The JACL Author's Guide
Description: Documentation for the JACL Adventure Creation Language.
Keywords: JACL,tutorial,programming,programmers,guide,manual,documention,instructions

# Glossary

association | A function is said to be associated with the nearest object or location that is defined above it in the game file. An underscore and the label of the item it is associated with is appended to the function name specified in the code to form the function's full internal name.
attribute | An attribute is a boolean value, or flag, that can be set on or off (using the ensure command) for any given item.
child | An object is said to be a child of whichever other item its parent element is currently set to. This indicates that the child object is somehow contained within or possessed by the parent item.
command | A command is one of the basic actions that can be performed within a function.
container | A container is any expression that can have its value set to an integer. These are item elements, item pointers and integer variables.
current location | The current location is whichever location the parent element of the object representing the player is set to. The object that represents the current player is specified by the current value of the object pointer player.
directive | A directive is a setting that may be placed in the interpreter's configuration file.
element | An element is any of the properties of an item that can be set to hold an integer value.
expression | An expression is a group of three parameters that may be used with an if command. All expressions evaluate to either true or false.
filter | A filter is any word that has been specified to be removed from the player's move before it is processed by the interpreter.
full internal name | If a function's name begins with a plus sign, it is global and the name specified in the code will also be its full internal name. If not, the name that appears after a function's opening curly brace, followed by an underscore then the label of the item that the function is associated with will be its full internal name.
grammar | A grammar statement is the definition of a command construct that may be used by the player during the game and the function that should be called when that move is made.
grand parent | The grand parent of an object is the last object in the chain of possession. For example, if a coin is inside a purse that is in turn inside a bag, the bag is said to be the grand parent of the coin, while the purse is its parent.
integer | An integer is a 32 bit signed whole number. It can range between -2147483648 and 2147483647.
item | Item is the group term for objects and locations.
keyword | Keywords are any of the terms that define the nine basic data elements in a game. They are object, location, filter, synonym, variable, grammar, constant, string and parameter.
label | A label is the internal name given to an object, location or variable. No two labels can be the same.
location | A location is an item that the player may be inside. All locations have the attribute LOCATION and are defined using the keyword location.
name | All items must have one or more names. These are the names that the player may use to refer to that item during the course of the game.
object | An object is an item that represents any aspect of the game that the player must be able to refer to, but not be inside.
parameter | The term parameter refers to one of two things. Firstly a parameter is any information that follows a JACL command, keyword or property. If multiple parameters are specified, they must be separated by white space.
parent | An object's parent is the item that it is currently inside or possessed by. The parent of the object that represents the player is the location they are currently in.
pointer | A pointer is a special type of variable that may be used anywhere an item label can be. When used, it will be substituted for the label of the item that it is currently set to.
indefinite article | An indefinite article is used before singular nouns that refer to any member of a group. In English these are a or an. An item's indefinite article is defined using the first parameter of a short property. This article will be displayed when using a {list} macro.
definite article | A definite article is used before singular nouns that refer to a particular member of a group. In English this is the. An item's indefinite article defaults to the unless otherwise specified by supplying a definite property. This article will be displayed when using a {the} macro.
property | A property is one of the elements of an object or location that can be defined at start-up.
scope | Scope describes the position of an object relative to the player. The scope indicators are *present, *here, *held and *anywhere.
statement | A statement is a command, keyword or property along with all of its parameters.
synonym | A synonym is any word that has been specified to be swapped for another word in all moves typed by the player.
value | A value is an integer, or anything that resolves to an integer such as: an object label, an object element, an object pointer, a variable, true (1), false (0), scenery (100), heavy(99), nowhere (0), lines (the number of lines the screen can display) or random. For more information on constants and random see the chapter on Internals.
white space | White space is any tab, space, comma or colon that occurs outside double quotes

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