Topic: Zones
Author: Trispis
Summary: Group projects often require multiple players to be able to work
on the same object(s). Use of zones provides a way.

Trispis begins logging.
Trispis begins the lecture.
Trispis says, "I've chosen this particular location for this lecture because
it provides the sort of environment in which zoning is more natural."
Trispis says, "as opposed to a 'lecture hall' or 'classroom'."
Trispis says, "Let's begin by taking a sample scenario..."

Dropped.

Trispis says, "Okay... There's my object."
Trispis says, "Now... If I wanted to be able to share control of that object
with the rest of you (I mean total control, not just 'using commands' on it...
I mean adding adding commands, adding attributes, changing details of
description, etc.)... How would I do that?"

David says, "Um, @lock/zone?"

Trispis says, "Without zones, the only way to do that is to @chown it to each
of you for the time you want to mess with it."
Trispis says, "Close, David."

Dropped.

Xira says, "put it in a zone (object or room) which is specified to each
user.. or something."

Trispis says, "Okay... there's another object, my zmo."

Nhoj adds to Xira, "Or player."

Trispis says, "ZMO stands for Zone Master Object (I'll not rant too much about
the inconsistent usage of the terms 'thing' and 'object'. For the purpose of
this lecture, assume they mean the same thing.)"
Trispis says, "All types of Zones work basically the same way (I'll spell out
the details of differences a bit later), so I'll use this ZMO as a generic
example."
Trispis says, "Everyone here: Please try to put an attribute (named your name)
on 'Sample-Object' (not on the zmo, please). For example:

&david sample-object=Foobar
"

David says, "Didn't work."

Trispis says, "You'll all get the dreaded 'Permission denied.' message, I'd
imagine."

Nhoj nods.

Xira nods

Trispis says, "Okay... Now... I'm going to zone that object to the zmo

@chzone Sample-Object=Sample-ZMO

... then add you all to the @lock/zone of the zmo with...

@lock/zone Sample-ZMO==me|=David|=Xira|=Akiko|=Nhoj
"

ZMOs must be zone-locked before you @chzone!

Locked.

Warning: @chzoning admin-owned object!

Zone changed.

Trispis says, "Okay... when I tried to do that (in the order I said), it said
the zmo must be @lock/zone-ed first. so, I had to reverse the order ... I
locked first, then chzoned."
Trispis says, "Now try adding an attribute to Sample-Object named your name
(as before)."

Akiko says, "Perm D'd."

Xira says, "am I doing something wrong, i keep getting permission denied"

Trispis says, "Really?"

Nhoj does too.

David says, "Me too."

Trispis says, "One sec."

Sample-ZMO(#2780n)
Type: Thing Flags: NO_COMMAND
Owner: Trispis Zone: *NOTHING* Ducats: 1
Parent: *NOTHING*
Zone Lock: =Trispis(#1623PIOerACMc)|=David(#1907POweACc)|=Xira(#2362PwenACc)|
=Akiko(#1804PXenACc)|=Nhoj(#1906PeACc)
Basic Lock: =Trispis(#1623PIOerACMc)
Powers:
Warnings checked: none
Created: Sat Jul 25 15:09:04 1998
Last Modification: Sat Jul 25 15:09:04 1998
Home: Meeting Room(#1098R)
Location: Meeting Room(#1098R)
Sample-Object(#2779n)
Type: Thing Flags: NO_COMMAND
Owner: Trispis Zone: Sample-ZMO(#2780n) Ducats: 1
Parent: *NOTHING*
Basic Lock: =Trispis(#1623PIOerACMc)
Powers:
Warnings checked: none
Created: Sat Jul 25 15:05:41 1998
Last Modification: Sat Jul 25 15:05:41 1998
Home: Meeting Room(#1098R)
Location: Meeting Room(#1098R)

Trispis brings in a test character.

GAME: Joshua has connected.
ZONE: Joshua has connected. (Foyer)
Joshua has arrived.

Xira says, "test char."

Xira leans back in his chair.

Given.

Given.

Joshua found the problem

Joshua drops Sample-Object.

Joshua drops Sample-ZMO.

Trispis says, "the problem was my blasted royalty flag."
Trispis says, "Try now, folks. sorry for the confusion."
Trispis says, "Try to set an attribute on the sample-object."

David says, "It worked! Yay!"

Akiko says, "Set"

Xira does a jig

Trispis says, "man, how embarrassing."

Nhoj cheers!

Xira says, "what happened?"

Trispis says, "I should have remembered that admin-owned restriction."
Trispis says, "Um... You can't play with stuff I own, no matter what... just
because I'm an admin."

Nhoj nods.

Trispis says, "So, I chowned it all to Joshua. (:"

Xira says, "hehe"

David says, "Ah, why don't you tell us about all the restrictions now, then?"

Joshua has disconnected.

