§A6   Answers to all the exercises

World is crazier and more of it than we think,
Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion
A tangerine and spit the pips and feel
The drunkenness of things being various.
— Louis MacNeice (1907–1963), Snow

Exercises in Chapter II

mushroom_picked,
after [;
    Take: if (self.mushroom_picked)
              "You pick up the slowly-disintegrating mushroom.";
          self.mushroom_picked = true;
          "You pick the mushroom, neatly cleaving its thin stalk.";
    Drop: "The mushroom drops to the ground, battered slightly.";
],

Note that the mushroom is allowed to call itself self instead of mushroom, though it doesn't have to.

Object Square_Chamber "Square Chamber"
  with description
           "A sunken, gloomy stone chamber, ten yards across. A shaft
           of sunlight cuts in from the steps above, giving the chamber
           a diffuse light, but in the shadows low lintelled doorways
           lead east and south into the deeper darkness of the
           Temple.",
  has  light;

The map connections east, south and back up will be added in §9.

Class ObligingDoor
 with name 'door',
      react_before [;
          Go: if (noun.door_dir == self.door_dir)
                  return self.open_by_myself();
          Enter: if (noun == self) return self.open_by_myself();
      ],
      open_by_myself [ ks;
          if (self has open) rfalse;
          print "(first opening ", (the) self, ")^";
          ks = keep_silent; keep_silent = true;
          <Open self>; keep_silent = ks;
          if (self hasnt open) rtrue;
      ],
  has door openable lockable static;

Here react_before picks up any action in the same location as the door, whether or not it directly involves the door. So if the door is the east connection out of this location, it reacts to the action Go e_obj action (because e_obj.door_dir is e_to, which is the door's door_dir as well). Another point to notice is that it reacts to Enter as well. Normally, if the player types “go through oaken door”, then the action Enter oaken_door is generated, and the library checks that the door is open before generating Go e_obj. Here, of course, the whole point is that the door is closed, so we have to intercept the Enter action as early as possible. (A caveat: if door_dir values are to be routines, the above needs to be complicated slightly to call these routines and compare the return values.)

has_been_unlocked,
which_keys_tried,
before [ key_to_try j bit ks;
    Open:
        if (self has locked) {
            if (self.has_been_unlocked) {
                key_to_try = self.with_key;
                if (key_to_try notin player)
                    "You have mislaid ", (the) key_to_try,
                    " and so cannot unlock ", (the) self, ".";
                print "(first unlocking ";
            }
            else {
                bit=1;
                objectloop (j ofclass Key)
                {   if (self.which_keys_tried & bit == 0
                        && j in player) key_to_try = j;
                    bit = bit*2;
                }
                if (key_to_try == nothing) rfalse;
                print "(first trying to unlock ";
            }
            print (the) self, " with ", (the) key_to_try, ")^";
            ks = keep_silent; keep_silent = true;
            <Unlock self key_to_try>; keep_silent = ks;
            if (self has locked) rtrue;
        }
    Lock: if (self has open) {
            print "(first closing ", (the) self, ")^";
            ks = keep_silent; keep_silent = true;
            <Close self>; keep_silent = ks;
            if (self has open) rtrue;
        }
    Unlock:
        bit=1;
        objectloop (j ofclass Key) {
            if (second == j)
                self.which_keys_tried = self.which_keys_tried + bit;
            bit = bit*2;
        }
],
after [;
    Unlock: self.has_been_unlocked = true;
],

Exercises in Chapter III

Object orange_cloud "orange cloud"
  with name 'orange' 'cloud',
       react_before [;
           Look: "You can't see for the orange cloud surrounding you.";
           Go, Exit: "You wander round in circles, choking.";
           Smell: if (noun == nothing or self) "Cinnamon? No, nutmeg.";
       ],
  has  scenery;

after [;
    Drop: move noun to Square_Chamber;
        print_ret (The) noun, " slips through one of the burrows
            and is quickly lost from sight.";
],

(The rest of the Wormcast's definition is left until §9 below.) This is fine for ‘Ruins’, but in a more complicated game it's possible that other events besides a Drop might move items to the floor. If so, the Wormcast could be given an each_turn (see §20) to watch for items on the floor and slip them into the burrows.

Object Wormcast "Wormcast"
  with description
           "A disturbed place of hollows carved like a spider's web,
           strands of empty space hanging in stone. The only burrows
           wide enough to crawl through begin by running northeast,
           south and upwards.",
       w_to Square_Chamber,
       ne_to [; return self.s_to(); ],
       u_to [; return self.s_to(); ],
       s_to [;
           print "The wormcast becomes slippery around you, as though
               your body-heat is melting long hardened resins, and
               you shut your eyes tightly as you burrow through
               darkness.^";
           if (eggsac in player) return Square_Chamber;
           return random(Square_Chamber, Corridor, Forest);
       ],
       cant_go "Though you feel certain that something lies behind
           the wormcast, this way is impossible.",
  has  light;

This is a tease, as it stands, and is in need of a solution to the puzzle and a reward for solving it.

CompassDirection white_obj "white wall" compass
  with name 'white' 'sac' 'wall', door_dir n_to;

This means there are now sixteen direction objects, some of which refer to the same actual direction: the player can type “white” or “north” with the same effect. If you would like to take away the player's ability to use the ordinary English nouns, add the following line to Initialise:

remove n_obj; remove e_obj; remove w_obj; remove s_obj;

(‘Curses’ does a similar trick when the player boards a ship, taking away the normal directions in favour of “port”, “starboard”, “fore” and “aft”.) As a fine point of style, turquoise (yax) is the world colour for ‘here’, so add a grammar line to make this cause a “look”:

Verb 'turquoise' 'yax' * -> Look;

Property xyzzy_to;
CompassDirection xyzzy_obj "magic word" compass
  with name 'xyzzy', door_dir xyzzy_to;

[ SwapDirs o1 o2 x;
  x = o1.door_dir; o1.door_dir = o2.door_dir; o2.door_dir = x;
];
[ ReflectWorld;
  SwapDirs(e_obj, w_obj);
  SwapDirs(ne_obj, nw_obj);
  SwapDirs(se_obj, sw_obj);
];

[ NormalWorld; string 0 "east"; string 1 "west"; ];
[ ReversedWorld; string 0 "west"; string 1 "east"; ];

where NormalWorld is called in Initialise and ReversedWorld when the reflection happens. Write @00 in place of “east” in any double-quoted printable string, and similarly @01 for “west”. It will be printed as whichever is currently set.

Class Room
  with n_to, e_to, w_to, s_to, ne_to, nw_to, se_to, sw_to,
       in_to, out_to, u_to, d_to;

These properties are needed to make sure we can always write any map connection value to any room. Now define a routine which works on two opposite direction properties at a time:

[ TwoWay x dp1 dp2 y;
  y = x.dp1; if (metaclass(y) == Object && y ofclass Room) y.dp2 = x;
  y = x.dp2; if (metaclass(y) == Object && y ofclass Room) y.dp1 = x;
];

Note that some map connections run to doors (see §13) and not locations, and any such map connections need special handling which this solution can't provide: so we check that y ofclass Room before setting any direction properties for it. The actual code to go into Initialise is now simple:

objectloop (x ofclass Room) {
    TwoWay(x, n_to, s_to);   TwoWay(x, e_to, w_to);
    TwoWay(x, ne_to, sw_to); TwoWay(x, nw_to, se_to);
    TwoWay(x, u_to, d_to);   TwoWay(x, in_to, out_to);
}

Class Glove
  with name 'white' 'glove' 'silk',
       article "the",
       react_before [;
           if (self in gloves) rfalse;
           if (parent(right_glove) ~= parent(left_glove)) rfalse;
           if (left_glove has worn && right_glove hasnt worn) rfalse;
           if (left_glove hasnt worn && right_glove has worn) rfalse;
           if (left_glove has worn) give gloves worn;
           else give gloves ~worn;
           move gloves to parent(right_glove);
           move right_glove to gloves; move left_glove to gloves;
           give right_glove ~worn; give left_glove ~worn;
       ],
       before [;
           if (self notin gloves) rfalse;
           move left_glove to parent(gloves);
           move right_glove to parent(gloves);
           if (gloves has worn) {
               give left_glove worn; give right_glove worn;
           }
           remove gloves;
       ],
  has  clothing;
Object -> gloves "white gloves"
  with name 'white' 'gloves' 'pair' 'of',
       article "a pair of",
  has  clothing transparent;
Glove -> -> left_glove "left glove"
  with description "White silk, monogrammed with a scarlet R.",
       name 'left';
Glove -> -> right_glove "right glove"
  with description "White silk, monogrammed with a scarlet T.",
       name 'right';

Object -> "musical box",
  with name 'musical' 'box',
       with_key silver_key,
       capacity 1,
  has  lockable locked openable container;
Object -> -> "score of a song" 
  with name 'score' 'music' 'song',
       article "the",
       description "~The Return of Giant Hogweed~.";
Object -> silver_key "silver key"
  with name 'silver' 'key';

Object -> bag "toothed bag"
  with name 'toothed' 'bag',
       description "A capacious bag with a toothed mouth.",
       before [;
           LetGo: "The bag defiantly bites itself
                  shut on your hand until you desist.";
           Close: "The bag resists all attempts to close it.";
       ],
       after [;
           Receive:
               "The bag wriggles hideously as it swallows ",
               (the) noun, ".";
       ],
  has  container open openable;

Object -> glass_box "glass box with a lid"
  with name 'glass' 'box' 'with' 'lid'
  has  container transparent openable open;
Object -> steel_box "steel box with a lid"
  with name 'steel' 'box' 'with' 'lid'
  has  container openable open;

Object television "portable television set"
  with name 'tv' 'television' 'set' 'portable',
       before [;
           SwitchOn: <<SwitchOn power_button>>;
           SwitchOff: <<SwitchOff power_button>>;
           Examine: <<Examine screen>>;
       ],
  has  transparent;
Object -> power_button "power button"
  with name 'power' 'button' 'switch',
       after [;
           SwitchOn, SwitchOff: <<Examine screen>>;
       ],
  has  switchable;
Object -> screen "television screen"
  with name 'screen',
       before [;
           Examine: if (power_button hasnt on) "The screen is black.";
               "The screen writhes with a strange Japanese cartoon.";
       ];

Object -> macrame_bag "macrame bag"
  with name 'macrame' 'bag' 'string' 'net' 'sack',
       react_before [;
           Examine, Search, Listen, Smell: ;
           default:
               if (inp1 > 1 && noun in self)
                   print_ret (The) noun, " is inside the bag.";
               if (inp2 > 1 && second in self)
                   print_ret (The) second, " is inside the bag.";
       ],
       before [;
           Open: "The woollen twine is knotted hopelessly tight.";
       ],
       describe [;
           print "^A macrame bag hangs from the ceiling, shut tight";
           if (child(self)) {
               print ". Inside you can make out ";
               WriteListFrom(child(self), ENGLISH_BIT);
           }
           ".";
       ],
  has  container transparent openable;
Object -> -> "gold watch"
  with name 'gold' 'watch',
       description "The watch has no hands, oddly.",
       react_before [;
           Listen:
               if (noun == nothing or self) "The watch ticks loudly.";
       ];

For WriteListFrom, see §27.

Object -> PlankBridge "plank bridge"
  with description "Extremely fragile and precarious.",
       name 'precarious' 'fragile' 'wooden' 'plank' 'bridge',
       when_open "A precarious plank bridge spans the chasm.",
       door_to [;
           if (children(player) > 0) {
               deadflag = true;
               "You step gingerly across the plank, which bows under
               your weight. But your meagre possessions are the straw
               which breaks the camel's back!";
           }
           print "You step gingerly across the plank, grateful that
               you're not burdened.^";
           if (self in NearSide) return FarSide; return NearSide;
       ],
       door_dir [;
           if (self in NearSide) return s_to; return n_to;
       ],
       found_in NearSide FarSide,
  has  static door open;

There might be a problem with this solution if your game also contained a character who wandered about, and whose code was clever enough to run door_to routines for any doors it ran into. If so, door_to could perhaps be modified to check that the actor is the player.

Object -> illusory_door "ironbound door",
  with name 'iron' 'ironbound' 'door',
       door_dir e_to, door_to Armoury,
       before [;
           Enter: return self.vanish();
       ],
       react_before [;
           Go: if (noun == e_obj) return self.vanish();
       ],
       vanish [;
           location.(self.door_dir) = self.door_to; remove self;
           print "The door vanishes, shown for the illusion it is!^";
           <<Go e_obj>>;
       ],
  has  locked lockable door openable;

We need to trap both the Go e_obj and Enter illusory_door actions and can't just wait for the latter to be converted into the former, because the door's locked, so it never gets as far as that.

