NetLogo Extension Plugin

This plugin provides common build boilerplate for NetLogo 7 and 6.

Currently, the plugin targets SBT 1.7.2.

Usage

For an example usage of this plugin, please see the Sample Scala Extension's plugins.sbt and build.sbt.

Note especially the use of the language test abilities to run the tests.txt file, and the sample models included with the packageZip command with the netLogoZipExtras setting.

Project Files

project/plugins.sbt

resolvers += "netlogo-extension-plugin" at "https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/netlogo/netlogo-extension-plugin/maven/"

addSbtPlugin("org.nlogo" % "netlogo-extension-plugin" % "7.0.0")

build.sbt

enablePlugins(org.nlogo.build.NetLogoExtension)

name := "Hello Scala Extension"

netLogoVersion          := "7.0.0"
netLogoClassManager     := "HelloScalaExtension"
netLogoExtName          := "helloscala"
// these values are used to generate a JSON snippet for use in the NetLogo-Libraries repo when using the `packageZip` command.
netLogoShortDescription := "Hello Scala for Extension in NetLogo"
netLogoLongDescription  := "Very long text that most people won't read."
netLogoHomepage         := "https://github.com/NetLogo/NetLogo-Extension-Plugin"

Building to Base Directory

By default, the NetLogo Extension Plugin builds the jar files for the project and copies them and any dependencies into the root of the project repository when you run the package sbt command. The extension will also copy any files you specify using the netLogoPackageExtras setting in your build.sbt file. This lets the project be used by NetLogo if it's copied or symbolically linked to the NetLogo extensions folder.

Zip Package

The NetLogo Extension Plugin includes a packageZip sbt command that will take all the same fies included when you run the package command, along with some extras you can specify with the netLogoZipExtras setting. The name of the zip file will be netLogoExtName-version.zip with netLogoExtName and version being pulled from your build.sbt settings file for sbt. If you have your version set appropriately this should generate a file suitable for use in the NetLogo Extensions Library.

Packaging a Zip to Publish

To create a zip file of your extension and all its dependencies and extra files just run the packageZip command. It will create a name-version.zip file in the root of your folder containing all the files necessary to publish your extension to the NetLogo extensions library.

Ignoring the Packaged Files

Because this extension creates extension binary and zip files in the root of your repository it's a good idea to add them to your .gitignore file (if you're using git):

*.jar
*.zip
# plus any others you manually add to `netLogoPackageExtras`

Including Extra Files in Build, Packaging, and Tests

You can use the netLogoPackageExtras setting to add files to the packaging and testing of your extension. The setting is a sequence of tuples, the first value being a file path and the second being an Option[String] to rename the file when it's copied (None will use the same file name). This is especially useful to copy files needed for execution that are not managed by sbt or included as Java resources, such as external scripts. These files are also included in the zip file made with the packageZip sbt task.

netLogoPackageExtras += (baseDirectory.value / "resources" / "include_me_1.txt", None)

And if you have items that are just for testing, you can use the netLogoTestExtras setting. Any files included in the list are copied, and folders are recursively copied, maintaining their directory structure.

// everything in `test/` directory will be copied to the language test directory when
// the tests are run.
netLogoTestExtras += (baseDirectory.value / "test")

And you can include extra files in the packageZip sbt task using the netLogoZipExtras setting. This is useful when you're including extra docs or example models with the zip file.

// The `README.md` file and everything in `sample_models/` directory will be included in the zip file
// made with the `packageZip` command
netLogoZipExtras ++= Seq(baseDirectory.value / "sample_models", baseDirectory.value / "README.md")

Language Tests

You can easily run headless NetLogo language tests for your extension. These are described in the NetLogo wiki. These tests let you write NetLogo code snippets to test your extension without manually running the NetLogo GUI.

In order to setup the language tests, add a class to your tests folder that extends org.nlogo.headless.TestLanguage, passing in your test files to its constructor. Then make sure your test class is referenced in your build.sbt file, Test / scalaSource for Scala or Test / javaSource for Java. Note that this plugin automatically adds the necessary ScalaTest library to run the tests to your extension project, and sbt will find the ScalaTest test runner when you use the sbt test command.

Below is an example from one of the sample packages used to verify this plugin, and here is an example from the Python extension along with its build.sbt settings. Setting the org.nlogo.preferHeadless property isn't required, but it may help if your extension works with GUI code, like creating menus or dialogs.

package org.nlogo.extensions.helloscala

import java.io.File
import org.nlogo.headless.TestLanguage

object Tests {
  // file paths are relative to the repository root
  // this example assumes a single `tests.txt` file
  val testFileNames = Seq("tests.txt")
  val testFiles     = testFileNames.map( (f) => (new File(f)).getCanonicalFile )
}

class Tests extends TestLanguage(Tests.testFiles) {
  System.setProperty("org.nlogo.preferHeadless", "true")
}

Building

Simply run the package SBT command to build a new version of the plugin .jar. Then, set your SBT project's plugins.sbt to reference/fetch the .jar.

Run sbt scripted to run the sample test projects from src/sbt-test/netlogo-extension-plugin.

Terms of Use

The NetLogo Extension plugin is in the public domain. To the extent possible under law, Uri Wilensky has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights.

Package repository hosting is graciously provided by Cloudsmith.