# 2013 12 27 ## Updated 'jsp alias' command. The 'jsp alias' command now lets players define their own shortcuts which don't require the 'jsp ' prefix. ### Example At the in-game prompt use the following command to create a new alias `cw` (short for change Clock & Weather) which will change the time and weather using a single statement. /jsp alias set cw = time set {1} ; weather {2} This creates a new cw alias which takes 2 parameters, time and weather and passes them to the 'time set' and 'weather' commands. You use the alias like this... /cw 4000 sun ... which in turn gets converted into these 2 commands... /time set 4000 /weather sun Aliases can be set on a per-player basis or can be set globally (for all players). Aliases are automatically saved and restore on server shutdown/startup. ## Added console global variable. ScriptCraft now has a `console` global variable which can be used for logging (to the server console). The `console` variable uses the ScriptCraft plugin Logger object. You use the console object in your javascript modules like this... console.info('Hello %s, %s', 'World', 'Universe'); ... or simply... console.warn('Hello World'); # 2013 12 26 Made the `events` variable global because it is use by modules and plugins. This means there is no longer any need to explicitly `require('events')` since `events` is now a free variable in the global namespace. # 2013 12 25 Added the 'commando' module. # 2013 12 24 ## 'Modules' release ### Modules in ScriptCraft ScriptCraft now has a simple module loading system. ScriptCraft now uses the [CommonJS module contract][cjsmod] - that is - the same module system used by Node.js. All of the javascript code which comes bundled with ScriptCraft has been modified so that it conforms to the CommonJS module system. ### What this means for plugins you've developed using ScriptCraft If you have written plugins using a previous version of ScriptCraft then you have 2 options... 1. Continue using the previous version of ScriptCraft. 2. Update your plugins to work with the ScriptCraft 'Modules' release. ... Option 2 should be relatively straightforward if you follow these steps... 1. Copy your own custom plugins from the `js-plugins` directory to the new `scriptcraft/plugins` directory. 2. In your javascript code any functions, objects or variables which you want to expose for use by others should be exposed using the special `exports` variable. All other code within your .js files will now be private by default. See below for details on how CommonJS/Node.js modules work. If you have any questions or concerns or need help converting your existing javascript plugin, contact please post questions on the [ScriptCraft forum][scforum] or open an issue on the [Github project][github] [github]: http://github.com/walterhiggins/ScriptCraft [scforum]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!forum/scriptcraft---scripting-minecraft In ScriptCraft, files and modules are in one-to-one correspondence. As an example, foo.js loads the module circle.js in the same directory. *ScriptCraft now uses the same module system as Node.js - see [Node.js Modules][njsmod] for more details.* [njsmod]: http://nodejs.org/api/modules.html [cjsmod]: http://wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/Modules/1.1.1 The contents of foo.js: var circle = require('./circle.js'); echo( 'The area of a circle of radius 4 is ' + circle.area(4)); The contents of circle.js: var PI = Math.PI; exports.area = function (r) { return PI * r * r; }; exports.circumference = function (r) { return 2 * PI * r; }; The module circle.js has exported the functions area() and circumference(). To add functions and objects to the root of your module, you can add them to the special exports object. Variables local to the module will be private, as though the module was wrapped in a function. In this example the variable PI is private to circle.js. If you want the root of your module's export to be a function (such as a constructor) or if you want to export a complete object in one assignment instead of building it one property at a time, assign it to module.exports instead of exports. #### Module Loading When the ScriptCraft Java plugin is first installed, a new subdirectory is created in the craftbukkit directory. If your craftbukkit directory is called 'craftbukkit' then the new subdirectories will be ... * craftbukkit/scriptcraft/ * craftbukkit/scriptcraft/plugins * craftbukkit/scriptcraft/modules * craftbukkit/scriptcraft/lib ... The `plugins`, `modules` and `lib` directories each serve a different purpose. ##### The plugins directory At server startup the ScriptCraft Java plugin is loaded and begins automatically loading and executing all of the modules (javascript files with the extension `.js`) it finds in the `scriptcraft/plugins` directory. All modules in the plugins directory are automatically loaded into the `global` namespace. What this means is that anything a module in the `plugins` directory exports becomes a global variable. For example, if you have a module greeting.js in the plugins directory.... exports.greet = function() { echo('Hello ' + self.name); }; ... then `greet` becomes a global function and can be used at the in-game (or server) command prompt like so... /js greet() ... This differs from how modules (in NodeJS and commonJS environments) normally work. If you want your module to be exported globally, put it in the `plugins` directory. If you don't want your module to be exported globally but only want it to be used by other modules, then put it in the `modules` directory instead. If you've used previous versions of ScriptCraft and have put your custom javascript modules in the `js-plugins` directory, then put them in the `scriptcraft/plugins` directory. To summarise, modules in this directory are ... * Automatically loaded and run at server startup. * Anything exported by modules becomes a global variable. ##### The modules directory The module directory is where you should place your modules if you don't want to export globally. In javascript, it's considered best practice not to have too many global variables, so if you want to develop modules for others to use, or want to develop more complex mods then your modules should be placed in the `modules` directory. *Modules in the `modules` directory are not automatically loaded at startup*, instead, they are loaded and used by other modules/plugins using the standard `require()` function. This is the key difference between modules in the `plugins` directory and modules in the `modules` directory. Modules in the `plugins` directory are automatically loaded and exported in to the global namespace at server startup, modules in the `modules` directory are not. ##### The lib directory Modules in the `lib` directory are for use by ScriptCraft and some core functions for use by module and plugin developers are also provided. The `lib` directory is for internal use by ScriptCraft. Modules in this directory are not automatically loaded nor are they globally exported.