Object -> cage "iron cage"
  with name 'iron' 'cage' 'bars' 'barred' 'iron-barred',
       when_open
           "An iron-barred cage, large enough to stoop over inside,
           looms ominously here.",
       when_closed "The iron cage is closed.",
       inside_description "You stare out through the bars.",
  has  enterable container openable open transparent static;

Class Road has light;

Every road-like location should belong to this class, so for instance:

Road Trafalgar_Square "Trafalgar Square"
  with n_to National_Gallery, e_to Strand,
       w_to Pall_Mall, s_to Whitehall,
       description "The Square is overlooked by a pillared statue
           of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson (no relation), naval hero
           and convenience to pigeons since 1812.";

Now change the car's before as follows:

       before [ way;
           Go: way = location.(noun.door_dir)();
               if (~~(way ofclass Road)) {
                   print "You can't drive the car off-road.^";
                   return 2;
               }
               if (car has on) "Brmm! Brmm!";
               print "(The ignition is off at the moment.)^";
       ],

The first line of the Go clause works out what the game's map places in the given direction. For instance, noun is e_obj, so that its direction property is held in noun.door_dir, whose value is e_to. Sending Trafalgar_Square.e_to(), we finally set way to Strand. This turns out to be of class Road, so the movement is permitted. As complicated as this seems, getting a car across the real Trafalgar Square is substantially more convoluted.

if (second == u_obj) <<PushDir self n_obj>>;
if (second == d_obj) <<PushDir self s_obj>>;

Class Biblical with name 'book' 'of';
Class Gospel class Biblical with name 'gospel' 'saint' 'st';
Gospel "Gospel of St Matthew" with name 'matthew', chapters 28;
Gospel "Gospel of St Mark" with name 'mark', chapters 16;
Gospel "Gospel of St Luke" with name 'luke', chapters 24;
Gospel "Gospel of St John" with name 'john', chapters 21;
...
Biblical "Book of Revelation" with name 'revelation', chapters 22;

And here is the Bible itself:

Object -> "black Tyndale Bible"
  with name 'bible' 'black' 'book',
       initial "A black Bible rests on a spread-eagle lectern.",
       description "A splendid foot-high Bible, which must have
           survived the burnings of 1520.",
       before [ bk ch_num;
           Consult:
               do {
                   wn = consult_from;
                   bk = ParseToken(SCOPE_TT, BiblicalScope);
               } until (bk ~= GPR_REPARSE);
               if (bk == GPR_FAIL) "That's not a book in this Bible.";
               if (NextWord() ~= 'chapter') wn--;
               ch_num = TryNumber(wn);
               if (ch_num == -1000)
                   "You read ", (the) bk, " right through.";
               if (ch_num > bk.chapters) "There are only ", †
                   (number) bk.chapters," chapters in ",(the) bk,".";
               "Chapter ", (number) ch_num, " of ", (the) bk,
                   " is too sacred for you to understand now.";
       ];

The first six lines under Consult look at what the player typed from word consult_from onwards, and set bk to be the Book which best matches. The call to ParseToken makes the parser behave as if matching scope=BiblicalScope, which means that we need to define a scope routine:

[ BiblicalScope bk;
  switch (scope_stage) {
      1: rfalse;
      2: objectloop (bk ofclass Biblical) PlaceInScope(bk); rtrue;
  }
];

See §32 for more, but this tells the parser to accept only the name of a single, specific object of class Biblical. The effect of all of this fuss is to allow the following dialogue:

>look up gospel in bible
Which do you mean, the Gospel of St Matthew, the Gospel of St Mark, the Gospel of St Luke or the Gospel of St John?
>mark
You read the Gospel of St Mark right through.
>look up St John chapter 17 in bible
Chapter seventeen of the Gospel of St John is too sacred for you to understand now.

For a simpler solution, Consult could instead begin like this:

wn = consult_from;
switch (NextWord()) {
    'matthew': bk = St_Matthew;
    'mark': bk = St_Mark;
    ...
    default: "That's not a book in this Bible.";
}

†  Actually, Philemon, II. John, III. John and Jude have only one chapter apiece, so we ought to take more care over grammar here.

Object -> psychiatrist "bearded psychiatrist"
  with name 'bearded' 'doctor' 'psychiatrist' 'psychologist' 'shrink',
       initial "A bearded psychiatrist has you under observation.",
       life [;
           "He is fascinated by your behaviour, but makes no attempt
           to interfere with it.";
       ],
       react_after [;
           Insert: print "~Subject associates ", (name) noun, " with ",
               (name) second, ". Interesting.~^^";
           PutOn: print "~Subject puts ", (name) noun, " on ",
               (name) second, ". Interesting.~^^";
           Look: print "^~Pretend I'm not here.~^^";
       ],
       react_before [;
           Take, Remove: print "~Subject feels lack of ", (the) noun,
               ". Suppressed Oedipal complex? Hmm.~^^";
       ],
  has  animate;

Object -> computer "computer"
  with name 'computer',
       theta_setting,
       orders [;
           Theta: if (noun < 0 || noun >= 360)
                   "~That value of theta is out of range.~";
               self.theta_setting = noun;
               "~Theta set. Waiting for additional values.~";
           default: "~Please rephrase.~";
       ],
  has  talkable;
...
[ ThetaSub; "You must tell your computer so."; ];
Verb 'theta' * 'is' number -> Theta;

[ SayInsteadSub; "[To talk to someone, please type ~someone, something~
   or else ~ask someone about something~.]"; ];
Extend 'answer' replace * topic -> SayInstead;
Extend 'tell'   replace * topic -> SayInstead;

A slight snag is that this will throw out “nigel, tell me about the grunfeld defence” (which the library will normally convert to an Ask action, but can't if the grammar for “tell” is missing). To avoid this, you could instead of making the above directives Replace the TellSub routine (see §25) by the SayInsteadSub one.

Object -> Charlotte "Charlotte"
  with name 'charlotte' 'charlie' 'chas',
       simon_said,
       grammar [;
           self.simon_said = false;
           wn = verb_wordnum;
           if (NextWord() == 'simon' && NextWord() == 'says') {
               if (wn > num_words) print "Simon says nothing, so ";
               else {
                   self.simon_said = true;
                   verb_wordnum = wn;
               }
           }
       ],
       orders [ i;
           if (self.simon_said == false)
               "Charlotte sticks her tongue out.";
           WaveHands: "Charlotte waves energetically.";
           default: "~Don't know how,~ says Charlotte.";
       ],
       initial "Charlotte wants to play Simon Says.",
  has  animate female proper;

(The variable i isn't needed yet, but will be used by the code added in the answer to the next exercise.) The test to see if wn has become larger than num_words prevents Charlotte from setting verb_wordnum to a non-existent word, which could only happen if the player typed just “charlotte, simon says”. If so, the game will reply “Simon says nothing, so Charlotte sticks her tongue out.”

    self.number = TryNumber(verb_wordnum);
    if (self.number ~= -1000) {
        action = ##Clap; noun = 0; second = 0; rtrue;
    }

Her orders routine now needs the new clause:

    Clap: if (self.number == 0) "Charlotte folds her arms.";
          for (i=0: i<self.number: i++) {
              print "Clap! ";
              if (i == 100)
                  print "(You must be regretting this by now.) ";
              if (i == 200)
                  print "(What a determined person she is.) ";
          }
          if (self.number > 100)
              "^^Charlotte is a bit out of breath now.";
          "^^~Easy!~ says Charlotte.";

Object -> Dan "Dyslexic Dan"
  with name 'dan' 'dyslexic',
       grammar [;
           if (verb_word == 'take') { verb_wordnum++; return 'drop'; }
           if (verb_word == 'drop') { verb_wordnum++; return 'take'; }
       ],
       orders [;
           Take: "~What,~ says Dan, ~you want me to take ",
                     (the) noun, "?~";
           Drop: "~What,~ says Dan, ~you want me to drop ",
                     (the) noun, "?~";
           Inv: "~That I can do,~ says Dan. ~I'm empty-handed.~";
           No: "~Right you be then.~";
           Yes: "~I'll be having to think about that.~";
           default: "~Don't know how,~ says Dan.";
       ],
       initial "Dyslexic Dan is here.",
  has  animate proper;

Since the words have been exchanged before any parsing takes place, Dan even responds to “drop inventory” and “take coin into slot”.

    if (verb_word == 'examine' or 'x//') {
        verb_wordnum++; return -'danx,';
    }

(Note the crudity of this: it looks at the actual verb word, so you have to check any synonyms yourself.) The verb “danx,” must be declared later:

Verb 'danx,' * 'conscience' -> Inv;

and now “Dan, examine conscience” will send him an Inv order: but “Dan, examine cow pie” will still send Examine cow_pie as usual.

[ AlTime x; print (x/60), ":", (x%60)/10, x%10; ];
Object -> alarm_clock "alarm clock"
  with name 'alarm' 'clock',
       alarm_time 480, ! 08:00
       description [;
           print "The alarm is ";
           if (self has on) print "on, "; else print "off, but ";
           "the clock reads ", (AlTime) the_time,
           " and the alarm is set for ", (AlTime) self.alarm_time, ".";
       ],
       react_after [;
           Inv: if (self in player) { new_line; <<Examine self>>; }
           Look: if (self in location) { new_line; <<Examine self>>; }
       ],
       daemon [ td;
           td = (1440 + the_time - self.alarm_time) % 1440;
           if (td >= 0 && td <= 3 && self has on)
               "^Beep! Beep! The alarm goes off.";
       ],
       grammar [; return 'alarm,'; ],
       orders [;
           SwitchOn: give self on; StartDaemon(self);
               "~Alarm set.~";
           SwitchOff: give self ~on; StopDaemon(self);
               "~Alarm off.~";
           SetTo: self.alarm_time=noun; <<Examine self>>;
           default: "~On, off or a time of day, pliz.~";
       ],
       life [;
           "[Try ~clock, something~ to address the clock.]";
       ],
  has  talkable;

(So the alarm sounds for three minutes after its setting, then gives in.) Next, add a new verb to the grammar:

Verb 'alarm,'
    * 'on' -> SwitchOn
    * 'off' -> SwitchOff
    * TimeOfDay -> SetTo;

using a token for parsing times of day called TimeOfDay: as this is one of the exercises in §31, it won't be given here. Note that since the word “alarm,” can't be matched by anything the player types, this verb is concealed from ordinary grammar. The orders we produce here are not used in the ordinary way (for instance, the action SwitchOn with no noun or second would never ordinarily be produced by the parser) but this doesn't matter: it only matters that the grammar and the orders property agree with each other.

Object -> tricorder "tricorder"
  with name 'tricorder',
       grammar [; return 'tc,'; ],
       orders [;
           Examine: if (noun == player) "~You radiate life signs.~";
               print "~", (The) noun, " radiates ";
               if (noun hasnt animate) print "no ";
               "life signs.~";
           default: "The tricorder bleeps.";
       ],
       life [;
           "The tricorder is too simple.";
       ],
  has  talkable;
...
Verb 'tc,' * noun -> Examine;

Object replicator "replicator"
  with name 'replicator',
       grammar [;
           return 'rc,'; 
       ],
       orders [;
           Give:
               if (noun in self)
                   "The replicator serves up a cup of ",
                   (name) noun, " which you drink eagerly.";
               "~That is not something I can replicate.~";
           default: "The replicator is unable to oblige.";
       ],
       life [;
           "The replicator has no conversational skill.";
       ],
  has  talkable;
Object -> "Earl Grey tea" with name 'earl' 'grey' 'tea';
Object -> "Aldebaran brandy" with name 'aldebaran' 'brandy';
Object -> "distilled water" with name 'distilled' 'water';
...
Verb 'rc,' * held -> Give;

The point to note here is that the held token means ‘held by the replicator’ here, as the actor is the replicator, so this is a neat way of getting a ‘one of the following phrases’ token into the grammar.

orders [;
    Examine:
        if (parent(noun))
            "~", (name) noun, " is in ", (name) parent(noun), ".~";
        "~", (name) noun, " is no longer aboard this demonstration
        game.~";
    default: "The computer's only really good for locating the crew.";
],

and the grammar simply returns 'stc,' which is defined as:

[ Crew i;
  switch(scope_stage)
  {  1: rfalse;
     2: objectloop (i ofclass StarFleetOfficer) PlaceInScope(i); rtrue;
  }
];
Verb 'stc,' * 'where' 'is' scope=Crew -> Examine;

An interesting point is that the scope routine scope=Crew doesn't need to do anything at scope stage 3 (usually used for printing out errors) because the normal error-message printing system is never reached. Something like “computer, where is Comminder Doto” causes a ##NotUnderstood order.

Object -> Zen "Zen"
  with name 'zen' 'flight' 'computer',
       initial "Square lights flicker unpredictably across a hexagonal
           fascia on one wall, indicating that Zen is on-line.",
       grammar [; return 'zen,'; ],
       orders [;
           ZenScan: "The main screen shows a starfield,
               turning through ", noun, " degrees.";
           Go:  "~Confirmed.~ The ship turns to a new bearing.";
           SetTo: if (noun > 12) "~Standard by ", (number) noun,
                   " exceeds design tolerances.~";
               if (noun == 0) "~Confirmed.~ The ship's engines stop.";
               "~Confirmed.~ The ship's engines step to
               standard by ", (number) noun, ".";
           Take: if (noun ~= force_wall) "~Please clarify.~";
               "~Force wall raised.~";
           Drop: if (noun ~= blasters)   "~Please clarify.~";
               "~Battle-computers on line.
               Neutron blasters cleared for firing.~";
           NotUnderstood: "~Language banks unable to decode.~";
           default: "~Information. That function is unavailable.~";
       ],
  has  talkable proper static;
Object -> -> force_wall "force wall"
  with name 'force' 'wall' 'shields';
Object -> -> blasters "neutron blasters"
  with name 'neutron' 'blasters';
...
[ ZenScanSub; "This is never called but makes the action exist."; ];
Verb 'zen,'
    * 'scan' number 'orbital' -> ZenScan
    * 'set' 'course' 'for' scope=Planet -> Go
    * 'speed' 'standard' 'by' number -> SetTo
    * 'raise' held -> Take
    * 'clear' held 'for' 'firing' -> Drop;

Dealing with Ask, Answer and Tell are left to the reader. As for planetary parsing:

[ Planet;
  switch (scope_stage) {
      1: rfalse; ! Disallow multiple planets
      2: ScopeWithin(galaxy); rtrue; ! Scope set to contents of galaxy
  }
];
Object galaxy;
Object -> "Earth" with name 'earth' 'terra';
Object -> "Centauro" with name 'centauro';
Object -> "Destiny" with name 'destiny';

and so on for numerous other worlds of the oppressive if somewhat cheaply decorated Federation.

    [ InScope;
      if (action_to_be == ##Examine or ##Show && location == Bridge)
          PlaceInScope(noslen_maharg);
      if (scope_reason == TALKING_REASON)
          PlaceInScope(noslen_maharg);
      rfalse;
    ];

The variable scope_reason is always set to the constant value TALKING_REASON when the game is trying to work out who you wish to talk to: so it's quite easy to make the scope different for conversational purposes.

