doc/parent-rooms 8/6/95 (created 5/29/95) .. PARENT ROOMS on HoloMuck .. [Note: this document uses single quotes ('') to refer to commands you type, and double quotes ("") for all other quoted phrases.] .. You should type the command 'jtHELP ch7' if you wish to see additional information on the nuts and bolts (so to speak) of parent rooms. THIS document is intended to provide (1) the basics of the concept of "parenting", (2) how it applies to HoloMuck specifically. .. (1) PARENT ROOMS: THE BASIC CONCEPTS AND COMMANDS .. Every room on a muck has a "parent room" which "contains" it. Under normal circumstances, parent rooms are not like normal muck rooms (the kind you can "walk into"), they are used *only* to contain their "child rooms". .. To see the parent room of the room you're standing in, you can type the command 'par', which will show you a display such as: .. Information for: #1220 Paul's Pad (10-10) Parent Room (or Location): #31402 Tanstaafl Towers 10th Floor Parent .. Parent rooms often have parents themselves. To see the entire hierarchy of parent rooms containing the room you're standing in, type '@trace here' and you will see something like: .. Paul's Pad (10-10)(#1220Ra) Tanstaafl Towers 10th Floor Parent(#31402Ra) Tanstaafl Towers Parent(#461Ra) Tanstaafl City (Tanstaafl Central Zone) Parent(#443Ra) Tanstaafl County RP(#27Ra) East Regions (Super-region Parent)(#3336Ra) Planet Holo: Northern Hemisphere (Parent)(#1833Ra) **Inaccessible** ***End of List*** .. The room you're standing in appears at the top of the list; in this case, it's room #1220. That room is parented to Tanstaafl Towers 10th Floor Parent(#31402Ra), which is in turn parented to Tanstaafl Towers Parent (#461a), and so forth. (By the way, the item "**Inaccessible**" refers to room #0, which is always the "topmost" room and which is not visible to ordinary players.) .. Parent rooms are useful for at least two reasons: (a) to create "environments" within which a particular action works for all the "child" rooms (for example, the command 'county map' works anywhere in Tanstaafl county), (b) to help keep track of rooms by indicating "what's where", "who owns what", etc. .. Note that, under normal circumstances, all new rooms you @dig will be correctly parented, so you don't have to worry about any of this information. However, sometimes, due to an error by a player, chancellor, or program, a room gets "misparented". The two most common errors are (a) rooms that are parented to #0, and (b) rooms that are parented to the-room-you're-standing-in-when-you-type- the-'@dig'-command. .. Concerning rooms that are parented to #0... if you type '0-stuff', you can find out if any of your rooms are misparented to room #0. .. Concerning rooms that are parented to the-room-you're-standing-in- when-you-type-the-'@dig'-command... when you give an '@dig ' command, under normal circumstances you should NOT indicate a parent ('= '); instead, just let the default parent be used. The default parent for the new room is the same parent as the parent-of- the-room-you're-standing-in, which is nearly always what you want. .. If, in either case, you find that (for example) room #12345 is misparented, when it should be parented to (for example) Tanstaafl Towers Tenth Floor Parent(#31402Ra), you can fix the problem by typing '@tel #12345 = #31402'. (The parent room selected must either be (a) owned by you, or (b) @set 'a'bode.) .. If you have a misparented room but are not sure what the "correct" parent room should be, (a) try 'par' or '@trace here' in nearby rooms to get a hint, (b) keep reading this document for further information, and/or (c) ask a chancellor or royal, if you still need help. .. 2. PARENT ROOMS ON HOLOMUCK .. HoloMuck uses a particular hierarchy of rooms to keep track of locations. In keeping with the philosophy that rooms on HoloMuck should be arranged in spatially "realistic" ways, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR ROOMS ARE PROPERLY PARENTED to the correct "geographical parent"! (Some people like to have all their rooms held in a "personal parent room"; that is fine, but in those cases your personal parent should then be parented to the most specific appropriate geographical parent.) .. The "topmost" parent rooms in the HoloMuck hierarchy are (as of this writing): .. Off-World Parent(#25147Ra Radagast) Planet Holo: Northern Hemisphere (Parent)(#1833Ra Snark) .. On Planet Holo, the hierarchy splits further, as in accordance with the following chart (which certainly does not show *all* the existing Parent rooms, but does show some main ones): .. Planet Holo: Northern Hemisphere (Parent)(#1833Ra ) Central Regions (Super-region Parent)(#6063Ra ) West Regions (Super-region Parent)(#8502Ra ) Mystic Ocean (Super-region Parent)(#8636Ra ) East Regions (Super-region Parent)(#3336Ra ) Lamplighter's Forest RP(#2150Ra Lamplighter) Snark Forest RP(#2652Ra ) Cloud City (41N 60E, above Snark Forest) RP(#24644Rja Darwin) Tanstaafl County RP(#27Ra ) Tanstaafl City (Tanstaafl Central Zone) Parent(#443Ra ) Tanstaafl Towers Parent(#461Ra ) Tanstaafl Towers 1st Floor Parent(#29403a ) .. Tanstaafl Towers 10th Floor Parent(#31402a ) Waterfront (Tanstaafl Eastside Zone) Parent(#463Ra ) Waterfront Towers Parent(#8880Ra ) Arbor Lakes (Tanstaafl Northside Zone) Parent(#466Ra ) Compromise Commons Parent(#11808Ra ) West Tanstaafl (Tanstaafl Westside Zone) Parent(#465Ra ) Southfield (Tanstaafl Southside Zone) Parent(#467Rja ) .. If you have questions about HoloMuck's geographical regions, ask Radagast about outer-space regions and Snark for Planet Holo locations. .. One final note, regarding the interiors of vehicles (and other objects which have internal rooms): ideally, whatever programs manipulate the item should also automatically reparent the "inside room" to have the same parent as the "outside". But if they don't, then you should at least parent the "inside room" to: (Temporary) Interiors Parent(#17854Rja) .. [For an email copy of this document, email 'snark@collatz.mcrcim.mcgill.edu' requesting 'doc/parent-rooms'] [If you have any suggestions for improving this document, use Holomail to 'mail Snark' about it.]