Module Core.Message
Core - Informs the players using messages during a simulation.
Features:
- A more advanced messaging system using the DCS message system.
- Time messages.
- Send messages based on a message type, which has a pre-defined duration that can be tweaked in SETTINGS.
- Send message to all players.
- Send messages to a coalition.
- Send messages to a specific group.
Global(s)
Global MESSAGE |
Message System to display Messages to Clients, Coalitions or All. |
Message System to display Messages to Clients, Coalitions or All.
Messages are shown on the display panel for an amount of seconds, and will then disappear. Messages can contain a category which is indicating the category of the message.
MESSAGE construction
Messages are created with MESSAGE.New. Note that when the MESSAGE object is created, no message is sent yet. To send messages, you need to use the To functions.
Send messages to an audience
Messages are sent:
- To a Client using MESSAGE.ToClient().
- To a Wrapper.Group using MESSAGE.ToGroup()
- To a coalition using MESSAGE.ToCoalition().
- To the red coalition using MESSAGE.ToRed().
- To the blue coalition using MESSAGE.ToBlue().
- To all Players using MESSAGE.ToAll().
Send conditionally to an audience
Messages can be sent conditionally to an audience (when a condition is true):
- To all players using MESSAGE.ToAllIf().
- To a coalition using MESSAGE.ToCoalitionIf().
Author: FlightControl
Contributions:
Type(s)
Fields and Methods inherited from MESSAGE | Description |
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Clears all previous messages from the screen before the new message is displayed. |
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MESSAGE:New(MessageText, MessageDuration, MessageCategory, ClearScreen) |
Creates a new MESSAGE object. |
Creates a new MESSAGE object of a certain type. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to all players. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to all players if the given Condition is true. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to the Blue coalition. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to a Client Group. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to a Coalition. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to a Coalition if the given Condition is true. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to a Group. |
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Sends a MESSAGE to the Red Coalition. |
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Fields and Methods inherited from BASE | Description |
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The ID number of the class. |
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The name of the class. |
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The name of the class concatenated with the ID number of the class. |
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Clear the state of an object. |
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MESSAGE:CreateEventBirth(EventTime, Initiator, IniUnitName, place, subplace) |
Creation of a Birth Event. |
Creation of a Crash Event. |
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Creation of a Dead Event. |
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Creation of a |
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Creation of a Remove Unit Event. |
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Creation of a Takeoff Event. |
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Creation of a Crash Event. |
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Log an exception which will be traced always. |
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Returns the event dispatcher |
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Remove all subscribed events |
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Trace a function call. |
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Trace a function call level 2. |
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Trace a function call level 3. |
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Get the ClassID of the class instance. |
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Get the ClassName of the class instance. |
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Get the ClassName + ClassID of the class instance. |
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Get the Class Event processing Priority. |
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This is the worker method to retrieve the Parent class. |
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Get a Value given a Key from the Object. |
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Subscribe to a DCS Event. |
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Log an information which will be traced always. |
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This is the worker method to inherit from a parent class. |
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This is the worker method to check if an object is an (sub)instance of a class. |
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Enquires if tracing is on (for the class). |
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BASE constructor. |
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Occurs when an object is completely destroyed. |
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Occurs when a ground unit captures either an airbase or a farp. |
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Occurs when any object is spawned into the mission. |
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Occurs when any aircraft crashes into the ground and is completely destroyed. |
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Occurs when an object is dead. |
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Unknown precisely what creates this event, likely tied into newer damage model. |
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Occurs when a pilot ejects from an aircraft initiator : The unit that has ejected |
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Occurs when any aircraft shuts down its engines. |
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Occurs when any aircraft starts its engines. |
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Occurs whenever an object is hit by a weapon. |
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Occurs when any system fails on a human controlled aircraft. |
