Andreas Rumpf
niminst is a tool to generate an installer for a Nim program. Currently it can create an installer for Windows via Inno Setup as well as installation/deinstallation scripts for UNIX. Later versions will support Linux' package management systems.
niminst works by reading a configuration file that contains all the information that it needs to generate an installer for the different operating systems.
niminst uses the Nim parsecfg module to parse the configuration file. Here's an example of how the syntax looks like:
The value of a key-value pair can reference user-defined variables via the $variable notation: They can be defined in the command line with the --var:name=value switch. This is useful to not hard-coding the program's version number into the configuration file, for instance.
It follows a description of each possible section and how it affects the generated installers.
The project section gathers general information about your project. It must contain the following key-value pairs:
| Key | description |
|---|---|
Name |
the project's name; this needs to be a single word |
|
the project's long name; this can contain spaces. If not specified, this is the same as |
Version |
the project's version |
|
the OSes to generate C code for; for example: |
|
the CPUs to generate C code for; for example: |
Authors |
the project's authors |
Description |
the project's description |
|
the application's type: "Console" or "GUI". If "Console", niminst generates a special batch file for Windows to open up the command-line shell. |
License |
the filename of the application's license |
files keyMany sections support the files key. Listed filenames can be separated by semicolon or the files key can be repeated. Wildcards in filenames are supported. If it is a directory name, all files in the directory are used:
[Config]
Files: "configDir"
Files: "otherconfig/*.conf;otherconfig/*.cfg"The config section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's configuration directory.
The documentation section supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's native documentation directory (which might be $appdir/doc).
There is a start key which determines whether the Windows installer generates a link to e.g. the index.html of your documentation.
The other section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the application installation directory ($appdir).
The lib section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's native library directory (which might be $appdir/lib).
The windows section supports the files key for Windows-specific files. Listed files will be installed into the application installation directory ($appdir).
Other possible options are:
| Key | description |
|---|---|
|
paths to add to the Windows |
|
boolean flag whether an Inno Setup installer should be generated for Windows. Example: |
The UnixBin section currently only supports the files key. Listed files will be installed into the OS's native bin directory (e.g. /usr/local/bin). The exact location depends on the installation path the user specifies when running the install.sh script.
Possible options are:
| Key | description |
|---|---|
|
boolean flag whether an installation shell script should be generated. Example: |
|
boolean flag whether a de-installation shell script should be generated. Example: |
Possible options are:
| Key | description |
|---|---|
|
Path to Inno Setup. Example: |
|
Flags to pass to Inno Setup. Example: |
Possible options are:
| Key | description |
|---|---|
path |
Path to the C compiler. |
|
Flags to pass to the C Compiler. Example: |
The installers for the Nim compiler itself are generated by niminst. Have a look at its configuration file: