@gamely/tstl-console

A TypeScriptToLua plugin that provides console.log functionality for standard Lua or GlyEngine environments without needing the "dom" library.

The Problem

When using typescript-to-lua, you might want to use console.log for debugging. The standard way to make the TypeScript compiler recognize console is by adding the "dom" library to your tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "lib": ["esnext", "dom"]
  }
}

However, this pollutes your project's global namespace with many browser-specific types (like window, document, etc.), which is undesirable for non-browser environments like a game engine or a standalone Lua script.

This package provides plugins to map console methods directly to environment-specific functions, allowing you to remove "dom" from your tsconfig.json.

Installation

npm install --save-dev @gamely/tstl-console

Available Plugins

There are two plugins available, depending on your target environment.

1. Generic Lua (@gamely/tstl-console/lua)

This plugin is for general-purpose Lua projects. It transforms console calls directly into Lua's native print() function.

Output

| TypeScript Input | Lua Output | | ---------------- | ---------- | | console.log("hello") | print("hello") | | console.warn("hello") | print("hello") | | console.error("hello")| print("hello") |

tsconfig.json Configuration

To use it, add it to the plugins section in your tsconfig.json. Make sure to remove "dom" from your lib array.

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "lib": ["es2016"],
    "types": ["@gamely/tstl-console", "other-types"],
  },
  "tstl": {
    "plugins": [
      { "transform": "@gamely/tstl-console/lua" }
    ]
  }
}

2. Gly Engine (@gamely/tstl-console/gly)

This plugin is specifically designed for the GlyEngine. It maps console methods to the engine's std.log module.

Output

| TypeScript Input | Lua Output | | ---------------- | ---------- | | console.log("event") | std.log.debug("event") | | console.warn("uh oh") | std.log.warn("uh oh") | | console.error("failed")| std.log.error("failed")|

Any other console method (e.g., console.table) will result in a transformation error, as they are not supported by the Gly engine's logger.

tsconfig.json Configuration

To use it, add it to the plugins section in your tsconfig.json.

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "lib": ["es2016"],
    "types": ["@gamely/tstl-console", "@gamely/gly-types", "other-types"],
  },
  "tstl": {
    "plugins": [
      { "transform": "@gamely/tstl-console/gly" }
    ]
  }
}