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Occurs on the death of a unit. |
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Occurs when an aircraft lands at an airbase, farp or ship initiator : The unit that has landed place: Object that the unit landed on. |
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Occurs shortly after the landing animation of an ejected pilot touching the ground and standing up. |
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Occurs when a new mark was added. |
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Occurs when a mark text was changed. |
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Occurs when a mark was removed. |
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Occurs when a mission ends |
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Occurs when a mission starts |
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Occurs when the pilot of an aircraft is killed. |
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Occurs when a player enters a slot and takes control of an aircraft. |
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Occurs when any player assumes direct control of a unit. |
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Occurs when any player relieves control of a unit to the AI. |
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Occurs when an aircraft connects with a tanker and begins taking on fuel. |
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Occurs when an aircraft is finished taking fuel. |
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Occurs when any modification to the "Score" as seen on the debrief menu would occur. |
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Occurs when any unit stops firing its weapon. |
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Occurs when any unit begins firing a weapon that has a high rate of fire. |
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Occurs whenever any unit in a mission fires a weapon. |
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Occurs when an aircraft takes off from an airbase, farp, or ship. |
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Occurs when the game thinks an object is destroyed. |
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Schedule a new time event. |
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MESSAGE:ScheduleRepeat(Start, Repeat, RandomizeFactor, Stop, SchedulerFunction, ...) |
Schedule a new time event. |
Stops the Schedule. |
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Set the Class Event processing Priority. |
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Set a state or property of the Object given a Key and a Value. |
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Trace a function logic level 1. |
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Trace a function logic level 2. |
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Trace a function logic level 3. |
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Trace all methods in MOOSE |
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Set tracing for a class |
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Set tracing for a specific method of class |
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Set trace level |
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Set trace off. |
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Set trace on. |
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Set trace on or off Note that when trace is off, no BASE.Debug statement is performed, increasing performance! When Moose is loaded statically, (as one file), tracing is switched off by default. |
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UnSubscribe to a DCS event. |
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MESSAGE:_F(Arguments, DebugInfoCurrentParam, DebugInfoFromParam) |
Trace a function call. |
MESSAGE:_T(Arguments, DebugInfoCurrentParam, DebugInfoFromParam) |
Trace a function logic. |
Fields and Methods inherited from MESSAGE.Type | Description |
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The MESSAGE class
Field(s)
self.MessageType .. ": "
Function(s)
Clears all previous messages from the screen before the new message is displayed.
Not that this must come before all functions starting with ToX(), e.g. ToAll(), ToGroup() etc.
Creates a new MESSAGE object.
Note that these MESSAGE objects are not yet displayed on the display panel. You must use the functions ToClient or ToCoalition or ToAll to send these Messages to the respective recipients.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Parameters:
#string MessageText
is the text of the Message.
#number MessageDuration
is a number in seconds of how long the MESSAGE should be shown on the display panel.
#string MessageCategory
(optional) is a string expressing the "category" of the Message. The category will be shown as the first text in the message followed by a ": ".
#boolean ClearScreen
(optional) Clear all previous messages if true.
Return value:
Usage:
-- Create a series of new Messages.
-- MessageAll is meant to be sent to all players, for 25 seconds, and is classified as "Score".
-- MessageRED is meant to be sent to the RED players only, for 10 seconds, and is classified as "End of Mission", with ID "Win".
-- MessageClient1 is meant to be sent to a Client, for 25 seconds, and is classified as "Score", with ID "Score".
-- MessageClient1 is meant to be sent to a Client, for 25 seconds, and is classified as "Score", with ID "Score".
MessageAll = MESSAGE:New( "To all Players: BLUE has won! Each player of BLUE wins 50 points!", 25, "End of Mission" )
MessageRED = MESSAGE:New( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", 25, "Penalty" )
MessageClient1 = MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just hit a target", 25, "Score" )
MessageClient2 = MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just killed a target", 25, "Score")
Creates a new MESSAGE object of a certain type.
Note that these MESSAGE objects are not yet displayed on the display panel. You must use the functions ToClient or ToCoalition or ToAll to send these Messages to the respective recipients. The message display times are automatically defined based on the timing settings in the Settings menu.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Parameters:
#string MessageText
is the text of the Message.
