1  # Building Status Desktop
  2  
  3  ## Building
  4  
  5  ### 0. Prerequesites
  6  
  7  On windows you can simply run the [`scripts/windows_build_setup.ps1`](../scripts/windows_build_setup.ps1) script in a PowerShell with Administrator privileges.
  8  
  9  * QT
 10  
 11  **IMPORTANT:** Due to [a bug](https://github.com/status-im/status-desktop/commit/7b07a31fa6d06c730cf563475d319f0217a211ca) in version `5.15.0`, this project is locked to version `5.14.2`. Make sure to select version `5.14.2` when installing Qt via the installer.
 12  
 13  Linux users should install Qt through the system's package manager:
 14  
 15  ```
 16  # Debian/Ubuntu:
 17  sudo apt install qtbase5-dev qtdeclarative5-dev qml-module-qt-labs-platform qtquickcontrols2-5-dev
 18  
 19  # Fedora
 20  sudo dnf install qt-devel qt5-devel
 21  
 22  ```
 23  
 24  If that's not possible, manually install QT from https://www.qt.io/download-qt-installer
 25  and add it to the PATH
 26  
 27  ```
 28  # Linux
 29  export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/Qt/5.14.2/gcc_64/bin
 30  
 31  # macos
 32  export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/Qt/5.14.2/clang_64/bin
 33  ```
 34  
 35  * Go - (used to build status-go)
 36  
 37  ```
 38  # Linux
 39  <TODO>
 40  
 41  # macOS
 42  brew install go
 43  ```
 44  
 45  ### 1. Install QT, and add it to the PATH
 46  
 47  ```
 48  # Linux users should use their distro's package manager, but in case they do a manual install:
 49  export QTDIR="/path/to/Qt/5.14.2/gcc_64"
 50  export PATH="${QTDIR}/bin:${PATH}"
 51  
 52  # macOS:
 53  export QTDIR="/path/to/Qt/5.14.2/clang_64"
 54  export PATH="${QTDIR}/bin:${PATH}"
 55  ```
 56  
 57  ### 2. Clone the repo and build `nim-status-client`
 58  ```
 59  git clone https://github.com/status-im/nim-status-client
 60  cd nim-status-client
 61  make update
 62  make
 63  ```
 64  
 65  For more output use `make V=1 ...`.
 66  
 67  Use 4 CPU cores with `make -j4 ...`.
 68  
 69  Users with manually installed Qt5 packages need to run `make QTDIR="/path/to/Qt" ...`
 70  
 71  **Troubleshooting**:
 72  
 73  If the `make` command fails due to already installed Homebrew packages, such as:
 74  
 75  ```
 76  Error: protobuf 3.11.4 is already installed
 77  To upgrade to 3.11.4_1, run `brew upgrade protobuf`.
 78  make[1]: *** [install-os-dependencies] Error 1
 79  make: *** [vendor/status-go/build/bin/libstatus.a] Error 2
 80  ```
 81  
 82  This can be fixed by uninstalling the package e.g. `brew uninstall protobuf` followed by rerunning `make`.
 83  
 84  
 85  ### 3. Run the app
 86  
 87  ```
 88  make run
 89  # or
 90  LD_LIBRARY_PATH=vendor/DOtherSide/lib ./bin/nim_status_client
 91  ```
 92  
 93  ## Development
 94  
 95  If only making changes in QML `ui/` re-rerunning the app is enough
 96  If making changes in the nim code `src/` then doing `make` again is needed (it's very fast after the first run)
 97  
 98  ## Cold Reload
 99  
100  ### "Cold" reload using VSCode
101  
102  We can setup a "cold" reload, whereby the app will be rebuilt and restarted when changes in the source are saved. This will not save state, as the app will be restarted, but it will save us some time from manually restarting the app. We can handily force an app rebuild/relaunch with the shortcut `Cmd+Shift+b` (execute the default build task, which we'll setup below).
103  
104  To enable a meagre app reload during development, first creates a task in `.vscode/tasks.json`. This task sets up the default build task for the workspace, and depends on the task that compiles our nim:
105  
106  ```json
107  ({
108    "label": "Build Nim Status Client",
109    "type": "shell",
110    "command": "nim",
111    "args": [
112      "c",
113      "-L:lib/libstatus.dylib",
114      "-L:-lm",
115      "-L:\"-framework Foundation -framework Security -framework IOKit -framework CoreServices\"",
116      "--outdir:./bin",
117      "src/nim_status_client.nim"
118    ],
119    "options": {
120      "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}"
121    }
122  },
123  {
124    "label": "Run nim_status_client",
125    "type": "shell",
126    "command": "bash",
127    "args": ["./run.sh"],
128    "options": {
129      "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}/.vscode"
130    },
131    "dependsOn": ["Build Nim Status Client"],
132    "group": {
133      "kind": "build",
134      "isDefault": true
135    }
136  })
137  ```
138  
139  Next, add a `.vscode/run.sh` file, changing the `DOtherSide` lib path to be specific to your environment:
140  
141  ```bash
142  export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/Users/emizzle/repos/github.com/filcuc/DOtherSide/build/lib"
143  ../bin/nim_status_client
144  ```
145  
146  # Auto build on save (for the "cold" reload effect)
147  
148  Finally, to get trigger this default build task when our files our saved, we need to enable a task to be run while `.nim` files are saved, and when `.qml` files are saved.
149  
150  ### Build on save
151  
152  To build on save of our source files, first install the "Trigger Task on Save" VS Code extension to detect changes to our changable files, which will trigger a build/run. Once installed, update `settings.json` like so:
153  
154  ```json
155  "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
156  "triggerTaskOnSave.tasks": {
157    "Run nim_status_client": ["ui/**/*", "src/*.nim"]
158  },
159  "triggerTaskOnSave.restart": true,
160  "triggerTaskOnSave.showStatusBarToggle": true
161  
162  ```