Programmed and ported to TECFAMOO by DaveM@DU. Thanx a lot ! Tutorial Rooms can be used for writing linear text in several parts in-MOO.
[Note we should rather write a WWW interface to this]
>help here
Underground Construction Office (#483):
----
Tutorial Room
Basic Usage help
This room simulates a walk through tutorial without really leaving the room.
The basic commands are simple.
'go' - to start a listed text module.
'q', 'quit' - to quit a tutorial once it is started.
For more detailed help, type 'go help' in the room for a built-in tutorial.
Inside the text module:
'n', 'next' - while in a text module will move to the next page.
'p', 'prev' - while in a text module will move to the previous page.
'l', 'look' - while in a text module will show the current page's text.
'@mailme here' - will send a copy of current page to your email address
[NOTE: You must have a registered character to use @mailme]
'speak speakup su speak-up speak_up' to communicate with someone outside
of the module you are in.
With that basic knowledge you can use the room.
Take any questions or problems to DaveM. Writers of text modules should
see the help on the Generic Text Module (#502) as well as 'go help.'
>go help
Welcome to a very specialized room. It might be helpful to picture a room with various text reading or display modules scattered around it. Each module can hold one or many people. When inside a module you are surrounded by the pages of the display text that is installed. Through simple commands you can move your way through the text in relative privacy. Or a group can be together and discuss without fear of bothering other module users. Currently this room simulates a linear walk-through tutorial. Development of a simple hypertext interface is soon to be finished. Send any questions or comments to DaveM.
When you enter the room, you will be told what "Text Modules" are installed. To enter one is easy. Type "go" If there is only one text module installed you will enter it. If more than one is present you will be shown the list and asked which module to enter. Or, you can type "go" followed by the module's name. Just like you typed "go help" to start this tutorial. This instruction might also be written as "Type 'go <module name>'" With the <> brackets telling you to substitute the module name. You do not type the brackets or the quotes.
The second most important thing to know about something is how to stop. With the text modules, this too is easy. Type "q" or "quit". This command will return you to the main tutorial room.
There is another way to enter a text module.
Let's say that you and a friend or two want to view a text module
together. Maybe it is an assignment, or someone wants to discuss
some text with you. You can enter a text module as a group. The
steps (I hope) are also easy.
- One person types "go <module name>"
- Everyone else types "watch <first person's name>"
Now it will be true that where one goes, the others will follow.
Anyone in a group can change the page. Also, inside a text module
your speech is limited to that text module. (More on that later).
When you are inside a text module you will want to change pages, and maybe even look at the page again, especially if your discussion gets hot and heavy. These are the commands you need to know. 'n' or 'next' - moves to the next page. 'p' or 'prev' - moves to the previous page. 'l' or 'look' - will show you the current page's text. See the help menu below? These basic commands will get you far in using this room.
As I mentioned before speech is restricted for people inside a text
module. So commands like "say" and "emote" (" and :) will only be
heard by those who are reading with you.
You will be able to see and hear people who are not in a text
module. To talk outside of your text module you have two commands:
"speak <text of message>" - announce a message to others
(synonyms: speakup su speak-up speak_up)
and "` to <person> <message>" - whispers a private message so
only <person> hears it.
"go" - to enter a text module
"q" - to leave a text module
"w <person>" - to join <person> in a text module.
"n", "next" - to proceed to next page.
"p", "prev" - to go back to previous page.
"l", "look" - to see current page's text again.
"speak" - to talk with someone ouside of your text module.
"` to <person> <message>" - to whisper a message to anyone in
the room.
That's all you need to know to use this room. You can type "q" now
and use the room. However if you are interested in how to use the
room to develop teaching resources, type "n".
The Generic Hypertext/Tutorial Room (#501) is a specialized room for the presentation of text materials. It is currently able to go through text in a linear fashion. Presenting one page at a time and going from beginning to end. I am currently working on phase II of this room's development, which will allow a simple hypertext interface that will allow users, with the typing of a single word, to follow a branch of a menu tree, or skip to a particular topic of interest, or even follow a footnote. It could even be used for people to create their own story line. But, alas, this is yet to be. The following pages will help you see how to use the two parent objects, in creating your own tutorial rooms.
I wonder if you caught that phrase in the last line. You need at
least two objects to use this room.
First you need to create, or have access to a child of the Generic
Hypertext/Tutorial Room (#501). I have one off of my room. To make
it, I followed these three steps.