#MESSAGE.Type MessageType
The type of the message.
#boolean ClearScreen
(optional) Clear all previous messages.
Return value:
Usage:
MessageAll = MESSAGE:NewType( "To all Players: BLUE has won! Each player of BLUE wins 50 points!", MESSAGE.Type.Information )
MessageRED = MESSAGE:NewType( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", MESSAGE.Type.Information )
MessageClient1 = MESSAGE:NewType( "Congratulations, you've just hit a target", MESSAGE.Type.Update )
MessageClient2 = MESSAGE:NewType( "Congratulations, you've just killed a target", MESSAGE.Type.Update )
Sends a MESSAGE to all players.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Parameter:
Core.Settings#Settings Settings
(Optional) Settings for message display.
Return value:
Usage:
-- Send a message created to all players.
MessageAll = MESSAGE:New( "To all Players: BLUE has won! Each player of BLUE wins 50 points!", "End of Mission", 25, "Win" ):ToAll()
or
MESSAGE:New( "To all Players: BLUE has won! Each player of BLUE wins 50 points!", "End of Mission", 25, "Win" ):ToAll()
or
MessageAll = MESSAGE:New( "To all Players: BLUE has won! Each player of BLUE wins 50 points!", "End of Mission", 25, "Win" )
MessageAll:ToAll()
Sends a MESSAGE to all players if the given Condition is true.
Sends a MESSAGE to the Blue coalition.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Return value:
Usage:
-- Send a message created with the @{New} method to the BLUE coalition.
MessageBLUE = MESSAGE:New( "To the BLUE Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" ):ToBlue()
or
MESSAGE:New( "To the BLUE Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" ):ToBlue()
or
MessageBLUE = MESSAGE:New( "To the BLUE Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" )
MessageBLUE:ToBlue()
Sends a MESSAGE to a Client Group.
Note that the Group needs to be defined within the ME with the skillset "Client" or "Player".
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Parameters:
Wrapper.Client#CLIENT Client
is the Group of the Client.
Core.Settings#SETTINGS Settings
Settings used to display the message.
Return value:
Usage:
-- Send the 2 messages created with the @{New} method to the Client Group.
-- Note that the Message of MessageClient2 is overwriting the Message of MessageClient1.
ClientGroup = Group.getByName( "ClientGroup" )
MessageClient1 = MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just hit a target", "Score", 25, "Score" ):ToClient( ClientGroup )
MessageClient2 = MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just killed a target", "Score", 25, "Score" ):ToClient( ClientGroup )
or
MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just hit a target", "Score", 25, "Score" ):ToClient( ClientGroup )
MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just killed a target", "Score", 25, "Score" ):ToClient( ClientGroup )
or
MessageClient1 = MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just hit a target", "Score", 25, "Score" )
MessageClient2 = MESSAGE:New( "Congratulations, you've just killed a target", "Score", 25, "Score" )
MessageClient1:ToClient( ClientGroup )
MessageClient2:ToClient( ClientGroup )
Sends a MESSAGE to a Coalition.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Parameters:
#DCS.coalition.side CoalitionSide
DCS.coalition.side to which the message is displayed.
Core.Settings#SETTINGS Settings
(Optional) Settings for message display.
Return value:
Message object.
Usage:
-- Send a message created with the @{New} method to the RED coalition.
MessageRED = MESSAGE:New( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" ):ToCoalition( coalition.side.RED )
or
MESSAGE:New( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" ):ToCoalition( coalition.side.RED )
or
MessageRED = MESSAGE:New( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" )
MessageRED:ToCoalition( coalition.side.RED )
Sends a MESSAGE to a Coalition if the given Condition is true.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Parameters:
CoalitionSide
needs to be filled out by the defined structure of the standard scripting engine coalition.side.
#boolean Condition
Sends the message only if the condition is true.
