callExtension

1.601.000.50

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Description

Description:

Calls custom .dll also known as Extension. The name of the extension is the name of the extension .dll without ".dll" part (or without "_x64.dll" part on 64-bit Arma). For example if the file is 'myExtension.dll' the name of the extension will be "myExtension". For 64-bit extensions, the name of the extension doesn't need to change and is still "myExtension". The game will automatically look for 'myExtension_x64.dll' when you use 64-bit Arma exe.

This command is blocking, meaning that the game will wait for the extension to return before continuing. This may cause FPS drop if extension is not optimised. If extension takes too long, consider making asynchronous extension, where the result of the work of the extension is collected in a separate call.

Currently there is no limit how much data you can send to the extension. However there is a limit on how much data you can return from extension in one call. The limit is known to the extension and is passed in int outputSize. The limit may or may not change in the future and is currently 10240 bytes. It is up to extension designer to handle multipart results if returned data exceeds output limit.

Since Arma 3 v1.68 it is possible to pass array of arguments to extensions. The array of arguments could be anything and all elements will be converted to strings, however you might want to only send simple types like Booleans, Strings, Numbers and Arrays of all of the above. There is currently a limit on how many arguments can be sent and it is 2048 (since Arma 3 v1.92; previous limit: 1024). However an argument could be an Array itself, in this case extension maker will have to provide additional methods for parsing such arguments.

Possible error codes:

• 101: SYNTAX_ERROR_WRONG_PARAMS_SIZE
• 102: SYNTAX_ERROR_WRONG_PARAMS_TYPE
• 201: PARAMS_ERROR_TOO_MANY_ARGS
• 301: EXECUTION_WARNING_TAKES_TOO_LONG

Each error will have entry in .rpt file with more details.

The extension execution timeout, after which 301: EXECUTION_WARNING_TAKES_TOO_LONG warning is issued, is hardcoded on clients and is 1000.0 milliseconds (1 second). On the server the default limit is also 1 second, however it is possible to set custom limit with callExtReportLimit param (see Server Options).

If an extension with the given name cannot be found (or it is found but doesn't implement the required interface properly / at all) the following error will be written into the RPT (In this example the given dll-name was "MyExtension"): 14:27:07 CallExtension 'MyExtension' could not be found
If an extension is not whitelisted with BattlEye (see Extensions for more info) it will be blocked on clients running with enabled BattlEye protection. RPT message outputted however is a little obscure: 21:35:04 Call extension 'MyExtension' could not be loaded: Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service
Since Arma 3 v1.70, RVExtensionVersion interface (see source code example below) has been added, which is called by the engine on extension load and expects extension version. This interface is designed to work with both, Linux and Windows. The max buffer size is 32 bytes. The version information will then appear in .rpt file like so: 19:06:36 CallExtension loaded: test_extension (.\test_extension.dll) [1.0.0.1]
For more information see Extensions.

Linux specific
While on Windows the extension name is case-insensitive, on Linux the extension name is case-sensitive and should match the name of the .so file exactly (minus ".so" part).

⚠

If a user has anti-virus software real time protection running, this could cause brand new extension to stutter the game and return with EXECUTION_WARNING_TAKES_TOO_LONG when executed for the first time, because of the AV software scanning.

After the extension is whitelisted by AV this should go away until a new version of the extension is installed.

Perhaps a dummy call to the extension on init should be considered as a feature of implementation to account for that.

Extension Context

Since Arma 3 v2.12 the engine will call the RVExtensionContext method (if it exists, see Example 4) and pass the following data:

• steamID of the client calling extension getPlayerUID or "0"
• fileSource from which the extension was executed or "" if done on the fly
• missionName missionNameSource
• serverName serverName

Groups:

System

Syntax

Syntax:

extension callExtension function

Parameters:

extension: String - extension name

function: String - data sent to the extension

Return Value:

String - data sent back from extension; If the extensiion was not found an empty String will be returned

1.68

Alternative Syntax

Syntax:

extension callExtension [function, arguments]

Parameters:

extension: String - extension name

function: String - extension function identifier

arguments: Array - function arguments. Could be array of Anything, each element will be converted to String automatically. Current allowed max length of this array is 2048 (since Arma 3 v1.92; previous limit: 1024)

Return Value:

Array in format [result, returnCode, errorCode], where:

• result: String - data sent back from extension. It is up to extension maker what it is.
• returnCode: Number - integer return from extension method. It is up to extension maker to define it.
• errorCode: Number - error code in case of command error (see description). 0 means no errors.

