PCBoard 15.1 Demo

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4 ============================================================================== PCBoard Commands Entering Commands SysOp Commands User Commands When logged into PCBoard, you use commands to accomplish your tasks online. When you are reading messages or downloading files, you are simply executing the appropriate commands to accomplish these tasks. Most commands also have subcommands which is what you use to enter the message number to read, the file to download, etc. In other words, these subcommands allow you to be more specific about what you want to accomplish with the command that you are executing. You will enter commands at what is known as the conference command prompt which usually resembles the following examples: (39 min. left) Main Board Command? (112 min. left) Chatter (1) Conference Command? The first example shows you what the Main Board conference command prompt (conference 0) would look like. The second example shows you what the prompt would look like if you defined conference 1 to be called Chatter. When you enter a command at the conference prompt, PCBoard will execute it if possible. If additional information is required, an additional prompt will be displayed to you. It is at this prompt that you would normally enter the subcommands you wish to use. If you decided you wish to read messages and entered R at the conference command prompt, you would see something similar to the following prompt: (H)elp, (3262-8623), Message Read Command? PCBoard knows you want to read messages, but it has no clue as to what messages you want to read. By using the appropriate subcommands for the R user command, you will be able to select the messages that you wish to read. One of the major advantages to PCBoard is that you can save time by stacking commands and subcommands together. To stack commands and subcommands together you separate each by a space or a semicolon. For example, if you decide that you want to read the new messages in the current conference you could enter R;S at the command prompt and bypass the Message Read Command prompt. As you become more accustomed to PCBoard and the various commands that are available, you will find that stacking gives you the ability to navigate the system as quickly as possible. Throughout this chapter, all examples will make use of command stacking. This will help you become more familiar with the concept of stacking and how much time it can save you. SysOp Commands ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are several commands available from the main menu which are designed to help you, the SysOp, to do many common maintenance functions. Using these commands you can do these following tasks and more: View, print, search, and delete the callers logs Pack the current message base Change a user record Drop to DOS from remote The security level for these functions should be set high enough so that only authorized people will have access to the commands. To assign the security levels for these commands, use PCBSetup and select Security Levels | Sysop Functions. 1 Manage Caller Log This (Sysop) command enables you to manage the caller log that PCBoard creates for the current node . You can view, print, search, and delete the caller log. Subcommands D Delete caller log. This subcommand will delete the caller log for the current node. You may want to use this subcommand to periodically delete the caller log to prevent it from taking up too much disk space. WARNING: Once deleted, PCBoard cannot recover that caller log. P Print caller log. If you use this subcommand, the caller log for the current node will be displayed on the screen and also sent to the printer port that is defined in PCBSetup. S Search caller log for text. The more callers your system has the more difficult it will be to find the information you are looking for in the caller log. PCBoard provides search capabilities to allow you to search the log file for any text. You can do both a simple one word or one phrase search or you can do complex Boolean searches using the AND, OR, and NOT operators. For more information on Boolean searching please see Searching For Text in the Sysop's Guide chapter of this manual. If PCBoard finds a match when searching the caller log, the log entry for the entire call will then be displayed. The search text that was found will be highlighted for clarity. When PCBoard searches through the callers logs it does not try to match case. If you tell PCBoard to search for Jim Smith then any caller log that contains the text JIM SMITH would be a match. V View caller log. Using this subcommand you can view the caller log. The display starts with the most current caller. Description The callers log provides you with information about who has called your system, what node they called in on, highlights of what they did online, what date and time they called, etc. When you view the caller log, PCBoard will display the file to you in reverse order beginning with the last caller to the system. You will also want to periodically search the caller log because that is where any system error messages may be displayed. In addition, when a user attempts to access a command that is not available to them, that information is almost always written to the caller log. The caller log is simply a condensed history of what has taken place on the BBS. The 1 command enables you to not only view the information stored in the caller log but also to print and/or delete the caller log. Examples To view the current node's caller log on your display, type the following at the command prompt: 1 V You may want to regularly search your caller log for possible system errors. When executed from the command prompt, the following command will search for any caller log entry that contains the word FAIL or the word ERROR. 1 S FAIL | ERROR 2 View/Print User List Enables you to either view or print a list of users. Each user is listed on a separate line. Subcommands P Print user listing. When you use this subcommand, a list of users will be printed to the printer you have defined in PCBSetup. V View list of users. This subcommand will enable you to display a list of your users on the screen. Description The list that this command produces lists each user, their city, last call date, last call time, and total minutes used so far. All of this data is listed on one line. The users are listed in the order that they appear in the user file. The only time the SysOp information (user record #1) is displayed is if the user defined in that record is issuing the command. This means that if you use co-SysOps to help you maintain the system they will not be able to view any information about the main SysOp user record. 3 Pack/Renumber Messages This command enables you to pack the message base for the current conference. When you pack the message base you can eliminate messages in the current conference that are old, that are private and have been read, or those that have been marked for deletion. After executing this command, several questions will be asked to help determine the messages that should be packed. The following details each of the questions that will be asked. Pack the Message Base? This question is asked to confirm that you want to pack the message base. Valid responses are: N Do not pack the message base. Instead, return to the conference command prompt. Y Continue packing the message base. Additional questions will be asked that will determine what criteria you want to use for deleting messages (if any). Generate ONLY a New Index File? This question is asking if you want to only regenerate a new index file for the message base. Valid responses for this question are: N If you enter this response, additional questions will be asked to determine the criteria for deleting messages. Y If you enter this response, no other questions will be asked. Instead, PCBPack will be run immediately and create a new index for the conference. Creating a new index file is useful if you suspect that the current index may be corrupt for some reason. TIP: To accomplish this same task by executing PCBPACK yourself, use the /INDEX command line parameter. Purge older than This question asks you to enter the cutoff date for keeping messages. Any messages that are older than the date that you enter will be deleted from the message base. In the field provided, enter the cutoff date for keeping messages. The default date in this field is 010180 which will not delete messages by date. TIP: To accomplish this same task by executing PCBPACK yourself, use the /DATE command line parameter. Purge RECEIVED+PRIVATE Msgs? Messages that have been assigned RECEIVER ONLY message security are only useful to the receiver. Once the message has been read by this user, you may want to delete it from your message base. The question that you are asked will determine if these messages will be deleted or left in your message base to be packed out by other criteria. Valid responses are: N Leave any RECEIVER ONLY messages in the message base. To be deleted, they will have to meet other packing criteria. Y All RECEIVER ONLY messages that have been read will be deleted from the message base. TIP: To accomplish this same task by executing PCBPACK yourself, use the /PURGE command line parameter. Renumber during repack? This option is designed to allow you to renumber the message base if you exceed the 16,000,000 maximum message number limit. When renumbering your message base, PCBPack does NOT update the last message read values for your users. Therefore, if you renumber the message base without adjusting these values, your users may not be able to see new messages because their last message read value remains unchanged. Using System Manager, you can reset your user's last message read pointer to 0 to avoid this problem. Valid responses to this question are: N Do not renumber the message base -- message numbers will remain unchanged. Y The message base will be renumbered beginning with the number that you specify when prompted. When the message base is renumbered, the last message read values will not be updated. TIP: To accomplish this same task by executing PCBPACK yourself, use the /RENUMBER command line parameter. The Packing Process Once you have answered all of the questions, PCBoard will load and run PCBPack. When PCBPack is finished, control will be returned to BOARD.BAT. If you do not load PCBoard using BOARD.BAT, you will be left at the DOS prompt. 