Things You Should Know When Using Triggers / GUI

[deathismyfriend]

Very nice tut for GUI-er

But you should consider removing your signature on the second post.

thanks and thanks lol i thought i did remove it lol

 

[PurgeandFire]

Changes have been made through PM's and I fixed up most of the grammar/phrasing.

Approved.

 

[MasterTrainer]

Yeah! It's finally been approved XD

Congratulations deathismyfriend

 

[Daffa]

Congrats on the approval Mate!!

Oh yeah, about do nothing, note that Do Nothing is for filler in this trigger :

• Action
• If Condition then do Action else do Action

Since if you use that trigger u need to fill the other empty one. Anyway, nice tutorial, useful for me making a minor system

+2 Rep From Daffa the Mage

 

[MasterTrainer]

Congrats on the approval Mate!!

Oh yeah, about do nothing, note that Do Nothing is for filler in this trigger :

• Action
• If Condition then do Action else do Action

Since if you use that trigger u need to fill the other empty one. Anyway, nice tutorial, useful for me making a minor system

+2 Rep From Daffa the Mage

You don't need to add Do Nothing to fill the other empty one. It will work regardless.

 

[Almia]

Do Nothing is slower than Comment. Its better to put comment there.

 

[deathismyfriend]

Thanks guys and thank purge as he did some of the work and doesn't really get the reckognition for the work he does to approve these tutorials.

 

[Daffa]

@Almia
good point.

 

[deathismyfriend]

fixed mistake in the how to index trigger. Nothing major

 

[T. D. W.]

• (Triggering unit) Equal to bossUnit1
• (Triggering unit) Equal to bossUnit2
• (Triggering unit) Equal to bossUnit3

Change those to:

• Or - Any (Conditions) are true
  • (Triggering unit) Equal to bossUnit1
  • (Triggering unit) Equal to bossUnit2
  • (Triggering unit) Equal to bossUnit3

Just a little mistake,
Good tutorial btw, very...., big

 

[deathismyfriend]

it would help if u list the chapter so ik were it is u are tlking about

 

[T. D. W.]

It's in chaptre 17
And one question, does the chapter 22 reqires JNGP?
If not, i can't make it :/

 

[ap0calypse]

And one question, does the chapter 22 reqires JNGP?
If not, i can't make it :/

No it doesn't: you can do it with the standard World Editor as well.
You do need to know how JASS-functions work, but that's the only requirement.

 

[T. D. W.]

Weird, i copied and pasted the same things of ch 22, and when i call the function, it causes errors :/

 

[ap0calypse]

Weird, i copied and pasted the same things of ch 22, and when i call the function, it causes errors :/

This might be because the way the triggers are organized.
The trigger with the function in ("Test") needs to be created before the other trigger ("RunTest") is created.
If it is the other way around, then it cannot find the function.

So be sure you create that one first .
And if not: simply copy the second trigger ("RunTest"), delete it and then paste it again.

 

[deathismyfriend]

can u post the way u did it. also post the error that u are getting ?

 

[deathismyfriend]

added a chapter on how to move units without disrupting orders.

 

[Tal'Rarity]

So, what is the difference between your indexing and dynamic indexing which was made by a respected user.

 

[ap0calypse]

So, what is the difference between your indexing and dynamic indexing which was made by a respected user.

His indexing is dynamic.
Maker explained this quite nicely in this thread (it isn't the main point of the thread, but his explanation is very clear).

Neither deathismyfriend's nor Hanky's indexing are anything 'special'.
I actually think they're the same, except that Hanky's combined Hashtables with it (I don't think that's worth it, though).

 

[deathismyfriend]

The Hashtables r slower than indexed arrays. The main difference is the way that u index and de-index. I like the indexed arrays more than dynamic indexing since IA is just easier to read and write. Dynamic indexing is nice in the respect that the instances stay in orde but IA does not keep the order

 

[Hanky]

His indexing is dynamic.
Maker explained this quite nicely in this thread (it isn't the main point of the thread, but his explanation is very clear).

