EBS User Manual Section 3 EBS Script Language 1 3.1 The AREXX (tm) Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.2 Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.3 The Language Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.4 Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3.5 Language Keywords and Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 EXECUTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 GET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 MOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 PROJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 LOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 UNLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 WINDOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 CLEARMENUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 WBENCHFRONT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 WBENCHBACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 EBSFRONT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 EBSBACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 NOTIFY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 REQUEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 MODIFY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 OPTIONON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 OPTIONOFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 DRAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 CLEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 DELETE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 COUNT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 SECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 ZONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 UNIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 FORCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 COURSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 LOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 PIXX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 RANDOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 POINTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 3.6 Expressions and Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 2 EBS includes a script language, and for those who own the AREXX (tm) package or have AmigaDOS 2.0, an AREXX (tm) interface. The EBS script language may be used in a limited way without AREXX (tm), but it has almost no control structures of its own, thus it is limited to simple menu and startup options when used without AREXX (tm). With the AREXX (tm) package, it becomes a powerful tool for scenario, map and unit design. 3.1 The AREXX (tm) Port EBS opens a port names EBS with on the first execution. Each subsequent EBS started while the old EBS's are running receives a port name of EBSX where X is a one up count. Up to nine EBS tasks may be run simultaneously, which should satisfy the wildest fanatic, and consume the memory of the largest system. To determine whether you have AREXX (tm) available, EBS attempts to open rexxsyslib.library. If this works, it enables the AREXX (tm) interface. 3.2 Startup If there is a file called "startup.ebs" in the REXX: directory, EBS will execute this script on startup. In addition to the arguments which may be passed to EBS on startup, others may be entered on the command line. All arguments after the first are passed to this script, and so further arguments may be used at the user's discretion. This is a good place to enter any menus you may wish to configure. 3.3 The Language Structure The basic structure of the language consists of a series of keywords and identifiers. The result is slightly clumsy to read, but easy to use, with a wide variety of commands implemented in very similar syntax. As an example, the 'set' command: 'set unit infco1 manning 120' 'set' is the keyword for setting a value in a module or in the basic EBS configuration. 'unit' specifies that the module type to act upon is a military unit. 'infco1' is the name or label of the specific unit to act upon. 'manning' is the element of the module which is to be set. '120' is the value to which to set that element. In addition, the language has a series of variables which may be used in place of module names and other values. For example, the name 'infco1' 3 above could be entered by the user selecting the marker for the needed module with the mouse and then using the value '[cunit]' (for current unit) in place of the name. (Variable names are always enclosed in brackets.) Commands also may be embedded within commands. This is useful to increase the speed of execution, or as the only means of getting any sort of control structures if you do not own AREXX (tm). The bad side is that commands with embedded commands are extremely difficult to read and become nightmarish very quickly. Within the language, I try to protect the user from destructive errors, but not from stupid errors. This leaves the user free to do things which I did not foresee when designing the language and the routines in the modules. The reason for this is that with most routines replaceable by scripts, a user may wish to use a value for something not intended by the EBS system at all. This is possible to do, but note that these values may cause weird things to happen if you run them through the normal routines. All values accepted via the editor are error checked for validity. The following symbols are used by the EBS script language for special purposes: @ - Entered at the beginning of a command means that the command is an EBS internal command, rather than a rexx script to execute. This is used in scripts entered in modules or in menu item definitions. It is not necessary to use this symbol for commands issued within an AREXX (tm) script, or in the command gadget, which defaults to internal commands. This usage is inverted for the command gadget, where entering an '@' before the command means that it is an AREXX (tm) script followed by arguments. $ - Indicates a command to be executed immediately with the result substituted, for example, 'get unit infco1 dest [$count unit dest]'. Normally, EBS would execute the command at the end of its processing and not substitute the value. Such commands function as variables. Do not use that method for a command which does not return any value, or for commands entered in IF-THEN-ELSE constructions. (IF-THEN-ELSE constructions would execute both the IF and the ELSE clauses on the first pass, causing all side effects of both commands.) [] - brackets indicate that the material between them is a variable or a command to be executed within the processing of the main command. {} - braces indicate that brackets are needed in a module script or menu definition. These are automatically converted to brackets by EBS for internal use. Entering arguments to a module script with brackets will enter the value of the variable at the time of script definition rather than at the execution time. As an example, a script entry could read: 'parry {cunit} {ctarget}' which would be converted for internal use into: 4 'parry [cunit] [ctarget]' and on execution each of the variables would be converted into the label of the appropriate unit. The command executes the script 'parry.ebs' which must be located in a path 'ebsscript:' which must be assigned to use AREXX (tm) scripts within EBS without specifying pathnames. 