MCWebGUI Builder

The build tool for adding new content to MCWebGUI.

MCWebGUI's images have to be arranged in a very specific way, and it is just painful to add new content to it. So we made this tool to easily compile readable images into their necessary formats. This will also compile a lot of other stuff in the future, such as CSS and JavaScript files. It allows for new content to be added easily using XML configuration files.

Installation

1. Download the .exe file, that is attached to the latest release.
2. Put it anywhere you'd like, optimally, in it's own, seperate folder.
3. Create the folders dist and source in the same folder as the .exe.
4. Download the source.zip archive from the latest release.
5. Extract the included files in the archive to the source folder.
6. You're done, the setup process is complete.

How to use

Before using MCWebGUI Builder - We heavily recommend reading the entire README file, so you know what you're doing.

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Building Assets

1. Run the .exe file in order to build the assets.
2. Navigate to the dist folder.
3. Transfer the built assets to MCWebGUI's assets folder as is.
4. Start your MCWebGUI project and see if everything is working correctly.
5. You're done, optionally, refer to Problem solving.

Adding new assets

To start off, depending on wether or not you're modifying something or adding new assets, everything is configured through XML files. Subfolders are created after the name of the XML file they originate from, meaning, if you have a file called placeholder.xml, a new folder called "placeholder" will be created. If it is not used, it will get deleted. Preferrably, have all files from the XML file in that folder. You need to specifiy the folder in the <result-file> tags, but you don't have to worry about that for now.

You'll need to have the structure set up before you can do anything, so let's start with that. Create a new .xml file in the source folder. Open it in your text editor of choice, then paste the following into that file:

example.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<build>

</build>

This structure needs to be present in every .xml file, or it will be counted as invalid. Now let's talk about the build options that are available to us:

• make-apng - Create an animated PNG file from a spritesheet.
• split - Split a spritesheet into multiple files.
• rescale - Change the scale of an image.

Let's start off with making animated PNG files. First, we'll take a look at the file structure:

example.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<build>

<!-- Animation Example -->
<make-apng>
    <file></file>
    <size></size>
    <frame-time></frame-time>
    <loop></loop>
    <result-file></result-file>
</make-apng>

</build>

Let's quickly go over the tags. <file>, as before, is the base file to create the animation from. <size> is the size of each frame, split by a comma again. <frame-time> is how long a frame stays. <loop> is the loop amount, if set to 0 it loops infinitely, if set to none it will not loop, aka. only play once. <result-file> is where the file gets put, just like before. Here's an example, with an animation included by default:

example.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<build>

<!-- Animation Example -->
<make-apng>
    <file>animation_template.png</file>
    <size>8,8</size>
    <frame-time>64</frame-time>
    <loop>0</loop>
    <result-file>example/animation</result-file>
</make-apng>

</build>

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Simple right? Just as simple as splitting images:

example.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<build>

<!-- Split Example -->
<split>
    <file></file>
    <size></size>
    <files></files>
</split>

</build>

It's basically the same, <file> is the base, <size> is the part size and <files> are the names of the different files to be split (Split by a comma!). Let's fill the information in:

example.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<build>

<!-- Split Example -->
<split>
    <file>split_template.png</file>
    <size>32,32</size>
    <files>
        example/creeper,
        example/enderman,
        example/pig,
        example/sheep
    </files>
</split>

</build>

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And last but not least, the simplest one of them all. <rescale>! This allows you to resize the image to any dimension you want.

example.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<build>

<!-- Rescale Example -->
<rescale>
    <file></file>
    <size></size>
    <result-file></result-file>
</rescale>

</build>

This is pretty much self-explanatory by now. Let's fill the information in.

example.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<build>

<!-- Rescale Example -->
<rescale>
    <file>missing.png</file>
    <size>64,64</size>
    <result-file>example/rescale</result-file>
</rescale>

</build>

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That's all the things you can build right now, more will be added in the future as we need it.

Need a little bit of help?

Join our Discord Server

Problem solving

WRN - Please create a dist folder before running this program.

This warning ocurrs because there is no dist folder. Please create one to solve the issue, or check if you have mispelled it.

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WRN - The dist folder has some files in it. Please clear it first.

The dist folder has files in it that prevent the build process from starting. You have two options:

1. You delete the files in the dist folder manually
2. You can download the clear_dist.bat file from the latest release, to do the clearing process automatically in the future.

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ERR - The source folder doesn't seem to exist. Cannot continue.

This message ocurrs, because the program couldn't find a source folder to build the assets from. Check if you've mispelled the name, or if it's there in the first place.

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ERR - No .xml files were found in the source folder!

There are no .xml configuration files for building the assets, therefore the program cannot do anything. Check if you've got the file extension right, or if the assets from the latest release are there.

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ERR - This XML file is invalid, it cannot be processed.

Something's wrong with your .xml file. There could be a lot of reasons why this ocurrs, here are a few:

1. The file is empty, therefore there is nothing to be parsed.
2. You forgot the <build> tag, check if it's missing.
3. There's a syntax error. Check if your file structure is valid.

Are none of these the issue? Ask in our Discord server.

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ERR - There seems to be some information missing. Cannot continue.

This error can ocurr while Making an APNG file, Splitting Images or Rescaling Images. There can be multiple reasons why this error ocurrs.

1. Tags inside the specified action have invalid content or are missing.
2. Numbers aren't valid. Check if they're correct.
3. The image is corrupted or not the right scale.

Are none of these the issue? Ask in our Discord server.

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Are none of these solutions working?

Join our Discord Server