Quick Start Guide

Welcome to Compute App Building! This guide will help you get started quickly by walking you through the basic steps to launch your first app.

Note

Before you begin, ensure you have successfully installed and connected the platform with the Compute Engine.

Start a New App Collection

To begin, open the Compute.build platform and make sure you're connected to the Compute Engine by checking that the connection icon in the top menu has turned blue:

Next, open the side menu by clicking on the three horizontal lines in the top menu. This reveals several shortcuts to the different platform features. Click on the one named App Builder:

If this is your first time opening this page, a dialog will appear to guide you through some initial configuration:

First, load an App Collection. You can either load an existing collection by clicking on the Load Existing Collection button, or start a new one by clicking on the Start New Collection button. For this guide, let's create a new App Collection. A dialog will prompt you to choose a name for your collection. Let's call it My First Collection:

The Compute Engine should open a new window for you to select a location to store your new App Collection. If it doesn't appear automatically, try clicking on the Compute Engine again. Once you've chosen a directory, return to the platform, and the Selected Collection field should be populated with the filepath to your new collection:

The new directory will have the structure described in the App Collection, although it will initially contain zero apps. Let's change that by creating our first app!

Create your first App

To create a new App, click the + button on the right side of the dialog. This will open a new dialog prompting you to configure the app. Fill in the fields with your desired values:

When you're ready, press the Ok button to create and add the new app to your collection. If you left the "Open New App in the default text editor?" option checked, your system's default text editor should open with the base code necessary to run the app:

In the platform dialog, you should now see the name of your new app next to the Select the entry app dropdown menu. Press the Ok button to load the app:

You should now see a blank page. This is normal, as no content has been added yet! Let's add a simple Markdown text in the build_parameters section of the app.

After clicking the Init UI button, the text should appear in the User Input and Detailed Output sections of the app page:

Success

Congratulations! You've built your first Compute application!

Feel free to continue experimenting with the app's code, and see your changes in the App Builder by clicking the Init UI button.