TypeLibrary

Overview

The TypeLibrary is a central component of FrostySdk that manages the runtime type system for Frostbite assets. It dynamically loads, constructs, and provides access to EBX class definitions specific to each game.

Key Features

Dynamic Type Generation: Creates .NET types from Frostbite class definitions at runtime
Type Reflection: Maps GUIDs and hashes to type names and instances
SDK Caching: Compiles and caches type assemblies for improved performance
Type Hierarchy: Manages inheritance and type relationships

Core Classes

Main static class providing type management functionality.

public static class TypeLibrary
{
    public static class Reflection { }
}

Initialization

Initialize

Initializes the TypeLibrary and optionally loads a cached SDK.

public static void Initialize(bool loadSDK = true)

loadSDK

bool

default:"true"

Whether to load the cached SDK assembly for the current profile

Example:

// Initialize with SDK loading
TypeLibrary.Initialize();

// Initialize without SDK (for building new SDK)
TypeLibrary.Initialize(loadSDK: false);

GetSdkVersion

Retrieves the version number of the currently loaded SDK.

public static uint GetSdkVersion()

Returns: SDK version number, or 0 if no SDK is loaded.

var version = TypeLibrary.GetSdkVersion();
Console.WriteLine($"SDK Version: {version}");

Type Creation and Access

GetType (by name)

Retrieves a type by its name.

public static Type GetType(string name)

name

string

required

The name of the type to retrieve

Returns: The Type object, or null if not found.

Type meshAssetType = TypeLibrary.GetType("MeshAsset");
if (meshAssetType != null)
{
    var instance = Activator.CreateInstance(meshAssetType);
}

GetType (by GUID)

Retrieves a type by its unique identifier.

public static Type GetType(Guid guid)

guid

Guid

required

The GUID of the type

Returns: The Type object, or null if not found.

var typeGuid = new Guid("...");
Type type = TypeLibrary.GetType(typeGuid);

GetType (by hash)

Retrieves a type by its FNV hash.

public static Type GetType(uint hash)

hash

uint

required

The FNV-1 hash of the type name

Returns: The Type object, or null if not found.

Type Queries

GetTypes

Retrieves all types that inherit from or match a specific type.

public static Type[] GetTypes(Type type)
public static Type[] GetTypes(string name)

type

Type

The base type to search for

name

string

The name of the base type

Returns: Array of all matching types. Example:

// Get all types inheriting from DataContainer
Type[] dataContainers = TypeLibrary.GetTypes("DataContainer");

foreach (var type in dataContainers)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Found type: {type.Name}");
}

GetConcreteTypes

Retrieves all concrete (non-abstract) types from the loaded SDK.

public static Type[] GetConcreteTypes()

Returns: Array of all concrete types.

var allTypes = TypeLibrary.GetConcreteTypes();
Console.WriteLine($"Total types: {allTypes.Length}");

GetDerivedTypes

Retrieves all types that inherit from a specific type.

public static Type[] GetDerivedTypes(Type type)

type

Type

required

The base type to search for derivatives

Example:

Type entityType = TypeLibrary.GetType("EntityData");
Type[] entityTypes = TypeLibrary.GetDerivedTypes(entityType);

Type Checking

IsSubClassOf

Checks if a type or object is a subclass of another type.

public static bool IsSubClassOf(object obj, string name)
public static bool IsSubClassOf(Type type, string name)
public static bool IsSubClassOf(string type, string name)

obj

object

The object to check

type

Type | string

The type to check

name

string

required

The name of the base type

Returns: true if the type is a subclass or exact match. Example:

// Check object type
if (TypeLibrary.IsSubClassOf(myObject, "MeshAsset"))
{
    Console.WriteLine("Object is a mesh asset");
}

// Check type hierarchy
if (TypeLibrary.IsSubClassOf("SoldierWeaponData", "WeaponData"))
{
    Console.WriteLine("SoldierWeaponData inherits from WeaponData");
}

Object Creation

CreateObject (by name)

Creates a new instance of a type by name.

public static dynamic CreateObject(string name)

name

string

required

The name of the type to instantiate

Returns: New instance of the type, or null if type not found.

dynamic meshAsset = TypeLibrary.CreateObject("MeshAsset");
meshAsset.Name = "MyMesh";

CreateObject (by GUID)

Creates a new instance of a type by GUID.

public static dynamic CreateObject(Guid guid)

guid

Guid

required

The GUID of the type to instantiate

Example:

var typeGuid = new Guid("A1B2C3D4-E5F6-7890-1234-56789ABCDEF0");
dynamic obj = TypeLibrary.CreateObject(typeGuid);

Reflection Subsystem

TypeLibrary.Reflection

Provides GUID and hash-based type lookups.

LoadClassInfoAssets

Loads type information from TypeInfoAsset entries and builds lookup cache.

public static void LoadClassInfoAssets(AssetManager am)

AssetManager

required

The asset manager containing TypeInfoAsset entries

Example:

var assetManager = new AssetManager(fileSystem);
TypeLibrary.Reflection.LoadClassInfoAssets(assetManager);

LookupGuid

Finds the GUID for a type by name.

public static Guid LookupGuid(string name)

name

string

required

The type name to look up

Returns: The type’s GUID, or Guid.Empty if not found.

Guid meshGuid = TypeLibrary.Reflection.LookupGuid("MeshAsset");
Console.WriteLine($"MeshAsset GUID: {meshGuid}");

LookupType (by GUID)

Finds the type name for a GUID.

public static string LookupType(Guid guid)

guid

Guid

required

The GUID to look up

Returns: The type name, or the GUID as string if not found.

var guid = new Guid("...");
string typeName = TypeLibrary.Reflection.LookupType(guid);

LookupType (by hash)

Finds the Type object for a FNV hash.

public static Type LookupType(uint hash)

hash

uint

required

The FNV-1 hash of the type name

Returns: The Type object, or null if not found.

