this is my favorite style, though always a pain

reflect derived types, then instantiate. No registration, just derive :)

.gitignore

@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+appsettings.json
+
+
 # ---> VisualStudioCode
 .vscode/*
 !.vscode/settings.json

.vscode/launch.json

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+    "version": "0.2.0",
+    "configurations": [
+        {
+            // Use IntelliSense to find out which attributes exist for C# debugging
+            // Use hover for the description of the existing attributes
+            // For further information visit https://github.com/OmniSharp/omnisharp-vscode/blob/master/debugger-launchjson.md
+            "name": ".NET Core Launch (console)",
+            "type": "coreclr",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "preLaunchTask": "build",
+            // If you have changed target frameworks, make sure to update the program path.
+            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/bin/Debug/net7.0/newsletter.dll",
+            "args": [],
+            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
+            // For more information about the 'console' field, see https://aka.ms/VSCode-CS-LaunchJson-Console
+            "console": "internalConsole",
+            "stopAtEntry": false,
+            "requireExactSource": true
+        },
+        {
+            "name": ".NET Core Attach",
+            "type": "coreclr",
+            "request": "attach"
+        }
+    ]
+}

.vscode/tasks.json

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+{
+    "version": "2.0.0",
+    "tasks": [
+        {
+            "label": "build",
+            "command": "dotnet",
+            "type": "process",
+            "args": [
+                "build",
+                "${workspaceFolder}/newsletter.csproj",
+                "/property:GenerateFullPaths=true",
+                "/consoleloggerparameters:NoSummary"
+            ],
+            "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
+        },
+        {
+            "label": "publish",
+            "command": "dotnet",
+            "type": "process",
+            "args": [
+                "publish",
+                "${workspaceFolder}/newsletter.csproj",
+                "/property:GenerateFullPaths=true",
+                "/consoleloggerparameters:NoSummary"
+            ],
+            "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
+        },
+        {
+            "label": "watch",
+            "command": "dotnet",
+            "type": "process",
+            "args": [
+                "watch",
+                "run",
+                "--project",
+                "${workspaceFolder}/newsletter.csproj"
+            ],
+            "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
+        }
+    ]
+}

Configuration.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+namespace newsletter
+{
+    public class Configuration
+    {
+        public string ExportPath { get; set; }
+        public List<Reporter> Reporters { get; set; }
+        public class Reporter
+        {
+            public string ReporterClass { get; set; }
+            public string Url { get; set; }
+            public string Username { get; set; }
+            public string Password { get; set; }
+        }
+    }
+}

