Sweeney

Example 282

★★

A conversation where each topic may have multiple questions and answers associated with it, and where a given exchange can lead to new additions to the list.

Play/modify in Borogove

Play in Quixe

"Sweeney"

A subject is a kind of thing. Some subjects are defined by the Table of Conversation Subjects.

Table of Conversation Subjects

subject	conversation
pies	Table of Pie Queries
employment	Table of Job Queries

Understand "job" as employment. Understand "meat" or "food" as pies.

Table of Job Queries

quip	discussion	label	subtopics
"whether there is a job available here"	"'Say, are you hiring?' you ask, as casually as you can manage. [The interlocutor] looks you over dubiously. 'I might be hiring someone, but I can't say it would necessarily be you.'"	0	--
"what happened to that boy that worked here"	"'Tell me, didn't you used to have a young assistant working here?' She shrugs. 'Young men these days are so unstable. He left-- who knows where he's gone? I haven't seen hair or fingernail of him for weeks.'"	0	--

with 3 blank rows.

Table of Pie Queries

quip	discussion	label	subtopics
"what pie fillings are available"	"'What pies do you have in today, Mrs Lovett?' you ask. She starts, then smiles. 'Meat pies, of course.'"	0	Table of Pie Flavor Queries

with 3 blank rows.

Table of Pie Flavor Queries

quip	discussion	label	subtopics
"what kind of meat"	"'What kind of meat goes into these pies, Mrs Lovett?' you ask pressingly. She looks shifty. 'Whatever the butcher brings this week,' she says. 'With the price of meat what it is, when you get it, you have to be glad of what you can get. If you get it.'"	0	--

To copy (first table - a table name) to (second table - a table name):

repeat through first table:

let copied quip be "blank";

if there is a quip entry, now the copied quip is the quip entry;

let copied discussion be "blank";

if there is a discussion entry, now the copied discussion is the discussion entry;

let copied subtopics be second table;

if there is a subtopics entry, now the copied subtopics are the subtopics entry;

choose a blank row in the second table;

if copied quip is not "blank", now quip entry is copied quip;

if copied discussion is not "blank", now discussion entry is copied discussion;

if copied subtopics is not second table, now subtopics entry is copied subtopics.

Current conversation table is a table name that varies. Current conversation table is Table of Job Queries.

Interlocutor is a person that varies.

Understand "ask [someone] about [any subject]" as asking it about the subject.

Asking it about the subject is an action applying to two visible things.

Carry out asking it about the subject:

say "You can't think of anything to say."

Instead of asking someone about the subject a subject listed in the Table of Conversation Subjects:

now interlocutor is noun;

now current conversation table is the conversation of the second noun;

if the number of filled rows in the current conversation table is 1:

repeat through current conversation table:

now label entry is 1;

now number understood is 1;

try selecting 1 instead;

if the number of filled rows in the current conversation table is 0:

say "You can think of nothing further to say on that topic.";

stop the action;

otherwise:

let index be 0;

let total be the number of filled rows in the current conversation table;

say "Do you mean ";

repeat through current conversation table:

now index is index + 1;

now label entry is index;

say "([index]) [quip entry]";

if index is total, say "?";

if index is total - 1, say ", or ";

if index is less than total - 1, say ", ".

Understand "[number]" as selecting.

Selecting is an action applying to one number.

Carry out selecting:

say "No such option is available."

Instead of selecting a label listed in the current conversation table:

say "[discussion entry][paragraph break]";

if there is a subtopics entry:

copy subtopics entry to current conversation table;

choose row with label of number understood in the current conversation table;

blank out the whole row.

Mrs Lovett's Meat Pies is a room. Mrs Lovett is a woman in Meat Pies.

Test me with "ask lovett about pies / ask lovett about employment / 1 / 2 / ask lovett about pies".

Mrs Lovett's Meat Pies
You can see Mrs Lovett here.

>(Testing.)

>[1] ask lovett about pies
"What pies do you have in today, Mrs Lovett?" you ask. She starts, then smiles. "Meat pies, of course."

>[2] ask lovett about employment
Do you mean (1) whether there is a job available here, or (2) what happened to that boy that worked here?

>[3] 1
"Say, are you hiring?" you ask, as casually as you can manage. Mrs Lovett looks you over dubiously. "I might be hiring someone, but I can't say it would necessarily be you."

>[4] 2
"Tell me, didn't you used to have a young assistant working here?" She shrugs. "Young men these days are so unstable. He left-- who knows where he's gone? I haven't seen hair or fingernail of him for weeks."

>[5] ask lovett about pies
"What kind of meat goes into these pies, Mrs Lovett?" you ask pressingly. She looks shifty. "Whatever the butcher brings this week," she says. "With the price of meat what it is, when you get it, you have to be glad of what you can get. If you get it."