Cache Management

public static bool ReadCache()
public static void WriteToCache()

ReadCache: Loads type information from cache file. Returns true if successful.
WriteToCache: Saves current type information to cache.

Cache Location: Caches/{ProfileName}_typeinfo.cache

SDK Building

LoadClassesSDK

Loads class definitions from an SDK text file.

public static DbObject LoadClassesSDK(Stream sdkStream)

sdkStream

Stream

required

Stream containing SDK class definitions

Returns: DbObject containing parsed class definitions.

BuildModule

Builds a dynamic assembly from class definitions.

public static void BuildModule(string sdkFilename, DbObject classList)

sdkFilename

string

required

Output filename for the compiled assembly (without .dll extension)

classList

DbObject

required

Class definitions from LoadClassesSDK

Example:

using (var stream = File.OpenRead("sdk_classes.txt"))
{
    var classList = TypeLibrary.LoadClassesSDK(stream);
    TypeLibrary.BuildModule("MyGameSDK", classList);
}

Helper Methods

InitializeArrays

Initializes array properties on an object instance.

internal static void InitializeArrays(object obj)

Automatically called during object creation to ensure List properties are instantiated.

Usage Examples

Complete Initialization Flow

// 1. Initialize the TypeLibrary
TypeLibrary.Initialize();

// 2. Load type reflection data
var assetManager = new AssetManager(fileSystem);
TypeLibrary.Reflection.LoadClassInfoAssets(assetManager);

// 3. Create objects
dynamic meshAsset = TypeLibrary.CreateObject("MeshAsset");

// Get all weapon types
Type[] weaponTypes = TypeLibrary.GetTypes("WeaponData");

foreach (var weaponType in weaponTypes)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Weapon Type: {weaponType.Name}");
    
    // Create instance
    dynamic weapon = TypeLibrary.CreateObject(weaponType.Name);
    
    // Check specific subclass
    if (TypeLibrary.IsSubClassOf(weaponType, "SoldierWeaponData"))
    {
        Console.WriteLine("  - This is a soldier weapon");
    }
}

GUID-Based Type Resolution

// Resolve type from GUID
var typeGuid = ebxAsset.GetTypeGuid();
Type assetType = TypeLibrary.GetType(typeGuid);

if (assetType != null)
{
    dynamic instance = TypeLibrary.CreateObject(assetType.Name);
    Console.WriteLine($"Created instance of {assetType.Name}");
}

Working with Reflection Cache

// Try to load from cache first
if (!TypeLibrary.Reflection.ReadCache())
{
    // Cache miss - load from assets
    TypeLibrary.Reflection.LoadClassInfoAssets(assetManager);
    
    // Save for next time
    TypeLibrary.Reflection.WriteToCache();
}

// Now lookups are available
Guid meshGuid = TypeLibrary.Reflection.LookupGuid("MeshAsset");
string meshName = TypeLibrary.Reflection.LookupType(meshGuid);

Performance Considerations

SDK Loading: The first initialization can be slow. Use cached SDKs when possible.
Type Lookups: GUID and hash lookups build internal dictionaries on first use.
Cache Files: Type info caches significantly improve startup time.
Assembly Generation: Building dynamic assemblies is expensive - save to disk.

Thread Safety

TypeLibrary operations are not thread-safe. Initialize and load types on a single thread before accessing from multiple threads.

Best Practices

Initialize Once: Call TypeLibrary.Initialize() once at application startup
Cache Aggressively: Always use ReadCache() and WriteToCache() for reflection data
Validate Types: Check for null returns from GetType() before using
SDK Versioning: Use GetSdkVersion() to detect SDK changes
Type Checking: Prefer IsSubClassOf() over direct type comparison for polymorphism

Core APIs

Asset Types

Plugin APIs

Data Structures

​Overview

​Key Features

​Core Classes

​TypeLibrary

​Initialization

​Initialize

​GetSdkVersion

​Type Creation and Access

​GetType (by name)

​GetType (by GUID)

​GetType (by hash)

​Type Queries

​GetTypes

​GetConcreteTypes

​GetDerivedTypes

​Type Checking

​IsSubClassOf

​Object Creation

​CreateObject (by name)

​CreateObject (by GUID)

​Reflection Subsystem

​TypeLibrary.Reflection

​LoadClassInfoAssets

​LookupGuid

​LookupType (by GUID)

​LookupType (by hash)

​Cache Management

​SDK Building

​LoadClassesSDK

​BuildModule

​Helper Methods

​InitializeArrays

​Usage Examples

​Complete Initialization Flow

​Type Hierarchy Navigation

​GUID-Based Type Resolution

​Working with Reflection Cache

​Performance Considerations

​Thread Safety

​Best Practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Key Features

Core Classes

TypeLibrary

Initialization

Initialize

GetSdkVersion

Type Creation and Access

GetType (by name)

GetType (by GUID)

GetType (by hash)

Type Queries

GetTypes

GetConcreteTypes

GetDerivedTypes

Type Checking

IsSubClassOf

Object Creation

CreateObject (by name)

CreateObject (by GUID)

Reflection Subsystem

TypeLibrary.Reflection

LoadClassInfoAssets

LookupGuid

LookupType (by GUID)

LookupType (by hash)

Cache Management

SDK Building

LoadClassesSDK

BuildModule

Helper Methods

InitializeArrays

Usage Examples

Complete Initialization Flow

Type Hierarchy Navigation

GUID-Based Type Resolution

Working with Reflection Cache

Performance Considerations

Thread Safety

Best Practices