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44 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
44 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
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Title: Extensions and Kits
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Author: Graham Nelson
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Purpose: A documentation page.
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Language: C
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@ The middle phase of the Inform 7 compiler turns source text into a low-level
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abstract program in a format called inter. The final phase merges this with
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pre-compiled inter libraries which do not come from source text. Those
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libraries are called "kits".
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Every source text needs a kit called |BasicInformKit|, and a kit associated
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with the natural language it will eventually read or write, such as
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|EnglishLanguageKit|; but then one of two things can happen:
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(a) If the user explicitly declares other kits to use, those are used;
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(b) Otherwise, |WorldModelKit| and |CommandParserKit| are used;
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(c) If neither |WorldModelKit| nor |CommandParserKit| is used, then
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|BasicInformExtras| is used.
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In effect, Inform by default assumes it is making an interactive fiction
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of some kind, and must be explicitly told if it's to make a "basic" program
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with no world model or command parser.
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Each kit is a web. Inter code is highly verbose, very low-level and not at
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all legible, so these webs do not contain textual Inter code: instead, they
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are written in Inform 6 syntax. The |inter| tool then converts these to
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binary inter code in a process called "assimilation". This means that to
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create or edit kits, you need to be able to write Inform 6 code, but it's a
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simple C-like language to learn, especially if all you're doing is writing
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functions.
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@ An "extension" is a supplementary piece of Inform 7 source text. Inform
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programs sometimes explicitly ask for these, with sentences like so:
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>> Include Locksmith by Emily Short.
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But their presence can also be implicitly required by the use of certain kits.
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For example, if |BasicInformKit| is used (and it always is), then the
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extension Basic Inform by Graham Nelson is auto-included. Similarly, use of
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either |WorldModelKit| or |StandardRulesKit| mandates the inclusion of the
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Standard Rules for interactive fiction.
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The Inform GUI apps come with numerous other built-in extensions besides these
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two, but all are smaller and easier to read, and they are not provided as webs.
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