Downloadable/Printable docs?
by Chad Maron · in Torque Game Engine · 11/07/2003 (11:20 am) · 43 replies
Hey all,
I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere but I didn't come across anything like this under the Documentation topic. I was wondering if there was a down loadable form of the Torque Engine Reference? I would like to be able to print out the docs and take them with me when I am out and about.
Any ideas? I plan to spend a good amount of time looking around the source and it would be nice to have that reference in printed form.
Not a HUGE deal, just wondering if it existed anywhere.
THANKS!
-Chad
I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere but I didn't come across anything like this under the Documentation topic. I was wondering if there was a down loadable form of the Torque Engine Reference? I would like to be able to print out the docs and take them with me when I am out and about.
Any ideas? I plan to spend a good amount of time looking around the source and it would be nice to have that reference in printed form.
Not a HUGE deal, just wondering if it existed anywhere.
THANKS!
-Chad
About the author
#22
This makes the loading quickly as well as I run it from a Toolbox utility I created for the Tools I use to create my game.
Looking forward to the docbook.
03/12/2004 (11:42 pm)
What I have done with the Doxygen created docs is compiled them with Natata that creates an EBook. This makes the file nice and compact (well 3.85 megs, but thats ok as it opens in memory and has full search and I can print pages).This makes the loading quickly as well as I run it from a Toolbox utility I created for the Tools I use to create my game.
Looking forward to the docbook.
#23
03/31/2004 (10:04 am)
Um, apologies for being new to all this, but who is Rick? I don't see there being a huge security risk with making the documentation possible as one download, if it goes into the secure part of this site, or from the CVS server perhaps. Uploading a file somewhere safe shouldn't be a problem, should it? I'm in a similar position to Bob in that without a single download I'm going to have to d/l the pages one at a time and I don't wanna p**s anyone off and get myself booted for having to do that...
#24
03/31/2004 (10:47 am)
You don't have to download them, you can regenerate them from your CVS checkout with doxygen
#25
Have a search. I found some tutorials for the scripting. Doxygen will compile the source code fine, but as I'm not at the stage of changing stuff for my game, I'm just sticking to the scripting for the time being.
03/31/2004 (12:13 pm)
What I have done over the past couple of weeks is download any topics etc that I feel could be relevant to me working with Torque. Unfortunately some of the stuff is somewhat dated and sometimes doesn't work with Torque and I have had to restore my backed up files and recompile Torque. Now I take a different approach.Have a search. I found some tutorials for the scripting. Doxygen will compile the source code fine, but as I'm not at the stage of changing stuff for my game, I'm just sticking to the scripting for the time being.
#27
Note that this will not generate the new Alpha docs.
Those aren't available yet in CVS or in a downloadable form, but from what has been said before by GG, they will eventually be, as well as a deadtree version that will be part of the Documentation package advertised for sale on the products page.
How to do it
03/31/2004 (2:13 pm)
It doesn't compile the source, it parses the source code, extracting the comments from it, and uses the weird formatted text files like overview.txt to create an html (or other format if you want) of the SDK Documentation. Note that this will not generate the new Alpha docs.
Those aren't available yet in CVS or in a downloadable form, but from what has been said before by GG, they will eventually be, as well as a deadtree version that will be part of the Documentation package advertised for sale on the products page.
How to do it
#28
03/31/2004 (4:48 pm)
@mgm lol. Not exactly what I meant.. compiles the source into readable documentation, as Nicolas has correctly put.
#29
Tourniquet Guide
Even if you're not coding in the engine as of yet, you should still check out the Doxygen docs, as there quite a lot of crucial information in there, as well as the alpha version of the documentation :)
03/31/2004 (6:56 pm)
The following is a good general overview of getting started using Torque : Tourniquet Guide
Even if you're not coding in the engine as of yet, you should still check out the Doxygen docs, as there quite a lot of crucial information in there, as well as the alpha version of the documentation :)
#30
03/31/2004 (11:53 pm)
@nicolas: AFAIK Doxygen doesn't generate any documentation about scripting, tools, etc - this is what I'm looking for. I've got the doxygen docs fine, and whilst they're great, they're not by any means the whole story. If the docs can't go online, can I be mailed a copy? Either email (assuming the file isn't massive, which I suspect it might be), or snailmail (which would be interesting, as I live in the UK). I have no other way of getting to this stuff.
