R3vo/Sandbox – User

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Introduction

Dialogs are one way to provide custom graphical user interface in your missions and allow interaction with the player aswell as they are able to run code. They are defined as classes in the missionConfigFile (description.ext), campaignConfigFile (Campaign Description.ext) or configFile (config.cpp).

Difference between dialogs and HUDs

  • Dialogs: Displays that interact with the player through controls. While dialogs are opened player can not move.
  • HUDs: Displays that print information about the game (amount of ammo, stance,...). HUDs do not interfere with the player's movement.

Dialogs

Dialogs are parent containers for the actual controls it contains. Their definition contains several properties on the controls it contains, how the dialog can be addressed, and whether or not the player is able to continue regular movement while the dialog is shown.

They can be defined in the description.ext file or externalized to separate hpp-files, which are included in the description.ext file using the #include preprocessor directive. The latter method is generally a good idea to split a large description.ext file into several small chunks in order to keep track of what's where.

Most often, controls of a dialog are defined within the definition of the dialog itself, though it's a good practice to generalize common controls in a base definition in the global scope. See best practice for details. For simplicity we won't apply this practice in the following code examples.


Properties
Name Type Remark
idd Integer The unique ID number of this dialog. Used with findDisplay to find the display. Can be -1 if no access is required from within a script.
access Integer
  • 0 - ReadAndWrite - this is the default case where properties can still be added or overridden.
  • 1 - ReadAndCreate - this only allows creating new properties.
  • 2 - ReadOnly - this does not allow to do anything in deriving classes.
  • 3 - ReadOnlyVerified - this does not allow to do anything either in deriving classes, and a CRC check will be performed.
movingEnable Boolean Specifies whether the dialog can be moved or not (if enabled one of the dialogs controls should have the moving property set to 1 so it becomes the "handle" the dialog can be moved with). Doesn't seem to matter in Arma 3
enableSimulation Boolean Specifies whether the game continues while the dialog is shown or not.
onLoad String Expression executed when the dialog is opened. See User Interface Event Handlers
onUnload String Expression executed when the dialog is closed. See User Interface Event Handlers
controlsBackground Array Contains class names of all background controls associated to this dialog.

The sequence in which the controls are listed will decide their z-index (i.e. the last ones will on top of the first ones).

controls Array Contains class names of all foreground controls associated to this dialog.
objects Array


Here's an example of a dialog that will only display Hello world in the top right corner of the screen. If you get confused by the MyHelloText class, just ignore it for the moment until you have read details on the definition of controls in the following chapter, Controls.

  • Example 1:
#define true  1
#define false 0

class MyHelloWorldDialog {
	idd = -1;						// set to -1, because we don't require a unique ID
	movingEnable = true;			// the dialog can be moved with the mouse (see "moving" below)
	enableSimulation = false;		// freeze the game
	controlsBackground[] = { };		// no background controls needed
	objects[] = { };				// no objects needed
	controls[] = { MyHelloText }; 	// our "Hello world" text as seen below:

	class MyHelloText {
		idc = -1;					// set to -1, unneeded
		moving = 1;					// left click (and hold) this control to move the dialog
									// (requires "movingEnabled" to be 1, see above)
		type = CT_STATIC;			// constant
		style = ST_LEFT;			// constant
		text = "Hello world";
		font = FontM;
		sizeEx = 0.023;

		colorBackground[] = { 1, 1, 1, 0.3 };
		colorText[] = { 0, 0, 0, 1 };

		x = 0.8;
		y = 0.1;
		w = 0.2;
		h = 0.05;
	};
};
  • Example 2:

The benefit of the following syntax is that you do not need to double list all of the control class names. 

class RscText; // assume external declaration

class MyHelloWorldDialog {
	idd = -1;
	movingEnable = 0;
	class controlsBackground {
		// define controls here
	};
	class objects {
		// define controls here
	};
	class controls {
		// define controls here

		class MyHelloText: RscText {
			idc = -1;
			text = "Hello world";
			x = 0.80;
			y = 0.10;
			w = 0.20;
			h = 0.05;
		};
	};
};

Once you have defined (or prototyped) dialogs you want to use, be sure to reload the mission in the editor if it is already running. In the Eden editor it's enough to save the mission via CTRL + S (Default). This will precompile the description.ext.

