+proc showinterval {howlong} {
+ if {$howlong <= 0} {
+ return {just now}
+ } elseif {$howlong < 1000} {
+ return "${howlong}s ago"
+ } else {
+ if {$howlong < 1000000} {
+ set pfx k
+ set scale 1000
+ } else {
+ set pfx M
+ set scale 1000000
+ }
+ set value [expr "$howlong.0 / $scale"]
+ foreach {min format} {100 %.0f 10 %.1f 1 %.2f} {
+ if {$value < $min} continue
+ return [format "$format${pfx}s ago" $value]
+ }
+ }
+}
+
+proc showtime {when} {
+ return [showinterval [expr {[clock seconds] - $when}]]
+}
+
+proc def_msgproc {name argl body} {
+ proc msg_$name "varbase $argl" "\
+ upvar #0 msg/\$varbase/dest d\n\
+ upvar #0 msg/\$varbase/str s\n\
+ upvar #0 msg/\$varbase/accum a\n\
+$body"
+}
+
+def_msgproc begin {dest str} {
+ set d $dest
+ set s $str
+ set a {}
+}
+
+def_msgproc append {str} {
+ set ns "$s$str"
+ if {[string length $s] && [string length $ns] > 65} {
+ msg__sendout $varbase
+ set s " [string trimleft $str]"
+ } else {
+ set s $ns
+ }
+}
+
+def_msgproc finish {} {
+ msg__sendout $varbase
+ unset s
+ unset d
+ return $a
+}
+
+def_msgproc _sendout {} {
+ lappend a [string trimright $s]
+ set s {}
+}
+
+proc looking_whenwhere {when where} {
+ set str [showtime [expr {$when-1}]]
+ if {[string length $where]} { append str " on $where" }
+ return $str
+}
+
+proc recordlastseen_n {n how here} {
+ global lastseen lookedfor