[C#][Source][Copy/Pasta] Getting started with out of process botting

[Apoc]

Because I just had to mimic the other thread, I wrote up a quick 'basic' COMPLETELY PASSIVE bot setup. It can be used to 'write' to the process as well, but none of that code is being used. (Preprocessor defines are added as well, to allow it to work in process too)

It's a simple implementation of an ObjectManager, and the basic WoWObject class, and a few things from WoWUnit.

There is nothing advanced in this little project whatsoever. It's only a basis for the nubs to copy/paste to get them started. I'm tired of seeing thread after thread about how to read the object list.

So here you go, a full helping of copy/pasta.

Note: this is VERY basic code, for the exception of the Memory class. (The Memory class touches on some workarounds for interacting with other process' memory via .NET including reading/writing full structs to memory.)

It shows some very simple ways to implement the 'basic' framework part of a WoW wrapper.

Again; this is by no means advanced, and you probably won't learn C# by reading any of this code.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2068143/WoWStarter.7z

[asbest0s]

thanks a lot, it might help me a bit

[adaephon]

Your internal reader still uses Marshal.Read* as its base reading method... Not very out of process? :P

Also, your Point struct, correct me if I'm wrong but won't using FieldOffset(0), FieldOffset(1), FieldOffset(2) cause overlap? Shouldn't it be 0, 4, 8?

[Apoc]

Your internal reader still uses Marshal.Read* as its base reading method... Not very out of process? :P

Also, your Point struct, correct me if I'm wrong but won't using FieldOffset(0), FieldOffset(1), FieldOffset(2) cause overlap? Shouldn't it be 0, 4, 8?

At least you read the code.

And yes, they should be fixed.

[Azzie2k8]

Nice and clean. As always or most of the time
Little to late for me but I would have loved you a year ago for releasing this

Anyways it is great that people like you actually share this stuff and help people to get into this matter.

Keep it up and maybe add some stuff about Aigroups and Areatriggers. I'd be very happy to see how those are handled. I don't use them atm so I don't care but I guess it would be interesting.

+rep :P

[abuckau907]

I like how you get object properties...gave me some ideas, thanks.

[EmilyStrange]

Nice contribution.

Not sure if Apoc was just trying to trip up the copy/pasta people with the field offset bug, or wanting more endless questions along the lines of "It doesn't work! You said it would work! You owe me!"

With just three floats specified in the structure, Sequential would also have worked just fine too, or even no LayoutKind decorator at all. The compiler won't rearrange anything based on float packing type if that is all that is in the structure.

If you have DirectX SDK installed, you can also use the Vector3 directly from that library.

Or even the XNA Vector3, which has a few more utility functions. Contains free code for calculating distance, angles, etc.

[!@^^@!]

throw new Exception("There's no current process handle... are you sure you did everything right?");

I like ya style to pwn noobs
(inb4 bad joke about me getting pwned, i merly read through the code to get ideas)

Anyway nice way of doing things especially how you read your object properties, wich reminds me that i should read a book or 2 about c# instead of just using what i've learned by trail and error and reading source codes...

[Mr.Zunz]

*goes back to model view presenter shit again*

[Apoc]

Nice contribution.

Not sure if Apoc was just trying to trip up the copy/pasta people with the field offset bug, or wanting more endless questions along the lines of "It doesn't work! You said it would work! You owe me!"

With just three floats specified in the structure, Sequential would also have worked just fine too, or even no LayoutKind decorator at all. The compiler won't rearrange anything based on float packing type if that is all that is in the structure.

If you have DirectX SDK installed, you can also use the Vector3 directly from that library.

Or even the XNA Vector3, which has a few more utility functions. Contains free code for calculating distance, angles, etc.

Very true; but when you include other fields, they're also packed into the struct. The code was originally a Sequential, then I added some stuff that required it to be Explicit. Then as always, went back to just 3 fields. (I wrote the entire thing in ~20min so not much 'proof reading' was done.)

And yes, the two Vector3 structs are awesome alternatives. But some people don't like having the extra dependency.

Also, me and the .NET Marshaler have a hate-hate relationship. I don't trust it to 'assume' things. So I specify things whenever possible if it's going to go through the Marshaler. (Ask amadmonk, it's got some really screwy behavior at times)

[amadmonk]

If you have DirectX SDK installed, you can also use the Vector3 directly from that library.

Or even the XNA Vector3, which has a few more utility functions. Contains free code for calculating distance, angles, etc.

This, I did not know.

Thanks for the help. I hate dealing with vectors "correctly," it's nice to know that someone's already done the work.

[amadmonk]

Also, me and the .NET Marshaler have a hate-hate relationship. I don't trust it to 'assume' things. So I specify things whenever possible if it's going to go through the Marshaler. (Ask amadmonk, it's got some really screwy behavior at times)

Amen, brother. I've learned to really hate the default marshaller. It works correctly often enough to lull me into complacency, and then BAM... things like my cf with the Point struct for traceline pop up...

[GliderPro]

It works correctly often enough to lull me into complacency, and then BAM...

That is pretty much the reason why I've been avoiding a deep dive into C#. When I have a problem I like being able to look at assembly and hardware registers. Although, after viewing your code I'm more motivated to mess with C# again.

Thanks for the sample Apoc. It is much appreciated.

[amadmonk]

Ahh, don't diss C#... in truth, marshalling (correctly -- not just one time for a known structure, but for arbitrary structures, in all cases) is *hard*, so the default marshaller does a pretty good job. It's just that the exception cases really, really suck to debug

[EmilyStrange]

The code was originally a Sequential, then I added some stuff that required it to be Explicit.

Understood.

And yes, the two Vector3 structs are awesome alternatives. But some people don't like having the extra dependency.

People are crazy and insist on re-inventing the wheel. Re-invent to understand, re-invent because you will do a better job. Re-invent just because? That's (mostly) crazy talk.

Also, me and the .NET Marshaler have a hate-hate relationship. I don't trust it to 'assume' things.

And that I can understand too. When it screws up, it screws up royally! The simple cases, such as three floats, is usually pretty safe though.

Browsing your code did cause me to go back and re-examine the assumptions about my own object enumeration though. We do it almost the same way.

The main difference is that I don't pulse my objects. I keep a TimeSpan and enumerate again if the last time the object list was enumerated is greater than the desired TimeSpan, in this case 30 millseconds.

My Enumerate went from about 50 lines to the code below. I was over-complicating my tests in the dictionary for valid objects. Making sure the object type was valid, the memory address had not changed, etc.

        private void EnumerateVisibleObjects()
        {
            Dictionary<GameGUID, WowObject> newObjectCache = new Dictionary<GameGUID, WowObject>();
            ObjectMemoryAddresses objectMemory = new ObjectMemoryAddresses(m_gameClient);
            foreach (uint memoryAddress in objectMemory)
            {
                GameGUID clientGUID = GetGUID(memoryAddress);
                Descriptor.WoWObjectType clientObjectType = GetType(memoryAddress);
                WowObject obj = null;
                try
                {
                    obj = m_objectCache[clientGUID];
                    obj.BaseAddress = memoryAddress;
                }

                catch
                {
                    obj = GetGameObject(memoryAddress);
                }

                if (obj != null)
                {
                    newObjectCache.Add(clientGUID, obj);
                }


            }

            m_objectCache = newObjectCache;
            m_lastEnumerationTime = DateTime.Now;
        }