«

Here is my solution for this quiz. Nothing too fancy really, but it does
the job. I suspect if I used this more for various applications I'd find
more clever things to do. But I did replace some command-line
input/output in another program of mine with this library, and it
definitely cleaned things up. It certainly makes sense to put this kind
of stuff in a library instead of always rolling your own.

I never did look at the EasyPrompt code, but I suspect this code might
look very similar because of my use of a MockIO object (I did notice
that much from the EasyPrompt summary.) But I suppose it is good that
the unit tests and MockIO object are more lines of code than the library

I would appreciate feedback on the API design as well as the unit test
design. I feel the unit tests are too coupled to the implementation
(particularly on my checking of the output.)

Ryan Leavengood

CODE (beware of wrapping):
#--------------------------------------
# HighLine command-line input library
#
# Copyright (C) 2005 Ryan Leavengood
#
# Released under the Ruby license
#--------------------------------------

class String
def pad_if_needed
self[-1].chr != ' ' ? self + ' ' : self
end
end

class HighLine
attr_accessor :io_out, :io_in
def initialize(io_out=$stdout, io_in=$stdin)
@io_out, @io_in = io_out, io_in
end

def ask(question, default=nil)
q = question.pad_if_needed
q += "[#{default}] " if default
answer = validation_loop(q) do |input|
input.size > 0 or default
end
answer.size > 0 ? answer : default
end

def ask_if?(question)
answer = validation_loop(question.pad_if_needed+'(y,n) ') do |input|
%w(y n yes no).include?(input.downcase)
end
answer.downcase[0,1] == 'y'
end

def ask_int(question, range=nil)
validation_loop(question) do |input|
input =~ /\A\s*-?\d+\s*\Z/ and (not range or
range.member?(input.to_i))
end.to_i
end

def ask_float(question, range=nil)
validation_loop(question) do |input|
input =~ /\A\s*-?\d+(.\d*)?\s*\Z/ and (not range or
range.member?(input.to_f))
end.to_f
end

def header(title)
dashes = '-'*(title.length+4)
io_out.puts(dashes)
io_out.puts("| #{title} |")
io_out.puts(dashes)
end

def list(items, prompt=nil)
items.each_with_index do |item, i|
@io_out.puts "#{i+1}. #{item}"
end
valid_range = '1'..items.length.to_s
prompt = "Please make a selection: " unless prompt
answer = validation_loop(prompt) do |input|
valid_range.member?(input)
end
# Though the list is shown using a 1-indexed list, return 0-indexed
return answer.to_i-1
end

def validation_loop(prompt)
loop do
@io_out.print prompt.pad_if_needed
answer = @io_in.gets
if answer
answer.chomp!
if yield answer
return answer
end
end
end
end
end

# Unit Tests
if $0 == __FILE__
class MockIO
attr_accessor utput, :input

def initialize
reset
end

def reset
@index = 0
@input=nil
@output=''
end

def print(*a)
@output << a.join('')
end

def puts(*a)
if a.size > 1
@output << a.join("\n")
else
@output << a[0] << "\n"
end
end

def gets
if @input.kind_of?(Array)
@index += 1
@input[@index-1]
else
@input
end
end
end

require 'test/unit'

class TC_HighLine < Test::Unit::TestCase
def initialize(name)
super(name)
@mock_io = MockIO.new
@highline = HighLine.new(@mock_io, @mock_io)
end

