[WIP][1.7.3] Kift - Thrift plugin for KSP (v0.1.0-alpha.2, 2019-08-10)

[Xavier513]

What is Kift?

Kift is an add-on based on Thrift(v0.12.0) .

Kift is a bridge between your code and the game, it lets you control the game with your program running outside of the game.

Kift is inpired by kRPC -- a great Mod from @djungelorm -- but implemented in a different way.

 

Release Thread: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/187109-173-kift-thrift-plugin-for-ksp-v010-alpha2/

GitHub: https://github.com/vaporz/Kift 

Releases: https://github.com/vaporz/Kift/releases

Doc portal: https://vaporz.github.io/Kift/index.html

Licensed by LGPL-3.0 .

 

Architecture 

Kift starts a Thrift server inside of KSP process. The server receives requests, then send them to a Message Queue. A KSP addon will dequeue requests from the queue, and run the corresponding Executor. The server will wait until the response to a request is returned.

Supported languages
Theoritically, any programming language supported by Thrift v0.12.0 is supported by Kift.

Languages supported by Thrift v0.12.0:

C, C++, Go, Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, Erlang, Perl, Haskell, C#, Cocoa, JavaScript, Node.js, Smalltalk, OCaml and Delphi, etc.

Getting Started
1, Install Kift
Download Kift.zip, copy the "Kift" folder in zip file into "Kerbal Space Programe/GameData" directory.

Now the server side is ready. When your game is loaded and the main menu shows up, the Thift server is started and listening for requests.

2, Connect to Thrift server, and call Kift APIs
To interact with the Thrift server within KSP process, you have to write your own client side codes.

Following lines of code show how to call a Kift API to get current vessel's info, in C#:
 

// The game is started, and MUST be in Flight scene.
 
 // Import "Kift.ThriftGen.dll"(built from "Kift/thrift-gen/gen-csharp"),
 // or generate stub codes by yourself, then build and import your DLL file.
 using Kift;

 // Import "Thrift.dll": https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/thrift/ThriftUsageCSharp
 using Thrift.Protocol;
 using Thrift.Transport;

 ...

 // The port is configable in "Kerbal Space Program/GameData/Kift/server.cfg"
 TTransport transport = new TFramedTransport(new TSocket("localhost", 9090));
 TProtocol protocol = new TCompactProtocol(transport);
 KiftService.Client client = new KiftService.Client(protocol);
 transport.Open(); // Connect to server

 Vessel v = client.currentVessel(); // Call API "currentVessel"
 Console.WriteLine(v.Name);

 ...

 transport.Close(); // finally close the connection

Kift APIs
Kift provides two sets of APIs: "InfoSync APIs" and "Command APIs". 

"InfoSync APIs" pull infos from the game. "Command APIs" send commands to control vessels/parts/game.

Command APIs are devided into three categories according to the target.

• InfoSync APIs
  • Real time snapshot  
    Read data at real time(approximately), useful when you want to monitor any data, such as height, speed, etc.
  • GetInfo APIs
    Get data from current game, such as current vessel, the part list of a vessel, etc.
• Command APIs
  • Vessel Control APIs
    APIs to control a vessel, such as pitch/yaw/roll, enable/disable RCS, deploy/restract landing legs, etc.
  • Part Control APIs
    APIs to control a part, such as deploy/restract a solar panel, open/close a cargo bay, etc.
  • Game Control APIs
    APIs to control the game, such as time warp, change camera mode, set/remove maneuver nodes etc.

See more about Kift APIs at the doc portal: https://vaporz.github.io/Kift/api/index.html

Kift needs your help

1. Please pay more attention to APIs about position/direction/rotation and reference frames, I spent a lot of time investigaing and learning about them, but I still can not be sure about the correctness.
2. Please report an issue if you find a bug: https://github.com/vaporz/Kift/issues
3. Kift's codes are relatively simple, you're very appreciated to submit a PR and contribute to Kift.
4. English is not my native language, please help me to improve the wording of documentation, or add new articles to "Kift/server/articles". Docs are generated from the "md" files under "Kift/server" using Docfx.
5. I'm quite new to C# programming, in fact, this is my first C# program, so please create an issue if you have any suggestion against the code, for example, coding style, best practices, etc.
6. Star "Kift" on GitHub if you like it

Edited August 11, 2019 by Xavier513

[drtedastro]

welcome.

will be nice to check this out.

good luck .. and keep going.

cheers.