I've been using CLI 1 for a while and I noticed that there's been renewed interest in developing CLI2. I was wondering how people are currently using CLI, and whether I'm using it properly?
Most of the command line apps that I've developed do more than one thing. In order to make it easier to plugin more functionality I use a basic Command pattern. Each plugin interface looks something like this: Command + isValid(options: Options):boolean + getDescription():String + execute(options:Options):void + getPrimaryOption():Option Each command has a primaryOption which uniquely identifies the command from the command line. For example, if you have a command which scales images, then it might be identified by the --scale option. The main application is responsible for discovering and loading all plugins at runtime (using the SPI mechanism), determining which plugin to execute, and printing out help information. It also invokes the command by first invoking the command's isValid method to validate the input before invoking its execute method. I'm curious if other people are using CLI in a similar manner, or if people create separate CLI applications for each piece of functionality? If this usage pattern is common, should CLI2 incorporate that usage pattern more formally into its design? Regards, -- Mark Fortner blog: http://www.jroller.com/phidias -- Mark Fortner blog: http://www.jroller.com/phidias
