4 // Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS)
5 // Competence Center NETwork research (NET), St. Augustin, GERMANY
6 // Stefan Bund <g0dil@berlios.de>
8 // This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
9 // it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
10 // the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
11 // (at your option) any later version.
13 // This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
14 // but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
15 // MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
16 // GNU General Public License for more details.
18 // You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
19 // along with this program; if not, write to the
20 // Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
21 // 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
23 /** \mainpage The Configuration and Runtime Control Library
25 The Console library implements a runtime interactive (network) console which allows to
26 configure, control and manipulate a running application in any way. Additionally this library
27 provides support for configuration files and command line parsing which can be used with or
28 without the network console.
33 \section console_intro Introduction
35 There are three parts to the Config/console library:
37 The Config/Console library is built around several components
39 \li The \link node_tree Node tree\endlink represents all configuration options and commands
40 organized in a filesystem like structure.
41 \li \link console_commands Actions\endlink are added to the node tree in the form of command
43 \li There exist several interfaces to \link console_access access\endlink entries in the node
44 tree: interactive console, reading configuration files etc.
46 The node tree works like a directory structure. Commands are entered into this directory
47 structure and can be called passing arbitrary arguments. Configuration parameters are just
48 commands which set their respective parameter, however the library allows commands to do much
52 \section console_example Example
54 The following example shows a \e very short summary on how to integrate the config/console
55 library. See above links for more:
58 #include <senf/Console.hh>
60 // Define callback function.
61 void mycommand(std::ostream & os, int foo, int bar)
64 os << "!! Important message ...\n";
67 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
69 int main(int argc, char** argv)
71 // Provide global documentation
73 .doc("This is someServer server");
77 .add("mycommand", &mycommand)
78 .doc("If <bar> is given, flurgle the <foo>, otherwise burgle it")
80 .arg(kw::name = "bar", kw::default_value = 0);
82 // Parse command line parameters
83 senf::console::parseOptions(argc,argv);
85 // Start the interactive console server
86 senf::console::Server::start(senf::INet4SocketAddress(senf::INet4Address::None, 23232u))
90 senf::Scheduler::instance().process();
94 after this registration, we can call the command from the command-line using
97 $ someServer --mycommand="1 2"
100 the console can be accessed easily via telnet:
103 $ telnet localhost 23232
105 Connected to localhost.
106 Escape character is '^]'
107 xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx.xxxxxx-0000 [NOTICE][senf::console::Server] Registered new client 0xxxxxxx
110 someServer:/# mycommand
111 !! Important message ...
113 xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx.xxxxxx-0000 [NOTICE][senf::console::Server] Disposing client 0xxxxxxx
114 Connection closed by foreign host.
118 \see \ref console_testserver for a complete example application
121 \section intro_usage Access
123 There are several ways to access the node tree:
124 \li By parsing configuration files
125 \li By parsing command line parameters
126 \li By providing interactive console access
131 \section intro_nodes The node tree
133 The basic idea is, that the console/config library manages a directory structure of parameters
134 and auxiliary commands. Parameters are just commands which set a parameter value so everything
135 is either a directory entry (senf::console::DirectoryNode) or a command
136 (senf::console::CommandNode).
141 \section intro_commands Registering console/config commands
143 The console/config language does not define, how arguments are passed to the commands, it just
144 tokenizes the input and passes the tokens to the commands which then handle the
147 Since parsing the tokens into something usable is quite tedious and error prone, the library
148 implements automatic argument parsing where the argument tokens are automatically parsed
149 depending on argument types. This enables you to register a command taking an integer argument
150 which will be called with an already parsed integer value (or throw a
151 senf::console::SyntaxErrorException if the conversion fails). This will be the most often used
154 \see \ref console_commands
157 /** \defgroup console_access Accessing the Console/Config tree
159 The Console/Config library provides several ways to use the node tree to configure and control
165 \section console_access_config Configuration support
167 The configuration support of the Console/Config library revolves around the ConfigSource
168 concept. Each ConfigSource will somehow provide commands which will then be executed against the
171 To simplify the usage, there will always be three interfaces to a specific config source:
172 \li A constructor to build a bare config source which is then added to a
173 senf::console::ConfigBundle (see \ref console_access_multiple)
174 \li A class parsing and executing a single config source. The visible interface of this class is
175 a combination of the constructor and the senf::console::ConfigBundle interfaces.
