Index of /resources/clients/mcl
Table of contents
I wrote mcl because I needed a fast MUD client that had scroll back built in.
I hacked together a scroll back support for tintin, using less, but that
messed up when color codes were received and it was pretty slow to pipe the
saved data to less each time it was activated.
Also, tintin had a problem when a line was not received in one packet: it
would always change to a new line so long outputs looked very weird.
With embedded Perl and Python support, I am confident that mcl can do
everything tintin (and even most other clients) ever have done.
The fastest mode of operation is under a Virtual Console found under Linux.
However, since version 0.51.00, mcl supports normal TTY output to any
VT100/ANSI comptaible console - for example an Xterm. For best results,
use a black background and white foreground (e.g. xterm -bg black -fg white).
Sine mcl does not depend on /dev/vcsa anymore, it means it can run
under any Unix OS.
To compile, follow the steps in INSTALL. That is run:
./configure
make
make install
If you want the Perl scripting support, you need glibc as well as a libperl -
the latter should be in your standard Perl package.
Perl and Python support are compiled as shared object plugins, thus they
do not take up any memory unless you explicitly load them. Still, you can
disable them at configure time if you want (see the INSTALL file).
Move the 'mcl' binary to some location like /usr/local/bin. If you want
non-root users to use it in Virtual Console mode (Linux only), execute for
example:
chown root.tty mcl
chmod 2755 mcl
Or type 'make install'. NOTE: I've heard that later version of the 'login'
program automaticall change permissions on /dev/vcsa so that it is no longer
necessary for mcl to run as SETGID. Also, some versions of RedHat make
the devices writable by anyone.
This will make mcl be run as group 'tty' when it runs. This assumes that
your /dev/vcsa* files are owned by group tty though.
Make sure that /dev/vcsa* exist. If you want to run as non-root, make sure
they are owned by group tty and are writable by that group. If the files do
not exist, you'll have to create them:
mknod /dev/vcsa1 c 7 129
mknod /dev/vcsa2 c 7 130
etc. The vcsa devices should be available from Linux 1.1.92 onward.
If you are wondering, the vcsa devices allow direct access to the Virtual
Console Screens and Attributes (there is a set of vcs devices, which do the
same except they do not show attributes).
You must also move the plugin files to either /usr/local/lib/mcl/plugins/
or ~/.mcl/plugins/. Make install does that for you automatically too. The
compiled plugin files are in the subdirectory o/plugins/.
You probably also want to move the contents of the samples/ directory
distributed with mcl to ~/.mcl and consider which of the scripts in the
contrib/ subdirectory to autoload (i.e. move to the auto/ directory so
they are automatically loaded when mcl starts). If a file does not exist
in the ~/.mcl/ directory, mcl will try to load the script from
/usr/local/lib/mcl or /usr/lib/mcl.
This is somewhat slower. It's bearable in local XTerm, but may not be over
a telnet connection that is anything but a direct network connection.
mcl uses the two-byte Escape [ control code. If you use mcl from a terminal
that understands the CSI control code (which is one byte), you can try modifying
Screen.cc to use the shorter code (look for CSI in the file).
mcl tries to use a scrolling region whenever possible to scroll text. Since
the TTY Screen is at a much lower level than windows that scroll, it is done
via heuristics.
mcl uses terminfo to find keyboard combinations. There are some that are
still missing however, and I'm not sure they can be found using terminfo at
all.
Under xterm or under rxvt, mcl will modify the title bar of the xterm to
display connection state. If your terminal understands that escape
code (CSI 2 ; BEL) and mcl does not send it, you probably need to modify
Curses.cc and add that to the list of terms that are considered xterms.
If you have problems using Alt and another key under xterm, add the following
to your ~/.XDefaults file:
*XTerm*VT100.eightBitInput: false
For rxvt:
Rxvt*meta8: false
You need to set up the MUDs you connect to in the file ~/.mcl/mclrc. This is
best illustrated with an example:
MUD ar {
Host abandoned.org 4444
Commands Drylock;qwerty; ;
}
The first line defines a new MUD, "ar". It uses the C-like notation of
a block, started by { (which must be on the same line!) and ending on
} (which must be on a line by itself).