def setup
@mock_io.reset
end

def test_ask
question = 'Am I the coolest?'
@mock_io.input = [nil, '', "\n", "yes\n"]
assert_equal(@mock_io.input[-1].chomp, @highline.ask(question))
assert_equal((question+' ')*4, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_ask_default
question = 'Where are you from? '
default = 'Florida'
@mock_io.input = [nil, "\n"]
assert_equal(default, @highline.ask(question, default))
assert_equal((question+"[#{default}] ")*2, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_ask_if
question = 'Is Ruby the best programming language? '
@mock_io.input = [nil, "0\n", "blah\n", "YES\n"]
assert_equal(true, @highline.ask_if?(question))
assert_equal((question+'(y,n) ')*4, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_ask_int
question = 'Give me a number:'
@mock_io.input = [nil, '', "\n", ' ', "blah\n", " -4 \n"]
assert_equal(-4, @highline.ask_int(question))
assert_equal((question+' ')*6, @mock_io.output)
@mock_io.reset
@mock_io.input = [nil, '', "\n", ' ', "blah\n", "3604\n"]
assert_equal(3604, @highline.ask_int(question))
assert_equal((question+' ')*6, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_ask_int_range
question = 'How old are you?'
@mock_io.input = [nil, '', "\n", ' ', "blah\n", "106\n", "28\n"]
assert_equal(28, @highline.ask_int(question, 0..105))
assert_equal((question+' ')*7, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_ask_float
question = 'Give me a floating point number:'
@mock_io.input = [nil, '', "\n", ' ', "blah\n", " -4.3 \n"]
assert_equal(-4.3, @highline.ask_float(question))
assert_equal((question+' ')*6, @mock_io.output)
@mock_io.reset
@mock_io.input = [nil, '', "\n", ' ', "blah\n", "560\n"]
assert_equal(560.0, @highline.ask_float(question))
assert_equal((question+' ')*6, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_ask_float_range
question = 'Give me a floating point number between 5.0 and 13.5:'
@mock_io.input = [nil, '', "\n", ' ', "blah\n", " -4.3 \n",
"4.9\n", "13.6\n", "7.55\n"]
assert_equal(7.55, @highline.ask_float(question, 5.0..13.5))
assert_equal((question+' ')*9, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_header
title = 'HighLine Manual'
@highline.header(title)
output = "-------------------\n| HighLine Manual
|\n-------------------\n"
assert_equal(output, @mock_io.output)
end

def test_list
items = ['Ruby','Python','Perl']
prompt = 'Please choose your favorite programming language: '
@mock_io.input = [nil, "0\n", "blah\n", "4\n", "1\n"]
assert_equal(0, @highline.list(items, prompt))
assert_equal("1. Ruby\n2. Python\n3. Perl\n#{prompt * 5}",
@mock_io.output)
end
end
end

Here's my solution.

I ran out of time, mainly for documentation, but I think I've got
something worth showing here. I'm using unit tests, so you can read
those (primarily "tc_highline.rb") to see how my module works.

It covers the basics in the quiz and is pretty open for new additions.
The killer feature is the type you specify in to ask(). It's really
powerful in that it can take a Proc that does the conversion to
whatever you like. agree(), my version of ask_if() from the quiz, is
implemented in these terms:

def agree( yes_or_no_question )
ask( yes_or_no_question,
lambda { |a| a =~ /\AY(?:es)?\Z/i ? true : false } )
end

Here are some other examples from my test cases:

def test_membership
@input << "112\n-541\n28\n"
@input.rewind

answer = @terminal.ask("Tell me your age.", Integer) do |q|
q.member = 0..105
end
assert_equal(28, answer)
end

def test_reask
number = 61676
@input << "Junk!\n" << number << "\n"
@input.rewind

answer = @terminal.ask("Favorite number? ", Integer)
assert_kind_of(Integer, number)
assert_instance_of(Fixnum, number)
assert_equal(number, answer)
assert_equal( "Favorite number? " +
"You must enter a valid Integer.\n" +
"? ", @output.string )

# ...
end

def test_type_conversion
# ...

@input.truncate(@input.rewind)
number = 10.5002
@input << number << "\n"
@input.rewind

answer = @terminal.ask( "Favorite number? ",
lambda { |n| n.to_f.abs.round } )
assert_kind_of(Integer, answer)
assert_instance_of(Fixnum, answer)
assert_equal(11, answer)

# ...

@input.truncate(@input.rewind)
@input << "6/16/76\n"
@input.rewind

answer = @terminal.ask("Enter your birthday.", Date)
assert_instance_of(Date, answer)
assert_equal(16, answer.day)
assert_equal(6, answer.month)
assert_equal(76, answer.year)

# ...

@input.truncate(@input.rewind)
@input << "gen\n"
@input.rewind

answer = @terminal.ask("Select a mode: ", [:generate, :run])
assert_instance_of(Symbol, answer)
assert_equal(:generate, answer)
end

def test_validation
@input << "system 'rm -rf /'\n105\n0b101_001\n"
@input.rewind

answer = @terminal.ask("Enter a binary number: ") do |q|
q.validate = /\A(?:0b)?[01_]+\Z/
end
assert_equal("0b101_001", answer)
end

I had a lot of fun working on this library and may just keep working on
it to see if I can't turn it into something genuinely useful.

You can load my library two different ways:

# This first way loads the class system, useful if you want to manage
many HighLine
# objects, say for socket work.
require "highline"
# Or you can take the easy out an import methods to the top level.
require "highline/import"

You can find my code here:

http://rubyquiz.com/highline.zip

Enjoy.

