hashtables: how come...

[aquilla]

So I've started fiddling a bit with mapmaking again and I decided to update some old maps of mine that used gamecache and the return bug. After replacing gamecache with hashtables not many things were working and seemed to be because of typecasting or whatever it's called...

In short:

    call SaveUnitHandle(ht, m, StringHash("u"), u)
    set u = LoadUnitHandle(ht, m, StringHash("u"))

works...

    call SaveInteger(ht, m, StringHash("u"), GetHandleId(u))
    set u = LoadUnitHandle(ht, m, StringHash("u"))

...doesn't work.

I find it a little confusing since this isn't how gamecaches worked. Do hashtables store a certain type of handle a certain way? How come? It'd be much more convenient if it was all the same, just memory references...

 

[PurgeandFire]

While there exists an H2I native (GetHandleId()), there does not exist an I2H native. (you can still typecast, but it is a different method now.)

However, Blizzard's introduction of hashtables were meant to remove the need for I2H typecasting. In your example, this is what you should do:

call SaveUnitHandle(ht, m, StringHash("u"), u)
set u = LoadUnitHandle(ht, m, StringHash("u"))

No GetHandleId needed, just use the native they give to you.

For reference, this is the hashtable API:

native  InitHashtable    takes nothing returns hashtable

native  SaveInteger						takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, integer value returns nothing
native  SaveReal						takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, real value returns nothing
native  SaveBoolean						takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, boolean value returns nothing
native  SaveStr							takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, string value returns boolean
native  SavePlayerHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, player whichPlayer returns boolean
native  SaveWidgetHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, widget whichWidget returns boolean
native  SaveDestructableHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, destructable whichDestructable returns boolean
native  SaveItemHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, item whichItem returns boolean
native  SaveUnitHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, unit whichUnit returns boolean
native  SaveAbilityHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, ability whichAbility returns boolean
native  SaveTimerHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, timer whichTimer returns boolean
native  SaveTriggerHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, trigger whichTrigger returns boolean
native  SaveTriggerConditionHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, triggercondition whichTriggercondition returns boolean
native  SaveTriggerActionHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, triggeraction whichTriggeraction returns boolean
native  SaveTriggerEventHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, event whichEvent returns boolean
native  SaveForceHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, force whichForce returns boolean
native  SaveGroupHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, group whichGroup returns boolean
native  SaveLocationHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, location whichLocation returns boolean
native  SaveRectHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, rect whichRect returns boolean
native  SaveBooleanExprHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, boolexpr whichBoolexpr returns boolean
native  SaveSoundHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, sound whichSound returns boolean
native  SaveEffectHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, effect whichEffect returns boolean
native  SaveUnitPoolHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, unitpool whichUnitpool returns boolean
native  SaveItemPoolHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, itempool whichItempool returns boolean
native  SaveQuestHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, quest whichQuest returns boolean
native  SaveQuestItemHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, questitem whichQuestitem returns boolean
native  SaveDefeatConditionHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, defeatcondition whichDefeatcondition returns boolean
native  SaveTimerDialogHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, timerdialog whichTimerdialog returns boolean
native  SaveLeaderboardHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, leaderboard whichLeaderboard returns boolean
native  SaveMultiboardHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, multiboard whichMultiboard returns boolean
native  SaveMultiboardItemHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, multiboarditem whichMultiboarditem returns boolean
native  SaveTrackableHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, trackable whichTrackable returns boolean
native  SaveDialogHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, dialog whichDialog returns boolean
native  SaveButtonHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, button whichButton returns boolean
native  SaveTextTagHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, texttag whichTexttag returns boolean
native  SaveLightningHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, lightning whichLightning returns boolean
native  SaveImageHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, image whichImage returns boolean
native  SaveUbersplatHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, ubersplat whichUbersplat returns boolean
native  SaveRegionHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, region whichRegion returns boolean
native  SaveFogStateHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, fogstate whichFogState returns boolean
native  SaveFogModifierHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, fogmodifier whichFogModifier returns boolean
native  SaveAgentHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, agent whichAgent returns boolean
native  SaveHashtableHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey, hashtable whichHashtable returns boolean


native  LoadInteger					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns integer
native  LoadReal					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns real
native  LoadBoolean				    takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns boolean
native  LoadStr 					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns string
native  LoadPlayerHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns player
native  LoadWidgetHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns widget
native  LoadDestructableHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns destructable
native  LoadItemHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns item
native  LoadUnitHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns unit
native  LoadAbilityHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns ability
native  LoadTimerHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns timer
native  LoadTriggerHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns trigger
native  LoadTriggerConditionHandle	takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns triggercondition
native  LoadTriggerActionHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns triggeraction
native  LoadTriggerEventHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns event
native  LoadForceHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns force
native  LoadGroupHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns group
native  LoadLocationHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns location
native  LoadRectHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns rect
native  LoadBooleanExprHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns boolexpr
native  LoadSoundHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns sound
native  LoadEffectHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns effect
native  LoadUnitPoolHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns unitpool
native  LoadItemPoolHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns itempool
native  LoadQuestHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns quest
native  LoadQuestItemHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns questitem
native  LoadDefeatConditionHandle	takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns defeatcondition
native  LoadTimerDialogHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns timerdialog
native  LoadLeaderboardHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns leaderboard
native  LoadMultiboardHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns multiboard
native  LoadMultiboardItemHandle	takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns multiboarditem
native  LoadTrackableHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns trackable
native  LoadDialogHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns dialog
native  LoadButtonHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns button
native  LoadTextTagHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns texttag
native  LoadLightningHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns lightning
native  LoadImageHandle				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns image
native  LoadUbersplatHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns ubersplat
native  LoadRegionHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns region
native  LoadFogStateHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns fogstate
native  LoadFogModifierHandle		takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns fogmodifier
native  LoadHashtableHandle			takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns hashtable

