This page gives you practical tips to debug your game during development. Don't hesitate to share your difficulties with us so that we can improve this section.

__TOC__

== Tools ==

To work on BGA Studio, we recommend that you use [http://www.google.com/chrome Google Chrome] as it's currently the fastest browser for the BGA platform, and it's available for all OSes.

Another reason to use Chrome is that it embeds all the tools you need to work on BGA Studio. You can see them by pressing "F12" or from the menu ("Tools > Development tools").

A good practice is to use a second browser to develop the game, in order to verify that your game is working fine on this browser too.

To debug with Firefox browser, we advise you to use these 2 extensions:
* [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/firebug/ Firebug]
* [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/web-developer/ Web developer]

To debug with other browsers (IE, Edge, Opera), we advise you to use one of the most recent versions. Latest versions of the browser will likely have better development tools than the previous ones...

== General tip for debugging ==

=== Save & Restore ===

In general for debugging, think of using the '[[Tools_and_tips_of_BGA_Studio#Save_.26_restore_state|save & restore]] state' functionality. It enables you to save the state of your game just before the issue you are investigating, then come back to that point with one click as many times as needed to understand what is going wrong.

You can save up to 3 different states.

=== Refresh ===

If something does not seems to work properly even you "fixed it", it may be refresh issue. Not all files born equal. Some require a lot more steps to get into the game.

See https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Studio_file_reference for information on how to "refresh" each files.

== Debugging my game when it cannot start ==

If your game won't start because of an error, you are probably in one of these situations:
* There is a SQL error in your dbmodel.sql file.
* You have a syntax error in your PHP file.
* Your PHP "setupNewGame" generates exception
* You transition to new game state from the initial state which generates exception (or state is misconfigured)
* You transition to player state from the initial state which has excpetion in arg* or action* method (or state is misconfigured)

If the error is not explicitly displayed when you click on "Express start", you should check the "Gameserver error log" as per [[Studio logs]].
However errors and logs generated by setupNewGame not always (almost never) there, so see Debug setupNewGame session.
More cases of why game can't start are described on the [[Troubleshooting]] page.

== Debugging an issue with the waiting screen ==

BGA displays a waiting screen during a few seconds inviting free players to become premium when they are playing a lot.

This waiting screen should not in principle impact your game, but in some cases it might.

To test the waiting screen on the studio, you can set the desired duration by adding the get parameter studioLockingDuration with the number of seconds for the lock screen to be displayed. For example to have a 10 seconds waiting screen when you launch a game on the studio:
https://studio.boardgamearena.com?studioLockingDuration=10

Then you can just set it back to zero in the same way with https://studio.boardgamearena.com?studioLockingDuration=0 (or restart your browser to clear the session value).

== Debugging my PHP game logic (or my view) ==

=== Add traces to your code ===

You can use the following functions in your game to add server side logging:

'''$this->dump( 'name_of_variable', $variable );''' // dump variable, like var_dump but in the log debug level logging, goes to [[Studio_logs|BGA request&SQL logs]]

'''$this->debug( $message );''' // debug level logging, goes to [[Studio_logs|BGA request&SQL logs]]

'''$this->trace( $message );''' // info level logging, goes to [[Studio_logs|BGA request&SQL logs]]

'''$this->warn( $message );''' // warning level logging, goes to [[Studio_logs#BGA_unexpected_exceptions_logs|BGA unexpected exceptions log]]

'''$this->error( $message );''' // error level logging, goes to [[Studio_logs#BGA_unexpected_exceptions_logs|BGA unexpected exceptions log]]

Check [[Studio logs]] for more details on how to access your logs.

This can be useful when you need to follow the flow of your code and not just stop it to see how it goes at some point.

Only the error log level will appear in production. This level should be used only for critical problems.
Other levels will show only in the development environment and can be used as you see fit.

'''WARNING''': tracing does not work in constructor, setupNewGame and game states immediately following starting state (not sure why). Use other method described below in this case (seciton "Debugging setupNewGame").

To access logs on production, use button "Display recent errors from production (unexpected errors)" on control panel of your game

=== Dump data and die ===
First, make sure you can reproduce the needed game situation with one click. Use Save ("[[Tools_and_tips_of_BGA_Studio#Save_.26_restore_state|save & restore]]") function before doing some "test actions".

If you want to see what data looks like on some path you can simply throw this in exception, i.e.
<pre>
$value = var_export($my_var, true);
throw new \BgaUserException('I am here: ${value}', args: ['value'=>$value]);
</pre>

Alternately use json instead of php formaing:
$value = json_encode($my_var, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

Another possibility for this is to place a '''die('ok')''' and '''var_dump(...)''' functions
<pre>
echo "<pre>";
var_dump( $my_variable );
echo "</pre>";
die('ok');
</pre>

Note: since this text will be returned back to client it will usually choke on this, but you can actually see it better if you wrap it some html (hence the <pre> tag)

=== Debug at home ===

If you develop some complex logic it is better sometimes to stub all external calls and debug it locally using command line or IDE debugger for php.
You can get some basic stubs here https://github.com/elaskavaia/bga-sharedcode/raw/master/misc/module/table/table.game.php

To run php locally you need to wrap it into test or something, see example https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/BGA_Studio_Cookbook#Creating_a_test_class_to_run_PHP_locally

=== Debugging setupNewGame ===

This is separate section because tracing method do not work in this function.
Recommended way to debug it
* leave setupNewGame exactly as in template (inlcuding setting up player table and activating first player), and add a single call at the end
$this->initMyTables();
This will be your own function which you will be changing, so you don't touch setupNewGame anymore.

Remember that this function cannot send notification or query active or current player. If you need to get player data use $this->loadPlayersBasicInfos().

function initMyTables() {
try {
$players = $this->loadPlayersBasicInfos();
// ... code the function
} catch ( Exception $e ) {
// logging does not actually work in game init :(
$this->error("Fatal error while creating game");
$this->dump('err', $e);
}
}

Create a code for this function, and if it does not work run it from a debug_ function of the just created game. That way you can see debug output!
The only trick is you have to clear all your tables in the begging so when you run it multiple times your db does not puke.
If your game does not start at all - do not even call it from setupNewGame, comment it out and only call from a debug_ function until it works.
Don't forget you can also look at tables in db using php-admin tool (link at the bottom of the game table in studio).

The same problem exists if you game state immediately follow starting state (problem of debugging it without the logs), in this case create a dummy player state in which player just press OK that will transition
to you game state, after you done debugging it remove the state and shortcut the transition to your game state.

Instead of calling initMyTables directly you can call an helper function ike this which will also reset the client, i.e.
<pre>
function debug_initMyTables() {
$this->deleteAllTables(); // this suppose to delete/reset all data - you have to implement this function
$this->initMyTables();
$newGameDatas = $this->getAllTableDatas(); // this is framework function
$this->bga->notify->player($this->getActivePlayerId(), 'resetInterfaceWithAllDatas', '', $newGameDatas); // this is notification to reset all data
$this->bga->notify->all("message",'setup called',[]);
}
</pre>HINT: This is a great suggestion. If you make any simple mistake in any code in setupNewGame, you may see "BGA Service Exception" instead of anything very useful, since setupNewGame failed. For example, even sending a bad SQL string to $this->dbQuery() will generate this error. Very hard to debug!

=== Debugging endOfGame ===

Debugging end of game is hard if game ends! Make sure it does not end, then you can restore to previous state using saved states.
In php file:

$this->processEndOfGame();
if ($this->getBgaEnvironment() == 'studio')
$this->gamestate->nextState('debuglast'); // debug end
else
$this->gamestate->nextState('last'); // real end

You have to add a special user state in states.inc.php file (note: this snippet uses php constants instead of state numbers)

<pre>
STATE_GAME_TURN_NEXT_PLAYER => array( // normal state
"name" => "gameTurnNextPlayer",
"description" => '',
"type" => "game",
"action" => "st_gameTurnNextPlayer",
"updateGameProgression" => true,
"transitions" => array(
"next" => STATE_PLAYER_TURN_ACTION,
"loopback" => STATE_GAME_TURN_NEXT_PLAYER,
"last" => STATE_END_GAME,
"debuglast" => STATE_PLAYER_GAME_END // for debugging on studio
),
),
// for debugging end of game
STATE_PLAYER_GAME_END => array(
"name" => "playerGameEnd",
"description" => clienttranslate('Game Over'),
"descriptionmyturn" => clienttranslate('Game Over'),
"type" => "activeplayer",
"args"=>"arg_playerTurnAction",
"possibleactions" => array( "end"),
"transitions" =>
array(
"next" => STATE_END_GAME,
"loopback"=> STATE_PLAYER_GAME_END)
),
</pre>

=== Writing custom debug functions ===
Sometimes you want to set up a situation to debug a special case, and you need to update the game situation to fit your test. To do this quickly without needing to play a full game and hope to get the card you want to test, you can write custom debug functions.

For example, if I need to change the type of a card to your need, you can write a function like this :

<pre>
#[Debug(reload: true)]
function debug_setCardType(int $id, int $type, int $typeArg = 0) {
$this->DbQuery("UPDATE `card` SET `card_type` = $type, `card_type_arg` = $typeArg WHERE `card_id` = $id" );
}
</pre>

Note: you need to prefix it with '''debug_''' to make it show in the debug menu of the Studio :

[[File:Custom-debug-function-example.png]]

BGA will detect methods with this prefix and the associated parameters.

Functions with parameters will show with "..." in the debug menu and will show a popin to set the parameters. Functions without parameters will be called directly.

'''More examples of debug functions :'''
<pre>
// jump to a state, for example to simulate the end of a player turn and go to the next player turn.
public function debug_goToState(int $state = ST_NEXT_PLAYER) {
$this->gamestate->jumpToState($state);
}

// if you want to be able to concede
function debug_playToFiftyPercent() {
$this->debug->playUntil(fn(int $count) => $this->gamestate->getCurrentMainStateId() >= ST_END_GAME || $this->getGameProgression() >= 50 || $count >= 100);
}

// to see end round result
function debug_playToEndRound() {
$round = $this->getCurrentRound();
$this->debug->playUntil(fn(int $count) => $this->getCurrentRound() > $round);
}

// to go to the turn of a specific player
function debug_playUntilTurnOf(int $playerId) {
$this->debug->playUntil(fn(int $count) => (int)$this->getActivePlayerId() === $playerId);
}
function debug_playUntilMyTurn() {
$this->debug->playUntil(fn(int $count) => (int)$this->getActivePlayerId() === (int)$this->getCurrentPlayerId());
}

function debug_testUpgradeTableDb(int $version = 0) {
$this->upgradeTableDb($version);
}
</pre>

== Debugging my HTML/CSS layout ==

Example situations

* Why doesn't my game element show up in the interface?
* Why hasn't my CSS property been applied to this element?
* Why is this game element displayed at this position?

A useful tip when an element does not show up in the interface is to give it a red background:
<pre>
#my_element {
... some CSS definitions ...
background-color: red;
}
</pre>

This way, you know if the element is not visible because of some CSS property or because of something else.

Another tip: sometimes, changing a CSS property has no visible effect on your interface. In that case, add a "display:none" property. If your element does not disappear, the bug probably comes from your CSS selector and not from your CSS property.

Using Chrome "Elements" tab (the first one), you can:
* See the CURRENT HTML of your page. Remember that the classical "show page source" is inefficient with BGA as you are modifying the page source with your Javascript code.
* Using the "magnifying glass", you can click on any part of your game interface and check its HTML code and associated CSS styles.
* You can even modify directly some CSS properties and see how it looks immediately in the game interface.

When changing css you have to force reload (Ctrl+R). But it also reloads all images which is long, if you want it faster you can click the Reload CSS button.
=== Debugging Toolips CSS/Layout ===

To inspect tooltip you need to pin it so it does not disappear.
* Chrome tools:
** Open dev tools and switch to Source tab to engage with debugger
** Hover over you element until tooltip showing
** Press F8 - that stops the JS, so tooltip should freeze
** Now you can go to Elements tab and find your tooltip at the botton in dijitTooltip div
** Don't forget to resume it again to continue (F8 again or resume button)
* Other method: Open the console (dev tools) large enough window, hover to make the tooltip appear and alt + tab to focus the console that will cover the tooltip. That way the onmouseout will never be triggered.

=== Debugging my Javascript game interface logic ===

To debug javascript you just use embedded browser debugger, usually found in Source tab of dev tools (F12)

Modern browsers also allow you to put breakpoints in your js code. It is in source tab, but its a bit difficult to find (your code that is), see picture below on how to insert breakpoints.

You can do this by pressing Ctrl + B when your cursor is on the line where you want to set the breakpoint, or by clicking just to the left of the line number. One thing to be aware of is that refreshing via F5 removes set breakpoints, due to some cache busting values added to the URL. This can be remedied by adding this line to the end of your javascript source file, which enables the proper source mapping:

<pre>//# sourceURL=myjsfile.js</pre>

[[File:Bga-debug.jpg]]

The easier method is to add breakpoint directly into your code and reload.

In Chrome, to add a breakpoint: add a line to your .js file

<pre>debugger; </pre>

Refresh the page F5, and make sure you have the Developer tools window open, press F12.
When the break-point is hit you can then step through your code and visualise variables, etc.

=== Do complex things on the PHP side ===

The most frequent case is the following: you want to compute possible moves in a game situation. Doing it in Javascript is a nightmare. Do it in PHP, and transfer the results to your client interface using the "args" game state property.

Note: See the Reversi tutorial for an example.

=== Add traces in your code ===

You can use the following:

'''console.log( variable_to_inspect )'''

It will give you the object structure of the variable in the Javascript console, without blocking the execution.

It's often a good idea to precede this call with a console.log( '### HERE ###' ); to find more easily the appropriate line in the console log.

'''alert( variable_to_inspect )'''

It will popup what you wish and pause the execution until you click ok.

