Multiple fixes to ev and utils:

Made utils.variable_from_module more generic (it can now load pretty much any form of module it's given and also supports searching and returning multiple variables).

Removed the variable-load functionality from utils.load_module; this is now purely a loader - use variable_from_module instead.

I found out that one couldn't import from src.commands.default due to the __init__ file being restrictive for the sake of the ev API. Removed that and instead imported the default commands into ev.py with the help of utils.variable_from_module instead. Some more fixes in ev followed on this.

ev.py

@@ -2,21 +2,18 @@
 
 Central API for the Evennia MUD/MUX/MU* creation system.
 
-This basically a set of shortcuts to the main modules in src/. Import this from your code or
+This is basically a set of shortcuts for accessing things in src/ with less boiler plate.
-explore it interactively from a python shell.
+Import this from your code or explore it interactively from a python shell.
 
 Notes:
 
  1) You should import things explicitly from the root of this module - you can not use
-    dot-notation to import deeper. Hence, to access a default command, you can do the
+    dot-notation to import deeper. Hence, to access a default command, you can do
-    following:
-
        import ev
        ev.default_cmds.CmdLook
-    or
+     or
        from ev import default_cmds
        default_cmds.CmdLook
-
     But trying to import CmdLook directly with "from ev.default_cmds import CmdLook" will
     not work since default_cmds is a property on the "ev" module, not a module of its own.
 
@@ -38,34 +35,48 @@ Notes:
     some more error checking.
 
  5) "settings" links to Evennia's game/settings file. "settings_full" shows all of django's available
-    settings. Note that you cannot change settings from here in a meaningful way, you need to update
+    settings. Note that this is for viewing only - you cannot *change* settings from here in a meaningful
-    game/settings.py and restart the server.
+    way but have to update game/settings.py and restart the server.
 
- 6) The API accesses all relevant and most-neeeded functions/classes from src/, but might not
+ 6) The API accesses all relevant and most-neeeded functions/classes from src/ but might not
     always include all helper-functions referenced from each such entity. To get to those, access
     the modules in src/ directly. You can always do this anyway, if you do not want to go through
     this API.
-
 """
 
+
 import sys, os
 
+######################################################################
+# set Evennia version in __version__ property
+######################################################################
+
+try:
+    f = open(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)) + os.sep + "VERSION", 'r')
+    __version__ = "Evennia %s-r%s" % (f.read().strip(), os.popen("hg id -i").read().strip())
+    f.close()
+    del f
+except IOError:
+    __version__ = "Evennia (unknown version)"
+
 ######################################################################
 # Stop erroneous direct run (would give a traceback since django is
 #  not yet initialized)
 ######################################################################
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    info = __doc__ + \
+    print \
 """
-  | This module gives access to Evennia's programming API.  It should
+   Evennia MU* creation system (%s)
-  | not be run on its own, but be imported and accessed as described
+
-  | above.
+   This module gives access to Evennia's API (Application Programming
-  |
+   Interface). It should *not* be run on its own, but be imported and
-  | To start the Evennia server, see game/manage.py and game/evennia.py.
+   accessed from your code or explored interactively from a Python
-  | More help can be found at http://www.evennia.com.
+   shell.
-"""
+
-    print info
+   For help configuring and starting the Evennia server, see the
+   INSTALL file. More help can be found at http://www.evennia.com.
+""" % __version__
     sys.exit()
 
 ######################################################################
@@ -79,18 +90,6 @@ from game import settings
 setup_environ(settings)
 del setup_environ
 from django.conf import settings as settings_full
-
-######################################################################
-# set Evennia version in __version__ property
-######################################################################
-
-try:
-    f = open(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)) + os.sep + "VERSION", 'r')
-    __version__ = "Evennia %s-r%s" % (f.read().strip(), os.popen("hg id -i").read().strip())
-    f.close()
-    del f
-except IOError:
-    __version__ = "Evennia (unknown version)"
 del sys, os
 
 ######################################################################
@@ -110,7 +109,7 @@ from src.players.models import PlayerDB, PlayerAttribute, PlayerNick
 # commands
 from src.commands.command import Command
 from src.commands.cmdset import CmdSet
-from src.commands import default as default_cmds
+# (default_cmds is created below)
 
 # locks
 from src.locks import lockfuncs
@@ -175,6 +174,37 @@ class DBmanagers(object):
 managers = DBmanagers()
 del DBmanagers
 
