[#SVC-185] llParticleSystem (and others) anal about types

2. Second Life Service - SVC

llParticleSystem (and others) anal about types

Created: 05/May/07 08:32 AM Updated: 22/Oct/09 04:48 PM

Component/s:

Scripts

Affects Version/s:

None

Fix Version/s:

None

Issue Links:

Relates

This issue Relates to:

~~SVC-183~~ key must be typecast in llParcelMediaCommandList to set media texture

This issue is related to by:

~~SVC-1329~~ Various particle bugs when converting an lsl2 particle script to mono

Last Triaged:	14/Apr/09 10:23 AM
Linden Lab Issue ID:	DEV-30657

Description

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I write a lot of particle systems, and this behavior annoys me. In short, if you have a parameter like PSYS_SRC_ANGLE_BEGIN that requires a float, and you pass "0" to it, the particle system fails. The system returns an error, "PSYS_SRC_ANGLE_BEGIN requires float data".

It's technically accurate in its behavior: it checks that the next list parameter is a float, finds out it's not, and instantly bails out and complains. If I'd passed a vector, I'd expect something like this. But when I pass "0", instead of "0.0", it's like a slap in the face from an annoying brat; "you didn't say please!". It'd be fairly easy for it to simply cast the integer I pass into a float... after all, small integers like 0 can be represented precisely in a float.

Interestingly, PSYS_SRC_TARGET_KEY can take a key or a texture name in inventory. The key can be passed either as a string-value representation of a key or as an actual key type. So I know it's possible to take multiple data types and munge them into the proper type.

Requested solution: make functions like llParticleSystem and llSetPrimitiveParams just a tiny bit more intelligent as far as handling numerical data types.

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Comments

Change History

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Strife Onizuka added a comment - 13/Jun/07 02:21 PM

I happen to agree, the type checking has always been too anal for even me.

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Rob Kubrick added a comment - 06/Aug/07 03:53 PM

I completly agree.

But, it may be a bit harder than that.. Since the "0" is likely casted to integer at compile time, it would require that LSL gain a little more type flexibility. Probably, best to wait till Mono overhaul.

Please allow time-saving typeless variables (javascirpt/php/etc.).

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Lex Neva added a comment - 11/Aug/07 10:15 AM

Well, the problem is definitely that "0" is of type integer, but we know from the error message that llParticleSystem and llSetPrimitiveParams check their types at run-time. The type-checking code could be relaxed to munge between numerical types as necessary, without changing the actual LSL interpreter or compiler.

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WarKirby Magojiro added a comment - 24/Dec/07 05:03 PM

PSYS_SRC_TARGET_KEY requires the input to be in key format. I tried it with a string literal earlier tonight, and it was complaining about an error. Particularly annoying, and this is very inconsistent with a lot of other functions.

I think the compiler should sort them out.

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WarKirby Magojiro added a comment - 29/Aug/08 07:17 AM

bump!

Any idea if this will be fixed in the mono client release? It's rather frustrating.

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Andrew Linden added a comment - 14/Jul/09 09:06 AM

When triaging this I investigated the code to see how hard it would be to implement this. It was so easy I just did it on the side while simultaneously attending some meeting. Dunno when this will get deployed.

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Cummere Mayo added a comment - 14/Jul/09 09:19 AM

Glad to see its finally getting fixed. Thanks andrew!

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Lex Neva added a comment - 14/Jul/09 01:51 PM

Oh sweet! Thanks Andrew, and I'm glad this was such an easy fix.

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Strife Onizuka added a comment - 14/Jul/09 02:36 PM

I had written this one off, good to see it's getting addressed.

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Moon Metty added a comment - 22/Oct/09 04:48 PM

Ok, you can now use:

//...
PSYS_SRC_BURST_RADIUS, (integer)"three and a bit",
//..

and the script will make no objection.

It may be a small fix, but it really was annoying.

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