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author | Matt A. Tobin <mattatobin@localhost.localdomain> | 2018-02-02 04:16:08 -0500 |
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committer | Matt A. Tobin <mattatobin@localhost.localdomain> | 2018-02-02 04:16:08 -0500 |
commit | 5f8de423f190bbb79a62f804151bc24824fa32d8 (patch) | |
tree | 10027f336435511475e392454359edea8e25895d /python/mach/docs/index.rst | |
parent | 49ee0794b5d912db1f95dce6eb52d781dc210db5 (diff) | |
download | uxp-5f8de423f190bbb79a62f804151bc24824fa32d8.tar.gz |
Add m-esr52 at 52.6.0
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-rw-r--r-- | python/mach/docs/index.rst | 75 |
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diff --git a/python/mach/docs/index.rst b/python/mach/docs/index.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..cd2056333f --- /dev/null +++ b/python/mach/docs/index.rst @@ -0,0 +1,75 @@ +==== +mach +==== + +Mach (German for *do*) is a generic command dispatcher for the command +line. + +To use mach, you install the mach core (a Python package), create an +executable *driver* script (named whatever you want), and write mach +commands. When the *driver* is executed, mach dispatches to the +requested command handler automatically. + +Features +======== + +On a high level, mach is similar to using argparse with subparsers (for +command handling). When you dig deeper, mach offers a number of +additional features: + +Distributed command definitions + With optparse/argparse, you have to define your commands on a central + parser instance. With mach, you annotate your command methods with + decorators and mach finds and dispatches to them automatically. + +Command categories + Mach commands can be grouped into categories when displayed in help. + This is currently not possible with argparse. + +Logging management + Mach provides a facility for logging (both classical text and + structured) that is available to any command handler. + +Settings files + Mach provides a facility for reading settings from an ini-like file + format. + +Components +========== + +Mach is conceptually composed of the following components: + +core + The mach core is the core code powering mach. This is a Python package + that contains all the business logic that makes mach work. The mach + core is common to all mach deployments. + +commands + These are what mach dispatches to. Commands are simply Python methods + registered as command names. The set of commands is unique to the + environment mach is deployed in. + +driver + The *driver* is the entry-point to mach. It is simply an executable + script that loads the mach core, tells it where commands can be found, + then asks the mach core to handle the current request. The driver is + unique to the deployed environment. But, it's usually based on an + example from this source tree. + +Project State +============= + +mach was originally written as a command dispatching framework to aid +Firefox development. While the code is mostly generic, there are still +some pieces that closely tie it to Mozilla/Firefox. The goal is for +these to eventually be removed and replaced with generic features so +mach is suitable for anybody to use. Until then, mach may not be the +best fit for you. + +.. toctree:: + :maxdepth: 1 + + commands + driver + logging + settings |