#31
For the alpha docs, you'll have to wait like everyone else for them to be available to buy in deadtree form, or in downloadable form (like I hint at in two posts before)
Again, the alpha docs have a section on scripting :
Scripting
Stephen, you want a deadtree version or an offline version ?
And why ? ie If it's because you're on Dial up in Europe and pay for the phone connection, load up a page that interests you, log off, and then read or print :) Repeat Ad Nauseam.
One thing, as have been said before : do not start downloading every page from the docs one after the other, it is callous, bandwidth hungry, and to boot, prohibited by the nice GG peeps :)
04/01/2004 (7:39 am)
Download the Tourniquet guide in .PDF form and print it :)For the alpha docs, you'll have to wait like everyone else for them to be available to buy in deadtree form, or in downloadable form (like I hint at in two posts before)
Again, the alpha docs have a section on scripting :
Scripting
Stephen, you want a deadtree version or an offline version ?
And why ? ie If it's because you're on Dial up in Europe and pay for the phone connection, load up a page that interests you, log off, and then read or print :) Repeat Ad Nauseam.
One thing, as have been said before : do not start downloading every page from the docs one after the other, it is callous, bandwidth hungry, and to boot, prohibited by the nice GG peeps :)
#32
Anyway, between Doxygen, Tourniquet and some odd other scraps of stuff I've found on the site about scripts and tools I (hopefully!) have enough to get started without eating GG's bandwidth :oD I will grab tutorials (the list in Appendix D looked pretty comprehensive) as and when I'm likely to find them useful.
04/01/2004 (9:00 am)
As I stated before, the machine I use Torque on is not the one I am currently using, and it has no internet connection. Transferring files between the two is somewhat laborious. Anyway, I got Tourniquet, which looks kinda helpful, and I printed a copy of Chapter 4 (scripting) of the SDK documentation. Is there a comprehensive list of supported script commands anywhere? I suspect there is but I may have missed them. I take it the contents of chapter 7 (engine coding) don't differ wildly from what Doxygen creates?Anyway, between Doxygen, Tourniquet and some odd other scraps of stuff I've found on the site about scripts and tools I (hopefully!) have enough to get started without eating GG's bandwidth :oD I will grab tutorials (the list in Appendix D looked pretty comprehensive) as and when I'm likely to find them useful.
#33
Yes, there is.. at least it's fairly comprehensive. :) We need to update the resource organization, people miss a lot of great stuff that's out there. Check out, Ron Yacketta's TGE Script Command Reference. It is still incomplete, but a great start. It is presently in .rtf format; so of course it can be printed, if you like.
As far as scripting-specific tutorials, you downloaded/printed the current official documentation and that's pretty good. The stuff in the alpha docs (linked to above by Nicolas) is pretty good too, and should be easy to download or print. Joel Baxter made a some great stuff: TorqueScript Language Overview, List of Engine Globals in TorqueScript, and List of Prefs. The resources are a couple years old now, so they may be out of date, but they are useful nonetheless. These can all be dl'd or printed. :)
As for more general tutorials, there's always the great CodeSampler, Tourniquet (above), Tork.Beffy, and GameBeavers stuff. The CodeSampler tutorials are all easy to download, and you already have Tourniquet, it seems.
Working on an offline computer when you need reference docs is rough, but it sounds like you're getting enough stuff together to make out pretty well. :)
04/02/2004 (1:17 am)
@Stephen,Quote:Is there a comprehensive list of supported script commands anywhere? I suspect there is but I may have missed them.
