CHANGES.183

This is the changes file for PennMUSH 1.8.3. 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)

[SW] is Shawn Wagner, a PennMUSH developer (aka Raevnos), also
 responsible for most unattributed changes.
[EEH] is Ervin Hearn III, a PennMUSH developer (aka Noltar)
[GM] is Greg Millam, a PennMUSH developer (aka Walker)
[MG] is Mike Griffiths, a PennMUSH developer (aka Talvo)
[TAP] is T. Alexander Popiel, a former PennMUSH developer (aka Talek)
[3] refers to code by (or inspired by) TinyMUSH 3.0
[MUX] refers to code by (or inspired by) TinyMUX 2.x
[Rhost] refers to code by (or inspired by) RhostMUSH

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

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 13                     Feb 13, 2010

Minor Changes:
 * align() columns can now have ansi color definitions. [GM]
 
Fixes:
 * Heisencrashbug in command parser fixed. Reported by Mercutio. [GM]
 * Bug in randword() and extract() fixed. [MG]
 * Fix several memory leaks. [SW]
 * Help fixes by aumiiari and others. [MG]
 * Add more specific log messages when the chatdb fails to load, from
   report by Dan@M*U*S*H. [MG]

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 12                     Feb 07, 2010

Major Changes:
 * 'mud_url' @config. If this is enabled, accessing the mush with an HTTP
   browser will redirect the user to the selected mud_url. (This may need
   some work and testing by a public place with many clients.) [GM]
 * The internal code for object matching has been rewritten, hopefully
   fixing a few bugs and improving match results in some cases. [MG]

Minor Changes:
 * align() can now do full justification. Suggested by Trinsec@M*U*S*H [GM]
 * Wrapping fixes in align(). Reported by Trinsec@M*U*S*H [GM]
 * Guests will no longer see "Guests can't do that" if @mail is restricted
   to noguest. [GM]
 * Helpfile cleanup. [MG]
 * Expand the @lock key optimizer. Try '@lock me=!!=me'.
 * When objects are destroyed, references to them in locks
   are replaced by #FALSE, so that a newly created object reusing
   some dbref won't pass locks it shouldn't.
 * /'s can now be included in the subject of a @mail 
   message via doubling it up -- @mail foo=a//s//l/What's up? 
   Suggested by Paige.
 * locate() now ignores spaces in its 3rd argument. [MG]
 * Change the default mud_name in mush.cnf from TinyMUSH
   to PennMUSH. Suggested by many people over the years.
 * @firstexit can now take multiple exits, and can affect exits in other
   rooms. Suggested by AnneLions. [MG]
 * Changed some default mush.cnf options. [MG]
 * Remove the old patches.h way of showing installed patches. It was 
   broken and rarely used anyways.
 * Removed the little-used "page_cost" @config option. [MG]
 * Removed costs for @find, @zemit, @entrances and @mail/stats. [MG]
 * @hide can now affect a single descriptor, rather than all of a player's
   connections. A player is only considered hidden if all his connections
   are hidden. Wizards can also @hide other players. [MG]
 * Wizards no longer automatically @hide when set DARK (but are hidden when
   connecting dark with "cd"). [MG]
 * sql() now takes a fourth argument, to return the number of affected rows.
   Suggested by Mercutio.
 * baseconv() fixes for malformed input, "-" ambiguity in base 63/64, and
   missing "-" sign for single-digit output.
 * Flag names now have similar restrictions to attribute names. [MG]
 * The @ns*emit commands and ns*emit() functions are no longer restricted;
   when used by mortals, they work exactly the same as the non-ns versions.
   Suggested by Michael Blackburn. [MG]
 * Update autoconf to 2.65.
 * @grep/print now shows a : before the attribute contents, the same as
   examine. Suggested by Cheetah. [MG]
   
