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 \n
141 \seechapter \ref senf::console::factory
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
155 /** \defgroup console_access Accessing the Console/Config tree
157 The Console/Config library provides several ways to use the node tree to configure and control
163 \section console_access_config Configuration support
165 The configuration support of the Console/Config library revolves around the ConfigSource
166 concept. Each ConfigSource will somehow provide commands which will then be executed against the
169 To simplify the usage, there will always be three interfaces to a specific config source:
170 \li A constructor to build a bare config source which is then added to a
171 senf::console::ConfigBundle (see \ref console_access_multiple)
172 \li A class parsing and executing a single config source. The visible interface of this class is
173 a combination of the constructor and the senf::console::ConfigBundle interfaces.
174 \li A helper function which will do the complete parsing of a single source with default
177 When parsing these configuration sources, it is always possible to optionally change the root
178 node used during parsing and it is also possible to restrict parsing to a command subset. See
179 \ref console_access_partial.
182 \subsection console_access_file Configuration files
184 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
185 <tr><td><b>Constructor</b></td> <td>senf::console::FileConfig()</td></tr>
186 <tr><td><b>Class</b></td> <td>senf::console::ConfigFile</td></tr>
187 <tr><td><b>Helper</b></td> <td>senf::console::parseFile()</td></tr>
190 In it's simplest form, parsing a configuration file consists of calling
191 senf::console::parseFile() with the name of the respective config file as argument.
194 senf::console::parseFile("some.conf");
197 To get more flexible, instantiate a senf::console::ConfigFile instance at use that to parse the
201 senf::console::ConfigFile cf ("some.conf");
202 // The following line is optional: Call to ignore mussing files
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 passed as arguments to the command. The exact
281 interpretation depends on the command:
282 \li If the command only takes a single token as argument (e.g. a single string or numeric
283 value), everything after the '=' sign is parsed into a single token (e.g. see rows 2 and 3
284 of the following table).
285 \li In all other cases, the string after the '=' sign is parsed into argument tokens using the
286 config/console parser. In this case, quoted strings need to be quoted twice, once for the
287 shell and once for the config/console parser (e.g. see rows 4 and 5 of the following table).
288 \li If the option has no '=' character, the list of argument tokens will be empty (e.g. see row
289 1 of the following table)
291 Without these rules, multi-word string arguments would \e always have to be quoted twice (for
292 the shell and the config/console parser).
294 <table style="font-size:80%" class="senf">
295 <tr><th>Command</th><th>File syntax</th><th>Option syntax</th></tr>
298 <td><tt>void doo()</tt></td>
299 <td><tt>/path/to/doo;</tt></td>
300 <td><tt>--path-to-doo</tt></td>
304 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &)</tt></td>
305 <td><tt>/path/to/doo john.doe@everywhere.org;</tt></td>
306 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="john.doe@everywhere.org"</tt></td>
310 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &)</tt></td>
311 <td><tt>/path/to/doo "some text";</tt></td>
312 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="some text"</tt></td>
316 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &, int)</tt></td>
317 <td><tt>/path/to/doo take 1;</tt></td>
318 <td><tt>--path-to-doo="take 1"</tt></td>
322 <td><tt>void doo(std::string const &, int)</tt></td>
323 <td><tt>/path/to/doo "take two" 1;</tt></td>
324 <td><tt>--path-to-doo='"take two" 1'</tt></td>
328 Short options are registered as aliases for long options. They can be registered with or without
329 an implied parameter and can optionally take a parameter. so after
333 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
334 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
340 $ program -C -c "4 5"
347 $ program --mycommand="2 3" --mycommand="4 5"
350 (Beware, that the second argument to \c alias() must \e not be shell quoted).
353 \subsection console_access_root Changing the root node
355 When used in it's default state, parsing will always interpret all commands relative to the
356 senf::console::root() node and will parse a file completely.
358 The first possibility to control this is to change the root node. This is done by
359 \li passing that root node to the helper class or to the parse helper as an additional argument
360 (see the respective documentation).
