Add installer for examples (#101)

* add function copy_examples

* add using Pkg

* fix help command

* suppress the error message

* menu works now

* add comment

* improve install_examples()

* update README.md

* update index.md

* update NEWS.md

---------

Co-authored-by: Uwe Fechner <[email protected]>

Author: ufechner7

NEWS.md

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## Unreleased
+### Added
+- added the function `install_examples()` which allows to easily install the examples without using `git`
+
 ## VortexStepMethod v1.1.0 2025-03-04
 ### Added
 - Dynamically deform the KiteWing by twisting the left side and right side, and deforming the trailing edges using deform! #19

README.md

@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add("TestEnv"); Pkg.add("ControlPlots")'
 
 Before installing this software it is suggested to create a new project, for example like this:
 ```bash
-mkdir test
-cd test
+mkdir vsm
+cd vsm
 julia --project=.
 ```
 Then add VortexStepMethod from  Julia's package manager, by typing:
@@ -38,8 +38,14 @@ at the Julia prompt. You can run the unit tests with the command:
 ```julia
 pkg"test VortexStepMethod"
 ```
+To run the examples, type:
+```julia
+using VortexStepMethod
+VortexStepMethod.install_examples()
+include("examples/menu.jl")
+```
 
-## Running the examples
+## Running the examples as developer
 If you have git installed, check out this repo because it makes it easier to understand the code:
 ```bash
 mkdir repos

docs/src/index.md

@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add("TestEnv"); Pkg.add("ControlPlots")'
 
 Before installing this software it is suggested to create a new project, for example like this:
 ```bash
-mkdir test
-cd test
+mkdir vsm
+cd vsm
 julia --project=.
 ```
 Then add VortexStepMethod from  Julia's package manager, by typing:
@@ -39,8 +39,14 @@ at the Julia prompt. You can run the unit tests with the command:
 ```julia
 pkg"test VortexStepMethod"
 ```
+To run the examples, type:
+```julia
+using VortexStepMethod
+VortexStepMethod.install_examples()
+include("examples/menu.jl")
+```
 
-## Running the examples
+## Running the examples as developer
 If you have git installed, check out this repo because it makes it easier to understand the code:
 ```bash
 mkdir repos

examples/menu.jl

@@ -4,18 +4,24 @@ using REPL.TerminalMenus
 
 url = "https://albatross-kite-transport.github.io/VortexStepMethod.jl/dev"
 
-help_command = if Sys.iswindows()
-    "run(`cmd /c start $url`)"
-else
-    "run(`xdg-open $url`)"
+function help() 
+    if Sys.iswindows()
+        run(`cmd /c start $url`)
+    else
+        io = IOBuffer()
+        run(pipeline(`xdg-open $url`, stderr = io))
+        # ignore any error messages
+        out_data = String(take!(io)) 
+    end
+    nothing
 end
 
 options = ["rectangular_wing = include(\"rectangular_wing.jl\")",
            "ram_air_kite = include(\"ram_air_kite.jl\")",
            "stall_model = include(\"stall_model.jl\")",
            "bench = include(\"bench.jl\")",
            "cleanup = include(\"cleanup.jl\")",
-           "help = $help_command",
+           "help_me = help()",
            "quit"]
 
 function example_menu()

src/VortexStepMethod.jl

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ using Interpolations: Extrapolation
 using Parameters
 using Serialization
 using SharedArrays
+using Pkg
 
 # Export public interface
 export Wing, Section, KiteWing
@@ -169,6 +170,54 @@ function menu()
    Main.include("examples/menu.jl")
 end
 
+"""
+    copy_examples()
+
+Copy all example scripts to the folder "examples"
+(it will be created if it doesn't exist).
+"""
+function copy_examples()
+    PATH = "examples"
+    if ! isdir(PATH) 
+        mkdir(PATH)
+    end
+    src_path = joinpath(dirname(pathof(@__MODULE__)), "..", PATH)
+    copy_files("examples", readdir(src_path))
+end
+
+function install_examples(add_packages=true)
+    copy_examples()
+    if add_packages
+        if ! ("ControlPlots" ∈ keys(Pkg.project().dependencies))
+            Pkg.add("ControlPlots")
+        end
+        if ! ("LaTeXStrings" ∈ keys(Pkg.project().dependencies))
+            Pkg.add("LaTeXStrings")
+        end
+        if ! ("Xfoil" ∈ keys(Pkg.project().dependencies))
+            Pkg.add("Xfoil")
+        end
+        if ! ("CSV" ∈ keys(Pkg.project().dependencies))
+            Pkg.add("CSV")
+        end
+        if ! ("DataFrames" ∈ keys(Pkg.project().dependencies))
+            Pkg.add("DataFrames")
+        end
+    end
+end
+
+function copy_files(relpath, files)
+    if ! isdir(relpath) 
+        mkdir(relpath)
+    end
+    src_path = joinpath(dirname(pathof(@__MODULE__)), "..", relpath)
+    for file in files
+        cp(joinpath(src_path, file), joinpath(relpath, file), force=true)
+        chmod(joinpath(relpath, file), 0o774)
+    end
+    files
+end
+
 # Include core functionality
 include("wing_geometry.jl")
 include("kite_geometry.jl")