Writing a Client¶

PokerTHProto is built with Twisted, an event-driven networking engine engine written in Python. That means it is rather useful to have basic knowledge about event-driven programming. But don’t get scared, it is pretty easy.

Twisted Application¶

The easiest way to write a PokerTH client is to write an Twisted application.

This basic my_client.tac file gives you an idea:

from twisted.application import internet, service
from twisted.internet import reactor

from pokerthproto.protocol import ClientProtocolFactory, ClientProtocol
from pokerthproto.lobby import GameInfo, LobbyError
from pokerthproto.poker import Action


class PyClientProtocol(ClientProtocol):
    def handleInsideLobby(self, lobbyInfo):
        try:
            gameId = self.factory.lobby.getGameInfoId('My Online Game')
        except LobbyError:
            reactor.callLater(1, self.handleInsideLobby, lobbyInfo)
        else:
            self.sendJoinExistingGame(gameId)

    def handleMyTurn(self, gameInfo):
        if gameInfo.highestSet > gameInfo.myBet:
            action, bet = Action.CALL, gameInfo.highestSet
        else:
            action = Action.CHECK
        self.sendMyAction(action, gameInfo.highestSet - gameInfo.myBet)


class PyClientProtocolFactory(ClientProtocolFactory):
    protocol = PyClientProtocol


application = service.Application('PokerTH Client')
client_factory = PyClientProtocolFactory('PyClient1')
service = internet.TCPClient('localhost', 7234, client_factory)
service.setServiceParent(application)

Here, we create an own protocol by inhereting from ClientProtocol and overwriting some methods in order to adapt them to our needs. For instance, the handleInsideLobby method is triggered when we are inside the lobby. In this case, our action is to join the game named My Online Game if available otherwise we wait one second and try again. The method handleMyTurn is called during a poker game and here we specified that we want to check if possible and otherwise call. The remaining lines are just boilerplate code to define a Twisted application. You can run this client by calling:

twisted -y my_client.tac -n

Mandatory Methods¶

Your own protocol needs to define some mandatory methods:

handleInsideLobby: This method is called when we are inside the lobby. Use sendJoinExistingGame or sendJoinNewGame to join or create a new game. If you create a new game use sendStartEvent to start the game. The lobbyInfo argument of type Lobby provides you information about other players and games.
handleMyTurn: This method is called when our turn starts. Use sendMyAction to decide what action you want to take. The current state of the game is represented with the gameInfo parameter of type Game in both functions.

Optional Methods¶

handleChat: This method is called when a chat message was received. Use sendChatRequest to reply or start a chat.
handleOthersTurn: This method is called when another player starts its turn. You could use this event to chat him up.
handleEndOfHand: This method is called when one hand is over. Use the gameInfo parameter of type Game to do logging or learn about the other players’ cards and wins with gameInfo.othersCards and gameInfo.wins.
handleEndOfGame: This method is called when a game is over. Use the gameInfo parameter of type Game to do logging or learn about the other players’ cards and wins with gameInfo.othersCards and gameInfo.wins. The parameter winner of type Player provides you the winner of the game. When this function is called you are back in the lobby.