The Line Editor

@editor opens an attribute in a line editor inside the game. You type the code one line at a time, list what you have, check it for mistakes, and save it when it is right. Nothing you type is run or evaluated while you edit, so brackets, percent signs and semicolons go in exactly as typed. It suits a builder writing a $-command or a function on an object from any MU* client.

You are	You want to	Read
A builder	open an attribute in the editor	Opening an attribute
A builder	add lines, and take back the last one	Adding lines
A builder	check your code before saving	Checking the draft
A builder	save, or leave without saving	Saving and leaving
A builder	follow one example from start to finish	Example: a bell that rings
Staff	install the editor	Running the editor

In the game, help @editor has the same commands in short form.

Note

SharpMUSH has three different things called an editor. This page is the in-game @editor command. The web portal has its own Softcode Editor at /softcode, a full-screen editor with tabs and highlighting; see The softcode editor. To write softcode in files in VS Code, Neovim or Emacs, see Softcode in Your Editor.

Opening an attribute

@editor <object>/<attribute> opens an attribute on an object you control. A new attribute, or one that is neither a command nor a function yet, needs =command or =function after it, so the editor knows how to check it:

> @editor Harbour Bell/CMD`RING
[EDITOR] Warning: Use =function or =command for a new or unflagged attribute.
> @editor Harbour Bell/CMD`RING=command
[EDITOR] The draft is empty.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit

The prompt names the attribute you are editing. Use =command for a $-command and =function for code you call with u(). Once the attribute is saved, it remembers which it is, and @editor <object>/<attribute> on its own opens it again with its lines listed.

Adding lines

Every line you type that is not one of the editor’s own commands is added to the end of the draft. .l lists the draft with line numbers:

> $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> @emit %n pulls the rope twice.;
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .l
  1: $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
  2: @emit %n pulls the rope twice.;
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit

.u takes back the last line you added. Typing .u again puts it back, so it undoes one line, not several.

A line that has to start with a dot starts with two instead: ..done adds the line .done.

The editor only adds lines at the end. To change a line further up, save and use @edit on the attribute, which replaces text wherever it is; the example shows one.

Tip

In a $-command, the lines are joined by line breaks, and a line break does not end a command. End each command with ;, as above, or start the next line with ;, or the next line becomes part of the one before it.

Checking the draft

.c checks the draft the way the game reads it, without saving. A mistake names its line and column, as .l numbers them:

> .c
[EDITOR] Warning: Line 3, column 33: "end of input"
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit

Once the mistake is gone, .c says so:

> .c
[EDITOR] Done: Syntax OK.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit

Saving checks the draft too, and refuses to save code with a mistake in it.

Saving and leaving

Type	To
.s	check and save, and keep editing
.sq	check, save and leave
.q	leave, when everything is saved
.q!	leave and throw away what is not saved
.h	list these

.q will not let you lose work by accident:

> .q
[EDITOR] Warning: There are unsaved changes. .sq saves and quits, .q! discards them.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .q!
[EDITOR] Editor closed.

If the save fails, because of a mistake in the code or for any other reason, .sq keeps you in the editor with your draft. The attribute on the object only changes when a save works.

The editor also refuses to save over someone else’s work. If the attribute is changed by anyone while you have it open, your save is refused and the attribute keeps their version:

> .sq
[EDITOR] Warning: FUN`TIDE or its syntax flag changed after the editor opened it. Not saved.
FUN`TIDE> .h help · .sq save and quit

.q! then leaves; open the attribute again to start from what is stored now.

The editor stays open until you leave it, even if you step away for an hour. If you ever need out at once, @input/cancel closes it and saves nothing:

> @input/cancel
Input session cancelled. Ordinary commands are available.

Logging out with the editor open also throws the draft away.

Example: a bell that rings

Fern builds a bell that anyone in the room can ring. A new object ignores $-commands until NO_COMMAND is taken off it:

> @create Harbour Bell
Created: Object #53.
> drop Harbour Bell
You drop Harbour Bell.
> @set Harbour Bell=!no_command
Harbour Bell - NO_COMMAND reset.