Trispis says, "Well... I'll get to the restrictions in a minute. Let me finish
the purpose of zones and the various types."
Trispis says, "As you can all now see, the benefit of a zone is that it allows
multiple players to control objects."
Trispis says, "that is... It allows 'group projects'."
Trispis says, "We can all work on this object together, at the same time,
without having to chown it back and forth among us."
Trispis says, "Here's an example of a beneficial use of Zones..."
Trispis says, "Let's say you have several characters (alts) on a game."
Trispis says, "And... one day you hear a report of something being broken on
an object owned by one of your alts, but you don't want to give away your
identity by logging that character in immediately to fix the problem... but
you still wanna fix it."
Trispis says, "You can create zones to achieve the desired end."
Trispis says, "Put all of character A's stuff on a zone and lock that zmo to
all of your alts."
Trispis says, "Likewise for every other character."
Trispis says, "Then, no matter what character is logged in, you have control
of all of their stuffs at once. (:"
Trispis says, "Now..."
Trispis says, "there are 3 types of zones."
Trispis says, "One (which we just used) is the ZMO (or, probably more
tecnically correct, ZMT)... that is, a zone which is controlled by an Object
(or THING)."
Trispis says, "Another, is the ZMR Zone. A zone controlled by a ROOM."

Xira says, "next zmp?"

Trispis says, "And the third is the ZMP Zone, which is controlled by a
PLAYER."
Trispis says, "Each of these has features unique to itself."
Trispis says, "The ZMO Zone (Object/THING-controlled) can have any type of
object zoned to it except a PLAYER."
Trispis says, "Thus, THINGS, ROOMS, and EXITS can all be zoned to a ZMO (or
ZMT)."
Trispis says, "The ZMR Zone is restricted to just objects of type ROOM."
Trispis says, "That is, you can only zone ROOMs to a ZMR."
Trispis says, "Exits and Things cannot be zoned to a ZMR."
Trispis says, "What, you might ask, is the good of a ZMR, then... if it can't
have the other types zoned to it?"
Trispis says, "Well.. the ZMR has the benifit of behaving very similar to the
MUSH's Master Room, in that: All objects dropped in the ZMR become global to
that zone (any room zoned to the ZMR), and thus any $commands on those objects
are 'zone global commands'."

David says, "Cool."

Trispis says, "The ZMO has a similar feature, though. Any $commands on the ZMO
are global to that zone, as well."
Trispis says, "What about the ZMP? What benefits does it offer?"
Trispis says, "The ZMP offers a benefit that can't be had from either of the
other two..."

Nhoj says, "You can have players on the ZMP?"

Trispis says, "In addition to being able to zone all non-PLAYER type objects,
PLAYERS who are on the zonelock of the ZMP can also @chown things directly to
the ZMP, thus immediately adding them to the zone for others to work on."
Trispis says, "No... you can't have PLAYERS on the ZMP."
Trispis says, "Which brings me to restrictions."

Xira says, "so you can make somone take ownership of an object right?"

Trispis says, "Ermm... Xira: You can... but only the ZMP. You can only make
the ZMP take ownership."

Xira says, "K"

Trispis says, "Some restrictions of zones are as follows..."
Trispis says, "An admin owned object cannot be controlled by anyone,
regardless of the zmo control."

Nhoj says, "What if the ZMO is set ROYALTY or WIZARD?"

Akiko says, "We noticed. :)"

Nhoj says, "Or the ZMP, etc?"

Trispis says, "The INHERIT flag will change permissions and privileges on
zoned objects, just like it does on non-zoned objects."
Trispis says, "Well.. I /think/ I could have retained ownership of the ZMO in
this instance, but it was simpler to just put it all into mortal situation.
Since that was the intention of Zones in the beginning anyway."
Trispis says, "If you have a ROYALTY or WIZARD player to experiment with, I
suggest doing experiments on your own with some test objects and test
characters. If you intend to have a ROY or WIZ player involved in a Zone,
you'd better be far more familiar with zones than this lecture will cover."

Akiko grins.

Nhoj nods.

Trispis says, "Um... Just for your information (to see the versatility of
zones), the 101 Schoolhouse is made up of /all three/ types of zones."
Trispis says, "Everything in the schoolhouse is owned by 101ZMP."
Trispis says, "Which doesn't require any @chzone-ing (ownership by the ZMP
creates the zone)."
Trispis says, "All rooms are zoned to 101ZMR, where we keep our own set of
zone globals."
Trispis says, "All things and exits are zoned to the 101ZMO (thing).... so
that they can also be maintained by the folks on the zone."
Trispis says, "the purpose of using all three is this:..."
Trispis says, "It allows us to give limited access to certain things on the
zone to players who want to work on limited portions."
Trispis says, "If someone wants to tinker with an exitlock, we can put them on
the zonelock of the zmo and allow them the access they need without giving
them access to rooms ..."
Trispis says, "And vice-versa for access to rooms and not exits."
Trispis says, "Being on the ZMP's zonelock is like being a wizard in this
zone... it will even allow you to put yourself on zonelocks of
ZoneMaster<whatever>'s owned by the ZMP."
Trispis says, "final note on restrictions."
Trispis says, "Zone privilege does not allow you to @nuke objects owned by
other players on the zone."
Trispis says, "If you don't own it, you can't nuke it."
David says, "What if the ZMP owns it?"
Trispis says, "You can change lots of flags, add/remove/edit attributes...
just as if you did own it, but you can't nuke it."
Trispis says, "Nuking requires that you own it."
Trispis says, "If the ZMP owns it, you can't nuke it."
Trispis says, "I'm pretty much through with my illustration/lecture on zones."
Trispis says, "Any questions?"

