CHANGES.184

This is the changes file for PennMUSH 1.8.4. Please look it over; each
version contains new things which might significantly affect the
function of your server.  Changes are reported in reverse
chronological order (most recent first)

[SW] is Shawn Wagner, a PennMUSH developer (aka Raevnos), also
 responsible for most unattributed changes.
[EEH] is Ervin Hearn III, a PennMUSH developer (aka Noltar)
[GM] is Greg Millam, a PennMUSH developer (aka Walker)
[MG] is Mike Griffiths, a PennMUSH developer (aka Talvo)
[TAP] is T. Alexander Popiel, a former PennMUSH developer (aka Talek)
[3] refers to code by (or inspired by) TinyMUSH 3.0
[MUX] refers to code by (or inspired by) TinyMUX 2.x
[Rhost] refers to code by (or inspired by) RhostMUSH

==========================================================================

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 8                                 Nov 11, 2011

Major changes:
 * ssl_slave is enabled by default by configure if OpenSSL and
  libevent2 are present. Passing --disable-ssl_slave to configure will
  still disable it. [SW]
 * The newline_one_char config option has been removed -- %r now
   always returns a single-char newline (\n). [MG]
 * Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 project files contributed by Daniko.

Minor changes:
 * crunch_code and crypt_code in funcrypt.c are no longer
   static. Requested by qa'toq@M*U*S*H. [MG]
 * @dump now notifies the executor when the dump is
   complete. Suggested by Padraic. [MG]
 * There is now a slight delay between a client connecting to the
   MUSH, and the connect screen being shown. This means that the "<--
   ... -->" HTML comments are no longer needed around the connect
   screen when mud_url is enabled, the HTML shown when someone
   connects to the MUSH with a browser works better, and that Pueblo
   clients will usually only get the HTML connect screen, instead of
   seeing both. Also, telnet negotiation should complete before the
   screen is shown, making terminfo() and width() give useful values
   for people using softcoded connect_files. Commands can still be
   used before the connect screen is displayed. [MG]
 * When looking at an object, all its components (describe,
   descformat, conformat and exitformat) now share registers: a
   q-register set in the desc can be accessed in the conformat, and so
   on. [MG]
 * When you fail to @mail a player because you don't pass their
   @lock/mail, the MAIL_FAILURE verbs will be triggered, as per 'help
   failure'.  Suggested by Cheetah. [MG]
 * When using channels() on an object, the permission checks now
   resemble those for cwho() / @channel/who. Based on a patch by
   Padraic. [MG]
 * Guests no longer control anything, including themselves, and can't
   ever build, create or destroy objects. They can still examine themselves,
   for backwards compatability. Suggested by [SW]. [MG]
 * Changed many things which were evaluating an attribute value
   manually to use call_ufun() instead, for better %+ / %= values,
   among other benefits. [MG]
 * fetch_ufun_attrib now takes a new flag, UFUN_NAME, which will add
   the object's name to the beginning of the attr value (respecting
   no_name and no_space attr flags), for @o-* attrs. [MG]
 * Clean up the functions that send data across the network to 
   connections. [SW]
 * Updated intructions for compiling with MySQL support on Windows
   contributed by Daniko.
 * Improve ssl_slave cleanup code on lost connections and shutdowns. [SW]
 * @list locks and list(locks) sort their results. [SW]
   
Fixes:
 * @lock/infilter, not @lock/infitler. [SW]
 * @shutdown/reboot handles failed database saves much more
   gracefully.  [SW]
 * Help fixes by Wiggles and Trelane. [MG]
 * Fix a few places that could trigger an integer division exception.
   Reported by Ashen-Shugar. [SW]
 * A number of places in the hardcode incorrectly took TINY_MATH into
   account when deciding if something was a valid number or not. From
   a report by Daniel Powell. [MG]
 * doing() now evaluates the DOING attribute with better values for %#
   and %@. From a report by Padraic. [MG]
 * Fix some cases where functions like lcon() could return partial
   dbrefs at the end of a long output string. [SW]
 * When magic-sorting strings with embedded dbrefs, setunion() no longer
   treats different objects with the same name as being identical. Reported
   by Minion. [MG] [GM]
 * type() and hastype() claimed to work on GARBAGE objects, but actually
   returned #-1 NO SUCH MATCH. Reported by Jules. [MG]
 * A few messages were sent with incorrect nospoof data. Reported by 
   Jules. [MG]
 * Fix a harmless but annoying race condition when making a SSL connection 
   to a game in the middle of starting. [SW]
 * Fixed minor memory leak in chat system. [MG]
 * @channel/decompile didn't recreate the ANSI in a channel's name. [MG]
 * Channel names can now contain any amount of ANSI, as long as the visible
   name is 30 chars or less in length. Suggested by Kimiko Muffin. [MG]
 * @channel/rename allowed you to give channels invalid names. [MG]
 * @readcache rebuilds the linux file watch list, allowing deleted
   files to be watched for changes again when re-created. [SW]
 * Crash bug in @boot/me. Reported by Minion. [SW]
 * Fix in handling clients like putty that send telnet commands right
   away instead of waiting for the mush to send them first. Reported
   by Time. [SW]

Functions:
 * isregexp() to validate regexp patterns. Suggested by Padraic. [DC]
 * sqlescape() doesn't need to have commas escaped. Suggested by Daniko
   and Padraic. [SW]
 
Commands:
 * 'examine' and 'brief' now take an /opaque switch, which omits contents
   listings. Useful for spammy objects like the player_start room. [MG]

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 7                                 Sep 25, 2011

