👁 Image
42.CLI.Toolkit 1.0.1

Getting Started Guide

The text-base UI is the best user interface ever made❣️

This library combines multiple .net libraries into one package to simplify the creation of a CLI application. The result is easy to use because it has a nice interface, is IoC-friendly, and uses the IHostBuilder principle.

Build the host and run it

return await new HostBuilder()
 .UseCommandLineApplication<ToolCommand>(args)
 .UseStartup<Startup>()
 .Build()
 .RunCommandLineApplicationAsync();

Use the Startup class for configuration and building service provider:

public class Startup : IStartup
{
 public void ConfigureApplication(IConfigurationBuilder builder)
 {
 // add any configuration here
 // builder.AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", false, false);
 }

 public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services, IConfiguration configuration)
 {
 services.AddCliToolkit(); // register the toolkit (IExtendedConsole, IRenderer, IPrompter, IProgressReporter)
 // register your services here
 }
}

Build commands

[Subcommand(typeof(ExampleCommand))]
[Command("tool", Description = "Description in help.")]
public class ToolCommand : BaseCommand
{
 public ToolCommand(IExtendedConsole console)
 : base(console)
 {
 // no operation
 }

 [VersionOption("-v|--version", "", Description = "Display version of this tool.")]
 public bool IsVersionRequested { get; set; }

 public Task<int> OnExecuteAsync()
 {
 Console.WriteLine("Hello world!")
 return Task.FromResult(0);
 }
}

The complete documentation on how to structure commands and sub-commands is on GitHub: https://github.com/natemcmaster/CommandLineUtils

Use extended console

For total control, use the IExtendedConsole type from the IoC container; the system of commands uses injection through the constructor.

If needed, there are more specialized interfaces:

• IRenderer
  • WriteLine(params object[] elements)
  • WriteTree<T>(IComposition<T> root, Func<T, IConsoleOutput> nodeRenderFunction)
  • WriteTable<T>(IEnumerable<T> rows, Func<T, IEnumerable<Cell>> rowRenderFunction, IEnumerable<IHeaderColumn>? headers = null)
  • Write(Document document)
• IPrompter
  • T Input<T>(InputOptions<T> options)
  • bool Confirm(ConfirmOptions options)
  • IEnumerable<T> List<T>(ListOptions<T> options)
  • T Select<T>(SelectOptions<T> options)
• IProgressReporter
  • IProgressBar StartProgressBar(string message, ProgressBarOptions? options = null)

More examples

A simple demo application is available at: https://github.com/akobr/mono.me/tree/main/src/Libraries/CLI/Toolkit.Example/src

A complex CLI application: https://github.com/akobr/mono.me/tree/main/src/Monorepo/Cli/src

Adapted libraries

• Alba.CsConsoleFormat-NoXaml - adds a possibility to draw complex and structured content
• Colorful.Console - makes the console colorful
• ConsoleTableExt - allows the rendering of nice-looking tables
• McMaster.Extensions.CommandLineUtils - brings structure to your command line application
• Sharprompt - prompting capabilities
• ShellProgressBar - visualize (concurrent) progress in your console