changes.5

A Backlog of Hardcode Changes in TinyMARE v1.0.7308-v1.0.7880, Winds Year 0009.

----May 27, 2000
 1. Rewrote regular expression (wildcard) matching to fix problems with \'s.
 2. Fixed MATCH_FULLNAME to match the first non-player object if a player's
     name was not typed out in full.
----May 28, 2000
 1. Revised the list of database object flags based on bit values instead of
     hexadecimal numbers.
----May 29, 2000
 1. Random target selection is no longer limited to 15 objects maximum.
 2. Fixed a segfault when @triggering attributes that begin with ! $ or ^.
----June 1, 2000
 1. +motd now displays 'There is no message of the day.' if the page is blank.
 2. Fixed a bug in giving money when the recipient has no combat status.
----June 21, 2000
 1. More default @whoflags settings have been added to the list depending on
     the number of columns on the player's screen.
----July 20, 2000
 1. Fixed the restarts() function to return the correct number of @reboots
     since the game first booted up.
----July 24, 2000
 1. Fixed several problems with space-delimiters in string functions when a
     space appears at the beginning of the string.
 2. Removed the 100-argument limit in functions.
----July 29, 2000
 1. Renamed create() and modify() to createtime() and modtime(), respectively.
 2. Fixed a problem with extracting ANSI escape codes in string functions.
 3. Fixed a lethal bug in spc() when used with negative numbers.
 4. All floating-point functions now successfully strip exponent characters
     during conversion.
 5. Added the avg() and ffs() functions.
----July 30, 2000
 1. Added the replace() and swap() functions.
 2. Function fill() now defaults to filling with spaces.
----August 4, 2000
 1. Fixed an error in specifying multiple options with @console.
----August 5, 2000
 1. Removed the soul() function and replaced it with a variant of bitmap().
 2. Added a bitcount() function to count the number of bits set to 1 in a
     number.
 3. Fixed a bug in modifying existing Key Items with the @eventitem command.
----August 8, 2000
 1. Changed the syntax of specifying an object# with a function as follows:
     [#123.func()]. This works around a feature in the parser that skips over
     function names with bad symbols in them, such as a ':' character.
----August 14, 2000
 1. Quell message of the day when the file is either missing or of zero length.
 2. Repositioned messages above the room description when a player connects.
----August 15, 2000
 1. Finished rewriting the new softcodable player-death sequences.
 2. Reworked the functionality of +term, @console, and @flush.
----August 24, 2000
 1. Added a new memory allocation utility, stralloc(), that reduces the number
     of malloc() calls when initializing constant strings from configuration
     files. Such strings are assumed never to be changed or freed once created.
----August 25, 2000
 1. Added new database information to the +info command, and reorganized the
     I/O screen.
 2. Readjusted attribute counts in mem_usage() to get closer-to-truth results.
----August 26, 2000
 1. God now has the ability to use @wipeout on wizards and himself.
 2. Fixed yet another bug in @nuke, where a player owns PLAYER_START and it is
     not #0. Players would have been moved to that room even after it was
     destroyed.
 3. +party data is now saved in the temporary socket file during reboots,
     instead of in the database.
 4. Fixed a bug in running terminal emulation on socket output before the
     database is fully loaded.
 5. Made more optimizations to the socket I/O queue. Increases game performance
     dramatically!
----August 27, 2000
 1. Rewrote the 'page' command for future RWHO development.
 2. Added new @console commands 'Reconnect' and 'Fade'.
 3. Added Guest Login Support!
----September 3, 2000
 1. Cleaned up attribute-caching code, especially with large numbers of object
     parents strung together. Parent-tree searching is now implemented using a
     stack instead of a recursive function.
 2. Fixed a memory leak in the atr_match() function.
 3. Fixed built-in attribute #255 not showing up in attribute lists.
----September 4, 2000
 1. Zones are no longer able to @create an object, because that would force the
     object to appear in the zone object (which is illegal).
----September 5, 2000
 1. Removed the restriction on setting the Jump_Ok flag while RESTRICT_TELEPORT
     is in effect.
----September 8, 2000
 1. Added a new environment configuration variable, LOCK_LIMIT, that specifies
     the maximum number of locks that can be referenced in a single function.
 2. Split the MAX_WAIT_COMMANDS config variable into MAX_PLAYER_WAIT and
     MAX_WIZARD_WAIT giving a secure buffer for Wizards to use legit @waits
     even if hackers have flooded the queue.
 3. The 'page' command can now be used with a blank list of players. It will
     automatically send the message to the last person(s) paged.
     Syntax: page =<message>
 4. Players cannot create party names with ANSI characters in them anymore.
 5. Using @paste with a specific player will now inform them that the text is
     being sent only to them, and not to anyone else in the room.
----September 9, 2000
 1. Fixed formatting problems with tables and uniform lists in displaying HTML
     files (such as the Helptext).
 2. Added GCC-dependent checks to the code to restrict compiling with old
     versions of GCC (older than 2.8.0) and enable space-saving features with
     new versions (2.96).
----September 10, 2000
 1. Significantly reduced the number of malloc() calls while queueing commands
     and @waits.
 2. Added 'type=wiz' to HTML-parsed <a name=...> entries for the Helptext. Only
     Immortals will be able to view these help topics.
 3. Fixed triggering attributes with events, \:'s, and multiple-level function
     locks with /'s in them. For instance, the following now @triggers
     correctly:

    $event *\:*,*:/[oper(get(me/vz),v(1),[add(v(0),v(1))])]/say Commands..

 4. Players with POW_MEMBER can change their @sex like they can their @name.
 5. Added the system configuration variable GUEST_BONUS to define the amount of
     money players have when they sign in as Guest.
----September 15, 2000
 1. The 'exits' command now accepts 1 argument for a remote room, assuming you
     own the room.
----September 16, 2000
 1. Fixed a potential buffer overrun in using @lock with functions and no ].
 2. Fixed a wizard security hole when using the internal boolexp lock function
     with several functions inside that call parse_lock(). Because boolexp uses
     global variables, the arguments to parse_lock() replace the %!, %#, and
     ultimately the privs for the function. This fix was accomplished by saving
     the %! and %# on the stack during boolexp() and restoring the globals from
     the stack upon the function's exit.
 3. Keys with functions in them are now parsed individually rather than the
     entire string as a whole. This prevents locks like [get(me/vm)] from
     modifying the flow of the lock (i.e. @vm me=1&0. While the string '1&0'
     is true because it is nonzero, the phrase '1 AND 0' is not).
----September 17, 2000
 1. Fixed improper usage of pronoun_substitute() in many C files, placing
     restrictions on the buffers with which it can be used. This fixes side-
     effect problems in over 8 different cases where references to other
     attributes using [get()] will overwrite the original string being parsed.
----September 20, 2000
 1. Fixed a fatal crash problem when players attempt to log in as 'me'.
----September 21, 2000
 1. Reinstated the LF to CRLF conversion and fixed up concentrator support.
----September 22, 2000
 1. Fixed logging off during the creation of the God(#1) character, which left
     God with an undefined password.
 2. Fixed @trigger to preserve the cause (%#) during a $ event.
----September 26, 2000
 1. Fixed a bug in @clone that was moving objects to the wrong container. Zones
     cloning objects will now put the clone in the same location as the object.
----September 27, 2000
 1. Fixed a bug in '@search flags' that matched objects with any flag specified
     instead of all flags specified.
----September 28, 2000
 1. Fixed a bug during the creation of a database from scratch, where recycle()
     tried to access the contents list of object #-1.
 2. Added support for unlimited socket connections for the Windows port of
     TinyMARE.
----September 29, 2000
 1. Added the justify() softcode function.
----September 30, 2000
 1. Added helptext entries for all non-combat system @config variables.
----October 1, 2000
 1. TinyMARE Version 1.0.7518 released.
 2. Guests can now choose their character's sex at login.
 3. Added support for automatic terminal-type detection at login.
 4. Spell attributes can now be set using either @attr $spell=<text> or
     $attr spell=<text>.
 5. Added the splist() function to list all defined spells in the database.
 6. Renamed the sprslt() function to spattr().
----October 2, 2000
 1. Added the ability to @decompile $spell.
----October 4, 2000
 1. Optimized the internal wordlist and exit-matching routines.
----October 7, 2000
 1. TinyMARE watchdog program 'wd' now successfully disassociates from the tty.
 2. Revised the stralloc() function to minimize fragmentation.
 3. Fixed a security hole in allowing anyone without POW_SECURITY to set the
     $action attribute on a spell.
----October 9, 2000
 1. Removed the @aopen attribute and respective 'open' command. The same thing
     can now be accomplished in softcode with a ^ event.
----October 13, 2000
 1. Reading strings larger than 8000 bytes from a database file used to corrupt
     the file pointer. Now, it advances the pointer to the end of the string
     correctly and has added protection against encountering EOF.
 2. Fixed a 8000-character buffer overrun during +mail forward and +mail reply.
 3. Fixed the catching of multiple Infinite Loops in the same Tinymare session.
 4. The database will now save timestamps using 32-bits until the UNSIGNED
     32-bit limit is exceeded, which will happen on Sun Feb  7 01:28:16 2106.
 5. Added a new +mail command syntax: +mail forward <message#>=<player>,<text>
     for sending text along with forwarding a message.
 6. Released TinyMARE +Mail Version 2.2.2.
----October 15, 2000
 1. Added helptext for all Spell Attributes. See 'help spell attributes' for
     the index page.
 2. Wizards are no longer able to invite a normal player to a +party when
     combat is turned off.
----October 25, 2000
 1. Dark objects with no caption set will no longer show the name of the object
     when a player looks at it.
----October 26, 2000
 1. Fixed another bug in @clone in which attribute definitions were being
     copied with the source obj# instead of the new destination obj#.
----October 28, 2000
 1. Players are now able to @decompile a Visible object that they don't own.
----October 29, 2000
 1. Rewrote the command and function parsers. The command parser now routes
     everything through the function parser for arg1, arg2, and argv, fixing
     the problem with @triggering functions with commas in them, such as:
       @tr me/vb=6,add(2,4),8
     
