tokio-interactive

tokio-interactive is a Rust library that provides a convenient way to start, interact with, and manage external processes asynchronously. It features a broadcast system that allows multiple receivers to listen to the same process output simultaneously, making it ideal for applications that need to control interactive command-line programs with multiple monitoring components.

Features

Asynchronous Process Management: Start and manage external processes asynchronously using Tokio
Broadcast System: Multiple receivers can listen to the same process output simultaneously
Bidirectional Communication: Send input to and receive output from running processes
Process Lifecycle Management: Check if processes are running and terminate them when needed
Cross-Platform Support: Works on both Windows and Linux
Singleton Pattern: Ensures only one instance of a process is running at a time
Lag Handling: Built-in handling for receivers that fall behind (messages may be dropped)
Error Handling: Comprehensive error handling using the anyhow crate

Installation

Add this to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]

tokio-interactive = "0.2.0"

Compatibility

Rust Version: This library requires Rust 2021 edition or later.
Tokio Version: Compatible with Tokio 1.46.1 or later.
Platform Support: Windows and Linux are fully supported. Other platforms may work but are not officially supported.

Dependencies

tokio: For asynchronous runtime and process management
anyhow: For error handling
log: For logging
serde: For serialization/deserialization support
winapi: For Windows-specific process management (Windows only)
libc: For Linux-specific process management (Linux only)

Usage

Basic Example

use tokio_interactive::AsynchronousInteractiveProcess;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    // Start a new process
    let pid = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::new("path/to/executable")
        .with_argument("--some-flag")
        .start()
        .await?;

    // Get a handle to the process
    let mut process = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::get_process_by_pid(pid).await
        .expect("Process not found");

    // Send input to the process
    process.send_input("some command").await?;

    // Receive output from the process (note: requires &mut self)
    match process.receive_output().await {
        Ok(Some(output)) => println!("Process output: {}", output),
        Ok(None) => println!("No output available"),
        Err(e) => eprintln!("Error receiving output: {}", e),
    }

    // Check if the process is still running
    if process.is_process_running().await {
        // Kill the process
        process.kill().await?;
    }

    Ok(())
}

Multiple Receivers Example

The broadcast system allows multiple receivers to listen to the same process output:

use tokio_interactive::AsynchronousInteractiveProcess;
use std::time::Duration;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    // Start a new process
    let pid = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::new("path/to/server")
        .start()
        .await?;

    // Create multiple receivers for the same process
    let mut receiver1 = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::get_process_by_pid(pid).await
        .expect("Process not found");
    let mut receiver2 = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::get_process_by_pid(pid).await
        .expect("Process not found");
    let mut receiver3 = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::get_process_by_pid(pid).await
        .expect("Process not found");

    // Spawn tasks for each receiver - all will get the same messages
    let task1 = tokio::spawn(async move {
        while receiver1.is_process_running().await {
            if let Ok(Some(output)) = receiver1.receive_output().await {
                println!("[Receiver 1]: {}", output);
            }
        }
    });

    let task2 = tokio::spawn(async move {
        while receiver2.is_process_running().await {
            if let Ok(Some(output)) = receiver2.receive_output().await {
                println!("[Receiver 2]: {}", output);
            }
        }
    });

    let task3 = tokio::spawn(async move {
        while receiver3.is_process_running().await {
            if let Ok(Some(output)) = receiver3.receive_output().await {
                println!("[Receiver 3]: {}", output);
            }
        }
    });

    // Send some input to generate output
    let mut control_handle = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::get_process_by_pid(pid).await
        .expect("Process not found");
    control_handle.send_input("status").await?;

    // Wait for all tasks
    let _ = tokio::join!(task1, task2, task3);

    Ok(())
}

Working with Long-Running Processes

For long-running processes, you can spawn a separate task to handle the communication:

use tokio_interactive::AsynchronousInteractiveProcess;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    let pid = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::new("path/to/server")
        .start()
        .await?;

    let reader_task = tokio::spawn(async move {
        let mut process = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::get_process_by_pid(pid).await
            .expect("Process not found");

        while process.is_process_running().await {
            // Send periodic commands
            process.send_input("status").await?;