176 \li A helper function which will do the complete parsing of a single source with default
179 When parsing these configuration sources, it is always possible to optionally change the root
180 node used during parsing and it is also possible to restrict parsing to a command subset. See
181 \ref console_access_partial.
184 \subsection console_access_file Configuration files
186 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
187 <tr><td><b>Constructor</b></td> <td>senf::console::FileConfig()</td></tr>
188 <tr><td><b>Class</b></td> <td>senf::console::ConfigFile</td></tr>
189 <tr><td><b>Helper</b></td> <td>senf::console::parseFile()</td></tr>
192 In it's simplest form, parsing a configuration file consists of calling
193 senf::console::parseFile() with the name of the respective config file as argument.
196 senf::console::parseFile("some.conf");
199 To get more flexible, instantiate a senf::console::ConfigFile instance at use that to parse the
203 senf::console::ConfigFile cf ("some.conf");
207 If the application supports other configuration sources besides a single configuration file
208 (like command line options) or if it supports multiple configuration files (e.g. a system-wide
209 and a user specific configuration file) see \ref console_access_multiple and add one (or more)
210 senf::console::FileConfig() source to a senf::console::ConfigBundle.
213 \subsubsection console_access_file_syntax Configuration file syntax
215 Configuration files are written in a simple configuration language. This language is almost
216 declarative (e.g. it does not have any control-flow statements) but is processed imperatively
217 from top to bottom. This is very simple and flexible.
219 Commands are referenced by their path in the node tree. To simplify working with deeply nested
220 directory structures, the current directory may be changed persistently or temporarily for some
225 /logger/targets/console {
226 accept senf::log::Debug IMPORTANT;
227 accept server::ServerLog CRITICAL;
231 \see \ref console_parser
234 \subsection console_access_options Command line options
236 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
237 <tr><td><b>Constructor</b></td> <td>senf::console::OptionsConfig()</td></tr>
238 <tr><td><b>Class</b></td> <td>senf::console::ProgramOptions</td></tr>
239 <tr><td><b>Helper</b></td> <td>senf::console::parseOptions()</td></tr>
242 Command line options can either be parsed by calling the senf::console::parseOptions() helper
245 senf::console::parseOptions(argc, argv)
248 or more flexibly by instantiating a senf::console::ProgramOptions class
251 std::vector<std::string> args;
252 senf::console::ProgramOptions opts (argc, argv);
255 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
256 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
260 This registeres two short options and accumulates all non-option arguments in \c args.
262 If the application supports other configuration sources besides the command line options (like
263 configuration files) see \ref console_access_multiple and add a senf::console::OptionsConfig()
264 source to a senf::console::ConfigBundle.
266 See \ref senf::console::ProgramOptions for the source specific additional parameters. These
267 apply to senf::console::ProgramOptions and to the senf::console::OptionsConfig() source.
270 \subsubsection console_access_options_syntax Options syntax
272 Command line options are primarily parsed as long-options. Long options start with '--'. Further
273 '-' characters serve as directory separators if required (that is, they are \e only interpreted
274 as directory separator is there is no entry in the current (sub-) directory matching more than a
275 single name component). This still allows using hyphens in node names.
277 Options can be abbreviated at each directory boundary: A command <tt>/foo/bar/do</tt> can be
278 called as <tt>--f-b-d</tt> as long as this name is unique.
280 Everything after the first '=' character is parsed into argument tokens using the normal
281 config/console parser. If the option has no '=' character, the list of argument tokens will be
284 <table style="font-size:80%" class="senf">
285 <tr><th>Command</th><th>File syntax</th><th>Option syntax</th></tr>
288 <td><tt>void doo()</tt></td>
289 <td><tt>/path/to/doo;</tt></td>
290 <td><tt>--path-to-doo</tt></td>
294 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &)</tt></td>
295 <td><tt>/path/to/doo john.doe@everywhere.org;</tt></td>
296 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="john.doe@everywhere.org"</tt></td>
300 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &)</tt></td>
301 <td><tt>/path/to/doo "some test";</tt></td>
302 <td><tt>--path-to-doo='"some text"'</tt></td>
306 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &, int)</tt></td>
307 <td><tt>/path/to/doo take 1;</tt></td>
308 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="take 1"</tt></td>
312 The last column is additionally quoted using standard \c sh quoting: quotes in arguments need to
313 be additionally quoted for the shell.