361 \li passing it to the senf::console::ConfigBundle constructor when parsing multiple sources.
366 senf::console::parseFile("/etc/myserver.conf", senf::console::root()['config']);
369 This functionality is even more powerful by combining it with \c link nodes: This allows to
370 selectively choose commands from the node tree which are to be made accessible for
371 configuration. See \ref node_tree.
374 \subsection console_access_partial Partial / incremental configuration
376 Another feature provided by senf::console::ConfigBundle and all helper classes is partial
380 // Create a console/config aware object and place it (that is it's directory node) into the node
383 senf::console::root().add("foo", foo.dir);
385 // Open configuration file
386 senf::console::ConfigFile cf ("/etc/myserver.conf");
388 // Parse only commands in the configuration file which are in the foo.dir directory
393 // Anywhere later, parse the rest of the configuration file
397 This feature allows to parse parts of one or more configuration sources before the
398 console/config tree has been fully established. Partial parsing can be applied any number of
399 times to arbitrary nodes. Any command already parsed will be skipped automatically.
401 When combining partial parsing with \c chroot() and \c link's, it is important to realize, that
402 <em>partial parsing always applies to the \e real target and ignores links</em>. This is very
403 important: It allows a subsystem to parse it's configuration parameters irrespective of any
404 links pointing to nodes of that subsystem.
407 \subsection console_access_multiple Multiple sources
409 Most of the time, an application will utilize multiple configuration sources: A global
410 configuration file, maybe a user specific local configuration file, command line options ...
412 When parsing configuration commands, especially using partial / incremental parsing, all parse
413 commands should be applied to each configuration source in turn. This is the responsibility of
414 senf::console::ConfigBundle.
417 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<> config;
418 senf::console::root().add("config", config);
420 // Let's enable all logger commands for configuration
421 config.link("logger", senf::console::root()["logger"]);
423 // Create bundle and add sources
424 std::vector<std::string> args;
425 senf::console::ConfigBundle conf (senf::console::root()["config"]);
426 conf.add( senf::console::FileConfig("/etc/myserver.conf") );
427 conf.add( senf::console::FileConfig(".myserver.conf")->ignoreMissing() );
428 conf.add( senf::console::OptionsConfig(senf::Daemon::instance().argc(),
429 senf::Daemon::instance().argv()) )
431 .alias('c', "--mycommand",true)
432 .alias('C', "--mycommand=2 3");
434 // Parse the logger subsystem commands in '/logger'
435 conf.parse(senf::console::root()['logger']);
439 // Parse all other configuration commands. All necessary commands and links in '/config' must by
440 // now have been created.
444 This example parses three configuration sources: Two configuration files and additional
445 parameters specified on the command line. All the configuration commands are placed into the
446 <tt>/config</tt> directory (directly or via links). The configuration sources are parsed in the
447 order they are specified, so in this case, the command line options will override any options
448 specified in one of the configuration files.
451 \section console_access_console The network console
453 To make the network console accessible, it must be initialized when the program is started:
455 #include <senf/Console.hh>
457 int main(int argc, char * argv [])
459 // Configure console nodes, add commands ...
461 // Start console server
462 senf::console::start(senf::INet4SocketAddress(12345u))
465 // You need to enter the scheduler main-loop for the server to work
466 senf::scheduler::process();
468 // Alternatively enter the main-loop via the PPI
473 This will start the server on IPv4 port 12345. The servers name (as displayed in the interactive
474 console prompt) is set to 'myserver'.
