| Chapter 2: The Source Text |

| 2.7. The SHOWME command

Problem messages are generated when the source text does not make sense to Inform. Even if it does make sense, though, there is no guarantee that it does what the author intends, and the only way to find out is to test the result by playing through it (or asking others to). For the most part one plays as if one were the eventual reader of the work, but sometimes it is highly convenient to have the god-like powers which are an author's prerogative. These are provided by the testing commands, which are present at every stage until the final release version (generated by the Release button). They will be introduced in this manual as they become relevant: here is the first.

| The testing command SHOWME prints out a brief summary about a room or thing, and any contents or parts it may have. Typing SHOWME on its own shows the current room, but any item or room in the game, however distant, can be named instead. For instance: >showme Boudoir - room four-poster bed - supporter yourself - player-character pillow >showme diamonds diamonds - thing location: in the strongbox on the dresser in the Drawing Room Much of this can be seen, and seen more easily, in the World tab of the Index panel: but that only shows the initial state of play, whereas the SHOWME command reveals the situation in mid-game. ("Room", "supporter" and so on are kinds, of which more in Chapter 3.)

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