315 Short options are registered as aliases for long options. They can be registered with or without
316 an implied parameter and can optionally take a parameter. so after
320 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
321 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
327 $ program -C -c "4 5"
334 $ program --mycommand="2 3" --mycommand="4 5"
337 (Beware, that the second argument to \c alias() is \e not shell quoted).
340 \subsection console_access_root Changing the root node
342 When used in it's default state, parsing will always interpret all commands relative to the
343 senf::console::root() node and will parse a file completely.
345 The first possibility to control this is to change the root node. This is done by
346 \li passing that root node to the helper class or to the parse helper as an additional argument
347 (see the respective documentation).
348 \li passing it to the senf:;console::ConfigBundle constructor when parsing multiple sources.
353 senf::console::parseFile("/etc/myserver.conf", senf::console::root()['config']);
356 This functionality is even more powerful by combining it with \c link nodes: This allows to
357 selectively choose commands from the node tree which are to be made accessible for
358 configuration. See \ref node_tree.
361 \subsection console_access_partial Partial / incremental configuration
363 Another feature provided by senf::console::ConfigBundle and all helper classes is partial
367 // Create a console/config aware object and place it into the node tree
369 senf::console::add("foo", foo.dir);
371 // Open configuration file
372 senf::console::ConfigFile cf ("/etc/myserver.conf");
374 // Parse only commands in the configuration file which are in the foo.dir directory
379 // Anywhere later, parse the rest of the configuration file
383 This feature allows to parse parts of one or more configuration sources before the
384 console/config tree has been fully established. Partial parsing can be applied any number of
385 times to arbitrary nodes. Any command already parsed will be skipped automatically.
387 When combining partial parsing with \c chroot() and \c link's, it is important to realize, that
388 <em>partial parsing always applies to the \e real target and ignores links</em>. This is very
389 important: It allows a subsystem to parse it's configuration parameters irrespective of any
390 links pointing to nodes of that subsystem.
393 \subsection console_access_multiple Multiple sources
395 Most of the time, an application will utilize multiple configuration sources: A global
396 configuration file, maybe a user specific local configuration file, command line options ...
398 When parsing configuration commands, especially using partial / incremental parsing, all parse
399 commands should be applied to each configuration source in turn. This is the responsibility of
400 senf::console::ConfigBundle.
403 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<> config;
404 senf::console::root().add("config", config);
406 // Let's enable all logger commands for configuration
407 config.link("logger", senf::console::root()["logger"]);
409 // Create bundle and add sources
410 std::vector<std::string> args;
411 senf::console::ConfigBundle conf (senf::console::root()["config"]);
412 conf.add( senf::console::FileConfig("/etc/myserver.conf") );
413 conf.add( senf::console::FileConfig(".myserver.conf") );
414 conf.add( senf::console::OptionsConfig(senf::Daemon::instance().argc(),
415 senf::Daemon::instance().argv()) )
417 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
418 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
420 // Parse the logger subsystem commands in '/logger'
421 conf.parse(senf::console::root()['logger']);
425 // Parse all other configuration commands. All necessary commands and links in '/config' must by
426 // now have been created.
430 This example parses three configuration sources: Two configuration files and additional
431 parameters specified on the command line. All the configuration commands are placed into the
432 <tt>/config</tt> directory (directly or via links). The configuration sources are parsed in the
433 order they are specified, so in this case, the command line options will override any options
434 specified in one of the configuration files.
437 \section console_access_console The network console
439 To make the network console accessible, it must be initialized when the program is started:
441 #include <senf/Console.hh>
443 int main(int argc, char * argv [])
445 // Configure console nodes, add commands ...
