API Question

Plugins
1

Hey. Just wanted to get this out of the way, I am not a coder so don’t laugh at me :frowning:
Anyways, I wanted to know what all these API’s are? Like the JoinData and the InventoryAPI. These are things I need for my server according to plugins and various forum posts, but how do I get them?

2

Taking a guess at what the plugin authors were saying:

In Sponge, we have two seperate components - the API and the Implementation. The API is what the plugin authors use to make their plugin, it’s effectively the “language” the plugins use to talk to the implementation.

The Implementation takes what the plugin authors want and translates that into something that Minecraft itself can perform. Sponge’s APIs will sometimes exist without a corresponding implementation, this means that while plugin authors can use that API, it will not work when actually using it with a server.

Both the JoinData and Inventory are parts of Sponge’s API that do not yet have an implementation - this is nothing that you can fix, nor is it something the plugin authors can easily fix. They are likely mentioning this on their forum post to say they are waiting for it to be implemented.

3

I think most everyone on the forums are nice and understanding, so as the first reply, I’ll reinforce that idea :slight_smile:

These are API’s that are part of SpongeAPI. SpongeAPI alone contains many API’s that have their own subsystem of integration with the Minecraft server/client. Examples of the various API’s:

  • Data API - Anything that has to do with manipulation of data that is serialized and deserialized, transferrable between server and clients. Things like customizing ItemStacks are all part of what Data API is doing.
  • Text API - Creating interactive, informational text objects that can be sent to one or many clients, including MessageViewers for chat channels.
  • Inventory API - Manipulating inventories of various Carriers, be it inventories that belong to a Player or a modded ItemStack.

There’s a great many other API’s that all together make up SpongeAPI.[quote=“Nathan_Rabbe, post:1, topic:10880”]
These are things I need for my server according to plugins and various forum posts, but how do I get them?
[/quote]

Yes, plugins need these API’s to function, but they already exist within SpongeAPI. The difference between having an API and implementation is that, if you just have an API but no implementation, then nothing will happen. This is why you can’t just download SpongeAPI.jar and throw it in the mods/ folder. SpongeForge and SpongeVanilla have implementations of a majority of the API, but not all is finished, which si why some plugins expect specific versions of an implementation or higher to work.