Recorder

IRecorder wraps an IAnsiConsole and captures every rendered segment. Capture once, then export as plain text (escape codes stripped), styled HTML (CSS-coloured spans), or via a custom IAnsiConsoleEncoder.

When to use

• Generating shareable demos / bug reports of console output.
• Golden-file tests for rich rendering (capture once, diff later).
• Producing browser-friendly HTML snapshots of CLI sessions.

Basic usage

uses
  System.IOUtils,
  VSoft.AnsiConsole;

var
  rec      : IRecorder;
  htmlPath : string;
begin
  rec := AnsiConsole.Recorder;
  rec.Write(Widgets.Markup('[bold]Captured[/] [yellow]demo[/]'));
  rec.WriteLine;
  rec.Write(Widgets.Panel(Widgets.Text('hi')).WithHeader('panel'));

  // Replay as plain text on the real console:
  AnsiConsole.WriteLine;
  AnsiConsole.MarkupLine('[bold]ExportText:[/]');
  AnsiConsole.WriteLine;
  AnsiConsole.Write(rec.ExportText);

  // Save the same capture as standalone HTML:
  htmlPath := IncludeTrailingPathDelimiter(GetEnvironmentVariable('TEMP'))
              + 'Recorder-demo.html';
  TFile.WriteAllText(htmlPath, rec.ExportHtml);
end;

AnsiConsole.Recorder (no arg) wraps the singleton; pass a captured console for tests:

rec := AnsiConsole.Recorder(myCapturedConsole);

Static recording shortcuts

For convenience, AnsiConsole exposes a Spectre-style start/export/stop flow that wraps the singleton:

AnsiConsole.StartRecording;
try
  AnsiConsole.MarkupLine('[bold]Hi[/]');
  AnsiConsole.Write(Widgets.Panel('body').WithHeader('A panel'));
finally
  // The recorder is still active here; export as needed:
  TFile.WriteAllText('demo.html', AnsiConsole.ExportHtml);
  AnsiConsole.StopRecording;
end;

While recording, every AnsiConsole.X write is captured. StopRecording restores the prior console.

TIP

Spectre's facade method is Record() but record is reserved in Delphi - hence the StartRecording / StopRecording pair.

Export formats

Method	Format
ExportText	Plain text (escape codes stripped).
ExportHtml	Standalone HTML with CSS-coloured spans, ready to drop into a browser or a bug report.
Export(encoder)	Custom encoder implementing IAnsiConsoleEncoder.

Custom encoders

Implement IAnsiConsoleEncoder to convert the captured segment stream into your own format - SVG, markdown with HTML spans, terminal-replayable ANSI, etc.:

type
  TMyEncoder = class(TInterfacedObject, IAnsiConsoleEncoder)
  public
    function Encode(const segments : TAnsiSegments) : string;
  end;

Then:

output := rec.Export(TMyEncoder.Create);

API reference

• AnsiConsole.Recorder — wrap a console.
• AnsiConsole.StartRecording / StopRecording — facade shortcuts.
• AnsiConsole.ExportText / ExportHtml / ExportCustom
• IRecorder — interface.
• IAnsiConsoleEncoder — encoder interface.
• Demo: demos/snippets/Recorder.

See also

• Architecture — segment pipeline.
• Capabilities — colour-system handling for HTML export.