add_Shape function

Question

Does the addshape function has any use? I tried using it with the collisionShape node but doesn't seem to do anything. on the other hand the usual addchild works for both collisionShapes and regular node objects.

Answer 1

This function doesn't adds a child node, it adds a shape to the collision node, and this is the correct behaviour.
For this reason, the CollisionShape node exists as an editor helper, but in reality shapes are not nodes: http://docs.godotengine.org/en/latest/tutorials/2d/physics_introduction.html#collisionshape2d

Comments

I'm still having problems with my implementation. I'm not sure if you can spot my mistake based on the code below.

    #create a Area object
    var area = Area.new()
    #add the area as a child node
    self.add_child(area)
    #connect body_enter Signal to Area
    area.connect("body_enter", self, "_on_Area_body_enter")
    #create a collsionShape
    var collisionShape = CollisionShape.new()
    #add the coliision shape as child of area
    area.add_child(collisionShape)
    #configure the collsion shape
    collisionShape.set_shape(BoxShape.new())
    #adjust the shapes size
    collisionShape.get_shape().set_extents(Vector3(currentMoveSpaces * 10, 1, currentMoveSpaces * 10))
    #set the colliderShape to be a triiger
    collisionShape.set_trigger(true

)

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I've also notice that while checking the remote Inspector, there seems to be a child node created under each and all CollisionShape nodes during runtime except for the object that I wish to add a CollisionShape to at runtime.

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You don't need a CollisionShape node at all, because that's only used in the editor. When adding a collision shape with script you have to do it differently. This code should work:

# create an Area object
var area = Area.new()
# add the area as a child node
self.add_child(area)
# connect body_enter Signal to Area
area.connect("body_enter", self, "_on_Area_body_enter")
# create a BoxShape
var col = BoxShape.new()
# adjust the BoxShape size
col.set_extents(Vector3(currentMoveSpaces * 10, 1, currentMoveSpaces * 10))
# add BoxShape to Area object
area.add_shape(col, Transform()) # Change the Transform() if you need to change the position
# set the shape of Area to be a trigger
area.set_shape_as_trigger(0, true) # This requires the shape index, since there's only one shape it will be 0

you add a shape with area.add_shape(shape, transform), the transform can be used to change the rotation, scale, and position of the shape relative to the parent.

To set the shape as a trigger you have to call area.set_shape_as_trigger(shape_index, bool), since you're adding only one shape the index will be 0.

Note this is the same for all CollisionObject's, both 3D and 2D.