The configuration options inside that affect only that MUD.
Host: supplies hostname and portnumber of the MUD
Commands: Optional. Specifies what commands will be sent to the MUD
once a connection is established (you could put username/password in here).
Aliases, actions and macros you specify inside the MUD record will be valid
for that MUD only (and for any MUDs that inherit from this MUD) (see
later "MUD Inheritance" chapter).
You can specify other information in the configuration file - see the
"Options" chapter.
You can override the default resource filename by setting the environment
variable MCLRC to the absolute location (note that you cannot use ~ to
specify your home directory).
In addition, the embedded script use the file ~/.mcl/config.lang as a
place to store their configuration. (i.e. Perl writes to ~/.mcl/config.perl,
Python to ~/.mcl/config.python etc.)
Then run mcl, with the name of the MUD to connect to as parameter.
Connecting is asynchronous, so you can do other things in the client while
waiting. There isn't much to do though, but I thought counting down looked
nifty :)
The top line is a status line. Messages from the client appear up there. The
messages disappear after 5 seconds.
The bottom line is the input line. Most editing keywords you'd expect to
work work: arrow keys to edit the command line, arrow up to enter command
line history recall window. See "Keys" for a comprehensive list.
If the MUD you want to connect to is not one that is in the database, and
you do not wish it to be there, you can just specify hostname/port number
on the command like (eg. "mcl abandoned.org 4444").
If you leave out the MUD name on the command line, you will be able to
specify it while in the client by using Alt-O or #open.
After mcl starts up, it will load the "sys/init.pl" script file (see the file
doc/Embedded about embedded language support). You don't want to modify
that file - modify localinit.pl instead which is called within sys/init.pl.
There is a number of commands, that start with #, that are not send to the
MUD but rather interpreted by mcl. You can change the # character into something
else like / by using the commandcharacter option in the configuration file.
#open Connects to that MUD
#reopen Connects to the last MUD you connected to
#close Stops the current session
#quit Stops the session and leaves the program
#help Not very helpful
#exec Execute a command in a window
#echo Show something in the output window (do not send it)
#window Create a window
#print Print to a window created by #window
#clear Clear above window
#kill Kill a window created by #window
#send Send data to MUD, without newline
#bell Sound the bell
#status Change the status line to the argument given
#alias Remove an alias or add a new alias
#macro Add/remove/change a macro
#run Run the given embedded function (see the file doc/Embedded)
#eval Evaluate any embedded code, print result on screen
#load Load some embedded code from a file
#prompt Set the prompt (useful when you don't have GA/EOR)
#setinput Set the input line
#save Save the scrollback. Use the -c switch to save in color.
#writeconfig Save the configuration file, even if readonly option is set. If
parameter given, use that as a filename rather than the default
filename
#disable Disable/Enable one of: actions, aliases, speedwalk,
#enable and macros. This enables/disables ALL of those, not a single one.
#chat.* There is a number of commands that allow you to perform various
tasks related to the built-in peer-to-peer chat system of mcl
They are described in the file doc/Chat.
In addition, a line that starts with \ (which can be changed using the escapecharacter in
the configuration file) is sent as-is to the MUD.
Alt-O See a menu of MUDs. Return connects, E edits the
currently selected MUD's data. Alt-A shows the
aliases of that MUD.
Alt-C Same as #close
Alt-A Show currently active aliases. First the aliases for
this particular MUD are shown, the global aliases.
Alt-I Show currently active actions.
Alt-M Show currently active keyboard macros.
