Retrieving and Parsing Placeholders

Obtaining a PlaceholderParser

PlaceholderParsers are stored in the Sponge registry, meaning they can be obtained the same way as any other CatalogType:

Sponge.getRegistry().getType(PlaceholderParser.class, id);

Tip

Remember that the PlaceholderParser ID is of the form pluginid:placeholderid, for example sponge:name.

Creating Text from a PlaceholderParser

A PlaceholderParser requires a PlaceholderContext in order to generate an appropriate Text object. PlaceholderContexts can be created by using a PlaceholderContext.Builder obtained from the PlaceholderContext#builder() method.

The builder allows for the following optional context to be provided:

  • An associated object, allowing for the placeholder to modify its output (this will usually be a Player or other MessageReceiver)

  • An argument string that a PlaceholderParser can parse

A built PlaceholderContext can then be supplied to the PlaceholderParser by using PlaceholderParser#parse(PlaceholderContext).

For example, if you wish to include a player’s name using the sponge:name parser, you could do the following:

Player player = ...;

// We know this exists
PlaceholderParser parser = Sponge.getRegistry().getType(PlaceholderParser.class, "sponge:name").get();
PlaceholderContext context = PlaceholderContext.builder()
    .setAssociatedObject(player)
    .build();
Text text = parser.parse(context);

If the player name is “SpongePlayer”, the returned text will say SpongePlayer

Including Placeholders in Text

Placeholders can also be used in Text.of(...) and Text.Builder objects without parsing them first. Sponge provides a PlaceholderText object that bundles a PlaceholderParser and PlaceholderContext together into a TextRepresentable.

To create a PlaceholderText, use PlaceholderText#builder() and add the PlaceholderParser and PlaceholderContext objects as appropriate. You can then use the built PlaceholderText in the Text objects.

If you wished to use the parser and context from the previous example in Text.of(), you could write the following:

PlaceholderText placeholderText = PlaceholderText.builder().setContext(context).setParser(parser).build();
Text result = Text.of("Hello! Your name is ", placeholderText, "!");

The text will say “Hello! Your name is SpongePlayer!”

Note

A PlaceholderText will be parsed when the Text it is placed in is built, that is, either when placed in Text.of(...)`, or when added to a Text.Builder and Text.Builder#build() is called.