diff --git a/distutils.ext/obidistutils/command/build_ext.py b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/command/build_ext.py
index fc31d96..7562083 100644
--- a/distutils.ext/obidistutils/command/build_ext.py
+++ b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/command/build_ext.py
@@ -7,107 +7,109 @@ Created on 13 fevr. 2014
 from distutils import log
 import os
 
-from Cython.Distutils import build_ext  as ori_build_ext  # @UnresolvedImport
-
-from Cython.Compiler import Options as cython_options  # @UnresolvedImport
 
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsSetupError
 
-class build_ext(ori_build_ext):
-
+try:
+    from Cython.Distutils import build_ext  as ori_build_ext  # @UnresolvedImport
+    from Cython.Compiler import Options as cython_options  # @UnresolvedImport
+    class build_ext(ori_build_ext):
     
-    def modifyDocScripts(self):
-        build_dir_file=open("doc/sphinx/build_dir.txt","w")
-        print(self.build_lib,file=build_dir_file)
-        build_dir_file.close()
         
-    def initialize_options(self):
-        ori_build_ext.initialize_options(self)  # @UndefinedVariable
-        self.littlebigman = None
-        self.built_files = None
-
-    
-    def finalize_options(self):
-        ori_build_ext.finalize_options(self)  # @UndefinedVariable
-
-        self.set_undefined_options('littlebigman',
-                                   ('littlebigman',  'littlebigman'))
-        
-        self.set_undefined_options('build_files',
-                                   ('files',  'built_files'))
-
-        self.cython_c_in_temp = 1
-                   
-        if self.littlebigman =='-DLITTLE_END':
-            if self.define is None:
-                self.define=[('LITTLE_END',None)]
-            else:
-                self.define.append('LITTLE_END',None)
-        
-    def substitute_sources(self,exe_name,sources):
-        """
-        Substitutes source file name starting by an @ by the actual
-        name of the built file (see --> build_files)
-        """
-        sources = list(sources)
-        for i in range(len(sources)):
-            message = "%s :-> %s" % (exe_name,sources[i])
-            if sources[i][0]=='@':
-                try:
-                    filename = self.built_files[sources[i][1:]]
-                except KeyError:
-                    tmpfilename = os.path.join(self.build_temp,sources[i][1:])
-                    if os.path.isfile       (tmpfilename):
-                        filename = tmpfilename
-                    else:
-                        raise DistutilsSetupError(
-                             'The %s filename declared in the source '
-                             'files of the program %s have not been '
-                             'built by the installation process' % (sources[i],
-                                                                     exe_name))
-                sources[i]=filename
-                log.info("%s changed to %s",message,filename)
-            else:
-                log.info("%s ok",message)
-
-        return sources
-
-    def build_extensions(self):
-        # First, sanity-check the 'extensions' list
-        
-        for ext in self.extensions:
-            ext.sources = self.substitute_sources(ext.name,ext.sources)
+        def modifyDocScripts(self):
+            build_dir_file=open("doc/sphinx/build_dir.txt","w")
+            print(self.build_lib,file=build_dir_file)
+            build_dir_file.close()
             
-        self.check_extensions_list(self.extensions)
-
-        for ext in self.extensions:
-            log.info("%s :-> %s",ext.name,ext.sources)
-            ext.sources = self.cython_sources(ext.sources, ext)
-            self.build_extension(ext)
-
-        
-    def run(self):
-        self.modifyDocScripts()
-
-        for cmd_name in self.get_sub_commands():
-            self.run_command(cmd_name)
-
-        cython_options.annotate = True
-        ori_build_ext.run(self)  # @UndefinedVariable
-        
-
-    def has_files(self):
-        return self.distribution.has_files()
-
-    def has_executables(self):
-        return self.distribution.has_executables()
+        def initialize_options(self):
+            ori_build_ext.initialize_options(self)  # @UndefinedVariable
+            self.littlebigman = None
+            self.built_files = None
     
-    sub_commands = [('build_files',has_files),
-                    ('build_cexe', has_executables)
-                    ] + \
-                   ori_build_ext.sub_commands
-
         
