IDumpOutput Interface

Defines an output target for Dumpify’s rendered objects.

Definition

namespace Dumpify;

public interface IDumpOutput
{
    TextWriter TextWriter { get; }
    
    RendererConfig AdjustConfig(in RendererConfig config);
}

Members

Member	Type	Description
`TextWriter`	`TextWriter`	The underlying `TextWriter` that output will be written to.
`AdjustConfig`	Method	Allows the output to modify the renderer configuration before rendering.

Built-in Implementations

Dumpify provides several pre-configured outputs via the Outputs static class:

// Console output (default)
Dumpify.Outputs.Console

// Debug output (System.Diagnostics.Debug)
Dumpify.Outputs.Debug

// Trace output (System.Diagnostics.Trace)
Dumpify.Outputs.Trace

Implementing Custom Outputs

You can create custom output targets by implementing IDumpOutput:

public class FileOutput : IDumpOutput
{
    private readonly StreamWriter _writer;
    
    public TextWriter TextWriter => _writer;
    
    public FileOutput(string filePath)
    {
        _writer = new StreamWriter(filePath, append: true);
    }
    
    public RendererConfig AdjustConfig(in RendererConfig config)
    {
        // Optionally modify the config for file output
        // For example, disable colors for plain text files
        return config with
        {
            ColorConfig = ColorConfig.NoColors
        };
    }
}

Using Custom Output

// Set as global default
DumpConfig.Default.Output = new FileOutput("dump.log");

// Or use per-call
myObject.Dump(output: new FileOutput("dump.log"));

Using DumpOutput Class

For simpler cases, use the built-in DumpOutput class instead of implementing the interface directly:

// Simple output to any TextWriter
var output = new DumpOutput(Console.Out);

// With config adjustment
var output = new DumpOutput(
    writer: myTextWriter,
    configFactory: config => config with { ColorConfig = ColorConfig.NoColors }
);

The AdjustConfig Method

The AdjustConfig method allows outputs to modify rendering behavior. Common use cases:

Disable colors for plain text outputs (files, logs)
Adjust dimensions based on the output medium
Change table styles for compatibility

public RendererConfig AdjustConfig(in RendererConfig config)
{
    // Example: Force ASCII borders and no colors for log files
    return config with
    {
        ColorConfig = ColorConfig.NoColors,
        TableConfig = config.TableConfig with
        {
            BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Ascii
        }
    };
}