#Gmod file saving module how to
#Gmod file saving module mod
#Gmod file saving module code

This guide is aimed at creating a balanced config for a modern PC, if you are on a potato you may convert the config I post (based off of but not the same as mastercomfig). This guide will greatly improve performance on modern hardware and avoid the crap and misinformation or lack of information within a lot of guides, I’ve noticed that source communities outside of TF2 seem to be, quite frankly, incompetent with cvars and how the source engine works.

#Gmod file saving module code

So let's go ahead and and write some code to finish saving the storeOwnerData table into a file called storedata.Improve your performance using modern variables with good looks, this guide aims to optimize inefficiencies while preserving as much eye candy as you can get.

Upon looking at the documentation we learn that it only needs two things:

#Gmod file saving module how to

Now we've learnt how to convert a table into a storable format, and also how to reverse the stored format into a normal Lua table - we can now learn how to read/write files and save the JSON data.īelieve it or not, saving data to a file only requires one function: file.Write. Fortunately, we can write some code to convert it back to normal later on. Unfortunately, passing l into IsColor highlights that it has not been correctly converted into the Color structure. Furthermore, we can check that the data types have been returned to their original format by using isvector with converted.pos and isangle with converted.rot which tell us that they have been converted back into a Vector and Angle. Here is an example of how we can use util.TableToJSON:Īs you can see, the JSON string has been converted back into a table format. JSON is a popular format of representing certain data (such as Lua tables) as text, which can be saved in a file and turned back into the same data later. Util.TableToJSON is a function that will turn a Lua table into the JSON format. This means that we need to convert all of our data into a string of characters. Turning tables into stringsĪ text file is basically a string of characters. This is, perhaps, the easiest method for beginners that will circumvent frustration when converting data types such as Color or Vector, so we will start with this method first. For these reasons, it is the recommended method for beginners. File Based Storage does not require any external modules, as it relies solely on the file library and is pretty straightforward. Text files are a simple way of storing data. However, you may be reading this and you think that your data should be saved at the very last minute, or is really not important enough to be saved every time it is altered - in which case, you can use the GM:ShutDown hook at your own risk! About Furthermore, you should not save data during the GM:ShutDown hook, as it may be too late to start saving data as some players will become invalid which means that their precious token count is now lost. Do not wait until the player leaves to save the number of tokens that they have earned whilst playing, as the server may suffer a fatal crash before then. Therefore, you should deal with the data as quickly as possible to avoid losing it.

#Gmod file saving module mod

Unfortunately, Garry's mod servers aren't predictable - they can easily crash without warning or become overloaded. In case you couldn't tell, there is an over-arching theme here: Never trust the client. This is why we must use identification such as Player:SteamID's, since they can never be changed by the client.

If we wanted to store a client's health when they log off, and we used their steam names as identification, what's stopping them from changing it before they next log on? Nothing. Let's say we started letting clients keep track of their money what's stopping them from adding a few zeros on the end?Īlways use identification that the client can't manipulate. Keep all data backed up on the server as this is the only way that you can be sure that the data is authentic. Never trust data that has been handled by a client. When handling any data, there are some rules that we should follow: In this tutorial, we will go over File Based Storage. There are multiple ways of storing data in Garry's Mod. If you need to give data to the client, make sure to keep a backup of it on the server! Only store, save, change, and load data from the server.