This won't be useful for complex structures; only native types will be plainly displayed. But this is sometimes useful just with messages to make sure which way the execution goes.

== Online format checkers ==
Copy and paste code for a quick code sanity check like the right number of brackets.

PHP: [https://phpcodechecker.com/ https://phpcodechecker.com/]

JS: [http://esprima.org/demo/validate.html http://esprima.org/demo/validate.html]

Checks for proper attributes values and browser's compatibility

CSS: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

== Some frequent errors ==

See [[Troubleshooting]].

== Get the database matching a bug report ==

When a player creates a bug report in production, a snapshot of the game database is taken. You can get access to this snapshot from the studio by following the steps below:
* Create a table in the studio with the same game and number of players as the table for which the report has been written. Launch this table.
* Load the bug dump by entering the bug report ID this debug section
[[File:LoadBugReportInput.png]]

== Studio environment ==

Some developers have requested a method allowing to know which environment the module is running on. While in general, your code should be the same on all environments so that the validation process makes sense, this may allow for example to display some helpers for testing during development while being sure that they'll never show up outside of the studio.

From your Game.php file you can use:

<pre>if ($this->getBgaEnvironment() === 'studio') { ... }</pre>

Or if needed from your <gamename>.view.php file:

<pre>if ($this->game->getBgaEnvironment() === 'studio') { ... }</pre>

[[Category:Studio]]

Main game logic: Game.php

2026-09-30T09:03:38Z

Thoun: /* Co-operative game */

{{Studio_Framework_Navigation}}

This is the main file for your game logic. Here you initialize the game, persist data, implement the rules and notify the client interface of changes.

This is the main class that implements the "server" callbacks. As it is a server it cannot initiate any data communicate with the game client (running in browser) and only can respond to client using notifications.

Your php class instance won't be in memory between two callbacks, every time client send a request a new class will be created, constructor will be called and eventually your callback function.

'''Note:''' this file is now named Game.php, located in the modules/php directory. If you see it named yourgamename.game.php in the root dir, it's the legacy usage. In the legacy usage, the namepaces don't exists.

== File Structure ==

The details of how the file is structured are described directly with comments in the code skeleton provided to you.

Here is the basic structure:

* '''__construct''': the game constructor, where you define global variables and initiaze class members.
* '''setupNewGame''': initial setup of the game. Takes an array of players, indexed by player_id. Structure of each player includes player_name, player_canal, player_avatar, and flags indicating admin/ai/premium/order/language/beginner.
* '''getAllDatas''': where you retrieve all game data during a complete reload of the game. Return value must be associative array. Value of 'players' is reserved for returning players data from players table, if you set it it must follow certain rules
$result ['players'] = $this->getCollectionFromDb("SELECT `player_id` `id`, `player_score` `score`, `player_no` `no`, `player_color` `color` FROM `player`");
// Returned value must include ['players'][$player_id]]['score'] for scores to populate when F5 is pressed.
getAllDatas accepts a magic parameter <code>int $currentPlayerId</code> (or <code>int $currentPlayerNo</code>) to fetch the information from the point of view of the current player id (or no). It should not have any other parameter.
* '''getGameProgression''': where you compute the game progression indicator. Returns a number indicating percent of progression (0-100). Used to calculate ELO changes of remaining players when a player quits, or as a conceding requirement (in non-tournament 2 player games, a player may concede if the progression is at least 50%).
* Utility functions: your utility functions.
* Player actions: the entry points for players actions ([https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Players_actions:_yourgamename.action.php more info here]).
* Game state arguments: methods to return additional data on specific game states ([http://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Your_game_state_machine:_states.inc.php#args more info here]).
* Game state actions: the logic to run when entering a new game state ([http://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Your_game_state_machine:_states.inc.php#action more info here]).
* '''initTable''': (not part of template) - this function is called for every php callback by the framework and it can be implement by the game (empty by default). You can use it in rare cases where you need to read database and manipulate some data before any ANY php entry functions are called (such as getAllDatas,action*,st*, etc). Note: it is not called before arg* methods
* '''zombieTurn''': what to do it's the turn of a zombie player.
* '''upgradeTableDb''': function to migrate database if you change it after release on production.
* '''getGameName''': returns the game name. This will be setup when you create the project. If you are copying files in from another project, make sure you keep this function intact. It must return the right game name, or lots of things will be broken.

== Accessing player information ==

'''Important''': In the following methods, be mindful of the difference between the "active" player and the "current" player. The '''active''' player is the player whose turn it is - not necessarily the player who sent a request! The '''current''' player is the player who sent the request and will see the results returned by your methods: not necessarily the player whose turn it is!

; getPlayerCount() (or getPlayersNumber() that is an alias )
: Returns the number of players playing at the table
: Note: doesn't work in the beggining of setupNewGame (use count($players) instead). It will work after initialization of player table.

; <nowiki>getActivePlayerId(): string</nowiki>
: Get the "active_player", whatever what is the current state type.
: Note: it does NOT mean that this player is active right now, because state type could be "game" or "multiplayer"
: Note: avoid using this method in a "multiplayer" state because it does not mean anything.
: In general, you shouldn't use this method. It is available as a magic param in getArgs / onEnteringState / act functions, and shouldn't be needed anywhere else.

; getActivePlayerName()
: Get the "active_player" name
: Note: avoid using this method in a "multiplayer" state because it does not mean anything.

; getPlayerNameById($player_id)
: Get the name by id

; getPlayerNameByNo($playerNo)
: Get the name by no

; getPlayerColorById($player_id)
: Get the color by id

; getPlayerNoById($player_id)
: Get 'player_no' (number) by id

; getPlayerIdByNo(int $playerNo) int
: Get the player id by player no.

; loadPlayersBasicInfos()
: Get an associative array with generic data about players (ie: not game specific data).
: The key of the associative array is the player id. The returned table is cached, so ok to call multiple times without performance concerns.
: The content of each value is:
: * player_name - the name of the player
: * player_color (ex: ff0000) - the color code of the player (as string)
: * player_no - the position of the player at the start of the game in natural table order, i.e. 1,2,3

<pre>
$players = $this->loadPlayersBasicInfos();
foreach ($players as $player_id => $info) {
$player_color = $info['player_color'];
...
}
</pre>
Note: if you want array of player ids only you can do this:
$player_ids = array_keys($this->loadPlayersBasicInfos());

; getCurrentPlayerId(bool $bReturnNullIfNotLogged = false) string
: Get the "current_player". The current player is the one from which the action originated (the one who sent the request).
: '''Be careful''': This is not necessarily the active player!
: In general, you shouldn't use this method. It is available as a magic param in act functions, and also in getAllDatas, and shouldn't be needed anywhere.
: '''Very important''': in your setupNewGame and zombieTurn function, you must never use getCurrentPlayerId() or getCurrentPlayerName(),
: otherwise it will fail with a "Not logged" error message (these actions are triggered from the main site and propagated to the gameserver from a server, not from a browser. As a consequence, there is no current player associated to these actions).

; getCurrentPlayerName(bool $bReturnEmptyIfNotLogged = false) string
: Get the "current_player" name.
: Note: this will throw an exception if current player is not at the table, i.e. spectator
: Be careful using this method (see above). Can be easily replaced by $this->getPlayerNameById($currentPlayerId);

; getCurrentPlayerColor()
: Get the "current_player" color.
: Note: this will throw an exception if current player is not at the table, i.e. spectator
: Be careful using this method (see above). Can be easily replaced by $this->getPlayerColorById($currentPlayerId);

; isCurrentPlayerZombie()
: Check the "current_player" zombie status. If true, player is zombie, i.e. left or was kicked out of the game.
: Note: this will throw an exception if current player is not at the table, i.e. spectator
: Be careful using this method (see above). Should never be needed, zombie players should behave like real players, and everything specific to zombie should be set in the zombie method only.

; isSpectator()
: Check the "current_player" spectator status. If true, the user accessing the game is a spectator (not part of the game). For this user, the interface should display all public information, and no private information (like a friend sitting at the same table as players and just spectating the game).

For player score and tiebreaker, see [[Main game logic: Game.php#Manage player scores and Tie breaker]]

== Accessing the database ==

The main game logic should be the only point from which you should access the game database. You access your database using SQL queries with the methods below.

'''IMPORTANT'''

BGA uses [http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/sql-syntax-transactions.html database transactions]. This means that your database changes WON'T BE APPLIED to the database until your request ends normally (web request, not database request). Using transactions is in fact very useful for you; at any time, if your game logic detects that something is wrong (example: a disallowed move), you just have to throw an exception and all changes to the game situation will be removed. This also means that you need not (and in fact cannot) use your own transactions for multiple related database operations.

However there are sets of database operation that will do implicit commit (most common mistake is to use "TRUNCATE"), you cannot use these operations during the game, it breaks the unrolling of transactions and will lead to nasty issues
(https://mariadb.com/kb/en/sql-statements-that-cause-an-implicit-commit).

All methods below are part of game class (and view class) and can be accessed using $this->

; DbQuery( string $sql )
: This is the generic method to access the database.
: It can execute any type of SELECT/UPDATE/DELETE/REPLACE/INSERT query on the database. Returns result of the query.
: For SELECT queries, the specialized methods below are much better.
: Do not use method for TRUNCATE, DROP and other table altering operations. See disclamer above about implicit commits. If you really need TRUNCATE use DELETE FROM xxx instead.

; getUniqueValueFromDB( string $sql )
: Returns a unique value from DB or null if no value is found.
: $sql must be a SELECT query.
: Raise an exception if more than 1 row is returned.

; getCollectionFromDB( string $sql, bool $bSingleValue=false ) array
: Returns an associative array of rows for a sql SELECT query.
: The key of the resulting associative array is the first field specified in the SELECT query.
: The value of the resulting associative array is an associative array with all the field specified in the SELECT query and associated values.
: First column must be a primary or alternate key (semantically, it does not actually have to declared in sql as such).
: The resulting collection can be empty (it won't be null).
: If you specified $bSingleValue=true and if your SQL query requests 2 fields A and B, the method returns an associative array "A=>B", otherwise its A=>[A,B]
: Note: The name a bit misleading, it really return associative array, i.e. map and NOT a collection. You cannot use it to get list of values which may have duplicates (hence primary key requirement on first column). If you need simple array use getObjectListFromDB() method.

Example 1:
<pre>
$result = $this->getCollectionFromDB( "SELECT `player_id` `id`, `player_name` `name`, `player_score` `score` FROM `player`" );

Result:
[
1234 => [ 'id'=>1234, 'name'=>'myuser0', 'score'=>1 ],
1235 => [ 'id'=>1235, 'name'=>'myuser1', 'score'=>0 ]
]
</pre>

Example 2:
<pre>
$result = $this->getCollectionFromDB( "SELECT `player_id` `id`, `player_name` `name` FROM `player`", true );

Result:
[
1234 => 'myuser0',
1235 => 'myuser1'
]

</pre>

; getNonEmptyCollectionFromDB(string $sql) array
: Same as getCollectionFromDB($sdl), but raise an exception if the collection is empty. Note: this function does NOT have 2nd argument as previous one does.

; getObjectFromDB(string $sql) array
: Returns one row for the sql SELECT query as an associative array or null if there is no result (where fields are keys mapped to values)
: Raise an exception if the query return more than one row (you can use LIMIT 1 in the query to avoid the exception)

Example:
<pre>
$result = $this->getObjectFromDB( "SELECT `player_id` `id`, `player_name` `name`, `player_score` `score` FROM `player` WHERE `player_id` = '$player_id'" );

Result:
[
'id'=>1234, 'name'=>'myuser0', 'score'=>1
]
</pre>

; getNonEmptyObjectFromDB(string $sql) array
: Similar to previous one, but raise an exception if no row is found

; getObjectListFromDB(string $sql, bool $bUniqueValue=false) array
: Return an array of rows for a sql SELECT query.
: The result is the same as "getCollectionFromDB" except that the result is a simple array (and not an associative array).
: The result can be empty.
: If you specified $bUniqueValue=true and if your SQL query request 1 field, the method returns directly an array of values.

Example 1:
<pre>
$result = $this->getObjectListFromDB( "SELECT `player_id` `id`, `player_name` `name`, `player_score` `score` FROM `player`" );

Result:
[
[ 'id'=>1234, 'name'=>'myuser0', 'score'=>1 ],
[ 'id'=>1235, 'name'=>'myuser1', 'score'=>0 ]
]
</pre>

Example 2:
<pre>
$result = $this->getObjectListFromDB( "SELECT `player_name` `name` FROM `player`", true );

Result:
[
'myuser0',
'myuser1'
]

</pre>

; getDoubleKeyCollectionFromDB(string $sql, bool $bSingleValue=false) array
: Return an associative array of associative array, from a SQL SELECT query.
: First array level correspond to first column specified in SQL query.
: Second array level correspond to second column specified in SQL query.
: If $bSingleValue = true, keep only third column on result

; DbGetLastId()
: Return the PRIMARY key of the last inserted row (see PHP mysql_insert_id function).

; DbAffectedRow() int
: Return the number of row affected by the last operation

; escapeStringForDB(string $string) string
: You must use this function on every string type data in your database that contains unsafe data.
: (unsafe = can be modified by a player).
: This method makes sure that no SQL injection will be done through the string used, '''as long as the SQL statement uses single quotes around the string. This is important!'''
''Note: if you using standard types in ajax actions, like AT_alphanum it is sanitized before arrival. This function is only needed if you manage to get an unchecked string, like in the games where user has to enter text as a response.''
''Note: This function does not escape % and _ by default, which are wildcards if used in an SQL "LIKE" statement. The developer must determine if this is desirable behavior.''

Note: see Editing [[Game database model: dbmodel.sql]] to know how to define your database model.

== Use bga globals ==
Sometimes, you want a single global value for your game, and you don't want to create a DB table specifically for it.

