To receive an instruction to compile something from Inbuild, and then to sort out the many locations then used in the host filing system.

• §1. Timers
• §2. The task
• §12. Project-related files and file paths

§1. Timers. We keep track of about how long the compiler spends on each task, for the sake of better diagnostics.

stopwatch_timer *inform7_timer = NULL, *supervisor_timer = NULL;

void Task::start_timers(void) {
    inform7_timer = Time::start_stopwatch(NULL, I"inform7 run");
    supervisor_timer = Time::start_stopwatch(inform7_timer, I"supervisor");
}
void Task::stop_timers(void) {
    Time::stop_stopwatch(inform7_timer);
}
void Task::log_stopwatch(void) {
    Time::log_timing(inform7_timer, inform7_timer->time_taken);
}

§2. The task. When Inbuild (a copy of which is included in the Inform 7 executable) decides that an Inform source text must be compiled, it calls Task::carry_out. By this point Inbuild will have set up an inform_project structure to represent the program we have to compile; but we will need additional data about that compilation, and it's stored in the following.

typedef struct compile_task_data {
    struct build_step *task;
    struct inform_project *project;

    struct pathname *path;
    struct pathname *materials;
    struct pathname *build;
    struct filename *existing_storyfile;

    int stage_of_compilation;
    int next_resource_number;

    CLASS_DEFINITION
} compile_task_data;

• The structure compile_task_data is accessed in 2/up, 2/pwst and here.

§3. An early and perhaps arguable design decision for inform7 was that it would compile just one source text in its lifetime as a process: and because of that, Task::carry_out can only in fact be called once, and Inbuild only does so once. But the following function allows in principle for multiple calls, against the day when we change our minds about all this.

Something we will never do is attempt to make inform7 thread-safe in the sense of being able to compile two source texts simultaneously. The global inform7_task is null when nothing is being compiled, or set to the unique thing which is being compiled when it is.

compile_task_data *inform7_task = NULL;
parse_node_tree *latest_syntax_tree = NULL;

int Task::carry_out(build_step *S) {
    int project_bundle_exists = TRUE;
    Time::stop_stopwatch(supervisor_timer);
    inform_project *project = ProjectBundleManager::from_copy(S->associated_copy);
    if (project == NULL) {
        project = ProjectFileManager::from_copy(S->associated_copy);
        project_bundle_exists = FALSE;
    }
    if (project == NULL) internal_error("no project");
    latest_syntax_tree = project->syntax_tree;

    DocReferences::read_xrefs();
    Task::issue_problems_arising(project->as_copy->vertex);
    Features::allow_activation_functions();
    Features::run_activation_functions();

    if (problem_count > 0) return FALSE;

    if (inform7_task) internal_error("cannot re-enter with new task");
    inform7_task = CREATE(compile_task_data);
    inform7_task->task = S;
    inform7_task->project = project;
    inform7_task->path = S->associated_copy->location_if_path;
    inform7_task->build = Projects::build_path(project);
    inform7_task->materials = Projects::materials_path(project);
    inform7_task->existing_storyfile = NULL;
    inform7_task->stage_of_compilation = -1;
    inform7_task->next_resource_number = 3;

    DefaultLanguage::set(Projects::get_language_of_syntax(project));
    if (project_bundle_exists) Gitignoring::automatic(project);

    int rv = Sequence::carry_out(TargetVMs::debug_enabled(inform7_task->task->for_vm));
    return rv;
}

§4. We don't want to create the Build folder unless it's actually needed, and in some cases it may not be.

pathname *Task::build_folder?Usage of Task::build_folder:
§13(void) {
    if (inform7_task->build)
        if (Pathnames::create_in_file_system(inform7_task->build) == FALSE)
            return NULL;
    return inform7_task->build;
}

§5. All manner of low-level problems emerge when reading in the text of the project, or any extensions it uses: these have already been found by inbuild and are attached to the relevant nodes in the build graph. We issue them here as Inform problem messages. (Inbuild wasn't able to do that for us because the Inform problems file wasn't open back then; and besides, it can only issue stubby Unix-like command line errors.)

void Task::issue_problems_arising?Usage of Task::issue_problems_arising:
§3(build_vertex *V) {
    if (V->type == COPY_VERTEX)
        SourceProblems::issue_problems_arising(V->as_copy);
    build_vertex *W;
    LOOP_OVER_LINKED_LIST(W, build_vertex, V->build_edges)
        Task::issue_problems_arising(W);
    LOOP_OVER_LINKED_LIST(W, build_vertex, V->use_edges)
        Task::issue_problems_arising(W);
}

