Add the -a/--all flag to the history command for showing all commands including those persisted from previous sessions

Also:
- History class has been modified to keep track of the session start index
- History class span(), str_search(), and regex_search() methods now take an optional 2nd boolean parameter `include_persisted` which determines whether or not commands persisted from previous sessions should be included by default
    - If a start index is manually specified, then it automatically includes the full search
- Updates unit tests

Author: tleonhardt

cmd2/cmd2.py

@@ -345,8 +345,8 @@ def __init__(self, completekey: str = 'tab', stdin=None, stdout=None, persistent
         :param completekey: (optional) readline name of a completion key, default to Tab
         :param stdin: (optional) alternate input file object, if not specified, sys.stdin is used
         :param stdout: (optional) alternate output file object, if not specified, sys.stdout is used
-        :param persistent_history_file: (optional) file path to load a persistent readline history from
-        :param persistent_history_length: (optional) max number of lines which will be written to the history file
+        :param persistent_history_file: (optional) file path to load a persistent cmd2 command history from
+        :param persistent_history_length: (optional) max number of history items to write to the persistent history file
         :param startup_script: (optional) file path to a a script to load and execute at startup
         :param use_ipython: (optional) should the "ipy" command be included for an embedded IPython shell
         :param transcript_files: (optional) allows running transcript tests when allow_cli_args is False
@@ -3337,6 +3337,8 @@ def load_ipy(app):
     history_format_group.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', action='store_true',
                                       help='display history and include expanded commands if they\n'
                                            'differ from the typed command')
+    history_format_group.add_argument('-a', '--all', action='store_true',
+                                      help='display all commands, including ones persisted from previous sessions')
 
     history_arg_help = ("empty               all history items\n"
                         "a                   one history item by number\n"
@@ -3389,18 +3391,18 @@ def do_history(self, args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
 
             if '..' in arg or ':' in arg:
                 # Get a slice of history
-                history = self.history.span(arg)
+                history = self.history.span(arg, args.all)
             elif arg_is_int:
                 history = [self.history.get(arg)]
             elif arg.startswith(r'/') and arg.endswith(r'/'):
-                history = self.history.regex_search(arg)
+                history = self.history.regex_search(arg, args.all)
             else:
-                history = self.history.str_search(arg)
+                history = self.history.str_search(arg, args.all)
         else:
             # If no arg given, then retrieve the entire history
             cowardly_refuse_to_run = True
             # Get a copy of the history so it doesn't get mutated while we are using it
-            history = self.history[:]
+            history = self.history.span(':', args.all)
 
         if args.run:
             if cowardly_refuse_to_run:
@@ -3488,6 +3490,7 @@ def _initialize_history(self, hist_file):
             return
 
         self.history = history
+        self.history.start_session()
         self.persistent_history_file = hist_file
 
         # populate readline history

cmd2/history.py

@@ -73,8 +73,14 @@ class History(list):
     regex_search() - return a list of history items which match a given regex
     get() - return a single element of the list, using 1 based indexing
     span() - given a 1-based slice, return the appropriate list of history items
-
     """
+    def __init__(self, seq=()) -> None:
+        super().__init__(seq)
+        self.session_start_index = 0
+
+    def start_session(self) -> None:
+        """Start a new session, thereby setting the next index as the first index in the new session."""
+        self.session_start_index = len(self)
 
     # noinspection PyMethodMayBeStatic
     def _zero_based_index(self, onebased: Union[int, str]) -> int:
@@ -85,12 +91,17 @@ def _zero_based_index(self, onebased: Union[int, str]) -> int:
         return result
 
     def append(self, new: Statement) -> None:
-        """Append a HistoryItem to end of the History list
+        """Append a HistoryItem to end of the History list.
 
         :param new: command line to convert to HistoryItem and add to the end of the History list
         """
         history_item = HistoryItem(new, len(self) + 1)
-        list.append(self, history_item)
+        super().append(history_item)
+
+    def clear(self) -> None:
+        """Remove all items from the History list."""
+        super().clear()
+        self.start_session()
 
     def get(self, index: Union[int, str]) -> HistoryItem:
         """Get item from the History list using 1-based indexing.
@@ -133,10 +144,11 @@ def get(self, index: Union[int, str]) -> HistoryItem:
     #
     spanpattern = re.compile(r'^\s*(?P<start>-?[1-9]\d*)?(?P<separator>:|(\.{2,}))?(?P<end>-?[1-9]\d*)?\s*$')
 
