mirror of
https://github.com/ganelson/inform.git
synced 2024-07-08 01:54:21 +03:00
206 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
206 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
# Inform 7
|
|
|
|
v10.1.0-alpha.1+6T56 'Krypton' (18 October 2021)
|
|
|
|
## About Inform 7
|
|
|
|
Inform 7 (April 2006-) is a programming language for creating interactive
|
|
fiction, using natural language syntax. Using natural language and drawing on
|
|
ideas from linguistics and from literate programming, Inform is widely
|
|
used as a medium for literary writing, as a prototyping tool in the games
|
|
industry, and in education, both at school and university level (where
|
|
Inform is often assigned material for courses on digital narrative).
|
|
It has several times ranked in the top 100 most influential programming
|
|
languages according to the TIOBE index.
|
|
|
|
The architecture is as follows. The "front end" of Inform7 turns natural
|
|
language source text into an intermediate representation called "Inter".
|
|
The "back end", which can also be compiled as an independent tool also
|
|
called Inter, performs code generation to turn inter into Inform 6 code.
|
|
Inform 6, the final form of the original Inform project (1993-2001), then
|
|
compiles this to a "story file" for one of two virtual machines, "Glulx"
|
|
or "the Z-machine". On a release compilation, a further tool called Inblorb
|
|
packages this up as a stand-alone website or download.
|
|
|
|
__Disclaimer__. Because this is a private repository (until the next public
|
|
release of Inform, when it will open), its GitHub pages server cannot be
|
|
enabled yet. As a result links marked ★ below lead only to raw HTML
|
|
source, not to served web pages. They can in the mean time be browsed offline
|
|
as static HTML files stored in "docs".
|
|
|
|
## Licence
|
|
|
|
Except as noted, copyright in material in this repository (the "Package") is
|
|
held by Graham Nelson (the "Author"), who retains copyright so that there is
|
|
a single point of reference. As from the first date of this repository
|
|
becoming public, the Package is placed under the [Artistic License 2.0](https://opensource.org/licenses/Artistic-2.0).
|
|
This is a highly permissive licence, used by Perl among other notable projects,
|
|
recognised by the Open Source Initiative as open and by the Free Software
|
|
Foundation as free in both senses.
|
|
|
|
For the avoidance of doubt, the Author makes the further grant that users of
|
|
the Package may make unlimited use of story files produced by the Package:
|
|
such story files are not derivative works of Inform and do not inherit the
|
|
Artistic License 2.0 as an obligation. (This further grant follows the
|
|
practice of projects like bison, which also copy substantial code into
|
|
their outputs.)
|
|
|
|
## Repositories
|
|
|
|
This is the "core repository", holding source code for the compiler, and
|
|
for everything needed to run it on the command line. However:
|
|
|
|
* To build and test the compiler you also need Inweb and Intest, programs
|
|
spun out from the Inform project. These are __not included in the core
|
|
repository either as submodules or copies__, and have their own repositories.
|
|
* [https://github.com/ganelson/inweb](https://github.com/ganelson/inweb), maintained by [Graham Nelson](https://github.com/ganelson)
|
|
* [https://github.com/ganelson/intest](https://github.com/ganelson/intest), maintained by [Graham Nelson](https://github.com/ganelson)
|
|
* Most Inform authors use Inform as an app: for example, it is available
|
|
on the Mac App Store. While much of the UI design is the same across all
|
|
platforms, each app has its own code in its own repository. See:
|
|
* [https://github.com/TobyLobster/Inform](https://github.com/TobyLobster/Inform) for MacOS, maintained by [Toby Nelson](https://github.com/TobyLobster)
|
|
* [https://github.com/DavidKinder/Windows-Inform7](https://github.com/DavidKinder/Windows-Inform7) for Windows, maintained by [David Kinder](https://github.com/DavidKinder)
|
|
* [https://github.com/ptomato/gnome-inform7](https://github.com/ptomato/gnome-inform7) for Linux, maintained by [Philip Chimento](https://github.com/ptomato)
|
|
|
|
## Build Instructions
|
|
|
|
Make a directory in which to work: let's call this "work". Then:
|
|
|
|
* Change the current directory to "work": "cd work"
|
|
* Build Inweb as "work/inweb": see its repository [here](https://github.com/ganelson/inweb)
|
|
* Build Intest as "work/intest": see its repository [here](https://github.com/ganelson/intest)
|
|
* Clone Inform as "work/inform": "git clone https://github.com/ganelson/inform.git"
|
|
* Change the current directory to this: "cd inform"
|
|
* Run a first-build script: "bash scripts/first.sh"
|
|
* Check executables have compiled: "inblorb/Tangled/inblorb -help"
|
|
* Run a single test case: "../intest/Tangled/intest inform7 -show Acidity".
