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Kinds of value marked with the calculator symbol are numerical - these are values we can add, multiply and so on. The range of these numbers depends on the Format setting for the project (Glulx format supports much higher numbers than Z-code). |
kind of value | minimum | maximum | dimensions |
number | -- | -- | dimensionless |
time | 1 minute | 23 hours 59 minutes | (time) |
Matches: value, sayable value
Objects are values intended to simulate physical things: places, people, things, and so on. They come in many kinds. The special value 'nothing' is also allowed, and can be used to mean 'no object at all'.
Usually singular-named not plural-named, improper-named not proper-named.
Can have printed name (text), printed plural name (text), indefinite article (text).
Represents geographical locations, both indoor
and outdoor, which are not necessarily areas in a building. A player in one
room is mostly unable to sense, or interact with, anything in a different room.
Rooms are arranged in a map.
Usually lighted not dark, unvisited not visited.
Can have description (text), map region (object).
Represents anything interactive in the model
world that is not a room. People, pieces of scenery, furniture, doors and
mislaid umbrellas might all be examples, and so might more surprising things
like the sound of birdsong or a shaft of sunlight.
Usually unlit not lit, inedible not edible, portable not fixed in place, described not undescribed, unmarked for listing not marked for listing, mentioned not unmentioned.
Usually not scenery, wearable, pushable between rooms, handled.
Can have description (text), initial appearance (text), matching key (object), disambiguation id (number).
Represents a conduit joining two rooms, most
often a door or gate but sometimes a plank bridge, a slide or a hatchway.
Usually visible and operable from both sides (for instance if you write
'The blue door is east of the Ballroom and west of the Garden.'), but
sometimes only one-way (for instance if you write 'East of the Ballroom is
the long slide. Through the long slide is the cellar.').
Always fixed in place not portable.
Usually closed not open, openable not unopenable, unlocked not locked.
Usually not lockable.
Never pushable between rooms.
Can have other side (object).
Represents something into which portable
things can be put, such as a teachest or a handbag. Something with a really
large immobile interior, such as the Albert Hall, had better be a room
instead.
Usually opaque not transparent, open not closed, unopenable not openable, unlocked not locked.
Usually not enterable, lockable.
Can have carrying capacity (number).
Represents a container large enough for
a person to enter, and which can then move between rooms at the driver's
instruction. (If a supporter is needed instead, try the extension
Rideable Vehicles by Graham Nelson.)
Always enterable.
Usually fixed in place not portable.
player's holdall (plural player's holdalls)
Represents a container which the
player can carry around as a sort of rucksack, into which spare items are
automatically stowed away.
Always portable not fixed in place.
Usually openable not unopenable.
Represents a surface on which things can be
placed, such as a table.
Usually fixed in place not portable.
Usually not enterable.
Can have carrying capacity (number).
table , small table , leather couch , mahogany beauty table , King's table , large bed , shelves , cushions , vanity table
A keychain which can hold the player's keys without forcing the player to take them off the ring in order to unlock things.
Usually portable not fixed in place.
Represents an aspect of the landscape
or architecture which extends across more than one room: for instance,
a stream, the sky or a long carpet.
Always fixed in place not portable.
Usually scenery.
Never pushable between rooms.
Despite the name, not necessarily
a human being, but anything animate enough to envisage having a
conversation with, or bartering with.
Usually male not female, diseased not healthy, unpoisoned not poisoned.
Usually not neuter.
Can have carrying capacity (number).
Represents a man or boy.
Always male not female.
Never neuter.
Sir Charles , Rudolph , King , Prince Harold
Can have state of suspicion (number).
Represents a woman or girl.
Always female not male.
Never neuter.
Represents an animal, or at any rate a
non-human living creature reasonably large and possible to interact with: a
giant Venus fly-trap might qualify, but not a patch of lichen.
Represents a machine or contrivance of some
kind which can be switched on or off.
Usually switched off not switched on.
A kind of key whose inventory listing changes to reflect the player's knowledge about what it unlocks.
Usually scenery.
Sylvie's body , gardener's body , midwife's body
Can have contents (table name).
Usually ungiven not given.
big diamond , Chord of Straining , pixie dust
gold piece (plural gold pieces)
gold piece , gold piece , gold piece
Usually scenery.
portrait , landscape , war scene , King's portrait , King's landscape , King's war scene
Represents a direction of movement, such
as northeast or down. They always occur in opposite, matched pairs: northeast
and southwest, for instance; down and up.
Usually unmarked for listing not marked for listing.
Can have opposite (direction).
Represents a broader area than a single
room, and allows rules to apply to a whole geographical territory. Each
region can contain many rooms, and regions can even be inside each other,
though they cannot otherwise overlap. For instance, the room Place d'Italie
might be inside the region 13th Arrondissement, which in turn is inside
the region Paris. Regions are useful mainly when the world is a large one,
and are optional.
Matches: value, arithmetic value, sayable value
Whole number in the range -32768, -32767, ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 32767: small numbers can be written textually as 'one', 'two', 'three', ..., 'ten', 'eleven', 'twelve'. (A much larger number range is allowed if we compile the source to Glulx rather than the Z-machine: see the Settings panel.)
