This guide outlines how to configure and build a Win32 desktop app via the Corona Simulator. A .exe
file, a collection of .dll
files, and your Corona project's asset files. It is compiled for
All features supported by the Corona Simulator for Windows are supported for Win32 desktop builds. However, the Corona Simulator for Windows does not support most native UI features that the macOS version does.
Just like mobile device builds, Win32 desktop builds support an orientation
table within the project's build.settings
file. If defined, the width and height defined in the config.lua
file (guide) will be relative to portrait orientation, just like iOS and Android. This means that for a width
is the height of the window and height
is the width of the window, making your project settings portable to both desktop and mobile devices.
Corona's build.settings
file supports the following Win32 win32
table:
settings = { win32 = { -- Settings for Win32 apps go here } }
Indicates where the app's custom preferences should be stored when accessed via the system.getPreference(), system.setPreferences(), and system.deletePreferences() functions using the "app"
category.
settings = { win32 = { preferenceStorage = "registry", } }
This key can be set to one of the following:
"sqlite"
— This is the default setting and the most portable option. Preferences are stored to a CoronaPreferences.sqlite
database file under the Windows user's hidden .\AppData\Local\<CompanyName>\<AppName>\.system
"registry"
— Stores the app's preferences to the Windows registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\<CompanyName>\<AppName>
/
) and backslashes (\
) in a preference name will be regarded as registry key path separators and will be treated as the same characters.Set this to true
(the default setting) to allow only one instance of a Win32 desktop application to exist at a time. This means that attempting to launch a second instance will bring the first instance's window to the front of the desktop instead. If the second instance was given any command line arguments, those arguments are delivered to the first instance via an "applicationOpen"
typed system event. Set this setting to false
to support multiple application instances at the same time.
settings = { win32 = { singleInstance = false, } }
For both Win32 desktop apps and macOS desktop apps, Corona's build.settings
file supports a window
table for customizing the app's desktop window, including the default width/height, the title of the window, and more.
settings = { window = { -- Settings for the desktop window; applies to both Win32 and macOS desktop apps }, }
Within the window
table, the following settings are supported:
Sets how the window should be launched on startup. Supported values include "normal"
, "minimized"
, "maximized"
, or "fullscreen"
. Default is "normal"
. This can also be set programmatically via the native.setProperty() API.
settings = { window = { defaultMode = "fullscreen", }, }
Sets the default launch width of the view/client area of the window. This is the region within the borders of the window to which Corona renders. Ideally, this should match or exceed your config.lua
content area width.
settings = { window = { defaultViewWidth = 640, }, }
Sets the default launch height of the view/client area of the window. This is the region within the borders of the window to which Corona renders. Ideally, this should match or exceed your config.lua
content area height.
settings = { window = { defaultViewHeight = 960, }, }
Set this to true
to allow the end user to resize the window (the window is not resizable by default). Note that if true
, you may need to handle Corona's resize event to
settings = { window = { resizable = true, }, }
This setting only applies if resizable
is set to true
. Prevents the user from resizing the window to a width smaller than this value. Note that this represents the width of the region within the borders of the window. If resizable
is set to true
and this setting is not specified, the window can be resized down to whatever width the OS allows.
settings = { window = { minViewWidth = 320, }, }
This setting only applies if resizable
is set to true
. Prevents the user from resizing the window to a height smaller than this value. Note that this represents the height of the region within the borders of the window. If resizable
is set to true
and this setting is not specified, the window can be resized down to whatever height the OS allows.
settings = { window = { minViewHeight = 480, }, }
Tells the runtime to suspend when the window is minimized
settings = { window = { suspendWhenMinimized = true, }, }
Sets the window's title bar text to the specified string (no title bar text by default). Supports
settings = { window = { titleText = { -- The "default" text will be used if the system is using a language and/or -- country code not defined below. This serves as a fallback mechanism. default = "Window Title Test", -- This text is used on English language systems in the United States. -- Note that the country code must be separated by a dash (-). ["en‐us"] = "Window Title Test (English‐USA)", -- This text is used on English language systems in the United Kingdom. -- Note that the country code must be separated by a dash (-). ["en‐gb"] = "Window Title Test (English‐UK)", -- This text is used for all other English language systems. ["en"] = "Window Title Test (English)", -- This text is used for all French language systems. ["fr"] = "Window Title Test (French)", -- This text is used for all Spanish language systems. ["es"] = "Window Title Test (Spanish)", }, }, }
You can exclude file(s) that aren't needed for a Win32 desktop app via the build.settings
file's excludeFiles
pattern matching feature. Please see the Excluding Files section of the Project Build Settings guide for more details on pattern matching.