447 // Start console server
448 senf::console::start(senf::INet4SocketAddress(12345u))
451 // You need to enter the scheduler main-loop for the server to work
452 senf::Scheduler::instance().process();
454 // Alternatively enter the main-loop via the PPI
459 This will start the server on IPv4 port 12345. The servers name (as displayed in the interactive
460 console prompt) is set to 'myserver'.
462 After launching the application, the server can be accessed at the given port:
465 bash$ telnet localhost 12345
467 Connected to localhost.
468 Escape character is '^]'.
471 Connection closed by foreign host.
476 It is possible to start multiple server consoles by calling \c start() multiple times with
477 different ports/addresses. Each server can be configured separately (e.g. root node, mode ...).q
480 \subsection console_serverclient Server and Client objects
482 The senf::console::Server and senf::console::Client objects offer further API calls. To access
483 the server instance you need to store away the senf::console::Server reference returned when
484 starting the server so you can later refer to it:
486 int main(int, char**)
488 senf::console::Server & server ( senf::console::start( ... ) );
496 The client instance can be accessed via the \c std::ostream arg of any command callback
498 void someCallback(std::ostream & os, ... )
500 senf::console::Client & client (senf::console::Client::get(os));
502 // Use the client's log target
503 client.route<senf::log::Debug, senf::Log::IMPORTANT>();
508 senf::console::Server for the Server API \n
509 <a href="classsenf_1_1console_1_1Client-members.html">senf::console::Client / List of all
510 members</a> for the Client API
513 \subsection console_shell The interactive console shell
515 The interactive shell will use the GNU readline library for the first connected
516 instance. Further users will not have access to this functionality since GNU readline is
517 completely non-reentrant. GNU readline supports history and some command keys (like C-d for \c
518 exit or C-c to clear and restart the input).
520 The shell supports auto-cd and auto-completion: If you enter the name of a directory at the
521 prompt, the console will change to that directory. With auto-completion, any unique beginning of
522 a path component will be completed automatically and transparently to the corresponding full
526 \subsection console_noninteractive Non-interactive network console
528 After a new connection is established, the console server waits a short time for data to arrive.
529 arrive. Only if nothing happens in the first 500ms, readline is initialized (if available) and
530 the interactive prompt is displayed.
532 By sending data immediately after opening the connection, the console is switched into
533 non-interactive mode. In this mode, no prompt is displayed. In this mode, commands are \e not
534 terminated automatically by end-of-line (CR). This allows, to easily cat an arbitrary
535 configuration file into the network console using netcat:
538 $ nc -q1 localhost 23232 < some.conf
541 The argument <tt>-q1</tt> makes netcat close the sending end of the connection on EOF and wait
542 up to 1 second for the console to terminate. Even better, use \c netcat6, which has full TCP
546 $ echo "ls" | nc6 --half-close localhost 23232 2>/dev/null
553 Commands are executed as soon as the terminating character (';', '{' or '}') is received or when
554 the sending end of the connection is closed.
557 /** \defgroup console_commands Supported command types
559 The Console/config library supports quite a number of different command types. All these types
560 of command are registered, by passing them to DirectoryNode::add()
565 \section console_cmdadd Adding commands and setting attributes
567 Basically, all commands are added using senf::console::DirectoryNode::add(). What exactly
568 happens depends on the type of object added.
570 dir.add("name", callback)
572 will add a command 'name' which will execute 'callback' when called, where 'callback' can be a
573 lot of things as documented in the following chapters.
575 The add call always returns (something which can be used as) a reference to the command node
578 senf::console::CommandNode & node ( dir.add( ... ) );
581 Depending on the object added, you can also bind to a more specific node type
582 (e.g. senf::console::SimpleCommand) if you know the type of node returned.
584 Depending on the type of object added, there are additional attributes which can be set. These
585 attributes are always set by calling them on the return value <b>before saving that value as a
586 node reference</b>. It is \e not guaranteed, you can call these members on the node
589 dir.add("name", callback)
590 .doc("The documentation");
592 sets the \e doc attribute (if that is available, otherwise this will fail to compile). The
593 attribute members return value is again (something which can be used as) a reference to the
596 senf::console::CommandNode & node (
597 dir.add("name", callback)
598 .doc("The documentation") );
602 \section console_manualparse Manually parsing command arguments
604 This is the most primitive type of command. It will be called with an output stream and with a
605 senf::console::ParseCommandInfo reference which holds information about the command parsed.
