How to recognize dashed commands from Console user input? - c#

let's say user enters -path D:\TestFolder\Test.txt -output c -formula x+1-20 in console.
That means he wants to process file which is located in that path, output results to console and apply that formula to each number in file.
what is the proper way to recognize commands if they start with dash?
for example I want to build an object from that string:
public UserInput(string input)
{
public string Path { get; set; }
public string OutputParam { get; set; }
public string Formula { get; set; }
}

Depending on your target framework, and depending on the complexity of the input parameters, you may want to consider using a 3rd party package to do the parsing for you. There are plenty to choose from each with their own quirks and best use cases (e.g. one example is Command Line Parser which can work with .NET Standard. If you are using .NET Core, there is a built in System.CommandLine that can do what you need as well). Each of these will have their own particular implementations and specifics on how to use, so showing examples might not be as helpful if you're not interested in parsing complex user input.
If you are specifically simply trying to parse only the string -path <path> -output <file> -formula <formula>, you could simply write a helper function to return an array of values after parsing, rather than creating a class (and having to deal with static and all that in your Main function). If you want to create a custom class to handle things like mapping your mathematical formula to something, or manipulate the data in some way, you should probably refactor the example below.
Helper:
private static string[] ParseInput(string[] input)
{
try
{
var results = new string[3];
// shift over one index based on the position of the arguments
// get the 'path' value
var index = input.FindIndex(x => x == "-path") + 1;
results[0] = input[index];
// get the 'output' value
index = input.FindIndex(x => x == "-output") + 1;
results[1] = input[index];
// get the formula value
index = input.FindIndex(x => x == "-formula") + 1;
results[2] = input[index];
return results;
}
catch { throw new ArgumentException("Input string was not formatted correctly.")
}
You can then use this in the main program:
...
static void Main(string[] args)
{
...
try
{
var results = ParseInput(args);
// do stuff with results[0] through [2]
...
}
catch (ArgumentException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine($"ERROR: {ex.Message}");
return;
}
...
}
Note: In general I would avoid hardcoding stuff like this, because it makes your application nearly impossible to extend as you get new requirements. For example, if you ever decide you want a -formula2 input argument, well now you need to recode your entire helper function, and any dependencies to consume that information. On the flip side, I also do not advise to install large 3rd party packages that "do everything" if you have a very specific requirement that (you assume) will never change. On this one it's really up to your requirements and scope to decide if you need to use a larger solution to solve your problem.

