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;
68 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
70 int main(int argc, char** argv)
72 // Provide global documentation
74 .doc("This is someServer server");
77 senf::console::root().add("mycommand", fty::Command(&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::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 Using the Console: Configuration files, Network console
122 \seechapter \ref console_access
124 There are several ways to access the node tree:
125 \li By parsing configuration files
126 \li By parsing command line parameters
127 \li By providing interactive or non-interactive network console access
130 \section intro_nodes The node tree
131 \seechapter \ref 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).
139 \section intro_commands Implementing console/config commands
140 \seechapter \ref console_commands
142 The console/config language does not define, how arguments are passed to the commands, it just
143 tokenizes the input and passes the tokens to the commands which then handle the
146 Since parsing the tokens into something usable is quite tedious and error prone, the library
147 implements automatic argument parsing where the argument tokens are automatically parsed
148 depending on argument types. This enables you to register a command taking an integer argument
149 which will be called with an already parsed integer value (or throw a
150 senf::console::SyntaxErrorException if the conversion fails). This will be the most often used
154 /** \defgroup console_access Accessing the Console/Config tree
156 The Console/Config library provides several ways to use the node tree to configure and control
162 \section console_access_config Configuration support
164 The configuration support of the Console/Config library revolves around the ConfigSource
165 concept. Each ConfigSource will somehow provide commands which will then be executed against the
168 To simplify the usage, there will always be three interfaces to a specific config source:
169 \li A constructor to build a bare config source which is then added to a
170 senf::console::ConfigBundle (see \ref console_access_multiple)
171 \li A class parsing and executing a single config source. The visible interface of this class is
172 a combination of the constructor and the senf::console::ConfigBundle interfaces.
173 \li A helper function which will do the complete parsing of a single source with default
176 When parsing these configuration sources, it is always possible to optionally change the root
177 node used during parsing and it is also possible to restrict parsing to a command subset. See
178 \ref console_access_partial.
181 \subsection console_access_file Configuration files
183 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
184 <tr><td><b>Constructor</b></td> <td>senf::console::FileConfig()</td></tr>
185 <tr><td><b>Class</b></td> <td>senf::console::ConfigFile</td></tr>
186 <tr><td><b>Helper</b></td> <td>senf::console::parseFile()</td></tr>
189 In it's simplest form, parsing a configuration file consists of calling
190 senf::console::parseFile() with the name of the respective config file as argument.
193 senf::console::parseFile("some.conf");
196 To get more flexible, instantiate a senf::console::ConfigFile instance at use that to parse the
200 senf::console::ConfigFile cf ("some.conf");
201 // The following line is optional: Call to ignore mussing files
206 If the application supports other configuration sources besides a single configuration file
207 (like command line options) or if it supports multiple configuration files (e.g. a system-wide
208 and a user specific configuration file) see \ref console_access_multiple and add one (or more)
209 senf::console::FileConfig() source to a senf::console::ConfigBundle.
212 \subsubsection console_access_file_syntax Configuration file syntax
214 Configuration files are written in a simple configuration language. This language is almost
215 declarative (e.g. it does not have any control-flow statements) but is processed imperatively
216 from top to bottom. This is very simple and flexible.
218 Commands are referenced by their path in the node tree. To simplify working with deeply nested
219 directory structures, the current directory may be changed persistently or temporarily for some
224 /logger/targets/console {
225 accept senf::log::Debug IMPORTANT;
226 accept server::ServerLog CRITICAL;
230 \see \ref console_parser
233 \subsection console_access_options Command line options
235 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
236 <tr><td><b>Constructor</b></td> <td>senf::console::OptionsConfig()</td></tr>
237 <tr><td><b>Class</b></td> <td>senf::console::ProgramOptions</td></tr>
238 <tr><td><b>Helper</b></td> <td>senf::console::parseOptions()</td></tr>
241 Command line options can either be parsed by calling the senf::console::parseOptions() helper
244 senf::console::parseOptions(argc, argv)
247 or more flexibly by instantiating a senf::console::ProgramOptions class
250 std::vector<std::string> args;
251 senf::console::ProgramOptions opts (argc, argv);
254 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
255 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
259 This registeres two short options and accumulates all non-option arguments in \c args.
261 If the application supports other configuration sources besides the command line options (like
262 configuration files) see \ref console_access_multiple and add a senf::console::OptionsConfig()
263 source to a senf::console::ConfigBundle.
