In Manual Server and Manual Game we covered GameCreate's support for configuration files. At times you may wish to include data in configuration files that GameCreate simply can not know or manage. One such example might be an in-house web application for managing ban lists; this can be particularly useful if many game servers should share the same ban list. Of course, GameCreate's support for external files is not restricted to ban lists: you can use the facility any time you wish to manage configuration data with a different system.
Instead of storing a file definition in GameCreate, it can be supplied by an external system. There are two methods to configure this:
Have an external system perform a HTTP POST to GameCreate to upload a file definition.
Have GameCreate include the contents of a HTTP-accessible file into the server's configuration, using the <gc:include> tag.
Upload a Configuration File
Both server files and game files can be remotely uploaded. The uploaded file definition replaces the previous definition, in the same manner as editing the file using the GameCreate web interface would. The new file definition is uploaded by performing a HTTP POST to the GameCreate site.
The exact URL to use varies (see the specific server's or game's Edit File ) but the process is the same: send a username, password, and new definition for the file. Here's an example URL and POST contents:
URL:
![[WWW]](/wiki/gamecreate/img/moin-www.png)
http://mammoth.au.gamecreate.com/admin/UploadGameFile.aspx?fileid=123 POST: username=myuser&password=mypass&contents=New+file+contents
The username/password must be a valid login for a user in the domain. The user must have write access to the server file or game file being updated.
While files may be uploaded at any time, note that the uploaded definition is actually written to the host's disk using the update schedule configured for the file. Often, the file will only be written to the host's disk when starting the server.
Files can only be updated remotely; they can not be created. In particular, this means if you wish to upload a Server File it must be created first: from the server's Files tab, click Edit next to the file you wish to upload and then click Save. This will ensure a server-specific copy of the file is created (as opposed to using the file definition supplied by the game).
As stated earlier, file uploads are treated in the same manner as editing the file using the GameCreate web interface would: GameCreate substitions and tags may be used as normal.
Include a Remote File
Manual File Language explains the usage of the <gc:include> tag. Using an include has the following differences when compared to uploading a file:
Include tags are evaluated each time the configuration file is written to the host's disk. In particular, this may be more or less useful than uploading a definition if the file's contents may change over time.
The file definition in GameCreate itself is never modified - it will always contain the <gc:include> tag when viewing or modifying the file.
Include tags only "replace" the part of the file where the tag occurs, allowing some configuration to be stored in GameCreate and some handled externally. By contrast, file uploads totally replace any previous file definition (although the upload could still contain GameCreate substitutions or tags)