/MooseX-App

Write user-friendly command line apps with even less suffering

Primary LanguagePerlGNU General Public License v2.0GPL-2.0

NAME
    MooseX::App - Write user-friendly command line apps with even less
    suffering

SYNOPSIS
    In your base class:

      package MyApp;
      use MooseX::App qw(Color);
 
      option 'global_option' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Bool',
          documentation => q[Enable this to do fancy stuff],
      ); # Global option
  
      has 'private' => ( 
          is              => 'rw',
      ); # not exposed

    Write multiple command classes (If you have only a single command class
    you should use MooseX::App::Simple instead)

      package MyApp::SomeCommand;
      use MooseX::App::Command; # important (also imports Moose)
      extends qw(MyApp); # optional, only if you want to use global options from base class
  
      # Positional parameter
      parameter 'some_parameter' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Str',
          required      => 1,
          documentation => q[Some parameter that you need to supply],
      );
  
      option 'some_option' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Int',
          required      => 1,
          documentation => q[Very important option!],
      ); # Option
  
      sub run {
          my ($self) = @_;
          # Do something
      }

    And then you need a simple wrapper script (called eg. myapp):

     #!/usr/bin/env perl
     use MyApp;
     MyApp->new_with_command->run;

    On the command line:

     bash$ myapp help
     usage:
         myapp <command> [long options...]
         myapp help
 
     global options:
         --global_option    Enable this to do fancy stuff [Flag]
         --help --usage -?  Prints this usage information. [Flag]
 
     available commands:
         some_command    Description of some command
         another_command Description of another command
         help            Prints this usage information

    or

     bash$ myapp some_command --help
     usage:
         myapp some_command <SOME_PARAMETER> [long options...]
         myapp help
         myapp some_command --help
 
     parameters:
         some_parameter     Some parameter that you need to supply [Required]
 
     options:
         --global_option    Enable this to do fancy stuff [Flag]
         --some_option      Very important option! [Int,Required]
         --help --usage -?  Prints this usage information. [Flag]

DESCRIPTION
    MooseX-App is a highly customisable helper to write user-friendly
    command line applications without having to worry about most of the
    annoying things usually involved. Just take any existing Moose class,
    add a single line ("use MooseX-App qw(PluginA PluginB ...);") and create
    one class for each command in an underlying namespace. Options and
    positional parameters can be defined as simple Moose accessors.

    MooseX-App will then

    *   Find, load and initialise the command classes (see MooseX-App-Simple
        for single command applications)

    *   Create automated help and documentation from modules POD as well as
        attributes metadata and type constraints

    *   Read, encode and validate the command line options and positional
        parameters entered by the user from @ARGV and %ENV

    *   Provide helpful error messages if user input cannot be validated (
        either missing or wrong attributes or Moose type constraints not
        satisfied)

    Commandline options are defined using the 'option' keyword which accepts
    the same attributes as Moose' 'has' keyword.

      option 'some_option' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Str',
      );

    This is equivalent to

      has 'some_option' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Str',
          traits        => ['AppOption'],   # Load extra metaclass
          cmd_type      => 'option',        # Set attribute type
      );

    Positional parameters are defined with the 'parameter' keyword

      parameter 'some_option' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Str',
      );

    This is equivalent to

      has 'some_option' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Str',
          traits        => ['AppOption'],
          cmd_type      => 'parameter',
      );

    Furthermore all options and parameters can also be suplied vie %ENV

      option 'some_option' => (
          is            => 'rw',
          isa           => 'Str',
          cmd_env       => 'SOME_OPTION',
      );

    Read the Tutorial for getting started with a simple MooseX::App command
    line application.

METHODS
  new_with_command
     my $myapp_command = MyApp->new_with_command();

    This constructor reads the command line arguments and tries to create a
    command class instance. If it fails it retuns a
    MooseX::App::Message::Envelope object holding an error message.

    You can pass a hash of default/fallback params to new_with_command

     my $obj = MyApp->new_with_command(%default);

  initialize_command_class
     my $obj = MyApp->initialize_command_class($command_name,%default);

    Helper method to instantiate the command class for the given command.

GLOBAL OPTIONS
  app_base
     app_base 'my_script'; # Defaults to $0

    Usually MooseX::App will take the name of the calling wrapper script to
    construct the program name in various help messages. This name can be
    changed via the app_base function.

  app_namespace
     app_namespace 'MyApp::Commands', 'YourApp::MoreCommands';

    Usually MooseX::App will take the package name of the base class as the
    namespace for commands. This namespace can be changed and you can add
    multiple extra namespaces.

  app_fuzzy
     app_fuzzy(1); # default
     OR
     app_fuzzy(0);

    Enables fuzzy matching of commands and attributes. Is turned on by
    default.

  app_strict
     app_strict(0); # default 
     OR
     app_strict(1);

    If strict is enabled the program will terminate with an error message if
    superfluous/unknown positional parameters are supplied. If disabled all
    extra parameters will be copied to the extra_argv attribute.

