Tutorial Writer

This is a simple utility for converting Lua and C# scripts into tutorials. I created this to help me automatically generate tutorials for Pixel Vision 8.

Please not this is designed for a very specific use case and may not work correctly on any Lua or C# file. You need to specially formate you code in a way that Tutorial Writer can inspect.

Here is an example Lua script:

--[[
  A multi line 
  
  comment call out box
]]--

-- This is a local variable
local total = 0

-- Here is a function
function Init()

  -- This is a call out example

  -- Here is a loop
  for i = 1, total do

      -- Here is a condition in a for loop
      if (Tile(pos.x, pos.y).SpriteId > -1) then
          
          -- Here is a block of code in a for loop if condition
          table.insert(tileIDs, index)
          
          --Testing multiple close blocks (Should be ignored)
      end
    end
end

In order to use Tutorial Writer you'll want to install it from NPM and create a simple script that watches for any changes in Lua or C# files.

const ghostWriter = require('../index');
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require("path");

var filePath = "test/examples/code.lua"
var text = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
var fileName = path.basename(filePath);

var markdown = ghostWriter.toMarkdown(fileName, text, ghostWriter.luaTemplate);

console.log("# Tutorial Writer Markdown\n", markdown);

Run the script and it will generate a string with the contents of the code.lua markdown in it.

Here is a preview of how the example Lua script would look after Tutorial Writer converts it:

Step 1

Create a new file called code.lua.{1} in your project folder.

A multi line

comment call out box

Step 2

Create a new local variable called total inside the script:

01 local total = 0

This is a local variable

Step 3

Create a new function called Init():

02 function Init()
03 
04 end

Here is a function

This is a call out example

Step 4

Create the following Loop:

03   for i = 1, total do
04   
05   end

Here is a loop

Step 5

Add the following condition to the script:

04       if (Tile(pos.x, pos.y).SpriteId > -1) then
05       
06       end

Here is a condition in a for loop

Step 6

Add the following code to the condition :

05           table.insert(tileIDs, index)

Here is a block of code in a for loop if condition

Final Code

When you are done, you should have the following code in the code.lua file:

01 local total = 0
02 function Init()
03   for i = 1, total do
04       if (Tile(pos.x, pos.y).SpriteId > -1) then
05           table.insert(tileIDs, index)
06       end
07   end
08 end

You can feed Tutorial Writer different templates for other languages. Right now Lua is the most complete template. You can find these in the templates folder. Here is what the default Lua Template looks like:

{
  language: 'Lua',
  syntax: 'lua',
  regexPatterns: {
    Variable: /(local)+\s+(\w+)/,
    Function: /(function|\s)+\s+(\w+) *\([^\)]*\)/,
    Condition: /if/,
    Loop: /for/,
    Else: /else/,
    BlockEnd: /end/
  },
  codeBlockTokens: {
    CommentBlockStart: "--[[",
    CommentBlockEnd: "]]--",
    Comment: "--",
    BlockEnd: "end",
    DefaultScope: "global"
  },
  stepTemplates: {
    Step: "### Step {0}\n\r{1}\n\r{2}\n\r",
    CreateFile: "Create a new file called `{0}.{1}` in your project folder.\n\r",
    Callout: "> {0}\n>\r",
    Code: "Add the following code to the {0}:",
    Condition: "Add the following condition to the {0}:",
    Loop: "Create the following Loop:",
    Else: "Add an else to the {0}:",
    CodeBlock: "\n\r\r```{0}\r{1}```",
    FinalCode: "### Final Code\n\rWhen you are done, you should have the following code in the `{0}` file:\n\r\r```{1}\r{2}```",
    Function: "Create a new `{0}` called `{1}()`:",
    Variable: "Create a new `{0}` variable called `{1}`{2}:",
    Variables: "Add the following `local` variables:",
  },
  specialPatterns: 
  {
    CamelCaseNames: /([a-zA-Za-z0-9]*\(\).|\w[a-z]+[A-Z0-9][a-z0-9]+[A-Za-z0-9]*)/gm,
    SplitNameExtension: /(^.*?)\.(\w+)$/,
    WhiteSpace: /\S/,
    Scope: /(local\s)/,
  },
}