Tutorial Project Structure Example

Now that we know the structure of an EzTerm project, we'll create the smallest working example possible to get the structure into our fingers. After that we will move on to explain how to create an actual UI in detail (for which we can use the project we are now creating).

Step 1: Create a new cargo project:

We'll create a new Rust project first using cargo. Feel free to choose another name.

cargo-new ez_term_test

In cargo.toml include the framework as a dependency (if you are copy pasting this, fill in the latest version of the dependency):

[dependencies]
ez_term = "0.1.0"

Step 2: Define the UI:

Create a folder named 'ui' in the root of the project. Create a file named 'ui.ez' in the new folder. These names are not mandatory, you can call the folder and file whatever you like. If you choose the default names your project folder now looks like this:

/ez_term_test
  /cargo.toml
  /src
    /main.rs
  /ui
    /ui.ez

In the 'ui.ez' file write or copy the below config to create a small 'hello world' UI (don't worry if the syntax of the .ez file is still unfamiliar, we'll dive into it in the next chapter):

- Layout:
    mode: box
    orientation: horizontal
    - Label:
        text: Hello,
        border: true
    - Label:
        text: World!
        border: true

Step 3: Create the UI rust module

We now have a UI definiton in the .ez file. We will need to initialize it in a rust module. We will use the existing 'main.rs' to initialize and run the UI. Modify 'main.rs' to look like this:

use ez_term::*;

fn main() {

    let (root_widget, state_tree, mut scheduler) = load_ui();
    run(root_widget, state_tree, scheduler);
}

Step 4: Compile and run the project

First we let cargo know where our .ez files can be found through an environment variable:

• On Linux:

export EZ_FOLDER="/path/to/ez_term_test/ui"

• On Windows:

$env:EZ_FOLDER="C:\path\to\ez_term_test\ui"

Make sure you use a full path. Cargo needs to know the location of our .ez files so it can merge them into the binary. Now run the following cargo command in any OS terminal:

cargo run

You should you be able to see the 'hello world' UI! Press Escape to quit.

Now that you know how to create a basic UI, we'll dive into the specifics of the framework.

Continue

The general tutorial continues with: EzLang.