add 'directory' option to the http.server module

[matrixise]

BPO	28707
Nosy	@vstinner, @matrixise, @zhangyangyu, @JulienPalard
PRs	bpo-28707: Add the directory parameter to http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler and http.server module #1776
Files	chdir-httpserver.diff 28707.patch issue28707.diff issue28707.diff

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2017-05-24.07:32:22.284>
created_at = <Date 2016-11-15.22:31:49.043>
labels = ['3.7']
title = "add 'directory' option to the http.server module"
updated_at = <Date 2017-05-24.07:32:22.283>
user = 'https://github.com/matrixise'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2017-05-24.07:32:22.283>
actor = 'vstinner'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2017-05-24.07:32:22.284>
closer = 'vstinner'
components = []
creation = <Date 2016-11-15.22:31:49.043>
creator = 'matrixise'
dependencies = []
files = ['45493', '45494', '45753', '45764']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 28707
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 11.0
messages = ['280898', '280899', '280903', '280906', '280916', '282346', '294292', '294293', '294311', '294332', '294334']
nosy_count = 4.0
nosy_names = ['vstinner', 'matrixise', 'xiang.zhang', 'mdk']
pr_nums = ['1776']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue28707'
versions = ['Python 3.6', 'Python 3.7']

[matrixise]

When we execute the http.server module, the tool will use the current directory (os.getcwd()) but sometimes we would like to specify a directory on the command line.

With the next patch, I try to fix this missing feature ;-)

Just with python -m http.server -d /tmp

by default the system will use the current directory.
if necessary, I will show an error if the directory does not exist.

[vstinner]

The new feature should be documented in Doc/library/http.server.rst, and maybe also Doc/whatsnew/3.7.rst.

Is it possible to write an unit test?

[JulienPalard]

Hi Stéphane,

Your patch is simple and elegant, but I'm asking myself a question about the idea to pass a class instead of an instance to the TCPServer ctor (I know that's not your choice).

If we were able to pass an instance of SimpleHTTPRequestHandler instead of its class, we'd be able to give the directory to the handler during the main(), instead of using with chdir and getcwd to pass the information in a kind of hidden/side channel.

I think that relying on chdir and getcwd to pass a parameter is not the most pretty or most testable way to do so. Also, having an os.getcwd() hardcoded in SimpleHTTPRequestHandler does not looks right (again, not your fault, it was here before…) typically for testability, but also when used in a concurrent environment, when cwd may be changed by other "coroutines".

I tried to provide a patch fixing all those condiderations, here it is. still, I can't write a patch as KISS as yours, so I'm probably in the wrong way, at least I tried.

[vstinner]

Julien Palard added the comment:

If we were able to pass an instance of SimpleHTTPRequestHandler instead of its class, we'd be able to give the directory to the handler during the main(), instead of using with chdir and getcwd to pass the information in a kind of hidden/side channel.

You may be able to use functools.partial() to pass an additional
parameter to the request handler constructor.

We use something like that in asyncio for protocols.

[zhangyangyu]

+1 for this idea. I use this command everyday in work and every time must cd to the directory is an annoyance.

[JulienPalard]

@victor you're right, I forgot that partial can also apply keyword arguments. Here is a new patch.

[matrixise]

Victor,

I have added the documentation, but for the unit test, there is already a test with the SimpleHTTPRequestHandler class where they specify the cwd attribute, because the code of mdk does not change the behavior, I think it's not needed to write a test.

now, if you think we need a test for this specific case (in fact we only override the constructor of the class and specify the directory parameter), I can write a test, but check the code before.

Thank you.

[matrixise]

and of course, sorry for this big delay.

[vstinner]

Stéphane Wirtel added the comment:

and of course, sorry for this big delay.

I am not sure why you are saying that. Nobody was actively awaiting on this
feature, we all have busy scedules. It's ok ;-)

[vstinner]

New changeset a17a2f5 by Victor Stinner (Stéphane Wirtel) in branch 'master':
bpo-28707: Add the directory parameter to http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler and http.server module (bpo-1776)
a17a2f5

[vstinner]

Patch merged. Thanks Stéphane and Julien! Especially because writing the unit test was much more painful than I expected, but it's really worth it!