Object sealed_room "Sealed Room"
  with description
           "I'm in a sealed room, like a squash court without a door,
           maybe six or seven yards across",
  has  light;
Object -> ball "red ball" with name 'red' 'ball';
Object -> martha "Martha"
  with name 'martha',
       orders [ r;
           r = parent(self);
           Give:
               if (noun notin r) "~That's beyond my telekinesis.~";
               if (noun == self) "~Teleportation's too hard for me.~";
               move noun to player;
               "~Here goes...~ and Martha's telekinetic talents
                   magically bring ", (the) noun, " to your hands.";
           Look:
               print "~", (string) r.description;
               if (children(r) == 1) ". There's nothing here but me.~";
               print ". I can see ";
               WriteListFrom(child(r), CONCEAL_BIT + ENGLISH_BIT);
               ".~";
           default: "~Afraid I can't help you there.~";
       ],
       life [;
           Ask: "~You're on your own this time.~";
           Tell: "Martha clucks sympathetically.";
           Answer: "~I'll be darned,~ Martha replies.";
       ],
  has  animate female concealed proper;

but the really interesting part is the InScope routine to fix things up:

[ InScope actor;
  if (actor == martha) PlaceInScope(player);
  if (actor == player && scope_reason == TALKING_REASON)
      PlaceInScope(martha);
  rfalse;
];

Note that since we want two-way communication, the player has to be in scope to Martha too: otherwise Martha won't be able to follow the command “martha, give me the fish”, because “me” will refer to something beyond her scope.

    give player light;

in Initialise. Now there's never darkness near the player. Unless there are wrangles involving giving instructions to people in different locations (where it's still dark), or the player having an out-of-body experience (see §21), this will work perfectly well. The player is never told “You are giving off light”, so nothing seems incongruous in play.

Object -> thief "thief"
  with name 'thief' 'gentleman' 'mahu' 'modo',
       each_turn "^The thief growls menacingly.",
       daemon [ direction thief_at way exit_count exit_chosen;
           if (random(3) ~= 1) rfalse;
           thief_at = parent(thief);
           objectloop (direction in compass) {
               way = thief_at.(direction.door_dir);
               if (way ofclass Object && way hasnt door) exit_count++;
           }
           if (exit_count == 0) rfalse;
           exit_chosen = random(exit_count); exit_count = 0;
           objectloop (direction in compass) {
               way = thief_at.(direction.door_dir);
               if (way ofclass Object && way hasnt door) exit_count++;
               if (exit_count == exit_chosen) {
                   move self to way;
                   if (thief_at == location) "^The thief stalks away!";
                   if (way == location) "^The thief stalks in!";
                   rfalse;
               }
           }
       ],
  has  animate;

(Not forgetting to StartDaemon(thief) at some point, for instance in the game's Initialise routine.) So the thief walks at random but never via doors, bridges and the like, because these may be locked or have rules attached. This is only a first try, and in a good game one would occasionally see the thief do something surprising, such as open a secret door. As for the name, “The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman. Modo he's called, and Mahu” (William Shakespeare, King Lear III iv).

[ WeightOf obj t i;
  if (obj provides weight) t = obj.weight; else t = 10;
  objectloop (i in obj) t = t + WeightOf(i);
  return t;
];

Once every turn we shall check how much the player is carrying and adjust a measure of the player's fatigue accordingly. There are many ways we could choose to calculate this: for the sake of example we'll define two constants:

Constant FULL_STRENGTH = 500;
Constant HEAVINESS_THRESHOLD = 100;

Initially the player's strength will be the maximum possible, which we'll set to 500. Each turn the amount of weight being carried is subtracted from this, but 100 is also added on (without exceeding the maximum value). So if the player carries more than 100 units then strength declines, but if the weight carried falls below 100 then strength recovers. If the player drops absolutely everything, the entire original strength will recuperate in at most 5 turns. Exhaustion sets in if strength reaches 0, and at this point the player is forced to drop something, giving strength a slight boost. Anyway, here's an implementation of all this:

Object WeightMonitor
  with players_strength,
       warning_level 5,
       activate [;
           self.players_strength = FULL_STRENGTH;
           StartDaemon(self);
       ],
       daemon [ warn strength item heaviest_weight heaviest_item;
           strength = self.players_strength
               - WeightOf(player) + HEAVINESS_THRESHOLD;
           if (strength < 0) strength = 0;
           if (strength > FULL_STRENGTH) strength = FULL_STRENGTH;
           self.players_strength = strength;
           if (strength == 0) {
               heaviest_weight = -1;
               objectloop(item in player)
                   if (WeightOf(item) > heaviest_weight) {
                       heaviest_weight = WeightOf(item);
                       heaviest_item = item;
                   }
               if (heaviest_item == nothing) return;
               print "^Exhausted with carrying so much, you decide
                   to discard quot;, (the) heaviest_item, ": ";
               <Drop heaviest_item>;
               if (heaviest_item in player) {
                   deadflag = true;
                   "^Unprepared for this, you collapse.";
               }
               self.players_strength =
                   self.players_strength + heaviest_weight;
           }
           warn = strength/100; if (warn == self.warning_level) return;
           self.warning_level = warn;
           switch (warn) {
               3: "^You are feeling a little tired.";
               2: "^Your possessions are weighing you down.";
               1: "^Carrying so much weight is wearing you out.";
               0: "^You're nearly exhausted enough to drop everything
                  at an inconvenient moment.";
           }
       ];

When exhaustion sets in, this daemon tries to drop the heaviest item. (The actual dropping is done with Drop actions: in case the item is, say, a wild boar, which would bolt away into the forest when released. Also, after the attempt to Drop, we check to see if the drop has succeeded, because the heaviest item might be a cannonball superglued to one's hands, or a boomerang, or some such.) Finally, of course, at some point – probably in Initialise – the game needs to send the message WeightMonitor.activate() to get things going.

Object -> "egg timer in the shape of a chicken"
  with name 'egg' 'timer' 'egg-timer' 'eggtimer' 'chicken' 'dial',
       description
           "Turn the dial on the side of the chicken to set this
           egg timer.",
       before [;
           Turn: StopTimer(self); StartTimer(self, 3);
               "You turn the dial to its three-minute mark, and the
               chicken begins a sort of clockwork clucking.";
       ],
       time_left,
       time_out [;
           "^~Cock-a-doodle-doo!~ says the egg-timer, in defiance of
           its supposedly chicken nature.";
       ];

Object tiny_claws "sound of tiny claws" thedark
  with article "the",
       name 'tiny' 'claws' 'sound' 'of' 'scuttling' 'scuttle'
            'things' 'creatures' 'monsters' 'insects',
       initial "Somewhere, tiny claws are scuttling.",
       before [;
           Listen: "How intelligent they sound, for mere insects.";
           Touch, Taste: "You wouldn't want to. Really.";
           Smell: "You can only smell your own fear.";
           Attack: "They easily evade your flailing about.";
           default: "The creatures evade you, chittering.";
       ],
       each_turn [; 
           StartDaemon(self); 
       ],
       turns_active,
       daemon [;
           if (location ~= thedark) {
               self.turns_active = 0; StopDaemon(self); rtrue;
           }
           switch (++(self.turns_active)) {
               1: "^The scuttling draws a little nearer, and your
                  breathing grows loud and hoarse.";
               2: "^The perspiration of terror runs off your brow.
                  The creatures are almost here!";
               3: "^You feel a tickling at your extremities and kick
                  outward, shaking something chitinous off. Their
                  sound alone is a menacing rasp.";
               4: deadflag = true;
                  "^Suddenly there is a tiny pain, of a
                  hypodermic-sharp fang at your calf. Almost at once
                  your limbs go into spasm, your shoulders and
                  knee-joints lock, your tongue swells...";
           }
       ];

Constant SUNRISE = 360;  ! i.e., 6 am
Constant SUNSET = 1140;  ! i.e., 7 pm
Class OutdoorLocation;

We handle night and day by having a light-giving scenery object present in outdoor locations during the day: we shall call this object “the sun”:

Object Sun "sun"
  with name 'sun',
       found_in [;
           if (real_location ofclass OutdoorLocation) rtrue;
       ],
       before [;
           Examine: ;
           default: "The sun is too far away.";
       ],
       daemon [;
           if (the_time >= SUNRISE && the_time < SUNSET) {
               if (self has absent) {
                   give self ~absent;
                   if (real_location ofclass OutdoorLocation) {
                       move self to place;
                       "^The sun rises, illuminating the landscape!";
                   }
               }
           } else {
               if (self hasnt absent) {
                   give self absent; remove self;
                   if (real_location ofclass OutdoorLocation)
                       "^As the sun sets, the landscape is plunged
                       into darkness.";
               }
           }
       ],
  has  light scenery;

In the Initialise routine, you need to call StartDaemon(Sun);. If the game starts in the hours of darkness, you should also give the Sun absent. Daybreak and nightfall will be automatic from there on.

orders [;
    if (gasmask hasnt worn) rfalse;
    if (actor == self && action ~= ##Answer or ##Tell or ##Ask) rfalse;
    "Your speech is muffled into silence by the gas mask.";
],

Object warthog "Warthog"
  with name 'wart' 'hog' 'warthog', description "Muddy and grunting.",
       initial "A warthog snuffles and grunts about in the ashes.",
       orders [;
           Go, Look, Examine, Smell, Taste, Touch, Search,
               Jump, Enter: rfalse;
           Eat: "You haven't the knack of snuffling up to food yet.";
           default: "Warthogs can't do anything so involved. If it
               weren't for the nocturnal eyesight and the lost weight,
               they'd be worse off all round than people.";
       ],
  has  animate proper;

Using ChangePlayer(warthog); will then bring about the transformation, though we must also move the warthog to some suitable location. The promised nocturnal eyesight will be brought about by giving the warthog light for the period when the player is changed to it.

    cant_go [;
        if (player ~= warthog)
            "Though you begin to feel certain that something lies
            behind and through the wormcast, this way must be an
            animal-run at best: it's far too narrow for your
            armchair-archaeologist's paunch.";
        print "The wormcast becomes slippery around your warthog
            body, and you squeal involuntarily as you burrow
            through the darkness, falling finally southwards to...^";
        PlayerTo(Burial_Shaft); rtrue;
    ],

Object -> cage "iron cage"
  with name 'iron' 'cage' 'bars' 'barred' 'frame' 'glyphs',
       description "The glyphs read: Bird Arrow Warthog.",
       when_open
           "An iron-barred cage, large enough to stoop over inside,
           looms ominously here, its door open. There are some glyphs
           on the frame.",
       when_closed "The iron cage is closed.",
       after [;
           Enter:
               print "The skeletons inhabiting the cage come alive,
                   locking bony hands about you, crushing and
                   pummelling. You lose consciousness, and when you
                   recover something grotesque and impossible has
                   occurred...^";
               move warthog to Antechamber; remove skeletons;
               give self ~open; give warthog light;
               self.after = 0;
               ChangePlayer(warthog, 1); <<Look>>;
       ],
       floor_open false,
       inside_description [;
           if (self.floor_open)
               "From the floor of the cage, an open earthen pit cuts
               down into the burial chamber.";
           "The bars of the cage surround you.";
       ],
       react_before [;
           Go: if (noun == d_obj && self.floor_open) {
                   PlayerTo(Burial_Shaft); rtrue;
               }
       ],
  has  enterable transparent container openable open static;
Object -> -> skeletons "skeletons"
  with name 'skeletons' 'skeleton' 'bone' 'skull' 'bones' 'skulls',
       article "deranged",
  has  pluralname static;
Object Burial_Shaft "Burial Shaft"
  with description
           "In your eventual field notes, this will read:
           ~A corbel-vaulted crypt with an impacted earthen plug
           as seal above, and painted figures conjecturally
           representing the Nine Lords of the Night. Dispersed
           bones appear to be those of one elderly man and
           several child sacrifices, while other funerary remains
           include jaguar paws.~ (In field notes, it is essential
           not to give any sense of when you are scared witless.)",
       cant_go
           "The architects of this chamber were less than generous in
           providing exits. Some warthog seems to have burrowed in
           from the north, though.",
       n_to Wormcast,
       u_to [;
           cage.floor_open = true;
           self.u_to = self.opened_u_to;
           move selfobj to self;
           print "Making a mighty warthog-leap, you butt at the
               earthen-plug seal above the chamber, collapsing your
               world in ashes and earth. Something lifeless and
               terribly heavy falls on top of you: you lose
               consciousness, and when you recover, something
               impossible and grotesque has happened...^";
           ChangePlayer(selfobj); give warthog ~light; <<Look>>;
       ],
       before [;
           Jump: <<Go u_obj>>;
       ],
       opened_u_to [;
           PlayerTo(cage); rtrue;
       ],
  has  light;

    orders [;
        if (player == self) {
            if (actor ~= self)
                "You only become tongue-tied and gabble.";
            rfalse;
        }
        Attack: "The Giant looks at you with doleful eyes.
            ~Me not be so bad!~";
        default: "The Giant cannot comprehend your instructions.";
    ],

Class Quotation;
Object PendingQuote; Object SeenQuote;
[ QuoteFrom q;
  if (~~(q ofclass Quotation)) "*** Oops! Not a quotation. ***";
  if (q notin PendingQuote or SeenQuote) move q to PendingQuote;
];
[ AfterPrompt q;
  q = child(PendingQuote);
  if (q) {
      move q to SeenQuote;
      q.show_quote();
  }
];
Quotation AhPeru
  with show_quote [;
           box "Brother of Ingots -- Ah, Peru --"
               "Empty the Hearts that purchased you --"
               ""
               "-- Emily Dickinson";
       ];

QuoteFrom(AhPeru) will now do as it is supposed to. The children of the object PendingQuote act as a last in, first out queue, so if several quotations are pending in the same turn, this system will show them in successive turns, most recently requested first.