265 See \ref senf::console::ProgramOptions for the source specific additional parameters. These
266 apply to senf::console::ProgramOptions and to the senf::console::OptionsConfig() source.
269 \subsubsection console_access_options_syntax Options syntax
271 Command line options are primarily parsed as long-options. Long options start with '--'. Further
272 '-' characters serve as directory separators if required (that is, they are \e only interpreted
273 as directory separator is there is no entry in the current (sub-) directory matching more than a
274 single name component). This still allows using hyphens in node names.
276 Options can be abbreviated at each directory boundary: A command <tt>/foo/bar/do</tt> can be
277 called as <tt>--f-b-d</tt> as long as this name is unique.
279 Everything after the first '=' character is passed as arguments to the command. The exact
280 interpretation depends on the command:
281 \li If the command only takes a single token as argument (e.g. a single string or numeric
282 value), everything after the '=' sign is parsed into a single token (e.g. see rows 2 and 3
283 of the following table).
284 \li In all other cases, the string after the '=' sign is parsed into argument tokens using the
285 config/console parser. In this case, quoted strings need to be quoted twice, once for the
286 shell and once for the config/console parser (e.g. see rows 4 and 5 of the following table).
287 \li If the option has no '=' character, the list of argument tokens will be empty (e.g. see row
288 1 of the following table)
290 Without these rules, multi-word string arguments would \e always have to be quoted twice (for
291 the shell and the config/console parser).
293 <table style="font-size:80%" class="senf">
294 <tr><th>Command</th><th>File syntax</th><th>Option syntax</th></tr>
297 <td><tt>void doo()</tt></td>
298 <td><tt>/path/to/doo;</tt></td>
299 <td><tt>--path-to-doo</tt></td>
303 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &)</tt></td>
304 <td><tt>/path/to/doo john.doe@everywhere.org;</tt></td>
305 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="john.doe@everywhere.org"</tt></td>
309 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &)</tt></td>
310 <td><tt>/path/to/doo "some text";</tt></td>
311 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="some text"</tt></td>
315 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &, int)</tt></td>
316 <td><tt>/path/to/doo take 1;</tt></td>
317 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="take 1"</tt></td>
321 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &, int)</tt></td>
322 <td><tt>/path/to/doo "take two" 1;</tt></td>
323 <td><tt>--path-to-doo='"take two" 1'</tt></td>
327 Short options are registered as aliases for long options. They can be registered with or without
328 an implied parameter and can optionally take a parameter. so after
332 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
333 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
339 $ program -C -c "4 5"
346 $ program --mycommand="2 3" --mycommand="4 5"
349 (Beware, that the second argument to \c alias() must \e not be shell quoted).
352 \subsection console_access_root Changing the root node
354 When used in it's default state, parsing will always interpret all commands relative to the
355 senf::console::root() node and will parse a file completely.
357 The first possibility to control this is to change the root node. This is done by
358 \li passing that root node to the helper class or to the parse helper as an additional argument
359 (see the respective documentation).
360 \li passing it to the senf::console::ConfigBundle constructor when parsing multiple sources.
365 senf::console::parseFile("/etc/myserver.conf", senf::console::root()['config']);
368 This functionality is even more powerful by combining it with \c link nodes: This allows to
369 selectively choose commands from the node tree which are to be made accessible for
370 configuration. See \ref node_tree.
373 \subsection console_access_partial Partial / incremental configuration
375 Another feature provided by senf::console::ConfigBundle and all helper classes is partial
379 // Create a console/config aware object and place it (that is it's directory node) into the node
382 senf::console::root().add("foo", foo.dir);
384 // Open configuration file
385 senf::console::ConfigFile cf ("/etc/myserver.conf");
387 // Parse only commands in the configuration file which are in the foo.dir directory
392 // Anywhere later, parse the rest of the configuration file
396 This feature allows to parse parts of one or more configuration sources before the
397 console/config tree has been fully established. Partial parsing can be applied any number of
398 times to arbitrary nodes. Any command already parsed will be skipped automatically.
400 When combining partial parsing with \c chroot() and \c link's, it is important to realize, that
401 <em>partial parsing always applies to the \e real target and ignores links</em>. This is very
402 important: It allows a subsystem to parse it's configuration parameters irrespective of any
403 links pointing to nodes of that subsystem.
