Node Networks

This is not my system, it’s a documentation of someone else’s.

Nodes, NodeContainers and INodeGroups are the trinity of pieces that make up the ‘connectivity layer’ in SS14. This is used for pipes and wires (power).

The table of contents of this should provide a high-level overview of the system.

NodeContainer : The component in entities that interact with the node system

NodeContainer is the component that whatever device you’re building will be interacting with to access the node system.

Content.Server.GameObjects.Components.Atmos.Piping.Pumps.BasePumpComponent should be considered the “reference code” for a component that needs to use Nodes in a way that isn’t too complex, but requires thought due to it not being as “universally connected” as a WireNet device.

Node subclasses : Defines connectivity between itself and other nodes

A Node is a specific connection point on an entity.

A Node instance is a specific connection point, and the behaviour of that instance defines how that connection point connects to other nodes.

For example, each side of a pump is a separate PipeNode that only connects in that direction, but both sides of a pipe are a single PipeNode that connects in both directions.

But AdjacentNode doesn’t have any way to define such a direction, and just connects to all adjacent nodes of the same type.

All Nodes have a property called NodeGroupID, exposed in the prototype as nodeGroupID, that determines compatibility between Nodes and the type of INodeGroup that it uses.

Implementing GetReachableNodes controls the discovery of Nodes, while calling RefreshNodeGroup is a way to manually force a refresh of this node.

Note that AdjacentNode’s code doesn’t actually check NodeGroupID - this check is performed by the Node base class in GetReachableCompatibleNodes. This implies GetReachableNodes in general does not need to perform this check, so only perform the necessary checks, such as with PipeNode which can only ever connect to other PipeNodes because.

I am unsure if having an asymmetric connection will cause problems in practice, so try not to create a situation where this can occur. (i.e. something that acts like PipeNode next to AdjacentNode - AdjacentNode will connect to PipeNode but not vice versa)

To actually use the Node for anything useful, the Node needs to either be fed information about it’s parent network via the INodeGroup, which has overridable functions for when nodes are added and removed, or whatever is accessing it needs to use it’s NodeGroup property, which has no update callbacks and always has a type of INodeGroup.

Though this should be clear already: Nodes within an entity do not automatically connect to each other unless this is forced to occur via their connection behaviour (directly or indirectly, like via a player connecting a pump to itself).

Finally, again, if you just need “connect to adjacent entities of the same group” behaviour, use AdjacentNode as shown below:

  - type: NodeContainer
    nodes:
    - !type:AdjacentNode
      nodeGroupID: Apc
    - !type:AdjacentNode
      nodeGroupID: WireNet

INodeGroup : Represents a connected group of Nodes, and contains group behaviour

INodeGroup instances represent a connected group of Nodes.

This implies that any Node in the group is connected to any other Node. (Not necessarily directly, but not going through any “explicit separators” such as pumps in the PipeNet system.)

The INodeGroup implementation is chosen via the Node’s NodeGroupID. See NodeGroupFactory.cs (described below) for more details.

Note that all INodeGroup implementations at present extend BaseNodeGroup.

NodeGroupFactory.cs : Creates INodeGroups for Nodes and houses the NodeGroupID enum

NodeGroupFactory.cs contains the network types in the NodeGroupID enum.

NodeGroupIDs are mapped to INodeGroup implementations via the NodeGroup reflection attribute (such as [NodeGroup(NodeGroupID.Pipe)] in IPipeNet.cs).

Multiple NodeGroupIDs may be mapped to one NodeGroup implementation.

NodeGroupFactory (accessed via IoC as INodeGroupFactory) has one member of importance, MakeNodeGroup. (There is also Initialize, which is called from the server EntryPoint, and is used to scan for classes using reflection.)

MakeNodeGroup creates a new INodeGroup from a Node, getting the type from Node.NodeGroupID.

Appendix: Some Power Group IDs:

  • Apc: APC Extension Cables -> ApcNetNodeGroup
  • MVPower: MV Wire -> PowerNetNodeGroup
  • HVPower: HV Wire -> PowerNetNodeGroup

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