You can do this with the BGA framework "globals". Your value will be stored in the "bga_globals" table in the database, and you can access it with simple methods.

The keys are strings, so you might want to store them in constants to avoid mistakes (the key must be at maximum 50 characters long).

The variable can be of any type (number, string, array, object) and will be stored as a JSON (so functions cannot be stored, and circular references on objects will trigger an Exception when storing).

Having a string key and a JSON serialization allows you to debug easily by looking at the bga_globals table content.

''Note: this globals module doesn't use cache, so every call to one of the following methods makes a DB request.''

'''bga->globals->set(string $name, $mixed $obj): void'''

Define the value of a global variable.
<pre>
const FIRST_PLAYER_ID = "firstPlayerId";
$this->bga->globals->set(FIRST_PLAYER_ID, array_keys($players)[0]);
</pre>

'''bga->globals->get(string $name, $mixed $defaultValue = null, ?string $class = null): mixed'''

Get the value of a global variable. Returns `null` if not set, except specified otherwise in the optional `$defaultValue`.
<pre>
$currentFirstPlayerId = $this->bga->globals->get(FIRST_PLAYER_ID);
...
$selectedCardsIds = $this->bga->globals->get(SELECTED_CARDS_IDS, []);
</pre>

You can specify the expected class type, if you save a class and don't want it returned as a stdClass.
<pre>
$undo = new Undo($playerId, $moves);
$this->bga->globals->set(UNDO, $undo);

$undo = $this->bga->globals->get(UNDO); // will return an stdClass
$undo = $this->bga->globals->get(UNDO, class: Undo::class); // will return an Undo class
</pre>
Note: your class should be a plain object with no mandatory constructor params. Example:
<pre>
class Undo {
public function __construct(
public ?int $playerId = null,
public ?array $moves = null,
) {}
}
</pre>

'''bga->globals->getAll(...$names): array'''

Get the value of all global variables, as a key=>value array. You can set a list of names to only get matching variables. In that case, non-existent keys will not be set in the returned array, so if you have a key with null value, it means the key has been set to null previously.
<pre>
$variables = $this->bga->globals->getAll();
...
$diceVariables = $this->bga->globals->getAll(DIE1, DIE2);
</pre>

Use with PHP's [https://www.php.net/extract extract()] function to quickly assign multiple variables:
<pre>
extract($this->bga->globals->getAll('endTime', 'hour', 'vipWelcome'));
// $endTime, $hour, and $vipWelcome (may) now exist

if (!empty($endTime)) {
...
</pre>

'''bga->globals->delete(...$names): void'''

Delete a global variable or a list of global variables stored in database.
<pre>
$this->bga->globals->delete(SELECTED_CARDS_IDS);
...
$this->bga->globals->delete(SELECTED_CARDS_IDS, UNDO, AFTER_DISCARD_RETURN_STATE);
</pre>

'''bga->globals->has(string $name): bool'''

Indicates if a global variable is stored in database.
<pre>
$cardSelectionIsStarted = $this->bga->globals->has(SELECTED_CARDS_IDS);
</pre>

'''bga->globals->inc(string $name, $int $inc): int'''

Increments the value of a global variable, and return the incremented value. Will trigger an exception if the variable is not a numeric value.
<pre>
$this->bga->globals->inc(PLAYED_ACTIONS_IN_CURRENT_TURN, 1);
...
$totalSpent = $this->bga->globals->inc(SPENT_COINS_IN_CURRENT_TURN, $cardCost);
</pre>

== Use globals (numbers only / game options) ==

Before the `$this->globals`, you could only store numeric values as globals. Theses "GameStateValues" are stored in the "global" table in the database, and you can access it with simple methods.

All methods below are members of the game class and should be accessed via $this->

'''initGameStateLabels(array $labelsMap): void'''

This method should be located at the beginning of constructor of ''yourgamename.game.php''. This is where you define the globals used in your game logic, by assigning them IDs.

You can define up to 80 globals, with IDs from 10 to 89 (inclusive, there can be gaps).
Also you must use this method to access value of game options [[Game_options_and_preferences:_gameoptions.inc.php]], in that case, IDs need to be between 100 and 199.
You must '''not''' use globals outside the range defined above, as those values are used by other components of the framework.

<pre>
function __construct() {
parent::__construct();
$this->initGameStateLabels([
"my_first_global_variable" => 10,
"my_second_global_variable" => 11,
"my_game_variant" => 100
]);
// other code ...
}
</pre>

NOTE: The methods below WILL throw an exception if label is not defined using the call above.

'''setGameStateInitialValue( string $label, int $value ): void'''

Initialize global value. This is not required if you ok with default value if 0. This should be called from setupNewGame function.

'''getGameStateValue( string $label, int $default = 0): int'''

Retrieve the value of a global. Returns $default if global is not been initialized (by setGameStateInitialValue).

NOTE: this method use globals "cache" if you directly manipulated globals table OR call this function after undoRestorePoint() - it won't work as expected.

<pre>
$value = $this->getGameStateValue('my_first_global_variable');
</pre>

'''setGameStateValue( string $label, int $value ): void'''

Set the current value of a global.
<pre>
$this->setGameStateValue('my_first_global_variable', 42);
</pre>

'''incGameStateValue( string $label, int $increment ): int'''

Increment the current value of a global. If increment is negative, decrement the value of the global.

Return the final value of the global. If global was not initialized it will initialize it as 0.

NOTE: this method use globals "cache" if you directly manipulated globals table OR call this function after undoRestorePoint() - it won't work as expected.

<pre>
$value = $this->incGameStateValue('my_first_global_variable', 1);
</pre>

=== BGA predefined globals ===

BGA already defines some globals in the ''global'' database table. You should not change them directly, nor read them in your game code, but it can be useful to know what they mean when debugging:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! global_id !! label !! Meaning
|-
| 1 || || Current state
|-
| 2 || || Active player id
|-
| 3 || next_move_id || Next move number
|-
| 4 || || Game id
|-
| 5 || || Table creator id
|-
| 6 || playerturn_nbr || Player turn number
|-
| 7 || gameprogression || Game progression
|-
| 8 || initial_reflexion_time || Initial reflection time
|-
| 9 || additional_reflexion_time || Additional reflection time
|-
| 200 || reflexion_time_profile || Game speed
Real-time games:
* 0 = Real-time • Fast paced
* 1 = Real-time • Normal speed
* 2 = Real-time • Slow speed
* 9 = No time limit • with friends only

Turn-based games:
* 10 = Fast Turn-based • 24 moves per day
* 11 = Fast Turn-based • 12 moves per day
* 12 = Fast Turn-based • 8 moves per day
* 13 = Turn-based • 4 moves per day
* 14 = Turn-based • 3 moves per day
* 15 = Turn-based • 2 moves per day
* 17 = Turn-based • 1 move per day
* 19 = Turn-based • 1 move per 2 days
* 20 = No time limit • with friends only
|-
| 201 || bgaranking_mode || Game mode
* 0 = Normal mode
* 1 = Friendly mode (no ELO)
* 2 = Arena mode
|-
| 207 || game_language ||GAMESTATE_GAME_LANG
|-
| 300 || game_db_version ||GAMESTATE_GAMEVERSION: Current version of the game (when in production)
|-
| 301 || game_result_neutralized ||GAMESTATE_GAME_RESULT_NEUTRALIZED
|-
| 302 || neutralized_player_id ||GAMESTATE_NEUTRALIZED_PLAYER_ID
|-
| 304 || undo_moves_stored ||GAMESTATE_UNDO_MOVES_STORED
|-
| 305 || undo_moves_player ||GAMESTATE_UNDO_MOVES_PLAYER
|-
| 306 || lock_screen_timestamp ||GAMESTATE_LOCK_TIMESTAMP
|}

== Game states and active players ==

=== Activate player handling ===

; $this->activeNextPlayer()
: Make the next player active in the natural player order.
: Note: you must transition to a state in the action triggering this call, so the change of active player is notified to the front.

; $this->activePrevPlayer()
: Make the previous player active (in the natural player order).
: Note: you must transition to a state in the action triggering this call, so the change of active player is notified to the front.

; $this->gamestate->changeActivePlayer( $player_id )
: You can call this method to make any player active.
: Note: you must transition to a state in the action triggering this call, so the change of active player is notified to the front.

; $this->getActivePlayerId() string
: Return the "active_player" id
: Note: it does NOT mean that this player is active right now, because state type could be GAME or MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER
: Note: avoid using this method in a MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER state because it does not mean anything.
: In general, you shouldn't use this method. It is available as a magic param in getArgs / onEnteringState / act functions, and shouldn't be needed anywhere else.

=== Multiple activate player handling ===

; $this->gamestate->setAllPlayersMultiactive()
: All playing players are made active. Update notification is sent to all players (this will trigger '''onUpdateActionButtons''').
: Usually, you use this method at the beginning of a game state (e.g., "stGameState") which transitions to a MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER state in which multiple players have to perform some action. Do not use this method if you going to make some more changes in the active player list. (I.e., if you want to take away MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER status immediately afterwards, use setPlayersMultiactive instead.)

Example of usage:
<pre>
function st_MultiPlayerInit() {
$this->gamestate->setAllPlayersMultiactive();
}
</pre>

; $this->stMakeEveryoneActive()
:this method can be used in state machine to make everybody active as "st" method of multiplayeractive state, it just calls $this->gamestate->setAllPlayersMultiactive()

This is to be used in state declaration:
<pre>
2 => array(
"name" => "playerTurnPlace",
"description" => \clienttranslate('Other player must place ships'),
"descriptionmyturn" => \clienttranslate('${you} must place ships (click on YOUR SHIPS board to place)'),
"type" => MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER,
'action' => 'stMakeEveryoneActive',
'args' => 'arg_playerTurnPlace',
"possibleactions" => array( "actionBla" ),
"transitions" => array( "next" => 4, "last" => 99)
),
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->setAllPlayersNonMultiactive( $next_state )
: All playing players are made inactive. Transition to next state, by transition name or State class name.

; $this->gamestate->setPlayersMultiactive( $players, $next_state, $bExclusive = false )
: Make a specific list of players active during a multiactive gamestate. Update notification is sent to all players whose state changed.
: "players" is the array of player id that should be made active. If "players" is not empty the value of "next_state" will be ignored (you can put whatever you want)
: If "bExclusive" parameter is not set or false it doesn't deactivate other previously active players. If its set to true, the players who will be multiactive at the end are only these in "$players" array

: In case "players" is empty, the method trigger the "next_state" transition, by transition name, state id, or State class name, to go to the next game state. It also allow a callable, returning one of the possible listed values.
: returns true if state transition happened, false otherwise

; $this->gamestate->setPlayerNonMultiactive( $player_id, $next_state )
: During a multiactive game state, make the specified player inactive.
: Usually, you call this method during a multiactive game state after a player did his action. It is also possible to call it directly from multiplayer action handler.
: If this player was the last active player, the method trigger the "next_state" transition, by transition name, state id, or State class name, to go to the next game state. It also allow a callable, returning one of the possible listed values.
: returns true if state transition happened, false otherwise
Example of usage (see state declaration of playerTurnPlace above):
<pre>
function actionBla($args) {
$this->checkAction('actionBla');
// handle the action using $this->getCurrentPlayerId()
$this->gamestate->setPlayerNonMultiactive( $this->getCurrentPlayerId(), 'next');
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->getActivePlayerList()
: With this method you can retrieve the list of the active player at any time.
: During a GAME type gamestate, it will return a void array.
: During a ACTIVE_PLAYER type gamestate, it will return an array with one value (the active player id).
: During a MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER type gamestate, it will return an array of the active players id.
: Note: you should only use this method in the latter case.

; $this->gamestate->updateMultiactiveOrNextState( $next_state_if_none )
: Sends update notification about multiplayer changes. All multiactive set* functions above do that, however if you want to change state manually using db queries for complex calculations, you have to call this yourself after. Do not call this if you calling one of the other setters above. Next state param is a transition name, state id, or State class name. It also allow a callable, returning one of the possible listed values.
Example: you have player teams and you want to activate all players in one team
<pre>
$sql = "UPDATE `player` SET `player_is_multiactive` = '0'";
$this->DbQuery( $sql );
$sql = "UPDATE `player` SET `player_is_multiactive` = '1' WHERE `player_id` = '$player_id' AND `player_team` = '$team_no'";
$this->DbQuery( $sql );

$this->gamestate->updateMultiactiveOrNextState( 'error' );
</pre>

; updating database manually
: Use this helper function to change multiactive state without sending notification
<pre>
/**
* Changes values of multiactivity in db, does not sent notifications.
* To send notifications after use updateMultiactiveOrNextState
* @param number $player_id, player id <=0 or null - means ALL
* @param number $value - 1 multiactive, 0 non multiactive
*/
function dbSetPlayerMultiactive($player_id = -1, $value = 1) {
if (! $value)
$value = 0;
else
$value = 1;
$sql = "UPDATE `player` SET `player_is_multiactive` = '$value' WHERE `player_zombie` = 0 and `player_eliminated` = 0";
if ($player_id > 0) {
$sql .= " AND `player_id` = $player_id";
}
$this->DbQuery($sql);
}
</pre>

;$this->gamestate->isPlayerActive($player_id)
:Return true if specified player is active right now.
:This method take into account game state type, ie nobody is active if game state is "game" and several players can be active if game state is "multiplayer"

;$this->bIndependantMultiactiveTable
:This flag can be set to true in constructor of game.php to force creation of second table to handle multiplayer states (normally these are in player table), this is very advanced feature.
:ONLY use it after you deploy you game to production if you receive unusual amount of bug report with dead lock symptoms DURING multiactiveplayer states
function __construct() {
...
$this->bIndependantMultiactiveTable=true;
}

=== States functions ===
; $this->gamestate->nextState( $transition )
: Change current state to a new state. Important: the $transition parameter is the name of the transition (or the state class name), and NOT the name of the target game state, see [[Your game state machine: states.inc.php]] for more information about states.
:''with State classes, you should not need it and you can just return the class name of the next state.''

