Editing Xyzzy (computing)

{{short description|Term in computing}}
{{hatnote group|
{{Other uses|Xyzzy (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Zzyzx (disambiguation){{!}}Zzyzx}}
}}
In [[computing]], '''Xyzzy''' is sometimes used as a [[metasyntactic variable]] or as a video game [[cheat code]]. ''Xyzzy'' comes from the ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure]]'' as well as TRS-80 Haunted House computer game, where it is the first "[[magic string]]" that most players encounter (others include "plugh" and "plover").<ref>[http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/X/xyzzy.html xyzzy] in the [[Jargon File]].</ref>

==Origin==
Modern usage is primarily from one of the earliest computer games, ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure]]'', in which the player explores a cave with many rooms, collecting the treasures found there. By typing "xyzzy" at the appropriate time, the player could move instantly between two otherwise distant points. As ''Colossal Cave Adventure'' was both one of the first [[adventure games]] and one of the first [[interactive fiction]] pieces, hundreds of later interactive fiction games included responses to the command "xyzzy" in tribute.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.plover.net/~davidw/sol/xyzzy.html |title= Xyzzy responses |author= David Welbourn}} A web page giving responses to "xyzzy" in many games of interactive fiction.</ref>

The origin of the word "xyzzy" has been the subject of debate.  According to Ron Hunsinger, the sequence of letters "XYZZY" has been used as a mnemonic to remember the process for computing [[Cross Product#Mnemonic|cross product]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/c_xyzzy.html |title= Everything you ever wanted to know about…the magic word XYZZY |work= The Colossal Cave Adventure page |author= Rick Adams }}</ref> [[Will Crowther]], the author of ''Colossal Cave Adventure'', states that he was unaware of the mnemonic, and that he "made it up from whole cloth" when writing the game.<ref name="paper">{{cite journal |url= http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/001/2/000009.html |title= Somewhere Nearby is Colossal Cave: Examining Will Crowther's Original "Adventure" in Code and in Kentucky |author= Dennis G. Jerz |journal= Digital Humanities Quarterly |date= 12 September 2007 |volume= 001 |issue= 2 }}</ref>

== Usage ==
===Operating systems===
Xyzzy has been implemented as an undocumented [[no-op]] command on several [[operating system]]s; in the 16-bit version of [[Data General AOS|Data General's AOS]], for example, it would typically respond "Nothing happens", just as the game did if the magic was invoked at the wrong spot or before a player had performed the action that enabled the word. The 32-bit version, AOS/VS, would respond "Twice as much happens".<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url= http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/c_xyzzy.html |title= Everything you ever wanted to know about…the magic word XYZZY |work= The Colossal Cave Adventure page |author= Rick Adams }}</ref> On several computer systems from [[Sun Microsystems]], the command "xyzzy" is used to enter the interactive shell of the [[Das U-Boot|U-Boot]] [[bootloader]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19464-01/820-6851-10/820-6851-10.pdf |title=Sun Integrated Lights Out Manager 2.0 Supplement for the Sun Blade X6275 Server Module |page=17 |access-date= 2009-08-20}}</ref> Early versions of Zenith [[Z-DOS]] (a re-branded variant of [[MS-DOS]] 1.25) had the command "xyzzy" which took a parameter of "on" or "off".  Xyzzy by itself would print the status of the last "xyzzy on" or "xyzzy off" command.

When booting a [[Cr-48]] from developer mode, when the screen displays the "sad laptop" image, typing "xyzzy" produces a joke [[Blue Screen of Death]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=Brad |title= How I cracked the Cr-48 Easter Egg |url= http://wellsb.com/post/6161876985/how-i-cracked-the-cr-48-easter-egg |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110902062644/http://wellsb.com/post/6161876985/how-i-cracked-the-cr-48-easter-egg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 September 2011 |access-date=2 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=Brad |title=Cr-48 Joke BSOD Screen |url= https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aFmEJctDQJIfB8jhxHp00z2uFj-YG2MT90kC84ZROVE?feat=directlink|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111153439/https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aFmEJctDQJIfB8jhxHp00z2uFj-YG2MT90kC84ZROVE?feat=directlink |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 November 2012 |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref>

According to Brantley Coile, the [[Cisco PIX]] firewall had a xyzzy command that simply said "Nothing happens." He also put the command into the Coraid VSX to escape the CLI and get into the shell. It would announce "Foof! You are in a directory. There are files here." The new California Coraid management made the developers change the string to "/exportmode" and get rid of the "Foof!" message.{{citation needed |date=October 2019}} Since regaining ownership of the Coraid software, the command is being returned to the system and now, in VSX release 8, the response is ">>Foof!<< You are in a debris room."

