IRC Bots

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A Guide to the IRC Bots of #lojban (also #ckule and ##jboselbau).

You might think all ~120 logged on users of #lojban are watching you and/or participating in the conversation. Well, no, we all live in different timezones and at any given moment of time most of them are inactive. But also, there are a bunch of robots! Some of them are even helpful. Read on for more.

Lojban assistance

vlaste

This is a bidirectional Lojban-English dictionary, run by la durka. It works from a dump of Jbovlaste, so it may not be completely up to date.

Run by la donri (source).

You can invoke valsi in the channel by prefixing a message with "valsi ", or send a private message to the bot (with no prefix).

The content of the message is just a word. If it's a Lojban word, you'll get its definition. If it's an English word, you'll get a list of suggested translations.

Accepted options for Lojban word lookup: (you can give up to one option, in parentheses, e.g. "valsi lercu'aca'a (components)")

  • affix
Get the affix (rafsi) form of the word.
  • class
Get the selma'o (grammatical category) of the word.
  • type
Get the type (cmavo/gismu/lujvo/etc) of the word.
  • notes
Return the notes field of the definition (without this option it isn't shown).
  • cll
Get the link to the section of the CLL that discusses the word (not always accurate).
  • url
Get the link to Vlasisku's page for the word.
  • components
Break a lujvo into its component gismu (works on nonce lujvo). Beware: lujvo with missing hyphens are still parsed, so you can't rely on this to check your construction.
  • rafsi
Treat the word as a rafsi for the purposes of the search (many cmavo are also rafsi of other words).
  • I don't see this option in the source, so maybe what's running is a slightly different version? Durka42 (talk)
  • You can also send queries in vlasisku's internal query language, like "valsi class:BAI" or "valsi affix:ka'i".
  • lujvo
Combine a tanru into a lujvo, using jvocu'adju. If the canonical form is defined, the definition is shown.
Relatedly, if you ask vlaste for a lujvo not in canonical form, and no definition is found, it will try to help you by silently correcting it to canonical form.
  • finti
Show the jbovlaste user who created the word.
  • gimka
Shows whether the input gismu collides with any existing official or experimental gismu.

Also, its lujvo-breaking algorithm for (components) is backed by camxes, so it will call you out on a badly-constructed lujvo (e.g. a tosmabru), unlike valsi.


camxes

A grammar checking bot based on camxes.

Run by la durka (source).

You can invoke camxes in the channel by prefix a message with "camxes: ", or send a private message to the bot (with no prefix).

The message is just a Lojban sentence. If it parses, you'll get the structure. If it doesn't parse, it'll try to tell you where you went wrong.

Accepted flags for parsing: (put them before the sentence, like "camxes: +s-f coi"; you can put any number of flags in any order)

  • +s
Show the selma'o of each word in the sentence.
  • -f
Don't show elidible terminators.
  • +exp (or -std)
Parse using the ilmentufa experimental grammar.
  • -exp (or +std)
Parse using the standard BPFK grammar (default).

mensi

Kitchen sink bot run by la gleki (source).

Commands recognized by mensi:

  • ".ilm ", ".beta "
    • These are parser options based on camxes. ilm parses regular BPFK Lojban while beta uses an experimental grammar of la ilmentufa.
    • You send this bot a sentence by prefixing it with the parser name and a colon, e.g. ".ilm coi". You can also private-message it (the prefixes are also needed there).
    • Accepted options (put them before the sentence, like ".ilm+mts coi"):
      • s - with spaces
      • m - with morphology
      • t - with terminators
      • c - with selmaho
      • n - with node labels
      • j - in JSON format
  • jbofihe parser
    • ".gerna " parses using jbofihe, which was the de facto standard parser before camxes.
  • John Cowan's parser
  • Searching jbovlaste with mensi:
    • Entering ".en coi" into the chat will output the English definition, notes and the author.
  • showing etymology with mensi: ".krasi mlatu" will output Lojbanized sources for this gismu.
      • lujvo are expanded and its structure is shown. If no lujvo is found it searches for other lujvo with the same se rafsi.
    • Other languages are supported: ".jbo ", ".ja " (Japanese), ".ru " (Russian), ".f@ " (Easy French), ".de " (German), ".es " (Spanish), ".eo " (Esperanto), ".jb " (Lojban dictionary with examples).
    • "/full " flag performs a search for a given sequence in definitions and notes. E.g. ".en /full greets".
  • "Tatoeba:" outputs an arbitrary Lojban sentence from Tatoeba with a substring given
  • Alternative orthography with mensi:
    • ".rot13 " prefix performs ROT13 encoding on a given string
    • ".kru " prefix performs conversion to la krulermorna orthography
    • "mensi: j " performs jbopomofo encoding on a given string
    • "mensi: r " performs Cyrillic encoding on a given string
  • Messaging
    • "mensi: doi <nick> <message>"
      • Delayed messaging service. Next time <nick> says something in the channel, mensi will relay the message. You can use regular expressions in the nick.
  • Loglan to Lojban conversion
    • ".loi " converts Lojban text to Loglan (not perfect!). Failed words are marked with "*".
    • ".coi " converts Loglan text to Lojban (not perfect!). Failed words are marked with "*".
  • Glossing
    • ".gloss " converts Lojban text to glossed English words.
  • lujvo building
    • ".lujvo " combines a given tanru into a list of lujvo and cmevla with their scores, using a method similar to jvocuhadju. The first (with the lowest score) lujvo are preferable in speech.

tersmus

la tersmu converts Lojban sentences into logic formulas. Type "tersmus: " or "tersmux: " followed by a sentence to use it publicly; drop the prefix in private messages. Add "jbo: " before the sentence for Lojbanized output.

Experimental grammars

Some bots are testbeds for experimental grammar that may or may not find its way into common use. Currently all of them are based on camxes, but not fully compatible with the official grammar.

Extensive reforms to basic sentence structure, connectives, and mekso. Most experimental cmavo listed on jbovlaste are supported. The bot uses the last stable release by default; adding "+exp " before the sentence switches to the unstable version. Adding "+mal " switches to maltufa, a version meant for parsing older texts that lacks many of the reforms. Adding "+maf " switches to maftufa, made to parse selpa'i's translation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]. There is detailed documentation.
Morphology reform, allowing new word shapes while preserving existing ones. Several changes taken from zantufa and alta. ce ki tau jau available as a runtime switch (send "+help" in private for a list of switches). Development stagnant.
  • Another, older experimental grammar (ilmentufa) is part of both camxes and mensi bots. Most of its additions are also supported by the other experimental parsers.

Other

  • nuzba
Searches Twitter for posts containing the words "lojban", "jbobau", or "ロジバン", and posts them whenever the channel has been quiet for two minutes. Takes no commands.
  • djisku
Monitors the channel for new users. If a newbie doesn't get an answer within one minute of first talking, it posts a message asking for patience. You can have a PM sent to you whenever a newbie starts talking by saying "djisku: ko mi fanza". Unsubscribe with "djisku: ko mi na fanza".
  • xorban
Xorban is a parser bot for another logical language (you guessed it, called Xorban). It's actually the same bot as camxes but with a different grammar.
Run by la selpa'i.
  • stetudu
An instance of Randall Holmes's parser for Loglan. Takes a Loglan sentence prefixed with "stetudu: " in the channel or without a prefix in private messages. Add "+s " before the sentence to show rule names.
  • gua
Parses Gua\spi, yet another logical language, using an incomplete grammar reconstructed by cirko
  • vreji
Logs Lojban utterances in the channel at http://www.lojban.org/irclogs/.
Run by a pile of Perl scripts.
Does not respond to any commands, as far as I know.