Factions API, canPlayerBuildAt

Hello! I'm trying to integrate my plugin with Factions so it can respect build permissions within designated areas.

I have searched and searched (and searched ) for this, but have come up with nothing. Lots of people seem to ask, and get answers that don't apear to work- there are no official docs that I can find, no API- and the developers' response amounts to "Just read the source, please".

That said, I have read the source and see no discernible API The most common solution I see on these forums implies I should be using a static method of the "Board" class that, near as I can tell, does not exist.

So what I have done is to hook into what appears to be a public static helper method of Factions' own Listener class. This method does *exactly* what I want- but I feel like this is a very hacky approach, since there's nothing ensuring that method won't change its signature, move to another class, get renamed, etc.

Is there a better way? Would it be that hard to provide a couple of methods (like canPlayerBuildAt, isPVPEnabled, etc) on the base plugin class that accept normal Bukkit Location objects for simplicity, I wonder? (Not meant to be jab, there may really be a reason that it's not there?)

If there is not a better way, then hopefully the below code will help somebody out. It uses reflection because it's important to me to be able to soft-depend on Factions (again, this is where a separate API is a really good thing!)

Code:java

// ... in my onEnable, I look for Factions
 
try {
    Class<?> psClass = Class.forName("com.massivecraft.mcore.ps.PS");
    factionsManager = Class.forName("com.massivecraft.factions.listeners.FactionsListenerMain");
    factionsCanBuildMethod = factionsManager.getMethod("canPlayerBuildAt", Player.class, psClass, Boolean.TYPE);
    psFactoryMethod = psClass.getMethod("valueOf", Location.class);
    if (factionsManager != null && factionsCanBuildMethod != null && psFactoryMethod != null) {
        getLogger().info("Factions found, build permissions will be respected.");
    } else {
        factionsManager = null;
        factionsCanBuildMethod = null;
        psFactoryMethod = null;
    }
} catch (Throwable ex) {
}
 
if (factionsManager == null) {
    getLogger().info("Factions not found, will not integrate.");
}
 
// ...
// Then if found, I will use it in my build check method.
// ...
 
public boolean hasBuildPermission(Player player, Block block)
{
    // Check the region manager, or Factions
    // TODO: We need to be able to do permission checks while a player is offline. This is currently exploitable. (!)
    boolean allowed = true;
 
        // ... [SNIP'd out irrelevant WG check]
 
    if (factionsEnabled && player != null && block != null && factionsManager != null && factionsCanBuildMethod != null && psFactoryMethod != null) {
        try {
            Object loc = psFactoryMethod.invoke(null, block.getLocation());
            allowed = allowed && loc != null && (Boolean)factionsCanBuildMethod.invoke(null, player, loc, false);
        } catch (Throwable ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
            allowed = false;
        }
    }
 
    return allowed;
}
 

Thanks in advance!

Derp- not two minutes after posting this question, I found

The Factions Developer Documentation, via their own issue tracker. I could not find this linked anywhere on the wiki or devbukkit page.

That said, it's still a little confusing to me- what is a universe, and how do I know which one to ask for? Why is there not just a simple build check method?

EDIT by Moderator: merged posts, please use the edit button instead of double posting.

 

NathanWolf
Ya maybe you should read before you post.

 

Wow, thanks. :\

You'll notice I DID read and do a lot of googling and forum searching- should I really have to follow links on a 2-year old closed ticket in their bug tracker to find their developer API?

My question still stands, their documentation doesn't tell me what I want to do. I need some mysterious Universe id, and they make no mention of how to actually do a build check.

Anybody care to try and be helpful? This is a very common unanswered question on the forums.