Flexible Metadata Format
The fmf Python module and command line tool implement a
flexible format for defining metadata in plain text files which
can be stored close to the source code and structured in a
hierarchical way with support for inheritance.
Although the proposal initially originated from user stories centered around test execution, the format is general and thus can be used in broader scenarios, e.g. test coverage mapping.
Using this approach it's also possible to combine both test execution metadata and test coverage information. Thanks to elasticity and hierarchy it provides ability to organize data into well-sized text documents while preventing duplication.
Command line usage is straightforward:
fmf command [options]
There are following commands available:
fmf ls List identifiers of available objects fmf show Show metadata of available objects fmf init Initialize a new metadata tree
List names of all objects stored in the metadata tree:
fmf ls
Show all test metadata (with 'test' attribute defined):
fmf show --key test
Show metadata for all tree nodes (not only leaves):
fmf show --key test --whole
List all attributes for the /recursion tests:
fmf show --key test --name /recursion
Show all covered requirements:
fmf show --key requirement --key coverage
Search for all tests with the Tier1 tag defined and show a
brief summary of what was found:
fmf show --key test --filter tags:Tier1 --verbose
Use arbitrary Python expressions to access deeper objects and create more complex conditions:
fmf show --condition "execute['how'] == 'shell'"
Initialize a new metadata tree in the current directory:
fmf init
Check help message of individual commands for the full list of available options.
Here is the list of the most frequently used options.
Limit which metadata should be listed.
| --key=KEYS | Key content definition (required attributes) |
| --name=NAMES | List objects with name matching regular expression |
| --filter=FLTRS | Apply advanced filter when selecting objects |
| --condition=EXPR | |
| Use arbitrary Python expression for filtering | |
| --whole | Consider the whole tree (leaves only by default) |
For filtering regular expressions can be used as well. See
pydoc fmf.filter for advanced filtering options.
Choose the best format for showing the metadata.
| --format=FMT | Custom output format using the {} expansion |
| --value=VALUES | Values for the custom formatting string |
See online documentation for details about custom format.
Various utility options.
| --path PATHS | Path to the metadata tree (default: current directory) |
| --verbose | Print additional information standard error output |
| --debug | Turn on debugging output, do not catch exceptions |
Check help message of individual commands for the full list of available options.
The fmf package is available in Fedora and EPEL:
dnf install fmf
Install the latest version from the Copr repository:
dnf copr enable psss/fmf dnf install fmf
or use PIP:
pip install fmf
See documentation for more details about installation options.
Here is the list of environment variables understood by fmf:
- FMF_CACHE_DIRECTORY
- Directory used to cache git clone calls for fmf identifiers.
Git: https://github.com/psss/fmf
Docs: http://fmf.readthedocs.io/
Issues: https://github.com/psss/fmf/issues
Releases: https://github.com/psss/fmf/releases
Copr: http://copr.fedoraproject.org/coprs/psss/fmf
PIP: https://pypi.org/project/fmf/
Travis: https://travis-ci.org/psss/fmf
Coveralls: https://coveralls.io/github/psss/fmf
Petr Šplíchal, Jakub Krysl, Jan Ščotka, Alois Mahdal, Cleber Rosa, Miroslav Vadkerti and Lukáš Zachar.
Copyright (c) 2018 Red Hat, Inc.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.