"Data stores can only accept valid UTF-8 characters."

PosFind · February 29, 2024, 2:48pm

Normally you can’t store tables directly to DataStores, but by formatting it to JSON format will allow you to turn tables into strings, which DataStore can work with.
local HS = game:GetService("HttpService")
local DSS = game:GetService("DataStoreService")

local DataStore = DSS:GetGlobalDataStore()
local myData = {
   foo = 123;
   bar = "abc";
}

-- SAVING DATA
local stringData = HS:JSONEncode(myData)
DataStore:SetAsync("Userdata",stringData)

-- LOADING DATA
local raw = DataStore:GetAsync("Userdata")
local mySavedData = HS:JSONDecode(raw)

print(mySavedData.foo) --> 123
However be wary that JSON only allows you to store either arrays or dictionaries, you can’t use both of them at once.

Please read this quoted post. That’s why I’m saying this, correct me if I’m wrong.

TomPlays63 · February 29, 2024, 2:49pm

You can save tables in a datastore but to you can also specifically convert something that can’t be saved in a datastore into JSONEncode().

PosFind · February 29, 2024, 2:50pm

To save:

local success, err
	repeat
		success, err = pcall(function()
			autoSavingStore:SetAsync(key, function()
				return game:GetService("HttpService"):JSONEncode(data)
			end)
		end)
		
		task.wait()
	until success

To load:

local function load(player: Player)
	local key = keyPrefix .. tostring(player.UserId)
	local success, err
	local data
	
	repeat
		success,err = pcall(function()
			data = autoSavingStore:GetAsync(key)
		end)
	until success or not players:FindFirstChild(player.Name)
	
	if not data then return end
	if success then
		data = game:GetService("HttpService"):JSONDecode(data)

PosFind · February 29, 2024, 2:53pm

Hmm. I didn’t know that. Thanks

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 2:54pm

is that correct?

local players = game:GetService("Players")
local dataStoreService = game:GetService("DataStoreService")
local autoSavingStore = dataStoreService:GetDataStore("F3XAutoSave")
local keyPrefix = "Player: "

local function save(player: Player)
	local key = keyPrefix .. tostring(player.UserId)
	local data = {}

	for i, obj: BasePart in ipairs(workspace:FindFirstChild("Builds"):WaitForChild(player.Name):GetDescendants()) do
		if obj:IsA("BasePart") then
			table.insert(data, {
				-- PART PROPERTIES
				obj.Name,
				obj.CanCollide,
				obj.Position.X,
				obj.Position.Y,
				obj.Position.Z,
				obj.Orientation.X,
				obj.Orientation.Y,
				obj.Orientation.Z,
				obj.Anchored,
				obj.Size.X,
				obj.Size.Y,
				obj.Size.Z,
				obj.Color.R,
				obj.Color.G,
				obj.Color.B,
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.TopSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.BottomSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.LeftSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.RightSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.BackSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.FrontSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				obj.Transparency,
				obj.Reflectance,
				string.match(tostring(obj.Material), "%.(%w+)$")
			})

			local success, err
			repeat
				success, err = pcall(function()
					autoSavingStore:SetAsync(key, function()
						return game:GetService("HttpService"):JSONEncode(data)
					end)
				end)

				task.wait()
			until success
		end
    end
end

local function load(player: Player)
	local key = keyPrefix .. tostring(player.UserId)
	local success, err
	local data

	repeat
		success,err = pcall(function()
			data = autoSavingStore:GetAsync(key)
		end)
	until success or not players:FindFirstChild(player.Name)

	if not data then return end
	if success then
		data = game:GetService("HttpService"):JSONDecode(data)
		for i, obj in ipairs(data) do
			local partInstance = Instance.new("Part")
			partInstance.Name=obj[1]
			partInstance.CanCollide=obj[2]
			partInstance.Position = Vector3.new(obj[3], obj[4], obj[5])
			partInstance.CFrame *= CFrame.Angles(math.rad(obj[6]),math.rad(obj[7]),math.rad(obj[8]))
			partInstance.Anchored=obj[9]
			partInstance.Size = Vector3.new(obj[10], obj[11], obj[12])
			partInstance.Color = Color3.new(obj[13],obj[14],obj[15])
			partInstance.TopSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[16]]
			partInstance.BottomSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[17]]
			partInstance.LeftSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[18]]
			partInstance.RightSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[19]]
			partInstance.BackSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[20]]
			partInstance.FrontSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[21]]
			partInstance.Transparency = obj[22]
			partInstance.Reflectance = obj[23]
			partInstance.Material = Enum.Material[obj[24]]
		end
	else
		warn(tostring(err))
	end
end

players.PlayerAdded:Connect(load)
players.PlayerRemoving:Connect(save)
game:BindToClose(function()
	for i, plr: Player in ipairs(players:GetPlayers()) do
		save(plr)
	end
end)

PosFind · February 29, 2024, 2:55pm

Yes, but this is probably not the cause for the error you’re facing.

