Can a value-state be assigned something analagous to a “printed name” property? Is there a simple way to restate a particular value (as opposed to an overall KOV) for printing purposes other than using a “to say” statement? Consider the following example:
[code]Material is a kind of value. The materials are steel, iron, admantium, aluminum, copper, bronze, brass, gold, silver, lead, cherry-wood, oak-wood, maple-wood, hickory-wood, pine-wood, particle-board, drywall, granite, sandstone, basalt, limestone, cement, concrete, plaster, kevlar, cotton, wool, silk, nylon, rayon, leather, canvas, lpaper, cardboard, tissue, ceramic, glass, crystal, soft-plastic, hard-plastic, rubber, earth, flesh, goo, aether, and oddmaterial. A thing has a material. Understand the material property as referring to the thing. A thing is usually oddmaterial.
Definition: a thing is metallic if its material is steel or its material is iron or its material is admantium or its material is aluminum or its material is copper or its material is bronze or its material is brass or its material is gold or its material is silver or its material is lead.
Understand “metal [thing]” or “metallic [thing]” as a thing when the item described is metallic.
Definition: a thing is wooden if its material is cherry-wood or its material is oak-wood or its material is maple-wood or its material is hickory-wood or its material is pine-wood or its material is particle-board or its material is drywall.
Understand “wood [thing]” or “wooden [thing]” as a thing when the item described is wooden.
The testarea is a room.
A rod is in the testarea. The material of the rod is steel. The description of the rod is “A cylindrical [material] bar, about eight inches long.”
After taking a metallic thing:
say “You pick up the metallic [item described].”
A board is in the testarea. The material of the board is pine-wood. The description of the board is “A 1[’] by 8[’] [material] plank, about six feet long.”
After taking a wooden thing:
say “You pick up the wooden [item described].”.
A placebo is in the testarea. The description of the placebo is “A small object, the size of a button, made of [material].”[/code]
Let’s say I’m not happy with the “material description-style” of the “placebo” item, and would generally rather objects made of “oddmaterial” be described as made of “an unknown substance.”
Of course I could easily make a “to say” substitution, such as:
To say zmaterial for (composee - a thing):
unless the material of composee is oddmaterial or the material of composee is aether or the material of composee is goo:
say "[material of composee]";
otherwise:
say "an unknown substance".
which will work just fine, except that I now have to do more typing for the example item descriptions:
[code]A rod is in the testarea. The material of the rod is steel. The description of the rod is “A cylindrical [zmaterial for the item described] bar, about eight inches long.”
After taking a metallic thing:
say “You pick up the metallic [item described].”
A board is in the testarea. The material of the board is pine-wood. The description of the board is “A 1[’] by 8[’] [zmaterial for the item described] plank, about six feet long.”
After taking a wooden thing:
say “You pick up the wooden [item described].”.
A placebo is in the testarea. The description of the placebo is “A small object, the size of a button, made of [zmaterial for the item described].”[/code]
As a simple matter of convenience it’s less effort to type “[material]” as opposed to “[zmaterial of the item described]” in these cases, but that would require some method for assigning “an unknown material” as the printed name of “oddmaterial.”
Is there a way to achieve this narrow effect which requires less overall effort than using the “to say” substitution? It would be nice if one could simply say something equivalent to:
Rule for printing the [????] of oddmaterial:
say "an unknown substance."
Thanks.
