Move all functions and classes currently available through lib/name and
libName to be under a single flat namespace in lib. This make
reorganising the lib namespace much simpler as the location of symbols
can move without breaking the consumers of lib.
The multi-entrypoint design was already problematic for the web plugin
system which couldn't effectively use it due to how webpack's shared
module system is awkward to set up with multiple entrypoints per package.
Reverse the direction of the API for sending messages from
messageDefinition.send(link, { content });
to
link.send(new MessageClass(content));
and convert all message definitions to use the JSON serialisable class
pattern and explicit registration of message handlers, along with a
end-to-end based routing of messages instead of link to link.
The experience I gained from the existing way messages were defined and
sent over links was that it was difficult to understand for people
unfamiliar with the system. The automatic registration of message
handlers ment that code was being called as if by magic from nowhere
with no easy way to discover it. The manual forwarding and rules for
what can be sent where and how obscured its working.
The use of pure JSON as both input and output from message handlers made
it tedious to work with. Data had to be manually converted between the
program representation and the over the wire format, which made handler
code unplesant to write. Particularly because the over the wire format
used snake_case while the program code uses camelCase for variables.
The idea behind the decision to do it this way was to make it more clear
which data came from the wire and which from the program, and while this
worked it didn't make message handlers any nicer to write.
The direction of the API and magic registration of message handlers also
meant that a future migration to TypeScript would be troublesome. While
it may be possible to implement, the degree of TypeScript magic required
would go starkly against the principle of keep it simple stupid.
By refactoring to using the JSON serialisable class pattern most of
these issues go away. There is no longer a need to distinguish the on
wire format of messages with the program representation because the only
place that deals with the wire format of messages are the toJSON and
fromJSON methods on the classes themselves. Message handlers will work
with proper instances of classes instead of raw data, something that
makes them easier to write, and trivial to type with TypeScript.
End-to-end routing also simplifies sending messages that need to do
mulitple hops to reach the destination. And removes the need for having
all messages be specified in plugin's info module, as they can be routed
without having to be parsed completely.
The explicit registration of message handlers is something that I
thought would be tedious boilerplate code that could be automated away.
But experience now shows it to be the opposite. Allthough dull
repetition, the purpose it serves is to link together the code in a way
that humans can easily find. With explicit registration searching the
name of the message handler in the editor will show the registration that
ties it together with the type of message it handles and the kind of
registration. With implicit registration searching the name of the
message handler turns up only the handler with no clue as to what calls
it.
The role of a slave as a host for Factorio servers is not well reflected
in its name and has caused confusion among users. Rename slave to host
to better reflect its role as a host of Factorio servers.
The role of the master server as the party controlling every part of the
cluster is not well reflected in its name and has caused confusion among
users on several occasions. Rename master to controller to better
reflects its role.
Remove the pluginInfo parameter from lib/plugin attachPluginMessages as
the plugin info object is available in the `.info` property of the
plugin. While a plugin instance doesn't exist for the slave side and
was the reason for these to be separate arguments, I expect slave
plugins to be implemented eventually.
Add winston based logger for master, slave, ctl, lib, and web_ui code.
Logging done from slaves and instances are sent to the master server and
tagged with the instance and/or slave it originated from. This allows
for example error messages to propagate back to the source that iniated
the action. The master server also stores the log to allow it to be
queried at a later point. For slaves a copy of the slave's log is also
stored locally.
Amend the error message shown when a message handler is missing from a
plugin with the expected name of the handler and the name of the plugin
it's missing from.
Move the code for loading plugins infos from Node.js packages into a
separate module in order to break it out from lib/plugin.js which is
also used on the web interface side. This resolves a warning of using
an expression with require on the webpack build.
Use lib* prefix for the modules impored from the lib package to help
distinguish them more from ordinary variables. Fix up the naming
convention for files to be consistently lowercase_underscore for
JavaScript files.
Add a separate plugin-list.json file for storing which plugins are
available and the path to pass to require in order to load it. This
allows plugins to be published and installed as npm packages. And also
replaces the old method of installing plugins by putting them in the
plugins folder.
Split up codebase into the packages @clsterio/lib, @clusterio/master,
@clusterio/slave, and @clusterio/ctl using lerna to manage them. This
will allow deployment to use only the parts needed reducing install
size, and better separate the code into shared library, master, slave
and control.
Implement notification to plugins for disconnect request, connect, drop,
and close. This allows plugins to properly handle slaves and the master
server shutting down without sending messages that will get lost.
Replace current configuration mess with a trimmed down version of the
original vision of #200. Configs are collection of config groups that
have fields that can be set. These groups allow organizing the fields
as well as opertunity for plugins to add their own groups. By default
plugins have an auto generated group with the enabled field.
Hornwitser