DotTiled/README.md

# 📚 DotTiled

<img src="https://www.mapeditor.org/img/tiled-logo-white.png" align="right" width="20%"/>

DotTiled is a simple and easy-to-use library for loading, saving, and managing [Tiled maps and tilesets](https://mapeditor.org) in your .NET projects. After [TiledCS](https://github.com/TheBoneJarmer/TiledCS) unfortunately became unmaintained (since 2022), I aimed to create a new library that could fill its shoes. DotTiled is the result of that effort.

Other similar libraries exist, and you may want to consider them for your project as well:
| Library | Active | Formats | Feature coverage | Docs | License | Benchmark Rank* |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **DotTiled** | ✅ | `.tmx` `.tsx` <br> `.tmj` `.tsj` | | Usage, API, XML docs | | |
| [TiledLib](https://github.com/Ragath/TiledLib.Net) | ✅ | | | | | |
| [TiledCSPlus](https://github.com/nolemretaWxd/TiledCSPlus) | ✅ | | | | | |
| [TiledSharp](https://github.com/marshallward/TiledSharp) | ❌ | | | | | |
| [TiledCS](https://github.com/TheBoneJarmer/TiledCS) | ❌ | | | | | |
| [TiledNet](https://github.com/napen123/Tiled.Net) | ❌ | | | | | |

> [!NOTE]
> *Benchmark rank is based on the libraries' speed and memory usage when loading different types of maps and tilesets. Further explanations and details can be found in the below collapsible section.

<details>
<summary>
Comparison and benchmark details
</summary>

**TODO: Add table displaying feature availability**

**TODO: Add table displaying benchmark results**

</details>

[MonoGame](https://www.monogame.net) users may also want to consider using [MonoGame.Extended](https://github.com/craftworkgames/MonoGame.Extended) for loading Tiled maps and tilesets. Like MonoGame.Extended, DotTiled also provides a way to properly import Tiled maps and tilesets with the MonoGame content pipeline. However, unlike MonoGame.Extended, DotTiled does *not* include any kind of rendering capabilities, and it is up to you as a developer to implement any kind of rendering for your maps when using DotTiled.

## Quickstart

Here are a few short examples to get you started with DotTiled.

### Constructing your `TmxSerializer`

There are few details to be aware of for your `TmxSerializer`:

```csharp
// A map may or may not contain tilesets that are stored in external
// files. To deserialize a map, you must provide a way to resolve such
// tilesets.
Func<TmxSerializer, string, Tileset> tilesetResolver = 
  (TmxSerializer serializer, string path) => 
  {
    string tilesetXml = fileSystem.ReadAllText(path);
    return serializer.DeserializeTileset(tilesetXml);
  };

// A map may or may not contain objects that reference template files.
// To deserialize a map, you must provide a way to resolve such templates.
Func<TmxSerializer, string, Template> templateResolver = 
  (TmxSerializer serializer, string path) => 
  {
    string templateXml = fileSystem.ReadAllText(path);
    return serializer.DeserializeTemplate(templateXml);
  };

var tmxSerializer = new TmxSerializer(tilesetResolver, templateResolver);
```

### Loading a `.tmx` map 

The `TmxSerializer` has several overloads for `DeserializeMap` that allow you to load a map from a number of different sources.

```csharp
string mapXml = fileSystem.ReadAllText("path/to/map.tmx");
Map mapFromRaw = tmxSerializer.DeserializeMap(mapXml); // From raw XML string in memory

using var reader = fileSystem.OpenXmlReader("path/to/map.tmx");
Map mapFromReader = tmxSerializer.DeserializeMap(reader); // From XML reader
```

### Loading a `.tsx` tileset

Similar to maps, the `TmxSerializer` has several overloads for `DeserializeTileset` that allow you to load a tileset from a number of different sources.

```csharp
string tilesetXml = fileSystem.ReadAllText("path/to/tileset.tsx");
Tileset tileset = tmxSerializer.DeserializeTileset(tilesetXml); // From raw XML string in memory

using var reader = fileSystem.OpenXmlReader("path/to/tileset.tsx");
Tileset tileset = tmxSerializer.DeserializeTileset(reader); // From XML reader
```