Documentation

Everything, in six groups

Start with the tutorials. Come back for the reference.

Getting started

Install it, open a window, and learn the shape of the API.

TutorialsStep by step, from an empty project to a running application. Builder APIThe fluent API: windows, controls, and how they compose. ConfigurationConsoleWindowSystemOptions and what each switch changes. ExamplesThe example applications in this repository, and what each one shows. PatternsShapes that recur: dialogs, long work, live data. Why SharpConsoleUI?What it is, what it is not, and the three shapes an application can take.

Controls

Forty-seven controls, from a button to an embedded terminal.

All controlsThe full catalogue, with what each one is for. PanelsGrouping, borders, collapsing. DialogsModal windows, file pickers, prompts. Composable flowsMulti-step interactions built from controls. Form XMLDeclaring a form rather than assembling one. Data bindingBind a control to a value and let it track.

Layout

How a control decides its size, and where the window puts it.

DOM layoutMeasure, Arrange, Paint - the pipeline every control goes through. Window layoutArranging controls inside a window. WindowsCreating, moving, stacking, and closing them. DockingEdges, fills, and the body that holds the rest. PortalsDrawing outside the window that owns the control.

Rendering & theming

Colour, compositing, and everything that reaches a cell.

ThemingThemes, palettes, and control roles. Markup syntaxInline styling, understood by twenty-nine controls. GradientsAlong a plot, by value, or both. Alpha blendingPer-cell Porter-Duff compositing. Compositor effectsBlur, fade, and hooks of your own. AnimationsMoving things without tearing the frame. Desktop backgroundWhat sits behind every window. Syntax highlightingTextMate grammars, coloured by your theme. Image renderingKitty graphics, with cell-based fallbacks. Video playbackFrames in a terminal, via FFmpeg. Rendering pipelineFrom a dirty cell to bytes on the wire.

Tooling & debugging

A terminal application is the one program you cannot printf-debug.

Debugging & the socket protocolThe wire: twenty-eight verbs, what each answers. Drivers & render modesReal terminal, headless, or one of your own. Shell scriptingDriving an application from a script. schostPackaging an application as a desktop app. Screen exportCapturing what is on screen. NativeAOTPublishing as a self-contained native binary.

Reference

The parts you reach for once you are building something real.

State servicesWhere window, focus, modal and theme state lives. Threading & asyncThe UI thread, and how to get work off it. Status systemStatus bars and what they report. NotificationsTransient messages, and when they dismiss. ClipboardCopy and paste, across platforms. RegistryThemes and plugins, per instance. PluginsExtending the system at runtime. Code qualityThe rules this codebase holds itself to. Quality enforcementHow those rules are checked, and what blocks a merge.