'''$this->gamestate->jumpToState($stateNum)'''
: Change current state to a new state. Important: the $stateNum parameter is the key of the state. See [[Your game state machine: states.inc.php]] for more information about states.
: Note: this is very advanced method, it should not be used in normal cases. Specific advanced cases include - jumping to specific state from "do_anytime" actions, jumping to dispatcher state or jumping to recovery state from zombie player function
:''with State classes, you should not need it and you can just return the class name of the next state.''

; $this->checkAction( $actionName, $bThrowException=true )
: Check if the current player can perform a specific action in the current game state, and optionally throw an exception if they can't.
: The action is valid if it is listed in the "possibleactions" array for the current game state (see game state description).
: This method MUST be the first one called in ALL your PHP methods that handle player actions that are not using [[Main game logic: yourgamename.game.php#Actions (autowired)|Action autowiring]], in order to make sure a player doesn't perform an action not allowed by the rules at the point in the game. It should not be called from methods where the current player is not necessarily the active player, otherwise it may fail with an "It is not your turn" exception.
: If "bThrowException" is set to "false", the function returns '''false''' in case of failure instead of throwing an exception. This is useful when several actions are possible, in order to test each of them without throwing exceptions.
:''With auto-wired actions, you should not need it.''

; $this->gamestate->checkPossibleAction( $action )
: (rarely used)
: This works exactly like "checkAction" (above), except that it does NOT check if the current player is active.
: '''Note: This does NOT check either spectator or eliminated status, so those checks must be done manually.'''
: This is used specifically in certain game states when you want to authorize additional actions for players that are not active at the moment.
: Example: in ''Libertalia'', you want to authorize players to change their mind about the card played. They are of course not active at the time they change their mind, so you cannot use "checkAction"; use "checkPossibleAction" instead.

This is how PHP action looks that returns player to active state (only for multiplayeractive states). To be able to execute this on client do not call checkAction on js side for this specific action.

function actUnpass(int $currentPlayerId) {
$this->gamestate->checkPossibleAction('actUnpass'); // player changed mind about passing while others were thinking
$this->gamestate->setPlayersMultiactive([$currentPlayerId], 'error', false);
}

; $this->gamestate->getCurrentMainState()
: Returns the current main state, ignoring private parallel states.
: To get the state as an array, use <code>$this->gamestate->getCurrentMainState()->toArray()</code> and it will get a result similar to $this->gamestate->state()
: To get the state name, use <code>$this->gamestate->getCurrentMainState()->name</code>

; $this->gamestate->getCurrentMainStateClass()
: Returns the current main state class instance, ignoring private parallel states.

; $this->gamestate->getCurrentMainStateId()
: Returns the current main state id, ignoring private parallel states. (previously, it was the state_id() function, that returned the state numer as a string).

; $this->gamestate->getCurrentState(int $playerId)
: Returns the current state for a player. If the player is in private parallel state, it means the current private state for this player.
: To get the state as an array, use <code>$this->gamestate->getCurrentState($playerId)->toArray()</code>
: To get the state name, use <code>$this->gamestate->getCurrentState($playerId)->name</code>

; $this->gamestate->getCurrentStateClass(int $playerId)
: Returns the current state class instance for a player. If the player is in private parallel state, it means the current private state for this player.

; $this->gamestate->getCurrentStateId(int $playerId)
: Returns the current state id for a player. If the player is in private parallel state, it means the current private state for this player.

; $this->gamestate->isMultiactiveState()
: Return true if we are in MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER state, false otherwise

=== Private parallel states ===

See the overview of private parallel states [[Your_game_state_machine:_states.inc.php#Private_parallel_states|here]].

; $this->gamestate->initializePrivateStateForAllActivePlayers()
: All active players in a multiactive state are entering a first private state defined in the master state's initialprivate parameter.
: Every time you need to start a private parallel states you need to call this or similar methods below.
: Note: at least one player needs to be active (see [[#Multiple_activate_player_handling|above]]) and current game state must be a multiactive state with initialprivate parameter defined
: Note: initialprivate parameter of master state should be set to the id of the first private state. This private state needs to be defined in states.php with the type set to 'private'.
: Note: this method is usually preceded with activating some or all players
: Note: initializing private state can run action or args methods of the initial private state

Example of usage:
<pre>
function stStartPlayerTurn() {
// This is usually done in master state action method

$this->gamestate->setAllPlayersMultiactive();
$this->gamestate->initializePrivateStateForAllActivePlayers();

// in some cases you can move immediately some or all players to different private states
if ($someCondition) {
//move all players to different state
$this->gamestate->nextPrivateStateForAllActivePlayers("some_transition");
}

if ($other condition) {
//move single player to different state
$this->gamestate->nextPrivateState($specificPlayerId, "some_transition");
}
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->initializePrivateStateForPlayers($playerIds)
: Players with specified ids are entering a first private state defined in the master state initialprivate parameter.
: Same considerations apply as for the method above.

; $this->gamestate->initializePrivateState($playerId)
: Player with the specified id is entering a first private state defined in the master state initialprivate parameter.
: Everytime you need to start a private parallel states you need to call this or similar methods above
: Note: player needs to be active (see [[#Multiple_activate_player_handling|above]]) and current game state must be a multiactive state with initialprivate parameter defined
: Note: initialprivate parameter of master state should be set to the id of the first private state. This private state needs to be defined in states.php with the type set to 'private'.
: Note: this method is usually preceded with activating that player
: Note: initializing private state can run action or args methods of the initial private state

Example of usage:
<pre>
function st_ChangeMind() {
// This player finished his move before, but now decides change something while other players are still active
// We activate the player and initialize his private state
$this->gamestate->setPlayersMultiactive([$this->getCurrentPlayerId()], "");
$this->gamestate->initializePrivateState(this->getCurrentPlayerId());

// It is also possible to move the player to some other specific state immediately
$this->gamestate->nextPrivateState($this->getCurrentPlayerId(), "some_transition");
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->nextPrivateStateForAllActivePlayers($transition)
: All active players will transition to next private state by specified transition
: Note: game needs to be in a master state which allows private parallel states
: Note: transition should lead to another private state (i.e. a state with type defined as 'private'
: Note: transition should be defined in private state in which the players currently are, or be a state class name.
: Note: this method can run action or args methods of the target state
: Note: this is usually used after initializing the private state to move players to specific private state according to the game logic

Example of usage:
<pre>
function stStartPlayerTurn() {
// This is usually done in master state action method
$this->gamestate->setAllPlayersMultiactive();
$this->gamestate->initializePrivateStateForAllActivePlayers();

if ($specificOption) {
//move all players to different state
$this->gamestate->nextPrivateStateForAllActivePlayers("some_transition");
}
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->nextPrivateStateForPlayers($playerIds, $transition)
: Players with specified ids will transition to next private state specified by provided transition, by transition name or State class name.
: Same considerations apply as for the method above.

; $this->gamestate->nextPrivateState($playerId, $transition)
: Player with specified id will transition to next private state specified by provided transition, by transition name or State class name.
: Note: game needs to be in a master state which allows private parallel states
: Note: transition should lead to another private state (i.e. a state with type defined as 'private'
: Note: transition should be defined in private state in which the players currently are.
: Note: this method can run action or args methods of the target state for specified player
: Note: this is usually used after some player actions to move to next private state

Example of usage:
<pre>
function actSomeAction() {
$this->checkAction("actSomeAction"); //needs to be defined in the current state
$this->gamestate->nextPrivateState($this->getCurrentPlayerId(), "some_transition");
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->unsetPrivateStateForAllPlayers()
: All players private state will be reset to null, which means they will get out of private parallel states and be in a master state like the private states are not used
: Note: game needs to be in a master state which allows private parallel states
: Note: this is usually used to clean up after leaving a master state in which private states were used, but can be used in other cases when we want to exit private parallel states and use a regular multiactive state for all players
: Note: After unseting private state only actions on master state are possible
: Note: Usually it is not necessary to unset private states as they will be initialized to first private state when private states are needed again. Nevertheless it is generally better to clean private state after exiting private parallel states to avoid bugs.

Example of usage:
<pre>
function stNextRound() {
$this->gamestate->unsetPrivateStateForAllPlayers();
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->unsetPrivateStateForPlayers($playerIds, $transition)
: For players with specified ids private state will be reset to null, which means they will get out of private parallel states and be in a master state like the private states are not used.
: Same considerations apply as for the method above.

; $this->gamestate->unsetPrivateState($playerId)
: For player with specified id private state will be reset to null, which means they will get out of private parallel states and be in a master state like the private states are not used
: Note: game needs to be in a master state which allows private parallel states
: Note: this is usually used when deactivating player to clean up their parallel state
: Note: After unseting private state only actions on master state are possible
: Note: Usually it is not necessary to unset private state as it will be initialized to first private state when private states are needed again. Nevertheless it is generally better to clean private state when not needed to avoid bugs.

Example of usage:
<pre>
function done() {
$this->gamestate->setPlayerNonMultiactive( $this->getCurrentPlayerId(), "newTurn" );
$this->gamestate->unsetPrivateState($this->getCurrentPlayerId());
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->setPrivateState($playerId, $newStateId)
: For player with specified id a new private state would be set
: Note: game needs to be in a master state which allows private parallel states
: Note: this should be rarely used as it doesn't check if the transition is allowed (it doesn't even specifies transition). This can be useful in very complex cases when standard state machine is not adequate (i.e. specific cards can lead to some micro action in various states where defining transitions back and forth can become very tedious.) NewStateId can also be a state class name.
: Note: this method can run action or args methods of the target state for specified player

Example of usage:
<pre>
function actSomeAction() {
$this->checkAction("actSomeAction"); //needs to be defined in the current state

if ($playerHaveSpecificCard)
return $this->gamestate->setPrivateState($this->getCurrentPlayerId(), 35);

$this->gamestate->nextPrivateState($this->getCurrentPlayerId(), "some_transition");
}
</pre>

; $this->gamestate->getPrivateState($playerId)
: This return the private state or null if not initialized or not in private state

==== State Arguments in Private parallel states ====

The args method called for private states will have the player_id passed to it, allowing you to customise the arguments returned for that player.

Example of usage:
<pre>
function argMyPrivateState($player_id) {
return array(
'my_data' => $this->getPlayerSpecificData($player_id)
);
}
</pre>

==== Inactive Players ====

During Private Parallel State, active players will be managed by the private state that is current assigned to them.

Inactive players will be managed by the master MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER state, so your client should respond to that state in order to display any status message advising players that they are waiting for others to have their turn, or to add any buttons that allow players to potentially "break in" and become active.

== Actions (autowired) ==
The action function should be prefixed by "act" and match the names specified in the "possibleactions" field on the state file.

If your actions start with "act", they will be autowired, that means you can declare action functions on the game.php file and call them directly from the front (with bgaPerformAction). You don't need to use action.php file anymore. The query param from the front request will be matched with the PHP variable of the same name, and it needs to be properly typed. This works for basic types: int, bool, float, string.

<pre>
public function actPlayCard(int $cardId) { ... }
</pre>
This function can be called from front-side with
<pre>
this.bgaPerformAction('actPlayCard', {
cardId: this.selectedCardId // the "cardId" param match the PHP variable name
});
</pre>

(Note: if you also declare the function in the action.php, it will be used instead of the autowiring)

Autowired action functions support the following "magic" parameters that will be automatically filled by the framework:

* <code>array $args</code> will be filled by current state's arguments (result of your <code>getArgs()</code> function)
* <code>int $activePlayerId</code> (or <code>int $active_player_id</code>) will be filled by the id of the active player. To be used on ACTIVE_PLAYER states only.
* <code>int $activePlayerNo</code> (or <code>int $active_player_no</code>) will be filled by the no of the active player. To be used on ACTIVE_PLAYER states only.
* <code>int $currentPlayerId</code> (or <code>int $current_player_id</code>) will be filled by the player id of the current player. To be used on MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER and PRIVATE states only.
* <code>int $currentPlayerNo</code> (or <code>int $current_player_no</code>) will be filled by the player no of the current player. To be used on MULTIPLE_ACTIVE_PLAYER and PRIVATE states only.
* ''Note: unlike <code>getArgs()</code>, autowired actions do '''NOT''' support magic parameters <code>int $playerId</code>/<code>int $player_id</code> to refer to the current player. This inconsistency is probably a framework bug.''

If you want more complex types like int array or JSON, you'll need to specify it using the Param attributes. Same if the PHP variable name is different from the front query param, or if you want to specify the tests that should be realized on the parameter before calling the function.

=== Possible attributes ===

'''BoolParam(?string $name = null)'''
<pre>
use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\Types\BoolParam;

...

public function actRaiseBet(#[BoolParam(name: 'raise')] bool $raiseBet)

public function actRaiseBet(#[BoolParam(name: 'raise')] bool $raise) // NOTE: it's the same as actRaiseBet(bool $raise) if PHP var name and param name are the same
</pre>

'''IntParam(?string $name = null, public ?int $min = null, public ?int $max = null)'''
<pre>
use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\Types\IntParam;

...

public function actPlayCard(#[IntParam(name: 'id')] int $cardId)

public function actSpendGold(#[IntParam(min: 1)] int $gold) // will trigger an exception if param is < 1

public function actPlaceCardOnSpot(int $cardId, #[IntParam(min: 1, max: 5)] int $spot) // will trigger an exception if spot is not in 1 to 5 range
</pre>

'''FloatParam(?string $name = null, public ?int $min = null, public ?int $max = null)'''

Works the same way as IntParam, import is <code>use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\Types\FloatParam;</code>

'''StringParam(?string $name = null, public ?bool $alphanum = false, public ?bool $alphanum_dash = false, public ?bool $base64 = false, public ?array $enum)'''
<pre>
use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\Types\StringParam;

...

public function actSubmitWord(#[StringParam(alphanum: true)] string $word) // will trigger an exception if the word is not alphanum

public function actChooseAction(#[StringParam(enum: ['move', 'attack', 'pass'])] string $action) // will trigger an exception if the parameter doesn't match a value in the enum
</pre>
Note: You should do one of the tests of the attribute, or test it yourself on the function, to ensure the user is not sending forbidden characters to the function.

