1 About MetaLibrary {#mainpage}
2 ===============================================================================
4 MetaLibrary is the collection of code I've written for
5 [WmDOT](http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=53698), my AI for
6 [OpenTTD](http://www.openttd.org/), that I felt should properly be in a
7 library. Separating my AI from this library has made it easier to write my
8 AI, but I also hope will this code will help some aspiring AI writer get off
9 the ground a little bit faster. ;)
12 ===============================================================================
13 A GameScript version of this library is also available. All functions are
14 available, although some may require an active company context.
16 Sub-Libraries Available {#sublibraries}
17 ===============================================================================
19 - `%MinchinWeb.Atlas` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Atlas\_
20 - given a list of 'sources' and 'attractions', will weight the combinations
21 and generate a list of pairs to connect.
22 - `%MinchinWeb.Array` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Array\_
24 - `%MinchinWeb.Constants` ← \_MinchinWeb\_C\_
25 - `%MinchinWeb.DLS` ← \_MinchinWeb\_DLS\_
26 - **Dominion Land System** -- a wrapper on the road pathfinder to encourage
27 roads to be built on a grid.
28 - `%MinchinWeb.Extras` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Extras\_
29 - Extra functions, for things like math, map geometry, ship support, etc.
30 - `%MinchinWeb.Lakes` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Lakes\_
31 - **Lakes** serves as a check to determine if two points are in the same
32 waterbody. It was written as a replacement for Waterbody Check. Lakes
33 remembers the work it has previously done, which makes subsequent requests
35 - `%MinchinWeb.LineWalker` ← \_MinchinWeb\_LW\_
36 - **Line Walker** -- walk the map between two points, or start at a given
37 point and walk out at a given slope.
38 - `%MinchinWeb.Log` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Log\_
39 - help (dynamically) control the amount of debugging output displayed.
40 - `%MinchinWeb.Industry` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Industry\_
41 - `%MinchinWeb.Marine` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Marine\_
42 - Marine and ship related functions.
43 - `%MinchinWeb.ShipPathfinder` ← \_MinchinWeb\_ShipPathfinder\_
44 - A geometry based Ship Pathfinder.
45 - `%MinchinWeb.SpiralWalker` ← \_MinchinWeb\_SW\_
46 - **Spiral Walker** -- allows you to define a starting point, and then
47 'walk' all the tiles in a spiral outward. It was originally used to find a
48 buildable spot for my HQ in WmDOT, but is useful for many other things as
50 - `%MinchinWeb.Station` ← \_MinchinWeb\_Station\_
51 - some station related functions
52 - `%MinchinWeb.RoadPathfinder` ← \_MinchinWeb\_RoadPathfinder\_
53 - Based on NoAI Team's pathfinder. The pathfinder uses the A* search pattern
54 and includes functions to find the path, determine its cost, and build it.
55 Can bridge over rivers, canals, and railroad tracks.
56 - `%MinchinWeb.WaterbodyCheck` ← \_MinchinWeb\_WBC\_
57 - **Note**: Waterbody Check has been deprecated in favour of Lakes
58 - Waterbody Check - in effect a specialized pathfinder. It serves to check
59 whether two points are in the same waterbody (i.e. a ship could travel
60 between them). It is optimized to run extremely fast (I hope!). It can be
61 called separately, but was originally designed as a pre-run check for my
65 ===============================================================================
70 - bug fix to Python build script (specifically, fix NoGo library version)
71 - update build script to work with Python 3000
73 Read the complete [Changelog](md_openttd-metalibrary_changelog.html).
75 Installation {#installation}
76 ===============================================================================
78 The easiest way install MetaLibrary is the use the in-game downloader in
81 If you want to manually install it, download the folder and place it in your
82 `../OpenTTD/ai/library/` folder.
