Create a Database Field

We’re going to need to save our goals to the database. Since goals are a facet of a character, it makes the most sense to add them to the Character class.

Create the Database Model

Create a file named goals_char.rb in aresmush/plugins/custom. Give it the following contents:

module AresMUSH
  class Character
    attribute :goals
  end
end

In the game, type load custom to reload the custom plugin.

Type ruby enactor.update(goals: "Test goals") to set some goals on yourself.

Type ruby enactor.goals to view them.

About Database Models

Character is one of the core database models in Ares (along with Room, Exit and Game). Database models contain multiple data fields, called attributes. A character will have a name, an alias, a description, etc.

Ruby lets you extend classes in multiple files. Even though the Character class is defined in the engine, you can add new fields to it from different plugins.

Database fields can take many forms - strings, numbers, lists, hashes, etc. Fields are strings unless otherwise specified, so in the example above we’ve defined a string field named “goals”.