This is a quick intro to what should be version 0.2.0 of libtpproto-cpp, the Thousand Parsec C++ Protocol and Game library. I say should because there is a little more work to be done on it before it gets released.
I suspect that this information should be in the doxygen docs for the library, so I will add it later to that. First up, libtpproto-cpp is split into two part, the GameLayer and the ProtocolLayer. The ProtocolLayer deals with the low-level network input and output, the TP protocol itself. The GameLayer uses the ProtocolLayer to provide the objects, boards, messages, Resources, designs, etc to the client, without having to know how they were fetched, cached or which protocol. Most clients should be able to use just the GameLayer and not have to deal with the ProtocolLayer much. The basic pattern of use is to create a GameLayer, set the client string and other things (mentioned below), connect to a game by a url or pre-created socket, login or create a player (as needed), then use the various gets, creates, adds, removes, and posts to display the data about the game. A number of things can (and sometimes, need to) change the behaviour of the library. These are set after the GameLayer is created. The client string is used to identify the client, normally in the form clientname/clientversion. The library adds it's identification to the string to help servers (potentially) work around badly incorrect and/or collect statistics on clients. The Logger class is used by the library to log debug, info, warning and error messages. The client can provide a subclass of Logger to the library to catch these, or the library defaults to use the provided SilentLogger, which drops all the messages. The GameStatusListener is another class which can be subclassed to get information out of the library. It provides notification when the status changes, when connected, redirected (with url), disconnected, logged in, when the library detects the End-of-turn has started on the server, and when the time to the end of turn is received. The CacheMethod is the way the various caches of game data operate. Currently, only one method is provided (CacheNoneMethod) but in future more will be added, and clients are welcome to write their own. The cache update method is called with logged in or on GameLayer::updateCaches() method call. The other methods of GameLayer deal with the game data and connected and disconnecting to the game server. A few other classes that might be helpful for client developers would be the FrameBuilder and the FrameFactory. If you need to add some type of GUI (or other) support to the various frame types, then FrameFactory is the class to subclass. A method of setting it to be used by the library will be created shortly. The FrameCodec could be made to run in a separate thread and could be of interest to some clients. But might not be necessary with a good cache method. As yet unresolved issues: * access to FrameBuilder and FrameFactory * polling * blocking * ping frames and timers * Check cache update code * threading (FrameCodec is threadsafe, everything else has to be careful) Any questions? Later Lee
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