406 \subsection console_access_multiple Multiple sources
408 Most of the time, an application will utilize multiple configuration sources: A global
409 configuration file, maybe a user specific local configuration file, command line options ...
411 When parsing configuration commands, especially using partial / incremental parsing, all parse
412 commands should be applied to each configuration source in turn. This is the responsibility of
413 senf::console::ConfigBundle.
416 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<> config;
417 senf::console::root().add("config", config);
419 // Let's enable all logger commands for configuration
420 config.link("logger", senf::console::root()["logger"]);
422 // Create bundle and add sources
423 std::vector<std::string> args;
424 senf::console::ConfigBundle conf (senf::console::root()["config"]);
425 conf.add( senf::console::FileConfig("/etc/myserver.conf") );
426 conf.add( senf::console::FileConfig(".myserver.conf")->ignoreMissing() );
427 conf.add( senf::console::OptionsConfig(senf::Daemon::instance().argc(),
428 senf::Daemon::instance().argv()) )
430 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
431 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
433 // Parse the logger subsystem commands in '/logger'
434 conf.parse(senf::console::root()['logger']);
438 // Parse all other configuration commands. All necessary commands and links in '/config' must by
439 // now have been created.
443 This example parses three configuration sources: Two configuration files and additional
444 parameters specified on the command line. All the configuration commands are placed into the
445 <tt>/config</tt> directory (directly or via links). The configuration sources are parsed in the
446 order they are specified, so in this case, the command line options will override any options
447 specified in one of the configuration files.
450 \section console_access_console The network console
452 To make the network console accessible, it must be initialized when the program is started:
454 #include <senf/Console.hh>
456 int main(int argc, char * argv [])
458 // Configure console nodes, add commands ...
460 // Start console server
461 senf::console::start(senf::INet4SocketAddress(12345u))
464 // You need to enter the scheduler main-loop for the server to work
465 senf::scheduler::process();
467 // Alternatively enter the main-loop via the PPI
472 This will start the server on IPv4 port 12345. The servers name (as displayed in the interactive
473 console prompt) is set to 'myserver'.
475 After launching the application, the server can be accessed at the given port:
478 bash$ telnet localhost 12345
480 Connected to localhost.
481 Escape character is '^]'.
484 Connection closed by foreign host.
489 It is possible to start multiple server consoles by calling \c start() multiple times with
490 different ports/addresses. Each server can be configured separately (e.g. root node, mode ...).q
493 \subsection console_serverclient Server and Client objects
495 The senf::console::Server and senf::console::Client objects offer further API calls. To access
496 the server instance you need to store away the senf::console::Server reference returned when
497 starting the server so you can later refer to it:
499 int main(int, char**)
501 senf::console::Server & server ( senf::console::start( ... ) );
509 The client instance can be accessed via the \c std::ostream arg of any command callback
511 void someCallback(std::ostream & os, ... )
513 senf::console::Client & client (senf::console::Client::get(os));
515 // Use the client's log target
516 client.route<senf::log::Debug, senf::Log::IMPORTANT>();
521 senf::console::Server for the Server API \n
522 <a href="classsenf_1_1console_1_1Client-members.html">senf::console::Client / List of all
523 members</a> for the Client API
526 \subsection console_shell The interactive console shell
528 The interactive shell implements a fully function line editor on capable terminals. This support
529 is available when using a full featured telnet client on a fully supported terminal (like vt100
532 The shell supports auto-cd and auto-completion: If you enter the name of a directory at the
533 prompt, the console will change to that directory. With auto-completion, any unique beginning of
534 a path component will be completed automatically and transparently to the corresponding full
538 \subsection console_noninteractive Non-interactive network console
540 After a new connection is established, the console server waits a short time for data to arrive.
541 Only if nothing happens in the first 500ms, an interactive session is initialized.
543 By sending data immediately after opening the connection, the console is switched into
544 non-interactive mode. In this mode, no prompt is displayed. In this mode, commands are \e not
545 terminated automatically by end-of-line (CR). This allows, to easily cat an arbitrary
546 configuration file into the network console using netcat:
549 $ nc -q1 localhost 23232 < some.conf
552 The argument <tt>-q1</tt> makes netcat close the sending end of the connection on EOF and wait
553 up to 1 second for the console to terminate. Even better, use \c netcat6, which has full TCP
557 $ echo "ls" | nc6 --half-close localhost 23232 2>/dev/null
564 Commands are executed as soon as the terminating character (';', '{' or '}') is received or when
565 the sending end of the connection is closed.
