Can I use Symlinks?

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Hi,

I am using symlinks (Symbolic Links) for the first time (trying to make my code more reusable etc) and it works great on the simulator, but when I compile to Android I get an error, see below.  Are symlinks OK,  am I missing something?

OS Mac: 10.13.4

Corona: 3253

Android: S7 (7.0)

 ERROR: Runtime error /Users/jenkins/slaveroot/workspace/Templates/label/android/platform/resources/init.lua:906: module 'scripts.helper.gameNetworking' not found: no field package.preload['scripts.helper.gameNetworking'] no file '/data/user/0/com.riceburgerlabs.braindistraction/files/coronaResources/scripts/helper/gameNetworking.lua' no file '/data/app/com.riceburgerlabs.braindistraction-1/lib/arm/libscripts/helper/gameNetworking.so' no file './scripts/helper/gameNetworking.so' no file '(null)/scripts/helper/gameNetworking.so' no file '/data/app/com.riceburgerlabs.braindistraction-1/lib/arm/libscripts.so' no file './scripts.so' no file '(null)/scripts.so' no file '/data/app/com.riceburgerlabs.braindistraction-1/lib/arm/libscripts.helper.gameNetworking.so' no file './scripts.helper.gameNetworking.so' no file '(null)/scripts.helper.gameNetworking.so' stack traceback: [C]: ? [C]: in function 'require' /Users/jenkins/slaveroot/workspace/Templates/label/android/platform/resources/init.lua:906: in function 'require' main:185: in function 'func' /Users/jenkins/slaveroot/workspace/Templates/label/android/platform/resources/init.lua:203: in function \</Users/jenkins/slaveroot/workspace/Templates/label/android/platform/resources/init.lua:190\>

Cheers,

Craig

#2

Update.

It appears to be an issue with symlinks and Corona Live Builds.  If I untick this option then it runs perfectly OK, but if I have live builds ticked then it errors.  Has anyone got symlinks working with Live Builds?

On a separate note, hard links work perfectly OK, but these are limited to files, not folders.

Craig

#3

Unfortunately there’re limitation on how symlinks can be used with live builds. Only local symlinks are supported.

#4

Thanks Vlads, What is meant by “local” symlinks? All my files are on the same drive. Cheers

#5

I know you’re a OS X user, but for future readers, let me add a Windows 7 and 10  specific answer.

To me a local link is one to a file on a drive in the same machine.  Remote links are to networked drives.

Local symlinks work fine for general development.

They also work fine for the first build of a live build.

That said, making changes to files in a symlinked folder will not be noticed by live builds or the simulator launch-on-change feature.   However, a manual relaunch or forced rebuild picks up the changes.  

Here is an example of how you make a folder symlink in Windows:

mklink /j .\ssk2 X:\Work\00\_CurentProjects\Corona\SSK2\ssk2
#6

Within a project, actually. I know it isn’t most useful option, but symlinks cause lots of problems when syncing, especially if you sync from different machines to same build.

#7

Update.

It appears to be an issue with symlinks and Corona Live Builds.  If I untick this option then it runs perfectly OK, but if I have live builds ticked then it errors.  Has anyone got symlinks working with Live Builds?

On a separate note, hard links work perfectly OK, but these are limited to files, not folders.

Craig

#8

Unfortunately there’re limitation on how symlinks can be used with live builds. Only local symlinks are supported.

#9

Thanks Vlads, What is meant by “local” symlinks? All my files are on the same drive. Cheers

#10

I know you’re a OS X user, but for future readers, let me add a Windows 7 and 10  specific answer.

To me a local link is one to a file on a drive in the same machine.  Remote links are to networked drives.

Local symlinks work fine for general development.

They also work fine for the first build of a live build.

That said, making changes to files in a symlinked folder will not be noticed by live builds or the simulator launch-on-change feature.   However, a manual relaunch or forced rebuild picks up the changes.  

Here is an example of how you make a folder symlink in Windows:

mklink /j .\ssk2 X:\Work\00\_CurentProjects\Corona\SSK2\ssk2
#11

Within a project, actually. I know it isn’t most useful option, but symlinks cause lots of problems when syncing, especially if you sync from different machines to same build.