name: xnafiddle
description: XnaFiddle — Victor's site for XNA-syntax fiddles that run on web and export to a chosen runtime/platform, optionally linking engine source. Triggers: XnaFiddle, fiddle, cross-backend web repro, engine-source experiment, upstream KNI/MonoGame/FNA repro.
XnaFiddle
XnaFiddle is Victor's own site (he maintains it) — so it's authoritative and feature-requestable, not a black-box third party. It lets you author a fiddle: a small project written in XNA syntax that compiles and runs in the browser.
What it's for in Gum
Two jobs the checked-in Samples/ projects don't cover as well:
- A source-linked, multi-platform engine experiment. On export you choose the target runtime (MonoGame / KNI / FNA) and platforms (e.g. desktop, web, Android for KNI), and the export can link against engine source instead of the NuGet package — even emitting one
.slnx with per-platform projects. This is what makes it possible to toggle an engine's build constants and prove engine-side behavior, not just observe the shipped build.
- A shareable public repro for an upstream engine issue (KNI/MonoGame/FNA), so the maintainer can run it in a couple of clicks.
Landmine — it is NOT a fixed prebuilt playground
The obvious assumption — "an online playground bakes in one engine, so you can't change the backend or its build" — is wrong for XnaFiddle. Because export chooses the runtime and can source-link, a fiddle can swap backends and run against engine source you control. Don't dismiss it as an investigation vehicle on the belief that it only observes a fixed build.
Relationship to the local Gum samples
Samples/KniGum* (and the MonoGame/FNA equivalents) already reproduce across backends and link the Gum runtime from source, with the engine itself via NuGet — best when the question is "does Gum consume the shipped engine correctly." Reach for XnaFiddle when you instead need a self-contained engine-source experiment or a public repro: it's the stronger tool for varying the engine. For demoing a Gum-runtime feature itself, see the landmine below — it's a strong fit, not a weak one.
Landmine — it already knows about Gum and 3rd-party libraries
Fiddles are Gum-aware, not engine-level-XNA-only — dozens of doc fiddles use the snippet IsGum flag (see gum-docs-writing's xnafiddle.md). Referencing a 3rd-party library in a fiddle's source is enough to pull it in at export: each ILibraryPlugin (e.g. KernSmithPlugin in XnaFiddle.Core/Plugins/) auto-detects it via IsUsedInSource and adds the right NuGet packages — no manual "upgrade" needed. No plugin yet for a library? Request it rather than ruling the fiddle out.