567 \section console_udp Non-interactive UDP console
569 The UDP console allows to script the console tree via UDP packets. Every UDP packet must be a
570 complete command (or sequence of commands). The combined reply of all these commands will be
571 returned in a single UDP packet. This reply can be disabled or directed to a different address.
573 To start a UDP server, just create an instance of the senf::console::UDPServer class
575 senf::console::UDPServer server (senf::INet4SocketAddress("127.0.0.1:23232"));
577 (Remember to enter the scheduler main-loop for processing)
579 Commands may then be sent to this UDP console e.g. using netcat
581 $ echo "cd sys; ls" | nc -uq0 localhost 23232 2>/dev/null
584 \see senf::console::UDPServer
587 /** \defgroup console_commands Supported command types
589 The Console/config library supports quite a number of different command types. All these types
590 of command are registered by passing an appropriate factory instance to DirectoryNode::add()
595 \section console_cmdadd Adding commands and setting attributes
597 Basically, all commands are added using senf::console::DirectoryNode::add().
599 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
600 dir.add("name", fty::Command(callback));
602 will add the command 'name' which will execute 'callback' when called.
604 The add call always returns (something which can be used as) a reference to the command node
607 senf::console::CommandNode & node ( dir.add( ... ) );
610 Depending on the object added, you can also bind to a more specific node type
611 (e.g. senf::console::SimpleCommand) if you know the type of node returned.
613 Depending on the type of object added, there are additional attributes which can be set. These
614 attributes are always set by calling them on the factory return value. It is \e not guaranteed,
615 you can call these members on the node reference returned by the \c add() call.
617 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
618 dir.add("name", fty::Command(callback)
619 .doc("The documentation") );
621 sets the \e doc attribute (if that is available, otherwise this will fail to compile).
624 \section console_manualparse Manually parsing command arguments
626 This is the most primitive type of command. It will be called with an output stream and with a
627 senf::console::ParseCommandInfo reference which holds information about the command parsed.
629 From this information the command callback gets a list of arguments or tokens which then can be
630 interpreted in an arbitrary way.
632 void fun1(std::ostream & os, senf::console::ParseCommandInfo const & command)
634 // Here we declare variables for the arguments
638 // We parse the arguments using the CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper. This wrapper
639 // will throw a SyntaxErrorException if we access a nonexistent argument or if we
640 // do not parse all arguments.
641 senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper args (command.arguments());
643 // Extract the first argument. This is again a token range.
644 senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::TokensRange arg1Tokens ( *(args++) );
645 if (arg1Tokens.size() != 1)
646 raise senf::console::SyntaxErrorException("argument syntax error");
647 value = arg1Tokens[0].value();
650 os << value << std::endl;
654 Registering this callback is done by simply adding it. To provide online help, pass it to
657 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
658 senf::console::root().add("test1", fty::Command(&fun1)
662 "Echo 'arg' to the console") );
665 The callback may now be called interactively on the console by it's registered name:
669 invalid number of arguments
670 server:/$ test1 stefan@j32.de
672 server:/$ test1 (echo me)
673 argument syntax error
678 Echo 'arg' to the console
683 As you can see above, the arguments and tokens are returned as <a
684 href="http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_33_1/libs/range/doc/utility_class.html#iter_range">
685 boost::iterator_range</a> instances. These behave much like containers: They have \c begin() and
686 \c end() and some other useful members.
688 The parser will have divided the argument tokens into arguments already. This simplifies further
689 parsing. If however you want to access the list of argument tokens as a single list, you can do
690 so using senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::tokens().
692 Parsing arguments is quite simple but can get very tedious. To simplify this task, the parsing
693 can be delegated to the Console/config library. See the next section.