+        def finalize_options(self):
+            ori_build_ext.finalize_options(self)  # @UndefinedVariable
+    
+            self.set_undefined_options('littlebigman',
+                                       ('littlebigman',  'littlebigman'))
+            
+            self.set_undefined_options('build_files',
+                                       ('files',  'built_files'))
+    
+            self.cython_c_in_temp = 1
+                       
+            if self.littlebigman =='-DLITTLE_END':
+                if self.define is None:
+                    self.define=[('LITTLE_END',None)]
+                else:
+                    self.define.append('LITTLE_END',None)
+            
+        def substitute_sources(self,exe_name,sources):
+            """
+            Substitutes source file name starting by an @ by the actual
+            name of the built file (see --> build_files)
+            """
+            sources = list(sources)
+            for i in range(len(sources)):
+                message = "%s :-> %s" % (exe_name,sources[i])
+                if sources[i][0]=='@':
+                    try:
+                        filename = self.built_files[sources[i][1:]]
+                    except KeyError:
+                        tmpfilename = os.path.join(self.build_temp,sources[i][1:])
+                        if os.path.isfile       (tmpfilename):
+                            filename = tmpfilename
+                        else:
+                            raise DistutilsSetupError(
+                                 'The %s filename declared in the source '
+                                 'files of the program %s have not been '
+                                 'built by the installation process' % (sources[i],
+                                                                         exe_name))
+                    sources[i]=filename
+                    log.info("%s changed to %s",message,filename)
+                else:
+                    log.info("%s ok",message)
+    
+            return sources
+    
+        def build_extensions(self):
+            # First, sanity-check the 'extensions' list
+            
+            for ext in self.extensions:
+                ext.sources = self.substitute_sources(ext.name,ext.sources)
+                
+            self.check_extensions_list(self.extensions)
+    
+            for ext in self.extensions:
+                log.info("%s :-> %s",ext.name,ext.sources)
+                ext.sources = self.cython_sources(ext.sources, ext)
+                self.build_extension(ext)
+    
+            
+        def run(self):
+            self.modifyDocScripts()
+    
+            for cmd_name in self.get_sub_commands():
+                self.run_command(cmd_name)
+    
+            cython_options.annotate = True
+            ori_build_ext.run(self)  # @UndefinedVariable
+            
+    
+        def has_files(self):
+            return self.distribution.has_files()
+    
+        def has_executables(self):
+            return self.distribution.has_executables()
+        
+        sub_commands = [('build_files',has_files),
+                        ('build_cexe', has_executables)
+                        ] + \
+                       ori_build_ext.sub_commands
+
+except ImportError:
+    from distutils.command import build_ext  # @UnusedImport
+           
 
 
         
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/bootstrappip.py b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/bootstrappip.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01aebdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/bootstrappip.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+'''
+Created on 22 janv. 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import sys
+from urllib import request
+import os.path
+
+from obidistutils.serenity.util import get_serenity_dir
+from obidistutils.serenity.rerun import rerun_with_anothe_python
+from obidistutils.serenity.checkpython import is_a_virtualenv_python
+
+getpipurl="https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py"
+
+def bootstrap():
+
+    getpipfile=os.path.join(get_serenity_dir(),"get-pip.py")
+    
+    with request.urlopen(getpipurl) as getpip:
+        with open(getpipfile,"wb") as out:
+            for l in getpip:
+                out.write(l)
+                
+    python = sys.executable
+    
+    if is_a_virtualenv_python():
+        command= "%s %s" % (python,getpipfile)        
+    else:
+        command= "%s %s --user" % (python,getpipfile)
+    
+    os.system(command)
+    
+    rerun_with_anothe_python(python)
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/checkpackage.py b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/checkpackage.py
index 91a2411..7bfdc9c 100644
--- a/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/checkpackage.py
+++ b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/checkpackage.py
@@ -7,8 +7,13 @@ Created on 2 oct. 2014
 import re
 import os
 
-import pip                                              # @UnresolvedImport
-from pip.utils import get_installed_distributions       # @UnresolvedImport
+try:
+    import pip                                              # @UnresolvedImport
+    from pip.utils import get_installed_distributions       # @UnresolvedImport
+except ImportError:
+    from .bootstrappip import bootstrap
+    bootstrap()
+
 from distutils.version import StrictVersion             # @UnusedImport
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsError
 from distutils import log
diff --git a/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/virtual.py b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/virtual.py
index 6e8e2c9..27ee67c 100644
--- a/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/virtual.py
+++ b/distutils.ext/obidistutils/serenity/virtual.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def serenity_virtualenv(envname,package,version,minversion='3.4',maxversion=None
                     clear=True, 
                     symlinks=False, 
                     with_pip=True)
-        
+                
         # check the newly created virtualenv
         return serenity_virtualenv(envname,package,version)
     
diff --git a/python/obi.py b/python/obi.py
index 355527a..9c05a1c 100644
--- a/python/obi.py
+++ b/python/obi.py
@@ -16,30 +16,21 @@ It defines classes_and_methods
 @deffield    updated: Updated
 '''
 
-import sys
-import pkgutil
-import argparse
-import logging
-import json
 
-default_config = {
+default_config = { 'software'       : "The OBITools",
+                   'log'            : False,
+                   'loglevel'       : 'INFO',
+                   'progress'       : True
+                  }
 
-    'obi' :        { 'log'            : True,
-                     'loglevel'       : 'INFO',
-                     'version'        : False,
-                     'progress'       : True
-                   }
-                 
-}
+root_config_name='obi'
 
-
-
-from obitools3 import command
+from obitools3.apps.config import getConfiguration     # @UnresolvedImport
 from obitools3.version import version
 
-__all__ = []
+__all__     = []
 __version__ = version
-__date__ = '2014-09-28'
+__date__    = '2014-09-28'
 __updated__ = '2014-09-28'
 