native  HaveSavedInteger					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns boolean
native  HaveSavedReal						takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns boolean
native  HaveSavedBoolean					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns boolean
native  HaveSavedString					    takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns boolean
native  HaveSavedHandle     				takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns boolean

native  RemoveSavedInteger					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns nothing
native  RemoveSavedReal						takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns nothing
native  RemoveSavedBoolean					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns nothing
native  RemoveSavedString					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns nothing
native  RemoveSavedHandle					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey, integer childKey returns nothing

native  FlushParentHashtable						takes hashtable table returns nothing
native  FlushChildHashtable					takes hashtable table, integer parentKey returns nothing

For more information, you can view this tutorial for some of the things to note after patch 1.24's changes:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/general-mapping-tutorials-278/make-map-work-patch-1-24-a-165482/

 

[aquilla]

Yes, I saw there are a whole bunch of natives now but I was wondering why the methods I presented don't give the same result. If I use the SaveInteger and GetHandleId method it appears to unloadable by the natives.

Since I used to use H2I it'd be nice if I didn't have to change all code to use Save<type>Handle rather than SaveInteger

Thanks for the links and API though

edit: so, is SaveAgentHandle what I'm looking for?

edit2: yes it is! thanks a bunch

 

[PurgeandFire]

Glad to hear it is working. I'll give an explanation for this question anyway:

Yes, I saw there are a whole bunch of natives now but I was wondering why the methods I presented don't give the same result. If I use the SaveInteger and GetHandleId method it appears to unloadable by the natives.

Take for example a box. You are too lazy to get up to the trash can so you just put your banana peel into the box. You name it Herman the Banana Peel. Then, once you need to take out the banana peel, you just look for the one named Herman and there you go, you have it. All it is is storing a banana peel, and then retrieving a banana peel.

Back then, it was a bit different. You would put the banana peel, also named Herman the Banana Peel, into the box. However, the magical fairies living in the box and controlling it wouldn't know how to store a banana. It was a foreign object to them. Thus, they had to "convert" it to something they knew, so they measured the mass of the banana peel and stored the mass instead. Once you needed to take it out, the fairies would find Herman, check out the mass assigned under "Herman", and then they would return the banana with that mass.

-------

How is this relevant? Basically, the common methods for data storage in wc3 isn't a chain of conversions anymore. Before, you could only store primitive types into gamecaches, integer, real, string, boolean (excluding code), so no one knew how to store things such as units. By manipulating the return bug to typecast handles, you could retrieve a unique ID (as an integer) and store that instead. Then upon retrieval, you would simply take the ID and return the handle associated with it.

So now, you store a unit, it gets stored as a unit, gets loaded as a unit, and gets returned as a unit. Before, you would store a unit, it would get stored as an integer, get loaded as an integer, and get returned as a unit.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I do remember some crashes being caused by trying to return types incorrectly from hashtables. You must make sure that you only recall the same type as you save from an index.

 

[Ceday]

Why I can't find agent type in my common.j, I am sure it was there =)

 

[PurgeandFire]

Here are the first 10 lines of the common.j:

//============================================================================
// Native types. All native functions take extended handle types when
// possible to help prevent passing bad values to native functions
//
type agent			    extends     handle  // all reference counted objects
type event              extends     agent  // a reference to an event registration
type player             extends     agent  // a single player reference
type widget             extends     agent  // an interactive game object with life
type unit               extends     widget  // a single unit reference
type destructable       extends     widget

It is the first one listed.

 

[Ceday]

That is mine , in war3x.mpq.

//============================================================================
// Native types. All native functions take extended handle types when
// possible to help prevent passing bad values to native functions
//
type event              extends     handle  // a reference to an event registration
type player             extends     handle  // a single player reference
type widget             extends     handle  // an interactive game object with life
type unit               extends     widget  // a single unit reference
type destructable       extends     widget

 

[PurgeandFire]

Hmm.. What patch do you have? It should be 1.24.4.6387. Otherwise, I have no clue. xD Just try logging onto battle.net and see if it prompts you with any updates.

 

[Ceday]

Yes I have 1.24e, 6387 thing.

 

[PurgeandFire]

Hmm.. I get the same thing. I think that the latest common.j is probably contained somewhere in the war3patch.mpq, but I don't have a listfile to read it, so I'm not sure.

If you need the latest common.j, you can download Jass NewGen Pack and it will have the common.j somewhere in there.

 

[Dr Super Good]

How can it contain the lattest if it has not been updated for years?

 

[Ceday]

Hmm.. I get the same thing. I think that the latest common.j is probably contained somewhere in the war3patch.mpq, but I don't have a listfile to read it, so I'm not sure.

If you need the latest common.j, you can download Jass NewGen Pack and it will have the common.j somewhere in there.

Hahaha you are right, it is in war3patch

This guy is awesome ->