pulsar/docs/creating-a-package.md

# Authoring Packages

Packages are at the core of Atom. Nearly everything outside of the main editor
is handled by a package. That includes "core" pieces like the command panel,
status bar, file tree, and more.

A package can contain a variety of different resource types to change Atom's
behavior. The basic package layout is as follows (though not every package will
have all of these directories):

```text
my-package/
  grammars/
  keymaps/
  lib/
  menus/
  spec/
  snippets/
  stylesheets/
  index.coffee
  package.json
```

## package.json

Similar to [npm packages][npm], Atom packages can contain a _package.json_ file
in their top-level directory. This file contains metadata about the package,
such as the path to its "main" module, library dependencies, and manifests
specifying the order in which its resources should be loaded.

In addition to the regular [npm package.json keys][npm-keys] available, Atom
package.json files have their own additions.

- `main` (**Required**): the path to the CoffeeScript file that's the entry point
to your package
- `stylesheets` (**Optional**): an Array of Strings identifying the order of the
stylesheets your package needs to load. If not specified, stylesheets in the
_stylesheets_ directory are added alphabetically.
- `keymaps`(**Optional**): an Array of Strings identifying the order of the
key mappings your package needs to load. If not specified, mappings in the
_keymaps_ directory are added alphabetically.
- `menus`(**Optional**): an Array of Strings identifying the order of
the menu mappings your package needs to load. If not specified, mappings
in the _keymap_ directory are added alphabetically.
- `snippets` (**Optional**): an Array of Strings identifying the order of the
snippets your package needs to load. If not specified, snippets in the
_snippets_ directory are added alphabetically.
- `activationEvents` (**Optional**): an Array of Strings identifying events that
trigger your package's activation. You can delay the loading of your package
until one of these events is trigged.

## Source Code

If you want to extend Atom's behavior, your package should contain a single
top-level module, which you export from _index.coffee_ (or whichever file is
indicated by the `main` key in your _package.json_ file). The remainder of your
code should be placed in the `lib` directory, and required from your top-level
file.

Your package's top-level module is a singleton object that manages the lifecycle
of your extensions to Atom. Even if your package creates ten different views and
appends them to different parts of the DOM, it's all managed from your top-level
object.

Your package's top-level module should implement the following methods:

- `activate(rootView, state)`: This **required** method is called when your
package is loaded. It is always passed the window's global `rootView`, and is
sometimes passed state data if the window has been reloaded and your module
implements the `serialize` method. Use this to do initialization work when your
package is started (like setting up DOM elements or binding events).

- `serialize()`: This **optional** method is called when the window is shutting
down, allowing you to return JSON to represent the state of your component. When
the window is later restored, the data you returned is passed to your
module's `activate` method so you can restore your view to where the user left
off.

- `deactivate()`: This **optional** method is called when the window is shutting
down. If your package is watching any files or holding external resources in any
other way, release them here. If you're just subscribing to things on window,
you don't need to worry because that's getting torn down anyway.

### Simple Package Code

```text
my-package/
  package.json # optional
  index.coffee
  lib/
    my-package.coffee
```

`index.coffee`:
```coffeescript
module.exports = require "./lib/my-package"
```

`my-package/my-package.coffee`:
```coffeescript
module.exports =
  activate: (rootView, state) -> # ...
  deactivate: -> # ...
  serialize: -> # ...
```

Beyond this simple contract, your package has access to Atom's API. Be aware
that since we are early in development, APIs are subject to change and we have
not yet established clear boundaries between what is public and what is private.
Also, please collaborate with us if you need an API that doesn't exist. Our goal
is to build out Atom's API organically based on the needs of package authors
like you.

Check out [wrap-guide] for a simple example of Atom's package API in action.

## Stylesheets

Stylesheets for your package should be placed in the _stylesheets_ directory.
Any stylesheets in this directory will be loaded and attached to the DOM when
your package is activated. Stylesheets can be written as CSS or [LESS] (but LESS
is recommended).

Ideally you will not need much in the way of styling. We've provided a standard
set of components. You can view all components by using the command palette
(`cmd-p`) and searching for "styleguide" or just `cmd+ctrl+G`.

If you do need styling, we try to keep only structural styles in the package
stylesheets. Colors and sizing should be taken from the active theme's
[ui-variables.less][ui-variables]. If you follow this guideline, your package
will look good out of the box with any theme!

An optional `stylesheets` array in your _package.json_ can list the stylesheets
by name to specify a loading order; otherwise, stylesheets are loaded
alphabetically.

## Keymaps

```coffeescript
'.tree-view-scroller':
  'ctrl-V': 'changer:magic'
```

It's recommended that you provide key bindings for commonly used actions for
your extension, especially if you're also adding a new command.

Keymaps are placed in the _keymaps_ subdirectory. By default, all keymaps are
loaded in alphabetical order. An optional `keymaps` array in your _package.json_
can specify which keymaps to load and in what order.

See the [main keymaps documentation][keymaps] for more detailed information on
how keymaps work.

## Menus

Menus are placed in the _menus_ subdirectory. By default, all menus are loaded
in alphabetical order. An optional `menus` array in your _package.json_ can
specify which menus to load and in what order.

### Application Menu

```coffee-script
'menu': [
  {
    'label': 'Packages'
    'submenu': [
      {
        'label': 'My Package'
        'submenu': [
          {
            'label': 'Toggle'
            'command': 'my-package:toggle'
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

It's recommended that you create an application menu item for common actions
with your package that aren't tied to a specific element.

To add your own item to the application menu simply create a top level `menu`
key in any menu configuration file in _menus_ (since the above is [CSON] it
should end with `.cson`)

The menu templates you specify are merged with all other templates provided
by other packages in the order which they were loaded.

### Context Menu

```coffee-script
'context-menu':
  '.tree-view':
    'Add file': 'tree-view:add-file'
  '#root-view':
    'Inspect Element': 'core:inspect'
```

It's recommended to specify a context menu item for commands that are linked to
specific parts of the interface, like adding a file in the tree-view.

To add your own item to the application menu simply create a top level
`context-menu` key in any menu configuration file in _menus_ (since the above is
[CSON] it should end with `.cson`)

Context menus are created by determining which element was selected and
then adding all of the menu items whose selectors match that element (in
the order which they were loaded). The process is then repeated for the
elements until reaching the top of the DOM tree.

In the example above, the `Add file` item will only appear when the focused item
or one of its parents has the `tree-view` class applied to it.

## Snippets

An extension can supply language snippets in the _snippets_ directory which
allows the user to enter repetitive text quickly.

```coffeescript
".source.coffee .specs":
  "Expect":
    prefix: "ex"
    body: "expect($1).to$2"
  "Describe":
    prefix: "de"
    body: """
      describe "${1:description}", ->
        ${2:body}
    """
```

A snippets file contains scope selectors at its top level (`.source.coffee
.spec`). Each scope selector contains a hash of snippets keyed by their name
(`Expect`, `Describe`). Each snippet also specifies a `prefix` and a `body` key.
The `prefix` represents the first few letters to type before hitting the `tab`
key to autocomplete. The `body` defines the autofilled text. You can use
placeholders like `$1`, `$2`, to indicate regions in the body the user can
navigate to every time they hit `tab`.

All files in the directory are automatically loaded, unless the _package.json_
supplies a `snippets` key. As with all scoped items, snippets loaded later take
precedence over earlier snippets when two snippets match a scope with the same
specificity.

## Language Grammars

If you're developing a new language grammar, you'll want to place your file in
the _grammars_ directory. Each grammar is a pairing of two keys, `match` and
`captures`. `match` is a regular expression identifying the pattern to
highlight, while `captures` is an object representing what to do with each
matching group.

For example:


```coffeescript
{
  'match': '(?:^|\\s)(__[^_]+__)'
  'captures':
    '1': 'name': 'markup.bold.gfm'
}
```

This indicates that the first matching capture (`(__[^_]+__)`) should have the
`markup.bold.gfm` token applied to it.

To capture a single group, simply use the `name` key instead:

```coffeescript
{
  'match': '^#{1,6}\\s+.+$'
  'name': 'markup.heading.gfm'
}
```

This indicates that Markdown header lines (`#`, `##`, `###`) should be applied
with the `markup.heading.gfm` token.

More information about the significance of these tokens can be found in
[section 12.4 of the TextMate Manual][tm-tokens].

Your grammar should also include a `filetypes` array, which is a list of file
extensions your grammar supports:

```coffeescript
'fileTypes': [
  'markdown'
  'md'
  'mkd'
  'mkdown'
  'ron'
]
```

## Bundle External Resources

It's common to ship external resources like images and fonts in the package, to
make it easy to reference the resources in HTML or CSS, you can use the `atom`
protocol URLs to load resources in the package.

The URLs should be in the format of
`atom://package-name/relative-path-to-package-of-resource`, for example, the
`atom://image-view/images/transparent-background.gif` would be equivablent to
`~/.atom/packages/image-view/images/transparent-background.gif`.

You can also use the `atom` protocol URLs in themes.

## Writing Tests

Your package **should** have tests, and if they're placed in the _spec_
directory, they can be run by Atom.

Under the hood, [Jasmine] is being used to execute the tests, so you can
assume that any DSL available there is available to your package as well.

**FIXME: Explain the following**

* jasmine
* jasmine-focused
* `spec/fixtures` and global.project
* setTimeout
* whatever else is different in spec-helper

## Running tests

Once you've got your test suite written, the recommended way to run it is `apm
test`. `apm test` prints its output to the console and returns the proper status
code depending on whether tests passed or failed.

## Publishing

Atom bundles a command line utility called [apm] which can be used to publish
Atom packages to the public registry.

Once your package is written and ready for distribution you can run the
following to publish your package:

```sh
cd my-package
apm publish minor
```

This will update your `package.json` to have a new minor `version`, commit the
change, create a new [Git tag][git-tag], and then upload the package to the
registry.

Run `apm help publish` to see all the available options and `apm help` to see
all the other available commands.


# Full Example

Let's take a look at creating our first package.

To get started hit `cmd-p`, and start typing "Package Generator." to generate
the package. Once you select the package generator command, it'll ask you for a
name for your new package. Let's call ours _changer_.

Now, _changer_ is going to have a default set of folders and files created for
us. Hit `cmd-r` to reload Atom, then hit `cmd-p` and start typing "Changer."
You'll see a new `Changer:Toggle` command which, if selected, pops up a new
message. So far, so good!

In order to demonstrate the capabilities of Atom and its API, our Changer plugin
is going to do two things:

1. It'll show only modified files in the file tree
2. It'll append a new pane to the editor with some information about the modified
files

Let's get started!

## Changing Keybindings and Commands

Since Changer is primarily concerned with the file tree, let's write a
key binding that works only when the tree is focused. Instead of using the
default `toggle`, our keybinding executes a new command called `magic`.

_keymaps/changer.cson_ can easily become this:

```coffeescript
'.tree-view-scroller':
  'ctrl-V': 'changer:magic'
```

Notice that the keybinding is called `ctrl-V`--that's actually `ctrl-shift-v`.
You can use capital letters to denote using `shift` for your binding.

`.tree-view-scroller` represents the parent container for the tree view.
Keybindings only work within the context of where they're entered. For example,
hitting `ctrl-V` anywhere other than tree won't do anything. You can map to
`body` if you want to scope to anywhere in Atom, or just `.editor` for the
editor portion.

To bind keybindings to a command, we'll use the `rootView.command` method. This
takes a command name and executes a function in the code. For example:

```coffeescript
rootView.command "changer:magic", => @magic()
```

It's common practice to namespace your commands with your package name, and
separate it with a colon (`:`). Rename the existing `toggle` method to `magic`
to get the binding to work.

Reload the editor, click on the tree, hit your keybinding, and...nothing
happens! What the heck?!

Open up the _package.json_ file, and notice the key that says
`activationEvents`. Basically, this tells Atom to not load a package until it
hears a certain event. Let's change the event to `changer:magic` and reload the
editor.

Hitting the key binding on the tree now works!

## Working with Styles

The next step is to hide elements in the tree that aren't modified. To do that,
we'll first try and get a list of files that have not changed.

All packages are able to use jQuery in their code. In fact, we have [a list of
some of the bundled libraries Atom provides by default](#included-libraries).

Let's bring in jQuery:

```coffeescript
{$} = require 'atom'
```

Now, we can query the tree to get us a list of every file that _wasn't_
modified:

```coffeescript
magic: ->
  $('ol.entries li').each (i, el) ->
    if !$(el).hasClass("modified")
      console.log el
```

You can access the dev console by hitting `alt-cmd-i`. When we execute the
`changer:magic` command, the browser console lists the items that are not being
modified. Let's add a class to each of these elements called `hide-me`:

```coffeescript
magic: ->
  $('ol.entries li').each (i, el) ->
    if !$(el).hasClass("modified")
      $(el).addClass("hide-me")
```

With our newly added class, we can manipulate the visibility of the elements
with a simple stylesheet. Open up _changer.css_ in the _stylesheets_ directory,
and add a single entry:

```css
ol.entries .hide-me {
  display: none;
}
```

Refresh atom, and run the `changer` command. You'll see all the non-changed
files disappear from the tree. There are a number of ways you can get the list
back; let's just naively iterate over the same elements and remove the class:

```coffeescript
magic: ->
  $('ol.entries li').each (i, el) ->
    if !$(el).hasClass("modified")
      if !$(el).hasClass("hide-me")
        $(el).addClass("hide-me")
      else
        $(el).removeClass("hide-me")
```

## Creating a New Pane

The next goal of this package is to append a pane to the Atom editor that lists
some information about the modified files.

To do that, we're going to first create a new class method called `content`.
Every package that extends from the `View` class can provide an optional class
method called `content`. The `content` method constructs the DOM that your
package uses as its UI. The principals of `content` are built entirely on
[SpacePen], which we'll touch upon only briefly here.

Our display will simply be an unordered list of the file names, and their
modified times. Let's start by carving out a `div` to hold the filenames:

```coffeescript
@content: ->
  @div class: 'modified-files-container', =>
    @ul class: 'modified-files-list', outlet: 'modifiedFilesList', =>
      @li 'Test'
      @li 'Test2'
```

You can add any HTML5 attribute you like. `outlet` names the variable your
package can uses to manipulate the element directly. The fat pipe (`=>`)
indicates that the next set are nested children.

We'll add one more line to `magic` to make this pane appear:

```coffeescript
rootView.vertical.append(this)
```

If you hit the key command, you'll see a box appear right underneath the editor.
Success!

Before we populate this, let's apply some logic to toggle the pane off and on,
just like we did with the tree view:

```coffeescript
# toggles the pane
if @hasParent()
  rootView.vertical.children().last().remove()
else
  rootView.vertical.append(this)
```

There are about a hundred different ways to toggle a pane on and off, and this
might not be the most efficient one. If you know your package needs to be
toggled on and off more freely, it might be better to draw the interface during the
initialization, then immediately call `hide()` on the element to remove it from
the view. You can then swap between `show()` and `hide()`, and instead of
forcing Atom to add and remove the element as we're doing here, it'll just set a
CSS property to control your package's visibility.

You might have noticed that our two `li` elements aren't showing up. Let's set
a color on them so that they pop. Open up `changer.css` and add this CSS:

```css
ul.modified-files-list {
  color: white;
}
```

Refresh Atom, hit the key combo, and see your brilliantly white test list.

## Calling Node.js Code

Since Atom is built on top of Node.js, you can call any of its libraries,
including other modules that your package requires.

We'll iterate through our resulting tree, and construct the path to our modified
file based on its depth in the tree:

```coffeescript
path = require 'path'

# ...

modifiedFiles = []
# for each single entry...
$('ol.entries li.file.modified span.name').each (i, el) ->
  filePath = []
  # ...grab its name...
  filePath.unshift($(el).text())

  # ... then find its parent directories, and grab their names
  parents = $(el).parents('.directory.modified')
  parents.each (i, el) ->
    filePath.unshift($(el).find('div.header span.name').eq(0).text())

  modifiedFilePath = path.join(project.rootDirectory.path, filePath.join(path.sep))
  modifiedFiles.push modifiedFilePath
```

`modifiedFiles` is an array containing a list of our modified files. We're also
using the node.js [`path` library][path] to get the proper directory separator
for our system.

Let's remove the two `@li` elements we added in `@content`, so that we can
populate our `modifiedFilesList` with real information. We'll do that by
iterating over `modifiedFiles`, accessing a file's last modified time, and
appending it to `modifiedFilesList`:

```coffeescript
# toggles the pane
if @hasParent()
  rootView.vertical.children().last().remove()
else
  for file in modifiedFiles
    stat = fs.lstatSync(file)
    mtime = stat.mtime
    @modifiedFilesList.append("<li>#{file} - Modified at #{mtime}")
  rootView.vertical.append(this)
```

When you toggle the modified files list, your pane is now populated with the
filenames and modified times of files in your project. You might notice that
subsequent calls to this command reduplicate information. We could provide an
elegant way of rechecking files already in the list, but for this demonstration,
we'll just clear the `modifiedFilesList` each time it's closed:

```coffeescript
# toggles the pane
if @hasParent()
  @modifiedFilesList.empty()
  rootView.vertical.children().last().remove()
else
  for file in modifiedFiles
    stat = fs.lstatSync(file)
    mtime = stat.mtime
    @modifiedFilesList.append("<li>#{file} - Modified at #{mtime}")
  rootView.vertical.append(this)
```

# Included Libraries

FIXME: Describe `require 'atom'

In addition to core node.js modules, all packages can `require` the following
popular libraries into their packages:

* [SpacePen] (as `require 'space-pen'`)
* [jQuery] (as `require 'jquery'`)
* [Underscore] (as `require 'underscore'`)

Additional libraries can be found by browsing Atom's _node_modules_ folder.

[npm]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_(software)
[npm-keys]: https://npmjs.org/doc/json.html
[apm]: https://github.com/atom/apm
[git-tag]: http://git-scm.com/book/en/Git-Basics-Tagging
[wrap-guide]: https://github.com/atom/wrap-guide/
[keymaps]: internals/keymaps.md
[tm-tokens]: http://manual.macromates.com/en/language_grammars.html
[spacepen]: https://github.com/nathansobo/space-pen
[path]: http://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/path.html
[jquery]: http://jquery.com/
[underscore]: http://underscorejs.org/
[jasmine]: https://github.com/pivotal/jasmine
[cson]: https://github.com/atom/season
[less]: http://lesscss.org
[ui-variables]: https://github.com/atom/atom-dark-ui/blob/master/stylesheets/ui-variables.less