'''IntArrayParam(?string $name = null, public ?int $min = null, public ?int $max = null)'''
<pre>
use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\Types\IntArrayParam;

...

public function actDiscardCards(#[IntArrayParam()] array $ids)

public function actDiscardCards(#[IntArrayParam(min: 2, max: 8)] array $ids) // will trigger an exception if the array length is not in the 2 to 8 range. It doesn't check the min/max of the array values!
</pre>

This function can be called from front-side with
<pre>
const selectedCardIds = [8, 12, 25];
this.bgaPerformAction('actDiscardCards', {
ids: selectedCardIds
});
</pre>

Note: if the array can be empty, type it as <code>#[IntArrayParam()] ?array</code> and consider null values as empty arrays.

'''JsonParam(?string $name = null, public ?bool $associative = true, public ?bool $alphanum = true)'''
<pre>
use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\Types\JsonParam;

...

public function actPlanComplexStuff(#[JsonParam()] array $answer) {} // force conversion to array during PHP json decode
public function actPlanComplexStuff(#[JsonParam(associative: false)] object $answer) {} // force conversion to object during PHP json decode

public function actPlanComplexStuff(#[JsonParam(associative: null)] mixed $answer) {} // default PHP json decode
</pre>

On client side:

const lala ={a: 2, b: "string", c: [1,2,4]};
this.bgaPerformAction("actPlanComplexStuff", {
answer: JSON.stringify(lala)
});

It's also possible to decode the Json to a PHP class, similar to what is done with $this->globals->get with class parameter.

<pre>
use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\Types\JsonParam;

...
class Answer {
public function __construct(
public int $a,
public string $b,
public array $c,
) {}
}
public function actPlanComplexStuff(#[JsonParam(class: Answer::class)] $answer) {} // specifying the class to map the json to
public function actPlanComplexStuff(#[JsonParam] Answer $answer) {} // same result, but the class is detected automatically by the framework thanks to the typed param.

public function actPlanMultipleComplexStuff(#[JsonParam(class: Answer::class)] array $answers) {} // can decode an array of Answer::class
</pre>

=== checkAction ===
The autowiring also triggers the checkAction, so you don't have to call it at the beginning of the function. If you need a function that should not trigger checkAction (an action that can be played during someone else turn), you can disable it this way:
<pre>
use \Bga\GameFramework\Actions\CheckAction;

#[CheckAction(false)]
public function actSetAutopass(bool $autopass) { ... }

#[CheckAction(false)]
public function actCancelChooseAction() {
$this->gamestate->checkPossibleAction('actCancelChooseAction');
...
}

</pre>

If you disable <code>checkAction</code>, you probably need to call <code>$this->gamestate->checkPossibleAction</code> instead at the beginning of your function. You likely also want to disable client checkAction calls implied by bgaPerformAction.

=== act prefix ===
The act prefix needed to activate the autowiring is not just to have some consistency in naming, it's also intended to protect your code. If we let autowired action to any function, a player may do a request to 'setPlayerScore' function, even if you never intended for it to be called front side, and it would allow almost undetectable cheating for anyone reading the code of your game.

== Players turn order ==

When table is created the "natural" player order is assigned to player at random, and stored in "read-only" field "player_no".
If you need to create a custom order you should never change natural order but have a separate data structure.
For example you can alter the players table to add another "custom_order" field, you can use state globals or you can use your natural board database,
to store meeple_color/position_location pair.
BGA currently does not provide any API to create/store custom player order.

'''getNextPlayerTable()'''

Return an associative array which associate each player with the next player around the table.

In addition, key 0 is associated to the first player to play.

Example: if three player with ID 1000, 2000 and 3000 are around the table, in this order, the method returns:
<pre>
array(
1000 => 2000,
2000 => 3000,
3000 => 1000,
0 => 1000
);
</pre>

'''getPrevPlayerTable()'''

Same as above, but the associative array associate the previous player around the table. However there no 0 index here.

'''getPlayerAfter( $player_id )'''

Get player playing after given player in natural playing order.

'''getPlayerBefore( $player_id )'''

Get player playing before given player in natural playing order.

Note: There is no API to modify this order, if you have custom player order you have to maintain it in your database
and have custom function to access it.

'''createNextPlayerTable( $players, $bLoop=true )'''

Using $players array creates a map of current => next as in example from getNextPlayerTable(), however you can use custom order here.
If parmeter $bLoop is set to true then last player will points to first (creaing a loop), false otherwise.
In any case index 0 points to first player (first element of $players array). $players is array of player ids in desired order.

Note: This function '''DOES NOT''' change the order in database, it only creates a map using key/values as descibed.

Example of usage:
<pre>
function getNextPlayerTableCustom() {
$starting = $this->getStartingPlayer(); // custom function to get starting player
$player_ids = $this->getPlayerIdsInOrder($starting); // custom function to create players array starting from starting player
return $this->createNextPlayerTable($player_ids, false); // create next player table in custom order
}
</pre>

<pre>
$table = $this->createNextPlayerTable([3000,2000,1000], false);

will return:
[
3000 => 2000,
2000 => 1000,
1000 => null,
0 => 3000
]
</pre>

== Notifications ==

To understand notifications, please read [http://www.slideshare.net/boardgamearena/the-bga-framework-at-a-glance The BGA Framework at a glance] first.

'''IMPORTANT'''

Notifications are crutial part of BGA framework. Everything which players see, including all changes which happen on frontend (including setup), are done via notfications.

Some notifications are built into the framework, and others are custom, game specific notifications. Generally, you should not send or handle framework notifications, except exposed APIs.

Example of framework notifications:
* game setup (first time client connects to game)
* game state change
* active player change
Example of custom notifications:
* game piece moved
* player scored points

Notifications are queued, i.e. sent at the very end of the action, when it ends normally. It means that if you throw an exception for any reason (i.e: move is not allowed), no notifications will be sent to players.

Notification can be sent from the following functions (and transive calls):

* action handler (act* in State classes or Game.php). It is a MUST actually. At least one notification must be sent (but it includes state transition which sends it)
* game state transition (onEnteringState in State classes)
* setupNewGame (after player tables setup is finished)

Notification cannot be sent from the following:
* .view.php
* .action.php
* material.inc.php
* constructor of .game.php
* arg* methods of .game.php

There are conceptually two types of notification:
* public - sent to all clients who are listening - that includes all players in the table as well as spectators
* private - sent only to a single player

The bundle of notifications sent at the end of an action is considered a single "move" and the table's move counter increases.
If you are ONLY sending private notifications during action handling, they will not have an associated <code>move_id</code> (to avoid this, add simple public notification with empty message).
In the rare case that you want to change this behavior, you can apply some hackery described in [[BGA_Studio_Cookbook]]

Note: the total notification size is now limited to 128K. It seems a lot, but don't forget that notification are bundled and only send at the end of an action which also INCLUDES all game state transitions that follow.

The notifications are handled on JS side by subscribing to notifications (only do it for custom notifications!). See [Game_interface_logic:_yourgamename.js#Notifications]

Do not put HTML in the notifications. If you want to have pretty pictures in the log check this [[BGA_Studio_Cookbook#Inject_images_and_styled_html_in_the_log]].

=== Notify ===

'''bga->notify->all(string $notification_type,string | NotificationMessage $message,array $notification_args )'''

Send a notification to all players of the game and spectators (public).

* notification_type: A string that defines the type of your notification.

Your game interface Javascript logic will use this to know what is the type of the received notification (and to trigger the corresponding method).

* message: A string that defines what is to be displayed in the game log.

You can use an empty string here (''). In this case, nothing is displayed in the game log.

Unless its empty, use "\clienttranslate" method to make sure string is translated.

You can use arguments in your $notification_log string, that refers to values defines in the "$notification_args" argument (see below).
Note: Make sure you only use single quotes ('), otherwise PHP will try to interpolate the variable and will ignore the values in the args array.

* notification_args: The arguments of your notifications, as an associative array.

This array will be transmitted to the game interface logic, in order the game interface can be updated.

Complete notify all example (from "Reversi"):

<pre>
$this->bga->notify->all( "playDisc", clienttranslate( '${player_name} plays a disc and turns over ${returned_nbr} disc(s)' ),
array(
'player_id' => $player_id,
'player_name' => $this->getPlayerNameById($player_id),
'returned_nbr' => count( $turnedOverDiscs ),
'x' => $x,
'y' => $y
) );
</pre>

You can see in the example above the use of the "\clienttranslate" method, and the use of 2 arguments "player_name" and "returned_nbr" in the notification log.

'''Important''': NO private data must be sent with this method, as a cheater could see it even if it is not used explicitly by the game interface logic. If you want to send private information to a player, please use notify->player below.

'''Important''': this array is serialized to be sent to the browsers, and will be saved with the notification to be able to replay the game later. If it is too big, it can make notifications slower / less reliable, and replay archives very big (to the point of failing). So as a general rule, you should send only the minimum of information necessary to update the client interface with no overhead in order to keep the notifications as light as possible.

'''Important''': When the game page is reloaded (i.e. F5 or when loading turn based game) all previous notifications are replayed as history notifications. These notifications do not trigger notification handlers and are used basically to build the game log. Because of that most of the notification arguments (except i18n, player_id and all arguments referenced in the message), are removed from these history notifications. If you need additional arguments in history notifications you can add special field <b>preserve</b> to notification arguments, like this:

<pre>
$this->bga->notify->all( "playDisc", clienttranslate( '${player_name} plays a disc and turns over ${returned_nbr} disc(s)' ),
array(
'player_id' => $player_id,
'player_name' => $this->getPlayerNameById($player_id),
'returned_nbr' => count( $turnedOverDiscs ),
'x' => $x,
'y' => $y,
'preserve' => [ 'x', 'y' ]
) );
</pre>
In this example, fields x and y will be preserved when replaying history notification at the game load.

NOTE: The ONLY reason 'preserve' is useful if you have custom method to render notifications in game log which changes some text arguments into html (i.e. to insert the images instead of plain text). Do not use preserve "just in case" - it will only bloat the logs and make game load VERY slow.

'''Important''': If both public and private notifications are sent to the same player in the same action (AJAX call), they will initially appear in the log in the order in which they were called, but they are placed into the game log in the following order: All private notifications first, then all public notifications. This means that when the page is refreshed, or when a player loads an asynchronous game, if you have called any public notifications ''before'' the last private notification, they will appear out of order in the log.

==== Recursive Notifications ====

If your notification contains some phrases that build programmatically you may need to use recursive notifications. In this case the argument can be not only the string but
an array itself, which contains 'log' and 'args', i.e.

$this->bga->notify->all('message', clienttranslate('Game moves ${token_name_rec}'),
['token_name_rec' => ['log' => '${token_name} #${token_number}',
'args'=> ['token_name' => \clienttranslate('Boo'), 'token_number' => $number, 'i18n' => ['token_name'] ]
]
]);

==== Sending private data to some players ====

Sometimes you want to notify all players of a message but not have it appear in the log of specific players (for example, have every player see "Player X draws a card" but have Player X will get a private notification "You draw the Ace of Spades", so you want them to see a different message and get some private data.

You can use the <code>_private</code> arg to send private data to designated players, in a similar fashion of the onEnteringState <code>_private</code> flag. <code>_private</code> is an array that have the player id to send private information to, and the value if the different notification using NotificationMessage to send both the replacing log and the args that will be accessible on front side in args._private.

Example:
<pre>
use Bga\GameFramework\NotificationMessage;

(...)

$this->bga->notify->all('cardPicked', clienttranslate('${player_name} takes a secret card from the deck'), [
'playerId' => $playerId,
'player_name' => $this->getPlayerNameById($playerId),
'_private' => [
$playerId => new NotificationMessage(clienttranslate('You take ${_private.card_name} from the deck'), [
'card' => $card,
'card_name' => $this->getCardName($card),
'i18n' => ['card_name']
]),
],
]);
</pre>
Note that the message uses <code>${_private.card_name}</code> to access the data in the private args.

If you don't need to change the log, but only send private args, you can send an array of args instead of the NotificationMessage object.

If you add <code>_merge_private => true</code> next to <code>_private</code>, the private informations will be accessible in `args` instead of `args._private`.

If you want all your <code>_private</code> objects to be merged (state args and notif args), call <code>$this->bga->notify->alwaysMergePrivate();</code> in your Game constructor instead of adding the <code>_merge_private</code> flag on each arg.

==== Using player names ====

The variable for player name must be ${player_name} in order to be highlighted with the player color in the game log, it has to have matching 'player_id' argument in $notification_args. If you want a second player name in the log, name the variable ${player_name2} and $player_id2, etc. For the multiple player case, usage of player_id and player_name is not mandatory i.e. skipping to player_id1 and player_name1 is fine.

Special handling of arguments:
* ${player_name} - this will be wrapped in html and text shown using color of the corresponding player, some colors also have reserved background. This will apply recursively as well.
* ${player_name1}, ${player_name2}, ${player_name3}, etc. work the same as above
In order for this to work you must pass corresponding player_idX AND player_nameX in args i.e.

