Zugg Software :: View topic - Advice needed about text exports, syntax checker, and ; comments

Adept Joined: 04 May 2007 Posts: 292 Location: Boston

I guess I am venting frustrations here.

I would like to make many dozens of scripts available to the Achaean Forestals, and anyone who needs to quickly manage herbs, prices and lots of potion/venom vials beyond the mud's provisions. I learned programming from various help files and following examples, so my code's value is a mystery to me, but I have written a complicated system to do everything I could want, and it works. This is where I am at and appreciate advice.

1. My puter sucks, ZMud can't open a button without access errors and I get those on exits, while the program wont always shut down and spins the hard drive. I am slowly preparing a reformat, so perhaps things will be different for the following problems.

2. I can't really use ; comments and am lazy at documenting, but still I have some and text imports are usually not being read correctly by the syntax checker. OK, I will get rid of the comments.

3. If I look at scripts they open fine in the syntax checker, but the entire class may often have red warnings. The scripts work but I wonder if they will work on everyone's system. My attempts to remove or add files to classes is unproductive, as the checker does not behave predictably. Is this an issue for others?

4. Now to upload 2 years of my net life and squash some bugs. I love a clean up but what a hassle.

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:27 am

If you convert to CMUD, the 'Package Library' offers the sharability you are looking for.

1. Sounds like something may be corrupted.

3. As far as syntax, i remember the zMUD syntax checker would often flag code as bad when it worked, so that may or may not mean anything.

4. If you are going to reformat, just email the mudname.mud file to yourself, it contains the main settings.

Wizard Joined: 11 Jul 2002 Posts: 1265 Location: USA

Really Cmud makes sharing files much easier than Zmud did.
And the package Library isn't even required.
If you only wanted to give the file to certain people, like your guild/house, then you could place all of the files into a separate package and email that.

For Zmud I used to place everything that I wanted to export into a single class, possibly two or three classes into one for example.
Then I would view that class in the editor highlight everything within it and go to file/export to text.
For this to work you would need to have view all selected. Meaning you can see classes/triggers/aliases/button/etc.

The only real trouble I had when doing this is when I tried to export database variables those would tend to come out corrupted. If you don't need to send them with data in them then all is well. If on the other hand you have string lists within them especially you should look at some of Larkin's Acropolis export files. He edited them in such a way that the data goes where it belongs when it is re-imported.
Even if you upgrade to CMud database variables could possibly be a problem on import if they contain funky characters. I know that when I imported my Achean setup from Zmud to Cmud that they got foobared. On the other hand I tried to Foobar them a few months ago on another .mud import and it worked correctly so maybe that got fixed. Still I wanted to warn you in case and point you at a solution either way.

I shared a good bit of things back when I was active in Avalon and I must say that Cmud's package system would have been very welcome back then!
There are plenty of other reasons to use Cmud as well, and a reformat is a perfect time to upgrade!
Remember that Cmud and Zmud can be ran together side by side. Also importing a .mud file into Cmud leaves file untouched so running it in Cmud can't break it in Zmud.

GURU Joined: 23 Dec 2000 Posts: 4834 Location: USA

Adept Joined: 04 May 2007 Posts: 292 Location: Boston

I have wanted CMud, I really like ZMud but half the time I have little problems. With triggers lately inexplicably not working, I say to myself, I must have checked off the occasionally disallow triggers to work setting in preferences. Anyway I know Cmud won't upset me, just have to buget it among all the shiny objects

I will look at Acropolis

Sorcerer Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 715

Well, another thing to consider is that zMUD scripts are "essentially" forwards compatible to CMUD, but CMUD scripts are NOT backwards compatible to zMUD. So if the player base you're looking to share with all use zMUD... then maybe you should put a little more effort that direction. I still write all my scripts in zMUD, import to CMUD, do whatever to make it work, apply those changes to zMUD version, recheck in CMUD by re-importing, and voila, then I can publish either way.

Adept Joined: 04 May 2007 Posts: 292 Location: Boston

I will get CMud and ZMud when I reinstall, conversion should be simple if I can use string lists in database values like I have. I don't think I saw any pertainent changes made to my usage. Still I expect some grief, Probably %subregex works the same, but is using them inside an %exec and #case going to work?

Sounds fun.

Edit: A closer look says I may have to do something, I will read more. The "%1" quotes are relevant, though that's easy