<s>
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
(	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
)	O
is	O
an	O
open-source	B-Application
Internet	B-Protocol
Relay	I-Protocol
Chat	I-Protocol
client	O
for	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
many	O
other	O
IRC	B-Protocol
clients	O
,	O
nearly	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
functionality	O
in	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
is	O
driven	O
by	O
the	O
included	O
IRC	B-Protocol
script	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
result	O
that	O
the	O
program	B-Application
's	O
behavior	O
can	O
be	O
extended	O
or	O
changed	O
without	O
altering	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
(	O
16-bit	O
)	O
–	O
Released	O
in	O
1995	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
3.x	O
,	O
written	O
by	O
MeGALiTH	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
program	B-Application
had	O
many	O
built-in	O
features	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
also	O
scriptable	O
with	O
VPL	O
(	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
Programming	O
Language	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
predecessor	O
to	O
ViRCScript	O
and	O
Versus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
'	O
96	O
(	O
and	O
later	O
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
'	O
97	O
,	O
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
'	O
98	O
)	O
–	O
Released	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
written	O
by	O
MeGALiTH	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
32-bit	O
version	O
of	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
,	O
written	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
9x/NT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
that	O
were	O
built	O
into	O
16-bit	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
were	O
handled	O
by	O
the	O
default	O
script	O
in	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
'	O
96	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ViRC	B-Protocol
'	O
98	O
contained	O
some	O
code	O
contributed	O
by	O
Jesse	O
McGrew	O
AKA	O
"	O
Mr2001	O
"	O
,	O
particularly	O
enhancements	O
to	O
the	O
ViRCScript	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
was	O
incompatible	O
with	O
the	O
earlier	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
of	O
the	O
second	O
incarnation	O
slowed	O
and	O
by	O
2000	O
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
appeared	O
to	O
be	O
dead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
author	O
MeGALiTH	O
(	O
Adrian	O
Cable	O
)	O
passed	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
to	O
a	O
user	O
,	O
Mr2001	O
(	O
Jesse	O
McGrew	O
)	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
previously	O
contributed	O
some	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
who	O
had	O
secretly	O
been	O
developing	O
a	O
clone	B-General_Concept
called	O
Bisual	O
IRC	B-Protocol
(	O
BIRC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rather	O
than	O
restarting	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
'	O
98	O
code	O
base	O
,	O
he	O
merged	O
some	O
of	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
'	O
98	O
's	O
features	O
into	O
BIRC	O
and	O
released	O
it	O
as	O
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
2	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
2	I-Protocol
–	O
First	O
released	O
by	O
Mr2001	O
,	O
coincidentally	O
in	O
2001	O
,	O
this	O
version	O
's	O
Versus	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
is	O
based	O
on	O
ViRCScript	O
,	O
but	O
internally	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
almost	O
totally	O
rewritten	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
2	O
only	O
shares	O
a	O
few	O
hundred	O
lines	O
of	O
code	O
with	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
'	O
98	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
voice	O
and	O
video	O
conferencing	O
features	O
were	O
removed	O
in	O
this	O
version	O
because	O
the	O
libraries	B-Library
used	O
to	O
implement	O
them	O
were	O
no	O
longer	O
supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
to	O
BIRC	O
,	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
2	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
related	O
utilities	O
has	O
been	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
through	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
web	O
site	O
and	O
SourceForge	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versus	O
is	O
a	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
originally	O
developed	O
for	O
the	O
IRC	B-Protocol
client	O
Bisual	O
IRC	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
currently	O
used	O
with	O
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
similar	O
in	O
many	O
ways	O
to	O
the	O
scripting	B-Language
languages	I-Language
used	O
by	O
ircII	B-Protocol
and	O
mIRC	B-Language
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Tcl	B-Operating_System
and	O
C	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
"	O
Versus	O
"	O
was	O
chosen	O
because	O
it	O
could	O
be	O
shortened	O
to	O
"	O
VS	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
common	O
abbreviation	O
for	O
ViRCScript	O
,	O
the	O
language	O
used	O
by	O
Visual	B-Protocol
IRC	I-Protocol
'	O
96	O
through	O
'	O
98	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versus	O
remained	O
mostly	O
backward	B-General_Concept
compatible	I-General_Concept
with	O
ViRCScript	O
,	O
so	O
existing	O
documentation	O
and	O
commentary	O
that	O
mentioned	O
"	O
VS	O
"	O
remained	O
mostly	O
accurate	O
when	O
applied	O
to	O
Versus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
also	O
alluded	O
to	O
BIRC	O
's	O
origins	O
as	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Object	O
Versus	O
,	O
or	O
OVS	O
,	O
refers	O
to	O
the	O
object-oriented	B-Language
features	O
of	O
Versus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scripts	O
can	O
define	O
classes	O
and	O
work	O
with	O
objects	O
and	O
methods	O
instead	O
of	O
textual	O
data	O
and	O
aliases	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
in	O
practice	O
,	O
OVS	O
is	O
mostly	O
used	O
to	O
manipulate	O
the	O
VCL	B-Library
objects	O
that	O
make	O
up	O
ViRC	B-Protocol
's	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Classes	O
are	O
used	O
in	O
object-oriented	B-Language
scripting	O
(	O
OVS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
class	O
may	O
contain	O
properties	B-Language
,	O
methods	O
,	O
a	O
constructor	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
destructor	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Events	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
handle	O
messages	O
from	O
the	O
IRC	B-Protocol
server	B-Application
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
certain	O
system	O
-	O
or	O
client-level	O
occurrences	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
completing	O
a	O
file	O
transfer	O
or	O
opening	O
a	O
new	O
window	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Server	B-Application
events	O
use	O
regular	B-Language
expressions	I-Language
or	O
Versus	O
's	O
own	O
wildcard	B-Algorithm
characters	I-Algorithm
to	O
match	O
messages	O
from	O
the	O
server	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
multiple	O
server	B-Application
events	O
match	O
a	O
particular	O
message	O
,	O
only	O
the	O
one	O
with	O
the	O
highest	O
priority	O
(	O
calculated	O
from	O
the	O
length	O
of	O
the	O
pattern	O
and	O
the	O
relative	O
"	O
value	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
wildcards	B-Algorithm
therein	O
)	O
will	O
be	O
executed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aliases	O
,	O
methods	O
(	O
including	O
constructors	O
and	O
destructors	B-Language
)	O
,	O
events	O
,	O
menu	O
items	O
,	O
and	O
toolbar	O
items	O
are	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
routines	O
or	O
code	O
blocks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scripts	O
can	O
also	O
use	O
the	O
TStringList	O
VCL	B-Library
class	O
to	O
read	O
an	O
entire	O
text	O
file	O
into	O
memory	O
,	O
manipulate	O
it	O
,	O
and	O
save	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
local	O
variables	O
are	O
predefined	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
$C	O
for	O
the	O
current	O
channel	O
's	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Associative	B-Application
arrays	I-Application
map	O
keys	O
to	O
values	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Here	O
is	O
an	O
example	O
to	O
make	O
everyone	O
in	O
the	O
current	O
channel	O
an	O
operator	B-Protocol
:	O
</s>
