PatcatGames.CommandLineUtilities 1.0.1

Patcat Command Line Utilities

Extensions and Attributes for System.CommandLine for ease of use, originally created for PatcatCLI & PatcatDB.

⚠️ Limitations

• This library does NOT support AoT compilation due to its use of Reflection (future support planned)
• This library does not support array options yet

Features

Extension Methods

AddCommandFromMethod

var rootCommand = new RootCommand(description: @"This is the root level command description.");
rootCommand.AddCommandFromMethod(typeof(Program).GetMethod(nameof(MyCommand)));

ConfigureFromMethod

var rootCommand = new RootCommand(description: @"This is the root level command description.");
var myCommand = new Command("my-command");
myCommand.ConfigureFromMethod(typeof(Program).GetMethod(nameof(MyCommand)));
rootCommand.AddCommand(myCommand);

Attributes

Complete Example

using System.CommandLine;
using Patcat.CommandLineUtils;

class Program
{
    static Task<int> Main(string[] args)
    {
        var rootCommand = new RootCommand(description: @"This is the root level command description.");
        rootCommand.AddCommandFromMethod(typeof(Program).GetMethod(nameof(MyCommand)));
        return rootCommand.InvokeAsync(args);
    }
    
    [Description("This is the description of my-command")]
    public static void MyCommand(
        [Description("The first argument.")] string firstArgument,
        [Description("The second argument, but this one is optional.")] string secondArgument = "default!",
        [Option][Alias("-o1")][PrettyName("Option 1 Pretty Name")] string optionOne = "1",
        [Option][Alias("-o2")][Alias("-2")][PrettyName("Option 2 Pretty Name")] string optionTwo = "2",
        [Option][Alias("-y")][Description("Skips confirmations.")] bool skipConfirmations = false
    )
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"firstArgument = {firstArgument}");
        Console.WriteLine($"secondArgument = {secondArgument}");
        Console.WriteLine($"optionOne = {optionOne}");
        Console.WriteLine($"optionTwo = {optionTwo}");
        Console.WriteLine($"skipConfirmations = {skipConfirmations}");
    }
}

Help Output Examples

Root command help:

Description:
  This is the root level command description.

Usage:
  PatcatDB.CLI [command] [options]

Options:
  --version       Show version information
  -?, -h, --help  Show help and usage information

Commands:
  my-command <FirstArgument> <SecondArgument>  This is the description of my-command [default: default!]

Command-specific help:

Description:
  Publishes a PatcatDB module to a database.

Usage:
  PatcatDB.CLI publish <FirstArgument> [<SecondArgument>] [options]

Arguments:
  <FirstArgument>  The first argument.
  <SecondArgument>  The second argument, but this one is optional. [default: default!]

Options:
  --optionOne, -o1 <Option 1 Pretty Name>  [default: 1]
  --optionTwo, -o2, -2 <Option 2>  [default: 2]
  -y, --skip-confirmations         Skips confirmations. [default: False]
  -?, -h, --help                   Show help and usage information

Setting Up as a .NET Tool

1. Add to your .csproj file:

<PackAsTool>true</PackAsTool>
<ToolCommandName>command-name</ToolCommandName>
<PackageOutputPath>./nupkg</PackageOutputPath>

Example project file:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
        <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
        <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
        <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
        <PackAsTool>true</PackAsTool>
        <ToolCommandName>command-name</ToolCommandName>
        <PackageOutputPath>./nupkg</PackageOutputPath>
        <Version>1.0.0</Version>
    </PropertyGroup>

    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="System.CommandLine" Version="2.*" />
        <ProjectReference Include="PatcatGames.CommandLineUtilities" Version="1.*" />
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

2. Pack and install:

dotnet pack
dotnet tool install --global --add-source ./nupkg ProjectName

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Patcat Games LTD

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.