Return value:
self
Sends a MESSAGE to a Group.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Parameters:
Wrapper.Group#GROUP Group
to which the message is displayed.
Settings
Return value:
Message object.
Sends a MESSAGE to the Red Coalition.
Defined in:
MESSAGE
Return value:
Usage:
-- Send a message created with the @{New} method to the RED coalition.
MessageRED = MESSAGE:New( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" ):ToRed()
or
MESSAGE:New( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" ):ToRed()
or
MessageRED = MESSAGE:New( "To the RED Players: You receive a penalty because you've killed one of your own units", "Penalty", 25, "Score" )
MessageRED:ToRed()
Field(s)
self.MessageType .. ": "
Function(s)
Clear the state of an object.
Defined in:
Parameters:
Object
The object that holds the Value set by the Key.
StateName
The key that is should be cleared.
Creation of a Birth Event.
Defined in:
Parameters:
DCS#Time EventTime
The time stamp of the event.
DCS#Object Initiator
The initiating object of the event.
#string IniUnitName
The initiating unit name.
place
subplace
Creation of a Crash Event.
Defined in:
Parameters:
DCS#Time EventTime
The time stamp of the event.
DCS#Object Initiator
The initiating object of the event.
Creation of a Dead Event.
Defined in:
Parameters:
DCS#Time EventTime
The time stamp of the event.
DCS#Object Initiator
The initiating object of the event.
Creation of a S_EVENT_PLAYER_ENTER_AIRCRAFT
event.
Creation of a Remove Unit Event.
Defined in:
Parameters:
DCS#Time EventTime
The time stamp of the event.
DCS#Object Initiator
The initiating object of the event.
Creation of a Takeoff Event.
Defined in:
Parameters:
DCS#Time EventTime
The time stamp of the event.
DCS#Object Initiator
The initiating object of the event.
Creation of a Crash Event.
Defined in:
Parameters:
DCS#Time EventTime
The time stamp of the event.
DCS#Object Initiator
The initiating object of the event.
Log an exception which will be traced always.
Can be anywhere within the function logic.
Returns the event dispatcher
Remove all subscribed events
Trace a function call.
Must be at the beginning of the function logic.
Trace a function call level 2.
Must be at the beginning of the function logic.
Trace a function call level 3.
Must be at the beginning of the function logic.
Get the ClassID of the class instance.
Get the ClassName of the class instance.
Get the ClassName + ClassID of the class instance.
The ClassName + ClassID is formatted as '%s#%09d'.
Get the Class Event processing Priority.
The Event processing Priority is a number from 1 to 10, reflecting the order of the classes subscribed to the Event to be processed.
This is the worker method to retrieve the Parent class.
Note that the Parent class must be passed to call the parent class method.
self:GetParent(self):ParentMethod()
Get a Value given a Key from the Object.
Note that if the Object is destroyed, nillified or garbage collected, then the Values and Keys will also be gone.
Defined in:
Parameters:
Object
The object that holds the Value set by the Key.
Key
The key that is used to retrieve the value. Note that the key can be a #string, but it can also be any other type!
Return value:
The Value retrieved or nil if the Key was not found and thus the Value could not be retrieved.
Subscribe to a DCS Event.
Defined in:
Parameters:
Core.Event#EVENTS EventID
Event ID.
#function EventFunction
(optional) The function to be called when the event occurs for the unit.
Return value:
Log an information which will be traced always.
Can be anywhere within the function logic.
This is the worker method to inherit from a parent class.
Defined in:
Parameters:
Child
is the Child class that inherits.
#BASE Parent
is the Parent class that the Child inherits from.
Return value:
Child
This is the worker method to check if an object is an (sub)instance of a class.