4 Recover a Killed Message This command enables you to recover a message that has been deleted or killed. A message that has been deleted cannot be recovered if the message base has been packed since the message was deleted. Subcommands [msg #] Message number to recover. The only subcommand that is supported is the message number. You need to type the message number that you wish to recover. If you type in the number of a message that does not exist you will be notified that the message does not exist. Description When a message is deleted from the message base via the Kill command it is only marked for deletion. You can recover any message that is marked for deletion and make it active again by using the 4 command. Of course, if the message has been physically deleted by packing the message base the message cannot be recovered. 5 List Message Headers This command will list message header information. The information pertaining to a message is listed on one line for easy viewing. Subcommands [beg. msg. #] Beginning message number. This is the message number that you wish to begin the scan with. The default scan direction is in the forward direction. If you wish to go in the reverse direction please see the - subcommand. + Scan in forward direction. When appended to the beginning message number you can set the direction in which PCBoard scans the message base. For example if you enter 762+ PCBoard will begin scanning at message number 762 in the forward direction. - Scan in reverse direction. When appended to the beginning message number you can set the direction in which PCBoard scans the message base. For example if you enter 3569- PCBoard will begin scanning at message number 3569 in the reverse direction. NOTE: PCBoard defaults to searching in the forward direction. A Scan selected conferences. Scans not only the current conference but also those conference which you have set for scanning via the SELECT command or the S conference flag in the users record. ALL Scan all conferences. Scans all conferences you are registered in even if you have not marked the conference for scanning. F Message from you. Only messages that are from you, the user currently online, will be displayed. L Begin with last message in message base. Sets the beginning message number to the last message in the message base. When you use this subcommand you may omit the beginning message number. NS Display in non-stop mode. The listing of messages will be displayed in non-stop mode. This means that there will be no more? prompts each time the screen becomes full. S Messages that you have not read yet. Searches only those messages that you have not read yet. TS Messages that contain particular text. This subcommand enables you to search for text in the message body, the TO: field, and the FROM: field. You can search for a word/phrase or you can use any Boolean search. For more information on searching for text please see Searching For Text in the SysOp's Guide chapter of this manual. USER Messages from a particular user. You may search the message header for a particular user. When PCBoard searches for a particular user it will search both the TO: and the FROM: fields in the message header. You must enter a full user name. Partial matches cannot be made with this command. Y Messages addressed to you. Only messages that are addressed to the user that is currently online will be listed. Description The 5 command can be used to quickly search message headers for information. This command will produce a list on the screen that shows such information as who the message is to and from as well as the subject of the message. The only difference between the 5 command and the Q command is that the former will display active messages and also those messages which have been marked for deletion. Format of the list The list that is produced by the format contains the following information: Sts. Displays the status of the message. An A indicates that the message is active while an I indicates that the message is inactive (marked for deletion). Msg #. The actual message number in the message base. Just before the message number is a status code that shows if the message has been read, etc. For a list of status codes please see the section titled Status Codes. Ref #. If the message is a reply, then this field will contain the message number which was replied to. To. Displays who the message is addressed to. Only the first 15 characters of the user name are displayed. From. Displays who the message is from. Only the first 15 characters of the user name are displayed. Subject. Displays the subject of the message. Only the first 25 characters of the subject are displayed. Status Codes Next to each message number is a status code. You can use these status codes to determine if the message has been read, if it has replies, etc. The following is a list of all valid message status codes: [blank] A message which can be read by anyone. * A private message to a specific person which has not been read by the person it was addressed to. + A private message which has been read by the person it was addressed to. - A message to a specific person, which was readable by anyone, which has been read by the person it was addressed to. ~ A comment to the SysOp which has not been read by the person defined as SysOp record #1. ` A comment to the SysOp which has been read by the person defined as SysOp record #1. % A message protected by sender password which has not been read. ^ A message protected by sender password which has been read. ! A message protected by group password which has not been read. # A message protected by group password which has been read. $ A message protected by group password which is addressed to ALL. Examples To display the header information for all messages in the current message base in reverse order you would issue the following at the command prompt: 5 L To search for all messages (beginning with the first message in the message base) either to or from a user named Wally Peterson you would issue the following at the command prompt: 5 USER WALLY PETERSON 1+ 6 View a File Enables any file to be displayed. Even if you are calling in from remote you can view any file. Subcommands [filename] The filename you wish to view online. This file may be any valid DOS filename. Description Sometimes you may want to view a file while you are online. This command will display any file in it's raw form making it primarily useful for viewing ASCII files. With this command, you could view batch files, display screens, or any other text file. This command is most useful when used from remote because you can quickly view a file on screen without having to do a remote drop to DOS. Example If you want to display C:\PCB\BOARD.BAT, type following at the command prompt. 6 C:\PCB\BOARD.BAT 7 User Maintenance Enables you to modify any user record. You can adjust security levels, conference registrations, and more. Subcommands [record #] User record number. Displays the user record number you type. If you wish to view record number 10 you would type 10. A Add a user. Using this subcommand you may add a user to your users file. You will be asked to provide the basic information to create the record such as a password, security level, etc. If you attempt to create a record for a user that already exists you will be informed that they already have a record on the system. If this happens you may want to use the F subcommand to help you locate that record so you can make the appropriate changes. C Change current user record. When you use this subcommand you can make changes to the key fields of the user record (e.g., security level, expiration date, city). The user record that is currently selected is the one that will be edited. D Delete current user record. Marks the current user record for deletion. You will first be asked to confirm the deletion. If you proceed to delete the record then the security level will be changed to 0 and the deleted flag will be set to Y. You can tell if a user record is marked for deletion by looking for a DL: on the display. If there is a Y next to it then the user has been marked for deletion. Otherwise there should be a N and the user has not been marked for deletion. NOTE: The user will not be physically be removed from the user file until you pack the users file. F Find a user. When you select this subcommand you are asked for the name to search for. The user file will be searched for the name you supply - partial names will not match. If the name is found then their user file will be displayed and you can use any other subcommand like C or D to modify the record. L List all user records. Displays the user records beginning with the first user record all of the way to the end. The format for the output is the same as if you were to select one individual record. NOTE: Any user records that have a security level higher than the current user will not be displayed in the list. P Print all user records. Displays the same information as the L subcommand but sends it to the defined printer instead. Q Quit. Quits the user record editor and returns you to the command prompt. S Search user records for text. This subcommand enables you to search the user records for specific text. PCBoard will search all ASCII text inside of the user file. This means fields such as user id, address, phone numbers, password, city, and the two comment fields will be searched. U Undelete a user record. If there is a user record that has been marked for deletion you can use this subcommand to undelete the user. If you do, you will need to manually change the user security level and expired security level because they were originally changed when the user record was deleted. You can use System Manager to make the appropriate changes. NOTE: Any changes made to a user record (e.g., changes in security level, city) while the user is on line will not take affect until the next time the user calls in. For immediate changes to a user record, please refer to the SysOp function keys in the PCBoard chapter of this manual. Description PCBoard gives you easy access to the user records while you are online either locally