NVDA Add-on Scons Template

This package contains a basic template structure for NVDA add-on development, building, distribution and localization. For details about NVDA add-on development, please see the NVDA Add-on Development Guide. The NVDA add-on development/discussion list is here

Copyright (C) 2012-2021 NVDA Add-on team contributors.

This package is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. Please see the file COPYING.txt for further details.

Features

This template provides the following features you can use during NVDA add-on development and packaging:

• Automatic add-on package creation, with naming and version loaded from a centralized build variables file (buildVars.py) or command-line interface.
  • See packaging section for details on using command-line switches when packaging add-ons with custom version information.
• Manifest file creation using a template (manifest.ini.tpl). Build variables are replaced on this template. See below for add-on manifest specification.
• Compilation of gettext mo files before distribution, when needed.
  • To generate a gettext pot file, please run scons pot. A addon-name.pot file will be created with all gettext messages for your add-on. You need to check the buildVars.i18nSources variable to comply with your requirements.
• Automatic generation of manifest localization files directly from gettext po files. Please make sure buildVars.py is included in i18nFiles.
• Automatic generation of HTML documents from markdown (.md) files, to manage documentation in different languages.

Requirements

You need the following software to use this code for your NVDA add-on development and packaging:

• a Python distribution (3.7 or later is recommended). Check the Python Website for Windows Installers.
• Scons - Website - version 3.1.0 or later. You can instlal it via PIP.
• GNU Gettext tools, if you want to have localization support for your add-on - Recommended. Any Linux distro or cygwin have those installed. You can find windows builds here.
• Markdown 3.1.0 or later, if you want to convert documentation files to HTML documents. You can install it via PIP.

Usage

To create a new NVDA add-on using this template:

1. Create an empty folder to hold the files for your add-on.
2. Copy the site_scons folder, and the following files, into your new empty folder: buildVars.py, manifest.ini.tpl, manifest-translated.ini.tpl, sconstruct, .gitignore, and .gitattributes
3. Create an addon folder inside your new folder. Inside the *addon folder, create needed folders for the add-on modules (e.g. appModules, synthDrivers, etc.). An add-on may have one or more module folders.
4. In the buildVars.py file, change variable addon_info with your add-on's information (name, summary, description, version, author and url).
5. Put your code in the usual folders for NVDA extension, under the addon folder. For instance: globalPlugins, synthDrivers, etc.
6. Gettext translations must be placed into addon\locale\/LC_MESSAGES\nvda.po.

Add-on manifest specification

An add-on manifest generated manually or via buildVars.py must include the following information:

• Name (string): a unique identifier for the add-on. It must use camel case (e.g. someModule).
• Summary (string): name as shown on NVDA's Add-ons Manager.
• Description (string): a short detailed description about the add-on.
• Version (string)
• Author (string and an email address): one or more add-on author contact information in the form "name email@address".
• URL (string): a web address where the add-on information can be found (typically community add-ons website address (https://addons.nvda-project.org) is used).
• docFileName (string): name of the documentation file.
• minimumNVDAVersion (year.major or year.major.minor): the earliest version of NVDA the add-on is compatible with (e.g. 2019.3). Add-ons are expected to use features introduced in this version of NVDA or declare compatibility with it.
• lastTestedNVDAVersion (year.major or year.major.minor): the latest or last tested version of NVDA the add-on is said to be compatible with (e.g. 2020.3). Add-on authors are expected to declare this value after testing add-ons with the version of NVDA specified.
• addon_updateChannel (string or None): the update channel for the add-on release.

To manage documentation files for your addon:

1. Copy the readme.md file for your add-on to the first created folder, where you copied buildVars.py. You can also copy style.css to improve the presentation of HTML documents.
2. Documentation files (named readme.md) must be placed into addon\doc\/.

To package the add-on for distribution:

1. Open a command line, change to the folder that has the sconstruct file (usually the root of your add-on development folder) and run the scons command. The created add-on, if there were no errors, is placed in the current directory.
2. You can further customize variables in the buildVars.py file.
3. You can also customize version and update channel information from command line by passing the following switches when running scons:
   • version: add-on version string.
   • channel: update channel (do not use this switch unless you know what you are doing).
   • dev: suitable for development builds, names the add-on according to current date (yyyymmdd) and sets update channel to "dev".

Note that this template only provides a basic add-on structure and build infrastructure. You may need to adapt it for your specific needs.

If you have any issues please use the NVDA addon list mentioned above.