ConsoleFX

Setting up the project Table of contents | Next: Defining the application optionsTo get started, create a new C# Console Application in Visual Studio and call it Backup.The default code for the Console application will be: using System; using ... [More] System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; namespace Backup { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { } } } Let's clean this up a bit and modify it to be used with ConsoleFx: using System; using System.Collections.Generic; namespace Backup { internal static class Program { private static int Main() { return 0; } } } Remove the namespaces System.Linq and System.Text; we won't need them for this walkthrough. Make the Program class internal and static... not important, but nice to do anyway. Remove the string[] args parameter from the Main method. ConsoleFx doesn't need it to get the command-line arguments. Change the Main method to return an int. Most CLI applications return an integer value (with zero representing success) so that they can be handled from calling batch files. Next, add a reference to the ConsoleFx assembly, and add the following namespace imports: using ConsoleFx; using ConsoleFx.Programs.Simple; using ConsoleFx.Validators; ConsoleFx.Programs.Simple denotes that we want to create a simple console application with only a single functionality. By using this namespace, the more advanced features of ConsoleFx are hidden from you. To be able to create a complex console application, you would use a different namespace - ConsoleFx.Programs.Complex - which is discussed in the another Getting Started walk-through. ConsoleFx.Validators contains the classes that we'll need to validate the data being passed in the command-line arguments. Next, to get the ConsoleProgram class wired up into your code, replace the code in the Main method with the following: var app = new ConsoleProgram(Handler); try { return app.Run(); } catch (Exception ex) { return app.HandleException(ex); } Also, add a new static method called Handler. This will be the method that performs the actual backup functionality, but we'll leave it blank for now and just return a success code. private static int Handler() { return 0; } Your code at this point using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using ConsoleFx; using ConsoleFx.Programs.Simple; using ConsoleFx.Validators; namespace Backup { internal static class Program { private static int Main() { var app = new ConsoleProgram(Handler); try { return app.Run(); } catch (Exception ex) { return app.HandleException(ex); } } private static int Handler() { return 0; } } } Table of contents | Next: Defining the application options [Less]

Setting up the project Table of contents | Next: Defining the application optionsTo get started, create a new C# Console Application in Visual Studio and call it Backup.The default code for the Console application will be: using System; using ... [More] System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; namespace Backup { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { } } } Let's clean this up a bit and modify it to be used with ConsoleFx: using System; using System.Collections.Generic; namespace Backup { internal static class Program { private static int Main() { return 0; } } } Remove the namespaces System.Linq and System.Text; we won't need them for this walkthrough. Make the Program class internal and static... not important, but nice to do anyway. Remove the string[] args parameter from the Main method. ConsoleFx doesn't need it to get the command-line arguments. Change the Main method to return an int. Most CLI applications return an integer value (with zero representing success) so that they can be handled from calling batch files. Next, add a reference to the ConsoleFx assembly, and add the following namespace imports: using ConsoleFx; using ConsoleFx.Programs.Simple; using ConsoleFx.Validators; ConsoleFx.Programs.Simple denotes that we want to create a simple console application with only a single functionality. By using this namespace, the more advanced features of ConsoleFx are hidden from you. To be able to create a complex console application, you would use a different namespace - ConsoleFx.Programs.Complex - which is discussed in the another Getting Started walk-through. ConsoleFx.Validators contains the classes that we'll need to validate the data being passed in the command-line arguments. Next, to get the ConsoleProgram class wired up into your code, replace the code in the Main method with the following: var app = new ConsoleProgram(Handler); try { return app.Run(); } catch (Exception ex) { return app.HandleException(ex); } Also, add a new static method called Handler. This will be the method that performs the actual backup functionality, but we'll leave it blank for now and just return a success code. private static int Handler() { return 0; } Your code at this point using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using ConsoleFx; using ConsoleFx.Programs.Simple; using ConsoleFx.Validators; namespace Backup { internal static class Program { private static int Main() { var app = new ConsoleProgram(Handler); try { return app.Run(); } catch (Exception ex) { return app.HandleException(ex); } } private static int Handler() { return 0; } } } Table of contents | Next: Defining the application options [Less]