 DEBUG = 1
@@ -47,182 +38,12 @@ TESTRUN = 0
 PROFILE = 0
 
 
-
-def loadCommand(name,loader):
-    '''
-    Load a command module from its name and an ImpLoader
-    
-    This function is for internal use
-    
-    @param name:   name of the module
-    @type name: str 
-    @param loader: the module loader
-    @type loader: ImpLoader
-    
-    @return the loaded module
-    @rtype: module 
-    '''
-    
-    module = loader.find_module(name).load_module(name)
-    return module
-
-def getCommandsList():
-    '''
-    Returns the list of sub-commands available to the main `obi` command
-    
-    @return: a dict instance with key corresponding to each command and
-             value corresponding to the module
-             
-    @rtype: dict
-    '''
-    cmds = dict((x[1],loadCommand(x[1],x[0])) 
-                for x in pkgutil.iter_modules(command.__path__) 
-                if not x[2])
-    return cmds
-
-def getLogger(config):
-    '''
-    Returns the logger as defined by the command line option
-    or by the config file
-    :param config:
-    '''
- 
-    output = config['obi']['outputfilename'] 
-    level  = config['obi']['loglevel'] 
-    logfile= config['obi']['log'] 
-    
-    rootlogger   = logging.getLogger()
-    logFormatter = logging.Formatter("%(asctime)s [%(levelname)-5.5s]  %(message)s")
-
-    stderrHandler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr)
-    stderrHandler.setFormatter(logFormatter)
-
-    rootlogger.addHandler(stderrHandler)
-    
-    if logfile:
-        fileHandler = logging.FileHandler("%s.log" % output)
-        fileHandler.setFormatter(logFormatter)
-        rootlogger.addHandler(fileHandler)
-    
-    try:
-        loglevel = getattr(logging, level) 
-    except:
-        loglevel = logging.INFO
-        
-    rootlogger.setLevel(loglevel)
-    
-    config['obi']['logger']=rootlogger
-    
-    return rootlogger
-
-
-class ObiParser(argparse.ArgumentParser): 
-    def error(self, message):
-        sys.stderr.write('error: %s\n' % message)
-        self.print_help()
-        sys.exit(2)
-
-def buildArgumentParser():
-    parser = ObiParser()
-    
-    parser.add_argument('--version',   dest='obi:version', 
-                                       action='store_true', 
-                                       default=False, 
-                        help='Print the version of the OBITools')
-
-    parser.add_argument('--no-log',    dest='obi:log', 
-                                       action='store_false', 
-                                       default=None, 
-                        help='Do not create a logfile for the data analyze')
-
-    parser.add_argument('--no-progress', dest='obi:progress', 
-                                       action='store_false', 
-                                       default=None, 
-                        help='Do not print the progress bar during analyzes')
-
-    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title='subcommands',
-                                       description='valid subcommands',
-                                       help='additional help')
-    
-    commands = getCommandsList()
-    
-    for c in commands:
-        module = commands[c]
-        
-        if hasattr(module, "run"):
-            if hasattr(module, "__title__"):
-                sub = subparsers.add_parser(c,help=module.__title__)
-            else:
-                sub = subparsers.add_parser(c)
-    
-            if hasattr(module, "addOptions"):
-                module.addOptions(sub)
-            
-            sub.set_defaults(**{'obi:module' : module})
-                        
-    return parser
-
-def buildDefaultConfiguration():
-    global default_config
-    
-    commands = getCommandsList()
-    
-    for c in commands:
-        module = commands[c]
-    
-        assert hasattr(module, "run")
-        
-        if hasattr(module, 'default_config'):
-            default_config[c]=module.default_config
-        else:
-            default_config[c]={}
-                        
-    return default_config
-        
-
-def getConfiguration():
-    global default_config
-
-    if '__done__' in default_config:
-        return default_config
-    
-    parser = buildArgumentParser()
-    options = vars(parser.parse_args())
-    
-    config =  buildDefaultConfiguration()
-    
-    
-    for k in options:
-        section,key = k.split(':')
-        s = config[section]
-        if options[k] is not None:
-            s[key]=options[k]
-            
-    if config['obi']['version']:
-        print("The OBITools - Version %s" % __version__)
-        sys.exit(0)
-
-    if not 'module' in config['obi']:
-        print('\nError: No obi command specified',file=sys.stderr)
-        parser.print_help()
-        sys.exit(2)
-        
-            
-    if config['obi']['outputfilename'] is None:
-        config['obi']['outputfilename']=config['obi']['indexfilename']
-        
-    getLogger(config)
-    
-    config['__done__']=True
-            
-    return config
-    
-
 if __name__ =="__main__":
     
-    config = getConfiguration()    
+    config = getConfiguration(root_config_name,
+                              default_config)    
                 
-    config['obi']['module'].run(config)
+    config[root_config_name]['module'].run(config)
     
     
     
