MyInstruments is my capstone project for Code Kentucky's Software Development Course 1. This Windows console application was developed to help me manage my collection of musical instruments. It can be difficult to recall specific details about each instrument in my collection from memory. I am often seeking out information like an instrument's age, string gauge, serial number and country of manufacture. An interactive console app makes this process easier, faster and more fun.
The app takes input from the user and prints information about the instruments in my collection to the console.
The following items from the "Feature List" are implemented:
⦁ Implement a "master loop" console application where the user can repeatedly enter commands/perform actions, including choosing to exit the program.
⦁ Create an additional class which inherits one or more properties from its parent.
⦁ Create a dictionary or list, populate it with several values, retrieve at least one value, and use it in your program.
⦁ Create 3 or more unit tests for your application.
⦁ Calculate and display data based on an external factor (ex: get the current date, and display how many days remaining until some event).
⦁ Implement a log that records errors, invalid inputs, or other important events and writes them to a text file.
⦁ Visualize data in a graph, chart, or other visual representation of data.
⦁ Use a LINQ query to retrieve information from a data structure (such as a list or array) or file.
NUGET PACKAGES: MyInstruments uses the log4net and Spectre.Console NuGet packages. The package references are in the project file. Please restore the packages through NuGet (if it wasn't set to do so automatically) or through dotnet CLI by running dotnet build and dotnet run.
MAIN MENU: MyInstruments begins by calling the Start method. Start creates an instance of MainMenu and calls RunMainMenu to generate an arrow-key driven menu in the console. The menu's functionality and design are established by an If-Else block and a Do-While loop in the Menu class. RunMainMenu prompts the user to move the cursor with the up and down arrow keys on their keyboard to highlight the function that they wish to perform. The user is prompted to push enter to perform their desired function. The user's input executes cases in a Switch that call methods that perform the function desired by the user.
Selecting "Review Instruments" calls the RunReviewInstrumentsMenu method from the ReviewInstrumentsMenu class. Selecting any of "List Instruments", "Count Instruments", "Save Text File," "Read Instructions" or "About This App" calls corresponding methods from the Collection and ConsoleMessage classes.
USER INPUT, CONDITIONS & LOGGING: RunReviewInstrumentsMenu displays a submenu for selecting the type of musical instrument that the user wishes to review. RunReviewInstrumentsMenu initilazies another instance of the Menu class. The menu's functionality and design are the same as that of the Main Menu. The user's input executes cases in a switch that call methods to enable the user to review that instrument type.
Selecting any of Guitars, Basses, Other String Instruments, Keyboards or Fenders prompts the user to input the full name of the musical instrument that they wish to review. The names of the instruments are displayed by calling the appropriate methods from the Collection class. Each of the Review methods checks the user input against the appropriate musical instrument dictionary for a matching key via an If-Else block. The ToLower method is called on the user input which allows for input to be case insensitive as the program searches for a matching key. If there is a matching key in one of the dictionaries, the program calls the PrintInstrument method from the appropriate musical instrument class. The user is then prompted to press any key to start over. If the user input does not match one of the dictionary keys, it exits the If-Else block and enters the SelectCommand switch. The SelectCommand switch searches its case names for a match to the user's input. The switch executes cases based on whether or not it finds a match. The user may elect to return to the previous menu screen by typing "back". If the switch does not find a match it generates an invalid input response through its default case. In the event of invalid input, the console displays an error message and the invalid input is logged by calling the PrintInvalidInputResponse method from the ConsoleMessages class. The log4net NuGet package is configured to record the invalid user input and write the log to a .txt file in the temp folder on the C:\ drive. The user stays in the Review loop they selected until they elect to return to the previous menu by typing "back".
ARRAYS: The various musical instrument dictionary keys are converted to arrays by methods in the Collection class. Converting this data to arrays allows for the keys to be displayed as sorted and color-coded lists of the instrument names by other methods. By using sorted arrays in the various methods, the dictionaries in each musical instrument class can easily be appended with new acquistions.