This is the 2nd beta of ConsoleFx 1.0. This release is drastically different from the initial beta due to the complete revamp of the design in shifting from a declarative API to a fluent one. This beta consists of: Simple command-line application ... [More] fluent API (feature-complete) Complex command-line application fluent API (work-in-progress) Interactive shell classes (new in beta 2; feature-complete) Simple command-line application declarative API (built on top of the simple fluent API; feature-complete) Documentation is mostly complete (at least the important areas are), and can be found here. We're still working on several topics. [Less]

This is the 2nd beta of ConsoleFx 1.0. This release is drastically different from the initial beta due to the complete revamp of the design in shifting from a declarative API to a fluent one.This beta consists of: Simple command-line application ... [More] fluent API (feature-complete) Complex command-line application fluent API (work-in-progress) Interactive shell classes (new in beta 2; feature-complete) Simple command-line application declarative API (built on top of the simple fluent API; feature-complete) Documentation is mostly complete (at least the important areas are), and can be found here. We're still working on several topics. [Less]

This is the 2nd beta of ConsoleFx 1.0. This release is drastically different from the initial beta due to the complete revamp of the design in shifting from a declarative API to a fluent one. This beta consists of: Simple command-line ... [More] application fluent API (feature-complete) Complex command-line application fluent API (work-in-progress) Interactive shell classes (new in beta 2; feature-complete) Simple command-line application declarative API (built on top of the simple fluent API; feature-complete) Documentation is mostly complete (at least the important areas are), and can be found here. We're still working on several topics. [Less]

This is the 2nd beta of ConsoleFx 1.0. This release is drastically different from the initial beta due to the complete revamp of the design in shifting from a declarative API to a fluent one.This beta consists of: Simple command-line application ... [More] fluent API (feature-complete) Complex command-line application fluent API (work-in-progress) Interactive shell classes (new in beta 2; feature-complete) Simple command-line application declarative API (built on top of the simple fluent API; feature-complete) Documentation is mostly complete (at least the important areas are), and can be found here. We're still working on several topics. [Less]

This is the 2nd beta of ConsoleFx 1.0. This release is drastically different from the initial beta due to the complete revamp of the design in shifting from a declarative API to a fluent one. This beta consists of: Simple command-line ... [More] application fluent API (feature-complete) Complex command-line application fluent API (work-in-progress) Interactive shell classes (new in beta 2; feature-complete) Simple command-line application declarative API (built on top of the simple fluent API; feature-complete) Documentation is mostly complete (at least the important areas are), and can be found here. We're still working on several topics. [Less]

This is the 2nd beta of ConsoleFx 1.0. This release is drastically different from the initial beta due to the complete revamp of the design in shifting from a declarative API to a fluent one.This beta consists of: Simple command-line application ... [More] fluent API (feature-complete) Complex command-line application fluent API (work-in-progress) Interactive shell classes (new in beta 2; feature-complete) Simple command-line application declarative API (built on top of the simple fluent API; feature-complete) Documentation is mostly complete (at least the important areas are), and can be found here. We're still working on several topics. [Less]

