Saving Inventory Server Side / Loading

[WolfTechGames]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out how I could save and load everyone's inventory server side so that they only have that inventory on one specific server. I am working on a survival game and I don't want the players inventories to presist among servers. Appreciate everyone's help!

Thanks,
 WolfTechGames

[ArenMook]

Simple. When the player connects, do a TNManager.LoadFile("Players/" + playersNickNameOrID, callback);

If the callback receives no data, then it's a new player. Otherwise, load the player data. In Windward once the player's data is loaded this way I then parse it (it's a saved DataNode), and set TNManager.playerData = parsedDataNode; -- which then automatically sends this to every other player.

Whenever you change the player's data (TNManager.playerDataNode), be sure to sync it via TNManager.SyncPlayerData(). Save it periodically and/or when about to disconnect by calling TNManager.SaveFile.

[WolfTechGames]

Simple. When the player connects, do a TNManager.LoadFile("Players/" + playersNickNameOrID, callback);

If the callback receives no data, then it's a new player. Otherwise, load the player data. In Windward once the player's data is loaded this way I then parse it (it's a saved DataNode), and set TNManager.playerData = parsedDataNode; -- which then automatically sends this to every other player.

Whenever you change the player's data (TNManager.playerDataNode), be sure to sync it via TNManager.SyncPlayerData(). Save it periodically and/or when about to disconnect by calling TNManager.SaveFile.

Hey Aren thanks for the reply, I got the function itself to work but it seems to not load the correct data was wondering if you know why. Here is my code:

1. //Load Data
2.     public void loadInventory()
3.     {
4.         //Initiate Inventory
5.         for (int i = 0; i < inventorySize; i++) { inventoryItems.Add(""); }
6.  
7.         //Add Player Inventory
8.         TNManager.playerDataNode.SetChild("Inventory", inventoryItems);
9.  
10.         TNManager.LoadFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, onLoadFile);
11.     }
12.  
13.     void onLoadFile(string filename, byte[] data)
14.     {
15.         if (data == null)
16.         {
17.             saveInventory();
18.         }
19.         else
20.         {
21.             MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(data);
22.             StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream);
23.             Debug.Log(reader.ReadToEnd());
24.         }
25.     }
26.  
27.     //Save Data
28.     public void saveInventory()
29.     {
30.         MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
31.         StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(stream);
32.         writer.Write(inventoryItems);
33.         byte[] data = stream.ToArray();
34.         writer.Close();
35.         TNManager.SaveFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, data);
36.  
37.         //Debug
38.         Debug.Log("Inventory Saved");
39.     }

NOTE: inventoryItems is a string array

[ArenMook]

What are you doing there? First... DataNode is fully capable of serialization, there is no need to use anything else. Second, why add "" strings? That won't work if you try to save them as a text-based DataNode. Binary will work fine.

DataNode.Write does the writing. DataNode.Read does the reading.

[WolfTechGames]

I am trying to save the player inventory server side, i'm confused haha sorry. If you have some time could you or someone else show me a quick example :/ Sorry if I sound demanding. Thank you very much!

[cmifwdll]

So I think I nailed everything you want and followed Aren's advice. I'm not incredibly familiar with the DataNode class and I didn't try compiling / testing this, so hopefully it all works okay

1. public class InventoryManager : TNBehaviour
2. {
3.         public int SaveInterval = 60;
4.        
5.         void Start()
6.         {
7.                 // save it periodically
8.                 StartCoroutine(SaveInventoryToFile());
9.         }
10.        
11.         void OnNetworkConnect (bool result, string message)
12.         {
13.                 if (result)
14.                 {
15.                         // when the player connects, load file
16.                         TNManager.LoadFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, OnLoadFile);
17.                 }
18.                 else
19.                 {
20.                         Debug.LogError(message);
21.                 }
22.         }
23.        
24.         void OnLoadFile(string filename, byte[] data)
25.         {
26.                 if (data.Length == 0)
27.                 {
28.                         // if the callback receives no data then it's a new player.
29.                         // initialize the inventory
30.                         TNManager.playerDataNode.Add("Item 1");
31.                         TNManager.playerDataNode.Add("Item 2");
32.                         TNManager.playerDataNode.Add("Item 3");
33.                        
34.                         TNManager.SyncPlayerData();
35.                 }
36.                 else
37.                 {
38.                         // otherwise, load the data
39.                         DataNode parsedDataNode = DataNode.Read(data);
40.                         // setting TNManager.playerData automatically syncs
41.                         TNManager.playerData = parsedDataNode;
42.                 }
43.         }
44.        
45.         IEnumerator SaveInventoryToFile()
46.         {
47.                 // save it periodically
48.                 while(true)
49.                 {
50.                         try
51.                         {
52.                                 // if implicit casting works
53.                                 //TNManager.SaveFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, TNManager.playerData);
54.                                 // else put it in appropriate type
55.                                 byte[] buf;
56.                                 using (System.IO.MemoryStream ms = new System.IO.MemoryStream())
57.                                 {
58.                                         using (System.IO.StreamWriter bw = new System.IO.StreamWriter(ms))
59.                                         {
60.                                                 TNManager.playerDataNode.Write(bw);
61.                                                 buf = ms.ToArray();
62.                                         }
63.                                 }
64.                                 // and save
65.                                 TNManager.SaveFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, buf);
66.                         }
67.                         catch (Exception ex) { Debug.LogError(ex.Message); }
68.                         yield return new WaitForSeconds(SaveInterval);
69.                 }
70.         }
71. }
72.  

It saves every minute. You'll have to add saving before disconnect.

The example gets rid of your inventoryItems. The inventory is now TNManager.playerDataNode. If you want to save other stuff in TNManager.playerDataNode you'll need to modify this a bit [make everything above branch off an "Inventory" child].

There's a lot you can do to build upon this example. Hopefully it gives you a start in the right direction.

[WolfTechGames]

So I think I nailed everything you want and followed Aren's advice. I'm not incredibly familiar with the DataNode class and I didn't try compiling / testing this, so hopefully it all works okay

The example gets rid of your inventoryItems. The inventory is now TNManager.playerDataNode. If you want to save other stuff in TNManager.playerDataNode you'll need to modify this a bit [make everything above branch off an "Inventory" child].

There's a lot you can do to build upon this example. Hopefully it gives you a start in the right direction.

Thank you very much! This is what I was looking for, I have tested the code and it works completely fine so this is perfect. Now all I have to do is tweak it a bit to make sure it works with my system. Thanks Again!

[WolfTechGames]

So I think I nailed everything you want and followed Aren's advice. I'm not incredibly familiar with the DataNode class and I didn't try compiling / testing this, so hopefully it all works okay

1. public class InventoryManager : TNBehaviour
2. {
3.         public int SaveInterval = 60;
4.        
5.         void Start()
6.         {
7.                 // save it periodically
8.                 StartCoroutine(SaveInventoryToFile());
9.         }
10.        
11.         void OnNetworkConnect (bool result, string message)
12.         {
13.                 if (result)
14.                 {
15.                         // when the player connects, load file
16.                         TNManager.LoadFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, OnLoadFile);
17.                 }
18.                 else
19.                 {
20.                         Debug.LogError(message);
21.                 }
22.         }
23.        
24.         void OnLoadFile(string filename, byte[] data)
25.         {
26.                 if (data.Length == 0)
27.                 {
28.                         // if the callback receives no data then it's a new player.
29.                         // initialize the inventory
30.                         TNManager.playerDataNode.Add("Item 1");
31.                         TNManager.playerDataNode.Add("Item 2");
32.                         TNManager.playerDataNode.Add("Item 3");
33.                        
34.                         TNManager.SyncPlayerData();
35.                 }
36.                 else
37.                 {
38.                         // otherwise, load the data
39.                         DataNode parsedDataNode = DataNode.Read(data);
40.                         // setting TNManager.playerData automatically syncs
41.                         TNManager.playerData = parsedDataNode;
42.                 }
43.         }
44.        
45.         IEnumerator SaveInventoryToFile()
46.         {
47.                 // save it periodically
48.                 while(true)
49.                 {
50.                         try
51.                         {
52.                                 // if implicit casting works
53.                                 //TNManager.SaveFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, TNManager.playerData);
54.                                 // else put it in appropriate type
55.                                 byte[] buf;
56.                                 using (System.IO.MemoryStream ms = new System.IO.MemoryStream())
57.                                 {
58.                                         using (System.IO.StreamWriter bw = new System.IO.StreamWriter(ms))
59.                                         {
60.                                                 TNManager.playerDataNode.Write(bw);
61.                                                 buf = ms.ToArray();
62.                                         }
63.                                 }
64.                                 // and save
65.                                 TNManager.SaveFile("Players/" + TNManager.playerName, buf);
66.                         }
67.                         catch (Exception ex) { Debug.LogError(ex.Message); }
68.                         yield return new WaitForSeconds(SaveInterval);
69.                 }
70.         }
71. }
72.  

It saves every minute. You'll have to add saving before disconnect.

The example gets rid of your inventoryItems. The inventory is now TNManager.playerDataNode. If you want to save other stuff in TNManager.playerDataNode you'll need to modify this a bit [make everything above branch off an "Inventory" child].

There's a lot you can do to build upon this example. Hopefully it gives you a start in the right direction.

The file output doesn't overwrite the other file except it writes on top of it. So the file output looks something like this:

1. Version = 12
2.         InventorySize = 20
3.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
4.                 AK-47
5.                 Glock
6.                
7.                 Glock
8.                
9.                
10.                
11.                
12.                
13.                
14.                
15.                
16.                
17.                
18.                
19.                
20.                
21.                
22.                
23.                
24.         EquippedWeapon = ""
25.         InventorySize = 20
26.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
27.                 AK-47
28.                 Glock
29.                
30.                 Glock
31.                
32.                
33.                
34.                
35.                
36.                
37.                
38.                
39.                
40.                
41.                
42.                
43.                
44.                
45.                
46.                
47.         EquippedWeapon = ""
48.         InventorySize = 20
49.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
50.                 AK-47
51.                 Glock
52.                
53.                 Glock
54.                
55.                
56.                
57.                
58.                
59.                
60.                
61.                
62.                
63.                
64.                
65.                
66.                
67.                
68.                
69.                
70.         EquippedWeapon = ""
71.         InventorySize = 20
72.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
73.                 AK-47
74.                 Glock
75.                
76.                 Glock
77.                
78.                
79.                
80.                
81.                
82.                
83.                
84.                
85.                
86.                
87.                
88.                
89.                
90.                
91.                
92.                
93.         EquippedWeapon = ""
94.         InventorySize = 20
95.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
96.                 AK-47
97.                 Glock
98.                
99.                 Glock
100.                
101.                
102.                
103.                
104.                
105.                
106.                
107.                
108.                
109.                
110.                
111.                
112.                
113.                
114.                
115.                
116.         EquippedWeapon = ""
117.         InventorySize = 20
118.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
119.                 AK-47
120.                 Glock
121.                
122.                 Glock
123.                
124.                
125.                
126.                
127.                
128.                
129.                
130.                
131.                
132.                
133.                
134.                
135.                
136.                
137.                
138.                
139.         EquippedWeapon = "Glock"
140.         InventorySize = 20
141.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
142.                 AK-47
143.                 Glock
144.                
145.                 Glock
146.                
147.                
148.                
149.                
150.                
151.                
152.                
153.                
154.                
155.                
156.                
157.                
158.                
159.                
160.                
161.                
162.         EquippedWeapon = "Glock"
163.         InventorySize = 20
164.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
165.                 AK-47
166.                 Glock
167.                
168.                 Glock
169.                
170.                
171.                
172.                
173.                
174.                
175.                
176.                
177.                
178.                
179.                
180.                
181.                
182.                
183.                
184.                
185.         EquippedWeapon = ""
186.         InventorySize = 20
187.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
188.                 AK-47
189.                 Glock
190.                
191.                 Glock
192.                
193.                
194.                
195.                
196.                
197.                
198.                
199.                
200.                
201.                
202.                
203.                
204.                
205.                
206.                
207.                
208.         EquippedWeapon = ""
209.         InventorySize = 20
210.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
211.                 AK-47
212.                 Glock
213.                
214.                 Glock
215.                
216.                
217.                
218.                
219.                
220.                
221.                
222.                
223.                
224.                
225.                
226.                
227.                
228.                
229.                
230.                
231.         EquippedWeapon = ""
232.         InventorySize = 20
233.         Inventory = IList<System.String>
234.                 AK-47
235.                 Glock
236.                
237.                 Glock
238.                
239.                
240.                
241.                
242.                
243.                
244.                
245.                
246.                
247.                
248.                
249.                
250.                
251.                
252.                
253.                
254.         EquippedWeapon = "AK-47"
255.  