$this->bga->notify->all(
'buyAndPassCard',
clienttranslate('${player_name} buys ${card_name} and passes it to ${player_name2}'),
[
'player_id' => $player1['id'],
'player_name' => $player1['name'],
'player_id2' => $player2['id'],
'player_name2' => $player2['name'],
...
]
);

Note: player_name is not translatable, never add it to i18n array

=== NotifyPlayer ===

'''bga->notify->player(int $player_id, string $notification_type, string | NotificationMessage $message, $notification_args )'''

Same as above, except that the notification is sent to one player only. The player must be the player at the game table.

This method should be used only if you send some private information to a player, NOT wanting to send a public notification at the same time for the same reason. See paragraph '''Sending private data to some players''' that should cover most of your need to send a private notif.

Important: the variable for player name must be ${player_name} in order to be highlighted with the player color in the game log. Since its a private notification it may be more appropriate to use "you" insted

$this->bga->notify->player($player_id,'message', clienttranslate('You draw ${card_name}'), [ ... ]);
or
$this->bga->notify->player($player_id,'message', clienttranslate('${player_name} draws ${card_name}'), [ 'player_name' => $this->getPlayerNameById($player_id), ... ]);

Note: Spectators cannot be notified using this method, because their player ID is not available via loadPlayersBasicInfos() or otherwise. You must use notify->all() for any notification that spectators should get.

=== Notification decorators ===

'''bga->notify->addDecorator(callable $fn)'''

Add a decorator function that will be called on notification args before each call of notify->all and notify->player. ''Note: it won't work with deprecated functions notifyAllPlayers and notifyPlayer.''

To avoid duplicating the code in your notification args, you can register decorators in your Game __construct function.
// in construct :
$this->bga->notify->addDecorator(fn(string $message, array $args) => $this->decoratePlayerNameNotifArg($message, $args));
// could also be written this (ugly) way : $this->bga->notify->addDecorator([$this, 'decoratePlayerNameNotifArg']);

// with the Utils functions
public function decoratePlayerNameNotifArg(string $message, array $args): array {
// if the notif message contains ${player_name} but it isn't set in the args, add it on args from $args['player_id']
if (isset($args['player_id']) && !isset($args['player_name']) && str_contains($message, '${player_name}')) {
$args['player_name'] = $this->getPlayerNameById($args['player_id']);
}
return $args;
}
With this example, you can call <code>$this->bga->notify->all("pass", clienttranslate('${player_name} passes'), [ "player_id" => $player_id ]);</code> and the front will receive the player_name arg along the player_id one.

You can also declare it as an inline function :
// in construct :
this->bga->notify->addDecorator(function(string $message, array $args) {
// if the notif message contains ${card_name} but it isn't set in the args, add it on args from $args['card']
// also set it up for translations by adding it to the i18n array
if (isset($args['card']) && !isset($args['card_name']) && str_contains($message, '${card_name}')) {
$args['card_name'] = $args['card']->name;
$args['i18n'][] = ['card_name'];
}
return $args;
});
With this example, you can call <code>$this->bga->notify->all("playCard", clienttranslate('${player_name} plays ${card_name}'), [ "player_id" => $player_id, card => $card ]);</code> and the front will receive the card_name arg with the flag to translate it.

=== Use player no in notifications ===

If you rely on player no in your game code, you can configure the notify object to handle player no instead of player id.

In that case, put this in your Game constructor:
'''bga->notify->useNo(true)'''

It means all calls to notify->player expect a player no as first parameter, and notify->all _private keys should also be player no. '''It must be done for all references in the Game, you cannot mix player id and player no in different calls.''' You can still send any data in the notification args, including player id and/or player no, the framework doesn't read them.

== Randomization ==

A large number of board games rely on random, most often based on dice, cards shuffling, picking some item in a bag, and so on. This is very important to ensure a high level of randomness for each of these situations.

Here's are a list of techniques you should use in these situations, from the best to the worst.

=== Dice and bga_rand ===

'''\bga_rand( min, max )'''
This is a BGA framework function that provides you a random number between "min" and "max" (inclusive), using the best available random method available on the system.

This is the preferred function you should use, because we are updating it when a better method is introduced.

As of now, bga_rand is based on the PHP function "random_int", which ensures a cryptographic level of randomness.

In particular, it is '''mandatory''' to use it for all '''dice throw''' (ie: games using other methods for dice throwing will be rejected by BGA during review).

Note: rand() and mt_rand() are deprecated on BGA and should not be used anymore, as their randomness is not as good as "bga_rand".

=== Arrays ===

PHP's [https://www.php.net/array_rand array_rand()] and [https://www.php.net/shuffle shuffle()] functions are not cryptographically secure. Instead, the following code based on PHP's [https://www.php.net/random_int random_int()] provides a better method to choose a random key, value, or slice of an array. (the slice preserves keys)

<pre>
private function getRandomKey(array $array)
{
$size = count($array);
if ($size == 0) {
trigger_error("getRandomKey(): Array is empty", E_USER_WARNING);
return null;
}
$rand = random_int(0, $size - 1);
$slice = array_slice($array, $rand, 1, true);
foreach ($slice as $key => $value) {
return $key;
}
}

private function getRandomValue(array $array)
{
$size = count($array);
if ($size == 0) {
trigger_error("getRandomValue(): Array is empty", E_USER_WARNING);
return null;
}
$rand = random_int(0, $size - 1);
$slice = array_slice($array, $rand, 1, true);
foreach ($slice as $key => $value) {
return $value;
}
}

private function getRandomSlice(array $array, int $count)
{
$size = count($array);
if ($size == 0) {
trigger_error("getRandomSlice(): Array is empty", E_USER_WARNING);
return null;
}
if ($count < 1 || $count > $size) {
trigger_error("getRandomSlice(): Invalid count $count for array with size $size", E_USER_WARNING);
return null;
}
$slice = [];
$randUnique = [];
while (count($randUnique) < $count) {
$rand = random_int(0, $size - 1);
if (array_key_exists($rand, $randUnique)) {
continue;
}
$randUnique[$rand] = true;
$slice += array_slice($array, $rand, 1, true);
}
return $slice;
}
</pre>

=== shuffle and cards shuffling ===

To shuffle items, like a pile of cards, the best way is to use the BGA PHP [[Deck]] component and to use "shuffle" method. This ensures that the best available shuffling method is used, and that if in the future we improve it your game will be up to date.

As of now, the Deck component shuffle method is based on PHP "shuffle" method, which has quite good randomness (even if not as good as bga_rand). In consequence, we accept other shuffling methods during reviews, as long as they are based on PHP "shuffle" function (or similar, like "array_rand").

=== Other methods ===

Mysql "RAND()" function has not enough randomness to be a valid method to get a random element on BGA. This function has been used in some existing games and has given acceptable results, but now it should be avoided and you should use other methods instead.

== Game statistics ==

There are 2 types of statistics:
* a "player" statistic is a statistic associated to a player
* a "table" statistic is a statistic not associated to a player (global statistic for this game).

See [[Game statistics: stats.json]] to see how you define statistics for your game.

'''bga->tableStats->init(string|array $nameOrNames, int|float|bool $value)'''

'''bga->playerStats->init(string|array $nameOrNames, int|float|bool $value, bool $updateTableStat = false)'''

<i>previously : initStat( $table_or_player, $name, $value)</i>

Create a statistic entry with a default value.

This method must be called for each statistic of your game, in your setupNewGame method.
If you neglect to call this for a statistic, and also do not update the value during the course of a certain game using xxxStats->set or xxxStats->inc, the value of the stat will be undefined rather than 0. This will result in it being ignored at the end of the game, as if it didn't apply to that particular game, and excluded from cumulative statistics. As a consequence - if do not want statistic to be applied, do not init it, or call set or inc on it.

'$nameOrNames' is the name of your statistic, as it has been defined in your stats.inc.php file, or an array of those names.

'$value' is the initial value of the statistic.

'updateTableStat' for playerStats initiates the tableStats of the same name, so if you store for example 'playedTurns' in both 'table' and 'player' call only <code>bga->playerStats->init('playedTurns', 0, true)</code> and it will init for both 'table' and 'player'.

'''bga->tableStats->set(string $name, int|float|bool $value)'''

'''bga->playerStats->set(string $name, int|float|bool $value, int $player_id)'''

'''bga->playerStats->setAll(string $name, int|float|bool $value)''' (same as set, but for all players at once)

<i>previously : setStat( $value, $name, $player_id = null )</i>

Set a statistic $name to $value.

'''bga->tableStats->inc(string $name, int|float $delta)'''

'''bga->playerStats->inc(string $name, int|float $delta, int $player_id, bool $updateTableStat = false)'''

'''bga->playerStats->incAll(string $name, int|float $delta)''' (same as inc, but for all players at once)

<i>previously : incStat( $delta, $name, $player_id = null )</i>

Increment (or decrement) specified statistic value by $delta value. Same behavior as setStat function, except you cannot increment boolean values. 'updateTableStat' will also inc the tableStats of the same name.

'''bga->tableStats->get(string $name): int|float|bool'''

'''bga->playerStats->get(string $name, int $player_id): int|float|bool'''

<i>previously : getStat( $name, $player_id = null )</i>

Return the value of statistic specified by $name. Useful when creating derivative statistics such as average.

'''bga->playerStats->getAll(string $name): array'''

Returns the values for all players, as an associative array $player_id => $value

== Translations ==

See [[Translations]]

== Manage player scores and Tie breaker ==

=== Normal scoring ===

At the end of the game, players automatically get a rank depending on their score: the player with the biggest score is #1, the player with the second biggest score is #2, and so on...

During the game, you update player's score using $this->bga->playerScore. bga->playerScore is a [[PlayerCounter and TableCounter|PlayerCounter]], so it has the same methods.

Examples:
<pre>

// +2 points to active player
$this->bga->playerScore->inc($activePlayerId, 2);

// Set score of active player to 5
$this->bga->playerScore->set($activePlayerId, 5);

</pre>

=== Tie breaker ===

Tie breaker is used when two players get the same score at the end of a game.

Tie breaker is using $this->bga->playerScoreAux. It is updated exactly like $this->bga->playerScore. bga->playerScoreAux is a [[PlayerCounter and TableCounter|PlayerCounter]], so it has the same methods.

Tie breaker score is displayed only for players who are tied at the end of the game. Most of the time, it is not supposed to be displayed explicitly during the game.

When you are using "playerScoreAux" functionality, you must describe the formula to use in your gameinfos.jsonc file like this:

<pre>
"tie_breaker_description": "Describe here your tie breaker formula",
</pre>

This description will be used as a tooltip to explain to players how this auxiliary score has been calculated.

Note: if you need to need you score_aux to be reverse (lowest value wins), please contact Studio support to get a solution.

See also [https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Game_meta-information:_gameinfos.jsonc#Multiple_tie_breaker_management Multiple Tie Breaker Management].

=== Reverse scoring and reverse tie-breaker ===

If your game has a reverse scoring (lowest value wins) or reverse tie-breaker (lowest tie-breaker wins), you need to set-up a GameResult object to tell BGA this specificity.

On your last state (usually EndScore.php), instead of returning 99 to go the end game, return a GameResult. returning a GameResult object in a State class will then go the end game.
<pre>
use Bga\GameFramework\GameResult\GameResult;
use Bga\GameFramework\GameResult\Player;

...

public function onEnteringState() {
...

$playersDb = $this->game->getCollectionFromDb("SELECT * FROM `player`");
$players = Player::fromPlayersDb($playersDb);
return GameResult::individualRanking($players, reverseScore: true);
}
</pre>
For reverse tie-breaker, it will be `reverseScoreAux: true`.

If your game has running tables with negative scores to handle reverse scoring and you want to use the reverse scoring, add this just before the return line:
<pre>
if ($this->bga->playerScore->getMin() < 0) {
foreach ($players as &$player) {
$player->score = -$player->score;
}
}
</pre>
So game started before the change will reverse the score (negative to positive) before creating the GameResult object.
And anywhere you change the score, you must continue the way it was started :
<pre>
$addedPoints = 3;
if ($this->bga->playerScore->getMin() < 0) {
$addedPoints = -$addedPoints;
}
$this->bga->playerScore->inc($playerId, $addedPoints);
</pre>
If there are negative score, the game will continue with negative scores, else it will continue with positive scores.

If your game always have the player score stored in the way it should be displayed, it's not necessary to send the players object, you can just use
<pre>
return GameResult::individualRanking(reverseScore: true);
</pre>

=== Result neutralization ===

when a player quits a running table, the results of the game will be neutralized (everyone has score set to 1, except the first quitter that will be at 0 and will be ranked last in addition to reputation drop). We cannot keep the ranking among the remaining players, as the quitter being replaced by a zombie might unbalance the rest of the game interaction, for example the player playing just after can get advantages with the situation.

For some games where there is almost no interaction between player, like some roll & write games, there is no real reason to neutralize the game results when a player quits. In that case, you can ask the Studio Support to activate the "Keep ranking on player quit" flag for your game. The zombie mode must be fully functional to allow the game to continue with leavers. Note that the BGA team might refuse to activate it, if it is considered the zombie player will unbalance the results of the remaining players.

When this flag is activated, a player quitting a game will still be penalized, but the ranking you set at the end of the game will stay, and the eliminated player(s) will have their score set to -1. It also means if a second player quits the game, he will also be penalized, because he has no reason to quit and can continue the game. If the game ends with 2 remaining players, it's now possible for one of them to concede.

To request this mode, click on "Contact us / Support" at the bottom of the page in Studio and then work through to a "My problem has not been solved" and then enter your request. The flag can be set independently in Studio and Production, so make sure to request it for both (unless you just want to experiment in Studio).

Note: the flag will fully work for games started AFTER activation. It may display incorrect messages for games started before the activation but players left after. For this reason, it's best to request it when going to alpha, else accept some strange bug reports about this situation, that will solve itself when all existing tables are started after the activation.

