Attempt to make an "API", why doesn't this work? - c#

I tried to make kind of an API that would ease the creation of new behaviours, inspired on Unity's one.
I'm new to C# and don't why it doesn't work. The test class I made is supposed to write infinitely until program's end what you specified in the ctor, but it doesn't write anything in the console.
Here is what I made :
1 - Program.cs
using System.IO;
namespace Program {
public abstract class Script {
public abstract void Start();
public abstract void Update();
}
class Program {
static bool IsKeyDown(ConsoleKey key) {
if (Console.ReadKey(true).Key == key) return true;
else return false;
}
public static void Main(string[] args) {
Script[] scriptList = {
new Write("Hello World"),
};
foreach (Script s in scriptList) {
s.Start();
}
while (!IsKeyDown(ConsoleKey.Escape)) {
foreach (Script s in scriptList) {
s.Update();
}
}
}
}
}
2 - Write.cs
using System;
namespace Program {
public class Write : Script {
string str;
public Write(string _str) {
str = _str;
}
public override void Start(){}
public override void Update(){
Console.WriteLine(str);
}
}
}
Sorry for bad english I'm french :)

Your code blocks on the Console.ReadKey. If there are no keys available in the input buffer then ReadKey stops and waits for the user to press a key.
You can read this info in the docs where they say
One of the most common uses of the ReadKey() method is to halt program
execution until the user presses a key and the app either terminates
or displays an additional window of information.
You just need to add
static bool IsKeyDown(ConsoleKey key)
{
if (!Console.KeyAvailable) return false;
if (Console.ReadKey(true).Key == key) return true;
else return false;
}

Related

SendKeys not working with VisualBoy Advance

I am attempting to simulate keyboard input to programmatically play a game in VisualBoy Advance. There is no response from VisualBoy Advance when SendKeys.SendWait() is used.
private const string VBA_PROCESS_NAME = "VBA-rr-svn480";
public void Up()
{
PressButton("{UP}");
}
public void Down()
{
PressButton("{DOWN}");
}
public void Left()
{
PressButton("{LEFT}");
}
public void Right()
{
PressButton("{RIGHT}");
}
public void A()
{
PressButton("z");
}
public void B()
{
PressButton("x");
}
public void LShoulder()
{
PressButton("a");
}
public void RShoulder()
{
PressButton("s");
}
public void Start()
{
PressButton("~");
}
public void Select()
{
PressButton("+");
}
private void PressButton(string Button)
{
var VBAProcess = GetVBAProcess();
// Verify that VBA is a running process.
if (VBAProcess == null)
throw new Exception("Visual Boy Advance could not be found.");
IntPtr VBAHandle = VBAProcess.MainWindowHandle;
// Make sure that VBA is running and that we have a valid handle.
if (VBAHandle == IntPtr.Zero)
throw new Exception("Visual Boy Advance is not running.");
// Make VBA the foreground application and send it the button press.
SetForegroundWindow(VBAHandle);
SendKeys.SendWait(Button);
}
// Activate an application window.
[DllImport("USER32.DLL")]
public static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
private Process GetVBAProcess()
{
return Process.GetProcessesByName(VBA_PROCESS_NAME).FirstOrDefault();
}
If I swap out the process name for a different process (such as notepad++) the key presses work perfectly. This leads me to believe that I must have the wrong process or window for VisualBoy Advance, but I haven't found one that looks correct when I grab all processes and look through them.

Can I bypass Console.ReadKey() issue when input is redirected?

I am a C# teacher and I wrote some automated HW checker for my students.
The students write C# Console Applications. My HW checker is based on input redirection so I can test their code on my own generated input.
The problem is that students sometimes end their program with a Console.ReadKey() instruction (They do so just to make the execution window not close when they ran the program under F5 - Debug). The Console.ReadKey() crashes when ran under input redirection with the following exception:
System.InvalidOperationException: Cannot read keys when either application does not have a console or when console input has been redirected from a file.
Do I have any way to "bypass" this problem (without altering the students code)? Maybe tell Console to ignore ReadKey instructions?
I see a clear case for a Dependency Injection pattern.
Let's build a simple example, with Read, ReadLine and WriteLine functionalities polymorphically: your students must write a homework in which a number given in the Console.ReadLine() must be parsed as int and returned to the Console Window.
Usually a student writes something like:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var stringValue = Console.ReadLine();
int number;
if (int.TryParse(stringValue, out number))
Console.WriteLine($"The double of {number} is {number * 2}");
else
Console.WriteLine($"Wrong input! '{stringValue}' is not an integer!");
Console.Read();
}
}
Now, instead, create an interface for the Console functionalities:
public interface IOutput
{
void Read();
string ReadLine();
void WriteLine(string text);
}
A student must create a Homework class that wraps all the required homework code, using an IOutput instance in this way:
public class HomeWork
{
private IOutput _output;
public HomeWork(IOutput output)
{
_output = output;
}
public void Run()
{
_output.WriteLine("Give me an integer:");
var stringValue = _output.ReadLine();
int number;
if (int.TryParse(stringValue, out number))
_output.WriteLine($"The double of {number} is {number * 2}");
else
_output.WriteLine($"Wrong input! '{stringValue}' is not an integer!");
_output.Read();
}
}
The Main becomes:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var h = new HomeWork(new ConsoleOutput());
h.Run();
}
You give them also the ConsoleOutput class:
public class ConsoleOutput : IOutput
{
public void Read()
{
Console.Read();
}
public string ReadLine()
{
return Console.ReadLine();
}
public void WriteLine(string text)
{
Console.WriteLine(text);
}
}
So the use it instead of call directly Console.Read() etc.
The student must pass to you not the entire Application, but only the Homework class.
You can create a test class that use the Homework class with some test implementations of IOutput like the followings:
public abstract class TestOutput : IOutput
{
public TestOutput()
{
Outputs = new List<string>();
}
public void Read()
{
//do nothing?
}
public abstract string ReadLine();
public void WriteLine(string text)
{
Outputs.Add(text);
}
public List<string> Outputs { get; set; }
}
public class TestOutputWithAValidNumber : TestOutput
{
public TestOutputWithAValidNumber(int value)
{
Value = value;
}
public override string ReadLine()
{
return Value.ToString();
}
public int Value { get; }
}
public class TestOutputWithNotValidNumber : TestOutput
{
public TestOutputWithNotValidNumber(string value)
{
Value = value;
}
public override string ReadLine()
{
return Value;
}
public string Value { get; }
}
The test class can be something like this:
[TestClass]
public class TestOutputClass
{
[TestMethod]
public void TestGoodNumber()
{
var testOutput = new TestOutputWithAValidNumber(1234);
var h = new HomeWork(testOutput);
h.Run();
Assert.AreEqual(1234, testOutput.Value);
Assert.AreEqual("Give me an integer:", testOutput.Outputs[0]);
Assert.AreEqual("The double of 1234 is 2468", testOutput.Outputs[1]);
}
[TestMethod]
public void TestWrongNumber()
{
var testOutput = new TestOutputWithNotValidNumber("foo");
var h = new HomeWork(testOutput);
h.Run();
Assert.AreEqual("foo", testOutput.Value);
Assert.AreEqual("Give me an integer:", testOutput.Outputs[0]);
Assert.AreEqual("Wrong input! 'foo' is not an integer!", testOutput.Outputs[1]);
}
}
If you need only to wrap the Console.Read() method, feel free to simplify all this code, but IMHO I thought that a wider view on this possible solution would have been useful anyway.
If the executables are in IL, you can create an easy application that uses ILDASM.
The key point is: disassemble the executable with ILDASM into a text file/stream, look for any call to Console.Read and remove it, than recompile it and run.

Access statusbar on form from cplex callback function c#

I'm working with an C# .Net application that uses Cplex DLL's for an optimization operation, and during that operation I want to write status progress to a statusbar on the that initiated the operation.
This is the general layout of the specific form;
namespace ActResMain
{
public class FormOptimize : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
private callCplex()
{
//...
cplex.Use(new Cplex_ContinuousCallback());
cplex.Solve()
}
public void Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel(String strText)
{
statusBarPanel_1.Text = strText;
statusBar1.Refresh();
}
internal class Cplex_ContinuousCallback : Cplex.ContinuousCallback
{
FormOptimize formOpt = new FormOptimize();
public override void Main()
{
//From here I want to edit the statusbar at FormOptimize. I can write progress to console without any problems, but cannot reach function "Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel".
//If I include "FormOptimize formOpt = new FormOptimize" here, i get Visual studio exception on illegal window reference.
}
}
}
}
I have also tried invoking the Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel function like this:
internal class Cplex_ContinuousCallback : Cplex.ContinuousCallback
{
FormOptimize formOpt = new FormOptimize();
public override void Main()
{
FormCollection fc = Application.OpenForms;
var mpc = fc[1];
Type type = mpc.GetType();
MethodInfo dynMethod = type.GetMethod("Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel");
dynMethod.Invoke(mpc, new object[] { String.Format("Running Optimization: {0} iterations ", Niterations)});
}
}
But then I get an exception from visual studio stating that an object created by one thread cannot be modified from another thread.
Maybe this is something stupid that I have missed, but help is greatly appriciated
EDIT: I edited the code as per Mohammad Dehghans suggestion,
public class FormOptimize : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
private callCplex()
{
cplex.Use(new Cplex_ContinuousCallback(this));
cplex.Solve()
}
internal class Cplex_ContinuousCallback : Cplex.ContinuousCallback
{
FormOptimize _formOptimize;
public Cplex_ContinuousCallback(FormOptimize formOptimize)
{
this._formOptimize = formOptimize;
}
public override void Main()
{
if (Niterations % 10 == 0)
{
_formOptimize.Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel(0, String.Format("Running Optimization: {0} iterations ", Niterations), 0);
}
}
}
public void Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel(short panelIndex, String strText, short severity)
{
if (statusBar1.InvokeRequired)
statusBar1.Invoke(new Action<short, string, short>(Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel), panelIndex, strText, severity);
else
{
if (panelIndex == 0)
{
//...
statusBarPanel_0.Text = strText;
}
else if (panelIndex == 1)
{
//...
statusBarPanel_1.Text = strText;
}
statusBar1.Refresh();
}
}
}
But by doing that I apparently broke something, as the application just ..stops after statusBar1.Invoke() is called the first time. If I pause the debugger it says that cplex.Solve() is executing, but then nothing more happens.
First of all, you need to pass the instance of your form to the implemented callback class, so when the Main method is called, you have access to the exact instance that is being shown on the screen.
Secondly, you need to use Invoke method to update the UI controls from anther thread (I've not worked with CPLEX so far, but I guess the callback is invoked from another thread. That's usual).
Read this for more information.
The complete code could be:
public class FormOptimize : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
private callCplex()
{
//Misc code
cplex.Use(new Cplex_ContinuousCallback(this)); // <-- passing `this`
cplex.Solve()
//Misc code
}
public void Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel(String strText)
{
if (statusBarPanel_1.InvokeRequired)
statusBarPanel_1.Invoke(Action<string>(Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel), strText);
else
{
statusBarPanel_1.Text = strText;
statusBar1.Refresh();
}
}
internal class Cplex_ContinuousCallback : Cplex.ContinuousCallback
{
FormOptimize _formOptimize;
public Cplex_ContinuousCallback(FormOptimize formOptimize)
{
this._formOptimize = formOptimize;
}
public override void Main()
{
//...
_formOptimize.Update_OptimizeStatusbarPanel(String.Format("Running Optimization: {0} iterations ", Niterations));
}
}
}