    The command_strict config in the command classes allows one to set this
    option individually for each command.

  app_prefer_commandline
     app_prefer_commandline(0); # default
     or
     app_prefer_commandline(1);

    Specifies if parameters/options supplied via @ARGV,%ENV should take
    precedence over arguments passed to new_with_command.

  app_command_name
     app_command_name {
         my ($package) = shift;
         # munge package name;
         return $command_name;
     };

    This sub can be used to control how package names should be translated
    to command names.

  app_description
    Set the description. If not set this information will be taken from the
    Pod DESCRIPTION or OVERVIEW sections.

  app_usage
    Set custom usage. If not set this will be taken from the Pod SYNOPSIS or
    USAGE section. If those sections are not available, the usage
    information will be autogenerated.

GLOBAL ATTRIBUTES
    All MooseX::App classes will have two extra attributes

  extra_argv
    Carries all parameters from @ARGV that were not consumed (only if
    app_strict is turned off, otherwise superfluous parameters will raise an
    exception).

  help_flag
    Help flag that is set when help was requested.

ATTRIBUTE OPTIONS
    *   cmd_tags - Extra tags

    *   cmd_flag - Override option name

    *   cmd_aliases - Alternative option names

    *   cmd_split - Split values

    *   cmd_position - Option/Parameter order

    *   cmd_env - Read options from %ENV

    Refer to MooseX::App::Meta::Role::Attribute::Option for detailed
    documentation.

METADATA
    MooseX::App will use your class metadata and POD to construct the
    commands and helpful error- or usage- messages. These bits of
    information are utilised and should be provided if possible:

    *   Package names

    *   required options for Moose attributes

    *   documentation options for Moose attributes

    *   Moose type constraints (Bool, ArrayRef, HashRef, Int, Num, and Enum)

    *   POD (NAME, ABSTRACT, DESCRIPTION, USAGE, SYNOPSIS and OVERVIEW
        sections)

    *   Dzil ABSTRACT tag if no POD is available yet

PLUGINS
    The behaviour of MooseX-App can be customised with plugins. To load a
    plugin just pass a list of plugin names after the "use MooseX-App"
    statement. (Attention: order sometimes matters)

     use MooseX::App qw(PluginA PluginB);

    Currently the following plugins are shipped with MooseX::App

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::BashCompletion

        Adds a command that genereates a bash completion script for your
        application

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::Color

        Colorful output for your MooseX::App applications

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::Config

        Config files for MooseX::App applications

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::ConfigHome

        Search config files in users home directory

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::Term

        Prompt user for options and parameters that were not provided via
        options or params

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::Typo

        Handle typos in command names

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::Version

        Adds a command to display the version and license of your
        application

    *   MooseX::App::Plugin::Man

        Display full manpage

    Refer to Writing MooseX-App Plugins for documentation on how to create
    your own plugins.

CAVEATS & KNOWN BUGS
    Startup time may be an issue - escpecially if you load many plugins. If
    you do not require the functionality of plugins and ability for fine
    grained customisation (or Moose for that matter) then you should
    probably use MooX::Options or MooX::Cmd.

    In some cases - especially when using non-standard class inheritance -
    you may end up with command classes lacking the help attribute. In this
    case you need to include the following line in your base class

     with qw(MooseX::App::Role::Common);

SEE ALSO
    Read the Tutorial for getting started with a simple MooseX::App command
    line application.

    For alternatives you can check out

    MooseX::App::Cmd, MooseX::Getopt, MooX::Options, MooX::Cmd and App::Cmd

SUPPORT
    Please report any bugs or feature requests to
    "bug-moosex-app@rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
    <http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Bug/Report.html?Queue=MooseX-App>. I will be
    notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your
    report as I make changes.

AUTHOR
        Maroš Kollár
        CPAN ID: MAROS
        maros [at] k-1.com
    
        http://www.k-1.com

CONTRIBUTORS
    In no particular order: Andrew Jones, George Hartzell, Steve Nolte,
    Michael G, Thomas Klausner, Yanick Champoux, Edward Baudrez, David
    Golden, J.R. Mash, Thilo Fester, Gregor Herrmann

COPYRIGHT
    MooseX::App is Copyright (c) 2012-14 Maroš Kollár.

    This library is free software and may be distributed under the same
    terms as perl itself. The full text of the licence can be found in the
    LICENCE file included with this module.