[Jack_Leslie]

A tutorial by Jack Leslie

An example of HTTP: Update log with TextDraws

In this tutorial I will be trying to teach you how to use HTTP in pawn to GET information from a file, and post it in-game, I will be using TextDraws to display the information as it's easier to make new lines with it. This took me about 1 minute to code, it's small but it gives you an example of using the HTTP function in pawn. You can do a lot of other things with this.

Step 1:
We need to make a new text so we can set the string of it, display it and hide it. I've called the text "WhatsNewText", how ever we only want to display it to the player who types a command, so we will need to assign a playerid to it further on.

Start off with:

pawn Код:

new Text:WhatsNewText[MAX_PLAYERS];

Step 2:

We want the textdraw to auto hide after the player types in the command to look at the update log. For this, we will need to set a timer after he/she enters the command. So we need to make a public that hides the textdraw. So first, we need a forward for the public callback.

pawn Код:

forward HideTextDraw2(playerid);

Then, we need the callback it's self.

pawn Код:

public HideTextDraw2(playerid) {
 
        TextDrawHideForPlayer(playerid, WhatsNewText[playerid]);
 
        return 1;
}

Step 3:

Now comes the HTTP part. If your new to this, I suggest reading the sa-mp wiki (https://sampwiki.blast.hk/wiki/HTTP), as I'm not an expert so I cannot explain it the best, but I'll try my hardest. When you call the HTTP code, you need to make a callback with the response, so we can store the information, or do whatever we wanna do with it. So, we need a forward.

pawn Код:

forward UpdateResponse(playerid, response_code, data[]);

Now, the callback.

pawn Код:

public UpdateResponse(playerid, response_code, data[])
{

    new
        string[ 1028 ];

    if(response_code == 200)
    {
        format(string, sizeof(string), "%s", data);
        TextDrawSetString(WhatsNewText[playerid], string);
        TextDrawShowForPlayer(playerid, WhatsNewText[playerid]);
        SetTimerEx("HideTextDraw2", 15000, false, "i", playerid);
    }
    else
    {
        format(string, sizeof(string), "The request failed! The response code was: %d", response_code);
        SendClientMessage(playerid, 0xFFFFFFFF, string);
    }
}

response_code is the response that the webpage or webserver gives us. In this case, response 200 means successful. For more information about response codes and what they mean, take a look at https://sampwiki.blast.hk/wiki/HTTP.

Step 4:

Now we have the callbacks that we need, we need to create the textdraw so it will display. I said before, that we only want the player who types the command to see the textdraw. So, instead of putting the textdrawcreate code under OnGameModeInit, place it under OnPlayerConnect:

pawn Код:

public OnPlayerConnect(playerid) {

    WhatsNewText[playerid] = TextDrawCreate(36, 198, " ");
    TextDrawFont(WhatsNewText[playerid], 1);
    TextDrawLetterSize(WhatsNewText[playerid], 0.2, 1.4);
    TextDrawColor(WhatsNewText[playerid], 0xFFFFFFFF);
    TextDrawSetOutline(WhatsNewText[playerid], 0);
    TextDrawSetProportional(WhatsNewText[playerid], 1);
    TextDrawSetShadow(WhatsNewText[playerid], 0);
    TextDrawHideForPlayer(playerid, WhatsNewText[playerid]);
    return 1;
}

Step 5:
We need to destroy the textdraw when the player disconnects so we can safely re-create it when a player with the same playerid connects.

pawn Код:

public OnPlayerDisconnect(playerid, reason) {
    TextDrawDestroy(WhatsNewText[playerid]);
    return 1;
}

Step 6:

The command is very simple, it only involves 1 line, which is the HTTP code. I'll give you the code, then try and explain it.

pawn Код:

public OnPlayerCommandText(playerid, cmdtext[]) {

    if(strcmp(cmdtext, "/new", true) == 0)
    {
        HTTP(playerid, HTTP_GET, "//LINK TO .TXT FILE HERE", "", "UpdateResponse");
        return 1;
    }

    return 0;
}

HTTP is the function.
playerid is the playersid (it is also used to differentiate requests that are sent to the same callback, normally known as "index", but to not confuse 'noobs', i changed it to playerid)
HTTP_GET is the type, "GET" sends a regular HTTP request. If we wanted to write something to a file on a webserver, we would use HTTP_POST
"devine-gaming.com/update_test.txt" is the location of the file (without http://) which I'll explain at the end
"" is the data (which we would use if we done HTTP_POST, we would write the required data to write there)
"UpdateResponse" is the public we want to be called after the HTTP request is sent.

Extra Steps:
Make sure to use the HTTP include, put this at the top of your script under "#include <a_samp>":

pawn Код:

#include <a_http>

Make sure you create a file to read from, which I just said above. Because we are using HTTP, we need to put the file onto a website or webserver, you can easily put this file on your forum hosting like I have, make a text file with the update information, save it and upload it to your webserver, then replace the URL in the HTTP code:

pawn Код:

HTTP(playerid, HTTP_GET, "new url here", "", "UpdateResponse");

Hint: for safety reason, and to avoid crashes, make it a .txt file (Text file)

Did you know, since we are using TextDraws, we can use such characters as ~r~, ~w~ and ~n~ in the text file, for an example, here is what my text file looks like:

Quote:

~r~List of updates ~w~(23/12/2011 6:27pm):~n~/new has been implemented~n~we have also tested shit bro

But it actually ends up looking like:


End of tutorial!

Well that's the end. I know I'm not good at explaining things, but the reason for making this tutorial was because I was just messing around with HTTP and figured out how to do this, it's useful for servers who update regularly, you don't have to script in the actual gamemode, what's new, if you have /new (/whatsnew etc.) command, you can just write to a text file and save it, and best of all, you can change the file and there's no need to GMX the server to update the information in-game.

Like I said, there's a lot you can do with HTTP, and this type of code. You could have a page in your ACP (if you have one) where you can edit the text file with a WYSIWYG editor or something similar.

Everytime I do a tutorial, I script as I write, to make sure it works, so I don't get no "OMG IT NOT WORKING WTF", because if it's not, it's your fault for not reading (or my fault for not explaining?), so here's the pastebin:
http://pastebin.com/sCxQF2J8

[System64]

wow greate idea and tutorial

[Jack_Leslie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by System64 wow greate idea and tutorial

Thanks for the great feedback

[=WoR=G4M3Ov3r]

Sexy Tutorial !

[T0pAz]

Well Done!

[vassilis]

Nicely Done i learn something new today to be honest

[Mini`]

This tutorial is much appreciated! I'm sure you will see HTTP included in many servers now

[TheArcher]

Why do you need so many cells?

[Jack_Leslie]

Thanks for the feedback guys, hope a few servers use it!

And TheArcher, because the update log (the text file that the HTTP GETS) could have a lot of information in it, because it's an update log?

[Vince]

Not sure why you create a textdraw for each player, as it concerns a global and static textdraw. You can just get the information into a single global textdraw variable when the server starts and update the same textdraw whenever a player asks for it. Other than that, good job.