or remote. You can do such things as adding users, deleting users, editing user records, etc. For security purposes, PCBoard will not allow you to see information about those users who have a security level higher than your own. This enables you to have co-SysOps without enabling them to see the passwords and other sensitive information about users with higher security levels. Format of Record Display When a user record is displayed on the screen, it is shown in the following format: 1: BOB SYSOP ANYCITY, ANYPLACE P/W:*ANYPASSWORD D: 999-999-9999 V: 999-999-9999 LD: 06-24-93 LT: 10:15 EX:Y PR: G Sec: 250 E/Sec: 250 TO: 13 PL: 23 UP: 32 DN: 57 ET: 0 DL:N E/Date: 00-00-00 D/D: 90543 T/D: 3463463 T/U: 346246 C1: C2: ALIAS: WARLOCK WILLY ST#1: 100 Elm Street ST#2: Apartment #32 CSZC: Jackson, TN 38325 UNITED STATES NOTE: ********************* Comment Field #1 ******************** NOTE: ********************* Comment Field #2 ******************** NOTE: ********************* Comment Field #3 ******************** NOTE: ********************* Comment Field #4 ******************** NOTE: ********************* Comment Field #5 ******************** VERIFY: 1001 WAYS TO USE CLIPS The first line of each record displays the user's record number, name, city, and password. The following discusses the rest of the items you will find in each record: D: Data phone number V: Voice phone number LD: Last date the user called the system LT: Last time the user called the system EX: Expert user status PR: Default protocol letter Sec: Security level E/Sec: Expired security level TO: Number of times the user has called the system PL: Page length setting UP: Number of files uploaded DN: Number of files downloaded ET: Number of minutes spent on the last day the user called the system DL: Whether or not the user is marked for deletion. E/Date: Expiration date of the user. D/D: Total number of bytes downloaded today. T/D: Total number of bytes downloaded from the system. T/U: Total number of bytes uploaded to the system. C1: Comment1 field. C2: Comment2 field. The rest of the fields shown on this display will only be shown if you have installed the appropriate PSA. For example, the ALIAS line will only be displayed, if you have installed the Alias PSA (System Manager | Users Info File Maintenance | Install PCBoard Supported Allocation). ALIAS: The name the user has selected as their alias ST#1: First address line ST#2: Second address line CSZC: City, state, zip, and country fields. NOTE: The five lines provided by the notes PSA VERIFY: The information the user has entered for verification purposes. Locating a User to Edit You can use the S and F subcommands to help you locate the user you wish to edit. If you use the F subcommand, you must know the full user name to search for. Unless a perfect match is found then no record will be displayed. Alternatively you may use the S subcommand if you wish to search for text or you do not know the full name. Any dates you wish to search for must be in YYMMDD format because that is the way they are stored in the user file. Examples If you wish to search for AMY SEXTON's user record you would type the following at the command prompt: 7 F AMY SEXTON If you wish to locate all users who potentially call from Cassidy, WY then you would type the following at the command prompt: 7 S CASSIDY, WY 8 Pack User File The user defined as record #1 in the user file can use this command to pack the user file while other users are online. When you pack the user file, you can eliminate users who have not called for a while or that have been marked to be deleted. After executing this command, several questions will be asked to help determine the users that should be packed. The following details each of the questions that will be asked. Pack the user file? This question is asked to confirm that you want to pack the user file. Valid responses are: N Do not pack the user file. Instead, return to the conference command prompt. Y Continue packing the user file. Additional questions will be asked that will determine what criteria you want to use for deleting users (if any). Keep 'Locked Out' users? Locked out users are those that have a security level of 0 but have not been marked for deletion. Your response to this question will determine whether these users will be deleted. Valid responses are: N Locked out users will be deleted from the user file. Since the locked out records will be removed, the users will no longer be prevented from logging in under the name that was previous locked out. Y Locked out users records will remain in the user file. This will prevent these users from logging into the system again. Purge older than Your response to this question will determine the cutoff date for deleting inactive users from the user file. The default date is 010180 implying that no users will be removed for inactivity. For example, if you want to delete all users who have not called since April 1st, 1994, you would enter 040194 in this field. Keep whose security => Quite often it is desirable to exempt users of a certain security level or higher from being packed out of the user file. The default security level is 100 which prevents anyone of this security level or higher from being deleted when the user file is packed. 9 Remote Drop to DOS Enables you to drop to DOS from remote. Once in DOS you can run standard DOS commands or other DOS applications. Subcommands Y Yes. Normally when you select the 9 command and then press ENTER you will be asked to confirm the drop to DOS. If you wish to bypass this confirmation you may use the Y subcommand. Description Inevitably there will be a time when you are calling into your system from remote and realize that you need to drop to DOS and do a little maintenance. When you incur a situation like this, you realize just how handy the 9 command is to have around. With this command you can drop to DOS and run other programs. PCBoard allows maximum flexibility by running a batch file called REMOTE.SYS to drop you to DOS. Setting Up REMOTE.SYS For the most reliable remote DOS access, you need to use a third-party program. This program should be able to redirect your screen displays. At the very least, it should be able to handle all text mode applications. DOORWAY is a program written by Tri-Mark Engineering that will handle just about any 80x25 text mode program. It will redirect the text mode screen to the remote user using the popular ANSI escape codes. A sample REMOTE.SYS using DOORWAY might look like this: set box=no doorway com1 /s:.\ /v:d^O /o: /k:v0 /c:dos set box= c: cd \pcb board Two things should be noted about the above example. If you are using a serial port other than COM1 then you will have to make the appropriate change to reference the port you are using. In addition, the last two lines of this example return you back to your PCBoard subdirectory and then execute BOARD.BAT to reload PCBoard. It is essential that you return back to your PCBoard subdirectory before you execute BOARD.BAT. Verify that you change to the appropriate drive and subdirectory. Using Function And Alt Keys When you drop to DOS, you may load one of your maintenance programs such as PCBFiler or PCBSetup. Most likely your communications program will intercept all of the cursor movement and function keys. Check your communications program to see if it supports what most call DOORWAY mode. This mode in communications programs will allow them to pass the cursor key movements and function keys to the remote system. 10 Execute DOS Command This command enables you to execute DOS commands directly from the PCBoard command prompt. Description When this command is executed you are asked for the command you would like to execute. Once you type in the command, PCBoard will shell to DOS and execute the command you issue. How much memory is available when shelled out? The amount of memory that will be available depends on your answer to Swap Out During Shell in PCBSetup | Configuration Options | Switches. A Y means that you will have slightly less memory available to you than you had when you loaded BOARD.BAT. An answer of N means that you will have slightly less then the free memory shown on the status line. Please keep in mind your memory restrictions because if you run an application and there is not enough memory available, you will return back to PCBoard without the command executing. What programs can be run? When you are on locally, you can run any application assuming you do not run into any memory restrictions. When you are executing this command from remote, however, there are some items you must take into consideration. If the command you execute from remote requires any interaction or input from the keyboard, you will not be able to execute these programs using the 10 command. The reason you cannot use these programs is that you are logged in remotely and have no control over the BBS's keyboard. If you attempt to run one of these programs, that node on your system will appear to hang. What really happened is PCBoard executed the program and then ran into a situation that required keyboard input. PCBoard waits until the program is finished before returning which means the node will be stuck until it can be fixed. If you need to run an application that requires user interaction or input from the keyboard you should use the 9 command instead. 11 View Users Currently Online Enables you to view a list of all of the active nodes, who is online, and what they are currently doing on the BBS. Description On multinode systems this command displays the name and location of users that are currently online on all of the nodes in the system. This display also shows what the user is currently doing on the system. Status Messages The display of all active nodes has a Status column. This column displays a brief description of what the user is currently doing online. A list of status messages follows: Auto Logoff Pending No Caller this Node Available for CHAT Out of Code in DOOR CHAT Request Sent Paging the Sysop CHATTING with Group Run/Answer Script DOS Recycle Pending Running Event Dropt to DOS Pending Transferring a File Drop to DOS - Urgent Unavailable for CHAT Logging into System As you can see, you can obtain a significant amount of detail about what each user is doing online from executing the 11 command. Additional Information Since the 11 command is a SysOp command, you will also have additional information available to you. The following shows the status messages that will show additional information when you use this command: Transferring a File When a user is transferring a file, PCBoard will display as much information as it can. Internal protocols, by their very nature, update after each file. If PCBoard knows enough about the file transfer, it will display if a transfer is an (U)pload or a (D)ownload, the filename that is being transferred, the protocol letter used, the size of the file being transferred, and finally the estimated time of transfer. The line underneath the user's name may resemble the following: (D) PCBMULT.ZIP (G) 44,573 - 0.6 This tells you that the user is downloading a file called PCBMULT.ZIP using protocol letter G and that the file is 44,573 bytes which will take approximately .6 minutes or about 36 seconds to transfer. (U) TESTSLC.ZIP (G) 141,042 - 1.6 This entry shows that the user is uploading a file called TESTSLC.ZIP using protocol letter G. The size of the file is 141,042 bytes and will take about 1.6 minutes or 1 minute 36 seconds to upload. (U) ... (Z) ... This simply shows that the user is uploading using the protocol defined by the letter Z, but the filename and transfer information could not be determined because the protocol is external. PCBoard updates this information at various times. The following details when internal and external protocols update the information for this display: Internal Protocols Internal protocols, by their very nature, know how to update PCBoard. As each file is transferred, the display will be updated to show the current status. The only exception is if a user is using an internal non-batch protocol to upload a file. In this case, you will only see that the user is uploading a file and what protocol they are using. External protocols External protocols do not update nearly as often simply because they do not know what to update since most are not PCBoard specific. PCBoard does its best on downloads by showing the last file that will be transferred. On uploads, you will simply see that someone is uploading a file and what protocol they are using. You will not know what file they are uploading. NOTE: If a user is viewing the contents of a file, PCBoard will show the name of the file they are viewing below their user name. The format that the filename is displayed in is the following: F V FILENAME.EXT Entering a Message When a user is entering a message, you will be shown what conference they are in, followed by who the message is being addressed to. For example, if the user was in conference 9 and entering a message to JOHN SMITH then you would see the following under the user's name: (9) => JOHN SMITH Run/Answer Script If a user is completing a script, you will see the conference and the script number they are completing listed underneath their name. For example, if a user was in conference #1 and filling out script #2, you would see the following under the user's name: (1) => #2 If you have a script questionnaire which is a PPE file, the filename of the PPE will be displayed. For example: C:\PCB\GEN\SCRIPT2.PPE Running Event When an event is running on a node, PCBoard will update the display of the nodes to show the event number and event name that is currently running. The format for the display is: #1 -> DAILY This example shows the display if event #1 is executing and the event BATCH file is called DAILY. Example If you execute the 11 command you might see a display which looked like this: (#) Status User --- --------------------- ----------------------------- 1 Transferring a File STEWART OGDEN (HIGHLAND, KS) (D) PCBMULT.ZIP (G) 44,573 - 0.6 2 Run/Answer Script FRED KORKLEWSKI (ALBURY HEIGHTS, NV) (1) => #2 3 Entering a Message BILLY CRUMP (GREENMEADOW, NV) (9) => JOHN SMITH 4 No Caller this Node 5 No Caller this Node 6 No Caller this Node 7 Transferring a File WINIFRED NEIDERHAUSER (SAN SIMEON, NE) (U) ... (Z) ... 10 No Caller this Node 11 No Caller this Node 12 Logoff Alternate Node Enables you to immediately logoff a user that is currently online. Subcommands [node #] Node number. The node number you wish to logoff. The user is displayed a message which informs them that an automatic logoff has been initiated. Description Sometimes you may need or want to logoff a user that is currently on another node. PCBoard provides a SysOp command that enables you to do this. When you issue this command you must supply the node number that you wish to log off. Once you type in a valid node number the user will be logged off of the system NOTE: If the user is currently in a third party application, such as a door, they will not be logged out of the system until they return back to PCBoard. Likewise, the user will be allowed to finished any file transfers before they are logged off of the system. 13 View Node Caller Log Enables you to view other node's caller logs from any other node. You may search or view any or all node's caller logs. Subcommands [node #] Node number. The node number you wish to view or A to view all nodes. If you enter a node number that does not have a caller log then an error message will be written to the caller log notifying you that the caller log for the node specified does not exist. In addition, entering a number which exceeds the number of nodes in your software license will re-display a list of who is currently online so that you can pick a valid node. A All caller logs. Specifies that all node log files should be used not just an individual node. This subcommand is most useful when used in a search using the S subcommand. S Search for text. The more callers your system has the more difficult it will be to find the information you are looking for in the various caller logs. PCBoard provides capabilities for you to search the log file for any text. You can do a simple one word, one phrase, or a complex Boolean search using the AND, OR and NOT operators. For more information on Boolean searching please see Searching For Text in the Sysop's Guide chapter of this manual. If PCBoard finds a match when searching the caller log, the log entry for the entire call will then be displayed. The search text that was found will be highlighted for clarity. When PCBoard searches through the caller logs it does not try to match case. If you tell PCBoard to search for Jim Smith then any caller log that contains the text JIM SMITH would be a match. Description The caller logs provide you with information about who has called your system, what node they called in on, highlights of what they did online, what date and time they called, etc. When you view the caller log PCBoard will display the file to you in reverse order beginning with the last caller to the system. You will want to periodically search the caller log because that is where any system error messages are recorded. In addition, when a user attempts to access a command that is not available to them, that information is written to the caller log. Examples To view node 5's caller log you would type the following at the command prompt: 13 5 You may want to regularly search all of your caller logs for possible system errors. When executed from the command prompt, the following command will search for any caller log entry on any node that contains the word FAIL or the word ERROR. 13 A S FAIL | ERROR 14 Drop Node to DOS Enables you to drop another node to the DOS prompt from any other node. Subcommands [Node #] Node number. The node number you wish to drop to DOS. Description This command will drop any active node to a DOS prompt. You are asked if you wish to have the node drop to DOS after the caller logs off, or if you wish to immediately drop that node to DOS. In order to drop to DOS immediately, PCBoard must be in control. If the user is shelled out to an external protocol or running a door, the node will not be dropped to DOS until PCBoard regains control. 15 Recycle Node This command will mark the node number that you specify to be recycled. When recycling the node, you can execute a batch file to perform any necessary processes (e.g., updating files) in BOARD.BAT. Subcommand [node] Node number to recycle. This value represents the node number that will be recycled. Description When a node is recycled, PCBoard exits with an errorlevel of 6 and then continues executing BOARD.BAT. You can use this recycle to run a batch file that would update necessary system files or whatever is needed. Simply add a line to BOARD.BAT that checks for an errorlevel of 6. If an errorlevel of 6 is detected, run the appropriate batch file. The following might resemble your new BOARD.BAT file: @echo off c: cd\pcb set pcb= set dszlog=pcbdsz.log if exist remote.bat rename remote.bat remote.sys if exist door.bat del door.bat if exist endpcb del endpcb pcboard if exist remote.bat remote if exist door.bat door if exist endpcb goto end if errorlevel == 6 call c:\update.bat board :end In this example, C:\UPDATE.BAT would be executed if the node is marked for recycling. Because the call statement is used, DOS will return control back to BOARD.BAT which will execute the next line which consequently reloads PCBoard. The system is ready for callers again and the batch file updated any necessary files. NOTE: A node can also be marked for recycling by pressing ALT-R while a user is online. BR Broadcast Message to Any Node Enables you to send a brief message to any node number. You can use this command to notify users that you are about to shut down the system or just to say hello. Subcommands [node #] Node number. This can be any active node number. You may also type ALL in place of the node number to broadcast the message to all active nodes. [message] Message to send to another node. Any text up to 48 characters in length. Text is displayed in all capital letters and punctuation is omitted. Description Allows any user with SysOp security to display a message to any or all active nodes. This command is useful to notify users that the system may be going down, or if you wish to have all users log off of the system. When the message is displayed to the user it will also send a beep to help get the user's attention. NOTE: All subcommands must be placed on the command line. If you type BR and press enter then you will be