Object LibraryMessages
  with before [;
           Prompt: switch (turns) {
               1: print "^What should you, the detective, do now?^>";
               2 to 9: print "^What next?^>";
               10: print "^(Aren't you getting tired of seeing ~What
                   next?~ From here on, the prompt will be much
                   shorter.)^^>";
               default: print "^>";
           }
           rtrue;
       ];

Object LibraryMessages
  with before [ previous_parent;
           Go: if (lm_n == 1 && lm_o has supporter) {
                   print "(first getting off ", (the) lm_o, ")^";
                   previous_parent = parent(player);
                   keep_silent = true; <Exit>; keep_silent = false;
                   if (player in parent(previous_parent)) <<Go noun>>;
                   rtrue;
               }
       ];

Note that after we've tried to perform an Exit action, either we've made some progress (in that the player is no longer in the same parent) and can try the Go action again, or else we've failed, in which case something has been printed to that effect. Either way, we return true.

Object LibraryMessages
  with before [;
           Push: if (lm_n == 3 && noun has switchable) {
                     if (noun has on) <<SwitchOff noun>>;
                     <<SwitchOn noun>>;
                 }
       ];

Exercises in Chapter IV

[ PronounAcc i;
    if (i hasnt animate || i has neuter) print "it";
    else { if (i has female) print "her"; else print "him"; } ];
[ PronounNom i;
    if (i hasnt animate || i has neuter) print "it";
    else { if (i has female) print "she"; else print "he"; } ];
[ CPronounNom i;
    if (i hasnt animate || i has neuter) print "It";
    else { if (i has female) print "She"; else print "He"; } ];

Array Position ->
    "r...r.k.\
     pp...pbp\
     .qp...p.\
     ..B.....\
     ..BP..b.\
     Q.n..N..\
     P....PPP\
     ...R.K.R";

(The backslashes \ remove spacing, so that this array contains just 64 entries.) Now for the objects. It will only be an illusion that there are sixty-four different locations, so we make sure the player drops nothing onto the board's surface.

Object Chessboard
  with description [;
           print "A square expanse of finest ";
           if ((self.rank + self.file - 'a') % 2 == 1)
               print "mahogany"; else print "cedarwood"; ".";
       ],
       short_name [;
           if (action==##Places) { print "the Chessboard"; rtrue; }
           print "Square ", (char) self.file, self.rank; rtrue;
       ],
       rank 1, file 'a',
       n_to  [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank+1,self.file);   ],
       ne_to [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank+1,self.file+1); ],
       e_to  [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank,  self.file+1); ],
       se_to [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank-1,self.file+1); ],
       s_to  [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank-1,self.file);   ],
       sw_to [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank-1,self.file-1); ],
       w_to  [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank,  self.file-1); ],
       nw_to [; return self.try_move_to(self.rank+1,self.file-1); ],
       try_move_to [ r f na p;
           if (~~(r >= 1 && r <= 8 && f >= 'a' && f <= 'h'))
               "That would be to step off the chessboard.";
           move Piece to self; na = Piece.&name; na-->1 = 'white';
           give Piece ~proper ~female;
           p = Position->((8-r)*8 + f - 'a');
           switch (p) {
               '.': remove Piece;
               'p', 'r', 'n', 'b', 'q', 'k': na-->1 = 'black';
           }
           switch (p) {
               'p', 'P': na-->0 = 'pawn';
               'r', 'R': na-->0 = 'rook';
               'n', 'N': na-->0 = 'knight';
               'b', 'B': na-->0 = 'bishop';
               'q', 'Q': na-->0 = 'queen'; give Piece female;
               'k', 'K': na-->0 = 'king'; give Piece proper;
           }
           switch (p) {
               'p': Piece.short_name = "Black Pawn";
               ...
               'K': Piece.short_name = "The White King";
           }
           self.rank = r; self.file = f; give self ~visited;
           return self;
       ],
       after [;
           Drop: move noun to player;
               "From high above, a ghostly voice whispers ~J'adoube~,
               and ", (the) noun, " springs back into your hands.";
       ],
  has  light;
Object Piece
  with name '(kind)' '(colour)' 'piece' 'chess',
       short_name "(A short name filled in by Chessboard)",
       initial [; "This square is occupied by ", (a) self, "."; ],
  has  static;

And to get the player onto the board in the first place,

            PlayerTo(Chessboard.try_move_to(1,'a'));

Object "ornate box"
  with name 'ornate' 'box' 'troublesome',
       altering_short_name,
       invent [;
           self.altering_short_name = (inventory_stage == 1);
       ],
       short_name [;
           if (self.altering_short_name) { print "box"; rtrue; }
       ],
       article [;
           if (self.altering_short_name) print "that troublesome";
           else print "an";
       ],
  has  container open openable;

Thus the usual short name and article “an ornate box” becomes “that troublesome box” in inventory listings, but nowhere else.

[ TimePasses;
  if (action ~= ##Look && lookmode == 2) <Look>;
];

[ DoubleInvSub item number_carried number_worn;
  print "You are carrying ";
  objectloop (item in player) {
      if (item hasnt worn) { give item workflag; number_carried++; }
      else { give item ~workflag; number_worn++; }
  }
  if (number_carried == 0) print "nothing";
  else WriteListFrom(child(player),
          FULLINV_BIT + ENGLISH_BIT + RECURSE_BIT + WORKFLAG_BIT);
  if (number_worn == 0) ".";
  if (number_carried == 0) print ", but"; else print ". In addition,";
  print " you are wearing ";
  objectloop (item in player)
      if (item hasnt worn) give item ~workflag;
      else give item workflag;
  WriteListFrom(child(player),
      ENGLISH_BIT + RECURSE_BIT + WORKFLAG_BIT);
  ".";
];

Class Letter
  with name 'letter' 'scrabble' 'piece' 'letters//p' 'pieces//p',
       list_together [;
           if (inventory_stage == 1) {
               print "the letters ";
               c_style = c_style | (ENGLISH_BIT + NOARTICLE_BIT);
               c_style = c_style &~ (NEWLINE_BIT + INDENT_BIT);
           }
           else print " from a Scrabble set";
       ],
       short_name [;
           if (listing_together ofclass Letter) rfalse;
           print "letter ", (object) self, " from a Scrabble set";
           rtrue;
       ],
       article "the";

The bitwise operation c = c | ENGLISH_BIT sets the given bit (i.e., adds it on to c) if it wasn't already set (i.e., if it hadn't already been added to c). The operation &~, which is actually two operators & (and) and ~ (not) put together, takes away something if it's present and otherwise does nothing. As many letters as desired can now be created, along the lines of

Letter -> "X" with name 'x//';

Class Coin
 with name 'coin' 'coins//p',
      description "A round unstamped disc, presumably local currency.",
      list_together "coins",
      plural [;
          print (address) self.&name-->0;
          if (~~(listing_together ofclass Coin)) print " coins";
      ],
      short_name [;
          print (address) self.&name-->0;
          if (~~(listing_together ofclass Coin)) print " coin";
          rtrue;
      ],
      article [;
          if (listing_together ofclass Coin) print "one";
          else print "a";
      ];
Class GoldCoin   class Coin with name 'gold';
Class SilverCoin class Coin with name 'silver';
Class BronzeCoin class Coin with name 'bronze';
SilverCoin ->;

The trickiest lines here are the print (address) ones. This is the least commonly used printing-rule built into Inform, and is only really used to print out the text of a dictionary word: whereas

    print (string) 'gold';

is likely to print garbled and nonsensical text, because 'gold' is a dictionary word not a string. Anyway, these lines print out the first entry in the name list for the coin, so they rely on the fact that name words accumulate in the front of the list. The class Coin starts the list as (“coin”, “coins”), whereupon SilverCoin augments it to (“silver”, “coin”, “coins”). Finally, because a dictionary word only stores up to nine letters, a different solution would be needed to cope with molybdenum coins.

[ Face x; if (x.heads_up) print "Heads"; else print "Tails"; ];

There are two kinds of coin but we'll implement them with three classes: Coin and two sub-categories, GoldCoin and SilverCoin. Since the coins only join up into trigrams when present in groups of three, we need a routine to detect this:

[ CoinsTogether cla member p common_parent;
  objectloop (member ofclass cla) {
      p = parent(member);
      if (common_parent == nothing) common_parent = p;
      else if (common_parent ~= p) return nothing;
  }
  return common_parent;
];

Thus CoinsTogether(GoldCoin) decides whether all objects of class GoldCoin have the same parent, returning either that parent or else nothing, and likewise for SilverCoin. Now the class definitions:

Class Coin
 with name 'coin' 'coins//p',
      heads_up true, article "the", metal "steel",
      after [;
          Drop, PutOn:
              self.heads_up = (random(2) == 1); print (Face) self;
              if (CoinsTogether(self.which_class)) {
                  print ". The ", (string) self.metal,
                      " trigram is now ", (Trigram) self;
              }
              ".";
      ];
[ CoinLT common_parent member count;
  if (inventory_stage == 1) {
      print "the ", (string) self.metal, " coins ";
      common_parent = CoinsTogether(self.which_class);
      if (common_parent &&
          (common_parent == location || common_parent has supporter)) {
          objectloop (member ofclass self.which_class) {
              print (name) member;
              switch (++count) {
                  1: print ", "; 2: print " and ";
                  3: print " (showing the trigram ",
                     (Trigram) self, ")";
              }
          }
          rtrue;
      }
      c_style = c_style | (ENGLISH_BIT + NOARTICLE_BIT);
      c_style = c_style &~ (NEWLINE_BIT + INDENT_BIT);
  }
  rfalse;
];
Class GoldCoin class Coin
 with name 'gold', metal "gold", interpretation gold_trigrams,
      which_class GoldCoin,
      list_together [; return CoinLT(); ];
Class SilverCoin class Coin
 with name 'silver', metal "silver", interpretation silver_trigrams,
      which_class SilverCoin,
      list_together [; return CoinLT(); ];
Array gold_trigrams -->   "fortune" "change" "river flowing" "chance"
                             "immutability" "six stones in a circle"
                             "grace" "divine assistance";
Array silver_trigrams --> "happiness" "sadness" "ambition" "grief"
                             "glory" "charm" "sweetness of nature"
                             "the countenance of the Hooded Man";

(There are two unusual points here. Firstly, the CoinsLT routine is not simply given as the common list_together value in the coin class since, if it were, all six coins would be grouped together: we want two groups of three, so the gold and silver coins have to have different list_together values. Secondly, if a trigram is together and on the floor, it is not good enough to simply append text like “showing Tails, Heads, Heads (change)” at inventory_stage 2 since the coins may be listed in a funny order. In that event, the order the coins are listed in doesn't correspond to the order their values are listed in, which is misleading. So instead CoinsLT takes over entirely at inventory_stage 1 and prints out the list of three itself, returning true to stop the list from being printed out by the library as well.) To resume: whenever coins are listed together, they are grouped into gold and silver. Whenever trigrams are visible they are to be described by either Trigram(GoldClass) or Trigram(SilverClass):

[ Trigram acoin cla member count state;
  cla = acoin.which_class;
  objectloop (member ofclass cla) {
      print (Face) member;
      if (count++ < 2) print ","; print " ";
      state = state*2 + member.heads_up;
  }
  print "(", (string) (acoin.interpretation)-->state, ")";
];

Note that the class definitions refer to their arrays, but do not actually include the arrays themselves – this saves each coin carrying a copy of the whole array around with it, which would be wasteful. It's a marginal point, though, as there are only six actual coins:

GoldCoin -> "goat" with name 'goat';
GoldCoin -> "deer" with name 'deer';
GoldCoin -> "chicken" with name 'chicken';
SilverCoin -> "robin" with name 'robin';
SilverCoin -> "snake" with name 'snake';
SilverCoin -> "bison" with name 'bison';

If these were found in (say) a barn, we might have to take more care not to let them be called “goat” and so on, but let us assume not.

Object heap1; Object heap2; Object heap3; Object heap4;
Class AlphaSorted
  with last_parent, last_sibling, sort_ordering,
       react_before [ t u v;
           Look, Search, Open, Inv:
               if (parent(self) == self.last_parent
                   && sibling(self) == self.last_sibling) rfalse;
               if (self.sort_ordering == 0)
                   objectloop (t ofclass AlphaSorted)
                       t.order_yourself();
                   t = parent(self);
                   while ((u = child(t)) ~= 0) {
                       if (u ofclass AlphaSorted) {
                           v = self.sort_ordering - u.sort_ordering;
                           if (v < 0) move u to heap1;
                           if (v == 0) move u to heap2;
                           if (v > 0) move u to heap3;
                       }
                       else move u to heap4;
                   }
                   while ((u = child(heap1)) ~= 0) move u to t;
                   while ((u = child(heap2)) ~= 0) move u to t;
                   while ((u = child(heap3)) ~= 0) move u to t;
                   while ((u = child(heap4)) ~= 0) move u to t;
                   self.last_parent = parent(self);
                   self.last_sibling = sibling(self);
           ],
           order_yourself [ y val;
               objectloop (y ofclass AlphaSorted
                           && CompareObjects(self, y) > 0) val++;
               self.sort_ordering = val + 1;
           ];

The above code assumes that a routine called CompareObjects(a,b) exists, and returns a positive number, zero or a negative number according to whether a should come after, with or before b in lists. You could substitute any sorting rule here, but here as promised is the rule “in alphabetical order of the object's short name”:

Array sortname1 -> 128;
Array sortname2 -> 128;
[ CompareObjects obj1 obj2 i d l1 l2;
  sortname1 --> 0 = 125; sortname2 --> 0 = 125;
  for (i = 2: i < 128: i++) { sortname1->i = 0; sortname2->i = 0; }
  @output_stream 3 sortname1; print (name) obj1; @output_stream -3;
  @output_stream 3 sortname2; print (name) obj2; @output_stream -3;
  for (i = 2: : i++) {
      l1 = sortname1->i; l2 = sortname2->i;
      d = l1 - l2; if (d) return d;
      if (l1 == 0) return 0;
  }
];

parse_name [ n w colour;
    if (self.ripe) colour = 'red'; else colour = 'green';
    do { w = NextWord(); n++; } until (w ~= colour or 'fried');
    if (w == 'tomato') return n;
    return 0;
],

Object -> "/?%?/ (the artiste formally known as Princess)"
  with name 'princess' 'artiste' 'formally' 'known' 'as',
       kissed false,
       short_name [;
           if (~~(self.kissed)) { print "Princess"; rtrue; }
       ],
       react_before [;
           Listen: print_ret (name) self, " sings a soft siren song.";
       ],
       initial [;
           print_ret (name) self, " is singing softly.";
       ],
       parse_name [ x n;
           if (~~(self.kissed)) {
               if (NextWord() == 'princess') return 1;
               return 0;
           }
           x = WordAddress(wn);
           if (x->0 == '/' && x->1 == '?' && x->2 == '%'
               && x->3 == '?' && x->4 == '/') {
               ! See notes below for what this next line is for:
               while (wn <= parse->1 && WordAddress(wn++) < x+5) n++;
               return n;
           }
           return -1;
       ],
       life [;
           Kiss: self.kissed = true; self.life = NULL;
               "In a fairy-tale transformation, the Princess
               steps back and astonishes the world by announcing
               that she will henceforth be known as ~/?%?/~.";
       ],
  has  animate proper female;

The line commented on above needs some explanation. What it does is to count up the number of “words” making up the five characters in x->0 to x->4. This isn't really needed in the example above, but it would be if (say) the text to be matched was a.,.a because the full stops and comma would make the parser consider this text as five separate words, so that n should be set to 5.