§6. We will keep track of how far along the process has advanced, in very rough stages. Twenty is plenty.

void Task::advance_stage_to?Usage of Task::advance_stage_to:
How To Compile - §2, §2.2, §2.3, §2.4, §2.5, §2.6, §2.7, §2.8, §2.10, §2.11, §2.12, §2.13, §2.14, §2.15(int stage, text_stream *name, int X, int debugging,
    stopwatch_timer *timer) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (stage <= inform7_task->stage_of_compilation) internal_error("not an advance");
    if (stage >= 20) internal_error("went too far");
    if ((inform7_task->stage_of_compilation >= 0) && (problem_count == 0))
        PluginCalls::production_line(inform7_task->stage_of_compilation, debugging, timer);
    char *roman[] = {
        "I", "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX", "X",
        "XI", "XII", "XIII", "XIV", "XV", "XVI", "XVII", "XVIII", "XIX", "XX" };
    if (problem_count == 0) {
        Log::new_phase(roman[stage], name);
        if (X >= 0) ProgressBar::update(X, 0);
    }
    inform7_task->stage_of_compilation = stage;
}
int Task::is_before_stage(int stage) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (inform7_task->stage_of_compilation < stage) return TRUE;
    return FALSE;
}
int Task::is_during_stage(int stage) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (inform7_task->stage_of_compilation == stage) return TRUE;
    return FALSE;
}
int Task::is_after_stage(int stage) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (inform7_task->stage_of_compilation > stage) return TRUE;
    return FALSE;
}

§7. The current project and the virtual machine we want to compile it for:

inform_project *Task::project?Usage of Task::project:
§8
Internal Test Cases - §8(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return inform7_task->project;
}

target_vm *Task::vm?Usage of Task::vm:
§17
Compilation Settings - §4(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return inform7_task->task->for_vm;
}

int Task::veto_number(int X) {
    if (((X > 32767) || (X < -32768)) &&
        (TargetVMs::is_16_bit(Task::vm()))) {
        StandardProblems::sentence_problem(Task::syntax_tree(), _p_(PM_LiteralOverflow),
            "you use a number which is too large",
            "at least with the Settings for this project as they currently "
            "are. (Change to Glulx to be allowed to use much larger numbers.)");
        return TRUE;
    }
    return FALSE;
}

inbuild_edition *Task::edition(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return inform7_task->project->as_copy->edition;
}

parse_node_tree *Task::syntax_tree?Usage of Task::syntax_tree:
§8, §16
Core Preform - §2, §3
Using Problems - §3, §3.3
Supplementary Issues - §1, §2, §3, §4, §5, §6, §7, §8, §9, §10, §11, §12, §13
Problems With Source Text - §1, §2, §3
Calculus Problems - §1
Kinds Problems - §1(void) {
    return latest_syntax_tree;
}

inform_language *Task::language_of_syntax(void) {
    return Projects::get_language_of_syntax(Task::project());
}

void Task::add_kind_inventions(void) {
    StarTemplates::transcribe_all(Task::syntax_tree());
}

void Task::verify?Usage of Task::verify:
How To Compile - §2.4(void) {
    VerifyTree::verify_integrity(Task::syntax_tree());
    VerifyTree::verify_structure(Task::syntax_tree());
}

§8. This is part of a scheme to wean authors off of use of an external extensions area.

void Task::warn_about_deprecated_nests?Usage of Task::warn_about_deprecated_nests:
How To Compile - §2.2(void) {
    inform_project *project = Task::project();
    inform_extension *ext;
    LOOP_OVER_LINKED_LIST(ext, inform_extension, project->extensions_included) {
        inbuild_nest *N = Copies::origin(ext->as_copy);
        if (Nests::is_deprecated(N)) {
            TEMPORARY_TEXT(ename)
            Copies::write_copy(ename, ext->as_copy);
            Problems::quote_stream(1, ename);
            StandardProblems::handmade_warning(Task::syntax_tree(), _p_(Untestable));
            Problems::issue_warning_segment(
                "The extension '%1' was included from an external location, that is, "
                "from outside of this project's materials folder. That's allowed, and "
                "is how most authors managed things until 2023, but we now recommend "
                "moving all extensions needed for a project (other than those built "
                "into Inform itself) into the project's materials folder. "
                "If you do, this warning will go away.");
            Problems::issue_warning_end();
        }
    }
}