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/__init__.py b/python/obitools3/apps/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/arguments.pxd b/python/obitools3/apps/arguments.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4713b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/arguments.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+cpdef buildArgumentParser(str configname, str softname)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/arguments.pyx b/python/obitools3/apps/arguments.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c521fac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/arguments.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 27 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import argparse
+import sys
+
+
+from .command import getCommandsList
+
+class ObiParser(argparse.ArgumentParser): 
+    def error(self, message):
+        sys.stderr.write('error: %s\n' % message)
+        self.print_help()
+        sys.exit(2)
+
+cpdef buildArgumentParser(str configname, 
+                          str softname):
+    parser = ObiParser()
+    
+    parser.add_argument('--version',   dest='%s:version' % configname, 
+                                       action='store_true', 
+                                       default=False, 
+                        help='Print the version of %s' % softname)
+
+    parser.add_argument('--log',       dest='%s:log' % configname, 
+                                       action='store',
+                                       type=str,
+                                       default=None, 
+                        help='Create a logfile')
+
+    parser.add_argument('--no-progress', dest='%s:progress' % configname, 
+                                       action='store_false', 
+                                       default=None, 
+                        help='Do not print the progress bar during analyzes')
+
+    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title='subcommands',
+                                       description='valid subcommands',
+                                       help='additional help')
+    
+    commands = getCommandsList()
+    
+    for c in commands:
+        module = commands[c]
+        
+        if hasattr(module, "run"):
+            if hasattr(module, "__title__"):
+                sub = subparsers.add_parser(c,help=module.__title__)
+            else:
+                sub = subparsers.add_parser(c)
+    
+            if hasattr(module, "addOptions"):
+                module.addOptions(sub)
+            
+            sub.set_defaults(**{'%s:module'  % configname : module})
+                        
+    return parser
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/command.pxd b/python/obitools3/apps/command.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c034a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/command.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+cdef object loadCommand(str name,loader)
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/command.pyx b/python/obitools3/apps/command.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1234188
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/command.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 27 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import pkgutil
+
+from obitools3 import commands
+
+cdef object loadCommand(str name,loader):
+    '''
+    Load a command module from its name and an ImpLoader
+    
+    This function is for internal use
+    
+    @param name:   name of the module
+    @type name: str 
+    @param loader: the module loader
+    @type loader: ImpLoader
+    
+    @return the loaded module
+    @rtype: module 
+    '''
+    
+    module = loader.find_module(name).load_module(name)
+    return module
+
+def getCommandsList():
+    '''
+    Returns the list of sub-commands available to the main `obi` command
+    
+    @return: a dict instance with key corresponding to each command and
+             value corresponding to the module
+             
+    @rtype: dict
+    '''
+    
+    cdef dict cmds = dict((x[1],loadCommand(x[1],x[0])) 
+                           for x in pkgutil.iter_modules(commands.__path__) 
+                           if not x[2])
+    return cmds
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/config.pxd b/python/obitools3/apps/config.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74c595f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/config.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+cpdef str setRootConfigName(str rootname)
+cpdef str getRootConfigName()
+
+cdef dict buildDefaultConfiguration(str root_config_name,
+                                    dict  config)
+
+cpdef dict getConfiguration(str root_config_name=?,
+                                    dict  config=?)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/config.pyx b/python/obitools3/apps/config.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c8e3baa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/config.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 27 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import sys
+
+from .command   import  getCommandsList
+from .logging   cimport getLogger
+from .arguments cimport buildArgumentParser
+
+from ..version import version
+from _curses import version
+
+cdef dict __default_config__ = {}
+
+
+cpdef str setRootConfigName(str rootname):
+    global __default_config__
+    if '__root_config__' in __default_config__:
+        if __default_config__["__root_config__"] in __default_config__:
+            __default_config__[rootname]=__default_config__[__default_config__["__root_config__"]]
+            del __default_config__[__default_config__["__root_config__"]]
+    __default_config__['__root_config__']=rootname
+    return rootname
+
+cpdef str getRootConfigName():
+    global __default_config__
+    return __default_config__.get('__root_config__',None)
+
+cdef dict buildDefaultConfiguration(str root_config_name,
+                                    dict  config):
+    global __default_config__
+    
+    __default_config__.clear()
+    setRootConfigName(root_config_name)    
+
+    __default_config__[root_config_name]=config
+    
+    config['version']=version
+    
+    commands = getCommandsList()
+    
+    for c in commands:
+        module = commands[c]
