Posted on Oct 14, 2023

A small library for writing line-oriented command interpreters in the Rust

cli-rs

What is line-oriented command interpreters?

A line-oriented command interpreter, also known as a command-line interpreter or shell, is a software program or interface that allows users to interact with a computer or operating system by entering text-based commands. Users type commands and arguments in a sequential, line-by-line manner, and the interpreter processes these commands and carries out the requested operations.

Example

use std::cell::RefCell; use std::rc::Rc; use cli_rs::cli::cmd::CommandHandler; use cli_rs::cli::cmd::Cmd; use cli_rs::about; use cli_rs::hello; struct QuitCommand; struct HelpCommand; impl CommandHandler for HelpCommand { fn execute(&self, _cmd: Rc<RefCell<Cmd>>, _args: String) { println!("Help"); } } impl CommandHandler for QuitCommand { fn execute(&self, _cmd: Rc<RefCell<Cmd>>, _args: String) { std::process::exit(0); } } fn main() { let mut cmd = Cmd::new(); cmd.intro = Some("Welcome to Rust command interpreter!".to_string()); cmd.add_command("hello", Rc::new(hello::HelloCommand)); cmd.add_command("quit", Rc::new(QuitCommand)); cmd.add_command("help", Rc::new(HelpCommand)); cmd.add_command("about", Rc::new(about::AboutCommand)); cmd.cmdloop(); }

Output

# cargo run Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.03s Running `target/debug/cmd-rs` Welcome to Rust command interpreter! [cli-rs] help Help [cli-rs] hello world! Hello world! [cli-rs] about About me [cli-rs] quit