ShowMessage
Description
ShowMessage is used to display messages to the player. The message itself is an editor object that contains all the data: display text, type of message, buttons.
Syntax
ShowMessage MessageID, [var1], ..., [var9] sDuration
Notes
- This command replaces the "Message" and "MessageBox" functions of Oblivion and Morrowind.
- Buttons are part of the Message form. If no buttons are specified on a MessageBox type message, a default "OK" button will be displayed.
- Message Type on the Message determines whether we are displaying a "message" (upper right corner, single line of text, doesn't interrupt the game) or a "message box" (center of the screen, game stops until the player presses one of the buttons).
- Variables can be inserted into the displayed text (see below). The message will fail to display if the wrong number of variables are passed into the ShowMessage call.
- Variables cannot be inserted into a message box's buttons.
- The "sDuration" parameter doesn't actually do anything
Formatting messages
Variable parameters can be used in conjunction with a Message in order to insert variables into the displayed text.
- Use the formatting notation below in the text of the Message.
- The number of parameters called by ShowMessage must match the number of variables the message is expecting.
Formatting notation
%.2f - This means format the variable with 2 decimal places.
%.0f - This will format the variable with 0 decimal places, so is the normal choice for integers.
%5.0f - The number in front of the point specifies the minimum width of the number. In this case, there will always be enough space in front of the number for 5 digits:
Number 12 wins Number 1234 wins
Formatting switches
The following formatting switches can be used in Messages. Put them in any sequence right after the '%'
| Switch | Function |
|---|---|
| + | Display + in front of positive numbers |
| <Space> | Leave a leading space in front of positive numbers |
| - | Use left-aligned formation instead of right alligned. |
| 0 | The filling-char used for formatting is '0' instead of ' ' |
Other Functions
%g - This usually works just like "%.0f", displaying 0 decimal places. When the number is 1000000 or larger, though, the game diplays it in scientific notation (1E+006)
%.3e - Shows numbers in scientific notation (123000 = 1.23E+005)
%% - Use this to display a percent-sign in the message
%n - Trying to print a reference name crashes the game