playitagainsam 0.1.0

Basic Usage

Run the software using either the included “pias” script, or using the python module-running syntax of “python -m playitagainsam”.

Record a session like this:

$ pias record <output-file>

This will drop you into a shell and record all the input and output that occurs during the session. Once you exit the shell, all activity will be written into the output file as a JSON document.

Replay a recorded session like this:

$ pias play <input-file>

This will start a simulated playback of the original shell. Press any keys to type, and hit “enter” when you reach the end of a line.

Extra Features

It’s possible to record activity in several terminals simultaneously as part of a single session, which can be useful for e.g. demonstrating a server process in one terminal and a client process in another. Join a new terminal to an existing recording session like this:

$ pias --join record <output-file>

There is also a javascript-based player that can be used to embed a recorded session into a HTML document. This is useful for websites and HTML-based presentations. The code is here:

https://github.com/rfk/playitagainsam-js/

And an example presentation using this code is at:

https://github.com/rfk/talk-webapitesting/

Gotchas

Getting this all running just right can be tricky business! Here’s some thing that you should be aware of:

• All terminals should be using utf8 encoding, or you’ll see strange output and probably some outright errors.

• All terminals in a session should be the same size. This restriction may go away in the future.