Object -> drinksmat "drinks machine",
  with name 'drinks' 'machine',
       initial
           "A drinks machine has buttons for Cola, Coffee and Tea.",
  has  static transparent;
Object -> -> thebutton "drinks machine button"
  with button_pushed,
       parse_name [ w n flag drinkword;
           for (: flag == false: n++) {
               switch (w = NextWord()) {
                   'button', 'for':
                   'coffee', 'tea', 'cola':
                       if (drinkword == 0) drinkword = w;
                   default: flag = true; n--;
               }
           }
           if (drinkword == drink.&name-->0 && n==1 && drink in player)
               return 0;
           self.button_pushed = drinkword; return n;
       ],
       before [;
           Push, SwitchOn:
               if (self.button_pushed == 0)
                   "You'll have to say which button to press.";
               if (parent(drink) ~= 0) "The machine's broken down.";
               drink.&name-->0 = self.button_pushed;
               move drink to player;
               PronounNotice(drink);
               "Whirr! The machine puts ", (a) drink,
                   " into your glad hands.";
           Attack: "The machine shudders and squirts cola at you.";
           Drink: "You can't drink until you've worked the machine.";
       ];
Object drink
  with name 'liquid' 'cup' 'of' 'drink',
       short_name [;
           print "cup of ", (address) self.&name-->0;
           rtrue;
       ],
       before [;
           Drink: remove self;
               "Ugh, that was awful. You crumple the cup and
               responsibly dispose of it.";
       ];

parse_name [ n;
    while (WordInProperty(NextWord(), self, name)) n++;
    return n;
],

name 'tomato' 'vegetable', adjective 'fried' 'green' 'cooked',

Then, again using WordInProperty routine as in the previous answer,

[ ParseNoun obj n m;
  while (WordInProperty(NextWord(),obj,adjective) == 1) n++; wn--;
  while (WordInProperty(NextWord(),obj,name) == 1) m++;
  if (m == 0) return 0; return n+m;
];

[ ParseNoun obj;
  if (NextWord() == 'object' && TryNumber(wn) == obj) return 2;
  wn--; return -1;
];

[ ParseNoun;
  if (NextWord() == '#//') return 1;
  wn--; return -1;
];

[ ParseNoun;
  switch (NextWord()) {
      '#//': return 1;
      '*//': parser_action = ##PluralFound; return 1;
  }
  wn--; return -1;
];

Class FeaturelessCube
 with description "A perfect white cube, four inches on a side.",
      text_written_on 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0, ! Room for 16 characters of text
      text_length,
      article "a",
      parse_name [ i j flag;
          if (parser_action == ##TheSame) {
              if (parser_one.text_length ~= parser_two.text_length)
                  return -2;
              for (i = 0: i < parser_one.text_length: i++)
                  if (parser_one.&text_written_on->i
                      ~= parser_two.&text_written_on->i) return -2;
              return -1;
          }
          for (:: i++, flag = false) {
              switch (NextWordStopped()) {
                  'cube', 'white': flag = true;
                  'featureless', 'blank':
                      flag = (self.text_length == 0);
                  'cubes': flag = true; parser_action = ##PluralFound;
                  -1: return i;
                  default:
                      if (self.text_length == WordLength(wn-1))
                          for (j=0, flag=true: j<self.text_length: j++)
                              flag = flag && (self.&text_written_on->j
                                  == WordAddress(wn-1)->j);
              }
              if (flag == false) return i;
          }
      ],
      short_name [ i;
          if (self.text_length == 0) print "featureless white cube";
          else {
              print "~";
              for (i = 0: i<self.text_length: i++)
                  print (char) self.&text_written_on->i;
              print "~ cube";
          }
          rtrue;
      ],
      plural [;
          self.short_name(); print "s";
      ];
Object -> burin "magic burin"
  with name 'magic' 'magical' 'burin' 'pen',
       description
           "This is a magical burin, used for inscribing objects with
           words or runes of magical import.",
       the_naming_word,
       before [ i;
           WriteOn:
               if (~~(second ofclass FeaturelessCube)) rfalse;
               if (second notin player)
                   "Writing on a cube is such a fiddly process that
                   you need to be holding it in your hand first.";
               if (burin notin player)
                   "You would need some powerful implement for that.";
               second.text_length = WordLength(self.the_naming_word);
               if (second.text_length > 16) second.text_length = 16;
               for (i=0: i<second.text_length: i++)
                   second.&text_written_on->i
                       = WordAddress(self.the_naming_word)->i;
               second.article="the";
               "It is now called ", (the) second, ".";
       ];

And this needs just a little grammar, to define the “write … on …” command:

[ AnyWord; burin.the_naming_word=wn++; return burin; ];
[ WriteOnSub; "Casual graffiti is beneath an enchanter's dignity."; ];
Verb 'write' 'scribe'
    * AnyWord 'on' held -> WriteOn
    * AnyWord 'on' noun -> WriteOn;

AnyWord is a simple example of a general parsing routine (see §31) which accepts any single word, recording its position in what the player typed and telling the parser that it refers to the burin object. Thus, text like “write pdl on cube” is parsed into the action <WriteOn burin cube> while burin.the_naming_word is set to 2.

Global cherubim_warning_turn = -1;
Class Cherub
 with parse_name [ n w this_word_ok;
          for (::) {
              w = NextWord();
              this_word_ok = false;
              if (WordInProperty(w, self, name)) this_word_ok = true;
              switch (w) {
                  'cherub': this_word_ok = true;
                  'cherubim': parser_action = ##PluralFound;
                      this_word_ok = true;
                  'cherubs':
                      if (cherubim_warning_turn == -1) {
                          cherubim_warning_turn = turns;
                          print "(I'll let this go once, but the
                              plural of cherub is cherubim.)^";
                      }
                      if (cherubim_warning_turn == turns) {
                          this_word_ok = true;
                          parser_action = ##PluralFound;
                      }
              }
              if (this_word_ok == false) return n;
              n++;
          }
      ];

Then again, Shakespeare wrote “cherubins” (in ‘Twelfth Night’), so who are we to censure?

Object -> genies_lamp "brass lamp"
  with name 'brass' 'lamp',
       colours_inverted false,
       before [;
           Rub: self.colours_inverted = ~~self.colours_inverted;
               "A genie appears from the lamp, declaring:^^
               ~Mischief is my sole delight:^
               If white means black, black means white!~^^
               She vanishes away with a vulgar wink.";
       ];
Object -> white_stone "white stone" with name 'white' 'stone';
Object -> black_stone "black stone" with name 'black' 'stone';
...
[ BeforeParsing;
  if (genies_lamp.colours_inverted)
      for (wn = 1 ::)
          switch (NextWordStopped()) {
              'white': parse-->(wn*2-3) = 'black';
              'black': parse-->(wn*2-3) = 'white';
              -1: return;
          }
];

[ PrintVerb word;
  if (word == 'go.verb') {
      if (go_verb_direction ofclass String) print "go somewhere";
      else {
          print "go to ",
              (name) real_location.(go_verb_direction.door_dir);
      }
      rtrue;
  }
  rfalse;
];

Class Footnote with number 0, text "Text of the note.";
Footnote coinage
  with text quot;D.G.REG.F.D is inscribed around English coins.";
...
[ Note f fn;
  if (f.number == 0)
      objectloop (fn ofclass Footnote && fn ~= f)
          if (fn.number >= f.number)
              f.number = fn.number + 1;
  print "[", f.number, "]";
];
[ FootnoteSub fn;
  if (noun <= 0) "Footnotes count upward from 1.";
  objectloop (fn ofclass Footnote)
      if (fn.number == noun) {
          print "[", noun, "]. "; fn.text(); return;
      }
  "You haven't seen a footnote with that number.";
];
Verb meta 'footnote' 'note' * number -> Footnote;

And then you can code, for instance,

    print "Her claim to the throne is in every pocket ",
        (Note) coinage, ", her portrait in every wallet.";

†  Not even the present author can bear to compare Douglas Adams to Edward Gibbon, so the reader is referred to Anthony Grafton's historiography The Footnote: A Curious History (1997).

[ FrenchNumber n;
    switch (NextWord()) {
        'un', 'une': n=1;
        'deux': n=2;
        'trois': n=3;
        'quatre': n=4;
        'cinq': n=5;
        default: return GPR_FAIL;
    }
    parsed_number = n; return GPR_NUMBER;
];

[ StatusSub; print "is in ", (name) parent(noun), "^"; ];
[ Team x y;
  if (NextWord() ~= 'team') return GPR_FAIL;
  objectloop (y ofclass Adventurer) multiple_object-->(++x) = y;
  multiple_object-->0 = x;
  return GPR_MULTIPLE;
];
Verb 'status' * Team -> Status;

[ FloatingPoint i start digits integer fraction stop n;
  integer = TryNumber(wn++);
  if (integer == -1000) return GPR_FAIL;
  switch (NextWordStopped()) {
      THEN1__WD: if (NextWordStopped() == -1) return GPR_FAIL;
          start = WordAddress(wn-1); digits = WordLength(wn-1);
          for (i = 0: i < digits: i++) {
              if (start->i < '0' || start->i > '9') return GPR_FAIL;
              if (i<3) fraction = fraction*10 + start->i - '0';
          }
      'point':
           do {
               digits++;
               switch (NextWordStopped()) {
                   -1: stop = true;
                   'nought', 'oh', 'zero': n = 0;
                   default: n = TryNumber(wn-1);
                       if (n < 0 || n > 9) { wn--; stop = true; }
               }
               if ((~~stop) && digits <= 3) fraction = fraction*10 + n;
           } until (stop);
           digits--;
           if (digits == 0) return GPR_FAIL;
      -1: ;
      default: wn--;
  }
  for (: digits < 3: digits++) fraction = fraction*10;
  parsed_number = integer*100 + (fraction+5)/10;
  return GPR_NUMBER;
];

Here the local variables integer and fraction hold the integer and fractional part of the number being parsed, and the last calculation performs the rounding-off to the nearest 0.01. Note that NextWord and NextWordStopped return a full stop as the constant THEN1__WD, since it usually plays the same grammatical role as the word “then”: “east then south” and “east. south” are understood as meaning the same thing. Further exercise: with a little more code, make “oh point oh one” also work.

Constant MAX_PHONE_LENGTH = 30;
Array dialled_number -> MAX_PHONE_LENGTH + 1;
[ PhoneNumber at length dialled dialled_already i;
  do {
      if (wn > num_words) jump number_ended;
      at = WordAddress(wn); length = WordLength(wn);
      for (i=0: i<length: i++) {
          switch (at->i) {
              '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9':
                  if (dialled < MAX_PHONE_LENGTH)
                      dialled_number -> (++dialled) = at->i - '0';
              '-': ;
              default: jump number_ended;
          }
      }
      wn++;
      dialled_already = dialled;
  } until (false);
  .number_ended;
  if (dialled_already == 0) return GPR_FAIL;
  dialled_number->0 = dialled_already;
  return GPR_PREPOSITION;
];

To demonstrate this in use,

[ DialPhoneSub i;
  print "You dialled <";
  for (i=1: i<=dialled_number->0: i++) print dialled_number->i;
  ">";
];
Verb 'dial' * PhoneNumber -> DialPhone;

Constant TWELVE_HOURS = 720;
[ HoursMinsWordToTime hour minute word x;
  if (hour >= 24) return -1;
  if (minute >= 60) return -1;
  x = hour*60 + minute; if (hour >= 13) return x;
  x = x%TWELVE_HOURS; if (word == 'pm') x = x + TWELVE_HOURS;
  if (word ~= 'am' or 'pm' && hour == 12) x = x + TWELVE_HOURS;
  return x;
];

For instance, HoursMinsWordToTime(4,20,'pm') returns 980, the Inform time value for twenty past four in the afternoon. The return value is −1 if the hours and minutes make no sense. Next, because the regular TryNumber library routine only recognises textual numbers up to 'twenty', we need a modest extension:

[ ExtendedTryNumber wordnum i j;
  i = wn; wn = wordnum; j = NextWordStopped(); wn = i;
  switch (j) {
      'twenty-one': return 21;
      ...
      'thirty': return 30;
      default: return TryNumber(wordnum);
  }
];

Finally the time of day token itself, which is really three separate parsing tokens in a row, trying three possible time formats:

[ TimeOfDay first_word second_word at length flag illegal_char
      offhour hr mn i;
  first_word = NextWordStopped();
  if (first_word == -1) return GPR_FAIL;
  switch (first_word) {
      'midnight': parsed_number = 0; return GPR_NUMBER;
      'midday', 'noon': parsed_number = TWELVE_HOURS;
      return GPR_NUMBER;
  }
  !   Next try the format 12:02
  at = WordAddress(wn-1); length = WordLength(wn-1);
  for (i=0: i<length: i++) {
      switch (at->i) {
          ':': if (flag == false && i>0 && i<length-1) flag = true;
               else illegal_char = true;
          '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9': ;
          default: illegal_char = true;
      }
  }
  if (length < 3 || length > 5 || illegal_char) flag = false;
  if (flag) {
      for (i=0: at->i~=':': i++, hr=hr*10) hr = hr + at->i - '0';
      hr = hr/10;
      for (i++: i<length: i++, mn=mn*10) mn = mn + at->i - '0';
      mn = mn/10;
      second_word = NextWordStopped();
      parsed_number = HoursMinsWordToTime(hr, mn, second_word);
      if (parsed_number == -1) return GPR_FAIL;
      if (second_word ~= 'pm' or 'am') wn--;
      return GPR_NUMBER;
  }
  !   Lastly the wordy format
  offhour = -1;
  if (first_word == 'half') offhour = 30;
  if (first_word == 'quarter') offhour = 15;
  if (offhour < 0) offhour = ExtendedTryNumber(wn-1);
  if (offhour < 0 || offhour >= 60) return GPR_FAIL;
  second_word = NextWordStopped();
  switch (second_word) {
      ! "six o'clock", "six"
      'o^clock', 'am', 'pm', -1:
          hr = offhour; if (hr > 12) return GPR_FAIL;
      ! "quarter to six", "twenty past midnight"
      'to', 'past':
          mn = offhour; hr = ExtendedTryNumber(wn);
          if (hr <= 0) {
              switch (NextWordStopped()) {
                  'noon', 'midday': hr = 12;
                  'midnight': hr = 0;
                  default: return GPR_FAIL;
              }
          } else wn++;
          if (hr >= 13) return GPR_FAIL;
          if (second_word == 'to') {
              mn = 60-mn; hr--; if (hr<0) hr=23;
          }
          second_word = NextWordStopped();
      ! "six thirty"
      default:
          hr = offhour; mn = ExtendedTryNumber(--wn);
          if (mn < 0 || mn >= 60) return GPR_FAIL;
          wn++; second_word = NextWordStopped();
  }
  parsed_number = HoursMinsWordToTime(hr, mn, second_word);
  if (parsed_number < 0) return GPR_FAIL;
  if (second_word ~= 'pm' or 'am' or 'o^clock') wn--;
  return GPR_NUMBER;
];

True to the spirit of the Inform parser, this will also parse oddities like “quarter thirty o'clock”, and we don't care.

[ ASlide w n;
  if (location ~= Machine_Room) return GPR_FAIL;
  w = NextWord(); if (w == 'the' or 'slide') w = NextWord();
  switch (w) {
      'first', 'one':   n = 1;
      'second', 'two':  n = 2;
      'third', 'three': n = 3;
      'fourth', 'four': n = 4;
      'fifth', 'five':  n = 5;
      default: return GPR_FAIL;
  }
  if (NextWord() ~= 'slide') wn--;
  parsed_number = n;
  return GPR_NUMBER;
];
Array slide_settings --> 5;
[ SetSlideSub;
  slide_settings-->(noun-1) = second;
  "You set slide ", (number) noun, " to the value ", second, ".";
];
[ XSlideSub;
  "Slide ", (number) noun, " currently stands at ",
  slide_settings-->(noun-1), ".";
];
Extend 'set' first * ASlide 'to' number -> SetSlide;
Extend 'push' first * ASlide 'to' number -> SetSlide;
Extend 'examine' first * ASlide -> XSlide;
Extend 'look' first * 'at' ASlide -> XSlide;

Global from_char; Global to_char;
[ QuotedText start_wn;
  start_wn = wn;
  from_char = WordAddress(start_wn);
  if (from_char->0 ~= '"') return GPR_FAIL;
  from_char++;
  do {
      if (NextWordStopped() == -1) return GPR_FAIL;
      to_char = WordAddress(wn-1) + WordLength(wn-1) - 1;
  } until (to_char >= from_char && to_char->0 == '"');
  to_char--;
  return GPR_PREPOSITION;
];

(The code above won't work if the user types "foo"bar", though, because " is a word separator to Inform. It would be easy enough to compensate for this if we had to.) The text is treated as though it were a preposition, and the positions where the quoted text starts and finishes are recorded, so that an action routine can easily extract the text and use it later.

[ WriteOnSub i;
  print "You write ~";
  for (i = from_char: i <= to_char: i++) print (char) i->0;
  "~ on ", (the) noun, ".";
];
Verb 'write' * QuotedText 'on' noun -> WriteOn;

Global third;
[ ThirdNoun x;
  x = ParseToken(ELEMENTARY_TT, NOUN_TOKEN);
  if (x == GPR_FAIL or GPR_REPARSE) return x;
  third = x; return GPR_PREPOSITION;
];

The values GPR_MULTIPLE and GPR_NUMBER can't be returned, since a noun token – which is what the call to ParseToken asked for – cannot result in them.

[ InformNumberToken n wa wl sign base digit digit_count;
  wa = WordAddress(wn);
  wl = WordLength(wn); sign = 1; base = 10; digit_count = 0;
  if (wa->0 ~= '-' or '$' or '0' or '1' or '2' or '3' or '4'
                          or '5' or '6' or '7' or '8' or '9')
      return GPR_FAIL;
  if (wa->0 == '-') { sign = -1; wl--; wa++; }
  else {
      if (wa->0 == '$') { base = 16; wl--; wa++; }
      if (wa->0 == '$') { base = 2; wl--; wa++; }
  }
  if (wl == 0) return GPR_FAIL;
  n = 0;
  while (wl > 0) {
      if (wa->0 >= 'a') digit = wa->0 - 'a' + 10;
      else digit = wa->0 - '0';
      digit_count++;
      switch (base) {
          2: if (digit_count == 17) return GPR_FAIL;
         10: if (digit_count == 6) return GPR_FAIL;
             if (digit_count == 5) {
                 if (n > 3276) return GPR_FAIL;
                 if (n == 3276) {
                     if (sign == 1 && digit > 7) return GPR_FAIL;
                     if (sign == -1 && digit > 8) return GPR_FAIL;
                 }
             }
         16: if (digit_count == 5) return GPR_FAIL;
      }
      if (digit >= 0 && digit < base) n = base*n + digit;
      else return GPR_FAIL;
      wl--; wa++;
  }
  parsed_number = n*sign; wn++; return GPR_NUMBER;
];

  w = NextWordStopped(); if (w == -1) return GPR_FAIL;
  switch (w) {
      'true':    parsed_number = true; return GPR_NUMBER;
      'false':   parsed_number = false; return GPR_NUMBER;
      'nothing': parsed_number = nothing; return GPR_NUMBER;
      'null':    parsed_number = NULL; return GPR_NUMBER;
  }
  wn--;

  if (wl == 3 && wa->0 == ''' && wa->2 == ''') {
      parsed_number = wa->1; wn++; return GPR_NUMBER;
  }

Array tolowercase -> 256;
Array attr_text -> 128;
[ TestPrintedText Rule value j k at length f addto;
  if (tolowercase->255 == 0) {
      for (j=0: j<256: j++) tolowercase->j = j;
      for (j='A',k='a': j<='Z': j++,k++) tolowercase->j = k;
  }
  attr_text-->0 = 62; 
  @output_stream 3 attr_text;
  Rule(value);
  @output_stream -3;
  k = attr_text-->0; addto = 0;
  at = WordAddress(wn);
  length = WordLength(wn);
  if (Rule == DebugAttribute && at->0 == '~') {
      length--; at++; addto = 100;
  }
  if (k == length) {
      f = true;
      for (j=0: j<k: j++)
          if (tolowercase->(attr_text->(j+2)) ~= at->j)
              f = false;
      if (f) { parsed_number = value + addto; rtrue; }
  }
  rfalse;
];

Note that the special rule about ~ (which adds 100 to the value in parsed_number) is set up only to apply if attributes are being looked at. Now simply add the lines:

for (n=0: n<48: n++)
    if (TestPrintedText(DebugAttribute, n)) {
        wn++; return GPR_NUMBER;
    }

as the first lines of InformNumberToken. The routine DebugAttribute is only present if the game has been compiled with Debug mode on, but it seems very unlikely that the above code would be needed except for debugging anyway.

Object with zwissler;

Being the final new property to be created, the value of zwissler (named after A. M. F. Zwissler, the last person in the Oxford and District telephone directory for 1998) will be P. A tidier approach is to have read, or if possible written, the Inform Technical Manual, which reveals that the value #identifiers_table-->0 is exactly P+1. Anyway, the actual parsing is quite like the corresponding case for attributes. Define a suitable printing rule:

[ PrintProperty n; print (property) n; ];

and then add the next round of comparisons to InformNumberToken:

for (n=1: n<#identifiers_table-->0: n++)
    if (TestPrintedText(PrintProperty, n)) { wn++; return GPR_NUMBER; }

This and the preceding five exercises, put together, are most of the way to a token which would parse any Inform expression. For a full definition of this, see the InfixRvalueTerm token in the Infix debugger's library file "Infix.h". (“Rvalue” is compiler slang for a value which can appear on the right-hand side of an = assignment.)

Global scope_count;
[ PrintIt obj;
  print_ret ++scope_count, ": ", (a) obj, " (", obj, ")";
];
[ ScopeSub; 
  scope_count = 0; LoopOverScope(PrintIt);
  if (scope_count == 0) "Nothing is in scope.";
];
Verb meta 'scope' * -> Scope;

Under normal circumstances, “Nothing is in scope” will never be printed, as – at the very least – an actor is always in scope to himself, but since it's possible for designers to alter the definition of scope, this routine has been written to be cautious.

[ MegaExam obj; print "^", (a) obj, ": "; <Examine obj>; ];
[ MegaLookSub; <Look>; LoopOverScope(MegaExam); ];
Verb meta 'megalook' * -> MegaLook;

[ Anything i;
  if (scope_stage == 1) rfalse;
  if (scope_stage == 2) {
      objectloop (i ofclass Object) PlaceInScope(i); rtrue;
  }
  "No such in game.";
];

(This disallows multiple matches for efficiency reasons – the parser has enough work to do with such a huge scope definition as it is.) Now the token scope=Anything will match anything at all, even things like the abstract concept of ‘east’. The restriction to i ofclass Object excludes picking up classes.

Global just_looking_through;
Class Window_Room
  with description
           "This is one end of a long east/west room.",
       before [;
           Examine, Search: ;
           default:
             if (inp1 ~= 1 && noun ~= 0 && noun in self.far_side)
                 print_ret (The) noun, " is on the far side of
                     the glass.";
             if (inp2 ~= 1 && second ~= 0 && second in self.far_side)
                 print_ret (The) second, " is on the far side of
                     the glass.";
       ],
       after [;
           Look:
             if (just_looking_through) rfalse;
             print "^The room is divided by a great glass window,
                 stretching from floor to ceiling.^";
             if (Locale(location.far_side,
                        "Beyond the glass you can see",
                        "Beyond the glass you can also see")) ".";
       ],
  has  light;
Window_Room window_w "West of Window"
  with far_side window_e;
Window_Room window_e "East of Window"
  with far_side window_w;
Object "great glass window"
  with name 'great' 'glass' 'window',
       before [ place;
           Examine, Search: place = location;
               just_looking_through = true;
               PlayerTo(place.far_side,1); <Look>; PlayerTo(place,1);
               just_looking_through = false;
               give place.far_side ~visited; rtrue;
       ],
       found_in window_w window_e,
  has  scenery;

A few words about inp1 and inp2 are in order. noun and second can hold either objects or numbers, and it's sometimes useful to know which. inp1 is equal to noun if that's an object, or 1 if that's a number; likewise for inp2 and second. (In this case we're just being careful that the action SetTo eggtimer 35 wouldn't be stopped if object 35 happened to be on the other side of the glass.) We also need:

[ InScope actor;
  if (parent(actor) ofclass Window_Room)
      ScopeWithin(parent(actor).far_side);
  rfalse;
];

Object Dark_Room "Dark Room"
  with description "A disused broom cupboard.";
Object -> light_switch "light switch"
  with name 'light' 'switch',
       player_knows,
       initial "On one wall is the light switch.",
       after [;
           SwitchOn: give Dark_Room light;
           SwitchOff: give Dark_Room ~light;
       ],
  has  switchable static;
Object -> diamond "shiny diamond"
  with name 'shiny' 'diamond'
  has  scored;
Object -> dwarf "dwarf"
  with name 'voice' 'dwarf' 'breathing',
       life [;
           Order:
               if (action == ##SwitchOn && noun == light_switch) {
                   give Dark_Room light;
                   light_switch.player_knows = true;
                   StopDaemon(self);
                   if (light_switch has on) "~Typical human.~";
                   give light_switch on; "~Right you are, squire.~";
               }
       ],
       daemon [;
           if (location == thedark && real_location == Dark_Room)
               "^You hear the breathing of a dwarf.";
       ],
  has  animate;
[ InScope person i;
  if (person in Dark_Room)
      if (person == dwarf || light_switch.player_knows)
          PlaceInScope(light_switch);
  if (person == player && location == thedark)
      objectloop (i in parent(player))
          if (i has moved || i==dwarf)
              PlaceInScope(i);
  rfalse;
];

And in the game's Initialise routine, call StartDaemon(dwarf) to get respiration under way. Note that the routine puts the light switch in scope for the dwarf – if it didn't, the dwarf would not be able to understand “dwarf, turn light on”, and that was the whole point. Note also that the dwarf can't hear the player in darkness, no doubt because of all the heavy breathing.

