diff --git a/docs/src/reference/docbook/reference/dev-guide/dev-spring-shell.xml b/docs/src/reference/docbook/reference/dev-guide/dev-spring-shell.xml
index 79f58d70..8fee889b 100644
--- a/docs/src/reference/docbook/reference/dev-guide/dev-spring-shell.xml
+++ b/docs/src/reference/docbook/reference/dev-guide/dev-spring-shell.xml
@@ -157,7 +157,55 @@ public class HelloWorldCommands implements CommandMarker {
     is returned, the shell will display its <literal>toString()</literal>
     representation.</para>
   </section>
+  
+  <section>
+    <title>Testing shell commands</title>
 
+    <para>To perform a test of the shell commands you can instantiate the shell inside a test case,
+    execute the command and then perform assertions on the return value CommandResult.
+    A simple base class to set this up is shown below.</para>
+    <programlisting language="java">public abstract class AbstractShellIntegrationTest {
+
+	private static JLineShellComponent shell;
+	
+	@BeforeClass
+	public static void startUp() throws InterruptedException {
+		Bootstrap bootstrap = new Bootstrap();		
+		shell = bootstrap.getJLineShellComponent();
+	}
+	
+	@AfterClass
+	public static void shutdown() {
+		shell.stop();
+	}
+
+	public static JLineShellComponent getShell() {
+		return shell;
+	}
+
+}</programlisting>
+    <para>Here is an example testing the Date command</para>
+    <programlisting language="java">public class BuiltInCommandTests extends AbstractShellIntegrationTest {
+	
+	@Test
+	public void dateTest() throws ParseException {
+		
+		//Execute command
+		CommandResult cr = getShell().executeCommand("date");
+		
+		//Get result   
+		DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL,Locale.US);
+		Date result = df.parse(cr.getResult().toString());
+		
+		//Make assertions - DateMaters is an external dependency not shown here.
+		Date now = new Date();
+		MatcherAssert.assertThat(now, DateMatchers.within(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS, result));		
+	}
+}</programlisting>
+    <para>The java.lang.Class of CommandResult's getResult method will match that of the return value of
+    the method annotated with @CliCommand.  You should cast to the appropriate type to help perform your assertions.
+    </para>
+  </section>
   <section>
     <title>Building and running the shell</title>
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/AbstractShellIntegrationTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/AbstractShellIntegrationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7cfaccda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/AbstractShellIntegrationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.shell.commands;
+
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.springframework.shell.Bootstrap;
+import org.springframework.shell.core.JLineShellComponent;
+
+/**
+ * Superclass for performing integration tests of shell commands.
+ * 
+ * JUnit's BeforeClass and AfterClass annotations are used to start and stop the shell.
+ * in local mode with the default store configured to use in-memory storage.  
+ * 
+ * @author Mark Pollack
+ *
+ */
+public abstract class AbstractShellIntegrationTest {
+
+	private static JLineShellComponent shell;
+	
+	@BeforeClass
+	public static void startUp() throws InterruptedException {
+		Bootstrap bootstrap = new Bootstrap();		
+		shell = bootstrap.getJLineShellComponent();
+	}
+	
+	@AfterClass
+	public static void shutdown() {
+		shell.stop();
+	}
+
+	public static JLineShellComponent getShell() {
+		return shell;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/BuiltInCommandTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/BuiltInCommandTests.java
index 9cc46395..5b9a7882 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/BuiltInCommandTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/BuiltInCommandTests.java
@@ -23,29 +23,24 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert;
 import org.junit.Test;
-import org.springframework.shell.Bootstrap;
 import org.springframework.shell.core.CommandResult;
-import org.springframework.shell.core.JLineShellComponent;
 
 import uk.co.it.modular.hamcrest.date.DateMatchers;
 
-public class BuiltInCommandTests {
+public class BuiltInCommandTests extends AbstractShellIntegrationTest {
 	
 	@Test
 	public void dateTest() throws ParseException {
-		Bootstrap bootstrap = new Bootstrap();
 		
-		JLineShellComponent shell = bootstrap.getJLineShellComponent();
-		
-		CommandResult cr = shell.executeCommand("date");
+		//Execute command
+		CommandResult cr = getShell().executeCommand("date");
 		
+		//Get result   
 		DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL,Locale.US);
 		Date result = df.parse(cr.getResult().toString());
+		
+		//Make assertions
 		Date now = new Date();
 		MatcherAssert.assertThat(now, DateMatchers.within(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS, result));		
-		
 	}
-	
-
-
 }