Alt-S Toggle network status window
Control-T Show timer window. Repeated ^T will change the
format of the window, then finally remove it
Alt-V Print version information
Alt-H Show active chat connections
Alt-Q Same as #quit
Alt-R Same as #reopen
Alt-T Restart. Reexecutes mcl. This feature is mainly
useful for development, but could be helpful if you
have a read-only config file which you want to
reread. You have to invoke mcl with the full path name
for this to work, or have it in your $PATH.
PageUp Scroll one half-page up in scroll back buffer
PageDown Scroll one half-page down
Arrow Up/Down In scroll back: scroll one line up/down
Outside: activate command history
Arrow Left/Right Move cursor left/right on the input line. New text
is inserted where the cursor is, pushing old text to
the right.
Control-A/Control-E Go to the beginning/end of the input line
Control-J Delete until the end of the line
Control-U Delete until the beginning of the line
Control-C Delete current line and insert into the command
history, but do NOT send it to the MUD. You can
later recall the command as usual.
Control-W Delete the word to the left
Delete Delete the character over the cursor
Backspace Delete the character to the left of the cursor
Home Go to the beginning of buffer
End Go to the end and leave scroll back mode
Pause Enter scroll back mode, but don't scroll anywhere
This is a toggle, pressing Pause again leaves it.
Escape Clear input line
Alt-/ Search through scrollback backwards from current
position
PageUp, PageDown, Home and Pause all enter scroll back mode if it is not
active already. Pressing PageDown or Arrow Down when at the end of
scrollback exits it.
You can type commands while in scroll back, though you will not see the
output.
Pressing Arrow Up will activate a command history window. In that window,
you can use arrow keys, PageUp/Down and Home/End to move. Typing any letter
will jump to the first line with that letter. Typing it again will jump to
the next line (the search wraps, so pressing 'a' on the last line with 'a'
will take you to the first line with 'a'). Pressing return selects that
line and executes the command, pressing Escape leaves the window and
pressing arrow-right selects the line, but does not execute it, so you can
do further editing on it.
If you don't like the command history window, you can disable it using the
historywindow option.
History is saved between sessions in the file ~/.mcl/history. This can be
disabled using the save_history option in .mclrc.
The scrollback buffer allocates memory for 10000 scrollback lines per
default. If you have a newer libc, the memory will not be allocated until
actually used (check the resident size on ps). Note that due due to the way
that previous scrollback is shifted when the scrollback buffer gets full,
it is not recommended to use more scrollback than physical memory in
the machine. Each 1000 lines of scrollback occupy 156 kilobyte of memory
(each 80 character wide line contains 80 characters and 80 attribute bytes).
Although mcl copies the entire screen each time it updates it, CPU usage
is much better than that of tintin; even with heavy input mcl does not go
above 0.2% CPU time of a 486dx4-100 (note that with many actions and
perl scripts active groping the mud output this may no longer be true ;)
The scrollback can be saved using the #save command.
Note that commands that are shorter than 5 characters are not saved in the
command history. This number can be changed using the -w option.
mcl understands the TELNET GA sequence. If you enable GA using config
+telnetga (or Prompt +telnetga on AR), mcl will snarf a prompt when it
appears and place it in the input line. It will start at the GA sequence and
go back until it finds a newline. Mcl also understands the telnet EOR
sequence, behaving in the same way as it does for the GA sequence.
You might want to change your MUD code so that the TELNET GA is sent in more
places than just the normal prompt, e.g. send it after the pager prompt and
after asking someone about their password.
Color is stripped from the prompt. Also, mcl resets the color to default
after receving a prompt, to avoid color bleeding.
Like tinyfuge, mcl responds to a IAC WILL EOR request from a MUD by sending
IAC DO EOR back. This will typically enable TELNET GA.
The option "showprompt" controls whether the prompt is also echoed in the main
window.
If your MUD does not send the GA/EOR sequence, you can try extracting
the prompt yourself. See the file contrib/dumbprompt.pl file.
