SYNOPSIS object present(mixed str) object present(mixed str, object ob) DESCRIPTION If an object that identifies (*) to the name ``str'' is present in the inventory or environment of this_object (), then return it. If "str" has the form "<id> <n>" the <n>-th object matching <id> will be returned. "str" can also be an object, in which case the test is much faster and easier. A second optional argument ob is the enviroment where the search for str takes place. Normally this_player() is a good choice. Only the inventory of ob is searched, not its environment. (*) id (str) { return str == <name>; } i.e. the parser applies id(str) to all objects in the vicinity until the matching one (if any) is found. If you want an object to support the "<id> <n>" syntax in conjunction with self-defined verbs (like "open chest 3") you can do it like that: init () { add_action ("open_chest", "open"); } open_chest (str) { if (present (str) != this_object ()) return 0; /* Not this chest */ ... } Btw: if the n-th object matching "str" is searched in this_object() and it's environment and the object is found in the environment then it will be the n-th occurence of ``str'' in the environment and not in both objects. SEE ALSO move_object(E), environment(E), this_object(E), id(A), init(A)