r28087 - What's Changed [*]Create JSON API for relay scripts. by ]@phulin] in

[heeheehee]

Maybe it was a little inaccurate to say it will be used by "relay scripts." It can be used by any client-side code running in the relay browser. Whether client-side code is generated by an ASH or JS mafia relay script, the code that runs client-side is all javascript by necessity, as that's the only language (ish) browsers can run. Most ASH scripts I'm aware of do have client-side JS code that runs. Is that the source of the confusion?

I suspect that may be the case -- it sounds like we need to make a clear distinction between JS that runs in the browser, as opposed to JS that runs in Mafia's Rhino engine to execute various actions including generating assets served by the relay server (which is what most mentions of "JS" as a scripting language in the past few years have implicitly referred to by default, in the context of Mafia). I agree that the term "relay script" added to the confusion, since that typically refers to a relay override script (which is a well-defined concept that is typically either implemented in ASH or JS).

Again, I'm happy to add more documentation, fix any resulting bugs, etc. I just haven't had time to do that since discovering this thread yesterday. This PR was not for any nefarious purpose and, while I did write it with one use case in mind, I aimed to write it in a broad enough way to be useful for many purposes. I am also happy to answer questions. I will say that from my end it feels like this discussion is contentious when it doesn't need to be, and I honestly find it a little discouraging in terms of making future contributions.

I see where you're coming from, and I regret that it took this turn. My intention was not to raise controversy, but rather to push the discussion into the open.

Veracity does raise a good point about visibility, which is in essence the same one I was trying to raise with my list of questions (which Ryo_Sangnoir answered largely using the Javadoc). If finding these answers requires a large amount of effort even for those of us who are comfortable diving into Mafia's codebase, I don't think it's a reasonable expectation for the broader base of script authors to discover how to use this feature. I don't think you need to be convinced, for what it's worth. I read Veracity's latest post as a direct response to Ryo_Sangnoir's assertion that script authors are regularly following commit notes and using that to learn about new features, not as continuing to sound the alarm that "we need this documentation yesterday."

Re: being busy in the past day: I get it. Contributing your spare time to an OSS project as a hobby should not get in the way of your employment or your personal commitments.

Also, as far as bugs go, I don't think anyone thinks that it's possible to consistently write bug-free code, or that it's possible to catch all bugs preemptively with tests. I saw a reported bug, spent a bit of time bisecting to find the culprit, then wrote up a fix, as I'm sure any of the rest of us would have done. That bug would not have gotten nearly as much attention if not for the aforementioned lack of engagement here, even if the commit that introduced it probably should have had more tests.

 

[ikzann]

Here is a wiki page documenting the API.

https://wiki.kolmafia.us/index.php?title=Browser_JSON_API

 

[Veracity]

I will say that from my end it feels like this discussion is contentious when it doesn't need to be, and I honestly find it a little discouraging in terms of making future contributions.

I am very sorry to hear this. Assuming I am part of the contentious discussion, it was not ever my intent to discourage you, and I apologize for any of my behavior that had that effect. I'm sorry.