695 This type of command has only a single attribute, \e doc to set the commands documentation.
698 \section console_autoparse Automatic argument parsing
700 To greatly simplify parsing complex commands, we turn to automatic argument parsing.
703 \subsection console_autoadd Adding
705 Automatically parsed commands are registered by just adding a callback which has the correct
706 arguments and return-value defined:
708 std::string fun2(std::string const & arg)
714 This extremely simple callback may be registered by adding it to a senf::console::DirectoryNode.
716 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
717 senf::console::root().add("test2", fty::Command(&fun2));
719 The functionality is now identical to \c test1:
723 invalid number of arguments
724 server:/$ test2 stefan@j32.de
726 server:/$ test2 (echo me)
727 argument syntax error
736 \subsection command_ostream Accessing the console stream
738 Commands may have an optional first argument of type <tt>std::ostream &</tt>. This argument is
739 not considered part of the real interface. When the command is executed, the callback will be
740 passed the current consoles output stream object in this argument. With this, the callback can
741 output arbitrary messages to the network console.
743 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
745 void fun3(std::ostream & os, unsigned n, std::string text)
747 while (n-- > 0) os << text << std::endl;
750 senf::console::root().add("test3", fty::Command(&fun3));
753 This simple command can now be used thus:
757 invalid number of arguments
758 server:/$ test3 stefan@j32.de
759 invalid number of arguments
765 test3 arg11:int arg12:string
771 \subsection command_overload Overloading
773 Automatically parsed commands can be overloaded: You can register multiple commands under the
774 same name. Each overload is tried in turn until no SyntaxErrorException is raised.
776 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
778 senf::console::root().add("test4", fty::Command(&fun3));
779 senf::console::root().add("test4", fty::Command(&fun2));
781 And now, we can call \c test4 with one or two args:
784 invalid number of arguments
785 server:/$ test4 stefan@j32.de
792 1- test4 arg11:int arg12:string
793 2- test4 arg21:string
797 One note: When taking the address of an overloaded function (member or non-member), the C++
798 language forces you to cast that address to one of the possible types so the compiler knows,
799 which overload is requested. So to add a function which is overloaded in C++, each overload
800 needs to be added explicitly, casting to the correct type. There are some macros in
801 Utils/membind.hh to simplify this:
804 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
809 senf::console::root().add("over", fty::Command(SENF_FNP(void, over, (int))));
810 senf::console::root().add("over", fty::Command(SENF_FNP(void, over, (int,int)));
813 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<SomeModule> dir;
815 unsigned int overlodedMethod() const {....};
816 void overlodedMethod(unsigned int) {....};
818 void addConsoleCommands() {
820 .add("overlodedMethod", fty::Command(
821 SENF_MEMBINDFNP(unsigned int, SomeModule, overlodedMethod, () const)));
823 .add("overlodedMethod", fty::Command(
824 SENF_MEMBINDFNP(unsigned int, SomeModule, overlodedMethod, (unsigned int))));
830 \subsection console_attributes Attributes
832 As have seen so far, some documentation is automatically provided. We can add more info, by
833 setting additional attributes.
835 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
837 senf::console::root().add("test5", fty::Command(&fun3)
838 .doc("Echo text to the console")
839 .overloadDoc("Repeat {arg12} for {arg11} lines") );
840 senf::console::root().add("test4", fty::Command(&fun2)
841 .overloadDoc("Echo the {arg21} argument") );
844 This additional info is used to provide more documentation:
849 1- test5 arg11:int arg12:string
850 2- test5 arg21:string
852 Echo text to the console
855 Repeat {arg12} for {arg11} lines
858 Echo the {arg21} argument
864 \subsection console_argattributes Argument attributes
866 Additional attributes can be set for each parameter. They are all passed to the
867 senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor::arg() attribute.
870 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
871 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
873 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun3)
874 .doc("Echo text to the console")
875 .overloadDoc("Repeat {text} for {n} lines");
876 .arg( kw::name = "n", kw::description="Number of repetitions" )
877 .arg( kw::name = "text", kw::description="Text to output" ) );
878 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun2)
879 .overloadDoc("Echo the {text} argument")
880 .arg( kw::name = "text" ) );
883 (Sadly, there is no way to automatically find out the \e name of an argument, just it's type.)
884 Every callback argument corresponds with a call of the \c arg() attribute. Argument attributes
885 are set using keywords from the \ref senf::console::kw namespace. You will probably either use
886 this namespace via a namespace alias (as above) or via a <tt>using namespace
887 senf::console::kw</tt> declaration (but beware of name collisions).
889 You don't need to specify any information for an argument: To skip an argument, just call \c
890 arg() without attributes for this argument.