3.4 Variables The following system variables are available for use in scripts: CUNIT - the label of the current unit. CMARKER - the label of the current marker. CTARGET - the label of the current target. CATTACKER - the label of the current attacker. CMOVE - the label of the current movement module. CTACTICS - the label of the current tactics module. CDEFENSE - the label of the current defense module. CWEAPON - the label of the current weapon. CIFWEAPON - the label of the current IFWeapon. CLOCATION - the full string value of the current location. CMAP - the currently displayed map. COBJECTIVE - the current objective. CATTACK - the current attack of the current unit. CFORCE - the current force. This is set by changing force through the command window. In scenario play, it is never changed simply by clicking on a unit marker. CSUPPLY - the current supply, set by clicking on the marker to which it is attached. CSTRATEGY - the current strategy. This is set to the strategy of the current force whenever that is changed. CPORT - the current port, if there is an external program currently set up to receive EBS echoed commands. CGRID - the current grid of the current map. CPLAYER - the name of the current player. The following two values are only valid when an attack is in progress. They may be used for parry or dodge scripts within defense modules. CHIT - the base chance that the current attacker has of hitting the current target with his current weapon under the immediate circumstances. CROLL - the roll which the current attacker actually has made during an attack, Energion style hits compare a base chance to hit with a defense value by subtracting the defense from the chance to hit. Rolling under the difference results in a hit. This gets the exact roll during such an event. This value will only be correct when the MODID is equal to 13 (DEFENSE) or 14 (IFDEFENSE). The following locations refer to the current location of the defined remote pointer. If no such location exists, all values will be "None." CX - the 'X' coordinate of the current location. CY - the 'Y' coordinate of the current location. 5 CZ - the 'Z' coordinate of the current location. CPX - the current pixel x coordinate of the current location. CPY - the current pixel y coordinate of the current location. CINT - the interstice of the current location. CPLANE - the plane of the current location The following variables provide the first item in the each of the various module lists: FIRSTUNIT FIRSTFORCE FIRSTMOVE FIRSTDEFENSE FIRSTWEAPON FIRSTIFWEAPON FIRSTTACTICS FIRSTOBJECTIVE FIRSTSUPPLY FIRSTPLAYER FIRSTSTRATEGY FIRSTMAP FIRSTPORT FIRSTMARKER FIRSTITEM FIRSTMEASURE LASTRESULT - the result of the last command. MODID - the module ID of the last module which called a script (usually used as an argument to the calling script). 3.5 Language Keywords and Commands EXECUTE The execute command causes certain events in EBS either for configuration purposes or other actions. It does not normally have return values. LABEL Format: execute label NewMarker Makes the marker named by the word after 'label' the current marker for the currently defined remote pointer. The value of the remote pointer is modified by a 'set' command. All other current values associated with the marker named will also be set. RANGEC Format: execute rangec HeavyMachineGun Draws circles showing the available ranges of the weapon named after 6 'rangec'. The circles will be centered on the current location for the current remote pointer. Those values may be modified using the 'set' commands or the 'execute mouseclick' commands for the remote pointers. GRID Format: execute grid TenDegreeGrid Draws the grid named after the keyword 'grid.' The named grid must be a valid grid from the list for the current map. POINTER OFF ON Format: execute pointer on -OR- execute pointer off Turns the sprite for the current remote pointer on or off. Note that this command cannot be executed if the remote pointer is defined as the mouse pointer. DISTMODE CURRDIST TOTALDIST COMPLOT JAMPLOT CLEAR Format: execute distmode complot Toggles the values of the various distance modes for the current remote pointer. It functions for each of the remote pointers in exactly the same way as the menu options function for the mouse pointer. ATTACK Format: execute attack attackername targetname Executes an attack using the current attack. The 'attackername' attacks 'targetname'. Returns the same values as defined for an attack executed via menus. The current attack must be for a melee or direct fire weapon. For indirect fire, use IFATTACK below. IFATTACK Format: execute ifattack attackername Executes an indirect fire attack centered at the location of the current remote pointer. It uses the current attack of 'attackername'. SAVE 7 Format: execute save units Saves the complete list of the specified module types. The command 'execute save all' saves a complete '.ebs' file. UNITS DEFENSES WEAPONS MOVEMENTS IFWEAPONS TACTICS MARKERS OBJECTIVES STRATEGIES SUPPLIES PLAYERS TERRAINTABLE PLANETERRAINS ITEMS MEASURES ALL STATUS Status is a special case type of save which saves all data necessary to restart a scenario for a point at which it was interrupted. The status is saved in file 't:statfile.ebs' and will be restored from the same file. Make sure you have 't:' assigned to something useful; I usually use 'ram:' but that will not save you if the machine crashes in the meantime. In addition to the script command, the user may set an interval for automatic status saves (see 'SET' below. UPDATE Format: exec update Recalculates the positions of all markers and refreshes the map. CLICK Format: exec click Executes all the functions of a mouseclick for the current remote pointer. The remote pointer must be on so that there is a definition of its pixel location. It sets the location of the pointer as the current location for that pointer, and if the pointer is over a marker, that marker is set as the current marker with all its associated modules set as current also. SCENARIO Format: exec scenario on -OR- exec scenario off Turns the scenario mode on or off. If the scenario mode was off, 8 turning it off will initiate the player setup procedure which requires keyboard input. This command is intended for use when a user is expected at the console, not for completely independent action. TURN Format: exec turn Executes a turn of EBS action. For definitions of this action, see the menu option of the same name. RESTORE Format: exec restore Reloads the file resulting from a status save, prepare EBS for resumption of an interrupted game. REPROJECT Format: reproject sourcemapname targetmapname iffname Reprojects data from the source map to the target map. The 'newname' argument is optional, but if it is supplied, the new map's IFF file will be save to that name. Otherwise, a requester will be presented to the user. For use in scripts without user intervention, the iff filename must be supplied. SET: The 'set' command sets various values of modules or the EBS program. All of these commands are similar in syntax. LOCATION Format: set location Executes a mouse click and returns the value of the resulting location in a location string. If the current map is a tactical map, it will also check the terrain and add the altitude and cover values. The result will be in the format: x y z plane interstice px py altitude cover This is one of the rare cases where a 'set' command returns a value. It does so to prevent the need to issue another get command to get the actual location after a mouse click is executed. It sets the current location of the remote pointer. 9 MARKER Format: set marker markername elementname value Sets the value of the specified element of the marker named to 'value'. A list of elements follows. The following list of elements in a marker module may be set with this command. See the description of the module for the values allowed for each of them. LABEL NAME NOTE LAT - note that LAT, LONG and ALT also set the location for any objective, supply module or unit attached to the marker. LONG ALT FLAGS COLOR TYPE PLANE - this also sets the plane value for the any attached unit, supply or objective module. INTERSTICE MAPID - resetting the MAPID transfers the marker to the new map. If there is no map with the specified ID, you will not be able to show the marker. UNIT - EBS automatically maintains the identity of unit labels and those of their markers. Setting this value may result in a change of label for the marker. OBJECTIVE ITEM SUPPLY SCRIPT - Marker scripts are executed each time that marker is selected by any of the various means for selecting a marker. POINTER Format: set pointer pixelx pixely Sets the location of the current remote pointer to the X/Y cursor location provided. No click is executed, the pointer is simply moved. POINTREL Format: set pointrel +pixelx +pixely Sets the location of the pointer relative to its current location. The pixelx and pixely locations must be located on the current screen. TERRAINENTRY: 10 Format: set terrainentry entrynumber cover value The main distinguishing feature of the TERRAINENTRY, is that there are 32 of them, and they must be addressed by number. COVER LOS ALTITUDE MARGIN FLAGS TITLE COLOR UNIT: Sets the values of the following list of items in a unit module. LABEL MOVES SPEED MANNING DAMAGE CURRATTACK TARGET - the primary target of the unit. It will also be the primary target of the current attack. DEFENSE UNITID - a unit identification number, which I normally use to provide an easy way to define a class of units for use in scripts, such as '100' is infantry, '200' is armor, etc. EBS does not use these values. They are most useful in script design. MARKER TACTICS SUPERIOR - the immediate superior of the unit. For further discussion of chains of command see the section below concerning SISTERPREV and SISTERNEXT. SUPPORTED - a unit which this unit will fire in support of. This value is used for artillery and other indirect fire units who require observers to specify who the observer is. They then choose targets and fire on them according to lines of sight drawn from the supported unit. OPTIONS HEIGHT - the average height of members of the unit, used for lines of sight. Set this value to zero if you wish to ignore height, but make sure to also set all margin values in the terrain table to zero as well. INTERSTICE - interstice where the unit is located. This value is taken directly from the marker module, and is also set in that module. This keyword simply provides an indirect way of setting the value when working through the unit list. PLANE - plane value. See above under interstice. ALTITUDE - altitude. See above under interstice. FORCE - the force to which the unit belongs. Setting this value automatically adds the unit to the list of units in the force. It will 11 also cancel chains of command for the unit if those attach it to units belonging to the wrong force. INTEL COVER ENDURANCEBASE FORMATIONLEAD ZONEOFCONTROL HIDE SUPPLYTYPE TRANSPORT MOUNTTIME TETHER RANGEFROMHQ REVIEWCOUNTER REVIEWCURRENT COUNTER MOVECOUNTER STATUSCOUNTER SUPPLYCOUNTER TELEPORTS - this value is extracted from the movement module when the unit is initialized for play, but it may also be set. The value is not error checked, so you can set the number of teleports available to a unit to a value higher than the base value specified in the movement module using scripts. PSHIFTS - see TELEPORTS ISHIFTS - see TELEPORTS ENDURANCECOUNTER LOCATION DESTINATION SINGLE - sets the destination of the unit specified to the current location of the remote pointer. CHAIN - sets the destination of the unit specified to the list of destinations beginning with the first location of the current location chain of the remote pointer. TARGET - sets the destination of the unit specified to the location of its target and initiates chase of that target. FORMATION - calculates the difference between the specified unit's location and that of its formation lead and sets its destination to the leader's destination with appropriate offsets. LOCS - reads the location string entered at the end of the command and sets the specified unit's destination as that location. ATTACK LABEL WEAPON IFWEAPON CURRAMMO STARTAMMO COUNTER FLAGS EFFECT TARGET 12 SECTARGET LINKATTACK - there is a single rule about linked attacks: don't link an attack back onto part of its change. Doing so will give you a module error 4, infinite loop. EBS checks, and will not accept the value. MAGICAMMO MAGICDICE MAGICDSIZE TYPEID TERRAINFLAGS SUBFLAGS SCRIPT DURATION INTERVAL MULTIPLE TGTLOC - accepts as its argument a location string. NUMBER - accepts the actual number of unit members used in the attack as the argument. CURRENTDAMAGE - only available for a unit with manning of one, returns the current number of damage points which the individual possesses. Allows healing and direct causing of damage via a script. Use the 'modify unit damage' command to change damage values on a unit with more than one member, and 'modify apply' to actually apply that damage to all units at the end of a turn. MOVES Format: set moves movename element value Sets the values of elements of movement modules. LABEL FLAGS BASESPEED MULTIPLES INTMOVE ISHIFTS INTXFR INTACCELERATION PLANEPOINTS PLANEXFR PSHIFTS MAXALT TAKEOFF FACECHANGE CLIMB DESCEND AIRACCELERATION TELEPORTS 13 TPORTTIME SUBFLAGS SPEEDTHRESHOLD ALLMULTS - this keyword requires a special format for the arguments. The first argument following the word is the number of the first value to be set out of the 32 possible movement multiples. Following this should be a list of multiples separated by spaces. EBS will set all the values which are available and leave any values following the end of the command unaffected. This allows the user to set multiple values with a single EBS command. The format to set the fifth through tenth values follows: 'set moves movename allmults 5 100 90 75 100 110 100' The value 100 will be entered into the fifth multiple, 90 into the sixth, 75 into the seventh, 100 into the eighth, 110 into the ninth and 100 into the tenth. Note that if you intend to set all twenty, you must still enter a '1' as the first argument following the word 'allmults'. WEAPON LABEL RANGE HITS DAMAGES TYPE FLAGS GAP INIT SCRIPT ALLRANGES ALLHITS ALLDAMAGES IFWEAPON: LABEL FLAGS RANGE HITS DAMAGES RADIUS GAP INIT X Y SCATTER MINTROOPS MAGICTYPE 14 SCRIPT DEFENSE: LABEL ARMORS IFDEFENSE MAGICDEFENSE ANGLEBONUSES FLAGS DAMAGEMIN SURPRISEPENALTY SCRIPT ALLARMORS ALLANGLEBONUSES ALLMAGICDEFENSES TACTICS LABEL FLAGS MORALE LOYALTY BERSERK CPA SCRIPT REVIEWBASE TURNINCREMENT - sets the number of seconds to execute for each 'execute turn' command when not in scenario mode. SAVEINCREMENT - sets the number of seconds between status saves. If this value is zero, EBS will not perform status saves automatically. FORCE LABEL FLAGS NUMBER OBJECTIVE ENEMY FRIEND NEUTRAL FANATIC FIRSTUNIT STRATEGYLABEL PASSWORD REVIEWBASE SURRENDER STRATEGYREVIEW MOVEPOINTMULT DEFPOINTMULT OFFPOINTMULT 15 PLAYER: LABEL FLAGS PASSWORD PORT MAP: LABEL FLAGS TYPE IFFFILE PLANE INTERSTICE RADIUS TERRAIN DEFAULTTERRAIN MULTIPLE LAT1 LONG1 LENGTH WIDTH MEASURE BASELAT BASELONG BASEALTITUDE SECTIONS PIXLEFT PIXTOP PIXWIDTH PIXHEIGHT OBJECTIVE: Format: set objective objectivename element value Sets the element values of an objective module. LABEL FLAGS FORCE VALUE BASETIME VICTORYPTS PENALTY MINFORCE MINTIME SUPPLY: 16 Format: set supply supplyname element value Sets the element values of supply modules. LABEL FLAGS TYPE FORCE TIME STRATEGY: Format: set strategy strategyname element value Sets the values of elements of strategy modules. LABEL FLAGS LLSPEED LLDEV LRSPEED LRDEV CLSPEED CLDEV CRSPEED CRDEV RLSPEED RLDEV RRSPEED RRDEV DELAY REAROFFSET SUPPLY COMMAND CONCENTRATE RANGEFROMBASE CHOICESCRIPT ACTIONSCRIPT MEASURE: LABEL MULTIPLE GRID: Format: set grid gridname element value LABEL FLAGS 17 COLOR DRAWMODE STARTX STARTY ENDX ENDY VERTICALSEP HORIZONTALSEP GRAIN REMOTEPOINTER: Format: set remotepointer rem1 Sets the current remote pointer. The argument value may be 'rem1' or 'rem2'. COLORS: Format: set colors 1 0 1 2 3 4 4 6 7 5 Sets the colors for the remote brush. As with the various 'all' type settings, such as 'allmults' and 'allarmors', the first value is the number of the first color to be set. The EBS drawing brush has nine colors, numbered as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The first number is the number of the first color. Thereafter, enter the numbers of the colors from the pallette you wish in each position. It may be easier to understand the effect of this command if you try the brush requester available from the drawing menu. The color in position five is used when single pixel drawing modes are selected, otherwise, all nine colors are entered. The purpose of this brush format is to enter a customized grouping of terrain. Since EBS calculates terrain values from a nine pixel pattern, this