LlSetText

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/LSL

SetText

llSetText

Summary

Function: llSetText( string text, vector color, float alpha );

0.0	Forced Delay
10.0	Energy

Displays text that hovers over the prim with specific color and translucency (specified with alpha).

• string	text	–	floating text to display
• vector	color	–	color in RGB <R, G, B> (<0.0, 0.0, 0.0> = black, <1.0, 1.0, 1.0> = white)
• float	alpha	–	from 0.0 (clear) to 1.0 (solid) (0.0 <= alpha <= 1.0)

Caveats

• Do not rely on Floating Text as a storage medium; it is neither secure nor finalized.
  • Floating text has been altered in past server updates, breaking existing content; future changes may occur.
  • Even "invisible"^[1] floating text is transmitted to the client.
    • It can be viewed by anyone with a client that is capable of rendering text that is supposed to be invisible.
    • The network packets that contain the text can be sniffed and the text read.
• If more than one llSetText is called (By reset,interaction or script state) within a prim the latest call will take priority over the previous.
• text is limited to 254 bytes (compare Limits#Building), if the string is longer it will be truncated to 254 bytes, even if that means the truncation will chop a character in half.
• An unbroken line of text of a great length may be broken automatically into two lines (one above the other).
• text can be seen through walls and other object. Be considerate of neighbors in malls and apartment buildings.
  • Visibility distance increases with prim size.
• Removing the script or deactivating it will not remove a prim's text property. Floating text is not dependent on a script for its continued existence but only when wanting to change it.

• To remove a prim's text, use the following:

Preferred method to remove a prim's floating text	Second method does the same effect-wise.
// empty string & black & transparent llSetText("", ZERO_VECTOR, 0);	// empty string & black & transparent llSetText("", <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>, 0.0);

• Vertical whitespace is removed from the end of the text string, so if you want vertical whitespace put any character (like a space) on the last line.
• Multiple linebreaks with empty lines are converted to a single linebreak, so add a whitespace character on every line you want to skip:

Good	Bad
vector COLOR_WHITE = <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>; float OPAQUE = 1.0; llSetText("Monkeys\n \n \n \n \n ", COLOR_WHITE, OPAQUE);	vector COLOR_WHITE = <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>; float OPAQUE = 1.0; llSetText("Monkeys\n\n\n\n\n", COLOR_WHITE, OPAQUE);

• Measurements showed a high impact of process time when doing numerous iterations in a while loop. For approx. 65 thousand iterations the process times are ca. 5 seconds without floating text, 24 seconds with llSetText and 96 seconds when using llSetPrimitiveParams#llSetLinkPrimitiveParamsFast in combination with PRIM_TEXT. Thats why you are not advised to make excessive use of changing a prim's text within such iterations.

Examples

Example of how llSetText could be used to show prim's name in green text:

default
{
    state_entry()
    {
        vector COLOR_GREEN = <0.0, 1.0, 0.0>;
        float  OPAQUE      = 1.0;

//      prim's name (not necessarily object's)
        llSetText(llGetObjectName(), COLOR_GREEN, OPAQUE );

//      delete the script as we only needed it to change the floating text property
        llRemoveInventory(llGetScriptName());
    }
}

By default the floating text will appear on a single line. However, it can be spread over multiple lines by using a line break "\n" (read SplitLine in section 'See Also').

String escape codes:

LSL has four string escape codes:

• \n for a new line
• \\ for a backslash
• \t for a tab
• \" for a double-quote

Color & Alpha

Color	Code
NAVY	<0.000, 0.122, 0.247>
BLUE	<0.000, 0.455, 0.851>
AQUA	<0.498, 0.859, 1.000>
TEAL	<0.224, 0.800, 0.800>
OLIVE	<0.239, 0.600, 0.439>
GREEN	<0.180, 0.800, 0.251>
LIME	<0.004, 1.000, 0.439>
YELLOW	<1.000, 0.863, 0.000>
ORANGE	<1.000, 0.522, 0.106>
RED	<1.000, 0.255, 0.212>
MAROON	<0.522, 0.078, 0.294>
FUCHSIA	<0.941, 0.071, 0.745>
PURPLE	<0.694, 0.051, 0.788>
WHITE	<1.000, 1.000, 1.000>
SILVER	<0.867, 0.867, 0.867>
GRAY	<0.667, 0.667, 0.667>
BLACK	<0.000, 0.000, 0.000>

