add formatted console output for ISeries classes

[DaveSkender]

the problem

When I'm using online code sharing tools like https://dotnetfiddle.net I like to use Console.WriteLine(results) to simply visualize on of the ISeries or IReusable records from the indicators results.

These POCO classes have their own unique set of properties. I'd like the output to look like this example, for all such property types, where the description is based on XML comments. Any JsonIngore attributed fields are excluded.

# inputs
private static readonly CultureInfo EnglishCulture = new("en-US", false);
DateTime timestamp = DateTime.TryParse("2017-02-03", EnglishCulture, out DateTime d) ? d : default
Quote quote = new Quote(timestamp,216.18,216.87,215.84,216.67,85273832)

# string output for Quote class
Property   Type           Value  Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Timestamp  DateTime  2024-02-02  Gets the date/time of the record.
Open       Decimal       216.18  Aggregate bar's first tick price
High       Decimal       216.87  Aggregate bar's highest tick price
Low        Decimal       215.84  Aggregate bar's lowest tick price
Close      Decimal       216.67  Aggregate bar's last tick price
Volume     Decimal     85273832  Aggregate bar's tick volume

References

Quote class

namespace Skender.Stock.Indicators;

// QUOTE MODELS

public interface IQuote : IReusable
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Aggregate bar's first tick price
    /// </summary>
    decimal Open { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Aggregate bar's highest tick price
    /// </summary>
    decimal High { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Aggregate bar's lowest tick price
    /// </summary>
    decimal Low { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Aggregate bar's last tick price
    /// </summary>
    decimal Close { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Aggregate bar's tick volume
    /// </summary>
    decimal Volume { get; }
}

[Serializable]
public record Quote
(
    DateTime Timestamp,
    decimal Open,
    decimal High,
    decimal Low,
    decimal Close,
    decimal Volume
) : IQuote
{
    [JsonIgnore]
    public double Value => (double)Close;
}

IReusable interface

public interface IReusable : ISeries
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Value that is passed to chained indicators.
    /// </summary>
    [JsonIgnore]
    double Value { get; }
}

ISeries interface

/// <summary>
/// Time-series base interface.
/// </summary>
public interface ISeries
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the date/time of the record.
    /// </summary>
    DateTime Timestamp { get; }
}

Related to:

• add formatted console output for ISeries lists #1280

an idea

string out = quote.ToStringOut(args);
Console.WriteLine(out);

• All fields can have named formatting preferences in args, for example:

  Dictionary<string, string> args new() = 
  {
      { "Open", "N2" },
      { "High", "N2" },
      { "Low", "N2" },
      { "Close", "N2" },
      { "Volume", "N0" }, // No decimal places
      { "Date", "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm" } // Include milliseconds
  };

• args can also target specific primitive types, but also allow overrides based on sequencing in the args list (last format wins)

  Dictionary<string, string> args new() = 
  {
      { "decimal", "N2" },
      { "Volume", "N0" },            // override decimal places
      { "Date", "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm" } // Include milliseconds
  };

• when args or individual properties aren't covered, do not apply formatting

code example

# inputs
DateTime timestamp = DateTime.TryParse("2017-02-03T23:54:15.123", Culture.InvariantCulture, out DateTime d) ? d : default
Quote quote = new Quote(timestamp,216.181,216.871,215.84,216.674,85273832)

string out = quote.ToStringOut();

Console.WriteLine(out);

# console output
Property   Type                 Value  Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Timestamp  DateTime  2024-02-03 23.54  Gets the date/time of the record.
Open       Decimal             216.18  Aggregate bar's first tick price
High       Decimal             216.87  Aggregate bar's highest tick price
Low        Decimal             215.84  Aggregate bar's lowest tick price
Close      Decimal             216.67  Aggregate bar's last tick price
Volume     Decimal           85273832  Aggregate bar's tick volume