Using a chat frame as a log for addon?

[Hiketeia]

I'm trying to re-use as much as I can within the UI and thinking about the ChatFrame as a way to log stuff about my addon.

My idea was to have a window available on the screen which keeps a record, that you can go back and look at throughout your play session.

I can't seem to find an easy way to make a new chat window with the settings I want? I've glanced through FloatingChatFrame and didn't see anything obvious, and nothing seems to be on the wikis. Is this just not a common thing to do?

One thought was I just give them an option to pick a chat frame for their log, going to default, and give instructions to make their own frame? Doesn't seem to user-friendly though.

Thanks for the brainstorming help.

[Seerah]

You want a ScrollingMessageFrame.
http://wowprogramming.com/docs/widge...ngMessageFrame

[Kanegasi]

If you want to simply use a player's existing chat tabs, here's some relevant info:

The first object returned by GetChatWindowInfo(index) is the name of the tab, so GetChatWindowInfo(1) will return "General" in the vast majority of clients. Index is the same number of ChatFrame, so General is ChatFrame1 and the Combat Log is ChatFrame2.

Here's what I use in my addon:

local notfound,c=true,ChatTypeInfo.SYSTEM
for i=1,NUM_CHAT_WINDOWS do if _G['ChatFrame'..i]:IsEventRegistered('CHAT_MSG_SYSTEM') then
    notfound=false
    _G['ChatFrame'..i]:AddMessage(message,c.r,c.g,c.b,c.id)
end end
if notfound then DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(message,c.r,c.g,c.b,c.id) end

This copies the data used by the yellow system messages and then prints to any window registered to handle system messages. If there are no windows that show system messages, it prints to whatever window is the default one.

If someone were to create a chatframe named "addonlog" and wanted the above code to print to that, you would do this:

local notfound,c=true,ChatTypeInfo.SYSTEM
for i=1,NUM_CHAT_WINDOWS do if GetChatWindowInfo(i)=='addonlog' then
    notfound=false
    _G['ChatFrame'..i]:AddMessage(message,c.r,c.g,c.b,c.id)
end end
if notfound then DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(message,c.r,c.g,c.b,c.id) end

If you wanted to save the log between sessions while still keeping it in the chatframe, you can save every message into a table, save that table in a SavedVariable, and then loop through it in order and dump it to the chatframe every time the UI is loaded.

[SDPhantom]

I have this running in my development addon.

local tostring=tostring;
 
local ProxyLookup={};
local ProxyMeta={__index={
    Print=function(self,...)
        local frame=ProxyLookup[self];
        if frame then
            local msg="";
            for i=1,select("#",...) do msg=(msg~="" and msg.." " or "")..tostring(select(i,...)); end
            frame:AddMessage(msg);
            if not frame:IsShown() then FCF_StartAlertFlash(frame); end
        end
    end;
 
    Show=function(self)
        local frame=ProxyLookup[self];
        if frame then
            local tab=_G[frame:GetName().."Tab"];
            if not tab:IsShown() then
                frame:Show();
                tab:Show();
                FCF_DockFrame(frame,#FCFDock_GetChatFrames(GENERAL_CHAT_DOCK)+1,nil);
            end
        end
    end;
    Hide=function(self)
        local frame=ProxyLookup[self];
        if frame then
            local tab=_G[frame:GetName().."Tab"];
            if tab:IsShown() then-- Mimic FCF_Close(), but don't release frame
                FCF_UnDockFrame(frame);
                HideUIPanel(frame);
                tab:Hide();
                FCF_FlagMinimizedPositionReset(frame);
                if frame.minFrame and frame.minFrame:IsShown() then frame.minFrame:Hide(); end
            end
        end
    end;
 
    SetShown=function(self,show)
        local frame=ProxyLookup[self];
        if frame then self[show and "Show" or "Hide"](self); end
    end;
    IsShown=function()
        local frame=ProxyLookup[self];
        if frame then return _G[frame:GetName().."Tab"]:IsShown(); end
    end;
 
    Close=function(self)
        local frame=ProxyLookup[self];
        if frame then FCF_Close(frame); end
    end;
}};
 
hooksecurefunc("FCF_Close",function(frame,other)
    frame=other or frame;
    local proxy=ProxyLookup[frame];
    if proxy then ProxyLookup[proxy],ProxyLookup[frame]=nil,nil; end
end);
 
function CreateDebugMessageFrame(name,r,g,b,a)
    local frame=FCF_OpenTemporaryWindow("SYSTEM");
    ChatFrame_RemoveMessageGroup(frame,"SYSTEM");
 
    FCF_SetWindowName(frame,name,true);
    if r and g and b then FCF_SetWindowColor(frame,r,g,b,true); end
    if a then FCF_SetWindowAlpha(frame,a,true); end
 
    local proxy=setmetatable({},ProxyMeta);
    ProxyLookup[proxy],ProxyLookup[frame]=frame,proxy;
    return proxy;
end
 
function CreateDebugPrint(...)
    local frame=CreateDebugMessageFrame(...);
    return function(...) return frame:Print(...); end,frame;
end

Two global functions are available in this API, CreateDebugMessageFrame() and CreateDebugPrint(). The first returns a proxy object that can be used to print to and show/hide the frame as well as release the chat window to the default UI (closing it). The second quickly creates the frame and returns just the print handler function you can call to print to the window.

[rhiorg]

I was beating my head against the keyboard trying to figure out how to spawn a new chat frame. This did the trick.

Off-topic question: I'm curious...what does this line do?

local tostring=tostring;

[Seerah]

It creates a local upvalue of the global variable.