Commands:
 * Removed the /functions, /attribs, /commands and /flags switches from
   @config. Use @list/<switch> instead. [MG]
 * @decompile changes: added /name, the opposite of /db. You can now give a
   '=<prefix>' without needing the /prefix switch, and can use other
   switches with /tf, like @decomp/tf/flags <obj>. Suggestedby Trinsec. [MG]
 * @entrances can now take multiple switches, to show multiple types. [MG]
 * Removed the obsolete @map command. [MG]
 * @boot <player> now boots all of <player>'s connections, not just the
   first. Similarly, @boot/me boots all your idle connections. [MG]
 * @dump/debug was broken and undocumented. [MG]
 * Removed page/blind (and the blind_page config option). [MG]

Functions:
 * llocks() without any arguments returns a list of the standard locks.
 * unsetq(), to erase queue registers. [GM]
 * and[l]flags(), or[l]flags(), andlpowers() and orlpowers() now all return
   #-1 if an invalid flag/power is given. Suggested by AnneLions. [MG]
 * benchmark(), to benchmark softcode. [DC]
 * Added "flag" as a category to valid(), to check for valid names for
   @flag/add and @power/add. [MG]
 * New pfun() function, which evaluates attributes from your parent as if
   you were inheriting them, even if you have your own copy of the attr. [MG]
 * locate() can take a new parameter, 'x', which causes it to only match 
   exact object names, ignoring partial matches. Suggested by Minion. [MG]
 * ncand()/ncor(), short-circuit versions of nand()/nor(). [MG]

Fixes:
 * Bug in ansi() when no colors are given and buffer_len is reached has
   been fixed. Reported by Chris Humbert. [GM]
 * Bug caused by silly assumptions in list2arr() regarding remove_markup
   fixed. Reported by Stoko@M*U*S*H. [GM]
 * Using some substitutions on the connect/motd/etc attributes introduced
   in p11 could cause a crash. Reported by Minion@M*U*S*H. [GM]
 * Substitions on the connect/motd/etc attributes now work as expected
   when a player is connected. Suggested by Minion@M*U*S*H. [GM]
 * English matching works better with possessive get
   (get box's 2nd thing). Reported by israphel.
 * Various additions and changes to the translatable server messages by
   Stoko. Also updated the I18N file, and added /po/pennmush.pot.
 * 'No such file' messages were logged by mistake when connect_file and
   similar options were set to a dbref/attr. Reported by Zalethon. [MG]
 * Some cygwin C library versions define the imaxdiv_t type but not the
   associated imaxdiv() function. Split them up into 2 configure checks.
   Reported by Rankard.
 * Several math functions didn't complain if their first argument wasn't
   a valid number. Reported by Jules. [MG]
 * @wipe would incorrectly set the attribute list for an object in some 
   cases, making some attributes appear to be deleted. Reported by
   Cooee@M*U*S*H. [MG]
 * The Pueblo_Send @power did not allow objects to send restricted HTML 
   tags, just attributes. Reported by Daniel Powell. [MG]
 * Fixed a crashbug in @uptime. [MG]
 * Various Pueblo fixes. By Sketch.

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 11                     Jan 01, 2010

Major changes:
  * The WHO, DOING and SESSION commands are now normal game commands,
    and can be @hook'd, typed in lower-case, etc. (The WHO at the login
    screen is separate.) If you have a softcoded 'who' command, you will
    need to @hook/override WHO for it to continue working. Suggested by
    Bane. [MG]
  * The "take" command has been moved from the hardcode into alias.cnf.
    If you want to keep it as an alias for "get", you should add the line
    "command_alias get take" into your alias.cnf. [MG]

Configuration:
  * The *_file options (connect_file, motd_file, etc) can now be a
    #dbref/attribute instead of a filename, in which case the given
    attribute is evaluated and the result shown in place of the text file.
    Based on patches by Nathan Baum and Mercutio@M*U*S*H. [MG]

Commands:
  * @decompile now takes multiple attribute patterns after the /
    (@dec obj/attr attr2) [GM]
  * @channel/decompile now shows the dbref of the channel mogrifier,
    instead of its name. [SW]
  * @pemit now takes a /port switch, which sends the message to the
    specified port. Suggested by Mercutio. [MG]
  * @hook/list without a <command> now shows all commands which have hooks.
    Based on a patch by Trinsec. [MG]
  * @search now takes multiple <class>=<restriction> pairs. [MG]
  * The IDLE command now takes an optional argument, which it prints back
    to the descriptor which sent the command. [MG]
  * IDLE no longer increases the cmds() for a descriptor. [MG]

