Lua Generate

Lua Generate is a command-line tool (CLI) designed to generate boilerplate code for Next.js projects. Inspired by the practical style of Angular's ng tool, it simplifies the creation of common files and directories in React applications.

With support for file extension customization (e.g., .js, .jsx, .ts, .tsx), interactive commands, and detailed error messages, Lua Generate enhances the developer experience, allowing you to focus on what truly matters: building amazing applications.

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Dependencies

To run Lua Generate, you’ll need to have the following dependencies installed on your system:

1. Lua 5.3

Lua Generate is written in Lua, so you’ll need Lua 5.3 (or higher) installed on your machine to execute the commands.

You can install Lua 5.3 using your package manager:

• On Ubuntu/Debian-based systems:

  sudo apt-get install lua5.3

• On Fedora:

  sudo dnf install lua-5.3

• On Arch:

  sudo pacman -S lua

• On macOS (using Homebrew):

  brew install lua@5.3

2. Shell (Bash or Zsh)

Lua Generate requires a Unix-based shell to work properly (such as Bash or Zsh). Most Linux distributions come with Bash or Zsh installed by default. If you're using macOS, Zsh is the default shell starting from macOS Catalina.

To check which shell you're using, you can run:

echo $SHELL

3. Linux Environment

Lua Generate is designed to run on Linux-based systems and macOS (due to their Unix-like environment).

Currently, Windows is not supported. If you're using Windows, you can consider running Lua Generate inside a Linux-like environment, such as WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) or using a virtual machine.

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How to install

First, you need to clone the repository.

git clone https://github.com/Gabriel-c0Nsp/Lua-Generate 

Then you can navigate to the directory where the installation script lives.

cd Lua-Generate/lg

You need to give executable permission to lg_install.sh in order to proceed with the installation.

chmod +x ./lg_install.sh

Now, simply run the following command:

./lg_install.sh

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Try the help Command

Before diving in, explore the available features using the help command in your terminal:

lg --help

This command will display all available options, commands, and their alternative syntaxes, helping you get familiar with the tool.

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Commands and features

In this section, you will find a basic usage guide for each Lua Generate feature, including examples and alternative syntax for the same command.

• Note that we're using "< >" notation for required arguments and "[ ]" for optional arguments.

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• lg init

This command initializes the configuration file in the current directory. It is recommended to run it in the project's root directory.

You can run the command as follows:

lg init

and the file lg_config.txt will be created in the current directory with some default settings.

The lg init command also accepts a flag, -silent, which automatically adds the configuration file to the project's .gitignore.

lg init -silent

-silent will take care of finding your project's .gitignore file and adding the relative path that contains the configuration file created by lg init.

Explicit Syntax	Abbreviation
lg init	lg i
lg init -silent	lg init -silent
	lg init -s
	lg i -silent
	lg i -s

• lg config

This command displays your current config (found in the configuration file lg_config.txt).

You can try the command as follows:

lg config

You should see a message displaying information such as the styling type and file extensions that are configured. In the next section, you will learn how to safely modify the configuration file.

Explicit Syntax	Abbreviation
lg config	lg c

• lg config update

This command runs the configuration script.

Try the command and follow the instructions to configure Lua Generate according to your project's needs.

lg config update

After updating your config file, note that it is not necessary to run the lg config update command again each time you want to generate a file with a different extension. You can simply run the command lg generate component <file_name>.desired_extension. Lua Generate will not prevent you from creating files with arbitrary extensions. More information about the lg generate component command can be found in the next section.

As mentioned before, lg init creates the configuration file lg_config.txt, and lg config update modifies the information within this file. The user, as the owner of their operating system, has full permission to edit the text file directly. Doing it may lead to unexpected behavior when accessing these settings. To prevent issues, Lua Generate always validates the lg_config.txt file before executing any function. If an invalid configuration is detected, it will automatically be replaced with a valid one using default values.

Explicit Syntax	Abbreviation
lg config update	lg config u
	lg c update
	lg c u

• lg generate component

This will likely be your favorite command in this script. It creates a component with the extension selected in the configuration file, and depending on your "style" configuration, it can also generate additional files (such as a file with the provided component name but with a .css extension, for example).

General usage:

lg generate <component_name> [path]

You can try it yourself with the following command:

lg generate component foo

The command also accepts a path indicating where the component should be created. If the path does not exist, Lua Generate will create the necessary directories corresponding to the path provided in the command argument.

Try the example below and check the result using the tree command (you may need to install tree using your system's package manager).

lg generate component foo ./src/pages/examples/

As you get more familiar with the lg generate component command, you will notice that Lua Generate is quite flexible in how you create your components and will interpret what you are trying to do, even if the arguments are not arranged correctly. For example, note that the following command will create the component foo, even if it is placed in an argument that should be interpreted as a path.

lg generate component ./another/example/generation/foo

In this case, the foo component will be generated inside the generation directory. Again, you can check the result using the tree command.

Keep in mind that the lg generate component command also detects when a component already exists in a directory. It will always prompt the user to choose whether to proceed with creating the component, overwriting the existing one, or abort the operation.

Explicit Syntax	Abbreviation
lg generate component	lg generate c
	lg g component
	lg g c

• lg generate page

This is the most specific command you will find in Lua Generate. All other commands are generally useful for React applications, but this command is particularly useful for applications using Next.js. The page system is essential in Next.js applications, so if you are not using this technology, you might not find much use for the lg generate page command.

General usage:

lg generate <function_name> [path]

If you are familiar with Next.js applications, you likely have an idea of what this command does. Essentially, it creates a page file inside the directory specified by the user in the command's argument.

Again, you can try the command below and check the result using the tree command.

lg generate page home ./pages/examples/lg-web-site/

Notice how the lg generate page command accepts the function name within the page file as the first argument. However, similar to the lg generate component command, lg generate page will also attempt to interpret the user's Intention based on the argument provided when running the command.

See the example below:

lg generate page ./pages/examples/lg-web-site/home

This command will actually produce the same output as the previous command.

Explicit Syntax	Abbreviation
lg generate page	lg generate p
	lg g page
	lg g p

• lg generate svg

This command simplifies the process of exporting .svg files to a function. This practice is very common in React applications.

General usage:

lg generate <svg_name> [target_file_path]

See an example of the command below:

lg generate svg Github ./assets/github.svg

This command will create a Github file (exporting a Github function as well) that returns an svg tag containing the contents of the github.svg file.

Note that if the specified path in the argument for the svg file does not exist, a file will be created with the name provided in the argument, returning only an empty svg tag.

The way lg generate svg works is by searching for the svg tag within the specified file using "match" functions from Lua's standard library. Therefore, you might need to format the content encapsulated by the svg tag within your generated file.

Explicit Syntax	Abbreviation
lg generate svg	lg generate s
	lg g svg
	lg g s

• lg help

This command provides a quick reference on how to use all the others. It is very useful if you forget how to use a specific feature, allowing for a quick lookup with the lg help command.

Try the lg help command yourself and see the output.

lg help

Note that much of the content from the lg help command has already been discussed in this README.md file, but with a much more concise description. You will also find a reference to this documentation within the lg help command itself.

Explicit Syntax	Abbreviation
lg help	lg h
lg --help