This document describes the functions defined in the standard object,
/inherit/object.c, which should be inherited by any object which will
interact with players in the course of the game.

void set_short (string str) ;
set_short() sets the short description of this object. It is used to
describe the object in inventory listings, room contents, and printed
messages.

string query_short() ;
query_short() returns the short description of this object.

void set_long (string str) ;
set_long() sets the long description of this object. It is used to
describe the object when a user looks at it.

string query_long() ;
query_long() returns the long description of the object.

object query_environment() ;
query_environment() returns the object in which this object is currently
located. Usually this will be a room, though it may be a player, some
kind of bag, or it may be 0 if the object was cloned and has not yet
been moved anywhere.

void set_id (string *newid) ;
set_id() sets the id of this object. The id is an array of strings which
can be used to refer to this object in commands such as get, look, drop,
and dest.

string *query_id() ;
query_id() returns the id array of this object.

int id (string str) ;
id() returns 1 if the string arg is a member of the id array of this
object and 0 if not.

int move (mixed dest) ;
move() moves an object from its current environment to a new one. The
argument may be either an object or a string which is the name of an
object. First we check if the current environment is willing to allow
the object to depart. Next we check to see if the new environment is
willing to accept the object. If so, then we change the environment
of this object and return. move() returns 1 if the move succeeded and
0 if it did not. Note that some mudlibs use the opposite convention,
so you may need to adjust to this method.

void add_command (string word, string function) ;
add_command() allows this_object to define a command which can be
invoked by a user. It is analogous to add_action() on most LP muds.
The first argument is a string which the user types to invoke the
command: the second argument is the name of the function in this object
to be called when the command is invoked. The string the user types will
be separated by spaces and the first word will be compared against the
word string. Any other words the user typed will be passed as an argument
to the function. There is no support (yet) for partial match.

varargs int perform_action (string verb, string arg) {
perform_action() attempts to execute a command invoked with the first 
argument, passing the second argument to the relevant function. It is
called from command() in player.c whenever the user sends a string which
cannot be matched to a bin command or a previous object commands. It
returns 0 if there is no such function in the object, and returns whatever
the function returns if there is one.