Functions:
  * die() now takes up to 700 dice.
  * remove() will now remove a list of words.
  * table() now supports <, > and - as alignment parameters to field width.
  * testlock(<boolexp>, <victim>) tests a lock without setting it.
    Suggested by Mercutio@M*U*S*H. [GM]
  * lnum() now takes a fourth argument: A step. [GM]
  * cwho() now takes an optional second argument, to control whether
    online, offline or all players are returned. Suggested by Mercutio,
    based on a patch by Ifrit. [MG]
  * room(<room>) now returns <room>, instead of #-1. Also, room(<exit>)
    returns the exit's source room, rather than the destination. Suggested
    by Null@M*U*S*H. [MG]
  * Fixed a bug in how align() strips spaces when wrapping text. Reported
    by Paige@M*U*S*H. [MG]
  * pemit(<port number>, <message>) sends <message> to the specified
    port, like @pemit/port. Suggested by Mercutio. [MG]
  * lports() and lwho() take an optional second argument to include
    connections at the login screen. Suggested by Mercutio. [MG]
  * namelist() now takes an optional #dbref/attr, called for each invalid
    name in the first argument. [MG]
  * lmath() can now do lt, lte, gt, gte, eq and neq. Also, lt(), lte(),
    etc, can all take more than 2 arguments. [GM]
  * Anyone can now use ctime() on any object. [MG]
  * locks() reported built-in locks as being user: locks. [MG]

Fixes:
  * Help fixes by various folks.
  * lsearch() with invalid syntax was failing to report it as such, causing
    confusion when lsearch(me,exits) returned the same as lsearch(me). [GM]
  * fun_merge() was eating characters when ansi was present. Reported
    by Nammyung. Fixed. [GM]
  * Windows compile fixes.
  * Math-y crashbug fixed. Reported by Ghost@M*U*S*H. [GM]
  * page/port didn't evaluate its arguments properly. Reported
    by adkins@drigon.com. [SW]
  * randword() with a single element list wasn't dealing correctly
    with extra spaces. Reported by Minion. [SW]
  * @listen/^-listens should now be triggered with the object being
    spoofed as %#, not the object doing the spoofing, when @message/spoof
    (and @pemit/spoof, etc) are used. Reported by Mercutio@M*U*S*H. [MG]
  * Fixed some minor type-related warnings when compiling on cygwin. [MG]
  * @functions which were set "localize" would report being set "Userfn"
    as well, and functions set "Userfn" weren't reported as such. [MG]
  * Objects could be set with flags which weren't valid for their object
    type, if such flags were in the <type>_flags config option. Found by
    Kitai. [MG]
  * Crashbug in the command parser fixed. Found by Freon, patch by Javelin.
  * Added some missing punctuation in channel messages. Reported by Stoko.

   
 Minor changes:
  * @listen/^-listens now carry over ANSI. Requested by Mercutio. [MG]
  * @adisconnect now has %5, which is true if the disconnecting descriptor
    was @hide. Suggested by Minion@M*U*S*H [GM]
  * @pemit <name>= would show nospoof info if <name> was set Nospoof. Now,
    it does nothing at all. Reported by Minion. [MG]
  * The connect screen can now contain ANSI color. Patch by Mercutio.
  * Small bug fix in @search. [MG]
  * Built-in functions can be set FN_LOCALIZE to preserve %q-regs. [MG]
  * Refactoring of ufun(), ulocal(), u[l]default() and ulambda(). [MG]
  * The "Not enough money to queue command" message tells you which object
    was attempting to queue the command. Suggested by Daniel Powell. [MG]

Tools:
  * New script in utils/ for searching change logs: grep-cl.pl [SW]

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 10                     Aug 24, 2009