§9. Resources in a Blorb file have unique ID numbers which are positive integers, but these are not required to start from 1, nor to be contiguous. For Inform, ID number 1 is reserved for the cover image (whether or not any cover image is provided: it is legal for there to be figures but no cover, and vice versa). Other figures, and sound effects, then mix freely as needed from ID number 3 on upwards. We skip 2 so that it can be guaranteed that no sound resource has ID 1 or 2: this is to help people trying to play sounds in the Z-machine, where operand 1 or 2 in the @sound opcode signifies not a sound resource number but a long or short beep. If a genuine sound effect had resource ID 1 or 2, therefore, it would be unplayable on the Z-machine.

int Task::get_next_free_blorb_resource_ID(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return inform7_task->next_resource_number++;
}

§10. This seed is ordinarily 0, causing no fix to occur, but can be set to a non-zero value to make testing Inform easier.

int Task::rng_seed(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return inform7_task->project->fix_rng;
}

§11. These functions are for steps on the production line which involve referring something back up to Inbuild.

void Task::make_built_in_kind_constructors?Usage of Task::make_built_in_kind_constructors:
How To Compile - §2.3(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    Projects::load_built_in_kind_constructors(inform7_task->project);
}

int Task::begin_execution_at_to_begin(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (Projects::Main_defined(inform7_task->project)) return FALSE;
    return TRUE;
}

§12. Project-related files and file paths. An Inform compilation can touch dozens of different files, and the rest of this section is a tour through the ones which are associated with the project itself. (Common resources, used for all compilations, or optional add-ins such as extensions are the business of Inbuild.)

If a project is called, say, Wuthering Heights, and is a "bundle" as created and compiled by the Inform app, then:

• (a) The project path will be Wuthering Heights.inform. This looks opaque on MacOS, as if a file, but on all platforms it is in fact a directory.
• (b) Within it is Wuthering Heights.inform/Build, the "build folder".
• (c) Alongside it is Wuthering Heights.materials. This is also a directory, but is openly accessible even on MacOS.

If Inform is working on a single source text file, not a bundle, then the project will be the current working directory, but now the build folder will be the folder Build in the same directory as the source file, and materials (if present) will again be alongside.

To begin: what's in the project area? story.ni and auto.inf, neither one very helpfully named, are defined in Inbuild rather than here: these are the I7 source text and its compilation down to I6, respectively. In addition we have:

The UUID file records an ISBN-like identifying number for the project. This is read-only for us.

The iFiction record, manifest and blurb file are all files that we generate to give instructions to the releasing agent Inblorb. This means that they have no purpose unless Inform is in a release run (with -release set on the command line), but they take no time to generate so we make them anyway.

filename *Task::uuid_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Filenames::in(inform7_task->path, I"uuid.txt");
}
filename *Task::ifiction_record_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Filenames::in(inform7_task->path, I"Metadata.iFiction");
}
filename *Task::licenses_file(int as_HTML) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (as_HTML) return Filenames::in(inform7_task->path, I"Licenses.html");
    return Filenames::in(inform7_task->path, I"Licenses.txt");
}
filename *Task::manifest_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Filenames::in(inform7_task->path, I"manifest.plist");
}
filename *Task::blurb_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Filenames::in(inform7_task->path, I"Release.blurb");
}

§13. The build folder for a project contains all of the working files created during the compilation process. The debugging log and Inform problems report (its HTML file of error messages) are both written there: see the Main Routine section for details. In addition we have:

filename *Task::cblorb_report_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Filenames::in(Task::build_folder(), I"StatusCblorb.html");
}
filename *Task::parse_tree_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Filenames::in(Task::build_folder(), I"Parse tree.txt");
}

§14. The name of the unblorbed story file is chosen for us by Inbuild, so we have to extract it from the build graph.

Note that this will return NULL if the current run of Inform is to produce, say, a C program rather than a Glulx or Z-machine story file.

filename *Task::storyfile_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    build_vertex *V = inform7_task->project->unblorbed_vertex;
    if (V == NULL) return NULL;
    return V->as_file;
}

§15. Deeper inside theBuild subfolder is an (also ephemeral) Index subfolder, which holds the mini-website of the Index for a project.

The main index files (Phrasebook.html and so on) live at the top level, details on actions live in the subfolder Details: see below.

define PATH_INDEX_CALLBACK Task::index_path

pathname *Task::index_path(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    pathname *P = Pathnames::down(inform7_task->path, I"Index");
    if (Pathnames::create_in_file_system(P)) return P;
    return NULL;
}

§16. The XML file of headings is written by the supervisor, but only if we ask it to, and this is where:

void Task::write_XML_headings_file?Usage of Task::write_XML_headings_file:
How To Compile - §2.2(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (inform7_task->project->stand_alone == FALSE)
        Headings::write_as_XML(Task::syntax_tree(), IndexLocations::xml_headings_filename());
}

§17. That's it for the project folder, but other project-related stuff is in the materials folder, which we turn to next.