returned back to the command prompt and no action will have taken place. If a user is not in PCBoard (e.g., the user is currently in a DOOR) then the user will not see the message because they were not in PCBoard at the time the broadcast message was sent. Examples To broadcast a message to node 1 which says PLEASE LOG OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE you would type: BR 1 PLEASE LOG OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE To broadcast a message to all active nodes which notifies the users that you would like them to log off of the system you would type the following at the command prompt: BR ALL PLEASE LOG OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE User Commands ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ While you are logged into the bulletin board system, you can issue several commands. These commands allow you to read mail, transfer files, read bulletins, and much more. Each command can be assigned a minimum security level which is required to execute a particular command. For more information on assigning security levels to user commands please see the Security Levels section in the PCBSetup chapter of this manual. ! Re-Display Last Command This command will re-display the last command that you entered that was at least five characters in length. Description Sometimes you may want to re-display the last command that you entered so that you can execute it again. From the Conference Command prompt, you can use this command to re-display the last command that you executed that was at least five characters in length. In the long run, this could save you a lot of typing. This command is almost identical to pressing 3 while at a DOS prompt. A Abandon Conference Abandons the current conference and returns back to the Main Board conference (a.k.a. Conference #0). Description On some bulletin board systems, the majority of activity takes place in the Main Board (otherwise known as conference #0). A conference enables you to go to another area of the bulletin board which may focus on a particular topic or subject. The Abandon conference command enables you to quickly exit a conference you have joined and to return back to the Main Board. Alternatively, you may return to the Main Board by issuing either of the following commands: J 0 J MAIN ALIAS Alias Name Usage This command allows you to turn your alias on or off when in a conference which allows aliases to be used. Subcommands ON Use your alias. Your alias will be active. OFF Use your real name. Even though you are in a conference where aliases are allowed, your real name will be used. Description When you are in a conference that allows aliases, this command enables you to decide when your alias will be active. When you enter this command with no subcommands, the status of using your alias will toggle. If your alias is active and you execute this command with no subcommands, you will switch to using your real name. When you switch, PCBoard will attempt to hide the change by making it appear that someone is logging into the node. This command will have no effect if you attempt to use it in a conference where aliases are not allowed, or if the Alias PSA is not installed. Examples This example will show you what to enter if you want to toggle the status of your alias from either on to off or from off to on: ALIAS To turn usage of your alias on, enter: ALIAS ON B Bulletins Bulletins could display information like rules for the bulletin board system, how to gain additional access, or additional information. Subcommands [bulletin #] Bulletin number. This is the bulletin number you wish to view. You may list several bulletin numbers separated by a SPACE or a ;. A All bulletins. If you wish to view all bulletins instead of manually entering the numbers, use this subcommand. Using this subcommand will cause PCBoard to either view all bulletins, or if you are using the S subcommand, all bulletins will be searched. D Download bulletins. Allows you to download a bulletin rather than viewing it online. N New bulletins. Display only new/updated bulletins since the last time you called. At login, you will automatically be notified of which bulletin numbers are new or have been updated. NS Display in non-stop mode. When a bulletin is displayed, this subcommand will make it so that there are no more? prompts displayed. This might be useful when manually capturing to a file. If you do not use the NS subcommand, you may also type NS at any more? prompt. R Re-display menu. Will cause the main bulletin menu to display again. This subcommand is most useful when issued immediately after you have viewed a bulletin. That way you can see the menu again and select another bulletin to view. S Search bulletins for text. This subcommand allows you to search a bulletin for text. Any time the search text is found it will be highlighted on the display. You may do a simple one word or one phrase search, or a complex Boolean search using the AND, OR, and NOT operators. For more information on text searching please see Searching For Text in the SysOp's Guide chapter of this manual. Description A bulletin is basically a text file that may be viewed online. A bulletin usually contains important information for the callers. It may also be used to list sales reports, or just about any other text file you wish to display online. PCBoard enhances bulletins by allowing you to download and search the bulletins. Using the subcommands described above, you can control not only which bulletins you view but also what parts of the bulletins you actually view. Examples To download bulletins 1, 8, and 15 on the system, enter the following at the conference command prompt: B 1 8 15 D To view bulletins 6, 12, 15, and 30, enter the following at the conference command prompt: B 6 12 15 30 Searching bulletins can be a real time saver. To search all of the bulletins in the current conference for the word subscription, enter the following at the conference command prompt: B A S subscription When logging into the system, you will be notified if any bulletins have been updated. These bulletins can be viewed by using the N subcommand. At the conference command prompt, enter: B A N CHAT Group Chat This command allows you to chat interactively with one or more users that are currently on the bulletin board system. Subcommands A Available for chat. By default, you are available for chat when you log into the bulletin board system. If you have made yourself unavailable for chat, you may make yourself available for chat again by using this subcommand. When you logoff, your chat status will be used on your next call as well. G Enter group chat. Use this subcommand to begin chatting with other users on the system. U Unavailable for chat. When you use this subcommand, you make yourself unavailable for chat. This means that other callers will not be able to call you into group chat. When you logoff, your chat status will be used on your next call as well. Description Node chat allows 2 or more people to communicate with each other across separate nodes of the BBS. When you are in chat, you may select any of the available 255 channels to chat with other users. If another user is available for chat you may request that they chat with you. Entering Chat Mode When you execute the CHAT command and then select G for group chat you will be put into group chat mode. PCBoard begins by asking you the channel you would like to use for chatting. If you compare this to a CB, you can pick any of 255 channels to chat on. Each channel could be talking about different subjects. To get a list of the currently active channels, you can press L at this prompt. Next, depending on the system configuration, you are asked is the handle you would like to go by while you are in chat. This will default to your first name, but you can change this to any name you wish. When text is displayed by you, it will have a banner showing what node number you are and your handle. NOTE: If you were notified that someone wanted to chat with you, then the default channel number will be the channel that the other user called you from. After you select a channel to chat on, you will be in chat mode. If you need help with the commands available in chat, press H at the Chat Command prompt. If you press R, you will enter into Chat Mode with the other callers on the system. Pressing ESC will bring back the Chat Command prompt. Chatting With Other Users Once you are in a channel you may begin typing. Anyone else in that channel will see what you type as you type it. However, only one person has the focus. The focus is used so that only one person can be typing while others, if they do type, do not interrupt. However, you may type up to one line ahead when you do not have the focus. Once you have the focus, any text that you have typed will be sent out and you can continue to type because you have the focus. The only way you can lose the focus once you have it is by being inactive. If you are on the first character of a line, after two seconds of not typing, you will give up the focus to someone else in the channel so that they may type. Anywhere else on the screen (such as the middle of the screen) you can be inactive for 10 seconds before the focus will be given to someone else. While you are chatting, you can press ESC to access the chat mode commands. These additional chat mode commands allow you to call other users into chat, make discussions private, etc. The following section details these commands. Commands Available While In Chat CALL Call a user to chat. This command lets you invite other users into your chat session. These users may already be in group chat, or they may be out in the main part of the BBS. As long as the user has not made himself unavailable and is not busy performing other tasks, you may issue a CALL command to request the caller to chat. It should be understood that the caller may ignore your offer to chat if they so wish. CHAN Change channels. A Channel is a separate group of people or topic of conversation. There are 255 channels available. Use the SHOW command to see what conversations, by topic, are currently taking place and who is involved in each. The MONITOR command will let you listen in on all non-private channels to help you decide which conversations you might wish to join. ECHO