Program.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+#pragma warning disable CS8618
+using System;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Net.Http.Json;
+using Ical.Net;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Net;
+using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Net.Http.Headers;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using System.Xml;
+using HtmlAgilityPack;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
+
+namespace newsletter
+{
+    class Program
+    {
+        static async Task Main(string[] args)
+        {
+            var conf = Configure();
+            if (conf == null) return;
+
+            var reports = await CollectReports(CollectReporters(conf));
+
+            var fullHtml = AssembleHTML(reports.Select(r => r.ReportContent));
+
+            fullHtml.Save(conf.ExportPath);
+        }
+
+        static Configuration Configure(string configurationPath = "appsettings.json")
+        {
+            if (!File.Exists(configurationPath))
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"could not find configuration at {configurationPath}! copying sample to that spot.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath); //and you know what, if that explodes at the OS level, the OS should give you an error
+                return null;
+            }
+            var fileContents = File.ReadAllText(configurationPath);
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(fileContents))
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"configuration file at {configurationPath} was empty! overwriting with sample settings.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath, true);
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            var conf = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Configuration>(fileContents);
+
+            if (conf == null)
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"configuration file at {configurationPath} was empty! overwriting with sample settings.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath, true);
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            return conf;
+        }
+
+        static List<Task<Report>> CollectReporters(Configuration conf)
+        {
+            var toReturn = new List<Task<Report>>();
+
+            var reporterTypes = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies()
+              .SelectMany(domainAssembly => domainAssembly.GetTypes())
+              .Where(type => type.IsSubclassOf(typeof(newsletter.Reporters.Reporter)) && !type.IsAbstract)
+              .ToList();
+            var skipPortionInName = "newsletter.Reporters.".Length;
+
+
+            foreach(var discoveredConfType in conf.Reporters.Select(r => r.ReporterClass))
+            {
+                Console.WriteLine($"{discoveredConfType} configuration type discovered");
+            }
+            foreach (var reporterType in reporterTypes)
+            {
+                Console.WriteLine($"{reporterType.ToString().Substring(skipPortionInName).ToLower()} reporter class discovered");
+                Func<Configuration.Reporter, bool> predicate = r => r.ReporterClass == reporterType.ToString().Substring(skipPortionInName).ToLower();
+                if (!conf.Reporters.Any(predicate))
+                {
+                    Console.WriteLine($"no configurations for it");
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    var configurationsFor = conf.Reporters.Where(predicate);
+                    Console.WriteLine($"{configurationsFor.Count()} configurations for it");
+                    
+                    foreach (var confFor in configurationsFor)
+                    {
+                         var instance = (newsletter.Reporters.Reporter) Activator.CreateInstance(reporterType);
+                        toReturn.Add(instance.Report(confFor));
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            return toReturn;
+        }
+
+        static async Task<List<Report>> CollectReports(List<Task<Report>> tasks)
+        {
+            var results = new List<Report>();
+            foreach (var task in tasks)
+            {
+                var rep = await task;
+                results.Add(rep);
+            }
+            return results;
+        }
+
+        static HtmlDocument AssembleHTML(IEnumerable<HtmlNode> reportSections)
+        {
+            //TODO
+            Console.WriteLine($"assembling {reportSections.Count()} sections");
+            throw new NotImplementedException();
+        }
+
+    }
+}

Report.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#pragma warning disable CS8618
+using HtmlAgilityPack;
+
+namespace newsletter
+{
+    public class Report
+    {
+        ///<summary>
+        ///gets embedded in the web page. reporter should have this be a div, and assembler will add classes and attributes or whatever
+        ///</summary>
+        public HtmlNode ReportContent { get; set; }
+        ///<summary>
+        ///if I ever hook this up to TTS, this is the text that will be spoken
+        ///</summary>
+        public string TextSummary { get; set; }
+    }
+}

Reporters/Dummy.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+using HtmlAgilityPack;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace newsletter.Reporters
+{
+    public class Dummy : Reporter
+    {
+        #pragma warning disable CS1998
+        public override async Task<Report> Report(Configuration.Reporter config)
+        {
+            return new Report()
+            {
+                ReportContent = HtmlNode.CreateNode($"<div>dummy node for testing purposes. Url: {config.Url}, Username: {config.Username}, Password: {config.Password}.</div>"),
+                TextSummary = "dummy text for testing purposes"
+            };
+        }
+        #pragma warning restore CS1998
+    }
+}

Reporters/Reporter.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace newsletter.Reporters
+{
+    public abstract class Reporter
+    {
+        public abstract Task<Report> Report(Configuration.Reporter config);
+    }
+}

newsletter.csproj

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
+
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
+    <TargetFramework>net7.0</TargetFramework>
+    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
+    <Nullable>disable</Nullable>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
+
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="HtmlAgilityPack" Version="1.11.40" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="13.0.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="puppeteersharp" Version="5.0.0" />
+    <PackageReference Include="WebDav-Client" Version="1.1.2" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Ical.Net" Version="4.2.0" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+  
+</Project>

sample-appsettings.json

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+    "exportPath": "./newsletter.html",
+    "reporters": [
+        {
+            "type":"dummy",
+            "url": "localhost:8080",
+            "username": "guy who didn't configure",
+            "password": "sordph1sh"
+        }
+    ]
+}

template.html

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+    <head>
+        <style type="text/css">
+            body{
+                background-color: #202020;
+                color:white;
+            }
+            .report-content{
+                display:block;
+                border-radius: 1em;
+                border: 0.125em solid white;
+                padding: 0.25em 0.5em;
+                margin-top: 1em;
+            }
+
+        </style>
+    </head>
+    <body>
+        <div class="report-content">sample report</div>
+        <div class="report-content">sample report</div>
+    </body>
+</html>