Class HighLine
In: lib/highline/color_scheme.rb
lib/highline/menu.rb
lib/highline/question.rb
lib/highline/system_extensions.rb
lib/highline.rb
Parent: Object

A HighLine object is a "high-level line oriented" shell over an input and an output stream. HighLine simplifies common console interaction, effectively replacing puts() and gets(). User code can simply specify the question to ask and any details about user interaction, then leave the rest of the work to HighLine. When HighLine.ask() returns, you‘ll have the answer you requested, even if HighLine had to ask many times, validate results, perform range checking, convert types, etc.

Methods

Included Modules

HighLine::SystemExtensions

Classes and Modules

Module HighLine::SystemExtensions
Class HighLine::ColorScheme
Class HighLine::Menu
Class HighLine::Question
Class HighLine::QuestionError
Class HighLine::SampleColorScheme

Constants

VERSION = "1.5.2".freeze   The version of the installed library.
CLEAR = "\e[0m"   Embed in a String to clear all previous ANSI sequences. This MUST be done before the program exits!
RESET = CLEAR   An alias for CLEAR.
ERASE_LINE = "\e[K"   Erase the current line of terminal output.
ERASE_CHAR = "\e[P"   Erase the character under the cursor.
BOLD = "\e[1m"   The start of an ANSI bold sequence.
DARK = "\e[2m"   The start of an ANSI dark sequence. (Terminal support uncommon.)
UNDERLINE = "\e[4m"   The start of an ANSI underline sequence.
UNDERSCORE = UNDERLINE   An alias for UNDERLINE.
BLINK = "\e[5m"   The start of an ANSI blink sequence. (Terminal support uncommon.)
REVERSE = "\e[7m"   The start of an ANSI reverse sequence.
CONCEALED = "\e[8m"   The start of an ANSI concealed sequence. (Terminal support uncommon.)
BLACK = "\e[30m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to black.
RED = "\e[31m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to red.
GREEN = "\e[32m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to green.
YELLOW = "\e[33m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to yellow.
BLUE = "\e[34m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to blue.
MAGENTA = "\e[35m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to magenta.
CYAN = "\e[36m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to cyan.
WHITE = "\e[37m"   Set the terminal‘s foreground ANSI color to white.
ON_BLACK = "\e[40m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to black.
ON_RED = "\e[41m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to red.
ON_GREEN = "\e[42m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to green.
ON_YELLOW = "\e[43m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to yellow.
ON_BLUE = "\e[44m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to blue.
ON_MAGENTA = "\e[45m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to magenta.
ON_CYAN = "\e[46m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to cyan.
ON_WHITE = "\e[47m"   Set the terminal‘s background ANSI color to white.

Attributes

page_at  [R]  The current row setting for paging output.
wrap_at  [R]  The current column setting for wrapping output.

Public Class methods

Returns the current color scheme.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 76
  def self.color_scheme
    @@color_scheme
  end

Pass ColorScheme to setting to turn set a HighLine color scheme.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 71
  def self.color_scheme=( setting )
    @@color_scheme = setting
  end

Create an instance of HighLine, connected to the streams input and output.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 149
  def initialize( input = $stdin, output = $stdout,
                  wrap_at = nil, page_at = nil )
    @input   = input
    @output  = output
    
    self.wrap_at = wrap_at
    self.page_at = page_at
    
    @question = nil
    @answer   = nil
    @menu     = nil
    @header   = nil
    @prompt   = nil
    @gather   = nil
    @answers  = nil
    @key      = nil
  end

Pass false to setting to turn off HighLine‘s EOF tracking.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 58
  def self.track_eof=( setting )
    @@track_eof = setting
  end

Returns true if HighLine is currently tracking EOF for input.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 63
  def self.track_eof?
    @@track_eof
  end

Pass false to setting to turn off HighLine‘s color escapes.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 45
  def self.use_color=( setting )
    @@use_color = setting
  end

Returns true if HighLine is currently using color escapes.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 50
  def self.use_color?
    @@use_color
  end

Returns true if HighLine is currently using a color scheme.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 81
  def self.using_color_scheme?
    not @@color_scheme.nil?
  end

Public Instance methods

A shortcut to HighLine.ask() a question that only accepts "yes" or "no" answers ("y" and "n" are allowed) and returns true or false (true for "yes"). If provided a true value, character will cause HighLine to fetch a single character response. A block can be provided to further configure the question as in HighLine.ask()

Raises EOFError if input is exhausted.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 183
  def agree( yes_or_no_question, character = nil )
    ask(yes_or_no_question, lambda { |yn| yn.downcase[0] == ?y}) do |q|
      q.validate                 = /\Ay(?:es)?|no?\Z/i
      q.responses[:not_valid]    = 'Please enter "yes" or "no".'
      q.responses[:ask_on_error] = :question
      q.character                = character
      
      yield q if block_given?
    end
  end

This method is the primary interface for user input. Just provide a question to ask the user, the answer_type you want returned, and optionally a code block setting up details of how you want the question handled. See HighLine.say() for details on the format of question, and HighLine::Question for more information about answer_type and what‘s valid in the code block.

