Preliminaries

• What This Module Does - An overview of the values module's role and abilities.

Chapter 1: Configuration and Control

• Values Module - Setting up the use of this module.

Chapter 2: Specifications

In which the meanings of excerpts are systematically catalogued according to what they specify; a categorisation much broader than working out kinds of value, since it applies to a much broader range of excerpts than values.

• Specifications - To create, manage and compare specifications.

• RValues - Utility functions for specifications representing rvalues.

• Lvalues - Utility functions for specifications representing lvalues, that is, storage locations for values at run-time.

• Conditions - Utility functions for condition nodes.

• Descriptions - Description nodes represent text such as "even numbers", which can either define a set of values or a predicate on them.

• Dash - Dash is the part of Inform most nearly like a typechecker in a conventional compiler.

Chapter 3: Nouns

Nouns, mainly proper, and notations for constant values such as 10:03 AM, six, 34 kg, and so on.

• Literal Patterns - To manage the possible notations with which literal values can be written.

• Times of Day - To make a built-in kind of value for times of day, such as "11:22 AM".

• Using Excerpt Meanings - To register and deregister meanings for excerpts of text as nouns, adjectives, imperative phrases and other usages.

• Unicode Literals - To manage the names assigned to Unicode character values.

• Using Nametags - Nametags provide for a more contextual parsing of nouns, allowing them to be given in an inexact verbal form.

• Instances - To manage constant values of enumerated kinds, including kinds of object.

• Nonlocal Variables - To manage variables whose scope is wider than the current rule.

Chapter 4: The S-Parser

In which the S-parser is put to work: excerpts of several words at a time are assigned meanings, and compound statements formed of these are parsed, producing lists of possible interpretations.

• Introduction to Semantics - A general introduction to the S-parser and the data structures it makes use of.

• Architecture of the S-Parser - Top-level structure of the S-parser, which turns text into S-nodes.

• Parse Literals - To decide if an excerpt of text is a value referred to notationally rather than by name.

• Constants and Descriptions - To parse noun phrases in constant contexts, which specify values either explicitly or by describing them more or less vaguely.

• Type Expressions and Values - To parse two forms of noun: a noun phrase in a sentence, and a description of what text can be written in a given situation.

• Verbal and Relative Clauses - To break down an excerpt into NP and VP-like clauses, perhaps with a primary verb (to make a sentence), perhaps only a relative clause (to make a more complex NP).

• Conditions and Phrases - To parse the text of To... phrases, say phrases and conditions.

Chapter 5: Text Data

Text literals, which may be constant strings, or may be functions in order to implement substitutions.

• Text Literals - In this section we compile text constants.

• Text Substitutions - In this section we compile text with substitutions.

• Responses - In this section we keep track of response texts.

Chapter 6: List Data

List literals.

• List Constants - In this section we compile I6 arrays for constant lists arising from braced literals.

Chapter 7: Equations

Simple mathematical or scientific equations, which can be solved at run-time.

• Equations - To manage and compile equations, which relate numerical quantities.