James Edward Gray II

# This solution provides a framework for handling user input at a higher level
# than "gets" and "chomp". Sorry to James for being so late...
#
# Usage:
#
# Define a class which inherits from HighLine::ValueInput,
# HighLine::ChoiceInput or HighLine::MenuInput, using the class methods
# (see below) to define the way the input will be handled. Then call the
# #ask class method to prompt for the input, passing additional definitions
# in an optional block (see examples at end of file).
#
#
# Class Methods (all classes):
#
# transform <Proc object p> [, *args]
# Calls r = p.call(r, *args), where r is the user's response
# transform symbol [, *args]
# Calls r = r.method(symbol).call(*args)
# transform :with_my, symbol [, *args]
# Calls r = self.method(symbol).call(r, *args), where self is an instance
# of the class
#
# Transformations are applied to the input in the order in which they were
# defined, and they are inherited from parent classes cumulatively (is that
# a word?)
#
# synonym <base string>, <synonym string> [, *<synonym strings>]
# Creates a transformation which maps each synonym string to the
# base string.
#
# okay_if <Proc object p> [, *args]
# Uses the return value of p.call(r, *args) to determine if the validation
# phase can be skipped. (r is the user's response after transformation)
# okay_if <Regexp re>
# As above, with the result of r =~ re
# okay_if symbol [, *args]
# As above, with the result of r.method(symbol).call(*args)
# okay_if :with_my, symbol [, *args]
# As above, with the result of self.method(symbol).call(r, *args)
#
# Definitions for okay values are inherited.
#
# error_message string
# Causes the string to be printed if the validation phase fails
# error_message symbol
# As above, with the return value from self.method(symbol).call(r)
# error_message <Proc object p>
# As above, with the return value from p.call(r)
#
# A class will only use one error_message definition. See the section on
# validation below for more details about the difference in error handling
# between ValueInput and ChoiceInput/MenuInput.
#
#
# Class Methods (ValueInput):
#
# format_hint string
# A string which is appended to the prompt. The default
# ValueInput#prompt_suffix method wraps it in square brackets, e.g.
# "[YYYY-MM-DD]".
#
# Format hints are inherited, but not cumulatively--if a class provides one,
# it will override any hints in its parent classes.
#
# validate
#
# The syntax for the validate method is the same as that for okay_if.
# However, procs and methods that it causes to be called have different
# return signatures:
# bool -> indicates validity
# bool, str_or_nil -> as above, plus an error message that overrides
# any error_message definitions in the class
# bool, str_or_nil, val -> as above, plus an alternate version of the
# response string
#
# When an alternate value is returned, subsequent validations that would
# have operated on the response string will operate on this alternate value
# instead (see the description of the #ask method below for details on using
# this value).
#
# Validators are cumulatively inherited, along with the error_message
# defintions (so if a validator from a parent class fails, the error_message
# from that class will be used).
#
# output_format
#
# The syntax for output_format is the same as that for transform. It provides
# a way to format the response after it has been validated. Like validators,
# output format procedures will operate on the response or on the alternate
# value if one is present.
#
#
# Class Methods (ChoiceInput, MenuInput):
#
# choices *args
# Adds its arguments to the list of valid string responses for the class.
# The default ChoiceInput#prompt_suffix method displays it like this--
# "[y/(n)/m]". The parentheses indicate the default answer (see #ask below).
#
# Instead of using validators, ChoiceInput classes simply check for a
# response that is in the list of choices.
#
# header string
# (MenuInput only) A string that is printed before the list of choices is
# displayed.
#
# items *args
# (MenuInput only) The arguments are matched to the choices.
#
# When one of the choices is selected, the matching element in the list of
# items is returned as the alternate value. The default
# MenuInput#prompt_suffix displays the header string, and one line for each
# choice in the format "#{choice[i]}\t#{item[i]}\n".
#
# The #ask method
#
# ask(prompt, default_value=nil)
#
# When the ask method is called, things get done in this order:
# 1. The prompt is printed, with the result of #prompt_suffix appended.
# 2. $stdin_gets is called, and the raw input is saved.
# 3. All defined transformations are applied to the response.
# 4. If any okay_if tests pass, the response is returned.
# 5. If the response is empty, and there is a default_value, the default is
# returned.
# 6. Validation occurs. For ChoiceInput/MenuInput, this just involves
# matching the response to the list of choices. For ValueInput, all
# defined validation tests are run.
# 7. If validation succeeded, all output_format rules are applied.
# 8. If validation failed, and an error message was returned, it is printed,
# and the process loops back to step 1.
#
# The return value is an object of class ResponseString, which is a subclass
# of normal String. It provides a #raw_input method, an #error_message method,
# a #valid? method, and and #alternate method, for getting details about the
# response.