Neither deathismyfriend's nor Hanky's indexing are anything 'special'.
I actually think they're the same, except that Hanky's combined Hashtables with it (I don't think that's worth it, though).

You got something wrong there. The dynamic indexing part of my template is without hashtables. The unit indexing part is with hashtables since I dislike saving the index with the custom value function for units.

You have to understand that the template I made got more than just one indexing method.

 

[deathismyfriend]

You got something wrong there. The dynamic indexing part of my template is without hashtables. The unit indexing part is with hashtables since I dislike saving the index with the custom value function for units.

You have to understand that the template I made got more than just one indexing method.

i never saw ur template b4 so i cant comment on it. if u would tho could u give me link to ur template as i believe everyone should have a choice of what they like the indexed array format i use or the way u do it.
they are both efficient since u dont use hashtables and i would gladly put any links to tutorials that are covered under anything i cover in my tutorial.

 

[Hanky]

i never saw ur template b4 so i cant comment on it. if u would tho could u give me link to ur template as i believe everyone should have a choice of what they like the indexed array format i use or the way u do it.
they are both efficient since u dont use hashtables and i would gladly put any links to tutorials that are covered under anything i cover in my tutorial.

No need to link the template. I just wanted to point out that the given information by ap0calypse was wrong.

 

[deathismyfriend]

ok if u dont want me to then i wont link ur template.

i will change the data when i can.

 

[deathismyfriend]

updated w some small fixes along with some fixes to grammar and spelling and the 3 links that were broken.

 

[FUJI]

I do disagree, you don't NEED those. You can code, anything with normal GUI therefor you don't NEED it. If you like GUI you want GUI not jass

Why you disagree in GUI with a LITTLE JASS line. When making a spell you must know the basics of JASS line because they are MORE efficient to create a spell eg. from removing leaks and making the user comfortable in spell making.

 

[Magtheridon96]

There are tons of factual problems with this huge tutorial.
I tried to list them all and correct them but I got overwhelmed ~.~

Couple of things:
- A handle does not need to be destroyed, the JASS Pseudo-VM cleans a lot of shit for you, and yes, that means most temporaries. There are special cases where you have heap-allocated objects that are not cleaned up like locations, groups or special effects.
- Using the word "object" to describe a widget is not good enough. They are interactable. Widgets also have life and position. (GetWidgetLife, GetWidgetX, GetWidgetY)
- A handle is not a pointer to an internal data structure, a handle is an internal chunk of data and in JASS, when you actually use them, you are using a pointer to a handle.

 

[deathismyfriend]

There are tons of factual problems with this huge tutorial.
I tried to list them all and correct them but I got overwhelmed ~.~

Couple of things:
- A handle does not need to be destroyed, the JASS Pseudo-VM cleans a lot of shit for you, and yes, that means most temporaries. There are special cases where you have heap-allocated objects that are not cleaned up like locations, groups or special effects.
- Using the word "object" to describe a widget is not good enough. They are interactable. Widgets also have life and position. (GetWidgetLife, GetWidgetX, GetWidgetY)
- A handle is not a pointer to an internal data structure, a handle is an internal chunk of data and in JASS, when you actually use them, you are using a pointer to a handle.

It helps if you tell me what section these mistakes were made in.
I know that a handle is not a pointer a variable is a pointer to a handle i must've typed that in wrong when i was typing it up.

 

[Magtheridon96]

They're not errors per se, just nitpicks.
You don't have to worry about them, just attend to this tutorial every 1-2 months and read over a bit to see if you can make things clearer and more correct.

 

[deathismyfriend]

They're not errors per se, just nitpicks.
You don't have to worry about them, just attend to this tutorial every 1-2 months and read over a bit to see if you can make things clearer and more correct.

I try lol and nitpicks are welcome lol.