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 2:57pm

i still get the error , it is not working

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 2:58pm

hold on a minute, i forgot to add the httpservice, i will add that rn mb

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 3:00pm

i added the httpservice variable and applied it but it still doesn’t work…

T3_MasterGamer · February 29, 2024, 3:32pm

try changing the colon to an underscore in the keyPrefix

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 3:34pm

the key is customizable, also when i tried to change it , didnt work.

Kolbxyz · February 29, 2024, 4:24pm

Hello,
I checked your script and the issue seems to occur because you’re using a function in SetAsync()

(which is what you should use for UpdateAsync

Here is the updated script:

local players = game:GetService("Players")
local dataStoreService = game:GetService("DataStoreService")
local autoSavingStore = dataStoreService:GetDataStore("FX3AutoSave")
local keyPrefix = "Player_"

local function save(player: Player)
	local key = keyPrefix .. tostring(player.UserId)
	local data = {}

	for i, obj: BasePart in ipairs(workspace:FindFirstChild("Builds"):WaitForChild(player.Name):GetDescendants()) do
		if obj:IsA("BasePart") then
			table.insert(data, {
				-- PART PROPERTIES
				obj.Name,
				obj.CanCollide,
				obj.CFrame.X,
				obj.CFrame.Y,
				obj.CFrame.Z,
				obj.Orientation.X,
				obj.Orientation.Y,
				obj.Orientation.Z,
				obj.Anchored,
				obj.Size.X,
				obj.Size.Y,
				obj.Size.Z,
				obj.Color.R,
				obj.Color.G,
				obj.Color.B,
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.TopSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.BottomSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.LeftSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.RightSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.BackSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				(string.match(tostring(workspace.Baseplate.FrontSurface), "%.(%w+)$")),
				obj.Transparency,
				obj.Reflectance,
				string.match(tostring(obj.Material), "%.(%w+)$")
			})


			local success, err
			repeat
				success, err = pcall(function()
					autoSavingStore:SetAsync(key, data)
				end)

				task.wait()
			until success

			if not success then
				warn(tostring(err))
			end
		end
	end
end
local function load(player: Player)
	local key = keyPrefix .. tostring(player.UserId)
	local success, err
	local data

	repeat
		success,err = pcall(function()
			data = autoSavingStore:GetAsync(key)
		end)
	until success or not players:FindFirstChild(player.Name)

	if not data then return end
	if success then
		for i, obj in ipairs(data) do
			local partInstance = Instance.new("Part")
			partInstance.Name=obj[1]
			partInstance.CanCollide=obj[2]
			partInstance.CFrame = CFrame.new(obj[3], obj[4], obj[5])
			partInstance.CFrame *= CFrame.Angles(math.rad(obj[6]),math.rad(obj[7]),math.rad(obj[8]))
			partInstance.Anchored=obj[9]
			partInstance.Size = Vector3.new(obj[10], obj[11], obj[12])
			partInstance.Color = Color3.new(obj[13],obj[14],obj[15])
			partInstance.TopSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[16]]
			partInstance.BottomSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[17]]
			partInstance.LeftSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[18]]
			partInstance.RightSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[19]]
			partInstance.BackSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[20]]
			partInstance.FrontSurface = Enum.SurfaceType[obj[21]]
			partInstance.Transparency = obj[22]
			partInstance.Reflectance = obj[23]
			partInstance.Material = Enum.Material[obj[24]]
		end
	else
		warn(tostring(err))
	end
end

players.PlayerAdded:Connect(load)
players.PlayerRemoving:Connect(save)
game:BindToClose(function()
	for i, plr: Player in ipairs(players:GetPlayers()) do
		save(plr)
	end
end)

Some people mentioned data serialization with JSONEncode & JSONDecode which might be a good practise but imo it makes data harder to manipulate and may fail.
Hope that helps!

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 4:32pm

thank you so muchhhh, this is worked just like what i wanted!

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 4:34pm

one question tho, how do i detect if the part have a decal so i add its options too

Kolbxyz · February 29, 2024, 4:37pm

You could do:

if part:FindFirstChildWhichIsA("Decal") then
    local decal = part:FindFirstChildWhichIsA("Decal")
    -- save decal --
end

I’d advice you to create a recursive function that serializes the properties into a table outside of the SaveData func, so basically, you’re executing that serialize func on an instance which runs itself on all of the instance’s children and so on until you reach the end.

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 4:42pm

alright thank you so much for your help!

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 5:21pm

i dont know where to put it, can you tell me where to put it and if it detected a decal it will make the decal with the options that are saved?