module HighLine

class BaseInput

def self.get_error_message
@em ||= nil
end

def self.error_message(em)
@em = em
end

def self.get_transformers
@ts ||= []
end

def self.transform(*ts)
@ts ||= []
@ts << ts
end

def self.get_okays
@oi ||= []
end

def self.okay_if(*oi)
@oi ||= []
@oi << oi
end

def self.synonym(*syns)
default = syns[0]
synonyms = syns[1..-1]
transform :with_my, :synonymize, synonyms, default
end

def self.ask(prompt, default_response=nil, &block)
prompt = prompt + " " if prompt !~ /\s$/ and !prompt.empty?
if block_given?
klass = Class.new(self, &block)
else
klass = self
end
inputter = klass.new(default_response)
while true
print prompt
$stdout.flush
response = inputter.gets
break if response.valid?
if response.error_message
puts response.error_message
$stdout.flush
end
end
return response
end

def initialize(default_response)
@default_response = default_response
@klasses = []
klass = self.class
while klass.respond_to? :get_transformers
@klasses.unshift(klass)
klass = klass.superclass
end
@okays = @klasses.collect { |klass|
curry_okays(klass.get_okays)
}.flatten
@transformers = @klasses.collect { |klass|
curry_transformers(klass.get_transformers)
}.flatten
end

def gets
print prompt_suffix
$stdout.flush
raw_input = $stdin.gets.chomp
response = raw_input.dup
@transformers.each do |transformer|
response = transformer.call(response)
end
if @default_response and response.empty?
return ResponseString.new(@default_response, raw_input, true)
end

@okays.each do |okay|
if okay.call(response)
return ResponseString.new(response, raw_input, true)
end
end

do_validate(response, raw_input)
end

def prompt_suffix
if @default_response and !@default_response.empty?
"(#{@default_response}) "
else
""
end
end

def synonymize(r, synonyms, default)
return r unless synonyms.member? r
default
end

def curry_error_message(klass_error_message)
case klass_error_message
when Symbol
proc { |r| method(klass_error_message).call(r) }
when Proc
proc { |r| klass_error_message.call(r) }
when String
proc { |r| klass_error_message }
end
end

def curry_transformers(klass_transformers)
klass_transformers.collect do |transformer|
p_name = transformer[0]
args = transformer[1..-1]
case p_name
when Symbol
if p_name == :with_my
proc { |r| method(args[0]).call(r, *args[1..-1]) }
else
proc { |r| r.method(p_name).call(*args) }
end
when Proc
proc { |r| p_name.call(r, *args) }
end
end
end

def curry_okays(klass_okays)
klass_okays.collect { |okay|
p_name = okay[0]
args = okay[1..-1]
case p_name
when Symbol
if p_name == :with_my
proc { |r| method(args[0]).call(r, *args[1..-1]) }
else
proc { |r| r.method(p_name).call(*args) }
end
when Regexp
proc { |r| r.to_s =~ p_name }
when Proc
proc { |r| p_name.call(r, *args) }
end
}.compact
end

def do_validate(response, raw_input)
ResponseString.new(response, raw_input, true)
end
end

class ValueInput < BaseInput

def self.get_validators
@vld ||= []
end

def self.validate(*vld)
@vld ||= []
@vld << vld
end

def self.get_output_formats
@of ||= []
end

def self.output_format(*of)
@of ||= []
@of << of
end

def self.get_format_hint
@fh ||= nil
end

def self.format_hint(fh)
@fh = fh
end

def initialize(default_response)
super
klasses = @klasses[1..-1]
@validators = klasses.collect { |klass|
curry_okays(klass.get_validators)
}
@error_messages = klasses.collect do |klass|
curry_error_message(klass.get_error_message)
end
@output_formats = klasses.collect { |klass|
curry_transformers(klass.get_output_formats)
}.flatten
klasses.reverse.each do |klass|
@format_hint = klass.get_format_hint
break if @format_hint
end
end