Object newplayer "yourself"
  with description "As good-looking as ever.",
       add_to_scope nose,
       capacity 5,
       orders [;
           Inv: if (nose.being_held)
                   print "You're holding your nose. ";
           Smell: if (nose.being_held)
                   "You can't smell a thing with your nose held.";
       ],
  has  concealed animate proper transparent;
Object nose "nose"
  with name 'nose', article "your",
       being_held,
       before [ possessed nonclothing;
           Take: if (self.being_held)
                   "You're already holding your nose.";
               objectloop (possessed in player)
                   if (possessed hasnt worn) nonclothing++;
               if (nonclothing > 1) "You haven't a free hand.";
               self.being_held = true; player.capacity = 1;
               "You hold your nose with your spare hand.";
           Drop: if (~~(self.being_held))
                   "But you weren't holding it!";
               self.being_held = false; player.capacity = 5;
               print "You release your nose and inhale again. ";
               <<Smell>>;
       ],
  has  scenery;

Object steriliser "sterilising machine"
  with name 'washing' 'sterilising' 'machine',
       add_to_scope top_of_wm go_button,
       before [;
           PushDir: AllowPushDir(); rtrue;
           Receive:
               if (receive_action == ##PutOn)
                   <<PutOn noun top_of_wm>>;
           SwitchOn: <<Push go_button>>;
       ],
       after [;
           PushDir: "It's hard work, but the steriliser does roll.";
       ],
       initial [;
           print "There is a sterilising machine on casters here
               (a kind of chemist's washing machine) with a ~go~
               button. ";
           if (children(top_of_wm) > 0) {
               print "On top";
               WriteListFrom(child(top_of_wm),
                   ISARE_BIT + ENGLISH_BIT);
               print ". ";
           }
           if (children(self) > 0) {
               print "Inside";
               WriteListFrom(child(self), ISARE_BIT + ENGLISH_BIT);
               print ". ";
           }
           print "^";
       ],
  has  static container open openable;
Object top_of_wm "top of the sterilising machine",
  with article "the",
  has  static supporter;
Object go_button "~go~ button"
  with name 'go' 'button',
       before [; Push, SwitchOn: "The power is off."; ],
  has  static;

Object -> label "red sticky label"
  with name 'red' 'sticky' 'label',
       stuck_onto nothing,
       unstick [;
           print "(first removing the label from ",
               (the) self.stuck_onto, ")^";
           self.stuck_onto = nothing;
           move self to player;
       ],
       saystuck [;
           print "^The red sticky label is stuck to ",
               (the) self.stuck_onto, ".^";
       ],
       before [;
           Take, Remove:
               if (self.stuck_onto) {
                   self.unstick(); "Taken.";
               }
           PutOn, Insert:
               if (second == self.stuck_onto)
                   "It's already stuck there.";
               if (self.stuck_onto) self.unstick();
               if (second == self) "That would only make a red mess.";
               self.stuck_onto = second; remove self;
               "You affix the label to ", (the) second, ".";
       ],
       react_before [;
           Examine: if (self.stuck_onto == noun) self.saystuck();
       ],
       react_after [ x;
           x = self.stuck_onto; if (x == nothing) rfalse;
           Look: if (IndirectlyContains(location, x) &&
                     ~~IndirectlyContains(player, x)) self.saystuck();
           Inv:  if (IndirectlyContains(player, x)) self.saystuck();
       ],
       each_turn [;
           if (parent(self)) self.stuck_onto = nothing;
       ];

Note that label.stuck_onto holds the object the label is stuck to, or nothing if it's unstuck: and that when it is stuck, it is removed from the object tree. It therefore has to be moved into scope, so we need the rule: if the labelled object is in scope, then so is the label.

Global disable_self = false;
[ InScope actor i1 i2;
  if (disable_self || label.stuck_onto == nothing) rfalse;
  disable_self = true;
  i1 = TestScope(label, actor);
  i2 = TestScope(label.stuck_onto, actor);
  disable_self = false;
  if (i1 ~= 0) rfalse;
  if (i2 ~= 0) PlaceInScope(label);
  rfalse;
];

This routine has two interesting points: firstly, it disables itself while testing scope (since otherwise the game would go into an endless recursion), and secondly it only puts the label in scope if it isn't already there. This is just a safety precaution to prevent the label reacting twice to actions, and isn't really necessary since the label can't already be in scope, but is included for the sake of example.

Global assumed_key;
[ DefaultLockSub;
  print "(with ", (the) assumed_key, ")^"; <<Lock noun assumed_key>>;
];
[ DefaultLockTest i count;
  if (noun hasnt lockable) rfalse;
  objectloop (i in player && i ofclass Key) {
      count++; assumed_key = i;
  }
  if (count == 1) rtrue; rfalse;
];
Extend 'lock' first * noun=DefaultLockTest -> DefaultLock;

(and similar code for “unlock”). Note that “lock strongbox” is matched by this new grammar line only if the player only has one key: the <DefaultLock strongbox> action is generated: which is converted to, say, <Lock strongbox brass_key>.

[ ChooseObjects obj code;
  obj = obj; ! To stop Inform pointing out that obj was unused
  if (code == 1) {
      ! If the parser wants to include this object in an "all"
      ! in a faintly lit room, force it to be excluded:
      if (action_to_be == ##Take or ##Remove
          && location ofclass FaintlyLitRoom) return 2;
  }
  return 0; ! Carry on, applying normal parser rules
];

Since that excludes everything from an “all”, the result will be the error message “Nothing to do!”. As this is not very descriptive:

[ ParserError error_code;
  if (error_code == NOTHING_PE)
      ! The error message printed if an "all" turned out empty
      if (action_to_be == ##Take or ##Remove
          && location ofclass FaintlyLitRoom)
         "In this faint light, it's not so easy.";
  rfalse; ! Print standard parser error message
];

All this makes a room so dark that even carrying a lamp will not illuminate it fully. If this is undesirable, add the following to the start of ChooseObjects:

objectloop (whatever in location)
    if (HasLightSource(whatever)) return 0;

Exercises in Chapter V

Object -> "searo"
  with name 'searo', dativename 'searwe';
Object -> "Cyning"
  with name 'cyning';
[ dative obj word a l;
  ! Irregular dative endings
  if (obj provides dativename)
      return WordInProperty(word, obj, dativename);
  ! Regular dative endings
  a = WordAddress(wn-1);
  l = WordLength(wn-1);
  if (l >= 2 && a->(l-1) == 'e') {
      word = DictionaryLookup(a, l-1);
      if (WordInProperty(word, obj, name)) rtrue;
  }
  rfalse;
];
[ dativenoun;
  if (NextWord() == 'to') return ParseToken(ELEMENTARY_TT, NOUN_TOKEN);
  wn--;
  parser_inflection = dative;
  return ParseToken(ELEMENTARY_TT, NOUN_TOKEN);
];

The upshot is that the game designer only has to give names in the dativename property if they are irregular.

[ dativenoun it;
  switch (NextWord()) {
      'toit': it = PronounValue('it');
          if (it == NULL) return GPR_FAIL;
          if (TestScope(it, actor)) return it;
          return GPR_FAIL;
      'to': ;
      default: wn--; parser_inflection = dative;
  }
  return ParseToken(ELEMENTARY_TT, NOUN_TOKEN);
];

Note that it isn't safe to always allow “it” to be referred to, as “it” might be an object in another room and now out of scope. (We might want to use ParserError to give a better error message in this case, since at the moment we'll just get the generic “I didn't understand that sentence” message.) Another possible way for a pronoun to fail is if it remains unset. In the case of English “it”, this is unlikely, but a pronoun applying only to “a group of two or more women” might well remain unset for hundreds of turns.

Object ... with name 'brun' 'bruna' 'hund' 'hunden';
Object ... with name 'brunt' 'bruna' 'hus' 'huset';

A better way is to switch between two different inflections, one for indefinite and the other for definite noun phrases. The catch is that until you start parsing, you don't know whether it will be definite or not. But you can always take a quick look ahead:

[ swedishnoun;
  parser_inflection = swedish_indefinite_form;
  if (NextWord() == 'den' or 'det')
      parser_inflection = swedish_definite_form;
  else wn--;
  return ParseToken(ELEMENTARY_TT, NOUN_TOKEN);
];

Now either write

Object ... with swedish_indefinite_form 'brun' 'hund',
    swedish_definite_form 'bruna' 'hunden';

or else swedish_definite_form and swedish_indefinite_form routines to work out the required forms automatically. (Still another way is to rewrite all indefinite forms as definite within LanguageToInformese.)

[ LanguageToInformese x;
  ! Insert a space before each hyphen and after each apostrophe.
  for (x=2: x<2+buffer->1: x++) {
      if (buffer->x == '-') LTI_Insert(x++, ' ');
      if (buffer->x == ''') LTI_Insert(++x, ' ');
  }
  #ifdef DEBUG;
  if (parser_trace >= 1) {
      print "[ After LTI: '";
      for (x=2: x<2+buffer->1: x++) print (char) buffer->x;
      print "']^";
  }
  #endif;
];

for (x=1: x<=parse->1: x++) {
    wn = x; word = NextWord();
    at = WordAddress(x);
    if (word == 'dessus') {
      LTI_Insert(at - buffer, ' ');
      buffer->at     = 's'; buffer->(at+1) = 'u'; buffer->(at+2) = 'r';
      buffer->(at+3) = ' '; buffer->(at+4) = 'l'; buffer->(at+5) = 'u';
      buffer->(at+6) = 'i';
      break;
    }
    if (word == 'dedans') {
      LTI_Insert(at - buffer, ' ');
      LTI_Insert(at - buffer, ' ');
      buffer->at     = 'd'; buffer->(at+1) = 'a'; buffer->(at+2) = 'n';
      buffer->(at+3) = 's'; buffer->(at+4) = ' '; buffer->(at+5) = 'l';
      buffer->(at+6) = 'u'; buffer->(at+7) = 'i';
      break;
    }
}

Actually, this assumes that only one of the two words will be used, and only once in the command. Which is almost certainly good enough, but if not we could replace both occurrences of break with the code:

      @tokenise buffer parse;
      x = 0; continue;

so catching even multiple usages.

[ LTI_Shift from chars i
  start   ! Where in buffer to start copying (inclusive)
  end     ! Where in buffer to stop copying (exclusive)
  dir;    ! Direction to move (1 for left, -1 for right)
  if (chars < 0) {
      start = from; end = buffer->1 + chars + 3; dir = 1;
      if (end <= start) return;
      buffer->1 = buffer->1 + chars;
  } else {
      start = buffer->1 + chars + 2; end = from + chars - 1; dir = -1;
      if (start <= end) return;
      if (start > buffer->0 + 2) start = buffer->0 + 2;
      buffer->1 = start - 2;
  }
  for (i=start: i~=end: i=i+dir) buffer->i = buffer->(i - chars);
];

[ LanguageToInformese x c word at len;
  for (x=0: x<parse->1: x++) {
      word = parse-->(x*2 + 1);
      len = arse->(x*4 + 4);
      at = parse->(x*4 + 5);
      if (word == 0 && buffer->at == 'd' && buffer->(at+1) == 'a') {
          c = 2; if (buffer->(at+2) == 'r') c = 3;
          ! Is the rest of the word, after "da" or "dar", in dict?
          if (DictionaryLookup(buffer+at+c, len-c)) {
              buffer->at = ' '; buffer->(at+1) = ' ';
              if (c == 3) buffer->(at+2) = ' ';
              LTI_Insert(at+len, 's');
              LTI_Insert(at+len, 'e');
              LTI_Insert(at+len, ' ');
              break;
          }
      }
  }
];

Note that the text “ es” is appended by inserting ‘s’, then ‘e’, then a space. The routine will only make one amendment on the input line, but then only one such preposition is likely to occur on any input line, so that's all right then.

[ GNA g;
  g = GetGNAOfObject(noun);
  switch (g) {
      0,1,2,3,4,5: print "animate ";
      default: print "inanimate ";
  }
  switch (g) {
      0,1,2,6,7,8: print "singular ";
      default: print "plural ";
  }
  switch (g) {
      0,3,6,9: print "masculine";
      1,4,7,10: print "feminine";
      default: print "neuter";
  }
  print " (GNA ", g, ")";
];
[ GNASub;
  print "GNA ", (GNA) noun, "^",
        (The) noun, " / ", (the) noun, " / ", (a) noun, "^";
];
Verb meta 'gna' * multi -> GNA;

Constant LanguageContractionForms = 3;
[ LanguageContraction text;
  if (text->0 == 'a' or 'e' or 'i' or 'o' or 'u'
                 or 'A' or 'E' or 'I' or 'O' or 'U') return 2;
  if (text->0 == 'z' or 'Z') return 1;
  if (text->0 ~= 's' or 'S') return 0;
  if (text->1 == 'a' or 'e' or 'i' or 'o' or 'u'
                 or 'A' or 'E' or 'I' or 'O' or 'U') return 1;
  return 0;
];

Array LanguageArticles -->
 !   Contraction form 0:     Contraction form 1:
 !   Cdef   Def    Indef     Cdef   Def    Indef
     "Le "  "le "  "un "     "L'"   "l'"   "un "     ! 0: masc sing
     "La "  "la "  "une "    "L'"   "l'"   "une "    ! 1: fem sing
     "Les " "les " "des "    "Les " "les " "des ";   ! 2: plural
                   !             a           i
                   !             s     p     s     p
                   !             m f n m f n m f n m f n
Array LanguageGNAsToArticles --> 0 1 0 2 2 2 0 1 0 2 2 2;

Array LanguageArticles -->
 ! Contraction form 0:   Contraction form 1:   Contraction form 2:
 ! Cdef   Def    Indef   Cdef   Def    Indef   Cdef   Def    Indef
   "Il "  "il "  "un "   "Lo "  "lo "  "uno "  "L'"   "l'"   "un "
   "La "  "la "  "una "  "Lo "  "lo "  "una "  "L'"   "l'"   "un'"
   "I "   "i "   "un "   "Gli " "gli " "uno "  "Gli " "gli " "un "
   "Le "  "le "  "una "  "Gli " "gli " "una "  "Le "  "le "  "un'"; 
                   !             a           i
                   !             s     p     s     p
                   !             m f n m f n m f n m f n
Array LanguageGNAsToArticles --> 0 1 0 2 3 0 0 1 0 2 3 0;

