General Help

"

See: say

&-pointers

&-pointers are commonly used to point to a local version of an object that may be found in many MOOs. For instance, all eduCore MOOs have a copy of the &improved_room, although it will have different object numbers on different MOOs. You can always use the &-pointer, without knowing what the particular object number is in the MOO.

'

See: +

+

  There are single character shortcuts for the quickpage commands, since they're very commonly used. These commands are like the "page" system, but omit the various accessory page messages, sending the person you're contacting just one line of text.

The page is sent to the specified <person>. Important Note: there is no space between the initial character, and <person>.

Depending on your @user-options setting, you may be able to use the forms that omit the <person>, meaning the page is should be directed toward either the last person you paged, or a fixed page subject. See the help text for "@user-options" and "@page-subject" for more details.

The "-" command is the "say" version. For example,
Joe types: 'jane Hi, how are you?
Jane sees: [from Joe's Classroom] Joe pages, "Hi, how are you."
The single quote command (') is a synonym for the hypen version (-).

The "+" command is the "emote" version. For example,
Jane types: +joe is fine
Joe sees: [from Jane's Office] Jane is fine.

The "++" version is an emote with no space after your name. For example,
Joe types: ++jane 's smiling.
Jane sees: [from Joe's Office] Joe's smiling.

Related Topics:
paging -- general information on paging
@page-subject -- specify the behavior of the paging system when no person is specified
@user-options -- various paging options can be set

-

See: +

911

  @close - Lock a room you own against entry by non-residents
  @eject <person> - Eject <person> from a room you own.
  @witness <person> - Witness the behavior of a guest or other person.
                        (Needed for banishing and tagging.)
  @banish <guest> - Banish a guest from the MOO; guest must be
                        @witness'd first (see 'help guest-banishing')
  @tag/@tag! <person> - Register inappropriate behavior by another user
                        (see 'help tagging')

  @nopage <person> - Refuse pages from <person> (can be made much
                        more sophisticated)
  @listen <person> - Allow <person> through the @nopage blocks
  @gag <person> - Block all messages from <person> from being seen on
                        your screen (the ultimate way to ignore someone).
                        Note: This does not stop others from hearing the
                        person's comments, only you.
  @nomove - prevent anyone from moving your character
  @paranoid/@check - These more complex commands allow you to see
                        exactly who generated text you saw, and how
                        (for advanced users).

Some of these commands (particularly @banish, @tag, etc) are rather severe, and thus you should (if possible) read and understand the information on how they're used and why before doing something you may regret, but also keep in mind that these systems are intended for you to use should you really need to.

Some related topics include:
guest-banishing -- a system with which users can disconnect abusive
                    guests from the MOO
tagging -- logging obnoxious or offensive user's behavior for
                    reporting to the wizards
gagging -- blocking your ability to hear anything a
                    particular person says or does
room-security -- details of the MOO's sophisticated room security
                    capabilties (for room owners only)
page-refusal -- an introduction to the page-refusal system, which
                    allows refined control of who can contact you by
                    paging
privacy -- notes on privacy within the MOO
security -- some commands to determine the origin of
                    messages, and check for hidden listeners
@last-connection -- check where your previous connections were from;
                    useful if you think someone is breaking into your
                    MOO account
cracking -- how do get yourself in really hot water
spoofing -- what it is and why you shouldn't do it
manners -- the basic resource on how to behave in the MOO

:

See: emote

::

See: emote

?

See: help

@?

See: @locate

@abbreviate

@abbr* provides a means a user can give a custom name to any object, which can be used in place of the object number in user, room, or FO commands. Normally, such commands recognize object names only when the user is holding the object or is in the same room. Otherwise, unless the object is something that can be referred to by $(name), the object number must be used. This also provides a means to assign an abbreviation to a another user's name.

Using "@abbr" alone lists all names you have assigned. Using "@abbr <name> is <whatever>" or "@abbr <whatever> as <name> assigns the abbreviation <name> to the object or user <whatever>. Any previous assignment using this name or object is replaced. The @rmabbr* command removes an assigned abbreviation or name.

Note that these assignments are recognized when objects are named in user, room, or FO commands. However, because of the way the MOO server operates, they are not recognized when invoking commands defined on the object itself.

Note that "@assign-name ..." can be used as an alias for "@abbr .. is ..", and "@remove-name" and "@remove-abbr*" are aliases for "@rmabbr".

@about

This command retrieves the "about" text for an object, if any is set. It differs from the "help" text on an object, in that only text that is directly defined on the object (as opposed to inherited from a parent) is displayed.

This is most commonly used when adding information to a generic object intended for the owner of a child of the generic object. If there is "about" text on the parent only, the child will report nothing to @about.

@add-feature

Add or remove a feature from your list. A feature is an object which provides additional commands you can use. For more information, see `help features'.

You can also add several features with one command, specifying the features as a comman-delimited list.

Related Topics:
@features -- list your features (or someone else's with `@features for <person>')

@addalias

The first form is used to add aliases to an object's list of aliases. You can separate multiple aliases with commas. The aliases will be checked against the object's current aliases and all aliases not already in the object's list of aliases will be added.

Example:
Muchkin wants to add new aliases to Rover the Wonder Dog:
  @addalias Dog,Wonder Dog to Rover
Since Rover the Wonder Dog already has the alias "Dog" but does not have the alias "Wonder Dog", Munchkin sees:
  Rover the Wonder Dog(#4237) already has the alias Dog.
  Alias Wonder Dog added to Rover the Wonder Dog(#4237).

If the object is a character object, spaces will also be assumed to be separations between aliases and each alias will be checked against the User Name Database to make sure no one else is using it. Any already used aliases will be identified.

Example:
Munchkin wants to add his nicknames to his own list of aliases:
  @addalias Foobar Davey to me
@Addalias recognizes that Munchkin is trying to add an alias to a valid user character and checks the aliases against the User Name Database. Unfortunately, DaveTheMan is already using the alias "Davey" so Munchkin sees:
  DaveTheMan(#5432) is already using the alias Davey
  Alias Foobar added to Munchkin(#1523).

The second form of the @addalias command is for use by programmers, to add aliases to a verb they own. All commas and spaces are assumed to be separations between aliases.

@addroom

Adds a room to your list of known rooms (this allows you to reference it by name with such commands as @go and @move). If <room> is not specified, your current room is assumed. If you specify "as <name>", <name> will be used as the name for the room in your room database, instead of the room's actual name (this allows you to specify abbreviations and such).

This command can be abbreviated down to '@addr'.

Example: @addr #11 as SU
 ..would add room #11 (the Student Union) to your personal database of rooms under the name of "SU".

Related Topics:
  @go - Teleport yourself to a specified location.
  @move - Teleport another object to a specified location.
  @rmroom - Remove a room from your personal list of rooms.
  @rooms - Display all rooms known by name.

@aliases

Returns a list of aliases that may be used to refer to <what>. If no <what> is specified, then the aliases of the person issuing the command are given.

@answer

Synonym: @reply

Prepares for you to compose a MOO email message to the people who either received or composed the indicated message from your collection. The usual editor is invoked (see `help editors' for details). The subject line for the new message will be initialized from that of the indicated message. If you leave off the message number, the reply will be to your current message, if that exists. In fact you may give a general message-sequence (see `help message-sequences') argument here, provided that it indicates only a single message (e.g., `@answer last:1')

If there is a Reply-to: field in the message you are @answer'ing, its contents will be used to initialize the To: line of your reply. Otherwise, a To: line is determined depending on whether you specified `sender' or `all' in the command line (or your .mail_options).

Note that if the message is an Internet email, received through the Internet Email Permeability System, you must be authorized by the MOO administrators for "send" access to Internet email in order to reply to the message through MOOmail.

`include' includes the text of the original message in your reply, `noinclude' does not.

`sender', `all', `include', and `noinclude' can each be abbreviated (e.g., `@answer i').

Defaults are `sender' and `noinclude', but you can change this by setting your .mail-options (see `help mail-options').

@answering

Turns your page answering machine on or off. You can optionally have pages sent to while you are off line or refusing pages recorded on a virtual "answering machine" which you can play back later. The @answering command turns this feature on and off.

If neither on nor off is specified, the current setting is reported.

Related Topics:
answering-machine -- summary of the answering machine system
@check-msgs -- read your answering machine messages
@clear-msgs -- erase one or more of your answering machine messages

@assign-name

See: @abbreviate

@banish

See: guest-banishing

@brief

Type `@brief' to toggle brief mode on and off. When brief is off
(the default), you will see room descriptions and exits when you
enter. When it is on you will no longer see the descriptions or
exits, only the name and contents. You can, however, `look' once
you're in a room to see its description.

Related Topics:
@mode -- essentially a synonym for @brief, but more modes may be
         supported in the future

@bug

See: @typo

@builders

Lists all currently connected builders or programmers.

@chatmode

Puts the person into "chat mode" during which all text is treated
as either "say," "emote," or "directed say" (with "say" as default).
Nothing the person types will be taken as a command, except for
"@commandmode" or "@cm" to leave chat mode and return to command
mode.

If an entered line begins with ":" then it is treated as an "emote"
command, and a "::" prefix indicates the emote without a space
following the character name.

A line prefixed with a "to " or "`" or "!" is a "directed say" such
that John typing "to Jane Heya!" results in "John [to Jane] Heya!"
being seen by everyone in the room.

This is primarily a tool for special MOO client programs, but can
also be used as a simple way to avoid raw telnet clients' nasty habit
of interpersing people's lines of text with each other.

@check

where <options> is one or more of:
-- the number of lines to be displayed
-- a character's name, someone to be "trusted" during the assignment of responsibility for the message.
-- a character's name prefixed by !, someone not to be "trusted".

          @check-full <options>
where <options is either
-- the number of lines to be displayed
-- a search string: only lines containing that string will be displayed.

Used when you are suspicious about the origin of some of the messages your character has just heard.

Output from @check is in columns that contain, in order, the monitor's best guess as to:
    what object the message came from,
    what verb on that object that was responsible,
    whose permissions that verb was running with,
    who initiated the action, and
    the beginning of the actual message.

Output from @check-full is in columns that contains a description of all the verbs that were responsible for the noise heard, not just the best guess as to who was responsible.

@check operates by examining the list of verbs that were involved in delivering the message, and assigning responsibility to the first owner it sees who is not "trusted". By default, it trusts you and all the wizards. It uses the records maintained by @paranoid, so you must have used that command before you received the message.

@check-msgs

Synonyms: @a-msgs

This command plays back one or more of the pages to you that were recorded on your answering machine. Specifying "new" plays only those messages you've not yet read, while the @check-msgs command alone reports all your recorded messages.

Related Topics:
answering-machine -- summary of the answering machine system
@answering -- turn this system on or off
@clear-msgs -- erase one or more of your answering machine messages

@clear-msgs

This command erases one or more of the messages recorded on your answering machine. The @clear-msgs command alone erases all your recorded messages, while specifying a <number> erases only that message. The "old" specifier erases all messages you have already read.

Related Topics:
answering-machine -- summary of the answering machine system
@answering -- turn your answering machine on or off
@check-msgs -- play back your answering machine messages

@comment

See: @typo

@describe

Sets the description string of <object> to <description>. This is the string that is printed out whenever someone uses the 'look' command on <object>. To describe yourself, use 'me' as the <object>.

Example:
Munchkin types this:
  @describe me as "A very fine fellow, if a bit on the short side."
People who type 'look Munchkin' now see this:
  A very fine fellow, if a bit on the short side.

Note for programmers:
The description of an object is kept in its .description property.
For descriptions of more than one paragraph, .description can be a list of strings.

@domain-structure

Shows the domain structure around your location. Shows up to [levels] levels, if specified, otherwise two levels is the default. Format shows the nesting of the domains, and what other domains are within the one(s) that contain you.

@domains

Returns the domain or list of domains enclosing the specified
<object>. If no object is given, assumes <object> is the person
invoking the command. Note that <object> can also be a person, to
see what domain the person is in.

  Related commands:
domain-system -- general info on domain system
@domain-structure -- more extensive local domain info
@set-domain -- set the domain for a room

@drawing

Syntax:

@drawing on - Allows the automatic display of ascii drawing, if one is defined on an object. @drawing off - Turns off the automatic display of drawings. (default)

The drawings do add to the number of text lines you see as you move and look around, so if you like briefer descriptions keep it turned off. Also, if you use a speech interface to the moo, the drawings will only mess things up for you.

To make a drawing...

    @edit <object>.drawing
     create or upload your ascii drawing (make sure you change to list mode)

A note: the backslash "\" must be doubled since it is a special character.

A style note: Please don't put big huge ascii drawings in the MOO. Most people have around 20 lines on their screens and even with @pagelen set a large ascii drawing can be annoying.

@edit

This command moves you into one of the MOO editors, depending on the object and text you are editing.

  For notes or objects designed to work smoothly with the @edit system, the first form of the command may be used. Also, if the object is not a note, it may ask you if you wish to edit the object's description.

Many objects have specific properties that may be edited using the second form of the command (@edit <object>.<property>). For instance, an object named "Greeter" may have a "welcome_text" property, and you could use "@edit greeter.welcome_text" to edit that property. More sophisticated objects will typically have some specific commands for editing their properties, and "help <object>" or "@about <object>" will often describe such commands.

If you don't specify anything to edit, the @edit command checks to see if you have any unfinished editing sessions, and moves you to the editor where it finds one.

Note: Which the @noteditor command used to be the only one usable for editing texts, the @edit command has been made context-sensitive, so that you are transferred to the appropriate editor depending on what you wish to edit.

Related Topics:
editors -- information on commands usable within the MOO editors

@edit-options

Synonym: @editoption

The edit options customize the behavior of the various editors (mail editor, verb editor, etc...) to your particular taste. The first form of this command displays all of your edit options. The second form displays just that one option, one of the flags listed below.

The remaining forms of this command are for setting your edit options:

         @edit-option +<flag>
         @edit-option -<flag>
         @edit-option !<flag> (equivalent to -<flag>)

These respectively set and reset the specified flag

-quiet_insert insert (") and append (:) echo back the line numbers
+quiet_insert insert (") and append (:) produce no output
-eval_subs (VERB EDITOR) ignore .eval_subs when compiling verbs
+eval_subs (VERB EDITOR) apply .eval_subs to verbs being compiled
-local Use in-MOO text editors.
+local Ship text to client for local editing.

@editoptions

See: @edit-options

@examine

NOTE: This command is inferior to the "examine" command, which produces a context-sensitive list of usable commands (ie. if you can't use the command, it's generally omitted from the list).

Prints several useful pieces of information about the named object, including the following:
        + its full name, aliases, and object number
        + its owner's name and object number
        + its description
        + its key expression (if it is locked and if you own it)
        + its contents and their object numbers
        + the 'obvious' verbs defined on it

Related Topics:
examine -- similar to @examine but generates a context-sensitive command listing

@features

List all of <person>'s features matching <name>, or all of <person>'s features if <name> is not supplied. <person> defaults to you. See `help features' for more information.

Related Topics:
features -- general information on features
@add-feature -- add a feature to your list
@remove-feature -- remove a feature from your list

@findroom

This verb helps you to find rooms with names matching a string (an arbitrary sequence of characters) you provide it with. After 10 or 20 seconds (this really depends on how many rooms there are when you search and how quick the MOO is at that given time) you will get the results of your search. The list of matching rooms comes in two columns complete with the corresponding object-numbers. If a room's name is too long to be displayed it is cut off and two periods are appended to indicate that.

Note that the argument string (see above for definition) can be any number of characters and does not have to be a complete room name. This has advantages (it will find you any room with a name that contains the string "fi" if you want it to do that) as well as its drawbacks (just guess how many rooms there are which contain "fi" in their names).

Related Topics:
@locate -- find any MOO object by name

@forward

  Takes the indicated message in your (or some other) message collection, creates a new message whose body is the original message (both headers and body) and sends it on to the given recipients.
  If the @movemail form is used, the message is also deleted from the previous collection.

@gag

Add the given people to your 'gag list'. You will no longer see any messages that result from actions initiated by these people. In particular, you will not hear them if they try to speak, emote, or whisper to you. See 'help gagging' for an explanation of gagging in general.

Example:
Munchkin types:
  @gag Grover
and no longer hears anything that Grover says. What a relief!

If you specify an object, then any text originating from that object will not be printed. Example: Noisy Robot prints "Hi there" every 15 seconds. In order to avoid seeing that, Munchkin types:
  @gag Noisy
and no longer hears that robot! (Munchkin must be in the same room as Noisy Robot for this to work, or know its object number.)

@gaglist

See: @listgag

@gender

The first form, with an argument, defines your character to have the gender <gender>. If <gender> is one of the standard genders (e.g., 'male', 'female', 'neuter',...), your various pronouns will also be set appropriately, making exits and certain other objects behave more pleasantly for you.

The second form tells you the current definition of your character's gender, your current pronouns, and the complete list of standard genders.

It should be noted that some of the "genders" on the standard gender list need verb conjugation in order to work properly and much of the MOO isn't set up for this (...yet). For example, you should expect to see `they is' a fair amount if you @gender yourself `plural'.

Gender Pronouns
------ --------
neuter it, it, its, its, itself
female she, her, her, hers, herself
male he, him, his, his, himself
either s/he, him/her, his/her, his/hers, (him/her)self
Spivak e, em, eir, eirs, eirself
splat *e, h*, h*, h*s, h*self
plural they, them, their, theirs, themselves
egotistical I, me, my, mine, myself
royal we, us, our, ours, ourselves
2nd you, you, your, yours, yourself

@go

Teleport yourself to the specified location. <place> can either be the object number of a room or the name of a room from your @rooms listing, but it must ultimately be a room object.

There are a couple of messages you can set to change what is seen by the people around you when you teleport into and out of a room. They are as follows:
  @leave me is <message> - Seen by everyone in the room you teleport out of.
  @arrive me is <message> - Seen by everyone in the room you teleport into.

