Topic: Log, Decompile, Quote
Author: Trispis, Matt, Grinna
Summary: This lecture addresses the moving (porting) of objects from one MUSH to
another.

5/3/98

Trispis carefully walks up the narrow stairs to the stage.
Trispis has left.
Lecturer> Trispis has arrived.
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Welcome to the first lecture to be presented at our
new schoolhouse on M*U*S*H."

Lecture Hall(#1070RanJM)

/ /^\/^\/^\ \

|"""""""""""""""""""""""""|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|"""""""""""""""""""""""""|

| LECTURER |~~)~~~~~~~~~(~~| TOPIC |

| |~~) (~~| |

| Trispis |~~) ___ (~~| meeping with scoob |

| |~~) Y (~~| |

|_________________________|\___ | ___/|_________________________|

(_ (_ (_ (_ (_ \|==\_____/==|/ _) _) _) _) _)

(_ (_ (_ (_ (* \|___|/ _) _) _) _) _)

(_ (_ (_ (* (_ _) _) _) _) _)

(_ (_ (_ (_ A _) _) _) _)

(_ (_ (_ / \ _) _) _)

(_ (_ / \ _) _)

(_ / \ _)

/ \
do: +help places

-=- Matt -=- Halatir -=-

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Before I begin, I'd like to briefly say thank you, on
behalf of the MUSH 101 staff, to Javelin and Matt (and the rest of M*U*S*H)
for their support in this venture."

Halatir cheers and claps!

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Thanks to you all."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "One other note of thanks (an a huge one, at that)
goes out to scoob, our site admin on MUSH 101. Without his help, we'd never be
where we are today. Thanks, mate. This lecture is dedicated to you (see the
topic in the description of this room)."

Halatir laughs.

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Thanks, scoob, for all your support over these past
several months."

You say, "Hurrah."

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Now... on to the lecture..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Today's topic (despite what the sign says) is:
Transporting Stuff"
Lecturer> Trispis says, "There are only three things you need to know about
this procedure...

1. How to log a session.
2. How to use the @decompile command.
3. How to quote a file."

Lecturer> Trispis says, "All three of these tasks are fairly straightforward.
And, when combined, they are very powerful as well."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "As is typical for my lectures, I'm going to take
these topics out of sequence, beginning with number 2, @decompile. Later in
the lecture, I'll be inviting other guest speakers to participate in the
logging and quoting procedures."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "For now, though... a brief explanation of
@decompile."
Lecturer> Trispis recommends typing: help @decompile

@DECOMPILE
@decompile[</switch>] <object>[/<attribute-pattern>]
@decompile/tf <object>/<attrib>

This command produces a list of the commands that you would have to
enter in order to recreate <object>. Useful for either copying objects
from one MUSH to another, or for making logs of important objects to
protect against an accidental @nuke or a crash.

You can either @decompile an entire object, or just certain parts of it.
To @decompile just a few attributes, for example, you could type:

@decompile <object>/<attribute name>

for each attribute. You can also use wildcards in <attribute name> to
@decompile a list of similarly-named attributes.

(continued in help @decompile2)

@DECOMPILE2
@decompile takes five switches: /db, /flags, /attribs, /tf, /player

@decompile/db
This command makes @decompile use the object's DBREF # instead of its
name, which is useful for editing code off-MUSH.
@decompile/flags
Only the code to @create the object and set its flags is printed.
@decompile/attribs
Only the code to set the object's attributes is printed.
@decompile/player
The player's name will be printed rather than 'me', which is primarily
useful for wizards restoring a player from another db.

(continued in help @decompile3)

@DECOMPILE3

@decompile/tf <object>/<attribute>

The /tf switch is useful only for users of the popular "TinyFugue"
client program (available from ftp.tcp.com in the directory
/pub/muds/Clients/tinyfugue). If you do have this program, this
switch is invaluable for editing code online, because it will grab the
code to set that attribute and put it into your buffer.

To use @dec/tf, first type this command into TinyFugue:

/def -ag -mglob -p100 -t"FugueEdit > *" fe = /grab %-2

(you can also put this into your .tfrc so it will automatically
be entered every time you start TinyFugue (tf).) This command works
just like the 'FugueEdit' object originally created by van@TinyTIM.

See also: CLIENTS, ATTRIBUTES, WILDCARDS, MUSHCODE

Lecturer> Trispis says, "To eliminate confusion, we're going to ignore all of
the fancy switches and deal with just a basic, straightforward @decompile of a
single object."

