Kinds

object
    room [11] 
    thing [10] 
        door [4]  
        container 
            vehicle  
            player's holdall  
        supporter 
        backdrop  
        person [5]  
            man [4] 
            woman 
            animal 
        device  
    direction [12] 
    region 
value
    number 
    time  
    text 
    snippet 
    object 
    description 
    rule 
    rulebook 
    action-name 
    scene 
    table-name 
    figure-name 
    external-file 
    truth state 
    indexed text 
    stored action 
    list of 

What are kinds? ; Kinds of value 


room (plural rooms)
Represents geographical locations, both indoor and outdoor, which are not necessarily areas in a building. A player in one room is mostly unable to sense, or interact with, anything in a different room. Rooms are arranged in a map.
Usually lighted not dark, unvisited not visited.
Can have description (some text), printed name (some text), map region (the name of an object).
yard , bins , Querfunk , entrance , couch corner , shelfes , computertables , kitchen , lab , storagevault , servervault 

thing (plural things)
Represents anything interactive in the model world that is not a room. People, pieces of scenery, furniture, doors and mislaid umbrellas might all be examples, and so might more surprising things like the sound of birdsong or a shaft of sunlight.
Usually unlit not lit, inedible not edible, portable not fixed in place, singular-named not plural-named, improper-named not proper-named, described not undescribed, unmarked for listing not marked for listing, mentioned not unmentioned.
Usually not scenery, wearable, pushable between rooms, handled, initially carried.
Can have description (some text), printed name (some text), indefinite article (some text), initial appearance (some text), printed plural name (some text), matching key (the name of an object).
man calles Tem00 

door, a kind of thing (plural doors) 
Represents a conduit joining two rooms, most often a door or gate but sometimes a plank bridge, a slide or a hatchway. Usually visible and operable from both sides (for instance if you write 'The blue door is east of the Ballroom and west of the Garden.'), but sometimes only one-way (for instance if you write 'East of the Ballroom is the long slide. Through the long slide is the cellar.').
Always fixed in place not portable.
Usually closed not open, openable not unopenable, unlocked not locked.
Usually not lockable.
Never pushable between rooms.
Can have other side (the name of an object).
white door , entropia door , kitchendoor , serverdoor 

container, a kind of thing (plural containers)
Represents something into which portable things can be put, such as a teachest or a handbag. Something with a really large immobile interior, such as the Albert Hall, had better be a room instead.
Usually opaque not transparent, open not closed, unopenable not openable, unlocked not locked.
Usually not enterable, lockable.
Can have carrying capacity (a number).

vehicle, a kind of container (plural vehicles) 
Represents a container large enough for a person to enter, and which can then move between rooms at the driver's instruction. (If a supporter is needed instead, try the extension Rideable Vehicles by Graham Nelson.)
Always enterable.
Usually fixed in place not portable.

player's holdall, a kind of container (plural player's holdalls) 
Represents a container which the player can carry around as a sort of rucksack, into which spare items are automatically stowed away.
Always portable not fixed in place.
Usually openable not unopenable.

supporter, a kind of thing (plural supporters)
Represents a surface on which things can be placed, such as a table.
Usually fixed in place not portable.
Usually not enterable.
Can have carrying capacity (a number).

backdrop, a kind of thing (plural backdrops) 
Represents an aspect of the landscape or architecture which extends across more than one room: for instance, a stream, the sky or a long carpet.
Always fixed in place not portable.
Usually scenery.

person, a kind of thing (plural people) 
Despite the name, not necessarily a human being, but anything animate enough to envisage having a conversation with, or bartering with.
Usually male not female.
Usually not neuter.
Can have carrying capacity (a number).
yourself

man, a kind of person (plural men)
Represents a man or boy.
Always male not female.
Never neuter.
Neingeist , Streddinduktion , Blueloop , Syncie 

woman, a kind of person (plural women)
Represents a woman or girl.
Always female not male.
Never neuter.

animal, a kind of person (plural animals)
Represents an animal, or at any rate a non-human living creature reasonably large and possible to interact with: a giant Venus fly-trap might qualify, but not a patch of lichen.

device, a kind of thing (plural devices) 
Represents a machine or contrivance of some kind which can be switched on or off.
Usually switched off not switched on.

direction (plural directions)
Represents a direction of movement, such as northeast or down.
Usually unmarked for listing not marked for listing.
Can have opposite (direction).
north, northeast, northwest, south, southeast, southwest, east, west, up, down, inside, outside

region (plural regions)


number (plural numbers)
Whole number in the range -32768, -32767, ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 32767: small numbers can be written textually as 'one', 'two', 'three', ..., 'ten', 'eleven', 'twelve'. (A much larger number range is allowed if we compile the source to Glulx rather than the Z-machine: see the Settings panel.)

time (plural times) 
A time of day, written in the form '2:34 AM' or '12:51 PM', or a length of time such as '10 minutes' or '3 hours 31 minutes', which must be between 0 minutes and 23 hours 59 minutes inclusive.

text (plural texts)
Some text in double quotation marks, perhaps with substitutions written in square brackets.

snippet (plural snippets)

object (plural objects)

description (plural descriptions)

rule (plural rules)

rulebook (plural rulebooks)

action-name (plural action-names)

scene (plural scenes)

table-name (plural table-names)

figure-name (plural figure-names)

external-file (plural external-files)

truth state (plural truth states)
The state of whether something is 'true' or 'false'.

indexed text (plural indexed texts)
A flexible-length form of text which can be internally altered and searched. Inform automatically changes text to this format when necessary.

stored action (plural stored actions)
A stored action, which can later be tried.

list of (plural lists of)
A flexible-length list of values.


If we create a variable, by writing, for instance, 'Zero hour is a time that varies', and do not tell Inform what value it starts out with (say, adding 'Zero hour is 11:21 PM.') then Inform uses the following table to decide the initial value. The same applies if we create a property (for instance, 'A person has a number called lucky number.'). Kinds of value not included in the table cannot be used in variables and properties.

kind of valuedefault value
number  0
time  9:00 AM
text  ""
snippet  word 1 of command
object  nothing
description  matching nothing
rule  the little-used do nothing rule
rulebook  the action-processing rules
action-name  waiting action
scene  the Entire Game
table-name  a table with no rows or columns
figure-name  figure of cover
external-file  value representing a non-file
truth state  false
indexed text  ""
stored action  waiting
list of  {}
thingthe player
directionnorth
other kinds of object  the first example created