Python Patcher

If you just want to install the mod, click here for the installer download page.

This repository contains the mod installer, used for installing all 07th-mod mods. The installer is cross-platform and written in python.

The below information is for developers only.

Python Development Environment Setup

If you have no preference for IDE, I would recommend Pycharm as it will help reduce mistakes while you're writing your code. Please conform to the follwing guidelines:

Please use tabs, not spaces, when editing the python code, and enable smart tabs if your editor supports them.
Ensure your code can run under both Python 2 and 3. We are currently supporting Python 2 only for MacOS - we may remove this requirement in the future.

Please note that pycharm will attempt to index files in the project folder - this may cause problems when you run the installer from pycharm, as the installer may try to move a file Pycharm is currently reading, causing it to fail (I have only seen this happen once).

Known issues with python dev environment

If the installer is stopped using the "Quit Installer" button while a download is in progress, aria2c will keep downloading in the background (at least on Windows). Normally when running the installer on Windows, the launcher will terminate the aria2c process using a Windows Job Object, but when running through an IDE this won't happen.

Force closing the script via the IDE does seem to kill the aria2c process, however.

JSON Mod Definition

The patcher reads the file installData.json to figure out what mods are available. The spec for this file is defined as a Codable Swift struct in JSONValidator.swift

The validator will run automatically on every push, to check the installData.json is correctly formatted. Because the validator is quite strict, the validator will need to be updated if the installData.json format is changed.

Developer Mode

The installer has a global variable called DEVELOPER_MODE, which controls how it behaves. Developer mode will be activated if an installData.json is found on disk adjacent to the install script. This will be the case if you clone the git repository, then run the script.

In developer mode, the installer will prefer local files (on disk) if they are present, instead of remote files (from github). This mode will Specifically:

installData.json
cachedDownloadSizes.json

Cached Download Sizes

The Github repository contains a file called cachedDownloadSizes.json to allow the installer to calculate the size of a mod without having to query each download link. When the installer runs in normal mode, it downloads this file from Github each time the installer is run.

When the installer is run in developer mode, it checks that all URLs in installData.json are present in cachedDownloadSizes.json - if not the cachedDownloadSizes.json file is automatically regenerated. Please commit this cachedDownloadSizes.json to the git repository each time it changes.

HTTPGUI / Web Interface

The web interface component is located in the httpGUI folder.

It is setup as a npm package with eslint, such that you can install the eslint plugin in Visual Studio Code and have code style checks/syntax checks etc. applied.

To setup the development environment:

Install npm (You may want to use nvm or nvm-windows to manage npm versions)
Install visual studio code
Install the eslint plugin for visual studio code (available in the marketplace)
Open a terminal in the httpGUI subdirectory, then run npm install
Open the httpGUI folder in Visual Studio Code. Just opening the file by itself won't work.
You might get a huge number of warnings as the file will have CRLF line endings (I think this is fixed now?). To fix this, on the bottom right of the window, click where it says CRLF, then choose LF

To use the plugin:

If you open the httpGUI folder, but no syntax highlighting appears, most likely you didn't run npm install earlier.
When you get an error, move the text cursor to the end of the red squiggle
A lightbulb icon will appear
Click the lightbulb icon and you can automatically fix the issue
Moving the mouse cursor over a red squiggle will explain the error

Safe Mode / Interactive Text Mode

The installer contains an interactive text mode installer, which can be used by the end user if the graphical installer fails (this is different from the "command line interface").

Command line interface

The installer also ships with an alternative command line interface for advanced users. For instructions, please refer to this section of the wiki.

Github Actions Setup

It is HIGHLY recommended to use a linter when editing Github Actions .yml files - pycharm provides this functionality.

Please read the comments in the .github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml file for more information.

Compiling the Windows Loader

The windows loader is not well documented. Please contact one of the dev team members if you have trouble building - it is more than likely there is an error in the instructions below, rather than somethign wrong on your end.

The installer is mostly setup to build on travis - if you want to build locally, you'll need to do the following (WINDOWS ONLY):

Install Rust
Download 7za.exe (you may need to rename it to 7za.exe if it is called 7z.exe), and place it next to travis_build_script.py (or put 7za on your path)
Open a command window
In the command window, set the TRAVIS_TAG environment variable using set TRAVIS_TAG=v9.9.9
Run python travis_build_script.py win (make sure to include the win part), in the same command window

The built exe will be located in the travis_installer_output folder

bedwardly-down/python-patcher-FreeBSD