-    def span(self, span: str) -> List[HistoryItem]:
+    def span(self, span: str, include_persisted: bool = False) -> List[HistoryItem]:
         """Return an index or slice of the History list,
 
         :param span: string containing an index or a slice
+        :param include_persisted: (optional) if True, then retrieve full results including from persisted history
         :return: a list of HistoryItems
 
         This method can accommodate input in any of these forms:
@@ -191,19 +203,26 @@ def span(self, span: str) -> List[HistoryItem]:
             # take a slice of the array
             result = self[start:]
         elif end is not None and sep is not None:
-            result = self[:end]
+            if include_persisted:
+                result = self[:end]
+            else:
+                result = self[self.session_start_index:end]
         elif start is not None:
-            # there was no separator so it's either a posative or negative integer
+            # there was no separator so it's either a positive or negative integer
             result = [self[start]]
         else:
             # we just have a separator, return the whole list
-            result = self[:]
+            if include_persisted:
+                result = self[:]
+            else:
+                result = self[self.session_start_index:]
         return result
 
-    def str_search(self, search: str) -> List[HistoryItem]:
+    def str_search(self, search: str, include_persisted: bool = False) -> List[HistoryItem]:
         """Find history items which contain a given string
 
         :param search: the string to search for
+        :param include_persisted: (optional) if True, then search full history including from persisted history
         :return: a list of history items, or an empty list if the string was not found
         """
         def isin(history_item):
@@ -212,12 +231,15 @@ def isin(history_item):
             inraw = sloppy in utils.norm_fold(history_item.raw)
             inexpanded = sloppy in utils.norm_fold(history_item.expanded)
             return inraw or inexpanded
-        return [item for item in self if isin(item)]
 
-    def regex_search(self, regex: str) -> List[HistoryItem]:
+        search_list = self if include_persisted else self[self.session_start_index:]
+        return [item for item in search_list if isin(item)]
+
+    def regex_search(self, regex: str, include_persisted: bool = False) -> List[HistoryItem]:
         """Find history items which match a given regular expression
 
         :param regex: the regular expression to search for.
+        :param include_persisted: (optional) if True, then search full history including from persisted history
         :return: a list of history items, or an empty list if the string was not found
         """
         regex = regex.strip()
@@ -228,7 +250,9 @@ def regex_search(self, regex: str) -> List[HistoryItem]:
         def isin(hi):
             """filter function for doing a regular expression search of history"""
             return finder.search(hi.raw) or finder.search(hi.expanded)
-        return [itm for itm in self if isin(itm)]
+
+        search_list = self if include_persisted else self[self.session_start_index:]
+        return [itm for itm in search_list if isin(itm)]
 
     def truncate(self, max_length: int) -> None:
         """Truncate the length of the history, dropping the oldest items if necessary

docs/freefeatures.rst

@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ All cmd_-based applications on systems with the ``readline`` module
 also provide `Readline Emacs editing mode`_.  With this you can, for example, use **Ctrl-r** to search backward through
 the readline history.
 
-``cmd2`` adds the option of making this readline history persistent via optional arguments to ``cmd2.Cmd.__init__()``:
+``cmd2`` adds the option of making this history persistent via optional arguments to ``cmd2.Cmd.__init__()``:
 
 .. automethod:: cmd2.cmd2.Cmd.__init__
 

tests/conftest.py

@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 
 # Help text for the history command
 HELP_HISTORY = """Usage: history [-h] [-r | -e | -o FILE | -t TRANSCRIPT | -c] [-s] [-x] [-v]
+               [-a]
                [arg]
 
 View, run, edit, save, or clear previously entered commands
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@
                         macros expanded, instead of typed commands
   -v, --verbose         display history and include expanded commands if they
                         differ from the typed command
-
+  -a, --all             display all commands, including ones persisted from previous sessions
 """
 
 # Output from the shortcuts command with default built-in shortcuts

tests/test_history.py

@@ -43,6 +43,19 @@ def hist():
                  HistoryItem(Statement('', raw='fourth'),4)])
     return h
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def persisted_hist():
+    from cmd2.parsing import Statement
+    from cmd2.cmd2 import History, HistoryItem
+    h = History([HistoryItem(Statement('', raw='first'), 1),
+                 HistoryItem(Statement('', raw='second'), 2),
+                 HistoryItem(Statement('', raw='third'), 3),
+                 HistoryItem(Statement('', raw='fourth'),4)])
+    h.start_session()
+    h.append(Statement('', raw='fifth'))
+    h.append(Statement('', raw='sixth'))
+    return h
+
 def test_history_class_span(hist):
     for tryit in ['*', ':', '-', 'all', 'ALL']:
         assert hist.span(tryit) == hist
@@ -119,6 +132,62 @@ def test_history_class_span(hist):
         with pytest.raises(ValueError):
             hist.span(tryit)
 
+def test_persisted_history_span(persisted_hist):
+    for tryit in ['*', ':', '-', 'all', 'ALL']:
+        assert persisted_hist.span(tryit, include_persisted=True) == persisted_hist
+        assert persisted_hist.span(tryit, include_persisted=False) != persisted_hist
+
+    assert persisted_hist.span('3')[0].statement.raw == 'third'
+    assert persisted_hist.span('-1')[0].statement.raw == 'sixth'
+
+    span = persisted_hist.span('2..')
+    assert len(span) == 5
+    assert span[0].statement.raw == 'second'
+    assert span[1].statement.raw == 'third'
+    assert span[2].statement.raw == 'fourth'
+    assert span[3].statement.raw == 'fifth'
+    assert span[4].statement.raw == 'sixth'
+
+    span = persisted_hist.span('-2..')
+    assert len(span) == 2
+    assert span[0].statement.raw == 'fifth'
+    assert span[1].statement.raw == 'sixth'
+
+    span = persisted_hist.span('1..3')
+    assert len(span) == 3
+    assert span[0].statement.raw == 'first'
+    assert span[1].statement.raw == 'second'
+    assert span[2].statement.raw == 'third'
+
+    span = persisted_hist.span('2:-1')
+    assert len(span) == 5
+    assert span[0].statement.raw == 'second'
+    assert span[1].statement.raw == 'third'
+    assert span[2].statement.raw == 'fourth'
+    assert span[3].statement.raw == 'fifth'
+    assert span[4].statement.raw == 'sixth'
+
+    span = persisted_hist.span('-3:4')
+    assert len(span) == 1
+    assert span[0].statement.raw == 'fourth'
+
+    span = persisted_hist.span(':-2', include_persisted=True)
+    assert len(span) == 5
+    assert span[0].statement.raw == 'first'
+    assert span[1].statement.raw == 'second'
+    assert span[2].statement.raw == 'third'
+    assert span[3].statement.raw == 'fourth'
+    assert span[4].statement.raw == 'fifth'
+
+    span = persisted_hist.span(':-2', include_persisted=False)
+    assert len(span) == 1
+    assert span[0].statement.raw == 'fifth'
+
+    value_errors = ['fred', 'fred:joe', 'a..b', '2 ..', '1 : 3', '1:0', '0:3']
+    for tryit in value_errors:
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+            persisted_hist.span(tryit)
+
 def test_history_class_get(hist):
     assert hist.get('1').statement.raw == 'first'
     assert hist.get(3).statement.raw == 'third'
@@ -401,7 +470,8 @@ def test_history_verbose_with_other_options(base_app):
     options_to_test = ['-r', '-e', '-o file', '-t file', '-c', '-x']
     for opt in options_to_test:
         out, err = run_cmd(base_app, 'history -v ' + opt)
-        assert len(out) == 3
+        assert len(out) == 4
+        assert out[0] == '-v can not be used with any other options'
         assert out[1].startswith('Usage:')
 
 def test_history_verbose(base_app):
@@ -417,7 +487,8 @@ def test_history_script_with_invalid_options(base_app):
     options_to_test = ['-r', '-e', '-o file', '-t file', '-c']
     for opt in options_to_test:
         out, err = run_cmd(base_app, 'history -s ' + opt)
-        assert len(out) == 3
+        assert len(out) == 4
+        assert out[0] == '-s and -x can not be used with -c, -r, -e, -o, or -t'
         assert out[1].startswith('Usage:')
 
 def test_history_script(base_app):
@@ -432,7 +503,8 @@ def test_history_expanded_with_invalid_options(base_app):
     options_to_test = ['-r', '-e', '-o file', '-t file', '-c']
     for opt in options_to_test:
         out, err = run_cmd(base_app, 'history -x ' + opt)
-        assert len(out) == 3
+        assert len(out) == 4
+        assert out[0] == '-s and -x can not be used with -c, -r, -e, -o, or -t'
         assert out[1].startswith('Usage:')
 
 def test_history_expanded(base_app):