root/1.8.3/tags/p2rc4/CHANGES.176

This is the changes file for PennMUSH 1.7.6. Please look it over; each
version contains new things which might significantly affect the
function of your server.  Changes are reported in reverse
chronological order (most recent first)

[TN] is Thorvald Natvig, a PennMUSH developer (aka Trivian)
[TAP] is T. Alexander Popiel, a PennMUSH developer (aka Talek)
[SW] is Shawn Wagner, a PennMUSH developer (aka Raevnos)
[LdW] is Luuk de Waard, a PennMUSH developer (aka Halatir)
[RLM] is Ralph Melton, a former PennMUSH developer
[NJG] is Nick Gammon, the Win32 porter
[EEH] is Ervin Hearn III, a Win32 porter (aka Noltar)
[DW] is Dan Williams, the MacOS porter
[2.2] refers to code which originated with the TinyMUSH 2.2 developers
[3] refers to code by (or inspired by) TinyMUSH 3.0
[Rhost] refers to code by (or inspired by) RhostMUSH

==========================================================================

Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 16                     April 28, 2004

Fixes:
   * PCRE updated to 4.5 [SW]


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 15                     January 25, 2004

Fixes:
   * Improved freebsd hints. [SW]
   * Channel user memory allocation error corrected.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 14                     September 23, 2003

Fixes:
   * Fix to help @search2 by LeeLaLimaLLama@M*U*S*H.
   * The max file descriptor could get stomped in some cases. [SW]
   * Powers and toggles on destroyed objects are reset, as they 
     caused anomalous lsearch/haspower behavior. Report by Mordie@M*U*S*H.
   * Changing channel privs and loading channels with objects no longer
     permitted could cause crashes. Report by Septimus@SW RP Forum.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 13                     August 11, 2003

Fixes:
   * Calling panic() while in the middle of a panic dump would cause a loop.
     Reported by [EEH]. [SW] 
   * Outdated mention of compose.csh removed from compose.sh.SH.
     Reported by Cheetah@M*U*S*H.
   * timestring() dealt wrongly with large arguments. Reported by
     Jules@M*U*S*H. timefmt() had a similar problem, reported by
     Luke@M*U*S*H.
   * Better checking of db save failures. [SW]


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 12                     June 23, 2003

Minor changes:
   * Users no longer see last connection information when they 
     connect to Guests. Suggested by Jules@M*U*S*H.
Fixes:
   * Potential problem with ambigious names in the information functions 
     fixed. [SW]
   * The 'chat' config group is no longer displayed when CHAT_SYSTEM
     isn't defined. Report by Mike Griffiths. [SW]
   * cygwin install instructions changed to remove obsolete exim
     version information. Suggested by Cheetah@M*U*S*H.
   * Objects with user-defined locks had problems with finding built-in locks
     on the object. Reported by Walker@M*U*S*H. [SW]


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 11                     June 1, 2003

Minor changes:
   * The restart script now insures that GAMEDIR is a real directory
     and CONF_FILE exists therein before proceeding. Suggested by
     Philip Mak.
   * Attribute flag setting messages are more verbose. Suggested by
     Mike Griffiths
   * See_All players may use the ports() function. Suggested by 
     Mike Griffiths.
Fixes:
   * Wizards can no longer @chzone God. Report by Kevin@M*U*S*H.
   * Help fixes by Mike Griffiths.

Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 10                     May 13, 2003

Minor changes:
   * PCRE (the regex matching engine we use) is updated to version 4.2. [SW]
   * @mail/file now unclears the cleared bit when filing @mail.
     Suggested by Philip Mak.
Fixes:
   * @edit is better with editing ansi. Reported by Trispis@M*U*S*H. [SW]
   * Help file cleanup. [SW]
   * @warnings about missing FAILURE messages were not correctly 
     checked, causing false positives. Reported by Cheetah.
   * Page message no longer ends in a period. Suggested by Time@M*U*S*H.
   * Help fixes by Intrevis@M*U*S*H.
   * BASE_ROOM can't be destroyed any more. Suggested by Philip Mak.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 9                      April 9, 2003

