stjordanis / consolelibrary

An easy to use library for building powerful cross-platform console applications written in C++

Commandline Parser Library

An easy to use library for building powerful console applications written in C++.

Usage

1. Create a command definition file:

// commands/copy_files.h
#pragma once

#include <console/interfaces/command_interface.h>

namespace Interfaces = Console::Interfaces;


/**
 * @name copy-files
 * @description copy files from <source> to <dist>
 */
class CopyFiles : public Interfaces::CommandInterface
{

public:

    /**
     * Retrieve the name of the command.
     *
     * @return std::string
     */
    std::string getName() override;

    /**
     * Retrieve the description of the command.
     *
     * @return std::string
     */
    std::string getDescription() override;

    /**
     * Handle the command.
     *
     * @param InputInterface * input
     * @param OutputInterface * output
     * @return ExitCode
     */
    ExitCode handle(Interfaces::InputInterface * input, Interfaces::OutputInterface * output) override;

};

1. Create a command implemention file:

// commands/copy_files.cpp
#include "copy_files.h"


/**
 * Retrieve the name of the command.
 *
 * @return std::string
 */
std::string CopyFiles::getName()
{
    return "copy-files";
}

/**
 * Retrieve the description of the command.
 *
 * @return std::string
 */
std::string CopyFiles::getDescription()
{
    return "copy files from <source> to <dist>";
}

/**
 * Handle the command.
 *
 * @param InputInterface * input
 * @param OutputInterface * output
 * @return ExitCode
 */
ExitCode CopyFiles::handle(Interfaces::InputInterface * input, Interfaces::OutputInterface * output)
{
    output->writeLine("Copying files..");

    output->writeLine("with options: ");
    
    for (auto & option : input->getOptions()) 
    {
        output->writeLine(option);
    }

    // if (/** wrong input */) {
    //     output->printHelp();
    //     return ExitCode::NeedHelp;
    // }

    return ExitCode::Ok;
}

3. Create the application and add the command:

// main.cpp
#include <console/application.h>
#include "commands/copy_files.h"
#include "commands/hello_world.h"


int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
    Console::Application app(argc, argv);

    app.setApplicationName("Todo List Application");
    app.setApplicationUsage("./bin/todo [command] [options]");
    app.setApplicationVersion("1.0");
    app.setAutoPrintHelp(true);

    app.setApplicationDescription("Todo List Application");

    app.addGlobalOption("--test", "Testing the application", "-t");

    app.addCommand(new CopyFiles);
    app.addCommand(new HelloWorld);

    return app.run();
}

Build

Run cd build && cmake .. && cmake --build . --target install

Distributed Files

After building the project all distributed files should be located in build/dist.

Target

This project is currently focused to target linux, and yet it also supports windows.

Motiviation

Often I find myself have to write the same code over and over again, So I've decided to dedicate my time to build a commandline application in an OOP way. After all, all it is needed is a CPP and HEADER file per command. Having dedicated class / object per command makes it easier to maintain.

Because it is statically linked library I have avoided including external libraries and kept it as simple as possible.

Contributing Guidelines

If you find this project interesting or have any suggestions, feel free to send a pull request. I will be more than happy to review it.