HUDs (RscTitles)

RscTitles is the class in which HUDs need to be defined. Once your HUD is defined there you can use cutRsc to open it. 

class RscTitles
{
  class RscInfoText
  {
      idd = 3100; //ID Display. Unique identifier
      fadein = 0; //Duration of fade in effect when opening in seconds
      fadeout = 0; //Duration of fade out effect when closing in seconds
      duration = 1e+011; //Duration the HUD is displayed after opening in seconds. Use a very large number to have it always open
      onLoad = "uinamespace setvariable ['BIS_InfoText',_this select 0]"; //Code called when the HUD is created
      onUnLoad = "uinamespace setvariable ['BIS_InfoText',nil]"; //Code called when the HUD is destroyed/closed
      class Controls
      {
          class InfoText
          {
              idc = 3101;
              style = "0x01 + 0x10 + 0x200 + 0x100";
              font = "RobotoCondensedBold";
              x = "(profilenamespace getvariable [""IGUI_GRID_MISSION_X"",		(safezoneX + safezoneW - 21 * 			(			((safezoneW / safezoneH) min 1.2) / 40))])";
              y = "(profilenamespace getvariable [""IGUI_GRID_MISSION_Y"",		(safezoneY + safezoneH - 10.5 * 			(			(			((safezoneW / safezoneH) min 1.2) / 1.2) / 25))])";
              w = "(20 * 			(			((safezoneW / safezoneH) min 1.2) / 40))";
              h = "(5 * 			(			(			((safezoneW / safezoneH) min 1.2) / 1.2) / 25))";
              colorText[] = {1,1,1,1};
              colorBackground[] = {0,0,0,0};
              text = "";
              lineSpacing = 1;
              sizeEx = 0.045;
              fixedWidth = 1;
              deletable = 0;
              fade = 0;
              access = 0;
              type = 0;
              shadow = 1;
              colorShadow[] = {0,0,0,0.5};
              tooltipColorText[] = {1,1,1,1};
              tooltipColorBox[] = {1,1,1,1};
              tooltipColorShade[] = {0,0,0,0.65};
          };
      };
  };
};

Creating dialogs

Dialogs can then be created and shown using the createDialog function. If you do so by script and await a responsive action from the user, you might also want to wait until the user has closed the dialog by using a wait statement (e.g. waitUntil) in conjunction with the dialog function, if you intend to handle the dialog result within the same script.

  • Example:

_ok = createDialog "MyHelloWorldDialog"; waitUntil { !dialog }; // hit ESC to close it hint "Dialog closed.";

Closing dialogs

In most use cases a dialog "closes itself", ie. by invoking the closeDialog function in an action field. However dialogs don't necessarily have to close themselves, but can also be closed from the "outside" (ie. by scripts or triggers). Once closed, the dialog function returns false and wait statements with a !dialog condition will end.

  • Example - close by action
class CloseButton : RscButton {
	/* … */
	type = CT_BUTTON;
	text = "Close";
	action = "closeDialog 0";
}
  • Example - close by external request

closeDialog 0;

Controls

Controls are the actual content of dialogs and can be anything, ranging from simple solid rectangles to a complex 3d object within a dialog. Like dialogs, controls can have a unique ID saved in the idc property to access them from within scripts using GUI functions.

The type of the control is usually set in the type property. Different types allow or require a different set of properties. However most controls share a set of properties in addition to the properties described in the following sections:

Common properties
Name Type Remark
idc integer the unique ID number of this control. can be -1 if you don't require access to the control itself from within a script
moving boolean whether the dialog will be moved if this control is dragged (may require "movingEnable" to be 1 in the dialog. In Arma 3 works regardless). Another way of allowing moving of the dialog is to have control of style ST_TITLE_BAR
type integer CT_TYPES
style integer CT_STYLES can be combinatorial: style = "0x400+0x02+0x10";
x/y/w/h float the position and size of the control in fractions of screen size.
sizeEx float the font size of text (0..1)
font string the font to use. See the list of available fonts for possible values
colorText color array text color
colorBackground color array background color
text string or texture the text or picture to display
shadow 0,1 or 2 can be applied to most controls (0 = no shadow, 1 = drop shadow with soft edges, 2 = stroke).
tooltip string Text to display in a tooltip when control is moused over. A tooltip can be added to any control type except CT_STATIC and CT_STRUCTURED_TEXT. Note: As of Arma 3 v1.48 (approx), most controls now support tooltips.
tooltipColorShade color array Tooltip background color
tooltipColorText color array Tooltip text color
tooltipColorBox color array Tooltip border color
autocomplete string Option for entry fields (e.g. RscEdit) to activate autocompletion. For known script commands and functions use autocomplete = "scripting".
url string URL which will be opened when clicking on the control. Used on e.g. a button control. Does not utilize the Steam Overlay browser if enabled, opens the link in the default browser set by the OS.