Deprecation:
 * @elock, @eunlock, @ulock and @uunlock are deprecated. [SW]
 * @doing is now deprecated (see below).
 * The "newline_one_char" mush.cnf option is now deprecated, and will soon
   always be "Yes". If you have it set to No and have any code that assumes
   strlen(%r) == 2, you should change it now. [MG]

Major changes:
 * DOING is now a standard attribute. Your @doing can be any length, and
   doing() returns the whole string (though it will still be truncated when
   displayed on WHO), can contain ANSI and will be evaluated each time it's 
   displayed, allowing for random/rotating doings. The @doing command will
   escape its input before setting into an attribute, for backwards
   compatability, but is now deprecated; use &doing to store code. [MG]
 * All objects with the same flags or powers set share the same
   storage for those flags. Large games should see slightly reduced memory
   use. Suggested by [GM]. [SW]

Minor changes:
 * Rewrite memcheck allocation tracking to use a more efficient data
   structure. [SW]
 * Help file improvements, by Ender and others. [SW] [MG]
 * Added a new 'getting started' helpfile, that gives a brief overview of
   how to move, talk, use channels and @mail. Suggested by Wiggles. [MG]
 * @decompile now uses '&attr obj=value', even for standard attributes, to
   avoid possible clashes with command names. Suggested by Mercutio. [MG]
 * Extended convtime understands timestamps of the form 
   'YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss'. Suggested by Padraic. [SW]
 * pemit() now accepts a list of port numbers, to pemit to multiple ports
   at once. Suggested by Padraic. [MG]
 * Built in functions and commands can now be marked as being
   deprecated.  Using one of these functions or commands results in a
   warning to the owner of the object executing them. Deprecated
   functions and commands might be removed in future patch levels;
   code using them needs to be rewritten. [SW]
 * Rewrite function restriction parsing and reporting to make it easier to
   add new restrictions. [SW]
 * Code cleanup. [SW]
 * Channels are now ungagged on disconnect, instead of connect, so you'll
   see your "<Foo> Bar has connected." message next time you log in. [MG]
 * WARN_ON_MISSING can now be @hooked. Suggested by Padraic. Also, help has
   been added for that and UNIMPLEMENTED_COMMAND. [MG]
 * fn() didn't always work correctly on a UserFn function, especially when
   nested in another function. Reported by Padraic. [MG]
 * Accents are no longer stripped from output sent to players who haven't
   logged in (those at the connect screen). Suggested by geradon. [MG]
 * Softcode functions are now passed an additional argument, eflags,
   by the hardcode, which should be used when the function calls
   process_expression(). See HACKING.184 for more info. [MG]

Functions:
 * Mortals can now use lwho(me). Allows for lwho(%#) on ancestors to be
   used by all. Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * xwho() now takes an optional <looker> arg, like lwho(). [MG]
 * rand() without an argument returns a floating point number greater than
   or equal to 0 and less than 1. [SW]
 * itemize() is now more ANSI-aware. Reported by Jules. [MG]
 * fullalias() didn't include old-style exit aliases (which were a part of 
   the exit name). [MG]

Locks:
 * New locks, @lock/filter and @lock/infilter, which must be passed (along
   with any @filter/@infilter set) for an object to forward sound. Patch
   by Padraic.

Fixes:
 * Verified that Penn compiles using the clang compiler, and fix a few
   warnings it generated. [SW]
 * Better fix for the DBREFLIST issue fixed in p6. [SW]
 * @pemit/list stopped reporting when it failed to match an object in p5.
   Reported by Padraic. [MG]
 * 'page' evaluated its args incorrectly when used in an $-command.
   Reported by Invidia@Dune3. [MG]
 * Win32 compile fixes by Daniel Powell. [MG]
 * Fix an off-by-one error in wrap(). Report by Padraic, patch by Minion [MG]
 * Sorting code didn't do proper objid checks, so setinter(#1:123, #1:456)
   would return #1:123 instead of nothing. [MG]
 * The Can_spoof power was only aliased to Can_nspemit (its original name)
   in upgraded dbs, not in new games created from minimal db. Reported by
   Ben Ramsey. [MG]
 * Fix a crash bug in @function/restrict on malformed input. Reported by
   Padraic. [SW]
 * Some fixes to the test suite. Reported by Covenent. [MG]
 * @pageformat included nospoof information. Reported by Jules. [MG]
 * case() clobbered $0-$9 subs. Reported by Jules. [MG]
 * Named regexp captures -- (?P<NAME>pattern) -- were broken in a recent
   patchlevel. Reported by Jules. [MG]
 * Markup wasn't stripped from queued commands, making it possible for
   ANSI to bleed. Reported by Wiggles. [MG]
 * Pueblo players couldn't see ANSI in connect screens. From a report
   by geradon. [MG]
 * money() behaved incorrectly when the tiny_math config option was on.
   Reported by Daniell Powell. [MG]
 * Databases with 8-bit characters couldn't be saved using the internal
   libz compression routines. [SW]
 * It was possible to create a player with a forbidden name from the login
   screen. Reported by Andrew Bell. [MG]

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 6                                 Jul 29,  2011

Minor changes:
 * Clean up the linux inotify file monitoring code a bit. [SW]
 * @forwardlist can be inherited (But defaults to no-inherit). Suggested
   by Padraic.
 * @pemit/port now takes the /list switch, to pemit multiple ports at once.
   Suggested by Padraic. [MG]
 * When you 'register' a character at the connect screen, you can re-use the
   command to send a new password to the same email address, as long as you
   haven't connected yet. Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * @odescribe/@adescribe are no longer triggered when a Terse player moves
   into a room, as he doesn't see the @describe. Suggested by Padraic. [MG]
 * exit-oneway and exit-multiple warning checks now take global exits
   into account. Suggested by Padraic and qa'toq. [SW]

