setElementData question

[3aGl3]

So I have a quick question regarding the setElementData function.
While the wiki states that it can cause quite a bit of load on the net and server CPU I assume that this is only the case for server elements...

What happens if I use setElementData on something that exists only on a client? Say a gui element or any kind of element that has been created on a client.
Is the data still synced with the other clients or is it kept to the client the element exists on?

3aGl3

[marty000123]

It's set to your element. Meaning that it's not only stuck to the script the function is written in.

[pa3ck]

When using setElementData, the last argument is whether you want it to sync with the server or not. If it's set to false, the scope of that data is the local client only. It's perfectly fine to setElementData's on GUI elements like the tooltip of an exitbox etc, as long as it's not synced with the server. 

[3aGl3]

Thanks for the info, I somehow didn't think about the synced flag...
Also I do know how variable scope, or in this case element data scope works, still, thanks.

[Citizen]

By giving a quick look at the source code, I can tell you that setElementData won't send your data through the network even if you set the synchronize parameter to true (line 6)

bool CStaticFunctionDefinitions::SetElementData ( CClientEntity& Entity, const char* szName, CLuaArgument& Variable, bool bSynchronize )
{
    CLuaArgument * pCurrentVariable = Entity.GetCustomData ( szName, false );
    if ( !pCurrentVariable || Variable != *pCurrentVariable )
    {
        if ( bSynchronize && !Entity.IsLocalEntity () )
        {
            // Allocate a bitstream
            NetBitStreamInterface* pBitStream = g_pNet->AllocateNetBitStream ();
            if ( pBitStream )
            {
                // Send data to sync it with the server [code redacted to keep it short]
              
                // Set its custom data
                Entity.SetCustomData ( szName, Variable );
                return true;
            }
        }
        else
        {
            // Set its custom data
            Entity.SetCustomData ( szName, Variable );
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}

Source

Edited March 5, 2017 by Citizen

[3aGl3]

I see, on local entities the sync variable is overwritten anyway.