TinyString 0.0.3

Tiny String: Small but Mighty String Utilities for .NET

TinyString is a powerful, attribute-driven object pretty-printer for .NET.
Drop it into any C# project to get beautiful, customizable string representations of your objects.

Installation

dotnet add package TinyString

Table of Contents

• Basic Usage
• Class-Level Customization
• Property-Level Customization
• Ignoring Properties
• Naming Formats
• Advanced Features
• Full Examples
• License

Basic Usage

Just call .Stringify() on any object:

using TinyString;

public class Book
{
    public string Title { get; set; } = "";
    public string Author { get; set; } = "";
    public int Pages { get; set; }
}

var book = new Book { Title = "1984", Author = "George Orwell", Pages = 328 };
Console.WriteLine(book.Stringify());
// Output: Book. Title: 1984, Author: George Orwell, Pages: 328

Class-Level Customization

Control the output style with [Stringify(...)] options:

[Stringify(
    PrintStyle = PrintStyle.MultiLine,
    Emoji = "🦁🦓🦍",
    PrintClassName = false,
    PropertySeparator = " | ",
    CollectionSeparator = "\n|_ ",
    Decimals = 0,
    NamingFormat = NamingFormat.KebabCase,
    PropertyFormat = "{k} {v}",
    ClassNameSeparator = " :: "
)]
public class Zoo
{
    public required string Title { get; set; }
    public List<Animal> Animals { get; set; } = [];
    public double EntrancePrice { get; set; }
}

[Stringify(
    PrintStyle = PrintStyle.SingleLine,
    PrintClassName = false,
    PropertySeparator = " ",
    PropertyFormat = "{k} {v}",
    Decimals = 2
)]
public class Animal
{
    [StringifyProperty(format: "{v}")]
    public required string Name { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "({v})")]
    public required Species Species { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "{v}kg")]
    public required double Weight { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "{v}yrs")]
    public int Age { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "(rare: {v})")]
    public bool IsRare { get; set; }
}

public enum Species { Cat, Tiger, Elephant }

var zoo = new Zoo
{
    Title = "Wonderful Zoo",
    EntrancePrice = 15,
    Animals = new()
    {
        new Animal { Name = "Mittens", Species = Species.Cat, Weight = 4.5, Age = 5, IsRare = false },
        new Animal { Name = "Tony", Species = Species.Tiger, Weight = 120.3, Age = 6, IsRare = true }
    }
};

Console.WriteLine(zoo.Stringify());
/*
🦁🦓🦍
Title Wonderful Zoo
Animals 
|_ Mittens (Cat) 4.50kg 5yrs (rare: False)
|_ Tony (Tiger) 120.30kg 6yrs (rare: True)
EntrancePrice 15
*/

Property-Level Customization

Override formatting for individual properties:

[StringifyProperty(format: "🎭 {v}")]
public string Name { get; set; }

[StringifyProperty(format: "💰 {v} gold")]
public decimal Gold { get; set; }

[StringifyProperty(format: "HP: {v}/{v}")]
public Health Health { get; set; }

Ignoring Properties

Skip properties with [StringifyIgnore]:

public class SecretNote
{
    public string Message { get; set; } = "";

    [StringifyIgnore]
    public string Password { get; set; } = "";
}

var note = new SecretNote { Message = "Hello", Password = "secret123" };
Console.WriteLine(note.Stringify());
// Output: SecretNote: Message: Hello
// (Password is ignored)

Naming Formats

Choose how property names are displayed:

[Stringify(NamingFormat = NamingFormat.SnakeCase)]
public class SnakeCaseExample
{
    public string MyProperty { get; set; } = "value";
}
// Output: SnakeCaseExample: my_property: value

[Stringify(NamingFormat = NamingFormat.HumanCase)]
public class HumanCaseExample
{
    public string MyProperty { get; set; } = "value";
}
// Output: HumanCaseExample: My Property: value

Available formats:

• PascalCase (default): MyProperty
• CamelCase: myProperty
• SnakeCase: my_property
• KebabCase: my-property
• HumanCase: My Property

Advanced Features

Nested Objects & Collections

Objects are stringified recursively, and collections are joined with your specified separator:

[Stringify(
    PrintStyle = PrintStyle.MultiLine,
    Emoji = "⚔️",
    PropertySeparator = "\n",
    CollectionSeparator = ", ",
    Decimals = 1
)]
public class Character
{
    [StringifyProperty(format: "🎭 {v}")]
    public string Name { get; set; } = "";

