[28] in Coldmud discussion meeting

Re: clear parameters

daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tue Nov 16 16:29:16 1993 )

To: deforest@netcom.com (Robert de Forest)
Cc: coldstuff@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of Tue, 16 Nov 93 00:54:50 -0800.
             <199311160854.AAA22197@mail.netcom.com> 
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 16:18:28 EST
From: Greg Hudson <ghudson@MIT.EDU>


> As a former MOO programmer, I have become used to clear props for
> default options and the like. Parameters in ColdMUD do not appear to
> be clearable.  Is there a design reason for this or could it be
> changed?

> I realize values can be initialized in .init(), but I'd like to be
> able to change default values without looking for all the players
> who haven't changed theirs.

In other words, you want a method on one object to change variable
values on another object (it's children).

Unlike MOO, Coldmud stresses encapsulation; non-local access to
variables is strictly discouraged.

So yes, there is a design reason for it.

> I also wonder if unset parameters take up db space.

Variables which have never been set (and thus have the value 0 if
read) take up no db space.  This is not really a concern, though, due
to disk-basing, unless you need to conserve disk space (not the
highest priority for me when I make design decisions).

--GBH