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:

<lsl> // black & transparent

   llSetText("", ZERO_VECTOR, 0);

// same effect as: // llSetText("", <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>, 0.0); </lsl>

• 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:

<lsl>

   vector COLOR_WHITE = <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>;
   float  OPAQUE      = 1.0;

// Bad:

   llSetText("Monkeys\n\n\n\n\n", COLOR_WHITE, OPAQUE);

// Good:

   llSetText("Monkeys\n \n \n \n \n ", COLOR_WHITE, OPAQUE);

</lsl>

• 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: <lsl> 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(), <0.0, 1.0, 0.0>, 1.0 );

// delete the script as we only needed it to change the floating text property

       llRemoveInventory(llGetScriptName());
   }

} </lsl> 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
White	<1.0, 1.0, 1.0>
Grey	<0.5, 0.5, 0.5>
Black	ZERO_VECTOR or <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>
Red	<1.0, 0.0, 0.0>
Green	<0.0, 1.0, 0.0>
Blue	<0.0, 0.0, 1.0>

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": <lsl> // white & opaque

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

</lsl> <lsl>

   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);

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

   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);

</lsl>

Multiple lines

<lsl> // two lines of orange text

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

</lsl>

Useful Snippets

Drag this script out of inventory onto an object to erase its set text: <lsl> // 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());
   }

} </lsl> Code to easily specify appearance of hovertext: <lsl> vector blue = <0.0, 0.0, 1.0>; vector orange = <1.0, 0.5, 0.0>; vector cyan = <0.0, 1.0, 1.0>; vector pink = <1.0, 0.5, 0.76>; vector green = <0.0, 1.0, 0.0>; vector red = <1.0, 0.0, 0.0>; vector white = <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>; vector yellow = <1.0, 1.0, 0.1>; vector purple = <1.0, 0.0, 1.0>; vector black = <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>;

string hoverText = "TEXT GOES HERE"; vector hoverColor = white;// 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);
   }

} </lsl> To make hovertext under linked prims you can use this simple function: <lsl> 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);
   }

} </lsl>

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 );