Fixes:
   * index-files.pl now produces a sensible warning for duplicate
     help topics, rather than a perl warning. Suggested by Cheetah@M*U*S*H.
   * Spellnum cosmetic bug with 'seventeen' fixed. Report by Jules@M*U*S*H.
   * Another wrap() buglet tracked down and fixed. Probably the one
     reported by Nymeria@M*U*S*H.
   * Memory leak in flip() and scramble() fixed.
   * Configure test for /dev/urandom from 1.7.5 got left out by mistake.
   * Critical overflow bug in command argument parsing fixed.

Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 8                      March 21, 2003

Minor changes:
   * The CHANGES file has been renamed so that it always refers to
     a version number, and utils/mkvershelp.pl now generates seperate
     .hlp files for each CHANGES file. This will prevent patch hunk 
     failures when two patchlevels of different versions are released
     and both used to try to modify the same .hlp file.
   * Channel names are restricted to printable characters, with no
     leading or trailing spaces. Suggested by Letters@M*U*S*H.
   * Calling time() with any argument other than 'utc' now generates
     an error. Report by Time@M*U*S*H.
Fixes:
   * Some redundant code cleanup in look_exits suggested by Vadiv@M*U*S*H.
   * Help file fixes by Ves@M*U*S*H, Jules@M*U*S*H, Cerekk@bDv.
   * When page_aliases is on, there's a space between the player's
     name and alias. Suggested by Saturn@M3.
   * Command-checking for ZMR contents didn't function when a ZMR
     was used as a player's personal zone. Reported by BlaZe@M*U*S*H.
   * Default idle_timeout was different in code and mushcnf.dst.
     Reported by James Bond@M*U*S*H. [SW]


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 7                      February 20, 2003

Fixes:
   * Some sloppy coding in src/access.c could generate runtime 
     debugging exceptions. Reported by BladedThoth@M*U*S*H.
   * wrap() could behave incorrectly when a line was exactly the length
     of the wrap width and the total input size was larger than 
     any previously wrapped input. Reported by Liam@Firdeloth.
   * Extra NUL characters were sent after telnet codes, which 
     confused Mudnet and maybe some clients. Patch by Alierak.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 6                      January 23, 2003

Minor changes:
   * nearby() always works for see_all players. Reported by Sparta.
   * findable() now requires that executor control either the object
     or the victim or be see_all. Reported by Sparta.
Fixes:
   * POWER^ and CHANNEL^ locks tested the wrong object. [SW]
   * @grep, @wipe, and @edit now report when no attributes are
     matched. Suggested by Procyon@M3
   * Changes to telnet negotiation strings to match those in
     PennMUSH 1.7.7, which seems to fix some problems with display
     of connect.txt in some clients. Report by Howie@NewFrontier.
     Patch by Time@M*U*S*H.
   * @mail/silent wasn't unless you used /send too. Report by
     Moe@Chicago.
   * Wizards could set attributes on garbage objects (which were useless,
     but may have leaked memory needlessly). Reported by Taz@M*U*S*H.
   * @chan/hide didn't check for hide permissions properly in some
     cases. Reported by Tanaku@M*U*S*H.
   * Better explanation of when regexp matching is case sensitive vs.
     insensitive. Suggested by Jake@BrazilMUX, Brazil@BrazilMUX, and
     Vadiv@M*U*S*H.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 5                      January 7, 2003

Fixes:
   * 1.7.6p4 broke 'go #dbref', which broke the ability of followers 
     to follow. Reported by Ellis@M*U*S*H.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 4                      January 2, 2003

