I currently have a plugin that allows a user to simulate the physics of a list of parts in edit mode.
Currently it doesn’t run scripts inside of the simulated assemblies. I want to add the option to select which scripts to run during simulation and actually run them without the user needing to modify the scripts beforehand, but i dont know how to. i want to run it in such a way that i can run, stop and restart when the user start/stops the simulation. how can i achieve this?
Since plugins have access to script.source, I’d imagine you could automatically replace any "script.Parent"s with game.Workspace.blahblah.doodad, and then use the (incredibly insecure for normal use!!!) loadstring() function. Dunno how exactly it would have to be put together, but I hope this helps nonetheless.
isnt loadstring() retricted? plugins using it cant be dsitributed.
Maybe. I haven’t looked too much into it until just now be honest.
I just looked at another thread (Script Runner: Run scripts without running the game) and OP said the plugin got removed.
Look at this, too:
Nevermind what I said before lol because you definitely can’t upload plugins that use loadtring() or otherwise execute scripts for any reason, BUT it seems like you can use it personally as a local plugin. if you’re unsure probably CTRL+F the Terms Of Service for plugin stuff.
im looking into this atm, the only issue is that if a script is run, and has connections inside of it, even if you were to delete the script, those connections still persist. im looking for a way to completely stop a script from running when needed.
I’m not sure, then. I’m sorry I can’t help much more. I hope you find something that works!!
thats fine thanks for the little help. currently i decided to take the LONG route and created a function that reads through the source of a script, stores every connection into a non local variable, insert them into a table, and returns it at the end:
Original Test Code
-- Test script for connection detection
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")
local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService")
RunService.Heartbeat:Connect(function()
print("Heartbeat")
end)
local mouseConnection = UserInputService.InputBegan:Connect(function(input)
if input.UserInputType == Enum.UserInputType.MouseButton1 then
print("Mouse clicked")
end
end)
local keyboardConnection = UserInputService.InputEnded:Connect(function(input)
if input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.Space then
print("Space released")
elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.W then
print("W released")
end
end)
local function playerAdded(player)
print(player.Name .. " joined the game")
player.CharacterAdded:Connect(function(character)
print(player.Name .. "'s character spawned")
end)
end
Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(playerAdded)
if true then
local conditionalConnection = RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function()
print("RenderStepped")
end)
end
Modified Code
local SCRIPTCONNECTIONS = {}
-- Test script for connection detection
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")
local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService")
connection_7 = RunService.Heartbeat:Connect(function()
print("Heartbeat")
end)
mouseConnection = UserInputService.InputBegan:Connect(function(input)
if input.UserInputType == Enum.UserInputType.MouseButton1 then
print("Mouse clicked")
end
end)
keyboardConnection = UserInputService.InputEnded:Connect(function(input)
if input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.Space then
print("Space released")
elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.W then
print("W released")
end
end)
local function playerAdded(player)
print(player.Name .. " joined the game")
connection_28 = player.CharacterAdded:Connect(function(character)
print(player.Name .. "'s character spawned")
end)
end
connection_33 = Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(playerAdded)
if true then
conditionalConnection = RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function()
print("RenderStepped")
end)
end
-- Collect all connections
table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, connection_7)
table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, mouseConnection)
table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, keyboardConnection)
table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, connection_28)
table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, connection_33)
table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, conditionalConnection)
return SCRIPTCONNECTIONS
with this i should theoretically be able to disconnect these remotely when needed. Hopefully…
the method works! i created a test plugin to show it working. It converts any script into a module that returns its connections, so that you can disconnect them afterwards.
code:
local env = script.Parent
local gui = env.Frame
local startButton = gui.Start
local stopButton = gui.Stop
local toolbar = plugin:CreateToolbar("Script Runner")
local openButton = toolbar:CreateButton("toggleOpen", "", "", "Open")
local currentScript = nil
local connections = {}
-- Simple connection processor
local function processScriptConnections(scriptSource)
-- Create a new script with the SCRIPTCONNECTIONS table at the top
local newSource = "local SCRIPTCONNECTIONS = {}\n\n"
-- Split the script into lines
local lines = {}
local connectionVars = {}
for line in scriptSource:gmatch("([^\n]*)\n?") do
table.insert(lines, line)
end
-- Process each line
for i, line in ipairs(lines) do
-- Look for connections
if line:find(":[Cc]onnect%(") then
-- Is this already a variable assignment?
