You can use exporters made by others and in most cases, you'll probably want to - as long as there is one for the platform/architecture/style you prefer. But sometimes that is not the case. For this reason, everyone can now create their own exporter.
You should consider building a new exporter from scratch in one of the following cases:
You were unable to find a suitable exporter for whatever reason
The platform you target is not supported by Supernova, and the community didn't build one just yet
Exporter for your problem exists but the result doesn't fit you for whatever reason
You have an idea for an exporter that would bring value (and joy) to others
You just want to push exporter technology to its limits
If you answered yes to any of the above, it is time to build a new exporter.
While building exporters file by file by hand is possible, we strongly recommend starting with creating package through Supernova exporter manager, accessible from top menu > Manage Exporters
. Clicking Add new exporter
will create a new exporter package, empty but ready and configured for immediate use.
Building a new exporter from scratch is complex, but a very straightforward task. You define its configuration, how should it behave, what code to generate for what scenarios, and lastly map everything into actual files that will be written into a destination user specifies when using the exporter.
There are several tutorial series focused on building such exporter. We strongly recommend you start with the easiest one, a basic HTML exporter, that walks you through all the basics such as creating a blueprint and mapping the file. Have fun!