Generate Lua Source Code
========================

Generates Lua source code for game data into output directory.

By default, this command does not delete previously generated files. Use the ``--clearOutputDirectory`` parameter to automatically remove prior generated files before creating new ones.

- :ref:`CLI Installation <CommandLine_Installation>`
- :ref:`Commands Reference <CommandLine_Commands>`
- :doc:`Universal Parameters <universal_parameters>`
- :doc:`URL-based Input/Output <remote_input_output>`

---------------
 Command
---------------

.. code-block:: bash

  # local game data (windows)
   charon GENERATE LUA --dataBase "c:\my app\gamedata.json" --outputDirectory "c:\my app\scripts"

  # remote game data
   charon GENERATE LUA --dataBase "https://charon.live/view/data/My_Game/develop/" --outputDirectory "./scripts" --credentials "<API-Key>"
  
---------------
 Parameters
---------------

--dataBase
   Absolute or relative path to game data. Use quotation marks if your path contains spaces.

   .. code-block:: bash
   
     # local file
     --dataBase "c:\my app\gamedata.json"
     
     # remote server
     --dataBase "https://charon.live/view/data/My_Game/develop/"

--credentials
   The API key used to access remote server in case of *--dataBase* being URL.

--outputDirectory
   Specifies the path where the source code should be written. It can be either an absolute or relative path to a directory. The specified directory must already be present.

   .. code-block:: bash
   
     # Windows
     --outputDirectory "c:\my app\scripts"
     
     # Linux or OSX
     --outputDirectory "~/my app/scripts"
     
     # Relative path
     --outputDirectory "./my app/scripts"

--documentClassName
   Name for base class for all documents.

   .. code-block:: bash
   
     # name (default)
     --documentClassName GameDataDocument
     
     # in case of name collision
     --documentClassName MyDocument
     
--gameDataClassName
   Name for class containing whole in-memory game data.

   .. code-block:: bash
   
     # name (default)
     --gameDataClassName GameData
     
     # in case of name collision
     --gameDataClassName MyGameData

--indentation
   Indentation style for generated code.
   
   .. code-block:: bash
   
     # Tabs (default)
     --indentation Tabs
     
     # Two spaces
     --indentation TwoSpaces
     
     # Four spaces
     --indentation FourSpaces
     
--lineEndings
   Line ending symbols for generated code.
   
   .. code-block:: bash
   
     # Windows \\r\\n (default)
     --lineEndings Windows
     
     # Unix style \\n
     --lineEndings Unix
     
--splitFiles
   Set this flag to lay out generated classes into separate files. If not set, then one giant file with the name of ``--gameDataClassName``.lua will be generated. Default is true.

--optimizations
   List of enabled optimization in generated code.
   
   .. code-block:: bash
   
     # Eagerly resolves and validates all references in loaded documents.
     # When enabled, this optimization ensures that all references in documents are resolved and validated
     # during loading. This comes with a performance cost but guarantees the validity of references.
     --optimizations eagerReferenceResolution
     
     # Opts for raw references without generating helper methods for referenced documents.
     # With this optimization, the generated code will not include helper methods for accessing
     # referenced documents, keeping only accessors that work with raw references.
     --optimizations rawReferences
     
     # Avoids generating helper methods for localized strings, keeping only raw accessors.
     # This optimization eliminates helper methods for accessing localized text, instead providing
     # accessors that deal directly with lists of localized texts.
     --optimizations rawLocalizedStrings
     
     # Disables string pooling during game data loading.
     # Turning off string pooling can yield a minor performance improvement at the cost of increased
     # memory usage, as it avoids reusing short strings.
     --optimizations disableStringPooling
     
     # Disables generation of code for loading game data from JSON formatted files.
     # This optimization omits code related to JSON serialization, useful when JSON formatted
     # game data is not used.
     --optimizations disableJsonSerialization
     
     # Disables generation of code for loading game data from Message Pack formatted files.
     # Similar to DisableJsonSerialization, this option removes code related to loading data
     # from Message Pack formatted files.
     --optimizations disableMessagePackSerialization
     
     # Disables generation of code related to applying patches during game data loading.
     # This removes a significant portion of code that is mainly used for modding support,
     # where patches are applied to game data at runtime.
     --optimizations disablePatching
     
     # Disables generation of enums with known document IDs.
     # This removes a significant portion of code that contains listings of IDs for
     # documents known at the moment of code generation, which improves compilation time.
     --optimizations disableDocumentIdEnums

--clearOutputDirectory
   Clear the output directory from generated files. Generated files are identified by the presence of the '<auto-generated>' tag inside.

This command supports :doc:`universal parameters <universal_parameters>`.

See also
--------

- :doc:`Generating Source Code <../../gamedata/generating_source_code>`
- :doc:`Working with Lua Code <../../gamedata/working_with_lua_code>`
- :doc:`GENERATE CSHARPCODE <generate_csharp_code>`
- :doc:`GENERATE TYPESCRIPTCODE <generate_typescript_code>`
- :doc:`GENERATE UECPP <generate_uecpp_code>`
- :doc:`GENERATE HAXE <generate_haxe_code>`
- :doc:`Publication <../publication>`