if line:match("^%s*local%s+([%w_]+)%s*=") then
-- It's a local variable, change to non-local
local varName = line:match("^%s*local%s+([%w_]+)%s*=")
newSource = newSource .. line:gsub("^%s*local%s+", "") .. "\n"
table.insert(connectionVars, varName)
elseif line:match("^%s*([%w_]+)%s*=") then
-- Already a non-local variable, keep as is
local varName = line:match("^%s*([%w_]+)%s*=")
newSource = newSource .. line .. "\n"
table.insert(connectionVars, varName)
else
-- Inline connection, create a non-local variable
local varName = "connection_" .. i
local indent = line:match("^(%s*)")
newSource = newSource .. indent .. varName .. " = " .. line:gsub("^%s*", "") .. "\n"
table.insert(connectionVars, varName)
end
else
-- Not a connection, keep the line as is
newSource = newSource .. line .. "\n"
end
end
-- Add code to collect connections at the end
newSource = newSource .. "\n-- Collect all connections\n"
for _, varName in ipairs(connectionVars) do
newSource = newSource .. "table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, " .. varName .. ")\n"
end
-- Add return statement
newSource = newSource .. "\nreturn SCRIPTCONNECTIONS"
-- Create the module script
local moduleScript = Instance.new("ModuleScript")
moduleScript.Name = "ConnectionsModule"
moduleScript.Source = newSource
return moduleScript
end
local dockWidgetInfo = DockWidgetPluginGuiInfo.new(
Enum.InitialDockState.Float,
false,
false,
100,
100,
100,
100
)
local dockWidget = plugin:CreateDockWidgetPluginGui("Script Loader", dockWidgetInfo)
gui.Parent = dockWidget
openButton.Click:Connect(function()
dockWidget.Enabled = not dockWidget.Enabled
end)
startButton.Activated:Connect(function()
local originalScript = game.Selection:Get()[1]
if not originalScript:IsA("Script") and not originalScript:IsA("LocalScript") then return end
local processedScript = processScriptConnections(originalScript.Source)
processedScript.Name = originalScript.Name .. "_PLUGIN"
processedScript.Parent = originalScript.Parent
currentScript = processedScript
connections = require(processedScript)
end)
stopButton.Activated:Connect(function()
for _, connection in connections do
connection:Disconnect()
connection = nil
end
currentScript:Destroy()
end)
the proccessScriptConnections is what detects the connections in the source and stores them into a table.
Example:
Caveats:
while it can run scripts with a while true loop, it is unable to stop it, so avoid doing that.
Cool! But can’t you just do
local epic = true
while epic do
--code
end
function cutthatout()
epic = false --stops it
end
i did, wanted to also handle scripts with while true loops, but i found out that code under while loops will never run, since the while loops runs forever, so a module with it never returns anything, the script will still run but you would wouldnt be able to stop it.
Heres an example of a free model script after being converted with the function:
local SCRIPTCONNECTIONS = {}
local SCRIPTINSTANCES = {}
local success, errorMessage = pcall(function()
b = script.Parent
x = 0
while true do
b.Color = Color3.fromHSV(x,1,1)
x = x + 1/255 -- you can change the increment to speed/slow up the changing effect (eg: 3/500, 10/255, 0.5/255, etc.)
if x >= 1 then
x = 0
end
wait()
end
end)
--code after this will never run, so the module will never return.
return {Connections = SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, Instances = SCRIPTINSTANCES, ErrorMsg = errorMessage}
im sure there IS a way to handle this, but currently i dont know a good method.
Is it not possible for the plugin to convert any "while true do"s to "function blahblah()"s?
that is possible, but what after? return it to recreate the while true outside of the module?
Ok, so thanks to that i was able to figure something out. Like you said i detect the while true loop and convert it into a function.
Original Example Script:
Modified Script:
Using the returned function i spawn a thread that recreates the loop, storing the thread.
then simply calling task.cancel on the thread to stop it from running.
Result:
I turned this into a module script incase anyone else needs this for their plugins, i have also added tracking for instances created in the script with either Instance.New() or Instance:Clone(). They get destroyed upon cleanup.