LINQ QUERY: There are multiple instruments in my collection made by the guitar manufacturer, Fender. If the user selects Fenders from the Review Instruments menu, the SearchForFenderInstruments method is called from the Collection Class. SearchForFenderInstruments initializes the allInstrumentsArray which concatenates the appropriate musical instrument key arrays. It then uses a LINQ query to search the new array for all instrument keys containing "fender". The results of this search are printed to the console. All instruments containing "fender" are displayed. The user is then prompted to type the full name of the instrument that they wish to review. An If-Else block checks to see if the user has searched for one of the Fender instruments. If so, the data about that instrument is printed to the console. If not, an invalid input response is generated and the error is logged by calling PrintInvalidInputResponse.
COUNT & MATH FUNCTIONS: "Count Instruments" calls the methods from the CollectionCounts class. CollectionCounts calls the Count method on the musical instrument dictionaries to generate the total counts of each instrument type. PrintInstrumentBreakdownChart configures Spectre.Console to display the counts of each musical instrument type in a color-coded breakdown chart. PrintTotalInstrumentCount displays the total count of all musical instruments by adding up all of the values returned by the Count method. PrintInstrumentPercentages displays the percentage that each musical instrument type occupies in the collection by converting the musical instrument counts from ints to doubles, dividing the counts by the total and multiplying those numbers by 100. Math.Round is then called to round the doubles back to the nearest integers for easier-to-read display on the console.
SAVING TO TEXT FILE: "Save Text File" initializes Streamwriter and calls ToUpper on each musical instrument array to write a capitalized, sorted list of all of the musical instrument names to a .txt file in the temp folder on the C:\ drive.
EXITING THE PROGRAM: Selecting "Exit" calls the ExitTheProgram method. ExitTheProgram prompts the user to confirm that they wish to terminate the program by selecting "yes" or "no." ExitTheProgram initializes a new instance of the menu class. The user's input executes cases in a switch. Selecting "yes" calls an exit method to terminate the program. Selecting "no" calls the Start method to return the user to the home menu.
ABSTRACTION, DICTIONARIES & OBJECTS: The abstract MusicalInstrument class establishes properties that are shared by the various musical instrument classes. The InstrumentAge property uses an external factor (the current date) to calculate the age of the instrument. The StringInstrument class inherits from MusicalInstrument and establishes additional properties that are shared by the stringed musical instrument classes. The Guitar, Bass, and OtherStringInstrument musical instrument classes inherit from StringInstrument. KeyboardInstrument inherits from MusicalInstrument. Each of those musical instrument classes contains a unique dictionary and may also contain additional properties. My musical instruments are instantiated as objects within each dictionary. The objects' values are assigned in their dictionary. These values are returned in ReviewAllInstruments as a concatenated string when the user types in a matching key. This is achieved by calling the PrintInstrument method which is an implementation of the signature in the IPrintInstrument interface by each musical instrument class.
UNIT TESTING: The Tests folder contains the Musical Instruments unit tests. These tests quickly and safely check the string concatenations, methods, counts, arrays and math used by the musical instrument classes, their parent classes and other classes.
Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to highlight the function that you wish to perform and then press enter.
In REVIEW INSTRUMENTS you may review any individual instrument in my collection.
⦁ First, use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to select which type of instrument you wish to review and press enter.
⦁ The names of all of the instruments of that type will be displayed on the console.
⦁ Type the full name of the instrument that you wish to reivew and press enter.
⦁ The console will display data specific to that instrument.
⦁ When you are finished reviewing the data, press any key to start again.
⦁ Type "back" and press enter to return to the previous menu and select another option.
LIST INSTRUMENTS provides a complete list of the instruments in the collection.
COUNT INSTRUMENTS displays a breakdown chart with the counts of each instrument type. The total number of instruments in the collection and the percentages of each instrument type are also displayed.
SAVE TEXT FILE saves a list of the instrument keys to a .txt file in the temp folder on the C:\ drive.
ABOUT THIS APP provides some information about the application's purpose and author.
EXIT will terminate the program upon confirmation.