Tabris.js CLI

A command line tool to create, build and serve Tabris.js apps.

Installation

npm install -g tabris-cli

Commands

tabris init

Creates a new Tabris.js app in the current directory.

See: Quick Start Guide - Tabris.js Documentation

tabris serve [options]

Starts a server the Tabris.js developer app can be pointed to. If a build script is present in package.json, it is executed beforehand. When serving a Tabris.js 3.x app the log output of the app will be displayed in the terminal.

options

-p [path], --project [path]

The directory to serve the Tabris.js app from. Needs to contain a package.json and installed “tabris” module. When omitted, the current working directory is served.

-m [module], --main [module]

Overrides the “main” field of package.json. The argument must be a valid module id relative to the project root, e.g. “dist/main.js”.

-a, --auto-reload

Auto reload the application when a source file is modified.

-i, --interactive

Enable interactive console for JavaScript input.

-l, --logging

Logs requests to the internal HTTP server of the CLI. Useful for debugging connection issues during app sideloading. This is in addition to the potential log output created by the app and the watch script. These are enabled regardless.

-w, --watch

Executes the watch instead of the build script given in the package.json of the app. The watch script can be a long-running task. A prewatch script will be executed before watch and before the server is started.

--no-intro

Does not print the available external URLs or QR code to the console, only the port. They can still be viewed by opening the given port in a browser.

--qrcode-renderer

Choose a renderer for the printed QR code.

  • utf8 (default): based on UTF-8 characters.
  • terminal: based on background color customization of the cursor color.

Use “terminal” if the QR code presentation breaks due to the font used in the terminal.

--external [url]

Uses the given string as the advertised public URL, to the exclusion of all other. Must include protocol and port. Should be used with --port to ensure the actual port matches this one.

--port [port]

Changes the port the HTTP server listens to. Causes an error if the port is not available.

Keyboard Shortcuts

While serving a Tabris.js 3.x App there a various shortcuts available that to help with the development process.

CTRL + K

Prints an overview of available keys combinations. This message is also printed the first time an app connects to the CLI.

CTRL + C

Terminates the server and exits the CLI.

CTRL + R

Reloads the currently served app.

CTRL + U

Prints an XML summary of the current UI state using console.dirxml().

CTRL + T

Toggles the visibility of the developer toolbar. Tabris.js 3.4 and later only.

CTRL + X

Removes all content from the app’s localStorage and (on iOS) secureStorage.

CTRL + S

Saves a .json file containing all current content of the app’s localStorage and (on iOS) secureStorage on the developer machine. You will be prompted for the file name/path of the target file. The path is relative to the current working directory and autocompletion via the tab key is supported.

CTRL + L

Loads a .json file (as created by CTRL + S) and writes its content in to the app’s localStorage/secureStorage. All previous content will be removed. You will be prompted for the file name/path of the source file. The path is relative to the current working directory and autocompletion via the tab key is supported.

Note that you can not load storage data created on an Android device to an iOS device, or vice versa. This is because secureStorage only exists on iOS.

tabris build [options] <platform> [cordova-platform-opts]

Builds a Tabris.js app for the given platform.

To speed up the build, pre-compiled build artifacts are kept in a build cache and are reused in subsequent builds. To clean up the build cache, e.g. after updating Cordova plug-ins, run tabris clean.

See: Building a Tabris.js app - Tabris.js Documentation

See: Common tabris run and tabris build parameters

tabris run [options] <platform> [cordova-platform-opts]

Builds a Tabris.js app and runs it on a connected device or emulator.

See: Building a Tabris.js app - Tabris.js Documentation

See: Common tabris run and tabris build parameters

options

--target <id>

The ID of the target device to deploy the app to. See --list-targets.

--list-targets

Show a list of available targets to use with --target <id>.

tabris clean

Removes build artifacts.

Common tabris run and tabris build parameters

platform

ios or android.

options

Default options:

  • --debug
  • --cordova-build-config=./build.json

Note: when neither --emulator nor --device is specified and a device is connected, the app will be built for a device. If no device is connected, the app will be built for an emulator.

--variables <replacements>

Comma-separated list of variable replacements in config.xml. --variables FOO=bar,BAK=baz will replace all occurrences of $FOO and $BAK in config.xml with respectively bar and baz.

Note: per default all environment variables are replaced in config.xml. To prevent that, use the --no-replace-env-vars option.

--cordova-build-config <path>

Path to a build configuration file passed to Cordova. Relative to the cordova/ directory.

See Cordova platform documentation (iOS, Android) for more information about the file format.

You may want to include this file in .gitignore since it may contain sensitive information.

--debug

Perform a debug build. Used for development.

--release

Perform a release build. Used when building apps for the marketplace of their platform.

--emulator

Build the app for an emulator.

--device

Build the app for a device.

--no-replace-env-vars

Do not replace environment variables in config.xml.

See --variables documentation for more information about variable replacement in config.xml.

--verbose

Print more verbose output.

cordova-platform-opts

Platform-specific options passed to Cordova.

See: Platform-specific options - Cordova CLI Reference