NPC OnUse

[Dakarun]

So I'm creating a NPC, in witch it opens a menu when you talk to him/her. However, nothing happens. I think that the problem is the hook... since I didn't add one. The reason is, I have no idea how. I've read the hook article on the wiki, and the tutorial here on Facepunch, yet I don't know what to do, mainly because the tutorials there use things that you can find on the wiki.

[lua]
function npcmenu()

local sheet = vgui.Create( "DPropertySheet" );
sheet:SetSize( 300, 300 );

local panel = vgui.Create( "DPanel" );

local item1 = vgui.Create( "DLabel", panel );
item:SetText( "Label 1" );
item:SizeToContents( );

local item2 = vgui.Create( "DLabel", panel );
item2:SetText( "Label 2" );
item2:SizeToContents( );

sheet:AddSheet( "Out labels", panel, nil, false, false, "Two labels" );

end

concommand.Add( "npc_test_menu", npcmenu )

function ENT:Use( activator, caller )

LocalPlayer():ConCommand ( "npc_test_menu" )

end
[/lua]

So yea, help would be appreciated, and perhaps some additional explanation on hooks... ( Reason that I might not get it, cause I'm bad at maths and physics etc)

[Lexic]

ENT:Use is a server-side function.
I've not worked with npcs yet but try this in the shared file.
[lua]if CLIENT then
function npcmenu()

local sheet = vgui.Create( "DPropertySheet" );
sheet:SetSize( 300, 300 );

local panel = vgui.Create( "DPanel" );

local item1 = vgui.Create( "DLabel", panel );
item:SetText( "Label 1" );
item:SizeToContents( );

local item2 = vgui.Create( "DLabel", panel );
item2:SetText( "Label 2" );
item2:SizeToContents( );

sheet:AddSheet( "Out labels", panel, nil, false, false, "Two labels" );

end

usermessage.Hook( "npc_test_menu", npcmenu )
else
function ENT:Use( activator, caller )
if not activator:IsPlayer() then return end
umsg.Start("npc_test_menu",activator);umsg.End()

end
end[/lua]

[Silverlan]

ENT.Use isn't called on SNPCs by default. To change that you can check for the "use"-input in ENT.AcceptInput:
[lua]if CLIENT then
function npcmenu()
local sheet = vgui.Create("DPropertySheet")
sheet:SetSize(300, 300)

local panel = vgui.Create("DPanel")

local item1 = vgui.Create("DLabel", panel)
item:SetText("Label 1")
item:SizeToContents()

local item2 = vgui.Create("DLabel", panel)
item2:SetText("Label 2")
item2:SizeToContents()

sheet:AddSheet("Out labels", panel, nil, false, false, "Two labels")
end
usermessage.Hook("npc_test_menu", npcmenu)
else
function ENT:Use(entActivator, entCaller)
if !entActivator:IsPlayer() then return end
umsg.Start("npc_test_menu",entActivator)
umsg.End()
end

function ENT:Initialize()
self:SetUseType(3)
end

function ENT:AcceptInput(input, entActivator, entCaller, data)
if string.lower(input) == "use" then
self:Use(entActivator,entCaller)
return
end
end
end[/lua]

[DarKSunrise]

Why to use self:SetUseType(3), when it would be better to use self:SetUseType(SIMPLE_USE)?

[Entoros]

Also, don't you need to set the position of the property sheet or have some way to close it? It's fine that it's not parented to a frame, but if you don't want it to screw up you need to use sheet:SetPos as well as provide a button to close it.

[Dakarun]

Thanks everyone, eventually silverlans worked :D

So, anyone willing to explain how hooks exactly work. When to use em etc?

[Lexic]

Hooks allow you to schedule a function to be run whenever something specific happens.
...So you should use them when you want a function to be run whenever you want something specific to happen.

[MakeR]

Example:
[lua]local function playerDeath(ply, weap, killer)
print(ply:Nick() .. " has died!")
end
hook.Add("PlayerDeath", "uniquename", playerDeath)[/lua]

This will be called whenever GM.PlayerDeath is called, which is when a player dies.

[Lexic]

There are four types of hooks, and only one of them can external scripts hook into.
There are [url=http://wiki.garrysmod.com/?title=Gamemode_Hooks]Gamemode Hooks[/url], which are the main set of things like players connecting, players dying etc. If you are writing a gamemode then you write hooks with function GM:HookName(params) end.
For anything else, you hook into them with [url=http://wiki.garrysmod.com/?title=Hook.Add]hook.Add[/url].
[highlight]You should only ever return a value in a hook added with hook.Add when you specifically want to override all other hooks and the gamemode function[/highlight]
The other hooks are [url=http://wiki.garrysmod.com/?title=Weapon_Hooks]Weapon[/url], [url=http://wiki.garrysmod.com/?title=Entity_Hooks]Entity[/url] and [url=http://wiki.garrysmod.com/?title=Effect_Hooks]Effect[/url]. Those hooks are specific to the scripted weapon/entity/effect that you are using them in, and you have to use them to get the weapon/entity/effect to behave differently to the base.

[Dakarun]

Right, I think i get it now,

[lua]hook.Add("Pre-Defined name", "name what you want it to be", fucntion name)[lua]

Also offtopic

Learning a bit more about sheets/labels, since I couldn't do that before. Only now I wanted to make a frame around it, but first of all the frame is off the spot( so it's not at center, but the top-left corner is )

And there spawn 5 of em for some reason... Also when I close em all, the sheet doesn't close
[lua] function npcmenu()

local frame = vgui.Create("DFrame")
frame:Center()
frame:MakePopup()
frame:SetSize(325, 325)
frame:SetTitle( "Hello" )
frame:SetDraggable( false )

local sheet = vgui.Create("DPropertySheet")
sheet:SetSize(300, 300)
sheet:MakePopup()
sheet:Center()
sheet:SetParent("frame")

local panel = vgui.Create("DPanel")

local item1 = vgui.Create("DLabel", panel)
item1:SetText("Label 1")
item1:SizeToContents()

local item2 = vgui.Create("DLabel", panel)
item2:SetText("Label 2")
item2:SizeToContents()

sheet:AddSheet("Out labels", panel, nil, false, false, "Two labels")
end
usermessage.Hook("npc_test_menu", npcmenu)[/lua]

[Entoros]

I don't know if it makes a difference, but I would set the size of the frame before you center it.

Also, when you use SetParent, you parent to the panel object, not a string. So it would just be:

sheet:SetParent(frame)

[Dakarun]

[QUOTE=Entoros;17140934]I don't know if it makes a difference, but I would set the size of the frame before you center it.

Also, when you use SetParent, you parent to the panel object, not a string. So it would just be:

sheet:SetParent(frame)

[/QUOTE]

Thanks, both does things you said, work. Only problem is that there still spawn loads of frames...

[Overv]

You're trying to parent the DPropertySheet to a string, replace "frame" with frame. Next time read [url=http://wiki.garrysmod.com/?title=Panel.SetParent]the information on the wiki[/url]. That solves your property sheet stays open question.

[Dakarun]

Yea, sorry about that.

One final question about panels: I've looked at other gamemodes to see how they did stuff. And I noticed that most gamemodes use Function Panel:Init. What is the difference between Panel:Init and local panel = vgui.create?