Major changes:
 * Switched project management (Bug tracking, revision control, etc.)
   to Google Code. See http://code.google.com/p/pennmush

Minor changes:
 * @search and lsearch() now only charge 100 pennies if an evaluating
   search (EVAL, EPLAYER, EROOM, ETHING, EOBJECT, EEXIT or ELOCK) or
   an exhaustive attribute search (COMMAND, LISTEN) is performed.
 * The %u sub now works for built-in commands, as well as $-commands.
   Useful for @hooks. [MG]
 * The use command now understands english matching. Suggested by
   Yuriko.
 * Rooms can now use @open/open(). [MG]
 * Mortals can now use '@attribute <attrib>' to see the default flags
   of a standard attribute. [MG]
 * @channel/priv now uses 'thing' instead of 'object' for channels
   which allow things to join. 'object' is kept as an alias. [MG]
 * The chatdb now saves channel buffers and mogrifier objects, so you
   don't need to put @chan/buffer or @chan/mogrifier in @startup. [MG]

Flags:
 * The HEAR_CONNECT flag is now used (instead of MONITOR) to allow
   players to see 'GAME: Foo has [dis]connected.' messages. MONITOR
   on players now enables ^-patterns, the same as on things/rooms.
   Any players with the MONITOR flag will have it replaced with the
   HEAR_CONNECT flag automatically. Requested by Malix@8BitMUSH. [MG]

Functions:
  * lpids(), getpids(), and pidinfo() provide information about
    wait/semaphore process ids and processes. Suggested by
    Yuriko@M*U*S*H, code by Javelin.
  * lalign() works like align(), but takes a single arg with a list of
    columns, instead of one arg for each column. Suggested by Teal. [MG]
  * New lockowner() function returns the owner of an @lock. Suggested
    by Paige. [MG]

Fixes:
  * @pcreate without a password would crash the game. Fixed. [GM]
  * DARK-disconnected on channels was turned into DARK-connected, on
    disconnect. Reported by Paige@M*U*S*H, among others.
  * MOGRIFY`BLOCK wasn't being called, as help @channel6 said it was.
    Oops. [GM]
  * Help fixes, by Sketch and others. [GM]
  * @clone could mess up the names of the original and the clone. 
    Reported by qa'toq. [SW]
  * Crash bugs in rand() and randword(). [SW]
  * Added --disable-zlib configure option to turn off using
    zlib to work directly with compressed databases. Passing this to
    configure makes the game act like pre p8 ones. [SW]
  * member() now ignores ANSI in matches. Reported by Minion. [MG]
  * Regexp $-commands are now ansi aware. As in: ansi is passed to %0-%9. [GM]
  * hidden() now works on descriptors as advertised. Reported by Teal. [MG]
  * @name could cause a crash. Fixed. Reported by Zedekiah@M*U*S*H [GM]
  * @nscemit/silent didn't work. Reported by Paige. [MG]
  * Win32 compile fixes and project file updates.
  * The chatdb failed to load when objects of the wrong type were listed
    as channel members. Reported by Teal. [MG]
  * flags() on an attribute used as the root of a tree would include the
    ` twice.
  * baseconv() would hang the MUSH if passed a negative <number>. Reported
    by Mercutio. [MG]

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 9                      Feb 28, 2009

Fixes:
 * Starting up without an existing database was broken in p8.
   Reported by many people. [SW]
 * p8 didn't compile for many people for a number of reasons.
   [SW]
 * match() was broken. Reported by Kimiko. [SW]

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 8                      Feb 26, 2009

Major changes:
 * @chan/mogrifier - Mogrify (mangle) any and all aspects of @channel
   chatter. e.g: make <Public> into [cilbuP]. [GM]

