Pixie's original code for typing blank spaces before a text message (like an indent):

<function name="Whitespaces" parameters="number" type="string"><![CDATA[
    game.command_successful = True
    text = ""
    for (x, 1, number) {
      text = text+ "&nbsp;"
    }
    return (text)
  ]]></function>

I pasted the code into the "code view" and it shows up fine as a new function named "Whitespaces". Problem is, how do you make this function work with a printed message? I tried calling the Whitespaces function, printing the message as an expression, etc., to no avail. Help!

Pixie's Function returns a given number of spaces/whitespaces (it's like a dynamic-sized 'tab' key), so you got to concatenate (literally means put togehter) this 'dynamic tab' with the message/text you want.

concepts:

Concatenation (only with strings can you do so):

"4" + "4" = "44"
"44" + "44" = "4444"
"44" + "44" + "44" = "444444"
"mama" + "mia" = "mamamia"
"mama" + " " + "mia" = "mama mia"
"mama " + "mia" = "mama mia"
"mama" + " mia" = "mama mia"
"mama" + "4" = "mama4"
"mama" + "4" + "mia" = "mama4mia"

"mama" + 4 = ERROR!

VS

Addition:

4 + 4 = 8
44 + 44 = 88
44 + 44 + 44 = 132

"mama" + 4 = ERROR!!
"4" + 4 = ERROR!

(though, I think quest, knows to / will automatically, parse a number into a string, so you won't have an error of doing: string + number/int-integer/double)

this is an example of how you'd do the catenation:

// in-code:

dynamic_tab_string_variable = Whitespaces (8) // I forgot whether a normal tab is 4 or 8 spaces, lol.
msg (dynamic_tab_string_variable + "blah blah blah")

// in GUI/Editor:

set variable dynamic_tab_string_variable = [EXPRESSION] Whitespaces (8)
print [EXPRESSION] dynamic_tab_string_variable + "blah blah blah"

-----

// output (the underscores represent spaces/whitespaces):

________blah blah blah

// --------------------------------------------

// P.S.

// you can put this 'dynamic tab' anywhere, it doesn't have to be at the beginning of your message:

// in-code:

dynamic_tab_string_variable = Whitespaces (8) // I forgot whether a normal tab is 4 or 8 spaces, lol.
msg ("blah blah blah" + dynamic_tab_string_variable + "blah blah blah")

// in GUI/Editor:

set variable dynamic_tab_string_variable = [EXPRESSION] Whitespaces (8)
print [EXPRESSION] "blah blah blah" + dynamic_tab_string_variable + "blah blah blah"

-------

output (underscores represent spaces/whitespaces):

blah blah blah________blah blah blah

// ----------

also, you can have your message be held by a VARIABLE of it's own too:

(in-code example only, too lazy to show via using GUI/Editor, you already/should know how to do it)

my_msg = "blah blah blah"
dynamic_tab_string_variable = Whitespaces (8)

msg (my_msg + dynamic_tab_string_variable + my_msg + dynamic_tab_string_variable + my_msg)

output: blah blah blah_______ blah blah blah_______blah blah blah

You can call it this way:

msg ("Hello" + Whitespaces(4) + "World")

By the way you can remove this line:

game.command_successful = True

All right, it worked. What I learned is that the last line:

return (text)

returns the function as a string value that I can just plug into a printed expression. Simple but very useful.

Now on to vastly more complicated issues! Thank you both for your quick responses!

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/elements/function.html

the 'type' signature/header option specifies that this function (now) must have a return value and that value's type must be what it is to be specified as by you: return's attribute/data type, for examples:

if you don't add/type in the 'type' signature/header option and its value (via in-code) and/or don't specify its type (via GUI/Editor), then your function has no return value, which is completely fine. Function's don't have to return a value.

-----------

<function name="return_string_concatenation_function" parameters="string_1_parameter, string_2_parameter" type="string">
  return (string_1_parameter + string_2_parameter)
</function>

// example scripting:
string_variable = return_string_concatenation_function ("water", "world")
msg (string_variable)
// output: waterworld

-------------

<function name="return_integer_addition_function" parameters="integer_1_parameter, integer_2_parameter" type="int">
  return (integer_1_parameter + integer_2_parameter)
</function>

// example scripting:
integer_variable = return_integer_addition_function (23, 45)
msg (integer_variable)
// output: 68

----------

you get the idea.... of how the 'type' header/signiature option works now... I hope...

Hello, I am fairly new to Quest and I quickly skimmed to reply so sorry if I my advice will be wrong/useless to you but,

as far as I understand you are trying to type blank spaces because pressing space five times will only result in ONE blank space.

Well, if you quickly press  ALT+0+1+6+1+0 it will create a special blank character that Quest won´t "ignore".
That´s all I know.