Discussion/validation: In-World Script Library Proposal

Having just purchased some property and having thought about ways I can help perform a public service in SL I've come up with the following idea: I'd like to establish an in-world script library for SL. I'm willing to shoulder the entire burden of this (categorizing scripts, building the library, etc) because it's something that hasn't been tried before (as far as I know) and because it's giving me a reason to build an simple AIML interpreter in LSL (to allow something like natural language access to the library's Librarian...right now an .AIML file called Scryptkeeper).

I don't want to raid the various scripts that have been donated to this library without the permission of the authors, and I want to make sure any IP issues are respected, so I'm asking any and all authors interested in participating to either post new and interesting scripts they want to share to this thread, or to post links to scripts they've previouslys given the library. With each post, please write a brief (several lines at most) description of the code, the preferred name for the file, the author's name (real or SL) and any terms of distribution/usage/licensing attached to the script.

In return, all I ask is patience. As I've got a lot of external world responsibilities right now, this is going to be something I have to do piecemeal. I'll periodically update you on the progress of the project (hopefully once a week, but no promises) on this thread.

Thanks, and I look forward to any and all contributions.

Azrael, you should look at Infonet, and try and coordinate with them. There's a terminal in the Mauve sandbox.

I believe a good contact might be Squagmire Stravinsky - there is already a small but useful library.

Also... if I recall correctly, there are dozens of free scripts which I think I found in a 'junkyard' - I do not recall precisely where - which turned out to be a defacto goldmine of examples.

Yet, a formal library would be a fantastic idea. Not just for the scripts themselves, but for the meeting of minds that could take place there.

There have been a few attempts at script libraries in the past, and they seemed successful while they had supporters, but nothing is thriving in SL now.

I wrote a proposal to build a script library a few months ago. The main idea I had was that the library should not just provide copies of scripts, or even make them searchable (which is valuable, but also doable in the LSL wiki and the script library forum). Rather, the library should provide SL objects that demonstrate the scripts so you could see what they do without having to figure out how to build your own demonstrations.

Since then I have built a vendor of script demonstration objects, and I learn quite a lot of scripting in the process. The vendor has buttons for 10 categories of objects, each category containing up to 10 objects, for a total of 100.

I have built about 20 demonstration objects so far, and it is ready to scale up to many more. I imagine eventually having on the order 500-1000 demo objects, in 5-10 vendors. The work of building each of the demonstrations adds up, so I would appreciate getting your help in putting together many more. We have formed a Scriptorium group to help with the project, and I am sharing land with a friend where we have the start of a Scriptorium. I honestly can't remember the location, so you'll have to look us up.

badgeo already has a scripting library. I don't want to discourage you, but your paddling up stream. There no practical way to display text in SL. So your basically going to end up with a command line interface and typing /1 before every command. Or your going to have to display a ton of prims. All with floating text, and that get messy fast, plus it requires allot of land.

SL doesn't have history track, wiki dose. Plus wiki support searching. Wiki can be access from any computer, from any where. While in game land requires tele-porting, and flying to the target. Auto vending, like what slexhcange uses, could easily be tied into wiki. In the end, I think you would end up with a database outside of sl. At witch point shouldn't it be an issue of what's easier? Plus ll has talked about incorperating a web browser into sl.

I think efforts in this area would yield the most benefit if spent on the wiki. At some point in the future we'll be able to read it directly in SL anyway.

This is an excellant point. Instead of creating a library of text, create a library of actual working objects. Mediums like the forum/wiki library can show the text of the script, but what people really need to see are tangable examples of what the script does, only an in-world library can demonstrate that.

Also, instead of offering the scripts to people who visit the library directly, give the visitor a link to where the script can be found on the web (in the Script Library or the Wiki Library). This way script creators wont have to maintain several instances of a script if they have to make any updates.
==Chris

Glad you like my script demonstration idea. It seems to be working out.

I decided against having the demo objects give the script directly to the user. That would be easy to do, but any particular object might use the same interface (e.g. click on the object, talk to it, etc). Also I think it is better to keep the script with its demonstration instead. The demo objects are free, in most cases.

Once you have a demonstration object, it is easy enough to rez it and look inside to read the script and either copy it or just learn from how it works. More convenient would be if SL let us look inside objects while they were still contained within the inventory of another object, or in your own inventory, so you don't have to rez the object to look inside. I imagine this could be shown like a folder, with a + or - icon next to the object icon. The same should be done for notecards, by the way, which "contain" other objects that it links to.

In cases where the script can be found on the web, I do include a link in the script, or in a separate notecard. But there are already cases where the script only exists in SL. For those, people could come back to the library for updates, but that is rather inconvenient. Some kind of notification system via IM/Email would be better. The coming SL-web integration will start to change all that.

I think i would be great if we can all start working together on these various script library efforts.

i like the idea od demonstratible models and heck note cards can do the rest