Setting up your development environment

Installation

Before you get started with Adapt, you will need to install Node.js and Git if you haven't already done so.

Windows users may prefer Git for Windows or Github for Windows.

OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) users - you should be able to install git simply by trying to run the command 'git' in the Terminal. It should recognise what you are trying to do and prompt you to install the XCode Command Line Tools, which include Git.

Once you've got both Git and Node.js installed, the other components you'll need can be installed with the Node Package Manager - AKA npm - which comes installed with Node.js

To install the components, run the following two commands - which can be done via Terminal on OS X or on Windows via whatever command line utility was installed when you installed Git e.g. Git Bash or PoshGit.

OS X users - you will need to either prefix the commands with 'sudo' - or first give yourself elevated permissions on the /usr/local directory as documented here

$ npm install adapt-cli -g
$ npm install grunt-cli -g

Get the Adapt output framework

Overview

The output framework is the generic codebase used to create e-learning content – in other words, it is the generic code that runs as part of the e-learning package in the user’s browser when working through an e-learning module based on Adapt.

Installing

You can get the latest version of the framework from our GitHub repository using the Adapt Command Line Interface.

$ adapt create course

This will ask you to confirm the name of the course and the branch to download. A directory with the course name will be created and all the Adapt framework files will be downloaded into it.

Alternatively you can download it as a ZIP and perform a manual installation.

The output framework contains all the source files and programs required to produce your course. The output framework uses Grunt to manage the build process and run all of the grunt tasks from your output framework directory.

Building

$ grunt build

The build task compiles and compresses your course and prepares it for viewing and distribution. The output is located in the build directory.

Viewing the build

To view the build package create a local server:

$ grunt server

To emulate a scorm package offline use this instead:

$ grunt server-scorm

Note: to terminate the server ctrl+c

This will now open a browser and navigate to the following URL: http://localhost:9001/

N.B. If you have run the server-scorm task, navigate to this URL to emulate an LMS environment: http://localhost:9001/main.html

This allows you to test your SCO without the need for a continual upload / update / reupload cycle. Please note that as this emulation uses an iframe, it is not suitable for device testing. It is intended for testing SCORM functionality only. If you do not require SCORM functionality, please run

$ adapt uninstall contrib-spoor
$ grunt build

The server will display the default menu of the course in your browser with the view appropriate to the device you're using. Any changes to the course will automatically be built and displayed.

Next - Creating your first course