=== Co-operative game ===

To make everyone win/lose together in a full-coop game:

Add the following in gameinfos.jsonc :
"is_coop": 1, // full cooperative

Assign a score of zero to everyone if it's a loss.
Assign the same score > 0 to everyone if it's a win.

If your want to consider some positive scores as defeat, you need to set-up a GameResult object to tell BGA this specificity.

On your last state (usually EndScore.php), instead of returning 99 to go the end game, return a GameResult. returning a GameResult object in a State class will then go the end game.
<pre>
use Bga\GameFramework\GameResult\GameResult;
use Bga\GameFramework\GameResult\Player;

...

public function onEnteringState() {
...

// TODO fetch $playerScore
return GameResult::coop(score: $playerScore, win: $playerScore >= 10);
}
</pre>

=== Semi-coop ===

If the game is not full-coop, then everyone loses = everyone is tied. I.e. set score to 0 to everybody.

=== Only "winners" and "losers" ===

For some games, there is only a group (or a single) "winner", and everyone else is a "loser", with no "end of game rank" (1st, 2nd, 3rd...).

Examples:
* Coup
* Not Alone
* Werewolves
* Quantum

In this case:
* Set the scores so that the winner has the best score, and the other players have the same (lower) score.
* Add the following lines to gameinfos.jsonc:

<pre>
// If in the game, all losers are equal (no score to rank them or explicit in the rules that losers are not ranked between them), set this to true
// The game end result will display "Winner" for the 1st player and "Loser" for all other players
"losers_not_ranked": true,
</pre>

Werewolves and Coup are implemented like this, as you can see here:
* https://boardgamearena.com/#!gamepanel?game=werewolves&section=lastresults
* https://boardgamearena.com/#!gamepanel?game=coupcitystate&section=lastresults

Adding this has the following effects:
* On game results for this game, "Winner" or "Loser" is going to appear instead of the usual "1st, 2nd, 3rd, ...".
* When a game is over, the result of the game will be "End of game: Victory" or "End of game: Defeat" depending on the result of the CURRENT player (instead of the usual "Victory of XXX").
* When calculating ELO points, if there is at least one "Loser", no "victorious" player can lose ELO points, and no "losing" player can win ELO point. Usually it may happened because being tie with many players with a low rank is considered as a tie and may cost you points. If losers_not_ranked is set, we prevent this behavior and make sure you only gain/loss ELO when you get the corresponding results.

Important: this SHOULD NOT be used for cooperative games (see is_coop parameter), or for 2 players games (it makes no sense in this case).

=== Solo ===

If game supports solo variant, a negative or zero score means defeat, a positive score means victory.

If your want to consider some positive scores as defeat, you need to set-up a GameResult object to tell BGA this specificity.

On your last state (usually EndScore.php), instead of returning 99 to go the end game, return a GameResult. returning a GameResult object in a State class will then go the end game.
<pre>
use Bga\GameFramework\GameResult\GameResult;
use Bga\GameFramework\GameResult\Player;

...

public function onEnteringState() {
...

// TODO fetch $playerScore and $automataScore
return GameResult::solo(score: $playerScore, win: $playerScore > $automataScore);
}
</pre>

=== Player elimination ===

In some games, this is useful to eliminate a player from the game in order he/she can start another game without waiting for the current game end.

This case should be rare. Please don't use player elimination feature if some player just has to wait the last 10% of the game for game end. This feature should be used only in games where players are eliminated all along the game (typical examples: "Perudo" or "The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow").

Usage:

* In your PHP code:
$this->eliminatePlayer( <player_to_eliminate_id> );
* Player to eliminate should NOT be active anymore at the end of the action that triggers the eliminatePlayer function.
* the player is informed in a dialog box that he no longer have to play and can start another game if he/she wants too (with buttons "stay at this table" "quit table and back to main site"). In any case, the player is free to start & join another table from now.
* When your game is over, all players who have been eliminated before receive a "notification" (the small "!" icon on the top right of the BGA interface) that indicate them that "the game has ended" and invite them to review the game results.

'''Important:''' this should not be used on a player who has already left the game ("zombie") as leaving/being kicked of the game (outside of the scope of the rules) is not the same as being eliminated from the game (according to the rules), except if in the course of the game, the zombie player is eliminated according to the rules.

'''Important:''' If you eliminate the last player, make sure the action will end by going to the end game state. If it doesn't, BGA will jump straight to it, without calling your end score state or anything similar.

=== Player concede ===

It should be rarely needed, but if you absolutely need to run some code when a player concedes, you can create a function called onConcede in the Game class like this :
<pre>
function onConcede() {
$this->bga->notify->all('test', 'Something to do when the player concedes');
}
</pre>
If you want to get the conceder id:
<pre>
function onConcede($concederTeam) {
$this->bga->notify->all('test', 'Something to do when the player concedes '.$concederTeam->players[0]->id);
}
</pre>

Never change state on this function. It should be limited to computing stats or similar small stuff.

To not break the game end, any exception triggered by this function will be catched and simply logged, so make sure your code stay simple and never trigger an exception and it will be hard to detect!

== Reflexion time ==

; function giveExtraTime( $player_id, $specific_time=null )
: Give standard extra time to this player in real time game. It does not affect turn based games.
: Standard extra time (when you don't pass $specific_time) depends on the speed of the game (small with "slow" game option, bigger with other options).
: You can also specify an exact time to add, in seconds, with the "specific_time" argument (rarely used). Using $specific_time is not recommended as this does not adjust for the game speed.
: Important Note: the total reflection time cannot be more than time allowed for the turn. So you can never make it 10 minutes if turn max is 3 min (the max is determined by game speed). As a consequence there is no point adding this at the begging of the turn of in game setup, it only matters after the action which does not lead to turn end (which is when this player becomes inactive).
: Note: standard extra time is automatically doubled for begginer

function actionBla($args) {
$this->checkAction('actionBla');
$playerId = (int)$this->getActivePlayerId();
$this->giveExtraTime($player_id);
// do some inter-turn action
$this->notifyAll(...);
// no state transition as this player did an action but stayed active
}

; '''$this->bga->tableOptions->isTurnBased(): bool'''
: Returns true if game is turn based
:
; '''$this->bga->tableOptions->isRealTime(): bool'''
: Returns true if game is in real time

== Undo moves ==

Please read our [[BGA Undo policy]] before.

'''Important''': Before using these methods, you must also add the following to your "gameinfos.inc.php" file, otherwise these methods are ineffective:
'db_undo_support' => true

Note: if you deploy undo support after game is in production this will take into effect for new games only, old games will give user an error if user choses Undo action, but otherwise it should not affect them.

; function undoSavepoint( )
: Save the whole game situation inside an "Undo save point".
: There is only ONE undo save point available (see [[BGA Undo policy]]). Cannot use in multiactivate state or in game state where next state is multiactive.
: Note: this function does not actually do anything when it is called, it only raises the flag to store the database AFTER transaction is over. So the actual state will be saved when you exit the function calling it (technically before first queued notification is sent, which matters if you transition to game state not to user state after), this may affect what you end up saving.

; function undoRestorePoint()
: Restore the situation previously saved as an "Undo save point".
: You must make sure that the active player is the same after and before the undoRestorePoint (ie: this is your responsibility to ensure that the player that is active when this method is called is exactly the same than the player that was active when the undoSavePoint method has been called).

function actUndo() {
$this->undoRestorePoint();
return PlayTurn::class; // transition to single player state (i.e. beginning of player actions for this turn)
}

'''Important note''': if you are reading game state variable right after restore (without changing state first) it won't work properly as the global table cache is not automatically refreshed after undoRestorePoint(). So you should either change state immediately to refresh game state values, or use $this->gamestate->reloadState() to refresh the state. If you choose to do the latest, be aware that this will bring the state machine back to the state during which the save point snapshot has been taken using undoSavepoint().

=== Manually remove game logs ===
<strong style="color: red;">Only use it if you have custom undo and you fully understand how logs and replay works!</strong>

; $this->bga->logs->getCurrentMoveId()
: Returns the current move id, when doing an action, that should be stored along informations to undo.

; $this->bga->logs->remove(int $startMoveId)
: Remove all logs from a move id that was stored during an action using `getCurrentMoveId()`. <strong>The game should be in the exact same point as it was before the stored action!</strong>

Example:
<pre>
// in the action code, do all the action code, notify it, and store the custom undo
$this->bga->globals->set(UNDO_ACTION, new Undo(
movedTiles: $tiles,
moveId: $this->bga->logs->getCurrentMoveId(),
));

return ConfirmAction::class;
</pre>
<pre>
$undo = $this->bga->globals->get(UNDO_ACTION);
// in the undo action code, do all the revert action code, notify it, then remove the logs
$this->bga->logs->remove($undo->moveId);
// don't do any action/notif after removing the logs
return PlayAction::class;
</pre>

== Managing errors and exceptions ==

Note: when you throw an exception, all database changes and all notifications are cancelled immediately. This way, the game situation that existed before the request is completely restored.

; throw new UserException(string|NotificationMessage $message)
: Base class to notify a user error
: You must throw this exception when a player wants to do something that they are not allowed to do.
: The error message will be shown to the player as a "red message".
: The error will be displayed to the player, as it's a UserException, the error message should be translated (with clientranslate(), and if there are args wrap them into a NotificationMessage)
: Throwing such an exception is NOT considered a bug, so it is not traced in BGA error logs.

Note: if your IDE doesn't do it for you, you'll need to add <code>use Bga\GameFramework\UserException;</code> at the top of your file.

Example from Gomoku:
<pre>
throw new UserException(clienttranslate("There is already a stone on this intersection, you can't play there"));
</pre>
Example with translated UserException using args :
<pre>
throw new UserException(new NotificationMessage(clienttranslate('You must play a card bigger than ${min}'), ['min' => $minCardValue]));
</pre>

; throw new SystemException (string|NotificationMessage $message)
: Base class to notify a system exception. The message will be hidden from the user, but show in the logs. Use this if the message contains technical information.

; throw new VisibleSystemException (string|NotificationMessage $message)
: You must throw this exception when you detect something that is not supposed to happened in your code.
: The error message is shown to the user as an "Unexpected error", in order that he can report it in the forum.
: The error message is logged in BGA error logs.
: it should not be translated, as it's just to bring debug details to you when the player reports the issue.

== Zombie mode ==

When a player leaves a game for any reason (expelled, quit), he becomes a "zombie player". You must implement a Zombie that will handle the role of the leaver player

Read [[Zombie Mode|Zombie mode]] to get all details of the expected code.

== User preferences ==
'''$this->bga->userPreferences->get(int $playerId, int $prefId): ?int'''

Return the value of a user preference for a player. It will return the value currently selected in the select combo box, in the top-right menu.

== Player color preferences ==

BGA premium users may choose their preferred color for playing. For example, if they are used to play green for every board game, they can select "green" in their BGA preferences page.

''To test it, you can set your preferred color on your BGA Studio account.''

Making your game compatible with colors preferences is very easy and requires only 1 line of configuration change:

On your gameinfos.jsonc file, add the following lines :

// Favorite colors support: if set to "true", support attribution of favorite colors based on player's preferences (see reattributeColorsBasedOnPreferences PHP method)
// NB: this parameter is used only to flag games supporting this feature; you must use (or not use) reattributeColorsBasedOnPreferences PHP method to actually enable or disable the feature.
"favorite_colors_support": true,

Then, on your main <your_game>.game.php file check the code of "setupNewGame". New template already have correct code, but if you editing very old game and it may be absent.

$gameinfos = $this->getGameinfos();
...
if ($gameinfos['favorite_colors_support'])
$this->reattributeColorsBasedOnPreferences($players, $gameinfos['player_colors']); // this should be above reloadPlayersBasicInfos()
$this->reloadPlayersBasicInfos();

The "reattributeColorsBasedOnPreferences" method reattributes all colors, taking into account players color preferences and available colors.

Note that you must update the colors to indicate the colors available for your game.

Some important remarks:
* for some games (i.e. Chess), the color has an influence on a mechanism of the game, most of the time by giving a special advantage to a player (i.e. Starting the game). Color preference mechanism must NOT be used in such a case.
* your logic should NEVER consider that the first player has the color X, that the second player has the color Y, and so on. If this is the case, your game will NOT be compatible with reattributeColorsBasedOnPreferences as this method attribute colors to players based on their preferences and not based as their order at the table.

=== Custom color assignments ===
Some colors don't play nicely with BGA's color difference algorithm. If you receive feedback that colors are not well chosen, you can bypass the BGA algorithm by specifying a map from user preference colors to game colors.

For example, you may wish to assign BGA's blue to your game's baby blue: <code>"0000ff" /* Blue */ => "89CFF0",</code> whereas otherwise, a deep purple might be chosen instead. Just be sure that the assigned colors are also present in the <code>player_colors</code> array passed to <code>reattributeColorsBasedOnPreferences</code>, otherwise the assignment will be ignored.

To do this, implement this method in your <code>X.game.php</code> class.

Note: the user preference colors (the keys in the returned array) should not be modified, or the code may not work as expected. These are the colors players can choose between in their profile.
/**
* Returns an array of user preference colors to game colors.
* Game colors must be among those which are passed to reattributeColorsBasedOnPreferences()
* Each game color can be an array of suitable colors, or a single color:
* [
* // The first available color chosen:
* 'ff0000' => ['990000', 'aa1122'],
* // This color is chosen, if available
* '0000ff' => '000099',
* ]
* If no color can be matched from this array, then the default implementation is used.
*/
function getSpecificColorPairings(): array {
return array(
"ff0000" /* Red */ => null,
"008000" /* Green */ => null,
"0000ff" /* Blue */ => null,
"ffa500" /* Yellow */ => null,
"000000" /* Black */ => null,
"ffffff" /* White */ => null,
"e94190" /* Pink */ => null,
"982fff" /* Purple */ => null,
"72c3b1" /* Cyan */ => null,
"f07f16" /* Orange */ => null,
"bdd002" /* Khaki green */ => null,
"7b7b7b" /* Gray */ => null,
);
}

== Legacy games API ==

For some very specific games ("legacy", "campaign"), you need to keep some informations from a game to another.

