standin()

standin()

standin(<text>, <stand-in>)

Returns <text>, sent as <stand-in> to a client that cannot show it. A client that is not sent UTF-8 gets each character it cannot show as the nearest one it can (see CHARSET), and a picture character such as an emoji becomes ??. standin() says what to send instead, for this text only.

<stand-in> replaces the whole of <text> when any character in it would be replaced, and comes before the game’s @ASCII table. A client that shows all of <text> gets <text>, so a Latin-1 client keeps an accented letter. <stand-in> is plain ASCII, or empty to leave <text> out; anything else returns #-1 INVALID ARGUMENT. A table or a box lays the stand-in out at its own width, so columns stay lined up.

• [standin() examples]: a pinned mark, and a check mark

::: seealso

• CHARSET
• @ASCII
• STRIPACCENTS() :::

Examples

> think standin(chr(128204),P) Rules for new players

Output: a UTF-8 client sees a pin emoji before Rules for new players, and an ASCII client sees P Rules for new players.

> think standin([chr(10003)] done,\[x\] done)

Output: a check mark and done for a UTF-8 client, and [x] done for an ASCII one, where the built-in stand-ins would send + done.