Using the +mapper
Having the machine build the route for people to reach your rooms.
Purpose
The +mapper program is meant to find the shortest walking path that a guest can take to get to the room you are in.
Usage
In order to run the mapper, you need to own the room you are in (or have the view-map permission in the room you are in).
Run the program by typing "+mapper". It defaults to the current room. You can give it a remote room, either by giving it a db-reference (#whatever) or a reg-name. Easiest is just to run it in the current room.
The mapper program will show a list of steps to reach your room. It will never list any exits that are locked at all. So, if you can only reach your room if you belong to a group, or have some special permissions that are enforced with locks, the mapper won't find it.
Because of the permissions issue, groups and communities should always setup a "public area" that can be reached from which they have +locks on the exits leading out. This way, they can always publish the "basic path" from mapper.
A Warning Mapper's data becomes stale very fast!
In fact, Mapper is run in admin-mode periodically, and it re-builds the maps for what it can find. If you create a room and run +mapper right away, it won't find it and this is NOT a bug!
Poke a wizard (type wizzes) or page-mail one and they will run the admin part and you can then see the results.
Because the MUCKs' land can change, it's wise to run this every so often and make sure that your published route still work. If someone tells you that your route doesn't work, don't assume they are foolish. It could be that the route did change. So check!
