Is there a command line framework for ruby?

Question

So, there are web frameworks, there are GUI frameworks, I was just wondering if there was a console/command line framework for ruby?

Specifically, I would like to be able to:

1. Have a particular view wherein I could tab to different input segments. Exactly like you can do with forms on a web page.
2. I would like the usual console shortcuts to work (ctr-k, ctr-a, ctr-e, etc)
3. If the cursor is at a certain input position, sometimes I would like it to response to a single key press event, rather than my having to enter text and then press enter.

Does not have to be a unified framework. But I notice that it does seem somewhat cumbersome to write console apps in ruby. Are there any tools that make this easier?

Answer 1

Maybe http://rbcurse.rubyforge.org/ can help

Answer 2

Found two more (used neither though):

• Ruby Dialog Interface and
• STFL

BTW, I think you had library, not framework in mind. It's a bit unrealistic expecting someone to develop console-based MVC framework... Anyway, everyone is free to try porting Rails... ;)

Edit: Actually, using text-based browser with a web application written with accessibility in mind could give you what you need. Plus you get web interface for free! ;)

Answer 3

By the time you read this, someone's probably written an Emacs mode for this purpose!

(I'm not sure if I'm kidding)

Answer 4

Judging from your questions it sounds like your like looking for curses-based frameworks. But in case that you're not, here are some console/irb-related gems I've written that may be useful:

• hirb - view framework for associating classes with views
• bond - custom readline completion made easy
• boson - console command framework

Now to answer your questions:

1. Though I don't know how to do it, there is this nice curses app whose source code you could read.
2. require 'readline' gives you those keybindings
3. require 'highline'; answer = HighLine.new.ask('ask something') {|e| e.character = true }

Answer 5

I think SimpleConsole is what you are looking for:

It’s a tiny framework to get console applications developed quickly. It might be overkill for scripts, but is pretty useful for some applications. [...] SimpleConsole has a controller and a view, the controller sets up variables for the view to present. The view is optional, but is handy in the cases that you have a lot of ‘puts’ methods and you want to separate them from your logic.