Using Alt-S (or by setting autostatwindow) you can bring up a network
connection status window in the upper right corner of the screen. This
feature was provided by Oliver Jowett, which is the only one that knows
what those numbers REALLY mean: :)
The network status monitor looks at one of the /proc pseudo-files to get
information about the internal state of the connection to the mud. Four
values are displayed:
transmit queue receive queue timer/retransmit count
Transmit queue: This is how many characters have been sent by mcl,
but are yet to reach the mud.
Receive queue: This is how many characters have been sent by the mud,
but are yet to be processed by mcl. This should always be 0.
The next two values require a small explanation of how TCP works when the
network begins to fail. The kernel sends a packet to the mud containing
your command. It then waits for confirmation from the mud that it has
been received correctly. If the command packet goes missing, then the
kernel will time out and resend the packet. How long it takes to resend
the packet increases after each loss, until it's waiting 120s between
retransmits.
Timer: This is how long the kernel will wait before sending the
command again.
Retransmit count: This is how many times the kernel has already resent
this packet without the mud confirming that it has
received it.
If the 'timer' field gets high, then you may be better off disconnecting
and reconnecting, rather than wait out the lag.
On the far left side of the timer a window, a C will appear if your
connection to the MUD is compressed.
Beneath the Network Status and timer window is the input/output bytes
window. This counts the amount of bytes sent from the MUD to you (number
before the slash) and the amount of bytes received sent from you to the
MUD (number after the slash). k and m denote kilo and megabytes.
mcl [options] [mud alias]
Each of the options can be specified on the command line as well as in the
configuration file. The command line options override those in the
configuration file. The default value is supplied in parens.
histwordsize -w Minimum number of characters a command must have to
qualify for saving in history (5)
scrollback -l Number of lines in the scrollback buffer (10000)
histsize -H Number of history lines saved
showprompt -s Should the full prompt be shown in output screen?
echoinput -e Should your input be echoed in the output screen?
beep -b Beep on error. 0 disables it, 1-10 changes
frequency.
readonly -r Don't auto save the configuration file
nodefaults When saving the configuration file, do not save
options the value of which is default
historywindow -W Number of lines in the history window. If 0, the
old way of history cycling is used.
tabsize -T How much space is there between tab stops?
mudbeep -B Should beeps from the MUD be honored? If 0, they
are ignored (this does not affect the "beep"
setting)
statcolor Color of the connection status window (see
"Color values")
inputcolor Color of the input line
statuscolor Color of the status line
autostatwin Automatically bring up the stat window
speedwalk Enable/disable speedwalk
speedwalk_character What character forces the rest of the string to
be considered a speedwalk. Default is '.'
timercolor Color of the clock/timer window
autotimerwin Automatically bring up the timer window
timerstate Select default timer state (0 = full clock and
timer, 1 = clock, full timer, 2 = clock, timer,
3 = full clock, 4 = clock, 5 = full timer,
6 = timer)
save_history Save input line history between sessions in the
file ~/.mcl/history ? (0 or 1, default: 1)
borg Should mcl connect to a a central place
(abandoned.org) on startup and check for a new
client version? If this option is set, mcl will
also report some statistics to that place (e.g.
time used, bytes sent/written). This is used for
just that, statistics shown on the mcl page,
but if it bothers you, turn it off.
borg_verbose Should mcl display more information gained from
the central place than just if a new version has
appeared? This information could be typically:
how many other mcl users are using mcl currently,
how much total time has been spent in mcl etc.
interp_debug -D 0 or 1 - controls whether those @@ Loading
messages appear.
copyover 0 or 1. Use the new "hot" restart of mcl
where the descriptor is not closed.
multiinput 0 or 1 - do you want the input line that grows
as text is typed into it?
snarf_prompt Change the prompt when a new once is received
expand_semicolon Usually the ; character (used to execute multiple
commands) is honored only inside aliases. When
this option is set to 1, it is also honored on
the command line. Use \; to escape the character.
plugins -p What plugins to load? This decides whether you will
use Perl or Python for scripting. Default is perl.