Constant LanguageContractionForms = 1;
[ LanguageContraction text; return 0; ];
Array LanguageArticles --> "" "" "";
                   !             a           i
                   !             s     p     s     p
                   !             m f n m f n m f n m f n
Array LanguageGNAsToArticles --> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;

Array SmallNumbersInFrench -->
  "un" "deux" "trois" "quatre" "cinq" "six" "sept" "huit"
  "neuf" "dix" "onze" "douze" "treize" "quatorze" "quinze"
  "seize" "dix-sept" "dix-huit" "dix-neuf";
[ LanguageNumber n f;
  if (n == 0)    { print "z@'ero"; rfalse; }
  if (n < 0)     { print "moins "; n = -n; }
  if (n >= 1000) { if (n/1000 ~= 1) print (LanguageNumber) n/1000, " ";
                   print "mille"; n = n%1000; f = true; }
  if (n >= 100)  { if (f) print " ";
                   if (n/100 ~= 1) print (LanguageNumber) n/100, " ";
                   print "cent"; n = n%100; f = true; }
  if (n == 0) rfalse;
  if (f) { print " "; if (n == 1) print "et "; }
  switch (n) {
     1 to 19: print (string) SmallNumbersInFrench-->(n-1);
     20 to 99:
       switch (n/10) {
          2: print "vingt";
             if (n%10 == 1) { print " et un"; return; }
          3: print "trente";
             if (n%10 == 1) { print " et un"; return; }
          4: print "quarante";
             if (n%10 == 1) { print " et un"; return; }
          5: print "cinquante";
             if (n%10 == 1) { print " et un"; return; }
          6: print "soixante";
             if (n%10 == 1) { print " et un"; return; }
          7: print "soixante";
             if (n%10 == 1) { print " et onze"; return; }
             print "-"; LanguageNumber(10 + n%10); return;
          8: if (n%10 == 0) { print "quatre vingts"; return; }
             print "quatre-vingt";
          9: print "quatre-vingt-"; LanguageNumber(10 + n%10);
             return;
       }
       if (n%10 ~= 0) { print "-"; LanguageNumber(n%10); }
  }
];

[ LanguageTimeOfDay hours mins i;
  i = hours%12;
  if (i == 0) i = 12;
  if (i < 10) print " ";
  print i, ":", mins/10, mins%10;
  if (hours>= 12) print " pm"; else print " am";
];

[ FrenchNominativePronoun obj;
  switch (GetGNAOfObject(obj)) {
      0, 6: print "il";  1, 7: print "elle";
      3, 9: print "ils"; 4, 10: print "elles";
  }
];

Exercises in Chapter VII

Array printed_text --> 65;
Array printf_vals --> 6;
[ Printf format p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6   pc j k;
  printf_vals-->0 = p1; printf_vals-->1 = p2; printf_vals-->2 = p3;
  printf_vals-->3 = p4; printf_vals-->4 = p5; printf_vals-->5 = p6;
  printed_text-->0 = 64; @output_stream 3 printed_text;
  print (string) format; @output_stream -3;
  j = printed_text-->0;
  for (k=2: k<j+2: k++) {
     if (printed_text->k == '%' && k<j+2) {
         switch (printed_text->(++k)) {
             '%': print "%";
             'c': print (char) printf_vals-->pc++;
             'd': print printf_vals-->pc++;
             'e': print (number) printf_vals-->pc++;
             's': print (string) printf_vals-->pc++;
             default: print "<** Unknown printf escape **>";
         }
     }
     else print (char) printed_text->k;
  }
];

[ TitlePage i;
  @erase_window -1; print "^^^^^^^^^^^^^";
  i = 0->33; if (i > 30) i = (i-30)/2;
  style bold; font off; spaces(i);
  print "            RUINS^";
  style roman; print "^^"; spaces(i);
  print "[Please press SPACE to begin.]^";
  font on;
  box "But Alligator was not digging the bottom of the hole"
      "Which was to be his grave,"
      "But rather he was digging his own hole"
      "As a shelter for himself."
      ""
      "-- from the Popol Vuh";
  @read_char 1 -> i;
  @erase_window -1;
];

[ DrawStatusLine width posa posb;
  if (invisible_status) { @split_window 0; return; }
  @split_window 1; @set_window 1; @set_cursor 1 1; style reverse;
  width = 0->33; posa = width-26; posb = width-13;
  spaces (width);
  @set_cursor 1 2;  PrintShortName(location);
  if (width > 76) {
      @set_cursor 1 posa; print "Score: ", sline1;
      @set_cursor 1 posb; print "Moves: ", sline2;
  }
  if (width > 63 && width <= 76) {
      @set_cursor 1 posb; print sline1, "/", sline2;
  }
  @set_cursor 1 1; style roman; @set_window 0;
];

For simplicity this and the following answers assume that the player's visibility ceiling is always either darkness or the location: imitate the real DrawStatusLine in "parserm.h" if you need situations when the player is sealed into an opaque container.

[ DrawStatusLine;
  @split_window 1; @set_window 1; @set_cursor 1 1; style reverse;
  spaces (0->33);
  @set_cursor 1 2;  PrintShortName(location);
  if (treasures_found > 0) {
      @set_cursor 1 50; print "Treasure: ", treasures_found;
  }
  @set_cursor 1 1; style roman; @set_window 0;
];

Constant U_POS 28; Constant W_POS 30; Constant C_POS 31;
Constant E_POS 32; Constant I_POS 34;
[ DrawStatusLine;
  @split_window 3; @set_window 1; style reverse; font off;
  @set_cursor 1 1; spaces (0->33);
  @set_cursor 2 1; spaces (0->33);
  @set_cursor 3 1; spaces (0->33);
  @set_cursor 1 2;  print (name) location;
  @set_cursor 1 51; print "Score: ", sline1;
  @set_cursor 1 64; print "Moves: ", sline2;
  if (location ~= thedark) {
    ! First line
    if (location.u_to)   { @set_cursor 1 U_POS; print "U"; }
    if (location.nw_to)  { @set_cursor 1 W_POS; print "@@92"; }
    if (location.n_to)   { @set_cursor 1 C_POS; print "|"; }
    if (location.ne_to)  { @set_cursor 1 E_POS; print "/"; }
    if (location.in_to)  { @set_cursor 1 I_POS; print "I"; }
    ! Second line
    if (location.w_to)   { @set_cursor 2 W_POS; print "-"; }
                           @set_cursor 2 C_POS; print "o";
    if (location.e_to)   { @set_cursor 2 E_POS; print "-"; }
    ! Third line
    if (location.d_to)   { @set_cursor 3 U_POS; print "D"; }
    if (location.sw_to)  { @set_cursor 3 W_POS; print "/"; }
    if (location.s_to)   { @set_cursor 3 C_POS; print "|"; }
    if (location.se_to)  { @set_cursor 3 E_POS; print "@@92"; }
    if (location.out_to) { @set_cursor 3 I_POS; print "O"; }
  }
  @set_cursor 1 1; style roman; @set_window 0; font on;
];

Array printed_text --> 64;
[ DrawStatusLine i j;
  i = 0->33;
  font off;
  @split_window 1; @buffer_mode 0; @set_window 1;
  style reverse; @set_cursor 1 1; spaces(i);
  @output_stream 3 printed_text;
  print (name) location;
  @output_stream -3;
  j = (i-(printed_text-->0))/2;
  @set_cursor 1 j; print (name) location; spaces(j-1);
  style roman;
  @buffer_mode 1; @set_window 0; font on;
];

Note that the table can hold 128 characters (plenty for this purpose), and that these are stored in printed_text->2 to printed_text->129; the length printed is held in printed_text-->0. (‘Trinity’ actually does this more crudely, storing away the width of each location name.)

Global indent; Global d_indent = 1;
[ StartWavyMargins;
  @put_wind_prop 0 8 WavyMargins; @put_wind_prop 0 9 1;
];
[ StopWavyMargins;
  @put_wind_prop 0 8 0; @put_wind_prop 0 9 0; @set_margins 0 0 0;
];
[ WavyMargins;
  indent = indent + d_indent*10;
  if (indent == 0 or 80) d_indent = -d_indent;
  @set_margins indent indent 0;
  StartWavyMargins();
];

[ PressAnyKey k; @read_char 1 -> k; return k; ];

[ KeyHeldDown k;
  @read_char 1 1 Interrupt -> k; return k;
];
[ Interrupt; rtrue; ];

The second 1 in the @read_char is the time delay: 1 tenth of a second.

[ KeyboardPrimitive b p k;
  b->1 = 0; p->1 = 0; @aread b p 100 Hurryup -> k;
];
[ Hurryup; print "^Hurry up, please, it's time.^"; rfalse; ];

The number 100 represents one hundred tenths of a second, i.e., ten seconds of real time.

Global reminders; Global response;
[ KeyboardPrimitive b p k;
  reminders = 0; response = b;
  response->1 = 0; p->1 = 0;
  @aread response p 50 Hurry -> k;
  if (k ~= 0) return;
  response->1 = 4; response->2 = 'l'; response->3 = 'o';
  response->4 = 'o'; response->5 = 'k';
  @tokenise b p;
];
[ Hurry;
  switch (++reminders) {
      1: print "^(Please decide quickly.)^";
      2: print "^(Further delay would be unfortunate.)^";
      3: print "^(I really must insist on a response.)^";
      4: print "^(In ten seconds I'll make your mind up for you.)^";
      6: print "^(~look~ it is, then.)^"; rtrue;
  }
  rfalse;
];

Note that Hurry is called every five seconds.

[ KeyboardPrimitive b p k;
  hourglass.run_sand(); b->1 = 0; p->1 = 0;
  @aread b p 10 OneSecond -> k;
];
[ OneSecond; hourglass.run_sand(); rfalse; ];

The catch is that time spent looking at menus, or waiting to press the space bar after the interpreter prints “[MORE]”, isn't registered, and besides that a turn may take more or less than 1 second to parse. So you wouldn't want to set your watch by this hourglass, but on the author's machine it keeps reasonable enough time. Here's the object:

Object -> hourglass "hourglass"
  with name 'hourglass',
       sand_in_top,
       when_on [;
           print "An hourglass is fixed to a pivot on the wall. ";
           switch (self.sand_in_top/10) {
               0: "The sand is almost all run through to a neat pyramid
                  in the lower bulb.";
               1: "About a quarter of the sand is left in the upper
                  bulb.";
               2: "The upper and lower bulbs contain roughly equal
                  amounts of sand.";
               3: "About three-quarters of the sand is still to run.";
               4: "Almost all of the sand is in the upper bulb.";
           }
       ],
       when_off
           "An hourglass fixed to a pivot on the wall is turned
           sideways, so that no sand moves.",
       before [;
           Turn: if (self hasnt on) <<SwitchOn self>>;
               self.sand_in_top = 40 - self.sand_in_top;
               "You turn the hourglass the other way up.";
       ],
       after [;
           SwitchOn:
               if (self.sand_in_top < 20)
                   self.sand_in_top = 40 - self.sand_in_top;
               "You turn the hourglass so that the bulb with most sand
               is uppermost, and the grains begin to pour through.";
           SwitchOff:
               "You turn the hourglass sideways.";
       ],
       run_sand [;
           if (self has on && (--(self.sand_in_top) < 0)) {
               self.sand_in_top = 40 - self.sand_in_top;
               if (self in location)
                   "^The hourglass elegantly turns itself to begin
                   again, all of the sand now in the uppermost bulb.";
           }
       ],
  has  static switchable;

Array mouse_array --> 4;
[ Main k;
  @mouse_window 0;
  for (::) {
      @read_char 1 -> k;
      @read_mouse mouse_array;
      switch(k) {
          253, 254: if (k == 253) print "Double-";
              print "Click at (", mouse_array-->0, ",",
                  mouse_array-->1, ") buttons ",
                  mouse_array-->2, "^";
      }
  }
];

Zcharacter terminating 252;
Array mouse_array --> 4;
[ KeyboardPrimitive b p k s i;
  b->1 = 0; p->1 = 0;
  @aread b p -> k;
  if (k ~= 252) return;
  @read_mouse mouse_array;
  s = Do_M-->(1 + mouse_array->7);
  for (i=1: i<=s->0: i++) { b->(i+1) = s->i; print (char) s->i; }
  new_line; b->1=s->0; @tokenise b p;
];

And the menu itself must be created:

Array D1 string "Do";
Array D2 string "look";
Array D3 string "wait";
Array D4 string "inventory";
Array Do_M table D1 D2 D3 D4;
[ Initialise;
  ...
  @mouse_window 0;
  @make_menu 3 Do_M ?Able;
  "*** Unable to generate menu. ***";
  .Able;
  ...
];

Array bones_filename string "catacomb.bns";
Array bones_file --> 10;
Class Ghost(10)
  with short_name "ghost", plural "ghosts", name 'ghost' 'ghosts//p',
  has  animate;

The game's Initialise routine should do the following:

  @restore bones_file 20 bones_filename -> k;
  if (k == 0) bones_file-->0 = 0;
  for (k=1: k<=bones_file-->0: k++) {
      g = Ghost.create(); move g to bones_file-->k;
  }

This only leaves updating the bones file in the event of death, using the entry point AfterLife:

[ AfterLife k;
  if (bones_file-->0 == 9) {
      for (k=2: k<=9: k++) bones_file-->(k-1) = bones_file-->k;
      bones_file-->9 = real_location;
  }
  else bones_file-->(++(bones_file-->0)) = real_location;
  @save bones_file 20 bones_filename -> k;
];

This code doesn't trouble to check that the save worked properly, because it doesn't much matter if the feature goes awry: the spirit world is not a reliable place. However, if the restore fails, the game empties the bones_file array just in case some file-handling accident on the host machine had loaded only half of the array, leaving the rest corrupt.

[ ActionPrimitive x;
  if ((x = ExceptionHandler()) ~= 0)
      "^*** Exception: ", (string) x, " ***";
];
Global exception;
[ ExceptionHandler;
  @catch -> exception;
  indirect(#actions_table-->action);
  rfalse;
];

Then an action getting in trouble can simply execute a statement like:

@throw "Numeric overflow" exception;