Kolbxyz · February 29, 2024, 6:24pm

I’ve made several changes in your script, here’s the updated version that should support both BasePart & Decals tho you can add more later!

please note there are already some serialization tools out there (RBLXSerialize - a easy to use and really cool all-in-one Roblox Serializer) for example; tho it was pretty fun working on this one.

local players = game:GetService("Players")
local dataStoreService = game:GetService("DataStoreService")
local autoSavingStore = dataStoreService:GetDataStore("FX3AutoSave")
local keyPrefix = "Player_"

local function serialize(obj: Instance | any)
	local _, properties = pcall(function()
		local r = {}
		r.Name = obj.Name
		r.ClassName = obj.ClassName
		r.Children = {}
		if obj:IsA("BasePart") then
			r.CanCollide = obj.CanCollide
			r.CFrameX = obj.CFrame.X
			r.CFrameY = obj.CFrame.Y
			r.CFrameZ = obj.CFrame.Z
			r.OrientationX = obj.Orientation.X
			r.OrientationY = obj.Orientation.Y
			r.OrientationZ = obj.Orientation.Z
			r.Anchored = obj.Anchored
			r.SizeX = obj.Size.X
			r.SizeY = obj.Size.Y
			r.SizeZ = obj.Size.Z
			r.ColorR = obj.Color.R
			r.ColorG = obj.Color.G
			r.ColorB = obj.Color.B
			r.TopSurface = (string.match(tostring(obj.TopSurface), "%.(%w+)$"))
			r.BottomSurface = (string.match(tostring(obj.BottomSurface), "%.(%w+)$"))
			r.LeftSurface = (string.match(tostring(obj.LeftSurface), "%.(%w+)$"))
			r.RightSurface = (string.match(tostring(obj.RightSurface), "%.(%w+)$"))
			r.BackSurface = (string.match(tostring(obj.BackSurface), "%.(%w+)$"))
			r.FrontSurface = (string.match(tostring(obj.FrontSurface), "%.(%w+)$"))
			r.Transparency = obj.Transparency
			r.Reflectance = obj.Reflectance
			r.Material = string.match(tostring(obj.Material), "%.(%w+)$")
		elseif obj:IsA("Decal") then
			-- Handle Decal properties
			r.Texture = obj.Texture
			r.Face = tostring(obj.Face)
			r.Transparency = obj.Transparency
			-- Add other Decal properties as needed
		else
			-- Handle other types of objects if needed
		end

		return r
	end)

	for i, v in pairs(obj:GetChildren()) do
		table.insert(properties.Children, serialize(v))
	end

	return properties
end

local function save(player: Player)
	local key = keyPrefix .. tostring(player.UserId)
	local data = {}

	for i, obj: BasePart in ipairs(workspace:FindFirstChild("Builds"):WaitForChild(player.Name):GetChildren()) do
		if obj:IsA("BasePart") then
			local s, serializedTable = pcall(function()
				return serialize(obj)
			end)

			if typeof(serializedTable) == "string" then
				warn(serializedTable)
				continue
			end

			table.insert(data, serializedTable)
		end
	end

	local success, err = pcall(function()
		print(data)
		autoSavingStore:SetAsync(key, data)
	end)

	if not success then
		warn(tostring(err))
	end
end

local function load(player: Player)
	local key = keyPrefix .. tostring(player.UserId)
	local success, err
	local data

	repeat
		success, err = pcall(function()
			data = autoSavingStore:GetAsync(key)
		end)
	until success or not players:FindFirstChild(player.Name)
	if not data then return end
	if success then
		for i, objData in pairs(data) do
			local function createInstance(objData)
				local instance
				if objData.Name and objData.ClassName then
					instance = Instance.new(objData.ClassName)
					instance.Name = objData.Name

					for property, value in pairs(objData) do
						if property ~= "Name" and property ~= "ClassName" and property ~= "Children" then
							if property == "CFrameX" or property == "CFrameY" or property == "CFrameZ" then
								instance.CFrame = CFrame.new(objData.CFrameX, objData.CFrameY, objData.CFrameZ)
							elseif property == "OrientationX" or property == "OrientationY" or property == "OrientationZ" then
								instance.Orientation = Vector3.new(objData.OrientationX, objData.OrientationY, objData.OrientationZ)
							elseif property == "ColorR" or property == "ColorG" or property == "ColorB" then
								instance.Color = Color3.new(objData.ColorR, objData.ColorG, objData.ColorB)
							elseif property == "SizeX" or property == "SizeY" or property == "SizeZ" then
								instance.Size = Vector3.new(objData.SizeX, objData.SizeY, objData.SizeZ)
							else
								instance[property] = value
							end
						end
					end

					if objData.Children then
						for _, childData in ipairs(objData.Children) do
							local childInstance = createInstance(childData)
							childInstance.Parent = instance
						end
					end
				end
				
				return instance
			end

			local partInstance = createInstance(objData)
			if partInstance then
				partInstance.Parent = workspace.Builds:WaitForChild(player.Name) -- Adjust the hierarchy based on your structure
			end
		end
	else
		warn(tostring(err))
	end
end


players.PlayerAdded:Connect(load)
players.PlayerRemoving:Connect(save)

game:BindToClose(function()
	for i, plr: Player in ipairs(players:GetPlayers()) do
		save(plr)
	end
end)

It might not be very optimized to save everything when a player leaves, i’d say you better to save when there’s a change in the game instead, imagine what may happen if the player tries to save a really big structure and the server closes before? That’d be an issue. But anyway, have fun!

Theraredude1234 · February 29, 2024, 6:34pm

works just like i expected,
about what you said about when a player leaves:
i made it saves every 3 minutes you build something

thank you so much

system · March 14, 2024, 6:35pm

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