Functions:
 * valid() can be used with the 'qreg' category to check if a string
   is a valid q-register name.  [SW]
 * crecall() now returns an error when given an invalid channel, and no
   longer returns an error when used on a channel with nothing to recall.
   Suggested by Trinsec. [MG]
 * Added uptime(), which returns much of the information from @uptime.
   From a suggestion by Jules. [MG]
 * quota() now accepts 'me' as an argument. Suggested by Padraic. [MG]
 * remove() is now ANSI-aware. [MG]
 * money() now checks for an integer argument before checking for an object.
   Suggested by qa'toq. [MG]
   
Fixes:
 * Wildcard matches on ANSI'd strings sometimes failed. Reported by Duckwa
   and Paige. [MG]
 * Bug in matching code when a room tries to locate an exit. Reported by
   Sketch. [MG]
 * Help updates. [MG], [SW]
 * Crash bug in dealing with Pueblo markup. Reported by Mercutio. [SW]
 * Fix some issues in parsing flag/attribute/eval locks. Found by Padraic
   and Jules. [SW]
 * @[out]pageformat could sometimes receive the wrong alias in %2. Reported
   by Padraic. [MG]
 * align() didn't correctly apply ANSI to empty columns. Reported by
   Padraic. [MG]
 * Fix compile warning in player.c when sendmail is not enabled. Reported by
   Padraic. [MG]
 * Fix hardcode bug in ansi_strcmp, which affected the softcode splice()
   function. [MG]
 * @chan/what failed to report when Admin channels also had the Player priv.
   Reported by Padraic. [MG]
 * win32/config.h was lacking a definition for int16_t. Reported by Daniko.
   [SW]
 * DBREFLIST locks required the attrname be given in upper-case. Reported by
   Sketch. [MG]

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 5                                 Jun 19,  2011

Major Changes:

 * The experimental --enable-ssl_slave option for configure allows
   persistant SSL connections that won't get booted when the mush
   restarts. Requires libevent v2.X. [SW]
 * info_slave, the sub-process used for resolving hostnames, now uses
   libevent if available. [SW]
 * Rewrite of large portions of notify.c. The main public function
   there, notify_anything(), now takes different arguments.
   notify_format() and notify() are unchanged. Should be largely
   unnoticable for players. [MG]

Commands:
 * @edit/quiet edits attributes, but doesn't spam you with the
   modified values, just gives you a count of modified
   attributes. Suggested by Padraic. [MG]
 * You can now have more than one command (with the action list
   enclosed in {curly braces}) in the rhs arg of @force/noeval. [MG]
 * @ps/debug <pid> will display extra information about a queue
   entry's evaluation environment. [SW]
 * @pemit now acts as if /silent was given when the executor and
   target are the same object, for consistency with other
   sound-producing commands and to fix an issue with
   @pemit/spoof. [SW]
 * @command now shows the failure message that can be set with
   restrict_command or @command/restrict. [SW]
 * @message now takes a /remit or /oemit switch, to make it work like
   those commands instead of @pemit. Also takes a /nospoof switch to
   make it like the @ns*emit versions. [MG]
 * @pemit/list/noisy now shows a confirmation message. [MG]

Powers:
 * can_dark power lets non-wizard players set themselves dark.
   Suggested by AnneLions. [GM]

Minor Changes:
 * ansi_string has been rewritten to be much faster for non-marked up
   strings, to take up considerably less memory, and has received
   general all-around improvements in speed. Rewrite is in preparation
   for 256 color and 24 bit color ansi. [GM]
 * ansi_string no longer optimizes markup. In some pathological cases,
   buffer_len will be hit much earlier than it used to be. Use ansi()
   with wisdom! [GM]
 * @edit no longer shows the full value of attributes which aren't
   edited, it just shows that they are unchanged. Suggested by
   Minion. [MG]
 * @mail now shows the dbref of the sender for mail from non-players.
   Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * Fix a potential buffer overflow in prefix table code. [SW]
 * "enter <exit>" now works the same as "goto". Suggested by [GM]. [MG]
 * Tweaks to the system queue introduced in the last patchlevel. [SW]
 * @pemit now uses the same nospoof header as other commands. [MG]
 * When creating a minimal db, the MUSH now respects the
   read_remote_desc option, and may set @descs "nearby". Reported by
   Paige. [MG]
 * Exits now show accented names (via @nameaccent) in "look". Suggested
   by Cheetah. [MG]
 * @enter/@oenter/@aenter, @leave/@oleave/@aleave and
   @move/@omove/@oxmove/@amove get passed the moving object's original and/or
   new location as appropriate. Patch by Padraic.