607 From this information the command callback gets a list of arguments or tokens which then can be
608 interpreted in an arbitrary way.
610 void fun1(std::ostream & os, senf::console::ParseCommandInfo const & command)
612 // Here we declare variables for the arguments
616 // We parse the arguments using the CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper. This wrapper
617 // will throw a SyntaxErrorException if we access a nonexistent argument or if we
618 // do not parse all arguments.
619 senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper args (command.arguments());
621 senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::TokensRange argTokens ( *(args++) );
622 if (arg1Tokens.size() != 1)
623 raise senf::console::SyntaxErrorException("argument syntax error");
624 value = arg1Tokens[0];
627 os << value << std::endl;
631 Registering this callback is done by simply adding it. To provide online help, pass it to
634 senf::console::root()
639 "Echo 'arg' to the console");
642 The callback may now be called interactively on the console by it's registered name:
646 invalid number of arguments
647 server:/$ test1 stefan@j32.de
649 server:/$ test1 (echo me)
650 argument syntax error
655 Echo 'arg' to the console
660 As you can see above, the arguments and tokens are returned as <a
661 href="http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_33_1/libs/range/doc/utility_class.html#iter_range">
662 boost::iterator_range</a> instances. These behave much like containers: They have \c begin() and
663 \c end() and some other useful members.
665 The parser will have divided the argument tokens into arguments already. This simplifies further
666 parsing. If however you want to access the list of argument tokens as a single list, you can do
667 so using senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::tokens().
669 Parsing arguments is quite simple but can get very tedious. To simplify this task, the parsing
670 can be delegated to the Console/config library. See the next section.
672 This type of command has only a single attribute, \e doc to set the commands documentation.
675 \section console_autoparse Automatic argument parsing
677 To greatly simplify parsing complex commands, we turn to automatic argument parsing.
680 \subsection console_autoadd Adding
682 Automatically parsed commands are registered by just adding a callback which has the correct
683 arguments and return-value defined:
685 std::string fun2(std::string const & arg)
691 This extremely simple callback may be registered by adding it to a senf::console::DirectoryNode.
693 senf::console::root()
694 .add("test2", &fun2);
696 The functionality is now identical to \c test1:
700 invalid number of arguments
701 server:/$ test2 stefan@j32.de
703 server:/$ test2 (echo me)
704 argument syntax error
713 \subsection command_ostream Accessing the console stream
715 Commands may have an optional first argument of type <tt>std::ostream &</tt>. This argument is
716 not considered part of the real interface. When the command is executed, the callback will be
717 passed the current consoles output stream object in this argument. With this, the callback can
718 output arbitrary messages to the network console.
720 void fun3(std::ostream & os, unsigned n, std::string text)
722 while (n-- > 0) os << text << std::endl;
725 senf::console::root()
726 .add("test3", &fun3);
729 This simple command can now be used thus:
733 invalid number of arguments
734 server:/$ test3 stefan@j32.de
735 invalid number of arguments
741 test3 arg11:int arg12:string
747 \subsection command_overload Overloading
749 Automatically parsed commands can be overloaded: You can register multiple commands under the
750 same name. Each overload is tried in turn until no SyntaxErrorException is raised.
752 senf::console::root()
753 .add("test4", &fun3);
754 senf::console::root()
755 .add("test4", &fun2);
757 And now, we can call \c test4 with one or two args:
760 invalid number of arguments
761 server:/$ test4 stefan@j32.de
768 1- test4 arg11:int arg12:string
769 2- test4 arg21:string
773 One note: When taking the address of an overloaded function (member or non-member), the C++
774 language forces you to cast that address to one of the possible types so the compiler knows,
775 which overload is requested. So to add a function which is overloaded in C++, each overload
776 needs to be added explicitly, casting to the correct type:
781 senf::console::root()
782 .add("over", static_cast<void (*)(int)>(&over));
783 senf::console::root()
784 .add("over", static_cast<void (*)(int,int)>(&over));
788 \subsection console_attributes Attributes
790 As have seen so far, some documentation is automatically provided. We can add more info, by
791 setting additional attributes.
