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Controllers

NOTICE

Scrypt is in very early stages of development. Expect changes and bugs during this phase. If you find a bug or have a suggestion for how to improve Scrypt, please create an issue on the GitHub repository.

What are Controllers?​

Controllers serve as client-side modules that enable you to manage specific behaviors within your project (can be considered services but client-side). Often, controllers are associated with the player, managing behavior such as the Camera, User Input, and other components.

Some examples of controllers:

  • CameraController.luau
  • UserInputController.luau
  • CharacterController.luau
  • UIController.luau

Each controller module bundles all related functionality, containing the necessary code and features required for its intended use case. It should NOT have functions relating to other features.

Controllers vs Shared Modules​

In contrast to controllers, which are tailored to manage specific client-side features and behaviors, shared modules serve as reusable code that can be leveraged by both client-side and server-side components. A good example of how shared modules can be useful is creating a custom string library with functions not included by default in Luau, or converting a frequently used function into a module containing the snippet for easy reuse.

Some examples of shared modules:

  • StringUtils.luau
  • CreateInstanceTree.luau
  • GameConfig.luau (settings module)
  • GameUtils.luau

By categorizing modules into distinct types, such as controllers and shared modules, developers can maintain an organized project structure that promotes clarity and efficiency.

Usage​

Controllers are extremely easy to setup and use. To get started, ensure you have Scrypt installed into your studio session. Next, add a ModuleScript into ReplicatedStorage/Controllers (use custom path if specified).

tip

Scrypt searches through all non-script instances for controllers so you can use folders to separate controllers based on feature.

Give it a name, preferably with a suffix of "Controller" to follow the standard naming convention. We can start writing our code like any regular ModuleScript. Let's give it some placeholder functions:

--!strict
--@client

local TestController = {}

function TestController.Run()
	print("TEST RUNNING")
end

function TestController.Cancel()
	print("TEST CANCELED")
end

function TestController.Get(Name: string): string
	return tostring(Name)
end

return TestController
danger

Modules cannot yield while being initially loaded. This means you cannot have global variables with WaitForChild or anything that will yield the current thread.

This also means that if you need to access the Scrypt framework in a service, shared module, or controller, you should not need to wait for the framework to load.

To access the controller, in a separate LocalScript, simply run the GetController function with the name of the controller passed as an argument:

--!strict
--@client

local Scrypt = require(game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage").Scrypt)
Scrypt.Init():Wait()

local TestController = Scrypt.GetController("TestController")
print(TestController.Get("TEST")) --> TEST
tip

All controllers are lazily loaded! This means controllers are only loaded when they are needed instead of all of your scripts being loaded at runtime.