Setup
The introduction’s three commands are the whole setup on macOS and Windows. This page is the rest: the dependency in detail, your project, Linux, and the devtools.
The dependency
kui’s crates publish to crates.io, so the dependency is one line:
[dependencies]
kui-native = "0.1.0-alpha.42"
cargo add kui-native writes that line for you. Every version is an
alpha for now, and a version requirement does not hold an alpha still:
"0.1.0-alpha.33" admits every later 0.1.0 alpha, so it is a floor,
and Cargo.lock is what keeps the version you tested. Write
"=0.1.0-alpha.33" to pin it in the manifest.
kui-native is the batteries-included crate: a window, a GPU renderer,
the stock widgets and the App trait. Everything the book uses is
reachable from it, and its API reference is on
docs.rs. This book is the path in; docs.rs
is the map once you know the names.
Versions before 0.1.0-alpha.33 are on kui’s own Forgejo registry only. A
project that still names that registry (registry = "drydock9" on the
dependency) should drop the key: from 0.1.0-alpha.34 on, a crate taken
from there resolves its kui-* siblings from crates.io, so naming two
kui-* crates from it puts two kui_cores in one build.
Your project
The book’s programs are the files under
examples/rust/tutorial
in the kui repository, and each is complete on the page: a chapter’s code
block shows the lines it is about, and the eye icon in its corner reveals
the rest of the file. Copy the whole program into src/main.rs of a
project set up as above, and run it:
cargo run
Every chapter’s Run it line is spelled that way. From a checkout of
the repository the same program is cargo run -p kui-native --example tutorial_01_hello, with each file’s own number and name. The testing
chapter’s program carries its tests, and cargo test runs them.
Linux
The build wants pkg-config and ALSA’s headers (libasound2-dev on
Debian and Ubuntu). A window loads the rest at run time: libxkbcommon
for the keyboard, the X11 or Wayland client libraries, and Vulkan or
EGL for the GPU. A missing one fails when the window opens, with the
library’s name in the error.
macOS and Windows need nothing beyond a Rust toolchain.
The devtools
Every app can open a panel that shows the frame’s events, the node tree and the runtime’s facts. Turn it on with one call on the launcher:
kui_native::app("Hello").devtools(true).run(Hello)or from outside, with KUI_DEVTOOLS=1 in the environment. Keep it open
while you read. Chapter 12 walks through its tabs.
Building this book
The published copy is at https://kui-book.qxuken.dev. It is built
with mdBook from docs/book in a
checkout of the repository:
cargo install mdbook
mdbook serve docs/book --open
serve rebuilds on every save and reloads the browser.