dialog-tool enhancements

hlship · April 18, 2026, 4:51pm

I’d like to capture some of the discussion about dialog-tool enhancements in a separate thread from the announcements thread.

In addition, can we discuss on GitHub? That leaves a better paper trail for me and theoretical future maintainers.

Support multiple output targets in dgt build:

github.com/hlship/dialog-tool

Support multiple build targets

opened 04:37PM - 18 Apr 26 UTC

hlship

enhancement

There is a desire for `dgt build` to build for multiple targets. In the curre…nt code, the :format guides what is built, and is a single keyword identifying a target, and defaults to :zblorb. Proposal: The :format key of the `dgt.edn` could be a single keyword (as today), or a seq of keywords. Commands such as `build` and `bundle` would build for each target. Complications: commands such as `debug`, `run`, and `sources` might default to the _first_ target (or first _applicable_ target). Also: consider renaming `:format` and `--format` to `target`. That's a more sensible name and, though it's late in the RC stage, it only affects about four people on the planet.

Conditional source inclusion:

github.com/hlship/dialog-tool

Tailor source paths to build target

opened 04:49PM - 18 Apr 26 UTC

hlship

enhancement

It is not uncommon to use slightly different sources based on the build target (…typically, z-machine vs. aa machine). Proposal 1: Naming Convention Each individual file is examine for an optional suffix that corresponds to a target The file is only includes in the source path if the target format matches the target encoded in the file name. Example: `effects.aa.dgt` vs. `effects.zblorb.dgt` ; the first file is only for builds targeting aa machine, the second only for builds targeting builds for zblorb. Proposal 2: Source DSL Currently, each value in a source category in a path of either a specific file to include, or a directory of files to include. This could be extended with a DSL to specify conditional inclusion. This DSL would take the form of a vector containing: * The keyword :when * One or more keywords identifying build targets * Any number of string paths The paths would only be processed for inclusion in the final source path _if_ the buld target matches one of the keywords in the vector. Example: ``` :sources { :main ["src/actors" [:when :aa "effects/aa.dg"] [:when :zblorb "effects/zblorb.dg"] "src/actions" "src/scenes" "src/rooms"] ... } ```

sue · April 18, 2026, 6:50pm

Additional issues opened for the other things I had mentioned in that other thread.

Draconis · April 18, 2026, 7:15pm

I’ve added some too! This is useful.