135 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
135 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
/**************************************************************************
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* Copyright (C) 1993 - see 'license.doc' for complete information. *
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**************************************************************************/
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USING COLOR IN CIRCLEMUD
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"color.doc"
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CircleMUD allows you to create colorful messages by using ANSI control
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sequences. Each player may select what "level" of color he/she desires
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from the four levels "off", "sparse", "normal", and "complete." Each
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player can select his/her color level by using the COLOR command from
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within the MUD; you as the programmer must decide which messages will be
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colored for each of the color levels.
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All files in which you wish to use color must have the line:
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#include "screen.h"
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after all other includes in the beginning of the file.
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There are 8 colors available -- "normal", red, green, yellow, blue, magenta,
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cyan and white. They are accessible by sending control sequences as part of
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another string, for example:
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sprintf(buf, "If you're %shappy%s and you know it clap %d of your hands.\n\r",
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x, y, num_of_hands);
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send_to_char(buf, ch);
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In this example, x and y are the "on" and "off" sequences for the color you
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want. There are 2 main series of color macros available for you to use
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(don't actually use "x" and "y", of course!): the K series and the CC series.
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The CC (Conditional Color) series is recommended for most general use.
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The name of the actual sequence starts with the name of its series, plus
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a 3-letter color code, as follows:
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Normal : NRM
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Red : RED
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Yellow : YEL
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Green : GRN
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Blue : BLU
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Magenta: MAG
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Cyan : CYN
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White : WHT
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For example, white in the K series is KWHT; blue in the CC series
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is CCBLU() (arguments defined below).
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The K series requires no arguments, and is simply a macro to the ANSI
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color code. Therefore, if you use a K-series color code, the color will
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ALWAYS be sent, even if the person you're sending it to has color off.
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This is very bad -- people who do not have ANSI-compatible terminals
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will see garbage characters instead of colors. The K series is mainly
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used to print colors to a string if the player's color level will later
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be tested manually (for an example, see do_gen_com in act.comm.c).
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The recommended series is the CC series (i.e. CCNRM(), CCRED(), etc.)
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The CC series macros require two arguments -- a pointer to the character
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to whom the string is being sent, and the minimum color level the player
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must be set to in order to see the color. Color sent as 'sparse' (C_SPR)
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will be seen by people with color set to sparse, normal, or complete;
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color sent as 'normal' (C_NRM) will be seen only by people with color
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set to normal or complete; color sent as 'complete' (C_CMP) will be seen
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only by people with color set to complete.
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To illustrate the above, an example is in order:
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#include "screen.h" /* include screen.h in all files that you use color in */
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ACMD(do_showcolor)
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{
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char buf[300];
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sprintf(buf, "Don't you just love %scolor%s, %scolor%s, %sCOLOR%s!\n\r",
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CCBLU(ch, C_CMP), CCNRM(ch, C_CMP),
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CCYEL(ch, C_NRM), CCNRM(ch, C_NRM),
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CCRED(ch, C_SPR), CCNRM(ch, C_SPR));
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send_to_char(buf, ch);
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}
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What does this do? For people with color set to Complete, it prints:
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Don't you just love color, color, COLOR!
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(blue) (yellow) (red)
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People who have color set to Normal will see:
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Don't you just love color, color, COLOR!
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(yellow) (red)
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People who have color set to Sparse will see:
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Don't you just love color, color, COLOR!
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(red)
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People who have color set to Off will see:
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Don't you just love color, color, COLOR!
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(no color, as you'd expect)
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There are several common pitfalls with using the CC series of color macros:
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* Do not confuse CCNRM with C_NRM. CCNRM() is a macro to turn the color
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back to normal; C_NRM is a color level of "normal".
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* Always make sure that every pair of "on" and "off" codes are at the
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same color level. For example:
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WRONG: sprintf(buf, "%sCOLOR%s\n\r", CCBLU(ch, C_NRM), CCNRM(ch, C_CMP));
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This is wrong because if someone has their color level set to Normal,
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the CCBLU code will be sent but the CCNRM command will not, causing all
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subsequent output to be blue.
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WRONG: sprintf(buf, "%sCOLOR%s\n\r", CCBLU(ch, C_CMP), CCNRM(ch, C_NRM));
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The above statement is also wrong, although not as bad. In this case,
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someone with color set to Normal will (correctly) not get the CCBLU code,
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but will then unnecessarily get the CCNRM code. Never send a color code if
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you don't have to -- the codes are several bytes long, and cause a noticable
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pause at 2400 baud.
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* This should go without saying, but don't ever send color at the C_OFF
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level.
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* Special precautions must be taken when sending a colored string to a
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large group of people -- you can't use the color level of "ch" (the
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person sending the string) -- each person receiving the string must
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get a string appropriately colored for his/her level. In such cases,
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it's usually best to set up two strings (one colored and one not),
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and test each player's color level individually (see do_gen_com in
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act.comm.c for an example).
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