793 senf::console::root()
795 .doc("Echo text to the console")
796 .overloadDoc("Repeat {arg12} for {arg11} lines");
797 senf::console::root()
799 .overloadDoc("Echo the {arg21} argument")
802 This additional info is used to provide more documentation:
807 1- test5 arg11:int arg12:string
808 2- test5 arg21:string
810 Echo text to the console
813 Repeat {arg12} for {arg11} lines
816 Echo the {arg21} argument
822 \subsection console_argattributes Argument attributes
824 Additional attributes can be set for each parameter. They are all passed to the
825 senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor::arg() attribute.
828 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
830 senf::console::root()
832 .doc("Echo text to the console")
833 .overloadDoc("Repeat {text} for {n} lines");
834 .arg( kw::name = "n", kw::description="Number of repetitions" )
835 .arg( kw::name = "text", kw::description="Text to output" );
836 senf::console::root()
838 .overloadDoc("Echo the {text} argument")
839 .arg( kw::name = "text" );
842 (Sadly, there is no way to automatically find out the \e name of an argument, just it's type.)
843 Every callback argument corresponds with a call of the \c arg() attribute. Argument attributes
844 are set using keywords from the \ref senf::console::kw namespace. You will probably either use
845 this namespace via a namespace alias (as above) or via a <tt>using namespace
846 senf::console::kw</tt> declaration (but beware of name collisions).
848 You don't need to specify any information for an argument: To skip an argument, just call \c
849 arg() without attributes for this argument.
851 After adding this information, the online help is much more readable
856 1- test6 n:int text:string
860 n Number of repetitions
863 Echo text to the console
866 Repeat {text} for {n} lines
869 Echo the {text} argument
874 Since most of the time, we only need to set the name and possibly a description for arguments,
875 there is a shortcut: name and description can be specified as positional arguments in this
876 order. So the following will give the exactly same result as above:
878 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
880 senf::console::root()
882 .doc("Echo text to the console")
883 .overloadDoc("Repeat <text> for <n> lines");
884 .arg("n", "Number of repetitions")
885 .arg("text", "Text to output");
886 senf::console::root()
888 .overloadDoc("Echo the <text> argument")
892 Keyword arguments should always be used if additional attributes are set. You can however mix
893 positional and keyword arguments.
896 \subsection console_defaults Default values
898 Another information which can not be automatically gathered from the type system is default
899 values. These have to be declared explicitly:
901 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
903 senf::console::root()
905 .doc("Echo {text} to the console, repeating {text} for {n} lines")
906 .arg("n", "Number of repetitions", kw::default_value=1)
907 .arg("text", "Text to output");
910 Default values can be used together with overloading. Default (optional) value support is quite
911 flexible, it is not mandatory, for default values to be specified only for the trailing
912 arguments. For the exact definition, how parsed argument values are assigned to overload
913 arguments in the presence of default values, see \ref senf::console::kw::default_value.
926 test4 [n:unsigned] text:string
929 n Number of repetitions
933 Echo {text} to the console, repeating {text} for {n} lines
939 \subsection console_boostfn Non-function-pointer commands
941 It is possible to add other callable objects besides function (and member-function)
942 pointers. However, since it is not possible to automatically deduce the argument and return
943 types in this case, the callables have to be wrapped in a \c boost::function object:
946 senf::console::root()
948 boost::function<void (std::ostream &, std::string const &)>(
949 boost::bind(&fun3, _1, 4u, _2)));