Fixes:
 * Crashbug when players are in and homed to a room that is owned by a
   player being @nuked fixed. Reported by Kimiko. [GM]
 * qregs, %0-%9 and $0-$9 would occasionally smash each other.
   Reported by Cheetah@M*U*S*H. [GM]
 * No_Pay was implicit if executor is #1, but was _not_ implicit if
   Owner(executor) was #1. Caused some obscure queue cost bugs.
   Discovered by Padraic@M*U*S*H. [GM]
 * %$-subs didn't work inside @switch's default case. Patch by Covenent.
 * %0-9 were being overridden when using /inline/localize. Patch by Covenent.
 * You couldn't @chat on open channels. Reported by Padraic. [MG]
 * Win32 compile fixes by Daniel Powell. [MG]
 * The Open_Anywhere power didn't fully work as intended. Patch by Covenent.
 * regrab*() functions removed ansi. Reported by Covenent. [MG]
 * munge() didn't play nice with ansi. [MG]
 * @shutdown/reboot would hang unencrypted sockets for players with
   both SSL and normal connections. Reported by Padraic. [SW]
 * @chatformat sometimes received the player's name without accents by
   mistake. Reported by Sketch. [MG]
 * Bug in @wipe fixed by Padraic.
 * Objects couldn't be @tel'd to exits which weren't in their current
   location. Reported by Padraic.
 * Fixed an obscure bug in "say" when sound is propagated. From a report by
   Padraic@M*U*S*H. [MG]
 * Various help fixes. [MG], [SW]
 * Prevent persistant 'Attempt to write to error log before it was started!'
   error in netmush.log [MG]
 * Rooms could not locate objects by name. Reported by Sketch. [MG]
 * Players using Pueblo who are not set ANSI will no longer see
   colors. [MG]
 * The <inside> arg to tel() didn't work. Fixed by Padraic.
 * 'make clean' in game/txt no longer deletes the configure-generated
   compose.sh file. Suggested by Padraic. [SW]
 * The new q-register code wasn't passing registers on to new commands
   queued by @wait, @verb and @mapsql. [SW]
 * Crash bug in unused code to reset hash tables fixed. Reported by
   Trinisi.  [SW]

Functions:
 * Restrictions for the beep() function can now be modified with @function.
   Suggested by Paige. [MG]
 * Functions that take #lambda anonymous attributes also understand a new
   #apply/<function name> shorthand for calling a single function. [SW]
 * ldelete() now takes an osep. [MG]
 * allof()/strallof() can now have mutli-char output separators, and null
   oseps. Reported by Padraic. [MG]
 * benchmark() warns when results are thrown off by hitting the
   FIL. Reported by Padraic. [SW]
 * New render() function which returns a string rendered as html, without
   markup, etc. Useful for bots or storing data in SQL. [MG]

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 4                                 May 05,  2011

Major changes:
 * Q-registers are no longer limited to single characters. setq(name,joe)
   and r(name) or %q<name>! Limited by max_named_qregs. [GM]
 * Ident lookup and associated config options have been removed. Between
   lack of people running ident servers, NAT, and issues in the code, it
   rarely got results. [SW].

Hardcode:
 * global_eval_context has been removed. The BQUE, EVAL_CONTEXT and PE_Info
   structs have been removed, replaced with MQUE and NEW_PE_INFO. Shouldn't
   affect players, but will affect hardcode hacks. See HACKING.184 for more
   info. [MG]
 * Q-registers are now kept in a PE_REGS stack. See HACKING.184 for more
   information. This will be used for other registers. [GM]
 * Regexp information ($1, $<foo>) are now kept in the PE_REGS stack. [GM]
 * Faster regexps in many cases when there is no markup. [GM]
 * Switch, iter, and env (%0-%9) information are now kept in PE_REGS stack.
   switch, iter, @switch and @dol are no longer limited, but new queue
   entries only keep the last 50 @switch/@dols. [GM]
 * Renamed some variables in COMMAND() definitions for consistency/clarity.
   See HACKING.184 for more info. [MG]
 * Assorted Windows fixes. [SW]
 * Clean up code using vsnprintf() to remove #ifdefs. [SW]
 * String trees are now fully reference counted with no undeletable
   entries. [SW]

Minor changes:
 * Because switch() and @switch now store capture data, it can change
   the nesting of $0-$9/$<foo> in rare cases. [GM]
 * All @o* messages are now heard by rooms even when they're empty. Makes
   room @listens and similar things work right. Suggested by Padraic. [MG]
 * @zemit and zemit() will now show the executor the message, if he's in a
   a room on the right zone. Suggested by Paige. [MG]

Locks:
 * objid locks are now turned into =-locks by the lock parser. The clearing
   of references to deleted objects makes objid locks extraneous. [SW]
 * Internal changes to validation of 'name^string' locks to use perfect
   hash tables to validate the name. [SW]
 * Locks worth better with escaped special characters. Patch by Covenent.
 
Commands:
 * @switch and @switch/regexp set $0-$9 for glob or pattern captures. [GM]
 * @notify/setq can alter Q-registers of a semaphore queue entry before
   dequeueing it. [GM]
 * 'teach' now takes a /list switch, which lets it run an action list
   instead of a single command. [MG]
 * @force, @switch and @hook/override now all take an /inline switch, which
   can be further modified with /clearregs, /localize and /nobreak to run
   their actionlists without queueing (replaces /inplace). @include also
   takes those three switches. See the help for more info. [MG]
 * @retry, which causes a queue entry to restart from the beginning. Useful
   for coding loops without the queue delay. [GM]
   
Substitutions:
 * $<name> for accessing regexp substitutions can now have evaluation inside
   the <>s: $<%qa>. [GM]
 * %q<foo> can access named Q-registers. %q<%qa> can work as a q-register
   dereference. [GM]
 * New %= substitution, which evaluates to the dbref/attribute currently
   being evaluated. Useful for coding things which loop. [MG]

Attributes:
 * Branch attributes now show the 'branch' attribute flag in lflags(). [MG]
 * no_inherit and no_clone weren't propagated down attribute trees as
   stated in the help, but now are. [MG]
 * The debug and no_debug attribute flags now affect attributes which are
   queued (via $-commands, @trigger, etc) as well as ufun()'d. Suggested
   by Wiggles. [MG]
 
Functions:
 * switch() sets $0-$9 for glob captures.
 * setq(), regmatch(), strmatch() and sql() accept q-register names of
   more than one character. [GM]
 * unsetq() now accepts patterns of q-register names. [GM]
 * listq() lists q-registers available to r(), optionally limited to those
   matching a pattern. [GM]
 * elock() now only requires that you can see the lock you're trying to test.
   Suggested by Sketch@M*U*S*H. [MG]
 * Changes to scan(): Returned value now always returns the object which
   would run the $-command (even if it's actually set on a parent). scan()
   can also take a 3rd argument, to limit which objects are checked. Based
   on a patch by Covenent. [MG]   

