autoplay2c - transpile AMS8/Lua -> C -> DLL.

[Imagine Programming]

After years of being idle in the AutoPlay Media Studio world something triggered my interest in AMS again.
This is why I decided to have a weekend project for the few people remaining on these forums.

autoplay2c
autoplay2c is a utility for AMS8 users or Lua 5.1 developers on 32-bit Windows based systems. This tool is
capable of transpiling (translating/compiling) Lua 5.1 to a Lua Abstract Syntax Tree (AST). It then translates that
AST into a C AST, which can be used to generate C source code. autoplay2c will then compile that source
code into a DLL, specifically a Lua module. The module can then be loaded like any other Lua module.

When a .autoplay project file is chosen as input file, all the source code in that project will be collected and
converted to a single large Lua module. That large Lua module is then compiled as DLL. A copy of the
AMS project file is stored containing only calls into the compiled Lua module, but the original source code
is gone as it was translated to Lua API calls rather than Lua VM instructions.

There is support for version information, your resulting binary will have your own version information.

disclaimer: this is not code encryption or obfuscation, it's a full translation of Lua to C. This means that
your original code might not always work. Coroutines are not supported. Read more about the limitations
in the application help dialog. Huge Lua scripts might require a custom Lua version with a very large
LUAI_MAXCCALLS value, as all calls will happen on the C side of Lua rather than the Lua side.

read the help topics that are accessible from within the main application!

More information and downloads

[Imagine Programming]

A couple of examples of AMS projects that were transpiled through autoplay2c

[colc]

Bas,
Many Thanks for your efforts

[Rolando2018]

Thanks !!

[herrin]

see that you have finished the project
great job as usual
many thanks Bas

[Imagine Programming]

see that you have finished the project
great job as usual
many thanks Bas

I have not fully finished the other project :P Thanks!

[Poison_ivy]

[Imagine Programming]

Update - v1.1.0.0

An update is available for autoplay2c:

• Changed: all compiler options are now under the "Options" button next to the "Compile" button
• Fixed: Generate intermediate files checkbox state was not stored as project setting
• Added: Object serialization (no more objects in _proj.dat)
• Added: Object serialization exclusion rules (exclude object types or specific objects from serialization)
• Added: Generate code to imitate TAB-order where possible, which is not entirely the same due to AMS limitations
• Added: Generate code to also automatically add items from the AMS environment to serialized objects, where applicable
• Added: Feature to replace references to AutoPlay directory with a directory of choice

For more information, visit the product page.

NOTE: Object Serialization is not a magic solution for hiding away objects in your AMS project. It will disappear from _proj.dat, but some features will no longer be available. TAB-order will act differently, some object types have bugs (such as OBJECT_INPUT, OBJECT_LISTBOX) upon creation with Page.CreateObject and DialogEx.CreateObject and more. Please test your software well before publishing, as it might be acting differently after autoplay2c and especially after object serialization. I will update the limitations and help dialog information soon, after feedback from users.

Also please remember that this is also not obfuscation or encryption, it transpiles the application. Reverse engineering is still possible, quite easily. The only advantage here is that the Lua source code is absolutely gone, so it cannot be reversed that easily to Lua.