Builder Options¶

The builder¶

var builder = MvcApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.DefaultController = "Dashboard";                         // default "Home"
builder.DefaultAction = "Overview";                              // default "Index"
builder.ClearScreenBetweenViews = false;                         // default true
builder.FullScreen = true;                                       // default false
builder.Mouse = true;                                            // default false (or the ConsoleMVC:Mouse setting)
builder.ScreenReader = true;                                     // default false (or the ConsoleMVC:ScreenReader setting)
builder.HighContrast = true;                                     // default false (or the ConsoleMVC:HighContrast setting)
builder.ApplicationAssembly = typeof(Program).Assembly;          // default: the entry assembly
builder.Renderer = MarkupRenderer.CreateForConsole();            // default: detected automatically
builder.Input = ConsoleTextInput.Instance;                       // default: the console
builder.Theme.Set("brand", new ThemeStyle { Bold = true });      // default: Theme.CreateDefault()
builder.Services.AddSingleton<IClock, SystemClock>();            // your services
builder.Services.Configure<ShopOptions>(builder.Configuration.GetSection("Shop"));
builder.Logging.AddFile("logs/app.log");                          // logs, not on the screen

using var app = builder.Build();
app.Use(async (context, next) => await next(context));           // middleware
await app.RunAsync();

Option	Purpose
`DefaultController` / `DefaultAction`	The first route
`Services`	Services for controller constructors, `@inject` and middleware (Dependency Injection)
`Configuration` / `Environment` / `Logging`	Settings, the environment and log providers (Configuration Files and Logging)
`Theme`	Named styles for `class="…"` (themes)
`ClearScreenBetweenViews`	Clear the console before each view
`ScreenReader`	Plain text for screen readers: no borders or bars, typed answers, no clearing; also on with the `ConsoleMVC:ScreenReader` setting (see Accessibility)
`HighContrast`	Use `Theme.CreateHighContrast()`; also on with the `ConsoleMVC:HighContrast` setting
`Localization`	The run's culture, the framework's messages (`FrameworkText`) and translated validation messages; see Localisation
`Mouse`	Click menu options, choices and checkboxes, and scroll with the wheel; also on with the `ConsoleMVC:Mouse` setting (see Mouse)
`FullScreen`	Run on the terminal's alternate screen, like a full-screen editor; the user's scrollback comes back when the application ends, also after an error or Ctrl+C. Ignored when the output is not a terminal that supports it
`ApplicationAssembly`	Where controllers and views are discovered
`Renderer`	How markup is drawn: colour support (`NO_COLOR`, `COLORTERM`, Windows VT mode), terminal width and redirected output are detected, and the screen is redrawn when the terminal is resized (details)
`Input`	Where `<input>`, `<select>`, `<radio>`, `<checkbox>` and `<menu>` read from

Build() validates the service registrations, so a missing dependency fails at start-up rather than on the screen that needs it.

Running and serving¶

Call	What it does
`app.Run()` / `await app.RunAsync(token)`	Runs on this console until a view quits; serves instead when the `ConsoleMVC:Serve` setting is set
`await app.ServeAsync(new TerminalServerOptions(), token)`	Serves the application to many users at once over Telnet or TLS (Remote Sessions)
`await app.RunSessionAsync(terminal, token)`	Runs one session on a `RemoteTerminal` over any stream

Testing¶

The ConsoleMVC.Testing package runs the application with scripted lines and keys, records each screen and compares screens with snapshot files:

var run = MvcTestHost.For<HomeController>(b => b.Services.AddSingleton<IGreetingService, FakeGreetings>())
    .Run("2", "Ada", "3", "n", "q");

Assert.Contains("Hello, Ada!", run.LastScreen);
Snapshot.Match(run.LastScreen, "greeting");

See Testing. builder.Input takes any ITextInput and builder.Renderer any IMarkupRenderer if you want to drive the application yourself.

Live reload¶

Run dotnet watch during development; see Getting Started.