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Creating_Binary_Modules#547581
<cat>Dev</cat>⤶
Binary modules allow you to extend Lua's functionality using C++. ⤶
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# Dependencies⤶
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Binary Modules only need CMake and a C++ compiler for building.⤶
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You can install both through either the Visual Studio Installer ("Desktop development with C++" in Visual Studio 2019) on Windows, Xcode/homebrew on macOS, or by using your favorite package manager on Linux.⤶
For CMake, downloads are also available on the [CMake website](https://cmake.org/download/).⤶
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If you want to use an IDE, you should be able to choose any as long as it has support for CMake projects (Visual Studio, CLion, etc.).⤶
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If you don't want to use an IDE you can also build the module manually, but that approach will not be detailed in this guide.⤶
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# Project setup⤶
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The headers you need are [available here](https://github.com/Facepunch/gmod-module-base/tree/development).⤶
They will provide your project with information about how to interface with the game and set a few common settings for compiling the module.⤶
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First, create an empty folder. This will contain all the files related to your module and will be referred to as "main folder" from now on.⤶
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Now, download a copy of the headers into a subfolder of the main folder.⤶
While you can name it freely, for this guide I will use `gmod-headers` as the name of the subfolder.⤶
You will have to replace that name accordingly if you chose something different.⤶
To check whether you extracted the files in the correct location, make sure that the paths `gmod-headers/include` and `gmod-headers/examples` are present in the main folder.⤶
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Next, we will set up a CMake project definition.⤶
To do that, create a file called `CMakeLists.txt` in the main folder and paste the following content in there:⤶
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```⤶
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)⤶
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# The project name is rather unimportant and you can name it anything you want.⤶
# It just mustn't conflict with the module name that is defined further below.⤶
project(gmod-module-guide LANGUAGES CXX)⤶
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set(CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES Release Debug)⤶
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)⤶
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)⤶
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# Load the gmod-module-base project that sets up headers and settings.⤶
add_subdirectory(gmod-headers/include)⤶
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# The library name defined here (in this case, "testmodule") will be the name of the module.⤶
add_library(testmodule SHARED)⤶
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# Add the source files required for the module.⤶
# Again, the file names don't matter and you can even add multiple files by adding more space-delimited filenames after "module.cpp".⤶
target_sources(testmodule PRIVATE module.cpp)⤶
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# Actually apply the headers and settings to our module.⤶
target_link_libraries(testmodule gmod-module-base)⤶
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set_gmod_suffix_prefix(testmodule)⤶
```⤶
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Now that we have our project defined, we just need something that we can compile into a module.⤶
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For demonstration purposes the "Hello World" example works just fine, so copy `gmod-headers/examples/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cpp` and paste it into the main folder as `module.cpp`.⤶
This file you can now change and experiment with.⤶
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For building, simply open the main folder in your chosen IDE (any half-decent one should detect the `CMakeLists.txt` file and set up a CMake project) and press "Build" in there.⤶
Developers without IDE can now follow any existing "how to build a CMake project" guide.⤶
The binary module will end up whereever the CMake output was placed, with the correct name already applied.⤶
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# A note on userdata & metatables⤶
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Userdata and metatables are handled differently in Garry's Mod. This helps the engine determine userdata type much faster.⤶
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First create your metatable (ideally in GMOD_MODULE_OPEN), then create a reference to it and store it globally in a variable.⤶
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```⤶
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LUA->CreateTable();⤶
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LUA->PushCFunction(gcDeleteWrapper);⤶
LUA->SetField(-2, "__gc");⤶
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LUA->PushCFunction(toStringWrapper);⤶
LUA->SetField(-2, "__tostring");⤶
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LUA->PushCFunction(indexWrapper);⤶
LUA->SetField(-2, "__index");⤶
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LUA->PushCFunction(newIndexWrapper);⤶
LUA->SetField(-2, "__newindex");⤶
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metatable = LUA->ReferenceCreate();⤶
```⤶
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To push your userdata to the stack:⤶
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```⤶
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GarrysMod::Lua::UserData* ud = ( GarrysMod::Lua::UserData* )LUA->NewUserdata( sizeof( GarrysMod::Lua::UserData ) );⤶
ud->data = pointer_to_your_c_class;⤶
ud->type = your_type_id;⤶
LUA->ReferencePush( metatable );⤶
LUA->SetMetaTable(-2);⤶
```⤶
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To get your userdata from the stack:⤶
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```⤶
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GarrysMod::Lua::UserData* obj = (GarrysMod::Lua::UserData* )LUA->GetUserdata(position);⤶
your_c_class* var = (your_c_class*)(obj->data);⤶
```⤶
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# Naming & Location⤶
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The module files should be placed in the garrysmod/lua/bin/ folder.⤶
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The names differ between platform and Lua realm.⤶
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|File name|Side| require(name) | Platform |⤶
|---|---|---|---|⤶
| `gmsv_example_win32.dll` | Server | example | Windows x32 |⤶
| `gmcl_example_win32.dll` | Client | example | Windows x32 |⤶
| `gmsv_example_win64.dll` | Server | example | Windows x64 (`x86-64` branch is required) |⤶
| `gmcl_example_win64.dll` | Client | example | Windows x64 (`x86-64` branch is required) |⤶
| `gmsv_example_osx.dll` | Server | example | OSX (actually a `.so` file, just renamed) |⤶
| `gmcl_example_osx.dll` | Client | example | OSX (actually a `.so` file, just renamed) |⤶
| `gmsv_example_linux.dll` | Server | example | Linux x32 (actually a `.so` file, just renamed) |⤶
| `gmcl_example_linux.dll` | Client | example | Linux x32 (actually a `.so` file, just renamed) |⤶
| `gmsv_example_linux64.dll` | Server | example | Linux x64 (actually a `.so` file, just renamed; `x86-64` branch is required) |⤶
| `gmcl_example_linux64.dll` | Client | example | Linux x64 (actually a `.so` file, just renamed; `x86-64` branch is required) |⤶
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<note>Menu state modules are categorized under `gmsv_name_platform.dll`</note><page>Creating Binary Modules: CMake</page>