Nim/doc/niminst.md

=========================

niminst User's manual

:Author: Andreas Rumpf :Version: |nimversion|

.. default-role:: code .. include:: rstcommon.rst .. contents::

Introduction

niminst is a tool to generate an installer for a Nim program. Currently it can create an installer for Windows via Inno Setup as well as installation/deinstallation scripts for UNIX. Later versions will support Linux' package management systems.

niminst works by reading a configuration file that contains all the information that it needs to generate an installer for the different operating systems.

Configuration file

niminst uses the Nim parsecfg module to parse the configuration file. Here's an example of how the syntax looks like:

.. include:: mytest.cfg

 :literal:

The value of a key-value pair can reference user-defined variables via the $variable notation: They can be defined in the command line with the --var:name=value:option: switch. This is useful to not hard-coding the program's version number into the configuration file, for instance.

It follows a description of each possible section and how it affects the generated installers.

Project section

The project section gathers general information about your project. It must contain the following key-value pairs:

==================== ======================================================= Key description ==================== ======================================================= Name the project's name; this needs to be a single word DisplayName the project's long name; this can contain spaces. If

                   not specified, this is the same as `Name`.

Version the project's version OS the OSes to generate C code for; for example:

                   `"windows;linux;macosx"`

CPU the CPUs to generate C code for; for example:

                   `"i386;amd64;powerpc"`

Authors the project's authors Description the project's description App the application's type: "Console" or "GUI". If

                   "Console", niminst generates a special batch file
                   for Windows to open up the command-line shell.

License the filename of the application's license ==================== =======================================================

files key

Many sections support the files key. Listed filenames can be separated by semicolon or the files key can be repeated. Wildcards in filenames are supported. If it is a directory name, all files in the directory are used:

[Config]
Files: "configDir"
Files: "otherconfig/*.conf;otherconfig/*.cfg"

Config section

The config section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's configuration directory.

Documentation section

The documentation section supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's native documentation directory (which might be $appdir/doc).

There is a start key which determines whether the Windows installer generates a link to e.g. the index.html of your documentation.

Other section

The other section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the application installation directory ($appdir).

Lib section

The lib section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's native library directory (which might be $appdir/lib).

Windows section

The windows section supports the files key for Windows-specific files. Listed files will be installed into the application installation directory ($appdir).

Other possible options are:

==================== ======================================================= Key description ==================== ======================================================= BinPath paths to add to the Windows %PATH% environment

                   variable. Example: ``BinPath: r"bin;dist\mingw\bin"``

InnoSetup boolean flag whether an Inno Setup installer should be

                   generated for Windows. Example: `InnoSetup: "Yes"`

==================== =======================================================

UnixBin section

The UnixBin section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's native bin directory (e.g. /usr/local/bin). The exact location depends on the installation path the user specifies when running the install.sh script.

Unix section

Possible options are:

==================== ======================================================= Key description ==================== ======================================================= InstallScript boolean flag whether an installation shell script

                   should be generated. Example: `InstallScript: "Yes"`

UninstallScript boolean flag whether a de-installation shell script

                   should be generated.
                   Example: `UninstallScript: "Yes"`

==================== =======================================================

InnoSetup section

Possible options are:

==================== ======================================================= Key description ==================== ======================================================= path Path to Inno Setup.

                   Example: ``path = r"c:\inno setup 5\iscc.exe"``

flags Flags to pass to Inno Setup.

                   Example: `flags = "/Q"`

==================== =======================================================

C_Compiler section

Possible options are:

==================== ======================================================= Key description ==================== ======================================================= path Path to the C compiler. flags Flags to pass to the C Compiler.

                   Example: `flags = "-w"`

==================== =======================================================

Real-world example

The installers for the Nim compiler itself are generated by niminst. Have a look at its configuration file:

.. include:: ../compiler/installer.ini

 :literal: