Response assistant

Authoring Inform 7
1

I am finding that this extension can be very useful, but I am having trouble using it. The directions tell you how to change the response needed but the format is this:

The (rule at address 173053) response (A) is "New response text."

But if I paste this into the code it won’t compile. First, the compiler doesn’t like the parentheses. Then, if I remove those, it doesn’t like address #173503.

How can I found out the name of the response at address 173053? Or is there a different way to approach this?

As always, thank you for the support!

2

Which version of Inform are you using? It looks like a new version of Inform is removing the names of rules from the compiled program, which means the extension can’t get at them any more.

3

Version 10.

4

Let me ask the question different way – from looking at the standard rules, how do I tell what the name of this rule is and block it (example chosen at random):

Check an actor taking (this is the can't take component parts rule):
  if the noun is part of something (called the whole):
     if the actor is the player:
        say "[regarding the noun][Those] [seem] to be a part of [the whole]." (A);
     stop the action.
5

That’s just the can’t take component parts rule - you’d block it with “the can’t take component parts rule does nothing when the noun is the flywheel,” or whatever condition you want to apply (you can just leave it at “does nothing” but that’s dangerous, because of course you’ll need to write new logic for any previously-handled cases you’re now opening up).

6

Thank you! Is this how would I code changing the response?

block the can't take components part rule response (A) is "Whatever the new text is"
7

It’d just be:

The can’t take component parts rule response (A) is “blarg.”

(The “block” you sometimes see in response names comes from the names of particular rules, like the block asking or block telling rules).

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8

As always, I appreciate your help, Mike Russo!

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9

Just one more question. If I wanted to rewrite the rule, what would that look like?

check an actor taking (this is the new can't take components rule):

Is that the correct syntax?

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10

Yup, that’s right! Just make sure you replace the old one with the new one:

The new can’t take component parts rule is listed instead of the can’t take component parts rule in the check taking rulebook.

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11

For people coming across the thread in the future, I just wanted to add that you can enter “RESPONSES ALL” in the IDE, and you’ll get a list of all responses (the names and the text). Copy-paste that into an editor, and you can quickly find the name by searching for a few words of its text content (e.g., “be a part” will lead directly to the “can't take component parts rule response (A)”).

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