[rhiorg]

Ah, ok. I'm still trying to grasp that concept.

Thanks!

[myrroddin]

Always nice to see tutorial code, but gah, guys! Where are the spaces? Let it breathe, as it adds readability. I know it is user preference, but really!

local tostring=tostring -- ouch on the brain and eyes
local tostring = tostring -- ah, much better
 
-- which of these looks better?
for i=1,select("#",...) do msg=(msg~="" and msg.." " or "")..tostring(select(i,...)); end
 
for i = 1, select("#", ...) do msg = (msg ~= "" and msg .." " or "") .. tostring(select(i, ...)); end
 
for i = 1, select("#", ...) do
    msg = (msg ~= "" and msg .." " or "") ..tostring(select(i ,...));
end

[Kanegasi]

Originally Posted by myrroddin Always nice to see tutorial code, but gah, guys! Where are the spaces? Let it breathe, as it adds readability. I know it is user preference, but really! local tostring=tostring -- ouch on the brain and eyes local tostring = tostring -- ah, much better   -- which of these looks better? for i=1,select("#",...) do msg=(msg~="" and msg.." " or "")..tostring(select(i,...)); end   for i = 1, select("#", ...) do msg = (msg ~= "" and msg .." " or "") .. tostring(select(i, ...)); end   for i = 1, select("#", ...) do     msg = (msg ~= "" and msg .." " or "") ..tostring(select(i ,...)); end

It's personal preference. This looks better to me:

for i=1,select('#',...) do
    msg=(msg~='' and msg..' ' or '')..tostring(select(i,...))
end

I only use spaces when absolutely necessary, and sometimes I don't even use returns. I usually just put a block onto one line if it's shorter than ~100 characters, but it depends on how it looks around other code.

Also, I refuse to use semicolons and unless I'm expecting apostrophes, I'll use single quotes.

[rhiorg]

OK, so I understand what this does (and the concept of closures in general), but I don't know why I would want to do this. I'm digging into the Lua docs to try to figure it out, but if anybody has a succinct, practical example or explanation...that would be great. I can't for the life of me figure out the why.

[Kanegasi]

Originally Posted by rhiorg OK, so I understand what this does (and the concept of closures in general), but I don't know why I would want to do this. I'm digging into the Lua docs to try to figure it out, but if anybody has a succinct, practical example or explanation...that would be great. I can't for the life of me figure out the why.

Is it still the confusion with the local tostring=tostring? If you use any global values, including any default Lua functions, you are querying _G. Every time you use a global, you query _G. That is the giant table that contains everything accessible by your code. For example, there's a global variable named MAX_QUESTS in WoW that currently equals 25. You can access this variable just by its name, but you can also use _G.MAX_QUESTS or _G["MAX_QUESTS"] and both equal 25.

Lua is optimized around table access, so performance with "normal" usage is irrelevant. However, if your code loops through something or does something repeatedly within a short amount of time, like an OnUpdate script going through a sizeable table, it's good practice to "localize" any globals you are using. Depending on how heavy your processes are, there is a measurable performance increase with using local objects versus global objects.

Besides the minor performance increase with heavy usage, it's just good practice to "localize" globals you intend to repeatedly use.

[rhiorg]

That was perfect. Thanks for the explanation. I tend to dive into the middle of these things and miss the fundamentals sometimes.

[Lombra]

Originally Posted by Kanegasi Besides the minor performance increase with heavy usage, it's just good practice to "localize" globals you intend to repeatedly use.

Disagree. It just clutters the code needlessly. I only do it when I expect extremely frequent use, such as iterating a large database, handling combat log events, or maybe unthrottled OnUpdates.

But sure, if that doesn't bother you there's no downside to doing it. Well, except getting any potentially hooked functions, but that's most likely irrelevant.

[Seerah]

Originally Posted by Lombra Disagree. It just clutters the code needlessly. I only do it when I expect extremely frequent use, such as iterating a large database, handling combat log events, or maybe unthrottled OnUpdates.

These ^^. Repeat table lookups are nice to upvalue, too.

[rhiorg]

Sounds kinda like caching. (I'm coming from the C#, server-side world mostly.)

[Resike]

Originally Posted by Lombra Disagree. It just clutters the code needlessly. I only do it when I expect extremely frequent use, such as iterating a large database, handling combat log events, or maybe unthrottled OnUpdates. But sure, if that doesn't bother you there's no downside to doing it. Well, except getting any potentially hooked functions, but that's most likely irrelevant.

Except if you don't do it and you use a find global tool it will print thousand lines of string, math, and etc functions makes it harder to actually catch a typo/global/whatever you looking for.

[Ketho]

Write everything in XML just like Semlar did

[Kanegasi]

Originally Posted by rhiorg Sounds kinda like caching. (I'm coming from the C#, server-side world mostly.)

That's actually an apt description of "local". Whatever follows is "cached" to your code's scope. Any object declared by "local" in your code, either a new one or one equal to a global one, is only usable by your code. A slight exception is a global table. When you declare a new object equal to a table, you are actually creating a reference to that table. Every time your code changes the object you made, the global table is changed as well, and vice versa (your local object sees changes to the global one). Other code still cannot use this local reference but can still manipulate the table it points to.

[rhiorg]

Thanks for the explanations and debate. This is great stuff.

[rhiorg]

Originally Posted by Ketho Write everything in XML just like Semlar did

I try to write as much in XML as possible (bear in mind that I've made two rather small addons thus far). I like doing the layout declaratively because it separates concerns and it's natural for me since I'm a web guy.

Side note: I wish a lot of the XML stuff could be handled with attributes instead of sub-elements (dimensions, fonts, etc.).