diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index fb58d2c0..7114e195 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ dependencies {
     // Testing
     testCompile "junit:junit:$junitVersion"
     testCompile "org.mockito:mockito-core:$mockitoVersion"
+    testCompile "uk.co.modular-it:hamcrest-date:$hamcrestDateVersion"
 }
 
 sourceCompatibility = 1.5
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index e53150ef..9003b9fd 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ jansiVersion=1.8
 # Testing
 junitVersion = 4.10
 mockitoVersion = 1.8.5
+hamcrestDateVersion = 0.9.3
 
 # --------------------
 # Project wide version
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/Bootstrap.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/Bootstrap.java
index cfd573a4..2bdd6e54 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/Bootstrap.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/Bootstrap.java
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ public class Bootstrap {
 		System.exit(exitShellRequest.getExitCode());
 	}
 
+	public Bootstrap() {
+		this(null, CONTEXT_PATH);
+	}
+	
 	public Bootstrap(String[] args) throws IOException {	
 		this(args, CONTEXT_PATH);
 	}
@@ -150,7 +154,7 @@ public class Bootstrap {
 	}
 
 
-	protected ExitShellRequest run() {
+	public ExitShellRequest run() {
 
 		String[] commandsToExecuteAndThenQuit = commandLine.getShellCommandsToExecute();
 		// The shell is used 
@@ -162,7 +166,7 @@ public class Bootstrap {
 			exitShellRequest = ExitShellRequest.FATAL_EXIT;
 
 			for (String cmd : commandsToExecuteAndThenQuit) {
-				successful = shell.executeCommand(cmd);
+				successful = shell.executeCommand(cmd).isSuccess();
 				if (!successful)
 					break;
 			}
@@ -191,7 +195,7 @@ public class Bootstrap {
 		return exitShellRequest;
 	}
 	
-	JLineShellComponent getJLineShellComponent() {
+	public JLineShellComponent getJLineShellComponent() {
 		return ctx.getBean("shell", JLineShellComponent.class);
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/AbstractShell.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/AbstractShell.java
index cb097159..b15670e8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/AbstractShell.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/AbstractShell.java
@@ -160,10 +160,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractShell extends AbstractShellStatusPublisher impleme
 	 * This method can be overridden by sub-classes to pre-process script lines.
 	 */
 	protected boolean executeScriptLine(final String line) {
-		return executeCommand(line);
+		return executeCommand(line).isSuccess();
 	}
 
-	public boolean executeCommand(String line) {
+	public CommandResult executeCommand(String line) {
 		// Another command was attempted
 		setShellStatus(ShellStatus.Status.PARSING);
 
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractShell extends AbstractShellStatusPublisher impleme
 			}
 			if (inBlockComment) {
 				if (!line.contains("*/")) {
-					return true;
+					return new CommandResult(true);
 				}
 				blockCommentFinish();
 				line = line.substring(line.lastIndexOf("*/") + 2);
@@ -212,11 +212,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractShell extends AbstractShellStatusPublisher impleme
 			line = line.replace('\t', ' ');
 			if ("".equals(line.trim())) {
 				setShellStatus(Status.EXECUTION_SUCCESS);
-				return true;
+				return new CommandResult(true);
 			}
 			parseResult = getParser().parse(line);
 			if (parseResult == null) {
-				return false;
+				return new CommandResult(false);
 			}
 
 			setShellStatus(Status.EXECUTING);
@@ -234,14 +234,14 @@ public abstract class AbstractShell extends AbstractShellStatusPublisher impleme
 
 			logCommandIfRequired(line, true);
 			setShellStatus(Status.EXECUTION_SUCCESS, line, parseResult);
-			return true;
+			return new CommandResult(true, result, null);
 		} catch (RuntimeException e) {
 			setShellStatus(Status.EXECUTION_FAILED, line, parseResult);
 			// We rely on execution strategy to log it
 			try {
 				logCommandIfRequired(line, false);
 			} catch (Exception ignored) {}
-			return false;
+			return new CommandResult(false, null, e);
 		} finally {
 			setShellStatus(Status.USER_INPUT);
 		}
@@ -340,8 +340,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractShell extends AbstractShellStatusPublisher impleme
 
 	@CliCommand(value = { "date" }, help = "Displays the local date and time")
 	public String date() {
-		return DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(
-				DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL,Locale.US)
+		return DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL,Locale.US)
 				.format(new Date());
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/JLineShell.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/JLineShell.java
index 40129d93..e0842c5d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/JLineShell.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/JLineShell.java
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ public abstract class JLineShell extends AbstractShell implements CommandMarker,
 		String rooArgs = System.getProperty("roo.args");
 		if (rooArgs != null && !"".equals(rooArgs)) {
 			setShellStatus(Status.USER_INPUT);
-			boolean success = executeCommand(rooArgs);
+			boolean success = executeCommand(rooArgs).isSuccess();
 			if (exitShellRequest == null) {
 				// The command itself did not specify an exit shell code, so we'll fall back to something sensible here
 				executeCommand("quit"); // ROO-839
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Shell.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Shell.java
index 9dbf06ec..9fbce5e2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Shell.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Shell.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public interface Shell extends ShellStatusProvider, ShellPromptAccessor {
 	 * @param line to execute (required)
 	 * @return true if the command was successful, false if there was an exception
 	 */
-	boolean executeCommand(String line);
+	CommandResult executeCommand(String line);
 
 	/**
 	 * Indicates the shell should switch into a lower-level development mode. The exact meaning varies by