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Xelagot topics

Caretaker

Adapted for 3.4 xelagots.. For older Xelagots, see the older page.

Each world has one or more caretakers. Caretaker bots are bots that log into the universe and world with the citizen number of a caretaker. They have all the caretaker privileges and, as bots, can do more than the caretaker him/herself.

Xelagots have a few facilities for caretakers. Most of them are found in the menu World | World attributes. Other facilities, like pushing URLs, teleporting someone (AW 3.0 caretakers and ejectors) etc, can be implemented through the user interface, verbal commands or action script statements.

WORLD ATTRIBUTES

The world attributes mangement can be reached at menu World | World attributes. The 3.4 layout for these attributes has been re-arrangedin a more logical way. It has several tabs:

  1. tab General
    Lists all common world attributes.
    These attributes can be set here and using action script statements. Note the following:
    if you are not Caretaker and click on the Object Path label, to the left of an empty object path field, you can set and remember the object path of this world, if you know it. This setting will be used by the bot to download the avatars.dat file, if Andras' zipdll.dll has been installed in the bot's Plugins folder for xelagot version 3.606 or lower (xelagot 3.607 or higher does not require Andras' plugin). This is not necessary if your bot is Caretaker.
    if you click with the mouse on the Home Page label, to the left of the input box, you can view it in your browser
    the input box for the Welcome Message has a pop-up menu (right click on the box) with two extra items: New Line to add a line break, and Tab to add a tab character
    to bring up colour selectors, double-click on the colour panel

     
  2. tab Lights, Fog, Sky
    3.0 facilities for positioning and colouring the world light sources and fog require a world server build 23 or higher. To view the effects of lights and fog, the users must have a new 3.0 browser. 3.4 additions require a 3.4 world server and browser.
    These attributes can be set here and using action script statements.
    The world has two light sources and fog:
    1. A directional light source, comparable to the sun or moon. It is at an infinite distance of the observer, somewhere in the sky. It casts parallel rays of light of a certain colour. The colour can be changed at the light colour selector: click on the coloured rectangle to activate the picker. The position of the light source can be changed: click on edit to change the azimuth and elevation of the light source, or change its vector notation. The azimuth is the NWSE position of the source: if you look straight at it, it is the compass angle you face (in degrees), counting from the North westwards (range from 0 to 359.9). The elevation is the angle (in degrees) above the horizon, negative numbers will put the source below the horizon - it will still shine through the ground (range 90.0 to -90.0). Active Worlds uses a vectorial XYZ notation, difficult to use by mortals. The azimuth + elevation notation is fully equivalent and more intuitive.
      In 3.4 worlds, the light source can have a texture, mask, size, and can be requested stay be in front of the cloud layes and to glow.
    2. An ambient light source. This is indirect light, shining from all directions. The brighter it is, the less contrast you get: it softens the effect of the direct light source. You can change its colour at the Ambient Light Colour frame by clicking on the coloured rectangle.
    3. Fog. Fog has colour, distance and depth. The colour is the same as the background colour. Change the colour at the Backdrop and Fog Colour frame. In the Fog frame: the distance fog starts is called Minimum and must be input in whole metres, the difference between the Maximum and Minimum distance determines the depth of the fog effect. The maximum fog limit determines the far clipping plane. Active Worlds recommends removing the backdrop image when using fog, except for special subtle effects.
    4. Sky can have a traditional Backdrop, or a 3.2 Skybox. 3.4 worlds can adjust the colour of the sky in sections.

     
  3. tab Clouds
    These attributes can be set here and using action script statements.
    Clouds, in 3 layers, were introduced in 3.4. They can be set to move, tile, and be translucent.
     
  4. tab Ground, Water
    These attributes can be set here and using action script statements.
    This tab contains two sections: Ground and Terrain, and Water.
    Ground and Terrain has the traditional features, and the 3.4 ones.
    Water, introduced in 3.4, is complex and only works well in worlds specifically designed for it.
     
  5. tab Rights
    List of rights, similar to the AW browser.
    Rights can be set here and using action script statements.
     
  6. tab File
    Allows managing world attributes files in a format understood by the scripting language. You can select attributes by checkmarking them, load the checkmarked attributes from the World, Editor of from file. You can also load a whole file even if the attributes are not checkmarked. Checkmarked attributes can be sent to the Editor or saved to file. You can also save to file all attributes, whether checkmarked or not. Only attributes which can be edited are used.
    These files can be used at present with the world schedule script.
     
  7. tab Ejection DB
    A 3.0 facility, requires a world server build 23 or higher, but does not require a new browser.
    Ejections are remembered by the world software in a database. To query the world ejection database, hit "Query" (the button caption changes to "Stop") and wait until the button caption shows the word "Query" again. You can change the time mode from VRT to Local time with radio buttons. To view a record, click on it on the list: this will bring the data to the Edit ejection section (which is disabled at this stage).
    You can edit a record: modify the expiration time of the ejection, or remove the record from the database. You can also add a new IP to be blocked by the world server. While you edit, you may not change the Time mode, so select it before you start editing.
    • To modify the expiration time, select the record on the list, hit Edit and edit the expiration field. It must contain the year, month number (January is 1, December is 12), day, hour, minute, second. You may use spaces or commas as separators, or any of the usual date and time separators between the numbers. If you wish the ejection never to end, write 'never' instead of a date and time. You can also modify the comment line. Then hit Apply Ejection and Yes. Wait for the data to be sent and processed by the world server: if the operation succeeds, the database list will be refreshed automatically.
    • To remove a record from the database, select a record on the list, hit Edit and then Remove Ejection. Wait until the database list refreshes.
    • To add an IP to the world database, select any record (or none), hit Edit. Then edit all fields to match your requirements and hit Apply Ejection.
    • If you hit Edit but do not wish to modify anything, you can hit Cancel to disable editing.
    • 3.3 Additions: ejections can be done by IP (as was previously the case), by citizen number, and by computer ID. When someone is ejected, the world will attempt to block the IP, citizen number and if available, computer ID of that person. The computer ID can not be retrieved by bots. If you wish to remove an ejection record, make sure you remove all records for that person. You can sort the fields by clicking on the column headers.

     
  8. tab Bot Eject List
    Refer to Topic: Ejections section AUTOMATIC EJECTIONS for how use this tab.
     
  9. tab Varia
    Miscellaneous data about the universe server, world server and the capabilities of the bot. 3.3 world caretaker bots can reload the registry on the fly, 3.2 universe owner bots (citizen # 1) can change the universe welcome message and 3.1 universe owners can set the default world.

USER INTERFACE

Besides using the World Atributes interface, you can access some caretaker commands by right clicking on the image of an avatar in the Presence screen. These caretaker facilities will pop up on the menu, next to the name of the avatar: eject, send url, warp and teleport, send console message (3.3), change avatar and gesture (3.4).

VERBAL COMMANDS

Verbal commands for send url, warp and teleport are explained in the Verbal Commands section on Click etc....

ACTION SCRIPT AND WRITETOBOT

Action script statements for caretakers can be found in World Attributes and rights, WriteToBot statements and Say etc. (There are yet no WriteToBot commands for Warping and Teleporting persons).

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