LSL Protocol/Restrained Love Relay/Specification

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Restrained Love Relay

VERSION 1.014

By Marine Kelley


Audience

This document is meant for people who want to create or modify in-world objects to use the features of someone else's RestrainedLife viewer, typically cages and pieces of furniture, which per definition are usually not owned by that person.


Introduction

The RestrainedLife viewer only executes commands issued through llOwnerSay () messages. Therefore, in order to issue commands to someone using the viewer who does not own the object, that person must wear an attachment that relays commands after some security checks.


Why this spec ?

Now that the RestrainedLife viewer v1.10.1 is out, many cages and furniture creators are interested in using its features such as sit, outfit, tp etc. These objects can be found in public places, or owned by friends... but as they are usually not owned by the user, the relay has to implement some basic security in order to avoid griefing. On top of it, the user does not want to be forced to switch to another relay when going to the next piece of furniture.

This is the purpose of this specification : to lay common rules so all the relays implementing it are compatible with all the furnitures implementing it too. Without such a specification, one cage/furniture would talk to the relay specifically made to operate with it and that's all, eventually making the creator stay behind because people rather use standard objects than proprietary closed ones.

Basic principle

Here is a sample use case :

  1. User is wearing a Relay
  2. User enters a cage in a public area
  3. Cage sends a chat message on a known private channel (for instance "@tploc=n")
  4. Relay receives the message, decides to repeat the command to the user and blocks their ability to teleport from the map with an llOwnerSay ("@tploc=n");
  5. User is allowed to get out after some time, the cage issues a "!release" command

Without the relay, the cage could never prevent the user from teleporting since it doesn't belong to them.

Requirements

Here are the informal requirements for a relay (formal requirements below).


Security

Any object sending commands over the channel the relay listens to is likely to harm the user if there is no security implemented in the former. For instance, one could rez an object that sends a "@remoutfit=force" command over the chat channel to force an avatar to get naked in front of everyone without a warning. Of course nobody wants that, so basic security is needed.


User-friendliness

Security often implies control (access lists, switch, permissions...) so the user must be given some basic control over what kind of objects are allowed to issue commands.


Versatility

Some users will prefer wearing a dedicated attachment that they can unwear any time they want, others will be required to have the relay locked on them so they cannot detach them, others will want the script only... It is important to keep those differences in mind when deciding about the permissions of the relay. However, it is the user's responsibility to choose the relay that suits their needs best.


Licensing

According to the level of complexity and support of the relay, the creator is allowed to either provide it for free (open/close source) or to sell it, as long as it implements all the formal requirements.


Common questions

How hard is it to implement such a specification?

That depends on what you do. Furniture/cage makers will find it very easy for it only comes down to sending commands over a chat channel and getting feedback. Relay makers will find it harder but then again, that depends on the level of security and user-friendliness they wish to offer. But make no mistake, the relay is what does almost all the job (along with the viewer), because there will be many more kinds of furnitures and cages than relays around.

Why do other people need to write such a relay?

Couldn't you write it yourself and publish it?

Of course I could, and there is even a working code for a basic relay at the end of this page. However :

  • The protocol is likely to improve because nobody sees the future
  • One object only would not suit everyone's needs
  • It would have to implement perfect security and perfect user-friendliness, in all cases
  • It would of course have to be perfectly scripted, without any bug whatsoever

The security and user-friendliness are the key parts here. Some users will prefer to be safe from griefing, others will prefer a good user interface, others will like a lot of features, others will want to move the script elsewhere... Everyone has their own tastes so there can be no one-size-fits-all relay.


Protocol

In-world objects send chat message over a channel (common to every relay and furniture), that the relay(s) acknowledges or not. If the message is a correct command and passes whatever security checks the relay implements, the latter repeats it as an llOwnerSay ().

When the session ends, possibly after several relogs, the object clears all the restrictions it has put the user under.


Example

Here is a basic example of messages exchanged between an avatar (id "9213...") and a world object (id "7adf...") : 

Object : CmdTest,9213f69a-ed7d-4a70-907a-7dba88c8831a,@tploc=n
Relay executes llOwnerSay ("@tploc=n");
Relay  : CmdTest,7adf6218-ab26-8566-8387-660133840794,@tploc=n,ok

Object : BunchoCommands,9213f69a-ed7d-4a70-907a-7dba88c8831a,@tploc=n|@tplm=n|@tplure=n|@remoutfit:shoes=force
Relay executes llOwnerSay ("@tploc=n");
Relay executes llOwnerSay ("@tplm=n");
Relay executes llOwnerSay ("@tplure=n");
Relay  : BunchoCommands,7adf6218-ab26-8566-8387-660133840794,@tploc=n,ok
Relay  : BunchoCommands,7adf6218-ab26-8566-8387-660133840794,@tplm=n,ok
Relay  : BunchoCommands,7adf6218-ab26-8566-8387-660133840794,@tplure=n,ok
Relay  : BunchoCommands,7adf6218-ab26-8566-8387-660133840794,@remoutfit:shoes=force,ko

After a relog :
Relay  : ping,7adf6218-ab26-8566-8387-660133840794,ping,ping
Object : ping,9213f69a-ed7d-4a70-907a-7dba88c8831a,!pong   (UUID found with llGetOwnerKey(id), where id is the sender-parameter of the listen-event)