(for more information on configurable messages, see 'help messages')

Examples: @go #11
 ..would teleport to room #11
          @go education
 ..would teleport you to the room named "education" from your @rooms list.

Related Topics:
movement -- general info on MOO navigation
@rooms - Display all rooms known by name
@move - Teleport another object to a specified location

@gripe

Puts you into the MOO mail system to register a complaint (or, conceivably, a compliment) with the wizards. The rest of the command line (the <anything> ... part) is used as the subject line for the message. More information on using the MOO mail system is given once you're in it.

You may hear back from the wizards eventually; see 'help @mail' for how to read their reply.

Example:
Munchkin types:
  @gripe The little bird
  "How come I can't ever see the little bird in the cuckoo clock?
  " -- A frustrated person
  send
and, somewhat later, the wizards reply with a note about being sure to look while the clock is chiming.

@guests

This verb prompts you a listing of guests and their connect status, most notably their connection site information.
If given in the first listed syntax, @guests will list all currently connected guests. The second form will list all existant guests and the third only the ones referred to by the provided names.

@hide

This command will allow you to hide yourself from normal @who listings if you're busy or just don't want to be disturbed. This won't actually hide from other people on the MOO (people can still see whether you're connected and where you are if they really want to), but it will give some indication of whether you're available or not, and keep the @who listings from being cluttered up quite so much with people who aren't really available.

@who will only show non-hidden users, whereas @who-all will show a complete list of all users, hidden or not, on the MOO. Please note that paging or pestering people you don't know who have hidden themselves from the who listing is considered a form of harrassment and is not allowed on the MOO.

Please note that hidden status is reset to "off" when you disconnect.

Related Topics: @who

@html

See: @url

@htmledit

  Moves you to the HTML Editor, allowing you to edit the HTML document
associated with an object. The HTML editor is mostly like the Note
Editor. One difference is that the modes are "URL" (a single line of
text only) or "HTML" (an HTML document of one or more lines).

@icon

  The command displays or sets the URL for the icon associated with
an object. Note that the URL must be enclosed in double quotes.

@idea

See: @typo

@info

To set your displayed information, use the following commands:
   @info me is <anything> : sets your info text to <anything>
   @duty me is <anything> : sets your on duty message to <anything>
   @offduty me is <anything> : sets your off duty message to <anything>
   onduty : changes your status to on duty
   offduty : changes your status to off duty

You can use
  @info me is "<line of text>"
to set your @info. Alternatively, you can use "@edit me.info" to
edit your info using the text editor.

Related Topics:
user-info -- suggestions for how to use your "info" text in this MOO

@join

Your "join" message is displayed to the person you're joining, and
Your "leave" message is displayed in the place you're leaving.

Note that you can also join an object other than a person's
character, if that object is in a location you can enter.

Related Topics:
@go -- teleport to a specified location
@messages -- list all your customizable messages

@knock

Please note that if someone doesn't respond to your knock that doesn't mean it's ok to barge in on them. They may simply be too busy or have missed your knock. If you have knocked twice and still get no answer, then it's probably best to cut your losses and go off and find someone else to talk to.

Related Topics:
  @join - teleport to the same location as another user.
  page - send a message to another user.
  @invite - invite someone to @join you.

@last-connection

Reports when and from what site you last connected to your character. The "all" option lists all recorded connection sites (usually somewhere between 10 and 50 are saved). This information may be especially useful if you think someone else has successfully connected to your account.

If the "@last-connect all" command reports a site that you are sure you haven't connected from, you should change your password immediately, and you may want to report the security problem to the wizards.

This command is also called when you connect to the MOO, and reports the number of failed connections since your last successful connection. These can be caused by you entering your wrong password, someone else accidentally typing your character name when they try to connect, or by someone trying to break into your account.

 If you have a suspiciously large number of failed connection attempts, you might want to report it to the wizards, who have additional tools that may enable them to identify the person trying to connect to your character.

The command may be abbreviated as "@last-c" or "@last-x" (the latter so that it doesn't conflict with the Manager command "@last-connected").

@lastlog

The first form prints out a list of all people, roughly sorted by how long it's been since that person last connected to the MOO. For each person, the precise time of their last connection is printed.

The second form only shows the last-connection time for the named person.

@linelength

         @linelength <number>
         @linelength

If the lines you see get cut off at the edge of your screen (you don't have
word-wrap), you can get the MOO to split lines for you. The @linelength
command tells the MOO how many columns you have on your screen - you probably
want @linelength 79 - and "@wrap on" tells the MOO you want it to do word-
wrap.

It's better if you can fix this problem without the MOO's help, though,
because the MOO's solution will be slower than a local solution, and
because not all MUDs are willing to do word-wrap.

If you don't want the MOO to split lines for you, there might still be some
use for the @linelength command. Certain commands, like @who and @check,
print truncated lines so they can print in neat columns. The default for
these is generally about 79 columns, which looks fine if you have an
eighty-column screen. If your screen is a different width, though, you
can set @linelength and some of these commands will react accordingly.

@listen

Part of the MOO's page refusal system is a refusal variant that refuses all pages except for those from a group of people you specify with this command. Works with '@nopage general'

@listen <person> - adds <person> to the list of people which will still
                    be allowed to page you when you set your page refusal
                    level to 'general'
@listen !<person> - removes <person> from this list
@listen - show your refusal exception list

Allowing pages from remote MOOs connected by LinkNet.

@listen <person>@<site> - add person from that site
@listen !<person>@<site> - remove person from that site

Allowing pages (eg, 'rpages') from LinkNet sites.

@listen remote - allow all pages (rpages) from non-DU sites
@nopage !remote - removes remote pages from list

Related Topics:
page-refusal -- general info about the page refusal system
@nopage -- set the list of people excluded from paging you; the
                @listen command defines exceptions
gagging -- blocking all forms of communication from selected people
                (not just pages)
911 -- summary of the various systems for dealing with harassment
security -- identifing the source of messages and scanning for
                listeners

@listgag

Shows you a list of the people and objects currently on your "gag list." You don't see any messages that result from actions initiated by the people or objects on this list. In particular, you will not hear them if they try to speak, emote, or whisper to you. See "help gagging" for an explanation of gagging in general.

@listrooms

See: @rooms

@locate

Synonym: @?
         @?!
         @locate!

Hunts for all objects with <text> in their name or among their aliases. Starts at <start#>, goes to <end#> and finds at most <num> occurences (<start#> and <end#> are object numbers).

Using @locate! or @?! will inform you of the search's progress as it proceeds.

Related Topics:
@findroom -- find a room by name (much faster than @locate)

@mail

Shows a table of contents for your MOO email message collection. You are notified when you connect to the MOO if there are any such messages. A little arrow indicates the mail system's notion of your 'current message'.
The first form lists all of your messages or the last 15 if you have more than that many; the second form lists only those messages after your `current message'. The third form shows your entire collection.

If you have a large number of mail messages, you can give arguments so that @mail only lists the messages you're interested in. You can also list messages residing on mail recipients which are public or for which you have read access.
The general format is

         @mail <message-sequence> [on *<recipient>]

<recipient> must name some child of $mail_recipient (e.g., a mailing list);
<message-sequence> can be a sequence of message numbers; you can also scan the recipient for articles that fit a given description, as specified in `help message-sequences'.

Note that if you view mail on some other recipient and have "sticky" in your .mail_options (see `help mail-options'), all further mail commands (e.g., @read, @next, @rmm,...) will apply to that recipient. In this case use `@mail on me' to go back to looking at your own mail.

Related Topics:
message-sequences -- various search and other parameters you can use
                     to select particular messages for display
mail -- general overview of mail system commands
@read -- read a particular message
@send -- send a message

@mail-options

Synonym: @mailoption

The first form displays all of your mail options
The second displays just that one option, which may be either `@mail', `replyto', or one of the flags listed below. The mail options control various annoying details of your mail reading and mail editing commands.

The remaining forms of this command are for setting your mail options:

         @mail-option +<flag>
         @mail-option -<flag>
         @mail-option !<flag> (equivalent to -<flag>)

These respectively set and reset the specified flag

 -include @reply's start out with a blank message body
 +include @reply's start with original message included
 -all @reply's go to sender only
 +all @reply's go to sender and all original recipients
 -nosubject @send forces you to provide a Subject: line
 +nosubject allow entering the mail editor without giving a subject line
 -enter start each mail editing session in the usual command mode.
 +enter start each mail editing session with an implicit `enter' command
 -expert novice mail user (various annoying messages will be printed)
 +expert expert mail user (suppress printing of annoying messages)
 -sticky each mail command applies by default to one's own collection
 +sticky each mail command applies by default to the same message
                 collection that the previous successful command did
 -netmail mail to you accumulates in your MOO mailbox
 +netmail mail to you is actually forwarded to your registered email
                address, if you have one.
+notify-all mailing lists automatically notify you of new messages
                after you subscribe.
+skip-crossposts Only display crossposted messages once.
+expire don't expire mail
-expire expire mail according to the MOO's default
expire=<time> expire mail older than <time>, which can be "one week" for instance

Others may be added from time to time, but the "@mailoptions" command
should display the current list, with each option's meaning.
For "sticky", `mail command' is one of @mail, @read, @prev, @next, @answer.
All flags default to the `-' settings.

Next, we have

         @mail-option manymsgs [is] <number>
         @mail-option manymsgs=<number>
         @mail-option -manymsgs

The first two forms specify that if you give a @mail or @read command asking for <number> or more messages, you will first be given a yes-or-no prompt to continue, the idea being that you many not actually have wanted to see that many messages. The third form turns off this behavior.

         @mail-option @mail [is] <message-sequence>

The "@mail" option determines what message-sequence the @mail command uses by
default. Initially, this is "last:15", but other reasonable choices include
"new" and "1-last"

         @mail-option replyto [is] <recipient> [<recipient>...]
         @mail-option -replyto

The first form specifies that a Reply-To: field is to be placed in all messages constructed by @send or @answer. Note this can still be changed before sending via the mail room's reply-to command.
The second form resets this option so that no Reply-to: is initially inserted.

@mailme

If the specified object supports it, this command will send internet email to your registered email address containing the text of the specified object or item (such as the contents of a note object, an item on a gopher slate, etc).

If the '@mailme help <topic>' syntax is used, the text of the specified help topic (as would be seen with the 'help <topic>' command) is emailed.

You must have a registered email address to use this command.

Example: @mailme 5 on gopher slate
          @mailme help @dig

Related Topics:
  @registerme - Register or change your registered email address.

@mailoptions

See: @mail-options

@managers

This command presents a list of MOO managers who are on-line, manager info on a particular person, or a list of all managers if "all" is specified. It includes identification of what each manager's responsibilities are.

@memory

Prints out all information available on the current memory-usage behavior of the MOO server. Probably only a wizard, if anyone, cares about this.

@messages

List all of the messages that can be set on the named object and their current values. See 'help messages' for more details.

@mode

Sets the "display mode" used when determining what to show you when
you enter a room. The meaning of the current modes are as follows:

verbose - the default. Shows the room description, objects and
          people present, and the list of exits when you enter a room
brief - show the room's name and contents only; you can still
          `look' to see the full description and exits also

Related Topics:
@brief -- essentially a synonym for @mode, though more modes may be
          added in the future. @brief is a toggle.

@more

If you have @pagelength set (see `help @pagelength') and some combination of events or commands produces sufficiently many lines of output, you will see a message of the form

*** More *** 37 lines left. Do @more [rest|flush] for more.

indicating (in this case) 37 more lines of text waiting to be read.
At this point, you should give one of the @more commands above.

@more without arguments prints sufficiently many lines to fill your screen,
assuming you've set @pagelength correctly, unless there are not that many
lines left to print.

@more rest will print all of the remaining lines, regardless of your @pagelength setting.

@more flush discards all remaining lines

@move

Move the specified object to the specified location. This is not guaranteed to work; in particular, the object must agree to be moved and the destination must agree to allow the object in. This is usually the case, however. <place> can either be the object number of a room or the name of a room that is listed in your @rooms listing.

If @move doesn't work and you own the room where the object is located, try using @eject instead.

Example: @move mything to #11
 ..would change the location of the object called "mything" to be #11 (the Student Union) (assuming such a change is permitted).

A particularly useful application is to retrieve objects you own that have been moved to Nowhere (#-1). Find their object number on your audit list, and then:
  @move <object number> to me

Related Topics:
  @go -- Teleport yourself to a specified location.
  @rooms -- Display all rooms known by name.
  @eject -- Forceably eject an object from one of your rooms.

@movelist

This command will change the position of folder <folder> within your @subscribed list to be <position>. <position> must be a number from 1 to the number of lists in @subscribed, or '$' (indicating "last").

This is primarily used to change the order in which @nn searches for new messages to display.

Example: @movelist *general to 3
  ..would move *general to be the 3rd folder in your @subscribed list.

Related Topics:
  mail -- overview of all mail-related commands.
  @subscribed -- List all subscribed mail folders.
  @nn -- Read the "next new" message on any of your folders.

@movemail

See: @forward

@netforward

Forwards the contents of the indiciated messages from your MOO email collection to your registered email address. You get the message numbers for use here by typing the '@mail' command, which prints a table of contents for your entire MOO email collection. If no arguments are given to @netforward, then the 'current message' in your collection is sent. In any case, the 'current message' after @netforward finishes is not affected.

The most general form of the @netforward command is

         @netforward <message-sequence> [on *<collection>]

where <message-sequence> is as described in `help message-sequences'.
As with the @mail command you may @netforward messages on any publically readable collection (child of $mail_recipient).

If you do not have a valid registered email address, you will not be able to use this command and must first @registerme or get a wizard to register your address. `help @registerme' for details.

@netwait

Set or check the time the system will wait for responses from linknet remote sites before giving up.

@newbie

  Turns on/off the newbie-notify option. When on, this option
provides usage hints every time a person enters a command the MOO
system doesn't recognize. It is turned on for new users by default,
but they can use this command to turn if off once they've learned the
basic commands, and before the hint messages drive them totally
crazy.

@next

Print the `next' message in a given email collection (defaults to your own). The mail system's notion of your 'current message' for that collection is incremented. Thus, e.g., one can read all of one's new messages one-by-one simply by typing '@next' repeatedly.

@nn

Searches your personal mail and all subscribed maillists for the "next new" (unread) message, and displays the first one it finds. This command is basically the same as '@read nextnew on <folder>', except that it automatically searches all your personal mail and folders to find a new message to display.

The order in which mail folders is searched is the order they appear in your '@subscribed' listing. By defualt this is the order in which you subscribed to them, but can be changed using the @movelist command.

Related Topics:
  mail -- overview of all mail-related commands.
  @subscribed -- List all subscribed mail folders.
  @movelist -- Change the order of your @subscribed list.

@nomove

This command toggles move protection on or off. When move protection is on, only commands with wizard-level permission or movements to and from the MOO editors are permitted to move your character.

 Having move protection on essentially means that non-wizardly programmers cannot move your character. Although this can be useful if someone is maliciously moving you around, most programmers don't abuse the privilege, and implement useful functions that move users' characters.

This command and feature are provided as a security measure for people who are being harassed or paranoid. If you are being harrassed, you might be better off using the @witness/@tag system to document for the wizards what is being done to you.

@nopage

@nopage all - will refuse all pages.
@nopage general - refuse all pages except for the ones you
                    added to a special list (see @listen)
@nopage selected - refuse pages from people you specified with the
                    following @nopage variant
@nopage clear - turn off page refusal (receive all pages again)
@nopage <person> - refuse the pages of a specific individual
@nopage !<person> - undo page refusal for <person>
@nopage - show your current state of page refusal

People that page you while you refuse their pages see your @page_refuse message. Set this message using the common '@page_refuse me is "....."' syntax ('%n' will be substituted with your name).

Related Topics:
page-refusal -- general info about the page refusal system
@listen -- set the list of people specifically exempted from @nopage
                blocks
gagging -- blocking all forms of communication from selected people
                (not just pages)
911 -- summary of the various systems for dealing with harassment
security -- identifing the source of messages and scanning for
                listeners

@notedit

Enters the MOO Note Editor to edit the text on the named object
For the first form, <note-object> must be a descendant of $note.
For the second form, <object>.<property> can be any string-valued or text-valued (i.e., list of strings) property on any object.

Note that @notedit and @edit both invoke the note editor for property editing.
See 'help editors' for more detail.

@options

The '@user-options' command can be used to specify various options controlling your character at the MOO. If no options are specified, than all your current user option settings are displayed. The "+<option>" varient will add the specified <option> and the "-<option>" or "!<option" will remove or reset an option.

Currently available options are:

  Answering machine control (see 'help @answering):
    msgs-login .. shows new answering machine messages at login.
    keep-messages .. keep all answering machine messages at logout.

  Quickpage subject control (see 'help @page-subject')
    AutoPageReply .. default quickpage subject for quickpage changes to
                     the person who pages you, unless you specified a
                     specific person using '@page-subject <name>'.
    FixedPageSubj .. default quickpage subject does not change until you
                     log out. (Normally you would use '@page-subject'
                     set it, rather than @options')
    Page-Separate .. The 'page' command does not change the default
                     quickpage subject. (This is the way the page system
                     operated prior to November of 1995.)

  Other paging options
    beep_if_idle .. Causes a beep character to be sent to your
                     terminal, if someone pages you and you are idle.
                     The amount of time your terminal must be
                     inactive before being tagged as idle is set
                     using the @pageidle command.

  Other Options
    Long-Help-OK .. Help messages are output to you without prompting
                     regardless of their length. (By default, if a help
                     message is longer than 50 lines, the user is
                     informed of the length of the message, and given the
                     opportunity to abort the command.)
    speechsynth .. Output is customized for speech synthesizer
                     wherever it's appropriate to differentiate
                     between that and video monitor display.
    no_drawings .. If this is on, then you will not be shown ascii
                     art drawings associated with some objects. Note
                     that if the speechsynth option is on, the
                     no_drawing option is ignored (assumed to be on too).
    no_mass_mail .. If this is on, then MOO-wide mailings from the
                     administrators will not be sent to your email
                     address.