If you have multiple plugins, seperate the names
by commas.
commandcharacter Change the leading character from # to something
else (described in detail later)
escapecharacter Change the escape character that can be used at
the beginning of line (default: \) to something
else
-x This option executes the command following it
when mcl starts up. It can be specified multiple
times.
mcl will write the configuration file when you quit it, including all the
options, so it might be easier just to start mcl up once then quit, and edit
the ~/.mcl/mclrc file. Note that the modified-time of the configuration file
is saved when it is loaded: when mcl exits, it verifies that the file has not
been changed since it was loaded before writing.
Options pertaining to the Chat subsystem are descriged in the file doc/Chat.
Following values can be used for the color settings:
Color Normal Bold
----- ------ ----
Black 0 8
Blue 1 9
Green 2 A
Cyan 3 B
Red 4 C
Magenta 5 D
Yellow 6 E
White 7 F
The first hex digit is the background color, the second foreground. Remember
to prefix the number with 0x! For example:
statcolor=0x03
will make the window black, with cyan numbers. 0x3E would give a cyan
background, and bright yellow numbers. Note that the bold code can be used
only in the foreground: if set in background, it will cause blinking.
mcl supports aliases since version 0.41.2. Aliases are typically added by
hand to the mclrc configuration file. Aliases placed outside of any MUD
definitions become global aliases; available in any MUD session. Aliases
placed just inside a MUD {} section are local to that MUD. An alias is defined
as follows:
Alias
Alias name is one string of characters. If that word is encountered first on
a command line, it is replaced with the part. A few characters
have special meaning: ; is replaced with a newline, allowing for multiple
commands to be executed. % allows for argument expansion. %0 means all
arguments following the command, %n means exactly the nth argument. %-n
means arguments from 1 to the nth, and %+n arguments n and whatever follows.
The %+n notation is useful for commands that take a word and a string as
parameter, e.g.:
Alias tell say I told %+2 to %1; tell %1 %+2
You can view currently active aliases by using Alt-A. You can view aliases for
a specific MUD by using Alt-O to list all MUDs, then pressing Alt-A while
selecting a MUD.
You can use #commands in aliases, as well as other aliases.
You can also define addition global aliases on the fly while in mcl, using
the #alias command, which works exactly like Alias in the configuratino file.
If you use an non-alphanumeric character as alias name (e.g. one of .$!@%^&)
you can use that alias without putting a space after it (I like to alias
% to #eval for example, so I can do %2**42 to find out what 2 to the 42nd
power is...)
Certain codes in the form of % followed by a letter have a special meaning.
They can be used just about everywhere.
Letter Function
h Hostname of the MUD you are currently connected to
p Remote port of current session
P Local port of current session
n Name of the current session
f mudFTP port of current session (%p + 6)
H Hour, 00-23
m Minute, 00-59
M Abbreviated month name (Jan, Feb)
w Abbreviated weekday name (Mon, Sun)
t Full date and time
d Day of the month
y Year (two last digits)
Y Year (all digits)
o Month number (01 - 12)
% % itself
Since 0.42, triggers and substitutes are possible using regular expressions.
I will not tell you much about regular expressions here: any UNIX book
will cover them in-depth. You must have Perl support enabled to use this
feature - mcl will use Perl's excellent regexp library (see man perlre).
The syntax is as follows:
Action "regular expression" command
Like in aliases, you can use ; to execute multiple commands. In command,
you can use $1 and up to paste in subexpressions matched, and $0 to paste in
the whole string. Note that the string that is checked against the regular
expression has all color stripped from it to make things easier.
Trivial example:
Action "^(.*) tells you '(.*)'" #print tells %m:%H $1: $2
This will log tells you receive into the window 'tells' and then possibly
to a file.
Substitutions much like this, except that the entire text matched is
replaced. E.g.:
Subst "Drylock" Drylock (the maker of this great program!)