Examples

Example 1:

Copy

_return = "myExtension" callExtension "stringToBeParsed";

Example 2:

Copy

_result = "test_extension" callExtension str weapons player; _result = "test_extension" callExtension ["fnc1", getUnitLoadout player]; _result = "test_extension" callExtension ["fnc2", magazinesAmmoFull player]; _result = "test_extension" callExtension ["fnc1", [weapons player, magazines player]];

Example 3:

Copy

_result = "test_extension" callExtension ["fnc1", [1, "two", true, [4, "five", false]]]; parseSimpleArray (_result select 0) params ["_number","_string","_boolean","_array"]; systemChat str [_number,_string,_boolean,_array];

Source Code (Download .dll) Show text

This is an example of an extension compatible with both syntaxes. When using 1st syntax, the data is just copied from input to output. When using alt syntax, the arguments are parsed and then assembled back into string array in 2 ways: fnc1 and fnc2. fnc1 is a fraction faster.

#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <iterator>
#include <sstream>

#define CURRENT_VERSION "1.0.0.1"

extern "C"
{
	//--- Engine called on extension load
	__declspec (dllexport) void __stdcall RVExtensionVersion(char *output, int outputSize);
	//--- STRING callExtension STRING
	__declspec (dllexport) void __stdcall RVExtension(char *output, int outputSize, const char *function);
	//--- STRING callExtension ARRAY
	__declspec (dllexport) int __stdcall RVExtensionArgs(char *output, int outputSize, const char *function, const char **args, int argsCnt);
}

//--- Extension version information shown in .rpt file
void __stdcall RVExtensionVersion(char *output, int outputSize)
{
	//--- max outputSize is 32 bytes
	strncpy_s(output, outputSize, CURRENT_VERSION, _TRUNCATE);
}

//--- name callExtension function
void __stdcall RVExtension(char *output, int outputSize, const char *function)
{
	std::string str = function;
	strncpy_s(output, outputSize, ("Input Was: " + str).c_str(), _TRUNCATE);
}

//--- name callExtension [function, args]
int __stdcall RVExtensionArgs(char *output, int outputSize, const char *function, const char **args, int argsCnt)
{
	if (strcmp(function, "fnc1") == 0)
	{
		//--- Manually assemble output array
		int i = 0;
		std::string str = "[";

		//--- Each argument can be accessed via args[n]
		if (argsCnt > 0)
			str += args[i++];

		while (i < argsCnt)
		{
			str += ",";
			str += args[i++];
		}

		str += "]";

		//--- Extension result
		strncpy_s(output, outputSize, str.c_str(), _TRUNCATE);

		//--- Extension return code
		return 100;
	}

	else if (strcmp(function, "fnc2") == 0)
	{
		//--- Parse args into vector
		std::vector<std::string> vec(args, std::next(args, argsCnt));

		std::ostringstream oss;
		if (!vec.empty())
		{
			//--- Assemble output array
			std::copy(vec.begin(), vec.end() - 1, std::ostream_iterator<std::string>(oss, ","));
			oss << vec.back();
		}

		//--- Extension result
		strncpy_s(output, outputSize, ("[" + oss.str() + "]").c_str(), _TRUNCATE);

		//--- Extension return code
		return 200;
	}

	else
	{
		strncpy_s(output, outputSize, "Avaliable Functions: fnc1, fnc2", outputSize - 1);
		return -1;
	}
}

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Example 4:

Since Arma 3 v2.12:

Copy

hint ("myExtContext" callExtension "");

Here is a minimal example: Show text

#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <iterator>
#include <sstream>
#include <iomanip>

BOOL APIENTRY DllMain(	HMODULE hModule,
						DWORD ul_reason_for_call,
						LPVOID lpReserved)
{
	switch (ul_reason_for_call)
	{
		case DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH:
		case DLL_THREAD_ATTACH:
		case DLL_THREAD_DETACH:
		case DLL_PROCESS_DETACH:
			break;
	}
	return TRUE;
}

std::vector<std::string> contextInfo;

extern "C"
{
	//--- User entry point
	__declspec (dllexport) void __stdcall RVExtension(char *output, int outputSize, const char *function);
	//--- Engine passed context
	__declspec (dllexport) void __stdcall RVExtensionContext(const char **args, int argsCnt);
}

//--- name callExtension function
void __stdcall RVExtension(char *output, int outputSize, const char *function)
{
	//--- Not used here
	(void)function;

	if (!contextInfo.empty())
	{
		std::ostringstream oss;
		const char qt = '"';

		for (auto it = contextInfo.begin(); it != contextInfo.end() - 1; ++it)
			oss << std::quoted(*it, qt, qt) << ",";
		oss << std::quoted(contextInfo.back(), qt, qt);

		//--- Send context info back
		strncpy_s(output, outputSize, ("[" + oss.str() + "]").c_str(), _TRUNCATE);
	}
}

//--- Context is executed first, copy it
void __stdcall RVExtensionContext(const char **args, int argsCnt)
{
	contextInfo.assign(args, std::next(args, argsCnt));
}

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Additional Information

See also:

freeExtension call compile parseSimpleArray Extensions

Notes

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