8.2 Utilities

• buildbot.util.collections
• buildbot.util.eventual
• buildbot.util.json

Several small utilities are available at the top-level buildbot.util package. As always, see the API documentation for more information.

natualSort

This function sorts strings "naturally", with embedded numbers sorted numerically. This ordering is good for objects which might have a numeric suffix, e.g., winslave1, winslave2, ..

formatInterval

This function will return a human-readable string describing a length of time, given a number of seconds.

ComparableMixin

This mixin class adds comparability to a subclass. Use it like this:

          class Widget(FactoryProduct, ComparableMixin):
              compare_attrs = [ 'radius', 'thickness' ]
              # ...

Any attributes not in compare_attrs will not be considered when comparing objects. This is particularly useful in implementing buildbot's reconfig logic, where a simple comparison between the new and existing objects can determine whether the new object should replace the existing object.

safeTranslate

This function will filter out some inappropriate characters for filenames; it is suitable for adapting strings from the configuration for use as filenames. It is not suitable for use with strings from untrusted sources.

LRUCache

This is a simple least-recently-used cache. Its constructor takes a maximum size. When the cache grows beyond this size, the least-recently used items will be automatically removed from the cache. The class has get and add methods, and can also be accessed via dictionary syntax (lru['id']).