Second Life Forums Archive - Communication between far-away objects

Hawk Horton

Registered User

Join date: 7 Sep 2005

Posts: 26

06-09-2006 08:16

I ran into a little communicative hurdle while building a game.

I have 2 objects, one in sim A, the other in sim B. I want both these objects to know each other's location. I can get their locations with a simple combination of llGetRegionName() and llGetPos(). What I can't get is object 1 to know the location of object 2 and vice versa. A simple listener won't work as that has a maximum range of 100 meters. The objects should actually be a lot further apart, maybe a kilometre or more.

Does anyone know another way of having two objects communicate with each other? If you know a completely different way of storing and transporting variables, that would be okay as well.

Sator Canetti

Frustrated Catgirl

Join date: 20 Sep 2005

Posts: 130

06-09-2006 08:26

In the past, the only option was, pretty much, email between the 2. Now you could possibly also use llHTTPRequest, and a script hosted somewhere, in your favorite web scripting language (php, perl, etc) and it pass info around.

_____________________

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Talarus Luan

Ancient Archaean Dragon

Join date: 18 Mar 2006

Posts: 4,831

06-09-2006 14:16

The most common method for communication between distant objects, especially in different sims, is through the use of llEmail.

Kalel Venkman

Citizen

Join date: 10 Mar 2006

Posts: 587

Combining two bits of information..

06-09-2006 14:23

From: Talarus Luan

The most common method for communication between distant objects, especially in different sims, is through the use of llEmail.

The catch, of course, is that an object gets a new resource ID each time you rez it, so both the sender and receiver have unpredictable, volatile email addresses. Have each one report its current resource ID to an external server via llHTTPRequest(), and get the other's ID from the same place. In effect, you're "publishing" the resource Id.

Once your objects have that, they can email messages to each other and not worry about whether one of them's gotten re-rezzed or not - the ID's will always be correct.

Adriana Caligari

Registered User

Join date: 21 Apr 2005

Posts: 458

06-09-2006 14:39

From: Kalel Venkman

The catch, of course, is that an object gets a new resource ID each time you rez it, so both the sender and receiver have unpredictable, volatile email addresses. Have each one report its current resource ID to an external server via llHTTPRequest(), and get the other's ID from the same place. In effect, you're "publishing" the resource Id.

Once your objects have that, they can email messages to each other and not worry about whether one of them's gotten re-rezzed or not - the ID's will always be correct.

Thats seems like an awful waste of resource to me.

Send an http request to the server
Receive Email address
Send email asking for position
Receive email with position

When the server you initially sent the http request to already knows the position of the other object ( the region name and object position are stored in teh outgoing http header ) as it got it when it sent out a http request itself.

Use the initial suggestion of just sending a request to an eternal server from both objects and reporting the others position back to its partner.

Or us an in-world server and send that emails from each object - and reply to each email with the others address ( region and position are stored in the email header )

( yes the server suffers the same re-rez problem but if you keep it on your land it will only be re-rezzed when you want it to be or when a sim goes down - then you would probably have to reset the game anyway so feeding in a new server email address shoudnt be a problem )

Kalel Venkman

Citizen

Join date: 10 Mar 2006

Posts: 587

06-09-2006 14:49

From: Adriana Caligari

Thats seems like an awful waste of resource to me.

Send an http request to the server
Receive Email address
Send email asking for position
Receive email with position

When the server you initially sent the http request to already knows the position of the other object ( the region name and object position are stored in teh outgoing http header ) as it got it when it sent out a http request itself.

Use the initial suggestion of just sending a request to an eternal server from both objects and reporting the others position back to its partner.

Or us an in-world server and send that emails from each object - and reply to each email with the others address ( region and position are stored in the email header )

( yes the server suffers the same re-rez problem but if you keep it on your land it will only be re-rezzed when you want it to be or when a sim goes down - then you would probably have to reset the game anyway so feeding in a new server email address shoudnt be a problem )

I believe I just said that.

Kokiri Saarinen

Quoted for truth

Join date: 7 Jan 2006

Posts: 44

06-09-2006 20:04

If you create an object that is stationary and will not de-rezz, you can make rezzable game peices that communicate thier key's and positions to the server object, which in turn communicates them to the other sim's game peices. In other words, you can get around the de-rezzing problem by having the objects update a server's key database on rez.

