[z-machine] "State of play" for restart/restore

[Amir Karger]

--- David Kinder <d.kinder@btinternet.com> wrote:
> > Does anyone have comments on what gets restarted other than the
> game
> > memory? All the stuff like output_stream, input_stream,
> buffer_mode,
> > which window you're writing to and what its dimensions are, that
> kind
> > of stuff. The spec does say you'll have to rewrite the status line,
> but
> > I'm looking for a bit more detail on this issue. From looking at a
> > couple interpreters, it looks like different ones restart different
> > things.
> 
> Section 6 of the spec defines what it means by "the state of play",
> which is what is restored. The obvious reading of that section is
> that
> games cannot rely on anything not defined in the state of play, like
> streams. In fact, in the remarks section at the end:
> 
>   Note that the "state of play" does not include numerous
> input/output
>   settings (the current window, cursor position, splitness or
> otherwise,
>   which streams are selected, etc.)
> 
> Which seems to cover the issue.

OK. Let's ask the question differently. Given that the spec says what
is saved, but dzip and rezrov seem to re-startup a number of GUI
things... what's the Z-machine wisdom on what are good things to
restart and what things should be left alone during a restart? Or does
it totally depend on your particular interpreter?

-Amir

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