A package is a JSON file that includes the contents of one or more triggers, aliases, settings, directions or variables or setup commands that can change the behavior or settings of the mud client. The purpose of a package is to be able to combine all of the assets needed to import a desired set of functionality.
A package may not contain any features other than a SetupCommand which can be used to tailor behavior of the client. An example
would be executing a command that changes the setting SearchBarCommand to search a wiki for your mud.
To create a basic package you can navigate to File->Create Package and choose any combination of aliases, triggers and directions. Hold down the control key to select multiple items. When done you can select the option to create the package and the mud client will prompt you to save the file. There are a few additional options that can be added to the JSON though that aren't supported in the create package UI yet but are supported in the package manager. These are Category, Version, SetupCommand and SetupCommandLua.
Here is an example package that will work with any ROM 2.4 based mud that implements Wiznet with a --> prefix. The package creates a trigger that moves any Wiznet item into the 3rd terminal window. Additionally it executes a command that names the tab and makes it visible.
{
"Id": "a3738921-fdd7-4ea2-84b0-a9bc8c6862db",
"Name": "Wiznet",
"Description": "A trigger that will move wiznet info to terminal 3 without gagging it from the main game terminal.",
"Author": "Rhien",
"GameAddress": "dsl-mud.org",
"Category": "Immortals",
"Version": 4,
"SetupCommand": "#setting -c -s \"CustomTab3Label\" -v \"Wiznet\";#setting -c -s \"CustomTab3Visible\" -v \"true\"",
"AliasList": [],
"TriggerList": [
{
"Command": "#echo -d -t Terminal3 \" %0\"",
"Pattern": "^-->",
"Character": "",
"Group": "Immortal",
"IsSilent": false,
"IsLua": false,
"Plugin": false,
"DisableAfterTriggered": false,
"Lock": false,
"LastMatched": "0001-01-01T00:00:00",
"VariableReplacement": false,
"Enabled": true,
"Gag": false,
"MoveTo": 0,
"HighlightLine": false,
"Count": 0,
"Priority": 10000,
"StopProcessing": false,
"Identifier": "1eb065f2-834b-473d-a4a2-3ffcb4a36641",
"PackageId": "",
"SystemTrigger": false
}
],
"DirectionList": []
}
Avalon Mud Client is setup to use a package management site to allow for easy searching, installing and uninstalling of packages for a mud that you're connected to. By default the client connects to Avalon's package manager. However, you may want to run your own package manager and in that case you can change the PackageManagerApiUrl setting in the client settings. The REST endpoints that your site implements must conform to the same pattern as what is provided in the Avalon.Web project.
The package manager when run will search for packages available for the game you are playing (which is defined by the IP address you are connected to). Packages can be both installed and uninstalled. There are rare cases where some artifacts might be left over after an uninstall of a package if those pieces were created as part of a trigger or alias in real time and do not list the package ID in their metadata.
It is important that you only import packages from trusted sources. This mud client runs much like a programming IDE and as a result running untrusted code via packages (or in general) can cause problems including security problems. As with anything, always be aware of what you install.
In the following example the JSON package includes an alias and a trigger that work in tandem to create and enable a shop-inspect alias that allows a user to look through potentially hundreds of items in a merchant shop and report back with the quality of those items. In many Diku muds items can be accessed like 2.potion or 3.sword to indicate you want the 2nd potion or 3rd sword. In a shop with hundreds of similiar items it becomes important to know which sword you want to purchase if they have the same name but are of different qualities.
The following gist contains the JSON package that could be imported as well as the friendly formatted versions of the Lua for the alias and trigger as well as the regular expression pattern for the trigger.