===Application programs===
Within the low-traffic [[Usenet]] newsgroup alt.xyzzy, the word is used for test messages, to which other readers (if there are any) customarily respond, "Nothing happens" as a note that the test message was successfully received. In the [[Internet Relay Chat]] client [[mIRC]] and [[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]], entering the undocumented command "/xyzzy" will display the response "Nothing happens".<ref>{{cite web|title=Pidgin source code repository|url=http://sourceforge.net/projects/pidgin/files/Pidgin/|quote=See gtkconv.c}}</ref>  The string "xyzzy" is also used internally by mIRC as the hard-coded master encryption key that is used to decrypt over 20 sensitive strings from within the mirc.exe program file.<ref>{{cite web|title=mIRC - Encrypted internal strings|url=http://pastebin.com/Nu88yXRP}}</ref>
 
A "deluxe [[talker|chatting program]]" for [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DIGITAL]]'s [[OpenVMS|VAX/VMS]] written by David Bolen in 1987 and distributed via [[BITNET]] took the name xyzzy.  It enabled users on the same system or on linked [[DECnet]] nodes to communicate via text in real time.  There was a compatible program with the same name for [[IBM]]'s [[VM (operating system)|VM/CMS]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.inter.nl.net/users/fred/relay/xyzzy.html |title=VAX/VMS XYZZY Reference Card |author=David Bolen |date=August 24, 1989}}</ref>

xYzZY is used as the default boundary marker by the [[Perl]] HTTP::Message module for multipart [[MIME]] messages,<ref>Sean M. Burke (2002). "Perl and LWP", p.82. O'Reilly Media, Inc. {{ISBN|0-596-00178-9}}</ref> and was used in Apple's AtEase for workgroups as the default administrator password in the 1990s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

[[File:Gmail-imap-xyzzy.png|thumb|alt=Connecting to Gmail IMAP service using openssl, demonstrating the hidden xyzzy command|A command-line example demonstrating IMAP connection to Gmail]]
[[Gmail]] supports the command ''XYZZY'' when connected via [[IMAP]] before logging in. It takes no arguments, and responds with "OK Nothing happens."

The [[HP 9836A|Hewlett-Packard 9836A]] computer with [[HPL 2.0]] programming language has XYZZY built into the HPL language itself with the result of "I see no cave here." when used.  The same message is returned from HP 3458A and HP 3245A instruments when queried with XYZZY via the [[HPIB]] bus.

In most versions of the [[Ingres (database)|Ingres dbms]], {{code|select xyzzy('')|sql}} returns "Nothing happens." However, {{code|select xyzzy('wim')|sql}} returns "Nothing happens to Wim". The {{code|xyzzy()}} function has been part of the Ingres product since at least version 5 (late 1980s), but was removed from the main codeline sometime in the early 2000s. While talking to one of the members of the Ingres development team, Wim de Boer, at that time the secretary of the Ingres Users Group Nederland (IUGN), mentioned the removal of this [[Easter egg (media)|Easter egg]]. This developer, who was a frequent speaker at the events organised by the IUGN, managed to put the function back into the product and&mdash;especially for Wim&mdash;added handling for the 'wim' value of the parameter.

===Other computer games and media===

The popular ''[[Minesweeper (Windows)|Minesweeper]]'' game under older versions of [[Microsoft Windows]] had a cheat mode triggered by entering the command <code>xyzzy</code>, then pressing the key sequence [[shift key|shift]] and then [[enter key|enter]], which turned a single pixel in the top-left corner of the entire screen into a small black or white dot depending on whether or not the mouse pointer is over a mine.<ref>{{cite web|author=eeggs.com |url=http://www.eeggs.com/items/6818.html |title=Windows 2000 Easter Eggs - Eeggs.com |publisher=Eeggs.com |access-date=2009-08-20}}</ref> This easter egg was present in all Windows versions through Windows XP Service Pack 3, but under Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.0 the pixel was visible only if the standard Explorer desktop was not running.  The easter egg does not exist in versions after Windows XP SP3.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cheatcodes.com/minesweeper-pc-cheats/|title=Minesweeper Cheat codes}}</ref>

In the game ''[[Zork]]'', typing xyzzy and pressing enter produces the response: "A hollow voice says 'fool{{'"}}. The command commonly produces a humorous response in other [[Infocom]] games and [[text adventures]], leading to its usage in the title of the [[interactive fiction]] competition, the [[XYZZY Awards]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

In the 1994 game ''[[Road Rash (1994 video game)|Road Rash]]'', if the user were to enter "xyzzy" in the main menu,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Road Rash Cheats, Codes, and Secrets for PC - GameFAQs |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/198492-road-rash/cheats |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=gamefaqs.gamespot.com}}</ref> they could access several cheats such as nitrous refills, oil refills, etc.

In the 2022 game ''[[Return to Monkey Island]]'' the code is written on a sign at the entrance of a cave labyrinth. Ripping the sign off and using it in the cave, which leads to reading it, lets the protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood, return to the entrance of the cave.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://screenrant.com/return-monkey-island-how-to-find-secret/ | title=Return To Monkey Island: How To Find The Secret | publisher=Screenrant.com | accessdate=2024-06-11}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Cheating in video games]]
[[Category:Magic words]]
[[Category:Mnemonics]]
[[Category:Words originating in fiction]]
[[Category:Interactive fiction]]