Fixes:
 * isword(ansi(r,foo)) would return 0. isword now removes markup before
   checking. Ditto for isdbref, isnum, isint, isobjid. [GM]
 * round() would sometimes return a number with a decimal point but no
   digits after it, like "5.". Reported by Minion. [MG]
 * sortby() and foreach() now use call_ufun in the hardcode, fixing a number
   of minor bugs. [MG]
 * rand(-X, -Y) where -X > -Y was broken. [SW]
 * Fix a couple of minor memory leaks. [SW]
 * Possible crashbug in switch(), @switch, iter() and @dolist fixed. [MG]
 * Fix crash when reading a database with an invalid lock key. Reported by
   Covenant. [SW]
 * Some fixes to the test suite by Sketch.
 * Help fixes by misskaly, Wiggles and others. [MG]
 * warn_interval set to 0 would cause the MUSH to hang. Reported by
   Nymeria @ Blood of Dragons.
 * It was sometimes possible for a player to view config options he 
   shouldn't have. Reported by qa'toq. [MG]
 * Possible crashbug in @name reported by Wiggles. [MG]
 * Object matching (a la locate()) with an exit as the looker didn't work
   correctly. Reported by Covenent. [MG]
 * Panic database dumps weren't always loading correctly. Reported by [MG],
   fixed by [SW].
 * A missing mail or chat database caused failures in mush startup. Reported
   by Nveid. [SW]
 * Various fixes to update-cnf.pl by Minion.
 * Setting or clearing the MONITOR flag on rooms caused duplicate messages.
   Reported by Minion. [SW]
 * @mapsql/notify would sometimes run the "@notify me" before the triggered
   attributes. Reported by Mercutio. [MG]
 * Combined channels would generate duplicate connection/disconnection
   messages to players connected multiple times. [SW]

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 3                                 Mar 18,  2011

Events:
 * Event system added. Certain things can now trigger events using @config
   event_handler. See "help events" and "help event <type>". [GM]
 * dump events: dump`5min, dump`1min, dump`complete.
 * object events: object`create, object`destroy, object`move,
   object`rename, object`kill.
 * sql events: sql`connect, sql`disconnect.
 * signal events: signal`usr1, signal`usr2.
 * player events: player`create, player`fail, player`connect,
   player`disconnect, player`inactivity.
 * socket events: socket`connect, socket`disconnect
 * database events: db`dbck, db`purge, db`wcheck
 * Periodic system events like warnings checks and db consistency
   checks are now handled by a timed queue and integrated with
   softcode events. Local hackers: This involves changes to
   local.c. If you have no changes in local.c, just delete the file.
   Otherwise, see HACKING.184 for more info. [SW]

Commands:
 * @hook/override/inplace - You can now run softcode with the same priority
   as hardcode! [GM]
 * @lock (and all lock keys) now accepts NAME^<pattern> for matching against
   an object's name. [GM]
 * @mapsql passes row results to attributes. Suggested by Mercutio. [GM]
 * @dig now takes an optional garbage dbref argument to specify the new
   dbref. Suggested by Paige. [GM]
 * The help command now does some auto-expansion of topics. For example,
   'help @chan ad2' will be expanded to match 'help @channel admin2'. [MG]
 * @force/inplace, @switch/inplace and @select/inplace now run their commands
   without queueing new events. These are limited by the @include limit. [GM]
 * @hide without a switch now toggles hide status, rather than defaulting to
   @hide/on. [MG]
 * @log now takes a /recall switch for showing wizards the most recent activity
   in a log file. [SW]
 * @lemit and @zemit both have /noisy and /silent switches to suppress/show
   confirmation messages. With no switch, silent_pemit determines whether
   the message is shown. Suggested by Paige for consistancy. [MG]
   
Attributes:
 * New no_debug flag, which prevents debug info being shown for an attribute
   when the object is set DEBUG. [MG]
   
Config:
 * New @config option chan_title_len controls the length of @channel/title's.
   Suggested by Paige. [MG]

Locks:
 * New @lock/pay, controls who can "give" an object pennies or "buy" items
   from an object. Based on patch by Covenent. [MG]

Functions:
 * lockfilter() lets you filter a list of dbrefs using a lock key. [GM]
 * align() now has '$' (nofill) as an option. Ideal for rightmost columns.
   Suggested by Minion. [GM]
 * dig() now takes an optional garbage dbref argument to specify the new
   dbref. Suggested by Paige. [GM]
 * convutctime() and convtime(<time>, utc) to convert a timestring to
   # of seconds since UTC. Patch by Minion.
 * powers() with no arguments now returns a list of powers, similar to
   lflags() with no args. [MG]
 * trim() can now trim multiple characters. [MG] [GM]
 * In some cases, privs are no longer needed to use locate(). [MG]
 * cmogrifier(), returns the mogrifier object for a channel. Suggested by
   Trinsec, patch by Minion.

