XML Element Classes

Video explaining what behavior factories are, what they can be used for and how they are created. Shown using ExampleApp which contains an example for this.

XML Element classes allow to create new element classes using an XML file (*.deeclass) instead of writing script code. XML element classes always subclass from an existing script class or XML element class. Using an XML element class you can change properties added by the behavior definitions.

Element class properties are typically in the form behavior.property or behavior(id).property. The identifier is omitted if it is empty string. For example the ECBehaviorComponent behavior uses the prefix component.. Hence component.model would set the _model_ property. The same for an ECBehaviorComponent with the identifier second. Here the name would be component(second).model.

Behaviors can be complex and nested. This allows behaviors to add other behaviors to achieve their goals. Such nested behaviors need to be differentiated from other behaviors of the same kind. The rule is to prefix the property names of the behaviors with their parent prefix to make them unique. For example if you have a fictional behavior MyBehavior with the prefix mybehavior. which adds one or more ECBehaviorComponent then the property names of those component behaviors would look like mybehavior.component.model or mybehavior.component(second).model. This nesting can go deeper depending on how complex of a behavior you are designing. In general it is favorable to keep the nesting as little as possible as this is easier to use for team members and modders.

Behavior Factories

Scripted element classes can be also assigned a list of Behavior Factories. This allows the user to add behaviors to XML element classes if they are in the list of allowed behavior factories. The DragonScript module provides the GenericBehaviorElementClass which contains the factories of all DragonScript module provided behavior factories. You can create your own behaviors and make them available to the generic behavior element class by extending BaseGameApp.createAndAddBehaviorFactories().

Adding behaviors is done using the behavior tag. Some behaviors require additional parameters during construction time. These parameters can be defined inside the behavior tag using the same tags as you use to define element properties. The behavior documentation list the supported parameters. After adding a behavior you can set the element properties outside the behavior tag as you usually would do.

To simplify the adding of behaviors properties of a just added behavior can be also defined by moving the property tags inside the behavior tag. If you do this you have to remove the behavior property prefix from the property names leaving being only the . as first character in the name. This way the DragonScript module prepends the behavior property prefix while setting the property values. This is easier to write, increases readability and has less possibility for errors. It is thus recommended to set properties of just added behaviors in this way.

(TODO: add video of behavior factories)

XML File Structure

SVG | PNG | TXT

Tags

elementClass

Attribute	Description	Required	Default
name	Unique name of the element class to create.	true	-
class	Name of the element class to subclass.	true	-

Tag	Description	Occurance	Default
behavior	Add behavior to element class.	0..N	-
string	Set named element property to string type value. Tag content is string value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required.	0..N	empty string
float	Set named element property to float type value. Tag content is float value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required.	0..N	0
integer	Set named element property to integer type value. Tag content is integer value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required.	0..N	0
boolean	Set named element property to boolean type value. Tag content is boolean value where `true`, `yes`, `1` are true values and `false`, `no`, `0` are false values. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required.	0..N	false
vector	Set named element property to floating point vector type value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
vector2	Set named element property to floating point vector2 type value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point	Set named element property to integer point type value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point3	Set named element property to integer point3 type value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
borderSize	Set named element property to integer borderSize type value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. left: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. top: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. right: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. bottom: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. all: Set left, top, right and bottom to the same value. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
rectArea	Set named element property to integer rectArea type value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
floatRectArea	Set named element property to floating point rectArea type value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
color	Set named element property to floating point color4 type value. Color can be defined either using hex, r/g/b/a or ir/ig/ib/ia. Mixing is not possible. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required. r: Red value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. g: Green value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. b: Blue value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. a: Alpha value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `1`. hex: Set color using hex notation. Value can be `#rrggbb` or `#rrggbbaa` with components in the range from `00` to `ff`. Both upper and lower case are valid. Optional. Convenience attribute. ir: Red value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ig: Green value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ib: Blue value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ia: Alpha value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
null	Set named element property to null value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required.	0..N	-
list	Set named element property to Array value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required.	0..N	-
map	Set named element property to Dictionary value. Attributes: name: Name of the property to set. Same name as used for stub properties in world editor. Required.	0..N	-

behavior

Attribute	Description	Required	Default
type	Unique name of the behavior to add to the element class. Only names matching behavior factories added to the super element class can be used.	true	-
id	Unique identifier of behavior. Required to be used if multiple behaviors of the same type are added.	false	empty string

