Fine-tuning console installers

In the upcoming install4j 4.2.4 release, we'll expand on the improvements that were introduced with the visibility script in install4j 4.2.3.

The GUI installer operates in a "one screen at a time" mode while the console installer does "one question at a time". Due to this difference, the automatic translation of form screens from GUI to console mode will not always be optimal.

In 4.2.4 we will introduce a "Console handler" form component that allows you to fine-tune the console mode of your installers. The form component is invisible and has no effect in GUI mode. Its action is defined in the "Console script" property:

Besides the usual parameters for form components, the script is passed a "console" parameter, which is of type com.install4j.api.screens.Console and offers a number of methods for interacting with the user on the console. This has previously only been offered in the API for the development of custom screens and custom form components.

In the console script shown above, an error condition is handled in the middle of the form component sequence. In GUI mode, such error conditions are usually handled in the validation script of the screen, but due to the lack of "screens" in console mode, the validation might be more appropriate at an earlier time.

Another scenario for the use of console handler form components are form screens that do no require user input. In such a case, you could add a console handler form component and set its console script to

console.print("Please read the information above");
console.waitForEnter();
return true;