World of Warcraft Programming : A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Addons

by Whitehead, James; Roe, Rick

• ISBN13: 9780470481288
• ISBN10: 0470481285
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-08
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

World of Warcraft Programming: A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Addons, 2nd Edition is an updated and improved all-in-one guide to writing addons for version 3 of the World of Warcraft (including the new Wrath of the Lich King expansion). This book will lead the reader through a tutorial on Lua programming, guide them through the process of creating several example addons, and provide them with a comprehensive reference for the World of Warcraft API.The book starts out with an overview of Lua and XML, the programming languages used to write addons. This tutorial is geared specifically towards using Lua in World of Warcraft, allowing a tight focus on the material most relevant to WoW addon developers. This also allows specific coverage of a number of pitfalls and common mistakes that the reader may experience as they work with the WoW API; even experienced users will find this useful.Once the reader is comfortable using Lua, they are introduced to the specific nuances of the World of Warcraft API through a series of guided examples. Each example highlights a specific aspect of writing addons for World of Warcraft and builds on the skills the reader has already acquired. Readers will learn how to respond to events, create frames, and use the World of Warcraft API to interact with the game.The book continues by teaching the reader how to implement a number of specific addon concepts such as saved variables, slash commands, secure templates, dynamic frames, parsing tooltips, creating dropdown menus and more. Once you've created your own addons, the book then discusses ways to distribute and host your addons so others can download and use them.The final section is a printed comprehensive reference guide to the World of Warcraft API, combining the original documentation from WoWWiki and the original research for this book. Having a fully indexed, consistent set of reference documentation can make finding the specific function you need that much easier.

Author Biography

James Whitehead II, aka Cladhaire, is the creator of PerfectRaid, Clique, TomTom, and LightHeaded, and coauthor of Hacking World of Warcraft.

Rick Roe, aka the crazy goblin tinker Gazmik Fizzwidget, created Feed-O-Matic, FactionFriend, and some other addons so awesome that Blizzard rolled their functionality into its new UI.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Part I Learning to Program.

Chapter 1 Programming for World of Warcraft.

Chapter 2 Exploring Lua Basics.

Chapter 3 Basic Functions and Control Structures.

Chapter 4 Working with Tables.

Chapter 5 Advanced Functions and Control Structures.

Chapter 6 Lua Standard Libraries.

Chapter 7 Learning XML.

Part II Programming in World of Warcraft.

Chapter 8 Anatomy of an Addon.

Chapter 9 Working with Frames, Widgets, and Other Graphical Elements.

Chapter 10 Saving Time with Frame Templates.

Chapter 11 Exploring the World of Warcraft API.

Chapter 12 Interacting with Widgets.

Chapter 13 Responding to Game Events.

Chapter 14 Tracking Damage with CombatTracker.

Part III Advanced Addon Techniques 283

Chapter 15 Taking Action with Secure Templates.

Chapter 16 Binding Keys and Clicks to Addon Code.

Chapter 17 Creating Slash Commands.

Chapter 18 Responding to Graphic Updates with OnUpdate.

Chapter 19 Altering Existing Behavior with Function Hooking.

Chapter 20 Creating Custom Graphics.

Chapter 21 Responding to the Combat Log and Threat Information.

Chapter 22 Creating Scroll Frames.

Chapter 23 Creating Dropdown Menus.

Chapter 24 Scanning and Constructing Tooltips.

Chapter 25 Taking Protected Action in Combat.

Chapter 26 Creating Unit Frames with Group Templates.

Part IV Reference.

Chapter 27 API Reference.

Chapter 28 API Categories.

Chapter 29 Widget Reference.

Chapter 30 Events Reference.

Part V Appendixes.

Appendix A Best Practices.

Appendix B Utilizing Addon Libraries.

Appendix C Tracking History Using Version Control Systems.

Appendix D Addon Author Resources.

Index.