Documentation/Articles/Overview of Deployment Tool

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Deployment Tool

Overview

The Deployment Tool utility is used for the deployment of already accomplished projects. In other words, this utility extracts all the resources of a project into a separate folder. You can also specify the particular resources and libraries you require.

The utility is located in the Game\Bin folder.

General Tab

The following opting are available in the General tab:

Use the Output Directory field to specify the folder to save your project in.

The Deployment type Option is used for specifying the project type. You can choose one of the following types:

• 'Standalone Application'. If this type is chosen, an ordinary project with executable .exe files will be created.
• 'Web Deployment'. This type is used for deploying Web Player projects (those to be run in browser).

The User directory is used for specifying the folder to store project settings and temporary files. If this folder is not specified, temporary files will be stored in the project folder together with the executable files. \Bin\UserSettings\. If the folder is specified, the said files will be stored in the folder of the current user (C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\ for Windows XP, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local for Vista/7 and /Users/{username}/Library/Application Support/ for Mac OS X )

If you chose the Archive data directory folder, the whole Data folder will be archived into Data.zip file. This is strongly recommended while deploying the project to be run in web browser.

Platforms Tab

The Platforms tab is used for specifying the target platform (i.e. that on which the project will be run).

You can choose any number of platforms from the list. The project can be deployed for the following platforms:

• Windows 32 bit,
• Windows 64 bit,
• Mac OS X.

Components Tab

In the Components tab you can specify the engine components to be included in the project being deployed. Thus, you can chose only those libraries and components you need. We recommend that you tick only those components, those will actually be used.

The table below illustrates, which components can be chosen for each particular platform and deployment type.

Name	Description	Win x86	Win x64	Mac OS X	Browser
Mono Runtime	The Mono library.
Direct3D9 Rendering System	A Direct3D9 based rendering system.
Direct3D9: Shaders 1.x Support
OpenGL Rendering System	An OpenGL based rendering system.
PhysX Physic System	A PhysX based physical subsystem.
ODE Physic System	An ODE based physical subsystem.
DirectSound System	A DirectSound based sound system.
OpenAL Sound System	An OpenAL based sound system.
Zip Archive Support
Collada Mesh Format	Support of Collada format.
Heightmap Terrain
Decorative Object Manager
Grid Based Path Finding System
Dedicated Server
Configurator	A utility used for engine adjustment
GameCommon.dll	Contains various project classes such as descriptions of material types, network services of the project, engine console class and user GUI classes.
GameEnities.dll	Contains description of game classes and the whole game logic.
Game.exe	Application entry point, engine initialization, classes for implementing project structure, navigation, game screens and user interaction.

Files Tab

Here you can specify those libraries and system files which are not registered engine components (such as own components of the user). These will also be exported with the project.

Menu

File Menu

The File menu contains the following options:

Name	Description
New	Create a new Deployment Tool project.
Open	Open an existing Deployment Tool project.
Save	Save the current setting of the Deployment Tool project. You can also use the Ctrl+S hotkey.
Save As...	Chose the folder for saving the current setting of the Deployment Tool project.
Exit	Exit the Deployment Tool utility.

Build Menu

The Build menu contains a single Deploy... option, which starts the project deployment (copies all the required project files into the selected folder).

Help Menu

The Help menu contains the following options:

Name	Description
Overview of the Deployment Tool	Jump to the description of the Deployment Tool, i.e. to this article.
Documentation	Jump to the generic page of the documentation.
About...	Open the info about this tool.

Tool Bar

The tool bar contains the following hotkeys:

• New - Creation of a new Deployment Tool project.
• Open – open a Deployment Tool project,
• Save – Save a Deployment Tool project,
• Deploy – Deploy the project.

Tutorial – Deployment a standalone application

In this short tutorial you will learn how to deploy a standalone application.

Compile your project before proceeding to deployment. It is also recommended to recompile shader cache.

Now proceed to deployment. Launch the Deployment Tool utility.

General Tab

First, specify the output directory.

Now, specify the type of the package to be deployed: Standalone Application.

Platform Tab

In the Platform tab chose the platforms for the application use. If you are using the 64-bit Windows platform, do not forget to compile your project in the Any CPU configuration.

The use of certain platforms may affect component configurations.

Components Tab

Chose the components for your deployment, depending on your project's requirements and the resources of the target platform.

You can view the list of components available for particular platforms in this section.

Deployment

Save the current settings using the File -> Save menu.

Now you can proceed to deployment. Press the Deploy button in the Build menu. A confirmation window will appear. Before pressing the Yes button, make sure that the Output directory does not contain any useful files.

Now, a window displaying all the actions being performed will appear. When the deployment is finished, press the Close button.

Congratulations, you have deployed an accomplished package!

Tutorial – Deployment to the web browser

In this short tutorial you will learn how to deploy to be run in browser.

You need to deploy an accomplished package in Web Deployment mode in order to be able to run your application directly from browser.

Compile your project before proceeding to deployment. It is also recommended to recompile shader cache.

Now proceed to deployment. Launch the Deployment Tool utility.

General Tab

First, specify the output directory.

Now, specify the type of the package to be deployed: Web Deployment.

You also have to tick the Archive Data Directory box, so that to reduce package size.

Platform Tab

You can deploy to the web browser only for the 32-bit version of the Windows platform.

Components Tab

The components are to be specified according to the requirements of your project.

Please note that not all engine components can be deployed to the browser version of the PACKAGE. You can view the list of components available for Web Deployment in this section.

Deployment

Save the current settings using the File -> Save menu.

Now you can proceed to deployment. Press the Deploy button in the Build menu. A confirmation window will appear. Before pressing the Yes button, make sure that the Output directory does not contain any files.

Now, a window displaying all the actions being performed will appear. When the deployment is finished, press the Close button.

Congratulations, you have deployed an accomplished package to be run in browser!

You can find the following three files in the assembly folder:

• neoaxis_web_application_win32.zip – a zip-archive containing the project.
• neoaxis_web_application.config – package configuration.
• Test.html – a test web page.