Promptly 1.0.4

Promptly

A modern, feature-rich C# library for building beautiful and interactive console applications with ease.

Overview

Promptly is a comprehensive toolkit designed to simplify console application development in C#. It provides a clean, organized set of utilities for creating professional-looking menus, handling user input, displaying progress indicators, and managing console output with style.

Features

• Interactive Menus: Create styled menus with customizable appearance, disabled options, and flexible navigation
• Input Validation: Robust input handling with type-safe readers and validation utilities
• Progress Indicators: Multiple animation styles including dots, spinners, and progress bars
• Message System: Colored output messages with support for success, warning, and error states
• Utility Functions: Common console operations like screen clearing, confirmations, and pause prompts

Installation

.NET CLI

dotnet add package Promptly

NuGet Package Manager

Install-Package Promptly

PackageReference (Manual)

Add this to your .csproj file:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Promptly" Version="1.0.4" />
</ItemGroup>

Package URL: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Promptly/

Quick Start

using Promptly.UI;
using Promptly.Output;
using Promptly.Input;
using Promptly.Utilities;

namespace MyConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Common.ClearScreen("Welcome to My App");
            
            int choice = Menu.Show("Main Menu", new[] 
            { 
                "Start Process", 
                "View Settings", 
                "Help" 
            });
            
            switch (choice)
            {
                case 1:
                    MessageWriter.WriteSuccess("Process started!");
                    ProgressIndicator.ShowLoader("Processing");
                    break;
                case 2:
                    MessageWriter.WriteMessage("Opening settings...");
                    break;
                case 3:
                    MessageWriter.WriteMessage("Help documentation...");
                    break;
                case 0:
                    MessageWriter.WriteMessage("Goodbye!");
                    return;
            }
            
            Common.Continue();
        }
    }
}

Documentation

Menu System

Basic Menu

int choice = Menu.Show("Choose an option", new[] { "Option 1", "Option 2", "Exit" });

Styled Menu with Configuration

MenuConfig config = new() 
{
    Style = MenuStyle.Boxed,
    TitleColor = ConsoleColor.Cyan,
    AllowEscape = true
};

int choice = Menu.Show("Settings Menu", options, config);

Advanced Menu with Descriptions

MenuOption[] options =
[
    new("Process Data", "Processes the uploaded data files"),
    new("Generate Report", "Creates a summary report"),
    new("Advanced Settings", "Configure advanced options") { IsEnabled = false }
];

int choice = Menu.Show("Advanced Menu", options);

Input Handling

Basic Input

string name = InputReader.ReadInput("Enter your name: ");
string age = InputReader.ReadInt("Enter your age: ", 1, 120);
string email = InputReader.ReadRequiredInput("Enter email: ");

Input Validation

if (InputValidator.IsValidEmail(email))
{
    MessageWriter.WriteSuccess("Valid email address!");
}

Progress Indicators

Simple Loader

ProgressIndicator.ShowLoader("Loading data");

Spinner Animation

ProgressIndicator.ShowSpinner("Connecting to server", 3000);

Progress Bar

for (int i = 0; i <= 100; i++)
{
    ProgressIndicator.ShowProgressBar(i, 100);
    Thread.Sleep(50);
}

Message Output

Colored Messages

MessageWriter.WriteSuccess("Operation completed successfully!");
MessageWriter.WriteWarning("This action cannot be undone.");
MessageWriter.WriteError("Connection failed. Please try again.");

Utility Functions

Screen Management

Common.ClearScreen("Application Header");
Common.Continue(); // Press any key to continue

User Confirmation

if (Common.Confirm("Are you sure you want to delete this file?"))
{
    // Perform deletion
}

Configuration Options

Menu Styles

• MenuStyle.None - No styling
• MenuStyle.Simple - Simple separator lines
• MenuStyle.Boxed - Unicode box characters
• MenuStyle.Minimal - Minimal styling with underlines

Progress Styles

• ProgressStyle.Dots - Animated dots
• ProgressStyle.Spinner - Rotating spinner
• ProgressStyle.Bar - Progress bar with percentage
• ProgressStyle.Percentage - Percentage only

Message Types

• MessageType.Info - Standard information
• MessageType.Success - Success notifications
• MessageType.Warning - Warning messages
• MessageType.Error - Error notifications

Requirements

• .NET 9.0 or later
• C# 10.0 or later

Project Structure

Promptly/
├── Models/
│   └── MenuOption.cs
├── UI/
│   ├── Menu.cs
│   └── MenuStyles.cs
├── Input/
│   ├── InputReader.cs
│   └── InputValidator.cs
├── Output/
│   ├── MessageWriter.cs
│   └── ProgressIndicator.cs
└── Utilities/
    └── Common.cs

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Bradley Deans GitHub: @deans-bradley

Contributing

This project is currently closed to contributions. However, feel free to fork the repository for your own use and modifications.

Changelog

Version 1.0.4

• Fix icon packaging path issue for NuGet package
• Add Promptly icon to package

Version 1.0.3

• Add Promptly icon to .csproj
• Initial release with core functionality
• Menu system with multiple styling options
• Input validation and handling
• Progress indicators and animations
• Message output with color support
• Common utility functions