Add documentation and example for removing built-in commands

For #765

1 files changed, 31 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/examples/remove_builtin_commands.py b/examples/remove_builtin_commands.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..4c1794d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/remove_builtin_commands.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# coding=utf-8
+"""A simple example demonstrating how to remove unused commands.
+
+Commands can be removed from  help menu and tab completion by appending their command name to the hidden_commands list.
+These commands will still exist and can be executed and help can be retrieved for them by
+name, they just won't clutter the help menu.
+
+Commands can also be removed entirely by using Python's "del".
+"""
+
+import cmd2
+
+
+class RemoveBuiltinCommands(cmd2.Cmd):
+    """ Example cmd2 application where we remove some unused built-in commands."""
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__()
+
+        # To hide commands from displaying in the help menu, add them to the hidden_commands list
+        self.hidden_commands.append('py')
+
+        # To remove built-in commands entirely, delete their "do_*" function from the cmd2.Cmd class
+        del cmd2.Cmd.do_edit
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    import sys
+    app = RemoveBuiltinCommands()
+    sys.exit(app.cmdloop())