dotNetConsoleMenu

dotNetConsoleMenu is a menu generator for .NET console applications, which uses special attributes to flag classes and methods called by the menu.

Supported Versions of .NET

The Gold.ConsoleMenu library is built against .NET Standard 2.0 so that it can be used with both the .NET Framework, version 4.6.1 and above, and also with .NET Core.

To use the Gold.ConsoleMenu library with earlier versions of the .NET Framework install the Gold.ConsoleMenu 2.1.0 NuGet package. That is identical to the v3.1.1 NuGet package but was built against .NET Framework 2.0, so can be used with .NET Framework 2.0 to 4.8.

NuGet Package

The NuGet package can be installed via either the NuGet Package Manager or via the .NET CLI.

Installing via the NuGet Package Manager

If required, install NuGet for Visual Studio.

Then, in Visual Studio, open the solution to add the package to and use the Package Manager Console to install Gold.ConsoleMenu:

PM> Install-Package Gold.ConsoleMenu

Installing via the .NET CLI

In Visual Studio open the solution to add the package to then use a Developer Command Prompt window to install the NuGet package:

> dotnet add package Gold.ConsoleMenu

Installing Version 2.1.0, for Older Versions of .NET Framework

This must be done via the NuGet Package Manager.

In Visual Studio open the solution to add the package to then use the Package Manager Console to install v2.1.0 of the NuGet package:

PM> Install-Package Gold.ConsoleMenu -Version 2.1.0

A Sample Menu

Forms Menu
====================================================
Enter the menu item followed by [ENTER]:

    [ESC]: Exit application
    [DEL]: Clear screen
    [PG UP]: Go up to parent menu

    A) Exceptions Menu
    B) Test Menu

    1) Display About form
    2) Display encryption form

The first line of the menu is the user-friendly menu name, in this case "Forms Menu".

The menu itself is made of up to three sections:

1. Menu items that are automatically added to the menu. "Exit application" and "Clear screen" are always included. "Go up to parent menu" is included if the menu is a sub-menu of another menu.

2. An optional sub-menu section. In this case there are two sub-menus: "Exceptions Menu" and "Test Menu". Selecting either menu item will display the specified sub-menu. Sub-menus are always labelled with letters, eg "A) Exceptions Menu", to distinguish them from method menu items.

3. An optional method menu items section. In this case there are two menu items: "Display About form" and "Display encryption form". Selecting a method menu item will execute the method associated with the menu item. Method menu items are always labelled with numbers, eg "2) Display encryption form", to distinguish them from sub-menu menu items.

Getting Started

The menu generator creates menus and menu items.

Menus

A menu is created by decorating a class with a [MenuClass] attribute. You must specify a user-friendly menu name for the menu in the MenuClass attribute. For example:

[MenuClass("Main Menu")]
public class RootMenu
{
    ...
}

In this case the menu name will be "Main Menu".

Sub-menus

When using an attribute to create a menu you may optionally include the name of a parent menu. This will generate a sub-menu of the specified parent menu. For example:

[MenuClass("Forms Menu", ParentMenuName = "Main Menu")]
public class FormsMenu
{
    ....
}

In this case the Main Menu will include a menu item labelled "Forms Menu". If that menu item is selected the Forms Menu will be displayed.

The Forms Menu will include a menu item "Go up to parent menu" which will display the Main Menu again.

Method Menu Items

A method menu item is created by decorating a static method in a menu class with a [MenuMethod] attribute. You must specify the display text for the menu item in the MenuMethod attribute. For example:

[MenuClass("Main Menu")]
public class RootMenu
{
	[MenuMethod("This is the first menu item")]
	public static void Method1()
	{
		...
	}
}

In this case the text of the menu item will be "This is the first menu item".

Only methods with a specific signature may become menu items. The methods must be public static void with no arguments. Any method name is acceptable for a menu item method.

Running the Menu Generator

In the Main method of the console application, call MenuGenerator.Run():

static void Main(string[] args)
{
	MenuGenerator.Run();
}

When the application is run the top-level menu (the menu without a ParentMenuName specified) will be displayed.

Namespace

The MenuGenerator, the MenuClassAttribute and the MenuMethodAttribute classes are all in the Gold.ConsoleMenu namespace. Add the following using statement to the top of any menu classes, and to the class containing the Main method:

using Gold.ConsoleMenu;

Display Order

By default, sub-menus and method menu items are displayed in alphabetical order: Sub-menus are ordered by menu name and method menu items are ordered by their display text.

The display order of sub-menus and method menu items may be set explicitly in the attributes that define them. Both the [MenuClass] and [MenuMethod] attributes have an optional DisplayOrder property. For example:

[MenuClass("Forms Menu", ParentMenuName = "Main Menu", DisplayOrder = 2)]
public class FormsMenu
{
	[MenuMethod("Display About form", DisplayOrder = 3)]
	public static void DisplayAbout()
	{
		...
	}
}

Splitting a Menu

If a menu has many method menu items you may want to split them across multiple classes. This can be done by simply specifying the same menu name in the [MenuClass] attribute on both classes. For example:

[MenuClass("Forms Menu", ParentMenuName = "Main Menu")]
public class FormsMenu1
{
    ....
}
	
[MenuClass("Forms Menu", ParentMenuName = "Main Menu")]
public class FormsMenu2
{
    ....
}

The menu generator will combine the menu items from the two classes into a single menu.