+    
+        assert hasattr(module, "run")
+        
+        if hasattr(module, 'default_config'):
+            __default_config__[c]=module.default_config
+        else:
+            __default_config__[c]={}
+                        
+    return __default_config__
+        
+
+cpdef dict getConfiguration(str root_config_name="__default__",
+                            dict  config={}):
+    global __default_config__
+
+    if '__done__' in __default_config__:
+        return __default_config__
+    
+    if root_config_name=="__default__":
+        raise RuntimeError("No root_config_name specified")
+    
+    if not config:
+        raise RuntimeError("Base configuration is empty")
+    
+    
+    
+    config =  buildDefaultConfiguration(root_config_name,
+                                        config)
+    
+    parser = buildArgumentParser(root_config_name,
+                                 config[root_config_name]['software'])
+    
+    options = vars(parser.parse_args())
+
+    if options['%s:version' % root_config_name]:
+        print("%s - Version %s" % (config[root_config_name]['software'],
+                                   config[root_config_name]['version']))
+        sys.exit(0)
+    
+    for k in options:
+        section,key = k.split(':')
+        s = config[section]
+        if options[k] is not None:
+            s[key]=options[k]
+            
+    if not 'module' in config[root_config_name]:
+        print('\nError: No command specified',file=sys.stderr)
+        parser.print_help()
+        sys.exit(2)
+                
+    getLogger(config)
+    
+    config['__done__']=True
+            
+    return config
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/logging.pxd b/python/obitools3/apps/logging.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ead8bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/logging.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+cpdef getLogger(dict config)
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/logging.pyx b/python/obitools3/apps/logging.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..559977d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/logging.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 27 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import logging
+import sys
+
+cpdef getLogger(dict config):
+    '''
+    Returns the logger as defined by the command line option
+    or by the config file
+    :param config:
+    '''
+    
+    root = config["__root_config__"]
+ 
+    level  = config[root]['loglevel'] 
+    logfile= config[root]['log'] 
+    
+    rootlogger   = logging.getLogger()
+    logFormatter = logging.Formatter("%(asctime)s [%(levelname)-5.5s]  %(message)s")
+
+    stderrHandler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr)
+    stderrHandler.setFormatter(logFormatter)
+
+    rootlogger.addHandler(stderrHandler)
+    
+    if logfile:
+        fileHandler = logging.FileHandler(logfile)
+        fileHandler.setFormatter(logFormatter)
+        rootlogger.addHandler(fileHandler)
+    
+    try:
+        loglevel = getattr(logging, level) 
+    except:
+        loglevel = logging.INFO
+        
+    rootlogger.setLevel(loglevel)
+    
+    config[root]['logger']=rootlogger
+    
+    return rootlogger
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/progress.pxd b/python/obitools3/apps/progress.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..979ab80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/progress.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+from ..utils cimport str2bytes
+
+cdef extern from "stdio.h":
+    struct FILE
+    int fprintf(FILE *stream, char *format, ...)
+    FILE* stderr
+    ctypedef unsigned int off_t "unsigned long long"
+    
+cdef extern from "unistd.h":
+    int fsync(int fd);
+
+cdef extern from "time.h":
+    struct tm :
+        int tm_yday 
+        int tm_hour
+        int tm_min
+        int tm_sec
+
+    enum: CLOCKS_PER_SEC
+    
+    ctypedef int time_t
+    ctypedef int clock_t
+    ctypedef int suseconds_t
+    
+    struct timeval:
+        time_t      tv_sec     #  seconds */
+        suseconds_t tv_usec    #  microseconds */
+
+
+    struct timezone :
+        int tz_minuteswest;    # minutes west of Greenwich
+        int tz_dsttime;        # type of DST correction 
+
+        
+    int gettimeofday(timeval *tv, timezone *tz)
+
+
+    tm *gmtime_r(time_t *clock, tm *result)
+    time_t time(time_t *tloc)
+    clock_t clock()
+
+cdef class ProgressBar:
+    cdef off_t   maxi
+    cdef clock_t starttime
+    cdef clock_t lasttime
+    cdef clock_t tickcount
+    cdef int freq
+    cdef int cycle
+    cdef int arrow
+    cdef int lastlog
+    cdef bint ontty
+    cdef int fd
+    
+    cdef bytes head
+    cdef char *chead
+    
+    cdef object logger
+
+    cdef char  *wheel
+    cdef char  *spaces
+    cdef char*  diese 
+    
+    cdef clock_t clock(self)
diff --git a/python/obitools3/apps/progress.pyx b/python/obitools3/apps/progress.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48bffe4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/apps/progress.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 27 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import sys
+from ..utils cimport bytes2str
+
+cdef class ProgressBar:
+    cdef clock_t clock(self):
+        cdef clock_t t
+        cdef timeval tp
+        cdef clock_t s
+        
+        <void> gettimeofday(&tp,NULL)
+        s = <clock_t> (<double> tp.tv_usec * 1.e-6 * <double> CLOCKS_PER_SEC)
+        t = tp.tv_sec * CLOCKS_PER_SEC + s 
+        
+        return t
+
+    def __init__(self,
+                 off_t maxi,
+                 dict  config,
+                 str head="",
+                 double seconde=0.1):
+        self.starttime = self.clock()
+        self.lasttime  = self.starttime
+        self.tickcount = <clock_t> (seconde * CLOCKS_PER_SEC)
+        self.freq      = 1
+        self.cycle     = 0
+        self.arrow     = 0
+        self.lastlog   = 0
+        
+        self.ontty = sys.stderr.isatty()
+        
+        if (maxi<=0):
+            maxi=1
+            
+        self.maxi = maxi
+        self.head = str2bytes(head)
+        self.chead= self.head 
+        
+        
+        self.logger=config[config["__root_config__"]]["logger"]
+        self.wheel =  '|/-\\'
+        self.spaces='          ' \
