Hello World

[FadedJeans]

I tried following the directions here:

http://wiki.esoui.com/Writing_your_first_addon

...just up to the point where I expect to see messages in the chat tab, but I don't. i don't get any errors, I see the "add on" listed, and it is checked off to be used, but it doesn't seem to do anything at all.

What's the best way to troubleshoot this little "Hello World" project? I don't see any logs produced. Are there dev tools to see what is going on?

Thanks! Looking forward to getting up to speed and joining the community. I've never written Lua before, but I've been writing ColdFusion applications for over a decade. Not the same thing, I know, but hopefully I can make the jump

I love the game and plan on staying for a long time.

-- First, we create a namespace for our addon by declaring a top-level table that will hold everything else.
FooAddon = {}
 
-- This isn't strictly necessary, but we'll use this string later when registering events.
-- Better to define it in a single place rather than retyping the same string.
FooAddon.name = "FooAddon"
 
-- Next we create a function that will initialize our addon
function FooAddon:Initialize()
  self.inCombat = IsUnitInCombat("player")
 
  EVENT_MANAGER:RegisterForEvent(self.name, EVENT_PLAYER_COMBAT_STATE, self.OnPlayerCombatState)
end
 
-- Then we create an event handler function which will be called when the "addon loaded" event
-- occurs. We'll use this to initialize our addon after all of its resources are fully loaded.
function FooAddon.OnAddOnLoaded(event, addonName)
  -- The event fires each time *any* addon loads - but we only care about when our own addon loads.
  if addonName == FooAddon.name then
    FooAddon:Initialize()
  end
end
 
function FooAddon.OnPlayerCombatState(event, inCombat)
  -- The ~= operator is "not equal to" in Lua.
  if inCombat ~= FooAddon.inCombat then
    -- The player's state has changed. Update the stored state...
    FooAddon.inCombat = inCombat
 
    -- ...and then announce the change.
    if inCombat then
      d("Entering combat.")
    else
      d("Exiting combat.")
    end
 
  end
end
 
-- Finally, we'll register our event handler function to be called when the proper event occurs.
EVENT_MANAGER:RegisterForEvent(FooAddon.name, EVENT_ADD_ON_LOADED, FooAddon.OnAddOnLoaded)

EDITED: I went ahead and added the syntax highlight, thanks for the advice! ; I feel extra lost I suppose, I don't see any syntax tools, just smilies.

[merlight]

Please use highlight="Lua" for code blocks, there's a blue Lua icon that wraps it for you. Couldn't find anything wrong with the code, other that absent formatting

[FadedJeans]

Perhaps my expectations are off? I log in, make sure that the addon is checked off, then run off to get in combat and don't see any messages.

[Garkin]

Just a simple question: What is the name of your addon?
EVENT_ADD_ON_LOADED uses what AddOnManager calls "addOnFileName", it means that you have to make sure that variable FooAddon.name contains name of your addon manifest (.txt file) without extension.

[zgrssd]

Avoid using global variables or functions as far as humanly possible. Global in lua means shared between all addons and Zeniamx code. You never know who else is using just that name and wheter they load before you addon or after.
If you are writing a dedicated library, use LibStub to expose the functions. When I need unique strings (for Event registering or timers) I prefer to generate a unique ID - the string reprensentation of the MD5 Hash of the Addons name.

In fact you should propably just take out the whole table/namespace syntax for the time being. Work with local functions and variables for your first tests.
No point making your own live hard. Try this code for comparision:

-- This isn't strictly necessary, but we'll use this string later when registering events.
    -- Better to define it in a single place rather than retyping the same string.
    local name = "FooAddon"
 
    local inCombat
     
    -- Next we create a function that will initialize our addon
    local function Initialize()
      inCombat = IsUnitInCombat("player")
     
      EVENT_MANAGER:RegisterForEvent(name, EVENT_PLAYER_COMBAT_STATE, OnPlayerCombatState)
    end
     
    -- Then we create an event handler function which will be called when the "addon loaded" event
    -- occurs. We'll use this to initialize our addon after all of its resources are fully loaded.
    local function OnAddOnLoaded(event, addonName)
      -- The event fires each time *any* addon loads - but we only care about when our own addon loads.
      if addonName == FooAddon.name then
        Initialize()
      end
    end
     
    local function OnPlayerCombatState(event, eventInCombat)
      -- The ~= operator is "not equal to" in Lua.
      if eventInCombat ~= inCombat then
        -- The player's state has changed. Update the stored state...
        inCombat = eventInCombat
     
        -- ...and then announce the change.
        if inCombat then
          d("Entering combat.")
        else
          d("Exiting combat.")
        end
     
      end
    end
     
    -- Finally, we'll register our event handler function to be called when the proper event occurs.
    EVENT_MANAGER:RegisterForEvent(name .. "_LoadedEvent", EVENT_ADD_ON_LOADED, OnAddOnLoaded)

Are you certain you ever even enter the if block in the Loaded Event?
If you need messages from that early, isntall BugEater and enabelked Pre-Init debug. Some d() messages in teh code and onLoaded can really help nail the issues down. But you need BugEaters Pre Init debug (plus an entry as optional dependency) to see those.

[FadedJeans]

...and that was it (garkin). Thanks!

Also, thanks for the advice zgrssd!

Now to start beating my head against this until I get a feel for it. Much to learn and unlearn.

Thanks again!