[Freeciv-Dev] Re: commandline syntax and semantics (was: Server/ruleset unification)

[Daniel L Speyer <dspeyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 5 Nov 2001, [iso-8859-1] Daniel Sjölie wrote:
> On 2001-11-05 11:27:22, Reinier Post wrote:
     [...ommissions...]
> > If you want to pick an existing language to use, I'd use a Perl subset.
> 
> Well, obviously we don't have the same "vision" for this language... :)
> I don't want a scripting language here but a database management
> language... A language to manage the database that all the techs,
> players, buildings, units and so on in freeciv are...
> 
> Sure, scripting might be nice somewhere but I think it'd be preferable
> to separate that problem from that of managing the data...
> 

I agree that the format should be kept fairly simple, but
extendable-in-self seems like a good idea, and that means including the
most fundamental scripting constructs in the language itself.  I think
orthogonality would be a good thing, here (sorry Reiner), but if a
language has no underlying branching and looping there's almost no way to
stick those on top of it.  

I might propose these commands

//These 4 exist
with
create
set
destroy
//These don't yet
rename
show
forall
if
less
lambda
include

These should be enough to allow everything else we'd want to be
implemented in them, maybe in the same file that contains default
configuration.

Yes, some of this looks a bit Lispy, but if we're staying with 
command [args...]
(and I think we should) then we're going to be Lispy no matter what.  The
complexity of the if and lambda commands will only be of interest to
extenders anyway -- the average user will only touch the first five
commands.

One additional thought: should we have some sort of arithmetic commands?

Just my US$0.02 (and my US$0.02 and my US$0.02...)

--Daniel Speyer
"May the /src be with you, always"


> /Daniel
> 
> -- 
> Now take a deep breath, smile and don't take life so seriously... :)
> 
>