Other user options may appear that are not documented. These are still
being developed, and usually should not be set.

Note: '@options' has the same effect as '@user-options'

Also see: @user-options

@page-subject

This command sets the behavior of the quickpage system when you omit a target for the page.

The quickpage ('- <text>' or "' <text>") and page emote ('+ <text>' or '++
<text>) commands allow you to send a page without giving the person's name
if you have your 'page subject' set. By default, your page subject is set
to the last person you paged or quickpaged successfully. However, you can
change this using the @page-subject command as follows:

@page-subject <person> .. Fixes your page subject as this person. This does
                           not change until you disconnect, name another
                           person, or clear the page suject.
@page-subject clear .. Clear the page subject. Return to default.
@page-subject pager .. When you are paged, your page subject changes to
                           the person paging you. This makes it easy to
                           respond, but may disrupt a page conversation you
                           are carrying on.
@page-subject -pager .. Cancels the above. Receiving pages does not
                           change your page subject.
@page-subject .. Just shows the current page subject and page
                           subject options.

When you disconnect, the efffect of @page-subject <person> is cancelled, and the memory of the page subject is lost. However, if you set the 'pager' option, it will still be in effect. Therefore, you must name a person to page in your first page after re-connecting, unless someone pages you and you previously set the 'pager' option with '@page-subject'.

If you don't want the 'page' command to change the quickpage page subject, use the '@options +Page-Separate' command. See 'help @user-options for a list of this and other page subject control options.

Related Topics:
page -- about the page and quickpage commands
- -- the remote "say" command
+ -- the remote "emote" command
@page-subject -- control the behavior of the page system when a target is omitted
@user-options -- set various options associated with the page system

@pageecho

Synonyms: @pagee
          @pecho

This command controls if you see a copy of the message you've paged to someone. "@pageecho" alone reports the present setting, while the "on" or "off" specifiers change the setting.

Related Topics:
page -- summary of the paging system

@pageidle

If you are paged after being idle for a certain period, the pager is sent your @page_idle message, and you are also notified that this has heppened. This is so the pager knows you have been idle for a long time and may be away and not see the message. The page idle time interval is 5 minutes, but you can control or display it by using the @pageidle or @pidle command.

The command '@pidle' can be used instead of '@pageidle'. The result is the same.
        
Notes: <time interval> can be any number of seconds, minutes, hours, etc. If the verb cannot interpret the time interval you provided it, it will prompt you accordingly and display its syntax.

Example: @pagei 10 min

Sets your page idle time to 10 minutes. Note that you have to give the time units; '@pagei 10' doesn't work because the time units are not given.

@pagelength

If the lines you see scroll off the top of your screen too quickly for you to
read and your client program is such that any lines scrolling off the top are
gone forever, you can use the @pagelength command to invoke page buffering to
limit the number of lines sent at a time. E.g., if your terminal has a 24 line
screen, you can do @pagelength 24 and output will stop every 24 lines if you
don't type any other commands.

You will need to use the @more command to continue reading output once it
has been stopped. Make sure you read `help @more' before setting @pagelength.

@pagelength 0 means no page buffering will be done by the MOO.

By default the MOO will assume you have an infinitely wide terminal screen, so
you may wish to set @linelength as well, and ensure wrapping is on with @wrap
on. (See 'help @linelength' and 'help @wrap'.) As with line wrapping,
you are best off running a client that can do its own page buffering
and line wrapping; the MOO server's page buffering is inherently
slower.

Related Topics:
@more -- display the next page of text
@linelength -- set the line lengh for line wrapping
@wrap -- turn line wrapping on or off

@pagesites

Lists the remote MOOs connected via LinkNet.

@paranoid

In immediate mode, the monitor prepends everything you hear with the name of the character it considers responsible for the message. Otherwise, it keeps records of the last <number> (defaults to 20) lines you have heard. These records can be accessed by the @check command.

@password

Changes your character's password (as typed in the 'connect' command when you log in to the MOO) to <new-password>. For security reasons, you are required to type your current (soon to be old) password as the first argument.

Your password is stored in an encrypted form in the MOO database; in principle, not even the wizards can tell what it is, though they can change it, of course. It is recommended that your password not be your name or a common word; MOO passwords have been stolen or cracked in the past and characters have been made unhappy by such theft. Your password is your security; choose a safe one.

Only the first 16 characters of a password are significant.

If you omit <new-password> you will be prompted for a new password after a telnet `echo off' is sent to your client. Some clients will properly interpret this and not display what you type, hiding your password. If you omit both <old-password> and <new-password> you will be prompted for both.

Related Topics:
password-keeping -- information on selecting good passwords

@peek

See: @read

@peepeditor

This command allows you to see what someone is working on in one of
the editors if they have issued the "publish" command within the
editor. It shows the text in the specified editor for the specified
user. If the editor is omitted, the verb editor is the default. If
the user is omitted, shows a list of users with active sessions in
the specified editor.

Note that the user will be told you're @peep'ing.

Supported editors are: $note_editor, $section_editor, $verb_editor, $mail_editor, $html_editor

@previous

Print the 'previous' message in a given email collection (defaults to your own). The mail system's notion of your 'current message' for that collection is decremented. Thus, e.g., one can review all of one's previous messages one-by-one simply by typing '@prev' repeatedly.

@programmers

See: @builders

@quit

Disconnect from the MOO. This breaks your network connection and leaves your character sleeping. Disconnecting in most parts of the MOO automatically returns your character to its designated home (see 'help home').

@read

Prints the contents of the indiciated messages from your MOO email collection. You get the message numbers for use here by typing the '@mail' command, which prints a table of contents for your entire MOO email collection. If no arguments are given to @read, then the 'current message' in your collection is printed. In any case, the 'current message' after @read finishes is the last one printed.

The most general form of the @read command is

         @read <message-sequence> [on *<collection>]

where <message-sequence> is as described in `help message-sequences'.
As with the @mail command you may @read messages on any publically readable collection (child of $mail_recipient).

The @peek command is a variant of @read that works no differently except that it refrains from setting your `current message'. This is useful, for example, if you want to see some particular message on a collection without losing track of where you are in it.

@registerme

This verb reports or changes your registered email address. It will modify the registration, and then, to validate the email address, it will assign a new password and mail the password to the given <email-address>.

If for some reason this is a problem for you, contact a wizard or registrar to get your email address changed.

@remove-abbreviation

See: @abbreviate

@remove-feature

See: @add-feature

@remove-name

See: @assign-name

@rename

This command is used used to change the name and aliases of an object. The name is what will be used in most printed descriptions of the object. The aliases are the names by which people can refer to the object in commands. Typically you want to include the name in the aliases, as the MOO parser only checks aliases when matching, so the first syntax is generally preferred.

If you leave out the "name" part of the list, @rename will leave the object's name as it is, and only change the aliases.

Note that for renaming character objects, more stringent rules apply. See `help user-names'. Certain other kinds of objects (e.g., mail recipients) also enforce their own rules with regard to what they can be named.

Example:
Munchkin names his cat (the object formally known as "cat"):
  @rename cat to Puddles the Cat, cat, ptc
which gives it the name "Puddles the Cat" and the aliases "Puddles the Cat," "cat", and ptc. Note that "ptc" is an initialized abbreviation of the full name. Such abbreviations are commonly used and very helpful. People can now refer to that object by any of its aliases.

Advanced Example:
Munchkin names his dog:
  @rename #4237 to "Rover the Wonder Dog":Rover,dog
Now we'll see 'Rover the Wonder Dog' if we're in the same room as him and we can refer to him as either 'Rover' or just 'dog' in our commands, like 'pet dog'. Note, however, that it will be impossible to use "Rover the Wonder Dog" to rever to the dog: if you don't include the name in the aliases, confusion can result. It might have been better to start off with
  @rename #4237 to "Rover the Wonder Dog",Rover,dog

Since he didn't, Munchkin now changes his dog's aliases:
  @rename #4237 to ,Rover,dog,Rover the Wonder Dog
The name remains the same - we still see 'Rover the Wonder Dog' - but now any of 'Rover', 'dog', or 'Rover the Wonder Dog' can be used to refer to him. This can help reduce confusion.
Alternatively, Munchkin could have fixed his error with
   @addaliases "Rover the Wonder Dog" to dog

Note: MOO users are not permitted to change the name of an object to one already assigned to the name of a registered MOO user. Having objects floating around with names of real people would be misleading and confusing.

Related Topics:
@addalias -- add one or more aliases to an object
user-names -- special rules for naming and renaming MOO characters

@renumber

Renumbers the messages in your collection to go from 1 to however many you have at the moment. The optional argument allows you to renumber the messages stored in some other collection (@renumber, like @rmmail, requires write access).

Note that if you have zombie messages from a previous @rmmail command (see `help zombie-messages'), these will be expunged.

@reply

See: @answer

@request-character

Guests or temporary VSPO characters can use this verb to apply for "permanent residency." If you already have a registered character, you don't need this command.

If you're issuing this command as a guest, the @request command requests a new character, registered for your email address. Please use your primary address for this, as your password will be sent to the address provided.

VSPOs, or Visiting Student Player Objects, can apply for their character objects to be converted into permanent ones.

Upon entering the @request command, you will be moved to a quiet location and asked to answer some questions regarding your request for a character. Please answer all questions fully and truthfully. In order to obtain a character on this MOO, you must have a valid email address, your requested name must be your real name or a reasonable nickname, and you must have a good reason (in keeping with the theme and purpose of the MOO) for wanting a character on this particular MOO.

If you are not yet familiar with this MOO well enough, please feel free to look around a bit, read 'help manners' and 'help theme', and learn a bit about this environment before requesting a character.

Related Topics:
@registerme -- check or set your character's e-mail address

@rmalias

The first form is used to remove aliases from an object. If the object is a valid user character, space and commas will be assumed to be separations between unwanted aliases. Otherwise, only commas will be assumed to be separations.
Note that @rmalias will not affect the object's name, only its aliases.

The second form is for use by programmers, to remove aliases from a verb they own. All spaces and commas are assumed to be separations between unwanted aliases.

@rmmail

Deletes the indicated messages from your MOO email collection.
By default, your current message is deleted.
See `help message-sequence' for the full list of possible arguments.
You get the message numbers for use here by typing the '@mail' command.

There is no confirmation for this action, so be careful. While it is true that @unrmmail will be able to bring back the messages deleted by the last @rmm, any messages deleted before then are really gone, i.e., irrecoverable. See `help @unrmmail' for more information.

This command may be used on other mail recipients (children of $mail_recipient), but only ones to which you have write access (you either have to own it or be on good terms with whoever does...).

@rmname

See: @abbreviate

@rmroom

Removes a room previously added to your list of rooms with @addroom.

This command can be abbreviated down to '@rmr'

Example: @rmr SU
 ..would remove the first room in your list matching the name of "SU", if one exists.

Related Topics:
  @go - Teleport yourself to a specified location.
  @move - Teleport another object to a specified location.
  @addroom - Add a room to your list of known rooms.
  @rooms - Display all rooms known by name.

@rn

For each collection of mail messages that you read other from your own, a last-read-time is kept. This command tells you which collections (out of all those you have ever read) have recently had messages added to them, i.e., more recently than when you last did a @read, @prev, @next, or @skip on that collection.

Etymologists' note: If you thought @rn had anything to do with the popular UNIX newsreading program `rn', it's just your imagination.

In addition to displaying the number of messages in each subscribed mail folder, @rn+ (@rnplus) will display the headers for those new messages.

@rn+

See: @rn

@rooms

List the rooms that can be referenced by name. This will produce two lists. the first contains the rooms in your personal database that have been entered with the @addroom command, and can be removed with @rmroom. The second is a list of rooms that are automatically known to everyone in the MOO. Only the wizards may modify the second list. Rooms in either of these lists can be referenced by name when using such commands as @go and @move.

The @listrooms command can be abbreviated as '@listr' or simply '@lr'

Example: @rooms
 ..would list all the rooms currently known to you.

Related Topics:
  @go - Teleport yourself to a specified location.
  @move - Teleport another object to a specified location.
  @addroom - Add a room to your list of known rooms.
  @rmroom - Remove a room from your personal list of rooms.

@scale

See: @scale-vrml

@scale-vrml

  Shrinks or grows the object's VRML representation according to the
scaling specification. The cases of omitting the specification or
specifying zero have special meanings. Omitting the scaling
specifications returns the current scaling. Specifying a scaling of
zero resets the scaling to 1.0:1.0:1.0 (ie. the unmodified object
size).
  Scaling specifications may be a single value, in which case a
uniform scaling is implied (applied across the X, Y, and Z-axes).
For instance, "@scale dog is 200%" means increase the dog's size
two-fold. Two other ways of performing the same action with slightly
different commands are "@scale dog is 2x" and "@scale dog is 2" where
the latter implies "fold-scaling" and not percentage.
  IMPORTANT! The scaling you specify is applied on top of the
current scaling setting. If the X-axis setting was already 2.0 and
you specify another 2.0 scaling, the result is a 4.0 X-axis scaling
value.
  If you specify more than one number (either comma or space
delimited), they are applied as first X, then Y, then Z-axis
scalings. Omitting a value implies a scaling of 1 (ie. unchanged).
Using "@scale dog 2, ,4" is the same as "@scale dog 2,1,4" for
instance.

@seal

Sets messages you posted to a mail folder or mail list (any child of
$mail_recipient) to be unreadable by anyone but the mail folder's
owner or the MOO's wizards. You will be prompted for a "reason"
line, that will be displayed when someone reads the sealed message.
You can only seal messages that you have posted.

Sealed messages are indicated with a "-" next to the message number
in topic lists generated by the @mail command.

The @unseal command removes the seal from a message.

Related Topics:
mail -- introduction to the mail system

@searchhelp

Synonyms: @findhelp
          @searchh
          @shelp
          @findh

This command searches one or more help databases for the <subject> you specify, where <subject> can be a word, word fragment, or a phrase. It differs from the "help" command in that it searches the actual text of each entry for a match to <subject> and not just the topic names.

If <database> is omitted ("@searchhelp for <subject>") then all the databases that would be searched by the "help" command are used. That set of databases depends on your location and the parent of your MOO character.

If you specify a <database> that isn't recognized, the basic set of databases is displayed.

Related Topics:
help -- search the help databases for a matching topic
information -- additional notes on searching for help

@send

Prepares for you to compose a MOO email message to the recipients named on the command line. A recipient can be specified by giving a person's name or object-id, or a '*' followed by the name or object-id of some non-user mail recipient (e.g., a mailing list or a mail folder). Typing "@subscribe" lists all available mail lists and folders.

If you have "send" access to the Internet Email Permeability system, you can also specify and Internet email address as a recipient.

If you have been authorized by the MOO administrators for sending outgoing Internet mail, you can also use a valid internet address as the <recipient>. A valid internet address should have the form: who@node.domain

When you use the "@send" command, the mail editor is invoked. You will be prompted for a subject line if you did not specify one in the @send command (see `help mail_options' for how to avoid this).
Use `say' (") to insert lines in the body of your message.
See `help editors' for details.

Giving this command without arguments resumes editing the previous unsent draft message if one exists.

@set-vrml

  Allows you to set or read various settings associated with the VRML
properties of an object. These may be MOO-wide properties or ones
specifically associated with a particular class of object.
  If you omit the <setting name> you'll be presented with a list of
all the VRML settings on the object and their current values. If you
specify a VRML setting by name you'll be prompted for the new value
of that setting.
  To change the value of a VRML setting, just repeat the command and
enter the new value when prompted. To remove a setting from the list
associated with the object, just enter an empty line for the value
and you'll be asked if you want to clear it (say yes).

lights
  The text for the room's lights, normally retrieved from
$vrml_utils.std_roomlights, can be overridden with this web setting.
This is only valid for a room.

linkzone
  The place where various link objects that go in every room should
appear (ie. the "link to web" object) can be overridden with this
VRML setting. The $vrml_utils.std_linkzone property has the default
value. This is only valid for a room.

@set-web

  Allows you to set or read various settings associated with the web
properties of an object. These may be MOO-wide properties or ones
specifically associated with a particular class of object.
  If you omit the <setting name> you'll be presented with a list of
all the web settings on the object and their current values. If you
specify a web setting by name you'll be prompted for the new value
of that setting.
  To change the value of a web setting, just repeat the command and
enter the new value when prompted. To remove a setting from the list
associated with the object, just enter an empty line for the value
and you'll be asked if you want to clear it (say yes).

MOO-wide Web Settings:

bodytag_attributes
  The attributes text of the <BODY> tag, used to set the background
and text colors for the web page associated with an object. Note that
objects take on the web background properties of the room they're in
unless they have their own bodytag_attributes setting. An example:
  BGCOLOR="#D0D0D0" BACKGROUND="http://node.edu/images/sample.gif"

hide_banner
  Supresses the MOO's banner within the web page generated for the
object. Any non-empty value for "hide_banner" will work.

preformatted
  If this web setting is present and not empty, it indicates the
entire HTML document associated with the object should be surrounded
by <PRE> ... </PRE> tags, and therefore displayed in a
non-proportional font.

@sethome

Sets your designated home (see `help home') to be the room you're in now. If the current room wouldn't allow you to teleport in, then the `@sethome' command nicely refuses to set your home there. This avoids later, perhaps unpleasant, surprises. Additionally, your home must be a room that will allow you to stay there. Rooms which you own will do this, as will rooms to which you have been added as a resident. See the @resident command for help on adding someone as a resident to a room you own.

@skip

For each collection of mail messages that you read other from your own, a current message and a last-read-time is kept. Normally, if you neglect to actually @read any messages on a collection other from your own, @rn (or :check_mail_lists) will continue to remind you that they are there.

The @skip command indicates that you're not interested in reading the rest of the messages that currently exist in that given collection.

The @unsubscribe command flushes the current-message/last-read-time information completely, indicating that you are not only uninterested in the rest of the messages on that collection, but also likewise uninterested in anything else that may appear on that collection later on. @unsubscribe also removes you from the collection's .mail_notify list.