+class DefaultCmds(object):
+    """
+    This container holds direct shortcuts to all default commands in
+    Evennia.
+    """
+
+    from src.commands.default.cmdset_default import DefaultCmdSet
+    from src.commands.default.cmdset_ooc import OOCCmdSet
+    from src.commands.default.cmdset_unloggedin import UnloggedinCmdSet
+    from src.commands.default.muxcommand import MuxCommand
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        "populate the object with commands"
+
+        def add_cmds(module):
+            "helper method for populating this object with cmds"
+            cmdlist = utils.variable_from_module(module, module.__all__)
+            self.__dict__.update(dict([(c.__name__, c) for c in cmdlist]))
+
+        from src.commands.default import admin, batchprocess, building, comms, general, help, system, unloggedin
+        add_cmds(building)
+        add_cmds(batchprocess)
+        add_cmds(building)
+        add_cmds(comms)
+        add_cmds(general)
+        add_cmds(help)
+        add_cmds(system)
+        add_cmds(unloggedin)
+default_cmds = DefaultCmds()
+del DefaultCmds
+
 class SystemCmds(object):
     """
     Creating commands with keys set to these constants will make

src/commands/cmdhandler.py

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ __all__ = ("cmdhandler",)
 
 # This decides which command parser is to be used.
 # You have to restart the server for changes to take effect.
-_COMMAND_PARSER = utils.mod_import(*settings.COMMAND_PARSER.rsplit('.', 1))
+_COMMAND_PARSER = utils.variable_from_module(*settings.COMMAND_PARSER.rsplit('.', 1))
 
 # System command names - import these variables rather than trying to
 # remember the actual string constants. If not defined, Evennia

src/commands/default/__init__.py

@@ -1,27 +1,4 @@
 """
-Groups all default commands for access from the API. 
+This package contains all default commands of Evennia, grouped after category.
-
-To use via ev API, import this module with 
-  from ev import default_cmds,
-you can then access the command classes as members of default_cmds.
 
 """
-from src.commands.default.cmdset_default import DefaultCmdSet
-from src.commands.default.cmdset_ooc import OOCCmdSet
-from src.commands.default.cmdset_unloggedin import UnloggedinCmdSet
-
-from src.commands.default.muxcommand import MuxCommand
-
-from src.commands.default.admin import *
-from src.commands.default.batchprocess import *
-from src.commands.default.building import *
-from src.commands.default.comms import *
-from src.commands.default.general import *
-from src.commands.default.help import *
-from src.commands.default import syscommands
-from src.commands.default.system import *
-from src.commands.default.unloggedin import *
-
-del cmdset_default, cmdset_ooc, cmdset_unloggedin, muxcommand
-del admin, batchprocess, building, comms, general, 
-del help, system, unloggedin

src/commands/default/cmdset_default.py

@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ class DefaultCmdSet(CmdSet):
         self.add(help.CmdSetHelp())
 
         # System commands
-        self.add(system.CmdReload())
-        self.add(system.CmdReset())
-        self.add(system.CmdShutdown())
         self.add(system.CmdPy())
         self.add(system.CmdScripts())
         self.add(system.CmdObjects())
@@ -51,9 +48,7 @@ class DefaultCmdSet(CmdSet):
         self.add(admin.CmdBoot())
         self.add(admin.CmdBan())
         self.add(admin.CmdUnban())
-        self.add(admin.CmdDelPlayer())
         self.add(admin.CmdEmit())
-        self.add(admin.CmdNewPassword())
         self.add(admin.CmdPerm())
         self.add(admin.CmdWall())
 

src/commands/default/cmdset_ooc.py

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ a Player object as caller rather than a Character.
 
 """
 from src.commands.cmdset import CmdSet
-from src.commands.default import help, comms, general, admin
+from src.commands.default import help, comms, general, admin, system
 
 class OOCCmdSet(CmdSet):
     """
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class OOCCmdSet(CmdSet):
     def at_cmdset_creation(self):
         "Populates the cmdset"
 
-        # general commands 
+        # General commands
         self.add(general.CmdOOCLook())
         self.add(general.CmdIC())
         self.add(general.CmdOOC())
@@ -27,11 +27,15 @@ class OOCCmdSet(CmdSet):
         self.add(general.CmdQuit())
         self.add(general.CmdPassword())
 