476 After launching the application, the server can be accessed at the given port:
479 bash$ telnet localhost 12345
481 Connected to localhost.
482 Escape character is '^]'.
485 Connection closed by foreign host.
490 It is possible to start multiple server consoles by calling \c start() multiple times with
491 different ports/addresses. Each server can be configured separately (e.g. root node, mode ...).q
494 \subsection console_serverclient Server and Client objects
496 The senf::console::Server and senf::console::Client objects offer further API calls. To access
497 the server instance you need to store away the senf::console::Server reference returned when
498 starting the server so you can later refer to it:
500 int main(int, char**)
502 senf::console::Server & server ( senf::console::start( ... ) );
510 The client instance can be accessed via the \c std::ostream arg of any command callback
512 void someCallback(std::ostream & os, ... )
514 senf::console::Client & client (senf::console::Client::get(os));
516 // Use the client's log target
517 client.route<senf::log::Debug, senf::Log::IMPORTANT>();
522 senf::console::Server for the Server API \n
523 <a href="classsenf_1_1console_1_1Client-members.html">senf::console::Client / List of all
524 members</a> for the Client API
527 \subsection console_shell The interactive console shell
529 The interactive shell implements a fully function line editor on capable terminals. This support
530 is available when using a full featured telnet client on a fully supported terminal (like vt100
533 The shell supports auto-cd and auto-completion: If you enter the name of a directory at the
534 prompt, the console will change to that directory. With auto-completion, any unique beginning of
535 a path component will be completed automatically and transparently to the corresponding full
539 \subsection console_noninteractive Non-interactive network console
541 After a new connection is established, the console server waits a short time for data to arrive.
542 Only if nothing happens in the first 500ms, an interactive session is initialized.
544 By sending data immediately after opening the connection, the console is switched into
545 non-interactive mode. In this mode, no prompt is displayed. In this mode, commands are \e not
546 terminated automatically by end-of-line (CR). This allows, to easily cat an arbitrary
547 configuration file into the network console using netcat:
550 $ nc -q1 localhost 23232 < some.conf
553 The argument <tt>-q1</tt> makes netcat close the sending end of the connection on EOF and wait
554 up to 1 second for the console to terminate. Even better, use \c netcat6, which has full TCP
558 $ echo "ls" | nc6 --half-close localhost 23232 2>/dev/null
565 Commands are executed as soon as the terminating character (';', '{' or '}') is received or when
566 the sending end of the connection is closed.
568 \section console_udp Non-interactive UDP console
570 The UDP console allows to script the console tree via UDP packets. Every UDP packet must be a
571 complete command (or sequence of commands). The combined reply of all these commands will be
572 returned in a single UDP packet. This reply can be disabled or directed to a different address.
574 To start a UDP server, just create an instance of the senf::console::UDPServer class
576 senf::console::UDPServer server (senf::INet4SocketAddress("127.0.0.1:23232"));
578 (Remember to enter the scheduler main-loop for processing)
580 Commands may then be sent to this UDP console e.g. using netcat
582 $ echo "cd sys; ls" | nc -uq0 localhost 23232 2>/dev/null
585 \see senf::console::UDPServer
588 /** \defgroup console_commands Supported command types
590 The Console/config library supports quite a number of different command types. All these types
591 of command are registered by passing an appropriate factory instance to DirectoryNode::add()
596 \section console_cmdadd Adding commands and setting attributes
598 Basically, all commands are added using senf::console::DirectoryNode::add().
600 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
601 dir.add("name", fty::Command(callback));
603 will add the command 'name' which will execute 'callback' when called.
605 The add call always returns (something which can be used as) a reference to the command node
608 senf::console::CommandNode & node ( dir.add( ... ) );
611 Depending on the object added, you can also bind to a more specific node type
612 (e.g. senf::console::SimpleCommand) if you know the type of node returned.
614 Nodes are always added using a factory from the senf::console::factory namespace. The factory
615 has additional (type specific) attributes. These attributes are set by calling member functions
616 called 'attributors' on the temporary factory instance. It is \e not guaranteed, you can call
617 these members on the node reference returned by the \c add() call.
619 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
620 dir.add("name", fty::Command(callback) .doc("The documentation") );
622 sets the \e doc attribute (if that is available, otherwise this will fail to compile).
623 \see senf::console::factory for a list of all node factories.
626 \section console_manualparse Manually parsing command arguments
628 This is the most primitive type of command. It will be called with an output stream and with a
629 senf::console::ParseCommandInfo reference which holds information about the command parsed.
