ContentProvider
Service that is used to load content, or assets, into a game.
The service's main use is to preload assets into a game. When a new asset such as a Decal or Sound is used in a game, Roblox will load the content associated with it from Roblox servers. In some cases, this can be undesirable for developers as it can lead to a delay before the content loads into the game.
With ContentProvider, developers can preload assets using the ContentProvider:PreloadAsync() function. Another useful property is ContentProvider.RequestQueueSize, which can be used to measure what proportion of assets in the request queue have been downloaded.
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
local LOGO_ID = "rbxassetid://658743164"
local PAGE_TURN_ID = "rbxassetid://12222076"
local decal = Instance.new("Decal")
decal.Texture = LOGO_ID
local sound = Instance.new("Sound")
sound.SoundId = PAGE_TURN_ID
local assets = { decal, sound }
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync(assets)
print("All assets loaded.")
Summary
Properties
Used by the ContentProvider to download assets from the Roblox website.
Gives the number of items in ContentProvider's request queue that need to be downloaded.
Methods
Sets ContentProvider.BaseUrl, which is used by CoreScripts to interact with the web APIs.
Yields until all of the assets associated with the given Instances have loaded.
Events
Properties
BaseUrl
Used by the ContentProvider to download assets from the Roblox website.
This URL points to a Roblox hosted website from which assets are downloaded and is pulled from the AppSettings.xml file, located in the version-hash folder.
It is possible to overwrite this property using the ContentProvider:SetBaseUrl() function in the command bar; however, this is not recommended and may cause asset loading issues.
RequestQueueSize
Gives the number of items in ContentProvider's request queue that need to be downloaded.
Items are added to the client's request queue when an asset is used for the first time or ContentProvider:PreloadAsync() is called.
Developers are advised not to use RequestQueueSize to create loading bars. This is because the queue size can both increase and decrease over time as new assets are added and downloaded. Developers looking to display loading progress should load assets one at a time (see example below).
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local localPlayer = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = localPlayer:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")
local screenGui = Instance.new("ScreenGui")
screenGui.Parent = playerGui
-- create a basic loading bar
local frame = Instance.new("Frame")
frame.Size = UDim2.new(0.5, 0, 0.1, 0)
frame.Position = UDim2.new(0.5, 0, 0.5, 0)
frame.AnchorPoint = Vector2.new(0.5, 0.5)
frame.Parent = screenGui
local bar = Instance.new("Frame")
bar.Size = UDim2.new(0, 0, 1, 0)
bar.Position = UDim2.new(0, 0, 0, 0)
bar.BackgroundColor3 = Color3.new(0, 0, 1)
bar.Parent = frame
local sound = Instance.new("Sound")
sound.SoundId = "rbxassetid://9120386436"
local sound2 = Instance.new("Sound")
sound2.SoundId = "rbxassetid://9120385974"
local assets = {
sound,
sound2,
}
task.wait(3)
for i = 1, #assets do
local asset = assets[i]
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync({ asset }) -- 1 at a time, yields
local progress = i / #assets
bar.Size = UDim2.new(progress, 0, 1, 0)
end
print("loading done")
Methods
SetBaseUrl
Sets ContentProvider.BaseUrl, which is used by CoreScripts to interact with the web APIs.
This function is restricted and intended for internal Roblox scripts. Although it can be used from the command line in Roblox Studio, developers are advised not to do this as it may prevent assets from loading.
Returns
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
ContentProvider:SetBaseUrl("http://www.roblox.com/")
UnregisterDefaultEncryptionKey
Returns
PreloadAsync
Yields until all of the assets associated with the given Instances have loaded and takes an array of Instances as a parameter.
This can be used to pause a script and not use content until it is certain that the content has been loaded into the game.
When the function is called, the engine will go through the array of instances (and all of the descendants of the passed-in instances). If any of the instances have a property that defines a link to content, such as a Decal or a Sound, then the function will attempt to load the asset from the Roblox website. If any of the assets fail to load, an error message will appear in the output, but the PreloadAsync function itself will not error and will continue executing until it has processed each passed-in instance.
Returns
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
local sound = Instance.new("Sound")
sound.SoundId = "rbxassetid://9120386436"
local decal = Instance.new("Decal")
decal.Texture = "rbxassetid://5447528495"
local assets = {
decal,
sound,
"rbxassetid://5173222739",
"rbxthumb://type=Avatar&w=100&h=100&id=269323",
}
-- Preload the content and time it
local startTime = os.clock()
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync(assets)
local deltaTime = os.clock() - startTime
print(("Preloading complete, took %.2f seconds"):format(deltaTime))