@subscribe

The first form of this command does three things:

(1) it sets up a current message and a last-read-time for the given mail
    collection so that when next you log in, you will be informed about new
    mail that has appeared there. Note that this happens automatically
    whenever you @read messages on a given collection, so if this much is
    all you care about, you don't need to use this command; just do, e.g.,
             @read last on *<collection>

(2) if you added the "with notification" clause, adds you to the .mail_notify
    list for that collection, so that you will be notified *immediately*
    whenever new mail is sent there.

(3) if you added the "with forwarding" clause, adds you to the
    .mail_forward list for that collection, so that anything sent to
    it is also forwarded to your character as MOOmail. Note that
    unless you have the "netmail" @mailoption set, you actually
    won't get a forwarded copy.

You can only @subscribe to collections that are readable by you.

The second form of the command gives a list of collections available to you.
The third form (@unsubscribed) lists the collections available to you that you are not already subscribed to.

Related Topics:
@unsubscribe -- end your subscription to a collection

@subscribed

The @subscribed command is like @rn, but shows you ALL mailing lists to which you are subscribed, even those which have new messages. In addition, it includes the description of each mail list, which generally states that list's purpose.

The @unsubscribed command lists all public mail folders you are NOT subscribed to.

Related Topics:
mail -- summary of the mail system
@subscribe -- subscribe to a mail list
@unsubscribe -- unsubscribe to a list you were subscribed to

@suggest

See: @typo

@sweep

Used when you wish to have a private conversation, and are concerned someone may be listening in. @sweep tries to list the avenues by which information may be leaving the room. In a manner analogous to @check, it assumes that you don't want to hear about your own verbs, or those belonging to wizards, who presumably wouldn't stoop to bugging.

@tag

See: tagging

@tags

Reports the total number of times you've been "tagged."

Related Topics:
tagging -- general information about the tagging system

@time

The '@time' command displays the time of day, the times of a person's last login and logout as well as other assorted time information.

Omitting <person> displays time information for yourself.

Note that @time displays times in your timezone if it is set.

Related Topics:
@timezone -- information on setting your timezone

@timezone

There are various routines in the MOO that show you the time and many
of them will convert to your home timezone, if you have your timezone
set properly.

Using @timezone without a specified zone tells you your current
timezone setting.

The timezones used with @timezone aren't the same as the timezones
most people think of ("EST", "EDT", etc). In order to accurately
compensate for daylight savings times in many different parts of the
world and be able to tell which timezone corresponds to which area,
all timezones are given a unique name based on the geographical
portion of the earth they correspond to. Thus the timezone for
eastern United States (EST/EDT) time is specified as "US/Eastern",
and when you have your timezone set to "US/Eastern" your time will
automatically report either EST or EDT, depending on which is
appropriate for the time of year (no remembering to set clocks!).

The MOO supports a large number of time zones from all over the
globe. To see a full listing of available timezones, type '@timezone
help'. Note that the UNIX convention for GMT offsets is used. GMT-5
means subtract 5 hours from the local time to get GMT. For instance,
the U.S. east coast (US/Eastern, EST/EDT), is GMT+5 since noon there
is 5PM GMT.

The "@timezone help" form list all valid timezones the MOO knows
about. This is not a table; it's just a plain list displayed in
several columns for compactness.

Note: this command uses the mktime_tz() and ctime_tz() built-in
function patches, which must have been installed in your MOO server
system.

Related Topics:
@time -- show MOO-local and user-local times
time-specifications -- some of the time specifications the MOO can
                       recognize

@typo

If <text> is given, a one-line message is sent to the owner of the room, presumably about something that you've noticed. If <text> is not given, we assume you have more to say than can fit comfortably on a single line; the usual mail editor is invoked. The convention is that @typo is for typographical errors on the room or objects found therein, @bug is for anomalous or nonintuitive behaviour of some sort, @idea/@suggest for any particular brainstorms or criticisms you might happen to have, and @comment for anything else.

If you're sending a bug report to someone because you got an error traceback when you used some object of theirs, please give them enough information to work on the problem. In particular, please tell them *exactly* what you typed and *all* of the error messages that were printed to you, including the entire traceback, up to the line `(End of traceback.)'. Without this information, it is nearly impossible for the programmer to discover, let alone fix, the problem.

The usual mail editor is only invoked for this command when in rooms that allow free entry, i.e., rooms that are likely to allow you back after you are done editing your message. Otherwise these commands will require <text> and only let you do one-line messages.
Most adventuring scenario rooms fall into this latter category.

@ungag

Remove the given person or object (or, in the second form, everyone) from your 'gag list'. You will once again see any messages that result from actions initiated by the ungagged person(s) or objects. In particular, you will once again be able to hear them if they speak, emote, or whisper to you. See 'help gagging' for an explanation of gagging in general.

Example:
Munchkin types:
  @ungag Grover
and is once again able to hear Grover's witty remarks. Sigh...

@unrmmail

When you do @rmmail on a particular message collection, the messages removed don't go away immediately, but are rather saved elsewhere. These "zombie" messages can be brought back or examined using the @UNrmmail command.

Without `list' or `expunge', @unrmm restores the zombie messages, thus undoing the effect of the most recent @rmmail command. Only the most recent @rmmail can be undone in this way; messages deleted by any previous @rmmail commands on this same collection are lost and gone forever.

The `list' option merely lists the headers of the zombie messages without actually restoring them.

The `expunge' option banishes the zombie messages forever.

Note that the message numbers used by zombie messages are held in reserve against the possibility that you might @unrmm them some day; with such messages around, new messages received will be given higher numbers than you might have expected. @renumber does an implicit @unrmm expunge.

`@unrmmail' and `@unrmmail expunge' on collections other than your own are only allowed when you have write access. Likewise, `@unrmmail list' on other collections is only possible when they are readable by you.

@unseal

See: @seal

@unsubscribe

See: @skip

@unsubscribed

See: @subscribed

@uptime

   The @uptime command displays the amount of time since the last restart of the server.
   Note to programmers: The last restart time of the server is stored in $last_restart_time.

@url

  These let you read or set the associated URL link, in-MOO HTML
document, or VRML description associated with an object. The "for"
forms show you the current value, while the "is" forms let you set a
new value. The @vrml command only has a "for" form, and you should
use @vrmledit to set an object's VRML description. Note that the URL
specified in the "@url" command should be enclosed in double quotes.
  Objects may have either a URL associated with them (generally
pointing to either an image or an web page outside the MOO) or can
have the text of an HTML document. They cannot have both, but this
is not a limitation since you can associate an HTML document with an
object and that can have as many links to images or outside web pages
that you wish. Note that the format for entering an HTML document
will cause you to be prompted for lines of that document.
 IMPORTANT: The @vrml command will give you a room's interior VRML
description if you're in the room at the time, else its exterior VRML
description.

Related Topics:
@htmledit -- use the HTML editor to enter an HTML document
@weblink -- a quick way to automatically build a small HTML document
            that uses either text or an image as the link to an
            outside document.
vrml -- information about the VRML system

@user-options

The '@user-options' command can be used to specify various options controlling your character at the MOO. If no options are specified, than all your current user option settings are displayed. The "+<option>" varient will add the specified <option> and the "-<option>" or "!<option" will remove or reset an option.

Currently available options are:

  Answering machine control (see 'help @answering):
    msgs-login .. shows new answering machine messages at login.
    keep-messages .. keep all answering machine messages at logout.

  Quickpage subject control (see 'help @page-subject')
    AutoPageReply .. default quickpage subject for quickpage changes to
                     the person who pages you, unless you specified a
                     specific person using '@page-subject <name>'.
    FixedPageSubj .. default quickpage subject does not change until you
                     log out. (Normally you would use '@page-subject'
                     set it, rather than @options')
    Page-Separate .. The 'page' command does not change the default
                     quickpage subject. (This is the way the page system
                     operated prior to November of 1995.)

  Other paging options
    beep_if_idle .. Causes a beep character to be sent to your
                     terminal, if someone pages you and you are idle.
                     The amount of time your terminal must be
                     inactive before being tagged as idle is set
                     using the @pageidle command.

  Other Options
    Long-Help-OK .. Help messages are output to you without prompting
                     regardless of their length. (By default, if a help
                     message is longer than 50 lines, the user is
                     informed of the length of the message, and given the
                     opportunity to abort the command.)
    speechsynth .. Output is customized for speech synthesizer
                     wherever it's appropriate to differentiate
                     between that and video monitor display.
    no_drawings .. If this is on, then you will not be shown ascii
                     art drawings associated with some objects. Note
                     that if the speechsynth option is on, the
                     no_drawing option is ignored (assumed to be on too).
    no_mass_mail .. If this is on, then MOO-wide mailings from the
                     administrators will not be sent to your email
                     address.

Other user options may appear that are not documented. These are still
being developed, and usually should not be set.

@version

Prints out the version number for the currently-executing MOO server.

@visible-inventory

If you set your inventory visible, people will see what you are carrying when they look at you. "@visible-inv" can be used as an abbreviation.

@vrml

See: @url

@vrmledit

Moves you into the note editor and loads the VRML description text
for <object>. Note that rooms have both interior and exterior VRML
descriptions. If you are standing in a room and use "@vrmledit here"
you'll be editing its interior description. Otherwise, you be
editing it's exterior one.

@ways

This command will list all of the available exits from the room you're in.

Related Topics:
Movement -- Navigating the MOO by walking or teleporting

@web-options

See current web option settings with @weboptions or @web-options.
Set various web options on or off with the +/- forms or set a value
(where appropriate) with the "=" form. The latter set is marked
below with (=).

Options:

inv - show whon the web page what you're carrying
map - show the campus map on the page
hideicons - you don't want to see object's icons
hidebanner - you don't want to see the MOO's banner on every page
exitdetails - you want to see what room each exit leads to
markURL - add a star next to the name of object that have some novel
    URL set
commandform - include a command form with fields for "say," @go, and
    others
nogo - don't include a section for @go in the command form
nopage - don't include a section for paging in the command form
viewer - set the object number of the viewer you wish to be your
    default (=)
background - set the background graphic for all your web pages (=)
bgcolor - set the background color for all your web pages (=)
nobackgrounds - you don't want you rweb page to have any background
    set
textcolor - set the color of your web page text (=)
linkcolor - set the color of your web page's link text (=)
vlinkcolor - set the color of your web page's visited link text (=)
alinkcolor - set the color of your web page's active link text (=)
applinkdown - put the link to the web applications list at the page
    bottom
ghosts - you want to notice when web ghosts inter the room
use_ip - all links to the MOO on your web page should be i.p. numbers
tight_link - require that both web and telnet/client links be from
    the same machine
nosay - you don't want a "say" field on your command form
embedVRML - embed a VRML box in your web viewer page

@weblink

  Used to associate an outside web page with the specified object.
If the object already has a URL with a string value (presumably
the address of an in-line image, like a GIF format file), it assumes
you wish that image to serve as the hyperlink to <URL>.
  If the URL is a list (an HTML document), it warns you and asks if
you want to clear it and enter some text to serve as the hyperlink.
If no URL is set on the object, it asks for the text you wish to
serve as a hyperlink to <URL>.
  This command actually constructs a small HTML document (generally
one or two lines) and attaches it to the object. It uses the
information already associated with the object as described above to
determine what sort of HTML document to construct.

Related Topics:
@url -- set or read the associated URL
@html -- set or read the associated HTML document

@webpass

  This command is used to obtain a random web password (the first
syntax), or to set your stable web password (the second). The
webpass can be used when connecting via a web broswer to the MOO's
web system. If your browser does not support the more secure "web
authentication system," or the MOO isn't configured as an HTTP/1.0
server you can use the web pass system instead.

  To open a web window using a webpass:

    1. First establish a Telnet connection to the MOO, as usual.
    2. If you have not set a webpass already, you can do so by typing
"@webpass <password>" where <password> is NOT your usual connection
password. If you don't want to set a stable webpass, you can type
"@webpass" to be given a temporary webpass.
    3. Point your web browser to the MOO's web gateway page and enter
your webpass into the search field on that page.
    4. Depending on the MOO's settings, you may get the
web-applications menu, and you probably want to select "The Standard
Viewer" to open a web window into the MOO. If you don't get the
application list, you will probably be directly connected to the
Standard Web Viewer.
  The webpass system offers all the same features as the
web authentication system, but as the latter is more secure, we
recommend that if your browser and the MOO supports it.

@which

Searches for objects whose name or aliases match <object>, which are located in your vicinity (i.e. on you or in the room). The syntax with ":" included searches instead for matching commands on nearby objects, including those on Feature Objects you have added.

@who

The first form lists all of the currently-connected people, along with the amount of time they've been connected, the amount of time they've been idle, and their present location in the MOO. Note that people can hide themselves with @hide (or can be hidden by rooms) from @who listings.

The second form, in which a list of user names is given, shows information for just those users. For any listed users that are not connected, we show the last login time instead of the connect/idle times.
 
Normally, the @who command, without arguments, will only show users who have not chosen to hide themselves from the @who listing (see 'help @hide' for more information). @who-all will list all connected users, hidden or not, on the MOO. Please note, however, that paging or pestering people you don't know who have hidden themselves from the who listing is considered a form of harrassment and is not allowed on this MOO.

@who! will show the object numbers of the displayed users as well as their names. @who-complete will show all character objects including hidden users and non-user characters (network links), and their object numbers.

Related Topics:
@guests -- see what guests are connected
@builders -- see what builders are connected
@programmers -- see what programmers are connected
@wizards -- list the connected wizards

@witness

What to do in a case of an emergency (step by step):

1) Observe the guest or the character in question closely and make sure you
   are not misinterpreting the behavior you see. You might want
   to consult other people affected by the persons presence but you do not
   need to.
 
2) As soon as you're 99.9% sure that the guest is eligible to be booted
   or that the person's behavior is eligible for tagging activate the
   recording of its behavior by entering:
   
   @witness <name of guest or person> [Ex: @witness Diamond]
   
   Every single line of input the named person enters will be logged now.
   The final recording will only be accessible to wizards who are free to
   review it. Logs will only be kept when the observation led to guest
   booting or a person tagging in the end.
  
3) Once you have it all "on record" and the person in question still fails
   to display the appropriate behavior - ask the person to stop;
   you'll know you're dealing with harrassment in case that plea is futile -
   you may consider using the last resort:
   
   In the case of guests: @ban <name of guest> [Ex: @ban Diamond]
   In the case of MOO characters: @tag <name of person>
                              or @tag! <name of person>
   
   Only a previously @witnessed guest can be forcefully disconnected from
   the MOO; only a previously @witnessed person may be tagged. Remember,
   anyone may have started to witness the person, even a guest.

   After you entered the command you will be prompted for a brief rationale
   of your decision. For a guest banishing it will take a few moments until
   the guest finally gets knocked off-line. Guest connections from the domain
   the guest was connected from will be disabled for a duration of 1 hour.
   In the case of a tagging, the person will either be notified immediately
   that they were tagged (@tag!), or they will be notified the next time
   they log on to the moo (@tag). All tag notifications are anonymous.

   A complete recording of events and circumstances will automatically be
   saved and available for the MOO wizards.
   
 IMPORTANT: If the log of the events cannot sufficiently justify usage of
            @ban or @tag, refrain from it unless you are absolutely positive
 that you're taking the right steps and have witnesses to back you up. Guests
 and MOO characters are given the opportunity to protest their treatment and in
 that case you will be held accountable for your decisions.

 Please read "help guest-banishing" or "help tagging" for further
 guidelines.

@wrap

See: @linelength

alias

See: names

answering-machine

You can optionally have pages sent to while you are off line or refusing pages recorded on a virtual "answering machine" which you can play back later. This is controlled using the @answering or @clear-msgs commands.

@answering -- turn your [page answering machine on or off
@check-msgs --- read your answering machine messages
@clear-msgs -- erase one or more of your answering machine messages

ascii-art

See: @drawing

basic

See: newbie

basic-index

Also see: gen-index

building

Related Topics:
quota -- a description of quota limits on building

burn

Destroy the named letter irretrievably. Only people who can read the letter can do this.

channels

Groups with a common interest can communicate independant of location with this feature. Participants use channels to communicate; there are channels for different interest groups, such as programmers, english faculty and students, psychology....

If you want to use channels type: @addfeature $channel_fo

$channel_fo -- You can type "help $channel_fo" for a summary of commands

[note: Use "@about $channel_fo" for details of how the $channel_fo works, including how to create channels.]

character-messages

  The text below describes what each of the character messages is
used for. Note that message texts generally use "pronoun
substitution" (those odd appearances of percentage signs in the
text). See the help text for "pronouns" for details on what those
special symbols are used for.

  Each message below is named and then followed by its default value
in square brackets.

@more [*** More *** %n lines left. Do @more [rest|flush] for more.]
  The line presented by the pagination system when you are at the end of a screenful of text.

@page_absent [%N is not currently logged in.]
  What people see when they page you and you are neither connected nor have your answering machine on.

@page_origin [You sense that %n is looking for you in %l.]
  When you page someone, this line is presented before the text of your page.

@page_echo [Your message has been sent.]
  What you see when you successfully page someone.

@plan [No plan.]
  This message is outdated by the @info system.

@smell []
  Text presented to people who smell you.

@osmell []
  What other people in the room are told when someone smells you.

@project [No project.]
  This message is outdated by the @info system.

@hometown []
  Your home town. This information is rarely used.

@leave [%N suddenly %<disappears>.]
  What people in the room you teleport from see when you leave.

@join [%N %<joins> you.]
  What a person sees when you @join them.

@duty [ is working.]
  Text appended to "<your name>" when people see your @info if you are on duty.

@offduty [ isn't working at the moment.]
  Text appended to "<your name>" when people see your @info if you are off duty.

@arrive [%N %<arrives> from nowhere.]
  What people see when you teleport into the room with them.

@title []
  Text appended to your name, within parentheses, in certain displays.

@idle [idle]
  What is appended to "<your name> is " when someone sees you idle (connected but haven't used your character for a while).