ConsoleFx roadmap ConsoleFx 1.0 is currently in beta, and it's feature-set has been frozen for this release. We have started planning the feature-set for 2.0 and later versions. Here are some of the items we have in mind. If you'd like a feature to ... [More] be included, please add a feature request to the Issue Tracker and categorize it as a feature request for ConsoleFx 2.0. Version 1.1 features Version 2.0 features Version 1.1 This will be a minor release that will include: Full XML doc comments for generating documentation Language packs for the ConsoleFx resources to provide out-of-the-box support for multiple languages. We haven't yet decided the languages we'll be providing... it depends on the availability of translators. Version 2.0 Features Command-line improvements Support for multiple command-line format schemes Version 1.0 supports only the standard DOS command-line format. The next version will support multiple formats, including the UNIX formats. Support for sub-commands Add support for the second token in the command-line to be considered a sub-command. FILEOP Copy C:\Temp\Readme.txt D:\Temp FILEOP Delete C:\Temp\Readme.txt FILEOP Attrib -R -H Support for switches in options with + and - Allow options to be turned on or off using + and - (minus) symbols instead of the usual parameter format ATTRIB -R+ -H- C:\Temp\Readme.txt Support for multiple arguments Allow multiple arguments to be specified in a single specification. Support for multiple option short names Allow options to have multiple short names, instead of the one that is allowed currently. Improvements to interactive shell Add support for tab auto-completion of commands and file system objects Add support for case-sensitive commands Improvements to the declarative framework Add support for complex command-lines. i.e. context support Currently, the declarative (attribute-based) model for building CLI applications only supports simple scenarious, namely a single functionality and optional usage help. The next version will include support for multiple functionalities.Allow options to be specified as properties and fields If an option has only a single parameter, it should be definable as a property, just like how arguments are defined currently. This will also take advantage of the built-in conversion mechanisms. If an option has multiple parameters, it should be definable as an IList<T> property. GUI front-end for ConsoleFx applications The GUI front-end tool is a WinForms application that accepts a ConsoleFx application as a command-line parameter and display an appropriate GUI to input the options and arguments.In order to enable support for being used in the GUI front-end tool, ConsoleFx applications must embed a special manifest file in their executable file. A new method to generate the manifest data will be added to the ConsoleProgram classes. [Less]

ConsoleFx roadmap ConsoleFx 1.0 is currently in beta, and it's feature-set has been frozen for this release. We have started planning the feature-set for 2.0 and later versions. Here are some of the items we have in mind. If you'd like a feature to ... [More] be included, please add a feature request to the Issue Tracker and categorize it as a feature request for ConsoleFx 2.0. Version 1.1 features Version 2.0 features Version 1.1 This will be a minor release that will include: Full XML doc comments for generating documentation Language packs for the ConsoleFx resources to provide out-of-the-box support for multiple languages. We haven't yet decided the languages we'll be providing... it depends on the availability of translators. Version 2.0 Features Command-line improvements Support for multiple command-line format schemes Version 1.0 supports only the standard DOS command-line format. The next version will support multiple formats, including the UNIX formats. Support for sub-commands Add support for the second token in the command-line to be considered a sub-command. FILEOP Copy C:\Temp\Readme.txt D:\Temp FILEOP Delete C:\Temp\Readme.txt FILEOP Attrib -R -H Support for switches in options with + and - Allow options to be turned on or off using + and - (minus) symbols instead of the usual parameter format ATTRIB -R+ -H- C:\Temp\Readme.txt Support for multiple arguments Allow multiple arguments to be specified in a single specification. Support for multiple option short names Allow options to have multiple short names, instead of the one that is allowed currently. Improvements to interactive shell Add support for tab auto-completion of commands and file system objects Add support for case-sensitive commands Improvements to the declarative framework Add support for complex command-lines. i.e. context support Currently, the declarative (attribute-based) model for building CLI applications only supports simple scenarious, namely a single functionality and optional usage help. The next version will include support for multiple functionalities.Allow options to be specified as properties and fields If an option has only a single parameter, it should be definable as a property, just like how arguments are defined currently. This will also take advantage of the built-in conversion mechanisms. If an option has multiple parameters, it should be definable as an IList<T> property. GUI front-end for ConsoleFx applications The GUI front-end tool is a WinForms application that accepts a ConsoleFx application as a command-line parameter and display an appropriate GUI to input the options and arguments.In order to enable support for being used in the GUI front-end tool, ConsoleFx applications must embed a special manifest file in their executable file. A new method to generate the manifest data will be added to the ConsoleProgram classes. [Less]