Xira waves extatically! "Grinna!"
Xira says, "yes trispis."
Xira says, "look at my attribute I put on the Sample object."

Trispis will take questions for about 25 min.

NHOJ [#1906]: Cows can moo.
AKIKO [#1804]: hah!
XIRA [#2362]: $Xira:@emit=Oh my god look over there!
DAVID [#1907]: Anything you can do, I can do better...anything I can do better
then you...
TEST [#1623]: test

Trispis says, "Okay."

Xira says, "what is wrong with it?"

THING: Sample-Object-#2779-n
Owner: Joshua-#375-PenA
Zone: Sample-ZMO-#2780-Vn

Trispis says, "Look at the flags on the sample-obj"

Xira says, "okay, I can set flags right?"

David says, "Can you put an zone thing on itself, thus letting anyone on the
lock add people?"

Trispis says, "Do: @set sample-object=!no_command"
Trispis says, "Try it, Xira."

Xira says, "I did."

NHOJ [#1906]: Cows can moo.
AKIKO [#1804]: hah!
XIRA [#2362]: $Xira:@emit=Oh my god look over there!
DAVID [#1907]: Anything you can do, I can do better...anything I can do better
then you...
TEST [#1623]: test

Trispis says, "Yes, David."
Trispis says, "I've seen it done, but normally don't do it."
Trispis says, "Xira: there's no equal sign (=) used in @emit"

FugueEdit > &XIRA #2779=$Xira:@emit=Oh my god look over there!

Sample-Object/XIRA - Set.

Trispis fixes.

Oh my god look over there!

Trispis grins.

Akiko says, "commands /on/ a ZMO are global to all rooms in the zone?"

Trispis may have to leave unexpectedly.

David test some security...

Trispis says, "Akiko: Yes... they're global to all rooms @chzoned to that
zmo."

Akiko says, "But not objects inside?"

Trispis says, "Um... Test it and see (more advanced than this lecture was
intended)."

Akiko says, "Can you chain ZMOs?"

Trispis says, "Yes."
Trispis says, "You can zone a zmo to another zmo."

David says, "Hmmm...it worked..."

Trispis says, "the ZMO is not special. It's just a focal point for objects
zoned to it."
Trispis says, "It's where the server looks for permissions."
Trispis says, "Note: Any given object can only be @chzone-ed to /one/ ZMO at a
time. The only time an object can belong to more than one zone is when a
ZMPlayer is involved. i.e., an object can be owned by a zmp and chzoned to
some other ZMObject (thing or room)."
Trispis has about 5-10 min left, then must leave.

David says, "Trispis, do you see what I'm trying to do?"

Trispis says, "Before I go, I want to apologize again for forgetting about the
ROYALTY issue. That was a silly mistake (one I've made a hundred times and
never learned from)."
Trispis looks, David.

DAVID [#1907]: $david:@set/adescribe me=!no_command

Oh my god look over there!

Xira says, "thanks"

Trispis says, "Yes, I see. And I think that should work... if the object has
an &adescribe attribute."
Trispis says, "but..."
Trispis says, "The correct syntax is...

$david:@set me/adescribe=!no_command"

Trispis says, "Um... unless the adescribe attribute is protected by the server
in some way (similar to the @describe attribute, which cannot be set
!no_command or !visual."
Trispis says, "er... correction."
Trispis says, "@describe cannot be set 'no_command' or '!visual'"
Trispis says, "Wait."
Trispis says, "maybe i had it right the first time."

Akiko grins.

Grinna giggles.

Trispis is obsessed with his pending appointment.
Trispis thinks.

David has to go real quick...but I'll read the log...and will this work in to
add people?

Xira scratches his head "I am lost"

Trispis says, "Yes, I think it will, David."

Trispis says, "If the ZMO is zoned to itself, you should be able to add people
to the zonelock."

Xira says, "and did you get my messed up psyco-babble @mail?"

Akiko says, "Well, that was invigorating."

Trispis didn't get any mail.

Sample-Object(#2779)
Type: Thing Flags:
Owner: Joshua Zone: Sample-ZMO(#2780Vn) Ducats: 1
Parent: *NOTHING*
Powers:
Warnings checked: none
Created: Sat Jul 25 15:05:41 1998
Last Modification: Sat Jul 25 16:16:39 1998
NHOJ [#1906]: Cows can moo.
AKIKO [#1804]: hah!
XIRA [#1623]: $Xira:@emit Oh my god look over there!
DAVID [#1907]: $david:@set me/adescribe=!no_command
TEST [#1623]: test
Home: Meeting Room(#1098R)
Location: Meeting Room(#1098R)

Trispis says, "Anyway... I'm closing the log and gonna split for a while.
going swimming with a friend for an hour or so."
Trispis waves. Thanks for attending.