI enable interactive command-line applications +approximately similar in concept to cmd_ applications. None of them +share cmd2's close ties to cmd, but they may be worth investigating +nonetheless. + + * CmdLoop_ + * cly_ + * CmDO_ (As of Feb. 2010, webpage is missing.) + * pycopia-CLI_ + +cmdln_, another package in PyPI, is an extension to cmd_ and, though it +doesn't retain full cmd_ compatibility, shares its basic structure with +cmd_. + +.. _cmdln: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/cmdln + +.. _CmdLoop: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/CmdLoop + +.. _cly: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/cly + +.. _CmDO: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/CmDO/0.7 + +.. _pycopia-CLI: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pycopia-CLI/1.0 + +I've found several alternatives to cmd in the Cheese Shop - CmdLoop, cly, CMdO, and pycopia. cly looks wonderful, but I haven't been able to get it working under Windows, and that's a show-stopper for many potential sqlpython users. In any case, none of the alternatives are based on cmd - they're written from scratch, which means that a cmd-based app would need complete rewriting to use them. I like sticking close to the Standard Library whenever possible. cmd2 lets you do that. + |