84 For you to use the library in your AI's you'll need to import it. Somewhere
85 outside of any other class or function, add an import statement like:
87 Import("util.MinchinWeb", "MinchinWeb", 9);
89 Requirements {#requirements}
90 ===============================================================================
92 If installed from the in-game downloader, the dependencies will
93 automatically be downloaded and installed. Otherwise, you'll need the
96 - [Binary Heap], v.1 (`Queue.BinaryHeap-1.tar`)
97 - [Fibonacci Heap], v.3 (`Queue.FibonacciHeap-3.tar`)
98 - [Graph.AyStar], v.6 (`Graph.AyStar-6.tar`)
100 [Binary Heap]: http://binaries.openttd.org/bananas/ailibrary/Queue.BinaryHeap-1-1.tar.gz
101 [Graph.AyStar]: http://binaries.openttd.org/bananas/ailibrary/Graph.AyStar-6-1.tar.gz
102 [Fibonacci Heap]: http://binaries.openttd.org/bananas/ailibrary/Queue.FibonacciHeap-3.tar.gz
104 OpenTTD is able to read uncompressed `tar` files without any problem.
107 ===============================================================================
109 **Q:** How do I use the sub-libraries directly?
111 **A:** Import the main library, and then create global points to the
112 sub-libaries you want to use. Eg:
114 Import("util.MinchinWeb", "MinchinWeb", 9);
115 Arrays <- MinchinWeb.Arrays;
117 *Info:* See the sub-library files for the functions available and their
120 **Q:** What is the \_MinchinWeb\_ ... all over the place?
122 **A:** I can't answer it better than Zuu when he put together his SuperLib, so
125 > " Unfortunately due to constraints in OpenTTD and Squirrel, only the
126 > main class of a library will be renamed at import. For [MetaLib]
127 > that is the [MetaLib] class in this file. Every other class in this
128 > file or other .nut files that the library is built up by will end
129 > up at the global scope at the AI that imports the library. The
130 > global scope of the library will get merged with the global scope
133 > " To reduce the risk of causing you conflict problems this library
134 > prefixes everything that ends up at the global scope of AIs with
135 > [ \_MinchinWeb\_ ]. That is also why the library is not named Utils or
136 > something with higher risk of you already having at your global
139 > " You should however never need to use any of the [ \_MinchinWeb\_ ... ]
140 > names as a user of this library. It is not even recommended to do
141 > so as it is part of the implementation and could change without
144 > -- Zuu, SuperLib v.7 documentation
146 A grand 'Thank You' to Zuu for his SuperLib that provided a very useful
147 model, to all the NoAI team to their work on making the AI system work,
148 and to everyone that has brought us the amazing game of OpenTTD.
151 ===============================================================================
153 **Minchinweb's MetaLibrary** v.9 [2015-01-10]
155 Copyright © 2011-15 by W. Minchin.
157 please visit <https://github.com/MinchinWeb/openttd-metalibrary>
159 Permission is granted to you to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
160 distribute, sublicense, and/or sell this software, and provide these
161 rights to others, provided:
163 - The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
164 in all copies or substantial portions of the software.
165 - Attribution is provided in the normal place for recognition of 3rd party
167 - You accept that this software is provided to you "as is", without warranty.
169 \note \_MinchinWeb\_RoadPathfinder\_ is separately licensed under
173 ===============================================================================
174 - Discussion thread for MetaLibarary on TT-Forums --
175 <http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=57903>
176 - MetaLibrary code, hosted on GitHub --
177 <https://github.com/MinchinWeb/openttd-metalibrary/>
178 - MetaLibrary documentation --
179 <http://minchin.ca/opettd-metalibrary/>
182 ===============================================================================
183 \todo Notes about static classes, what they are, and which classes
185 \todo Consider Fibonacci Heap version in NoCAB
186 \todo Add picture of in game downloader
187 \todo Look into theming dOxygen output
188 \todo Add 'News' tab pointing back to my Blog updates on MetaLibrary
1.8.9.1 