@sleeping [asleep]
  What is appended to "<your name> is " when someone sees you asleep.

@page_refuse [%n refuses your page.]
  What someone sees when you've set your character to refuse pages from them.

@oknock [%n knocks politely and wonders if %s may @join.]
  What the other person see's when you @knock to request entry.

@knock [You knock politely and ask %n if you may @join %o.]
  What you see when you use @knock.

@oinvite [%N invites %d to join %o here.]
  What other people in the room with you see when you @invite someone.

@invite [%N invites you to @join %o within the next %{interval}.]
  What someone sees when you @invite them.

@page_idle [%N seems to be dozing. %S has been idle for %{idle_time} now.]
  Text displayed to someone who pages you when you are idle (are connected but haven't used your character for a while).

@paged_echo [You paged %n with: ]
  If you have set this, it's prefixed to a line reporting to you what text you just paged.

@page_recorded [Your message has been recorded on %n's answering machine]
  Sent to people when their page to you is recorded on your answering machine.

@remote_echo [To %n [in %l]: ]
  Prefix for messages you send using a page shortcut (eg. -, +, ').

character-names

See: user-names

characters

descriptions -- quick intro to MOO object descriptions
@describe -- setting what others see when they look at you
@gender -- changing your character's gender
@password -- changing your character's password
@sethome -- changing your designated home room
@rename -- changing your name and/or aliases
@linelength -- adding word-wrap to the lines you see

commands

purpose -- what the MOO is all about
manners -- essential guide to polite behavior
legal -- terms of use for the MOO

introduction -- what's going on here and some basic commands
basic -- short summary of commonly used commands
helpme -- ask for help from other people in the MOO
map -- see an ASCII art map of the MOO
index -- index into the help system

characters -- customizing your MOO character
movement -- navigating the MOO
communication -- communicating with other people
manipulation -- moving or using other objects
output -- output control tools adjust the text display

web -- using the MOO's World Wide Web interface
intermediate -- some commands for more experienced MOO users
building -- extending the MOO
programming -- writing in the MOO programming language
editors -- editing text and code in the MOO
miscellaneous -- commands that don't fit anywhere else

911 -- tools for security and managing harassment

@pagelength -- what to do if lines scroll off your screen too fast
@linelength -- what to do if lines are truncated
@quit -- disconnect from the MOO

Type 'help <topic>' for information on a particular topic.

Also see: summary

communication

say -- talking to the other connected people in the room
emote -- non-verbal communication with others in the same room
whisper -- talking privately to someone in the same room
page -- yelling to someone anywhere in the MOO
gagging -- screening out noise generated by certain other people
news -- reading the wizards' most recent set of general
            announcements
@gripe -- sending complaints to the wizards
@suggest -- sending complaints/ideas to the owner of the room you're
            in (also @typo @bug @idea @comment)
whereis -- locating other people
@who -- finding out who is currently logged in
mail -- the MOO email system
security -- the facilities for detecting forged messages and
            eavesdropping.
LinkNet -- an interMOO communication system currently under
            development

containers

put -- putting an object into a container
remove -- taking an object out of a container

Containers may be open or closed, using the commands 'open <container>' and 'close <container>' where <container> is the name of the object.

cracking

It's a natural thing to wonder about holes in the system and how easy it is to break in, whether it be to get yourself a wizard bit (i.e., by nefarious means that don't involve asking for one) or do other neat things that should normally require a wizard bit. Doubtless, some would consider a successful break-in to be a spectacular achievement, a mark of programming machismo, so to speak. Some would suppose that this entitles them to a wizard bit, or to do anything they like to the database. This is highly debatable.

If I accidentally drop my keys somewhere in my front yard and you manage to find them, this is not likely to mark you as a master locksmith, no matter how much time you spent painstakingly examining every square inch of turf. Though I'll probably be happy to get my keys back and might even be inclined to give some sort of reward, the mere act of finding the keys does not entitle you to go through the house and take anything that interests you. Nor does it entitle you to make copies of the keys before giving them back to me - I'll say nothing of your expecting me to sign over the title to the house. Moreover, I'll be extremely annoyed if I have to take the time to search through the house in order to make sure nothing is missing, likewise if I have to change the locks.

You may be entirely innocent, but you have to be careful just the same.

It may seem like a shoot-the-messenger policy when in fact we actually LIKE having security holes found. The key point is that, if you SAVE us time by finding a hole for us, then we're happy. But, if you COST us time because we're not absolutely sure we can trust you and have to grep the db looking for any Trojan horses we think you might have planted, then we're not happy. If having you around costs us more time than it saves, then, suffice it to say, you won't be around and we can go to some fairly extravagant lengths to try to ensure this.

Thus, if you're going to hunt security holes, you MUST understand the rules of the game. It's particularly important here, since in matters of security, we can't take chances; while we do take regular checkpoints, vandals can still make life miserable for everyone. Thus, it's @toad first, ask questions later.

So here are the cardinal rules:

1. If you find out about a major security hole, you TELL us AS SOON AS
    POSSIBLE (mail to *Wizards will suffice). Nor does it matter
    HOW you find out, i.e., whether you find it yourself or someone
    else points it out to you.

It's the mere existence of the hole that's a problem. *You* may not intend to do anything evil, but there are other people around who are at least as bright as you, including some that are significantly less scrupulous, and it only takes one to do damage.

What is a major security hole? You'll know it when you see it. Figure if you can use it to set your wizard bit then it's major. There are also minor security holes (e.g., finding a way to read $site_db) which we also like to find out about, but for which one is unlikely to suffer a summary @toading (unless of course, a major security hole was involved in creating the minor security hole).

2. If you find something you think might be a security hole but needs
    an experiment to verify, you consult us FIRST.

One problem is your experiment might succeed. If we should happen to catch you (and there are various hooks and tasks out there that watch for certain things) before you get a chance to tell us, you may find yourself in the unenviable position of having to PROVE that you actually were intending to tell us about it; if you are someone we only know as an ascii byte stream, we won't be in a very good position to judge your intentions.

Another problem is your experiment might fail but manage to leave behind some kind of mess that we'd be obliged to clean up in which case we're not going to be terribly happy. Also if it looks to us like you were trying to take advantage of a security hole and weren't going to tell us if you had succeeded, then you'll be in a situation roughly similar to that of the previous paragraph, albeit better for not having succeeded, but it could still mark you as someone not to be trusted.

3. If you do a particularly simple experiment to break security, something
    that you didn't seriously think would work (and thus didn't think was
    worth bothering us with), but find that, against all odds, it does,
    you should TELL us IMMEDIATELY.

Okay, so you did something silly like `;player.wizard = 1' and it worked! You might infer from (2) that you're already screwed no matter what you do. This is not necessarily true; note that if you act quickly, your message could still get to us before we get a chance to notice what you've done. And even if it doesn't, the fact of your having told us does weigh in your favor should you find yourself in the aforementioned unenviable position of having to prove your intentions.

In any case, you should be noticing a pattern by now...

delete

Removes a single line of text from a note. The first line of text is numbered 1, the second is 2, and so on. Only the owner of a note may do this.

descriptions

@rename -- setting the name and aliases of your objects
@describe -- setting what others see when they look at your objects
messages -- listing and setting the other descriptive texts on an object

do

See: output

domain-system

Domains serve to organize rooms spacially, independent from how exits organize rooms by connectivity. Although rooms can have exits to many different places, they are enclosed by only a single domain, though that domain may itself be enclosed by another domain and generally is.

The domain system exists as a tool to aid people and MOO systems that need to group rooms by subject or function. Although builders can create rooms with any sort of connectivity, independent of Euclidian geometry, the domain system helps impose some organization on at least groups of rooms. It is intended to make the MOO a more accessible and useful tool for its users.

Note that domains can be set manually with the @set-domain command, but mostly are assigned automatically when exits are added to rooms. When a new exit is made, the rooms at either end are checked to see if they have a domain assignment. If only one does, the other room is then moved to the same domain as the first. By this method, rooms linked by exits typically appear in the same domain.

  Commands related to the domain system are:

@domain -- what is the domain of the room you're in
@domains -- what is the set of all domains enclosing you
@domain-structure -- additional information about nearby rooms
                     and domains

drop

Remove an object you are carrying from your inventory and put it in your current room. Occasionally you may find that the owner of the room won't allow you to do this.

e-mail

@registerme -- Change the e-mail address associated with your MOO
                character.
@mailoptions -- You can use `@mailop +netmail' to have all MOOmail
                sent to your character forwarded to your registered
                e-mail address.

editor-commands

Square brackets indicate something is optional.
Angle brackets mean you should put your own value here
  (don't include the brackets in what you type).
Curly brackets are just comments.

say "<text>

emote :<text> {appends text to the line above the pointer}
 
lis*t lis 1-$ or lis 20-30
            lis 1-$ nonum
            if you type 'nonum' after the line #'s numbers.} you will see
            what your text will look like OUT of the editor.
 
ins*ert ins ^2 "<text> = Insert ABOVE line 2 <text>
            ins _5 "<text> = Insert BELOW line 5 <text>
            ins 2 = Move pointer ABOVE line 2
            ins ^ <line #> or ins _ <line #> with no "<text> will just
                  move your pointer for you.
 
n*ext [n] ["<text>] N 2 "<text> {move to the next 2 lines down and
                                        enter <text>.
p*rev P 3 "<text> {move up 3 lines and enter <text>.
 
enter Instead of typing every line in with the word 'say' or a
            quote (") mark, you can put your editing session in an 'enter'
            mode. Type: ENTER, then hit your enter key on your keyboard,
            and you can now type freely without any command lines. REMEMBER
            however, while in ENTER mode, you can not answer pages, look at
            the @who lists, nothing. EVERYTHING you type will be edited into
            your text. To stop the ENTER mode, type a PERIOD on a BLANK LINE
            in the FIRST POSITION. This is a very useful command for
            pasting in text using your own computer's windowing
            system.
 
del*ete del 3-5 {Deletes lines 2 thru 5}
 
f*ind /<str>[/[c][<range>]]
            f /some Text {finds the next occurance of the exact
            string 'some Text'}
            f /cindy J. Tallis/c 1-$ {finds the string 'cindy J.
            Tallis' in the lines listed (1-$), ignoring capitalization.
 
s*ubst s /incorrect spelling/correct spelling/[line #]
            s /incorrect spelling/correct spelling/g 1-$ {finds ALL mis-
                  spellings throughout the text and corrects them.
                  g = globally}
            Ex: s /cindy J Tallis/Cindy J. Tallis/15
                 Finds the misspelled cindy and missing period after the J,
                 and replaces it with the Corrected text: Cindy J. Tallis in
                 line 15.
 
rsubst /<regexp>/<sub>[/[g][c][<range>]] {regular expression
              matching; see 'help regular-expressions'}
 
m*ove move 5 to 1 {moves line 5 to the line 1 position.}
 
c*opy copy 3 to 7 {copies line 3 to line 7}
 
join*l join 4-8 {joins lines 8 to line 4}
 
fill fill 1-20 [@ c] {Join lines 1-20 and then split them so
            no single line is longer than c characters; c = 70 by default}
ind*ent indent 1-20 @5 [<filler>] {Indents lines 1 to 20 by
            inserting 5 characters ahead of each line. If
            <filler> is given, uses that as the prefixed
            characters.}
 
w*hat Typing 'WHAT' in the editor tells you what you're currently editing
            If there have been any changes and where your pointer is.
 
mode String mode saves only the first line in the editor, and list
            modes saves the whole thing. List is items in {}.
 
e*dit Once you are in an editor, you can decide to 'edit' something
            else without exiting the editor by typing edit <now object>
 
save Typing SAVE saves the text your are currently editing {a good idea
            to do often!!}. This command is for the note, text,
            section, and HTML editors only.
 
abort If you decide to not edit what you have chosen to edit, you type:
            abort {while in the editor}, and your session will be thrown
            away.
 
q*uit,done Typing Q or quit, or done after saving your text will remove you
            from the editor.
 
pause The phone rings, someone comes to the door, your time is up in
            the computer lab, and you need to pause for now, type PAUSE,
            and your session will be saved in the editor. The editors are
            cleaned out periodically, so DO NOT leave it there long. :-)
 
---- Do `help <cmdname>' for help with a given command. ----
 
------------------
Ins*ert commands, specifying lines:
------------------
 $ = the end
^<line #> = above line #
_n<line #> = below line #
. = current line #
-------------------
Range commands, specifying lines:
-------------------
<line>
<line - line>
from <lin>
to <lin>
from <line to line>
--------------------
Understanding line commands:
--------------------
line = line number
[line]$ = number of lines from the end
[lines]_ = number of lines before current one
[line]^ = number of lines after current one
---------------------

editors

These will transport you to one of several special rooms that have editing commands available. These editors are admittedly not as good as EMACS, but for those with no other editing capability on their host systems, they are better than nothing.

Editors can be reached from anywhere in the MOO, and when you exit an editor you will be returned to the place you were before you entered it.

If you use one of the commands given above but don't specify anything to edit, the editor will check if you have an unfinished editing session and move you to the appropriate editor and session.

There is a generic editor that provides basic editing commands that are applicable to all editors. Documentation for these commands can be obtained by typing `help <topic>' within the editor:

    abort emote/: pause send (M)
    also-to (M) fill prev showlists (M)
    compile (V) insert print (M) subject (M)
    copy join quit subst
    delete list ranges to (M)
    done move save (N) what
    edit (V,N) next say/" who (M)

In addition, individual editors provide their own additional commands for loading text from places, saving text to places, and various other specialized functions which are denoted in the above list with (M),(N),(V) according as they apply to the mail editor, the note editor, or the verb editor, respectively.

Note that a given editor only allows you one session at a time (ie. one verb, one note, or one mail message). If you leave an editor without either aborting or compiling/saving/sending the item you're working on, that editor remembers what you are doing next time you enter it, whether you enter it by teleporting or by using the appropriate command. Note that editors are periodically flushed so anything left there for sufficiently long will eventually go away.

Related Topics:
@edit-options -- report and set options for the editors
@peepeditor -- see what other people are editing, if they allow you
local-editing -- set up local editing to avoid using the MOO editors

emote

Announces <anything> to everyone in the same room, prepending your name. This is commonly used to express various non-verbal forms of communication. In fact, it is so commonly used that there's a special abbreviation for it: any command-line beginning with ':' is treated as an 'emote' command.

The alternate form, '::' (less commonly 'emote :'), does not insert the space between the your name and the text.

Related Topics:
+ -- remote emoting (like an emote, but using the quickpage system)
- -- remote saying (like "say" but using the quickpage system)

Examples:
Munchkin types this:
  :wishes he were much taller...
Everyone in the same room sees this:
  Munchkin wishes he were much taller...

Munchkin types this:
  ::'s eyes are green.
Everyone in the same room sees this:
  Munchkin's eyes are green.

Related Topics:
+ -- remote emote (a quickpage command)

erase

Deletes all of the text written on a note or letter. Only the owner of a note may do this.

examine

Prints several useful pieces of information about the named object, including the following:
        + its full name, object number, and aliases
        + its owner's name (and additional owners if any)
        + its description
        + its key expression (if it is locked and if you own it)
        + its contents
        + the 'obvious' commands defined on it

exits

Related commands
ways -- can be used by anyone to find a room's obvious exits

features

Related Topics:
@features -- list your current set of features
@add-feature -- add a feature to your list
@remove-feature -- remove a feature from your list

finger

See: @info

follow

The "follow" command allows you to follow a person as they move from room to room. Whenever they change rooms, by walking or teleporting, you will automatically be moved to the same location (assuming it is not locked to keep you out). It is intended to help people give tours of the MOO.

The "nofollow," "unfollow, and "stop-following" commands are all equivalent and end the automatic following.

full-index

gagging

@gag -- add one or more people to your gag list
@ungag -- remove a person from your gag list
@listgag -- list the people you currently have gagged
page-refusal -- introduces the page refusal system
security -- some commands to identify the source of messages and
                check for hidden listeners
911 -- describes some related systems for controlling who
                can contact you

gen-index

gen-summary

See: summary

general-index

Also see: gen-index

get

See: take

give

Move an object from your contents to that of another person. This doesn't change the ownership of the object. Some people may refuse to accept gifts and some objects may refuse to be given.

go

Invokes the named exits in the named order, moving through many rooms in a single command.

Example:
Munchkin types:
  go n e e u e e s e
and moves quite rapidly from the Living Room all the way to the Bovine Illuminati Atrium, all in one command.

Related Topics:
@go -- teleport to a distant room; one not connected directly to the
       room you're in.

gopher

Gopher can be accessed from within the MOO with the use of Gopher slates. These are MOO objects that can access remote Gopher servers on the internet and display the information to the user much the way a note or other readable object would.

Related Topics:
$gopher_slate -- using the gopher slates

guest-banishing

a) Use this tool responsibly and not recklessly. Guests should be first and
    foremost treated as what they are: guests. Please consider banishing to
    be your last resort. It is your personal defense, not an attack weapon.

b) Eligible reasons for banishing a guest:
    - The person in question uses offensive and possibly sexually explicit
      language or innuendo.
    - A guest displays unwanted physical aggression or launches unwanted
      verbal assaults on others.

c) You must log the request to stop the harassment and only consider
    disconnecting it if the abuse does not stop (see the @witness command).

d) Do not underestimate the importance of capturing a conclusive recording
    of the guests behavior. Every log will be reviewed by wizards to make
    sure guest banishing is not used for the wrong reasons.
    Unjustified usage of guest banishing may result in the withdrawal of
    banishing privileges.

The sequence for banishing guests is:
  a) Start logging the guest's activity with: @witness <guest-name>
  b) Allow some examples of the offending behavior to be logged
  c) Boot the guest off and send the log to the wizards with:
       @ban <guest-name>

Tools that help in dealing with obnoxious guests:
@witness -- start logging the activity of a person
@banish -- disconnect a guest from the MOO and save their logged activities
@exclude -- You can keep guests out of a room with: @exclude $guest for general

For a more complete list:
911 -- a summary of tools for dealing with obnoxious or harassing individuals

hand

See: give

help

Print out entries from the online documentation system. The commands `?' and `information' (usually abbreviated `info') are synonyms for `help'.