Minor Changes:
   * English-style matching now applies to exits in the room
     (so '1st down' can match the first 'down' exit if you're not carrying
     anything that matches 'down'). New english-style matching adjective
     'toward' restricts the match to exits (so: 'look toward 1st down').
Fixes:
   * Code cleanup to fix several potential buffer overflows.
   * The wildcard matcher had problems with backslash escapes in
     some cases, making matching a : in a $command very hard.
     Reported by Wayne@PDX.
   * @chzone could cause crashes on some systems.  Reported by Wayne@PDX.
   * When two exits match, one is no longer chosen at random.
     Instead, the ambiguity should be reported as an error.
     Reported by Intrevis@M*U*S*H.
   * The dbref returned by locate when given the X parameter is
     no longer random, but the last one found (as per the help).
   * Serious bug in reading locks from the db on startup corrected.
   * The profiling timer is turned off duing dumps, as some systems
     (FreeBSD?) appear to continue to use it and interrupt dumps
     due to cpu limiting. Reported by Nathan Schuette.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 3                      December 22, 2002

Minor changes:
   * call_limit now controls the maximum recursion in process_expression,
     instead of maximum calls to p_e per command cycle. This still
     limits stack size, but doesn't get in the way of massive code
     nearly as much. People using a very high call_limit value should
     probably lower it significantly. Patch by Philip Mak.
   * Improved error messages for many database information functions.
     Notably, several functions that require at least one argument,
     now complain if they don't get it rather than returning silently.
     Suggested by Intrevis@M*U*S*H. [SW]
Fixes:
   * @warnings are no longer shown on GOING objects. Suggested by
     Philip Mak.
   * Help fixes by Intrevis, Time, and Ambrosia@M*U*S*H
   * Bug in @decomp/skipdefaults reported by Philip Mak. [SW]
   * Tweaks to utils/mkcmds.sh [SW]
   * home() on a room acts as described in the help. Reported by
     Intrevis@M*U*S*H. [SW]
   * whisper/noisy double-notified the whisperer. Reported by Philip Mak.
   * Crash bug in @mail fixed. Reported by Titan@OtherSpace.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 2                      December 17, 2002

Minor changes:
   * An invalid range argument to @search/lsearch is now coerced
     to be the lowest or highest dbref, as appropriate. The search
     range is also now inclusive. And lsearch(<player>) works.
     Suggested by Philip Mak.
   * mushcnf.dst now includes a default value for call_limit.
     Suggested by Philip Mak.
   * Testing for whether the mush is already running in the
     restart script has been improved by Philip Mak.
Internationalization:
   * Polish translation files (partial) are now being distributed.
Fixes:
   * Fix to win32 warnings. [EEH]
   * Under Win32, a failed accept() call in bsd.c would not be
     correctly handled. Report by BladedThoth@M*U*S*H.
   * Help fixes by Luigi@8bitMUSH, Kyieren@M*U*S*H, Intrevis@M*U*S*H.
   * @map crash bug repoted by Philip Mak, fixed by Walker@M*U*S*H.
   * Modifiying locks now updates the object's modification time.
     Reported by Philip Mak.


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 1                      November 26, 2002

Minor changes:
   * When using @nuke to destroy a SAFE object when really_safe is "no",
     provide a warning (but schedule destruction anyway). Suggested by
     Cerekk@bDV.
Fixes:
   * VS.NET project file was defaulting to signed instead of unsigned
     chars, causing crashes. Fixed by BladedThoth@M*U*S*H.
     Several places where we should have cast things to unsigned to
     avoid this kind of thing have been fixed. [SW]
   * The *emit() functions now set the orator correctly.
     Reported by Philip Mak.
   * ccom and cplr are cleared after each command execution so they
     can't be leaked as easily. Suggested by Philip Mak.
   * Linting.
   * If God gives the wrong password to @logwipe, provide some feedback.
     Suggested by Cerekk@bDv.
   * mkcmds.sh was needlessly rebuilding several autogenerated files.
   * The rules for flag characters shown in object headers now allows
     F_INTERNAL flags to be shown (like GOING), just the same as
     when you get a full flag list on examine. Report by Philip Mak.
   * Help fixes by Bird@M*U*S*H, Intrevis@M*U*S*H, Philip Mak.
   * @search type=something would report an error AND match the entire
     database when something wasn't object, player, exit or room. [SW]
   * Cosmetic bug in @malias/list fixed. Report by Tanaku@M*U*S*H.
   * The info_slave now properly obeys the use_dns setting in mush.cnf.
     This requires a full shutdown to put into effect. Report by
     BlaZe@M*U*S*H. [SW]


Version 1.7.6 patchlevel 0                      November 11, 2002

License:
 * PennMUSH 1.7.6 and later is now released under the Artistic
   License. This is an OSI-compliant open source license. See the file
   COPYRITE for the complete license text.

