CSharp-PocoCommandLineReader

Automate reading simple POCOs from command line. And by simple I mean really simple:

• either built-in types;
• or collection of scalar values.

It is more of a fun project, a lame kata, if you will, to practice the basics, but it proved useful in some manual testing scenarios as well. I do hope it will help others as well.

Support

Supported built-in types:

• int
• uint
• short
• ushort
• long
• ulong
• string
• bool
• float
• double
• decimal
• char
• byte
• sbyte
• System.Guid.

Supported collection types (typed colllections, type can be any of the above):

• typed enumerables: IEnumerable<T> which is populated as a List<T>;
• lists - IList<T> and List<T>;
• typed arrays - T[].

Rules

• public instance properties are searched for, inheritance is observed;
• must have a public parameterless constructor;
• most of the values are parsed with the available TryParse methods for that respective type, with the following exceptions:
  • for a Guid, if entering new(), a new guid will be generated, otherwise has to be manually inserted as everything else;
  • for bool, the following values are also supported:
    • truthy values: yes, da, 1;
    • falsy values: no, nu, 0.
• default values for regular properties are whatever they are when the object gets created;
• default value types for the element of a collection is:
  • Activator.CreateInstance( elementType ) if it's a value type;
  • null if not.
• collection must have sizes specified up-front;
• one may decorate properties with System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute to customize the prompts, although one does not have to.

Bells and whistles

I used this nifty little class by @raminrahimzada to provide colored console output when rendering the prompts.

How to use

No library to install. Just copy the source files wherever you need and then do something like this:

PocoCommandLineReader<CustomerSummary> reader = new PocoCommandLineReader<CustomerSummary>();
CustomerSummary obj = reader.Read( "Read customer summary" );

Also see samples (CSharp-PocoCommandLineReader.SampleUsage).

What's next

Nothing: unless I find something's wrong with it or that I want some improvements, I don't plan on developing on a regular basis. Feel free to fork and use as you like.