README

Javascript/HTML/CSS integration with Anki spaced repetition program for Irish language (Gaelic) learning.

The repository name dazo does not have any meaning specific to this project. It is a pseudo-randomly generated nonsense word.

running the project

All information below is for a macOS 12.6.8 (Monterey). Commands have been run from the iTerm2 Terminal replacement program.

enable Chromium browser debugging

Anki uses the environmental variable QTWEBENGINE_REMOTE_DEBUGGING to store the port on which the program exposes a debugging UI which allows you to debug with Chromium dev tools.

Before you start Anki, set that environmental variable to the port you wish. The recommended default is 8080.

% export QTWEBENGINE_REMOTE_DEBUGGING=8080

This command is specific to your terminal session, so if you close the terminal and open another one you will have to set the variable again.

You can check that it has been set properly by listing all the environmental variables and searching for the string 8080:

% env | grep 8080
QTWEBENGINE_REMOTE_DEBUGGING=8080

console log

Run Anki directly from the terminal/command line. On a Mac, the file can be found in Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/.

Your terminal will resemble the following:

% pwd
/.../Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/
% ./anki
Anki starting...
Initial setup...
Running with temporary Qt5 compatibility shims.
Run with DISABLE_QT5_COMPAT=1 to confirm compatibility with Qt6.
Preparing to run...


DevTools listening on ws://127.0.0.1:8080/devtools/browser/f5e0b09c-9830-4302-8f7b-675e419c39ce
Starting main loop...
Qt warning: Remote debugging server started successfully. Try pointing a Chromium-based browser to http://127.0.0.1:8080

start json server

From the root of the dazo repository, run:

% npm start

 \{^_^}/ hi!

  Loading db.json
  Done

  Resources
# ...

This starts the json server using the npm script json-server --watch db.json --port 3001. You can set your preferred port.

Please see the documentation on the npm package page: https://www.npmjs.com/package/json-server

start Rollup

If you plan on doing any programming, you can run the Rollup bundler and set it to watch files for any changes.

From the root of the dazo repository, run:

% npm run build

This starts the Rollup bundler using the npm script rollup --config --watch.

The configuration file for the Rollup bundler is dazo/rollup.config.mjs.

Bundled files are output to the directory ../collection.media/, which is where Anki stores media files and other files.

Files which are not directly referenced as media files will be deleted by Anki unless they are preceded by an underscore (_). This is why the bundled scripts and style files begin with an underscore. For example, _script.js and _style.css.

Since Rollup is set to regenerate these files whenever it is running, and the source files are not kept in collections.media, you could probably ignore this precaution.

However, keep in mind that the files are referenced by filename from within the Anki Note templates, so if you change the filenames of the output files, you will likewise need to change the references to them in the Anki Note templates.