How can I stop a method's execution using PostSharp?

Currently I am trying to develop a solution that will check if a method has been executed and if some time has passed since it was last executed, given that it was and the time has passed, I would like to skip from the OnEntry method to the OnExit without actually executing any code from the method itself.
Sort of :
public class CacheThisMethod : OnMethodBoundaryAspect
{
public override void OnEntry(MethodExecutionArgs args)
{
if (isCached( args.Method.name)
{
args.MethodExecutionTag = getReturnValue(args.Method.name)
//jump to OnExit
}
else
{
//continue
}
}
public override void OnExit(MethodExecutionArgs args)
{
args.Method.ReturnValue = args.MethodExecutionTag;
}
}
How can I achieve this? Thanks.
The following modifications to your code show how to get what you want.
public class CacheThisMethod : OnMethodBoundaryAspect
{
public override void OnEntry(MethodExecutionArgs args)
{
if (isCached( args.Method.name)
{
args.MethodExecutionTag = getReturnValue(args.Method.name)
OnExit(args);
}
else
{
//continue
}
}
public override void OnExit(MethodExecutionArgs args)
{
//args.Method.ReturnValue = args.MethodExecutionTag;
args.ReturnValue = args.MethodExecutionTag;
args.FlowBehavior = FlowBehavior.Return;
}
}
However, if you are working on a per method name key, then you can use a simple property for your cached return value, as a separate instance of each aspect will be created for you when you attach your advice to a method.
If there is no reason to jump to the OnExit then just add the FlowBehaviour and return value setting to the OnEntry method at the point it makes the call to the OnExit method.

How can I collect key presses while time is passing?

I'd like to write a loop that collects key presses (from the keyboard) and does an action every second or so. There would be some way of reading from the keyboard:
whenever (Console.KeyPressed != null) {
input_buffer.Add(Console.KeyPressed);
}
And there would be some loop happening:
while (!done) {
if (input_buffer.NotEmpty()) { do_stuff(input_buffer.Pop()); }
do_other_stuff();
wait(0.5 seconds);
}
So if the user presses a key, it gets dealt with during the next update. If they don't press a key, the next update happens anyhow.
If you're on .Net 4 you can use the code below. It uses ConcurrentQueue for storing the keypresses, ManualResetEventSlim for signaling, and Task from the Task Parallel Library for running the two code parts asynchronously.
using System;
using System.Collections.Concurrent;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace Test
{
public class Program
{
private static ConcurrentQueue<ConsoleKeyInfo> _keypresses = new ConcurrentQueue<ConsoleKeyInfo>();
private static ManualResetEventSlim _stopEvent = new ManualResetEventSlim();
public static void Main()
{
Console.TreatControlCAsInput = true;
var keyReaderTask = Task.Factory.StartNew(ReadKeys);
var keyProcessingTask = Task.Factory.StartNew(ProcessKeys);
_stopEvent.Wait();
keyReaderTask.Wait();
keyProcessingTask.Wait();
}
public static void ReadKeys()
{
while (true)
{
var keyInfo = Console.ReadKey(true);
if (keyInfo.Modifiers == ConsoleModifiers.Control && keyInfo.Key == ConsoleKey.C)
{
break;
}
_keypresses.Enqueue(keyInfo);
}
_stopEvent.Set();
}
public static void ProcessKeys()
{
while (!_stopEvent.IsSet)
{
if (!_keypresses.IsEmpty)
{
Console.Write("Keys: ");
ConsoleKeyInfo keyInfo;
while (_keypresses.TryDequeue(out keyInfo))
{
Console.Write(keyInfo.KeyChar);
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
_stopEvent.Wait(1000);
}
}
}
}

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