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Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

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Re: Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

#41

Post by algorithmsRcool »

andrewstuart wrote: post #3

This looks pretty impressive: Terminal.Gui - Terminal GUI toolkit for .NET https://github.com/migueldeicaza/gui.cs Written by Miguel de Icaza. Hanselman wrote on it here: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/Its2020AndItIsTimeForTextMode... and here: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/DotnetDependsIsAGreatTextMode...

I tried to use Gui.cs and wasn't able to. It has a lot of rough edges and I had to move on because it wasn't well fleshed out.

Other/better .NET libraries include:

https://github.com/spectresystems/spectre.console

https://github.com/TomaszRewak/C-sharp-console-gui-framework

https://github.com/elw00d/consoleframework

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

#42

Post by algorithmsRcool »

dsissitka wrote: post #28
andrewstuart wrote: post #3

This looks pretty impressive: Terminal.Gui - Terminal GUI toolkit for .NET https://github.com/migueldeicaza/gui.cs Written by Miguel de Icaza. Hanselman wrote on it here: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/Its2020AndItIsTimeForTextMode... and here: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/DotnetDependsIsAGreatTextMode...

I’m curious about what other people think about this one. I tried the demo in a few terminals a couple months ago and it didn’t work well in any of them.

It is ok, but I would not recommend it. It got off to a great start but I ran into problems/limitations with some fairly basic stuff.

I can't recall exactly what my issue was with it however, it has been a few months.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

#43

Post by andrewstuart »

beamatronic wrote: post #37
andrewstuart wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://github.com/cronvel/terminal-kit This is the one that most catches my attention. Currently actively maintained plus it has something analagous to a document object model https://github.com/cronvel/terminal-kit/blob/master/doc/docu... Also Ink is incredibly interesting as it enables ReactJS for creating TUI apps - mind bending! https://github.com/vadimdemedes/ink I can imagine the things above being combined wi…

So, lynx? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)

No, I meant a text mode browser that does not use HTML. Lynx, and all the existing text mode browsers are intended to render HTML as text.

This would be a browser that targets only text mode user interfaces. So pages would need to be written specifically to be rendered in such an environment.

Why? Because text mode browsers are really trying to do the impossible - to render modern web pages as text is essentially not doable in all cases. Instead make a browser for the text mode use case specifically designed for the medium.

A mashup of a web browser and ANSI/VT100/teletext. It would need a sandbox and a JavaScript interpreter.

Maybe call it the "Trowser".

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

#44

Post by sgillen »

konjin wrote: post #33

You can't go wrong with Ncurses. Ancient, bindings to literally every language, stable and works everywhere including the kitchen sink. The terminal is not meant to be existing. You are emulating 80 year old technology at the base of it.

Was really surprised with all the JS etc options I had to scroll through to find ncurses, which to me is synonymous with TUIs!

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

#45

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

andrewstuart wrote: post #43
beamatronic wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, lynx? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)

No, I meant a text mode browser that does not use HTML. Lynx, and all the existing text mode browsers are intended to render HTML as text. This would be a browser that targets only text mode user interfaces. So pages would need to be written specifically to be rendered in such an environment. Why? Because text mode browsers are really trying to do the impossible - to render modern web pages as text is essentially not…

I do not really understand the need/want/wish for something like this. There is no real textmode on contemporary hardware anymore. That is all emulated to get the legacy during startup going, until some graphical environment takes over. Keyword is framebuffer here.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

#46

Post by anthk »

kats wrote: post #39

Check out the Interactive Fiction competition, it's text-based video games. https://ifcomp.org/comp/2019 Two libraries for writing these games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TADS

Good for Anchorhead, but not for something outside the Z Machine ;)

Re: Ask HN: Recommendations for Good TUI Libraries (Text User Interface)?

#50

Post by slmjkdbtl »

For anyone who want to do it without a library it's actually really easy to get started with

  #include 
  #include 
  #include
and follow the beginning chapters of the great "Build Your Own Text Editor" tutorial[0].

[0] https://viewsourcecode.org/snaptoken/kilo/02.enteringRawMode...

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