Minor changes:
 * The restart script appends a timestamp to the backups of
   existing databases and log files that it makes. Suggested
   by Ray,
 * @setting a flag that's already set will say so. Suggested by
   Kimiko, patch by Talvo.
 * Added 'magic sort': Sorts strings with embedded numbers and
   dbrefs.
 * Controlling whether info_slave is used or not moved into configure
   from options.h. (--enable-info_slave/--disable-info_slave). [SW]
 * Experimental change to attribute lookup to reduce the number of
   expensive string comparisions needed. [SW]
 * Updated the Mersenne Twister PRNG to a newer version (Look up
   SFMT for details). [SW]
 * New configure options --enable-sse2, --enable-sse2 and
   --enable-altivec. Currently only used in a few spots, including
   the new version of the PRNG. [SW]
 * Remove the MALLOC_PACKAGE option and csrimalloc, the only remaining
   non-system malloc() choice for it. csrimalloc didn't compile any more
   and there are better memory debugging tools available these days (The
   rational for keeping it when other malloc packages were removed.) [SW]
 * The mush can now read and write gzip-compressed databases without 
   relying on external programs if the server has zlib installed. [SW]
 * @search and search() now have a 'command' and 'listen' search class,
   allowing @searches for objects that respond to given $-commands and
   listen patterns. [GM]
 * New config option to reserve space on startup for the chunk swap
   file to reduce on-disc fragmentation (With a supported OS). [SW]
 * @shutdown/reboot makes an effort to verify that the executable
   still exists before trying to restart. Suggested by Alrynnic. [SW]

Commands:
 * @config/save foo=bar acts like @config/set but also attempts to
   alter the original configuration file to reflect the new value. [SW]
 * Wizards can specify a garbage dbref for @create and @pcreate to
   re-use instead of the first free one. Suggested by Mercutio, based
   on patch by Talvo.

Functions:
 * Improved the soundex() implementation. [SW]
 * Removed the arbitrary limit on the number of @functions. [SW]

Fixes:
 * locate() always used english matching even when not explicitly told
   to. Patch by Talvo.
 * sha0 hashing was broken on 64 bit systems without OpenSSL. Reported
   by Exaurdon. [SW]
 * The dump_complete message wasn't being shown on a successful forking
   dump. Reported by cquesnel. [SW]
 * speak() deals better with message strings like 'you," he adds, "rock!"'
   Reported by Summer, fix based on Javelin's analysis.
 * speak() deals better with mismatched quotes. Reported by Summer. [SW]
 * A long-standing bug where it was possible for multiple mushes to use
   the same port (One on an IPv6 version, one on a IPv4 one) is now
   harder to trigger and gives a better error message. [SW]
 * Plug a memory leak in decode64().
 * wild matching with ansi involved has been fixed. [GM]
 * clflags() sometimes truncated its result. Reported by dbwiddis. [SW]

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 7                      Oct 01, 2008

Minor changes:
 * If compiling with a recent enough version of gcc to support the
   -fstack-protector option to detect buffer overruns, use it.
 * Compile with -mdynamic-no-pic on powerpc OS X, resulting in a smaller
   binary.
 * On newer Linux systems, detect when various indexed and cached files
   are changed and automatically reload them instead of waiting for a 
   @readcache.
 * New map data structure with integer keys, used in various places.
 * Queue entries now have process ids, used to identify and act on that
   particular action list. This and associated commands inspired
   by [Rhost].
 * New configure option --disable-sql to turn off checks for all supported
   SQL servers.
 * @name strips out quotes around player names even if spaces in them are
   disabled.
 * The test suite can now use valgrind to identify buffer overflows and
   similiar problems triggered by tests, by passing the --valgrind option
   to test scripts.
 * Significantly reduce memory usage in @sitelock rules. 

Commands:
 * '@hook/override cmd=#1234' will look at all attributes on the object
   for a matching $command. By Talvo.
 * @sitelock/delete NNN will remove the sitelock rule with that number.
 * @halt/pid NNN will remove a specific queue entry. Get the pid from 
   @ps. [Rhost]
 * @wait/pid will adjust the wait time of queue entries. [Rhost]
 * @chan/title <channel> will display your current channel title. 
   @chan/title <channel>= will clear it. Patch by Talvo, suggested by
   Ender.
  * @chan/recall could be used on any channel, not just by people on
   a given channel. Patch by Talvo.