Attributes class

Properties
Name Type Remark
font string
color HTML color
align string center, left, etc
shadow integer not image class


AttributesImage class

Properties
Name Type Remark
font string optional
color HTML color
align string center, left, etc optional


To save space and effort, it is generally a good idea to make use of class polymorphism, i.e. deriving from very basic classes that already have some specific properties set. See the Best practice for details.

CONTROL TYPES

There is an ingame dialog with examples of how the control types look and act like: createDialog "RscTestControlTypes";

Define Decimal Hexadecimal Remark
CT_STATIC 0 0x00
CT_BUTTON 1 0x01
CT_EDIT 2 0x02
CT_SLIDER 3 0x03
CT_COMBO 4 0x04
CT_LISTBOX 5 0x05
CT_TOOLBOX 6 0x06
CT_CHECKBOXES 7 0x07
CT_PROGRESS 8 0x08
CT_HTML 9 0x09
CT_STATIC_SKEW 10 0x0A
CT_ACTIVETEXT 11 0x0B
CT_TREE 12 0x0C
CT_STRUCTURED_TEXT 13 0x0D
CT_CONTEXT_MENU 14 0x0E
CT_CONTROLS_GROUP 15 0x0F
CT_SHORTCUTBUTTON 16 0x10
CT_HITZONES 17 0x11
CT_VEHICLETOGGLES 18 0x12
CT_CONTROLS_TABLE 19 0x13
CT_XKEYDESC 40 0x28
CT_XBUTTON 41 0x29
CT_XLISTBOX 42 0x2A
CT_XSLIDER 43 0x2B
CT_XCOMBO 44 0x2C
CT_ANIMATED_TEXTURE 45 0x2D
CT_MENU 46 0x2E Arma 3 (EDEN)
CT_MENU_STRIP 47 0x2F Arma 3 (EDEN)
CT_CHECKBOX 77 0x4D Arma 3
CT_OBJECT 80 0x50
CT_OBJECT_ZOOM 81 0x51
CT_OBJECT_CONTAINER 82 0x52
CT_OBJECT_CONT_ANIM 83 0x53
CT_LINEBREAK 98 0x62
CT_USER 99 0x63
CT_MAP 100 0x64
CT_MAP_MAIN 101 0x65
CT_LISTNBOX 102 0x66
CT_ITEMSLOT 103 0x67
CT_LISTNBOX_CHECKABLE 104 0x68
CT_VEHICLE_DIRECTION 105 0x69

Control Types Defines

All defines can be retrieved by executing "Default" call BIS_fnc_exportGUIBaseClasses; 

#define CT_STATIC				  0
#define CT_BUTTON				  1
#define CT_EDIT					  2
#define CT_SLIDER				  3
#define CT_COMBO				  4
#define CT_LISTBOX				  5
#define CT_TOOLBOX				  6
#define CT_CHECKBOXES			  7
#define CT_PROGRESS				  8
#define CT_HTML					  9
#define CT_STATIC_SKEW			 10
#define CT_ACTIVETEXT			 11
#define CT_TREE					 12
#define CT_STRUCTURED_TEXT		 13
#define CT_CONTEXT_MENU			 14
#define CT_CONTROLS_GROUP		 15
#define CT_SHORTCUTBUTTON		 16
#define CT_HITZONES				 17
#define CT_VEHICLETOGGLES		 18
#define CT_CONTROLS_TABLE		 19
#define CT_XKEYDESC				 40
#define CT_XBUTTON				 41
#define CT_XLISTBOX				 42
#define CT_XSLIDER				 43
#define CT_XCOMBO				 44
#define CT_ANIMATED_TEXTURE		 45
#define CT_MENU					 46
#define CT_MENU_STRIP			 47
#define CT_CHECKBOX				 77
#define CT_OBJECT				 80
#define CT_OBJECT_ZOOM			 81
#define CT_OBJECT_CONTAINER		 82
#define CT_OBJECT_CONT_ANIM		 83
#define CT_LINEBREAK			 98
#define CT_USER					 99
#define CT_MAP					100
#define CT_MAP_MAIN				101
#define CT_LISTNBOX				102
#define CT_ITEMSLOT				103
#define CT_LISTNBOX_CHECKABLE	104
#define CT_VEHICLE_DIRECTION	105
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CONTROL STYLES

