Standalone Application Overview
===============================

The standalone version of the game development `tool <https://www.nuget.org/packages/GameDevWare.Charon>`_ is a desktop application that can be installed on 
a computer, and it allows the user to design and model game data, as well as generate source code for it. 
The standalone version is typically used by individual game developers or small development teams who want to work offline.

.. image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gamedevware/charon/main/docs/assets/editor_screenshot.png
  :width: 800
  :alt: Charon editor UI

Prerequisites
============

Standalone application uses `dotnet charon` tool, which is a .NET Core application built for .NET 8.

.. tabs::

   .. tab:: Windows

      1. Download and install `NET 8+ <https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download>`_.
      2. Make sure you have write access to ``%PROGRAMDATA%/Charon``.

   .. tab:: MacOS

      1. Download and install `NET 8+ <https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download>`_.
      2. Make sure you have write access to ``~/Library/Application Support/Charon``.
      3. Make sure ``dotnet`` is available from ``$PATH``.

   .. tab:: Linux

      1. Download and install `NET 8+ <https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download>`_.
      2. Make sure you have write access to ``/usr/share/Charon``.
      3. Make sure ``dotnet`` is available from ``$PATH``.

**Checking Available .NET Versions**

.. code-block:: bash

    # check for dotnet already installed
    dotnet --list-runtimes

.. code-block:: bash

    # output for dotnet --list-runtimes
    Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 6.0.36 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
    Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 7.0.20 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
    Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 8.0.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
    Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 9.0.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
    Microsoft.NETCore.App 6.0.36 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
    Microsoft.NETCore.App 7.0.20 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
    Microsoft.NETCore.App 8.0.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App] # <- this one is fine
    Microsoft.NETCore.App 9.0.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App] # <- this one too

Installation and Updates
========================

You can use just two commands to install the command line tool, or use a bootstrap script that will check dependencies and installed software, and then download and run the tool for you.

dotnet tool (recommended)
-----------

.. code-block:: bash

  # install charon globally (run it once)
  dotnet tool install -g dotnet-charon
  
  # update global tool
  dotnet tool update -g dotnet-charon
  
  # run tool
  dotnet charon INIT ./gamedata.json

Bootstrap Script
----------------

Two bootstrap scripts which download and run latest version of Charon on your PC:  

  - ``RunCharon.bat`` for Windows  
  - ``RunCharon.sh`` for Linux or MacOS  

Both scripts require the `dotnet <https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet>`_ tool to be available in ``PATH``.

  1. Download one of the scripts into a local folder ``charon``.  
      a) `RunCharon.bat (Windows) <https://github.com/gamedevware/charon/blob/main/scripts/bootstrap/RunCharon.bat>`_  
      b) `RunCharon.sh (Linux, MacOS) <https://github.com/gamedevware/charon/blob/main/scripts/bootstrap/RunCharon.sh>`_  
  2. Navigate to the local folder ``cd charon``. 
  3. Run ``RunCharon.bat`` or ``RunCharon.sh`` depending on your OS.  
  4. Wait for the script to automatically download and upgrade ``dotnet-charon tool``, and display help text.  
  5. Create an empty file named ``RunCharon.bat INIT gamedata.json``  
  6. Run in standalone mode: ``RunCharon.bat gamedata.json``  

Or use following bootstrap script:  

.. tabs::

   .. tab:: Windows

      .. code-block:: bash
  
        rem ##### Load and run bootstrap script #####

        @echo off
        mkdir Charon
        cd Charon
        curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gamedevware/charon/main/scripts/bootstrap/RunCharon.bat
        ./RunCharon.bat INIT ./gamedata.json
        
        rem ##### Start editor #####

        ./RunCharon.bat ./gamedata.json --log out

   .. tab:: Linux, MacOS

      .. code-block:: bash

        ##### Load and run bootstrap script #####

        mkdir Charon
        cd Charon
        curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gamedevware/charon/main/scripts/bootstrap/RunCharon.sh
        chmod +x RunCharon.sh
        ./RunCharon.sh INIT ./gamedata.json
        
        ##### Start editor #####

        ./RunCharon.sh ./gamedata.json --log out

Creating and Editing Game Data
==============================

Any empty **gamedata.json** file could be used as starting point for standalone application launch. 
The editor will automatically fill the empty file with the initial data.  

.. tabs::

   .. tab:: Windows

      .. code-block:: bash

        # dotnet charon INIT .\gamedata.json 
        # or
        # copy /y NUL .\gamedata.json >NUL
        
        dotnet charon .\gamedata.json --log out

   .. tab:: Linux, MacOS

      .. code-block:: bash

        # dotnet charon INIT ./gamedata.json 
        # or
        # touch ./gamedata.json 
        
        dotnet charon ./gamedata.json --log out

After finishing your work, you could just terminate the process with ``CTRL+C`` keyboard shortcut or close terminal window.  

See also
--------

- `Nuget Package <https://www.nuget.org/packages/GameDevWare.Charon>`_
- `Bootstrap Scripts <https://github.com/gamedevware/charon/tree/main/scripts/bootstrap/>`_
- :doc:`Basic Navigation and User Interface Overview <../gamedata/basics>`
- :doc:`Creating Document Type (Schema) <../gamedata/creating_schema>`
- :doc:`Filling Documents <../gamedata/filling_documents>`
- :doc:`Publication of Game Data <../gamedata/publication>`
- :doc:`Generating Source Code <../gamedata/generating_source_code>`
- :doc:`Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) <../faq>`
- :doc:`Glossary <../glossary>`