   Notable changes from the old license:
   * No restrictions on commercial use
   * No requirement to inform developers of improvements or submit
     modifications, though it's still a nice thing to do. Note, however
     that if you redistribute a modified version of PennMUSH, you MUST
     include source code.

   The PennMUSH devteam thanks the copyright holders of TinyMUD,
   TinyMUSH 2.0, TinyMUSH 2.2, and TinyMUSH 3.0 for their assistance
   in making this possible.
Documentation:
   * The README file has been split into README, INSTALL, UPGRADING,
     and I18N files.
Minor Changes:
   * Rooms now hear remits and lemits in them, and can be pemitted
     to. This behavior now matches that of other MUSH servers.
   * AUDIBLE objects now propagate sound @remit'd into them.
     Report by [SW].
   * Added @lock/destroy to limit who can destroy a DESTROY_OK 
     object. Suggested by Luigi@8bit.
   * PARANOID nospoof notification now includes the name of the object's
     owner as well. Suggested by Philip Mak.
   * room() no longer notifies the executor of permission errors out of
     band. It now just returns the error instead, like loc(). Suggested by 
     Philip Mak.
   * Creation times are now public information via ctime(); permission to
     examine is no longer required. This allows objects to use, e.g.,
     %#@[ctime(%#)] as a historically unique identifier of an enactor.
     Suggested by Philip Mak.
   * The reboot.db is now versioned. This will make it possible to
     @shutdown/reboot across patchlevels that change the reboot.db
     format (in 1.7.7 and later versions).
   * Rooms on an @forwardlist now receive the message as a remit,
     rather than a pemit. Suggested by BladedThoth@M*U*S*H.
Fixes:
   * More work on the great table() bug. Looks like a fix. [SW]
   * Improved VS.NET project files by BladedThoth.
   * Plugged a memory leak in deleting @locks. [SW]
   * Fixed @lock-related crash bug reported by Philip Mak. [SW]
   * General linting.
   * process_expression ignores the [ in ansi escapes. Reported in the
     context of #$ by Philip Mak. [SW]
   * Internal changes to compress(), which now returns an allocated
     string. Under Huffman compression, it should no longer be possible
     to overflow a buffer with a pathological compression tree. Initial
     concern voiced by Eyal Sagi.
   * Table and ansi didn't play well together. Reported by Ellis@M*U*S*H.
   * Config file reading should be better on Macs. Patch by Philip Mak.
   * Obsolete checks for OLD_ANSI are removed. [SW]
   * Crash bug in @function fixed. Report by Dallimar@Hemlock.
   * Change to message on failed attribute flag set, to make it more
     generic to cover all the possible failures. Report by Cerekk@bDv.
   * Translations to some languages were broken. Fixed now. Report by
     Sbot@M*U*S*H.
   * QUEUE is now visible if you control an object, as promised in the
     help. Reported by Luigi@8bit.
   * Help fixes by Mortimer@M*U*S*H, Bellemore@M*U*S*H, Hyacinth@8bit,
     [EEH], BladedThoth@M*U*S*H, Moe@M*U*S*H, Viila@M*U*S*H, Walker@M*U*S*H.
   * Comment in src/Makefile fixed by Vadiv@M*U*S*H.
   * A weird crash on @shutdown/reboot, probably attributable to a
     broken library or system call, is now worked-around. Report by
     Solarius@SWWF.
   * Audible objects with @forwardlist set are no longer concealed by
     the DARK flag.
   * Win32 project files no longer use the win32/ directory as an include
     directory, which causes problems. Reported by Gepht.