    [StringifyProperty(format: "Skills: [{v}]")]
    public List<string> Skills { get; set; } = new();

    [StringifyProperty(format: "🎒 {v}")]
    public Inventory Inventory { get; set; } = new();
}

[Stringify(
    PrintStyle = PrintStyle.SingleLine,
    PropertySeparator = " | ",
    PropertyFormat = "{k}={v}"
)]
public class Inventory
{
    public List<Item> Items { get; set; } = new();
    public int Weight { get; set; }
}

[Stringify(PropertyFormat = "[{k}:{v}]")]
public class Item
{
    public string Name { get; set; } = "";
    public ItemType Type { get; set; }
}

public enum ItemType { Weapon, Armor }

var hero = new Character
{
    Name = "Gandalf",
    Skills = new() { "Fireball", "Teleport" },
    Inventory = new Inventory
    {
        Items = new() { new Item { Name = "Staff", Type = ItemType.Weapon } },
        Weight = 15
    }
};

Console.WriteLine(hero.Stringify());
/*
⚔️ Character
🎭 Gandalf
Skills: [Fireball, Teleport]
🎒 Items: [Name:Staff] [Type:Weapon] | Weight=15
*/

Null & Empty Handling

var character = new Character
{
    Name = "Empty Character",
    Skills = null!,  // null collection
    Inventory = new Inventory { Items = new() }  // empty collection
};

Console.WriteLine(character.Stringify());
// Skills: [null]
// Items: (empty collection)

Full Examples

RPG Character Sheet

[Stringify(
    PrintStyle = PrintStyle.MultiLine,
    Emoji = "⚔️",
    PropertySeparator = "\n",
    CollectionSeparator = ", ",
    Decimals = 1,
    NamingFormat = NamingFormat.HumanCase
)]
public class Character
{
    [StringifyProperty(format: "🎭 {v}")]
    public string Name { get; set; } = "";

    [StringifyProperty(format: "Level {v}")]
    public int Level { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "Class: {v}")]
    public CharacterClass Class { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "Skills: [{v}]")]
    public List<string> Skills { get; set; } = new();

    [StringifyProperty(format: "💰 {v} gold")]
    public decimal Gold { get; set; }

    [StringifyIgnore]
    public string SecretPassword { get; set; } = "";

    [StringifyProperty(format: "⭐ {v}")]
    public bool IsLegendary { get; set; }
}

public enum CharacterClass { Warrior, Mage, Rogue }

var hero = new Character
{
    Name = "Gandalf",
    Level = 99,
    Class = CharacterClass.Mage,
    Skills = new() { "Fireball", "Teleport", "Lightning Bolt" },
    Gold = 1250.75m,
    IsLegendary = true
};

Console.WriteLine(hero.Stringify());
/*
⚔️ Character
🎭 Gandalf
Level 99
Class: Mage
Skills: [Fireball, Teleport, Lightning Bolt]
💰 1250.8 gold
⭐ True
*/

Zoo Management

[Stringify(
    Emoji = "🦁🦓🦍",
    PrintStyle = PrintStyle.MultiLine,
    CollectionSeparator = "\n|_ ",
    Decimals = 0
)]
public class Zoo
{
    public string Title { get; set; } = "";
    public List<Animal> Animals { get; set; } = new();
    public double EntrancePrice { get; set; }
}

[Stringify(
    PrintStyle = PrintStyle.SingleLine,
    PropertySeparator = " ",
    Decimals = 2
)]
public class Animal
{
    [StringifyProperty(format: "{v}")]
    public string Name { get; set; } = "";

    [StringifyProperty(format: "({v})")]
    public Species Species { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "{v}kg")]
    public double Weight { get; set; }

    [StringifyProperty(format: "{v}yrs")]
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

public enum Species { Cat, Tiger, Elephant }

var zoo = new Zoo
{
    Title = "Wonderful Zoo",
    Animals = new()
    {
        new Animal { Name = "Mittens", Species = Species.Cat, Weight = 4.5, Age = 5 },
        new Animal { Name = "Tony", Species = Species.Tiger, Weight = 120.3, Age = 6 }
    },
    EntrancePrice = 15
};

Console.WriteLine(zoo.Stringify());
/*
🦁🦓🦍 Zoo
Title: Wonderful Zoo
Animals: 
|_ Mittens (Cat) 4.50kg 5yrs
|_ Tony (Tiger) 120.30kg 6yrs
EntrancePrice: 15
*/

License

TinyString is licensed under the MIT License.