Overview

Dace23 is a transactional, text-based UI component library for Console Applications, designed to behave like classic payments interfaces:

This repo is a demonstration of its general functionality and visuals.

The latest version of Dace23 is available via NuGet.

For an interactive console terminal with cursor support, you could try 'Gui.cs': https://github.com/gui-cs/Terminal.Gui

How to use

Dace23 must first be initialised so it can manage the console buffer:

ConsoleUI.Init();

Screens can be declared, containing Pages:

Screen screen = new();

Page page = new("Example-Page");
Page page2 = new("Example-Page2");

screen.AddPages(page, page2);
screen.Start();

Fields can then be placed on the Page, such as TextBoxes and Labels:

page.AddFields(
    new TextBox(Pos.On(12, 25), "Example editable TextBox"),
    new Label(Pos.On(12, 45), "Example label text"));

After configuring the Screen and its Pages, calling .Start() will prompt and handle user input, returning when the screen is exited.

Fields

'Fields' represent UI elements, such as an editable TextBox, a static Label, or a triggered DropDownBox, positioned on a Page.

Examples include:

• Border (read-only text border)
• Button (acts like a selectable label - you can optionally assign an Action event, such as navigating to another page)
• CheckBox (pressing Space toggles 'X' on or off - you can optionally assign a Check/Uncheck event)
• DateBox (pressing Space triggers the date-picker UI; move the cursor with the arrow keys and press Enter to interact)
• DropDownBox (pressing Space triggers an options dialog; Enter commits selected)
• GroupBox (read-only text border with a title)
• Label (read-only text)
• NumberBox (pressing Space triggers the ability to increment/decrement the value with the arrow keys)
• ScrollBox (read-only TextBox)
• TextBox (editable - single or multi-line)
• TimeBox (pressing Space triggers the time-selector UI; use the arrow keys to toggle between fields and increment then, Enter to commit)

Key Controls

As alluded to at the bottom of the UI, these are the base controls:

F1-SUBMIT  F2-EDIT  (S)F3-COPY  F5-REFRESH  (S)F6-PAGE  TAB-FIELD  F12-CNTLS

Cursor input is not supported - that would be far too user friendly.

The full list includes:

• F1 will submit the page, triggering a Submit event if a Button was selected
• F2 will edit the fields's selected text, provided that it is editable
• F3 will copy the selected Field's contents to the Clipboard as shown (truncated). The shift modifier will copy without formatting applied.
• F5 forces a re-draw (refresh) of the UI
• F6 advances to the next page of the screen or, with the Shift modifier, back a page
• TAB will tab to the next selectable field or, with the Shift modifier, the previous selectable field
• ARROW KEYS are used to scroll through text or as the cursor when interacting with controls, such as the TimeBox, DateBox, or NumberBox
• SPACE toggles the behaviour of certain fields, such as displaying Dropdown options or checking a CheckBox
• ENTER commits the changes of an edit or prompt selection, such as editing text, or selecting a dropdown option
• DELETE during an edit action will delete a character - with the Shift modifier, the whole line will be cleared.
• INSERT during an edit action will add an empty character - with the Shift modifier, a line will be added on a multi-line field.

Template Screens

There are some template screens used to generate default pages and fieldsyou. For example, using a 'MessageScreen' to display a simple message condenses this:

Screen screen = new();
Page page = new("Example-Message");
Label message = new(Pos.On(10, 10), "This is a message");

screen.AddPages(page);
page.AddFields(message);

screen.Start();

To this:

new MessageScreen("Example-Message", "This is a message").Start();

Examples include:

• SelectionScreen: generates SelectionPages, based on input options and display mode
• MessageScreen: generates a single MessagePage
• ScrollBoxScreen: generates a single ScrollBoxPage
• TextBoxScreen: generates a single TextBoxPage
• Screen: the default, empty screen

Calling .Start(1) on the screen will start the screen on a specific page.

Screenshots

Presenting User Data (courtesy of this API):

Presenting Cocktail Data (courtesy of this API):

Editing structured XML / JSON: