Introduction

The ShiVa Authoring Tool is a powerful software that allows to package your Shiva applications for various target platforms. This is made possible because the code developed on the Shiva Editor is portable and can be executed on various target platforms without any changes.

The supported target platforms are:

• Windows
• Mac
• Linux
• iPhone
• iPad
• Android
• Palm
• Wii
• Internet

The objective of this guide is to help you become familiar with the Authoring Tool and understand its main concepts.

Installation

To install the Authoring Tool, please refer to the ShiVa Authoring Tool Installation Guide.

The interface

This is the interface right after the first launch.
It provides a quick access to all the available target platforms and to their documentation.

The following picture shows the different parts of the Authoring Tool interface :

The different parts of the interface are :

• Part 1 - Target platform selector
• Part 2 - 'Application creation' tutorial
• Part 3 - 'Build application' documentation
• Part 4 - Get started now
• Part 5 - Project selection and management
• Part 6 - Common buttons
• Part 7 - Window size handler
• Part 8 - Settings

These parts are described in the next sections.

Part 1 - Target platform selector

This selector lists the supported target platforms for the current OS.

Limitations of the tool:

• on Windows : you cannot build for iPhone, iPad nor MacOS (you must be on a Mac for that).
• on MacOS : you cannot build for Windows.
• on Linux : you cannot build for iPhone, iPad, Windows nor MacOS.

Note : click on a platform twice to activate / inactivate it.

Icon color changes as follows:

• red bullet : platform is allowed but not active. Authoring tool will not build for this platform.
• yellow lock : platform is not supported. Authoring tool will not build for this platform.
• green bullet : platform is allowed and active. Authoring tool will build for this platform.

Example :

Part 2 - 'Application creation' tutorial

This icon is displayed only when platform is inactive (double click platform to inactivate it if needed).

Clicking this icon displays the tutorial to develop an application for the selected platform. This tutorial is not directly related to authoring tool, it explains how to develop an application with ShiVa Editor for the targeted platform (for instance, creating a game for iPhone with ShiVa Editor is different form creating a game for PC).

The following tutorials are available :

• Develop a Windows, MacOS, Linux application
• Develop an iPhone/iPad application
• Develop a Palm application
• Develop an Android application
• Develop an Wii application

( note that not all tutorials are available but we are doing our best to provide them asap )

Part 3 - 'Application building' documentation

This icon is displayed only when platform is inactive (double click platform to inactivate it if needed).

Clicking this icon displays the Authoring Tool documentation that describes, for the selected platform, how to build a distributable application. The documentation aslo explains the various Authoring Tool options specific to the selected platform.

The following documentations are available :

• The Authoring Tool for Windows build
• The Authoring Tool for MacOS build
• The Authoring Tool for Linux build
• The Authoring Tool for iPhone build
• The Authoring Tool for iPad build
• The Authoring Tool for Android build
• The Authoring Tool for Palm build
• The Authoring Tool for Wii build
• The Authoring Tool for Internet build
  

Part 4 - Get started now

This icon is displayed only when platform is inactive (double click platform to inactivate it if needed).

Clicking on this icon activates the platform and displays its various options.

Part 5 - Project selection and management

Drop down list of all your registered projects.

After a successful build, you might want to save your configuration for a later use, simply click on the + icon and enter a project name. All Authoring Tool configuration is saved in the project. You can switch between projects using the drop-down list on the left.

Projects configurations are per user. On Windows, they are saved in the local app data folder. On Mac OS they are saved in /Library/Application Support/. They will not be lost in case of a tool update.

Note that you will not be prompted to save project on exit as the tool automatically saves the changes.

6 - Common buttons

Not too much explanation needed here, by order :

• Help
• Minimize the window
• Maximize/Restore the window
• Close the Authoring Tool
  

7 - Window size handler

Grab this handler to resize the window.

8 - Settings

This button leads to the configuration area where you can define the location of third party tools used by the Authoring Tool. These settings are common to all target platforms. Please refer to the Installation Guide to install these third party tools.