New tool to automatically generate tads project files

Hi,

I don’t use windows and have been going through the tads tutorials and got sick of having to manually copy a template directory, paste it where I want my project. Then rename the directory, source files and change a whole bunch of stuff each time I want a new project.

So I created a tool that will automatically generate the project files the same way it would if you were using the windows tads workbench ide. This is great for people not on windows or people not using the tads workbench ide.

The tool will create projects for adv3, adv3 web, adv3Lite and adv3Lite web applications.

Below is a youtube video demonstrating that tool in use and the links to the tool.

https://youtu.be/Itm5ZnV-Kxk
https://www.npmjs.com/package/generator-tads
https://github.com/anthonyirwin82/generator-tads

I also created https://www.anthonyirwin.com/generator-tads/ page on my website that will always have the latest video and other information regarding this project.

Anyway I thought I would distribute the tool back to the tads community as I imagine other people will find it as useful as I do.

Thanks,
Anthony

Some notes:

If you name the project file “Makefile.t3m”, you don’t need to type “-f filename.t3m” every time. Just “t3make” is enough, and it will automatically use “Makefile.t3m” if it finds it.

Also, the only file that you need to generate is the t3m file. The GameInfo.txt is not needed (it is generated by the game when you run a debug build of it, and not at all when you run a release build). The .tdbconfig file is also not needed. That’s only used by Workbench. t3make ignores it.

Finally, to start a server instance for WebUI, you can use:

frob -i plain -s 44 -N 00 -p filename.t3

Frob will then run as a server and wait for incoming HTTP connections (you connect with a web browser by using the URL frob prints.)

Thanks for the tips. I didn’t know all that as I copied the windows tads workbench project files for this tool.

I have made the changes you suggested and have combined the text and web versions together into a single project with different makefiles.

I also used the -o flag on the web makefile to output projectname-web.t3 instead of tadsnet.t3

I also added comment in the web makefile giving instructions on how to load the web version with frob as I didn’t know how until you posted a reply here so others will be able to see it in the project makefile.

I noticed an error with the adv3Lite Web project templates from the original windows workbench which didn’t link to the adv3LiteWeb library it was linking to adv3Lite so I also fixed that.

I have tested compiling projects for both adv3 and adv3Lite using both text and web platforms and all is working correctly.

To update to latest version people can run npm install -g generator-tads and it will get the latest version.

Thanks again realnc for the reply and creating the frob and qtads interpreters. I really appreciate the cross platform support.

Thanks,
Anthony