llSay, llInstantMessage, llOwnerSay, and why I hate you.

I've just about always noted how chatty inanimate objects in SL seem to be, what with the beer attachments that tell you to "watch that third sip" (the stupidity of which is another rant entirely), greeters that spam huge blocks of text when ever someone gets in range, to guns, huds, and various other attachments that thank everyone in the area for their purchase of so-and-so's emporium of poorly scripted crap, and frankly, I'm sick of it.

It's bad enough that so many objects and attachments simply spit out text describing something happening, because people are too lazy to find/make appropriate animations and sound effects for it to actually DO what they're describing. I barely even count attachments/gestures that try to cobble together animations and sounds from the library and freebies that have been floating around since the dawn of time as having made the effort. SL isn't an old-fashioned text PUD, damnit.

But all the lengthy, unnecessary text messages that get sent to people who don't care annoys me even further. All it takes is just a couple seconds to consider who really needs to hear the message you're sending (maybe a few more to consider who actually cares) to decide the appropriate way to send it. Instructions, and anything else activated by attaching or sitting on an object should be sent ONLY to the person who triggered them. The same goes for greeters (especially if you're not keeping track of who has already been greeted recently) if you're going to spit out a huge block of text to every new arrival, DON'T USE LLSAY. If the greeting is also supposed to serve as a notice that someone has arrived, it is entirely possible to add another line ie: llSay(0, llDetectedName(0)+" has arrived". It won't even hurt you.


AND NO, USING LLWHISPER ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH

For those of you who may be unaware of the alternatives to llSay, llWhisper, and llShout, here's a quick overview:

llInstantMessage(key id, string message)
This function allows you to send a message to a single avatar, wherever they are. Messages from llInstantMessage appears just like messages from an object using llSay, but are only received by the specified user.

llOwnerSay(string message)
This function sends a message only to the owner of the object. Perfect for weapons, HUDs and other attachments. Unlike llInstantMessage, llOwnerSay can not send messages from a different region.

Good morning to you too. Have a pleasant day.

For the most part, I agree with you on this one. That is why you will hear very few talking objects in my store. You get no greeting, no landmarks, nothing when you arrive.

The only thing that talks are my pose vendors. When you first get on to try the poses, they say "You may touch the back of the vendor to go to the next pose". I use llWhisper for 2 reasons: I want the person to know it, and I do not want the 2 second delay that is associated with llInstantMessage. I could go to the trouble of adding another script that sent the message and eliminate the delay, but that seems overly complex for the task. And yes, people do click it within 2 seconds of getting the message.

I like for my shop to be quiet, and I hope my customers appreciate it.


There have been times when my neighbors have had talking objects that my customers could hear. I beat them back with a stick (OK, I asked them nicely and they adjusted them, but I had a stick ready.)

llInstantMessage isn't a solid solution to spam either.

I've had up to a dozen "Copybot Protector v$RANDOMNUMBER low spam: !quit" go off when I show up in an area. "Low spam" my sainted aunt Reba!

That's because the person who scripted those is a moron.

Using llInstantMessage helps by limiting who hears the message to the people who need it, but it can't stop the scripter from deciding that everyone needs that message every 30 seconds.

Also, the 2 second delay can be worked around, by setting up a second script that sends the instant message, relayed by llMessageLinked, but I'll forgive most vendor scripts, since that isn't a foolproof workaround.

No, I don't think so. A con-artist, and an a-hole, yes, but not a moron. After all, look how many people have bought the stupid useless spammy things.

Many people dismiss llInstantMessage as "Laggy" because of the short throttle-delay that comes with it. But many times, this isn't even an issue. But if it is slowing down your script, you can pass that function to another script.

instantMessage.lsl

default
{
    link_message (integer sender, integer num, string message, key id)
    {
        if (llToLower(llGetSubString(message, 0, 2)) == "im|")
        {
            llInstantMessage(id, llDeleteSubString(message, 0, 2));
        }
    }
}

Then to trigger the IM, slip this function into your other scripts.

InstantMessage(key id, string message)
{
    llMessageLinked(LINK_SET, 0, "IM|" + message, id);
}

Then use it like llInstantMessage, just without the "ll".

InstantMessage(llGetOwner(), "hi");

You know.. llSetText is under-rated.

As annoying as it is to have hovertext on a vendor, showing through the walls.. hovertext is exceptionally useful for short, transient notices, and for information displays in HUDs.

In fact, a similar script can be made to pop-up hovertext, and then start a short little timer, and delete the text when the timer runs out.

default
{
    link_message (integer sender, integer num, string message, key id)
    {
        if (llToLower(llGetSubString(message, 0, 2)) == "im|")
        {
            llSetText(llDeleteSubString(message, 0, 2), <1,0.75,0>, 1.0);
            llSetTimerEvent(2);
        }
    }
    
    timer()
    {
        llSetTimerEvent(0);
        llSetText("", <0,0,0>, 0.0);
    }
}

Me, I just wish more people would use llOwnerSay and llInstantMessage when they design talkative attachments.

While the opinions of so-and-so's genitalia (or, even worse, her unborn virtual child -- bleh) may well be matter of great interest to her and her immediate friends, that is not necessarily the case for everyone in the club or shop.

short delay?

its TWO WHOLE SECONDS!!!

;P


but, seriously. i had an object with a setup menu that would acknowledge setting changes taking effect in ownersay. but people wanted it group-owned, so i changed it to instant message.

flipping through the settings used to be quick, and the menu always reappeared so you could do another setting. now, however, you make a selection, the object acknowledges........
and it looks like the menu isnt going to come back, so you click it again and start a NEW menu session, then get the delayed menu then... ARGH. even i did that, and i KNOW why theres a menu delay.