952 This works with any callable object where argument types cannot be deduced automatically:
953 Boost.Bind expressions, Boost.Lambda expressions, functors and so on.
970 \subsection console_attr_summary Attribute summary
972 Here a summary of the most common attributes
974 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
976 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributorBase::doc() .doc\endlink
977 ( \e doc )</td><td>Set documentation for all overloads</td></tr>
979 <tr><td>\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributorBase::overloadDoc()
980 .overloadDoc\endlink ( \e doc )</td><td>Set documentation for a specific overload</td></tr>
982 <tr><td>\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor::arg() .arg\endlink ( \e argument \e
983 attributes )</td><td>Set argument attributes (see below)</td></tr>
987 The most important argument attributes (all defined in the senf::console::kw namespace) are:
989 <table class="senf fixed width">
991 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::kw::name kw::name\endlink</td><td>Parameter
994 <tr><td>\link senf::console::kw::description kw::description\endlink</td><td>One-line
995 description of the argument</td></tr>
997 <tr><td>\link senf::console::kw::default_value kw::default_value\endlink</td><td>Arguments
998 default value</td></tr>
1003 href="classsenf_1_1console_1_1ParsedArgumentAttributor-members.html">senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor
1004 / List of all members</a> for the complete attribute interface \n
1005 \ref senf::console::kw for a list of all argument attribute keywords
1008 \section console_memberfn Member functions
1010 Non-static member functions are supported like non-member functions (static member functions are
1011 identical to non-members). They must however be added through a senf::console::ScopedDirectory
1012 instance to bind them to their instance.
1017 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test1> dir;
1019 Test1(std::string label) : dir(this), label_ (label)
1020 { dir.add("test", &Test::test1);
1021 dir.add("test", &Test::test2); }
1023 std::string test1(std::string const & text)
1024 { return label_ + ": " + text; }
1026 void test2(std::ostream & os, unsigned n, std::string const & text)
1027 { while (n-- > 0) os << label << ": " << text << std::endl; }
1035 Test1 test1ob ("test");
1036 senf::console::root().add("test1ob", test1ob.dir);
1039 Binding via senf::console::ScopedDirectory ensures, that the commands are automatically removed
1040 from the tree when the object is destroyed.
1043 \section console_variables Variables
1045 \subsection console_varadd Adding
1047 The console/config library supports the direct registration of variables as commands. A
1048 variable command consists of two overloads, one to query the current value and one to change the
1054 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test2> dir;
1056 Test2() : dir(this), var_(0)
1057 { dir.add("var", var_); }
1064 senf::console::root().add("test2ob", test2ob.dir);
1066 This shows the most common scenario: A member variable is added to a ScopedDirectory of the same
1067 class. This ensures, that the variable command node is removed from the tree when the instance
1068 (and thereby the variable) are destroyed. The variable can now be used like any other command:
1071 server:/$ test2ob/var
1073 server:/$ test2ob/var 10
1074 server:/$ test2ob/var
1076 server:/$ help test2ob
1078 1- var new_value:int
1085 \subsection console_varro Read-only variables
1087 The library also supports read-only variables. To make a variable read-only, just wrap it in \c
1088 boost::cref() (where \c cref stands for \c const reference)
1092 senf::console::root().add("var1", boost::cref(var));
1094 A read-only variable only has a single overload:
1107 \subsection console_varattr Attributes
1109 The most important Variable command attributes are
1111 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
1113 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::VariableAttributor::doc() .doc\endlink
1114 ( \e doc )</td><td>Set variable documentation</td></tr>
1116 <tr><td>\link senf::console::VariableAttributor::onChange() .onChange\endlink
1117 ( \e handler )</td><td>Set change handler</td></tr>
1121 \see senf::console::VariableAttributor for the complete attribute interface
1124 \subsection console_varchange Change notification
1126 A \e handler can be set to be called, whenever the variable is changed. It will be called with a
1127 reference to the old value. The handler is called, after the value has been changed
1132 // Since this is int, it would make sense to declare the argument pass-by-value (int old)
1133 // but for more complex args, use a const & here
1134 void varChanged(int const & old)
1139 senf::console::root().add("var2",var)
1140 .onChange(&varChanged);
1143 After this setup, \c varChanged will be called, whenever the value has changed.
1146 \section console_args Special argument types
1148 By default, argument types which can be read and written using \c iostreams are automatically
1149 supported. Other types need to be registered explicitly
1152 \subsection console_args_bool Boolean arguments and return values
1154 The console library by default formats boolean values using the strings \c true and \c false for
1155 their representation. When parsing a boolean value, most sensible representations will be
1158 <table class="senf">
1159 <tr><td>\c true</td> <td>\c false</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatTrueFalse</td></tr>
1160 <tr><td>\c on</td> <td>\c off</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatOnOff</td></tr>
1161 <tr><td>\c enabled</td> <td>\c disabled</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatEnabledDisabled</td></tr>
1162 <tr><td>\c yes</td> <td>\c no</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatYesNo</td></tr>
1163 <tr><td><em>non-zero integer</em></td><td>\c 0</td><td>\ref senf::console::formatOneZero</td></tr>
1166 The boolean parser will accept these values in any (mixed) case and accepts any unique initial
1167 substring (e.g. \c Y / \c N).
