GUI Engine

# GUIEngine GUIEngine is a lightweight, flexible API for creating interactive GUI menus in Minecraft Paper servers (1.21.4). Instead of writing repetitive inventory code for each menu in your plugins, GUIEngine provides a clean, reusable system to create rich interactive interfaces. ## Purpose GUIEngine is designed as a dependency for other plugins, providing a standardized way to: - Create custom inventory menus with interactive buttons - Handle player clicks and interactions - Manage menu navigation and state - Create dynamic, responsive interfaces It functions similar to other utility plugins like Vault or ProtocolLib, but focused exclusively on GUI management. ## Key Features - **Simple API**: Create complex menus with minimal code - **Interactive Buttons**: Add clickable buttons with custom actions - **Menu Navigation**: Easily handle sub-menus and menu linking - **Dynamic Updates**: Update menu contents in real-time - **Builder Pattern**: Create menus using a clean, fluent API - **Resource Management**: Automatic cleanup of resources - **Event Handling**: Properly integrates with Bukkit's event system - **Clean Architecture**: Well-organized code for easy extension ## How It Works GUIEngine consists of five core components: ### 1. GUIEngine (Core) The main plugin class that initializes the system, registers event listeners, and provides access points for other plugins. ### 2. GUI (Menu) Represents an inventory menu with slots for buttons. Each GUI handles its own layout and button mapping. ### 3. GUIButton (Buttons) Interactive items within menus that can trigger actions when clicked. Buttons can execute code, send messages, open other menus, etc. ### 4. GUIManager (State Manager) Keeps track of which menu is open for each player and manages the opening/closing of menus. ### 5. InventoryListener (Event Handler) Intercepts inventory events and routes them to the appropriate GUI components. ## How to Use ### Adding as a Dependency First, add GUIEngine as a dependency in your plugin.yml: ```yaml depend: ``` Then, add it to your Maven/Gradle build file. For Maven: ```xml <dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>com.gui.engine</groupId> <artifactId>gui-engine</artifactId> <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version> <scope>provided</scope> </dependency> </dependencies> ``` ### Creating a Basic Menu Here's a simple example showing how to create and display a menu: ```java // Create a new GUI with 3 rows (27 slots) GUI myMenu = new GUI("§6§lMy Menu", 3); // Add a button that sends a message when clicked GUIButton messageButton = new GUIButton( Material.PAPER, "§e§lClick Me", Arrays.asList("§7Click to receive", "§7a message"), (player, gui, button, slot) -> { player.sendMessage("§aYou clicked the button!"); return true; } ); // Add a button that closes the menu GUIButton closeButton = new GUIButton( Material.BARRIER, "§c§lClose", (player, gui, button, slot) -> { player.closeInventory(); return true; } ); // Place buttons in specific slots myMenu.setButton(13, messageButton); myMenu.setButton(26, closeButton); // Open the menu for a player myMenu.open(player); ``` ### Using the Builder Pattern You can also use the builder pattern for cleaner menu creation: ```java GUI menu = new GUI.Builder() .title("§6§lMy Menu") .rows(3) .build(); // Then add buttons and open as normal ``` ### Dynamic Button Updates Buttons can update themselves in response to clicks: ```java GUIButton counterButton = new GUIButton( Material.EMERALD, "§a§lClicks: §f0", (player, gui, button, slot) -> { // Extract current count from name String name = ChatColor.stripColor(button.getItem().getItemMeta().getDisplayName()); int count = Integer.parseInt(name.split(": ")) + 1; // Update button name button.setName("§a§lClicks: §f" + count); // Update the inventory display gui.updateInventory(); return true; } ); ``` ### Sub-Menus and Navigation You can easily create navigation systems between menus: ```java // In your main menu creation: GUIButton settingsButton = new GUIButton( Material.REDSTONE_TORCH, "§b§lSettings", (player, gui, button, slot) -> { openSettingsMenu(player); // Your method to create/open settings menu return true; } ); // And in your settings menu: GUIButton backButton = new GUIButton( Material.ARROW, "§e§lBack", (player, gui, button, slot) -> { openMainMenu(player); // Your method to create/open main menu return true; } ); ``` ## Advanced Features ### Custom Button Actions You can create different types of button actions: ```java // Teleport button GUIButton teleportButton = new GUIButton( Material.ENDER_PEARL, "§5§lTeleport to Spawn", (player, gui, button, slot) -> { player.closeInventory(); player.teleport(player.getWorld().getSpawnLocation()); player.sendMessage("§aTeleported to spawn!"); return true; } ); // Command execution button GUIButton commandButton = new GUIButton( Material.COMMAND_BLOCK, "§c§lExecute Command", (player, gui, button, slot) -> { player.closeInventory(); player