LambdaMOO Editor Tutorial

version 1.1

For MOO Canada
September 1997
by Neil Fraser (aka Odo)

The editors on Lambda MOOs are not very friendly since they don't use cursor keys. However, they are absolutely essential for describing objects, sending mail, programming and editing text. This brief tutorial will show you how to use them. It is important to DO the tutorial, don't just READ it.

Describing an object:

Make an object (such as a $thing, a $room, or some generic). You probably already know how to use @describe to give it a short description, but you have to use an editor if you want a multi-line description. Type:
  @notedit <name of object>.description
The <name of object> can be me, here, an object #, or the name of a nearby object. Once you have typed this you are instantly moved into the editor. Add several lines of text to the description like this:
  "This is the first line of text;
  "this is the second.
  "You can add as many lines as you like,
  "just `say' the text and it will be added.
If you typed those lines, you should now have four lines of text in the object's description (in addition any description that the object already had). Type list to see the entire description.

Let's add a new line at the top. To do this, type p several times until you reach the top; p stands for previous. Then add your new line. Use n several times go to the bottom again; n stands for next. You can use p and n to move up and down the text and add text anywhere you want. Remember to type list frequently so you know what you have typed and where you are. You can probably figure out what save and quit do.

Sending mail:

Let's use the mail system to send a message to someone. Type:
@send <name of person or newsgroup>
If you don't want to send mail to anyone, send it to yourself; me. It will then ask you to type in a subject line. After you have done so, you are automatically moved into the mail editor. It is almost identicle to the noteditor. Use " to enter lines as you did before. Try deleting a line; use list to find out what the number of the line, and then type del 3 (or whatever the line number was). When you are done, you can either send the mail, or you can abort.

The `subst' command:

This is the most important command in the editors. @notedit something, or @send some mail so that you can experiment with this command. Once you are in an editor, type:
  "this line haaas a spelling mistake
We can fix the spelling mistake by typing:
  subst /haaas/does not have
What this does is it substitutes haaas with does not have. We can use the subst command to add a period to the end of the line. Try:
  subst /ake/ake.
Try to use subst to capitalize the first letter.

You now know the basic functions of the editors. There are lots of other cool features, you can learn about them by typing look while in the editors. Find out how to use the move, copy and : commands. Remember to use the help.

This tutorial is also available in a text-only version.