The first form prints out a summary table of contents for the entire help system.

The second form prints out the documentation available on the given topic. Many help system entries contain references to other entries accessible in this way. The topic name may be abbreviated; if there is no topic exactly matching the name you give, the help system checks for topics for which the name is a prefix, perhaps with the addition or omission of an initial `@', or perhaps with some confusion beween dashes (-) and underscores (_), e.g.,
      `bui' instead of `building',
      `who' instead of `@who',
     `@wri' instead of `write',
  `add_ent' instead of `@add-entrance',
 `unlock-' instead of `@unlock_for_open'

If the abbreviation you give is ambiguous, you will be presented with a list of the matching complete topic names.

The `help index' command prints out a list of indices for the various help databases. Each index gives a list of topics available on that database. It is sometimes easier to find the topics you're interested in this way, rather than tracing through the chain of cross references.

Related Topics:
@searchhelp -- search within the help database texts for a keyword or phrase

helpme

This command takes advantage of the Official Helpful Person System available on the MOO to ask questions of more experienced members of the community who are online and may be able to help with problems.

Typing 'helpme with <subject>', or just 'helpme <subject>' will allow you to ask a question regarding the specified <subject>. You will be asked to enter the question you would like to ask, which will then be sent automatically to other people in the MOO who are currently available and have registered as being able to help with that particular subject area. If nobody is currently available to answer questions on that subject, the Helpful Person System will try to provide you with information on other ways to obtain help in that area (such as people who can be contacted via MOOmail).

If you're not sure what subjects are available, typing 'helpme' by itself will provide a list of currently available subjects. If you'd like more information on a specific subject and who's signed up to help with it, typing 'helpme-info <subject>' will provide a more detailed listing.

Related Topics:
helpme-system -- details of the helpme system for people interested
                 in becoming helpers

helpme-info

See: helpme

helpme-system

The badge dispenser may be found at: MOOteach Learning Center (#1578)

Additional help topics:
helpme -- command for requesting help
helpme-info -- provides various info about the helpme system
$badge -- instructions on using a Helpful Persons Badge
$badge_core -- the feature object for managing the helpful persons system

home

Instantly teleports you to your designated home room.
Initially, this room is Student Union Lounge (#11).

Related Topics:
@sethome -- change your designated home

index

full-index -- EVERYTHING

indices

See: index

information

See: help

insert

See: put

intermediate

user-info -- how to get and set information about MOO users
features -- using "feature objects" (access to additional commands)
mail-keeping -- quick intro to reading and managing your MOO-mail
mail -- detailed introduction to the MOO-mail system
answering-machine -- system that can record pages to you when you aren't connected
names -- about MOO objects' names and aliases
messages -- list and change MOO objects' messages
@options -- report and set various options on your MOO character
mailme -- mail some text to your e-mail address
VSPO -- introduction to the VSPO system
login-watcher -- FO for watching people connect and disconnect
@findroom -- find a room in the MOO by name
@locate -- search the entire MOO for a particular object by name
work -- how to indicate you are "on duty" or off
@sethome -- change your designated home
@move -- an occasionally useful trick for moving objects
help -- get some more detailed info on the help system
@hide -- hide yourself from the @who listing
channels -- the MOO channel communication system
@visible-inventory -- allows other people to see what you're carrying
follow -- allows you to follow someone when they change rooms, for tours
@registerme -- display or change your registered e-mail address
@newbie -- turn off "newbie messages" and other automated help
@drawing -- turn display of ASCII art on or off
@brief -- toggle `brief' room display mode
@about -- access supplimental help text on an object
domain-system -- about the MOO's room domain system

inventory

Prints a list showing every object you're carrying.

letters

If you are a MOO builder, you can create the letter as a child of the generic letter, $letter, encrypt it so that only you and the other person can read it and then either give it to the person in question or leave it where they will find it.

Once they've read it, they can use the 'burn' command to recycle the letter.

Related Topics:
burn -- destroy a letter
notes -- general info on notes (a letter is a kind of specialized note)

LinkNet

Not all the commands that support the LinkNet are available yet.

LinkNet commands:
@pagesites --
@netwait --

Commands that support LinkNet specifiers:
@listen --

local-editing

The MOO's local editing system will work with the various emacs-based MUD/MOO clients, including mud.el, moo-code.el, and jmud.el. If you are using one of these clients, activate local editing with the following commands:
  1. @wrap off
  2. @editoptions +local
Any time you would normally be moved into a MOO editor, you should now have the relevent text uploaded to your client program where you can edit it locally and save it back to the MOO. This should happen automatically.

Related Topics:
@edit-options -- Turn on local editing with: @edit-options +local

login-watcher

Add the $login_watcher to your features with:
@add-feature $login_watcher

Syntax:

watch The 'on-switch' for your login-watcher.

Syntax:

ignore The 'off-switch' for your login-watcher.

Related Topics:
features -- general information on using feature objects

look

Show a description of something.

The first form, with no arguments, shows you the name and description of the room you're in, along with a list of the other objects that are there.

The second form lets you look at a specific object. Most objects have descriptions that may be read this way. You can look at your own description using 'look me'. You can set the description for an object or room, including yourself, with the 'describe' command (see 'help describe').

The third form shows you the description of an object that is inside some other object, including objects being carried by another person.

mail

@mail -- seeing a table of contents for a collection of email
             messages (this command can also be used to search a
             collection for messages with certain keywords or other
             parameters)
@read -- reading individual messages
@next -- reading the 'next' message
@previous -- reading the 'previous' message (abbreviated '@prev')

@send -- composing and sending a message to other people
@answer -- replying to one of the messages in a collection
@forward -- resending one of the messages in a collection somewhere else
@movemail -- same as @forward, but also deletes mail from original
             collection if you have permission to delete from that
             collection

The following set is only available if you have permission to edit the collection:
@rmmail -- discarding some subset of a collection
@unrmmail -- undoing the most recent @rmm on a collection
@renumber -- renumbering the messages in a collection

@mail-options -- describes and sets various customization flags on
                 your character

message-sequences -- describes message-sequences arguments to
                     @mail, @read, @rmm, and @answer.
zombie-messages -- about the @unrmmail system
mail-forwarding -- describes in-MOO mail forwarding (advanced users
                     only!)
@netforward -- forward one or more mail messages to your e-mail
                     address
To have all your future MOO-mail forwarded to your e-mail address, use:
  @mail-options +netmail

For viewing collections other from your own, the following commands are useful:
@rn -- list those collections that have new messages on them
@nn -- read the 'next new' message on any of your subscribed lists
@subscribe -- indicate that you want @rn to report on a given collection
                and add yourself to its .mail_notify list
@peek -- read a mail message without changing the current folder
@skip -- ignore any remaining new messages in a given collection
@unsubscribe -- ignore a given collection entirely from now on
                and remove yourself from its .mail_notify list
@unsubscribed-- show the mailing lists that you aren't subscribed to.
@subscribed -- like @rn, but shows all lists that you are subscribed to
                even if they have no new activity
@seal -- Block a posted message from being readable by the
                public
@unseal -- Remove the seal from a posted message
@movelist -- reorder a subscribed folder to have a certain position in
                your @subscribed list.

The MOO administrators may have enabled "email permeability" for some
or all MOO characters and/or mail folders. The email permeability
system allows Internet email addresses as recipients for mail. For
instance, "@send jill@school.hill.edu" may be used.

In addition, the email permeability system allows MOO users and mail
folders to receive Internet mail addressed appropriately. For
instance, Internet email to "jane@moomail.school.hill.edu" might be
the address for messages to the the character "jane" at the MOO
running at the "school.hill.edu" site. The exact address for sending
email to MOO characters (and whether or not that facility is
available at all), is determined by the MOO administrators.

mail-forwarding

There are 3 personal properties that you can use to customize how your mail is composed and forwarded

.mail_forward
 - list of objects that will receive any mail that gets sent to you.
    Objects on this list should either be user characters or descendants of
    $mail_recipient.
    If this list is nonempty, you will not receive any mail yourself unless
    you are on it. E.g., if Rog is #4292 and ur-Rog is #6349

  #6349.mail_forward={} - usual case; ur-Rog gets his own mail.
  #6349.mail_forward={#4292} - Rog gets ur-Rog's mail instead.
  #6349.mail_forward={#6349,#4292} - ur-Rog gets mail and Rog gets a copy.
  #6349.mail_forward={#-1} - ur-Rog's mail disappears without a trace.

.mail_notify
 - list of objects to be notified whenever mail is sent to you.
    This list may include anything that has a :notify_mail() verb.
    Notification will take place regardless of whether or how your mail
    is forwarded.

Thus, in the previous example

  #4292.mail_notify={#6349} - means that ur-Rog will be told
                                whenever Rog is sent new mail.

.mail_options
 - this controls lots of miscellaneous things. Use the @mail-option command
    to view and set these options (see `help @mail-option')

See `help mail-resolve' for more detail on how mail forwarding and mail notification work. See `help MR-subscribing' for information on how to change .mail_forward and .mail_notify on $mail_recipient children, where they are !c properties.

mail-keeping

@mail <range>
   Display the headers of your personal MOOmail. <range> can be a single
   number or two numbers that delimit a range of mails to be displayed.

   Ex: @mail 1-13 ..displays the message headers of your mails numbered
                     1 through 13.
   
   You can also omit <range> which will display all or a sample range of
   your current mail stack.

@read <number>
    Read message <number> from your personal mail.
   
@nn
    Read 'next news' to read the next unread message from your personal mail and any mail folders you are subscribed to.

@rmm <range>
    Delete mail messages from your stack of personal mails.
    see the explanation for <range> above.
    
    Ex: @rmm 5-$ ..deletes all your messages from the 5th to your very last.

@renumber
    Contract all your current mails to display a coherent number sequence
    from 1-$ ($ = last msg) and reset the counter for new mail messages.
    
@netforward <range>
    Send the mail(s) specified in <range> to your registered email account.
    
    Ex: @netforward 3 ..send the msg numbered '3' to your internet account.
    
    Note: To see what your currently registered email address is
    type "@registerme".

@mail-option +netmail
   Send all your future MOO-mail message to your e-mail address.

 Please consult "help mail" for more detailed information.

manager-list

See: wizard-list

manipulation

get -- pick an object up and place it in your inventory
drop -- remove an object from your inventory and place it in the room
put -- take an object from your inventory and place it in a container
give -- hand an object to some other person
look -- see what an object looks like

You can see what objects you're carrying with the 'inventory' command; see 'help inventory' for details.

Some specialized objects will have other commands. The programmer of the object will usually provide some way for you to find out what the commands are. One way that works for most objects is the 'examine' command; see 'help examine' for details.

Related Topics:
inventory -- report what objects you are carrying
notes -- objects that allow text to be written on them and read later
letters -- notes that a recipient can burn after reading
containers -- objects that may contain other objects
examine -- for determining what commands can be used with an object

map

  Shows either the default map or the map you requested in ASCII art
graphics. The "map info" command lists the names of all available
maps.

me

See: summary

message-sequences

  17 message number 17 if there is one (and likewise for other integers)
  17..23 all messages numbered between 17 and 23 (inclusive), if any.
  cur the current message
  prev the message before
  next the message after
  last the final message if any (`$' is a synonym for `last')
  new all unread messages
  nextnew the next unread message

You may use as many of these at once as sanity permits, e.g.,

  @mail cur 1..5 last

which will display the header for your current message, your messages in the range 1..5, and your last message. Though some of these ranges may overlap, the header for any given message is only shown once in any event.

In addition, there are other message-sequence arguments that act as filters
on whatever precedes them

 before:<date> messages strictly before the given date
 after:<date> messages strictly after the given date
 since:<date> messages on or after the given date
 until:<date> messages on or before the given date
 from:<person>[|<person...] messages from the given person or people
 to:<recip>[|<recip>...] messages to the given recipient(s)
 subject:<string> messages with <string> in the subject
 body:<string> messages with <string> in the body (SLOW!!!)
 first:<number> the first <number> messages
 last:<number> the last <number> messages

<date> is either a weekday, an dd-Month, dd-Month-yy or dd-Month-yyyy date
<recip> is either <person> or *<$mail_recipient kid>

Examples:

  @read from:G7|Gemba read all messages from G7 or Gemba
  @rmm to:yduJ|*Core remove messages that are to yduJ or to *Core
  @mail since:1-Jan before:1-Feb show messages dated in January
  @mail since:Tues show messages dated on or after Tuesday
  @rmm subject:manners remove msgs with `manners' in the subject:
  @mail subject:"stupid idiots" (search string contains a space => need "'s)
  @rmm to:yduJ to:*Core remove messages that are to yduJ and *Core
  @mail from:Haakon last:5 show the last 5 messages from Haakon
  @mail last:10 body:fribble show those of the last 10 messages having
                                   `fribble' in the body (one should always try
                                   to narrow body searches in this way).

messages

The '@messages' command prints out all of the messages you can set on any object you own. Type 'help @messages' for details.

To set a particular message on one of your objects use a command with this form:
        @<message-name> <object> is "<message>"
where '<message-name>' is the name of the message being set, <object> is the name or number of the object on which you want to set that message, and <message> is the actual text.

For example, consider the 'leave' message on an exit; it is printed to a person when they successfully use the exit to leave a room. To set the 'leave' message on the exit 'north' from the current room, use the command
        @leave north is "You wander in a northerly way out of the room."

Related Topics:
@messages -- list messages on an object
character-messages -- the messages on user characters
pronouns -- using special substitutions in messages

miscellaneous

password-keeping -- how to chose good passwords
wizard-list -- reports who all the MOO wizards are
@time -- show MOO-local and user-local times
time-specifications -- some of the time specifications the MOO can recognize
@version -- printing the MOO server version number
@uptime -- how long the MOO's been running since the last restart
@lastlog -- finding out when a person last connected to the MOO
tinymud -- a list of equivalences between MOO and TinyMUD concepts/commands
@memory -- display some obscure information on MOOmemory usage

MOOmail

See: mail

movement

To go in a particular direction, simply type the name of that direction (e.g, 'north', 'up'). The name of the direction can usually be abbreviated to one or two characters (e.g., 'n', 'sw'). You can also type 'go <direction>' to move; this is particularly useful if you know you're going to type several movement commands in a row (see 'help go').

In addition to such vanilla movement, some areas may contain objects allowing teleportation and almost all areas permit the use of the 'home' command to teleport you to your designated home (see 'help home' for more details).

  Two additional ways to teleport are the "@go" and "@join" commands. Use "@join <person>" to teleport to the room where the person is. It's often considered polite to page the person ("page <person> <message>") or use "@knock <person>" first to see if they're busy. You can use "@go <room>" to move directly to the specified room. Use "@rooms" to see what places you can specify by name.

Related topics
exits -- a more detailed primer on MOO exits
ways -- tells you a room's obvious exits
go -- move through an exit or several exits in succession
@go -- teleport to some distant location in the MOO
home -- return to your MOO character's home
@rooms -- report the list of rooms you can @go to by name
@join -- teleport to someone else's location
@knock -- a polite way to ask if you may join someone
@move -- teleports objects around the MOO

moving

See: movement

names

Help is available on the following topics:
user-names -- naming and renaming people's MOO characters
@rename -- rename a MOO object
@addalias -- add aliases
@rmalias -- remove aliases

new

See: newbie

newbie

news

The first version of this command (just "news") reports a numbered list of important news items posted by the MOO wizards. These are concerned with server status, important changes in policy, and other information that is vital for all community members to know.

The "news <number>" version reports the text of a particular news item, while "news new" tells you all news items you haven't yet read.

nofollow

See: follow

notes

The following help topics cover verbs that can be used with notes:

read -- reading the text on the note
write -- adding text to a note
erase -- removing all the text from a note
delete -- deleting one line of text from a note

@notedit -- general editing on the text of a note

encrypt -- restricting who can read a note (note owner only)
decrypt -- undoing a previous encryption (note owner only)

You can make a note by creating a child of the standard note, $note (see 'help @create' if you are a MOO builder). Note that, like most objects, only the owner of a note can recycle it. If you'd like to make it possible for a reader of your note to destroy it (this is a common desire for notes to other individuals), then you might want to look at 'help letters'.

offduty

See: @info

onduty

See: @info

output

To prevent this, do the following:
 - to type a statement without being bothered by MOO output, type a
   quote (") or the command 'say'. When you're prompted for your
   statement, you can type undisturbed.
 - to emote, type a colon (:) or the command 'emote'. Wait for the
   emote prompt and then type it.
 - to issue any command (say and emote included), type 'do' or '>>'.
   Wait for the confirmation that output is suspended, and then issue
   your command.

Note: there is a 2 minute timeout to the output suspension.

Related Topics:
say -- how to speak to others
emote -- the "emote" variation for speaking
@linelength -- setting the line length the MOO displays
@wrap -- turning line wrap on or off
@pagelength -- setting the number of lines the MOO displays at once
@more -- display the next page of text

page

Sends a message to a connected person, telling them your location and, optionally, <text>.

Example:
Munchkin types:
        page Frebble with "Where are you?"
Frebble sees:
        You sense that Munchkin is looking for you in the Kitchen.
        He pages, "Where are you?"
Munchkin sees:
        Your message has been received.

Quick page:
     -<player>[@site] <text> (no space between '-' and <player>)
     - <text> (to page same player again)

Same as 'page <player> <text>' except that the message header is shorter and on the same line as the page text.

Page emote:
     +<player>[@site] <text> or + <text>
     ++<player>[@site] <text> or ++ <text>

Similar to quick page, except your name is given at the start of the text in the page either with (for '+') or without (for '++') a space separating it and the text. See 'help emote'.

If the player name is not given (i.e., if there is a space between the '-', '+', '++' and the text), then by default the last player you successfully paged is paged again. But you use @page-subject to change to this to page a given person or to page the person who paged you last. See 'help @page-subject'.

