Parallax IDE

Write, compile, and download code to your Parallax Boe-Bot Robot or custom BASIC Stamp microcontroller-based electronic creations.

Quickstart

1. Visit our github releases and download the desired release or download the latest release here.

2. Go to your downloads folder and unzip the archive.

Note: for use on Chromebook you will need to unzip the archive and copy the unzipped directory onto the Chromebook.

1. Open Chrome and follow the Installing in Chrome instructions.

Building from Source/Developing

Most of below is a one-time procedure needed to build the application, unless otherwise noted. To build the application you will need the node.js JavaScript runtime. node.js itself comes bundled with the npm package manager. If you don't have it, then:

1. Install node.js by going to nodejs.org/download and selecting the option that is right for your system.

2. You also need all the dependencies for node-gyp, a tool that comes with node.js for compiling native addon modules. The gyp project is used by the Chromium team makes it easier to build across platforms.

Please visit the node-gyp page and note your system and the dependencies you will need.

* Note: that you do not need to install node-gyp, only its dependencies.

1. Clone this respository. Assuming you have git installed (if not, go here), choose your file destination from the command-line (CLI like Terminal), and

git clone git@github.com:parallaxinc/Parallax-IDE

1. Go to the project root directory with

cd Parallax-IDE/

1. Get all the project dependencies. At the root of the project you will find package.json. This manifest file includes a list of project dependencies needed to build the application. To learn more, see this post on dependency installation. This step must be run each time you update the repository (including pulling updates from GitHub).

To get dependencies, enter:

npm install

Note: To ensure all dependencies are updated, it's recommended to do the following

npm cache clean
npm install

1. Build the application by entering. This step must be run each time you update the repository (including pulling updates from GitHub).

npm run build or npm run build -- --watch*

* Note: using --watch will result in a rebuild of the application any time a file changes

Installing in Chrome

1. Open your Chrome browser and navigate to

chrome://extensions

1. Enable 'Developer Mode' by clicking the checkbox.

1. Before you install your extension must be built and bundled. If you haven't done so follow the instructions in the Build from Source section first.

2. Click on 'Load unpacked extensions...', go to the directory where Parallax IDE was built, highlight the 'Parallax-IDE' folder and and click select.

   

3. Return to the chrome://extensions page and you should see 'Parallax IDE' listed in available extensions.

   

4. Ensure the checkbox is 'enabled' and click 'launch'.

5. Congratulations! You just launched Parallax IDE which will look something like this:

   

Coming Back

One you install the built application it is super easy to launch it again. You can either:

• go to chrome:// extensions, search through the list until you find Parallax IDE and then click `launch'

or

• go to chrome app launcher and click on/search for Parallax IDE