Subst "fido" Bless (+hitroll/-ac)
Like with Action, you can use $1..$9 to copy in subexpressions matched.
Subst "^(.*) tells you '(.*)'" Telepathic message from $1: $2
You can also specify a Perl function to be called, by using #run. E.g.
Subst "Testing" #run TestOutput
will run TestOutput and assign the value of $_ after TestOutput runs to
the part of the string that was "Testing".
To gag a line complete, replace the whole line with nothing. E.g.
Subst ".*You feel hungry.*"
See the doc/Examples file for more examples.
You can view the currently defined aliases/substitutes using Alt-I. Substitutes
have star to the far left.
Like aliases, you can define actions either outside any MUD definitions (in
which case they are always active) or inside a MUD definitions.
Since version 0.42, mcl allows non-interactive execution of programs using
the #exec command. Simply typing #exec followed by the command (e.g.
#exec uptime) will bring up the window with the results of that command.
mcl does not wait until the command finishes: rather, as new input from
the command arrives, it is shown. If no new input arrives for 10 seconds,
the window is hidden.
This feature is primarily intended for execution of the Java mudFTP client,
but can be useful for other things, for example running a traceroute.
The #exec command defaults to making a window of 80x10 characters at the
position 0,3. The window will be hidden 10 seconds after output arrives.
The options -h, -w, -x, -y and -t control change of those options, e.g.:
#exec -w80 -h40 -x0 -y0 -t10 finger
would make a window that was almost covering the whole screen, and would
disappear after 10 seconds.
There are a number of options that can be used as arguments to the #exec test:
%h Host of the remote MUD you are connected to
%p Remote port
%P Local port
%n MUD name
%f Remote ftp port (equals %p + 6)
For the Java mudFTP client, it's probably most useful to use something like this:
#exec -w40 -h6 -x39 -y3 -t5 java %h %f drylock qwerty edit.sh
Where edit.sh contains:
#!/bin/sh
open -w -s $EDITOR $@
chvt 1
i.e. run the editor (make sure you set the EDITOR variable to something useful)
with whatever parameters it will be called with, and when it's finished,
switch to VT 1 (or whatever VT you usually use for MUD sessions).
The 'open' command will find a free VT to run the $EDITOR on, switch to it (-s)
and then wait (-w) for completion.
Note that number in square brackets (e.g. [1]) in the title bar of the window:
using the key combination alt-digit (e.g. alt-1) you can bring the window
to the foreground when it is hidden.
#window is another new feature introduced in mcl 0.42. It allows you to
create a named window that pops up on the screen. This window can then
be written to using the #print command. Like the #exec window, the #window
disappears after a certain amount of inactivity, and reappears once new input
to it arrives.
#window takes many of the parameters that #exec takes: -w, -h, -x, -y control
width, height and placement. -t controls timeout. -L allows attachment of a
log file to the window. -H is a switch taking no parameters which will make
the window stay hidden (and only appear when you explicitly use alt-digit
to bring it up). -B removes border from the window. -c controls background
color (see section "Color Values").
After the parameters, the name of the window should appear. E.g.:
#window -H -w80 -x0 -y4 -h25 -L/home/root/mud/logs/%n-tells tells
Will create a 80x25 window (assuming you have a 80x50 screen), placed at 0,4.
The window will use /home/root/mud/logs/%n-tells as a log file - the %n
will be replaced by the name of the current session. The window will be
called "tells" and will stay hidden.
Then, you can print to the window using #print:
#print tells Joe told me this and that!
See file doc/Examples for examples.
You can also clear the contents of one of those windows using #clear.
You can define keyboard macros by using the line:
Macro
anywhere in the mclrc configuration file. This string is executed as if
you typed an alias that resulted in this command, i.e. ; seperates multiple
commands and aliases in the macro are also expanded.
Macros are expanded after the windowing system has had a shot on the key, so
you cannot override keys that have meaning like 'alt_q'.