 

[IcemanBo]

Very usefull tutorial for GUI-User

 

[deathismyfriend]

Very usefull tutorial for GUI-User

Thanks glad it could help

 

[Maker]

Dying unit is MUI.

 

[Daffa]

Really? I thought everything aside of Triggering Unit are globals and overrides.

Also, tells users that SmartCameraPanBJ are desyncing like shit (this is related to the tutorial as it's a GUI action) I have encounter this issue several times, and it's better to be pointed out.

 

[deathismyfriend]

I believe i covered that in actions that should not be used... Unless i never updated this.

 

[Malhorne]

• Preload abilities
• Events
  • Time - Elapsed game time is 0.00 seconds
• Conditions
• Actions
  • -------- Here we set the variables. --------
  • Set abilities[1] = Acid Bomb
  • Set abilities[2] = Animate Dead
  • Set abilities[3] = Attribute Bonus
  • Set abilities[4] = Avatar
  • Set abilities[5] = Avatar (Neutral)
  • -------- Now we will do the actions to preload --------
  • Set tempPoint = (Center of (Playable map area))
  • Unit - Create 1 Footman for Player 1 (Red) at tempPoint facing Default building facing degrees
  • Set tempUnit = (Last created unit)
  • For each (Integer tempInt) from 1 to 5, do (Actions)
  • Loop - Actions
    • Unit - Add abilities[tempInt] to tempUnit
    • Unit - Remove abilities[tempInt] from tempUnit
  • Unit - Remove tempUnit from the game
  • Custom script: call RemoveLocation( udg_tempPoint)
  • Custom script: set udg_tempPoint = null
  • Custom script: set udg_tempUnit = null
  • -------- Here is were we destroy the trigger since it isn't needed anymore. --------
  • Custom script: call DestroyTrigger( GetTriggeringTrigger())

In the part you destroy the trigger it will leak since you don't remove actions of the trigger or am I wrong ?

 

[-Kobas-]

• Preload abilities
• Events
  • Time - Elapsed game time is 0.00 seconds
• Conditions
• Actions
  • -------- Here we set the variables. --------
  • Set abilities[1] = Acid Bomb
  • Set abilities[2] = Animate Dead
  • Set abilities[3] = Attribute Bonus
  • Set abilities[4] = Avatar
  • Set abilities[5] = Avatar (Neutral)
  • -------- Now we will do the actions to preload --------
  • Set tempPoint = (Center of (Playable map area))
  • Unit - Create 1 Footman for Player 1 (Red) at tempPoint facing Default building facing degrees
  • Set tempUnit = (Last created unit)
  • For each (Integer tempInt) from 1 to 5, do (Actions)
  • Loop - Actions
    • Unit - Add abilities[tempInt] to tempUnit
    • Unit - Remove abilities[tempInt] from tempUnit
  • Unit - Remove tempUnit from the game
  • Custom script: call RemoveLocation( udg_tempPoint)
  • Custom script: set udg_tempPoint = null
  • Custom script: set udg_tempUnit = null
  • -------- Here is were we destroy the trigger since it isn't needed anymore. --------
  • Custom script: call DestroyTrigger( GetTriggeringTrigger())

In the part you destroy the trigger it will leak since you don't remove actions of the trigger or am I wrong ?

Yeah it will.
Also you don't need to null global variables.

But at the other point you don't need to bother too much about memory leaks in triggers like this one. You can have 100 or even 1000 such like triggers in your map and it will still run perfectly fine.

Problems start to become serious when you use loops and/or times.
In situations like this one:

loop
    exitwhen i == 1000

        //
        //bla bla bla leaks leaks leaks
        //

    set i = i + 1 
endloop

//
// where we call this code each 0.03 seconds using timer
//

Cleaning leaks should become something really important.