Matches: value, arithmetic value, sayable value
A time of day, written in the form '2:34 AM' or '12:51 PM', or a length of time such as '10 minutes' or '3 hours 31 minutes', which must be between 0 minutes and 23 hours 59 minutes inclusive.
truth state (plural truth states)
Matches: value, sayable value
The state of whether something is 'true' or 'false'. (In other computing languages, this might be called 'boolean', after the 19th-century logician George Boole, who first realised this was a kind of value.)
Matches: value, sayable value
Some text in double quotation marks, perhaps with substitutions written in square brackets.
indexed text (plural indexed texts)
Matches: value, sayable value
A flexible-length form of text which can be internally altered and searched. Inform automatically changes text to this format when necessary.
unicode character (plural unicode characters)
Matches: value, sayable value
A single character - a letter or item of punctuation.
Matches: value, sayable value
A fragment of the player's most recent typed command, taking in a run of consecutive words.
stored action (plural stored actions)
Matches: value, sayable value
A stored action, which can later be tried.
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
Like a scene in a play: a period of time which is usually tied to events in the plot. Scenes are created by sentences like 'Midnight Arrival is a scene.'
Usually non-recurring not recurring.
Can have description (text).
command parser error (plural command parser errors)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
conversation exiting (plural conversation exitings)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
player may exit upon zero , player may not exit
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
Can have activatedness (activatedness).
activatedness (plural activatednesses)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
sc-active , sc-inactive , sc-once , sc-shown-once
permission (plural permissions)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
verbosity (plural verbosities)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
viper_bite , killed_by_Harold , banished , glorious_kingdom , glorious_rebel , glorious_free , rebel_warned , happy , rebel_sorry
glulx color value (plural glulx color values)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
Can have assigned number (number).
g-black , g-dark-grey , g-medium-grey , g-light-grey , g-white
text-justification (plural text-justifications)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
left-justified , left-right-justified , center-justified , right-justified
special-style (plural special-styles)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
light-weight , regular-weight , bold-weight
obliquity (plural obliquities)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
no-obliquity , italic-obliquity
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
fixed-width-font , proportional-font
use option (plural use options)
Matches: value, sayable value
One of the optional ways to configure Inform, such as the 'authorial modesty option'.
table name (plural table names)
Matches: value, sayable value
Like tables of information in a book or newspaper, tables in Inform hold values which have been organised into rows and columns. A table name is just a single value, identifying which table is meant - say, 'Table of US Presidents' might be a table name value.
equation name (plural equation names)
Matches: value
Like formulae in a textbook or a scientific paper, equations in Inform are written out in displayed form and given names.
action name (plural action names)
Matches: value, sayable value
An action is what happens when one of the people in the simulated world decides to do something. A full action would be something like 'dropping the box', but an action name is just the choice of which sort of thing is being done: here, it's 'the dropping action'. (Action names are always written with the word 'action' at the end, to make sure they aren't mistaken for full actions.)
figure name (plural figure names)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
When made with the Glulx setting, an Inform project can include images as well as words, and these are called figures. A figure name is just the name of one of the figures in the current project.
Figure of cover, Figure opening figure
sound name (plural sound names)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
When made with the Glulx setting, an Inform project can include sound effects or pieces of music. A sound name is just the name of one of these sounds in the current project.
external file (plural external files)
Matches: value, enumerated value, sayable value
When made with the Glulx setting, an Inform project can make limited use of files stored on the computer which is operating the story at run-time. An external-file is just the name of one of these files (not the filename in the usual sense, but a name given to it in the Inform source text).
phrase K -> L (plural phrases K -> L)
contravariant in K, covariant in L
Matches: value, sayable value
relation of K (plural relations of K)
Matches: value, sayable value
K based rule producing L (plural K based rules producing L)
contravariant in K, covariant in L
Matches: value, sayable value
One of many, many rules which determine what happens during play. Rules can be triggered by scenes beginning or ending, by certain actions, at certain times, or in the course of carrying out certain activities.
K based rulebook producing L (plural K based rulebooks producing L)
contravariant in K, covariant in L
Matches: value, sayable value
A list of rules to follow, in sequence, to get something done. A rulebook is like a ring-binder, with the individual rules as sheets of paper. Inform normally sorts these into their 'natural' order, with the most specific rules first, but it's easy to shuffle the pages if you need to. When some task is carried out during play, Inform is normally working through a rulebook, turning the pages one by one.
activity on K (plural activities on K)
Matches: value
An activity is something which Inform does as part of the mechanics of play - for instance, printing the name of an object, which Inform often has to do. An activity can happen by itself ('printing the banner text', for instance) or can be applied to an object ('printing the name of something', say).
Matches: value, sayable value
A flexible-length list of values, where all of the items have to have the same kind of value as each other - for instance, a list of rooms, or a list of lists of numbers. The empty list, with no items yet, is written { }, and a list with items in is written with commas dividing them - say {2, 5, 9}.
description of K (plural descriptions of K)
Matches: value
A description of a set of values, where all of the items have to have the same kind of value as each other - for instance, 'even numbers' or 'open doors which are in lighted rooms'.
K valued property (plural K valued properties)
Matches: value
K valued table column (plural K valued table columns)
Matches: value