InfoTaskForce (ITF) is a combination Z-code interpreter and debugger
(which was presumably meant to be used to either hack Infocom games or
debug fan-made Z-machine games). Development of this
interpreter/debugger began in 1987 and continued through 1992, with
ports to several other platforms being made during that time. An
opening except from the README file lists a few of ITF's features:

> `
>  The InfoTaskForce Infocom Interpreter Version 4.01 Announcement
>  ===============================================================
>  Copyright (c) 1992 InfoTaskForce`
>
> `
>  Hello, Sailors!
>  `
>  InfoTaskForce is pleased to announce the release of version 4.01 of
> its popular Infocom datafile interpreter.
>  `
>  It features:
>  `
>
>   * Integrated Infocom Interpreter for Z-Code versions 1-5 (that's
> right: play anything from Zork to Trinity to Beyond Zork with the
> one program)
>   * Game debugging tools, including
>     * Object/Room tree listings
>     * Real-time object movement notification
>     * Real-time attribute change notification
>     * Vocabulary listings
>     * Header listings
>   * Documentation of Infocom datafile internals
>   * Extremely portable source code
>

>
> ````

* * *

There are currently two Mac ports of ITF available on this page that
were made by different programmers. Overall, neither of these Z-code
interpreters should ever be used to play Z-machine games, but as
debuggers, they each have some potentially useful features.


Download #1 is a 1992 Mac port of InfoTaskForce v4.01 by Ralf
Schlatterbeck. The interface is a GUI command-line interface, and
therefore a little harder to understand and learn.

The command-line-interface window has a wide variety of options,
regarding the source of the input and the destination of the output.
Input (for gameplay) can be either the default console window or a
text file (which is probably not a feature anyone would use). Output
(for either gameplay or debugging) can be either the default console
window, a file, both, or a printer. The one feature of this app that
is probably the most (potentially) useful is the ability to send the
output from the debugging commands to a text file for later
evaluation.

Included in the itf.apple folder is a README file that lists the
available commonds. Overall, they're all fairly straightforward and
shouldn't be hard to implement, especially if you've ever used a
command-line terminal.

However, managing the input and output of the InfoTaskForce command
isn't entirely straightforward. Firstly, due to the non-GUI method of
identifying filenames (and paths), unless you want to type in a fairly
complex Mac-filename path, the default location for files is the same
folder as the InfoTaskForce app. However, if an output file is chosen,
then the default location for the Z-code file is switched to the same
folder as the output file. Therefore, when using this app to dump
Z-code data into text files, you'll need to make sure the Z-code file
and the output files are in the same folder. If you're only using this
app to play a game (which is a very bad idea), the Z-code file should
be in the same folder as the app.

Speaking of which, I should warn you that the gameplay function of
this (and the other) port is extremely buggy, in many ways. The worst
of the bugs is that you get bombarded with repetitive clusters of
error messages after typing nearly every command.

Otherwise, this app still has tremendous value, as a means of
extracting most (if not all) of the data from a Z-code story file.
However, this app is not a ZIL game-development system, so even though
you can get your hands on the raw data, you can't use this app to edit
or (re-)build a story file.

Additionally, the text files mixed in with the app's source-code files
provide some fascinating technical information about the app and
Infocom interpreters in general.


Download #2 is a 1994 Mac re-port by Matthew T. Russotto, and is based
on the (previous) Mac port of v4.01 of the interpreter as released by
the InfoTaskForce.

This updated app has a user-friendly Mac-like GUI, but the player
function still just as buggy (if not worse). However, this app has an
Options menu with two settings that provide additional information
about attributes and object movements during gameplay (for debugging).
The Attributes setting dumps an excessive amount of information on the
screen after every command (and some of it appears to be repeated),
but the Transfer setting only adds notifications when objects change
location (which is actually an extremely useful notification when
background characters take and move objects).

Unfortunately, this user-friendly version of ITF lacks the ability to
dump data into text files, so its strengths lie in its ability to
easily toggle the two real-time monitoring functions and the fact that
it's much easier to use.


* * *

Be sure to visit [The Interactive Fiction Archive][1], which is a rich
source of information, games, and non-Macintosh downloads for
historical Interactive Fiction (text-adventure) games.


Compatibility
Architecture: 68k

Both of these apps are 68K-only, early-90s apps, so they're probably
fully compatible with System 7, and therefore also Mini vMac II and
Basilisk II. Beyond that, you'll have to experiment on your own to
determine if they're still functional in earlier or later OSs.

  [1]: https://www.ifarchive.org/index.html

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