UCON framework

Overview

UCON is a Node.js super framework for I/O in terminals.

It is designed to make I/O in terminals Visualize, Componentize and Standardize.

As a framework, UCON also provides useful standard components, such as ProgressBar and Table etc.

It is also convenient to create a component on your own, because the design of UCON and the features of terminals. The implementation of a component generally does not need to exceed 50 lines.

Developed by UniCoder Group. DESIGNED IN CHINA.

Visualize

Converts plain text output into a graphic of characters.

Componentize

Each output can be composed of components.

This borrows from the designs of front-end frameworks.

Standardize

Components

Components let you split the UI into independent, reusable pieces, and think about each piece in isolation. [^1]

Component categories

In UCON, components are divided into three categories: BlockComponent, InlineComponent and ContainerComponent

BlockComponent

BlockComponents occupy one or more lines without listening for input.

Usage

1. Create an instance through new
2. Call mount to mount it to the newest line
3. You can call other methods to modify the content of it

Example

let pb = new ucon.ProgressBar({
    name: "test"
})......

Warnings

• Call mount for more than one time may cause undefined behaviors

InlineComponent

InlineComponents render part of a line according to the arguments.

Usage

Call Name([Params][,...Contents]), which returns an instance.

Example

ucon.ucon.log("This book is ", ucon.Italitic("Harry Potter"), ".");

Warnings

• The instance returned by this call is a derivative of InlineComponent, so it cannot be added directly to the string or passed to the methods of standard console. Please call its render method to get the pure rendered string
• The functions named as the component name are just a grammar sugar. These functions process the parameters and then construct and return the component instance
• This categorie of components can have no content parameters, such as the Icon component
• Content arguments are separated by ', ', but Spaces are not added between arguments, for the same reason as the ucon.log method, to allow another inline component to be part of content

ContainerComponent

ContainerComponents process all the outputs while they are registered.

Usage

1. Create an instance through new
2. Call begin to output the beginning and register it
3. Output things that should be processed by it through ucon.log
4. Call end to unregister it and output the ending

Example

let group = new ucon.Group();
......

Warnings

• Only the outputs through ucon.log method will be processed by ContainerComponents
• Theregister/unregister methods can be called midway to turn processing on/off
• If the program logic jumps due to exceptions or something else, the stack will be unbalanced, then the output will be confused, so be sure to clear/repair the stack at that time

Component development

[TODO]

[^1]: https://reactjs.org/docs/components-and-props.html, Introduction