@dig tutor|out called "DaveM's Tutorial Room"
tutor ; to enter the room
@chparent here to #501
[If you don't understand any of those commands see the help related
to them.]
This gives you the user interface, much like a vcr gives you access
to the information of a videotape.
As you stand in the room, you may notice that there are no text
modules listed for the room. This tutorial is always available (as
simple as "go help"). But any other text modules need to be created,
filled and registered by you (or others).
The information for the text modules is stored on a child of the
Generic Hypertext/Tutorial Text Module (#502).
@create #502 called "Tutor Help"
will create a module that when registered in the room will be called
"Tutor Help", but for now you have it in your inventory, just
waiting to be defined and filled.
To add a page of text to the module you need to issue this command: add <module> You will then be asked to specify a title for the page. This is the second part of what appears within the [brackets] in the title line. For example, this page is entitled "Adding Text" on the module called "Tutor Help". Do you see where they are used? After that you can enter in the text of the page, one line at a time. When you have finished, type a period on a line by itself. This tells the program that the page entry is finished. Note: if you want to insert a page, add it first, then use edit, change order.
In writing your text, keep a couple things in mind. 1. The Room will add nothing except a title and a menu bar to your text. No added spaces or anything else. I added the line of dashes below the title. You can if you want. The full responsibility of the presentation of text is yours. 2. Consider the resources and experience of your readers in mind. I think it is wise to assume that people don't have a wonderful client and they don't have either @linelength or @pagelength set. I think to aim at 70 character lines and 18 line pages is reasonable and considerate. You set your own standards, but remember your audience. Summary: What you type is what people will see. [Enough preaching, on with the tutorial.]
I like to do a lot of my work off line and then "import" them into the right objects. I don't know about your client or your communication software, but if you do have a way to use ASCII upload or the "dumping" of text into the Moo it can make some tasks easier. If you like to do that, the line format for adding text pages is this: line 1: add <module name> line 2: Page Title line 3: First line of entered text line 4: Second line of entered text. (repeat) line n: .
Once you enter a page of text it is inevitable that you will want to
change something. There are two basic types of changes to make:
To change the ordering of pages or to remove a page, use -
reorder <module>
To edit the text of a page, use -
@notedit <module>
With both types of changes, you will first be shown a list of current pages
defined for the module. You must first choose the number of the page you
want to make changes for. Then you will proceed to the next step.
This value represents where in the ordering of pages a particular one will be shown. This is the order that is always shown in the index or listing of contents. To change it, you simply enter the new place for the chosen page. Delete a page: ------------------------------------ This choice will remove the page from the module.
Editing a page within the text module is as easy as editing anything on the moo. If you understand how to use the Moo editor, or if you logon to the moo through a client that is capable of local editing (like emacs mud.el) then you should have little problem editing your text. To edit text, type '@notedit <module>'. After choosing the page you wish to edit you will proceed to your editor. Make whatever changes you want to make. When you are finished with your editing, type 'save' (or whatever command saves your local editor). The page you just edited will be restored to its proper place and you can then proceed to quit the editor. Once you 'save' the text you cannot save it again without restarting the editor. A bookmark is kept to remind the editor where the page has to be stored when it is saved. This bookmark is cleared with the save command.
Okay, so you have a text module and you have filled it with pages of
text. Before it can be used in a room it must be registered. Go into
the room with the module in your inventory and type:
register <module>
You will be told that it is registered and you will be able to "go"
into it. If you are finished with a module go into the room and type
"remove <module>".
After this, you can put the module wherever you wish. You can keep
it in your inventory or put it in a closet or a \$container. I would
recommend not putting it in the room, it might be confusing.
Finally, don't forget to "@describe <module> as <text>". People in
the room can "look" at the registered modules to see the description
and also a table of contents.
This room is an offshoot of two things: the Generic Notice Board (#250) and Donald. Donald asked if a variation of my Notice Board could be made as simple tutorials. As we talked, this room (which is more then either of us imagined it might be) has come about. Phase I is in its final stages of development. This is an emulation of a walk-through tutorial. But instead of using a room per page, it uses one object for the room and one object for all the text of one tutorial. Phase II will be the addition of hypertext capabilities. It will not be as full blown as World Wide Web Hypertext, but it will offer the possibility of following other links beside next page and previous page. I hope you enjoy these object. Talk to DaveM if you have any comments, questions or bugs. Thank you.