Minor Changes:
 * The Can_Nspemit @power has been renamed to Can_Spoof, to better reflect
   its uses. Can_Nspemit is still an alias. [MG]
 * Considerable improvement in the speed of functions that sort
   case-insensitively, particularly using 'm' sort (Now default). [GM]
 * Combined fun_setinter, fun_setdiff and fun_setunion into fun_setmanip. [GM]
 * For hardcoders: list2arr and list2arr_ansi now take a third argument
   on whether to include empty items. [GM]
 * page and @mail will report to you if your recipient(s) cannot reply
   to you. Suggested by Paige. [GM]
 * The debug attribute flag now shows more debug info. [MG]
 * @oemit now does better object matching, can match names with spaces when
   enclosed in double quotes, and, when given a <room> but no matching
   objects, shows the message to everyone in the room, instead of noone.
   From a bug reported by Paige. [MG]
 * Paranoid objects now see nospoof messages for their emits. [MG]
 * ANSI is now ignored when checking the length of channel titles. Suggested
   by Paige. [MG]
 * @decompile with a <prefix> now shows cmds for setting attribute flags.
   @decompile/tf still omits cmds for attr flags. [MG]
 * @mail <msg-lists> which don't specify a folder now act on your current
   folder, instead of Folder 0. Suggested by Paige, patch by Minion.
 * @dig, @open and @name now set exit aliases into the @alias attribute,
   instead of including them in the exit name. Also, @name can now set/clear
   the @alias of players/exits while changing the name. See help @name for
   details. Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * The logging code has been rewritten to make extending it with further
   log files easier. [SW]
 * When used by a non-player, @search and related functions now search from
   the perspective of the object's owner. Suggested by Covenent. [MG]
 * The LASTPAGED attribute now stores objids instead of names, allowing you
   to repage even when the target changes their name. [MG]
 * When zwho() or @chzone fail because you don't pass the @lock/zone, zone
   failure verbs are triggered (as per 'help failure'). Based on a patch by
   Covenent. [MG]
 * sub() can now take more than two arguments. Suggested by Paige. [MG]
 * In the hardcode, disconnected players in the DESC struct are shown as -1
   instead of 0, to avoid conflicts with #0. Based on patch by Paige. [MG]
 * It was sometimes possible to "buy" items from yourself. [MG]

Fixes:
 * Fixing list type autodetect. [GM]
 * Help fixes by Daniel Powell, AnneLions, Minion and others. [MG]
 * Connect/disconnect messages for combined channels incorrectly showed
   NOSPOOF data. Reported by Sketch. [MG]
 * The delimiter between combined channel names in @chatformat is now '|'
   instead of ' | ', as documented. Reported by Trinsec. [MG]
 * ansi(h,) now returns absolutely nothing, instead of an ansi-highlighted
   nothing. Fixes a few minor/obscure bugs. [MG]
 * @edit sometimes displayed a success message even when it failed. [MG]
 * @cpattr/@mvattr would sometimes copy attribute flags, even when the
   attribute value couldn't be copied. [MG]
 * Bug in attribute comparisons added in p2 could cause attributes to
   not be found at times. [MG]
 * sortby()s results would sometimes be reversed by mistake. [GM]
 * Minor bugfix in @include. [MG]
 * round() sometimes returned numbers with more decimal digits than
   desired. 
 * The '*' option in locate() didn't actually include all match types. [MG]
 * @include incorrectly refunded the queue_cost, giving people free pennies.
   Reported by Covenent. [MG]
 * lnum() didn't handle negative <step>s well. Reported by Minion. [MG]
 * comp()s results was sometimes negated. Reported by Covenent. [MG]

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 2                                 Dec 06,  2010

Major Changes:
 * Wildcard matcher completely rewritten to avoid hangs and to provide
   ansi-aware capturing. [GM]
 * connection_fail_limit now lets you limit the # of connection fails in
   a 10 minute time by any given IP. [GM]

Minor Changes:
 * update-cnf.pl perl script now handles optional config lines, by placing
   A # OPTIONAL above them. This is for message translation. [GM]
 * Config options can now be marked as optional. If they don't exist,
   Penn will not complain in the log. [MG]
 * Player names with spaces no longer need to be in given in quotes for
   @name. Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * @decompile no longer shows flags which can't be set by players, like
   GOING and CONNECTED. [MG]
 * %il substitution as preparation to get rid of ##. [GM]
 * hardcode: call_attrib is now a wrapper around call_ufun. [GM]
 * The %i<n> substitution, and itext()/inum()/ilev() functions, now work
   for @dolist as well as iter(). [MG]
 * iter() context (itext(), inum(), etc) is no longer propagated through
   ufuns. [MG]
 * @hook/overrides on huh_command are now matched against "huh_command" and
   "huh_command <input>". From a suggestion by Mercutio. [MG]
 * Various help fixes.
 * @list and list() can now show only built-in or only local commands or
   functions. Suggested by Trelane@M*U*S*H. [MG]
 * Mortals can now use @search to find any objects they can examine.
   Suggested by Paige. [MG]
 * @function names can start with numbers again. Requested by Mercutio. [MG]
 * @include and @break now work when entered directly from a client. [MG]
 * The Drop and Give @locks now trigger verb <name>_LOCK`FAILURE attributes
   when you fail to pass them, as described in 'help failure'. Suggested by 
   Cas@BeforeTheDarkness. [MG]
 * Set several attributes used internally AF_NOCOPY so they won't be included
   in @decompile output. Suggested by Paige. [GM]
 * The help for the chat system (@channel) has been rewritten. [MG]
 * autodetect_list now returns 'm' sort for unknown list types instead of
   alphanum, so sorting on strings will now treat numbers in them as
   separate comparisons by default. [GM]
 * setunion(), setdiff(), setinter() now autodetect lists in all cases where
   no sort type is provided instead of just some cases. [GM]
 * The pipe (|) character is no longer valid in channel names. [MG]