Functions:
 * controls(<who>,<what>/<attribute>) tests if someone can change or
   create a specific attribute on an object. By Talvo.
 * hasattr() and family also understand foo(<object>/<attribute>) in
   addition to the traditional two-argument form. Suggested by Impster,
   patch by Talvo.
 * cbufferadd() - Add text to a channel buffer without broadcasting it.
   Allows for @chan/recall on an @chat that's been overridden.
 * Rewrote the internals of round() to avoid some nasty kludges. [SW]
 * ljust() and rjust() take fill strings now, not just single
   characters. Suggested by Nyssa, patch by Talvo.
 * baseconv() now supports up to base64.
 * The undocumented (And unusable) orpowers() and andpowers() functions
   were removed.
 * andlpowers() and orlpowers() were missing help files. Reported by
   Parusso.

Fixes:
 * Potential infinite loop in error logging fixed. Reported by Yuriko.
 * Compilation fixes on various platforms. [SW]
 * A repeatingly crashing info_slave won't block login attempts.
 * @chan/what reports the number of actual lines stored in 
   recall buffers, not the number of blocks. Reported by
   qa'toq [SW]
 * portmsg didn't compile. Reported by Impster. [SW]
 * A chat db with a garbage object on a channel would fail to load.
   Reported by Rince. 
 * Fixed a double free error in page. By Ricochet.
 * Many help file and source documentation fixes reported by far too
   many people to list.
 * Hard-to-trigger double free() in help file reindexing fixed.

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 6                      Jan 01, 2008

Major changes:
 * If configure finds a copy of the pcre library installed, that will
   be used instead of the (old) version bundled with Penn. use
   --with-pcre=/path/to/it if it's not in the usual places, or
   --with-pcre=no to force use of the bundled version.

Minor changes:
 * @sitelock when there are no rules will now say that instead of
   having no output. By Talvo.
 * Log files use locking to prevent the small chance of more than one
   process writing to the same error log at the same time.
 * info_slave's logging is more clear as to its source.
 * Several places that used the select() system call now favor poll()
   and/or socket timeouts instead. (The main event loop still uses
   select() for now.)
 * A wildcard help topic search (help foo*) that only matches one
   entry will display that entry. Suggested by Cheetah.
 * New switches for commands no longer have to be added to the
   SWITCHES file; the internal list of switches is now built based on
   what switches are given in the command table and cmdlocal.c
   additions. Suggested by Talek. 


Flags and powers:
 * The announce power now also grants the ability to change the motd.
   Suggested by Yuriko.
 * New hook power grants rights to use @hook. Suggested by Paige.
 * Windows compile fixes by Intrevis.

Commands:
 * @motd gives better feedback when clearing a message.
 * The @tport/@otport/@atport/etc. attributes that get evalulated on a
   @teleport now get the dbref of the object doing the teleport in %0
   and the teleported object's old location in %1. Suggested by Daniel
   Cheng.

Functions:
 * root() uses an improved algorithm to give a more precise
   result.
 * log(N,2) uses the C log2() function if available.
 * log(N,e) takes the natural logarithm of N, like ln().
 * lports() now takes an optional viewer argument, a la lwho(). By
   Talvo.

Fixes:
 * Typo in info_slave preventing simultaneous hostname lookups fixed.
 * Compiliation fix with some compilers. Reported by Kimiko.
 * ident lookups of new connections was broken for several
   patchlevels.  Works again. Sometimes.
 * Cleaned up some warnings generated by gcc 4.2
 * Fixed some minor bugs detected by running under valgrind.
 * OpenBSD configuration fixes.
 * Fixes from 1.8.2p8

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 5                      October 6, 2007

Major changes:
 * Significant rewrite of ansi parsing and better ansi support
   for many string-handling functions. Patch by Sketch.
 * Rewrite of the softcode regression testing framework, and 
   addition of more tests. [SW]

Minor changes:
 * Store a pointer to the start of a player's mailbox in objdata
   instead of the connection struct.
 * Experimental rewrite of hash tables to use the cuckoo hashing
   algorithm, with constant-time lookups even in the worst case.
   (And appears to have generally faster lookup even in normal usage.)
 * Regular expression @sitelocks save the compiled regexp instead of
   recompiling every time the rule is tested.
 * Added %4 to @pageformat, which is the default page message.