-Kokiri

Osgeld Barmy

Registered User

Join date: 22 Mar 2005

Posts: 3,336

06-09-2006 20:37

From: someone

If you create an object that is stationary and will not de-rezz, you can make rezzable game peices that communicate thier key's and positions to the server object, which in turn communicates them to the other sim's game peices. In other words, you can get around the de-rezzing problem by having the objects update a server's key database on rez.

-Kokiri

unless the sim crashes in the middle of a game, then your having to manually clean up all the peices, which would suck if your not around, plus this is SLOW + not really viable if you have abunch of clients ect ect ect, html seems to be the least PITA and most reliable for keeping track of things

and since were going to do all this, most of the info you need can be passed in one swipe tru the url or body, and your server can simply email the other client(s) automaticly (since i dont think you can just up and send html to something that didnt request it)

Lazink Maeterlinck

Registered User

Join date: 8 Nov 2005

Posts: 332

06-09-2006 20:52

I've never had a problem with our objects that really on email, even when the sim crashes, it doesn't get a new key from what I've experienced, only when you de-rez/rez the object have I seen it get a new key.

Osgeld Barmy

Registered User

Join date: 22 Mar 2005

Posts: 3,336

06-09-2006 21:14

well thats becuase your using an external server i was refering to the post about client / server objects inworld

ive never used the email function, 20 seconds for what i would want to use it for (not spam) is pointless, and my budget server wont let me set things up properly

html drasticly reduces wait time, and doesnt require one to have mutiple scripts running to bypass the timeout

html for input, email for broadcast / echo relay output seems like the best choice now IMO

Lazink Maeterlinck

Registered User

Join date: 8 Nov 2005

Posts: 332

06-09-2006 22:28

no, I'm talking pure inworld things. The key of an object does not change, to my knowledge (as I've had the sim crash several times as we all have i'm sure) and those items still work perfectly.

