ConsoleMVC.Template 1.33.0

ConsoleMVC Application Template

A dotnet new project template for ConsoleMVC: an MVC framework for console applications inspired by ASP.NET Core MVC.

Installation

dotnet new install ConsoleMVC.Template

Usage

# Create a new ConsoleMVC project
dotnet new consolemvc -n MyApp

# Run it
cd MyApp
dotnet run

# Or create it with a test project (MyApp.Tests) and run the tests
dotnet new consolemvc -n MyApp --tests
dotnet test MyApp/MyApp.Tests

What You Get

A ready-to-run console application structured with the MVC pattern:

• Program.cs: entry point using the familiar CreateBuilder(), Build(), RunAsync() pattern, with a middleware that shows the current page in the terminal title
• Controllers/: controller classes that handle actions and return results
• Views/: .cvw views using C-View Markup (<box>, <text>, <table>, <columns>, <input>, <select>, <checkbox>, <menu>, <progress>, <spinner>, <bar-chart>, <sparkline>, <markdown>, <scroll>) and C#, compiled at build time; Views/Shared holds the layout and a partial view
• Models/: ViewModel DTOs passed from controllers to views
• Services/: an IGreetingService registered with builder.Services in Program.cs, configured by GreetingOptions
• appsettings.json: settings read by builder.Configuration (environment variables and command-line arguments override them)

The template includes working examples of:

• Navigation: <menu> elements moving between controllers and actions (Home, About), Back options, and breadcrumbs in the layout
• Tables, columns and themes: a feature tour page with a <table> generated from the model, <columns> that stack on narrow terminals, and theme classes (class="panel")
• Partial views and layouts: the home and about pages share Views/Shared/PageHeader.cvw through <partial>, and Views/Shared/_Layout.cvw adds an app bar (breadcrumbs on the left, the app name on the right) and a separator above every menu
• Form data posting with model binding: a greeting form with a text <input>, a colour <select> (arrow keys in a terminal) and a <checkbox>, posted to a controller as a GreetFormModel class, validated with [Required] and [StringLength] and showing errors with <errors />
• Logging: Program.cs sends logs to logs/app.log with builder.Logging.AddFile, since the console shows the application
• Configuration: the greeting's salutation comes from the Greeting section of appsettings.json through IOptions<GreetingOptions>; try dotnet run -- --Greeting:Salutation=Hi
• Areas: the feature tour's settings page is in the Admin area, Areas/Admin/Controllers/SettingsController.cs and Areas/Admin/Views/Settings/IndexView.cvw, reached with nav="Admin/Settings/Index"
• Localisation: the greeting form's text comes from Resources/SharedResource.resx, with a Polish translation (including the framework's prompts and the validation messages): try dotnet run -- --ConsoleMVC:Culture=pl-PL
• Accessibility: run with dotnet run -- --ConsoleMVC:ScreenReader=true for plain text a screen reader reads well, or --ConsoleMVC:HighContrast=true for bold, bright colours
• Full screen and scrolling: Program.cs sets builder.FullScreen = true, so the app runs on the alternate screen and your scrollback comes back afterwards; the feature tour's table is paged with <scroll height="12">
• Markdown: the about page's text is Markdown in HomeController, drawn with <markdown>
• Live screens: the feature tour's live status option checks the services with a <progress> bar that updates while the action works (ILiveDisplay), then shows a status page that refreshes every second with @refresh 1s, with a <sparkline> of the load and a <bar-chart> of response times
• Remote sessions: dotnet run -- --ConsoleMVC:Serve=2323, then telnet localhost 2323 from other terminals: every user gets their own session, and the live status page shows which one (ITerminalSession in HomeController)
• Native AOT: dotnet publish -c Release -p:PublishAot=true makes a native executable that starts in milliseconds (the project enables the configuration binding generator for it)
• Mouse: builder.Mouse = true in Program.cs: click menu options, the colour choices and the checkbox
• Keyboard shortcuts: Esc goes back and Ctrl+X quits on every screen (app.MapKey in Program.cs), listed by <shortcuts /> in the layout
• Dependency injection: GreetController receives IGreetingService through its constructor and the result view reads it with @inject
• Form data posting with simple parameters: a calculator with two <number> fields and a <radio> for the operator, posting individual values (int a, int b, string op) directly to action method parameters

IDE Support

For .cvw file recognition, syntax highlighting, and icon support in JetBrains Rider, install the ConsoleMVC CVWSupport plugin:

• JetBrains Marketplace
• Plugin Source Code

Learn More

• ConsoleMVC.Framework NuGet Package
• ConsoleMVC.Testing NuGet Package: test the application with scripted input and snapshots
• Guides
• GitHub Repository