xyzzy

2 definitions found

xyzzy - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  xyzzy
  
     <games> The canonical "magic word" from the ADVENT
     adventure game, in which the idea is to explore an underground
     cave with many rooms and to collect the treasures you find
     there.  If you type "xyzzy" at the appropriate time, you can
     move instantly between two otherwise distant points.  If,
     therefore, you encounter some bit of magic, you might remark
     on this quite succinctly by saying simply "Xyzzy!"
     "Ordinarily you can't look at someone else's screen if he has
     protected it, but if you type quadruple-bucky-clear the system
     will let you do it anyway."  "Xyzzy!"  Xyzzy has actually been
     implemented as an undocumented no-op command on several OSes;
     in Data General's AOS/VS, for example, it would typically
     respond "Nothing happens", just as ADVENT did if the magic
     was invoked at the wrong spot or before a player had performed
     the action that enabled the word.  In more recent 32 bit
     versions, by the way, AOS/VS responds "Twice as much happens".
     See also plugh.
  
     [Jargon File]
  

xyzzy - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  xyzzy
   /X.Y.Z.Z.Y/, /X.Y.ziz'ee/, /ziz'ee/, /ik.ziz'ee/, adj.
  
     [from the ADVENT game] The canonical `magic word'. This comes from
     ADVENT, in which the idea is to explore an underground cave with
     many rooms and to collect the treasures you find there. If you type
     xyzzy at the appropriate time, you can move instantly between two
     otherwise distant points. If, therefore, you encounter some bit of
     magic, you might remark on this quite succinctly by saying simply
     "Xyzzy!" "Ordinarily you can't look at someone else's screen if he
  has
     protected it, but if you type quadruple-bucky-clear the system will
     let you do it anyway." "Xyzzy!" It's traditional for xyzzy to be an
     Easter egg in games with text interfaces.
  
     Xyzzy has actually been implemented as an undocumented no-op command
     on several OSes; in Data General's AOS/VS, for example, it would
     typically respond "Nothing happens", just as ADVENT did if the
  magic
     was invoked at the wrong spot or before a player had performed the
     action that enabled the word. In more recent 32-bit versions, by the
     way, AOS/VS responds "Twice as much happens".
  
     Early versions of the popular `minesweeper' game under Microsoft
     Windows had a cheat mode triggered by the command
     `xyzzy<enter><right-shift>' that turns the top-left pixel of the
     screen different colors depending on whether or not the cursor is
  over
     a bomb. This feature temporarily disappeared in Windows 98, but
     reappeared in Windows 2000.
  
     The following passage from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank
     Baum, suggesting a possible pre-ADVENT origin, has recently come to
     light: "Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was now standing on
     both feet. This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a great
     chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeys flew
     up to them.
  
     The text can be viewed at Project Gutenberg.