A beginners guide to Lsedit and using it in your descriptions
This page was imported from a forum post dated August 30, 2015 in the category World Building and Coding by Dylan Locke. Its content is likely to be out of date!
This post had 4 replies.
Sun, 08/30/2015 - 09:24
Players have expressed interest in using lsedit to describe their characters so I decided to make a quick 'how to' guide in using this program.
What IS lsedit?
Lsedit is short for 'List Edit'. It's a program that allows you to create multi paragraph list and is mostly used to describe rooms and characters. Unlike the regular '@desc me=' method of describing your character this allows you to use multiple paragraphs, page breaks, and go beyond the character limit on descriptions.
It can also let you have multiple descriptions on hand, so if your character wears both a uniform and civilian clothes (for example) you can easily switch between the two.
Starting lsedit
To use lsedit start with this code.
lsedit me='listname'
'lsedit me=' is the code to create a new list or access an existing list. Anything after the '=' sign will be the lists name. Tying the name of an existing lists name after 'lsedit me=' will pull up that existing list. List names can have spaces or special characters in them.
Executing this command will bring up the program and the user (you) will be met with a message like this:
< Welcome to the list editor. You can get help by entering '.h' >
< '.end' will exit and save the list. '.abort' will abort any changes. >
< To save changes to the list, and continue editing, use '.save' >
< Insert at line 1 >
It is important to note that anything you type from here on will be entered into the list as a paragraph or a command. If you want to exit without saving any changes type '.abort'. If you want to save changes and come back later type '.end' Depending on the device you are using you might be hit with an error message. If that happens add another period before each command. '..end' '..h' etc etc.
Lsedit commands
type '.h' and you will pull up this message.
MUFedit Help Screen. Arguments in [] are optional.
Any line not starting with a '.' is inserted at the current line.
Lines starting with '..', '."' , or '.:' are added with the '.' removed.
st = start line en = end line de = destination line -------
.end Exits the editor with the changes intact.
.abort Aborts the edit.
.h Displays this help screen.
.i [st] Changes the current line for insertion.
.l [st [en]] Lists the line(s) given. (if none, lists all.)
.p [st [en]] Like .l, except that it prints line numbers too.
.del [st [en]] Deletes the given lines, or the current one.
.edit st Edits the given line, REQUIRES TINY FUGUE, BUGGY.
.copy [st [en]]=de Copies the given range of lines to the dest.
.move [st [en]]=de Moves the given range of lines to the dest.
.find [st]=text Searches for the given text starting at line start.
.repl [st [en]]=/old/new Replaces old text with new in the given lines.
.join [st [en]] Joins together the lines given in the range.
.split [st]=text Splits given line into 2 lines. Splits after text
.left [st [en]] Aligns all the text to the left side of the screen.
.center [st [en]]=cols Centers the given lines for cols screenwidth.
.right [st [en]]=col Right justifies to column col.
.indent [st [en]]=cols Indents or undents text by cols characters
.format [st [en]]=cols Formats text nicely to cols columns.
.rem [discarded text] Allows 'discarded text' for remarks, not saved
Example line refs: $ = last line, . = curr line, ^ = first line. ----
12 15 (lines 12 to 15) 5 $ (line 5 to last line) ^+3 6 (lines 4 to 6)
.+2 $-3 (curr line + 2 to last line - 3) 5 +3 (line 5 to curr line + 3)
Ok, let's face it. That is pretty intimidating at first glance.
But don't worry, to make a description all you need is a hand full of the lines above.
Here is how you make a quick and easy description in lsedit.
Step 1 Copy and paste
Type out your description in a word document such as Microsoft word or really any other text editor.
Copy and paste your description into the game. If you are using the web site client to play you must copy and paste each paragraph separately.
step 2 Proof read
Type .p
This will show you what the list will look like.
If you find that you made an error it's easiest to simply delete the paragraph using '.del 'paragraph number Then type '.i 'paragraph number you just deleted then copy and paste the corrected paragraph. This is also useful for changing parts of your description later on, like if your character gets new clothes or scars etc etc.
type .p one more time to make sure everything is correct.
step 3 Save
type .end
And done.
Congrats! You created your very first list! Here is a break down of the codes I used.
.p .paragraph. You use this to see what work you have already made as the program does not automatically show you.
.del .delete. Used to delete a paragraph.
.i .insert. Choses which paragraph to insert your text into. If a paragraph with the same number already exists it will simply be moved down the line. For example paragraph 2 becomes paragraph 3 and so on and so forth.
Applying your description
Now you apply your description.
Type @desc me={list:'listname'}
if your list was called foxs new wardrobe you would type @desc me={list:foxs new wardrobe}
Then look at your character to see if it loaded correctly.
If you are hit with a 'list read error' then you probably entered the wrong list name or made a typo in the above code.
If you see a GUI ping message in your description this is an error caused by the web site client. As of now I am not aware of a way around that.
Tips and tricks
There is no actual limit on lsedit in terms of description size. As for me I like to use lsedit to help stream line my descriptions, focusing each paragraph on one aspect of my character.
Body
Clothing
Accessories
This also makes it easier to change aspects of your character later on. For example if you change clothes, get a scar, or gain / lose weight etc etc then you only need to change so much in your description.
You can also add page breaks to make your description easier to read.
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