[cmifwdll]

The function that writes to the file uses File.WriteAllBytes which overwrites the file (desired in this case).

So it must be something on your end. DataNode.AddChild blindly adds a new child, without checking to see if one with that name already exists. I'd suggest trying AddMissingChild or even SetChild. SetChild will set the value of a specified child, or create a new one if it doesn't exist. Also make sure you're not adding null or empty string values (that's why you're getting blank lines in your output).

If you want to access an existing child, use something like node.GetChild<Type>("NameOfChild"). So if I have an item saved as a DataNode I might access some of its properties like so:

1. public enum ItemType { Pistol, Shotgun, Sniper };
2. public class Item
3. {
4.         public ItemType type;
5.         public string name;
6.         public float damage;
7. }
8.  
9. // set values
10. node.SetChild("Type", type);
11. node.SetChild("Name", name);
12. node.SetChild("Damage", damage);
13.  
14. // access values
15. type = node.GetChild<ItemType>("Type");
16. name = node.GetChild<string>("Name");
17. damage = node.GetChild<float>("Damage");
18.  

Inventory systems can become extremely complex extremely quickly, so put some serious time into planning out exactly how you want it structured and exactly how you're going to use it. It might help to think of DataNode as an XML tree-like datatype.

[WolfTechGames]

The function that writes to the file uses File.WriteAllBytes which overwrites the file (desired in this case).

So it must be something on your end. DataNode.AddChild blindly adds a new child, without checking to see if one with that name already exists. I'd suggest trying AddMissingChild or even SetChild. SetChild will set the value of a specified child, or create a new one if it doesn't exist. Also make sure you're not adding null or empty string values (that's why you're getting blank lines in your output).

If you want to access an existing child, use something like node.GetChild<Type>("NameOfChild"). So if I have an item saved as a DataNode I might access some of its properties like so:

1. public enum ItemType { Pistol, Shotgun, Sniper };
2. public class Item
3. {
4.         public ItemType type;
5.         public string name;
6.         public float damage;
7. }
8.  
9. // set values
10. node.SetChild("Type", type);
11. node.SetChild("Name", name);
12. node.SetChild("Damage", damage);
13.  
14. // access values
15. type = node.GetChild<ItemType>("Type");
16. name = node.GetChild<string>("Name");
17. damage = node.GetChild<float>("Damage");
18.  

Inventory systems can become extremely complex extremely quickly, so put some serious time into planning out exactly how you want it structured and exactly how you're going to use it. It might help to think of DataNode as an XML tree-like datatype.

Thanks mate, everything is working now. Since my system relies on blanks I made it so before it saves it saves all blanks as the word "Empty" and when it load it loads all "Empty" as a blank.

[ArenMook]

It's best to not save any blanks. RemoveChild the nodes you don't need instead.