Enable echo mode. By default, echo mode is turned on. If you used the NOECHO command, then you may turn on echo mode again, by using this command. G Goodbye. See the G user command. HANDLE Change your handle. A handle simply allows you to identify yourself without requiring that your entire name be used. A handle does not hide your identity (as seen by a WHO command in PCBoard) but merely provides you the ability to be known by another name while in chat. IGNORE Ignore input from one or more nodes. The IGNORE command allows you to ignore the input coming from one or more nodes. If a caller in your channel is becoming a nuisance, that caller can be ignored. However, ultimately the better solution would be to switch to another channel and make it private. MENU Display menu for chat commands. You may display the menu of chat commands at any time by using this command. It works even if you are in expert mode. MON Toggle the monitoring of public channels. This command will allow you to toggle monitoring of public channels. If you turn monitor mode on then you will be seeing all chat that is occurring in all public channels. If you do not want to monitor all public channels, enter the channels that you do want to monitor when prompted. NOECHO Disable echo mode. The NOECHO command allows you to disable the input echoing that normally occurs. With echoing enabled, your system must be capable of handling ANSI cursor position commands and even then you are limited to ONE line of text that can be typed ahead while another caller is typing. With echoing disabled, ANSI is no longer required and since a local split screen is used, none of the text is transmitted until you press enter so you may type more than a single line of text while others are typing. Use the ECHO command to re-enable echoing. PRIV Make discussion private. A Private Discussion prevents others not already in the channel from monitoring or joining. Use this command to make the channel that you are in private. If you want to make the current channel public, you would use the PUBLIC command. Channel #1 can never be made private which leaves it open for newcomers to the chat. NOTE: The CALL command is the ONLY way that someone outside of a Private Discussion can join. Once you CALL the user, they may join the private discussion. PUBlic Make discussion public. An Open Discussion is one in which others may freely join. During the course of an open discussion you may notice other callers joining in. An announcement of each arrival or departure is made to let you know who is in chat. The SILENT command can be used to turn these announcements off. Q Exit chat mode. Exits you out of chat mode back to the main part of the bulletin board system. SEND Send a private message. This command can be used to privately send a one line message to another caller that is already in group chat. You are asked for the node number that you want to send the message to. The caller that you send the private message to needs to be in chat mode but does not have to be in the same channel as yourself. SHOW Show users currently chatting. This command will show you all active channels, what users are in each channel, and what the topic of discussion is. SILENT Toggle silent mode. If you wish to ignore the system messages which tell you which users have joined or left the channel, you would toggle silent mode on using this command. By default, silent mode is off. TOPIC Change current topic. Each channel can have a topic or title. You can change the topic of the current channel by using this command. WHO Show who is currently on-line. See the W user command. X Toggle expert mode. See the X user command. Sysop Commands Available While In Chat A few of the SysOp commands that are available while in the main part of the bulletin board system are also available to SysOps while they are in chat mode. You can enter the following SysOp commands while in chat mode: 7 View/edit user records. 11 View status of nodes. 12 Logoff alternate node. 13 View alternate node's caller log. 14 Drop alternate node to DOS. For more detailed information on these commands, see the detailed descriptions in the SysOp commands portion of this manual. C Comment To The Sysop Enables you to leave a message to the SysOp. The message is addressed to SysOp and is always a private message. Description When you have a question about the system, you will want to leave a message to the SysOp. PCBoard provides a command to enter a message to the SysOp without worrying who the message should be addressed to. Before the messages is entered, you will be asked to confirm that you wish to leave a comment to the SysOp. If you answer with a Y, you will be taken directly into the message editor. When you save the message it will be placed into the current conference unless you have answered Y to the Force COMMENTS-to-the-Sysop into Main field in PCBSetup | Configuration Options | Messages. D Download A File Allows you to download or transfer a file from the bulletin board system to your computer system. Subcommands [filename] The filename that will be transferred. For batch transfers, multiple filenames may be entered on the same line if separated by a SPACE or a ;. In addition, when selecting files to transfer the DOS wildcard characters (* and ?) can be used to select groups of files. If you do not type in the filename extension, PCBoard will search the files online to see if there is a match. See the examples that follow for more details. [protocol] In order to transfer a file, you must use a file transfer protocol. You may set any protocol as the default protocol. If you wish to temporarily use another protocol for a particular transfer, pass the temporary protocol letter with the D command. To obtain a list of protocol letters, use the T user command. NOTE: The protocol letter may also be entered when PCBoard asks for the filename to download. The only protocol that cannot be selected in this manner is the H protocol, as it would display online help instead. The preferred method is to pass the protocol letter with the D command. BYE This subcommand will cause you to be logged off of the bulletin board once the file transfer is complete. You are given 10 seconds to abort the automatic logoff. GB This subcommand will cause you to be logged off of the bulletin board once the file transfer is complete. You are given 10 seconds to abort the automatic logoff. Description One of the most popular activities on a bulletin board is the transferring of files. Downloading refers to you receiving a file from the bulletin board system. In order to transfer a file, you must select a protocol to transfer via the Transfer protocol command. If you select N (for no default) protocol, PCBoard will prompt for the protocol to use on each file transfer. Once the files have been selected for download, PCBoard will be ready to begin the transfer. When PCBoard notifies you that the file transfer is ready to begin, use your communications software to begin the download. Normally this is done by pressing d on the remote keyboard and selecting the same protocol as the bulletin board is using. Examples To download a file called TEXTEDIT.ZIP, the user could issue the following: D TEXTEDIT.ZIP To download NEWUTIL.ZIP and ISD320.ZIP using the G protocol letter, you would enter: D NEWUTIL.ZIP ISD320.ZIP G To download NEWUTIL.ZIP and immediately disconnect once the file transfer is complete, enter: D NEWUTIL.ZIP BYE DB Download Batch Like the Download command, this command allows you to transfer files from the bulletin board system to your machine. This command however, assumes that the file transfer will consist of multiple files (otherwise known as a batch transfer). Subcommands [filenames] You may enter multiple filenames on the same line or you may enter a single filename to download on each line. The list of files to download will be considered complete when ENTER is pressed at a Enter the filename to Download (Enter)=none? prompt. [protocol] In order to transfer a file, you must use a file transfer protocol. You may set any protocol as the default protocol. If you wish to temporarily use another protocol for a particular transfer, pass the protocol letter with the D command. To obtain a list of protocol letters, use the T user command. NOTE: The protocol letter may also be entered when PCBoard asks for the filename to download. The only protocol that cannot be selected in this manner is the H protocol, as it would display online help instead. The preferred method is to pass the protocol letter with the D command. BYE This subcommand will cause you to be logged off of the bulletin board once the file transfer is complete. You are given 10 seconds to abort the automatic logoff. GB This subcommand will cause you to be logged off of the bulletin board once the file transfer is complete. You are given 10 seconds to abort the automatic logoff. Once all of the filenames have been entered, you have the option to edit the batch of files to send. If you decide to edit the the batch, you will be able to add, remove, and list the batch list. Editing The List of Files to Download Once you have entered the filenames to be downloaded, a screen will be displayed which shows how many files are in the batch, how many total bytes in the batch, and which protocol has been selected. At this point, you may edit the batch transfer, abort the transfer, or to begin the transfer by pressing R. If the batch transfer is aborted, the files will remain flagged. This enables you to do something else on the system and then return and download the files again without having to type in the filenames again. When executing the D or DB commands while files are flagged for download, you will be asked if you want to download the flagged files. If you answer N to that question, the files will be un-flagged. If you decide to edit the batch, you will be able to add files to the batch, remove files from the batch, and to also list all files currently in the batch. The following options are available to edit the batch list: A Add a file to the batch. Enables you to add one or more files to the batch. To stop adding files to the batch, press Rat an Enter filename to Download prompt. R Remove a file from the batch. Enables you to remove a filename from the batch. To remove a file, you must enter the