If @question is set before ask() is called, parameters are ignored and that object (must be a HighLine::Question) is used to drive the process instead.

Raises EOFError if input is exhausted.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 208
  def ask( question, answer_type = String, &details ) # :yields: question
    @question ||= Question.new(question, answer_type, &details)
    
    return gather if @question.gather
  
    # readline() needs to handle it's own output, but readline only supports 
    # full line reading.  Therefore if @question.echo is anything but true, 
    # the prompt will not be issued. And we have to account for that now.
    say(@question) unless (@question.readline and @question.echo == true)
    begin
      @answer = @question.answer_or_default(get_response)
      unless @question.valid_answer?(@answer)
        explain_error(:not_valid)
        raise QuestionError
      end
      
      @answer = @question.convert(@answer)
      
      if @question.in_range?(@answer)
        if @question.confirm
          # need to add a layer of scope to ask a question inside a
          # question, without destroying instance data
          context_change = self.class.new(@input, @output, @wrap_at, @page_at)
          if @question.confirm == true
            confirm_question = "Are you sure?  "
          else
            # evaluate ERb under initial scope, so it will have
            # access to @question and @answer
            template  = ERB.new(@question.confirm, nil, "%")
            confirm_question = template.result(binding)
          end
          unless context_change.agree(confirm_question)
            explain_error(nil)
            raise QuestionError
          end
        end
        
        @answer
      else
        explain_error(:not_in_range)
        raise QuestionError
      end
    rescue QuestionError
      retry
    rescue ArgumentError, NameError => error
      raise if error.is_a?(NoMethodError)
      if error.message =~ /ambiguous/
        # the assumption here is that OptionParser::Completion#complete
        # (used for ambiguity resolution) throws exceptions containing 
        # the word 'ambiguous' whenever resolution fails
        explain_error(:ambiguous_completion)
      else
        explain_error(:invalid_type)
      end
      retry
    rescue Question::NoAutoCompleteMatch
      explain_error(:no_completion)
      retry
    ensure
      @question = nil    # Reset Question object.
    end
  end

This method is HighLine‘s menu handler. For simple usage, you can just pass all the menu items you wish to display. At that point, choose() will build and display a menu, walk the user through selection, and return their choice amoung the provided items. You might use this in a case statement for quick and dirty menus.

However, choose() is capable of much more. If provided, a block will be passed a HighLine::Menu object to configure. Using this method, you can customize all the details of menu handling from index display, to building a complete shell-like menuing system. See HighLine::Menu for all the methods it responds to.

Raises EOFError if input is exhausted.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 286
  def choose( *items, &details )
    @menu = @question = Menu.new(&details)
    @menu.choices(*items) unless items.empty?
    
    # Set _answer_type_ so we can double as the Question for ask().
    @menu.answer_type = if @menu.shell
      lambda do |command|    # shell-style selection
        first_word = command.to_s.split.first || ""

        options = @menu.options
        options.extend(OptionParser::Completion)
        answer = options.complete(first_word)

        if answer.nil?
          raise Question::NoAutoCompleteMatch
        end

        [answer.last, command.sub(/^\s*#{first_word}\s*/, "")]
      end
    else
      @menu.options          # normal menu selection, by index or name
    end
    
    # Provide hooks for ERb layouts.
    @header   = @menu.header
    @prompt   = @menu.prompt
    
    if @menu.shell
      selected = ask("Ignored", @menu.answer_type)
      @menu.select(self, *selected)
    else
      selected = ask("Ignored", @menu.answer_type)
      @menu.select(self, selected)
    end
  end

This method provides easy access to ANSI color sequences, without the user needing to remember to CLEAR at the end of each sequence. Just pass the string to color, followed by a list of colors you would like it to be affected by. The colors can be HighLine class constants, or symbols (:blue for BLUE, for example). A CLEAR will automatically be embedded to the end of the returned String.