-        # help command
+        # Help command
         self.add(help.CmdHelp())
 
-        # admin commands
+        # system commands
-        self.add(admin.CmdBoot())
+        self.add(system.CmdReload())
+        self.add(system.CmdReset())
+        self.add(system.CmdShutdown())
+
+        # Admin commands
         self.add(admin.CmdDelPlayer())
         self.add(admin.CmdNewPassword())
 

src/commands/default/general.py

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ __all__ = ("CmdHome", "CmdLook", "CmdPassword", "CmdNick",
            "CmdSay", "CmdPose", "CmdEncoding", "CmdAccess",
            "CmdOOCLook", "CmdIC", "CmdOOC")
 
-AT_SEARCH_RESULT = utils.mod_import(*settings.SEARCH_AT_RESULT.rsplit('.', 1))
+AT_SEARCH_RESULT = utils.variable_from_module(*settings.SEARCH_AT_RESULT.rsplit('.', 1))
 BASE_PLAYER_TYPECLASS = settings.BASE_PLAYER_TYPECLASS
 
 class CmdHome(MuxCommand):

src/objects/manager.py

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ __all__ = ("ObjectManager",)
 
 # Try to use a custom way to parse id-tagged multimatches.
 
-_AT_MULTIMATCH_INPUT = utils.mod_import(*settings.SEARCH_AT_MULTIMATCH_INPUT.rsplit('.', 1))
+_AT_MULTIMATCH_INPUT = utils.variable_from_module(*settings.SEARCH_AT_MULTIMATCH_INPUT.rsplit('.', 1))
 
 class ObjectManager(TypedObjectManager):
     """

src/objects/models.py

@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ from src.commands.cmdsethandler import CmdSetHandler
 from src.commands import cmdhandler
 from src.scripts.scripthandler import ScriptHandler
 from src.utils import logger
-from src.utils.utils import make_iter, to_unicode, mod_import
+from src.utils.utils import make_iter, to_unicode, variable_from_module
 
 #__all__ = ("ObjAttribute", "Alias", "ObjectNick", "ObjectDB")
 
 
-_AT_SEARCH_RESULT = mod_import(*settings.SEARCH_AT_RESULT.rsplit('.', 1))
+_AT_SEARCH_RESULT = variable_from_module(*settings.SEARCH_AT_RESULT.rsplit('.', 1))
 
 _GA = object.__getattribute__
 _SA = object.__setattr__

src/players/models.py

@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ from src.commands import cmdhandler
 
 __all__  = ("PlayerAttribute", "PlayerNick", "PlayerDB")
 
-_AT_SEARCH_RESULT = utils.mod_import(*settings.SEARCH_AT_RESULT.rsplit('.', 1))
+_AT_SEARCH_RESULT = utils.variable_from_module(*settings.SEARCH_AT_RESULT.rsplit('.', 1))
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------
 #

src/utils/dummyrunner.py

@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     except AttributeError:
         # use default
         action_modpath = "src.utils.dummyrunner_actions"
-    actions = utils.mod_import(action_modpath, "ACTIONS")
+    actions = utils.variable_from_module(action_modpath, "ACTIONS")
 
     print "Connecting %i dummy client(s) to port %i using a %i second timestep ... " % (nclients, port, timestep)
     t0 = time.time()

src/utils/utils.py

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ be of use when designing your own game.
 
 """
 from inspect import ismodule
-import os, sys, imp
+import os, sys, imp, types
 import textwrap
 import datetime
 import random
@@ -538,11 +538,19 @@ def has_parent(basepath, obj):
         # instance. Not sure if one should defend against this.
         return False
 
-def mod_import(mod_path, propname=None):
+def mod_import(module):
     """
-    Takes filename of a module (a python path or a full pathname)
+    A generic Python module loader.
-    and imports it. If property is given, return the named
+
-    property from this module instead of the module itself.
+    Args:
+        module - this can be either a Python path (dot-notation like src.objects.models),
+                 an absolute path (e.g. /home/eve/evennia/src/objects.models.py)
+                 or an already import module object (e.g. models)
+    Returns:
+        an imported module. If the input argument was already a model, this is returned as-is,
+        otherwise the path is parsed and imported.
+    Error:
+        returns None. The error is also logged.
     """
 
     def log_trace(errmsg=None):
@@ -567,74 +575,83 @@ def mod_import(mod_path, propname=None):
             for line in errmsg.splitlines():
                 log.msg('[EE] %s' % line)
 