Examples:
ZONE:New( 'some zone' ):IsInstanceOf( ZONE ) will return true
ZONE:New( 'some zone' ):IsInstanceOf( 'ZONE' ) will return true
ZONE:New( 'some zone' ):IsInstanceOf( 'zone' ) will return true
ZONE:New( 'some zone' ):IsInstanceOf( 'BASE' ) will return true
ZONE:New( 'some zone' ):IsInstanceOf( 'GROUP' ) will return false
Defined in:
Parameter:
ClassName
is the name of the class or the class itself to run the check against
Return value:
#boolean:
Enquires if tracing is on (for the class).
BASE constructor.
This is an example how to use the BASE:New() constructor in a new class definition when inheriting from BASE.
function EVENT:New()
local self = BASE:Inherit( self, BASE:New() ) -- #EVENT
return self
end
Occurs when an object is completely destroyed.
initiator : The unit that is was destroyed.
Occurs when a ground unit captures either an airbase or a farp.
initiator : The unit that captured the base place: The airbase that was captured, can be a FARP or Airbase. When calling place:getCoalition() the faction will already be the new owning faction.
Occurs when any object is spawned into the mission.
initiator : The unit that was spawned
Occurs when any aircraft crashes into the ground and is completely destroyed.
initiator : The unit that has crashed
Occurs when an object is dead.
initiator : The unit that is dead.
Unknown precisely what creates this event, likely tied into newer damage model.
Will update this page when new information become available.
- initiator: The unit that had the failure.
Occurs when a pilot ejects from an aircraft initiator : The unit that has ejected
Occurs when any aircraft shuts down its engines.
initiator : The unit that is stopping its engines.
Occurs when any aircraft starts its engines.
initiator : The unit that is starting its engines.
Occurs whenever an object is hit by a weapon.
initiator : The unit object the fired the weapon weapon: Weapon object that hit the target target: The Object that was hit.
Occurs when any system fails on a human controlled aircraft.
initiator : The unit that had the failure
Occurs on the death of a unit.
Contains more and different information. Similar to unit_lost it will occur for aircraft before the aircraft crash event occurs.
- initiator: The unit that killed the target
- target: Target Object
- weapon: Weapon Object
Occurs when an aircraft lands at an airbase, farp or ship initiator : The unit that has landed place: Object that the unit landed on.
Can be an Airbase Object, FARP, or Ships
Occurs shortly after the landing animation of an ejected pilot touching the ground and standing up.
Event does not occur if the pilot lands in the water and sub combs to Davey Jones Locker.
- initiator: Static object representing the ejected pilot. Place : Aircraft that the pilot ejected from.
- place: may not return as a valid object if the aircraft has crashed into the ground and no longer exists.
- subplace: is always 0 for unknown reasons.
Occurs when a new mark was added.
MarkID: ID of the mark.
Occurs when a mark text was changed.
MarkID: ID of the mark.
Occurs when a mark was removed.
MarkID: ID of the mark.
Occurs when a mission ends
Occurs when a mission starts
Occurs when the pilot of an aircraft is killed.
Can occur either if the player is alive and crashes or if a weapon kills the pilot without completely destroying the plane. initiator : The unit that the pilot has died in.
Occurs when a player enters a slot and takes control of an aircraft.
NOTE: This is a workaround of a long standing DCS bug with the PLAYER_ENTER_UNIT event. initiator : The unit that is being taken control of.
Occurs when any player assumes direct control of a unit.
initiator : The unit that is being taken control of.
Occurs when any player relieves control of a unit to the AI.
initiator : The unit that the player left.
Occurs when an aircraft connects with a tanker and begins taking on fuel.
initiator : The unit that is receiving fuel.
Occurs when an aircraft is finished taking fuel.
initiator : The unit that was receiving fuel.
Occurs when any modification to the "Score" as seen on the debrief menu would occur.
There is no information on what values the score was changed to. Event is likely similar to player_comment in this regard.
Occurs when any unit stops firing its weapon.
Event will always correspond with a shooting start event. initiator : The unit that was doing the shooting.
Occurs when any unit begins firing a weapon that has a high rate of fire.
