ANVL
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Getting started

Install the tools, run the starter app, then copy it to make your own.

1. Install the tools

  • Rust 1.82 or newer, from rustup.rs (the workspace is tested on 1.93).
  • A GPU driver with DirectX 12 (Windows), Vulkan (Linux, Android) or Metal (macOS). Any GPU from the last ten years works.
  • For Android (optional): Android Studio's SDK and NDK, and cargo-apk. See Android.
The starter app: a title, a text field with an Add button, three filter chips, and four tasks, one of them ticked.
The starter app after a few tasks were added, one ticked. Drawn by the engine at 2x.

2. Get the workspace

ANVL apps live in the ANVL workspace, next to the engine crates. The workspace's Cargo.toml includes every folder under apps/, so a new app is picked up by creating its folder.

anvil_engine/
├── Cargo.toml           the workspace: shared versions of every dependency
├── crates/
│   ├── anvl_gpu/        rendering, text, images, icons, video
│   ├── anvil_ui/        elements, layout, interaction, widgets, runner
│   └── anvil_app/, anvil_core/   an older kiosk demo, kept as it was
└── apps/
    ├── anvl_starter/    the template
    ├── anvil_note/      ANVL Note
    └── anvil_launcher/  ANVL Launcher

3. Run the starter

cargo run -p anvl_starter --release

A task list opens. Type a task and press Enter, click a task to tick it, click the bin to delete it, and use the toast's Undo to bring it back. Tasks are saved in tasks.txt in the folder you ran it from (set ANVL_STARTER_DIR to choose another).

4. Make your own app

Copy the starter and rename it:

cp -r apps/anvl_starter apps/my_app

Then edit apps/my_app/Cargo.toml:

[package]
name = "my_app"
version.workspace = true
edition.workspace = true
license.workspace = true

[lib]
name = "my_app_lib"
crate-type = ["cdylib", "rlib"]   # cdylib is the Android build, rlib the desktop one

[[bin]]
name = "my-app"
path = "src/main.rs"

[dependencies]
anvil_ui.workspace = true
winit.workspace = true
glam.workspace = true

[target.'cfg(target_os = "android")'.dependencies]
winit = { workspace = true, features = ["android-native-activity"] }

[package.metadata.android]
package = "com.example.myapp"
apk_name = "my-app"
build_targets = ["aarch64-linux-android"]

In src/main.rs, change anvl_starter_lib::run to my_app_lib::run, and in src/app.rs change the window title. Run it:

cargo run -p my_app --release

The library and the binary need different names even after hyphens become underscores (my_app_lib and my-app above), or their debug-symbol files collide on Windows.

Next

Your first app walks through the starter's code, so you know what each part is for before you change it.