List Datablocks by Type

While developing two in house tools for Zombie Shortbus (AFX Creator and Weaponcrafter), I discovered I needed a list of datablocks specified by their type. For instance, I wanted to fill a GuiListCtrl with the names of all "ParticleEmitterData" datablocks loaded during game play.

With these functions, I have can now implement tool features such as picking an existing datablock out of list, displaying it's attributes in a new GUI, modifying the attributes, and saving out the new datablock (plus re-executing), without ever opening up a script file.

I'm sure there are other applications that you might discover. The first code section is the actual engine change you need to make. The second code section is a script example for using the new function, getSpecificDatablocks().

Enjoy, and let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement or find bugs.

Add the following to the bottom of engine\console\consoleFunctions.cc:

static const char* findNamespace(SimDataBlock * datablock, const char* searchValue)
{
	// Grab the namespace
	Namespace* pTemp = datablock->getNamespace();

	// Traverse the family tree looking for our
	// long lost parent
	while(pTemp->mParent)
	{
		// Compare our names...are you my Mommy?
		if(!dStrcmp(searchValue, pTemp->mName))
		{
			// We have found the parent we are looking for, get their name
			return pTemp->mName;
		}
		// This isn't the parent you are looking for, go higher in the tree
		pTemp = pTemp->mParent;
	}
	// We didn't find the parent, return 0 (poor, orphaned datablock (= )
	return 0;
}
ConsoleFunction(getSpecificDatablocks, const char*, 2, 2, "getSpecificDatablocks(typeMask); get all datablocks of \"typeMask\" in string list format")
{
	U32 iBufferSize = 0;
	Vector<const char*> myVec;

	// Get the typemaks we are searching for
	const char* searchType = argv[1];

	// Get all of our datablocks into one variable, a datablock group
	SimDataBlockGroup * grp = Sim::getDataBlockGroup();

	// Traverse the datablock group
	for(SimDataBlockGroup::iterator i = grp->begin(); i != grp->end(); i++)
    {
		// Grab our current iterator's datablock
		SimDataBlock * datablock = dynamic_cast<SimDataBlock*>(*i);

		// Skip non-datablocks if we somehow encounter them.
		if(!datablock)
			continue;

		// Get datablock name for matching
		const char* name = findNamespace(datablock, searchType);

		// Safety check, just in case
		if(!name)
			continue;

		// Match datablock types
		if(!dStrcmp(searchType, name))
		{
			// Keep track of our overall memory we are going
			// to allocate for our return buffer
			iBufferSize += dStrlen(datablock->getName())+ 1;

			// Push the string back
			myVec.push_back(datablock->getName());
		}
	}

	// Create a return buffer (string format)
	char* retBuffer = Con::getReturnBuffer(iBufferSize);

	// Clear out the return buffer (paranoia check)
	dStrcpy(retBuffer, "");

	// Iterate our vector and fill up our returnBuffer
	for(int i = 0; i < myVec.size(); i++)
	{
		dStrcat(retBuffer, myVec[i]);
		dStrcat(retBuffer," ");
	}
	
	// Return
	return retBuffer;
}

Script implementation, written in server\scripts\game.cs:

[b]// Try passing in "PlayerData", "AudioProfile", and others[/b]
function getDatablocks(%name)
{
[b]   // Get the list of datablocks[/b]
   %list = getSpecificDatablocks(%name);

[b]   // How many did we find?[/b]
   %count = getWordCount(%list);
   
   echo("Number of " @ %name @ " datablocks: " @ %count);
   
[b]   // Loop through the list, grab each datablock, and print it out to the console[/b]
   for(%i = 0; %i < %count; %i++)
   {
      %name = getWord(%list, %i);
      echo(%name);
   }
}