10 — Packaging¶

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Deployment Units¶

Artifact	vcpkg Package Name	Conan Package Name	Distribution Format
core connector	`zlink-stream-connector`	`zlink-stream-connector`	CMake, vcpkg, Conan
e2e client	`zlink-stream-e2e-client`	`zlink-stream-e2e-client`	CMake, vcpkg, Conan
Unreal plugin	—	—	source plugin + generated ThirdParty package
Godot adapter	—	—	source GDExtension
Axmol adapter	—	—	source package

vcpkg¶

Installation¶

Default install (TCP, JSON):

vcpkg install zlink-stream-connector

To add features, use bracket notation:

vcpkg install "zlink-stream-connector[tls,websocket,lz4]"

Installing the e2e client together:

vcpkg install zlink-stream-connector zlink-stream-e2e-client

Supported Features¶

Feature	Content	Dependency
`tls`	TLS over TCP / WSS transport	OpenSSL
`websocket`	WebSocket / WSS transport	(includes Boost.Beast)
`lz4`	LZ4 packet compression	LZ4

CMakeLists.txt¶

find_package(zlink-stream-connector CONFIG REQUIRED)

target_link_libraries(my_game PRIVATE zlink::stream_connector)

Conan¶

conanfile.txt¶

[requires]
zlink-stream-connector/0.10.0

[options]
zlink-stream-connector/*:with_tls=True
zlink-stream-connector/*:with_websocket=True
zlink-stream-connector/*:with_lz4=True

conanfile.py¶

from conan import ConanFile

class MyGameConan(ConanFile):
    requires = "zlink-stream-connector/0.10.0"
    options = {"zlink-stream-connector/*:with_tls": True,
               "zlink-stream-connector/*:with_websocket": True}

Conan Options¶

Option	Default	Meaning
`with_tls`	`False`	TLS/WSS transport
`with_websocket`	`False`	WebSocket/WSS transport
`with_lz4`	`True`	LZ4 compression

CMake FetchContent¶

Builds directly from source, with no vcpkg/Conan.

include(FetchContent)

FetchContent_Declare(zlink_stream_connector
    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/zlink-systems/zlink.git
    GIT_TAG        main
    SOURCE_SUBDIR  framework/languages/cpp/connector/core
)
set(ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_WITH_TLS        ON  CACHE BOOL "")
set(ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_WITH_WEBSOCKET  ON  CACHE BOOL "")
set(ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_WITH_LZ4        ON  CACHE BOOL "")

FetchContent_MakeAvailable(zlink_stream_connector)

target_link_libraries(my_game PRIVATE zlink::stream_connector)

CMake Build Options¶

Option	Default	Meaning
`ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_BUILD_E2E_CLIENT`	`ON`	includes the e2e client build
`ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_WITH_TLS`	`ON`	TLS/WSS transport
`ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_WITH_WEBSOCKET`	`ON`	WebSocket/WSS transport
`ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_WITH_LZ4`	`ON`	LZ4 compression
`ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_BUILD_UNREAL`	`ON`	builds the Unreal adapter
`ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_BUILD_GODOT`	`OFF`	builds the Godot adapter
`ZLINK_STREAM_CONNECTOR_BUILD_AXMOL`	`OFF`	builds the Axmol adapter

CMake Target Composition¶

Target	Public Include	Purpose
`zlink::stream_connector`	`zlink/stream_connector.hpp`	core connector
`zlink::stream_e2e_client`	`zlink/stream_e2e_client.hpp`	e2e/perf scenario

The two targets are mutually independent. zlink::stream_e2e_client uses zlink::stream_connector as a public or private dependency.

Engine Adapter Distribution¶

The Unreal, Godot, and Axmol adapters are distributed as source packages, not through vcpkg/Conan.

Adapter	Distribution Method	Description
Unreal	source plugin (`.uplugin`) + generated native package	placed under `Plugins/ZLinkStreamConnector/` with `ThirdParty/ZLink/`
Godot	source GDExtension	placed under `addons/zlink_stream_connector/`
Axmol	CMake source	`third_party/` or FetchContent

Each adapter either includes the core connector as an internal ThirdParty or references an installed CMake package. A user of an adapter package doesn't need to install the server framework package.

Unreal Build Tool cannot consume the CMake target graph directly, so Tools/package-third-party.cmake creates a native package from a configured CMake build. The command below stages the Unreal adapter, C++ binding, Core runtime and Core CMake package, selected OpenSSL/LZ4 libraries, and a relative manifest under ThirdParty/ZLink/.

cmake \
  -DZLINK_UNREAL_BUILD_DIR=/absolute/path/to/framework/languages/cpp/build \
  -DZLINK_UNREAL_OUTPUT_DIR=/absolute/path/to/ThirdParty/ZLink \
  -DZLINK_UNREAL_CONFIGURATION=Release \
  -P framework/languages/cpp/connector/engines/unreal/Tools/package-third-party.cmake

ZLinkStreamConnector.Build.cs reads the manifest, validates the include paths, link libraries, runtime files, and system libraries, and registers them with the Unreal module. Set ZLINK_UNREAL_THIRDPARTY_ROOT to use a package outside the plugin directory. Windows system libraries such as ws2_32 and mswsock, together with the TLS system dependencies, are recorded in the manifest. This supplies build/package dependencies without adding platform branches to the Asio transport runtime. The script installs only the StreamConnector CMake component, records platform/architecture/configuration/compiler metadata, and rejects a package whose target does not match the Unreal build. The installed CMake export uses package-relative dependency paths and includes the Windows Core import library, so a clean consumer does not depend on the producer's build directory.

Before invoking Unreal Build Tool, set ZLINK_UNREAL_COMPILER_ID and ZLINK_UNREAL_COMPILER_VERSION to the actual compiler values selected by the Unreal target. Both values must match the manifest. They are required so a package built with a different compiler or CRT is rejected instead of being linked silently. The module uses the ReadOnlyTargetRules Platform, Architecture, and Configuration properties; run the package through the Unreal version's actual UBT to verify that API surface.

Dependency Summary¶

Dependency	Purpose	Default Inclusion
Boost.Asio	asynchronous I/O runtime	always
Boost.Beast	WebSocket	`WITH_WEBSOCKET`
nlohmann/json	JSON codec	always
OpenSSL	TLS/WSS	`WITH_TLS`
LZ4	compression (system LZ4 or fallback source)	`WITH_LZ4`
msgpack-cxx	MessagePack codec	`WITH_MESSAGEPACK`
protobuf	Protobuf codec	`WITH_PROTOBUF`