You must add a Icon-win32.ico
file to your Corona project's root directory when doing a Win32 build via the Corona Simulator. This file should contain multiple images at different resolutions, bundled into a single .ico
file (details). This Icon-win32.ico
.exe
file uses, as viewed in Windows Explorer.You can use Windows Explorer to see how your .exe
app icon looks at different resolutions — simply choose different "View" modes in its menu/toolbar such as "Details" or "Tiled."
To build and run your Win32 desktop app, follow these steps:
The Application Name, EXE File Name, Version, and Save to Folder fields are all required. All other fields are optional, but we highly recommend that you specify them. Here are notes regarding these build dialog fields:
Application Name — The application name you've entered can be fetched at runtime via Corona's system.getInfo( "appName" )
call (reference).
EXE File Name — When right-clicking the built .exe
file, most of this field information can be seen via the "Properties" window.
Version — The version string you've entered can be fetched at runtime via Corona's system.getInfo( "appVersionString" )
call (reference).
Description — This string is used by the Windows Task Manager to display the name of your app process. If the description is not set, the Task Manager will use the application name instead.
Application Name + Company Name — In combination, these are used to generate a unique directory to store your app's files under the Windows user's hidden \AppData
directory.
When using the above combination, the following directories will be generated:
.\AppData\Roaming\<CompanyName>\<AppName>\Documents
.\AppData\Local\<CompanyName>\<AppName>\CachedFiles
.\AppData\Local\<CompanyName>\<AppName>\TemporaryFiles
.\AppData\Local\<CompanyName>\<AppName>\.system
(used by Corona for its own internal purposes)Windows will automatically synchronize files under the \Roaming
folder on to other machines that the user logs into on the same Windows domain via Active Directory. However, files under the \Local
folder will not be synchronized.
From the resulting dialog window, click the <AppName>.Win32
. Open this folder to access the app's .exe
file.
Double click on the .exe
file to run your app.
The Corona Simulator does not currently support direct simulation of an app running in Windows desktop mode. However, the Windows version of Corona SDK contains a new application named Corona.Shell.exe
which can run a Corona project similarly to how a built Win32 desktop app runs. By default, you can find the Corona Shell application here:
C:\Program Files\Corona Labs\Corona SDK\Corona.Shell.exe
When you run the Corona Shell, it will prompt you to select a Corona project's main.lua
file. Once the file has been selected, it will run the app. This allows you to make quick changes to your project without having to perform a build each time. However, note that the Corona Shell does not support restarts or logging since it's actually running your project just like a real Win32 desktop app (no simulation).
Also note that when running a built Win32 desktop app or the Corona Shell, all print()
output and Lua errors/warnings will be streamed to stdout
. There are various ways to manage this output. One way is to redirect stdout
to a text file at the command line (MSDOS box) as shown below. This will launch your app and, after you close it, a text file will be generated containing all of the print/logging information.
[YourExeFileName] > log.txt
Alternatively, you can run the Corona Output Viewer installed under the Windows start menu's "Corona SDK" folder to run a
The Corona Simulator will not digitally sign your built .exe
file. This is because Windows does not require .exe
files to be digitally signed in order to run them (it's optional). However, some antivirus software might block your app from being started or "red flag" the app if it's not digitally signed. Thus, it is best to digitally sign your .exe
when you're ready to distribute the app publicly.
Microsoft documents how to digitally sign an application here.
To summarize, in order to sign your app, you need to purchase a digital certificate from a reputable source such as VeriSign or DigiCert. Microsoft's signing tools require this to be a .pfx
file. You'll then need to acquire Microsoft's signtool
command line utility by downloading and installing one of the following:
Here is an example of how to digitally sign your app:
signtool sign /f <PathToPfxFile> /p <CertificatePassword> /t <TimeServerUrl> <PathToExeFile>