| Author: | Andreas Rumpf |
|---|---|
| Version: | 2.3.1 |
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:
# This is a comment. ; this too. [Common] cc=gcc # '=' and ':' are the same --foo="bar" # '--cc' and 'cc' are the same, 'bar' and '"bar"' are the same (except for '#') macrosym: "#" # Note that '#' is interpreted as a comment without the quotation --verbose [Windows] isConsoleApplication=False ; another comment [Posix] isConsoleApplication=True key1: "in this string backslash escapes are interpreted\n" key2: r"in this string not" key3: """triple quotes strings are also supported. They may span multiple lines.""" --"long option with spaces": r"c:\myfiles\test.txt"
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 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:
; This config file holds configuration information about the Nim compiler
; and project.
[Project]
Name: "Nim"
Version: "$version"
Platforms: """
windows: i386;amd64
linux: i386;hppa;ia64;alpha;amd64;powerpc64;arm;sparc;sparc64;m68k;mips;mipsel;mips64;mips64el;powerpc;powerpc64el;arm64;riscv32;riscv64;loongarch64
macosx: i386;amd64;powerpc64;arm64
solaris: i386;amd64;sparc;sparc64
freebsd: i386;amd64;powerpc64;arm;arm64;riscv64;sparc64;mips;mipsel;mips64;mips64el;powerpc;powerpc64el
netbsd: i386;amd64;arm64
openbsd: i386;amd64;arm;arm64
dragonfly: i386;amd64
crossos: amd64
haiku: i386;amd64
android: i386;arm;arm64
nintendoswitch: arm64
"""
Authors: "Andreas Rumpf"
Description: """This is the Nim Compiler. Nim is a new statically typed,
imperative programming language, that supports procedural, functional, object
oriented and generic programming styles while remaining simple and efficient.
A special feature that Nim inherited from Lisp is that Nim's abstract
syntax tree (AST) is part of the specification - this allows a powerful macro
system which can be used to create domain specific languages.
Nim is a compiled, garbage-collected systems programming language
which has an excellent productivity/performance ratio. Nim's design
focuses on the 3E: efficiency, expressiveness, elegance (in the order of
priority)."""
App: Console
License: "copying.txt"
[Config]
Files: "config/*.cfg"
Files: "config/config.nims"
[Documentation]
; Files: "doc/*.html"
; Files: "doc/*.cfg"
; Files: "doc/*.pdf"
; Files: "doc/*.ini"
Files: "doc/html/overview.html"
Start: "doc/html/overview.html"
[Other]
Files: "copying.txt"
Files: "koch.nim"
Files: "icons/nim.ico"
Files: "icons/nim.rc"
Files: "icons/nim.res"
Files: "icons/nim_icon.o"
Files: "icons/koch.ico"
Files: "icons/koch.rc"
Files: "icons/koch.res"
Files: "icons/koch_icon.o"
Files: "compiler"
Files: "doc"
Files: "doc/html"
Files: "tools"
Files: "tools/debug/nim-gdb.py"
Files: "nimpretty"
Files: "testament"
Files: "nimsuggest"
Files: "nimsuggest/tests/*.nim"
Files: "changelogs/*.md"
Files: "ci/funs.sh"
[Lib]
Files: "lib"
[Other]
Files: "examples"
Files: "dist/nimble"
Files: "dist/checksums"
Files: "tests"
[Windows]
Files: "bin/nim.exe"
Files: "bin/nimgrep.exe"
Files: "bin/nimsuggest.exe"
Files: "bin/nimble.exe"
Files: "bin/vccexe.exe"
Files: "bin/nimgrab.exe"
Files: "bin/nimpretty.exe"
Files: "bin/testament.exe"
Files: "bin/nim-gdb.bat"
Files: "bin/atlas.exe"
Files: "koch.exe"
Files: "finish.exe"
; Files: "bin/downloader.exe"
; Files: "dist/mingw"
Files: r"tools\start.bat"
BinPath: r"bin;dist\mingw\bin;dist"
; Section | dir | zipFile | size hint (in KB) | url | exe start menu entry
Download: r"Documentation|doc|docs.zip|13824|https://nim-lang.org/download/docs-${version}.zip|overview.html"
Download: r"C Compiler (MingW)|dist|mingw.zip|82944|https://nim-lang.org/download/${mingw}.zip"
Download: r"Support DLLs|bin|nim_dlls.zip|479|https://nim-lang.org/download/dlls.zip"
Download: r"Aporia Text Editor|dist|aporia.zip|97997|https://nim-lang.org/download/aporia-0.4.0.zip|aporia-0.4.0\bin\aporia.exe"
; for now only NSIS supports optional downloads
[WinBin]
Files: "bin/makelink.exe"
Files: "bin/7zG.exe"
Files: "bin/*.dll"
Files: "bin/cacert.pem"
[UnixBin]
Files: "bin/nim"
[Unix]
InstallScript: "yes"
UninstallScript: "yes"
Files: "bin/nim-gdb"
Files: "build_all.sh"
[InnoSetup]
path = r"c:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 5\iscc.exe"
flags = "/Q"
[NSIS]
flags = "/V0"
[C_Compiler]
path = r""
flags = "-w"
[deb]
buildDepends: "gcc (>= 4:4.3.2)"
pkgDepends: "gcc (>= 4:4.3.2)"
shortDesc: "The Nim Compiler"
licenses: "bin/nim,MIT;lib/*,MIT;"
[nimble]
pkgName: "nim"
pkgFiles: "compiler/*;doc/basicopt.txt;doc/advopt.txt;doc/nimdoc.css;doc/nimdoc.cls"