1 % InfoLib At Your Fingertips
2 % Roger Firth <roger@firthworks.com>
4 A quick reference to the Inform Library.
6 Copyright © 2002 Roger Firth <roger@firthworks.com>. Copying and
7 distribution, with or without modification, are permitted in any
8 medium without royalty provided the copyright notice and this notice
11 <http://www.firthworks.com/roger/>
13 Version 1.5 (March 2002)
15 The road to brevity is via solecism and imprecision.
20 `compass` - A `container` object holding the twelve direction objects
21 `d_obj` `e_obj` `in_obj` `n_obj` `ne_obj` `nw_obj` `out_obj` `s_obj`
22 `se_obj` `sw_obj` `u_obj` `w_obj`.
24 `LibraryMessages` - If defined (between Includes of `Parser` and
25 `VerbLib`), changes standard library messages:
27 Object LibraryMessages
31 action : switch (lm_n) {
33 value : "string ",(a) lm_o,".";
39 `selfobj` - The default player object. Avoid: use instead the `player`
40 variable, which usually refers to `selfobj`.
42 `thedark` - A pseudo-room which becomes the `location` when there is
43 no light (although the player object is not moved there).
48 In addition to the standard constants `true` (1), `false` (0) and
49 `nothing` (0), the Library defines `NULL` (-1) for an action, property
50 or pronoun whose current value is undefined.
52 User-defined constants
53 ----------------------
55 Some constants control features rather than represent values.
57 AMUSING_PROVIDED - Activates the `Amusing` entry_point.
59 DEATH_MENTION_UNDO - Offers "UNDO the last move" when the game is
62 DEBUG - Activates the debug commands.
64 Headline = "*string*" - **Mandatory**: the game style, copyright
67 MANUAL_PRONOUNS - Pronouns reflect only objects mentioned by the
70 MAX_CARRIED = *expr* - Maximum number of direct possessions that the
71 player can carry (default 100).
73 MAX_SCORE = *expr* - Maximum game score (default 0).
75 MAX_TIMERS = *expr* - Maximum number of active timers/daemons
78 NO_PLACES - The "`OBJECTS`" and "`PLACES`" verbs are not allowed.
80 NUMBER_TASKS = *expr* - Number of `scored` tasks to be performed
83 OBJECT_SCORE = *expr* - For taking a `scored` object for the first
86 ROOM_SCORE = *expr* - For visiting a `scored` room for the first time
89 SACK_OBJECT = *object* - A `container` object where the game places
92 Story = "*string*" - **Mandatory**: the name of the story.
94 TASKS_PROVIDED - Activates the task scoring system.
96 USE_MODULES - Activates linking with pre-compiled library modules.
98 WITHOUT_DIRECTIONS - De-activates standard compass directions (bar
99 "IN" and "OUT"). Place alternative directions in the compass.
104 action - The current *action*.
106 actor - The target of an instruction: the player, or an NPC.
108 deadflag - Normally 0: 1 indicates a regular death, 2 indicates that
109 the player has won, 3 or more denotes a user-defined end.
111 inventory_stage - Used by `invent` and `list_together` properties.
113 keep_silent - Normally false; true makes most group 2 actions silent.
115 location - The player's current room; unless that's dark, when it
116 contains `thedark`, `real_location` contains the room.
118 notify_mode - Normally `true`: `false` remains silent when score
121 noun - The primary focus object for the current action.
123 player - The object acting on behalf of the human player.
125 real_location -The player's current room when in the dark.
127 score - The current score.
129 second - The secondary focus object for the current action.
131 self - The object which received a message. (Note: a run-time
132 variable, not a compile-time constant.)
134 sender - The object which sent a message (or `nothing`).
136 task_scores - A byte array holding scores for the task scoring
139 the_time - The game's clock, in minutes 0..1439 since midnight.
141 turns - The game's turn counter.
143 wn - The input stream word number, counting from 1.