Zugg Software :: View topic

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:24 pm

I've just finished an update of the help files, fixing very nearly all of the things that people have commented on, adding some articles that should've existed but didn't, and moving some stuff around too. Make sure you download the latest files inside CMUD.

My thanks to all the people who commented on the help articles. Without your help, it would've been much, much slower going. It's very likely that there are still errors and omissions out there - don't hesitate to leave a comment if you find anything out of order or have any suggestions for improvement.

If you find an article with comments dated before today that hasn't been updated, please leave a note here. It's highly likely that I've missed some. I'm aware of these three (1)(2)(3) already, but getting those done is going to require a bit more work.

You'll probably have noticed as well that there are quite a few different styles of help file around, with different ways of giving examples, using titles and so on. I hope to eventually minimise (even get rid of) these differences, but as you can imagine, it's a mammoth task and I only have one pair of hands.

Apprentice Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 173

Wow great job Fang, is there any chance you can add entries for all the missing "predefined variables"?

%action the action executed from the last trigger
%caption returns menu caption for speedmenus created by list format
%char the name of your MUD character
%class name of current default class
%cr a carrige return character
%crlf a carrige return and a linefeed character, together they are called newline
%lf a linefeed character
%ctime the number of seconds you have been connected to the MUD

%curwin the name of the active MUD window
%def current list of special characters
%host the host name of the current MUD
%i same as %repeatnum
%ioresult the result of the last I/O command, 0 if it was successful
%ip the current IP address of your computer
%key the current key value of a record variable within the #LOOPDB command
%lastcom the last command executed
%lastcom2 the command before the last command executed

%lastcom3 the command before %lastcom2
%lastinput the last line of commands executed
%lastin2 the line before the last line of commands executed
%line the last line received from the MUD
%line2 the line before the last line received
%line3 the line before the line before the last line received
%linecol color attribute of the first character in the current line
%mud retrieve an MXP entity (variable). For example %mud.hp would retrieve the entity called "hp"

%mxp retrieve arguments from MXP tag within an MXP Trigger. For example, <COLOR red> results in %mxp.fore="red"
%names returns a string list of all open window names
%null an empty variable value
%param1 the first parameter from the last trigger match
%param2..%param99 the parameters from the last trigger match
%port the current port connected to
%random a random number from 0 to 99
%rec the current database record

%repeatnum the current index during repeating commands, or loop command
%secs the number of milliseconds since midnight
%selected returns the text currently selected in the output or command buffer
%selline returns line that was right-clicked on
%selpos returns column number that was right-clicked on
%selword returns word that was right-clicked on
%session the current zMUDSession COM object for the current window

%tick returns the number of seconds on the tick timer
%title the title of the current MUD
%trigger the line that caused the last trigger
%val the current value of a record variable key within the #LOOPDB command
%version current version of zMUD. For example, v5.30 is returned as 530
%window the name of the current window
%zmap returns whether the zMapper program is active as a plugin

%zmud the global zMUDApplication COM object
%1..%99 the patterns enclosed in () saved by the trigger or parameters passed to an alias
%%1..%%99 used to keep %nn from being expanded when creating a setting and with =~
%t1..%t99 the patterns enclosed in () from any trigger state saved by the trigger
%x1..%x99 the XStart and XEnd positions of patterns matched in the trigger

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:45 pm

They're not missing, they're right here. If you search the CMUD Manual for "predefined variables", you'll find it.

Apprentice Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 173

I was referring to individual entries.

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:47 am

The only differences that I see between your list and the one in the help file is that %zmud has been changed to %cmud, %%n has been removed, and some have been added. Did you mean something else?

The list will have to be updated a little for 2.0, if that's what you mean.

Enchanter Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 698

Maybe he wants code snippet examples that use those entities? They seem rather easy to figure out but then, I've used zMUD for many, many years.

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 8:14 am

Oh, I seeeeeeee. Sorry, it's early in the morning :P

The trouble with individual articles for them all is that it'd be very spammy and I'm not sure if there'd be a massive benefit. Most of them are pretty self-explanatory and the ones that aren't (like %mxp) are explained elsewhere.

Apprentice Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 173

No it's just that you have to find backdoors for things. You have to read every document to find these variables, and then remember where you found them. If it's an "intrinsic" feature of the z/cmud language it should have a help doc associated to it. I don't mind missing code snippets, I just want all the features to be mentioned in the same place, and not thru articles.

Apprentice Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 173

If you type things like #HELP line from the prompt it'd be nice to be able to say for certain, "oh yeah, that's the right thing."

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:38 pm

If we were using a truly wiki-like KB, it'd be easy to set up redirects. It's going to take a bit more thought about what exactly to do with them given the current KB software - I do get your point, though.

Wizard Joined: 14 Aug 2004 Posts: 1269

Basically if there were an index (like in the zMUD help), and the predefined variables were listed in the index, that would solve the issue, even just keeping the existing single page... That would be a job for Zugg, though, I guess. In the actual CMUD help, being able to bookmark a particular help page (like in some help file formats) would also be nice.

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:35 pm

You shouldn't need an index when you can just do a search. In the CMUD Help window, enter "%curwin" (without the quotes of course) into the search bar and click the Search button. It displays the "Predefined Variables" page. Easy.

For the online files, select "Search" from the "Site" menu above and then select "Search Knowledge Base". Enter %curwin and click Submit. You'll see two matches: the zMUD Predefined Variables page, and the CMUD Predefined Variables page.

Search is your friend.

Wizard Joined: 14 Aug 2004 Posts: 1269

That's all very well, but how about for people that don't know about the CMUD Predefined Variables page, and who don't know about %curwin, etc. It's not very obvious where to find in the Contents...

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:45 pm

The Predefined Variables page is being moved into the "Scripting Reference" section. That should make it a bit easier to find.