llSetText

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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, 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).
  • Floating text can be seen through walls and other object. Be considerate of neighbors in malls and apartment buildings.
    • Visability distance increases with prim size.
  • Removing the script or deactivating it will not remove the prim's floating text.
    • Floating text is a prim property and not dependent on a script for its continued existence.
  • To remove floating text, use the following:

<lsl>llSetText("", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 1.0);</lsl>

  • Shift-copying does not keep the floating text prim property. If the llSetText() script is not triggered when a copy made, the copy will not have the floating text.
  • 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>llSetText("Monkeys\n\n\n\n\n", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 1.0);//Bad llSetText("Monkeys\n \n \n \n \n ", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 1.0);//Good</lsl>

Examples

Example of how llSetText could be included in default code to show object's name in green text: <lsl>default {

   state_entry()
   {
        llSay(0, "Hello, Avatar!");
        llSetText(llGetObjectName(), <0.0, 1.0, 0.0>, 1.0); // Display the object's current name in green
   }
   touch_start(integer total_number)
   {
        llSay(0, "Touched.");
   }

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

Color & Alpha

Color Code
White <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>
Grey <0.5, 0.5, 0.5>
Black <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 than traditional RGB, instead of being 0 -> 255, LSL uses 0 -> 1. <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, means "white" and <0.0, 0.0, 0.0> means "black": <lsl>llSetText("I am white", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 1.0);//white text</lsl> <lsl>llSetText("I am black", <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>, 1.0);//black text</lsl> The 1.0 is the alpha setting. 1.0 means fully opaque, and 0.0 would be completely transparent (invisible): <lsl>llSetText("alpha", <0.0, 1.0, 0.0>, 0.5);//50% translucent green text</lsl>

Multiple lines

<lsl>llSetText("I am \n on two lines!", <0.0, 1.0, 0.0>, 1.0);//two lines of green text</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()
   {
       llSetText("", <1.0, 1.0, 1.0>, 1.0);
       llRemoveInventory(llGetScriptName());
   }

}</lsl> Code to easily specify appearance of hovertext: <lsl> vector blue = <0,0,1>; vector orange = <1,0.5,0>; vector cyan = <0,1,1>; vector pink = <1,0.5,0.76>; vector green = <0,1,0>; vector red = <1,0,0>; vector white = <1,1,1>; vector yellow = <1,1,0.1>; vector purple = <1,0,1>; vector black = <0,0,0>;

string hoverText = "TEXT GOES HERE"; // Sets the text vector hoverColor = white; // Sets the color the text will show. Use predefined colors or any RGB color vector in float form float hoverAlpha = 1.0; // Sets the text's transparency, 1.0 being SOLID, while 0 would be clear,

default {

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

}</lsl> To make hovertext under linked prims you can use this simple script (put him in each prim): <lsl> default {

   link_message(integer sender, integer num, string str, key id)
   {
       if (llGetSubString(id, 0, 7) == "SET_TEXT") {
           llSetText(str, (vector)llGetSubString(id, 9, -1), num/1000.0);
       }
   }

}</lsl> To do it, just use this function in your main script: <lsl> mySetLinkText(integer linknum, string text, vector color, float alpha) {

   llMessageLinked(linknum, llRound(alpha*1000), text, "SET_TEXT "+(string)color);

}

// 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.)

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 );