Common Controls Styles

⚠
Note that drawing of vertical text is not supported and any attempt to use ST_UP, ST_DOWN, ST_VCENTER is likely to result in the following .rpt spam:
Obsolete, sizeH and sizeW calculation missing
In addition, ST_UP, ST_DOWN, ST_VCENTER are stand alone styles and should not be mixed with any other styles

To get an idea of how the styles look like you can create the following dialog: createDialog "RscTestControlStyles";

Define Decimal Hexadecimal Remark
ST_LEFT 0 0x00 Default, text left aligned
ST_RIGHT 1 0x01 Modifier, adding this to another style will force text to be aligned to the right
ST_CENTER 2 0x02 Modifier, adding this to another style will force text to be centered
ST_DOWN 4 0x04 Vertical text alignment (See the note above)
ST_UP 8 0x08 Vertical text alignment (See the note above)
ST_VCENTER 12 0x0C Vertical text alignment, same as ST_DOWN + ST_UP (See the note above)
ST_SINGLE 0 0x00 Plain single line box without a border
ST_MULTI 16 0x10 Plain multiple line box with a slight border. To remove border add 512 (+ ST_NO_RECT) to the style (style 528, 529 and 530 are therefore border-less). Additional parameter lineSpacing is required for this style. lineSpacing = 1; is normal line spacing. Any \n character in the text string will be interpreted as new line.
ST_TITLE_BAR 32 0x20 Plain single line box with semi-transparent background and somewhat embossed border. When this style is used, the dialog containing control becomes draggable by this control
ST_PICTURE 48 0x30 Border-less picture box. Text string is treated as a path to a texture. Alignment has no effect. The texture is stretched to fit the box by default. To force original aspect ratio add 2048 (+ ST_KEEP_ASPECT_RATIO) to the style. Background is ignored, colorText controls texture colour and opacity
ST_FRAME 64 0x40 Legend like frame without background with text showing over the frame edge. Alignment has no effect. colorText defines both text and frame colour
ST_BACKGROUND 80 0x50 Single line box with always black opaque background and thick raised beveled border
ST_GROUP_BOX 96 0x60 Single line box with delicate semi-transparent background and slight border. Only text colour can be controlled
ST_GROUP_BOX2 112 0x70 Plain single line box, same as ST_SINGLE, only with a slight border similar to ST_MULTI box border
ST_HUD_BACKGROUND 128 0x80 Sets special texture for corners. It was used for rounded corners in OFP, Arma and Arma 2. In Arma 3, square corners are used everywhere, so the texture is adapted to the unified style, but the technology is not removed. In Arma 3 it looks the same as normal ST_SINGLE. Corner textures are defined in configFile >> "CfgInGameUI" >> "imageCornerElement" (can be set only globally for the whole game, not per control)”
ST_TILE_PICTURE 144 0x90 The picture is tiled according to tileH and tileW values. To force tiled picture to keep aspect ratio of original image, add 2048 (+ ST_KEEP_ASPECT_RATIO) to the style.
ST_WITH_RECT 160 0xA0 Single line box frame, similar to ST_FRAME box. The text however is displayed inside the frame. Frame and text colour are set with colorText
ST_LINE 176 0xB0 Diagonal line going from left top corner to bottom right corner. To control line direction, width w and height h parameters of the box could be negative. Line and text colour are set with colorText
ST_UPPERCASE 192 0xC0 Forces control text to upper case
ST_LOWERCASE 208 0xD0 Forces control text to lower case
ST_ADDITIONAL_INFO 3840 0x0F00 ST_SHADOW + ST_NO_RECT + SL_HORZ + ST_KEEP_ASPECT_RATIO
ST_SHADOW 256 0x0100
ST_NO_RECT 512 0x0200 This style works for CT_STATIC in conjunction with ST_MULTI
ST_KEEP_ASPECT_RATIO 2048 0x0800 When used with image or texture, stops it from stretching to fit the control
ST_TITLE 34 0x22 ST_TITLE_BAR + ST_CENTER

CT_SLIDER Specific Styles

Define Decimal Hexadecimal Remark
SL_VERT 0 0x00
SL_HORZ 1024 0x0400
SL_TEXTURES 16 0x10

CT_PROGRESS Specific Styles

Define Decimal Hexadecimal Remark
ST_VERTICAL 1 0x01
ST_HORIZONTAL 0 0x00

CT_LISTBOX Specific Styles

Define Decimal Hexadecimal Remark
LB_TEXTURES 16 0x10
LB_MULTI 32 0x20 Makes CT_LISTBOX multi-selectable (see also lbSetCurSel, lbCurSel, lbSetSelected, lbSelection)

