add yaml helper script; refactor python testing

pyci.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
+    echo "Usage: $0 <python_script_dir>"
+    echo "Runs tests on all *_test.py files in the given directory."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+HOME_DIR=$(dirname "$0")
+TARGET_DIR=${1:-.}
+
+PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
+
+if ! which pytest &> /dev/null || ! which flake8 &> /dev/null ; then
+    echo "Missing dependencies. Consider running the following command:"
+    echo "  python -m pip install flake8 pytest pytest-cov"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+pip install pytest pytest-cov
+flake8 "$TARGET_DIR" "--config=${HOME_DIR}/pytest.ini"
+python3 -m pytest "--cov-config=${HOME_DIR}/pytest.ini" "--cov=$TARGET_DIR" --doctest-modules --cov-report=term --cov-fail-under=100  "$TARGET_DIR"