    The function parser now correctly handles when a unknown function is used
     within a function, such as [add(2,test(6,2,4))], or when text appears
     after the function, as in [s(add(6,2,4)text)].
     
    This also fixes space-stripping problems in functions. The functions
     [s( a b  c d )] and [s({ a b  c d })] now behave correctly. The first
     strips out the leading and following spaces, the second keeps them.
----October 30, 2000
 1. Moved the last() function to laston() and created a new last() to be
     compatible with TinyMUSH.
----November 1, 2000
 1. Fixed a bug in the function parser thinking func(arg1,) was one argument.
----November 4, 2000
 1. Optimized most areas of the code when checking for whitespace.
----November 5, 2000
 1. New TinyMARE Helptext System Version 3.0. Includes a new manual format,
    colorized 'help' screens, and a built-in pager for long texts.
----November 6, 2000
 1. Fixed a buffer initialization problem in certain string functions when
     <length> is specified as 2147483647 or greater.
 2. Removed the redundant function fill().
----November 9, 2000
 1. Fixed a bug in the time() function that didn't accept xtime() values with a
     period in them.
----November 11, 2000
 1. Timers on @destroyed objects now have a resolution of 1 second, and thus
     the @purge command has been removed.
 2. Wizards can now use '@search discon' to scan for all disconnected rooms.
 3. Bytecount displays on +info and @memory now round to the most significant
     metric unit.
 4. Rewritten the timer on the @wait queue, such that the queue will not be
     scanned once per second but instead only when the command with the least
     amount of time remaining reaches 0 seconds.
 5. Rewritten mare/timer.c according to the new specifications for strict
     0.1-second time-slices for I/O and Queue.
----November 12, 2000
 1. Fixed the error with 10 automatic failed database saves. The game now
     correctly attempts to save the database "manually", without forking,
     and prints to log_err the system error message given when saving.

