Disconnected pronoun bug

A disconnected pronoun bug is a programming error that can occur in IF games that use the switcheroo technique, replacing one object with a second similar object, but forgetting to reassociate the pronoun(s) referring to the first object with the second object.

For example, consider a game with a male burglar as an NPC, and then the PC kills the burglar. Some authors would code the living burglar and the subsequent corpse as two distinct game objects. When the PC kills the burglar, the program silently removes the living burglar from the location and puts the burglar's corpse in his place.

The bug occurs when the player tries to refer to corpse as "him" immediately after the switcheroo, such as with the pair of commands "KILL BURGLAR. EXAMINE HIM." If the game's author failed to reassign the pronoun "him" to the corpse, the game will think "him" refers to the living burglar, determine that that object is out of scope, and incorrectly complain that you cannot see the burglar here.

In Inform 6, this error can be fixed via the PronounNotice library function.

In Inform 7, use the set pronouns phrase; e.g.: set pronouns from the corpse.