You say, "Yay. :)"

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Also (to eliminate even more confusion), we'll deal
with a simple object. One with very few attributes."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "I recommend (for those present), using their toolkit
child (the one parented to my toolkit here). It should be fairly brief in this
process. Another good example (for those on MUSH 101) would be the Lab Project
from previous classes."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Here's how this works..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "This command...

@decompile <object>

... will spam your screen with all of the necessary commands required to
rebuild that object exactly as it is at this time."

@create Di's Tooklit
@link Di's Tooklit = #1149
@parent Di's Tooklit=#1618
@lock/Use Di's Tooklit=#1149
@lock/Basic Di's Tooklit=#1149
@set Di's Tooklit = INHERIT
@VN Di's Tooklit=#128 #1623
@VL Di's Tooklit=#128 #1623

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Now, you may ask, 'What good does this do me?'"
Lecturer> Trispis says, "This is where logging and quoting come into play."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Logging is a way of 'recording' everything that is
sent to your screen... onto disk (hard disk, floppy disk, zip disk, casette
tape drive (for you C64 users), etc)"

Halatir wonders how many C64 users are present. q-)

Grinna shrugs.

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Quoting, is a way of taking that recorded (logged)
information (a file, normally a text file) and entering it all back into your
screen with a single command (or a few brief mouse clicks in some clients)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Now, why am I discussing @decompile first?"
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Because it is the /only/ thing about this lecture
that is standard for all PennMUSH users."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Logging and quoting procedures can vary from client
to client."

You say, "Oh. :)"

Lecturer> Trispis says, "However..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "The order I listed them at the beginning (Log,
@decompile, quote) is the order these things are actually performed."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "that is..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "You begin logging..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "You give the command: @decompile <object> ..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "(then, when it's done, you stop logging)"
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Then, you quote the logged file back into the MUSH
where you're moving it to."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "A few notes about this procedure before we address
the subtle differences in logging/quoting procedures for various clients..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "first note..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "@decompile will record the #dbrefs written into the
database and into softcoded attributes /exactly/ as they are for this object."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Example: The toolkit child will record #1618 as its
parent and will record a command

@parent toolkit=#1618

which is the parent object here on M*U*S*H."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "The point here is: you may need to edit the log for
specific #dbref entries contained in some of the commands (parents, home,
ufun()'s, etc.)"
Lecturer> Trispis says, "... before you quote it back in."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Note number two..."
Lecturer> Trispis shuffles his papers, looking for his notes.

Grinna giggles.

Lecturer> Trispis repeats himself as he finds his notes, "Note number two..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "it is advisable to take a few precautions before
beginning a log/decompile session."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "These precautions include the following...

Find a quiet/private location to do this.
Remove yourself from (or gag) all chat channels
(In extreme cases) @set yourself HAVEN

These precautions will help assure you a clean, interruption-free log."

Octavian has arrived.

Grinna waves and bids you have a seat. :)

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Now, on to logging (and eventually, quoting)..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Logging, as I stated earlier, is a way of recording
all of the information sent to your screen from the MUSH ... in this case, the
@decompile information of an object (i.e., all of the commands required to
rebuild it exactly as it is)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "When logging, you'll need to remember two very
important things..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "One: You will need to give your logfile a name (just
like any other file from a word processor or whatever, it needs a name)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Two: You will need to save the file in a location
where you will be able to find it (i.e., don't accept MS Windows default
unless you're sure that's where you'll go looking for it later). Be specific
about these things."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Oh, yeah... and three (sorry, there were three
things): Logging (in almost every circumstance) creates a standard *.txt file
(e.g., thislog.txt).... or at least it saves it in a that format (although the
extension may not be .txt). ... That is, the file itself is a standard ascii
text file (regardless of the filename and extension)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Okay. That brings us to the specifics of /how to
log/."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "In some cases, logging is done by 'menu clicks' or
'hot buttons' (SimpleMU, for instance, has both of these options). In other
cases, it is done via typed commands with specific syntax (TinyFugue, for
example, uses this method)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "I have invited a couple guest speakers to speak about
these two particular clients (SimpleMU, and TinyFugue), because they seem to
be representative of these general /styles/ of usage (in fact, SimpleMU even
allows the typed command version, which is nearly identical to that of
TinyFugue)."

You say, "You go first Matt. :)"

Matt says, "Gee, thanks ;)"

You say, "You're welcome. :)"

Lecturer> Trispis says, "So, without further delay, let me introduce Grinna
... who will be speaking on the SimpleMU logging process."

You say, "Oh shoot. :)"

Matt keels over laughing.

You stand and leave the West Front Row.

