What is BlitzBuild?
BlitzBuild is a command line tool for compiling BlitzPlus and Blitz3D applications, although it can be used to automate other tasks in a similar fashion to Windows batch files. BlitzBuild’s primary aim is to make it easier to build software with the Blitz series of languages, to remove the IDE from the build process and to combine several key build steps (such as documentation creation and testing) into a single step. This saves time and can also improve the quality of the finished article.
For the latest updates to this project, see the BlitzBuild project homepage.
Important Note: This release is very much a “preview”, and as such isn’t really recommended for a production environment.
License
BlitzBuild is freeware and may be used without restrictions.
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Donations & Support
If you find this library helpful in your projects, please consider donating. Donations of any size are always welcome!
If you have any comments, please feel free to leave them here. You can also send an email or leave them as a feature request on the bug tracker.
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This is a simple change that can make using the Windows command line much easier. Adding a directory to the Windows PATH will mean Windows will search the directory when a command is entered. The main reason for doing this is that it acts as a shortcut for common applications you may run.
For example, instead of typing : "C:\Program Files\SomeProgram\Bin\MyProg.exe" --some-arg to launch an application, you can type MyProg.exe –some-arg. This has three main advantages:
- Looks Neater – This can be important if you’re using batch files. Long lines are hard to read, so shortening things is a good idea.
- Less Typing – Speaks for itself. If you use the command line or batch files for any amount of time, you’ll appreciate how much easier it is to use if you’re not typing full paths for your tools.
- Portable – Perhaps the most important detail. Not using hard-coded paths makes it easier to port your batch files to other machines.
Note: Be careful when editing your path variable, as you could render some programs unusable if you make a mistake. Also remember that changes won’t take effect until you restart the console.
Editing the Windows Path Variable
1) Right click “My Computer” and select “Properties” OR goto Control Panel and select “System”. This will open the “System Properties” window.
2) Switch to the “Advanced” tab, and select “Environment Variables”.
3) There are now two options. You can modify the global path variable, or add your own to your personal profile. If you want all users on the machine to have the same shortcut, add it to the global path, otherwise use the local one.
a. To modify the global path variable – Find “Path” or “PATH” in the lower window (marked Global variables). Select Edit. Add the path to your application. Separate paths with a semi-colon (;). Add trailing slashes if you wish.
b. Either modify an existing one using the tutorial above, or select “new”, then enter “PATH” as the name of the variable and enter the path value in the environment value section.
Modifying the Path Using the Command Line
If you’d like to do this using the command line, you can use the “setx” command included with Windows XP service pack two. To add the directory “c:\program files\SomeProgram\Bin” to your path, use the following:
setx path "%PATH%;C:\Program Files\SomeProgram\Bin"
Remember to include the %PATH% variable at the start of your setx command so that you’ll keep existing path names.
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Creating software is a time consuming business, and it’s important to always be on the lookout for ways to reduce the amount of time spent on less important tasks. The process of actually building software (creating the finished distributable binary) is one such area that can be optimised. Opening up your IDE and hitting “compile” might not seem particularly time consuming, but it’s only one part of the build process.
To get you started, here’s a short list of tasks that can be automated:
- Compiling the executables and dependent libraries
- Packing media
- Creating an installer
- Uploading files to an FTP site
- Checking out files from a repository to be built
- Sending an email about a finished build to other developers
- Creating the application documentation / Converting it to HTML
- Testing the software
The benefits of using an automated build system include:
- Saves time – Run a build and leave the computer to do the work whilst you take care of other tasks.
- Documents the build process – If a build requires several steps before being completed, a build file will document this process for you. This is useful if templates need to be generated or options need to be set before a build is ready.
- Improves quality – As well as automating the creation of a binary package, tests can be automated. This saves a lot of time on the development end, as tests can be constantly run so you’ll quickly find out if the software’s behaviour has changed.
Simple Automation – Batch Files
The simplest way to automate many of these tasks is to use batch files. A batch file is a list of tasks to be run, usually in the form of a list of applications with some command line parameters. Using a few simple commands it’s possible to run many tasks in succession without any user input, leaving you to do more important things. Microsoft.com has a is a simple guide to batch files which is a good place to start.
As useful as batch files are, there is only so much they can accomplish, and there may come a time when something more complex is required for your project. Thankfully there are many build systems available
Build Tools
There are plenty of build systems available, and several of them are targeted at certain platforms or languages. It may take a while to become comfortable with a platform, but the savings are worth it.
- GNU make – A standard system used by many Linux projects. It consists of a plain text file that lists targets and dependencies, and features many advanced features such as automatically determining which files require rebuilding.
- Apache Ant – Ant is designed as a replacement for make, and uses XML files to describe the build process instead of text files. It’s written in JAVA, and is completely portable.
- nAnt – nAnt is a .NET based version of Ant, and although it is not exclusively for .NET developers it has many features that make it useful for building .NET apps.
- A-A-P – A-A-P is a portable build tool that uses text-based “recipes” to compile and distribute software, but it can also be used for other tasks such as publishing websites and generating files from templates.
- Visual Build Professional – VBP is a commercial build tool that takes a more visual approach to creating build scripts. It integrates well into many Microsoft IDEs, but also supports other languages such as Delphi and Java.
- BlitzBuild – A free build tool aimed at BlitzPlus and Blitz3D developers.
Breaking the Task Down
Most build scripts will contain more than a single command, so it is useful to break the build script into different groups or “targets” that can be executed individually. This is particularly useful if building of data files is included, as it can be used for art or music to be built independently of the main application. Many build platforms also allow targets to be called from other targets, which effectively breaks a build script into a set of functions that can be executed in any order.
Common targets include compilation, installation and cleanup, but the choice is entirely up to the developer. It may also prove beneficial to include a separate target for generating debug versions of the application which can be distributed as a troubleshooting option.
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You may have noticed the “Community” box appearing on all of the game pages, which gives two new features:
- Rate This Game — Any game on the site can now be given a rating of between one and five. You don’t need to register to give ratings, and the system is nice and simple. If you’ve played a game and you want to let other people know how great (or bad) it is, please take a few moments to rate it.
- Tell a Friend — Want to tell a friend about the site? Now it’s as easy as filling in a simple form!
There are also several new features to be added over the coming weeks, and several areas of the site will be improved to make them more attractive and more usable. Any feedback is always welcome.
In case you’re wondering where all of the regular blog updates have gone, the next two issues will be released on April 9th and April 23rd respectively.
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blitzbuild-0.1.zip (543KB)
