Achaea Help Files

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2.10 Achaea's alias system, including targets and variables

What is an Alias?
-----------------
An alias is a way to set up a shorthand: something you type that stands for
something else. If you are always typing CREDITS FOR SALE, for example,
wouldn't it be easier to just type CFS? Yes, of course it would.

Here's how to do this:       SETALIAS cfs credits for sale

Every time you type cfs, Achaea will substitute CREDITS FOR SALE and issue
that command for you.


Let's say you try this:      SETALIAS sayhi say Hi everyone!
Now when you enter:          sayhi
Everyone will see you say:   Hi everyone!

What if you wanted to assign multiple commands to an alias? Easy! Just separate
the commands with the / character.

For instance:                setalias bye say goodbye/wave
Now when you enter:          bye
Everyone will see you:       Say goodbye, and then instantly wave.

Combat Targetting
-----------------
The SETTARGET command will set your sights on a particular target. You can
then use this information in your aliases. 

Setting your target also allows you to use many abilities without having to
specify what to attack. For instance, you may use SETTARGET RAT, then entering
KICK on its own will automatically attempt to kick a rat.

Let's say you want to use ml for maul. Here's how to accomplish this:
Set up the main alias:      SETALIAS ml maul &tar
Then define the target:     SETTARGET rat
Or change the target:       SETTARGET hyena
Or clear your target:       SETTARGET NONE

Every time you want to maul something else, just use a new SETTARGET to change
the value of your target 'tar.' 

Note that whenever you hit something new, we'll automatically change the target
for you, so that you can just keep hitting it without specifying the target. 

However, if you want to, for instance, have your target set generically as
'orc' you should use settarget, as otherwise hitting something will set your
target as the specific orc you hit, rather than any orc.

Of course, you can embed these targets in multiple-command aliases too.

Targets can be adventurers as well as denizens.

Limits on Aliases
-----------------
DON'T make alias names longer than 12 characters.
DON'T put spaces in alias names, though you can put numbers.


Problems with Aliases
---------------------
Many problems can come from badly done aliases. If you find that a command just
stops working for you, check your aliaslist (AL). Maybe you set up 'eat' or
'smoke' as an alias, then later tried to use the regular command and it got all
messed up.


Advanced Aliases
----------------
There is one more thing about aliases that could be useful.

For setup, try this:         SETALIAS s2 say to
To use it, type this:        s2 juliet Salutations, honoured Juliet!
Which means you'll do this:  say to juliet Salutations, honoured Juliet!

In other words, you can use your alias as part of a longer commmand, because
everything after the alias (in this case 's2') remains part of your command.

Aliases also support the use of arguments being inserted into the alias. To do
so, simply use the %1, %2, etc.

For setup, try this:         SETALIAS awesome say hey %1, %2 is awesome!
To use it, type this:        awesome {Sarapis} {Tecton}
Which means you'll do this:  say hey Sarapis, Tecton is awesome!

%0 may also optionally be used to match everything outside of the braces ({}).

Commands
--------
ALIAS LIST                               : Lists your aliases.
AL                                       : same as ALIAS LIST.

SETALIAS <alias name> <result>           : Makes a new alias.
/                                        : The character to separate commands
in an alias.

ALIAS CLEAR <alias name>                 : Clears an alias.
ALIAS ENABLE <alias name>                : Enable a disabled alias.
ALIAS DISABLE <alias name>               : Disable an enabled alias.

SETTARGET <text>                         : Set the "tar" variable. Use NONE to
clear
ST                                       : Same as SETTARGET.