diff -r 97c55baefa0c -r b9c612274af7 devtools/cwwindmill.py
--- a/devtools/cwwindmill.py	Mon Jul 19 15:37:02 2010 +0200
+++ b/devtools/cwwindmill.py	Mon Jul 19 16:46:42 2010 +0200
@@ -15,19 +15,28 @@
 #
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along
 # with CubicWeb.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-"""this module contains base classes for windmill integration"""
+"""this module contains base classes for windmill integration
+
+:todo:
+
+    * import CubicWeb session object into windmill scope to be able to run RQL
+    * manage command line option from pytest to run specific use tests only
+"""
+
 
 import os, os.path as osp
+import sys
+import unittest
 
 # imported by default to simplify further import statements
 from logilab.common.testlib import unittest_main
 
-from windmill.authoring import unit
 from windmill.dep import functest
 
 from cubicweb.devtools.httptest import CubicWebServerTC
 
 
+# Excerpt from :ref:`windmill.authoring.unit`
 class UnitTestReporter(functest.reports.FunctestReportInterface):
     def summary(self, test_list, totals_dict, stdout_capture):
         self.test_list = test_list
@@ -35,14 +44,33 @@
 unittestreporter = UnitTestReporter()
 functest.reports.register_reporter(unittestreporter)
 
-class CubicWebWindmillUseCase(CubicWebServerTC, unit.WindmillUnitTestCase):
+class WindmillUnitTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        import windmill
+        windmill.stdout, windmill.stdin = sys.stdout, sys.stdin
+        from windmill.bin.admin_lib import configure_global_settings, setup
+        configure_global_settings()
+        windmill.settings['TEST_URL'] = self.test_url
+        if hasattr(self,"windmill_settings"):
+            for (setting,value) in self.windmill_settings.iteritems():
+                windmill.settings[setting] = value
+        self.windmill_shell_objects = setup()
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        from windmill.bin.admin_lib import teardown
+        teardown(self.windmill_shell_objects)
+
+
+class CubicWebWindmillUseCase(CubicWebServerTC, WindmillUnitTestCase):
     """basic class for Windmill use case tests
 
     :param browser: browser identification string (firefox|ie|safari|chrome) (firefox by default)
     :param test_dir: testing file path or directory (./windmill by default)
+    :param edit_test: load and edit test for debugging (False by default)
     """
     browser = 'firefox'
     test_dir = osp.join(os.getcwd(), 'windmill')
+    edit_test = "-i" in sys.argv # detection for pytest invocation
 
     def setUp(self):
         # reduce log output
@@ -53,18 +81,33 @@
         # Start CubicWeb session before running the server to populate self.vreg
         CubicWebServerTC.setUp(self)
         assert os.path.exists(self.test_dir), "provide 'test_dir' as the given test file/dir"
-        unit.WindmillUnitTestCase.setUp(self)
+        WindmillUnitTestCase.setUp(self)
 
     def tearDown(self):
-        unit.WindmillUnitTestCase.tearDown(self)
+        WindmillUnitTestCase.tearDown(self)
         CubicWebServerTC.tearDown(self)
 
     def testWindmill(self):
+        if self.edit_test:
+            # see windmill.bin.admin_options.Firebug
+            import windmill
+            windmill.settings['INSTALL_FIREBUG'] = 'firebug'
+
         self.windmill_shell_objects['start_' + self.browser]()
-        self.windmill_shell_objects['do_test'](self.test_dir, threaded=False)
+        self.windmill_shell_objects['do_test'](self.test_dir,
+                                               load=self.edit_test,
+                                               threaded=False)
+        # set a breakpoint to be able to debug windmill test
+        if self.edit_test:
+            import pdb; pdb.set_trace()
+            return
+
         for test in unittestreporter.test_list:
+            msg = ""
             self._testMethodDoc = getattr(test, "__doc__", None)
             self._testMethodName = test.__name__
-            self.assertEquals(test.result, True)
+            # try to display a better message in case of failure
+            if hasattr(test, "tb"):
+                msg = '\n'.join(test.tb)
+            self.assertEquals(test.result, True, msg=msg)
 
-