infocom/compilers/inform5/utilities/infoclues.notes

                          The Infoclues Utility
                          =====================

  This small utility program converts a file of hints written in UHS
(Universal Hints System) format to an Inform include file which produces
these hints nicely in a hierarchy of menus.

  Simply call Main_Menu(); from somewhere in your game (e.g. when the
player types "help").

  The format of UHS as understood by Infoclues is slightly restricted
but adequate for most purposes:

[subject] Name of subject           ...this line introduces a "subject",
                                       or item to appear in the main menu,
                                       and is followed by the submenu which
                                       appears when it is selected...
  [(not "hint")] Name of item       ...this begins an item on the submenu.
    ...text...                         Any word other than "hint" in []s
                                       causes the text which follows to
                                       simply be printed when this
                                       item is selected.
  [hint] Name of hint
    >> First hint.                     Each hints can spill over many lines.
    >> Second hint.
           ...
    >> Last hint.


Up to 24 subjects can hang off the main menu, and up to 24 off each sub-menu;
if need be, menus are automatically converted into a first and second page.

Quotation marks " are allowed in text (and Infoclues translates them into
Inform-style ~ characters).

Example:

[subject] Balances
  [comment] What is Balances?
     Balances is a small game, from which this is a sample passage of UHS.
  [comment] Where can I find it?
     Try the "if-archive" at ftp.gmd.de.
[subject] The Grasslands
  [hint] Is the hut empty?
     >> No.
     >> Take a closer look at the furniture.
  [hint] Does the horse want anything?
     >> He seems keener on the oats than you.
     >> Perhaps it would be better to say he lacks something.
     >> He lacks the means to help you escape.
  [hint] The box is locked.
     >> One way to open it would be to find a key.
     >> That's only one way, though.
     >> Since when did a mage need a key for a lock so puny?
     >> Not when a mage has a "rezrov" spell to hand.
  [hint] What's the burin for?
     >> Later use.
     >> Try typing "what is a burin".
     >> It's for writing names on the featureless white cubes.