Getting started

Installation

pip install prompt_smart_menu

A simple menu

This example menu will accept the following commands, each leading to a separate function that takes no arguments.

• exit
• show version
• show clock

First, declare the menu structure.

from prompt_smart_menu import PromptSmartMenu

menu_config = [
    {
        'command': 'exit',
        'function': exit,
    },
    {
        'command': 'show',
        'children': [
            {
                'command': 'version',
                'function': show_version,
            },
            {
                'command': 'clock',
                'function': show_clock
            }
        ]
    }
]

Now we can create the menu object, and pass it a command via run().

smart_menu = PromptSmartMenu(menu_config)
command = input('Enter command >')
smart_menu.run(command)

Auto-complete integration

PromptSmartMenu can easily create configuration for use with prompt_toolkit’s NestedCompleter

from prompt_toolkit.completion import NestedCompleter

nested_dict = smart_menu.nested_completer_dict()
completer = NextedCompleter.from_nested_dict(nested_dict)

Learning prompt_smart_menu

In order to learn and understand prompt_toolkit, it is best to go through the all sections in the order below. Also don’t forget to have a look at all the examples examples in the repository.

• First, learn how to print text. This is important, because it covers how to use “formatted text”, which is something you’ll use whenever you want to use colors anywhere.
• Secondly, go through the asking for input section. This is useful for almost any use case, even for full screen applications. It covers autocompletions, syntax highlighting, key bindings, and so on.
• Then, learn about Dialogs, which is easy and fun.
• Finally, learn about full screen applications and read through the advanced topics.