local ScriptRuntime = {}
ScriptRuntime.__index = ScriptRuntime
local RuntimeScript = {}
RuntimeScript.__index = RuntimeScript
local function ParseScript(scriptSource)
-- Create a new script with the tracking tables and loop function at the top
local newSource = "local SCRIPTCONNECTIONS = {}\n"
newSource = newSource .. "local SCRIPTINSTANCES = {}\n"
newSource = newSource .. "local LOOP_FUNCTION = nil\n\n"
newSource = newSource .. "local success, errorMessage = pcall(function()\n"
-- Split the script into lines
local lines = {}
local connectionVars = {}
local instanceVars = {}
local insideLoop = false
local loopStart = 0
local loopEnd = 0
local indentLevel = ""
for line in scriptSource:gmatch("([^\n]*)\n?") do
table.insert(lines, line)
end
-- First pass to find while true loop
for i, line in ipairs(lines) do
if line:match("%s*while%s+true%s+do%s*") and not insideLoop then
insideLoop = true
loopStart = i
indentLevel = line:match("^(%s*)")
elseif insideLoop and line:match("^" .. indentLevel .. "end%s*") then
insideLoop = false
loopEnd = i
break -- Only process the first while true loop
end
end
-- Helper function to process connections and instances
local function processLine(line, lineIndex)
local processedLine = line
-- Look for connections
if line:find(":[Cc]onnect%(") then
if line:match("^%s*local%s+([%w_]+)%s*=") then
local varName = line:match("^%s*local%s+([%w_]+)%s*=")
processedLine = line:gsub("^%s*local%s+", "")
table.insert(connectionVars, varName)
elseif line:match("^%s*([%w_]+)%s*=") then
local varName = line:match("^%s*([%w_]+)%s*=")
table.insert(connectionVars, varName)
else
local varName = "connection_" .. lineIndex
local indent = line:match("^(%s*)")
processedLine = indent .. varName .. " = " .. line:gsub("^%s*", "")
table.insert(connectionVars, varName)
end
-- Look for Instance.new calls OR Clone() calls
elseif line:find("Instance%.new%(") or line:find(":[Cc]lone%(") then
if line:match("^%s*local%s+([%w_]+)%s*=") then
local varName = line:match("^%s*local%s+([%w_]+)%s*=")
processedLine = line:gsub("^%s*local%s+", "")
table.insert(instanceVars, varName)
elseif line:match("^%s*([%w_]+)%s*=") then
local varName = line:match("^%s*([%w_]+)%s*=")
table.insert(instanceVars, varName)
else
local varName = "instance_" .. lineIndex
local indent = line:match("^(%s*)")
processedLine = indent .. varName .. " = " .. line:gsub("^%s*", "")
table.insert(instanceVars, varName)
end
end
return processedLine
end
-- Process each line
for i, line in ipairs(lines) do
-- Special handling for loop
if i == loopStart and loopStart > 0 then
-- Convert while true to LOOP_FUNCTION definition
newSource = newSource .. indentLevel .. "LOOP_FUNCTION = function()\n"
elseif i == loopEnd and loopEnd > 0 then
-- Close the function definition
newSource = newSource .. indentLevel .. "end\n"
elseif i > loopStart and i < loopEnd and loopStart > 0 then
-- Process lines inside the loop
local processedLine = processLine(line, i)
newSource = newSource .. processedLine .. "\n"
else
-- Process lines outside the loop
local processedLine = processLine(line, i)
newSource = newSource .. processedLine .. "\n"
end
end
-- Add code to collect connections at the end (still inside pcall)
newSource = newSource .. "\n-- Collect all connections\n"
for _, varName in ipairs(connectionVars) do
newSource = newSource .. "table.insert(SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, " .. varName .. ")\n"
end
-- Add code to collect instances at the end (still inside pcall)
newSource = newSource .. "\n-- Collect all instances\n"
for _, varName in ipairs(instanceVars) do
newSource = newSource .. "table.insert(SCRIPTINSTANCES, " .. varName .. ")\n"
end
-- Close the pcall function
newSource = newSource .. "end)\n\n"
-- Add return statement (outside pcall)
newSource = newSource .. "return {Connections = SCRIPTCONNECTIONS, Instances = SCRIPTINSTANCES, LoopFunction = LOOP_FUNCTION, ErrorMsg = errorMessage}"
-- Create the module script
local moduleScript = Instance.new("ModuleScript")
moduleScript.Name = "ConnectionsModule"
moduleScript.Source = newSource
return moduleScript
end
function ScriptRuntime.NewScript(originalScript)
local self = setmetatable({}, RuntimeScript)
--Parse Script
local success, processedScript = pcall(function()
return ParseScript(originalScript.Source)
end)
if not success then
warn("Failed to process the script: " .. tostring(processedScript))
return
end
processedScript.Name = originalScript.Name .. "_RUNTIME"
processedScript.Parent = originalScript.Parent
self.Script = processedScript
return self
end
function RuntimeScript:Execute()
-- Try to run the script
local runSuccess, result = pcall(function()
return require(self.Script)
end)
if not runSuccess then
warn("Error running the processed script: " .. tostring(result))
else
if result then
self.Connections = result.Connections or {}
self.Instances = result.Instances or {}
self.LoopFunction = result.LoopFunction
if result.ErrorMsg then
warn("Script reported an error: " .. tostring(result.ErrorMsg))
self:Terminate()
end
if self.LoopFunction then
self.LoopThread = task.spawn(function()
while true do
self.LoopFunction()
end
end)
end
else
warn("Script didn't return an expected result")
end
end
end
function RuntimeScript:Terminate()
if not self.Connections and not self.Instances and not self.LoopFunction then
return
end
for _, connection in pairs(self.Connections) do
connection:Disconnect()
connection = nil
end
table.clear(self.Connections)
for _, instance in pairs(self.Instances) do
instance:Destroy()
instance = nil
end
if self.LoopThread then
task.cancel(self.LoopThread)
self.LoopThread = nil
end
table.clear(self.Instances)
end
function RuntimeScript:Destroy()
self:Terminate()
self.Script:Destroy()
self.Script = nil
end
return ScriptRuntime
That’s awesome dude!! I’m glad you figured something out. I didn’t think to do task.cancel but that makes so much sense.
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