command allows setting the colors to produce such a pattern, custom designed. PORT: Format: set port portname element value Sets the values of a port module. LABEL 18 FLAGS DAMAGECMD MOVECMD DEVICE NUMBER BAUDRATE NUMBER DEVNUMBER Note that the use of ports is test only for future use in multi-machine games. SUBCOUNTER: Format: set subcounter This command sets the subcounter to the current value of the timecounter, preparing it to count elapsed seconds from that time. The subcounter cannot be set to a specified value; it may only be set to the value of the timecounter. TIMECOUNTER: Format: set timecounter timeinseconds This command sets the timecounter to the time provided. This command should be used with care during scenario execution, as it could modify values which EBS is counting on to be accurate. FONTNAME: Format: set fontname diamond.font Sets the filename of the large font used to print in the count window. FONTSIZE: Format: set fontsize 15 Sets the size of the current large font used to print in the count window. ITEM: Sets the element values of an item module. LABEL 19 FLAGS ID NOTE ENDSECOND: Sets the name and arguments of a script to be executed by EBS at the end of each second of conduct conducted. This script may be used to update other programs on the current status of a scenario or to implement extra features in EBS through the use of scripts. ENDTURN: Sets the name and arguments of a script to be executed by EBS at the end of each call to the 'execute turn' command or its menu equivalent. This script is only applicable when EBS is not in scenario mode, since EBS never exits turn execution one a scenario is started until an end condition is met. LLFP: Format: set llfp 'nameofscript arg1 arg2 etc' Sets the script used to determine the lat long based on pixel location for a custom map definition. If this script name is not set, no custom maps may be used. Normal format would be: set llfp 'llfp [cpx] [cpy]' PFLL: Format: set pfll 'nameofscript arg1 arg2 etc' Sets the script used to determine the pixel location based on a lat long or X/Y coordinates. If this script name is not set, no custom maps may be used. ENDTIME: Format: set endtime timeinseconds Sets the end time for a scenario in seconds. This time should be greater than the current timecounter value. ISCREENWIDTH - interlaced screen width. 20 ISCREENHEIGHT - interlaced screen height. NISCREENWIDTH - non-interlaced screen width. NISCREENHEIGHT - non-interlaced screen height. Sets the default values for the dimensions of the screen which EBS will open. The default values are: 640, 400, 320, and 200. REFRESHINC - time between full screen refreshes during non-scenario play. CURRENTLOC - location values concerning the current location. All values about the current location may be set. This is only valid for LLFP and PFLL scripts, as it sets the values which will be displayed by EBS. This is mosly useful for user defined maps. TARGETLOC - This is only valid during IFWeapon or Weapon scripts, and gives the location at which an attack is actually occuring, considering hit rolls, etc. All values concerning a location may be set or gotten. FILEPATH - Sets the filepath which EBS uses for map files. This defaults to 'map:'. The path must be correctly terminated with a '/' or a ':' as appropriate. REXXPATH - Sets an additional directory in which EBS will search for AREXX (tm) scripts. The search order is: current directory, REXXPATH, then REXX:. CHAIN - Sets the following values for a location chain. LABEL FLAGS - user defined, none are actually defined for a chain. COLOR - the color in which the location chain should be drawn. MODE - the drawmode, either JAMIT or COMPLEMENT. LOCS - the locations to be added to the chain. It accepts the following values: CLEAR - clears all locations and starts over. CURRENT - adds the current locations from the current remotepointer to the list of locations. STRING - adds a location in the standard format to the location chain. MAXLOCS - sets the maximum number of locations which EBS will maintain for each pointer for drawing purposes, such as in drawing a chain above. BASELOS - the base, unobstructed visibility. All terrains which obstruct visibility reduce this value, so it should be set to cover conditions. Reduce it for night or bad weather games, increase it for high visibility conditions. GET: 21 LASTLOC: Format: get lastloc pointerword Returns the last location of the specified pointer as a location string. See below under 'pointers' for a list of the pointerwords. SCREEN: Format: get screen Returns the address of the EBS screen in HEX. DISTANCE: Format: get distance pointers mptr rem1 get distance current rem2 get distance total rem1 POINTERS Gets the distance between the two current locations of the specified pointers. Any pointer may be named; the two do not need to be in the same list. If either pointer has no location defined for it, the result will be zero. CURRENT Gets the distance between the last location and the current location of the specified pointer. TOTAL Gets the total distance of the location chain for the current pointer. TERRAINENTRY: Same as the 'set terrainentry' list of keywords. UNIT: Format: get unit unitname lastpos Gets the various element values and certain summaries of values for the named unit. It takes all the keywords of the 'set unit' command plus the following. ATTACK Allows all the options of set for attacks plus the following two: NEXT PREVIOUS 22 LASTPOS - returns the position of the unit prior to the last second of movement. TRANSPORTING - returns the label of any unit which this unit is transporting. TRANSPORTEDBY - returns the label of a unit which is transporting this unit. FINALDEST - Under most circumstances, this will return none, but if the unit is moving toward a transport unit in preparation to mount, it will return the destination to which that unit intends to be transported. HEALTHY - returns the number of members of the unit which are uninjured. WOUNDED - returns the number of members of the unit which are wounded. OUT - returns the number of members of the unit which are out of action. WOUNDSTATUS - returns the average number of points lost by the wounded members of the unit. SUBORDINATE - returns the label of the first subordinate unit. This may be used with the SISTERNEXT and SISTERPREV commands to trace a chain of command. NEXT - returns the next unit in the full unit list without regard to force. PREVIOUS - returns the previous unit in the full unit list without regard to force. FORCENEXT - returns the next unit in the list of units in that force. FORCEPREV - returns the previous unit in the list of units in that force. This command, and the preceding command can be used to work through all units in one force only rather than for all units currently defined. SISTERNEXT - returns the next unit which is immediately subordinate to this one. SISTERPREV - returns the previous unit which is immediately subordinate to this one. Note: Some expansion may be necessary on the lists of units. EBS maintains three different lists or systems of lists of all the units which are currently defined. These are: 1 - a list of all units currently defined. 2 - a list of units for each force. 3 - a series of lists tracing the chain of command for each unit. In the first case you might use this list for any action which must be taken regardless of force, such as updating a copy of EBS on another machine as to the location of all units. Such a script is provided in the sample scripts. Also, if you are taking over the process of turn execution, this method could be used to give the 'move' command to all units currently defined. 23 In the second case, you might use this list to give strategic commands to all the units in a single force, or to get data about all those units. This might be done for a strategy script replacing the normal strategy modules. In the third, you can trace the chain of command to determine whether the unit is currently in command, or what unit is the highest in the chain. This is similar to what EBS does internally when a unit is tasked to "ATTACKHQ" during a scenario. In that case, of course, the unit requires an intelligence roll to determine whether it can locate the unit, so a programmer should take unit knowledge into account in designing such scripts. The chain of command listings go from HQ to first subordinate, then all units immediately subordinate to the HQ are accessed via sisternext/sisterprev. If you take the FIRSTSUBORD of a headquarters unit, then trace the SISTERNEXT values until you get a return of none, you will have examined the entire list. In addition each of those subordinate units may have subordinates of their own listed in a similar fashion. Overall, a quite complex chain of command can be created. Tracing the list in reverse requires use of the SUPERIOR keyword. That is also the value to use in the 'set unit' commands. Setting the SUPERIOR of any unit automatically adds it to all the lists necessary. MOVES: Format: get moves movename element Used to access the values of a movement module. Returns any of the values listed under the 'set moves' command plus the following two: NEXT PREVIOUS WEAPON: Accepts all the keywords of the 'set weapon' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS IFWEAPON: Accepts all the keywords of the 'set ifweapon' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS DEFENSE: 24 Accepts all the keywords of the 'set defense' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS TACTICS: Accepts all the keywords of the 'set tactics' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS TIME: Format: get time Returns the current scenario time in seconds. MARKER: Format: get marker markername elementname Returns the values of the elements of a marker module. Accepts all the keywords used in 'set marker' plus the following two elements: NEXT - returns the next element in the list of markers. PREVIOUS - returns the previous element in the list of markers. TARGETDATA: Format: get targetdata attackername targetname This is a PLAYER interface command which return the data needed for PLAYER to conduct an attack on a target. The format is: 75 10000 Y 10000 0 2 75 = the target's total defense value. 10000 = the range to the target in centimeters. Y = there is a line of sight for the unit to the target ('N' if not). 10000 = the distance which the attacker was able to see; will equal the range if the line of sight check was successful. 0 = the height of blocking terrain if the line of sight was blocked by a hill or other high object. 2 = the relation of the target to the attacker. (Values are: 0 = FRIEND; 1 = NEUTRAL; 2 = ENEMY; 3 = FANATIC.) COVER: Format: get cover 25 Returns the cover value of the current location of the current remote pointer. ALTITUDE: Format: get altitude Returns the altitude of the current location of the current remote pointer. FORCE: Returns values of force modules. Accepts all keywords of the 'set force' command, plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS PLAYER: Returns the values of player modules. Accepts all keywords of the 'set player' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS MAP: Returns the values of map modules. Accepts all the keywords of the 'set map' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS OBJECTIVE: Returns the values of objective modules. Accepts all the keywords of the 'set objective' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS SUPPLY: Returns the values of supply modules. Accepts all the keywords of the 'set supply' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS STRATEGY: 26 Returns the values of strategy modules. Accepts all the keywords of the 'set strategy' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS MEASURE: Returns the values of measure modules. Accepts all the keywords of the 'set measure' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS GRID: Returns the values of grid modules. Accepts all the keywords of the 'set grid' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS PORT: Returns the values of port modules. Accepts all the keywords of the 'set port' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS SUBTIME: Returns the current value of the subcounter in seconds. FONTNAME: Returns the name of the font currently used as the large font for the count window. It is returned in the form "diamond.font" which is the default large font. FONTSIZE: Returns the size of the current large font as a number. This may be any size allowed for the font selected under font name. ITEM: Returns the element values of item modules. Accepts all the keywords 27 of the 'set item' command plus the following: NEXT PREVIOUS ENDSECOND: Returns the name and arguments of a script to be executed by EBS at the end of each second of conduct conducted. ENDTURN: Returns the name and arguments of the EBS script to be executed at the end of each turn (the number of seconds of combat conducted each time the 'execute turn' or its equivalent menu option is called). LLFP: Returns the name and arguments of the current Lat Long from Pixels script. PFLL: Returns the name and arguments of the current Pixels from Lat Long script. ENDTIME: Returns the end time for the current scenario. REXXPORT: Returns the name of the EBS port for rexx commands. If you are running only one copy of EBS this will always be "EBS," but if you run a second copy for some reason, it will have a number attached to it. COLORS: Returns the current nine color terrain pattern as a string suitable for use as an argument to the set colors command. ISCREENWIDTH - interlaced screen width. ISCREENHEIGHT - interlaced screen height. NISCREENWIDTH - non-interlaced screen width. NISCREENHEIGHT - non-interlaced screen height. Format: get iscreenwidth ISCREENWIDTH, ISCREENHEIGHT, NISCREENWIDTH and NISCREENHEIGHT return the default value for the width or height of a interlaced and non-interlaced screens. PIXELCOUNT Format: get pixelcount colornumber Counts the number of pixels of the colornumber specified. Color number 28 values are from one to the maximum number of colors displayable on the screen. These values can be used to determine quantities of a particular terrain type on the map, provided that it is in an appropriate projection. Note that certain projections, such as the 'S' map type will make the results of this command totally irrelevant. The command returns two values, the first is the number of pixels are of the specified color, the second is the number of pixels which are part of the map. Thus, a map which occupies the full size of a low resolution, non- interlaced screen and is half blue, when asked for a count of the blue pixels will return: 32000 64000 REFRESHINC: The interval between map refreshes when a scenario is in continuous execution. This can become important when there are no units ready for command, such as when all units are retreating, or one is simply observing the progress of a scenario with the computer playing both sides. The value is the number of seconds of game execution between complete refreshes of the map. If EBS is in scenario mode, the display will be the view of the current attacker. CURRENTLOC - gets all values of a current location. See 'set currentloc' for conditions and details. TARGETLOC - gets all values of a target location. Set 'set targetloc' for conditions and details. REMOTEPOINTER - gets the value of the current remote pointer. TURNINCREMENT - gets the value of the current turn increment. FILEPATH - gets the current filepath. REXXPATH - gets the current file path added to the search for AREXX (tm) commands. CHAIN - gets all values of a location chain. See 'set' for the other values. The following keyword is modified: LOCS - Format: 'get chain chainname locs n' where 'n' is an integer less than the total number of elements in the location chain. In addition, the following values may be gotten: NEXT PREV MAXLOCS - gets the maximum number of locations maintained for each remote pointer. Uses the current default pointer. 