NAME
	msg.c - give messages to several persons from one string

FUNCTIONS
	msg - deliver messages
	fix_msg - low level message fixer
	see_names - redefine for your own purposes

USAGE
	Normally you would use the function msg() to deliver messages;
	some cases requires finer control. In those cases you can call
	fix_msg directly. msg.c can either be inherited or used as a
	daemon ("/std/msg"->msg()). Inheriting should only be used for
	objects that will use msg() or fix_msg a lot.

=======================================================================
NAME
	msg - deliver messages

SYNTAX
	varargs void msg(string message,mixed first,mixed second, mixed third);

DESCRIPTION
	This is a general-purpose routine to delivering strings to players.
	The message is modified to gramatically fit each recipient. To do
	this the message contains markers that will be replaced before
	delivery. All markers look like this: \b
	 is a number specifying who this marker is about. That is 1 for
	first person, 2 for second, etc. This corresponds to the 2nd, 3rd and
	4th argument to this function. 1 is the default. Identifier is one of
	the follwing:

	OBJ	Usually used for the 'object' in the sentence 
		(that is \b2OBJ). That is, the target of a feeling or
		similar.
	obj	This is usually used instead of OBJ the second time around.
	POSS	Possessive form, for instance used when referring to
		someone's head: "\b2POSS head"
	poss	second time you refer to someone's head, use "\b2poss head"
		instead; that way it will say his/her/its head instead.
	PRON	The pronoun, which simply refers to the person in question,
		is normally used in the beginning of sentences to represent
		the person doing something: "\bPRON smile\b$.\n"
	pron	used instead of PRON second time around
	is	will be replaced with is or are
	{string1,string2} will be replaced with string1 for those referred to
		by  and string2 for others.
	$	Same as {,s}

	And modifiers is zero of more of the follwing:

	cap	the output of this identifier will be caplitalized.
		Example: "\bcapOBJ" might produce "Him"
		Note that names are automatically capitalized anyway, the 'cap'
		modifier should only be used in the beginning of sentences.
	fix	the output of this token will be the same for all players.
		Example: "\bfixOBJ" will give the name of the first person
		to all persons involved.

	The other arguments to the function are used to specify exactly who
	are first, second and third person.

	First, an object or array of objects specifying who is first person,
	defaults to this_player().

	Second, an object or array of objects specifying who is second person,
	(That is, the 'target') defaults to ({}).

	Third, an object or array of objects specifying who is third person;
	that is, all the rest that should see the message. msg() depends on
	that there are no \b3 in the message. Defaults to all livings in
	the same room as this_player() except those given in first or second.

	If this isn't enough control for you, you can also give completely
	different messages to first, second and third. This is done with the
	\b| separator. If there is no \b| in message first second and third
	will have their messages generated from the same string. If there is
	one \b| first will have his/her/its/their message generated from the
	first part and second and third from the second part. If there are
	two \b| first, second and third will all have their own string to
	generate their messages from.

	A special case is also provided for simplicity: if the message
	contains no \b whatsoever it will be written to 'first' (normally
	this_player()) the way it is.

EXAMPLES
	"/std/msg"->msg("\bPRON smile\b$ happily.\n");

	/* 0 will use the default: this_player() */
	"/std/msg"->msg("\bPRON \b{kiss,kisses} \b2OBJ.\n",0,target);

	"/std/msg"->msg("\bPRON smile and think evil thoughts.\n"+
		        "\b|\bPRON smiles.\n");

=======================================================================
NAME
	fix_msg - low level message fixer

SYNTAX
	string fix_msg(message, mixed *persons, object active);

DESCRIPTION
	This is the low-level routine used by msg(). You should normally
	not have to use it. The message has the same tags as the argument
	for msg() except for the \b| separators. The second argument is an
	array of arrays of objects, with persons[0] representing first person,
	persons[1] representing second person(s) etc. etc. The third argument
	is the person for which the message should be generated. The ready-
	parsed message is then returned.

=======================================================================
NAME
	see_names - who can see what?

SYNTAX
	int see_names(object who, object active);
	
DESCRIPTION
	This function shouldn't actually be called, but in some cases you
	will have to redefine this function. This requires that you
	inherit msg.c of course. see_names is supposed to return true if
	who can see active. If it returns false who will get 'Someone' instead
	of the name.

=======================================================================

Help topics available:

booklet.doc

msg.doc

msg.examples

text.doc