Command Line Interface

The coherent-guic-cli is a tool that helps you create and develop components from the GameUIComponents suite. It can also setup a development environment with live reload that will allow you to easily create a UI using the components.

Getting Started

To install the cli open a console and type:

npm i -g coherent-guic-cli

This will install the cli as a global module and will make it available from everywhere.

Available Commands

CommandDescriptionArgumentsUsage
create-projectCreate a new project from template.template> <directory>coherent-guic-cli create-project webpack ./my-folder
create-componentCreate a new component.[name], [directory]coherent-guic-cli create my-component ./my-folder
buildBuild the component. Creates the distributable files located in the /dist folder.N/Acoherent-guic-cli build
watchBuild the component and watch for file changes. Creates the distributable files located in the /dist folder and rebuilds them on change.N/Acoherent-guic-cli watch
build-demoBuild the demo.N/Acoherent-guic-cli build-demo
start-demoStart a development server and host the demo with live reload for quick development iteration cycle.N/Acoherent-guic-cli start-demo
–help, -hShow help.N/Acoherent-guic-cli --help

Usage

Setting up an Environment

If you want to create a UI using the components - use the create-project command. It allows you to setup a project that uses Webpack or Vite. Open a console and type:

coherent-guic-cli create-project webpack ./my-folder

or

coherent-guic-cli create-project vite ./my-folder

This will automatically install all dependencies. After the project is ready - navigate to my-folder and type

npm run dev

this will start a development server with live reload enabled for both project types - webpack and vite.

<template> can be webpack or vite.

Example:

coherent-guic-cli create-project vite ./my-folder

This will create a new project inside ./my-folder and will install the dependencies. After that you can navigate to the folder and start a development server:

cd ./my-folder
npm run dev

Creating a Component

You can use the CLI to create and develop custom components like the Checkbox. It will setup the required environment for the development of a custom component. Use the create command to create a component:

coherent-guic-cli create-component my-first-guic components

The create command accepts two positional arguments - the name of the component and its containing folder. The name must:

  • start with an ASCII lowercase letter (a-z)
  • contain a hyphen
  • not contain any ASCII uppercase letters
  • not contain certain other characters such as ? ! < > @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) + [ ] ~
  • not be any of:
    • annotation-xml
    • color-profile
    • font-face
    • font-face-src
    • font-face-uri
    • font-face-format
    • font-face-name
    • missing-glyph

The name of the component will be used for the registration of the custom HTML element and for the name of the component class. The create command will generate the following files:

\components:
|
\---gameface-my-first-guic
    |   coherent-gameface-components-theme.css
    |   index.js
    |   package.json
    |   README.md
    |   script.js
    |   style.css
    |   template.html
    |
    \--demo
            demo.html
            demo.js

The registered custom element can be used like this:

<gameface-my-first-guic class="my-first-guic-component">
    <component-slot data-name="name">my-first-guic</component-slot>
</gameface-my-first-guic>

And the custom element’s definition looks like this:

class GamefaceMyFirstGuic extends BaseComponent {
   constructor() {
        super();
        this.template = template;
        this.init = this.init.bind(this);
    }

    init(data) {
        this.setupTemplate(data, () => {
            components.renderOnce(this);
            // attach event handlers here
        });
    }

    connectedCallback() {
        components.loadResource(this)
            .then(this.init)
            .catch(err => console.error(err));
    }
}

Note that the gameface prefix is added to the component name and to the containing folder.

Building the Demo

Each component has index.html and demo.js files that demonstrate how to use it. You can create a production build of the demo using the build-demo command. It will generate the bundle.js and index.html files along with any other assets such as styles located in the demo folder. Load the demo/demo.html file in a web browser to see the component.

coherent-guic-cli build-demo

Serve the Demo

You can start a development server that hosts the demo. This allows you to easily make changes and quickly see them applied on the demo page as the live reload will automatically update the page.

coherent-guic-cli start-demo