CT_TREE Specific Styles

Define Decimal Hexadecimal Remark
TR_SHOWROOT 1 0x01
TR_AUTOCOLLAPSE 2 0x02

Control Styles Defines

All defines can be retrieved by executing "Default" call BIS_fnc_exportGUIBaseClasses; 

#define ST_LEFT					0x00
#define ST_RIGHT				0x01
#define ST_CENTER				0x02
#define ST_DOWN					0x04
#define ST_UP					0x08
#define ST_VCENTER				0x0C
#define ST_SINGLE				0x00
#define ST_MULTI				0x10
#define ST_TITLE_BAR			0x20
#define ST_PICTURE				0x30
#define ST_FRAME				0x40
#define ST_BACKGROUND			0x50
#define ST_GROUP_BOX			0x60
#define ST_GROUP_BOX2			0x70
#define ST_HUD_BACKGROUND		0x80
#define ST_TILE_PICTURE			0x90
#define ST_WITH_RECT			0xA0
#define ST_LINE					0xB0
#define ST_UPPERCASE			0xC0
#define ST_LOWERCASE			0xD0
#define ST_ADDITIONAL_INFO		0x0F00
#define ST_SHADOW				0x0100
#define ST_NO_RECT				0x0200
#define ST_KEEP_ASPECT_RATIO	0x0800
#define ST_TITLE				ST_TITLE_BAR + ST_CENTER
#define SL_VERT					0
#define SL_HORZ					0x400
#define SL_TEXTURES				0x10
#define ST_VERTICAL				0x01
#define ST_HORIZONTAL			0
#define LB_TEXTURES				0x10
#define LB_MULTI				0x20
#define TR_SHOWROOT				1
#define TR_AUTOCOLLAPSE			2
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UI Eventhandlers

A reference list of User Interface Event Handlers.


Best practice

Inheritance

Using inheritance can reduce your dialog class definitions significantly by standardising common attributes in base classes and just changing unique attributes in derived classes. There is no need to redeclare all attributes for each class definition.

  • Example:
class RscText // Base definition used for inheritance
{
	type = CT_STATIC;
	idc = -1;
	style = ST_LEFT;
	colorBackground[] = {0, 0, 0, 1};
	colorText[] = {1, 1, 1, 1};
	font = FontM;
	sizeEx = 0.04;
	h = 0.04;
	text = "";
};

class My_BlueText : RscText // My_BlueText inherits all attributes from RscText defined above, thus only x,w & colorText need to be changed
{
	colorText[] = {0, 0, 1, 1};
	x = 0.1;
	w = 0.4;
};

class My_Dialog
{
	//…

	controls[] = {
		My_Text_1,
		My_Text_2
	};

	class My_Text_1 : My_BlueText // My_Text_1 inherits all attribute from My_BlueText, therefore only text & y attributes have to be changed
	{
		text = "Line 1";
		y = 0.2;
	};

	class My_Text_2 : My_BlueText
	{
		text = "Line 2";
		y = 0.25;
	};
};

Preprocessor instructions

Note that you can also add your own preprocessor instructions for commonly used data, eg. for colors, to save yourself the hassle of writing it in several different places and then adapt each of them if you want to change them afterwards (especially if class inheritance isn't applicable). Also it can make your code look more readable sometimes.

  • Example:
#define COLOR_LIGHTBROWN { 0.776, 0.749, 0.658, 1 }
#define COLOR_HALF_BLACK { 0, 0, 0, 0.5 }
#define COLOR_TRANSPARENT { 0, 0, 0, 0 }

// …

class MyDialog {
	idd = -1;
	movingEnable = 1;
	objects[] = {};
	controlsBackground[] = { MyDialogBackground };
	controls[] = { MyDialogText };

	class MyDialogBackground : RscText {
		colorBackground[] = COLOR_HALF_BLACK;
		x = 0.7;  y = 0.1;
		w = 0.25; h = 0.15;
	};

	class MyDialogText : RscText {
		style = ST_MULTI;
		colorBackground[] = COLOR_TRANSPARENT;
		colorText[] = COLOR_LIGHTBROWN;
		text = "No power in the 'Verse can stop me.";
		lineSpacing = 1;
		x = 0.71; y = 0.11;
		w = 0.23; h = 0.13;
	};
};
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