Keeping Your tox.ini Files Consistently Formatted with tox-ini-fmt

Tox is a popular tool in Python development for managing and executing test environments. A tox.ini file is used to configure these test environments. However, over time, the formatting of the tox.ini file can become inconsistent or messy, leading to difficulties in understanding and maintaining the file. This is where tox-ini-fmt comes in.

What is tox-ini-fmt?

tox-ini-fmt is a tool that helps you apply a consistent format to your tox.ini files. It is a simple command-line tool that automatically formats your tox.ini file according to predefined rules. By using tox-ini-fmt, you can ensure that your tox.ini files are clean, organized, and easy to read.

Installation

Installing tox-ini-fmt is straightforward. Simply run the following command:

pip install tox-ini-fmt

Using tox-ini-fmt as a Pre-commit Hook

One of the best ways to ensure consistent formatting of your tox.ini files is to use tox-ini-fmt as a pre-commit hook. By configuring tox-ini-fmt as a pre-commit hook, it will automatically format your tox.ini file before each commit, saving you time and effort.

To configure tox-ini-fmt as a pre-commit hook, you need to use the pre-commit tool. Follow these steps:

1. Install pre-commit by running pip install pre-commit.
2. Create a .pre-commit-config.yaml file in your project’s root directory.
3. Add the following configuration to the .pre-commit-config.yaml file:

yaml
- repo: https://github.com/tox-dev/tox-ini-fmt
rev: "1.3.1"
hooks:
- id: tox-ini-fmt
args: ["-p", "fix_lint,type"]

1. Run pre-commit install to install the pre-commit hook.

Now, whenever you make a commit, tox-ini-fmt will automatically format your tox.ini file according to the defined rules.

Command-Line Interface

To use tox-ini-fmt from the command line, simply run the following command:

tox-ini-fmt [options] tox_ini

Here are some important options:

• -s, --stdout: Print the formatted text to the standard output instead of updating the file in-place.
• -p toxenv: Specify the tox environments that should be pinned to the start of the envlist (comma-separated).

Make sure to consult the tox-ini-fmt --help command for the latest usage information.

What Does tox-ini-fmt Do?

tox-ini-fmt applies several formatting rules to your tox.ini file to ensure consistency and readability. Here are some key features:

• Normalizes boolean fields to true or false.
• Strips white space from both ends of all fields.
• Splits values that contain a list into one value per line.
• Indents multi-line values by four spaces and starts them on a new line.
• Moves substitutions within multi-line values (excluding commands) to the start of the list.
• Orders sections in the following order: tox, testenv, testenv:*, and any other sections defined within the file.
• Orders tox section fields based on specific criteria, such as envlist, isolated_build, and more.
• Orders testenv section fields, such as description, passenv, setenv, and more.

By applying these rules, tox-ini-fmt helps you maintain clean and organized tox.ini files, making it easier for you and your team to understand and manage your test environments.

Conclusion

Keeping your tox.ini files consistently formatted is important for maintaining clean and organized test environments. With tox-ini-fmt, you can automate the formatting process and ensure that your tox.ini files adhere to specific formatting rules.

In this article, we discussed the installation process of tox-ini-fmt, how to use it as a pre-commit hook, and the available options in the command-line interface. We also explored the key features of tox-ini-fmt, such as normalizing boolean fields, ordering sections, and indenting multi-line values.

By using tox-ini-fmt, you can save time, improve code readability, and enhance collaboration within your development team. Give tox-ini-fmt a try and experience the benefits of consistently formatted tox.ini files today.

References

• tox-ini-fmt GitHub Repository
• pre-commit GitHub Repository

Acknowledgements:

• tox-ini-fmt developers and contributors

License: MIT