Compy

A console-based Lua-programmable computer for children based on the LÖVE2D framework.

Principles

Command-line based UI
Full control over each pixel of the display
Ability to easily reset to initial state
Impossible to damage with non-violent interaction
Syntactic mistakes caught early, not accepted on input
Possibility to test/try parts of program separately
Share software in source package form
Minimize frustration

Usage (IDE mode)

Rather than the default LÖVE storage locations (save directory, cache, etc), the application uses a folder under Documents to store projects. Ideally, this is located on removable storage to enable sharing programs the user writes.

For simplicity and security reasons, the user is only allowed to access files inside a project. To interact with the filesystem, a project must be selected first.

Keys

Command	Combination
Clear terminal	`Ctrl`+`L`
Stop project	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`S`
Quit project (stop and close)	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Q`
Reset application to initial state	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`R`
Reset project to initial state	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`R`
Exit application	`Ctrl`+`Esc`
Pause project	`Ctrl`+`Pause`
Toggle edit/run	`F8`
Input
Move cursor horizontally	`⇦`/`⇨`
Move cursor vertically	`⇧`/`⇩`
Go back in command history	`PageUp`
Go forward in command history	`PageDown`
Move in history (if in first/last line)	`⇧`/`⇩`
Jump to start	`Home`
Jump to end	`End`
Jump to line start	`Alt`+`Home`
Jump to line end	`Alt`+`End`
Insert newline	`Shift`+`Enter ⏎`
Delete current line	`Ctrl`+`Y`
Duplicate current line	`Ctrl`+`D`
Evaluate input	`Enter ⏎`
Editor
same as Input, except for:
Scroll up	`PageUp`
Scroll down	`PageDown`
Move selection (if in first/last line)	`⇧`/`⇩`
Move selection	`Ctrl`+`⇧`/`⇩`
Replace selection with input	`Enter ⏎`
additionally
Delete selected block	`Ctrl`+`Delete`
Delete selected block (if input is empty)	`Ctrl`+`Y`
Wipe input	`Ctrl`+`W`
Load selected content to input (discards previous content)	`Esc`
Insert selected content into input	`Shift`+`Esc`
Scroll to start	`Ctrl`+`PageUp`
Scroll to end	`Ctrl`+`PageDown`
Scroll up by one line	`Shift`+`PageUp`
Scroll down by one line	`Shift`+`PageDown`
Move selection to start	`Ctrl`+`Home`
Move selecion to end	`Ctrl`+`End`
Stop editor	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`S`
move mode
Switch to moving ("pick up" selection)	`Ctrl`+`M`
Move selection	`⇧`/`⇩`
Move selection to start	`Ctrl`+`Home`
Move selecion to end	`Ctrl`+`End`
Cancel moving	`Esc`
Move line/block to selection and return to normal mode	`Enter ⏎`
search mode
Search definitions	`Ctrl`+`F`
Exit search	`Esc`
Jump to selected definition	`Enter ⏎`

Projects

A project is a folder in the application's storage which contains at least a main.lua file. Projects can be loaded and ran. At any time, pressing Ctrl-Shift-Q quits and returns to the console

list_projects()

List available projects.
project(proj)

Open project proj or create a new one if it doesn't exist. New projects are supplied with example code to demonstrate the structure.
current_project()

Print the currently open project's name (if any).
run_project(proj?) / run(proj?)

Run either proj or the currently open project if no arguments are passed.
example_projects()

Copy the included example projects to the projects folder.
close_project()

Close currently opened project.
edit(file)

Open file in editor. If it does not exist yet, a new file will be created. See Editor mode

Files

Once a project is open, file operations are available on it's contents.

list_contents()

List files in the project.
readfile(file)

Open file and display it's contents.
writefile(file, content)

Write to file the text supplied as the content parameter. This can be either a string, or an array of strings.
runfile(file)

Run file if it's a lua script.

Editor

If a project is open, the files inside can be edited or new ones created. Run the edit() command to do so.

edit

When a file is opened, the editor is scrolled to the end by default, and entered input will be appended to the end.

hello

To modify an existing line, navigate there with ⇧/⇩. Then load the text by pressing Esc, make the desired changes, then send it back with Enter ⏎

capitalized

Happy with the modifications now, we can quit by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Q

quit

Moving

Select the block you want to move and press Ctrl-M. Move the highlight with ⇧/⇩ and hit Enter ⏎ when you found it's new home.

move1 move2

Searching

Definitions can be searched with Ctrl-F. Pressing this combination switches to search mode, in which the definitions are listed, and there's a highlight, which can be moved as usual. Hitting Enter ⏎ returns to editing, highlighting the selected definition. To exit search mode without moving, press Esc.

Usage (playback mode)

love compy.love play <project>

<project> is either
a .compy package (a zipped project)
a folder containing a valid project

Paths will be searched in the following order:

for zips:
current directory (or absolute path)
compy storage directory
for folders
current directory (or absolute path)
compy storage directory
projects directory

Keys

Command	Combination
Reset project to initial state	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`R`