Merge pull request #539 from python-cmd2/alert_printer

Alert printer

1 files changed, 30 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/docs/unfreefeatures.rst b/docs/unfreefeatures.rst
index cd27745d..b5f9415d 100644
--- a/docs/unfreefeatures.rst
+++ b/docs/unfreefeatures.rst
@@ -189,3 +189,33 @@ Exit code to shell
 The ``self.exit_code`` attribute of your ``cmd2`` application controls
 what exit code is sent to the shell when your application exits from
 ``cmdloop()``.
+
+
+Asynchronous Feedback
+=====================
+``cmd2`` provides two functions to provide asynchronous feedback to the user without interfering with
+the command line. This means the feedback is provided to the user when they are still entering text at
+the prompt. To use this functionality, the application must be running in a terminal that supports
+VT100 control characters and readline. Linux, Mac, and Windows 10 and greater all support these.
+
+async_alert()
+    Used to display an important message to the user while they are at the prompt in between commands.
+    To the user it appears as if an alert message is printed above the prompt and their current input
+    text and cursor location is left alone.
+
+async_update_prompt()
+    Updates the prompt while the user is still typing at it. This is good for alerting the user to system
+    changes dynamically in between commands. For instance you could alter the color of the prompt to indicate
+    a system status or increase a counter to report an event.
+
+``cmd2`` also provides a function to change the title of the terminal window. This feature requires the
+application be running in a terminal that supports VT100 control characters. Linux, Mac, and Windows 10 and
+greater all support these.
+
+set_window_title()
+    Sets the terminal window title
+
+
+The easiest way to understand these functions is to see the AsyncPrinting_ example for a demonstration.
+
+.. _AsyncPrinting: https://github.com/python-cmd2/cmd2/blob/master/examples/async_printing.py