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--- layarmmo-users [2012/05/11 08:12]
matthewleach created
+++ layarmmo-users [2012/11/09 12:55] (current)
matthewleach Added some description for the instructions
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Tracking Users ==
+==== Tracking Users ====
-Process:
+===Process===
+Whenever Layar passes your server a request from somebody, it will include a unique ID.  This normally relates to the device (e.g. phone, tablet) that they are using, but we'll use it to identify specific players.  This isn't true if people share a device, but it will do for now.
+The process that we are going to use is described below:
 <code>
 Connect to database
-Search for user, using their unique id
+Search for user using their unique id
 If no user was found, then add them to the database and search again
@@ Line 12: / Line 16: @@
 </code>
-And the actual code:
+===And the actual code===
-<code php>
+Add the code below to the top of your main php file, just underneath the opening <?php
-<?php
+Most of the code is made up of calls to the database; but hopefully there are enough comments to make the overall process obvious.  Try comparing it to the steps outlined above.  The code is described in a bit more detail underneath.
+<code php>
 $latitude = $_GET['lat'] + 0.00003;
 $longitude = $_GET['lon'];
@@ Line 64: / Line 70: @@
 </code>
-Might look a bit scary - explain.
+===Database PDO Code===
+There are several different ways to connect to a database, and the code above uses a system called PDO.  The PDO system is used in Layar's own examples, and is one of the currently recommended approaches.
+The database connections start with a 3-step process:
+  * Prepare - Create a query for the database, including placeholder names for the variables (values that will be different each time)
+  * Bind - Map actual values to the placeholders that you included in the previous step.  There will be a bind for each variable.
+  * Execute - Run the query and store the result.
+Once executed you can use different commands to see what the result was.  For example $sql->rowCount() will tell you how many matches were found in the database, while $sql->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC) gives you an array of the actual results.
+===Viewing Stats===
+So now everytime a new user opens your layer it will create them a new account; and everytime an existing player opens your layer it will load their stats.
+How will the player know what their current stats are though?  Well for that we are going to have to fudge things a little.  Layar is a generic platform, so trying to shoehorn an mmo into it will lead to some awkward compramises.
-Add something to the response to view player stats
+In this case we can't have a standard HUD, but we can attach some information to the layer itself.  Add the code shown below to the top of your layer output (use the line - "layer": "mmodemo" - to see where to include it).  This will add a 'Layer Action', which can be accessed through the options button in the Layar app.  It will show the current stats, and provide a link to webpage that we haven't created yet.
 <code>
 "layer": "mmodemo",
-	"actions": [
+    "actions": [
-		{
+        {
-			"uri": "http://www.somesite.com/stats-page.php",
+            "uri": "http://www.somesite.com/stats-page.php",
-			"label": "ST:'.$userST.' T:'.$userT.' HP:'.$userHP.'",
+            "label": "ST:'.$userST.' T:'.$userT.' HP:'.$userHP.'",
-			"contentType": "text/html"
+            "contentType": "text/html"
-		}
+        }
-	],
+],
 </code>