gi-console

gi-console

Console implementation of the GuiInteraction library.

Overview

This module provides console-based (text mode) interaction capabilities. It's designed for headless environments, CI/CD pipelines, and terminal-based applications.

Requirements

• JDK 21+ (any distribution)
• No GUI required (headless compatible)

Features

• Text-based prompts for user input
• File path input via console
• Table output using Matrix text formatting
• HTML content displayed as plain text (via Jsoup)
• System clipboard access (when not running headless)

Installation

Gradle

dependencies {
    implementation 'se.alipsa.gi:gi-console:0.3.0'
}

Maven

<dependency>
    <groupId>se.alipsa.gi</groupId>
    <artifactId>gi-console</artifactId>
    <version>0.3.0</version>
</dependency>

Grape (Groovy Script)

@Grab(group:'se.alipsa.gi', module:'gi-console', version:'0.3.0')
import se.alipsa.gi.console.InOut

def io = new InOut()

Quick Start

import se.alipsa.gi.console.InOut

def io = new InOut()

// User prompts (text input)
def name = io.prompt("Enter your name: ")

// File selection (user types path)
def file = io.chooseFile("Open", ".", "Enter file path")

// Display table (outputs formatted text)
io.view([
    ["Name", "Age"],
    ["Alice", 30],
    ["Bob", 25]
], "Users")

// Display HTML (outputs plain text)
io.view("<h1>Hello</h1><p>Welcome!</p>", "Greeting")
// Output: Greeting: Hello Welcome!

Fat JAR

A fat JAR (with all dependencies bundled) is available:

dependencies {
    implementation 'se.alipsa.gi:gi-console:0.3.0:fatjar'
}

Limitations

• Clipboard: Clipboard access is unavailable in headless environments; clipboard methods log the issue and return null or no-op.
• Password Input: Requires System.console() to be available. Returns null in IDEs and some CI environments where console is unavailable.
• Charts/Images: display(Chart) and display(File) for images print a message instead of showing graphics
• Swing Components: display(JComponent) is not supported
• File Choosers: User manually types file paths instead of browsing

Console Availability

The password prompt requires a system console:

def password = io.promptPassword("Login", "Enter password")
if (password == null) {
    println("Console not available - cannot read password")
}

To ensure console availability:

• Run from a terminal (not IDE "Run" button)
• Use java -jar app.jar from command line

Dependencies

• Jsoup - HTML parsing and text extraction

API Documentation

See the API Guide for detailed usage examples.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE