calyx-pass [NAME tbd]

[ethanuppal]

Some things to figure out:

• What should it be called?
• Do we like the TUI?
• Do we like how it finds the path to the calyx driver executable?
• Have we implemented all the TODO.md features?

[ethanuppal]

I think I have a fix for the scrollback buffer issue -- I will manage the scrollback buffer myself, and use an alternative screen escape code (supported on xterm so supported everywhere). I don't really want to bring in something like curses since this is really lightweight (store lines to a vector),

[ethanuppal]

The only two pressing questions that remain are:

• What should it be called?
• Do we like how it finds the path to the calyx driver executable?

[rachitnigam]

Left a bunch of comments but a higher-level thought: why are we implementing scrollback buffers from scratch instead of using a TUI library that handles all of the edge cases and platform differences for us?

I bet there are edge cases where things don't work on Windows machines and when terminals are resized.

[ethanuppal]

Left a bunch of comments but a higher-level thought: why are we implementing scrollback buffers from scratch instead of using a TUI library that handles all of the edge cases and platform differences for us?

I felt that using two TUI libraries was overkill for just a scrollback buffer, but if you think it's a good idea, I can switch to using one.

I bet there are edge cases where things don't work on Windows machines and when terminals are resized.

Windows should take the same ANSI escape codes, but I think there might be some SetConsoleMode wizardry that needs to be done (though colored probably does that under the scene, so ANSI codes should be working). I'd have to test this though because I don't have access to a Windows machine.

[rachitnigam]

I felt that using two TUI libraries was overkill for just a scrollback buffer

There might be some library that supports everything you need. In general, when working on Calyx tools, I do not enforce the "minimize dependencies" principle because the tool should be small, contained, and easy-to-maintain.

[ethanuppal]

The ideal is some crate that gives me an interface like less where can type in key commands (no line buffering) and control scroll (so it scrolls to the top every time the screen is refreshed) that can also parse ANSI escape codes so that weird output doesn't appear. I wasn't able to find such a crate, but I probably haven't looked hard enough yet.

[ethanuppal]

I've switched everything over to crossterm and refactored the TUI as well as addressed the other comments you made -- hopefully can commit soon. Happy to look into any other changes you feel should be made!

[rachitnigam]

Couple more low-level things! Fix and merge at your discretion! Awesome work!!