29 BASELOS - returns the base LOS distance. MOVE: This command moves units either using their normal movement modules and destinations or an absolute location. All moves are conducted "legally" for scenario purposes, so that previous location data is maintained as accurate. ALL Moves all units in the unit list using currently defined destinations and movement modules. It maintains all counters. CURRENT Moves the current unit using current destination and movement module data. Maintains all counters. UNIT Format: move unit unitname Moves the named unit toward its destination using movement module. Maintains all counters. ABSOLUTE Format: move absolute unitname locationstring Moves the unit to the location specified by the location string. Legal values for the previous location of the unit are maintained, but no counters are modified, and the movement module is not checked. The move will be conducted whether or not it is legal under EBS movement rules. PROJECT: Duplicates the functions of the main EBS menu. This command exactly duplicates the project menu items, including requesters. To save items to filenames designated in scripts, use the 'execute' command set. LOAD Format: load map MAP UNIT CONFIG SCENARIO SAVE MAP UNIT CONFIG SCENARIO 30 DISPLAY REFRESH EDIT MARKERS COMMAND DRAW TURN MOVEMENT CLEAR MAINFLAGS SCENARIOFLAGS ABOUT QUIT LOCK: UNLOCK: These two commands lock and unlock EBS preventing or allowing keyboard input. When conducting any turn execution, it is a good idea to lock out all other input. I don't know of any disasters which will occur if you ignore this, except that definitions changed while EBS is taking other actions on a module could cause results which are "undefined." WINDOW: Format: window open edit Opens or closes one of the auxilliary windows for EBS. The window is opened in the location where it was last located or at its default. OPEN MARKER EDIT COMMAND CLOSE MENU: Creates menus in the following windows (keywords): MAIN, MARKER, MAPEDIT, COMMAND. They have the following minimum user defined menu numbers: MAIN - 4 MARKER - 3 MAPEDIT - 4 COMMAND - 3 These values are the minimum number for the lowest number menu which may be defined by the user. The command string may be any valid internal 31 EBS command or the name of an AREXX (tm) script (if you have AREXX (tm)). Internal commands must be specified by the '@' as menu options default to AREXX (tm) scripts rather than internal commands, unlike the command window. Format: menu window menunum itemnum keyword string menu main 4 0 name system ; sets up menu for system commands menu mapedit 4 3 name NewTactical ; sets up a menu item to create ; a new tactical map on the 4th menu of the menu strip for the ; mapedit window NAME COMMAND KEY ENABLE DISABLE ENABLE and DISABLE turn the menu item on or off. No string is required. REMOVE Again, no string is required. This erases the menu item. CLEARMENUS: Clears menus in the following windows (keywords): MAIN, MARKER, MAPEDIT, COMMAND. WBENCHFRONT: WBENCHBACK: Format: wbenchback Moves the workbench screen to the front or to the back. EBSFRONT: EBSBACK: Format: ebsback Moves the EBS screen to the front or to the back. NOTIFY: Presents a message to the user requiring a response before continuation of program execution. The message will be truncated to the width of the screen, so take that length into consideration in designing the message. REQUEST: EBS has a variety of requesters, and values on which they can operate. 32 The formats are individual for each one. STR1 Format: request str1 windowname Presents a string requester in the window specified by windowname. See the WINDOW command for a list of valid window names. STR2 Format: request str2 Presents a string request window, independent of the location and stacking of the other windows. LIST Format: request list module Presents a list requester for the list specified. The following keywords are supported. UNIT FORCE MOVEMENT DEFENSE WEAPON IFWEAPON TACTICS OBJECTIVE SUPPLY PLAYER STRATEGY MAP PORT MARKER ITEM MEASURE OPTIONS Format: request options module Presents an option requester for the current module from the specified module list. UNIT FORCE ATTACK TERRAIN MOVEMENT 33 DEFENSE WEAPON IFWEAPON TACTICS SUPPLY PLAYER STRATEGY MAP GRID MARKER OBJECTIVE FILE Format: request file type Presents a file requester of the type specified to the user. It returns the result as a filename with full path name. SCENARIO UNIT CONFIG MAP IFF LIST: Format: list keyword Creates a string containing the names of the elements of the specified list separated by spaces. If done internally, the list is put in the info window, otherwise it is returned as a string to the AREXX (tm) script. MARKERS UNITS MOVEMENT WEAPONS IFWEAPONS DEFENSES TACTICS ATTACKS OBJECTIVES SUPPLY PLAYERS STRATEGY MAPS PORTS ITEMS MEASURES FORCE READY - all units ready to conduct an attack. 34 CHANGED Format: list changed lists Lists all items in the various lists which have been changed since last saved. LISTS - lists all lists which have changed elements. MARKERS UNITS FORCES MOVEMENTS DEFENSES WEAPONS IFWEAPONS TACTICS OBJECTIVES SUPPLY PLAYER STRATEGY MAP PORT MEASURES ITEMS MODIFY: Format: modify unit unitname number value The current number and damage values of units may not be set directly, because there are a number of internal values which must be kept accurate. The MODIFY command allows increasing or decreasing these values. The 'value' argument may be a positive or negative integer which is subtracted from the target's value. To increase the size or damage value of the unit, use a negative number; to decrease it, use a positive number. UNIT For both of the following commands, the results are set up, but not applied unless the 'modify apply' command is executed afterward. EBS is set up to apply all damage simultaneously at the end of a second. Note that the 'modify apply' command applies all the results set up to all units, so it should only be called after all 'modify unit' commands desired have already been executed. NUMBER Directly subtracts the number of members specified from the unit and zeros out the damage value of each member so removed from the unit. DAMAGE 35 Applies the number of damage points specified to the unit, causing casualties as appropriate. APPLY Format: modify apply Applies all results of combat to all units. All 'modify unit' commands should be completed prior to calling this command which performs the simultaneous application of all combat results. OPTIONON: OPTIONOFF: The OPTIONON and OPTIONOFF commands use a similar syntax and list of subordinate keywords. OPTIONON turns an option in a set of options on, OPTIONOFF turns that same option off. Format: optionon force forcename optionword The following list of keywords apply to both commands: UNIT A unit has the following two groups of options, thus the format is slightly different from the standard. Format: optionon unit unitname main optionword optionon unit unitname attack attackname optionword MAIN CHECKLOS PRIMARYSYSTEM INFOWINDOW SCENARIO TIMEWINDOW COUNTWINDOW FILTERSELECT FILTERON MARKSECTORS MARKZONES DOICONS COURSEPLOTTING POINTERS MARKERTOFRONT A2090SAVE TURNMINUTES POINTERLOCK1 POINTERLOCK2 DRAWLOCK UNIT 36 SIMPLE AUTOMODE FULLAUTO AUTOONLY RETREATING DEFENSIVE ACTIVEDEFENSE NEVERDEVIATE CONSTANTLOS SHIELDSUP ENEMYSIGHTED UNDERFIRE INCOMBAT INCHARGERANGE ATTACK INDIRECT DIRECT MAGICAL MEETCHARGE CHARGING AIRTARGET GNDTARGET NONTARGET INTERSTICE STOPTOFIRE PTBRANGE SHTRANGE MEDRANGE LNGRANGE MOUNTED WITHSHIELD SMOKEATTACK FORCE KILL DEFENSIVE OFFENSIVE BERSERK CAUTIOUS STATIC WEAPON IFWEAPON Both of these items (WEAPON and IFWEAPON) use the same list of options as an attack. Note that attack and weapon flags must match on any item which indicates capability, such as CHARGING. Specific uses, such as the ideal range indicators, are designed to be used in specific attacks, however, if you wish attacks using the weapon to default to the range or other attribute desired, select that option for the 37 weapon, then enter it in the various attacks which will use it. DEFENSE ONEARMOR SURPRISED MOVEMENT COVER FAST HARDFRONT CLOSEFRONT FREE TELEPORT PLANESHIFT INTERSTICE ENTERATTACK RANDSEARCH STOPINAIR EXACTFORMATION TACTICS DAMAGE HARD CLOSEST DANGER NOTTARGET FASTEST RECKLESS MAXRANGE FLEXCPA IDEALRANGE