Yes, there is.. at least it's fairly comprehensive. :) We need to update the resource organization, people miss a lot of great stuff that's out there. Check out, Ron Yacketta's TGE Script Command Reference. It is still incomplete, but a great start. It is presently in .rtf format; so of course it can be printed, if you like.
As far as scripting-specific tutorials, you downloaded/printed the current official documentation and that's pretty good. The stuff in the alpha docs (linked to above by Nicolas) is pretty good too, and should be easy to download or print. Joel Baxter made a some great stuff: TorqueScript Language Overview, List of Engine Globals in TorqueScript, and List of Prefs. The resources are a couple years old now, so they may be out of date, but they are useful nonetheless. These can all be dl'd or printed. :)
As for more general tutorials, there's always the great CodeSampler, Tourniquet (above), Tork.Beffy, and GameBeavers stuff. The CodeSampler tutorials are all easy to download, and you already have Tourniquet, it seems.
Working on an offline computer when you need reference docs is rough, but it sounds like you're getting enough stuff together to make out pretty well. :)
#34
Having DocBook versions available would be a great help, even if it would mean finding yet another program to convert them to a more easily readable form.
If they were in a compressed archive, it would also make downloading them cause less strain on the server.
04/02/2004 (3:06 am)
I've been watching this thread with great interest for the past few days, as I am also in a similar position. I have to download files on one machine, save them to a CDR disc, and then transfer them to another machine before installing and/or using them.Having DocBook versions available would be a great help, even if it would mean finding yet another program to convert them to a more easily readable form.
If they were in a compressed archive, it would also make downloading them cause less strain on the server.
#35
Even if not, the way things are formatted now, there are only about 15 separate webpages, so it wouldn't be too much work to save and/or print each of those. Have to wait a bit and see how things shape up, I guess.
04/02/2004 (9:52 pm)
I'm not sure whether we'll release the actual DocBook stuff, or just the html output. You'd have to ask Rick, Jeff, or Alex on that one. Even if not, the way things are formatted now, there are only about 15 separate webpages, so it wouldn't be too much work to save and/or print each of those. Have to wait a bit and see how things shape up, I guess.
#36
I thought I remembered that being a suggestion..
If so, I'd buy one instantly!
05/12/2004 (8:27 am)
I'm a latecomer to this discussion, but wasn't there talk ages ago about being able to order the Torque manuals from GG? (ie. already printed in a nice manual form)..I thought I remembered that being a suggestion..
If so, I'd buy one instantly!
#37
Yes, we are planning on doing that, "soon". Sorry it took a while to find your post. :)
05/18/2004 (11:52 am)
Erik,Yes, we are planning on doing that, "soon". Sorry it took a while to find your post. :)
#38
05/24/2004 (3:20 am)
Np Josh, thanks for even providing a followup! :)
#39
Ctrl+C -> Ctrl+V if you want them in text form.
This way, we don't have a download that constantly grows and is 1 GB+. You can select what you need, or you can go through and print everything.
And also, you didn't pay for the documents; you paid for the liscence to view and modify the source code of the game engine, as well as distribute any games you make as long as you make less than $250k a year.
The documents are provided free of charge by the GarageGames company and staff. You're lucky that they don't charge extra.
08/19/2005 (1:39 am)
Ctrl+P if you want them in book form.Ctrl+C -> Ctrl+V if you want them in text form.
This way, we don't have a download that constantly grows and is 1 GB+. You can select what you need, or you can go through and print everything.
And also, you didn't pay for the documents; you paid for the liscence to view and modify the source code of the game engine, as well as distribute any games you make as long as you make less than $250k a year.
The documents are provided free of charge by the GarageGames company and staff. You're lucky that they don't charge extra.
#40
All the good stuff is in the source code anyway.
08/19/2005 (1:49 am)
Actually, you'll notice just about everything we do is online only. I don't think it's possible to purchase a physical object from this website...All the good stuff is in the source code anyway.
Associate Ben Garney
The new docbook stuff might be a good thing to download, though.