She opens a new command attribute and types the command, with a mistake in the last line, and checks it:

> @editor Harbour Bell/CMD`RING=command
[EDITOR] The draft is empty.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> @emit %n pulls the rope twice.;
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> @emit A gull lifts off the pier[
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .l
  1: $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
  2: @emit %n pulls the rope twice.;
  3: @emit A gull lifts off the pier[
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .c
[EDITOR] Warning: Line 3, column 33: "end of input"
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit

The stray [ opens something that never closes. She takes the line back, types it again, checks, and saves and leaves:

> .u
[EDITOR] Done: Undone.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .l
  1: $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
  2: @emit %n pulls the rope twice.;
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> @emit A gull lifts off the pier.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .c
[EDITOR] Done: Syntax OK.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .sq
Harbour Bell/CMD`RING - Set.
Harbour Bell/CMD`RING - cmdsyntax set.
Harbour Bell/CMD`RING - funsyntax reset.
[EDITOR] Done: CMD`RING saved.
flags: cmdsyntax
[EDITOR] Editor closed.
> ring bell
The harbour bell rings out across the water.
Fern pulls the rope twice.
A gull lifts off the pier.

The save marks the attribute as a command, which is how the editor knows next time.

Adding to it

Opening it again lists what is there. The last line has no ; after it, so the new line starts with one. .s saves and stays in the editor; .q then leaves, since nothing is unsaved:

> @editor Harbour Bell/CMD`RING
  1: $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
  2: @emit %n pulls the rope twice.;
  3: @emit A gull lifts off the pier.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> ;@emit The ferryman waves from the deck.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .s
Harbour Bell/CMD`RING - Set.
Harbour Bell/CMD`RING - cmdsyntax set.
Harbour Bell/CMD`RING - funsyntax reset.
[EDITOR] Done: CMD`RING saved.
flags: cmdsyntax
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .q
[EDITOR] Editor closed.
> ring bell
The harbour bell rings out across the water.
Fern pulls the rope twice.
A gull lifts off the pier.
The ferryman waves from the deck.

Leaving without saving

She starts another line, thinks better of it, and leaves with .q!. The attribute keeps the four lines she saved.

> @editor Harbour Bell/CMD`RING
  1: $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
  2: @emit %n pulls the rope twice.;
  3: @emit A gull lifts off the pier.
  4: ;@emit The ferryman waves from the deck.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> ;@emit Somebody shouts.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .q
[EDITOR] Warning: There are unsaved changes. .sq saves and quits, .q! discards them.
CMD`RING> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .q!
[EDITOR] Editor closed.

Changing an earlier line

The editor cannot reach line 2, so she changes it with @edit, outside the editor:

> @edit Harbour Bell/CMD`RING=twice,three times
CMD`RING - Set: $ring bell:@emit The harbour bell rings out across the water.;
@emit %n pulls the rope three times.;
@emit A gull lifts off the pier.
;@emit The ferryman waves from the deck.

A function

=function works the same way for code called with u(). A long call can be spread over lines, since the line breaks are part of the code:

> @editor Harbour Bell/FUN`TIDE=function
[EDITOR] The draft is empty.
FUN`TIDE> .h help · .sq save and quit
> switch(%0,high,The ferry can sail.,
FUN`TIDE> .h help · .sq save and quit
> low,The ferry waits for the tide.,
FUN`TIDE> .h help · .sq save and quit
> Nobody knows the tide.)
FUN`TIDE> .h help · .sq save and quit
> .sq
Harbour Bell/FUN`TIDE - Set.
Harbour Bell/FUN`TIDE - funsyntax set.
Harbour Bell/FUN`TIDE - cmdsyntax reset.
[EDITOR] Done: FUN`TIDE saved.
flags: cmdsyntax
[EDITOR] Editor closed.
> think u(Harbour Bell/FUN`TIDE,low)
The ferry waits for the tide.

Running the editor

The editor ships with the server as the softcode-editor package. A new game does not install it: the setup wizard offers it under Essentials, and an administrator can install it any time from Packages in the portal’s admin area. It needs no other package. See Softcode Packages for installing, upgrading and rolling back.

It adds @editor for everyone. Anyone can use it on an object they control, and the editor saves as the player, so their own permissions decide what they may set. It has no settings.

Ask builders to finish their editor sessions before staff upgrade, roll back or uninstall the package: an open editor is still using it.