def prompt_suffix
super << (@format_hint ? "[#{@format_hint}] " : "")
end

def do_validate(response, raw_input)
valid = true
err_msg = nil
@alternate = nil
resp = response
@validators.each_index do |i|
@validators[i].each do |validator|
error_message = nil
valid, err_msg, alt = validator.call(resp)
if !valid and !err_msg
while !@error_messages[i]
i = i + 1
break if i == @error_messages.length
end
klass_error_message = @error_messages[i]
err_msg = klass_error_message.call(resp) if klass_error_message
end
if alt
resp = alt
@alternate = alt
end
break unless valid
end
break unless valid
end
resp = response if @output_formats.empty?
@output_formats.each do |output_format|
resp = output_format.call(resp)
end
ResponseString.new(resp, raw_input, valid, err_msg, @alternate)
end
end

class ChoiceInput < BaseInput
error_message :default_error_message

def self.get_choices
@cs ||= []
end

def self.choices(*cs)
if !get_choices.empty?
raise SyntaxError, "cannot add multiple choice sets", caller
end
@cs = cs
end

def initialize(default_response)
super
@choices = self.class.get_choices
@klasses.reverse.each do |klass|
@error_message = curry_error_message(klass.get_error_message)
break if @error_message
end
end

def wrap_default(choice)
choice == @default_response ? "(#{choice})" : choice
end

def prompt_suffix
"[" + @choices.collect { |ch| wrap_default(ch) }.join('/') + "] "
end

def default_error_message(response)
"Please enter one of #{@choices[0..-2].join(', ')} or #{@choices[-1]}"
end

def do_validate(response, raw_input)
error_message = nil
valid = @choices.member? response
if !valid
error_message = @error_message.call(response)
end
ResponseString.new(response, raw_input, valid, error_message)
end
end

class MenuInput < ChoiceInput

def self.get_items
@its ||= []
end

def self.items(*its)
@its ||= []
if get_choices.empty?
raise SyntaxError, "choices must be added before items", caller
end
if its.length != @cs.length
raise SyntaxError, "number of items must match choices", caller
end
@its = its
end

def self.get_header
@hdr ||= nil
end

def self.header(hdr)
@hdr = hdr
end

def initialize(default_response)
super
klasses = @klasses[2..-1]
@items = self.class.get_items
klasses.reverse.each do |klass|
@header = klass.get_header
break if @header
end
end

def prompt_suffix
if @header
ps = "#{@header}\n"
else
ps = "\n"
end
0.upto(@choices.length - 1) do |i|
ps << " " if @choices[i] != @default_response
ps << wrap_default(@choices[i]) + "\t" + @items[i] + "\n"
end
return ps
end

def default_error_message(response)
"Please select one of the given options"
end

def do_validate(response, raw_input)
rs = super
rs.alternate = @items[@choices.index(response)] if rs.valid?
rs
end
end

class ResponseString < String
attr_accessor :alternate
attr_reader :error_message, :raw_input

def initialize(resp, raw, valid, err_msg=nil, alt=nil)
@raw_input = raw
@valid = valid
@error_message = err_msg
@alternate = alt || resp
super(resp)
end

def valid?
@valid
end
end

end

if __FILE__ == $0

require 'date'

class IntegerInput < HighLine::ValueInput
validate /^\d+$/
validate proc { |r| [true, nil, r.to_i] }
end

puts IntegerInput.ask("Enter a number from 1 to 10, or Q to quit:") {
okay_if /^q$/i
validate :between?, 1, 10
}

class DateInput < HighLine::ValueInput
validate :with_my, :check_date

def check_date(r)
begin
test_date = Date.parse(r)
rescue
false
else
[true, nil, test_date]
end
end
end

puts DateInput.ask("Enter a date:") {
output_format :to_s
error_message "That is not a date!"
}

class YesOrNo < HighLine::ChoiceInput
transform :downcase
choices "y", "n"
synonym "y", "yes", "oui", "si"
end

puts YesOrNo.ask("Is your computer turned on?", "y")

class EditorMenu < HighLine::MenuInput
header "Please select an editor:"
choices "1", "2", "3"
items "vim", "vim", "vim"
error_message "There are no other editors!"
end

puts EditorMenu.ask("", "1").alternate

end

On Apr 27, 2005, at 6:33 PM, Sean E. McCardell wrote:

> # This solution provides a framework for handling user input at a
> higher level
> # than "gets" and "chomp".

Wow. I'm looking through this a bit to see what you've done here.
Very impressive.

I feel pretty dumb for registering my solution with RubyForge today
now.

Any chance you could give us a few simple examples of usage? For
example, how do the quiz examples translate to this system?

> Sorry to James for being so late...

I'm the one who should apologize. I finished up the summary earlier
today.