+                    '          ' \
+                    '          ' \
+                    '          ' \
+                    '          '
+        self.diese ='##########' \
+                    '##########' \
+                    '##########' \
+                    '##########' \
+                    '##########'  
+                           
+    def __call__(self,object pos):
+        cdef off_t    ipos
+        cdef clock_t  elapsed
+        cdef clock_t  newtime
+        cdef clock_t  delta
+        cdef clock_t  more 
+        cdef double   percent 
+        cdef tm remain
+        cdef int days,hour,minu,sec
+        cdef off_t fraction
+        cdef int twentyth
+        
+        self.cycle+=1
+    
+        if self.cycle % self.freq == 0:
+            self.cycle=1
+            newtime  = self.clock()
+            delta         = newtime - self.lasttime
+            self.lasttime = newtime
+            elapsed       = newtime - self.starttime
+#            print(" ",delta,elapsed,elapsed/CLOCKS_PER_SEC,self.tickcount)
+            
+            if   delta < self.tickcount / 5 :
+                self.freq*=2
+            elif delta > self.tickcount * 5 and self.freq>1:
+                self.freq/=2
+                
+            
+            if callable(pos):
+                ipos=pos()
+            else:
+                ipos=pos
+                
+            if ipos==0:
+                ipos=1                
+
+            percent = <double>ipos/<double>self.maxi
+            more = <time_t>((<double>elapsed / percent * (1. - percent))/CLOCKS_PER_SEC)
+            <void>gmtime_r(&more, &remain)
+            days  = remain.tm_yday 
+            hour  = remain.tm_hour
+            minu  = remain.tm_min
+            sec   = remain.tm_sec
+                
+            if self.ontty:
+                fraction=<int>(percent * 50.)
+                self.arrow=(self.arrow+1) % 4
+                self.diese[fraction]=0
+                self.spaces[50 - fraction]=0
+            
+                if days:
+                    <void>fprintf(stderr,b'\r%s %5.1f %% |%s%c%s] remain : %d days %02d:%02d:%02d',
+                                    self.chead,
+                                    percent*100,
+                                    self.diese,self.wheel[self.arrow],self.spaces,
+                                    days,hour,minu,sec)
+                else:
+                    <void>fprintf(stderr,b'\r%s %5.1f %% |%s%c%s] remain : %02d:%02d:%02d',
+                                    self.chead,
+                                    percent*100.,
+                                    self.diese,self.wheel[self.arrow],self.spaces,
+                                    hour,minu,sec)
+                self.diese[fraction]=b'#'
+                self.spaces[50 - fraction]=b' '
+
+            twentyth = int(percent * 20)
+            if twentyth != self.lastlog:
+                
+                if self.ontty:
+                    <void>fprintf(stderr,b'\n')
+                    
+                self.logger.info('%s %5.1f %% remain : %02d:%02d:%02d' % (
+                                        bytes2str(self.head),
+                                        percent*100.,
+                                        hour,minu,sec))
+                self.lastlog=twentyth
+        else:
+            self.cycle+=1
+
diff --git a/python/obitools3/commands/__init__.py b/python/obitools3/commands/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/python/obitools3/commands/count.py b/python/obitools3/commands/count.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28bd996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/commands/count.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+'''
+Created on 8 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+from obitools3.apps.progress import ProgressBar  # @UnresolvedImport
+import time
+
+__title__="Counts sequences in a sequence set"
+
+
+default_config = {   'countmode'       : None
+                 }
+
+def addOptions(parser):
+    parser.add_argument(dest='obi:input',     metavar='obi:input', 
+                                              nargs='?', 
+                                              default=None,
+                        help='input data set' )
+
+    group=parser.add_argument_group('Obicount specific options')
+    group.add_argument('-s','--sequence',
+                             action="store_true", dest="count:sequence",
+                             default=False,
+                             help="Prints only the number of sequence records."
+                             )
+ 
+    group.add_argument('-a','--all',
+                             action="store_true", dest="count:all",
+                             default=False,
+                             help="Prints only the total count of sequence records (if a sequence has no `count` attribute, its default count is 1) (default: False)."
+                             )
+
+    
+    
+def run(config):
+    # The code of my command
+    pb = ProgressBar(1000,config,seconde=1)
+    
+    for i in range(1,1001):
+        pb(i)
+        time.sleep(0.01)
+        
diff --git a/python/obitools3/files/__init__.py b/python/obitools3/files/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/python/obitools3/files/linebuffer.pxd b/python/obitools3/files/linebuffer.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a867d3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/files/linebuffer.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+
+cdef class LineBuffer:
+    cdef object fileobj
+    cdef int    size
diff --git a/python/obitools3/files/linebuffer.pyx b/python/obitools3/files/linebuffer.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b0dbaf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/files/linebuffer.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 30 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+cdef class LineBuffer:
+
+    def __init__(self,object fileobj,int size=100000000):
+        self.fileobj=fileobj 
+        self.size=size
+    
+    def __iter__(self):
+        cdef list buff = self.fileobj.readlines(self.size)
+        cdef str  l
+        
+        while buff:
+            for l in buff:
+                yield l
+            buff = self.fileobj.readlines(self.size)
+    