Related

What is proper way to save data from file to object C#

what is proper way to save all lines from text file to objects. I have .txt file something like this
0001Marcus Aurelius 20021122160 21311
0002William Shakespeare 19940822332 11092
0003Albert Camus 20010715180 01232
From this file I know position of each data that is written in file, and all data are formatted.
Line number is from 0 to 3
Book author is from 4 to 30
Publish date is from 31 to 37
Page num. is from 38 to 43
Book code is from 44 to 49
I made class Data which holds information about start, end position, value, error.
Then I made class Line that holds list of type Data, and list that holds all error founded from some line. After load data from line to object Data I loop through lineError and add errors from all line to list, because I need to save errors from each line to database.
My question is this proper way to save data from file to object and after processing same data saving to database, advice for some better approach?
public class Data
{
public int startPosition = 0;
public int endPosition = 0;
public object value = null;
public string fieldName = "";
public Error error = null;
public Data(int start, int end, string name)
{
this.startPosition = start;
this.endPosition = end;
this.fieldName = name;
}
public void SetValueFromLine(string line)
{
string valueFromLine = line.Substring(this.startPosition, this.endPosition - this.startPosition);
// if else statment that checks validity of data (lenght, empty value)
this.value = valueFromLine;
}
}
public class Line
{
public List<Data> lineData = new List<Data>();
public List<Error> lineError = new List<Error>();
public Line()
{
AddObjectDataToList();
}
public void AddObjectDataToList()
{
lineData.Add(new Data(0, 3, "lineNumber"));
lineData.Add(new Data(4, 30, "bookAuthor"));
lineData.Add(new Data(31, 37, "publishData"));
lineData.Add(new Data(38, 43, "pageNumber"));
lineData.Add(new Data(44, 49, "bookCode"));
}
public void LoadLineDataToObjects(string line)
{
foreach(Data s in lineData)
{
s.SetValueFromLine(line);
}
}
public void GetAllErrorFromData()
{
foreach (Data s in lineData)
{
if(s.error != null)
{
lineError.Add(s.error);
}
}
}
}
public class File
{
public string fileName;
public List<Line> lines = new List<Line>();
}
I assume that the focus is on using OOP. I also assume that parsing is a secondary task and I will not consider options for its implementation.
First of all, it is necessary to determine the main acting object. Strange as it may seem, this is not a Book, but the string itself (e.g. DataLine). Initially, I wanted to create a Book from a string (through a separate constructor), but that would be a mistake.
What actions should be able to perform DataLine? - In fact, only one - process. I see two acceptable options for this method:
process returns Book or throws exceptions. (Book process())
process returns nothing, but interacts with another object. (void process(IResults result))
The first option has the following drawbacks:
It is difficult to test (although this applies to the second option). All validation is hidden inside DataLine.
It is impossible/difficult to return a few errors.
The program is aimed at working with incorrect data, so expected exceptions are often generated. This violates the ideology of exceptions. Also, there are small fears of slowing performance.
The second option is devoid of the last two drawbacks. IResults can contain methodserror(...), to return several errors, and success(Book book).
The testability of the process method can be significantly improved by adding IValidator. This object can be passed as a parameter to the DataLine constructor, but this is not entirely correct. First, this unnecessary expense of memory because it will not give us tangible benefits. Secondly, this does not correspond to the essence of the DataLine class. DataLine represents only a line that can be processed in one particular way. Thus, a good solution is the void process (IValidator validator, IResults result).
Summarize the above (may contain syntax errors):
interface IResults {
void error (string message);
void success (Book book);
}
interface IValidator {
// just example
bool checkBookCode (string bookCode);
}
class DataLine {
private readonly string _rawData;
// constructor
/////////////////
public void process (IValidator validator, IResults result) {
// parse _rawData
bool isValid = true; // just example! maybe better to add IResults.hasErrors ()
if (! validator.checkBookCode (bookCode)) {
result.error("Bad book code");
isValid = false;
}
if (isValid) {
result.success(new Book (...));
// or even result.success (...); to avoid cohesion (coupling?) with the Book
}
}
}
The next step is to create a model of the file with the lines. Here again there are many options and nuances, but I would like to pay attention to IEnumerable<DataLine>. Ideally, we need to create a DataLines class that will support IEnumerable<DataLine> and load from a file or from IEnumerable<string>. However, this approach is relatively complex and redundant, it makes sense only in large projects. A much simpler version:
interface DataLinesProvider {
IEnumerable <DataLine> Lines ();
}
class DataLinesFile implements DataLinesProvider {
private readonly string _fileName;
// constructor
////////////////////
IEnumerable <DataLine> Lines () {
// not sure that it's right
return File
. ReadAllLines (_fileName)
.Select (x => new DataLine (x));
}
}
You can infinitely improve the code, introduce new and new abstractions, but here you must start from common sense and a specific problem.
P. S. sorry for "strange" English. Google not always correctly translate such complex topics.

Can I generate the compile date in my C# code to determine the expiry for a demo version?