James Edward Gray II

Here's my solution:

http://www.dave.burt.id.au/ruby/highline.rb

It's inspired a fair bit by OptParse, and I tried to make it very flexible
and smart in how it accepts options. The code features a little
meta-programming (so you can do "retries 1" or "validation 1..10" in a block
passed to the Prompt.new), optional named arguments, and inference of
arguments' meaning by class somewhat like OptParse#on does.

It's not as easily mockable as EasyPrompt - you would have to do something
tricky like this:
class Prompt
def print(*args)
my_alternate_output_stream.print *args
end
def gets
my_alternate_input_stream.gets
end
end

I think the code you write to use it is cleaner and more straighforward than
the examples from the quiz question and the EasyPrompt doco. Here are those
examples and more:

# Example usage from the Quiz
age = ask("What is your age?", Integer, 0..105 )
num = ask('Enter a binary number.') {|s| not s =~ /[^01]/ }.to_i(2)
if ask("Would you like to continue?", TrueClass) # ...

# Example usage from EasyPrompt documentation

irb(main):003:0> fname = prompt.ask( "What's your first name?" )
What's your first name? John
=> "John"
irb(main):004:0> lname = ask("What's your last name?", "Doe")
What's your last name? [Doe]
=> "Doe"
irb(main):005:0> ok = ask("Is your name #{ fname } #{ lname }?", TrueClass)
Is your name John Doe? [Yn]
=> true

# Extra examples
s = ask
i = ask("How many strikes will be allowed?", 3, 0..(1.0/0.0))
s = ask("Give me a word with "foo" in it:", /foo/)
i = ask("Give me a number divisible by 3:", Integer) {|i| i % 3 == 0 }
a = ask("Give me three or more numbers:", Array) do |x|
x.each {|n| Float(n) }
x.size >= 3 or puts "I need more things than that!"
end.map {|n| n.to_f }

# And you can also get a reusable Prompt object:
p = Prompt.new("A word with foo in it?") do
validation /foo/i
default "Foo"
end
p = Prompt.new("A word with foo in it?", "Foo", /foo/i)
s = p.ask

On 11:52 Thu 28 Apr , James Edward Gray II wrote:
> Any chance you could give us a few simple examples of usage? For
> example, how do the quiz examples translate to this system?

Sure thing. Here goes:

require 'highline'

# This might be useful for someone implementing COMMAND.COM in Ruby

class DiskError < HighLine::ChoiceInput
choices "abort", "retry", "fail"
synonym "abort", "a"
synonym "retry", "r"
synonym "fail", "f"
end

result = DiskError.ask("Error reading drive A:")

# And the output will look like:
# Error reading drive A: [abort/retry/fail]
# The user will continue to be prompted until "abort", "retry", or
# "fail" is entered (or one of their synonyms, "a", "r", or "f"

# For the age example from the quiz, I would do:

class IntegerInput < HighLine::ValueInput
validate /^\d+$/
# when a validation procedure returns a three-element array,
# the second element can be an error message, and the third
# element will be used as an alternate test value (instead of the
# user's response string) for subsequent validation tests.
validate proc { |r| [true, nil, r.to_i] }
end

age = IntegerInput.ask("Enter your age:") {
validate :between?, 0, 105
}.alternate

# The #alternate method of the returned object gives you access to
# the alternate test value, if any, created during validation. In this
# case, it is an Integer

# And for an indirect way of finding an age, here's one that demonstrates
# using an instance method for validation:

require 'date'
class DateInput < HighLine::ValueInput
validate :with_my, :ensure_date

def ensure_date(response)
begin
test_date = Date.parse(response)
rescue ArgumentError
false
else
[true, nil, test_date]
end
end
end

birthday = DateInput.ask("When were you born?") {
# output_format, like validate, operates on an alternate test value
# if one was created during validation. This just calls #to_s on that
# value, so you always get anwers in the form "YYYY-MM-DD", even if
# you enter something like "April 28th, 2005"
output_format :to_s
error_message "Please enter a valid date"
validate proc { |r| [r <= Date.today, "You can't be from the future!"] }
}

Hope this helps,

--Sean

On Apr 28, 2005, at 5:01 PM, Sean E. McCardell wrote:

> On 11:52 Thu 28 Apr , James Edward Gray II wrote:
>> Any chance you could give us a few simple examples of usage? For
>> example, how do the quiz examples translate to this system?
>
> Sure thing. Here goes:

[snip great examples]

> Hope this helps,

It was impressive. Thanks for sharing!

James Edward Gray II