Variables and properties

This page documents variable value families and property access. Variable visibility is not conventional lexical scope; see functions, variable lifetimes, and errors for the exact local, global, function-argument, and ephm behavior.

SER prefixes variable names with their value family:

Prefix	Family	Typical contents
$	Literal	text, number, boolean, duration, enum, color
@	Player	zero, one, or many players
*	Reference	item, room, door, JSON object, game wrapper
&	Collection	a list of SER values

Create or replace a local variable with =:

$message = "Welcome"
@target = Take @alivePlayers 1
&names = Coll.Create

Predefined variables such as @all, @alivePlayers, and @scpPlayers are provided by SER. Event and command flags can inject additional local variables. Run serhelp variables for the current predefined list.

Text interpolation

Inside quoted text, wrap a variable or expression in braces:

$name = @target -> name
Print "Selected player: {$name}"
Print "Their role: {@target -> role}"

~ escapes SER interpolation characters when literal braces are required.

Properties

-> reads a property:

$name = @target -> name
$role = @target -> role
*room = @target -> roomRef
$roomName = *room -> name

Player properties generally require exactly one player. Select one first with a method such as Take.

Inspect properties with:

serhelp properties
serhelp properties player
serhelp properties Door

Reference safety

Game objects may become invalid between instructions. Check a reference before using it:

if {*room -> isInvalid}
    Print "The room reference is no longer valid"
    stop
end

Enums in different contexts

Methods accept bare enum values:

SetRole @target ClassD

Properties are compared as text:

if {@target -> role} is "ClassD"
    Print "The target is Class-D"
end

Next: conditions and loops.