Grichelde/README.md

# Grichelde - Text replacer

Grichelde is a WoW Addon for Classic, Wrath of the Lich King Classic and Retail (Shadowlands) that replaces any characters or words you typed in a chat input line according to your replacement rules.
The replacement is done **before** the text is send to other players/in the target channel. It does **not** change text other players have written in the chat, but the text they will see **from you**.

Its purpose is to simulate a speaking disability of your toon and hereby strengthen immersion in roleplay. 
Initially started as a helper addon for a roleplaying friend, Grichelde can be used for much more, like 

* fixing your common spelling errors :)
* replacing toon names with their nick names
* write out abbreviations for you
* create hilarious moments during roleplay

However it does not replace slash commands with other slash commands, it only works for chat text. It you want to replace commands, 
please look at more sophisticated chat addons like [Prat](https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/prat-3-0).  

## Disclaimer
#### No Warranty
The addon is provided "AS IS" and comes without warranty of any kind of function or correctness (for more details, consult the GPL 3 license).
Also the author is not held responsible for any risk or damage the addon or its use might cause, especially lost of progress or data due to crashes of the WoW client.

#### Respect others
This addon does not encourange or intend to hurt or to tease people with speaking disabilities or language disorders. 
The responsibility rest on the user completely. Please use the features with care and respect to other players.
                                 
## FAQ

#### Where do I start?

Grichelde is active right from the start with default mappings. To open the options UI, either left-click on
the new minimap icon, or type `/gri` or `/grichelde` in the chatbox. All mappings and channels can be configured there.

#### Does it replace only letters but also whole words?

Grichelde is capable of handling both, even whole sentences can be replaced. 
Only slash commands, item links, textures, placeholders and ooc-markers are excluded from replacement.

#### My replacement is not taken.

After entering a search or replacement text, you see a button "Okay" next to your input. This is **not** a validation message, 
but the save button for text. This is a restriction from the UI library and can be seen in other addons as well. 
Please click on "Okay" to save the input permanently, otherwise it will not be stored.

![click "Okay" on text changes](https://media.forgecdn.net/attachments/305/887/text-okay.jpg "change confirmation")

If it still does not work or gives you errors, please read the next question. 

#### I have to disable the Addon frequently. Is there a more elegant solution?

Actually there are two solutions:
1. A right-click on the minimap button will disable Grichelde instantly. Right-click a second time will activate it again. Easy, isn't it?
2. You can disable Grichelde permanently and forcefully replace a sentence in the chatbox with manual override. I call it "Grichelde-On-Demand" :) 
   In the chatbox put `/gri` or `/grichelde` in front of your typed text, you can also include the target channel, 
   i.e. `/gri /guild hello there` and Grichelde will apply the active replacements and rules even if guild channel or Grichelde was disabled.

#### I get errors, what should I do?

Please report your errors on [project website](https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/grichelde) at curse forge. Make a screenshot or copy both the error message as well as your recent mappings.
You can bring up a small windows with your mapping by entering the `/gri mappings` command on copy them.

#### Why that strange name?

Grichelde is the name of an Undead rogue without a jaw, who was played in RP sessions by a guild member.
She started replacing `s` and `t` letters manually for each word in the chat, which became cumbersome over time.
(If you ever wondered how an Undead without a jaw sounds like, its really hilarious, you should try it.) 
Without spelling errors, "Griselde" in German is an old-fashioned female first name.

#### I'm a Pro. Does it support regular expressions?

RegEx are very powerful search and replacement patterns commonly used in programming. Technically all searches the addon performs on the input are done 
with regular expression methods, however Lua unfortunately does not support full [PCRE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl_Compatible_Regular_Expressions) syntax and is very limited (read [here](http://www.lua.org/pil/20.1.html) why).
Nevertheless some patterns can be used like the anchors start of line `^` or end of line `$`, capturing groups `(hello) (world)`, character classes like numbers `%d` or (inversed) sets `[^%p]`.

Capture groups can be accessed in the replacement text with `%<number>` like in `%2 %1`. Also there are some mappings using RegEx in the Example section.