Hawk Horton

Registered User

Join date: 7 Sep 2005

Posts: 26

06-10-2006 02:23

Thanks for all the helpful advice.
I'll go play around with it a bit to see what works best for me.
I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Communication between far-away objects
Hawk Horton Registered User Join date: 7 Sep 2005 Posts: 26	06-09-2006 08:16 I ran into a little communicative hurdle while building a game. I have 2 objects, one in sim A, the other in sim B. I want both these objects to know each other's location. I can get their locations with a simple combination of llGetRegionName() and llGetPos(). What I can't get is object 1 to know the location of object 2 and vice versa. A simple listener won't work as that has a maximum range of 100 meters. The objects should actually be a lot further apart, maybe a kilometre or more. Does anyone know another way of having two objects communicate with each other? If you know a completely different way of storing and transporting variables, that would be okay as well.
Sator Canetti Frustrated Catgirl Join date: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 130	06-09-2006 08:26 In the past, the only option was, pretty much, email between the 2. Now you could possibly also use llHTTPRequest, and a script hosted somewhere, in your favorite web scripting language (php, perl, etc) and it pass info around. _____________________ "Have gone to commit suicide. Intend to return from grave Friday. Feed cat." -- A memo by Spider Jerusalem in Transmetropolitan "Some people are like Slinkies; not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs." If you're reading this signature, I've probably just disagreed with you. Welcome to the club
Talarus Luan Ancient Archaean Dragon Join date: 18 Mar 2006 Posts: 4,831	06-09-2006 14:16 The most common method for communication between distant objects, especially in different sims, is through the use of llEmail.
Kalel Venkman Citizen Join date: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 587	Combining two bits of information.. 06-09-2006 14:23 From: Talarus Luan The most common method for communication between distant objects, especially in different sims, is through the use of llEmail. The catch, of course, is that an object gets a new resource ID each time you rez it, so both the sender and receiver have unpredictable, volatile email addresses. Have each one report its current resource ID to an external server via llHTTPRequest(), and get the other's ID from the same place. In effect, you're "publishing" the resource Id. Once your objects have that, they can email messages to each other and not worry about whether one of them's gotten re-rezzed or not - the ID's will always be correct.
Adriana Caligari Registered User Join date: 21 Apr 2005 Posts: 458	06-09-2006 14:39 From: Kalel Venkman The catch, of course, is that an object gets a new resource ID each time you rez it, so both the sender and receiver have unpredictable, volatile email addresses. Have each one report its current resource ID to an external server via llHTTPRequest(), and get the other's ID from the same place. In effect, you're "publishing" the resource Id. Once your objects have that, they can email messages to each other and not worry about whether one of them's gotten re-rezzed or not - the ID's will always be correct. Thats seems like an awful waste of resource to me. Send an http request to the server Receive Email address Send email asking for position Receive email with position When the server you initially sent the http request to already knows the position of the other object ( the region name and object position are stored in teh outgoing http header ) as it got it when it sent out a http request itself. Use the initial suggestion of just sending a request to an eternal server from both objects and reporting the others position back to its partner. Or us an in-world server and send that emails from each object - and reply to each email with the others address ( region and position are stored in the email header ) ( yes the server suffers the same re-rez problem but if you keep it on your land it will only be re-rezzed when you want it to be or when a sim goes down - then you would probably have to reset the game anyway so feeding in a new server email address shoudnt be a problem )
Kalel Venkman Citizen Join date: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 587	06-09-2006 14:49 From: Adriana Caligari Thats seems like an awful waste of resource to me. Send an http request to the server Receive Email address Send email asking for position Receive email with position When the server you initially sent the http request to already knows the position of the other object ( the region name and object position are stored in teh outgoing http header ) as it got it when it sent out a http request itself. Use the initial suggestion of just sending a request to an eternal server from both objects and reporting the others position back to its partner. Or us an in-world server and send that emails from each object - and reply to each email with the others address ( region and position are stored in the email header ) ( yes the server suffers the same re-rez problem but if you keep it on your land it will only be re-rezzed when you want it to be or when a sim goes down - then you would probably have to reset the game anyway so feeding in a new server email address shoudnt be a problem ) I believe I just said that.
Kokiri Saarinen Quoted for truth Join date: 7 Jan 2006 Posts: 44	06-09-2006 20:04 If you create an object that is stationary and will not de-rezz, you can make rezzable game peices that communicate thier key's and positions to the server object, which in turn communicates them to the other sim's game peices. In other words, you can get around the de-rezzing problem by having the objects update a server's key database on rez. -Kokiri
Osgeld Barmy Registered User Join date: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 3,336	06-09-2006 20:37 From: someone If you create an object that is stationary and will not de-rezz, you can make rezzable game peices that communicate thier key's and positions to the server object, which in turn communicates them to the other sim's game peices. In other words, you can get around the de-rezzing problem by having the objects update a server's key database on rez. -Kokiri unless the sim crashes in the middle of a game, then your having to manually clean up all the peices, which would suck if your not around, plus this is SLOW + not really viable if you have abunch of clients ect ect ect, html seems to be the least PITA and most reliable for keeping track of things and since were going to do all this, most of the info you need can be passed in one swipe tru the url or body, and your server can simply email the other client(s) automaticly (since i dont think you can just up and send html to something that didnt request it)
Lazink Maeterlinck Registered User Join date: 8 Nov 2005 Posts: 332	06-09-2006 20:52 I've never had a problem with our objects that really on email, even when the sim crashes, it doesn't get a new key from what I've experienced, only when you de-rez/rez the object have I seen it get a new key.
Osgeld Barmy Registered User Join date: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 3,336	06-09-2006 21:14 well thats becuase your using an external server i was refering to the post about client / server objects inworld ive never used the email function, 20 seconds for what i would want to use it for (not spam) is pointless, and my budget server wont let me set things up properly html drasticly reduces wait time, and doesnt require one to have mutiple scripts running to bypass the timeout html for input, email for broadcast / echo relay output seems like the best choice now IMO
Lazink Maeterlinck Registered User Join date: 8 Nov 2005 Posts: 332	06-09-2006 22:28 no, I'm talking pure inworld things. The key of an object does not change, to my knowledge (as I've had the sim crash several times as we all have i'm sure) and those items still work perfectly.
Hawk Horton Registered User Join date: 7 Sep 2005 Posts: 26	06-10-2006 02:23 Thanks for all the helpful advice. I'll go play around with it a bit to see what works best for me. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

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Communication between far-away objects