Inform is occasionally run in a mode where it performs a release on an existing story file (for example a 1980s Infocom one) rather than on one that it has newly generated. This is the filename such a story file would have by default, if so.

By default the story file will be called something like story.z8, but its leafname is actually declared from the source text of the Inform project created to do this wrapping-up. So we need a way to set as well as read this filename. Whatever the leafname, though, it lives in the top level of materials.

int Task::wraps_existing_storyfile(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return (inform7_task->existing_storyfile != NULL)?TRUE:FALSE;
}
void Task::set_existing_storyfile(text_stream *name) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (name == NULL) {
        TEMPORARY_TEXT(leaf)
        WRITE_TO(leaf, "story.%S", TargetVMs::get_unblorbed_extension(Task::vm()));
        inform7_task->existing_storyfile = Filenames::in(inform7_task->materials, leaf);
        DISCARD_TEXT(leaf)
    } else {
        inform7_task->existing_storyfile = Filenames::in(inform7_task->materials, name);
    }
}
filename *Task::existing_storyfile_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return inform7_task->existing_storyfile;
}

§18. Materials is also where cover art lives: it could have either the file extension .jpg or .png, and we generate both sets of filenames, even though at most one will actually work. This is also where we generate the EPS file of the map, if so requested; a bit anomalously, it's the only file in Materials but outside Release which we write to.

filename *Task::large_cover_art_file(int JPEG) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    if (JPEG) return Filenames::in(inform7_task->materials, I"Cover.jpg");
    return Filenames::in(inform7_task->materials, I"Cover.png");
}
filename *Task::epsmap_file(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Filenames::in(inform7_task->materials, I"Inform Map.eps");
}

§19. This is also where the originals (not the released copies) of the Figures and Sounds, if any, live: in their own subfolders, or "departments".

pathname *Task::resources_path(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return inform7_task->materials;
}

text_stream *Task::figures_department(void) {
    return I"Figures";
}
text_stream *Task::sounds_department(void) {
    return I"Sounds";
}
text_stream *Task::data_department(void) {
    return I"Data";
}

§20. On a release run, Inblorb will populate the Release subfolder of Materials; figures and sounds will be copied into the relevant subfolders. The principle is that everything in Release can always be thrown away without loss, because it can all be generated again.

pathname *Task::release_path(void) {
    if (inform7_task == NULL) internal_error("there is no current task");
    return Pathnames::down(inform7_task->materials, I"Release");
}
pathname *Task::released_figures_path(void) {
    return Pathnames::down(Task::release_path(), I"Figures");
}
pathname *Task::released_sounds_path(void) {
    return Pathnames::down(Task::release_path(), I"Sounds");
}
pathname *Task::released_interpreter_path(void) {
    return Pathnames::down(Task::release_path(), I"interpreter");
}

§21. EPS-format files are vector art, rather than raster art, and are produced with the intention that authors can tidy them up afterwards using programs like Adobe Illustrator. By default they aren't produced, so that the following flag stays FALSE:

int write_EPS_format_map = FALSE;

int do_not_generate_index = FALSE;  Set by the -no-index command line option
void Task::disable_or_enable_index(int which) {
    do_not_generate_index = which;
}
int do_not_generate_problems = FALSE;  Set by the -no-problems command line option
void Task::disable_or_enable_problems(int which) {
    do_not_generate_problems = which;
}
int do_not_update_extensions_index = FALSE;  Also set by the -no-index command line option
void Task::disable_or_enable_extensions_update(int which) {
    do_not_update_extensions_index = which;
}

int Task::problems_enabled(void) {
    return do_not_generate_problems?FALSE:TRUE;
}

§22. And so, finally, the following triggers the indexing process.

int inform7_index_requirements = 0;
void Task::specify_index_requirements?Usage of Task::specify_index_requirements:
How To Compile - §2.15(void) {
    inform7_index_requirements = 0;
    if (do_not_generate_index == FALSE)
        inform7_index_requirements |= INDEX_REQUIRED_BIT;
    if (do_not_update_extensions_index == FALSE)
        inform7_index_requirements |= EXTENSIONS_INDEX_REQUIRED_BIT;
    if (write_EPS_format_map)
        inform7_index_requirements |= EPS_MAP_REQUIRED_BIT;
}

int Task::get_index_requirements(void) {
    return inform7_index_requirements;
}