    Warning: If the game cannot save its database and the Game Driver announces
     the failure to all players online, then there is usually a good reason for
     it. Do NOT attempt a @reboot until a save is successful or you can lose
     all changes made to the database.
 2. Rewrote text justification to fix some extra spacing at strange times.
----November 26, 2000
 1. Helptext entries can be prefixed with && for immortal-only viewing.
----December 2, 2000
 1. Fixed the inheritance number shown when examining attributes on a
     'grandchild' of a database object.
----December 3, 2000
 1. Installed a new I/O timer designed to maintain a execution resolution of
     100 milliseconds per time-slice. It allows player input and combat
     techniques to run even when the queue is flooded with commands.
----January 7, 2001
 1. Sped up the game in various loops by placing loop-independent checks
     outside of the loop.
 2. Rewrote spell events to accept up to 1024 arguments, including combat
     equations (stored as postfix integers) and event-specific options.
 3. Removed the bug-laden @while command from the game. It could be used to
     continually bloat the queue and nobody knows much about it anyway.
----January 8, 2001
 1. Fixed 'whereis' to see the location of players if you can see it on the
     'who' list. Not locatable() just means you can't use a function to get the
     location dbref#.
 2. Made a major optimization to the internal function strmaxcpy(), making all
     string copies twice as fast.
 3. A default @whoflags listing can be set on object #0, which will be shown to
     all players who do not have a @whoflags set or who do not specify any
     flags on the 'who' command line.
----January 20, 2001
 1. Removed compiler warnings in the nonblocking-DNS library for GCC 2.97.
----January 24, 2001
 1. Fixed a bug in restoring %0-%9 environment during a series of immediate
     commands such as the contents of a @switch or executing @startups.
----January 25, 2001
 1. Added a new feature to +info cpu for Linux systems--the screen now displays
     the number of CPUs on the machine, their speeds in MHz, and the CPU model.
----February 4, 2001
 1. Fixed small problems with various functions, including changing the syntax
     for degrees() to make Cartesian<->Polar Coordinate conversions simple.
----February 10, 2001
 1. Removed the Fishable room flag and replaced it with the @Fish attribute.
 2. Added room flags Fog (f) and Sanctuary (Y). Players cannot be attacked in a
     Sanctuary.
----February 27, 2001
 1. Help topics can now be individually restricted to having a specific power
     or to all immortals.
----March 3, 2001
 1. Fixed color bleeding on the room contents list for objects with combat
     conditions set on them.
----March 5, 2001
 1. Added two new runtime options to 'netmare':
     -r: Loads the database in readonly mode. Database saves will not occur and
         @dump will return with an error message.
     -f: Force loads the database. This is required for trying to load a Combat
         database when the server was compiled without combat extensions.
 2. The game will no longer create a new database when using the -r or -t
     options, or if the user has no permission to read the database file.
----March 6, 2001
 1. New TinyMare Compressed RAM database version 2. Supports conversion between
     combat and non-combat databases, plus a way to allow future enhancements
     of key structures to be completely backward compatible with current
     versions of TinyMare.
----March 17, 2001
 1. Only players of class 2 and up (immortals) are now allowed to join channels
     that begin with a _ symbol.
----March 20, 2001
 1. Changed the database-load progress meter to print one line every 10,000
     objects are loaded when there are 10,000 or more objects in the database.
 2. Optimized bitmap loading/saving routines for the database.
----March 21, 2001
 1. Fixed a bug in a normal @shutdown saving the database during readonly mode.
----March 25, 2001
 1. Fixed a syntax error in getting the 'w' and 'wh' aliases to work for the
     whisper command.
----March 27, 2001
 1. Fixed a problem in counting the number of open files when the maximum
     number of files on the operating system is unlimited.
----March 28, 2001
 1. Fixed a bug with @setcond setting conditions on the user instead of the
     target.
----March 30, 2001
 1. Fixed a bug with not obeying parentheses in /lock/ constructs after $ or
     ! Events.
----April 1, 2001
 1. TinyMARE Version 1.0.7860 released.
----April 4, 2001
 1. The @input command now takes a blank arg2 to turn off input processing from
     a particular player.
----April 14, 2001
 1. Extended @input to take multiple arguments for passing environment %1-%9.
 2. The 'help' command no longer enters pager-mode if the player has an input
     prompt activated.
 3. @input now redisplays the player's prompt while typing commands prefixed by
     a !.
----May 7, 2001
 1. Fixed a bug in determining where an integer begins in the inc() and dec()
     functions.
 2. Added the number of minerals mined to the '+info fights' screen.
----May 8, 2001
 1. Capped the long time format on the 'who' list at 999 days.
 2. Fixed missing permission-checking on the restricted wholist functions.
----May 10, 2001
 1. Fixed room() and rloc() to return the right values in the case the depth
     limit of 100 is exceeded.
----May 12, 2001
 1. 'help ?' now shows the last time the Helptext file was updated.
----May 15, 2001
 1. Hostnames are appearing on the internet with Unicode characters that are
     sometimes unprintable in 8 bits. The domain name lookup routine was
     modified to ignore all unprintable results and show the numeric IP address
     instead.