Alternative Attribute Syntax for Command Options and Arguments for better type support and more

[thettler]

The Idea

Using properties in combination with Attributes to declare Arguments and Options on Artisan Commands.

Why?

The $signature method is a cool way to quickly define Arguments and Options for your Artisan commands, but it lacks types and isn't that intuitive. I often have to look in the docs to remember the exact syntax.

The benefits of defining Arguments and Options as properties:

• first of all properties can, and in this case, should be typed. This is great for static analysis and removes a lot of checks down the line.
• The Attributes have clear arguments and so the IDE will tell you what options you have without the need to consult the docs.
• Its more easy to add new Features. For Example the Symfony console supports "Negatable Options" which are not supported in artisan commands yet, if i am not mistaking. Maybe because the $signature string has already quite a lot of features that need to be parsed. Also casting can be more easily implemented like in this Example .
• The Attributes and $signature can exist in parallel so no old commands need to be changed

The downsides:

• it adds a little bit more complexity to the Command class
• it is a little bit more to type (but you can still use the $signature if you want)

The Implementation

I already build a little Package that implement the Attribute syntax for Artisan commands. Have a look and try it here.
If you are curios and want to know more about the detailed syntax and how it could be working, i have written a detailed documentation where i go more into the details.
https://github.com/thettler/laravel-command-attribute-syntax

The Implementation would be a bit different of course.

❤️ Thank you very much for taking the time and reading this.

What do you think about the Idea and do you have any suggestions or different opinions? 😄
I would happily create a PR for this Feature ☺️

[ralphjsmit]

I think that it would be great if this could be put into the core!

[Wulfheart]

I think so too!

[thettler]

I took the time and prepared a PR for this. It is currently in draft so feel free to have a look and give me feedback 😄
#41131

[thettler]

For everybody who likes the idea i have created a Package with all of the Features i mentioned in the PR:

Laravel Console Toolkit

It supports

Support	Name	Description
✅	Laravel Features	Supports everything laravel can do
✅	Attribute Syntax	Use PHP-Attributes to automatically define your inputs based on types
✅	Casting	Automatically cast your inputs to Enums, Models, Objects or anything you want
✅	Validation	Use the Laravel Validator to validate the inputs from the console
✅	Auto Ask	If the user provides an invalid value toolkit will ask again for a valid value without the need to run the command again
✅	Negatable Options	Options can be specified as opposites: --dry or --no-dry
✅	Option required Value	Options can have required values

Feel free to try it out and give me Feedback.