I am creating a demonstration version of a C# program and I wish it to expire after a month.
// DEMO - Check date
DateTime expires = new DateTime(2016, 3, 16);
expires.AddMonths(2);
var diff = expires.Subtract(DateTime.Now);
if (diff.Days < 0)
{
MessageBox.Show("Demonstration expired.");
return;
}
I am wanting to have the date the compile instead of the hard coded new DateTime(2016, 3, 16);
Is there a compiler directive to give me the current date? Or am I aproaching this the wrong way?
But pre-processor directives are used during compile-time.
That expiration should be implemented using executable code. The issue here is you can hardcode it and hide it as much as possible, but it avid developers can find it and replace the intermediate language and generate a new assembly without the expiration. Actually, there're many other cases where an user can by-pass the whole expiration...
It seems like your best bet should be creating some kind of unique key, store it in your app and check if the whole key is still valid over the wire connecting to some licensing service developed by you.
An alternative solution to hard-coding a date that also offers some flexibility and extensibility could be to host a license file on a web server. For my sample, I used github. Create a well-known file for the application (possibly one for demo and a new one for beta1, etc.). At startup, and possibly periodically, read the file and parse it to determine applicability, timeouts, disable/enable features (like activating a custom warning message), etc.
Now you can ship your demo, put the expire date in the file, change it if needed, etc. This is not the most elegant nor secure solution, but for many use cases for a demo/beta, this might be enough to serve its intended purpose.
Below is a working mock-up of how this might look (omitted error checking and proper cleanup for brevity):
public class LicenseInfo
{
public string Info1 { get; private set; }
public bool IsValid
{
get
{
// todo, add logic here
return true;
}
}
public bool ParseLicense(string data)
{
bool ret = false;
if (data != null)
{
// todo, parse data and set status/attributes/etc
Info1 = data;
ret = true;
}
return ret;
}
}
// could make a static class...
public class License
{
public LicenseInfo GetLicenseInfo()
{
var license = new LicenseInfo();
// todo: create whatever schema you want.
// filename hard-coded per app/version/etc.
// file could contain text/json/etc.
// easy to manage, update, etc.
// extensible.
var uri = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/korygill/Demo-License/master/StackOverflow-Demo-License.txt";
var request = (HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.Create(uri);
var response = request.GetResponse();
var data = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()).ReadToEnd();
license.ParseLicense(data);
return license;
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// check if our license if valid
var license = new License();
var licenseInfo = license.GetLicenseInfo();
if (!licenseInfo.IsValid)
{
Console.WriteLine("Sorry...license expired.");
Environment.Exit(1);
}
Console.WriteLine("You have a valid license.");
Console.WriteLine($"{licenseInfo.Info1}");
}
}

