import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;

/**
 * Class to conveniently handle simple keyboard input.
 * Does not need to be instantiated, as all methods are static.
 * Just call Input.getString and Input.getChar as needed.
 * @author Glenn Matthews
 */
public class Input {
	public static BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(
									new InputStreamReader(
										System.in));

	/**
	 * Displays the given prompt and reads the user input as a String.
	 * @param prompt String to print before reading the input.
	 * @return The String input by the user.
	 */
	public static String getString(String prompt) {
		System.out.print(prompt);
		String s;
		try {
			s = input.readLine();
		}
		catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
			return null;
		}
		return s;
	}

	/**
	 * Displays the given prompt and reads the first character of the user
	 * input, converting it to lower case.
	 * @param prompt String to print before reading the input.
	 * @return The first character of the user input, in lower case.
	 */
	public static char getChar(String prompt) {
		String s = getString(prompt);
		if (s == null || s.length() == 0) {
			return 0;
		}
		return s.toLowerCase().charAt(0);
	}
}