form of Execute that returns a string?

Is there a function similar to Execute that returns a concatenatable string, rather than sending directly to world?

I am trying to make an alias that is capable of executing other aliases, and appending the output to another string, for ordering charmed followers. i.e., if I have an alias:
fs *

which sends:
cast 'flame shroud' %1

Then I would like to be able to have a second alias that lets me do something like:
oc fs *
and have it send:
order charmie cast 'flame shroud' %1

There is no such function right now, nor is it particularly easy to do. The reason is, aliases don't just substitute one string for another. For example, aliases can call scripts, the scripts can send stuff to the MUD, open files, read databases, put things on the screen, play sounds, etc. There isn't any easy way of "capturing" all that into a string that can be concatenated later with something else.

If this is inside a plugin you could work around it a bit. If you read up on the OnPluginSend plugin callback, you will see that this can be used to find what would be sent to the MUD, and decline to send it. So your general technique could be:

• In your second alias:
  
  
  • Set a flag (eg. deferred_send = true)
    
  • Save what you want to prepend somewhere (eg. extra_stuff = "order charmie")
    
  • Do your "fs %1" - this will attempt to send "cast 'flame shroud' mobname" to the MUD
    
  • Clear the flag (eg. deferred_send = false)
  
  
• In OnPluginSend, test if the flag (deferred_send) is true. If not, just return true, so the message is sent to the MUD.
  
• But if the flag is set, grab the saved extra stuff ("order charmie"), concatenate with what was going to be sent ("cast 'flame shroud') and do a Send to send the combined command.
  
• Now return false so the original command is not sent

So OnPluginSend might look like this (I haven't tested this):




And your alias might do this (in a script):

Awesome, that works great -- thanks a ton!