631 From this information the command callback gets a list of arguments or tokens which then can be
632 interpreted in an arbitrary way.
634 void fun1(std::ostream & os, senf::console::ParseCommandInfo const & command)
636 // Here we declare variables for the arguments
640 // We parse the arguments using the CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper. This wrapper
641 // will throw a SyntaxErrorException if we access a nonexistent argument or if we
642 // do not parse all arguments.
643 senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper args (command.arguments());
645 // Extract the first argument. This is again a token range.
646 senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::TokensRange arg1Tokens ( *(args++) );
647 if (arg1Tokens.size() != 1)
648 raise senf::console::SyntaxErrorException("argument syntax error");
649 value = arg1Tokens[0].value();
652 os << value << std::endl;
656 Registering this callback is done by simply adding it. To provide online help, pass it to
659 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
660 senf::console::root().add("test1", fty::Command(&fun1)
664 "Echo 'arg' to the console") );
667 The callback may now be called interactively on the console by it's registered name:
671 invalid number of arguments
672 server:/$ test1 stefan@j32.de
674 server:/$ test1 (echo me)
675 argument syntax error
680 Echo 'arg' to the console
685 As you can see above, the arguments and tokens are returned as <a
686 href="http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_33_1/libs/range/doc/utility_class.html#iter_range">
687 boost::iterator_range</a> instances. These behave much like containers: They have \c begin() and
688 \c end() and some other useful members.
690 The parser will have divided the argument tokens into arguments already. This simplifies further
691 parsing. If however you want to access the list of argument tokens as a single list, you can do
692 so using senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::tokens().
694 Parsing arguments is quite simple but can get very tedious. To simplify this task, the parsing
695 can be delegated to the Console/config library. See the next section.
697 This type of command has only a single attribute, \e doc to set the commands documentation.
700 \section console_autoparse Automatic argument parsing
702 To greatly simplify parsing complex commands, we turn to automatic argument parsing.
705 \subsection console_autoadd Adding
707 Automatically parsed commands are registered by just adding a callback which has the correct
708 arguments and return-value defined:
710 std::string fun2(std::string const & arg)
716 This extremely simple callback may be registered by adding it to a senf::console::DirectoryNode.
718 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
719 senf::console::root().add("test2", fty::Command(&fun2));
721 The functionality is now identical to \c test1:
725 invalid number of arguments
726 server:/$ test2 stefan@j32.de
728 server:/$ test2 (echo me)
729 argument syntax error
738 \subsection command_ostream Accessing the console stream
740 Commands may have an optional first argument of type <tt>std::ostream &</tt>. This argument is
741 not considered part of the real interface. When the command is executed, the callback will be
742 passed the current consoles output stream object in this argument. With this, the callback can
743 output arbitrary messages to the network console.
745 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
747 void fun3(std::ostream & os, unsigned n, std::string text)
749 while (n-- > 0) os << text << std::endl;
752 senf::console::root().add("test3", fty::Command(&fun3));
755 This simple command can now be used thus:
759 invalid number of arguments
760 server:/$ test3 stefan@j32.de
761 invalid number of arguments
767 test3 arg11:int arg12:string
773 \subsection command_overload Overloading
775 Automatically parsed commands can be overloaded: You can register multiple commands under the
776 same name. Each overload is tried in turn until no SyntaxErrorException is raised.