diff --git a/python/obitools3/files/uncompress.pxd b/python/obitools3/files/uncompress.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80c5b5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/files/uncompress.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+cdef class MagicKeyFile:
+    cdef object stream
+    cdef str    stream_mode
+    cdef object binary
+    cdef bytes  key 
+    cdef int    keylength 
+    cdef int    pos
+    
+    cpdef bytes read(self,int size=?)
+    cpdef int tell(self)
+
+    
+cdef class CompressedFile:
+    cdef object accessor
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/files/uncompress.pyx b/python/obitools3/files/uncompress.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecd5d77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/files/uncompress.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 28 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import zipfile
+import bz2
+import gzip
+
+import io
+
+cdef class MagicKeyFile:
+    def __init__(self,stream,length=2):
+        
+        binary=stream
+        self.stream = stream
+        self.stream_mode = None 
+        if hasattr(stream, "mode"):
+            self.stream_mode = stream.mode
+            if (not 'b' in stream.mode and 
+                hasattr(stream, "buffer") and 
+                'b' in stream.buffer.mode):
+                binary=stream.buffer
+
+        if (self.stream_mode is None and 
+            not (hasattr(stream, 'headers') and 
+                 hasattr(stream.headers, "keys") and
+                 'Content-type' in stream.headers)):
+            raise TypeError("stream does not present the good interface")
+        
+        self.binary=binary
+        self.key=binary.read(length)
+        self.keylength=length
+        self.pos=0
+        
+    cpdef bytes read(self,int size=-1):
+        cdef bytes r
+        
+        if self.pos < self.keylength:
+            if size > (self.keylength - self.pos):
+                size = size - self.keylength + self.pos
+                r = self.key[self.pos:] + self.binary.read(size)
+                self.pos=self.keylength + 1
+            elif size >=0 :
+                r = self.key[self.pos:(self.pos+size)]
+                self.pos+=size
+            else:
+                r = self.key[self.pos:] + self.binary.read(size)
+                self.pos=self.keylength + 1
+        else:
+            r = self.binary.read(size)
+            
+        return r
+    
+    cpdef int tell(self):
+        cdef int p
+        
+        if self.pos < self.keylength:
+            p = self.pos 
+        else:
+            p = self.tell()
+        
+        return p
+    
+    def __getattr__(self,name):
+        return getattr(self.binary, name)
+        
+
+    
+cdef class CompressedFile:
+    
+    
+    def __init__(self,stream):
+        cdef int            keylength
+        cdef MagicKeyFile   magic
+        cdef str            compressor
+        cdef bytes          k 
+        cdef object         c
+        
+        cdef dict compress = { 'zip' : (b'\x50\x4b\x03\x04',zipfile.ZipFile),
+                               'bz2' : (b'\x42\x5a\x68',bz2.BZ2File),
+                               'gz'  : (b'\x1f\x8b\x08',gzip.open)
+                   }
+        
+        keylength = max([len(x[0]) for x in compress.values()])
+        magic=MagicKeyFile(stream,keylength)
+        
+        self.accessor = None
+        
+        for compressor in compress:
+            k,c = compress[compressor]
+            if magic.key.startswith(k):
+                self.accessor = c(magic)
+        
+        if self.accessor is None:
+            self.accessor = magic
+        
+        if ((hasattr(stream, 'headers') and 
+             hasattr(stream.headers, "keys") and
+             'Content-type' in stream.headers and
+             stream.headers['Content-type'].startswith('text/')) or
+            'b' not in magic.stream_mode):
+            self.accessor = io.TextIOWrapper(self.accessor)
+        
+    
+    def __getattr__(self,name):
+        return getattr(self.accessor, name)
+    
+    def __iter__(self):
+        for x in self.accessor:
+            yield x 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/files/universalopener.pxd b/python/obitools3/files/universalopener.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7743db6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/files/universalopener.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+from .uncompress cimport CompressedFile
+
+cpdef CompressedFile uopen(str name, mode=?)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/files/universalopener.pyx b/python/obitools3/files/universalopener.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3aefb92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/files/universalopener.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 25 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+from urllib.request import urlopen
+
+
+cpdef CompressedFile uopen(str name, mode='r'):
+    cdef CompressedFile c
+    
+    try:
+        f = urlopen(name)
+    except ValueError:
+        f = open(name,mode) 
+        
+    c = CompressedFile(f)
+    
+    return c
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/parsers/__init__.py b/python/obitools3/parsers/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/python/obitools3/parsers/fasta.pxd b/python/obitools3/parsers/fasta.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1546d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/parsers/fasta.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+from .header cimport parseHeader
+from ..files.universalopener cimport uopen
+from ..files.linebuffer cimport LineBuffer
+
+
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/parsers/fasta.pyx b/python/obitools3/parsers/fasta.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a262bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/parsers/fasta.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 30 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+def fastaIterator(lineiterator, int buffersize=100000000):
+    cdef LineBuffer lb
+    cdef str        ident
+    cdef str        definition
+    cdef dict       tags
+    cdef list       s
+    
+    if isinstance(lineiterator,(str,bytes)):
+        lineiterator=uopen(lineiterator)
+    
+    if isinstance(lineiterator, LineBuffer):
+        lb=lineiterator