1169 The last column lists explicit formatters which can be set to customize the return value
1170 formatting of a registered overload accordingly.
1173 \subsection console_args_enum Registering enum types
1175 Enum types are a special case, since it is not possible, to find a string representation for the
1176 enumerator values automatically. Therefore, enum types need to be registered manually.
1178 enum MyEnum { Sit, Run, Jump };
1179 SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM( MyEnum, (Sit)(Run)(Jump) );
1181 MyEnum fun4(MyEnum v) { return v }
1183 senf::console::root()
1184 .add("test9", &fun4);
1187 After an enum type is registered, it can be used like any other type for arguments or
1194 server:/$ test9 Crawl
1195 argument syntax error: invalid enum value
1196 server:/$ help test9
1203 \ref SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM() can only be used, to register enums at namespace scope. To
1204 register enums defined within some class, use \ref SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM_MEMBER()
1210 enum Color { Red, Green, Blue };
1212 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<MyClass> dir;
1216 Color mem3(Color c) { return c }
1218 SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM_MEMBER( Test3, Color, (Red)(Green)(Blue) );
1220 Test3::Test3() : dir(this)
1221 { dir.add("test", &MyClass::mem3); }
1224 senf::console::root().add("test3ob", test3ob.dir);
1227 Using this command/type is identical
1230 server:/$ test3ob/test Red
1232 server:/$ test3ob/test White
1233 argument syntax error: invalid enum value
1234 server:/$ help test3ob/test
1241 \subsection console_args_custom Extending the library to support additional types
1243 To support or customize parsing/formatting of other types, they need to be registered. In it's
1244 simplest case, this works, by just providing an appropriate overload for
1245 senf_console_parse_argument() and senf_console_format_value():
1249 Coordinate() : x(0), y(0) {}
1250 Coordinate(int x_, int y_) : x(x_), y(y_) {}
1255 void senf_console_parse_argument(senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::TokensRange const & tokens,
1258 senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper arg (tokens);
1259 senf::console::parse( *(arg++), out.x );
1260 senf::console::parse( *(arg++), out.y );
1263 void senf_console_format_value(Coordinate const & value, std::ostream & os)
1265 os << '(' << value.x << ' ' << value.y << ')';
1269 The parser will accept an argument with two tokens which are each forwarded to the integer
1270 parser. The senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper ensures two things: That all input
1271 tokens are parsed and no extra trailing tokens are left unparsed and it checks, that all
1272 referenced tokens really exist.
1274 The formatter writes out the value as a parenthesized pair.
1277 Coordinate fun5(Coordinate const & p) { return Coordinate(2*p.x, 2*p.y) }
1279 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
1281 senf::console::root()
1282 .add("test10", &fun5)
1283 .arg("x","coordinate to double",
1284 kw::default_value = Coordinate())
1286 We can now call \c test10 with a coordinate argument:
1289 server:/$ test10 (2 7)
1291 server:/$ help test10
1293 test10 [x:Coordinate]
1296 x Coordinate to double
1302 If you want to customize the formatting of default values differently from the formating of
1303 return-values or if you want to change the displayed name of a type, you will need to specialize
1304 the senf::console::ArgumentTraits class instead of implementing
1305 senf_console_parse_argument(). See senf::console::ArgumentTraits and
1306 senf::console::ReturnValueTraits for more.
1313 // comment-column: 40
1314 // c-file-style: "senf"
1315 // indent-tabs-mode: nil
1316 // ispell-local-dictionary: "american"
1317 // compile-command: "scons -u test"