778 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
780 senf::console::root().add("test4", fty::Command(&fun3));
781 senf::console::root().add("test4", fty::Command(&fun2));
783 And now, we can call \c test4 with one or two args:
786 invalid number of arguments
787 server:/$ test4 stefan@j32.de
794 1- test4 arg11:int arg12:string
795 2- test4 arg21:string
799 One note: When taking the address of an overloaded function (member or non-member), the C++
800 language forces you to cast that address to one of the possible types so the compiler knows,
801 which overload is requested. So to add a function which is overloaded in C++, each overload
802 needs to be added explicitly, casting to the correct type. There are some macros in
803 Utils/membind.hh to simplify this:
806 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
811 senf::console::root().add("over", fty::Command(SENF_FNP(void, over, (int))));
812 senf::console::root().add("over", fty::Command(SENF_FNP(void, over, (int,int)));
815 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<SomeModule> dir;
817 unsigned int overlodedMethod() const {....};
818 void overlodedMethod(unsigned int) {....};
820 void addConsoleCommands() {
822 .add("overlodedMethod", fty::Command(
823 SENF_MEMBINDFNP(unsigned int, SomeModule, overlodedMethod, () const)));
825 .add("overlodedMethod", fty::Command(
826 SENF_MEMBINDFNP(unsigned int, SomeModule, overlodedMethod, (unsigned int))));
832 \subsection console_attributes Attributes
834 As have seen so far, some documentation is automatically provided. We can add more info, by
835 setting additional attributes.
837 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
839 senf::console::root().add("test5", fty::Command(&fun3)
840 .doc("Echo text to the console")
841 .overloadDoc("Repeat {arg12} for {arg11} lines") );
842 senf::console::root().add("test4", fty::Command(&fun2)
843 .overloadDoc("Echo the {arg21} argument") );
846 This additional info is used to provide more documentation:
851 1- test5 arg11:int arg12:string
852 2- test5 arg21:string
854 Echo text to the console
857 Repeat {arg12} for {arg11} lines
860 Echo the {arg21} argument
866 \subsection console_argattributes Argument attributes
868 Additional attributes can be set for each parameter. They are all passed to the
869 senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor::arg() attribute.
872 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
873 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
875 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun3)
876 .doc("Echo text to the console")
877 .overloadDoc("Repeat {text} for {n} lines");
878 .arg( kw::name = "n", kw::description="Number of repetitions" )
879 .arg( kw::name = "text", kw::description="Text to output" ) );
880 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun2)
881 .overloadDoc("Echo the {text} argument")
882 .arg( kw::name = "text" ) );
885 (Sadly, there is no way to automatically find out the \e name of an argument, just it's type.)
886 Every callback argument corresponds with a call of the \c arg() attribute. Argument attributes
887 are set using keywords from the \ref senf::console::kw namespace. You will probably either use
888 this namespace via a namespace alias (as above) or via a <tt>using namespace
889 senf::console::kw</tt> declaration (but beware of name collisions).
891 You don't need to specify any information for an argument: To skip an argument, just call \c
892 arg() without attributes for this argument.
894 After adding this information, the online help is much more readable
899 1- test6 n:int text:string
903 n Number of repetitions
906 Echo text to the console
909 Repeat {text} for {n} lines
912 Echo the {text} argument
917 Since most of the time, we only need to set the name and possibly a description for arguments,
918 there is a shortcut: name and description can be specified as positional arguments in this
919 order. So the following will give the exactly same result as above:
921 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
922 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
924 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun3)
925 .doc("Echo text to the console")
926 .overloadDoc("Repeat <text> for <n> lines");
927 .arg("n", "Number of repetitions")
928 .arg("text", "Text to output") );
929 senf::console::root().add("test6", fty::Command(&fun2)
930 .overloadDoc("Echo the <text> argument") );
934 Keyword arguments should always be used if additional attributes are set. You can however mix
935 positional and keyword arguments.
938 \subsection console_defaults Default values
940 Another information which can not be automatically gathered from the type system is default
941 values. These have to be declared explicitly:
943 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
944 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
946 senf::console::root().add("test7", fty::Command(&fun3)
947 .doc("Echo {text} to the console, repeating {text} for {n} lines")
948 .arg("n", "Number of repetitions", kw::default_value=1)
949 .arg("text", "Text to output") );
952 Default values can be used together with overloading. Default (optional) value support is quite
953 flexible, it is not mandatory, for default values to be specified only for the trailing
954 arguments. For the exact definition, how parsed argument values are assigned to overload
955 arguments in the presence of default values, see \ref senf::console::kw::default_value.
