Editing DECORATE state syntax

EDF allows using a concise ZDoom DECORATE-style state syntax for [[thingtype|thing types]], by using the '''states''' field, followed by a heredoc (multiline string). The syntax is based on the one from ZDoom, described [http://zdoom.org/wiki/Actor_states here], in the ZDoom wiki.

Note that DECORATE errors in Eternity will trigger warnings at startup which can only be observed with -edfout or -edf-show-warnings during the text-mode part of the program initialization. You can press the ''Pause'' key during that sequence to read the warning messages. Usually in these cases, the DECORATE state definition is fully disabled.
{{Backto|EDF state reference}}
==Syntax==
The DECORATE grammar is defined as such (source: Eternity source code comment):
  <labeledunit> := <labelblock><frameblock><labeledunit> | nil
    <labelblock> := <label><eol><labelblock>
      <label> := [A-Za-z0-9_]+('.'[A-Za-z0-9_]+)?':'
      <eol>   := '\n'
    <frameblock> := <frame><frameblock> | <frame>
      <frame> := <keyword><eol> | <frame_token_list><eol>
        <keyword> := "stop" | "wait" | "loop" | "goto" <jumplabel>
          <jumplabel> := <jlabel> | <jlabel> '+' number
            <jlabel> := [A-Za-z0-9_:]+('.'[A-Za-z0-9_]+)?
        <frame_token_list> := <sprite><frameletters><tics><flagslist><action>
          <sprite> := [A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9]
          <frameletters> := [A-Z\[\\\]]+
          <tics> := [0-9]+
          <flagslist> := <flag><flagslist>
            <flag> := "bright" | "fast" | nil
          <action> := <name>
                    | <name> '(' <arglist> ')'
                    | nil
            <name> := [A-Za-z0-9_]+
            <arglist> := <arg> ',' <arglist> | <arg> | nil
              <arg> := "string" | number
Here's an example, the Sergeant's DECORATE state (from base/doom/things.edf):
  states
  @"
  Spawn:
    SPOS AB 10 A_Look
    loop
  See:
    SPOS AABBCCDD 3 A_Chase
    loop
  Missile:
    SPOS E 10        A_FaceTarget
    SPOS F 10 bright A_SPosAttack
    SPOS E 10
    goto See
  Pain:
    SPOS G 3
    SPOS G 3 A_Pain
    goto See
  Death:
    SPOS H 5
    SPOS I 5 A_Scream
    SPOS J 5 A_Fall
    SPOS K 5
    SPOS L -1
    stop
  XDeath:
    SPOS M      5
    SPOS N      5 A_XScream
    SPOS O      5 A_Fall
    SPOS PQRST  5
    SPOS U     -1
    stop
  Raise:
    SPOS LKJIH 5
    goto See
  "@  
Here we can see three kinds of units: labels, frames and keywords.
===Labels===
Labels are the '''Spawn:''', '''See:''', '''Missile:''' and other lines ended with colons. They designate starting points for special thing states, equivalent to non-DECORATE EDF [[thingtype]] '''spawnstate''', '''seestate''', '''missilestate''' and so on. You can also create your own labels, which will be reachable using keywords like '''goto''', as well as state-jumping [[List of codepointers|codepointers]]. Labels are case-insensitive. The following labels are used natively by Eternity:

*'''Spawn''': equivalent of '''spawnstate''': state the thing is spawned at;
*'''See''': equivalent of '''seestate''': state the monster goes into after seeing a target;
*'''Melee''': equivalent of '''meleestate''': state the monster goes into after getting close to the target;
*'''Missile''': equivalent of '''missilestate''': state the monster goes into when deciding to shoot the target;
*'''Pain''': equivalent of '''painstate''': state the thing goes into when hit;
*'''Death''': equivalent of '''deathstate''': state the thing goes into when killed or otherwise destroyed;
*'''XDeath''': equivalent of '''xdeathstate''': optional state the thing goes into when killed with very high damage;
*'''Raise''': equivalent of '''raisestate''': optional state the corpse goes into when raised by an archvile;
*'''Heal''' (since Feb 21 2016): equivalent of '''healstate''': state to jump to if during [[VileChase]] it encounters a corpse. If not set, it will just go into S_VILE_HEAL1.
*'''Crash''': equivalent of '''crashstate''': optional state for a corpse to go into when falling and hitting the floor;
*'''Active''': equivalent of '''activestate''': optional state to go into when triggered by [[Detailed parameterized linedef specification#Things|Thing_Activate]];
*'''Inactive''': equivalent of '''inactivestate''': optional state to go into when triggered by [[Detailed parameterized linedef specification#Things|Thing_Deactivate]];
*'''Pickup.Respawn''': state to jump to when the gettable item thing has the '''RAVENRESPAWN''' flag and is picked up, after which it waits to respawn;
*'''Pickup.Remove''': state to jump to when the gettable item thing has the '''RAVENRESPAWN''' flag and is picked up, after which it is removed permanently without respawning. This applies for items which for any reasons must not respawn, such as individual dropped items. It's a property of the particular item, not of the entire thingtype class, so be sure to also include a '''Pickup.Respawn''' state.
====Damage type pain and death states====
You can also add labels for means-of-death (damage type) specific pain and death states. They're equivalent to the '''dmg_painstates''' and '''dmg_deathstates''' thingype fields. You formulate them as such:
*'''Pain'''.''damage_type'': for non-death pain states to go into when hit by specific kinds of damage;
*'''Death'''.''damage_type'': for death states when hit by specific kinds of damage.
The built-in damage types are defined in base/things.edf, and you can add your own. Example: define '''Pain.Pistol''', '''Death.Pistol''' states when the thing is hit by player pistol bullets and has to react specifically to this kind of damage.

===Frames===
A frame has the following syntax:
:''sprite'' ''frame_letters'' ''tics'' [''flags_list''] [''action'']
*''sprite'': this is a four letter code corresponding to the sprite lump stem. In Doom, for example, imps have TROO, zombiemen have POSS and so on. For the invisible sprite, use TNT1.
*''frame_letters'': this is one or more letters corresponding to the sprite frame index. Include more than one letter if you want a sequence of frames with the same properties (duration, flags and action).
*''tics'': the duration, in tics (1/35 seconds), of each frame. Do not use value 0 in loops. Setting value -1 will cause the thing to stop at that frame, without going forward.
*''flags_list'': zero or more flags, separated by spaces. Currently the flags are '''bright''', which causes the sprite to be full bright in any place, and '''fast''', which makes the frame take half as long on fast skill levels (used in Doom by the demons).
*''action'': this can be a [[List of codepointers|codepointer]], optionally followed by a list of arguments enclosed by parentheses. Make sure to include strings in double quotes (""). Conventionally, from ZDoom, and based on the Doom source code in general, codepointers are prefixed with '''A_''', but it is not required here.

====Using state-switching codepointers with DECORATE====
Some codepointers, such as [[CounterJump]], [[Jump]] and so on let the calling thing jump to specific frames. For the frame name parameter, just use the label name.

The MBF-based [[RandomJump]] uses the '''misc1''' and '''misc2''' frame fields as parameters. Since the DECORATE style syntax currently doesn't support '''misc1''' and '''misc2''', you have to use [[Jump]], which uses args, is based on ZDoom's implementation and only works for DECORATE state syntax. Other codepointers, such as [[CounterJump]], work both for non-DECORATE and DECORATE syntax. Certain codepointers such as [[CounterSwitch]] aren't designed for DECORATE state syntax however.

===Keywords===
These are placed at the end of a state, before other labels. They are:
*'''stop''': this is equivalent to setting next frame to 0. If the last frame in the state has a finite (different from -1) duration, it will disappear. Otherwise it's commonly used after -1 duration frames when nothing is expected to follow.
*'''wait''': this causes the last frame to loop back into itself. If the duration is 0, it will be adjusted to 1.
*'''loop''': this causes the last frame to loop back to where its label points.
*'''goto''' ''jump_label'': sets the next frame of the last frame to the one designated by the label.

==Differences from ZDoom's DECORATE==
* The frame after a '''goto''' line must be labelled in Eternity. Of course, labels can be native (spawn, see, pain etc.)  or user-defined.

[[category:EDF]]