            // Process output (note: requires &mut self)
            match process.receive_output().await {
                Ok(Some(output)) => {
                    // Handle output
                    println!("Server: {}", output);
                },
                Ok(None) => {
                    // No output available
                },
                Err(e) => {
                    eprintln!("Error receiving output: {}", e);
                }
            }

            tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
        }

        Ok::<(), anyhow::Error>(())
    });

    // Wait for the reader task to complete
    reader_task.await??;

    Ok(())
}

Exit Callback Example

You can set an exit callback to perform actions when the process exits:

use tokio_interactive::AsynchronousInteractiveProcess;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    let pid = AsynchronousInteractiveProcess::new("cargo")
        .with_argument("--version")
        .process_exit_callback(|exit_code| {
            println!("Process exited with code {}", exit_code);
        })
        .start()
        .await?;
    
    // Process will run and callback will be called when it exits
    Ok(())
}

Working with Command-Line Arguments

tokio-interactive provides two methods for setting command-line arguments for your processes:

`with_argument`

The with_argument method adds a single argument to the existing set of arguments. Each call to with_argument appends to the existing arguments list.

For example, calling:

process.with_argument("--verbose")
Then process.with_argument("--output=file.txt")

Would result in the command: my_program --verbose --output=file.txt.

The method accepts any type that implements Into<String>, so you can pass:

String literals: process.with_argument("--config")
String objects: process.with_argument(filename) where filename is a String
Numbers: process.with_argument(42) (adds "42" as an argument)
Any custom type that implements Into<String>

`with_arguments`

The with_arguments method replaces all existing arguments with a new set. This is useful when you want to completely change the arguments rather than adding to them.

For example, if you first call:

process.with_argument("--verbose")

And then call:

process.with_arguments(vec!["--quiet", "--log=error.log"])

The final command would be: my_program --quiet --log=error.log (the --verbose argument is replaced).

Like with_argument, this method accepts any type that implements Into<String>, so you can use a vector with mixed types:

String literals
String objects
Numbers
Any custom type that implements Into<String>

Combining Both Methods

You can combine both methods in your code. For example:

Set initial arguments with with_arguments(vec!["--mode=normal", "--quiet"])
Add another argument with with_argument("--input=data.txt")

This would result in the command: my_program --mode=normal --quiet --input=data.txt.

API Overview

`AsynchronousInteractiveProcess`

The main struct for creating and managing interactive processes.

new(filename: impl Into<String>) -> Self: Create a new process configuration
with_arguments(self, args: Vec<impl Into<String>>) -> Self: Replace all arguments with a new set
with_argument(self, arg: impl Into<String>) -> Self: Add a single argument to the existing set
with_working_directory(self, dir: impl Into<PathBuf>) -> Self: Set the working directory
start(&mut self) -> Result<u32>: Start the process and return its PID
get_process_by_pid(pid: u32) -> Option<ProcessHandle>: Get a handle to a running process
is_process_running(&self) -> bool: Check if the process is running

`ProcessHandle`

A handle for interacting with a running process. Each ProcessHandle contains its own broadcast receiver, allowing multiple handles to receive the same process output simultaneously.

Note: ProcessHandle does not implement Clone. To create multiple receivers for the same process, call get_process_by_pid() multiple times.

receive_output(&mut self) -> Result<Option<String>>: Receive output from the process with default timeout
receive_output_with_timeout(&mut self, timeout: Duration) -> Result<Option<String>>: Receive output with custom timeout
send_input(&self, input: impl Into<String>) -> Result<()>: Send input to the process
is_process_running(&self) -> bool: Check if the process is running
shutdown(&self, timeout: Duration) -> Result<()>: Gracefully shut down the process with timeout
kill(&self) -> Result<()>: Forcefully terminate the process

Broadcast System

The library uses a broadcast system that allows multiple receivers to listen to the same process output:

Multiple Receivers: Each call to get_process_by_pid() creates a new receiver that subscribes to the same broadcast channel
Simultaneous Delivery: All receivers get the same messages at the same time
Lag Handling: If a receiver falls behind, it may miss messages (lagged messages are dropped)
Independent Operation: Each receiver operates independently and can be used in separate tasks

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Author

Drew Chase

tokio-interactive 0.2.0