technic/technic/doc/api.md

This file is fairly incomplete. Help is welcome.

Tiers

The tier is a string, currently "LV", "MV" and "HV" are supported.

Network

The network is the cable with the connected machine nodes. Currently the switching station handles the network activity.

Helper functions

• technic.EU_string(num)
  • Converts num to a human-readable string (see pretty_num) and adds the EU unit
  • Use this function when showing players energy values
• technic.pretty_num(num)
  • Converts the number num to a human-readable string with SI prefixes
• technic.swap_node(pos, nodename)
  • Same as mintest.swap_node but it only changes the nodename.
  • It uses minetest.get_node before swapping to ensure the new nodename is not the same as the current one.
• technic.get_or_load_node(pos)
  • If the mapblock is loaded, it returns the node at pos, else it loads the chunk and returns nil.
• technic.set_RE_wear(itemstack, item_load, max_charge)
  • If the wear_represents field in the item's nodedef is "technic_RE_charge", this function does nothing.
• technic.refill_RE_charge(itemstack)
  • This function fully recharges an RE chargeable item.
  • If technic.power_tools[itemstack:get_name()] is nil (or false), this function does nothing, else that value is the maximum charge.
  • The itemstack metadata is changed to contain the charge.
• technic.is_tier_cable(nodename, tier)
  • Tells whether the node nodename is the cable of the tier tier.
• technic.get_cable_tier(nodename)
  • Returns the tier of the cable nodename or nil.
• technic.trace_node_ray(pos, dir, range)
  • Returns an iteration function (usable in the for loop) to iterate over the node positions along the specified ray.
  • The returned positions will not include the starting position pos.
• technic.trace_node_ray_fat(pos, dir, range)
  • Like technic.trace_node_ray but includes extra positions near the ray.
  • The node ray functions are used for mining lasers.
• technic.config:get(name)
  • Some configuration function
• technic.tube_inject_item(pos, start_pos, velocity, item)
  • Same as pipeworks.tube_inject_item

Registration functions

• technic.register_power_tool(itemname, max_charge)
  • Same as technic.power_tools[itemname] = max_charge
  • This function makes the craftitem itemname chargeable.
• technic.register_machine(tier, nodename, machine_type)
  • Same as technic.machines[tier][nodename] = machine_type
  • Currently this is requisite to make technic recognize your node.
  • See also Machine types
• technic.register_tier(tier)
  • Same as technic.machines[tier] = {}
  • See also tiers

Specific machines

• technic.register_solar_array(data)
  • data is a table
• technic.can_insert_unique_stack(pos, node, stack, direction)
• technic.insert_object_unique_stack(pos, node, stack, direction)
  • Functions for the parameters can_insert and insert_object to avoid filling multiple inventory slots with same type of item.

Used itemdef fields

• groups:
  • technic_<ltier> = 1 ltier is a tier in small letters; this group makes the node connect to the cable(s) of the right tier.
  • technic_machine = 1 Currently used for
• connect_sides
  • In addition to the default use (see lua_api.txt), this tells where the machine can be connected.

• technic_run(pos, node)
  • This function is currently used to update the node. Modders have to manually change the information about supply etc. in the node metadata.

Machine types

There are currently following types:

• technic.receiver = "RE" e.g. grinder
• technic.producer = "PR" e.g. solar panel
• technic.producer_receiver = "PR_RE" supply converter
• technic.battery = "BA" e.g. LV batbox

Switching Station

The switching station is the center of all power distribution on an electric network.

The station collects power from sources (PR), distributes it to sinks (RE), and uses the excess/shortfall to charge and discharge batteries (BA).

For now, all supply and demand values are expressed in kW.

It works like this: All PR,BA,RE nodes are indexed and tagged with the switching station. The tagging is a workaround to allow more stations to be built without allowing a cheat with duplicating power. All the RE nodes are queried for their current EU demand. Those which are off would require no or a small standby EU demand, while those which are on would require more. If the total demand is less than the available power they are all updated with the demand number. If any surplus exists from the PR nodes the batteries will be charged evenly with this. If the total demand requires draw on the batteries they will be discharged evenly.

If the total demand is more than the available power all RE nodes will be shut down. We have a brown-out situation.

Hence for now all the power distribution logic resides in this single node.

Node meta usage

Nodes connected to the network will have one or more of these parameters as meta data: * <LV|MV|HV>_EU_supply : Exists for PR and BA node types. This is the EU value supplied by the node. Output * <LV|MV|HV>_EU_demand : Exists for RE and BA node types. This is the EU value the node requires to run. Output * <LV|MV|HV>_EU_input : Exists for RE and BA node types. This is the actual EU value the network can give the node. Input

The reason the LV|MV|HV type is prepended to meta data is because some machine could require several supplies to work. This way the supplies are separated per network.