org.brains2b.console
Class Main

java.lang.Object
  org.brains2b.console.Main

public class Main

extends java.lang.Object

Main is a class for applications that are depending on commandline argument, like console applications.

Main together with ArgumentMap supply a convenient way to define arguments, their relation and optionality and report if the supplied arguments when starting the application are meet the defined argument requirements.

The way to use this class is to extend your own class that contains a main method.
1. Before you do anything to start the application create an ArgumentMap and add arguments and options to it.
2. Call the setArgumentMap(ActionMap) supplying your argument map to it.
3. Afiter this you can call makeArgumentList(String[] args) with the arguments passed from main.
4. Alle recognized arguments are now available through getArgument(String name), supplying your defined name for the argument.

   Note:If no ArgumentMap is supplied to setArgumentMap(ArgumentMap) an argument list is created with each argument supplied to makeArgumentList(String[]) with as name the numeric location of the argument starting at 0 and the value of the argument from that location in the array.

   All exceptions thrown by the ArgumentMap are processed through handleException(ArgumentException) if you want to do anything other then writing it to System.err overwrite this function.

   The way I usually apply Main is:

    public class AConsole {
    	public AConsole() {
    		super();
    		init();
    		//other code
    	}
    	
    	public static void main	(String[] args) {
    		AConsole a=new AConsole();
    		a.makeArguments(args);
    		a.start();
    	}
    	
    	private void init() {
    		ArgumentMap arg=new ArgumentMap();
    		//add arguments
    		setArgumentMap(arg);
    	}
    	
    	private void start() {
    		//do your thing
    	}
    }
    

   Version:

   0.10.1 [25-11-2006]

   Author:

   dennis@brains2b.nl

   See Also:

   ArgumentMap

   Constructor Summary

   Main()
   Constructor for Main.

   Method Summary

   java.lang.String	getArgument(java.lang.String name) gets the value of an argument defined by name.
   protected ArgumentMap	getArgumentMap() gets the ArgumentMap.
   protected void	handleException(ArgumentException ex) Default function for handling ArgumentException(s).
   void	makeArgumentList(java.lang.String[] args) Makes the argument list on the basis of a defined ArgumentMap and the supplied array of arguments
   void	setArgument(java.lang.String name, java.lang.String value) set arguments to the list of arguments.
   protected void	setArgumentMap(ArgumentMap argumentMap) Sets the ArgumentMap.

   Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

   clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

   Constructor Detail

   Main

   public Main()

   Constructor for Main.

   Method Detail

   getArgumentMap

   protected ArgumentMap getArgumentMap()

   gets the ArgumentMap.

   Returns:

   ArgumentMap

   setArgumentMap

   protected void setArgumentMap(ArgumentMap argumentMap)

   Sets the ArgumentMap.

   Parameters:

   argumentMap - ArgumentMap, the created ArgumentMap

   getArgument

   public java.lang.String getArgument(java.lang.String name)

   gets the value of an argument defined by name.

   Returns:

   String, the value belonging to argument name or null if argument was not defined

   Throws:

   NullPointerException, - thrown if there was no argument list made (forgot to call makeArgumentList()?)

   setArgument

   public void setArgument(java.lang.String name,
                           java.lang.String value)

   set arguments to the list of arguments.

   This method does not check for validity of the argument and can possibly overwrite arguments set with makeArgumentList. Checking your arguments should be done by your own code.

   Parameters:

   name -

   value -

   makeArgumentList

   public void makeArgumentList(java.lang.String[] args)

   Makes the argument list on the basis of a defined ArgumentMap and the supplied array of arguments

   If an ArgumentMap exists the arguments are passed to ArgumentMap.getList(String[])

   If no ArgumentMap exists a List is made with the numeric location of the argument as name and the corresponding value of the Array as value.

   Parameters:

   args - String[] An array of arguments

   See Also:

   ArgumentMap.getList(java.lang.String[])

   handleException

   protected void handleException(ArgumentException ex)

   Default function for handling ArgumentException(s).

   It writes the argument that caused the exception and the exception message to the System.err outstream and exits the VM with code 1.

   Overwrite if you want it to do something else.
   Be sure to break normal operation if not exiting while arguments and options you set to required are not actually there and you have not set default values.

   Parameters:

   ex - ArgumentException