LibNAddOn
LibNAddON is an addOn for bootstrapping other addOns. It provides a single global function
that takes a table of options, detailed below.
Usage
List it in your .toc:
```World of Warcraft Addon Data
Dependencies: LibNAddOn
A minimal example:
lua ---@class MyAddOn: AddOn local myAddOn = LibNAddOn(…)
The `---@class MyAddOn: AddOn` annotation types your namespace for the Lua language
server. Files other than the setup file import the namespace with:
lua ---@type MyAddOn local myAddOn = select(2, …)
## Options
Options can be specified by passing them to the function as table values:
lua local ADDON_NAME = … ---@class MyAddOn: AddOn local myAddOn = select(2, …) LibNAddOn{ name = ADDON_NAME, addOn = myAddOn, db = { name = "MyAddOnDB", defaults = { version = 1, -- initial values }, }, settings = { { title = "MyAddon", fields = { { name = "setting name", typ = "checkbox", default = 1, table = function(db) return db.settings end, key = "settingName", label = "basic setting", tooltip = "select value", }, { name = "setting name", typ = "slider", -- everything from checkbox, plus: min = 1, max = 10, step = 1, }, { name = "setting name", typ = "dropdown", -- everything from checkbox, plus: options = {"Option 1", "Option 2"}, }, }, }, }, slashCommands = { myAddonName = {"/command1", "/command2"}, }, compartmentFn = "MY_ADDON_COMPARTMENT_CLICK", api = MyAPI, ui = LibNUI, }
`api` and `ui` will link the respective globals by those names to `myAddOn.api` and `myAddOn.ui`.
Most of the options can also simply be specified in the .toc:
X-NUI-DB: MyAddOnDB
X-NUI-DB-VERSION: 1
X-NUI-COMMANDS: /myaddon, /myaddon1
X-NUI-COMPARTMENT: MyAddOn_OnAddonCompartmentClick
X-NUI-API: SomeApi
X-NUI-UI: LibNUI
Settings can't be expressed in the `.toc` either; with the vararg form, register them with
`RegisterSettings` at file-load time (it queues the registration for `ADDON_LOADED`):
lua ---@class MyAddOn: AddOn local myAddOn = LibNAddOn(…)
myAddOn:RegisterSettings{
{
title = "MyAddon",
fields = {
-- same field definitions as the settings option above
},
},
}
You can't set database defaults this way, but since it calls `MigrateDB` on load of your addon
when the database doesn't exist (as the versions don't match), you can initialize your db then:
lua local myAddOn = LibNAddOn(…)
function myAddOn:MigrateDB() if not self.db.version then -- initialize db end end ```
Details
The following will be added to your addon namespace myAddOn:
function Print(…)
Prints any passed arguments, with <ADDON_NAME>: prepended.
an EventListener
Adds a lightweight hidden frame on _eventListener and two functions:
registerEvent(eventName, handlerFn?, idx?)
If no handler function is given, hooks up the event to call myAddOn.EVENT_NAME().
If a handler function is provided, hooks up the event to call it, bound to the addon.
If idx is specified, inserts the handler at the specific index. Generally used to
make sure the handler is called before other previously registered handlers (by passing
1 as the idx).
unregisterEvent(eventName, handlerFn?)
If handlerFn is provided, removes the specified callback.
If handlerFn is not provided, removes all callbacks.
delay(ms, fn)
One-shot debounce timer: calls fn (a function, or the name of a method on the addon)
after ms milliseconds. Only one timer is active per addon — a second call replaces
the pending callback.
after(ms, fn)
Fires fn once after ms milliseconds. Unlike delay, supports any number of
concurrent timers.
An event handler for ADDON_LOADED
Calls myAddOn.onLoad when the event is fired for ADDON_NAME.
If myAddOn.onLogin is defined, registers for the event PLAYER_ENTERING_WORLD, calling
myAddOn.onLogin if it was a login or reload event.
Globals
Links most of the global wow functions, including convenience wrappers for some.
myAddOn.Colors
Contains various color-related constants and convenience functions:
rgba(r, g, b, a)-- converts hex r/g/b values, returning a WoW Color table representationalpha(color, alpha)-- returns a copy of the Color with the new alpha value
myAddOn.lua
For the purposes of the descriptions below:
- List refers to a table with numeric keys and a size
- Map refers to a table with string keys
- Set refers to a table whose keys are the member values, each mapped to
true, e.g.if aSet[key] then ...Generally for Lists the code usesipairs, while Maps usepairs.
Includes various convenience methods for working with Lists, Maps, Sets, Strings, and tables in general:
Select(key)- returns a function that transforms a provided table to a value by selecting the given keylists.values(...)- creates a new list with the values from the provided listslists.generate(func, num, start?)- generate an list by calling a function 1..n times with the indexlists.map(tbl, func)- return a new table by transforming each value by the given functionlists.find(tbl, val)- find a value in a list, returning the index. If val is a function it will be called with each value, returning the index for which it returns truelists.prepend(list, ...)- prepend values to a listmaps.merge(tgt, ...)- merge multiple tables into the first one, overwriting existing keysmaps.fill(tgt, ...)- fill the destination table from the source tables, without overwriting existing keysmaps.map(map, func)- return a new table by transforming each value by the given functionmaps.toMap(map, func)- return a new table by mapping each value by the given functionmaps.any(map, func)- return true if the function returns true for any value in the tablemaps.anyKey(map, func)- return true if the function returns true for any key in the tablesets.Set(list)- create a Set from a list of values, e.g.Set{123, 456} -- {[123] = true, [456] = true}sets.values(tbl)- return the values of a table as a Setstrings.startsWith(str, start)- returns true if str starts with startstrings.split(token, str)- returns a List of the substrings in str that are separated by token
Also includes the Class function for defining inheritable, instantiatable objects.