-    if not mod_path:
+    if not module:
         return None
-    # first try to import as a python path
-    try:
-        mod = __import__(mod_path, fromlist=["None"])
-    except ImportError:
-
-        # try absolute path import instead
-
-        if not os.path.isabs(mod_path):
-            mod_path = os.path.abspath(mod_path)
-        path, filename = mod_path.rsplit(os.path.sep, 1)
-        modname = filename.rstrip('.py')
 
+    if type(module) == types.ModuleType:
+        # if this is already a module, we are done
+        mod = module
+    else:
+        # first try to import as a python path
         try:
-            result = imp.find_module(modname, [path])
+            mod = __import__(module, fromlist=["None"])
         except ImportError:
-            log_trace("Could not find module '%s' (%s.py) at path '%s'" % (modname, modname, path))
-            return
-        try:
-            mod = imp.load_module(modname, *result)
-        except ImportError:
-            log_trace("Could not find or import module %s at path '%s'" % (modname, path))
-            mod = None
-        # we have to close the file handle manually
-        result[0].close()
 
-    if mod and propname:
+            # try absolute path import instead
-        # we have a module, extract the sought property from it.
+
-        try:
+            if not os.path.isabs(module):
-            mod_prop = mod.__dict__[to_str(propname)]
+                module = os.path.abspath(module)
-        except KeyError:
+            path, filename = module.rsplit(os.path.sep, 1)
-            log_trace("Could not import property '%s' from module %s." % (propname, mod_path))
+            modname = filename.rstrip('.py')
-            return None
+
-        return mod_prop
+            try:
+                result = imp.find_module(modname, [path])
+            except ImportError:
+                log_trace("Could not find module '%s' (%s.py) at path '%s'" % (modname, modname, path))
+                return
+            try:
+                mod = imp.load_module(modname, *result)
+            except ImportError:
+                log_trace("Could not find or import module %s at path '%s'" % (modname, path))
+                mod = None
+            # we have to close the file handle manually
+            result[0].close()
     return mod
 
-def variable_from_module(modpath, variable=None, default=None):
+def variable_from_module(module, variable=None, default=None):
     """
-    Retrieve a variable from a module. The variable must be defined
+    Retrieve a variable or list of variables from a module. The variable(s) must be defined
-    globally in the module. If no variable is given, a random variable
+    globally in the module. If no variable is given (or a list entry is None), a random variable
-    is returned from the module.
+    is extracted from the module.
 
     If module cannot be imported or given variable not found, default
     is returned.
-    """
-    if not modpath:
-        return default
-    try:
-        mod = __import__(modpath, fromlist=["None"])
-    except ImportError:
-        return default
-    if variable:
-        # try to pick a named variable
-        return mod.__dict__.get(variable, default)
-    else:
-        # random selection
-        mvars = [val for key, val in mod.__dict__.items() if not (key.startswith("_") or ismodule(val))]
-        return mvars and random.choice(mvars)
 
-def string_from_module(modpath, variable=None, default=None):
+    Args:
+      module (string or module)- python path, absolute path or a module
+      variable (string or iterable) - single variable name or iterable of variable names to extract
+      default (string) - default value to use if a variable fails to be extracted.
+    Returns:
+      a single value or a list of values depending on the type of 'variable' argument. Errors in lists
+      are replaced by the 'default' argument."""
+
+    if not module:
+        return default
+    mod = mod_import(module)
+
+    result = []
+    for var in make_iter(variable):
+        if var:
+            # try to pick a named variable
+            result.append(mod.__dict__.get(var, default))
+        else:
+            # random selection
+            mvars = [val for key, val in mod.__dict__.items() if not (key.startswith("_") or ismodule(val))]
+            result.append((mvars and random.choice(mvars)) or default)
+    if len(result) == 1:
+        return result[0]
+    return result
+
+def string_from_module(module, variable=None, default=None):
     """
     This is a wrapper for variable_from_module that requires return
     value to be a string to pass. It's primarily used by login screen.
     """
-    val = variable_from_module(modpath, variable=variable, default=default)
+    val = variable_from_module(module, variable=variable, default=default)
     if isinstance(val, basestring):
         return val
+    elif is_iter(val):
+        return [(isinstance(v, basestring) and v or default) for v in val]
     return default
 
 def init_new_player(player):