Commands:
 * Added @message, which makes it easy to use @chatformat or
   @pageformat via @hooks, or to create your own *format.

Functions:
 * Added message(), the function version of @message.

Fixes:
 * decode64() does better validation of its input. [SW]
 * Various compile fixes reported by Interevis and Kimiko.
   Win32 patched by Intrevis.
 * @sitelock does better error reporting. [SW]
 * Crash bug related to regeditall fixed.
 * @decompile didn't handle attribute trees correctly.
 * Compile failure in funstr.c on some systems. Fixed by Boris.
 * '@set =foo' failed silently. Reported by Talvo.
 * Fixes from 1.8.2p7

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 4                      July 9, 2007

Major changes:
  * Parts of the build process that used a shell script to regenerate
    certain headers now use perl scripts instead, making them much
    faster. [SW]

Minor changes:
  * The hash tables used by lmath() and html functions now
    use perfect hashing to speed up lookups. [SW]
  * The various slab allocators used by attributes and locks
    and other areas have been replaced with a generic
    slab allocator. Also, many more allocations are handled
    by the new code.
  * Use the writev() system call to send data to unencrypted
    connections in bigger chunks instead of using multiple send()s of
    smaller chunks.
  * New lock types can be added via src/local.c instead of having to
    alter the table in src/locks.c. Based on patch by Talvo.
  * Builtin lock names and default flags are stored in a hash table
    instead of a list. [SW]

Attributes:
  * @chatformat allows you to customize Channel chat messages
    that you see. [GM]

Commands:
  * '@list allocations' displays allocation information.
  * @stats/tables no longer dumps mem_check information.
  * @search (and by relation search()) now has an 'elock'
    search class, permitting boolean expression searches. [GM]
  * @channel/recall extended to support recalling by time. Example:
    '@chan/recall Foo=1h' will recall lines only from the past
    hour. Patch by Talvo.
 
Functions:
  * cond() works like an if, else if, else if ... ncond(),
    condall(), ncondall() also added. [GM]
  * speak() accepts a 1st argument beginning with '&' to use
    an arbitrary speaker name. [GM]
  * New speakpenn() function handles : <pose> in Penn style.
    Suggested by Sketch, patch by Javeln.
  * lmath() accepts dist2d and dist3d. Suggested by Jess.
  * functions(local) returns just local @functions. [SW]
  * New encode64() and decode64() functions convert between
    normal text and base64 encoded text on games that have
    SSL support compiled in. [SW]
  * encrypt() and decrypt() now take an optional 3rd argument
    to control using base 64 encoding. Suggested by Noltar.
 
Fixes:
  * Compile fixes for some linux (And other?) systems that expect
    all libraries to be after source files on the command line
    when linking. Reported by Balerion.
  * Compile fix for some Postgresql installations. Reported by
    Nymeria.
  * Fix to fraction() when dealing with numbers that can't
    be fractioned. Discovered by Ashen-Shugar.
  * Fixes to align() and coalescing by Javelin. Bugs reported by
    Sketch and tramp.
  * Fixes to speak() to bring it closer to Tiny's behavior in
    common cases by Sketch and Javelin.
  * Fixes to ANSI output where extra ^[[m were being sent.
  * Default flags weren't getting set on some attributes in certain
    cases. Report by Talvo.
  * Fixes from 1.8.2p6

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 3                      June 13, 2007

Minor changes:
  * The sockets used to talk to info_slave changed from streams
    to datagrams, simplifying code. [SW]
  * info_slave deals better with simultaneous connections. [SW]
  * info_slave requires the presence of the socketpair(2) function.
    It was already using it anyways.
  * Use of some system calls with portability issues encapsulated in
    wrapper functions. [SW]
  * sql() returns error codes directly instead of notifying %!. [SW]

