Keypress detection needed for Lua scripts

[ThChicken]

There is no means using Lua to detect keypresses to provide inputs into vessel scripts.

There was a module developed that allowed keypress detection in Lua for Orbiter 2016:

https://www.orbiter-forum.com/threads/trying-to-implement-keypress-detection-in-lua-solved.41000/

but it does not appear to work for OpenOrbiter builds.

[schnepe2]

That (C++) code needs to be build against OpenOrbiter ABI to work for OpenOrbiter.
Resulting in an "OpenOrbiter Version" of the keystate.dll. The Lua-side should be compatible, I believe.
The source is very simple so it's more a matter of "when" than a matter of "if" 😁

That keystate Lua lib (C++ code to build keystate.dll) could be included into OpenOrbiter (provided that the original author likes that).
Please ask the original author whether it's O.K. with him/her. It's not much of a secret code, but still asking is the right way to do it.

[ThChicken]

As far as I can tell keystate.dll it was a collaboration between dgatsoulis and martin:

https://www.orbiter-forum.com/threads/trying-to-implement-keypress-detection-in-lua-solved.41000/

[TheGondos]

Wouldn't it be cleaner to expose the "clbkConsume*Key" methods to the lua side? (if you're using a ScriptVessel)

[ThChicken]

Wouldn't it be cleaner to expose the "clbkConsume*Key" methods to the lua side? (if you're using a ScriptVessel)

Probably, but right now there isn't anything for Lua in OpenOrbiter at all. Beggars can't be choosers; I'll take whatever we can get done. But yes, it would probably be best to continue trying to get more callbacks exposed so we can make some add-ons without version control becoming a nightmare.

[TheGondos]

I'm willing to take a shot at upgrading the ScriptVessel to VESSEL4 and add some callbacks (the easy ones at first) if nobody is working on this already

[ThChicken]

Right now Lua has only the following vessel callbacks:

• clbk_setclasscaps
• clbk_postcreation
• clbk_prestep
• clbk_poststep

The clbkConsume*Key callbacks would allow functional add-ons to be made without the need for a special module.

I submitted Issue #421 for Lua equivalents to clbkSaveState and clbkLoadStateEx. These I think are pretty critical to making Lua usable for add-ons as they would permit vessel states to be read/written from/to scenario files, and so I'd suggest that they get some priority too.

If we could get the clbkSaveState and clbkLoadStateEx vessel callbacks and just enough clbkConsume*Key callbacks sufficient to process basic key events for for animation events etc., it will become possible to make some basic vessel add-ons with similar behavior to C++ module add-ons. People probably will start squawking for callbacks to enable staging events and more complicated stuff, but I think the above would be the best place to start.

[TheGondos]

I've started just that on PR #427

[schnepe2]

Hi, it seems you are experiencing the same "test-issues" as I did in #414 ...
It's a real pain to not know exactly where the problem is.
A possiblility to get the Orbiter.log from a FAILED Test is really needed.

By the way: Did you read these instructions?
https://github.com/orbitersim/orbiter/blob/main/Tests/README.md
especially this point:
"[...]Call oapi.exit(code) when test is finished, pass non-zero return code in case of failed test, and 0 - if all tests are successful[...]"

[TheGondos]

Hi, it seems you are experiencing the same "test-issues" as I did in #414 ... It's a real pain to not know exactly where the problem is. A possiblility to get the Orbiter.log from a FAILED Test is really needed.

By the way: Did you read these instructions? https://github.com/orbitersim/orbiter/blob/main/Tests/README.md especially this point: "[...]Call oapi.exit(code) when test is finished, pass non-zero return code in case of failed test, and 0 - if all tests are successful[...]"

Oh no it's just because I'm stupid, this file is not supposed to be used for CI but to do manual tests with a lua version of the HST that I'm making along to figure out what's needed most.
I didn't know it would be executed in this context. I will have to move it somewhere else...