Functions:
 * ibreak(), for breaking out of an iter() loop. [Rhost] [MG]
 * New stext() function and %$N sub, equivilent of #$ in @switch, switch*(),
   and reswitch*(), but can be used in nested switches/on user input. [MG]
 * New slev() function, returns the current nesting depth of switches. [MG]
 * maillist() returns a list of @mail messages matching a range, as per
   @mail/list. Suggested by AnneLions. [MG]
 * New sorttype, lattr, sorts a list of attribute names. [MG]

Commands:
 * @channel/combine and @channel/uncombine let you combine spammy connect
   messages for channels into one line. [SW] [GM]
 * @grep now accepts /wild and /regexp switches, for wildcard/globbing and
   regular expression greps (a la wildgrep() and regrep()). Also /nocase
   for case-insensitive greps. Suggested by Paige. [MG]
 * @attribute now allows limiting attribute values through /enum and
   /limit switches. [GM]
 * @ps <pid> shows info for a single queue entry. Suggested by Paige. [MG]
   
Fixes:
 * Off-by-one bug in 'm' sort when using embedded numbers fixed. [GM]
 * Debug output was sometimes sent to the wrong executor. [GM]
 * A crashbug in @search was fixed. Reported by Paige. [GM]
 * A crashbug in lpids() was fixed. Reported by Mercutio. Fixed by Javelin.
 * @search elock class failed to report invalid lock strings. Fixed. [GM]
 * @cpattr and @mvattr could break attribute trees. Reported by Sketch. [MG]
 * benchmark() calculated the average incorrectly. Reported by Cheetah. [DC]
 * map(), iter(), mix() and step() are ansi-aware, now. Using any of the
   list functions without ansi should also be considerably faster. [GM]
 * "look <container>'s <object>" incorrectly stopped working in p1 when
   <object>'s desc was set "nearby". Reported by Yuriko@M*U*SH. [MG]
 * Attribute names are now sorted better with regard to attribute trees,
   hopefully fixing the recurring bug of @wipe leaving branch attributes
   when removing a root attr for good. [MG]

Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 1                                 Sep 05,  2010

Major Changes:
 * You can now do the equivilent of @command/add, @hook, @function and
   @attribute/access from alias.cnf and restrict.cnf, to add/configure
   commands, functions and standard attributes. Suggested by Paige. [MG]
 * Exits now use @alias for alternate names. The old style of
   including aliases directly in names is still supported, but
   deprecated in new construction. Suggested by [MG]. [SW]

Minor Changes:
 * @power now reports when you try and set a power which is already set (or
   clear one which isn't set), similar to @set. Suggested by Paige. [MG]
 * Sorting methods now take - as a prefix to sort type in order to sort
   in descending order. Suggested by Minion. [GM]
 * The matching code no longer matches players who aren't nearby with
   "*playername" when MAT_NEAR is given, more in line with other checks.
   (This has virtually no impact for most players.) [MG]
 * The internal pe_info (which manages the function invocation limit, among
   other things) is now managed per-queue, not per-command argument. [MG]
 * @chan/decompile now uses "*name" for players, and dbrefs for other
   objects, when printing "@chan/on" statements. [MG]
 * cpu_limit now works on Cygwin (though not quite as well as on unix).
   A slightly higher limit may be needed than other platforms. [MG]
 * The output from say, pose, semipose and @emit is now passed through the
   SPEECHMOD attribute before being outputted. Suggested by Paige, based on
   MUX and TinyMUSH. [MG]
 * @config/list now accepts wildcard patterns to match against option names.
   Suggested by Trinsec. [MG]
 * The dreaded <Output flushed> message should show up a lot less frequently
   on spammy debug output and the like. By popular demand. [SW]
 * Added support for MSSP (Mud Server Status Protocol), based on patches by
   Javelin and Teal. See mush.cnf for details. [MG]
 * The script for updating config files is smarter about adding new alias
   lines. [SW]
 * @search now only charges for elock searches which use eval or indirect
   locks.
 * Added @mail/unread, to mark mail you've already read as new, and 
   @mail/status to change read/cleared/tagged status for messages.. Suggested
   by qa'toq. [MG]

Commands:
 * Add /preserve switch to @chzone and @chzoneall, like @chown/preserve.
 * Rooms/exits must now have an @COST attribute in order to be given
   pennies. Use @cost <ancestor>=%0 to enable giving to all rooms/exits. [MG]
 * with/room can now check for commands in the Master Room or your ZMR, and
   with can check for commands on your ZMT. [MG]
 * @sitelock/register <host> now sets the access rules for <host> to be
   "!create register", rather than "!create". Suggested by Trinsec. [MG]
   
Functions:
 * remit() now works like @remit/list. Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * rand() now accepts negative arguments again. [MG]
 * lcon() can now take a second argument to make it behave like lthings()
   or l[v]players(), or makes it return only puppets/listening objects,
   for MUX/Rhost compatability. Suggested by Bane. [MG]
 * open() can now open rooms remotely. Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * reswitch() and co now perform $-replacements for subexpressions. [MG]

