ECC - EasyConsoleCommands Documentation

ECC is a simple, expandable command-based framework and command-parser for console applications that comes with some simple base-commands and allows creation of costum commands. It also has a basic scripting ability with permanent variables etc. Full Documentation is also available here.

Framework

1. Start ECC

To start ECC, make a instance of ECC and call .Start() on it. Now any user input will be interpreted by ECC. Example

//Make sure the using directive is there
using EasyConsoleCommands;

//Inside your code, make a new Instance and call .Start()
ECC yourInstance = new ECC();

yourInstance.Start();

2. Stopping ECC

Currently there isnt any integrated way to stop ECC from running without exiting the program, e.g. with the exit command. This is the case because ECC is intended to be used as the base-layer for the user interacting with the program.

3. Disabeling built-in commands

If you dont want your user to use a specific built-in command, e.g. to only make your costum commands available, the you can disable them. WORK IN PROGRESS! COMING SOON!

Components

1. Users

The user can interact with the system by entering commands into the console. These commands are always follow the same format. A full list of all registered commands (including your costum ones) is available with the help command.
Example

//Command with no variables, e.g. "help"
help

//Commands with variables, e.g. "color" (sets font color, takes valid ConsoleColor as parameter)
//Parameters are given behind a "-"
color-red

//Commands with multiple parameters, e.g. "alias" (sets alias for a command, takes current command name and new name as input)
//Multiple parameters are also seperated by "-" 
alias-color-changeFontColor

//Commands that take raw user input take it the same way as a parameter

2. Developers: Scripting

When using ECC in your framework you can also write simple scripts with it (An example script is in the Example.txt). It basically works by writting the commands that you would use in the console line by line in a .txt file and then executing it with the script command. Example

//This is your script in a .txt
print-Hello World
color-red
print-This is printed in red!
color-white
print-This is printed in white again!

//This will be the output
script-path/to/your/script.txt
Hello World
This is printed in red!
this is printed in white again!

Scripting can be usefull when you want to execute the same commands over and over again (e.g. to setup your enviroment with font color, variables etc.) or even to write small programs like a calculator or similar.

3. Developers: Creating a costum command

To create a costum command you need to make a class that inherites from the Interface ICommand provided by ECC. The Interface has the following structure:

    class CommandExample : ICommand
    {
        //This is the keyword for your command
        public string Name => "example"; 

        //This should explain your command briefly and mention all the needed parameters
        public string HelpText => "It's just an example."; 

        //This list should contain all the needed parameters as StringInfo, IntInfo or BoolInfo (Types provided by ECC). Here it takes two strings as parameters.
        public List<Type> ParameterTypes => new List<Type> (typeof(IntInfo), typeof(intInfo)); 

        //The Execute function contains the logic for your command
        //Set List<VariableInfo> as a parameter, to include your parameters
        public void Execute(List<VariableInfo> inputParameters)
        {
            //To use a parameter, get it from the list. The first variable is Position 0, the second one is 1 and so on...
            IntInfo firstParameter = inputParameters[0] as IntInfo;
            IntInfo secondParameter = inputParameters[1] as IntInfo;

            //Use it as (your variable name)firstparameter.Value to get the int value
            int aNewNumber = firstParameter.Value + secondParameter.Value
            
            Console.WriteLine("Your new number is: " + aNewNumber);
        }
    }

Then, after creating your command class, register it with the framework.

Commands.Add(new CommandExample());

To interact with the framework or pass any objects, write a constructor for our command class that takes the object and pass it with the registration.

//In your command class, put it into a constructor
    class CommandExample : ICommand
    {
        public string Name => "example"; 

        public string HelpText => "It's just an example."; 

        public List<Type> ParameterTypes => new List<Type> (typeof(IntInfo), typeof(intInfo)); 

        private HttpClient client;

        public CommandJokeExample()
        {
            client = new HttpClient();
        }

        public void Execute(List<VariableInfo> inputParameters)
        {
            //Do something with it...
        }
    }

//At the registration pass the object
HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
Commands.Add(new CommandExample(client));

Credits

Idea, Design and Programming Mocbuilder (Mocbuilder Coding Creations) aka Me

Base-Code of the "hacker"-command CollegeCode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWceJNkxbdU)

Special Thanks to rmoc81 for helping me with the programming.

If you want to use this in any public way, a little credit would be appreciated.