Here is a small script that might help if you are cornered:

// Simple 'Spam relay' Created by Dora Gustafson, 2008, Studio Dora
// The script will listen on the public channel and whatever comes out of an object
// will be send by IM to the object's owner
// Will relay to all owners of objects heard on the public channel
// Only objects, not chatting avatars are affected
// WARNING: Ask the spammer kindly to stop spamming you before using this script
// WARNING: Don't use on other peoples land, you may easily abuse the land owner!

default
{
    state_entry()
    {
        llListen( PUBLIC_CHANNEL, "", NULL_KEY, "");
    }

    listen(integer cannel, string name, key id, string message)
    {
        key ok = llGetOwnerKey( id );
        if ( ok != id ) llInstantMessage( ok, message );
    }
}

You may add your own personal message to the IM
And PLEASE observe the warnings!
Good luck

Too bad you can't find the poor folks who were tricked into wasting money on a "Copybot Defender" that way.

Ah, I remember back when llOwnerSay() was first introduced. I was SOOOOOO happy! Care to start a JIRA to petition LL to change the default 'New Script' to use llOwnerSay() instead of llSay()? I'll vote.

Oh, that's a *sweet* idea. Or else use llInstantMessage(llDetectedKey(0)). Or even... dare I suggest it... promote good coding practice and show people a little conditional love:

touch_start(integer num_detected)
{
key id = llDetectedKey(0);
if(id == llGetOwner()) llOwnerSay("Hello Boss!";
else llInstantMessage(id, "Hello, Avatar!";
}

Well if you're making a vendor, using llInstantMessage and sleeping the script for 2 seconds can result in someone paying you money without getting their item.

I'm not against ANY objects using open chat, just against them using it without having a good reason to

2 seconds is a long time, especially if you're trying to IM multiple people. Work around works for most things, but then you run into system resources (even idle scripts take some processes), so what are you left with? llWhisper, llSay.....

Also that handy mute object button.

Now annoying, are menu dialog boxes that don't give options, that are used just for greeting or giving information. Sure, it doesn't spam people around you, but fills up that nice right upper corner of my screen

@Dora:

Oh how I would have loved this idea back in the day when I was living on mainland and someone near was running a bunch of shouting lucky chairs! (Yeah, I muted them about half a dozen times a day, but for some reason they wouldn't stay muted.)

Don't forget llDialog

It's more obtrusive (sometimes maybe even preferred), but it has a shorter delay than llInstantMessage and basically has the same advantages (no spam, can be used for all avies).

Remember, you don't have to actually 'do' anything with the results of a lldialog call.

This actually isn't extremely likely. It's not like you miss everything during those two seconds. Events continue to queue. They just don't get serviced until afterwards. Some events might miss the queue if it accumulates too much, but it's not too difficult to design your scripts so you don't miss important events like money (e.g. filter your listens well and don't put unnecessary event handlers where you receive money events).

See also http://www.lslwiki.net/lslwiki/wakka.php?wakka=llMinEventDelay (not that you'd use it for this case, but it has info about what happens during delays--which does include llSleep() and script delays imposed by functions like llSetPos() and llInstantMessage(); anything that pushes off the execution of the next event handler).

That's a good idea in some situations, such as giving notice of certain sim rules to new arrivals, etc. Important things that you want to make sure people at least glance at.

Keep in mind though, that MANY people consider "blue popups" on arrival someplace, much the same as webpage popups. So, while llDialog does give you a nice chance to say something, be careful with it. Even one popup can get you AR'ed for spam if they're in a foul mood.

You haven't touched on why you hate me.

Well, ya know, this is a scripting forum, so take your rant over to resident answers where ranting seems go go around here. As far as stupid animations go, you're either triggering them yourself, or standing near someone who does, neither of which I do personally. So, what I'm saying is if you're tired of hearing stupid crap, don't put yourself in a situation where that stuff exists. I almost exclusively use llOwnerSay() and/or llInstantMessage() to communicate information from an object to a user so as to not clutter the open channel with information not intended for others. I don't really need someone who obviously has outgrown hanging out in clubs sipping virtual beer to tell me how to script.

sheesh rutting season has started already?

OP's point condensed:
note for new/amateur scriptors- please only communicate when and with whom you need to by script. it'll make you look more professional, and keep other people from wanting to write scripts that that spam messages and redirect them to you, en masse. (plus your customers won't be bitching to you about their customers bitching at them)

PS (that redirect script made me laugh)

Re: the 2 second llInstantMessage delay --

For some reason, people always seem to neglect the llMessageLinked function. Instead of having your main script send the instant message, redirect it to another script via

string text = your message here;
key target = the person whom you'd like to contact;
llMessageLinked ( LINK_THIS, 1, text, target );

then in a separate script within the same prim:

link_message ( integer sender, integer number, string message, key id )
{
if ( number == 1 )
{
llInstantMessage ( id, message );
}
}

Now the separate instant message script takes the delay instead of your main script, which is free to continue processing data. Problem solved.

And finally, yes, I agree about chat spam, but do we really need rants in the scripting tips forum? If the spam annoys customers, they'll avoid that store, and the owner will learn or lose sales. If you don't like it, don't visit there. I'm assuming most people who have been in Second Life for more than a year have long since stopped frequenting clubs anyway.