API func - private vs protected

[Lodur]

Some API functions are marked private and some are marked protected.

Can anyone tell me the difference?

[Myrroddin]

If they are private, you cannot use or call those APIs. Consider them private to the game itself. We, as AddOn authors, are incapable of accessing private APIs.

Anything else we can use.

[Lodur]

Originally Posted by Myrroddin If they are private, you cannot use or call those APIs. Consider them private to the game itself. We, as AddOn authors, are incapable of accessing private APIs. Anything else we can use.

Do you know about the ones marked protected? Just the same as public for all purposes? Or is there a subclass or subtype aspect like the name would imply in an OO language?

[Myrroddin]

Protected usually means we can use it under certain restrictions. For example, a protected API may not work correctly, if at all, in combat.

In WoW-speak, calling Show and Hide on a frame is alright in combat, provided you created the frame beforehand. However, if you tried creating the frame in combat and then called Show on it, you would get Interface Action Failed errors, and nothing would happen visibly. Same goes with changing a frame's attributes. Those have to be defined out of combat, and cannot be changed during.

Without me actually looking at the API list (being lazy here) I can't be more specific. But most of the time, calling protected APIs in combat will not work.

[Lodur]

Originally Posted by Myrroddin Protected usually means we can use it under certain restrictions. For example, a protected API may not work correctly, if at all, in combat. ... Without me actually looking at the API list (being lazy here) I can't be more specific. But most of the time, calling protected APIs in combat will not work.

Well I just skimmed all the protected functions in the API. I think not working in combat is a very reasonable assumption.

Thanks.

[Seerah]

Protected may also mean that something requires a hardware event to initiate the function call.

[skyraker]

Have any of us addon developers used a protected function yet?

[beeradg]

I submitted an addon that uses the "protected" functions - and works.

Here's a git repo https://github.com/bradgearon/eso-stuff

Stuff.lua line 11 and 14 are the important chunks...

[qgi]

There seem to be further restrictions for some of the protected functions.

I tried to call "UseItem" in the same way (passing the function name to CallSecureProtected as a string as the first parameter, followed by the other arguments).
Although the function call returns true, nothing happens.

Any ideas?

result = CallSecureProtected("UseItem", bagId, slotndex)

[Seerah]

When did you try to call this function?

[qgi]

Sorry, I just tried it again and it worked. No idea, why it hadn't in the first place. Maybe a typo.

[Seerah]

My question though is still important.

Were you attempting to do it in combat?

[qgi]

Originally Posted by Seerah My question though is still important. Were you attempting to do it in combat?

Sorry
[EDIT] It does work outside of combat in normal walk/run/stand mode but doesn't in combat [/EDIT]