Most common with aircraft cannons (GAU-8), autocannons, and machine guns. initiator : The unit that is doing the shooting. target: The unit that is being targeted.
Occurs whenever any unit in a mission fires a weapon.
But not any machine gun or autocannon based weapon, those are handled by EVENT.ShootingStart.
Occurs when an aircraft takes off from an airbase, farp, or ship.
initiator : The unit that tookoff place: Object from where the AI took-off from. Can be an Airbase Object, FARP, or Ships
Occurs when the game thinks an object is destroyed.
- initiator: The unit that is was destroyed.
Schedule a new time event.
Note that the schedule will only take place if the scheduler is started. Even for a single schedule event, the scheduler needs to be started also.
Defined in:
Parameters:
#number Start
Specifies the amount of seconds that will be waited before the scheduling is started, and the event function is called.
#function SchedulerFunction
The event function to be called when a timer event occurs. The event function needs to accept the parameters specified in SchedulerArguments.
#table ...
Optional arguments that can be given as part of scheduler. The arguments need to be given as a table { param1, param 2, ... }.
Return value:
#number:
The ScheduleID of the planned schedule.
Schedule a new time event.
Note that the schedule will only take place if the scheduler is started. Even for a single schedule event, the scheduler needs to be started also.
Defined in:
Parameters:
#number Start
Specifies the amount of seconds that will be waited before the scheduling is started, and the event function is called.
#number Repeat
Specifies the interval in seconds when the scheduler will call the event function.
#number RandomizeFactor
Specifies a randomization factor between 0 and 1 to randomize the Repeat.
#number Stop
Specifies the amount of seconds when the scheduler will be stopped.
#function SchedulerFunction
The event function to be called when a timer event occurs. The event function needs to accept the parameters specified in SchedulerArguments.
#table ...
Optional arguments that can be given as part of scheduler. The arguments need to be given as a table { param1, param 2, ... }.
Return value:
#number:
The ScheduleID of the planned schedule.
Stops the Schedule.
Defined in:
Parameter:
#function SchedulerFunction
The event function to be called when a timer event occurs. The event function needs to accept the parameters specified in SchedulerArguments.
Set the Class Event processing Priority.
The Event processing Priority is a number from 1 to 10, reflecting the order of the classes subscribed to the Event to be processed.
Set a state or property of the Object given a Key and a Value.
Note that if the Object is destroyed, nillified or garbage collected, then the Values and Keys will also be gone.
Defined in:
Parameters:
Object
The object that will hold the Value set by the Key.
Key
The key that is used as a reference of the value. Note that the key can be a #string, but it can also be any other type!
Value
The value to is stored in the object.
Return value:
The Value set.
Trace a function logic level 1.
Can be anywhere within the function logic.
Trace a function logic level 2.
Can be anywhere within the function logic.
Trace a function logic level 3.
Can be anywhere within the function logic.
Trace all methods in MOOSE
Set tracing for a class
Set tracing for a specific method of class
Set trace off.
Set trace on.
Set trace on or off Note that when trace is off, no BASE.Debug statement is performed, increasing performance! When Moose is loaded statically, (as one file), tracing is switched off by default.
So tracing must be switched on manually in your mission if you are using Moose statically. When moose is loading dynamically (for moose class development), tracing is switched on by default.
Defined in:
Parameter:
#boolean TraceOnOff
Switch the tracing on or off.
Usage:
-- Switch the tracing On
BASE:TraceOnOff( true )
-- Switch the tracing Off
BASE:TraceOnOff( false )
UnSubscribe to a DCS event.
Trace a function call.
This function is private.
Defined in:
Parameters:
Arguments
A #table or any field.
DebugInfoCurrentParam
DebugInfoFromParam
Trace a function logic.
Defined in:
Parameters:
Arguments
A #table or any field.
DebugInfoCurrentParam
DebugInfoFromParam
TODO: Complete DCS#Event structure.
- The main event handling function... This function captures all events generated for the class.
@param #BASE self
@param DCS#Event event
Message Types