892 After adding this information, the online help is much more readable
897 1- test6 n:int text:string
901 n Number of repetitions
904 Echo text to the console
907 Repeat {text} for {n} lines
910 Echo the {text} argument
915 Since most of the time, we only need to set the name and possibly a description for arguments,
916 there is a shortcut: name and description can be specified as positional arguments in this
917 order. So the following will give the exactly same result as above:
919 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
920 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
922 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun3)
923 .doc("Echo text to the console")
924 .overloadDoc("Repeat <text> for <n> lines");
925 .arg("n", "Number of repetitions")
926 .arg("text", "Text to output") );
927 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun2)
928 .overloadDoc("Echo the <text> argument") );
932 Keyword arguments should always be used if additional attributes are set. You can however mix
933 positional and keyword arguments.
936 \subsection console_defaults Default values
938 Another information which can not be automatically gathered from the type system is default
939 values. These have to be declared explicitly:
941 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
942 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
944 senf::console::root().add("test7", fty::Command(&fun3)
945 .doc("Echo {text} to the console, repeating {text} for {n} lines")
946 .arg("n", "Number of repetitions", kw::default_value=1)
947 .arg("text", "Text to output") );
950 Default values can be used together with overloading. Default (optional) value support is quite
951 flexible, it is not mandatory, for default values to be specified only for the trailing
952 arguments. For the exact definition, how parsed argument values are assigned to overload
953 arguments in the presence of default values, see \ref senf::console::kw::default_value.
966 test4 [n:unsigned] text:string
969 n Number of repetitions
973 Echo {text} to the console, repeating {text} for {n} lines
979 \subsection console_boostfn Non-function-pointer commands
981 It is possible to add other callable objects besides function (and member-function)
982 pointers. However, since it is not possible to automatically deduce the argument and return
983 types in this case, the signature has to be specified explicitly:
985 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
987 senf::console::root()
988 .add("test8",fty::Command<void (std::ostream &, std::string const &)>(
989 boost::bind(&fun3, _1, 4u, _2)));
992 This works with any callable object where argument types cannot be deduced automatically:
993 Boost.Bind expressions, Boost.Lambda expressions, functors and so on.
1002 server:/$ help test8
1010 \subsection console_attr_summary Attribute summary
1012 Here a summary of the most common attributes
1014 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
1016 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributorBase::doc() .doc\endlink
1017 ( \e doc )</td><td>Set documentation for all overloads</td></tr>
1019 <tr><td>\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributorBase::overloadDoc()
1020 .overloadDoc\endlink ( \e doc )</td><td>Set documentation for a specific overload</td></tr>
1022 <tr><td>\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor::arg() .arg\endlink ( \e argument \e
1023 attributes )</td><td>Set argument attributes (see below)</td></tr>
1027 The most important argument attributes (all defined in the senf::console::kw namespace) are:
1029 <table class="senf fixed width">
1031 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::kw::name kw::name\endlink</td><td>Parameter
1034 <tr><td>\link senf::console::kw::description kw::description\endlink</td><td>One-line
1035 description of the argument</td></tr>
1037 <tr><td>\link senf::console::kw::default_value kw::default_value\endlink</td><td>Arguments
1038 default value</td></tr>
1043 href="classsenf_1_1console_1_1ParsedArgumentAttributor-members.html">senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor
1044 / List of all members</a> for the complete attribute interface \n
1045 \ref senf::console::kw for a list of all argument attribute keywords
1048 \section console_memberfn Member functions
1050 Non-static member functions are supported like non-member functions (static member functions are
1051 identical to non-members). They must however be added through a senf::console::ScopedDirectory
1052 instance to bind them to their instance.
1054 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1059 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test1> dir;
1061 Test1(std::string label) : dir(this), label_ (label)
1062 { dir.add("test", fty::Command(&Test::test1, this));
1063 dir.add("test", fty::Command(&Test::test2, this)); }
1065 std::string test1(std::string const & text)
1066 { return label_ + ": " + text; }
1068 void test2(std::ostream & os, unsigned n, std::string const & text)
1069 { while (n-- > 0) os << label << ": " << text << std::endl; }
1077 Test1 test1ob ("test");
1078 senf::console::root().add("test1ob", test1ob.dir);
1081 Binding via senf::console::ScopedDirectory ensures, that the commands are automatically removed
1082 from the tree when the object is destroyed.