Fixes:
 * Help fixes.
 * @search's output can now include garbage objects, like lsearch().
   Reported by Minion. [MG]
 * The command parser incorrectly expanded the names of disabled built-in
   commands prior to $-command matching. Reported by Mercutio. [MG]
 * benchmark()'s average would be thrown off when the CPU limit was 
   exceeded during evaluation. Reported by Amberyl. [MG]
 * Fix a few bugs in handling of command locks. [SW]
 * Garbage objects could be matched by dbref. Reported by Paige. [MG]
 * No longer complain about reboot.db not being present when we're not
   doing a @shutdown/reboot anyway. Reported by Paige. [MG]
 * The Telnet escape code was not properly escaped when sent literally to
   Pueblo-aware clients. [MG]
 * namelist() did not accept names in quotes. Reported by Amberyl. [MG]
 * @attrib/access/retroactive could remove the 'root' flag from attribute
   trees, making nasty things happen. Reported by Cooee. [MG]
 * Fix fn() to check that the first arugment is actually the name of a
   built-in function. Reported by Time and Cheetah. [DC]
 * Nested @asserts/@breaks with no '=' would loop unintentionally.
   Reported by Minion. [MG]
 * Fixed a couple of small bugs in give/@cost. [MG]
 * You can now always look at remote objects whose descs are not set nearby,
   and can never look at remote objects with nearby descs. [MG]
 * The chatdb didn't load correctly with invalid objects on channels. [MG]
 * Fixed a crashbug in @boot on Windows. Reported by Daniel Powell. [MG]
 * %q-registers did not carry over into @includes correctly. Reported by
   Reaver. [MG]
 * Double-free in follow command fixed. Reported by Anya@ST:DW. [MG]
 * locate() sometimes returned #-2 when two objects matched, even if only
   one of them was the preferred type. Reported by Minion. [MG]


Version 1.8.4 patchlevel 0                                 May 09,  2010

Major Changes:
 * Commands can now be restricted with an @lock-style lock in restrict.cnf
   and @command/restrict, allowing more complex restrictions. [MG]

Minor Changes:
 * @shutdown/reboot logs who was responsible. Suggested by Kitai. [SW]
 * Rewrite of help @lock to improve clarity, by Sketch.
 * New NO_LOG flag to disable command logging on a per-object basis.
   Based on code by Teal. [SW]
 * mindb+maxdb classes for lsearch/@search no longer reset to default
   values when > db_top or < 0 is given: Instead treated as an integer
   comparison. [GM]
 * @open can now open exits in remote locations, as well as your current
   location. Suggested by Bane. [MG]
 * New OPEN_OK flag allows anyone to open exits in a room, and @lock/open
   to restrict who can. Based on patch by ranmir@M*U*S*H. [MG]
 * Master Room exits and ZMR exits now run the "goto" command, and @ealias
   and @lalias run the "enter"/"leave" commands, so @hooks get run, command
   restrictions checked, etc. [MG]
 * New @lock/from and @lock/receive locks, to control who can give to an
   object, and what objects can be given to them, respectively. From a 
   suggestion by Nammyung@M*U*S*H, based on locks on ElendorMUSH. [MG]
 * Changed the restrictions for valid @function names to match what was
   reported by valid(). [MG]

Commands:
 * New @include <obj>/<attr> command, which inserts <attr> into the current
   action list. Patch by Javelin.
 * @scan can now take multiple switches at the same time. [MG]
 * @version now reports the SVN revision of the current version, when 
   available. Suggested by Paige. [MG]
 * @clone can take a garbage dbref for the new object, the same as @create.
   Suggested by Dan. [MG]
 * 'look' now supports more english-matching (look this foo's 1st bar). [MG]
 * You can now look at objects on the other side of transparent exits, with
   "look [toward] <exit>'s <object>". Suggested by Trinsec. [MG]
 * All wizards can now use @command/add. Suggested by qa'toq. [MG]
 * function_alias in alias.cnf now creates a proper alias, not a clone, of
   functions. @function/alias added, which does the same in-game. [MG]
 * New @command/clone and @function/clone commands, which create copies of
   a command/function which initially work the same as, but are independant
   of, the originals. Based on suggestion by Bane. [MG]
 * Added a comment line to the beginning of @decompile's output showing
   the object name and dbref. [MG]
   
Functions:
 * Added strfirstof() and strallof(), which return the first arg/all args
   which are non-empty strings. [MG]
 * Added reglattr[p](), regxattr[p]() and regnattr[p](), regexp variants of 
   lattr[p](), xattr[p]() and nattr[p](). Suggested by Trinsec. [MG]
 * The *emit() functions, and cbufferadd(), are now disabled when
   function_side_effects are off. Suggested by Cheetah. [MG]
 * round() now takes an optional third argument to 0-pad the results if
   needed. Suggested by Trinsec. [SW]
 * Many functions (particularly ones which take only numbers, dbrefs or
   attribute names as arguments) now ignore ANSI in their arguments, rather
   than throwing an error. [MG]
 * nattr()'s <attribute pattern> now defaults to *, not **, the same as
   lattr() and other attribute functions. [MG]
 * clone() can now take a <new name> and <dbref>, as per @clone. [MG]
 * cwho() now takes an optional 3rd argument to omit gagged objects.
   Suggested by Trinsec. [MG]

Attributes:
 * @outpageformat lets you alter how you view pages that you send.

Fixes:
 * isprint() bug in ord() fixed. [GM]
 * Possible crashbug in @destroy fixed. Reported by Dan. [MG]
 * Minor bug in benchmark() fixed. [MG]
 * channels(<object>) was incorrectly sorted for channel names containing
   ansi. Reported by Trelane. [MG]
 * Help fixes by Teal and others. [MG]
 * Minor updates to some README files. [MG]
 * Some typos and translation errors fixed by Stoko.
 * namelist() now ignores null items. Reported by Minion. [MG]
 * The matching code would always perform absolute (dbref) matches, even
   when it wasn't told to. [MG]
 * Improvements to the match flags used by many pieces of code, hopefully
   fixing a number of minor bugs. [MG]
 * Paranoid dumps no longer treat ANSI tags as invalid characters in attrs.
   Reported by Trelane. [MG]
 * The /silent switch for @lemit didn't work. [MG]
 * @decompile/db showed '@create <dbref>' for THINGs, not '@create <name>',
   and @decomp/name could break. Reported by Paige. [MG]
 * Crash bug in locks fixed. Reported by Tanaku. [SW]