You climb the stage. Your feel your heart bouncing in your chest.

Lecturer> Grinna comes walking up to you.

<Audience> Halatir claps!

Lecturer> Grinna says, "Okay.."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "For SimpleMU.. As Trispis pointed out there are 3 ways
of starting a log."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "One way.. (the easiest) is to use the Log Icon at the
top of the SimpleMU screen."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "Another is to pull down the Connection Menu and Click
on Start Logging"
Lecturer> Grinna says, "Or Use the Keys Ctrl+L"
Lecturer> Grinna says, "You may also type /log in the 'send' window."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "Any of these will result in SimpleMU popping up a
screen where you may choose 1. Where you want to save your log and 2. What you
want to call said Log."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "After which you will get questioned... as to whether
or not you want to use word wrap."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "And then if you want to log back to the buffer (very
helpful if you started logging a bit late)."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "In either of the last two cases you simply click the
Yes or No buttons."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "THen you will get a line that says Logging has
started."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "To stop logging You may either click the 'Log' Icon
again, or pull down the Connection Menu to Stop Logging, or type ctrl+L."
Lecturer> Grinna says, "And just for the record.. I prefer to log to disc.
That way I never have to go looking thru the computer files for it."
Grinna sits back down now. :)

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Thank you, Grinna. (:"

You feel a great relief as the lecture ends.

You take a seat in the West Front Row.

Grinna wipes the sweat from her brow.

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Please give Grinna a big round of applause."

Matt claps!

Lecturer> Trispis claps!

Grinna blushes furiously.

Halatir claps again! :)

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Now, Matt will give us the instructions for the same
process in the TinyFugue client."

Matt carefully walks up the narrow stairs to the stage.
Lecturer> Matt has arrived.

Grinna applauds. :)

Halatir too. :)

Lecturer> Matt says, "Logging in TinyFugue is controlled entirely through one
command (typed as normal): /log (the full and gory details are available via
/help log)."
Lecturer> Matt says, "Typing /log with no arguments will tell you if you are
currently logging or not. And if you use TF in 'visual' mode (with a separate
area for typing in - this is the default in newer versions), you will see
'(Log)' on the righthand side of your screen, while logging."
Lecturer> Matt says, "You can enable logging with '/log on', but, will want to
seriously consider one or two of the options. For instance '/log -w' allows
you to log a specific world (put the world name right after the -w, for
instance -wmush if you named this world 'mush'), or the current world, if no
name is given."
Lecturer> Matt says, "Issuing /log -g will log *all* your worlds to the same
file."
Lecturer> Matt says, "Finally (and most usefully!) you can control the name of
the file to which TF logs, by simply putting a filename at the end of the
command, for instance: /log -wmush mush.log. The default filename is
'tiny.log'."
Lecturer> Matt says, "A point worth adding, with reference to filenames for
logs - TF should happily tolerate any path you want to add, if you make it
part of the filename, for instance: /log -wmush ~/logs/sunday.log (note the
UNIX path format; I've not used the TF port for Windows95, but would expect it
to behave in a similar fashion)."
Lecturer> Matt says, "To stop logging you simply need to enter: /log off."

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Thank you, Matt. (:"
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Let's give Matt a big round of applause. (:"

Matt comes down from the stage and stumbles over the microphone's flex in the
process.

Grinna claps loudly. :)

Matt giggles.

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Okay. That covers logging and decompiling. Before
going on to quoting, I'd like to review what we've covered so far."

Halatir ouches, but claps anyway. :)

Lecturer> Trispis says, "The process (as stated before) is...

Start logging
@decompile <object>
stop logging

^^ we've covered all of this ^^

then, quote the log back in to the new MUSH. (haven't covered this, yet)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Grinna asked me to address quoting in SimpleMU, so I
will... very briefly (as I've only used it once, but found it to be very
feature-full and useful)."

Raven emerges from the South.
Raven has arrived.

Grinna waves. :)

Raven waves.

Halatir waves too. :)

You say, "Have a seat, Raven."

Raven takes a seat in the West Front Row.
Raven joins you.

Halatir stands and leaves the West Second Row.
Halatir takes a seat in the West Front Row.
Halatir joins you.

