Usage¶

The compiler has some command line options:

Usage: valgolang [-hpV] [-o=<output>] [-q=<quality>] <file>
VAlgoLang compiler to produce manim animations
      <file>                     The .val file to compile and animate.
  -f, --open_file                Show the output file in file manager (optional).
  -h, --help                     Show this help message and exit.
  -m, --manim                    Only output generated python & manim code (optional).
  -o, --output=<output>          The animated mp4 file location (default: out.mp4).
  -p, --python                   Output generated python & manim code (optional).
      --preview                  Automatically open the saved file once it is done (optional).
  -q, --quality=<quality>        Quality of animation. [low, high] (default: low).
  -s, --stylesheet=<stylesheet>  The JSON stylesheet associated with your code
  -V, --version                  Print version information and exit.

Command Line Arguments¶

<file>¶

The .val file to compile (required)

-f, –open_file¶

Flag to show the output file in file manager

-m, –manim¶

Flag to only output generated python & manim code, and not create the animation

The path defaults to out.py in the same directory the compiler is called. Use -o (description below) to specifiy the path

-o=<output>, –output=<output>¶

The path to where the MP4 file should be saved (defaults to out.mp4 in the same directory the compiler is called)

All the subdirectories specified in the path will be created

-p, –python¶

Flag to output the Manim and Python generated code

The Python file will be saved with the same name as the output MP4 file (and so is defaulted to out.py)

–preview¶

Flag to open the generated animation automatically

-q=<quality>, –quality=<quality>¶

Quality of the generated animation (default: low)

Available options: high and low

-s, –stylesheet=<stylesheet>¶

The path to your stylesheet JSON file that can apply custom styling to your generated animation

For more information on how to create a stylesheet for your program, click here

-h, –help¶

Produce the help message shown above

Program Exit Status¶

When compiling VAlgoLang the compiler can return a variety of informative status codes.

0: Success¶

The 0 exit status code means that compilation was successful.

100: Syntax Error¶

The 100 exit status code means there are one or more syntax errors in the file being compiled.

Errors detected during compilation
Exit code: 100
Syntax error at 1:9: missing ';' at ''<EOF>'
let a = 5

200: Semantic Error¶

The 200 exit status code means there are one or more semantic errors in the file being compiled.

An invalid declaration like below will lead to a semantic error.

let x: number = Stack<number>();

Errors detected during compilation
Exit code: 200
Semantic error at 1:0: Cannot assign expression of type Stack<number> to x, which is of type number

300: Runtime Error¶

The 300 exit status code means there was an error during the excution of the program.

For instance “popping” from an empty stack will cause a Runtime Error.

let x = Stack<number>();
x.pop();

Error detected during program execution. Animation could not be generated.
Exit code: 300
Your program failed at line 2: Attempted to pop from empty stack x