Guide

The protograf documentation consists of the primary sections listed below.

Although its great to be able to just “jump in” and start using a program, the sections below are designed to be read in order - apart from the terminology - as they all contain useful information and build on each other.

  1. Overview - a brief introduction of the purpose and rationale of protograf

  2. Setting Up - how to get protograf working on your computer

  3. Basic Concepts - core aspects of protograf that you must know

  4. A First Example - step-by-step example of setting up and running a script to generate a deck of cards

  5. Script Anatomy - how a script is constructed

  6. Additional Concepts - additional aspects of protograf that will extend your ability to create scripts and understand issues that might arise

  7. Core Shapes - a tour of the core geometries available and how to construct and customise them

  8. Working with Cards - introduces key concepts to create decks of cards; and then Card Decks provide details of all the relevant commands, as does the Deck command and the use of images, symbols and fonts

  9. Customised Shapes - how to refine the appearance of certain shapes; circles, hexagons, lines and rectangles; supplemented by doc:Shape’s Geometries <shapes_geometry>

  10. Customised Text - how to refine the appearance of text

  11. Repetitive Elements - how to work with repeats, sequences, tracks and grid layouts

  12. Hexagonal and HexHex grids - how to create and customise them

  13. Additional Commands - special commands not part of the core shapes; fonts, dates and access to BoardGameGeek data

  14. Compound Objects - special composite shapes not part of the core shapes e.g. cubes, dice, polyominoes, pentominoes

  15. Special Functions - special functions for specific situations

  16. Terminology - summary of common jargon and descriptions of many of the elements’ properties

  17. Commands - summary of all the commands available

The following are supplementary sections that you’re likely to need when doing more advanced scripts or needing further resources:

  1. Descriptions of Supplied Examples - brief walkthoughs of many of the examples provided with protograf

  2. Working with Fonts - how to install and use fonts, both built-in and additional ones

  3. Using Python Commands - how to work with loops, if/then statements and functions for more flexibility

  4. Development Notes - notes for programmers wanting to develop further in or with protograf

  5. Useful Resources - various tools, graphic collections andd other items, alonhg with their website addresses, that could be useful for boardgame prototyping