Input.md

📥 In Class – Input Methods

The In class in Softio provides methods for handling user input in the console. These include reading text, passwords, confirmations, and numbers.

---

🔧 Accessing the In Class

You can access In methods through the main Console object or by direct destructuring:

// Access via Console
const Console = require('softio');
Console.In;

// Or using destructuring
const { In } = require('softio');

---

🧪 Available Methods

🔹 static input(message?: string): string

Prompts the user to enter a value via the console.

• Parameters:

  • message (optional): A prompt to display before user input.

• Returns: A string representing the user input.

• Example:

const name = Console.In.input('Enter your name: ');
Console.Out.writeln(`Hello, ${name}!`);

---

🔹 static password(message?: string, char?: string): string

Prompts the user for a password or hidden input, masking the characters they type.

• Parameters:

  • message (optional): A prompt to display.
  • char (optional): A character (e.g., *) to show instead of the actual input.

• Returns: A string containing the hidden user input.

• Example:

const pass = Console.In.password('Enter your password: ', '*');
Console.Out.writeln('Password received!');

🛡️ This is commonly used for secure inputs, like passwords, without displaying them in the terminal.

---

🔹 static confirm(message?: string): boolean

Displays a yes/no confirmation prompt and returns a boolean.

• Parameters:

  • message (optional): The confirmation question to display.

• Returns:

  • true if the user enters yes, y, or any variation (case-insensitive).
  • false otherwise.

• Example:

const confirmed = Console.In.confirm('Do you want to continue?');
if (confirmed) {
  Console.Out.writeln('Continuing...');
} else {
  Console.Out.writeln('Aborted.');
}

✅ Accepts yes, y, Y, YES as true. Everything else returns false.

---

🔹 static readNumber(message?: string): number

Prompts the user to enter a numeric value.

• Parameters:

  • message (optional): A prompt to display before input.

• Returns: A number. If the input is invalid, returns NaN.

• Example:

const age = Console.In.readNumber('How old are you? ');
if (!isNaN(age)) {
  Console.Out.writeln(`You're ${age} years old!`);
} else {
  Console.Out.writeln('That doesn’t seem to be a valid number.');
}

---

📝 Summary

Method	Description	Return Type
input	Reads plain user input	string
password	Reads hidden input (e.g., passwords)	string
confirm	Asks for a yes/no response	boolean
readNumber	Reads and parses a numeric value	number

These input utilities make it easy to build interactive CLI apps with clear prompts and validated input handling.

---

• Back to the previous section: 🖨️ Output Methods ←
• Continue to the next section: 🛠️ Utility Methods →