Functions:
  * lattr() and lattrp() take an optional delimiter argument. Suggested
    by Nathan Baum. [SW]
  * New csecs() and msecs() functions, like ctime() and mtime() but
    returning the time in seconds instead of a formatted string. Based on
    a patch by Talvo.
  * ctime() and mtime() take an optional second argument to control which
    time zone the time is displayed for: UTC or the server's. [SW]
  * fn() by Javelin
  * letq(). Suggested by Nathan Baum. [SW]
  
Fixes:
  * Assorted compiler warning fixes. [SW]
  * Compile fix on OS X 10.3. Reported by Viila. [SW]
  * @sql wasn't enabled if Sqlite3 was the only database turned on.
    Reported by qa'toq.
  * Problems with sql() using Sqlite3. Reported by qa'toq. [SW]
  * Problems with null queries using MySQL. Reported by duckwa. [SW]
  * Start fixing code that assumes that int and long are the same
    size. [SW]
  * Linting of code that uses strcpy, strncpy() and sprintf() to
    rule out remote possibilities of buffer overflows. [SW]
  * align() off-by-one error in left coalescing fixed. Reported by
    Sketch. [Javelin]
  * User locks were broken in the last patch. Reported by Michael Brazaitis.
    [SW]
  * ./configure --without-ssl works. Reported by Starr. [SW]
  * objid matcher didn't work properly. [SW]
  * Many functions that used parse_dbref updated to use parse_objid,
    to see more objid compliance. [GM]
  * Fixes from 1.8.2p5

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 2                      May 16, 2007

Major changes:
  * configuration is now done by autoconf. ./Configure is
    now ./configure and its options have changed. See
    INSTALL and ./configure --help [SW]
  * Support for the postgresql SQL server. Javelin.
  * Support for sqlite3 SQL databases. [SW]

Minor changes:
  * You can no longer run a mush as root. [SW]
  * cemit_noisy config option.  Suggested by Kimiko. [SW]
  * @function sorts the list of user-defined functions
    by object and then name. Suggested by Trinsec. [SW]
  * Better logging of the register login screen command
    for systems without a sendmail program. [SW]
  * Assorted refactoring of source code. [SW]
  
Functions:
  * isobjid(). By Balerion.
  * player() returns the dbref of the player connected to a given
    port.  By  Nathan Baum.
  * root(X,3) uses the C cbrt() function if available. [SW]
  * New formats for align() that allow flowing text. Javelin.
  * isdbref() understands objids. By Balerion.

Fixes:
  * regmatch() broken with %q-registers. Javelin. 
  * Better checking of dbref config options to make sure they're
    valid objects. Suggested by Talvo. [SW]
  * Fixed assorted cases of accidently modifying const objects.
    Thanks to Jake. [SW]
  * Fixed a crash bug in strmatch(). [GM]
  * wrap() of Pueblo tags didn't work very well. Fixed by
    Sketch.
  * @wipe's count is accurate when attribute trees are being
    deleted. Reported by Talvo.
 
Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 1                      March 11, 2007

Minor changes:
  * page command now processes page output through PAGEFORMAT
    attribute, allowing user-set page messages. [GM]
  * sql_host configuration option now permits alternate tcp port.
    Suggested by Mercutio. Patch by Javelin.
  * Refactoring of fun_stringsecs to help function etime_to_secs.
    Patch by Javelin.
  * %1 in @aconnect works like in @adisconnect. Patch by Javelin.

Fixes:
  * restart script once again includes DATEMSK export for
    extended convtime support. Reported by KimikoMuffin.
  * Memory leak in 1.8.3p0 regedit fixed.
  * Fixes included from 1.8.2p3.
  * Document change in @chan/title behavior with commas.

Version 1.8.3 patchlevel 0                      January 27, 2007

Major changes:
  * Rewrite of color handling. [GM]

Minor changes:
  * Cleaned up the internals of @wipe. [SW]
  * strmatch() now takes a third argument, to store wildcard captures. [GM]
  * Termination of OS/2 support. [SW]

Fixes:
  * Fixes included from versions up to 1.8.2p2.