MetadataEnd migrated to Module

Scripts/DCS-BIOS/BIOS.lua

@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@ BIOS.json = json and json() or require "JSON" -- if that fails, fall back to mod
 dofile(lfs.writedir()..[[Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/Util.lua]])
 dofile(lfs.writedir()..[[Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/ProtocolIO.lua]])
 dofile(lfs.writedir()..[[Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/Protocol.lua]])
-dofile(lfs.writedir()..[[Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/MetadataEnd.lua]])
+--dofile(lfs.writedir()..[[Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/MetadataEnd.lua]])
+local MetadataEnd = require "MetadataEnd"
+BIOS.protocol.writeNewModule(MetadataEnd)
+
 dofile(lfs.writedir()..[[Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/MetadataStart.lua]])
 -- dofile(lfs.writedir()..[[Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/CommonData.lua]])
 local CommonData = require "CommonData"

Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/Protocol.lua

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ BIOS.protocol = {}
 BIOS.protocol.maxBytesPerSecond = BIOS.protocol.maxBytesPerSecond or 11000
 BIOS.protocol.maxBytesInTransit = BIOS.protocol.maxBytesPerSecond or 4000
 
+--- @type Module[]
 local exportModules = {}
 local aircraftNameToModuleNames = {}
 local aircraftNameToModules = {}
@@ -187,6 +188,11 @@ local lastFrameTime = LoGetModelTime()
 local updateCounter = 0
 local updateSkipCounter = 0
 function BIOS.protocol.step()
+
+	if( metadataStartModule == nil or  metadataEndModule == nil) then
+		error("Either MetadataStart or MetadataEnd was nil.", 1) -- this should never happen since init() is being called but it removes intellisense warnings
+	end
+
 	-- rate limiting
 	local curTime = LoGetModelTime()
 	bytesInTransit = bytesInTransit - ((curTime - lastFrameTime) * BIOS.protocol.maxBytesPerSecond)
@@ -199,6 +205,7 @@ function BIOS.protocol.step()
 	if selfData then
 		acftName = selfData["Name"]
 	end
+
 	metadataStartModule.data.acftName = acftName
 	acftModules = aircraftNameToModules[acftName]
 	if lastAcftName ~= acftName then
@@ -210,19 +217,19 @@ function BIOS.protocol.step()
 		lastAcftName = acftName
 	end
 
-	-- export data
+	-- export data 
 	if curTime >= nextLowFreqStepTime then
 		-- runs 30 times per second
 		updateCounter = (updateCounter + 1) % 256
-		metadataEndModule.data.updateCounter = updateCounter
+		metadataEndModule:setUpdateCounter(updateCounter)
 
 		-- if the last frame update has not been completely transmitted, skip a frame
 		if bytesInTransit > 0 then
 			-- TODO: increase a frame skip counter for logging purposes
 			updateSkipCounter = (updateSkipCounter + 1) % 256
 			return
 		end
-		metadataEndModule.data.updateSkipCounter = updateSkipCounter
+		metadataEndModule:setUpdateSkipCounter(updateSkipCounter)
 		nextLowFreqStepTime = curTime + .033
 
 		-- send frame sync sequence
@@ -236,6 +243,7 @@ function BIOS.protocol.step()
 		bytesInTransit = bytesInTransit + data:len()
 		BIOS.protocol_io.queue(data)
 
+		-- Export aircraft data
 		if acftModules then
 			for _, acftModule in pairs(acftModules) do
 				local dev0 = GetDevice(0)

Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/meta_files/DCS_API_defs.lua

@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ end
 --- DCS Cockpit Device
 CockpitDevice = {}
 
+--- @func Updates device's arguments
+function CockpitDevice:update_arguments() end
 
 --- @func Sets command for a device
 --- @param command_id integer

Scripts/DCS-BIOS/lib/modules/common_modules/MetadataEnd.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+-- This is a special module: its data will always be exported
+-- and its export hooks will be called regardless of aircraft.
+-- It cannot access any cockpit arguments, because it will also
+-- be called when there is no active aircraft.
+module("MetadataEnd", package.seeall)
+
+local Module = require("Module")
+
+--- @class MetadataEnd : Module
+--- @func setUpdateCounter
+--- @func setUpdateSkipCounter
+local MetadataEnd = Module:new("MetadataEnd", 0xfffe, BIOS.ALL_PLAYABLE_AIRCRAFT)
+
+local updateCounter = 0
+local updateSkipCounter = 0
+
+--- @func Called from protocol
+--- @param new_counter number
+function MetadataEnd:setUpdateCounter(new_counter)
+	updateCounter = new_counter
+end
+
+--- @func Called from protocol
+--- @param new_counter number
+function MetadataEnd:setUpdateSkipCounter(new_counter)
+	updateSkipCounter = new_counter
+end
+
+-- "data" will be set by the Protocol module
+
+-- place update counters at address 0xfffe
+-- DCS-BIOS guarantees that the value for address 0xfffe
+-- will be the last one that is written in each update.
+-- Clients can use that as an "update complete" signal.
+-- At the point when the write access to 0xfffe has been received,
+-- all string values have been completely updated (so the client
+-- can assume they are in a consistent state) and some time will
+-- pass until the next update has to be processed, so it is a good
+-- trigger to update graphical displays and do other time-consuming
+-- operations.
+MetadataEnd:defineIntegerFromGetter("_UPDATE_COUNTER", function()
+	return updateCounter
+end, 255, "Metadata", "Update Counter")
+MetadataEnd:defineIntegerFromGetter("_UPDATE_SKIP_COUNTER", function()
+	return updateSkipCounter
+end, 255, "Metadata", "Update Skip Counter")
+
+return MetadataEnd