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Applied Energistics 2 Integration

PhoenixCore provides advanced AE2 integration components that simplify item and fluid management for complex GTM multiblocks.

1. ME Tag Input Bus (METagInputBusPartMachine)

The ME Tag Input Bus is a powerful alternative to standard AE2 export buses. Instead of manually specifying items, it uses string expressions to dynamically filter and pull items from the network.

Key Features:

  • Expression-Based Filtering: Supports whitelist and blacklist expressions (e.g., #forge:ores/iron, *ingot).
  • Dynamic Configuration: Automatically scans the connected ME network and populates its internal "Config" slots with matching items.
  • Large Stack Support: Handles Long based quantities, allowing for massive item buffers.
  • Data Stick Integration: Configuration can be copied and pasted between buses using a GTM Data Stick.

2. ME Tag Input Hatch (METagInputHatchPartMachine)

Similar to the Input Bus, the ME Tag Input Hatch provides expression-based filtering for fluids.

Key Features:

  • Fluid Tag Support: Pulls all fluids matching a specific tag from the ME network.
  • High Capacity: Designed for high-tier multiblocks that require large volumes of diverse fluids (like the Phoenix Infuser).

3. Machine Implementation

These components extend GTM's base AE2 integration (MEBusPartMachine) but add a custom UI and logic layer for expression parsing.

Tag Matching Logic (TagMatcher):

The core logic for expression parsing resides in the TagMatcher utility. It allows for: - Item/Fluid Name Matches: Direct string matching (e.g., iron_ingot). - Tag Matches: Prefixing with # (e.g., #forge:dusts). - Wildcards: Using * for partial matches (e.g., *uranium*).

4. UI Widgets

PhoenixCore includes custom AE2-styled UI widgets: - MultilineTextFieldWidget: Used to input long expression strings in the bus/hatch interfaces. - LargeAmountPreviewWidget: A specialized widget that can render Long quantities as compact strings (e.g., 1.2M), which standard AE2 widgets might struggle with.

5. Development Tips

  • Grid Nodes: These parts are active AE2 Grid Nodes. They require a network connection and consume AE2 energy (AE).
  • Network Scanning: The updateConfigurationFromTags() method is called periodically (every 20 ticks) to ensure the bus is always tracking newly added items in the network that match its filter.
  • Auto-IO: These parts handle their own IO logic via autoIO(), which pulls from the grid and pushes into the machine's input buffers.