1085 \section console_variables Variables
1087 \subsection console_varadd Adding
1089 The console/config library supports the direct registration of variables as commands. A
1090 variable command consists of two overloads, one to query the current value and one to change the
1093 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1098 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test2> dir;
1100 Test2() : dir(this), var_(0)
1101 { dir.add("var", fty::Variable(var_) ); }
1108 senf::console::root().add("test2ob", test2ob.dir);
1110 This shows the most common scenario: A member variable is added to a ScopedDirectory of the same
1111 class. This ensures, that the variable command node is removed from the tree when the instance
1112 (and thereby the variable) are destroyed. The variable can now be used like any other command:
1115 server:/$ test2ob/var
1117 server:/$ test2ob/var 10
1118 server:/$ test2ob/var
1120 server:/$ help test2ob
1122 1- var new_value:int
1129 \subsection console_varro Read-only variables
1131 The library also supports read-only variables. To make a variable read-only, just wrap it in \c
1132 boost::cref() (where \c cref stands for \c const reference)
1134 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1138 senf::console::root().add("var1", fty::Variable(boost::cref(var)));
1140 A read-only variable only has a single overload:
1153 \subsection console_varattr Attributes
1155 The most important Variable command attributes are
1157 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
1159 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::VariableAttributor::doc() .doc\endlink
1160 ( \e doc )</td><td>Set variable documentation</td></tr>
1162 <tr><td>\link senf::console::VariableAttributor::onChange() .onChange\endlink
1163 ( \e handler )</td><td>Set change handler</td></tr>
1167 \see senf::console::VariableAttributor for the complete attribute interface
1170 \subsection console_varchange Change notification
1172 A \e handler can be set to be called, whenever the variable is changed. It will be called with a
1173 reference to the old value. The handler is called, after the value has been changed
1176 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1180 // Since this is int, it would make sense to declare the argument pass-by-value (int old)
1181 // but for more complex args, use a const & here
1182 void varChanged(int const & old)
1187 senf::console::root().add("var2", fty::Variable(var)
1188 .onChange(&varChanged) );
1191 After this setup, \c varChanged will be called, whenever the value has changed.
1194 \section console_args Console library supported types
1196 By default, types which can be read and written using \c iostreams are automatically supported.
1197 This includes all the C++ built-in types as well as user defined streamable types.
1199 An exception is made for all \c char types: These types are by default parsed as \e numeric
1200 values not single-character data. To interpret \c char values as single-char strings, use \ref
1201 senf::console::CharAsString.
1203 \subsection console_args_stl STL container support
1205 The %console library contains support for the STL container types: \c std::vector, \c
1206 std::list, \c std::set, \c std::multiset, \c std::map and \c std::multimap.
1208 All container types are parsed as parenthesized list of elements. Each element is parsed as
1209 defined for the element type:
1211 \c vector, \c list or \c set of integers:
1216 \c vector, \c list or \c set of strings:
1218 ("String 1" "String 2" "String 3")
1221 \c vector, \c list or \c set of <tt>pair<int,string></tt>:
1223 ((1 "String 1") (2 "String 2") (3 "String 3"))
1231 Collection's with only one element may skip the parenthesis <em>if and only if</em> the element
1232 type does not need additional parenthesis
1234 A \c vector, \c list or \c set of integer with one element may be written with or without
1241 \e but a single element \c vector, \c list or \c set of <tt>pair<int,string></tt> may \e only be
1247 In mapping containers, the key and value are separated by \c =:
1249 (foo=1 bar=2 "foo bar"=3)
1253 \subsection console_args_bool Boolean arguments and return values
1255 The console library by default formats boolean values using the strings \c true and \c false for
1256 their representation. When parsing a boolean value, most sensible representations will be
1259 <table class="senf">
1260 <tr><td>\c true</td> <td>\c false</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatTrueFalse</td></tr>
1261 <tr><td>\c on</td> <td>\c off</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatOnOff</td></tr>
1262 <tr><td>\c enabled</td> <td>\c disabled</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatEnabledDisabled</td></tr>
1263 <tr><td>\c yes</td> <td>\c no</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatYesNo</td></tr>
1264 <tr><td><em>non-zero integer</em></td><td>\c 0</td><td>\ref senf::console::formatOneZero</td></tr>
1267 The boolean parser will accept these values in any (mixed) case and accepts any unique initial
1268 substring (e.g. \c Y / \c N).
1270 The last column lists explicit formatters which can be set to customize the return value
1271 formatting of a registered overload accordingly.