Tag	Description	Occurance	Default
string	Set named element property to string type value. Tag content is string value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required.	0..N	empty string
float	Set named element property to float type value. Tag content is float value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required.	0..N	0
integer	Set named element property to integer type value. Tag content is integer value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required.	0..N	0
boolean	Set named element property to boolean type value. Tag content is boolean value where `true`, `yes`, `1` are true values and `false`, `no`, `0` are false values. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required.	0..N	false
vector	Set named element property to floating point vector type value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
vector2	Set named element property to floating point vector2 type value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point	Set named element property to integer point type value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point3	Set named element property to integer point3 type value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
borderSize	Set named element property to integer borderSize type value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. left: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. top: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. right: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. bottom: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. all: Set left, top, right and bottom to the same value. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
rectArea	Set named element property to integer rectArea type value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
floatRectArea	Set named element property to floating point rectArea type value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
color	Set named element property to floating point color4 type value. Color can be defined either using hex, r/g/b/a or ir/ig/ib/ia. Mixing is not possible. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required. r: Red value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. g: Green value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. b: Blue value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. a: Alpha value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `1`. hex: Set color using hex notation. Value can be `#rrggbb` or `#rrggbbaa` with components in the range from `00` to `ff`. Both upper and lower case are valid. Optional. Convenience attribute. ir: Red value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ig: Green value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ib: Blue value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ia: Alpha value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
null	Set named element property to null value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required.	0..N	-
list	Set named element property to Array value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required.	0..N	-
map	Set named element property to Dictionary value. Attributes: name: Name of the parameter/property to set. If the name begins with with `.` the element property is set using name with behavior property prefix prepended. Otherwise construction parameter is set with the given name. Required.	0..N	-

list

Tag	Description	Occurance	Default
string	String type value. Tag content is string value.	0..N	empty string
float	Float type value. Tag content is float value.	0..N	0
integer	Integer type value. Tag content is integer value.	0..N	0
boolean	Boolean type value. Tag content is boolean value where `true`, `yes`, `1` are true values and `false`, `no`, `0` are false values.	0..N	false
vector	Floating point vector type value. Attributes: x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
vector2	Floating point vector2 type value. Attributes: x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point	Integer point type value. Attributes: x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point3	Integer point3 type value. Attributes: x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
borderSize	Integer borderSize type value. Attributes: left: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. top: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. right: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. bottom: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. all: Set left, top, right and bottom to the same value. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
rectArea	Integer rectArea type value. Attributes: x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
floatRectArea	Floating point rectArea type value. Attributes: x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
color	Floating point color4 type value. Color can be defined either using hex, r/g/b/a or ir/ig/ib/ia. Mixing is not possible. Attributes: r: Red value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. g: Green value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. b: Blue value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. a: Alpha value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `1`. hex: Set color using hex notation. Value can be `#rrggbb` or `#rrggbbaa` with components in the range from `00` to `ff`. Both upper and lower case are valid. Optional. Convenience attribute. ir: Red value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ig: Green value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ib: Blue value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ia: Alpha value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
null	Null value.	0..N	-
list	Array value.	0..N	-
map	Dictionary value.	0..N	-

map

Tag	Description	Occurance	Default
string	Set string value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required.	0..N	empty string
float	Set float type value. Tag content is float value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required.	0..N	0
integer	Set integer type value. Tag content is integer value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required.	0..N	0
boolean	Set boolean type value. Tag content is boolean value where `true`, `yes`, `1` are true values and `false`, `no`, `0` are false values. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required.	0..N	false
vector	Set floating point vector type value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
vector2	Set floating point vector2 type value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point	Set integer point type value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
point3	Set integer point3 type value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. x: X coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y: Y coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`. z: Z coordinate of vector. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
borderSize	Set integer borderSize type value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. left: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. top: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. right: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. bottom: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. all: Set left, top, right and bottom to the same value. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
rectArea	Set integer rectArea type value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
floatRectArea	Set floating point rectArea type value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. x1: Left value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y1: Top value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. x2: Right value. Optional. Defaults to `0`. y2: Bottom value. Optional. Defaults to `0`.	0..N	-
color	Set floating point color4 type value. Color can be defined either using hex, r/g/b/a or ir/ig/ib/ia. Mixing is not possible. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required. r: Red value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. g: Green value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. b: Blue value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `0`. a: Alpha value in the range 0..1 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Defaults to `1`. hex: Set color using hex notation. Value can be `#rrggbb` or `#rrggbbaa` with components in the range from `00` to `ff`. Both upper and lower case are valid. Optional. Convenience attribute. ir: Red value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ig: Green value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ib: Blue value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute. ia: Alpha value in the range 0..255 with values outside range allowed. Optional. Convenience attribute.	0..N	-
null	Set null value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required.	0..N	-
list	Set Array value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required.	0..N	-
map	Set Dictionary value. Attributes: key: Key to assign value to. Required.	0..N	-

Examples

This example creates a simple XML element class based on the SimpleElementClass. It modifies some element properties to use a specific model, skin and rig resource. The path are either absolute path (if starting with /) or relative to the directory the *.deeclass file is located in.

Show Example

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<elementClass name='PropBox' class='SimpleElement'>
	<string name='component.model'>box.demodel</string>
	<string name='component.skin'>/content/materials/concrete/material.deskin</string>
	<string name='component.rig'>box.derig</string>
	<string name='component.audioModel'>box.demodel</string>
	<string name='navigationSpace.blockerShape'>box:position,0,0.3,-0.05:extends,1.3,0.5,1.3</string>
</elementClass>

This example creates a complex XML element class which is based on the GenericBehaviorElementClass. This allows adding behaviors inside the *.deeclass file avoiding the need to write an explicit script class to do the same. This is the example file used in the behavior factory video above.