If you do not give text on a quick page line, you will be prompted for the message. This will allow you to enter your text without having your typing overwritten by messages from others in the same room.

Related Topics:
- -- remote "say" (a quickpage)
+ -- remote "emote" (a quickpage)
@page-subject -- set the behavior of the quickpage system when you omit a target
@user-options -- allows you to set some paging system options
@pageecho -- controls if you are shown what the paged message was
@pageidle -- set the amount of idle time before people paging you will be told
answering-machine -- a device for recording pages when you're away

Advanced Features:
Page refers to the following messages on the people involved (see 'help messages'):

@page_origin [You sense that %n is looking for you in %l.]
  Determines how the recipient is told of your location.

@page_echo [Your message has been sent.]
  Determines the response received by anyone who pages you.

@page_absent [%N is not currently logged in.]
  Determines the response received by anyone who tries to page you when you aren't connected.

All of these undergo the usual pronoun substitutions (see 'help pronouns') except that in both cases the direct object (%d) refers to the recipent of the page and the indirect object (%i) refers to the sender. You should only change these messages if you want to add to the Virtual Reality feel of the MOO for your character.

page-refusal

Therefore the MOO offers a set of two commands to give you that option. @nopage and @listen control a comprehensive but sufficiently complex system of different refusal levels. (Please take a look at 'help @nopage' and 'help @listen').
When you refuse someones pages he/she gets prompted with your @page_refuse message (set this message individually with '@page_refuse me is "...."' ('%n' in this message will be substituted with your name)).

paging

See: page

password-keeping

(Please note: This is a general document about how to pick and use passwords for any system that requires them, not just in a MOO. This document is Public Domain. Please use it and feel free to copy and adapt these guidelines for any other places where password security is important. Password security is the foundation of the internet and many other systems, and properly educated users are the most important part of it.)

What is a Password?
-------------------

Your password is your key to your account and to everything that it provides, but it is far more than that. Your password is what ensures that you and only you have access to your private information, your resources on the system, and your whole identity as a user. If your password falls into the wrong hands it can mean anything from peeking at your private information to erasing or changing important things, to serious social or even legal repercussions for acts that someone else may have done using your account.

Do not assume that because you don't have any special priveleges or information on a system your password isn't important. Aside from the possible damage that could be done simply by masquarading as you, gaining access to unprivieleged accounts is often the first step a malicious person will use towards more desctructive attacks on a system. Defeating this first step can be an important part of protecting your system against potentially disastrous attacks.

It is therefore very important that all users of a system choose their passwords well, and take steps to keep them well-guarded.

What is a Good Password?
------------------------

A good password, quite simply, is one that can't be guessed easily, can't be discovered with brute-force methods (such as trying every word in the dictionary until you find a match, which computers make remarkably easy to do), and can't be discovered easily by people with wandering or prying eyes.

The best form of password from a security standpoint would be something with 20 or so random characters, which isn't written down anywhere, and is changed every time the user connects to the system. There is one fairly obvious drawback to this type of password, however. Not many of us would be able to remember it for more than a couple of minutes after we typed it in, particularly if we had to come up with a new one every time we did so. The secret to choosing a good password therefore comes in carefully balancing its security with its convenience, and there are several tips and tricks that can aid in this endeavor.

Things NOT to do when choosing and using a password
---------------------------------------------------

1. Do not make it a dictionary word, not even a foreign dictionary word
   (not even reversed or doubled, or with different capitalization, etc).
   These can be very easily broken by anybody with a dictionary file and a
   little programming ability.

2. Do not make it something that is easily associated with you or with the
   system you're using. Do not, for example, use the name of your spouse, or
   the address of the building you work in.

3. Do not make it the same as a password you're using on another system. If
   someone discovers one of your passwords, you don't want them getting access
   to everyplace you have an account...

4. Don't make your password too memorable for other people. Cute or funny
   passwords are a lot easier for you to remember, but they're also a lot
   easier for someone else to remember. The best password is something that
   is easily memorable for you, but means nothing to anybody else who might
   happen across it.

5. Needless to say, passwords like "password", "aaaaa", "12345", or
   "opensesame" are right out..

6. Don't write your password down. If you need to write it down at all, do
   not write it anywhere that is obviously associated with your computer or
   the system the password is for, and never write down what it is or what
   account name it goes with in the same place as the password itself. (A
   Post-It note on your monitor saying "MOO address: moo.du.org 8888,
   account: MyName, password: blimfark" is just begging for trouble. Don't
   do this.)

7. Do not re-use passwords. It is possible that someone found out your
   password before and you didn't know it, in which case they may just be
   waiting for you to use it again or for something else.

8. Do not send your password via email. If you are in some situation where
   you have received the password for an account by way of a mail message,
   change it at the first opportunity. Email is notoriously insecure and
   there is no way of telling how many people may have been listening in.

9. Do not store your password in a program that provides "automatic login" if
   you can help it. (I know, I know, it's a lot easier, but it also means
   that anyone else can auto-login just as easily as you can.) If you do do
   this, at least make sure that only you can easily get access to that program.
   Using such a program on an easily-accessible, unprotected computer at your
   workplace, for example, is not a good idea.

10.Don't trust anyone. (I know it sounds a little paranoid, and it is, but
   it's also a foolproof way to make sure your password doesn't fall into
   the wrong hands) Don't give your password to anyone else, not even a
   system administrator (if they are really a system administrator needing
   access to your account, they won't NEED your password to do it). Don't
   let your password out of your sight, because you have no idea where it
   might get to without your knowing it (even trusted friends can make
   mistakes, and people are usually a lot less careful with other people's
   passwords than they would be with their own).

Things you SHOULD do when choosing a password
---------------------------------------------

1. Make your password reasonably long. A 15-character password is generally a
   LOT harder to break than a 4-character password, and usually not much
   harder to remember. (Some systems only pay attention to a certain number
   of characters, but if your password is longer than that, the important
   part of it will only be a partial password, which is often even harder to
   break than the whole thing would be.) Generally using anything under 6
   characters is not a good idea under any circumstances.

2. Include both upper- and lower-case characters in your password, if your
   system supports it. Abnormal capitalization is even better.

3. Include non-alphabetic characters (numbers and punctuation). Again,
   placing these in strange locations within the password is even better.

4. Change your password periodically. Also, the less often you use something,
   the more often you should change its password, because you are less likely
   to catch something that is amiss until it's too late.

Other Tips and Tricks for picking and using good passwords
----------------------------------------------------------

1. Pick a password, and then switch two of the letters, or add a character to
   it somewhere, etc. This generally makes the password easier to remember,
   and a lot harder to guess. This is still best used in conjunction with
   other techniques, though.

2. Compose your passwords of multi-word phrases, or even two words that don't
   necessarily have anything to do with one another. While you're at it,
   stick in some unexpected punctuation between words (or inside words).

3. Good subject matter for passwords is things that don't mean anything to
   you, but that you're likely to remember anyway, like a peice of poetry you
   were forced to memorize in school, for example. Be careful, though. Some
   peices of poetry are fairly well known. "Jabberwocky", for example, is
   probably not a good choice.

4. Another good way to come up with a password is just to pick whatever comes
   to mind. If it came to mind the first time, it's probably there for a
   reason, and thus will be memorable, but it's disconnected enough that it
   probably wouldn't be obvious to someone else. (Keep in mind all the
   "don'ts" listed above, though. If the name of your daughter leaps to
   mind, it's still not a good password, etc.)

5. Above all else, just use common sense. Put yourself in the role of someone
   who would be trying to get your password. What would you think of trying?
   Don't use that. Where would you think of looking? Don't put it there.
   You get the idea.. Keep in mind that this person could know a fair amount
   about you and your habits.

It's really not that hard to come up with a good password that's not only easy to use but provides a good amount of security as well. All too often a little thought and common sense applied to the choice and maintenance of passwords could have prevented real problems and sometimes even real catastrophes caused by malicious people with a little knowledge and the desire to do harm.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Last updated December 14, 1995 by Alex Stewart (riche@crl.com, Richelieu at
Diversity University MOO). Comments are welcome. Distribute freely.

privacy

 -*-*- OMNISCIENT WIZARDS AND SYSADMINS: -*-*-
Wizards can look at absolutely *anything* in the MOO database.
The arch-wizard and the sysadmin for the MOO-server host have complete access not only to the MOO database itself but to many other possibly-relevant things.
The above mentioned parties (wizards et al), while they will endeavor to be discreet about anything incidental that turns up, nevertheless reserve the right look at anything they want, if only for the sake of being able to resolve technical problems, or adhering to legal statutes.

 -*-*- LOGGING: -*-*-
Some client programs (the "client" is the program you use to connect to the MOO, e.g., telnet, tinytalk, tinyfugue, emacs with mud.el...) are capable of logging everything that happens to the corresponding person. In fact, with some clients this happens by default. If a given person's client has logging enabled and said person is either in the room with you or is monitoring an object that is in the room with you, then *everything* you say and emote gets recorded. Also, if you are in a room owned by someone else, all bets are off. There is *no way* that the MOO server can know about what client a given person is using; thus, anyone who can hear you is a potential logger.

In and of itself this would not be a problem - indeed, logs are often useful for reference purposes. However, there is no guarantee that the log will not end up someplace where you'd rather it didn't, e.g., posted on the rec.games.mud Usenet newsgroup. While it considered bad form (i.e., rude) to circulate or post a log without having the permission of at least the major participants in the activities logged, there is not a whole lot we can do on the technical side to prevent it from happening.

Be aware of the problem. The @sweep command (see `help @sweep') attempts to determine what people or objects can be listening at any given moment. If anything, it errs on the side of paranoia. Even so, it doesn't cover *all* possible avenues of eavesdropping, and there's no hope for it covering the situations like the one where someone manages to convince one of the participants in your discussion who kept a log that it really doesn't need to be kept private after all.

If you've got something really sensitive to discuss, you are best off doing it by encrypted email or in person.

programming

Not everyone is allowed to program in MOO language, including (at the moment, anyway) you. Programmers are able to shape the reality of the MOO in more powerful ways than builders, and are generally expected to conform to local policies and good practise.

If you would like to become a programmer, and are already a builder, find a wizard and convince them that you've got good ideas that the MOO needs. Good luck!

pronouns

        Balthazar crawls through the little doorway, bruising his knee.

The problem is the use of "his" in the message; what if the person in question is female? The correct setting of the "oleave" message on that doorway is as follows:

        "crawls through the little doorway, bruising %p knee."

The "%p" in the message will be replaced by either "his", "her", or "its", depending upon the person's gender.

As it happens, you can also refer to other elements of the command line (e.g., direct and indirect objects) the object issuing the message, and the location where this is all happening. Remember that all commands are of the form "command direct-object preposition indirect-object" (though some of these can sometimes be ommitted). In addition, advanced users can refer to arbitrary string properties on these objects, or get the object numbers themselves.

The complete set of substitutions is as follows:

    Names:
        %n => the person issuing the command
        %t => this object (i.e., the object issuing the message,... usually)
        %d => the direct object from the command line
        %i => the indirect object from the command line
        %l => the location of the person
    Pronouns:
        %s => subject pronoun: either `he', `she', or `it'
        %o => object pronoun: either `him', `her', or `it'
        %p => posessive pronoun (adj): either `his', `her', or `its'
        %q => posessive pronoun (noun): either `his', `hers', or `its'
        %r => reflexive pronoun: either `himself', `herself', or `itself'

    General properties (advanced):
        %(foo) => <person>.foo
        %[tfoo], %[dfoo], %[ifoo], %[lfoo]
               => this.foo, dobj.foo, iobj.foo, and `player'.location.foo
    Object numbers (advanced):
        %# => person's object number
        %[#t], %[#d], %[#i], %[#l]
            => object numbers for this, direct obj, indirect obj, and location.
    Other:
        %% => `%' (just in case you actually want to talk about percentages).

In addition there is a set of capitalized substitutions for use at the
beginning of sentences. These are, respectively,

   %N, %T, %D, %I, %L for object names,
   %S, %O, %P, %Q, %R for pronouns, and
   %(Foo), %[dFoo] (== %[Dfoo] == %[DFoo]),... for general properties

Note: there is a special exception for character name's, which are assumed to
already be capitalized as desired.

Notes for advanced users:
There may be situations where the standard algorithm, i.e., upcasing the first letter, yields something incorrect, in which case a "capitalization" for a particular string property can be specified explicitly. If your object has a ".foo" property that is like this, you can "@set" a ".fooc" (in general .(propertyname+"c")) specifying the correct capitalization. This can also work for character names if you want to specify a capitalization that is different from your usual name

Example:
Rog makes a hand-grenade with a customizable explode message.
Suppose someone sets the grenades "explode" message (grenade.explode_msg) to:

  "%N(%#) drops %t on %p foot. %T explodes.
   %L is engulfed in flames."

If the current location happens to be #3443 ("yduJ's Hairdressing Salon"),
the resulting substitution may produce, eg.,

  "Rog(#4292) drops grenade on his foot. Grenade explodes.
   YduJ's Hairdressing Salon is engulfed in flames."

which contains an incorrect capitalization.
yduJ may remedy this with: @set #3443.namec to "yduJ's Hairdressing Salon"

The actual properties that are used to generate the gender-specific articles are:
    .gender - the gender name
    .pq - posessive pronoun, noun (e.g. hers or his)
    .ps - subject pronoun (e.g. he or she)
    .po - object pronoun (e.g. him or her)
    .pp - possesive pronoun, adjective (e.g. her or his)
    .pr - reflexive pronoun (e.g. herself or himself)
The capitalized version of each has the same name but with "c"
appended (e.g. pqc, psc, poc). So, for instance, %p is generally
equivalent to %[tpp] and %(pp) unless an object's programmer has
altered the default behavior (which is not altogether uncommon).

put

Moves the named object into the named container. Sometimes the owners of the object and/or the container will not allow you to do this.

quota

Each person has a limit as to how many objects that person may create, called their 'quota'. Every object they create lowers the quota by one and every object they recycle increases it by one. If the quota goes to zero, then that person may not create any more objects (unless, of course, they recycle some first).

The @quota command prints out your current quota if you are already a MOO builder.

The quota mechanism is intended to solve a long-standing problem in many VR worlds: database bloat. The problem is that a large number of people build a large number of dull objects and areas that are subsequently never used or visited. The database becomes quite large and difficult to manage without getting substantially more interesting. With the quota system, we can make it possible for people to experiment and learn while simultaneously keeping random building to acceptable levels.

Although you might think that virtual objects take up no space and therefore there should be no limit to how many can be built, they do actually take up computer memory on the MOO server, and memory costs money.

read

Prints the text written on the named object, usually a note or letter. Some notes are encrypted so that only certain people may read them.

regular-expressions

A regular expression describes a set of strings. The simplest case is
one that describes a particular string; for example, the string `foo'
when regarded as a regular expression matches `foo' and nothing else.
Nontrivial regular expressions use certain special constructs so that
they can match more than one string. For example, the regular expression
`foo%|bar' matches either the string `foo' or the string `bar'; the
regular expression `c[ad]*r' matches any of the strings `cr', `car',
`cdr', `caar', `cadddar' and all other such strings with any number of
`a''s and `d''s.

Regular expressions have a syntax in which a few characters are special
constructs and the rest are "ordinary". An ordinary character is a simple
regular expression that matches that character and nothing else. The
special characters are `$', `^', `.', `*', `+', `?', `[', `]' and `%'.
Any other character appearing in a regular expression is ordinary, unless
a `%' precedes it.

For example, `f' is not a special character, so it is ordinary, and
therefore `f' is a regular expression that matches the string `f' and no
other string. (It does *not*, for example, match the string `ff'.)
Likewise, `o' is a regular expression that matches only `o'.

Any two regular expressions A and B can be concatenated. The result is a
regular expression which matches a string if A matches some amount of the
beginning of that string and B matches the rest of the string.

As a simple example, we can concatenate the regular expressions `f' and
`o' to get the regular expression `fo', which matches only the string
`fo'. Still trivial.

The following are the characters and character sequences that have special
meaning within regular expressions. Any character not mentioned here is
not special; it stands for exactly itself for the purposes of searching
and matching.

`.'
     is a special character that matches any single character. Using
     concatenation, we can make regular expressions like `a.b', which
     matches any three-character string that begins with `a' and ends
     with `b'.

`*'
     is not a construct by itself; it is a suffix that means that the
     preceding regular expression is to be repeated as many times as
     possible. In `fo*', the `*' applies to the `o', so `fo*' matches
     `f' followed by any number of `o''s.

     The case of zero `o''s is allowed: `fo*' does match `f'.

     `*' always applies to the *smallest* possible preceding expression.
     Thus, `fo*' has a repeating `o', not a repeating `fo'.

     The matcher processes a `*' construct by matching, immediately, as
     many repetitions as can be found. Then it continues with the rest
     of the pattern. If that fails, it backtracks, discarding some of
     the matches of the `*''d construct in case that makes it possible to
     match the rest of the pattern. For example, matching `c[ad]*ar'
     against the string `caddaar', the `[ad]*' first matches `addaa', but
     this does not allow the next `a' in the pattern to match. So the
     last of the matches of `[ad]' is undone and the following `a' is
     tried again. Now it succeeds.

`+'
     `+' is like `*' except that at least one match for the preceding
     pattern is required for `+'. Thus, `c[ad]+r' does not match `cr'
     but does match anything else that `c[ad]*r' would match.

`?'
     `?' is like `*' except that it allows either zero or one match for
     the preceding pattern. Thus, `c[ad]?r' matches `cr' or `car' or
     `cdr', and nothing else.

`[ ... ]'
     `[' begins a "character set", which is terminated by a `]'. In the
     simplest case, the characters between the two brackets form the set.
     Thus, `[ad]' matches either `a' or `d', and `[ad]*' matches any
     string of `a''s and `d''s (including the empty string), from which it
     follows that `c[ad]*r' matches `car', etc.

