Overview

NetworkAPI is a neat, robust rapper for Space Engineers network transactions. It has been designed to streamline multiplayer development.

NetSync<> is a genaric class that contains all the tools you need for syncing individual variables.

using SENetworkAPI;

[MyEntityComponentDescriptor(typeof(MyObjectBuilder_UpgradeModule), true, "ANewModBlock")]
public class ANewModBlock : MyGameLogicComponent
{
    // declare properties
    NetSync<bool> isActive;

    public override void Init(MyObjectBuilder_EntityBase objectBuilder)
    {
        ushort comChannel 1234; // the mod communication channel
        string ModName = "Hello World"; // this will show up as the sender for any chat message notifications
        string Keyword = "/hello" // Keyword is used for chat commands
        
        if (!NetworkAPI.IsInitialized) 
        {
            NetworkAPI.Init(comChannel, ModName, Keyword);
        }
        
        // initialize
        isActive = new NetSync<bool>(this, TransferType.Both, false);
    }
    
    public override void UpdateOnceBeforeFrame()
    {
        if (/* some logic */) 
        {
            isActive.Value = true; // syncs new value across the network
        }
    }
}

Once you have initialized a NetSync syncing data to everything is as simple as:

NetSync.Value = 1234;

NetSync does not know if you have changed the internals of a complex objects but you can sync at anytime.

NetSync.Value.innerVariable = "hi";
NetSync.Push();

You may not want to sync a veriable all the time. In those cases use.

NetSync.SetValue(value);

There are times you will want to perform some action if data has been updated

Action<oldval, newval> ValueChanged // triggers any time the value changes
Action<oldval, newval, sender> ValueChangedByNetwork // triggers when receives an update from the network

NetSync.ValueChangedByNetwork += On_ValueChangedByNetwork;

private void On_ValueChangedByNetwork(string  oldval, string newval, ulong sender)
{
    NetworkAPI.Say($"the new value is {newval}!");
}

Other Features

NetSync

void Fetch(); // requests the active value from server
void Push(); // syncs the current value manually
void SetValue(value, SyncType); // allows you to set the value without syncing and more
Action<oldval, newval> ValueChanged; // triggers any time the value changes
Action<oldval, newval, sender> ValueChangedByNetwork; // triggers when receives an update from the network
Action BeforeFetchResponse;

Network blobs have two different types of commands Network and Chat.

Network.RegisterNetworkCommand();
Network.RegisterChatCommand();

As seen above. The process of sending a command requires a CommandString and a Callback method

Network.RegisterNetworkCommand("update", ServerCallback);

Chat Commands

If a help chat command is registered

Network.RegisterChatCommand("help", Chat_Help);

Then the event will fire when a client enters the following into chat.

<keyword> help

All chat commands are delimited with spaces.

Network Commands

Network commands are much like chat commands. They differ only in that they trigger from network traffic instead of client chat.

Network.SendCommand("update"); // this will trigger the callback method of the reciever.

The Network.SendCommand() funciton has a few options

Network.SendCommand(string command); // CommandString
Network.SendCommand(string command, string message); // A message that will be in clients chat
Network.SendCommand(string command, string message, byte[] data); // serialized object data
Network.SendCommand(string command, string message, byte[] data, ulong steamId); // The receiver, Server only

The Networkwhen runing on the server instance can be cast for more specialized functions

if (Network.NetworkType != NetworkTypes.Client)
{
    Server s = Network as Server;
    
    s.SendCommandTo(ulong[] clients, string command, ...)
    s.SendCommandToPlayersInRange(Vector3D location, float radius, string command, ...)
}

Example Network Blob

using SENetworkAPI;

[MySessionComponentDescriptor(MyUpdateOrder.NoUpdate)]
public class ANewSessionMod : MySessionComponentBase
{
    private NetworkAPI Network => NetworkAPI.Instance; // readability

    public override void Init(MyObjectBuilder_SessionComponent sessionComponent)
    {
        // Its recommended to check the initialized state in all classes using NetworkAPI
        if (!NetworkAPI.IsInitialized) 
        {
            NetworkAPI.Init(ComId, ModName, Keyword);
        }

        // these commands will be executed on both clients and server instances
        Network.RegisterChatCommand(string.Empty, Chat_Help);
        Network.RegisterChatCommand("help", Chat_Help);

        if (!MyAPIGateway.Multiplayer.IsServer)
        {
            Network.RegisterNetworkCommand(null, ClientCallback);
            Network.RegisterChatCommand("update", (arg) => { Network.SendCommand("update"); });
        }
        else
        {
            Network.RegisterNetworkCommand("update", ServerCallback);
        }
    }

    private void Chat_Help(string arguments)
    {
        MyAPIGateway.Utilities.ShowMessage(Network.ModName, "This is a useful help message");
    }

    private void ServerCallback(ulong steamId, string commandString, byte[] data)
    {
        Network.SendCommand(null, data: MyAPIGateway.Utilities.SerializeToBinary(cfg), steamId: steamId);
    }

    private void ClientCallback(ulong steamId, string commandString, byte[] data)
    {
      cfg = MyAPIGateway.Utilities.SerializeFromBinary<Config>(data);
    }
}