+    else:
+        lb=LineBuffer(lineiterator,buffersize)
+        
+    i = iter(lb)
+    line = next(i)
+    
+    while True:
+        ident,tags,definition = parseHeader(line)
+        s = []
+        line = next(i)
+        while line[0]!='>':
+            s.append(line[0:-1])
+            line = next(i)
+        sequence  = "".join(s)
+        quality   = None
+
+        yield { "id"         : ident,
+                "definition" : definition,
+                "sequence"   : sequence,
+                "quality"    : quality,
+                "tags"       : tags,
+                "annotation" : {}
+              }
+        
+        
+        
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/parsers/fastq.pxd b/python/obitools3/parsers/fastq.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1546d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/parsers/fastq.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+from .header cimport parseHeader
+from ..files.universalopener cimport uopen
+from ..files.linebuffer cimport LineBuffer
+
+
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/parsers/fastq.pyx b/python/obitools3/parsers/fastq.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e44cf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/parsers/fastq.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 30 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+
+
+def fastqIterator(lineiterator, int buffersize=100000000):
+    cdef LineBuffer lb
+    cdef str        ident
+    cdef str        definition
+    cdef dict       tags
+    
+    if isinstance(lineiterator,(str,bytes)):
+        lineiterator=uopen(lineiterator)
+    
+    if isinstance(lineiterator, LineBuffer):
+        lb=lineiterator
+    else:
+        lb=LineBuffer(lineiterator,buffersize)
+        
+    i = iter(lb)
+    for line in i:
+        ident,tags,definition = parseHeader(line)
+        sequence  = next(i)[0:-1]
+        next(i)
+        quality   = next(i)[0:-1]
+
+        yield { "id"         : ident,
+                "definition" : definition,
+                "sequence"   : sequence,
+                "quality"    : quality,
+                "tags"       : tags,
+                "annotation" : {}
+              }
+        
+        
+        
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/parsers/header.pxd b/python/obitools3/parsers/header.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b09a418
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/parsers/header.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+cdef object __etag__(str x)
+
+cpdef tuple parseHeader(str header)
diff --git a/python/obitools3/parsers/header.pyx b/python/obitools3/parsers/header.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cd7e82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/obitools3/parsers/header.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#cython: language_level=3
+
+'''
+Created on 25 mars 2016
+
+@author: coissac
+'''
+
+import re
+
+__ret__         = re.compile('''(([^ ]+)=('[^']*'|"[^"]*"|[^;]+); *)+?''')
+__re_int__      = re.compile("^[+-]?[0-9]+$")
+__re_float__    = re.compile("^[+-]?[0-9]+(\.[0-9]*)?([eE][+-]?[0-9]+)?$")
+__re_str__      = re.compile("""^"[^"]*"|'[^']*'$""")
+__re_dict__     = re.compile("""^\{\ *
+                                   (
+                                       ("[^"]*"|'[^']*')
+                                        \ *:\ *
+                                       ([^,}]+|
+                                        "[^"]*"|
+                                        '[^']*'
+                                       )
+                                   )?
+                                   (\ *,\ *
+                                       ("[^"]*"|'[^']*')
+                                        \ *:\ *
+                                       ([^,}]+|
+                                        "[^"]*"|
+                                        '[^']*'
+                                       )
+                                    )*\ *\}$""", re.VERBOSE)
+
+
+cdef object __etag__(str x):
+    if __re_int__.match(x):
+        v=int(x)
+    elif __re_float__.match(x):
+        v=float(x)
+    elif __re_str__.match(x):
+        v=x[1:-1]
+    elif x=='False':
+        v=False
+    elif x=='True':
+        v=True
+    elif __re_dict__.match(x):
+        v=eval(x)
+    else:
+        v=x
+    return v
+
+cpdef tuple parseHeader(str header):
+    cdef list m 
+    cdef dict tags 
+    cdef str definition
+    cdef str ident
+    cdef str second
+    
+    m=header[1:-1].split(maxsplit=1)
+
+    ident=m[0]
+    
+    if len(m)==1:
+        tags={}
+        definition='' 
+    else:
+        second=m[1]
+        m = __ret__.findall(second)
+        
+        if m:
+            tags = dict([(a[1],__etag__(a[2])) for a in m])
+            definition = second.split(m[-1][0],1)[1].strip()
+        else:
+            tags = {}
+            definition = second.strip() 
+        
+    return ident,tags,definition
+    
+    
diff --git a/python/obitools3/utils.pxd b/python/obitools3/utils.pxd
index 0eafa4d..2a1b144 100644
--- a/python/obitools3/utils.pxd
+++ b/python/obitools3/utils.pxd
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #cython: language_level=3
 
+
 cdef bytes str2bytes(str string)
 
 cdef str bytes2str(bytes string)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/obitools3/utils.pyx b/python/obitools3/utils.pyx
index 183b373..793e7f1 100644
--- a/python/obitools3/utils.pyx
+++ b/python/obitools3/utils.pyx
@@ -1,7 +1,28 @@
 #cython: language_level=3
 
+import sys
+import io
+
 cdef bytes str2bytes(str string):
+    """
+    Short cut to convert ascii encoded python string (str) to bytes 
+    which can be easily converted to C-strings. 
+    
+        @param string: the python string to be converted.
+        @type string: str
+        @return a transcoded string
+        @rtype: bytes 
+    """
     return string.encode('ascii')
 
 cdef str bytes2str(bytes string):
-    return string.decode('ascii')
\ No newline at end of file
+    """
+    Short cut to convert bytes (C-strings) to ascii encoded python string (str).
+    
+        @param string: the binary (C-string) string to be converted.
+        @type string: bytes
+        @return an ascii transcoded string
+        @rtype: str 
+    """
+    return string.decode('ascii')
+