Introduction

Run the nose test discovery and execution tool whenever a source file is changed.

An elaborated version of Jeff Winkler's nosy tool that runs nose whenever a source file is changed. This version has a command line parser added, and the capability to use a configuration file to control what files are watched, and how nose runs.

Synopsis

$ nosy -h

Usage: nosy [options]

Automatically run nose whenever source files change.

Options:

-h, --help	show this help message and exit
-c CONFIG_FILE, --config=CONFIG_FILE
	configuration file path and name; defaults to setup.cfg

Configuration File

Configuration file section contents example:

[nosy]
# Paths to check for changed files; changes cause nose to be run
base_path = ./
glob_patterns = *.py
exclude_patterns = *_flymake.*
extra_paths = sample.cfg
# Command line options to pass to nose
options = -x
# Command line arguments to pass to nose; e.g. part of test suite to run
tests = tests/unit_tests.py

Configuration file is read by a Python standard library ConfigParser object, so:

• Lines beginning with "#" or ";" are ignored and may be used to provide comments.
• Entries can be in the form "name: value" or "name=value", with continuations in the style of RFC 822.
• Leading whitespace is removed from values.
• Format string substitution in values is supported.

Within the [nosy] section 6 options may be specified:

• base_path - The directory in which to start walking the tree to check for changed files. Defaults to ..
• glob_patterns - A whitespace separated list of shell glob patterns to check for changes. Defaults to *.py.
• exclude_patterns - A whitespace separated list of shell glob patterns to exclude when checking for changes. Defaults to ''.
• extra_paths - A whitespace separated list of shell glob patterns to add to the paths that are checked for changes. Defaults to ''.
• options - A string of options to be passed through to nose when it is executed.
• tests - A string of command line arguments to be passed through to nose when it is executed. Useful for specifying part of the test suite to run.

Including the configuration file in the watched paths allows you to change nose's behaviour on the fly.

The source code and bug tracker for this package is available on Bitbucket.