In your row, Grinna giggles at Hal. :)

Halatir is filling up the places. q-)

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Quoting in SimpleMU (not sure of all the other
optional methods) can be done by selecting the Connections pulldown menu, then
selecting 'Upload Text'."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "This will bring up a window which allows you to
select the file you wish to uplaod (i.e., the one you logged before)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "It also allows you to select a few other options on
how it performs the upload (quote)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "I won't go into the details on all of these, however
I will mention one noteworthy feature..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "SimpleMU allows you to specify a 'delay' time between
each line it sends to the game."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "for small files (like the Lab Project), this can be
ignored."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Larger files, however (like the figlet I ported for
our entrance description), can cause a tremendous amount of lag on your
connection. Thus, this 'delay' time can keep your connection from becoming
overly lagged."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "If all you want to do is to be able to chat or do a
bit of mild RP while you upload, a delay time of 1 second should be
sufficient. (If you're some kind of psycho-coder-rper-admin-helper-type and
you're terribly active, you might want to specify a delay of 2 or 3 seconds.
Note: the more delay, the longer it will take to upload the file.)"
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Once you've specified a file to upload (and any other
options you want to add, like the delay time), you just click 'okay' ... and
away she goes (in the bottom of the screen, it will tell you you're uploading
until it is finished)."

You say, "Question?"

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Yes, Grinna?"

You say, "When you are quoting back say.. a bunch of rooms and exits... do you
just let it run? Or do you have to hit the enter key at any time?"

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Well. Quoting in rooms should be done on a
room-by-room basis. I don't know if the PennMUSH @decompile command will
record the commands necessary for you to move about for the rebuilding
process. I suggest @decompiling each room to a separate file... and if they're
not very complex, it's almost easier to examine/copy/paste. (In fact, I
recommend this for almost everything: a separate file for each thing)."

You say, "Ah.. okay."

Lecturer> Trispis will research this question (which was a very good question,
btw) and add any insight to the log.
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Matt will now give us the lowdown on quoting with
TinyFugue."

Matt carefully walks up the narrow stairs to the stage.

You say, "Yay. :)"

Raven chuckles.

Lecturer> Matt says, "As with /log, you can get to the help on /quote via
/help quote, but, even more so than for /log, it's really very convoluted. The
command itself is quite simple, but has one quirk which might catch you out.

/quote file <--- this won't actually work

the required syntax is

/quote 'file <--- note the single quote mark

Lecturer> Matt says, "However, there are (as before) some very useful switches
which can be added to the command. Firstly, -w which behaves the same as /log
-w, allowing you to limit your upload to a single specified world (eg: /quote
-wmush 'file), or to the current world."
Lecturer> Matt says, "TF also allows you to specify a delay between uploading
lines, just as SimpleMU does. Trispis has already explained the primary
benefits of this, and all which really needs to be added is the format. Adding
"-X" where X is a number (eg: /quote -2 'file) will put a pause of X sections
between lines."
Lecturer> Matt says, "Not terribly useful for combination with @decompile, but
handy to know, is that TF can also add a 'prefix' to each line sent, allowing
you to 'funnel' input through other commands, for instance:

/quote -wmush -1 say 'file

would put "say " before each line with a one second delay between each,
allowing you to 'speak' from a preprepared textfile."
Lecturer> Matt says, "The file argument for /quote should work quite happily
with paths such as "/quote -wmush '~/logs/file.log", in the same manner as
/log does."
Lecturer> Matt says, "TF shouldn't object if you omit arguments (eg: /quote -2
'file), but may get a little rowdy if you put them in the wrong
order (eg: /quote -2 -wmush 'file). Keep them in the order:

world, delay, filename.

Lecturer> Trispis moves the flex out of the way.

Lecturer> Matt departs, carefully this time.
Matt comes down the few steps from the stage.
Matt has arrived.

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Okay. One more summary..."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "The process for moving an object from one MUSH to
another (usually only useful for larger things with lots of attributes... and
yes, you can @decompile your characater (PLAYER) for taking fancy @otports
@oxtports @omoves and the like) is as follows:

start logging (using your favorite client's log features)
@decompile <object>
stop logging
go to the new MUSH and quote (upload) the log

It's all very simple, once you get the hang of it. And is invaluable for
larger items (My toolkit is four objects with about 50 attributes per object.
I'd be miserable without these procedures)."
Lecturer> Trispis says, "Any questions before I dismiss?"

Grinna thinks she's got it. :) Quotes are cool. :)

Lecturer> Trispis says, "Okay... Since there don't seem to be any questions,
let's give one more big round of applause to Grinna and Matt for their
participation in this lecture. Thanks, you two. (:"
Lecturer> Trispis claps.

Halatir claps loudly!

Raven applauds!

Grinna blushes again. :)

Halatir says, "And for Trispis!"

Lecturer> Trispis says, "I'll get this log edited and uploaded ASAP."

Grinna applauds Trispis. :) :)

Lecturer> Trispis bows politely.