The only guide I have to INRAC is the Racter FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) [1] and running the program itself. But there are times when I have no idea how to interpret the code.
>
```
CAST >47*2.7(20)P >48*2.7(20)N #
X >31*2.8()47 >33*2.8()48 #
X >35*7()47 >34*7()48 #
X >30*2.1()47 >32*2.1()48 #
X >36*3()47 >37*3()48
```
Normally, the “>” will signify a variable assignment, but that tends to look like >47=foo, not >47*2.7(20)P. The “*” is a (for lack of a better term) subroutine call, like *26CAST (which actually calls the first line above), and I've kind of figured out what *2.8&N would do—I think it calls the code in section 2 where the “label” is any character followed by an “N”:
>
```
AN boredom 8 bored 7 bore 7 gloom 8 gloomy 8 empty 8 hollow
BN stupidity 8 stupid 7 idiot 7 folly 8 silly 7 fool 7 jerk
CN feeling 12 feel 7 emotion 7 passion 8 passionate 8 hysterical
DN craziness 8 crazy 8 bananas 8 random 8 strange 8 weird
DN humor 7 joke 7 jokes
EN doubt
GN junk 12 stinks 8 cruel 8 useless 8 lousy 8 bad 7 garbage
HN idleness 8 lazy 7 loafer 8 easy
JN art 8 creative 7 artist 7 life 8 alive
KN fascist 8 communist 7 communism 7 fascism
LN poetry 8 poetic 7 poet
MN damn 7 hell 8 damned
NN coward
PN pessimistic
QN foolish 7 fool
RN rock 7 jazz 7 pop
TN poor
UN fucking 15 fuck 15 shit 15 piss
WN hate 8 mad 8 angry
XN sick 8 weak
AN depression 8 depressed 7 depressive
AN gloom 7 sourpuss 8 gloomy
AN unhappiness 8 unhappy 7 frowner
BN ignorance 7 ignoramous 8 ignorant
BN imbecility 8 fatuous 7 imbecile
BN stupidity 8 stupid 7 dolt
CN emotion 8 emotional 7 feeler
CN feeling 7 feeler 8 feeling
CN hysteria 8 hysterical 7 hysteric
CN passion 8 passionate 7 feeler
DN craziness 8 crazy 7 lunatic
DN humor 8 funny 7 humorist
DN lunacy 8 bonkers 7 lunatic
DN weirdness 8 weird 7 weirdo
EN scepticism 7 sceptic 8 sceptical
FN crime 8 criminal 7 criminal
FN falsehood 8 dishonest 7 liar
FN politics 8 political 7 politician
GN badness 8 bad 7 wrongdoer
GN evil 8 evil 7 sinner
GN foulness 8 foul 7 stinker
HN idleness 8 lazy 7 loafer
IN apathy 8 apathetic 7 depressive
IN boredom 8 bored 7 bore
JN art 8 creative 7 artist
JN flesh 8 living 7 human
KN communism 7 communist 8 communist
KN conservatism 8 conservative 7 republican
KN reaction 7 right-winger 8 reactionary
KN tradition 8 conventional 7 conformist
LN poetry 8 poetic 7 poet
MN atheism 7 atheist 8 unbelieving
NN cowardice 8 cowardly 7 coward
PN pessimism 8 pessimistic 7 pessimist
QN folly 8 foolish 7 fool
RN rock 8 funky 7 rock-star
SN boxing 8 pugilistic 7 pugilist
SN dueling 8 honorable 7 duelist
TN poverty 8 impoverished 7 pauper
UN obscenity 8 obscene 7 libertine
VN complexity 8 complicated 7 muddlehead
WN hatred 8 hateful 7 hater
XN weakness 8 weak 7 wimp
```
So, any of those lines could be called. But this block of code has a “parse type” (I think) of 1 so this is just a list of terms. I suspect the 8 in *2.8&N has to do with the 8s in the list above. I think that if you were to do *2&N, and if the line picked was “JN” then you would get back either “art” or “flesh,” but the 8 modifies the selection so it's possible you would get (again, assuming the label of “JN” was picked) “creative” or “living.”
At least, that makes the most sense to me, although I've yet to actually test this theory.
But *2.7(20)P? Or even >31*2.8()47? I can see I have a lot of testing ahead of me.
[1] https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.arts.int-fiction/RTV5CUkJ8fs