968 test4 [n:unsigned] text:string
971 n Number of repetitions
975 Echo {text} to the console, repeating {text} for {n} lines
981 \subsection console_boostfn Non-function-pointer commands
983 It is possible to add other callable objects besides function (and member-function)
984 pointers. However, since it is not possible to automatically deduce the argument and return
985 types in this case, the signature has to be specified explicitly:
987 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
989 senf::console::root()
990 .add("test8",fty::Command<void (std::ostream &, std::string const &)>(
991 boost::bind(&fun3, _1, 4u, _2)));
994 This works with any callable object where argument types cannot be deduced automatically:
995 Boost.Bind expressions, Boost.Lambda expressions, functors and so on.
1004 server:/$ help test8
1012 \subsection console_attr_summary Attribute summary
1014 Here a summary of the most common attributes
1016 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
1018 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributorBase::doc() .doc\endlink
1019 ( \e doc )</td><td>Set documentation for all overloads</td></tr>
1021 <tr><td>\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributorBase::overloadDoc()
1022 .overloadDoc\endlink ( \e doc )</td><td>Set documentation for a specific overload</td></tr>
1024 <tr><td>\link senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor::arg() .arg\endlink ( \e argument \e
1025 attributes )</td><td>Set argument attributes (see below)</td></tr>
1029 The most important argument attributes (all defined in the senf::console::kw namespace) are:
1031 <table class="senf fixed width">
1033 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::kw::name kw::name\endlink</td><td>Parameter
1036 <tr><td>\link senf::console::kw::description kw::description\endlink</td><td>One-line
1037 description of the argument</td></tr>
1039 <tr><td>\link senf::console::kw::default_value kw::default_value\endlink</td><td>Arguments
1040 default value</td></tr>
1045 href="classsenf_1_1console_1_1ParsedArgumentAttributor-members.html">senf::console::ParsedArgumentAttributor
1046 / List of all members</a> for the complete attribute interface \n
1047 \ref senf::console::kw for a list of all argument attribute keywords
1050 \section console_memberfn Member functions
1052 Non-static member functions are supported like non-member functions (static member functions are
1053 identical to non-members). They must however be added through a senf::console::ScopedDirectory
1054 instance to bind them to their instance.
1056 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1061 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test1> dir;
1063 Test1(std::string label) : dir(this), label_ (label)
1064 { dir.add("test", fty::Command(&Test::test1, this));
1065 dir.add("test", fty::Command(&Test::test2, this)); }
1067 std::string test1(std::string const & text)
1068 { return label_ + ": " + text; }
1070 void test2(std::ostream & os, unsigned n, std::string const & text)
1071 { while (n-- > 0) os << label << ": " << text << std::endl; }
1079 Test1 test1ob ("test");
1080 senf::console::root().add("test1ob", test1ob.dir);
1083 Binding via senf::console::ScopedDirectory ensures, that the commands are automatically removed
1084 from the tree when the object is destroyed.
1087 \section console_variables Variables
1089 \subsection console_varadd Adding
1091 The console/config library supports the direct registration of variables as commands. A
1092 variable command consists of two overloads, one to query the current value and one to change the
1095 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1100 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test2> dir;
1102 Test2() : dir(this), var_(0)
1103 { dir.add("var", fty::Variable(var_) ); }
1110 senf::console::root().add("test2ob", test2ob.dir);
1112 This shows the most common scenario: A member variable is added to a ScopedDirectory of the same
1113 class. This ensures, that the variable command node is removed from the tree when the instance
1114 (and thereby the variable) are destroyed. The variable can now be used like any other command:
1117 server:/$ test2ob/var
1119 server:/$ test2ob/var 10
1120 server:/$ test2ob/var
1122 server:/$ help test2ob
1124 1- var new_value:int
1131 \subsection console_varro Read-only variables
1133 The library also supports read-only variables. To make a variable read-only, just wrap it in \c
1134 boost::cref() (where \c cref stands for \c const reference)
1136 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1140 senf::console::root().add("var1", fty::Variable(boost::cref(var)));
1142 A read-only variable only has a single overload:
1155 \subsection console_varattr Attributes
1157 The most important Variable command attributes are
1159 <table class="senf fixedwidth">
1161 <tr><td style="width:14em">\link senf::console::VariableAttributor::doc() .doc\endlink
1162 ( \e doc )</td><td>Set variable documentation</td></tr>
1164 <tr><td>\link senf::console::VariableAttributor::onChange() .onChange\endlink
1165 ( \e handler )</td><td>Set change handler</td></tr>
1169 \see senf::console::VariableAttributor for the complete attribute interface
1172 \subsection console_varchange Change notification
1174 A \e handler can be set to be called, whenever the variable is changed. It will be called with a
1175 reference to the old value. The handler is called, after the value has been changed
1178 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1182 // Since this is int, it would make sense to declare the argument pass-by-value (int old)
1183 // but for more complex args, use a const & here
1184 void varChanged(int const & old)
1189 senf::console::root().add("var2", fty::Variable(var)
1190 .onChange(&varChanged) );
