Cleanups for style, docs, etc from #438

4 files changed, 42 insertions, 44 deletions

diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index a599352a..51d1635d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -12,7 +12,12 @@ Version 4.0.2, in progress
 - Fixed an unusual edge case of detecting source encodings, described in
   `issue 443`_.
 
+- Help messages that mention the command to use now properly use the actual
+  command name, which might be different than "coverage".  Thanks to Ben Finney,
+  this closes `issue 438`_.
+
 .. _issue 443: https://bitbucket.org/ned/coveragepy/issues/443/coverage-gets-confused-when-encoding
+.. _issue 438: https://bitbucket.org/ned/coveragepy/issues/438/parameterise-coverage-command-name
 
 
 Version 4.0.2 --- 4 November 2015
diff --git a/coverage/backward.py b/coverage/backward.py
index 7f571c07..81ca342f 100644
--- a/coverage/backward.py
+++ b/coverage/backward.py
@@ -49,6 +49,15 @@ try:
 except NameError:
     range = range
 
+# shlex.quote is new, but there's an undocumented implementation in "pipes",
+# who knew!?
+try:
+    from shlex import quote as shlex_quote
+except ImportError:
+    # Useful function, available under a different (undocumented) name
+    # in Python versions earlier than 3.3.
+    from pipes import quote as shlex_quote
+
 # A function to iterate listlessly over a dict's items.
 try:
     {}.iteritems
diff --git a/coverage/cmdline.py b/coverage/cmdline.py
index 97ea596c..5742e6a9 100644
--- a/coverage/cmdline.py
+++ b/coverage/cmdline.py
@@ -242,12 +242,11 @@ class CmdOptionParser(CoverageOptionParser):
         return (other == "<CmdOptionParser:%s>" % self.cmd)
 
     def get_prog_name(self):
+        """Override of an undocumented function in optparse.OptionParser."""
         program_name = super(CmdOptionParser, self).get_prog_name()
 
         # Include the sub-command for this parser as part of the command.
-        result = "%(command)s %(subcommand)s" % {
-                'command': program_name, 'subcommand': self.cmd}
-        return result
+        return "%(command)s %(subcommand)s" % {'command': program_name, 'subcommand': self.cmd}
 
 
 GLOBAL_ARGS = [
@@ -533,14 +532,12 @@ class CoverageScript(object):
         assert error or topic or parser
         if error:
             print(error)
-            print("Use '%(program_name)s help' for help." % {
-                    'program_name': self.program_name})
+            print("Use '%s help' for help." % (self.program_name,))
         elif parser:
             print(parser.format_help().strip())
         else:
-            help_params = self.covpkg.__dict__
-            help_params.update({
-                    'program_name': self.program_name})
+            help_params = dict(self.covpkg.__dict__)
+            help_params['program_name'] = self.program_name
             help_msg = textwrap.dedent(HELP_TOPICS.get(topic, '')).strip()
             if help_msg:
                 print(help_msg % help_params)
diff --git a/tests/coveragetest.py b/tests/coveragetest.py
index 8b54c819..1c0dd681 100644
--- a/tests/coveragetest.py
+++ b/tests/coveragetest.py
@@ -10,20 +10,12 @@ import os
 import random
 import re
 import shlex
-try:
-    shlex.quote
-except AttributeError:
-    # Useful function, available under a different (undocumented) name
-    # in Python versions earlier than 3.3.
-    import pipes
-    shlex.quote = pipes.quote
-    del pipes
 import shutil
 import sys
 
 import coverage
 from coverage.backunittest import TestCase
-from coverage.backward import StringIO, import_local_file, string_class
+from coverage.backward import StringIO, import_local_file, string_class, shlex_quote
 from coverage.cmdline import CoverageScript
 from coverage.debug import _TEST_NAME_FILE, DebugControl
 from coverage.test_helpers import (
@@ -343,48 +335,43 @@ class CoverageTest(
     coverage_command = "coverage"
 
     def run_command(self, cmd):
-        """ Run the command-line `cmd` in a sub-process.
+        """Run the command-line `cmd` in a sub-process.
 
-            :param cmd: The command line to invoke in a sub-process.
-            :return: Combined content of `stdout` and `stderr` output
-                streams from the sub-process.
+        `cmd` is the command line to invoke in a sub-process. Returns the
+        combined content of `stdout` and `stderr` output streams from the
+        sub-process.
 
-            Use this when you need to test the process behavior of
-            coverage.
+        Use this when you need to test the process behavior of coverage.
 
-            Compare with `command_line`.
+        Compare with `command_line`.
 
-            Handles the following command name specially:
+        Handles the following command name specially:
 
-            * "python" is replaced with the command name of the current
-              Python interpreter.
+        * "python" is replaced with the command name of the current
+            Python interpreter.
 
-            * "coverage" is replaced with the command name for the main
-              Coverage.py program.
+        * "coverage" is replaced with the command name for the main
+            Coverage.py program.
 
-            """
+        """
         split_commandline = cmd.split(" ", 1)
         command_name = split_commandline[0]
         command_args = split_commandline[1:]
 
         if command_name == "python":
-            # Running a Python interpreter in a sub-processes can be
-            # tricky. Use the real name of our own executable. So
-            # "python foo.py" might get executed as "python3.3
-            # foo.py". This is important because Python 3.x doesn't
-            # install as "python", so you might get a Python 2
-            # executable instead if you don't use the executable's
-            # basename.
+            # Running a Python interpreter in a sub-processes can be tricky.
+            # Use the real name of our own executable. So "python foo.py" might
+            # get executed as "python3.3 foo.py". This is important because
+            # Python 3.x doesn't install as "python", so you might get a Python
+            # 2 executable instead if you don't use the executable's basename.
             command_name = os.path.basename(sys.executable)
- 
+
         if command_name == "coverage":
-            # The invocation requests the Coverage.py program. Test
-            # whether that's actually the command name to use.
-            if command_name != self.coverage_command:
-                # Substitute the actual Coverage.py main command name.
-                command_name = self.coverage_command
+            # The invocation requests the Coverage.py program.  Substitute the
+            # actual Coverage.py main command name.
+            command_name = self.coverage_command
 
-        full_commandline = " ".join([shlex.quote(command_name)] + command_args)
+        full_commandline = " ".join([shlex_quote(command_name)] + command_args)
 
         _, output = self.run_command_status(full_commandline)
         return output