|
|
|
|
If that passes, probably all is well. The definitive test is "make check",
|
|
which runs nearly 2000 cases through the executables, but takes 10 minutes
|
|
on an 8-core desktop and half an hour on a 4-core laptop (which will sound
|
|
something like a helicopter taking off).
|
|
|
|
## Inventory
|
|
|
|
**"I can't help feeling that if someone had asked me before the universe began
|
|
how it would turn out, I should have guessed something a bit less like an old
|
|
curiosity shop and a bit more like a formal French garden — an orderly
|
|
arrangement of straight avenues, circular walks, and geometrically shaped
|
|
trees and hedges."** (Michael Frayn)
|
|
|
|
Inform is not a single program, but an assemblage of programs and resources.
|
|
Some, including the inform7 compiler itself, are "literate programs", also
|
|
called "webs". The notation ★ marks these, and links are provided to
|
|
their human-readable forms. (This will be enabled when the repository
|
|
becomes public: GitHub Pages does not work on private repositories.)
|
|
|
|
### Resources for which this is the primary repository
|
|
|
|
This repository is where development is done on the following executables:
|
|
|
|
* inform7 - The core compiler in a natural-language design system for interactive fiction. - __10.1.0__ - [★ Web](docs/inform7/index.html) - [▶ Documentation](docs/inform7/M-cu.html)
|
|
* its modules [★ inflections](docs/inflections-module/index.html), [★ problems](docs/problems-module/index.html), [★ linguistics](docs/linguistics-module/index.html), [★ kinds](docs/kinds-module/index.html), [★ core](docs/core-module/index.html), [★ if](docs/if-module/index.html), [★ multimedia](docs/multimedia-module/index.html), [★ index](docs/index-module/index.html)
|
|
* their unit test executables [★ inflections-test](docs/inflections-test/index.html), [★ problems-test](docs/problems-test/index.html), [★ linguistics-test](docs/linguistics-test/index.html), [★ kinds-test](docs/kinds-test/index.html)
|
|
* inblorb - The packaging stage of the Inform 7 system, which releases a story file in the blorbed format. - __4__ - [★ Web](docs/inblorb/index.html) - [▶ Documentation](docs/inblorb/M-ui.html)
|
|
* inbuild - A simple build and package manager for the Inform tools. - __1__ - [★ Web](docs/inbuild/index.html) - [▶ Documentation](docs/inbuild/M-ui.html)
|
|
* its modules [★ inbuild](docs/inbuild-module/index.html), [★ arch](docs/arch-module/index.html), [★ html](docs/html-module/index.html), [★ words](docs/words-module/index.html), [★ syntax](docs/syntax-module/index.html)
|
|
* two unit test executables [★ words-test](docs/words-test/index.html), [★ syntax-test](docs/syntax-test/index.html)
|
|
* indoc - The documentation-formatter for the Inform 7 system. - __4__ - [★ Web](docs/indoc/index.html) - [▶ Documentation](docs/indoc/M-iti.html)
|
|
* inpolicy - A lint-like tool to check up on various policies used in Inform source code. - __1__ - [★ Web](docs/inpolicy/index.html) - [▶ Documentation](docs/inpolicy/M-ui.html)
|
|
* inrtps - A generator of HTML pages to show for run-time problem messages in Inform. - __2__ - [★ Web](docs/inrtps/index.html) - [▶ Documentation](docs/inrtps/M-ui.html)
|
|
* inter - For handling intermediate Inform code. - __1__ - [★ Web](docs/inter/index.html) - [▶ Documentation](docs/inter/M-ui.html)
|
|
* its modules [★ inter](docs/inter-module/index.html), [★ codegen](docs/codegen-module/index.html)
|
|
|
|
Two webs give detailed expositions of the most important built-in Inform extensions (at the subtree inform7/extensions):
|
|
|
|
* basic_inform - - ____ - [★ Web](docs/basic_inform/index.html)
|
|
* standard_rules - - ____ - [★ Web](docs/standard_rules/index.html)
|
|
|
|
This repository also contains kits of Inter code (at the subtree inform7/Internal/Inter). These are libraries of code needed at run-time, and whose source is written in Inform 6 notation:
|
|
|
|
* BasicInformKit - Support for Inform as a programming language - [★ Web](docs/BasicInformKit/index.html)
|
|
* WorldModelKit - Support for modelling space, time and actions in interactive fiction - [★ Web](docs/WorldModelKit/index.html)
|
|
* EnglishLanguageKit - Support for English as the natural language used - [★ Web](docs/EnglishLanguageKit/index.html)
|
|
* CommandParserKit - Support for parsing turn-by-turn commands in interactive fiction - [★ Web](docs/CommandParserKit/index.html)
|
|
* BasicInformExtrasKit - Additional support needed only if the Standard Rules are not used - [★ Web](docs/BasicInformExtrasKit/index.html)
|
|
|
|
The inform7 subtree further contains these primary resources:
|
|
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions - Libraries of code. Inform 7
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Basic Help Menu.i7x - ____
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Basic Screen Effects.i7x - __7/140425__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Complex Listing.i7x - __9__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Glulx Entry Points.i7x - __10/140425__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Glulx Image Centering.i7x - __4__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Glulx Text Effects.i7x - __5/140516__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Inanimate Listeners.i7x - ____
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Locksmith.i7x - __12__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Menus.i7x - __3__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Punctuation Removal.i7x - __5__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Emily Short/Skeleton Keys.i7x - ____
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Eric Eve/Epistemology.i7x - __9__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Graham Nelson/Approximate Metric Units.i7x - __1__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Graham Nelson/English Language.i7x - __1__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Graham Nelson/Metric Units.i7x - __2__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Graham Nelson/Rideable Vehicles.i7x - __3__
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Graham Nelson/Unicode Character Names.i7x - ____
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Extensions/Graham Nelson/Unicode Full Character Names.i7x - ____
|
|
* inform7/Internal/HTML - Files needed for generating extension documentation and the like
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Languages - Natural language definition bundles
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Templates - Template websites for Inform 7's 'release as a website' feature
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Templates/Classic - An older, plainer website - ____
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Templates/Standard - The default, more modern look - ____
|
|
|
|
The "resources" directory holds a number of non-executable items of use to the
|
|
Inform UI applications, and to Inform websites:
|
|
|
|
* Changes to Inform - A detailed change history of Inform 7. Ebook in Indoc format, stored at path resources/Changes.
|
|
* Writing with Inform and the Inform Recipe Book - The main Inform documentation, as seen in the apps, and in standalone Epubs. Ebook in Indoc format, stored at path resources/Documentation.
|
|
* resources/Outcome Pages - Inrtps uses these to generate HTML outcome pages (such as those showing Problem messages in the app)
|
|
* resources/Sample Projects - Two small interactive fictions, 'Disenchantment Bay' and 'Onyx', presented as samples in the app. Inform 7
|
|
|
|
Finally, the "retrospective" directory holds ANSI C source and resources needed
|
|
to build (some) previous versions of Inform 7. At present, this is only sketchily
|
|
put together.
