Editing Modding Tutorials/Decompiling source code

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The base game provides a bunch of code snippets in ''../Source/'', relative to your Rimworld installation. Since this isn't a lot, one might want to take a look at the game's full source code. RimWorld's [https://rimworldgame.com/eula/ EULA] allows you to decompile the game for personal use. It's recommended to read it.

The following programs are used and recommended by modders:<br/><br/>

=Decompiling source code=

===dnSpy===
dnSpy is a great application for decompiling or debugging and has a Visual Studio editor feel to it. It's currently only for Windows.<br/>
# Download [https://github.com/0xd4d/dnSpy/releases dnSpy] and extract it somewhere.
# Open dnSpy.exe. Once it's open, click "open" on the top ribbon (or press Ctrl+O).
# Navigate to ''../Rimworld***_Data/Managed/'', relative to your Rimworld installation and with *** being a version number.
# Ctrl+Shift+K to open the search bar.
# Explore the assembly and look through the source code to your heart's desire.

===ILSpy===

One method is to use ILSpy. This software is recommended because its settings are correct on a clean install. It provides binaries only for Windows, but you can compile it yourself as a CLI application for Mono framework on OS X and Linux, see its [https://github.com/icsharpcode/ILSpy#unix--mac "How to build" instructions] on GitHub for more info.<br/>

# Download [http://ilspy.net/ ILSpy] (Download latest release) and extract it to a directory of your choosing. Optionally create a desktop shortcut;
# '''Either''': associate the .dll extension with ILSpy:
## Navigate to ''Assembly-CSharp.dll'' in ''../Rimworld***_Data/Managed/'', relative to your Rimworld installation and with *** being a version number (See Note on MacOS below);
## Right-click "Open with" and select a standard program. Navigate to your ILSpy installation and double-click ''ILSpy.exe'', tick the checkbox and accept;
## Double-click ''Assembly-CSharp.dll'',
# '''Or''': open ILSpy and open a .dll:
## Open ILSpy;
## Go to File -> Open or press Ctrl+O, navigate to ''../Rimworld***_Data/Managed/'', relative to your Rimworld installation and with *** being a version number (See Note on MacOS below);
## Select ''Assembly-CSharp.dll'' and confirm,
# Click the "+" next to ''Assembly-CSharp (***)'', you will now see a list including the items ''Rimworld'' and ''Verse'';
# Take your time to look through the source code, to make yourself familiar. If you ever need the source code, open ILSpy again:
## Ctrl+Shift+F or Ctrl+E opens the search bar which can be used to search through all loaded assemblies;
## Ctrl+F opens a search bar for the currently opened decompiled class.<br/><br/>

===MonoDevelop===

MonoDevelop is capable of decompiling DLLs, albeit using clumsy initial settings. It is Linux only, otherwise you have to download Xamarin Studio which doesn't have a decompiler.<br/>

# Download [http://www.monodevelop.com/download/ MonoDevelop] and install it;
# '''Either''': associate the .dll extension with MonoDevelop:
## Navigate to ''Assembly-CSharp.dll'' in ''../Rimworld***_Data/Managed/'', relative to your Rimworld installation and with *** being a version number (See Note on MacOS below);
## Right-click "Open with" and select MonoDevelop as standard program;
## Double-click ''Assembly-CSharp.dll'',
# '''Or''': open MonoDevelop and open a .dll:
## Open MonoDevelop;
## Go to File -> Open, navigate to ''../Rimworld***_Data/Managed/'', relative to your Rimworld installation and with *** being a version number (See Note on MacOS below);
## Select ''Assembly-CSharp.dll'' and confirm,
# '''Very important''': search for a dropdown called "Visibility" and change it from "Only public members" to "All members";
# '''Very important''': search for a dropdown called "Language" and change it from "Summary" to "C#";
# Click the "+" next to ''Assembly-CSharp (***)'', you will now see a list including the items ''Rimworld'' and ''Verse'';
# Take your time to look through the source code, to make yourself familiar. If you ever need the source code, open ''Assembly-CSharp.dll'' again.<br/><br/>


===Rider===

Rider is a cross-platform IDE with a built-in decompiler. If you're using Rider as your IDE ([[Modding_Tutorials/Setting_up_a_solution#Rider_.28good_for_Mac.29|Setup Instructions]]), you can view the source of any RimWorld class or method by right-clicking its name and clicking Go To > Definition.


===MacOS Directories===

For Macs, directories are similar but in: ../RimWorldMac.app/Contents/Resources/Data/Managed. 

For Steam installed RimWorld, find your app here: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/RimWorld/RimWorldMac.app.

=How to make use of a decompiler=
{{Main|Modding_Tutorials/ThingDef}}

=Tips when decompiling=
# Right-click any Type or Method and hit "analyse" to obtain more context on that item. 'Used by' and 'Uses' provide a lot of contextual clues which is required to know how things work.
# RimWorld often uses reflection to instantiate Workers and MakeThings. This means no decompiler will cleanly find what/where an instance of a class is created. Hint: if you find yourself using 'new Pawn()', you're doing it wrong.
# If you're going in circles trying to find things like "where is X assigned", odds are you'll need to look at the XML for it. The XML contains the data, C# does things with it.

=See also=

* [[Modding Tutorials/Writing custom code|Writing custom code]] shows a broad overview of C# coding.<br/>

[[Category:Modding tutorials]]