This should be an exceptional situation: the legacy API is costing resources on Board Game Arena databases, and is slowing down the game setup process + game end of game process. Please do not use it for things like:
* keeping a player preference/settings (=> player preferences and game options should be used instead)
* keeping a statistics, a score, or a ranking, while it is not planned in the physical board game, or while there is no added value compared to BGA statistics / rankings.

You should use it for:
* legacy games: when some components of the game has been altered in a previous game and should be kept as it is.
* "campaign style" games: when a player is getting a "reward" at the end of a game, and should be able to use it in further games.

Important: you cannot store more than 64k of data (serialized as JSON) per player per game. If you go over 64k, storeLegacyData function is going to FAIL, and there is a risk to create a major bug (= players blocked) in your game. You MUST make sure that no more than 64k of data is used for each player for your game. For example, if you are implementing a "campaign style" game and if you allow a player to start multiple campaign, you must LIMIT the number of different campaign so that the total data size to not go over the limit. We strongly recommend you to use this:

try
{
$this->bga->legacy->setTeam( $my_data );
}
catch( \feException $e ) // \feException is a base class of \BgaSystemException and others...
{
if( $e->getCode() == FEX_legacy_size_exceeded )
{
// Do something here to free some space in Legacy data (ex: by removing some variables)
}
else
throw $e;
}

The keys may only contain letters and numbers, underscore seems not to be allowed.

; $this->'''bga->'''legacy->set(string $key, int $playerId, mixed $value, int $ttl = 365)
: ( deprecated alias: $this->storeLegacyData($player_id, $key, $data, $ttl = 365) )
: Store some data associated with $key for the given user / current game
: In the opposite of all other game data, this data will PERSIST after the end of this table, and can be re-used
: in a future table with the same game.
: IMPORTANT: The only possible place where you can use this method is when the game is over at your table (last game action). Otherwise, there is a risk of conflicts between ongoing games.
: TTL is a time-to-live: the maximum, and default, is 365 days.
: In any way, the total data (= all keys) you can store for a given user+game is 64k (note: data is store serialized as JSON data)
: NOTICE: You can store some persistant data across all tables from your game using the specific player_id 0 which is unused. In such case, it's even more important to manage correctly the size of your data to avoid any exception or issue while storing updated data (ie. you can use this for some kind of leaderbord for solo game or contest)
: Note: This function cannot be called during game setup (will throw an error).

; $this->'''bga->'''legacy->get(string $key, int $playerId, mixed $defaultValue = null)
: ( deprecated alias: $this->retrieveLegacyData($player_id, $key) ⚠️ this alias was returning a JSON-encoded value, while the get function returns the real value )
: Get data associated with $key for the current game
: This data is common to ALL tables from the same game for this player, and persist from one table to another.
: Note: calling this function has an important cost => please call it few times (possibly: only ONCE) for each player for 1 game if possible
: Note: you can use '%' in $key to retrieve all keys matching the given patterns

; $this->'''bga->'''legacy->delete(string $key, int $playerId)
: ( deprecated alias: $this->removeLegacyData($player_id, $key) )
: Remove some legacy data with the given key
: (useful to free some data to avoid going over 64k)

; $this->'''bga->'''legacy->setTeam(mixed $value, int $ttl = 365)
: ( deprecated alias: storeLegacyTeamData( $data, $ttl = 365 ) )
: Same as storeLegacyData, except that it stores some data for the whole team within the current table and does not use a key
: Ie: if players A, B and C are at a table, the legacy data will be saved for future table with (exactly) A, B and C on the table.
: This is useful for games which are intended to be played several time by the same team.
: Note: the data total size is still limited, so you must implement catch the FEX_legacy_size_exceeded exception if it happens

; $this->'''bga->'''legacy->getTeam(mixed $defaultValue = null)
: ( deprecated alias: $this->retrieveLegacyData() ⚠️ this alias was returning a JSON-encoded value, while the getTeam function returns the real value )
: Same as retrieveLegacyData, except that it retrieves some data for the whole team within the current table (set by storeLegacyTeamData)

; $this->'''bga->'''legacy->deleteTeam()
: ( deprecated alias: $this->removeLegacyTeamData() )
: Same as removeLegacyData, except that it retrieves some data for the whole team within the current table (set by storeLegacyTeamData)

== Players text input and moderation ==
This section concerns only games where the players have to write some words to play: games based on words, like "Just one" or "Codenames".

Some players will use your game to write insults or profanities. As this is part of the game and not in the game chat, these words cannot be reported by players and moderated.

If you met the following situation:

* You are asking a player to type a text (word(s) or sentence)
* The player can enter any text (this is not a pre-selection or anything you can control)
* This text is visible by at least one other player

Then, you must use the following method:

'''function logTextForModeration( $player_id, $text )'''

player_id = player who write the text

text = text that has been written

This function will have no visible consequence for your game, but will allow players to report the text to moderators if something happens.

== Tournament API (🚧 Beta) ==

The Tournament API is meant only for tournament encounters. It lets you persist per‑player data within a tournament and access deterministic seeds shared by all encounters of a tournament step.

Do not use this for preferences or long‑term progression: if a table is not linked to a tournament, these requests will fail, and all tournament data is wiped when the tournament ends anyway.

You can use it for:
* enforcing tournament‑wide constraints (ex: keep the same deck across all rounds)
* deterministic setup shared across a tournament step (ex: generate the same map layout for all encounters in a step)
; $this->'''bga->'''tournament->isTournament()
: Returns true if this table is a tournament encounter.
: Use this to guard tournament‑only logic.
'''$this->bga->tournament->getInfo()'''

: Returns an associative array containing the tournament informations.
: Keys:
:* <code>id:</code> ID of the tournament
:* <code>name</code>: Name of the tournament
:* <code>championship_name</code>: Championship name if any
:* <code>tournament_parent_id</code> : ID of the parent tournament if any
:* <code>tournament_group</code> : BGA group associated to the tournament
:* <code>oot_options</code>: Out of Time players options (<code>no_kick</code>, <code>auto_kick</code>)
:* <code>avatar</code>: avatar ID

; $this->'''bga->'''tournament->getSeedInfo()
: Returns an associative array containing deterministic seeds for tournament encounters.
: Keys:
:* <code>tournament_seed</code>: stable across the whole tournament.
:* <code>step_seed</code>: stable across a tournament step (same for all encounters in that step).
:* <code>parent_tournament_seed</code>: stable across the parent tournament (the reference tournament for sub-tournaments of Groups Stage tournament mode).
:
: Note: This call is already guarded internally, no external call is made unless the table is a tournament encounter.

; $this->'''bga->'''tournament->storePlayerGameData(int $playerId, string $key, mixed $data)
: Store per‑player game data for the current tournament.
: Data is JSON‑encoded automatically.
: The cumulative size of all data stored for a player in a tournament (even over multiple keys) is limited to 64 KiB.
: Keys must be 1–16 characters and letters/numbers only.

; $this->'''bga->'''tournament->retrievePlayerGameData(int $playerId, string $key)
: Retrieve per‑player game data for the current tournament.
: If `$key` contains '%', returns an array of key => value pairs (or [] if no match).
: Otherwise, returns a single value (or null if no match).
: Returned values are JSON‑decoded automatically.

; $this->'''bga->'''tournament->removePlayerGameData(int $playerId, string $key)
: Remove per‑player game data for the current tournament.
: You can use '%' in `$key` to remove multiple entries at once.
: All tournament data is removed automatically when the tournament is finished.

== Language dependent games API ==

This API is used for games that are heavily language dependent. Two most common use cases are:
* Games that have a language dependent component that are not necessarily translatable, typically a list of words. (Think of games like Codenames, Decrypto, Just One...)
* Games with massive communication where players would like to ensure that all participants speak the same language. (Think of games like Werewolf, The Resistance, maybe even dixit...)

If this option is used, the table created will be limited only to users that have specific language in their profile. Player starting the game would be able to chose one of the languages they speak.

There is a new property language_dependency in gameinfos.jsonc which can be set like this:
"language_dependency": false, //or if the property is missing, the game is not language dependent
"language_dependency": true, //all players at the table must speak the same language
"language_dependency": { "1": "en", "2": "fr", "3": "it" }, //1-based list of supported languages

In the gamename.game.php file, you can get the id of selected language with the method '''getGameLanguage'''.
; function getGameLanguage()
: Returns an index of the selected language as defined in gameinfos.jsonc.

Languages currently available on BGA are:
'ar' => array( 'name' => "العربية", 'code' => 'ar_AE' ), // Arabic
'be' => array( 'name' => "беларуская мова", 'code' => 'be_BY' ), // Belarusian
'bn' => array( 'name' => "বাংলা", 'code' => 'bn_BD' ), // Bengali
'bg' => array( 'name' => "български език", 'code' => 'bg_BG' ), // Bulgarian
'ca' => array( 'name' => "català", 'code' => 'ca_ES' ), // Catalan
'cs' => array( 'name' => "čeština", 'code' => 'cs_CZ' ), // Czech
'da' => array( 'name' => "dansk", 'code' => 'da_DK' ), // Danish
'de' => array( 'name' => "deutsch", 'code' => 'de_DE' ), // German
'el' => array( 'name' => "Ελληνικά", 'code' => 'el_GR' ), // Greek
'en' => array( 'name' => "English", 'code' => 'en_US' ), // English
'es' => array( 'name' => "español", 'code' => 'es_ES' ), // Spanish
'et' => array( 'name' => "eesti keel", 'code' => 'et_EE' ), // Estonian
'fi' => array( 'name' => "suomi", 'code' => 'fi_FI' ), // Finnish
'fr' => array( 'name' => "français", 'code' => 'fr_FR' ), // French
'he' => array( 'name' => "עברית", 'code' => 'he_IL' ), // Hebrew
'hi' => array( 'name' => "हिन्दी", 'code' => 'hi_IN' ), // Hindi
'hr' => array( 'name' => "Hrvatski", 'code' => 'hr_HR' ), // Croatian
'hu' => array( 'name' => "magyar", 'code' => 'hu_HU' ), // Hungarian
'id' => array( 'name' => "Bahasa Indonesia", 'code' => 'id_ID' ), // Indonesian
'ms' => array( 'name' => "Bahasa Malaysia", 'code' => 'ms_MY' ), // Malaysian
'it' => array( 'name' => "italiano", 'code' => 'it_IT' ), // Italian
'ja' => array( 'name' => "日本語", 'code' => 'ja_JP' ), // Japanese
'jv' => array( 'name' => "Basa Jawa", 'code' => 'jv_JV' ), // Javanese
'ko' => array( 'name' => "한국어", 'code' => 'ko_KR' ), // Korean
'lt' => array( 'name' => "lietuvių", 'code' => 'lt_LT' ), // Lithuanian
'lv' => array( 'name' => "latviešu", 'code' => 'lv_LV' ), // Latvian
'nl' => array( 'name' => "nederlands", 'code' => 'nl_NL' ), // Dutch
'no' => array( 'name' => "norsk", 'code' => 'nb_NO' ), // Norwegian
'oc' => array( 'name' => "occitan", 'code' => 'oc_FR' ), // Occitan
'pl' => array( 'name' => "polski", 'code' => 'pl_PL' ), // Polish
'pt' => array( 'name' => "português", 'code' => 'pt_PT' ), // Portuguese
'ro' => array( 'name' => "română", 'code' => 'ro_RO' ), // Romanian
'ru' => array( 'name' => "Русский язык", 'code' => 'ru_RU' ), // Russian
'sk' => array( 'name' => "slovenčina", 'code' => 'sk_SK' ), // Slovak
'sl' => array( 'name' => "slovenščina", 'code' => 'sl_SI' ), // Slovenian
'sr' => array( 'name' => "Српски", 'code' => 'sr_RS' ), // Serbian
'sv' => array( 'name' => "svenska", 'code' => 'sv_SE' ), // Swedish
'tr' => array( 'name' => "Türkçe", 'code' => 'tr_TR' ), // Turkish
'uk' => array( 'name' => "Українська мова", 'code' => 'uk_UA' ), // Ukrainian
'zh' => array( 'name' => "中文 (漢)", 'code' => 'zh_TW' ), // Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan)
'zh-cn' => array( 'name' => "中文 (汉)", 'code' => 'zh_CN' ), // Simplified Chinese (Mainland China, Singapore)

== Debugging and Tracing ==

To debug php code you can use some tracing functions available from the parent class such as debug, trace, error, warn, dump.

$this->debug("Ahh!");
$this->dump('my_var',$my_var);

See [[Practical_debugging]] section for complete information about debugging interfaces and where to find logs.

'''static getBgaEnvironment(): string'''
:Returns "studio" for studio and "prod" for production environment (i.e. where games current runs). Only useful for debbugging hooks.

; '''$this->bga->tableOptions->getGameVersion(): int'''
: Returns the current game version

== Creating other classes ==

You can create other classes in the <code>modules/php</code> dir, next to your <code>Game.php</code> file.

If they are names following the PSR-4, they will be autoloaded by BGA (no require_once needed). This doesn't work for the "legacy way" (=<code>YourGameName.game.php</code> at the game root dir).

For example, writing <code>new ScoreManager()</code> in your Game file will try to load the class <code>ScoreManager</code> of namespace <code>Bga\Games\YourGameName</code> in <code>modules/php/ScoreManager.php</code>

Don't forget to add namespace <code>Bga\Games\YourGameName;</code> at the beginning of your module.

You can even put these classes in sublevels : the class <code>Bga\Games\YourGameName\Cards\StandardCard</code> will be automatically loaded if it is stored in <code>modules/php/Cards/StandardCard.php</code>

[[Category:Studio]]