|
|
|
|
### Resources copied here from elsewhere
|
|
|
|
Stable versions of the following are periodically copied into this repository,
|
|
but this is not where development on them is done, and no pull requests will
|
|
be accepted. (Note that these are not git submodules.)
|
|
|
|
* inform6 - The Inform 6 compiler (used by I7 as a code generator). - __1634__ - from [https://github.com/DavidKinder/Inform6], maintained by [David Kinder](https://github.com/DavidKinder)
|
|
* inform6/Tests/Assistants/dumb-frotz - A dumb-terminal Z-machine interpreter. - unversioned: modified from [Alembic Petrofsky's 1998 Teletype port of Frotz](https://github.com/sussman/ircbot-collection/tree/master/dumb-frotz)
|
|
* inform6/Tests/Assistants/dumb-glulx/glulxe - A dumb-terminal Glulx interpreter. - __0.5.4__ - [erkyrath/glulxe](https://github.com/erkyrath/glulxe), maintained by [Andrew Plotkin](https://github.com/erkyrath)
|
|
* inform6/Tests/Assistants/dumb-glulx/cheapglk - A basic Glk implementation to support dumb-glulxe. - __1.0.6.__ - [erkyrath/cheapglk](https://github.com/erkyrath/cheapglk), maintained by [Andrew Plotkin](https://github.com/erkyrath)
|
|
|
|
* inblorb/Tests/Assistants/blorblib - Code for examining blorb files, including blorbscan, used here for validating inblorb's output in tests. - version 1.0.2 - by [Andrew Plotkin](https://github.com/erkyrath), but not currently elsewhere on Github
|
|
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Templates - Template websites for Inform 7's 'release as a website' feature
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Templates/Parchment - Z-machine in Javascript - __Parchment for Inform 7 (2015-09-25)__ - from [https://github.com/curiousdannii/parchment], maintained by [Dannii Willis](https://github.com/curiousdannii)
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Templates/Quixe - Glulx in Javascript - __Quixe for Inform 7 (v. 2.1.2)__ - from [https://github.com/erkyrath/quixe], maintained by [Andrew Plotkin](https://github.com/erkyrath)
|
|
* inform7/Internal/Templates/Vorple - Multimedia in Javascript - __Vorple__ - from [https://github.com/vorple/inform7], maintained by [Juhana Leinonen](https://github.com/vorple)
|
|
|
|
### Binary resources (such as image files)
|
|
|
|
* resources/Imagery/app_images - icons for the Inform app and its many associated files, in MacOS format
|
|
* resources/Imagery/bg_images - background textures used in the Index generated by Inform
|
|
* resources/Imagery/doc_images - miscellaneous images needed by the documentation
|
|
* resources/Imagery/map_icons - images needed for the World pane of the Index generated by Inform
|
|
* resources/Imagery/outcome_images - images used on outcome pages
|
|
* resources/Imagery/scene_icons - images needed for the Scenes pane of the Index generated by Inform
|
|
* resources/Internal/Miscellany - default cover art, the Introduction to IF and Postcard PDFs
|
|
|
|
### Other files and folders in this repository
|
|
|
|
* docs - Woven forms of the webs, for serving by GitHub Pages (**not yet added**)
|
|
* scripts/gitignorescript.txt - Inweb uses this to generate the .gitignore file at the root of the repository
|
|
* scripts/makescript.txt - Inweb uses this to generate a makefile at the root of the repository
|
|
* scripts/READMEscript.txt - Inpolicy uses this to generate the README.md file for the repository
|
|
|
|
### Colophon
|
|
|
|
This README.mk file was generated automatically by Inweb, and should not
|
|
be edited. To make changes, edit scripts/READMEscript.txt and re-generate.
|
|
|