LSL 101/Variable Initialization

← Global vs Local Variables

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When a variable declaration is executed, the variable always gets some initial value, whether or not our script specifies. This is called variable initialization, and it deserves a little discussion of its own. So far, we have passed over this detail by always executing an assignment statement for the variable prior to using it. But consider this example.

<lsl>string RegionName; // This is a global variable

default {

    state_entry()
    {
         // Store the name of the current sim for later use
         RegionName = llGetRegionName();
    }

    touch_start( integer num_detected )
    {
         // Announce the region where the script is running
         string WelcomePhrase = "Welcome to " + RegionName  + ".";
         llOwnerSay( WelcomePhrase );
    }

}</lsl>

The only difference between the previous example and this one is that we have replaced the two lines

<lsl> string WelcomePhrase

WelcomePhrase = "Welcome to " + RegionName  + ".";</lsl>

with the single line

<lsl> string WelcomePhrase = "Welcome to " + RegionName + ".";</lsl>

It looks as though we have combined the variable declaration and the assignment statement into one statement, and in effect, that is what we have done. Any declaration of a local variable can be followed by the assignment symbol and an expression that follows the same rules as that for an assignment statement. As a matter of fact, this is generally considered a good practice, and most example you see will probably do that.

However, the rules for initializing a global variable are different.