Flecs v4.1
A fast entity component system (ECS) for C & C++
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Commands
Collaboration diagram for Commands:

Functions

bool ecs_readonly_begin (ecs_world_t *world, bool multi_threaded)
 Begin readonly mode.
 
void ecs_readonly_end (ecs_world_t *world)
 End readonly mode.
 
void ecs_merge (ecs_world_t *stage)
 Merge a stage.
 
bool ecs_defer_begin (ecs_world_t *world)
 Defer operations until the end of the frame.
 
bool ecs_defer_end (ecs_world_t *world)
 End a block of operations to defer.
 
void ecs_defer_suspend (ecs_world_t *world)
 Suspend deferring but do not flush queue.
 
void ecs_defer_resume (ecs_world_t *world)
 Resume deferring.
 
bool ecs_is_deferred (const ecs_world_t *world)
 Test if deferring is enabled for the current stage.
 
bool ecs_is_defer_suspended (const ecs_world_t *world)
 Test if deferring is suspended for the current stage.
 
void ecs_set_stage_count (ecs_world_t *world, int32_t stages)
 Configure the world to have N stages.
 
int32_t ecs_get_stage_count (const ecs_world_t *world)
 Get the number of configured stages.
 
ecs_world_tecs_get_stage (const ecs_world_t *world, int32_t stage_id)
 Get stage-specific world pointer.
 
bool ecs_stage_is_readonly (const ecs_world_t *world)
 Test whether the current world is readonly.
 
ecs_world_tecs_stage_new (ecs_world_t *world)
 Create an unmanaged stage.
 
void ecs_stage_free (ecs_world_t *stage)
 Free an unmanaged stage.
 
int32_t ecs_stage_get_id (const ecs_world_t *world)
 Get the stage ID.
 

Detailed Description

Function Documentation

◆ ecs_defer_begin()

bool ecs_defer_begin ( ecs_world_t * world)

Defer operations until the end of the frame.

When this operation is invoked while iterating, operations between the ecs_defer_begin() and ecs_defer_end() operations are executed at the end of the frame.

This operation is thread-safe.

Parameters
worldThe world.
Returns
true if world changed from non-deferred mode to deferred mode.
See also
ecs_defer_end()
ecs_is_deferred()
ecs_defer_resume()
ecs_defer_suspend()
ecs_is_defer_suspended()

◆ ecs_defer_end()

bool ecs_defer_end ( ecs_world_t * world)

End a block of operations to defer.

See ecs_defer_begin().

This operation is thread-safe.

Parameters
worldThe world.
Returns
true if world changed from deferred mode to non-deferred mode.
See also
ecs_defer_begin()
ecs_is_deferred()
ecs_defer_resume()
ecs_defer_suspend()

◆ ecs_defer_resume()

void ecs_defer_resume ( ecs_world_t * world)

Resume deferring.

See ecs_defer_suspend().

Parameters
worldThe world.
See also
ecs_defer_begin()
ecs_defer_end()
ecs_is_deferred()
ecs_defer_suspend()

◆ ecs_defer_suspend()

void ecs_defer_suspend ( ecs_world_t * world)

Suspend deferring but do not flush queue.

This operation can be used to do an undeferred operation while not flushing the operations in the queue.

An application should invoke ecs_defer_resume() before ecs_defer_end() is called. The operation may only be called when deferring is enabled.

Parameters
worldThe world.
See also
ecs_defer_begin()
ecs_defer_end()
ecs_is_deferred()
ecs_defer_resume()

◆ ecs_get_stage()

ecs_world_t * ecs_get_stage ( const ecs_world_t * world,
int32_t stage_id )

Get stage-specific world pointer.

Flecs threads can safely invoke the API as long as they have a private context to write to, also referred to as the stage. This function returns a pointer to a stage, disguised as a world pointer.

Note that this function does not create a new world. It simply wraps the existing world in a thread-specific context, which the API knows how to unwrap. The reason the stage is returned as an ecs_world_t is so that it can be passed transparently to the existing API functions, instead of having to create a dedicated API for threading.

Parameters
worldThe world.
stage_idThe index of the stage to retrieve.
Returns
A thread-specific pointer to the world.

◆ ecs_get_stage_count()

int32_t ecs_get_stage_count ( const ecs_world_t * world)

Get the number of configured stages.

Return the number of stages set by ecs_set_stage_count().

Parameters
worldThe world.
Returns
The number of stages used for threading.

◆ ecs_is_defer_suspended()

bool ecs_is_defer_suspended ( const ecs_world_t * world)

Test if deferring is suspended for the current stage.

Parameters
worldThe world.
Returns
True if suspended, false if not.
See also
ecs_defer_begin()
ecs_defer_end()
ecs_is_deferred()
ecs_defer_resume()
ecs_defer_suspend()

◆ ecs_is_deferred()

bool ecs_is_deferred ( const ecs_world_t * world)

Test if deferring is enabled for the current stage.

Parameters
worldThe world.
Returns
True if deferred, false if not.
See also
ecs_defer_begin()
ecs_defer_end()
ecs_defer_resume()
ecs_defer_suspend()
ecs_is_defer_suspended()

◆ ecs_merge()

void ecs_merge ( ecs_world_t * stage)

Merge a stage.

This will merge all commands enqueued for a stage.

