Updated Parameter to automatically convert int and boot kinds to integer and boolean respectively.

integer and boolen are defined in wlauto.utils.types; they perform more
intuitive conversions from other types, particularly strings, so are
more suitable than int and bool for parameters. If, for whatever reason,
native types are in fact desired for a Parameter, this behavior can be
supressed by specifying convert_types=False when defining the parameter.

wlauto/core/extension.py

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from collections import OrderedDict
 from wlauto.core.bootstrap import settings
 from wlauto.exceptions import ValidationError, ConfigError
 from wlauto.utils.misc import isiterable, ensure_directory_exists as _d, get_article
-from wlauto.utils.types import identifier
+from wlauto.utils.types import identifier, integer, boolean
 
 
 class AttributeCollection(object):
@@ -128,8 +128,14 @@ class Param(object):
 
     """
 
+    # Mapping for kind conversion; see docs for convert_types below
+    kind_map = {
+        int: integer,
+        bool: boolean,
+    }
+
     def __init__(self, name, kind=None, mandatory=None, default=None, override=False,
-                 allowed_values=None, description=None, constraint=None, global_alias=None):
+                 allowed_values=None, description=None, constraint=None, global_alias=None, convert_types=True):
         """
         Create a new Parameter object.
 
@@ -162,10 +168,17 @@ class Param(object):
                              that old extension settings names still work. This should not be used for
                              new parameters.
 
+        :param convert_types: If ``True`` (the default), will automatically convert ``kind`` values from
+                              native Python types to WA equivalents. This allows more ituitive interprestation
+                              of parameter values, e.g. the string ``"false"`` being interpreted as ``False``
+                              when specifed as the value for a boolean Parameter.
+
         """
         self.name = identifier(name)
         if kind is not None and not callable(kind):
             raise ValueError('Kind must be callable.')
+        if convert_types and kind in self.kind_map:
+            kind = self.kind_map[kind]
         self.kind = kind
         self.mandatory = mandatory
         self.default = default