Simple console split Spectre/System.Commandline

[oo777]

I tried multiple approaches without success but the requirement is pretty simple:

• Using Spectre to print out a status table
• Using System.Commandline to enter user commands
• Using both together for long running tasks

The status table I used the "Live" option and it's fine and flicker free but I need a prompt under the table handling inputs form another non spectre task passing it to System.Commandline handlers resulting in an updated Spectre result table above the prompt.

Any ideas here?

[nils-a]

Have you looked at GUI.cs ?

[oo777]

Thanks! I gave it a look, tried spectre with "AlternateScreen" afterwards without success. Now I switched to gui-cs like this:
using System.CommandLine;
using System.Text;
using Terminal.Gui;
// ReSharper disable ConvertToPrimaryConstructor

namespace MPMApp;

public static class ConsoleGui {

public static async Task Initialize( RootCommand? rootCommand ) {
    
    _rootCommand = rootCommand;

    Application.Init();
    var top = Application.Top;

    // Create a window
    var win = new Window( "Console Redirection Example" ) {
        X = 0,
        Y = 0,
        Width = Dim.Fill(),
        Height = Dim.Fill()
    };
    top.Add( win );

    // Create a TextView for stdout
    _outputView = new TextView() {
        X = 0,
        Y = 0,
        Width = Dim.Fill(),
        Height = Dim.Percent( 80 ),
        ReadOnly = true
    };
    win.Add( _outputView );

    // Create a TextField for stdin
    _inputField = new TextField {
        X = 0,
        Y = Pos.Bottom( _outputView ),
        Width = Dim.Fill(),
        Height = 1
    };
    win.Add( _inputField );

    // Redirect stdout to the TextView
    var textViewWriter = new TextViewWriter( _outputView );
    Console.SetOut( textViewWriter );

    // Display the initial prompt
    DisplayPrompt();

    // Handle input from the TextField
    _ = HandleInputAsync();

    // Run the Terminal.Gui application
    Application.Run();
}

public static void WriteLine( string message ) {
    Console.WriteLine( message );
}

public static int GetCommandResult() {
    return _commandResult;
}


/***********************************************************
 *
 *   PRIVATE
 *
 **********************************************************/

private static void DisplayPrompt() {
    Application.MainLoop.Invoke( () => {
        if( _inputField != null ) {
            _inputField.Text = _prompt;
            _inputField.CursorPosition = _prompt.Length;
        }
    } );
}


private static async Task HandleInputAsync() {
    while( true ) {
        await Task.Delay( 100 ); // Polling interval

        Application.MainLoop.Invoke( () => {
            if( _inputField.HasFocus ) {
                Application.Top.KeyPress += ( keyEvent ) => {
                    if( keyEvent.KeyEvent.Key == Key.Enter ) {
                        var input = _inputField.Text.ToString().TrimStart( '>' ); // Trim the prompt
                        _inputField.Text = string.Empty;

                        // Process input (for example, echo it back)
                        WriteLine( _prompt + input );

                        // Invoke the command asynchronously
                        _rootCommand.InvokeAsync( input );
                        //_ = Task.Run( async () => await _rootCommand.InvokeAsync( input ) );

                        // Display the prompt again
                        DisplayPrompt();
                    }
                };
            }
        } );
    }
}


private static TextView? _outputView;
private static TextField? _inputField;
private static RootCommand? _rootCommand;
private static readonly string _prompt = "> ";
private static int _commandResult;

}

public class TextViewWriter : TextWriter {

public TextViewWriter( TextView? outputView ) {
    _outputView = outputView;
    _stringWriter = new StringWriter();
}

public override Encoding Encoding {
    get => Encoding.UTF8;
}

public override void Write( char value ) {
    _stringWriter.Write( value );
    Application.MainLoop.Invoke( () => {
        if( _outputView != null ) {
            _outputView.Text = _stringWriter.ToString();
            _outputView.ScrollTo( _outputView.Lines - 1 );
        }
    } );
}

public override void Write( string? value ) {
    _stringWriter.Write( value );
    Application.MainLoop.Invoke( () => {
        if( _outputView != null ) {
            _outputView.Text = _stringWriter.ToString();
            _outputView.ScrollTo( _outputView.Lines - 1 );
        }
    } );
}

public override void WriteLine( string? value ) {
    _stringWriter.WriteLine( value );
    Application.MainLoop.Invoke( () => {
        if( _outputView != null ) {
            _outputView.Text = _stringWriter.ToString();
            _outputView.ScrollTo( _outputView.Lines - 1 );
            _outputView.SetNeedsDisplay();
        }
    } );
}

/***********************************************************
 *
 *   PRIVATE
 *
 **********************************************************/
private readonly TextView? _outputView;
private readonly StringWriter _stringWriter;

}