How do I get a list of tags on a OPC server

I am trying to get the list of Tags from a OPC server, I am using the EasyDaClient from the QuickOPC. What I'm trying to do is this
try
{
//create the OPC Client object
OpcLabs.EasyOpc.DataAccess.EasyDAClient easyDAClient1 = new OpcLabs.EasyOpc.DataAccess.EasyDAClient();
//ServerDescriptor Declration
OpcLabs.EasyOpc.ServerDescriptor sd = new OpcLabs.EasyOpc.ServerDescriptor();
sd.MachineName = "W7VM";
sd.ServerClass = "OPC.Siemens.XML.1";
OpcLabs.EasyOpc.DataAccess.DANodeElementCollection allTags = easyDAClient1.BrowseLeaves(sd);
foreach (OpcLabs.EasyOpc.DataAccess.DANodeElement tag in allTags)
{
//if the value is a branch add it to the listbox.
if (tag.IsLeaf)
{
//add the fully qualified item id
listBox1.Items.Add(tag.ItemId.ToString());
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error: " + ex.Message.ToString());
}
I always get 0 elements from the BrowseLeaves method and I don't know what is my Channel_1.Device_1 so that I can use the other overload.
I am new to this can someone explain me how the OPC tags can be listed??
FYI: I can read the values from the tags using the:
easyDAClient1.ReadItem(MachineNameTextBox.Text,serverClassTextBox.Text,itemIdTextBox.Text);
So its not a Conenction problem
You are browsing the leaves at the root level, and there none there, that's why you get an empty collection.
What can you do? Several options there:
1) If you want to start the browsing at the root and get to the leaf level, you need to consider the branches as well. Use BrowseBranches method, or (maybe even better) use BrowseNodes, which returns both the branches and the leaves. When you get a branch node (you can test it using .IsBranch), you may decide to browse further into it.
2) If you want to get the leaves and know which branch they are at, you can pass in the branch name to the BrowseLeaves method as an additional parameter. However this is probably not your case, as I can guess form you saying "I don't know what is my Channel_1.Device_1 ", which is probably the branch ID that you do not "know" upfront.
Here is a complete example with recursive browsing:
// BrowseAndReadValues: Console application that recursively browses and displays the nodes in the OPC address space, and
// attempts to read and display values of all OPC items it finds.
using System.Diagnostics;
using JetBrains.Annotations;
using OpcLabs.EasyOpc;
using OpcLabs.EasyOpc.DataAccess;
using System;
namespace BrowseAndReadValues
{
class Program
{
const string ServerClass = "OPCLabs.KitServer.2";
[NotNull]
static readonly EasyDAClient Client = new EasyDAClient();
static void BrowseAndReadFromNode([NotNull] string parentItemId)
{
// Obtain all node elements under parentItemId
var nodeFilter = new DANodeFilter(); // no filtering whatsoever
DANodeElementCollection nodeElementCollection = Client.BrowseNodes("", ServerClass, parentItemId, nodeFilter);
// Remark: that BrowseNodes(...) may also throw OpcException; a production code should contain handling for it, here
// omitted for brevity.
foreach (DANodeElement nodeElement in nodeElementCollection)
{
Debug.Assert(nodeElement != null);
// If the node is a leaf, it might be possible to read from it
if (nodeElement.IsLeaf)
{
// Determine what the display - either the value read, or exception message in case of failure.
string display;
try
{
object value = Client.ReadItemValue("", ServerClass, nodeElement);
display = String.Format("{0}", value);
}
catch (OpcException exception)
{
display = String.Format("** {0} **", exception.GetBaseException().Message);
}
Console.WriteLine("{0} -> {1}", nodeElement.ItemId, display);
}
// If the node is not a leaf, just display its itemId
else
Console.WriteLine("{0}", nodeElement.ItemId);
// If the node is a branch, browse recursively into it.
if (nodeElement.IsBranch &&
(nodeElement.ItemId != "SimulateEvents") /* this branch is too big for the purpose of this example */)
BrowseAndReadFromNode(nodeElement);
}
}
static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine("Browsing and reading values...");
// Set timeout to only wait 1 second - default would be 1 minute to wait for good quality that may never come.
Client.InstanceParameters.Timeouts.ReadItem = 1000;
// Do the actual browsing and reading, starting from root of OPC address space (denoted by empty string for itemId)
BrowseAndReadFromNode("");
Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to continue...");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Tech support: http://www.opclabs.com/forum/index

Caching attribute for method?

