ConsoleAsksFor 4.1.0

dotnet add package ConsoleAsksFor --version 4.1.0                
NuGet\Install-Package ConsoleAsksFor -Version 4.1.0                
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package.
<PackageReference Include="ConsoleAsksFor" Version="4.1.0" />                
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package.
paket add ConsoleAsksFor --version 4.1.0                
#r "nuget: ConsoleAsksFor, 4.1.0"                
#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package.
// Install ConsoleAsksFor as a Cake Addin
#addin nuget:?package=ConsoleAsksFor&version=4.1.0

// Install ConsoleAsksFor as a Cake Tool
#tool nuget:?package=ConsoleAsksFor&version=4.1.0                

ConsoleAsksFor

Icon

ConsoleAsksFor is library for asking input in a console app easily.

Azure DevOps builds (branch)

Goal

The aim of ConsoleAsksFor is removing the hassle of retrieving/parsing/retrying input in a console app.

Installation

You can download the latest release / pre-release NuGet packages from nuget:

Package:
ConsoleAsksFor ConsoleAsksFor on NuGet ConsoleAsksFor downloads on NuGet
ConsoleAsksFor.NodaTime.ISO ConsoleAsksFor.NodaTime.ISO on NuGet ConsoleAsksFor.NodaTime.ISO downloads on NuGet

Setup

Create with console factory (make sure it is first line in console so it can highjack Console.Out and Console.Error):

ConsoleFactory.Create();

And register in DI

services.AddSingleton(console)

Start using

Some examples:

var isSure = await console.AskForBool("Are you sure?", cancellationToken: cancellationToken);
var age = await console.AskForInt("What is your age?", Between(0, 125));
var length = await console.AskForDecimal("What is your length (in meters)?", Scale.Two, Between(0m, 2.5m));
var appointmentStart = await console.AskForDateTimeOffset("How late should we meet?", TimeZoneInfo.Local, AtLeast(DateTimeOffset.Now), defaultValue: DateTimeOffset.Now.AddHours(1));
var favoriteColor = await console.AskForEnum<ConsoleColor>("What is your favorite color?");
var preferredName = await console.AskForItem("Which name do you prefer?", ["Jantje", "Pietje"]);
var directory = await console.AskForExistingDirectory("Where to store file?", defaultValue: new DirectoryInfo(@"C:\Temp"));
var name = await console.AskForString("What is your name?");
var zipcode = await console.AskForString("What is your Dutch zipcode?", new Regex("^[1-9][0-9]{3}[A-Z]{2}$"), "Format: '5555AA' where first digit is not a 0");
var agb = await console.AskForStringBasedValueObject<Agb>("What is your agb?", Agb.TryParse, x => x.ToString(), "8 numbers");
var uzovi = await console.AskForStringBasedValueObject<Uzovi>("What is your uzovi?", "4 numbers"); // Uzovi implements IParsable<Uzovi> and IFormattable
var pw = await console.AskForPassword("What is the secret code?");

Demo

var console = ConsoleFactory.Create();
console.WriteInfoLine("Tip: Use arrows to go through history.");
var wordOfTheDay = await console.AskForString("What is your word of the day?");

console.WriteInfoLine("Tip: Use tab for intellisense.");
var likableWords = await console.AskForItems("Which of these words do you like?", ["Whale", "Yesterday", "Some", "Stereo", "Random"]);

Demo

Features

  • Default values
  • History
    • ByQuestionTextAndType (default)
    • ByQuestionType
    • NotFiltered
  • Basic Intellisense
  • Colors
    • Visual feedback whether current answer is correct
    • Different colors for different line types
    • Customizable
  • Cancelable
    • Support for cancellationTokens
    • Push F12 to throw TaskCanceledByF12Exception
  • Basic multithreading support:
    • During asking questions other output to Console is suspended
    • When multiple threads are asking questions, questions are queued

Supported types

ConsoleAsksFor

  • AskForBool
  • AskForByte
  • AskForSignedByte
  • AskForShort
  • AskForUnsignedShort
  • AskForInt
  • AskForUnsignedInt
  • AskForLong
  • AskForUnsignedLong
  • AskForDecimal
  • AskForDateOnly
  • AskForTimeOnly
  • AskForDateTime
  • AskForDateTimeOffset
  • AskForTimeSpan
  • AskForDirectory
  • AskForExistingDirectory
  • AskForNewDirectory
  • AskForFileName
  • AskForExistingFileName
  • AskForNewFileName
  • AskForEnum<T>
  • AskForFlaggedEnum<T>
  • AskForItem<T>
  • AskForItems<T>
  • AskForString
  • AskForStringBasedValueObject<T>
  • AskForPassword

ConsoleAsksFor.NodaTime.ISO

  • AskForInstant
  • AskForLocalDate
  • AskForLocalDateTime
  • AskForLocalTime
  • AskForZonedDateTime
  • AskForAnnualDate
  • AskForYearMonth

Release notes

See the Releases page.

Versioning

ConsoleAsksFor follows Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 for the releases published to nuget.org.

Credits

Other

Another reason to make ConsoleAsksFor is because I have never worked with github and never created public nuget package. So this is a little brain exercise I guess 😃.

Product Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET net8.0 is compatible.  net8.0-android was computed.  net8.0-browser was computed.  net8.0-ios was computed.  net8.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net8.0-macos was computed.  net8.0-tvos was computed.  net8.0-windows was computed.  net9.0 is compatible. 
Compatible target framework(s)
Included target framework(s) (in package)
Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.
  • net8.0

    • No dependencies.
  • net9.0

    • No dependencies.

NuGet packages (2)

Showing the top 2 NuGet packages that depend on ConsoleAsksFor:

Package Downloads
ConsoleAsksFor.NodaTime.ISO

NodaTime (ISO) integration for ConsoleAsksFor.

ConsoleAsksFor.Microsoft.DependencyInjection

Microsoft DependencyInjection integration for ConsoleAsksFor.

GitHub repositories

This package is not used by any popular GitHub repositories.

Version Downloads Last updated
4.1.0 99 11/15/2024
4.1.0-prerelease-2024111511... 72 11/15/2024
4.0.0 107 11/3/2024
3.1.0 546 12/27/2022
3.0.0 710 5/10/2022
2.0.0 440 12/31/2021
2.0.0-prerelease-2021123111... 218 12/31/2021
1.0.0 573 10/4/2021
1.0.0-prerelease-2021100310... 379 10/3/2021