NAME

       inform - compile Inform interactive fiction story files to Z-machine bytecode

SYNOPSIS

       inform [options...] infile [outfile]

DESCRIPTION

       inform  compiles  an Inform version 6 story file (usually with the extension .inf) into Z-
       machine bytecode which can then be executed by a variety of Z-machine  emulators.  If  the
       output  filename  is not explicitly given on the command line, it will be constructed from
       the input filename.

       inform's mode of  operation  can  be  controlled  with  switches  (one-  or  two-character
       expressions  preceded  by  a  dash), path modifiers (starting with a plus sign) and memory
       strategy modifiers (starting with a dollar sign).

   SWITCHES
       -a     trace assembly-language (without hex dumps; see -t)

       -c     more concise error messages

       -d     contract double spaces after full stops in text

       -d2    contract double spaces after exclamation and question marks, too

       -e     economy mode (slower): make use of declared abbreviations

       -f     frequencies mode: show how useful abbreviations are

       -g     traces calls to functions (except in the library)

       -g2    traces calls to all functions

       -h, -h1, -h2
              print usage information

       -i     ignore default switches set within the file

       -j     list objects as constructed

       -k     output Infix debugging information to "gameinfo.dbg" (and switch -D on)

       -l     list every statement run through Inform

       -m     say how much memory has been allocated

       -n     print numbers of properties, attributes and actions

       -o     print offset addresses

       -p     give percentage breakdown of story file

       -q     keep quiet about obsolete usages

       -r     record all the text to "gametext.txt"

       -s     give statistics

       -t     trace assembly-language (with full hex dumps; see -a)

       -u     work out most useful abbreviations (very very slowly)

       -vn    compile to a specific Z-code version; the default is 5. Available versions are:

              3      version-3 ("Standard") story file

              4      version-4 ("Plus") story file

              5      version-5 ("Advanced") story file

              6      version-6 (graphical) story file

              8      version-8 (expanded "Advanced") story file

       -w     disable warning messages

       -x     print # for every 100 lines compiled

       -y     trace linking system

       -z     print memory map of the Z-machine

       -B     use big memory model (for large version-6/version-7 files)

       -Cn    select text character set (defaults to 1):

              0      plain ASCII only

              1      ISO 8859-1 (Latin1)

              2      ISO 8859-2 (Latin2)

              3      ISO 8859-3 (Latin3)

              4      ISO 8859-4 (Latin4)

              5      ISO 8859-5 (Cyrillic)

              6      ISO 8859-6 (Arabic)

              7      ISO 8859-7 (Greek)

              8      ISO 8859-8 (Hebrew)

              9      ISO 8859-9 (Latin5)

       -D     insert "Constant DEBUG;" automatically

       -En    select error message style (default is Archimedes):

              0      Archimedes-style error messages

              1      Microsoft-style error messages

              2      Macintosh MPW-style error messages

       -F1    use temporary files to reduce memory consumption

       -G     compile a Glulx game file

       -H     use Huffman encoding to compress Glulx strings

       -M     compile as a Module for future linking

       -S     compile strict error-checking at run-time (on by default)

       -U     insert "Constant USE_MODULES;" automatically

       -Wn    header extension table is at least n words (n = 3 to 99)

       -X     compile with INFIX debugging facilities present

   PATH MODIFIERS
       +dir   set Include_Path to this directory

       +PATH=dir
              change PATH to this directory

   MEMORY STRATEGY MODIFIERS
       Note: it may be necessary to quote these parameters to prevent your shell  from  expanding
       them.

       $small adjust memory settings to a small game

       $large adjust memory settings to a large game

       $huge  adjust memory settings to a huge game (default)

       $list  list current memory allocation settings

       $?parameter
              explain memory setting parameter (see $list for available parameters)

       $parameter=value
              manually set parameter

SEE ALSO

       zcode-interpreter(6)  and  the  manuals and language reference in the inform-docs package,
       which can also be found online at <http://www.inform-fiction.org/inform6.html>.

AUTHOR

       This manpage was written by Jan Nordholz  <hesso@pool.math.tu-berlin.de>  for  the  Debian
       distribution.