Maybe this is dreaming, but is it possible to create an attribute that caches the output of a function (say, in HttpRuntime.Cache) and returns the value from the cache instead of actually executing the function when the parameters to the function are the same?
When I say function, I'm talking about any function, whether it fetches data from a DB, whether it adds two integers, or whether it spits out the content of a file. Any function.
Your best bet is Postsharp. I have no idea if they have what you need, but that's certainly worth checking. By the way, make sure to publish the answer here if you find one.
EDIT: also, googling "postsharp caching" gives some links, like this one: Caching with C#, AOP and PostSharp
UPDATE: I recently stumbled upon this article: Introducing Attribute Based Caching. It describes a postsharp-based library on http://cache.codeplex.com/ if you are still looking for a solution.
I have just the same problem - I have multiply expensive methods in my app and it is necessary for me to cache those results. Some time ago I just copy-pasted similar code but then I decided to factor this logic out of my domain.
This is how I did it before:
static List<News> _topNews = null;
static DateTime _topNewsLastUpdateTime = DateTime.MinValue;
const int CacheTime = 5; // In minutes
public IList<News> GetTopNews()
{
if (_topNewsLastUpdateTime.AddMinutes(CacheTime) < DateTime.Now)
{
_topNews = GetList(TopNewsCount);
}
return _topNews;
}
And that is how I can write it now:
public IList<News> GetTopNews()
{
return Cacher.GetFromCache(() => GetList(TopNewsCount));
}
Cacher - is a simple helper class, here it is:
public static class Cacher
{
const int CacheTime = 5; // In minutes
static Dictionary<long, CacheItem> _cachedResults = new Dictionary<long, CacheItem>();
public static T GetFromCache<T>(Func<T> action)
{
long code = action.GetHashCode();
if (!_cachedResults.ContainsKey(code))
{
lock (_cachedResults)
{
if (!_cachedResults.ContainsKey(code))
{
_cachedResults.Add(code, new CacheItem { LastUpdateTime = DateTime.MinValue });
}
}
}
CacheItem item = _cachedResults[code];
if (item.LastUpdateTime.AddMinutes(CacheTime) >= DateTime.Now)
{
return (T)item.Result;
}
T result = action();
_cachedResults[code] = new CacheItem
{
LastUpdateTime = DateTime.Now,
Result = result
};
return result;
}
}
class CacheItem
{
public DateTime LastUpdateTime { get; set; }
public object Result { get; set; }
}
A few words about Cacher. You might notice that I don't use Monitor.Enter() ( lock(...) ) while computing results. It's because copying CacheItem pointer ( return (T)_cachedResults[code].Result; line) is thread safe operation - it is performed by only one stroke. Also it is ok if more than one thread will change this pointer at the same time - they all will be valid.
You could add a dictionary to your class using a comma separated string including the function name as the key, and the result as the value. Then when your functions can check the dictionary for the existence of that value. Save the dictionary in the cache so that it exists for all users.
PostSharp is your one stop shop for this if you want to create a [Cache] attribute (or similar) that you can stick on any method anywhere. Previously when I used PostSharp I could never get past how slow it made my builds (this was back in 2007ish, so this might not be relevant anymore).
An alternate solution is to look into using Render.Partial with ASP.NET MVC in combination with OutputCaching. This is a great solution for serving html for widgets / page regions.
Another solution that would be with MVC would be to implement your [Cache] attribute as an ActionFilterAttribute. This would allow you to take a controller method and tag it to be cached. It would only work for controller methods since the AOP magic only can occur with the ActionFilterAttributes during the MVC pipeline.
Implementing AOP through ActionFilterAttribute has evolved to be the goto solution for my shop.
AFAIK, frankly, no.
But this would be quite an undertaking to implement within the framework in order for it to work generically for everybody in all circumstances, anyway - you could, however, tailor something quite sufficient to needs by simply (where simplicity is relative to needs, obviously) using abstraction, inheritance and the existing ASP.NET Cache.
If you don't need attribute configuration but accept code configuration, maybe MbCache is what you're looking for?