number to remove from the batch. To get the number in the batch, list the batch. L List files in the batch. Lists all filenames that are currently in the batch and their corresponding number in the batch. If you have flagged TCRN10.ZIP and LSTR312.ZIP, listing their batch would look like the following: File Selected: (1) TCRN10.ZIP 32,612 bytes, 0.5 minutes (approximate) File Selected: (2) LSTR312.ZIP 532,981 bytes, 40.1 minutes (approximate) P Protocol letter. To use a protocol that is different than your default protocol for this transfer, enter this letter at the prompt. You will be shown a list of protocols that are available. Choose the protocol that you want to use from this list. Once you have finished editing the batch (if you chose to) you are ready to begin the transfer. At this point, use your communications program to begin a download. In most programs this can be accomplished by pressing d followed by selecting a protocol and typing in the filename or directory to download files to. Of course this varies from communications program to communications program so if you have difficulties in this area, consult your documentation. E Enter a Message Electronic communications is becoming more and more popular. The most popular method to communicate with other users on a bulletin board system is to enter messages or electronic mail. Subcommand [user name] The user name or user id that the message will be addressed to. When PCBoard prompts for a user, this value will be the default addressee. Addressing a Message To enter a message you must address the message to a person or a group of people. PCBoard will ask you who the message should be addressed to. At the TO: prompt type in a valid user name. In conferences that are not set to echo mail, PCBoard will check the message base to make sure that the user actually exists. As the SysOp, you may also address the message to the following: @[sec]@ If you want a message to be seen only by a particular security level, then you would address the message to @ followed by the security level then another @ sign. As a user with the security level specified reads this message, it will appear to be addressed to them. @[sec]-[sec]@ Sometimes you may wish to address a message to a range of security levels. If you would like to do this, you can do so by addressing the message to @ followed by the low security level, a dash, the high security level, and finally another @ sign. For example, if you wanted to address a message to security levels 10-40, you would address the message to @10-40@. When a user between the security of 10 and 40 sees the message, it will appear to be addressed to them. Sysops will see it addressed to (Generic Message). @USER@ To make a message that is personally addressed to everyone on the system, you can address the message to @USER@. This allows you to enter just one message but make it appear that it is addressed to each person individually. When SysOps view the message it will be addressed to (Generic Message). @LIST@ Sometimes you want to address a message to a select group of individuals but they may not have something like a security level in common. If you address a message to @LIST@, you will be prompted for names that you would like to address the message to. The actual limit for the numbers that can be entered is in PCBSetup | Conferences (2nd configuration screen of the conference). After entering your message, you will notice that the list of names that you addressed the message to is stored at the bottom of the message. This list keeps track of whether each user has read the message or not and if so, when they read the message. The Subject Of The Message You are allowed to enter up to 53 characters to describe the content of the message. If you do not enter a subject for the message, the message you are entering will be aborted. You will usually want to sum up your message in the subject of the message. Assigning Message Security Unless you have defined the current conference to make all message private, you will be asked what type of message security they would like to use. You may choose to make the message public so that other users on the system may read it, or you may choose to make the message private so that the message is viewable by a limited number of people. To make things easier, you will be asked to enter a letter that corresponds with the type of security to use for the message. If you press R, the message will be made public for others to read. The message security options and their corresponding letters are: D Pack-out date. This option gives you the ability to set a date at which the message will be deleted or packed-out if it is still active. As long as the message is not killed first, the message will then remain active until the date specified is reached. The message that is to be entered will be a public message. This makes it useful for letting your users know about special announcements and such. If you need to change the message security, you may do so by editing the message header or by using either the U or P subcommand at the End of Message Command prompt. Only those who have security clearance to set the pack-out date (PCBSetup | Security Levels | Sysop Commands) may enter messages of this type. Furthermore, those having sufficient security will be shown the pack-out date at the bottom of the message. G Group password. When this message security is selected, you will be asked for a password to protect the message with. In order for anyone to read the contents of the message they must know the password. N None. Choosing this message security enables anyone that can read messages in the conference that the message was left in to read the message. This message security may be used to make general announcements or to get input or replies from a wide group of users. R Receiver only. Only the person to whom the message is addressed and the sender of the message may read a message that has been marked as receiver only. This is the most common way to send private messages. S Sender password. This message security also asks for a password. The password is used Anyone may read this message but only the person who entered the message may kill the message. Normally the receiver and the sender can kill the message. NOTE: The SysOp with user record #1 can always kill a message. They may also read any message regardless of the protection if their security level is higher than the Security Required to Read All Messages in PCBSetup | Security Levels | Sysop Commands. Requesting A Return Receipt If you are entering a RECEIVER ONLY message and have sufficient security as specified in the second conference configuration screen of PCBSetup, you will be asked if you would like a return receipt. When the recipient reads the message, a return receipt will be generated which will notify you that they have read the message. The return receipt that you receive will display the message number that it was generated from and who it was addressed to. Also included in the return receipt message is the date and time that the message was read. Echoing a Message Some bulletin board systems participate in an activity called echo-mail. This allows messages to be shared between several different bulletin board systems. By sharing messages across a network, users can get a wider variety of responses and usually will have more mail to read. If you are entering a message in a conference that is designated as an echo-mail conference, you will be asked if the want the message to be echoed. If so, the message will go to the rest of the bulletin board systems that are echoing the conference. Otherwise, the message will remain on the current bulletin board only. Routing A Message If you have a conference which is set to echo mail you can prompt for routing information for any RECEIVER ONLY message. The routing information will only be asked for if the message being left is a RECEIVER ONLY message. Each mail network may have a different method of routing mail or may not support the routing of messages. If the user responds to a message which has origin information they will not be asked to enter routing information as that will come from the origin information. Choosing a Message Editor If you choose, PCBoard will ask if you wish to use the full-screen message editor each time you enter a message. If you find that you always use the full-screen editor or you always use the line-editor, use the W user command to change your answer to the Use Full Screen Editor question. If you select A, you will be given the following options each time you enter a message: Y Yes. If you select this option you will use the full-screen editor to enter your message. For more information on the full-screen editor, see The Full-Screen Editor. N No. If you choose this option you will use the line-editor instead of the full-screen editor to enter the message. For more information on the line editor, please see The Line-Editor. U Upload mode. This is identical to selecting any message editor and then selecting the U command available from within Commands Available While in a Message Editor. Commands Available While in a Message Editor There are certain commands that are available in both message editors. We will call these commands message entry commands. These commands enable you to save a message, quote a message, and more. To access these commands in the full-screen editor, press ESC or CTRL-U. To access these commands in the line-editor, press ENTER on a blank line. A Abort message. Aborts the current message entry and returns to the command prompt. C Continue message using line-editor. Continue the message using the line-editor. D Delete a line. Enables you to delete any line by line number. If you are using the full-screen editor, you can use CTRL-Y to delete the current line. E Edit a line. Enables you to edit any line in the message. Once the line number to edit has been entered, you are asked for the text to replace followed by a semicolon, and finally the replacement text. For example, if you want to replace the word halp with the word help, you would type halp;help. Editing text in the full-screen editor is even easier because you can move the cursor around and toggle insert/overwrite mode. F Edit message using full-screen editor. Continue editing the message using the