chylex/TweetDuck
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TweetDuck/README.md

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Support

Follow TweetDuck on Twitter  |  Support via PayPal  |  Support via Patreon

Build Instructions

Setup

The program was built using Visual Studio 2017. Before opening the solution, please make sure you have the following workloads and components installed (optional components that are not listed can be deselected to save space):

  • .NET desktop development
    • .NET Framework 4 – 4.6 development tools
  • Desktop development with C++
    • VC++ 2017 v141 toolset

After opening the solution, download the following NuGet packages by right-clicking on the solution and selecting Restore NuGet Packages, or manually running this command in the Package Manager Console:

PM> Install-Package CefSharp.WinForms -Version 64.0.0-CI2508 -Source https://www.myget.org/F/cefsharp/api/v3/index.json

Note that some pre-release builds of CefSharp are not available on NuGet. To correctly restore packages in that case, open Package Manager Settings, and add https://www.myget.org/F/cefsharp/api/v3/index.json to the list of package sources.

Debug

It is recommended to create a separate data folder for debugging, otherwise you will not be able to run TweetDuck while debugging the solution.

To do that, open TweetDuck Properties, click the Debug tab, make sure your Configuration is set to Active (Debug) (or just Debug), and insert this into the Command line arguments field:

-datafolder TweetDuckDebug

Build

To make a release build of TweetDuck, open Batch Build, tick all Release configurations except for the UnitTest project (otherwise the build will fail), and click Rebuild. Check the status bar to make sure it says Rebuild All succeeded; if not, see the Troubleshooting section.

After the build succeeds, the bin/x86/Release folder will contain files intended for distribution (no debug symbols or other unnecessary files). You may package these files yourself, or see the Installers section for automated installer generation.

If you decide to release a custom version publicly, please make it clear that it is not an official release of TweetDuck.

Troubleshooting

There are a few quirks in the build process that may catch you off guard:

  • Plugin files are not updated automatically
    • Since official plugins (Resources/Plugins) are not included in the project, Visual Studio will not automatically detect changes in the files
    • To ensure plugins are updated when testing the app, click Rebuild Solution before clicking Start
  • Error: The command (...) exited with code 1
    • If the post-build event fails, open the Output tab and look for the cause
    • Determine if there was an IO error while copying files or modifying folders, or whether the final .ps1 script failed (Encountered an error while running PostBuild.ps1 on line xyz)
    • Some files are checked for invalid characters:
      • Resources/Plugins/emoji-keyboard/emoji-ordering.txt line endings must be LF (line feed); any CR (carriage return) in the file will cause a failed build, and you will need to ensure correct line endings in your text editor

Installers

TweetDuck uses Inno Setup to automate the creation of installers. First, download and install InnoSetup QuickStart Pack (non-unicode; editor and encryption support not required) and the Inno Download Plugin.

Next, add the Inno Setup installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 5) into your PATH environment variable. You may need to restart File Explorer for the change to take place.

Now you can generate installers after a build by running bld/RUN BUILD.bat. Note that despite the name, this will only package the files, you still need to run the build in Visual Studio!

After the window closes, three installers will be generated inside the bld/Output folder:

  • TweetDuck.exe
    • This is the main installer that creates entries in the Start Menu & Programs and Features, and an optional desktop icon
  • TweetDuck.Update.exe
    • This is a lightweight update installer that only contains the most important files that usually change across releases
    • It will automatically download and apply the full installer if the user's current version of CEF does not match (the download link is in gen_upd.iss and points to this repository by default)
  • TweetDuck.Portable.exe
    • This is a portable installer that does not need administrator privileges
    • It automatically creates a makeportable file in the program folder, which forces TweetDuck to run in portable mode

Note: There is a small chance you will see a resource error when running RUN BUILD.bat. If that happens, close the console window (which will terminate all Inno Setup processes and leave corrupted installer files in the output folder), and run it again.

Code Notes

There are many references to the official TweetDuck website and this repository in the code and installers, so if you plan to release your own version, make sure to search for tweetduck.chylex.com and github.com in the whole repository and replace them appropriately.