Format arguments to have nested structures start on a new line instead
of inline to make it easier to see where the structures starts and what
structure it is.
Split up the action of registring an event or request data class to be
decoded by the Link class and the action of registring a handler for
those requests and events. This moves the validation work from Link
instantiation time to startup initialisation which makes logic errors
fail on startup instead of failing instantiation of the link when a
connection attempt is made.
Additionally implement a partial validation logic for messages received
using the newly refactored message registration. This unfortunately
ended up merged with the registration refactor.
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.
All possible Promise rejections and exception bubbling should be handled
by either the code creating the exception or the code invoking the
operation that could fail. Treat therefore uncaught exceptions and
unhandled promise rejetions as fatal errors that log a traceback and
immedately terminate the Node.js process.
Add ModPack data type with corresponding storage on the master, messages
to create, update and delete them, as well as commands to invoke them.
The ModPack data type contains a list of mods with versions and optional
sha1 hashes, and mod settings to be used.
Add the ability to manage a set of mods to be shared by the master
server to the rest of the cluster. This implements storage, uploads,
downloads, deletetion, and listing details of mods but does not actually
do anything with the stored mods.
Add ability to move or copy saves between instances. For instances on
the same slave the saves are transferred with filesystem operations, for
instances on two different slaves the proxy stream interface is used to
send the save via the master server.
There are some corner cases with streams that cause them to not emit
finish close or end events which in turn means that code liseting for
these events directly may end up hanging forever. Use stream.finished
to detect end of streams which will handle these cases correctly.
Instances require a number of modifications leading to it not being
able to be converted into a function. The main one is that there is a
list of config elements that cannot be set via the edit command and
either have to be set via different means or cannot be set. To stop
these fields constantly sending error messages, we disregard adding them
to the file in the first place.
Using an event emmiter, the fields can now be set correctly in the
master config. Null values are now handled correctly, and numbers are also set
correctly.
Hornwitser