Creator-Defined Statements link

Creator-defined statements allow you to add your own statements to Ren’Py. This makes it possible to add things that are not supported by the current syntax of Ren’Py.

Creator-defined statements must be defined in a python early block. What’s more, the filename containing the user-defined statement must be be loaded earlier than any file that uses it. Since Ren’Py loads files in Unicode sort order, it generally makes sense to prefix the name of any file containing a user-defined statement with 01, or some other small number.

A user-defined statement cannot be used in the file in which it is defined.

Creator-defined statement are registered using the renpy.register_statement() function.

The parse method takes a Lexer object:

class Lexer link
eol() link

True if the lexer is at the end of the line.

match(re) link

Matches an arbitrary regexp string.

All of the statements in the lexer that match things are implemented in terms of this function. They first skip whitespace, then attempt to match against the line. If the match succeeds, the matched text is returned. Otherwise, None is returned.

keyword(s) link

Matches s as a keyword.

name() link

Matches a name. This does not match built-in keywords.

word() link

Matches any word, including keywords. Returns the text of the matched word.

string() link

Matches a Ren’Py string.

integer() link

Matches an integer, returns a string containing the integer.

float() link

Matches a floating point number, returns a string containing the floating point number.

simple_expression() link

Matches a simple Python expression, returns it as a string.

rest() link

Skips whitespace, then returns the rest of the line.

checkpoint() link

Returns an opaque object representing the current state of the lexer.

revert(o) link

When o is the object returned from checkpoint(), reverts the state of the lexer to what it was when checkpoint() was called. (This is used for backtracking.)

subblock_lexer() link

Return a Lexer for the block associated with the current line.

advance() link

In a subblock lexer, advances to the next line. This must be called before the first line, so the first line can be parsed.

Lint Utility Functions link

These functions are useful in writing lint functions.

Example link

This creates a new statement line that allows lines of text to be specified without quotes.

python early:

    def parse_smartline(lex):
        who = lex.simple_expression()
        what = lex.rest()
        return (who, what)

    def execute_smartline(o):
        who, what = o
        renpy.say(eval(who), what)

    def lint_smartline(o):
        who, what = o
        try:
            eval(who)
        except:
            renpy.error("Character not defined: %s" % who)

        tte = renpy.check_text_tags(what)
        if tte:
            renpy.error(tte)

    renpy.register_statement("line", parse=parse_smartline, execute=execute_smartline, lint=lint_smartline)

This can be used by writing:

line e "These quotes will show up," Eileen said, "and don't need to be backslashed."