EDIT:

Also

• Actions
  • Set p = (Point(0.00, 0.00))
  • -------- over --------
  • Set p = (Center of (Playable map area))
  • -------- when --------
  • Unit - Create 1 Footman for Player 1 (Red) at p facing Default building facing degrees

Because

function Trig_Melee_Initialization_Actions takes nothing returns nothing
    set udg_p = Location(0, 0)
    // over
    set udg_p = GetRectCenter(GetPlayableMapRect())
    // when
    call CreateNUnitsAtLoc( 1, 'hfoo', Player(0), udg_p, bj_UNIT_FACING )
endfunction

//===========================================================================
function InitTrig_Melee_Initialization takes nothing returns nothing
    set gg_trg_Melee_Initialization = CreateTrigger(  )
    call TriggerAddAction( gg_trg_Melee_Initialization, function Trig_Melee_Initialization_Actions )
endfunction

//-----------------------------------------------------
//-------------- Here how they look like --------------
//-----------------------------------------------------
function GetPlayableMapRect takes nothing returns rect
    return bj_mapInitialPlayableArea
endfunction

function GetRectCenter takes rect whichRect returns location
    return Location(GetRectCenterX(whichRect), GetRectCenterY(whichRect))
endfunction
//-----------------------------------------------------

 

[chobibo]

Also you don't need to null global variables.

These guys found out you need to. [link] Thanks Blizzard!

 

[Malhorne]

It leaks if you don't null globals before changing the value.
Maker told it on a thread on the spell Gui Rupture

 

[-Kobas-]

Yeah, I see problem for GUI users...
As if their code don't look ugly enough without all that memory shit related problems.

 

[deathismyfriend]

Yeah, I see problem for GUI users...
As if their code don't look ugly enough without all that memory shit related problems.

Right lol. Blizzard made a ton of mistakes when doing the GUI.

 

[Troll-Brain]

It leaks if you don't null globals before changing the value.
Maker told it on a thread on the spell Gui Rupture

Not really, the conclusion is :

Not allowing a handle id to be recycled immediately after destruction causes a memory leak.

And well, it is still a really minor memory leak and sometimes you just can't avoid it. (even in vJass)
Sure it's still lame, but if a GUI user care about that, he should consider to use (v)jass instead, GUI have much more revelant leaks within GUI functions themselves.
PolledWait, some stuff with GroupEnum and probably more stuff like that.

 

[IcemanBo]

event:
Unit dies

actions:
Wait 10 seconds
revive dying unit
_____________________________

this is not mui. This isn't mui because dying unit is not a local event response, so it will be overwritten the next time a unit dies.

Dying unit is as MUI as triggering unit.

 

[deathismyfriend]

Please read previous posts before posting the same thing as someone else.

I have not had time to get on pc to update this tutorial lately.

 

[Chaosy]

Just bumping the thread by suggestion that you add some sort of level indicator to the sections. Either a scale from 1-10 or something like Basic, Medium, Advanced

because if you come here to pick up some tricks as a rather new GUI user I doubt you "need" to learn from some of the sections unless you really want to "master" GUI if I may call it that.

 

[Tal'Rarity]

Btw your Chapter 5 - Actions that can't be done on Map Initialization is wrong.
Add a wait/0.00(1) maybe and they'll work.

 

[Xonok]

Adding a wait to map initialization pushes the actions to when the game started, because waits are not evaluated before the game starts (probably for the sake of sync and faster loading)

 

[Tal'Rarity]

Adding a wait to map initialization pushes the actions to when the game started, because waits are not evaluated before the game starts (probably for the sake of sync and faster loading)

Still it means that you can do stuff as map init as the event.

 

[Xonok]

Still it means that you can do stuff as map init as the event.

It's effectively a "Time elapsed" event then, not map init anymore. Map init events are exclusively handled during loading. Waits can not be handled like this, because the game time is considered unchanging during loading, so they are queued and will be handled once the map finishes loading.

 

[Tal'Rarity]

In Chapter 2 you need to add something death.

If unit group arrays aren't made with jass/custom script then they don't work past the first one and need to be increased in array size in the variable editor.