1193 After this setup, \c varChanged will be called, whenever the value has changed.
1196 \section console_args Console library supported types
1198 By default, types which can be read and written using \c iostreams are automatically supported.
1199 This includes all the C++ built-in types as well as user defined streamable types.
1201 An exception is made for all \c char types: These types are by default parsed as \e numeric
1202 values not single-character data. To interpret \c char values as single-char strings, use \ref
1203 senf::console::CharAsString.
1205 \subsection console_args_stl STL container support
1207 The %console library contains support for the STL container types: \c std::vector, \c
1208 std::list, \c std::set, \c std::multiset, \c std::map and \c std::multimap.
1210 All container types are parsed as parenthesized list of elements. Each element is parsed as
1211 defined for the element type:
1213 \c vector, \c list or \c set of integers:
1218 \c vector, \c list or \c set of strings:
1220 ("String 1" "String 2" "String 3")
1223 \c vector, \c list or \c set of <tt>pair<int,string></tt>:
1225 ((1 "String 1") (2 "String 2") (3 "String 3"))
1233 Collection's with only one element may skip the parenthesis <em>if and only if</em> the element
1234 type does not need additional parenthesis
1236 A \c vector, \c list or \c set of integer with one element may be written with or without
1243 \e but a single element \c vector, \c list or \c set of <tt>pair<int,string></tt> may \e only be
1249 In mapping containers, the key and value are separated by \c =:
1251 (foo=1 bar=2 "foo bar"=3)
1255 \subsection console_args_bool Boolean arguments and return values
1257 The console library by default formats boolean values using the strings \c true and \c false for
1258 their representation. When parsing a boolean value, most sensible representations will be
1261 <table class="senf">
1262 <tr><td>\c true</td> <td>\c false</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatTrueFalse</td></tr>
1263 <tr><td>\c on</td> <td>\c off</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatOnOff</td></tr>
1264 <tr><td>\c enabled</td> <td>\c disabled</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatEnabledDisabled</td></tr>
1265 <tr><td>\c yes</td> <td>\c no</td> <td>\ref senf::console::formatYesNo</td></tr>
1266 <tr><td><em>non-zero integer</em></td><td>\c 0</td><td>\ref senf::console::formatOneZero</td></tr>
1269 The boolean parser will accept these values in any (mixed) case and accepts any unique initial
1270 substring (e.g. \c Y / \c N).
1272 The last column lists explicit formatters which can be set to customize the return value
1273 formatting of a registered overload accordingly.
1276 \subsection console_args_enum Registering enum types
1278 Enum types are a special case, since it is not possible, to find a string representation for the
1279 enumerator values automatically. Therefore, enum types need to be registered manually.