1274 \subsection console_args_enum Registering enum types
1276 Enum types are a special case, since it is not possible, to find a string representation for the
1277 enumerator values automatically. Therefore, enum types need to be registered manually.
1279 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1281 enum MyEnum { Sit, Run, Jump };
1282 SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM( MyEnum, (Sit)(Run)(Jump) );
1284 MyEnum fun4(MyEnum v) { return v }
1286 senf::console::root().add("test9", fty::Command(&fun4));
1289 After an enum type is registered, it can be used like any other type for arguments or
1296 server:/$ test9 Crawl
1297 argument syntax error: invalid enum value
1298 server:/$ help test9
1305 \ref SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM() can only be used, to register enums at namespace scope. To
1306 register enums defined within some class, use \ref SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM_MEMBER()
1309 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1314 enum Color { Red, Green, Blue };
1316 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test3> dir;
1320 Color mem3(Color c) { return c }
1322 SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM_MEMBER( Test3, Color, (Red)(Green)(Blue) );
1324 Test3::Test3() : dir(this)
1325 { dir.add("test", fty::Command(&Test3::mem3, this)); }
1328 senf::console::root().add("test3ob", test3ob.dir);
1331 Using this command/type is identical
1334 server:/$ test3ob/test Red
1336 server:/$ test3ob/test White
1337 argument syntax error: invalid enum value
1338 server:/$ help test3ob/test
1345 \subsection console_args_convert Handling argument types by conversion
1347 Sometimes an argument type is best handled by just pretending it to be of some other type. The
1348 basic idea is, to provide an explicit signature with different (but compatible) types to the
1352 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1359 senf::console::root()
1360 .add("test8", fty::Command<bool (bool)>(&fun4));
1363 Here, the type signature passed to fty::Command is different from the real type signature but it
1364 is compatible, the conversion is handled automatically. Since the console library now sees the
1365 argument and return value of type \c bool, the values will be parsed and formatted as boolean
1369 \subsection console_args_special Special Console types
1371 The %console library defines some special types to be used as arguments and/or return values.
1372 Some of these are wrappers around basic types which provide custom formatting. Those are used
1373 via argument type conversion (see previous section).
1375 \see \ref senf_console_utilities
1378 \subsection console_args_custom Extending the library to support additional types
1380 To support or customize parsing/formatting of other types, they need to be registered. In it's
1381 simplest case, this works, by just providing an appropriate overload for
1382 senf_console_parse_argument() and senf_console_format_value():
1386 Coordinate() : x(0), y(0) {}
1387 Coordinate(int x_, int y_) : x(x_), y(y_) {}
1392 void senf_console_parse_argument(senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::TokensRange const & tokens,
1395 senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper arg (tokens);
1396 senf::console::parse( *(arg++), out.x );
1397 senf::console::parse( *(arg++), out.y );
1400 void senf_console_format_value(Coordinate const & value, std::ostream & os)
1402 os << '(' << value.x << ' ' << value.y << ')';
1406 The parser will accept an argument with two tokens which are each forwarded to the integer
1407 parser. The senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper ensures two things: That all input
1408 tokens are parsed and no extra trailing tokens are left unparsed and it checks, that all
1409 referenced tokens really exist.
1411 The formatter writes out the value as a parenthesized pair.
1414 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1416 Coordinate fun5(Coordinate const & p) { return Coordinate(2*p.x, 2*p.y) }
1418 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
1420 senf::console::root()
1421 .add("test10", fty::Command(&fun5))
1422 .arg("x","coordinate to double",
1423 kw::default_value = Coordinate())
1425 We can now call \c test10 with a coordinate argument:
1428 server:/$ test10 (2 7)
1430 server:/$ help test10
1432 test10 [x:Coordinate]
1435 x Coordinate to double
1441 If you want to customize the formatting of default values differently from the formating of
1442 return-values or if you want to change the displayed name of a type, you will need to specialize
1443 the senf::console::ArgumentTraits class instead of implementing
1444 senf_console_parse_argument(). See senf::console::ArgumentTraits and
1445 senf::console::ReturnValueTraits for more.
1452 // comment-column: 40
1453 // c-file-style: "senf"
1454 // indent-tabs-mode: nil
1455 // ispell-local-dictionary: "american"
1456 // compile-command: "scons -u test"