     Character ranges can also be included in a character set, by writing
     two characters with a `-' between them. Thus, `[a-z]' matches any
     lower-case letter. Ranges may be intermixed freely with individual
     characters, as in `[a-z$%.]', which matches any lower case letter or
     `$', `%' or period.

     Note that the usual special characters are not special any more
     inside a character set. A completely different set of special
     characters exists inside character sets: `]', `-' and `^'.

     To include a `]' in a character set, you must make it the first
     character. For example, `[]a]' matches `]' or `a'. To include a
     `-', you must use it in a context where it cannot possibly indicate
     a range: that is, as the first character, or immediately after a
     range.

`[^ ... ]'
     `[^' begins a "complement character set", which matches any character
     except the ones specified. Thus, `[^a-z0-9A-Z]' matches all
     characters *except* letters and digits.

     `^' is not special in a character set unless it is the first
     character. The character following the `^' is treated as if it were
     first (it may be a `-' or a `]').

`^'
     is a special character that matches the empty string - but only if
     at the beginning of the string being matched. Otherwise it fails to
     match anything. Thus, `^foo' matches a `foo' which occurs at the
     beginning of the string.

`$'
     is similar to `^' but matches only at the *end* of the string. Thus,
     `xx*$' matches a string of one or more `x''s at the end of the
     string.

`%'
     has two functions: it quotes the above special characters (including
     `%'), and it introduces additional special constructs.

     Because `%' quotes special characters, `%$' is a regular expression
     that matches only `$', and `%[' is a regular expression that matches
     only `[', and so on.

     For the most part, `%' followed by any character matches only that
     character. However, there are several exceptions: characters that,
     when preceded by `%', are special constructs. Such characters are
     always ordinary when encountered on their own.

     No new special characters will ever be defined. All extensions to
     the regular expression syntax are made by defining new two-character
     constructs that begin with `%'.

`%|'
     specifies an alternative. Two regular expressions A and B with `%|'
     in between form an expression that matches anything that either A or
     B will match.

     Thus, `foo%|bar' matches either `foo' or `bar' but no other string.

     `%|' applies to the largest possible surrounding expressions. Only a
     surrounding `%( ... %)' grouping can limit the grouping power of
     `%|'.

     Full backtracking capability exists for when multiple `%|''s are
     used.

`%( ... %)'
     is a grouping construct that serves three purposes:

       1. To enclose a set of `%|' alternatives for other operations.
          Thus, `%(foo%|bar%)x' matches either `foox' or `barx'.

       2. To enclose a complicated expression for a following `*', `+', or
          `?' to operate on. Thus, `ba%(na%)*' matches `bananana', etc.,
          with any number of `na''s, including none.

       3. To mark a matched substring for future reference.

     This last application is not a consequence of the idea of a
     parenthetical grouping; it is a separate feature that happens to be
     assigned as a second meaning to the same `%( ... %)' construct
     because there is no conflict in practice between the two meanings.
     Here is an explanation of this feature:

`%DIGIT'
     After the end of a `%( ... %)' construct, the matcher remembers the
     beginning and end of the text matched by that construct. Then,
     later on in the regular expression, you can use `%' followed by
     DIGIT to mean "match the same text matched by the DIGIT'th `%( ...
     %)' construct in the pattern." The `%( ... %)' constructs are
     numbered in the order that their `%(''s appear in the pattern.

     The strings matching the first nine `%( ... %)' constructs appearing
     in a regular expression are assigned numbers 1 through 9 in order of
     their beginnings. `%1' through `%9' may be used to refer to the text
     matched by the corresponding `%( ... %)' construct.

     For example, `%(.*%)%1' matches any string that is composed of two
     identical halves. The `%(.*%)' matches the first half, which may be
     anything, but the `%1' that follows must match the same exact text.

`%b'
     matches the empty string, but only if it is at the beginning or end
     of a word. Thus, `%bfoo%b' matches any occurrence of `foo' as a
     separate word. `%bball%(s%|%)%b' matches `ball' or `balls' as a
     separate word.

     For the purposes of this construct and the five that follow, a word
     is defined to be a sequence of letters and/or digits.

`%B'
     matches the empty string, provided it is *not* at the beginning or
     end of a word.

`%<'
     matches the empty string, but only if it is at the beginning of a
     word.

`%>'
     matches the empty string, but only if it is at the end of a word.

`%w'
     matches any word-constituent character (i.e., any letter or digit).

`%W'
     matches any character that is not a word constituent.

See also the help on `match()' or `rmatch()'

remove

See: take

rooms

You can visit rooms either by walking or teleporting. Walking is usually done by naming the exit you wish to pass through from your current room. A variety of commands allow you to teleport to more distant locations.

Related Topics:
movement -- navigating the MOO
@rooms -- the list of rooms you can teleport to using the @go command
building -- about building in the MOO

say

Says <anything> out loud, so that everyone in the same room hears it. This is so commonly used that there's a special abbreviation for it: any command-line beginning with a double-quote ('"') is treated as a 'say' command.

Example:
Munchkin types this:
  "This is a great MOO!
Munchkin sees this:
  You say, "This is a great MOO!"
Others in the same room see this:
  Munchkin says, "This is a great MOO!"

security

privacy -- notes about your privacy in the MOO
@paranoid -- keeping a record of messages your character hears.
@check -- looking at that record to determine responsibility for messages.
@sweep -- checking who is listening in on your conversation.
spoofing -- details of what spoofing is and why you shouldn't do it

slide

Examples: slide table north 2 meters
          tilt candle south 45 degrees
          twist stove clockwise 90 degrees

Directions may be abbreviated:
    n, s, e, w, se, sw, ne, nw, d, u, cw, ccw
Angle and distance must be integer numbers (to be upgraded in a
future release so that non-integers are allowed also).
Distance units may be any of:
    mm, cm, m, km, in, ft, yd
Angle units may be any of: degree or radian

  Use these commands to move MOO objects though space within a room.
"Slide" objects to translate then up, down, or toward any compass
point. "Twist" objects to rotate them around the Y-axis, either
clockwise or counterclockwise. "Tilt" object to tip their tops
toward the direction you indicate. Tilting north eans rotating an
object in a positive direction around the X-axis. Note that by MOO
convention, the north is the negative Z-axis (the ones most browsers
will have you facing when you enter a new room) and east is the
positive X-axis. The Y-axis points up.

spamming

spoofing

See: security

summary

purpose -- what the MOO is all about
manners -- essential guide to polite behavior
legal -- terms of use for the MOO

introduction -- what's going on here and some basic commands
basic -- short summary of commonly used commands
helpme -- ask for help from other people in the MOO
map -- see an ASCII art map of the MOO
index -- index into the help system

characters -- customizing your MOO character
movement -- navigating the MOO
communication -- communicating with other people
manipulation -- moving or using other objects
output -- output control tools adjust the text display

web -- using the MOO's World Wide Web interface
intermediate -- some commands for more experienced MOO users
building -- extending the MOO
programming -- writing in the MOO programming language
editors -- editing text and code in the MOO
miscellaneous -- commands that don't fit anywhere else

911 -- tools for security and managing harassment

@pagelength -- what to do if lines scroll off your screen too fast
@linelength -- what to do if lines are truncated
@quit -- disconnect from the MOO

tagging

The idea behind tagging:

Individuals that feel threatened or harassed by others have the option to tag the abuser. A tag consists of a little chunk of information containing the name of the tagger, the time of the tagging and a rationale for the tag.

As soon as someone accumulates a certain number of tags (3 tags right now) for his/her inappropriate behavior the person's case is automatically brought to the attention of the wizards, who will have a word with the person and decide about his/her further fate.

Syntax:

@witness <person> A witness log of the person must be started before a tag can be made on a person. Then: @tag <person> or @tag! <person>

Both versions of @tag will prompt you for a reason for your tag (rationale).
@tag will silently tag a person, which means the taggee will not get immediatly notified of the tag; notification will be suspended til their next logon.
@tag! prompts a message to the taggee saying "You have just been tagged." - the identity of the tagger remains essentially unknown.

Anyone can check their tag count using the "@tags" command.

IMPORTANT: Do not carelessly tag anyone. Tagging is meant to be a defense for serious cases of abuse and harrassment and NOT a way to tease someone. Your tag logs are reviewed by the wizards and might be subject to further investigation and any abuse of the privilege of tagging someone will have consequences (removal of that privilege for example). Don't hesitate to tag someone when you feel threatened or attacked, though. We seek to empower the victims, not the harassers.

Summary of commands:
@witness -- start logging a person's activities
@tag -- send a copy of the @witness log to the wizards (and stop logging)
@banish -- send a copy of a guest's @witness log to the wizards and
            disconnect them from the MOO
@tags -- check your current tag count

Related Topics:
911 -- summary of tools for dealing with harrassment

take

The first two forms pick up the named object and place it in your inventory. Sometimes the owner of the object won't allow it to be picked up for some reason.

The remaining forms move the named object from inside the named container (see 'help containers') into your inventory. As before, sometimes the owner of an object will not allow you to do this.

throw

See: drop

tilt

See: slide

time-specifications

When you enter a time specification, the result will be relative to a default time. The default time is most commonly set to the current time so that, for example, saying "tomorrow" means tomorrow. The default times for certain commands may be different, however, if another base time is more appropriate to the task. When using relative operations (such as "tomorrow") in your time specification, you should be sure you know what time/date will be used as the basis for that offset.

A time specification can have any of the following elements, in almost any order. All elements are separated by spaces and/or commas (Note: elements are not case sensitive ("am" is the same as "AM", "Am", or "aM")):

  A time of the form HH:MM or HH:MM:SS, with an optional following "am" or
  "pm"
    The standard way of specifying time of day. If only HH:MM is specified,
    the seconds are assumed to be :00. If "am" or "pm" are tacked onto the
    end, the time is treated appropriately. If no "am" or "pm" is provided,
    it is assumed to be in 24-hour time.

  The words "am" or "pm" (separate from a HH:MM or HH:MM:SS)
    This specifies that the given or default time should be considered to be
    AM or PM. (these work just like an "am" or "pm" tacked on to the end of a
    HH:MM or HH:MM:SS spec) If no time is given, the current (default) time
    is used and converted appropriately (i.e. if the default is 3:00pm and you
    specify "am" without any other time-of-day info, the result will be 3:00am
    the same day).

  The words "midnight" or "noon"
    These are equivalent to 00:00:00 and 12:00:00, respectively.

  The words "yesterday", "today", or "tomorrow"
    These specify 24 hours before the current (default) time, the current
    time, or 24 hours after the current time, respectively.

  A day of the week, in either full ("Monday") or abbreviated ("Mon") form
    This specifies the time is to be on the next day (following the default or
    specified day) that is that day of the week. This means that if the
    default is a Wednesday, and the timespec says "2:30pm thursday", the
    result will be 2:30pm the next day. If the default is a wednesday, and
    the timespec says "2:30pm monday", the result will be 2:30pm on the monday
    of next week. (be careful with this: Stating "Mon Jan 25 1995" will
    result in a date of Monday, January 29 1995, because the 29th is the next
    monday after the 25th (which isn't a monday itself))

  A month name, in either full ("January") or abbreviated ("Jan") form,
  optionally with a following day-of-the-month number (i.e. "Jan 12")
    This specifies the month or the month and day for the specified date. If
    no day of the month is specified, the first of the month is assumed.

  A year number ("1994", etc)
    If a number is encountered which isn't immediately following the name of a
    month, it is assumed to specify the year of the date. Years in this form
    must be fully spelled-out ("1994" is ok, but "94" is not). Note that the
    MOO can only keep track of dates normally in the range of about 1902 to
    2038. If you specify a date outside this range, you will get either an
    error message or a date that's seriously out of whack with what you
    expected. Basically, don't do that.

  A date of the form MM/DD/YY, MM/DD/YYYY, MM-DD-YY, or MM-DD-YYYY
    Alternately, the date can be specified all together in the standard
    numerical format, using either dashes or slashes to separate fields and
    either 2-digit or 4-digit year fields.

  A timezone abbreviation ("EDT", "PST", etc)
    Specifies that the time values should be considered to be based on the
    given time zone instead of the default time zone. Daylight-savings
    conversions are automatically taken into account if the specified time
    ends up being during DST and the timezone isn't, or vice-versa (i.e. if
    you specify "12:00 Jan 3 PDT" it will automatically assume you mean "PST"
    instead, since the specified time is not during DST)

  Text of the form "[+/-] <delta-time>"
    A plus or a minus followed by a "delta" time specification adds or
    subtracts the specified amount of time. A delta time specification is of
    the form "<number> <unit> [<number> <unit> [...]]", where <number>s are
    numbers and <unit>s specify "years", "months", "weeks", "days", "hours",
    "minutes", or "seconds". It can also include commas and "and", which are
    ignored. Some examples include "1 year 32 days", and "2 weeks, 3 days,
    and 4 hours" NOTE: Since everything after the plus or minus is taken to
    be part of the delta time, this must be the last part of the overall time
    specification.

  The words "at", "on", or "now"
    (these are ignored as far as parsing is concerned, but can be used to
     phrase times in a more english-like manner, i.e. "Monday at noon",
     "3:30pm on June 30", or "now + 1 day")

All of these factors are cumulative as well, so that if you specify "Jan 12 tomorrow", the result will be the day after January 12, which is January 13th. In this same vein you can do such poetic things as "tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow" ( = +3 days) or, of more practical value, "January monday" (the first monday of January), etc.

So what does this all mean? Basically, almost any way of specifying a time or date that a human would be sure of understanding (and some that most people wouldn't, but are handy) should be understandable by the MOO as well. Some examples of valid specifications (taken more or less at random) are:

  3:00pm tomorrow
  3:00 pm Sunday
  15:00:00 Sunday at midnight
  Friday, 1995 + 2 years
  Feb 14, at noon January monday midnight + 1 week
  Tue Oct 25 07:02:22 1994 EDT 13:00 am feb 23
  now at at yesterday tomorrow on tomorrow on today now today - 1 day

timespecs

See: time-specifications

tinymud

The following commands are basically the same in MOO and MUD.

    drop(throw), get(take), go, help, home, inventory, look, news, say (",:)

The following commands have no equivalent:

    kill, rob, score, @force

The following commands have the same names and do similar things, but are changed in some way (both syntactic and semantic differences, sometimes quite substantial differences):

    @examine, give, page, read, whisper, @create, @dig,
    @lock, @password, @unlock, @describe

The following commands have rough equivalents in LambdaMOO but the name is different:

    TinyMUD name LambdaMOO name
    ------------ --------------
    QUIT @quit
    gripe @gripe
    goto/move go
    WHO @who
    @fail @take_failed, @nogo, @drop_failed
    @find @audit
    @link @dig, @sethome, @add-exit, @add-entrance
    @name @rename
    @ofail @otake_failed, @onogo, @odrop_failed
    @open @dig
    @osuccess @oleave, @oarrive, @otake_succeeded,
                            @odrop_succeeded
    @success @leave, @arrive, @take_succeeded
                            @drop_succeeded
    @teleport @move

Here are some commands for which no equivalent exists, or for which the equivalent is a complicated set of actions.

    @set, @stats, @unlink

Documentation on most of the LambdaMOO commands mentioned above can be acquired using 'help <command-name>'. A notable exception is the commands like @oarrive and @take_failed that set textual messages on objects. These are described under 'help messages'.

twist

See: slide

user-index

user-info

Information made available through @info may include information like your real name, occupation and maybe email-address(es) & such. In addition to this small heap of personal data you may include information about the projects your involved in here.

A typical info text:
My real name is <your name>. I currently <work or occupation description>.
My field is [/interests are] <your field/interests>.
You can reach me via email at: <email address>.
Project: <description of your project(s) here>

To initially set your "info" and to see the information of other people use the @info verb. There's basically two functions you can invoke with @info:

a) @info me is <text> to set your own info

b) @info <person> to retrieve information about <person>

c) @edit me.info an alternative mechanism for editing your
                        info, using the Text Editor

Be aware that all information you include about yourself with the help of @info will be publicly readable.

user-names

  with into from underneath about me
  using on inside beneath is you
  at onto over behind as
  to upon through beside off
  in out under for of

Note that these rules apply as well to your single-word aliases, since those can equally well be used to refer to you in commands that match on character names (@who, whereis, ...). These restrictions don't apply to your multi-word aliases, however the commands that expect character names will not recognize them. However, all aliases must be at least two characters long.

vrml

The VRML/1.0 system has a small number of commands that allow you to
    1. assign a VRML description to any MOO object
    2. move and turn MOO objects in space

@vrml -- list the VRML description lines associated with an object
@vrmledit -- edit the VRML description on an object
slide -- slide an object north, south, up, etc.
twist -- twist an object clockwise (cw) or counterclockwise (ccw)
tilt -- tilt an object toward a compass direction (tip it)
@scale-vrml -- shrink or grow an object
@set-vrml -- change optional VRML settings on an object
web -- about the MOO's other web-based features

ways

See: @ways

web

To access the web system, use the MOO's Web gateway page, at "http://moo.du.org:8000" which has information useful to new web system users.

The Diversity University MOO main page is at: http://www.du.org

Some commands for adding and examining web links and HTML text associated with MOO objects are:

@url -- examine or add a URL link
@html -- examine or add an HTML document
@icon -- examine or add an icon link
@weblink -- link an object via a text line or an image
@htmledit -- use the HTML editor
@set-web -- set various web characteristics of an object
@webpass -- get or set a web password (guests only)
@web-options -- get or set various web options for your MOO character
VRML -- about the MOO's Virtual Reality Modeling Language capabilities

whereis

Returns the current location of each of the specified persons, or of all people if not arguments given.

whisper

wizard-list

Please note that not all Wizards are available to provide user assistance, but may instead provide technical support only. Use the @managers command (or "@managers all") for a list of Managers and Wizards, with notes on what areas of responsibility are served by each.

work

Related texts:
@info -- various info about people, including their "duty" setting

write

Adds a line of text to the named note or letter. Only the owner of a note may do this.

zombie-messages

See: @unrmmail