The x, y & z components of the vector are used to represent red, green, and blue respectively. The range is different from traditional RGB, instead of being 0 -> 255, LSL uses 0 -> 1. <1.0, 1.0, 1.0> represents "white" and <0.0, 0.0, 0.0> represents "black":

//  white & opaque
    llSetText("I am white", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 1.0);

    vector myColor;// defaults to ZERO_VECTOR or <0.0, 0.0, 0.0> which is black

    llSetText("I am black and 30% transparent.", myColor, 0.7);

    llSleep(7.5);   // before: <0.0, 0.0, 0.0> black
    myColor.x = 1.0;// now:    <1.0, 0.0, 0.0> red

    llSetText("I am now red and 10% transparent.", myColor, 0.9);

If alpha is 1.0 it means the text is fully opaque (alpha), 0.0 would make it completely transparent (invisible):

    llSetText("green text with alpha 0.7", <0.0, 1.0, 0.0>, 0.7);

    llSetText("white text with alpha 0.4\n60% transparent", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 0.4);
    llSetText("white text with alpha 1.0\nfully opaque", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 1.0);

//  next to lines have the same effect
    llSetText("invisible black text with alpha 0.0\nfully transparent", ZERO_VECTOR, 0);
    llSetText("invisible black text with alpha 0.0\nfully transparent", <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>, 0.0);

Multiple lines

//  two lines of orange text

    llSetText("I am\non two lines!", <1.0, 0.4, 0.0>, 1.0);

Useful Snippets

Drag this script out of inventory onto an object to erase its set text:

// http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/llSetText

default
{
    state_entry()
    {
//      remove floating text (empty string & black & 100% transparent)
        llSetText("", ZERO_VECTOR, 0.0);

//      delete the script as we only needed it to change the floating text property
        llRemoveInventory(llGetScriptName());
    }
}

Code to easily specify appearance of hovertext:

vector NAVY    = <0,     0.122, 0.247>;
vector BLUE    = <0,     0.455, 0.851>;
vector AQUA    = <0.498, 0.859, 1    >;
vector TEAL    = <0.224, 0.8,   0.8  >;
vector OLIVE   = <0.239, 0.6,   0.439>;
vector GREEN   = <0.18,  0.8,   0.251>;
vector LIME    = <0.004, 1    , 0.439>;
vector YELLOW  = <1    , 0.863, 0    >;
vector ORANGE  = <1    , 0.522, 0.106>;
vector RED     = <1    , 0.255, 0.212>;
vector MAROON  = <0.522, 0.078, 0.294>;
vector FUCHSIA = <0.941, 0.071, 0.745>;
vector PURPLE  = <0.694, 0.051, 0.788>;
vector WHITE   = <1    , 1    , 1    >;
vector SILVER  = <0.867, 0.867, 0.867>;
vector GRAY    = <0.667, 0.667, 0.667>;
vector BLACK   = <0.000, 0.000, 0.000>;

string  hoverText   = "TEXT GOES HERE";
vector  hoverColor  = LIME;//  set predefined color or any RGB color vector in float form
float   hoverAlpha  = 1.0; // Sets the text's transparency, 1.0 being opaque, while 0.0 would be transparent

default
{
    state_entry()
    {
        llSetText(hoverText, hoverColor, hoverAlpha);
    }
}

To make hovertext when using linked prims you can use this simple function:

mySetLinkText(integer linknum, string text, vector color, float alpha) {
    llSetLinkPrimitiveParamsFast(linknum, [PRIM_TEXT, text, color, alpha]);
}

// For example:

default
{
    touch_start(integer total_number)
    {
        mySetLinkText(LINK_SET, "TEST", <0, 1, 0>, 0.5);
    }
}

Notes

To actually display text on a prim, see XyzzyText, or consider using parcel prim Media options (useful only if you have control over the land's media settings.)

---

The function displays text that hover over the prim's center, the prim position. The height over the center is proportional to the prim's Z-dimension exclusively

• It doesn't matter how the prim is rotated, so if Z is smaller than X and Y the text may be seen on the prim

See Also

Constants

•

PRIM_TEXT

Articles

•	Limits	–	SL limits and constrictions
•	Color in LSL
•	Translucent Color
•	Examples: SplitLine	–	Insert 'new line' escape codes at certain positions of a string
•	Useful snippet: llGetObjectPermMask	–	Label an object with text and newlines to give away or sell

Deep Notes

Footnotes

1. ^ Floating text with an alpha set to 0.0 is rendered "invisible"

Signature
function void llSetText( string text, vector color, float alpha );