This method returns the original string unchanged if HighLine::use_color? is false.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 333
  def color( string, *colors )
    return string unless self.class.use_color?
    
    colors.map! do |c|
      if self.class.using_color_scheme? and self.class.color_scheme.include? c
        self.class.color_scheme[c]
      elsif c.is_a? Symbol
        self.class.const_get(c.to_s.upcase)
      else
        c
      end
    end
    "#{colors.flatten.join}#{string}#{CLEAR}"
  end

This method is a utility for quickly and easily laying out lists. It can be accessed within ERb replacements of any text that will be sent to the user.

The only required parameter is items, which should be the Array of items to list. A specified mode controls how that list is formed and option has different effects, depending on the mode. Recognized modes are:

:columns_across:items will be placed in columns, flowing from left to right. If given, option is the number of columns to be used. When absent, columns will be determined based on wrap_at or a default of 80 characters.
:columns_down:Identical to :columns_across, save flow goes down.
:inline:All items are placed on a single line. The last two items are separated by option or a default of " or ". All other items are separated by ", ".
:rows:The default mode. Each of the items is placed on it‘s own line. The option parameter is ignored in this mode.

Each member of the items Array is passed through ERb and thus can contain their own expansions. Color escape expansions do not contribute to the final field width.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 376
  def list( items, mode = :rows, option = nil )
    items = items.to_ary.map do |item|
      ERB.new(item, nil, "%").result(binding)
    end
    
    case mode
    when :inline
      option = " or " if option.nil?
      
      case items.size
      when 0
        ""
      when 1
        items.first
      when 2
        "#{items.first}#{option}#{items.last}"
      else
        items[0..-2].join(", ") + "#{option}#{items.last}"
      end
    when :columns_across, :columns_down
      max_length = actual_length(
        items.max { |a, b| actual_length(a) <=> actual_length(b) }
      )

      if option.nil?
        limit  = @wrap_at || 80
        option = (limit + 2) / (max_length + 2)
      end

      items     = items.map do |item|
        pad = max_length + (item.length - actual_length(item))
        "%-#{pad}s" % item
      end
      row_count = (items.size / option.to_f).ceil
      
      if mode == :columns_across
        rows = Array.new(row_count) { Array.new }
        items.each_with_index do |item, index|
          rows[index / option] << item
        end

        rows.map { |row| row.join("  ") + "\n" }.join
      else
        columns = Array.new(option) { Array.new }
        items.each_with_index do |item, index|
          columns[index / row_count] << item
        end
      
        list = ""
        columns.first.size.times do |index|
          list << columns.map { |column| column[index] }.
                          compact.join("  ") + "\n"
        end
        list
      end
    else
      items.map { |i| "#{i}\n" }.join
    end
  end

Returns the number of columns for the console, or a default it they cannot be determined.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 488
  def output_cols
    return 80 unless @output.tty?
    terminal_size.first
  rescue
    return 80
  end

Returns the number of rows for the console, or a default if they cannot be determined.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 499
  def output_rows
    return 24 unless @output.tty?
    terminal_size.last
  rescue
    return 24
  end

Set to an integer value to cause HighLine to page output lines over the indicated line limit. When nil, the default, no paging occurs. If set to :auto, HighLine will attempt to determing the rows available for the @output or use a sensible default.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 480
  def page_at=( setting )
    @page_at = setting == :auto ? output_rows : setting
  end

The basic output method for HighLine objects. If the provided statement ends with a space or tab character, a newline will not be appended (output will be flush()ed). All other cases are passed straight to Kernel.puts().

The statement parameter is processed as an ERb template, supporting embedded Ruby code. The template is evaluated with a binding inside the HighLine instance, providing easy access to the ANSI color constants and the HighLine.color() method.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 446
  def say( statement )
    statement = statement.to_str
    return unless statement.length > 0
    
    template  = ERB.new(statement, nil, "%")
    statement = template.result(binding)
    
    statement = wrap(statement) unless @wrap_at.nil?
    statement = page_print(statement) unless @page_at.nil?
    
    if statement[-1, 1] == " " or statement[-1, 1] == "\t"
      @output.print(statement)
      @output.flush  
    else
      @output.puts(statement)
    end
  end

Set to an integer value to cause HighLine to wrap output lines at the indicated character limit. When nil, the default, no wrapping occurs. If set to :auto, HighLine will attempt to determing the columns available for the @output or use a sensible default.

[Source]

# File lib/highline.rb, line 470
  def wrap_at=( setting )
    @wrap_at = setting == :auto ? output_cols : setting
  end

[Validate]