yal-gamemaker-tools / gmxgen

Updates GameMaker extensions with function/macro definitions and documentation extracted from source files.

GmxGen

This small program takes a .extension.gmx (GMS1) or .yy (GMS2) file and updates it's included files with accordance with the functions and macros defined inside.

So, instead of tinkering with the little pop-up menus for defining functions and macros per extension file, you can hint them in your files

Building

Note: There are also pre-built binaries in Releases.

Neko VM (note: if you didn't install it together with Haxe, get it from the website):

haxe build-neko.hxml
nekotools boot bin/GmxGen.n

For C# (note: do haxelib install hxcs first if you've never used Haxe➜C# before):

haxe build-cs.hxml
copy /Y GmxGen.NET\bin\GenMain.exe bin\GmxGen.exe

Or: Open the included HXPROJ using a development version of HaxeDevelop and press Build Project (F8)

Usage

gmxgen .../some.extension.gmx
-- OR --
gmxgen .../some.yy

To index and update all compatible files in the extension. Or,

gmxgen .../some.extension.gmx file1.gml file2.dll

To only index and update particular files in the extension.

Add --watch to stay around and watch files for changes, e.g.

gmxgen .../some.yy file1.gml --watch

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Below are listed the formats for hinting function and macros definitions per language.

Macros

#macro definitions inside extensions are not visible to the game code so a comment-based syntax is used instead

#!javascript
//#macro name value
// -> normal macro

//#macro name value~
// -> hidden macro

//#macro name value : notes
// -> macro with notes (old format)

GameMaker Language

GML files inside extensions consist of series of scripts delimited by #define <name>.

If the #define line is followed by one or more /// comment lines, they will be used to determine the number of arguments and help-line. Otherwise the number of arguments will be determined based on argument[K] / argumentK use and the script will be hidden from auto-completion.

Optional arguments are denoted as ?argName.

Ability to add an arbitrary number of trailing arguments (such as with ds_list_add, for example) is denoted as ...argNames.

GMS1-style documentation syntax (preferred):

#define scr_add
/// (num1, num2)

#define scr_add
/// (num1, num2)->number

#define scr_add
/// (num1, num2) : adds numbers

#define scr_add
/// (num1, num2)->number : adds numbers

#define scr_print
/// (tag, ...values)

#define scr_hidden
/// (a, b, c)~

GMS2-style documentation syntax:

#define scr_add
/// @param num1
/// @param num2
// would show as scr_add(num1, num2)

#define scr_print
/// @param tag
/// @param ...values
// would show as scr_print(tag, ...values)

#define scr_hidden
/// @param a
/// @param b
/// @param c
/// @hide

Global variables

You can define global variables as

//#global name
//#global name2~

which is shorthand for

//#macro name global.g_name
//#macro name2 global.g_name2~

(see Macros) to save a bit of typing.

JavaScript

Things are much akin to GML except with documentation-comment in front of the definition,

///~
function add(a, b) { ... } // 2-argument, hidden

/// : adds numbers
function add(a, b) { ... } // 2-argument, visible

/// (tag, ...values)
function print(tag, rest) { ... } // variable argument count

/// : adds numbers
window.add = function(a, b) { ... } // alternate syntax (if you use closures)

C++ (DLL, DyLib, SO)

For the C++ binaries, a .cpp file (named same as the binary file) should be placed in the same directory with the binary file. It doesn't have to be valid C++ (just have the definitions in the right format), so you can safely concat multiple files into a single one if needed.

Functions

/// adds numbers
dllx double add(double a, double b) { ... }

///
dllx char* greet(char* name) { ... }

///
dllx double measure(int* items) { ... } // treats a buffer_get_address as an array of integers

where dllx is a C++ macro name auto-detected from a line in format

#define dllx extern "C" __declspec(dllexport)

Macros

Aside of the usual //#macro syntax, you can also define macros in a way that is visible to both C++ and GM,

///
#define version 101

///~
#define format 3
// ^ hidden

Enums

Classic "flat" enums can be automatically converted to macros,

enum some {
	e_A,
	e_B,
	e_C = 4
};

would expose macros e_A, e_B, and e_C equal to 0, 1, and 4 accordingly.

Author and license

Author: Vadim "YellowAfterlife" Dyachenko

License: GNU GPL v3 https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0

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Have fun*!*

gmxgen's Issues

"Your extension doesn't have an array of files in it" error when recompiling C# extension for IDE 2024.2.0.132

When I build my extension while it's .yy is still in an older asset format, it compiles as normal.

As I import the extension asset into GameMaker, GameMaker converts both the original .yy asset in my extension solution folder, and the imported copy, to the newest format for 2024.2.0.132.

When I go to build it again in Visual Studio, I get the following build error: "Your extension doesn't have an array of files in it."
This is probably being caused by the new IDE version changing how the .yy file is formatted. I've attached a screenshot of the error below