misc
 
Search this site

Navigation

repurposing SLang for IF prototyping

 
This page has resources for using the SLang utility for IF prototyping.
 
SLang is basically logic programming, like Prolog, and that makes for compact code that's tricky to write.
 
 
To download the SLang utility: (http://www.freefilmsoftware.co.uk/)
 
 
OVERVIEW.  In SLang, you define a number of text descriptions (in standard screenplay format), which contain rules determining what prior events need to be true in order to happen.  Then, there are two automatic procedures:  in the first (automatic listing:  CTRL-A)  asks you to define the initial conditions, and it cranks through the rules to determine what follows.  In the second (find shortest, or longest, path), you specify the event you want it to end on and it works backwards to find the preceeding events.
 
From what I'm seeing, these seem to give slightly different results:  That seems to be because the backwards tracing necessarily traverses the logical space differently.  Use the trace logic function to see what's going on, and keep in mind that events have three truth values:  true, false, and undetermined.
 
 
Files donwloadable here::
  • The dungeon_crawl_7.slg file works correctly in forward-chaining mode (CTRL-A), but exhibits some peculiar behavior in backward-chaining mode.  The errors are minor, but irritating; if you spot them, let me know.
  • The logic_test.sig file is for the purpose of experimenting with SLang's logic.  The manual is sparse, and sadly the help file does not load in Vista (but see the next file); I suggest tinkering with this one, elaborating on it, and watching the program trace through the 'Messages' function, to get a good sense of what the thing is doing.
  • The SLANG.RTF file is a translation of the helpfile, which is not useable on newer versions of Windows, into an .RTF file below.  For the translation software, go here: (http://www.geocities.com/mwinterhoff/helpdeco.htm).
  • The helpindex.txt file is a translation of the index of the helpfile.  You ought to be able to use keyword searches in slang.rtf to find the text of these topics.
 
hits counter
dungeon_crawl_7.slg
Download		 A SLang data file  2k v. 1 Oct 10, 2008 10:52 AM Conrad Cook
helpindex.txt
Download		 Index for the help file, generated by the same program.  9k v. 1 Oct 18, 2008 3:50 PM Conrad Cook
logic_test.slg
Download		 A SLang data file  2k v. 1 Oct 10, 2008 10:55 AM Conrad Cook
SLANG.RTF
Download		 The SLang help file converted into .RTF for those of us with newer flavors of Windows.  38k v. 1 Oct 18, 2008 3:22 PM Conrad Cook