Formal requirements

Common requirements to the Relay and the in-world object

  • The chat channel used by both the Relay and the in-world object is -1812221819. That's "RLVRS" ("RestrainedLife Viewer Relay Script") translated from alphabet to numbers.
  • Messages on this channel are sent only with llSay (), neither llShout () nor llWhisper () is allowed. This ensures that when closer than 20 m the command is heard, so if no reply is received that means the other party does not want to play or is already busy.
    • Messages from in-world object to Relay (3 tokens) :
      • message  ::= <cmd_name>,<user_uuid>,<list_of_commands>
      • list_of_commands  ::= <command>[|<list_of_commands>] (list_of_commands is *lowercase*)
      • command  ::= <rl_command> or <metacommand>
      • rl_command  ::= @behav[:option][=param]
      • metacommand  ::= !version or !release or !pong
    • Messages from Relay to in-world object (4 tokens) :
      • message  ::= <cmd_name>,<object_uuid>,<command>,<reply> (cmd_name is equal to the one in the incoming message)
      • reply  ::= ok or ko or ping or <protocol_version>
      • protocol_version  ::= integer (it is the version of the specification, not of the script)
  • The effect of the "!release" metacommand is to wipe out all the restrictions issued by the object which sends it.
  • The effect of the "!version" metacommand is to send the version of the protocol the Relay implements. See below.
  • The effect of the "ping" message from the Relay to the object is to check the latter is still available. If not, release the user to avoid having orphaned rules.
  • Notice that acknowledgments do not apply to the list of commands but to one command only. Therefore a list of N commands gives N acknowledgment messages in return (at most).

In plain English :

  • <cmd_name> is the name of the command, decided by the object. It will be used to find out which command has been acknowledged, therefore it must be repeated exactly by the Relay (without changing its case). An exception to the freedom of choice of the <cmd_name> token is the "ping" reserved name, see below.
  • <user_uuid> is the UUID of the avatar owning the Relay.
  • <object_uuid> is the UUID of the in-world object. Notice that we never need the UUID of the Relay as it's usually an attachment, prone to change its id after each relog.
  • <list_of_commands> is a list of RL commands separated by pipes ('|'). It can be a single command (meaning no pipe present).
  • <command> is either a regular RL command (@behav:option=param) or a metacommand, aimed at the Relay itself (!version, !release and !pong)
  • Commands are separated by pipes ('|') here, but if they must be sent in the same llOwnerSay to the viewer they must be separated by commas (',') and with only one '@' sign at the beginning of the whole message. This is on purpose, to force the Relay to parse them and check them one by one, as well as facilitate the parsing of the whole message coming from the in-world object.

"!release" metacommand

  • This metacommand is meant to make the Relay clear all the restrictions linked to the object issuing it. It is better to use it than to issue "counter-commands" to lift every restriction one by one without forgetting any.

"!version" metacommand

  • When receiving this metacommand, the Relay must send a special acknowledgment that contains the version of the protocol it implements, on 4 digits. This number must be an integer, equal to the version of this specification, written just after the title on this very page, times 1000. For instance, "1.120" would translate to "1120". It makes it easier to compare versions without fear of losing information with a float cast to a string and back to a float.
  • Do not mistake the version of the viewer with the version of the protocol and the version of the scripts.

"ping" relay message and "!pong" object metacommand

  • When logging on, the relay will reapply all the stored restrictions but it only makes sense if the in-world object is still around and available for use. It could have been reset, crashed, or used by someone else while the primary user was offline. To let the relay apply the restrictions would therefore make no sense. That's why the relay has to ask the object if it's still around and available, and if no appropriate answer is received in a timely fashion then it must lift all the restrictions issued by it before, in order to start fresh again. Notice that "ping" is a simple word (to stay consistent with "ok" and "ko") while "!pong" is a metacommand. However, any other message issued by the object and aimed at the relay can prove it is still available as well.

The relay message must be "ping,<object_uuid>,ping,ping" and the object message must be "ping,<user_uuid>,!pong". This allows the object to keep a listener open with a static filter, to reduce lag. <user_uuid> can be retrieved by a llGetOwnerKey () call.

Relay requirements

  • Send the exact @behav:option=param part in an llOwnerSay (), without any change whatsoever.
  • Retain a list of restrictions and their sources for when the user relogs.
  • Force sit if unsit is prevented when relogging.
  • When relogging, send a "ping" message (see above) to check the in-world object is still available. If no message after a few seconds (not necessarily a "!pong", any message aimed at the relay can do), release the rules linked to this object.
  • The name of the script must contain "RLVnnn" where nnn is the minimal version of the viewer it is compatible with and the relay version (ex : RLV110 Relay1014). The user must have access to that information (dialog, message, object name...) to check everything works correctly.
  • The relay must silently ignore commands to remove non-existing restrictions without spamming the user with pointless "ask for permission dialogs"

In-world object requirements

  • When receiving a "ping" message from a relay, reply immediately with a "!pong" message (as described above) aimed at the avatar owning it, provided they are still restricted by the object.
  • Never rely on an answer from the Relay, requests can be denied silently, the Relay can be unworn, the avatar can TP out or crash... => use timeouts.
  • Don't poll the dataserver for online status, the Relay takes care of the relog part.

History

You can find the history of this specification at the end of Reference Implementation,

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