Example:
Macro alt_b boa
Will send 'boa\n' to the MUD each time you press Alt-B.
Here is some useful macros I use (which set the keypad keys to send
N/S/E/W/U/D and the middle key, to execute the "Exits" command):
Macro kp_8 n
Macro kp_2 s
Macro kp_4 w
Macro kp_6 e
Macro kp_9 u
Macro kp_3 d
Macro kp_5 exits
Here is a (perhaps incomplete) list of keys. Look in tty.c for an updated
list:
alt_ alt_slash alt_
ctrl_
page_up page_down end home insert delete pause escape
kp_ (keypad keys) kp_numlock kp_divide kp_multi kp_minus
kp_plus kp_minus kp_delete
f<1 to 12>
Note that some control keys may not be available (e.g. Control-H cannot be
overridden since it does the same thing as backspace).
Like actions and aliases, macros can (since 0.52.01) be specified either
inside a MUD definition, making them work on that MUD only, or outside,
making them global.
Standard tintin speedwalk is supported. It can be used both on the command
line as well as inside aliases. A speedwalk command is define as one that
contains nothing but letters nsewud and digits. E.g. "nseeew" will expand to
n , s , e etc. n14es will expand to n, then 14
times e followed by a return each, then s followed by a return.
You can disable speedwalk using the speedwalk configuration option, or
online using the #disable speedwalk/#enable speedwalk commands.
If you start a command with . and follow it immediately afterwards with
a set of extended speedwalk letters, it will also be considered a speedwalk.
Extended speedwalk is normal speedwalk, but you can also use characters h for nw,
j for ne, k for sw and l for se. This option is not enabled in default speedwalk
so that it does not clash with any aliases you might have -- with it on,
something like "kn" would be considered a speedwalk.
Note that the . notation works even if you turn off speedwalk. You can change
the . character by using the speedwalk_character option in the configuration file.
Mcl's internal commands are prefixed with the # character by default, for
example '#open', '#quit', etc. If you wish to use another character as the
command character then add/edit the following line in the .mclrc file.
commandcharacter=#
Replace the '#' with the character you want the internal commands prefixed
with. For example:
commandcharacter=*
The '#quit' command will now be '*quit' and the same for the other internal
commands.
Since 0.52.01, MUDs can inherit other MUDs' alias, action, macro and
hostname/port settings. You could for example, set up a MUD that
contains aliases common to all your characters on this MUD:
MUD AbandonedReality {
Host abandoned.org 4444
Alias td tell drylock %0
}
Then each of your characters would inherit these aliases and the hostname:
MUD bob {
Inherit AbandonedReality
Commands bob;bobpassword
}
Say that you have 10 such characters; now if the hostname of Abandoned
Reality were to change, you need to change it only in one place. If you
want to add a new alias, action or macro that is only relevant for all
your character on Abandoned Reality, you need to add it only in this
one place.
There is no limit for how many levels of inheritances can be done, so one
could imagine that AbandonedReality could inherit from a "Diku" MUD
which contains aliases common to DikuMUDs, and that you perhaps have another
"MOO" MUD which is a basic alias setup for everything MOO.
Since 0.52.02, mcl has a chat system compatible with that of MudMaster and
zChat. See the file doc/Chat for more information such as commands and
configuration options.
The document covers only the built-in commands of mcl. Through the embedded
Perl support, it's possible to achieve incredible customization of mcl.
Commands and features that are available through those means are described in
the file doc/Modules.
mcl is under GPL. Read the file COPYING. Mail me if you use it, have ideas,
discover features etc.
Perl is under the Artistic license. You might have received a binary of
mcl with the Perl library statically linked in. Perl is the product of
Larry Wall and many others.
Thanks to Oliver 'Nemon@AR' Jowett for
debugging and enhancing the C version.
To Rodrigo Parra Novo for packaging up RPMs and creating the autoconf script.
To Patrick Horner for contributed the Python embedded code.
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