1281 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1283 enum MyEnum { Sit, Run, Jump };
1284 SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM( MyEnum, (Sit)(Run)(Jump) );
1286 MyEnum fun4(MyEnum v) { return v }
1288 senf::console::root().add("test9", fty::Command(&fun4));
1291 After an enum type is registered, it can be used like any other type for arguments or
1298 server:/$ test9 Crawl
1299 argument syntax error: invalid enum value
1300 server:/$ help test9
1307 \ref SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM() can only be used, to register enums at namespace scope. To
1308 register enums defined within some class, use \ref SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM_MEMBER()
1311 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1316 enum Color { Red, Green, Blue };
1318 senf::console::ScopedDirectory<Test3> dir;
1322 Color mem3(Color c) { return c }
1324 SENF_CONSOLE_REGISTER_ENUM_MEMBER( Test3, Color, (Red)(Green)(Blue) );
1326 Test3::Test3() : dir(this)
1327 { dir.add("test", fty::Command(&Test3::mem3, this)); }
1330 senf::console::root().add("test3ob", test3ob.dir);
1333 Using this command/type is identical
1336 server:/$ test3ob/test Red
1338 server:/$ test3ob/test White
1339 argument syntax error: invalid enum value
1340 server:/$ help test3ob/test
1347 \subsection console_args_convert Handling argument types by conversion
1349 Sometimes an argument type is best handled by just pretending it to be of some other type. The
1350 basic idea is, to provide an explicit signature with different (but compatible) types to the
1354 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1361 senf::console::root()
1362 .add("test8", fty::Command<bool (bool)>(&fun4));
1365 Here, the type signature passed to fty::Command is different from the real type signature but it
1366 is compatible, the conversion is handled automatically. Since the console library now sees the
1367 argument and return value of type \c bool, the values will be parsed and formatted as boolean
1371 \subsection console_args_special Special Console types
1373 The %console library defines some special types to be used as arguments and/or return values.
1374 Some of these are wrappers around basic types which provide custom formatting. Those are used
1375 via argument type conversion (see previous section).
1377 \see \ref senf_console_utilities
1380 \subsection console_args_custom Extending the library to support additional types
1382 To support or customize parsing/formatting of other types, they need to be registered. In it's
1383 simplest case, this works, by just providing an appropriate overload for
1384 senf_console_parse_argument() and senf_console_format_value():
1388 Coordinate() : x(0), y(0) {}
1389 Coordinate(int x_, int y_) : x(x_), y(y_) {}
1394 void senf_console_parse_argument(senf::console::ParseCommandInfo::TokensRange const & tokens,
1397 senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper arg (tokens);
1398 senf::console::parse( *(arg++), out.x );
1399 senf::console::parse( *(arg++), out.y );
1402 void senf_console_format_value(Coordinate const & value, std::ostream & os)
1404 os << '(' << value.x << ' ' << value.y << ')';
1408 The parser will accept an argument with two tokens which are each forwarded to the integer
1409 parser. The senf::console::CheckedArgumentIteratorWrapper ensures two things: That all input
1410 tokens are parsed and no extra trailing tokens are left unparsed and it checks, that all
1411 referenced tokens really exist.
1413 The formatter writes out the value as a parenthesized pair.
1416 namespace fty = senf::console::factory;
1418 Coordinate fun5(Coordinate const & p) { return Coordinate(2*p.x, 2*p.y) }
1420 namespace kw = senf::console::kw;
1422 senf::console::root()
1423 .add("test10", fty::Command(&fun5))
1424 .arg("x","coordinate to double",
1425 kw::default_value = Coordinate())
1427 We can now call \c test10 with a coordinate argument:
1430 server:/$ test10 (2 7)
1432 server:/$ help test10
1434 test10 [x:Coordinate]
1437 x Coordinate to double
1443 If you want to customize the formatting of default values differently from the formating of
1444 return-values or if you want to change the displayed name of a type, you will need to specialize
1445 the senf::console::ArgumentTraits class instead of implementing
1446 senf_console_parse_argument(). See senf::console::ArgumentTraits and
1447 senf::console::ReturnValueTraits for more.
1454 // comment-column: 40
1455 // c-file-style: "senf"
1456 // indent-tabs-mode: nil
1457 // ispell-local-dictionary: "american"
1458 // compile-command: "scons -u test"