CONCENTRATE OBSERVER OBJECTIVE ONOBJECTIVE INZONE LOSTOOBJECTIVE GAMEENDS TIMEHOLD SUPPLY MOVING STOPPED LOSNEEDED ONMAP RETREATING ATSUPPLY PLAYER ACTIVE 38 STRATEGY KILL DEFENSIVE OFFENSIVE BERSERK CAUTIOUS UNDERFIRE SIGHTEDENEMY INCOMBAT MAP The format for MAP options is the same as that for the units, the alternate keyword being for the list of grids attached to that map. MAIN PVTBITMAP TACTICALMAP GRID GRIDON DISTANCEGRID PORT INTERNAL EXTERNAL SERPORT MODEM MARKER SHOWN RANGEON FACINGON SHOWZOC SHOWDEST SHOWTARGET SHOWCMD LASTMOVE LABEL OWNIMAGE TERRAIN Format: optionon terrain terrainnumber optionword The terrain must be specified by number rather than label. Legal values are from 1 to 32. MOVE LOS ALTITUDE COVER 39 MAIN CHECKLOS PRIMARYSYSTEM INFOWINDOW SCENARIO TIMEWINDOW COUNTWINDOW FILTERSELECT FILTERON MARKSECTORS MARKZONES DOICONS COURSEPLOTTING POINTERS MARKERTOFRONT OPTIMIZECOURSE POINTERLOCK1 POINTERLOCK2 DRAWLOCK SCENARIO LOCKED FORCES UNITS VERBOSE PHASES ZOOMTOBATTLES HISTORYFILE STOPAFTERBATTLE DRAW: The draw command allows drawing using the measuring units of the EBS map. The option words PIXELS and SCALED apply to these commands. Normally location arguments are passed in map coordinates (using the current map definition). If the word SCALED is added to the end of the command, the unit of measurement is the unit defined for the current map, otherwise the unit is centimeters. If the word PIXELS is added to the end of the command, arguments are entered in pixels. Note that the option words must be the last thing on the command line, regardless of how many embedded commands are included. EBS extracts those words first before any other parsing of the command is accomplished. Format: draw pattern x y optionword This option word is, of course, optional. PATTERN 40 Gets the pattern of colors at the current location of the remote pointer. These colors are returned as a string of numbers separated by spaces suitable for use as an argument to a 'set colors' command. COLOR Gets the single pattern of colors at the current location of the remote pointer. The color is returned as a single number. BOX Format: draw box startx starty endx endy optionword Draws a box with corners startx/starty and endx/endy. The order of the corners provided is immaterial (upper left, lower right, etc). The box is an outline in color 5 of the terrain pattern. CIRCLE Format: draw circle centerx centery radius optionword Draws a circle centered at centerx and centery with the specified radius in color 5 of the terrain pattern. LINE Format: draw line startx starty endx endy optionword Draws a line in color 5 of the terrain pattern. As with 'draw box' it is immaterial which end of the line is specified first. PLINE Same as 'draw line', except that the line is drawn with the entire nine pixel terrain pattern. FBOX Same as 'draw box', except that the box will also be filled with color 5 of the terrain pattern. FCIRCLE Same as 'draw circle', except that the circle will also be filled with color 5 of the terrain pattern. PBOX Same as 'draw box' except that the box is drawn and filled with all nine colors of the terrain pattern. POUTLINE 41 Same as 'draw box' except that the outline of the box is drawn with all nine colors of the terrain pattern. POINT Draws the current terrain pattern at the location specified. PPOINT Draws one pixel of color 5 of the current terrain pattern at the location specified. NEW: Format: new unit name sourcename This is a simple command to create a new, blank, module of the type specified. The 'name' argument is the name for the new module; the sourcename is the name of an existing module whose values you wish copied into the new module as defaults. UNIT MOVES WEAPON IFWEAPON DEFENSE TACTICS MARKER ATTACK FORCE MEASURE GRID OBJECTIVE SUPPLY STRATEGY PLAYER PORT ITEM CLEAR: Format: clear unit optionword The only applicable optionword is QUERY. If it is the last thing on the command line EBS will query the user at the console as to whether he desires the list of modules cleared, otherwise, EBS deletes all the modules in the list. This command uses the list of modules presented under the 'count' 42 command below. Its purpose is, however, to clear out an entire list of the type of module specified. DELETE: Format: clear unit unitname optionword Similar to 'clear' except that only the item named is deleted. Use of the QUERY option is identical. COUNT: Format: count map count map grids count unit count unit attacks count unit destinations Counts the number of modules there are in each list. This is particularly valuable when something must be done to all elements of a list from the EBS script language. One way of covering an entire list is by getting the first element of it, then counting your way through using the 'next' variable. This takes time and extra EBS commands sent from AREXX (tm). A simpler way to do so is to get a count of the elements of the list, then use a simple counting loop. All arguments in EBS which require the module name will also accept the module number. The difference is, that when dealing with more than one machine or more than one copy of EBS, the lists may not be identical. In that case, the name provides a unique way of accessing a particular module. MAP GRIDS UNIT ATTACKS DESTINATIONS UNIT FORCE MOVEMENT DEFENSE WEAPON IFWEAPON TACTICS OBJECTIVE SUPPLY PLAYER STRATEGY MAP PORT 43 MARKER ITEM MEASURE ALL SECTOR: Format: sector sectornum item Returns the average values for each of the following items for a sector. COVER - average cover in the sector. ALTITUDE - average altitude of the terrain in the sector. TROOPS - total troops of all forces. SPEED - average speed for the movement module specified. Format: sector sectornum speed infantrymoves FORCE Format: sector sectornum force item Uses the same keywords as the FORCE command to return values which reference a particular force, such as enemy numbers in the sector. ZONE: This command has the same format and keywords as the SECTOR command, but provides the average values for whole zones. UNIT: Format: unit unitname keyword Returns a TRUE or FALSE for whether the specified item is true about the unit, with the exception of distance (see below). MOVED This is TRUE if the unit has been moved since its status was last updated by EBS. DISTANCE Returns the distance of the last second's movement by the unit specified. TRANSPORTED This is TRUE if the unit is being transported by another unit. INTELCHECKED This is TRUE if the unit has had all its information checked for quick display of the unit view. SITECHECKED This is TRUE if the unit has had all of its lines of sight check for quick display of the unit view. 44 COMMANDED This is TRUE if the unit has received commands since the last time it was ready to receive them. FORCE: Format: force forcename keyword Returns the following values for a force for the entire EBS map. It is similar to the 'sector force' and 'zone force' commands otherwise. NUMBER ENEMY STRPOINTS DEFPOINTS MOVEPOINTS OFFPOINTS ENEMYSTR ENEMYDEF ENEMYMOVE ENEMYOFF COURSE: Format: course unitname keyword Returns values relating to the position, destination and current course of the unit named. COURSECLEAR Returns TRUE if there is a clear course between the unit and its destination, FALSE otherwise. CALCCOURSE Returns the course in degrees and the distance in centimeters from the unit's current position to its destination. Zero or 360 degrees is always to the top of the map. Use of the SCALED keyword will result in a distance value stated in the unit specified for the map. SETCOURSE Format: course unitname degrees distance Sets the course of the unit named to the number of degrees specified, and to a destination 'distance' centimeters away on that course. Accepts the response of the 'calccourse' command as its input. If necessary, internal logic for moving around obstacles is used in projecting a course through a series of points to the destination. Returns the destination which has been set. RETREAT 45 Format: course unitname retreat attackername Sets the unit's course as a retreat from the attacker named at the end