Is the current documentation up to date?

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

I am brand new. I was following a tutorial on basic object spawning, but I kept getting errors with regards to where I placed commas and what not. I understand solar2d has gone over a number of changes since it switched over from Corona. How do I know for certain that the tutorial I was following was up to date? Here’s a link to the tutorial.

#2

Non-breaking changes has always been the focus. As such, there should be no breaking changes in the tutorials.

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#3

I’m using code based on that tutorial in the game i’m working on. It works for me.

Post what you have.

#4

I’ve just given that tutorial a quick scan, and can’t see anything that looks wrong. You specifically mentioned errors about commas, but every comma I can see in that sample looks correct.

Is it possible you were trying to extend what the tutorial code does, and made a few syntax errors when adding additional functionality?

#5

tutorial this is for the beginner to learn how to do. However if you encounter an error, post this error code and we will help you.

#6

Thanks everyone. I used the code in a separate file and it worked. I guess the issue is I’m trying to sandwich it into something I was already working on and it caused some issues. I am trying to make a tile-matching kind of game. I was going to try to get the spawn parameters to be coordinates in the grid but I wanted to just follow the tutorial’s parameters for now.

The error I’m getting right now is "main.lua81: Unexpected symbol near ‘local’. So it would be at “local function spawnItem( bounds )”

--Layout
local relayout = require("relayout")

local _W, _H, _CX, _CY = relayout._W, relayout._H, relayout._CX, relayout._CY

--Variables

local physics = require( "physics" )
physics.start()

--grid

local GRID_WIDTH = 7
local GRID_HEIGHT = 15
local CELL_WIDTH = 39
local CELL_HEIGHT = 39

local grid = {}
for i = 1, GRID_HEIGHT do
	grid[i] = {}
end

local board = display.newImageRect( "grid.png", 280, 600 )
board.x = _CX
board.y = _CY

local gbOffsetX = board.x - ( board.width * board.anchorX ) 
local gbOffsetY = board.y - ( board.height * board.anchorY )


--squares

local water = display.newRect (_CX, _CY, 39, 39)
water:setFillColor (0.53, 0.81, 0.94 )
--water.velocity = 0
--water.gravity = 0.1
physics.addBody (water, "dynamic", { density=1, bounce=0.0 }) 

local dirt = display.newRect (_CX, _CY + 280 , 39, 39)
dirt:setFillColor (0.39, 0.26, 0.12)
physics.addBody (dirt, "dynamic", { density=1, bounce=0.0 }) 
--
--collision

local function checkCollision(obj1, obj2)
    local  left = (obj1.contentBounds.xMin) <= obj2.contentBounds.xMin and (obj1.contentBounds.xMax) >= obj2.contentBounds.xMin
    local right = (obj1.contentBounds.xMin) >= obj2.contentBounds.xMin and (obj1.contentBounds.xMin) <= obj2.contentBounds.xMax
    local  up   = (obj1.contentBounds.yMin) <= obj2.contentBounds.yMin and (obj1.contentBounds.yMax) >= obj2.contentBounds.yMin
    local down  = (obj1.contentBounds.yMin) >= obj2.contentBounds.yMin and (obj1.contentBounds.yMin) <= obj2.contentBounds.yMax
 
    return (left or right) and (up or down)
    
end 

--floor

local floor = display.newRect (_CX, _CY + 319, _W * 3, 39)
floor:setFillColor (1, 0, 0 )
physics.addBody ( floor, "static", {bounce=0.0, friction=0.3 } )


--spawning

local spawnTimer
local spawnedItem = {}
-- Seed the random number generator
math.randomseed( os.time() )


local spawnParams = {
    xMin = 20,
    xMax = 300,
    yMin = 20,
    yMax = 460,
    spawnTime = 200,
    spawnOnTimer = 12,
    spawnInitial = 4
},

-- Spawn an item
local function spawnItem( bounds )
 
    -- Create an item
    local item = display.newCircle( 0, 0, 20 )
 
    -- Position item randomly within set bounds
    item.x = math.random( bounds.xMin, bounds.xMax )
    item.y = math.random( bounds.yMin, bounds.yMax )
 
    -- Add item to "spawnedObjects" table for tracking purposes
    spawnedObjects[#spawnedObjects+1] = item
end

local function spawnController( action, params )
 
    -- Cancel timer on "start" or "stop", if it exists
    if ( spawnTimer and ( action == "start" or action == "stop" ) ) then
        timer.cancel( spawnTimer )
    end
 
    -- Start spawning
    if ( action == "start" ) then
 
        -- Gather/set spawning bounds
        local spawnBounds = {}
        spawnBounds.xMin = params.xMin or 0
        spawnBounds.xMax = params.xMax or display.contentWidth
        spawnBounds.yMin = params.yMin or 0
        spawnBounds.yMax = params.yMax or display.contentHeight
 
        -- Gather/set other spawning params
        local spawnTime = params.spawnTime or 1000
        local spawnOnTimer = params.spawnOnTimer or 50
        local spawnInitial = params.spawnInitial or 0
 
        -- If "spawnInitial" is greater than 0, spawn that many item(s) instantly
        if ( spawnInitial > 0 ) then
            for n = 1,spawnInitial do
                spawnItem( spawnBounds )
            end
        end
 
        -- Start repeating timer to spawn items
        if ( spawnOnTimer > 0 ) then
            spawnTimer = timer.performWithDelay( spawnTime,
                function() spawnItem( spawnBounds ); end,
            spawnOnTimer )
        end
 
    -- Pause spawning
    elseif ( action == "pause" ) then
        timer.pause( spawnTimer )
 
    -- Resume spawning
    elseif ( action == "resume" ) then
        timer.resume( spawnTimer )
    end
end

spawnController( "start", spawnParams )

--
--update

-- local function update()

 --   water.velocity = water.velocity - water.gravity
   -- water.y = water.y - water.velocity
--end




--Runtime:addEventListener ("enterFrame", update)
#7

Even though the error did mention that specific line, it was referring to the keyword’s position in this case, while the actual issue is on a different line — the unnecessary comma after the table spawnParams is closed already. Didn’t lie about it being “near local”, haha.

#8

Thank you sir! I’m on the right track now.

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