Implementing a CVAR system

I would like to implement what I know as a CVAR System, I'm not entirely sure on what the official name of it is (if any).
It's essentially a system used in some programs and video games, where a user can pull down a console and input a command, such as "variable 500" to set that variable to 500. Instances of this can be found in any Half-Life game, Doom and Quake games, and many more. The general idea seems to be to hide the underlying architecture, but still allow protected access, for instance, one may be able to view the value for, say, gravity, but not change it. Some of these values may also be functions, for instance, a user may be able to input "create " to create an enemy type at their location, or some other location specified.
Looking through the Half Life 2 SDK, and from what I remember on the GoldSrc SDK, it seems like they at least implemented "flagging" of sorts, where certain commands would only work under certain conditions, such as if another value was set, or if the user has some permission level.
My initial thought was to create a Dictionary, or an object similar to do that, and use that to bind string values to function delegates, as well as keep a "protection" level of sorts, to limit usage of certain commands. However, this seems rather cumbersome, as I believe I would have to go through and add in a new entry manually for each value or function I wanted to implement. I also don't know if this would give me the control level I'm looking for.
I believe ideally what I would like would be a CVAR System class, as well as a Register function that can take it say, a variable/function delegate, a string to access it, and whatever protection level I need. This way I can add what I need as I see them, so everything is still in it's related classes and files.
I'm really just looking for some ideas here, so my questions are:
Has anyone ever done something like this before, and if so, how?
Would my implementation work? (Theoretically, if not, can you think of a better way?)
If someone is more knowledgeable with how one of the previously mentioned titles does it, can you elaborate on that a bit? It seems to be hard to find documentation on them.
I'm not really looking for specific code, just more of structuring design. And it doesn't have to be "commercial" or work just like another, I just need something to get me going.
Were you thinking about something like this?
class CVAR
{
[ProtectionLevel(CVARFlags.InGameOnly | CVARFlags.Admin)]
private float gravity = 0.1f;
[ProtectionLevel(CVARFlags.InGameOnly | CVARFlags.Admin)]
private float friction = 0.1f;
[ProtectionLevel(CVARFlags.ReadOnly)]
private string serverVersion = "x.x.x";
public void SetCVARValue(string commandLine) {
string cvarName = GetCvarName(commandLine); // parse the cmd line and get the cvar name from there
object cvarValue = GetCvarValue(commandLine); // parse the value from the string
FieldInfo field = typeof(CVAR).GetField(cvarName);
object[] attributes = field.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(ProtectionLevel), false);
if(attributes.Length > 0) {
ProtectionLevelAttribute attr = (ProtectionLevelAttribute)attributes[0];
if(attr.CheckConditions(World.Instance)) {
field.SetValue(this, cvarValue);
} else {
// error report
}
}
}
}
You could write a parser that looks for commands like
/object_property value
/object_method arg1 arg2
A dictionary, like you suggested, could map those strings to properties and functions. The creation of the dictionary could be done dynamically using reflection by looping through eligible objects, taking their public methods and accessors, and generating a string for them.
Then the dictionary could be mapped in a class for convenience and error checking.
For the methods, the dictionary values could be delegates that take 0..n arguments, for the properties/fields, you will need to be able to some data binding between your actual fields and the dictionary value. UNLESS, your objects themselves refer to the dictionaries for their values, in which case the values only live in place.
To do so, you could simply register your properties using reflection in the object constructor, then call the dictionary in your properties.
[Flags]
public enum CVarAccessibilities
{
Settable,
Gettable
}
public class CVar<T>
{
public CVarAccessibilities Accessibility { get; set; }
T val;
public T Value {
get { return val; }
set
{
if (!Accessibility.HasFlag(CVarAccessibilities.Settable))
return; // just don't set it, maybe print some warning
val = value;
}
}
}
public static class CVarRegistry
{
static Dictionary<string, Object> CVars;
static CVarRegistry { /* use reflections to initialize the dictionary */ }
public static T GetValue<T>(Type owner, string paramName)
{
CVar cvar;
if (!CVars.TryGetValue(owner.Name + "_" + paramName, out cvar)
throw new MyCustomException();
return (T)cvar.Value;
}
public static void SetValue<T>(Type owner, string paramName, T value)
{
CVar cvar;
if (!CVars.TryGetValue(owner.Name + "_" + paramName, out cvar)
throw new MyCustomException();
cvar.Value = value;
}
}
public class MyObject
{
public static int MyRegisteredValue
{
get { return Global.CVarRegistry.GetValue<int>(typeof(MyObject), "MyRegisteredValue"); }
set { Global.CVarRegistry.SetValue(typeof(MyObject), "MyRegisteredValue"); }
}
}
Hope that helps!
This is more commonly known as 'tweak' variables.
Good discussion here: https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/3631/tweaking-and-settings-runtime-variable-modification-and-persistence

Categories