of the command. Returns the destination actually set, or zeros if none was successfully set, meaning the unit is unable to retreat under EBS rules. LOS: Format: los keyword values keyword values los sectorc sectornum sectore sectornum los loc rem1 loc rem2 los unit unitname marker markername los locstr 1000 1000 0 0 0 0 1 locstr 1000 1500 0 0 0 0 1 Calculates whether there is a line of sight between any two locations specified by the following list of keywords. They may be mixed as desired, for example, the command 'los unit leadunitname marker objectivemarkername' would inform the user whether the lead unit (specified by name, this is not an EBS variable) has an LOS to its objective. SECTORC Calculates the LOS to the center of the sector specified. SECTORE Calculates the LOS to the nearest edge of the sector specified. LOCSTR LOC MARKER UNIT PIXX: Converts pixels to location strings. The location strings returned may be used as arguments for any functions which call for a location string. PIX Format: pixx pix px py Returns a location string with full values based on the px and py location specified. LATLONG Format: pixx latlong x y z 0 0 interstice plane Calculates the pixel values and returns the location string complete with the pixel values. Any values entered in the position for the pixels in the location string will be ignored. 46 INFO: Format: info put string info add string This command simply places the information provided in the string into the EBS information window. The 'info put' command erases any previous data entered into the window, while the 'info add' command adds this info to any already in the window. Be careful in using this command to avoid adding more information that the information window has buffers for. Extra information will be discarded. The capacity of the information window is 2048 bytes, and even this amount cannot be displayed on lower resolution screens. PUT ADD RANDOM: Format: random upperlimit Returns a value between one and 'upperlimit'. The random number generator is automatically seeded from the clock at startup. The random number must be less than 65535. POINTERS: The following keywords are used in all cases where pointer specification is required: MPTR - the mouse pointer. Information may be accessed from this pointer, but its location may not be changed remotely. REM1 - the first remote pointer. Fully accessible from remote scripts. The REM1 pointer is used by default for pointer to markers and to targets. Any internal function which moves a pointer uses this one. REM2 - the second remote pointer. Fully accessible from remote scripts. Not used by default for any other function within EBS. Remote pointer commands will use the default remote pointer. 3.6 Expressions and Operators The EBS script language also supports operators and expressions used in commands. Command processing will often be speeded by using these operators rather than getting values, calculating in AREXX (tm) then again entering values in EBS. 'C' language escape values, including octal or hex entries, '\n', etc. 47 are supported as parts of strings. Several of these, such as '\f' have no function in the current version of EBS, but will not produce errors. (IF) - this doesn't exist as such. Just enter a boolean expression. This must use one of the comparison operators. Explicitly do a comparison. For example [1] commands [ENDIF] will not work, but [1 == 1] commands [ENDIF] will. ELSE ENDIF These three operators combine to produce IF-ELSE-ENDIF structure. Sytax is: [expression1] commands [ELSE] commands [ENDIF]. These expressions can be nested up to 256 levels. Binary operators take the form 'expression1 op expression2'. EBS supports the following binary operators: Comparison: Operator Function == Equality != Inequality < Less than <= Less than or equal to > Greater than >= Greater than and equal to Math: + Addition - Subtraction * Multiplication / Division % Modulo division BITWISE: & AND | OR ^ XOR << SHIFT LEFT >> SHIFT RIGHT LOGICAL: && AND || OR Unary operators take the form 'op expression'. EBS supports the following unary operators. Comparison: Operator Function ! LOGICAL NOT ~ BITWISE NOT UNSIGNED Converts number to unsigned for printed return ENVIRONMENT Returns an environment variable value 48 * AREXX is a trademark of William B. Hawes. 49 Index '@' 4, 32 'set 24, 25, 26, 27, 41 'set' 9 [] 4 {} 4 $ 4 @ 4 ACTIVEDEFENSE 37 ALLMAGICDEFENSES 15 Altitude 9, 11, 26, 39, 44 AREXX 3, 4, 5, 32, 34, 43 ATSUPPLY 38 Attackername 7 Back 13 BASEALTITUDE 16 BASETIME 16 Below 7 CDEFENSE 5 Centered 7 CFORCE 5 CGRID 5 CHECKLOS 36, 40 CIFWEAPON 5 CLEARMENUS 32 CLOCATION 5 CMARKER 5 COBJECTIVE 5 CONSTANTLOS 37 Coordinates 40 COUNTWINDOW 36, 40 Cover 9, 11, 12, 25, 26, 38, 39, 44 Covering 43 CPLAYER 5 CSTRATEGY 5 CSUPPLY 5 CTACTICS 5 CUNIT 5 CWEAPON 5 DEFAULTTERRAIN 16 Defense 5, 11, 15, 24, 25, 33, 34, 38, 42, 43 DEFENSES 8, 34, 35 Definition 40 Distance 22 DISTANCEGRID 39 Executed 7 FIRSTDEFENSE 6 FIRSTFORCE 6 FIRSTIFWEAPON 6 FIRSTMARKER 6 50 FIRSTMEASURE 6 FIRSTOBJECTIVE 6 FIRSTPLAYER 6 FIRSTSTRATEGY 6 FIRSTSUPPLY 6 FIRSTTACTICS 6 FIRSTUNIT 6, 15 FIRSTWEAPON 6 Font 19, 27 FONTNAME 19, 27 FONTSIZE 19, 27 Force 5, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 26, 33, 34, 36, 37, 42, 43, 44, 45 FORCENEXT 23 FORCEPREV 23 FORCES 35, 40, 44 Grid 5, 7, 17, 27, 34, 39, 42 GRIDON 39 Grids 39, 43 IFDEFENSE 15 IFWeapon 5, 12, 14, 24, 33, 34, 37, 42, 43 IFWEAPONS 8, 34, 35 INFOWINDOW 36, 40 Interstice 6, 9, 10, 11, 16, 37, 38, 46 Is 5, 9 Iscreenwidth 28 Item 19 Lastloc 22 Location 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 20, 22, 23, 26, 30, 31, 33, 40, 41, 42, 46, 46, 47 Locations 5, 10, 22, 46 LOS 11, 39, 46 LOSNEEDED 38 LOSTOOBJECTIVE 38 MAGICDEFENSE 15 Map 9 Marker 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 25, 31, 32, 33, 34, 39, 42, 44, 46 Markername 10 MARKERS 8, 10, 25, 31, 34, 35, 47 MARKERTOFRONT 36, 40 MEASURE 16, 17, 27, 33, 42, 44 MEASURES 8, 34, 35 Menu 3, 4, 7, 9, 18, 20, 28, 30, 31, 32 Menus 3, 7, 31, 32 MINFORCE 16 Module 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 24, 25, 30, 31, 33, 42, 43, 43, 44 Modules 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 17, 24, 26, 27, 30, 42, 43 Movement 5, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 30, 31, 33, 34, 38, 43, 44 MOVEMENTS 8, 35 Moves 24 Must 7 51 NewMarker 6 Objective 5, 10, 15, 16, 26, 33, 34, 38, 42, 43, 46 Objectivemarkername 46 Objectivename 16 OBJECTIVES 8, 34, 35 Of 7 Offsets 12 ONOBJECTIVE 38 OPTIONS 11, 33, 36, 39 Pixelcount 28 PLANETERRAINS 8 Player 5, 9, 16, 25, 26, 33, 34, 35, 38, 42, 43 PLAYERS 8, 34 Pointer 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 18, 22, 26, 41, 47 POINTERLOCK 36, 40 Pointers 7, 22, 36, 40, 47 Pointerword 22 Pointerwords 22 REAROFFSET 17 REFRESHINC 29 REMOTEPOINTER 18 REPROJECT 9 Reprojects 9 REQUEST 32, 33, 34 Requester 9, 18, 33, 34 Requesters 30, 32 Resetting 10 SAVEINCREMENT 15 Scenario 5, 8, 15, 19, 20, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 34, 36, 40 SCENARIOFLAGS 31 Screen 22 Set 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28, 30, 35, 36, 45, 46, 46 SETCOURSE 45 Sets 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 32, 45, 46 Setting 3, 11, 18, 24 Setup 9 Strategy 5, 17, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 39, 42, 43 STRATEGYLABEL 15 STRATEGYREVIEW 15 SUBCOUNTER 19, 27 Supply 5, 10, 16, 17, 26, 33, 34, 35, 38, 42, 43 SUPPLYCOUNTER 12 SUPPLYTYPE 12 Tactics 5, 8, 11, 15, 25, 33, 34, 35, 38, 42, 43 Targetdata 25 TELEPORT 38 TELEPORTS 12, 13 TenDegreeGrid 7 Terrain 9, 11, 16, 18, 25, 28, 29, 33, 39, 41, 42, 44 TERRAINENTRY 10, 11, 22 TERRAINFLAGS 13 52 TERRAINTABLE 8 The 9 Time 25 Timecounter 19, 20 TIMEWINDOW 36, 40 TURNINCREMENT 15 Unit 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 40, 42, 43, 43, 44, 45, 46 Unit's 46 UNITID 11 Units 8, 11, 12, 13, 23, 24, 29, 30, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40 Variable 4, 43, 46 Variables 3, 4, 5, 6 Weapon 5, 6, 7, 12, 14, 24, 33, 34, 37, 38, 42, 43 WEAPONS 8, 34, 35 Window 19, 27, 31, 32, 33, 34, 47 Windowname 33 Windows 31, 32, 33 53