Parameters
stageThe stage.

◆ ecs_readonly_begin()

bool ecs_readonly_begin ( ecs_world_t * world,
bool multi_threaded )

Begin readonly mode.

This operation puts the world in readonly mode, which disallows mutations on the world. Readonly mode exists so that internal mechanisms can implement optimizations that assume certain aspects of the world do not change, while also providing a mechanism for applications to prevent accidental mutations in, for example, multithreaded applications.

Readonly mode is a stronger version of deferred mode. In deferred mode, ECS operations such as add, remove, set, delete, etc. are added to a command queue to be executed later. In readonly mode, operations that could break scheduler logic (such as creating systems, queries) are also disallowed.

Readonly mode itself has a single-threaded and a multithreaded mode. In single-threaded mode, certain mutations on the world are still allowed, for example:

  • Entity liveliness operations (such as ecs_new(), ecs_make_alive()), so that systems are able to create new entities.
  • Implicit component registration, so that it works from systems.
  • Mutations to supporting data structures for the evaluation of uncached queries, so that these can be created on the fly.

These mutations are safe in single-threaded applications, but for multithreaded applications the world needs to be entirely immutable. For this purpose, multithreaded readonly mode exists, which disallows all mutations on the world. This means that in multithreaded applications, entity liveliness operations, implicit component registration, and on-the-fly query creation are not guaranteed to work.

While in readonly mode, applications can still enqueue ECS operations on a stage. Stages are managed automatically when using the pipeline addon and ecs_progress(), but they can also be configured manually as shown here:

// Number of stages typically corresponds with number of threads
ecs_world_t *stage = ecs_get_stage(world, 1);
ecs_readonly_begin(world, false);
ecs_add(world, e, Tag); // readonly assert
ecs_add(stage, e, Tag); // OK
bool ecs_readonly_begin(ecs_world_t *world, bool multi_threaded)
Begin readonly mode.
ecs_world_t * ecs_get_stage(const ecs_world_t *world, int32_t stage_id)
Get stage-specific world pointer.
void ecs_set_stage_count(ecs_world_t *world, int32_t stages)
Configure the world to have N stages.
struct ecs_world_t ecs_world_t
A world is the container for all ECS data and supporting features.
Definition flecs.h:425
#define ecs_add(world, entity, T)
Add a component to an entity.
Definition flecs_c.h:318

When an attempt is made to perform an operation on a world in readonly mode, the code will throw an assert saying that the world is in readonly mode.

A call to ecs_readonly_begin() must be followed up with ecs_readonly_end(). When ecs_readonly_end() is called, all enqueued commands from configured stages are merged back into the world. Calls to ecs_readonly_begin() and ecs_readonly_end() should always happen from a context where the code has exclusive access to the world. The functions themselves are not thread-safe.

In a typical application, a (non-exhaustive) call stack that uses ecs_readonly_begin() and ecs_readonly_end() will look like this:

// user code
FLECS_API bool ecs_progress(ecs_world_t *world, ecs_ftime_t delta_time)
Progress a world.
bool ecs_defer_end(ecs_world_t *world)
End a block of operations to defer.
bool ecs_defer_begin(ecs_world_t *world)
Defer operations until the end of the frame.
void ecs_readonly_end(ecs_world_t *world)
End readonly mode.
Parameters
worldThe world.
multi_threadedWhether to enable multithreaded readonly mode.
Returns
Whether world is in readonly mode.

◆ ecs_readonly_end()

void ecs_readonly_end ( ecs_world_t * world)

End readonly mode.

This operation ends readonly mode, and must be called after ecs_readonly_begin(). Operations that were deferred while the world was in readonly mode will be flushed.

Parameters
worldThe world.

◆ ecs_set_stage_count()

void ecs_set_stage_count ( ecs_world_t * world,
int32_t stages )

Configure the world to have N stages.

This initializes N stages, which allows applications to defer operations to multiple isolated defer queues. This is typically used for applications with multiple threads, where each thread gets its own queue, and commands are merged when threads are synchronized.

Note that the ecs_set_threads() function already creates the appropriate number of stages. The ecs_set_stage_count() operation is useful for applications that want to manage their own stages and/or threads.

Parameters
worldThe world.
stagesThe number of stages.

◆ ecs_stage_free()

void ecs_stage_free ( ecs_world_t * stage)

Free an unmanaged stage.

Parameters
stageThe stage to free.

◆ ecs_stage_get_id()

int32_t ecs_stage_get_id ( const ecs_world_t * world)

Get the stage ID.

The stage ID can be used by an application to learn about which stage it is using, which typically corresponds with the worker thread ID.

Parameters
worldThe world.
Returns
The stage ID.

◆ ecs_stage_is_readonly()

bool ecs_stage_is_readonly ( const ecs_world_t * world)

Test whether the current world is readonly.

This function allows the code to test whether the currently used world is readonly or whether it allows for writing.

Parameters
worldA pointer to a stage or the world.
Returns
True if the world or stage is readonly.

◆ ecs_stage_new()

ecs_world_t * ecs_stage_new ( ecs_world_t * world)

Create an unmanaged stage.

Create a stage whose lifecycle is not managed by the world. Must be freed with ecs_stage_free().

Parameters
worldThe world.
Returns
The stage.