Zn

A minimalistic OpenComputers decentralized unstructured network.

All Zn traffic is transferred by nodes of network. The library dispatches messages, and generates events for messages addressed to a specific node or broadcast to all nodes.

The network structure can be changed dynamically.

It uses port 419 for communication.

Zn network provides "network layer" according to OSI model. On top of it you can build your transport protocol similar to TCP/UDP, etc.

Installation

Run this command from terminal:

hpm install zn

The EEPROM version is also bundled with the package, stored in /usr/share/zn/eeprom.lua.

Flash it using the flash utility included in OpenOS.

Functions

• zn.connect():boolean

Registers Zn network listener. This makes a computer a node of Zn network, so it can send and receive network messages.

• zn.send(address: string, message: string):boolean

Sends the message to address (modem address of a node).

• zn.ping()

Sends the ping message to neighbors. The message won't be relayed to other nodes. Fires zn_pong events for each pong message received.

• zn.broadcast(message: string):boolean

The same as zn.send, but the message will be delivered to all nodes.

• zn.disconnect():boolean

Disconnects from the network.

Events

• zn_message(message: string, receiverAddr: string, senderAddr: string)

The client has received a Zn message.

• zn_ping(senderAddr: string, distance: number)

A ping request has been received.

• zn_pong(senderAddr: string, distance: number)

A response to the ping message has been received.

Example

local event = require('event')
local zn = require('zn')

zn.connect()

zn.broadcast("Hello Zn members!")

while true do
  local _, message = event.pull("zn_message")
  if message == "bye" then
    break
  else
    print(message)
  end
end

zn.disconnect()