As shown in the DM Guide
The colon operator may be used as a short-cut when specifying a path in the DM code tree. Instead of specifying the full path, you can insert a colon and the compiler will search down in the tree with the node you specify. This is known as a "downward" search. You should only use it when the target node is unique.
The following example demonstrates the principle but it obviously doesn't save much typing!
Example:
world
mob = :player //short-cut to /mob/player
Numbered Steps to Reproduce Problem:
Compile the DM File included below.
Code Snippet (if applicable) to Reproduce Problem:
turf/grass
mob/player
world
turf= :grass
mob= :player
Expected Results:
A successful compilation.
Actual Results:
loading testworld.dme
testworld.dm:5:error::/grass:undefined type path
testworld.dm:6:error::/player:undefined type path
testworld.dmb - 2 errors, 0 warnings (double-click on an error to jump to it)
Does the problem occur:
Every time? Or how often? Yes
In other games? Yes
In other user accounts? Not Significant
On other computers? Yes
When does the problem NOT occur?
When manually typing the path.
Workarounds:
See: When does it NOT occur.