full-screen editor. H Help. Enables you to access on-line help for entering a message. I Insert a line. Enables you to insert lines after the line number specified. Each line is inserted one at a time. The insertion stops when you press ENTER on a blank line. In the full-screen editor, you may use CTRL-N to insert a new line in the message. L List current message. If you are using the line editor, you can list the current message showing all line numbers and the contents of the message by using this command. This command allows you to preview the message and to obtain line numbers that you may want to modify. Q Quote message. When replying to a message you can quote from the original message to make the reply clearer. You may quote as many lines as desired. When prompted, enter the beginning and ending line number that you wish to quote. These lines are then brought into the message with each line being preceded by a -> to show it is a quote. This command only works when the current message is a reply. NOTE: Local users may also quote a message by using PCBoard's scroll back feature. For more information about using PCBoard's scroll-back to quote message see the REPLY user command later in this chapter. S Save message. Once the message is complete it can be saved using this command. Once the message has been saved, you are returned back to the command prompt. SA Save and attach a file. You can attach a file to a message. When a file is attached to a message users that can read the message can also flag the file for download. Using this method, two or more individuals can share a file that might be relevant to the message being entered. When you attach a file, you will be asked for a protocol to use and also for the filename. If the transfer is successful, the file will be attached and the message will be saved. If the upload is not successful, you will be returned to the message command prompt. SC Carbon copy message. If a message needs to be sent to several people, you can use this command to copy the message to other users. When this command is executed, you are asked for the other users that the message should be addressed to. For each new addressee, a new message is saved with the same subject, message security, and message body. SN Save message and goto next message. Normally when you save a reply to a message, you are returned back to the message that you replied to. If you do not want to return to the message and would like to continue with the next message, use this command to save the message. SK Save message and kill original. When replying to a message, you may want to kill the original message. If so, use this command. If you are not able to kill the message (due to a lack of security), you will not be able to kill the message either. U Upload a message. To upload a prepared message into the message editor, use this command. PCBoard will prompt you for the protocol to use to upload the prepared message. Once a protocol has been selected, you will be informed that PCBoard is ready to begin their upload. Upload the message as you would upload any other file to your system. When the transfer is complete, the message will be checked for line lengths. If any line in the imported message is in excess of 79 characters, PCBoard will not allow you to edit the message. Instead, you may only save the message as it was uploaded. Using the Message Editors After you have addressed the message and assigned the message security, the message editor will be displayed. There are two different message editors -- the full screen editor and the line editor. The full-screen editor is more like a word processor where you can move the cursor around the screen while the line-editor allows you to edit or enter the message one line at a time. The Full-Screen Editor To effectively use the full-screen message editor, you should familiarize yourself with the control keys and special keys that can be used within the editor. Besides the list that is provided in this manual you may obtain the same help by pressing CTRL-Z while in the full-screen editor. When logged in locally, use the keys shown in the PC-Keyboard column. If you are logged in remotely, the same keystrokes may or may not work depending on the communications program being used. Some communication program have a command which will enable DOORWAY mode. This mode allows you to use all of the cursor keys, and other keys from remote. If the communications program you are using does not support this mode, you may have to use the Control-Key equivalents instead. Cursor Movements PC-Keyboard Control-Key Move cursor to the left left CTRL-S Move cursor to the right right CTRL-D Move cursor one word to the left CTRL-left CTRL-A Move cursor one word to the right CTRL-right CTRL-F Move cursor to next tab stop TAB CTRL-T Move cursor to start of current line home CTRL-W Move cursor to end of current line end CTRL-P Move cursor to line above up CTRL-E Move cursor to line below down CTRL-X Move cursor to next page PgUp CTRL-R Move cursor to previous page PgDn CTRL-C Edit Functions PC-Keyboard Control-Key Toggle insert mode Ins CTRL-V Reformat paragraph CTRL-B Join a line CTRL-J Insert a line CTRL-N Delete a line CTRL-Y Delete to the end of the current line CTRL-end CTRL-K Delete character to the right Del CTRL-G Delete character to the left Back CTRL-H Delete word to the right CTRL-T Special Functions PC-Keyboard Control-Key Exit the full-screen editor Esc CTRL-U Re-display the screen CTRL-L Quote the original message CTRL-O Toggle 79 column mode CTRL-_ The Line-Editor The line editor commands are described in the Commands Available While in a Message Editor section. Because the full-screen editor requires that you have ANSI terminal capabilities, you may choose to use the line-editor instead. The only editing that can be done while typing in a line in the line-editor is to backspace and correct typing mistakes. Otherwise, all editing must be done with the commands described in the Commands Available While in a Message Editor section. In order to enter a blank line in the line-editor, press SPACE on a blank line and then press ENTER. Otherwise, pressing ENTER on a blank line will display the message entry command prompt. Entering Your Message When entering a message, continue typing without worrying about formatting or pressing ENTER at the end of lines. PCBoard will wrap the text that is written so that whole words remain on one line. If you lose carrier or are logged off for inactivity, PCBoard will save the message. This message can later be edited by using the EDIT subcommand at the End of Message Command while reading the message. F File Directories This command enables you to list files in the current conference, and to find a particular file either by filename or by text in the file description. Subcommands to Locate a File Usually you will want to filter the list of files that are seen. You may pick any of the subcommands listed in the following table to control which files are displayed to them. The L and N subcommands can be combined as well as the Z and N subcommands. The L and Z commands may not be combined. See Examples for more details. All of the subcommands in this section may also be accessed as commands right from the main menu. Expert users will find that accessing this commands directly from the main menu is the fastest way. L Locate filename(s). N Display files after a particular date. Z Search entire file listing for text. File Directory Subcommands You should pick one or more of these subcommands to determine which file directories to view. If you pick more than one subcommand, each must separated by a SPACE or a ;. See Examples for more details. [dir. #] File directory number. P View private upload directory. U View public upload directory. Miscellaneous Subcommands D Flag the files found for download. FLAG Flag a file for download by filename. G Log off of the BBS. NS Display listing in non stop mode. R Re-display available file directories. V View a file. Subcommands (Alphabetical) [dir. #] File directory number. Specifies the file directory number(s) that you want to view. If you want to view multiple file directories, enter each directory number separated by either a SPACE or a ; character. D Flag the files found for download. Any files that are listed to the screen will also be flagged for download. No warning is given if you exceed the batch file limit. In other words, if you can batch transfer no more than 20 files then only the first 20 files that are displayed will be flagged for download. The rest of the files will still be displayed but they will not be flagged. FLAG Flag a file for download by filename. Enables you to flag any file by typing in the filename. A single filename may be typed or wildcard characters may be used to flag multiple files with similar filenames. G Log off the BBS. Immediately disconnects you from the system. L Locate filename(s). Enables you to display only those files which match a particular filename. Any valid DOS filename may be entered including those with wildcard (? and *) characters. N Display files after a particular date. Quite frequently you will want to scan the file directories to see what new files have been recently put online. PCBoard uses the N subcommand to display files that were posted after the date that you enter. The default date will always be the latest date seen in the file directories. You can specify another date by stacking the date after the N subcommand or PCBoard will prompt you for the date. To specify the default date on the command line use S to represent the date. NS Display listing in non-stop mode. When this subcommand is used the file listings will be displayed in non-stop mode. This command may also enter this subcommand at any more? prompt while displaying the file listings. P View private upload directory. This subcommand enables you to view the private upload directory of the current conference. In order to use this subcommand you must have a security level that is equal to or greater than the one that is entered in PCBSetup | Security Levels | Sysop Commands. R Re-display available file directories. This subcommand will re-display the list of file directories that are available in the current conference. U View public upload directory. When files are uploaded they go either to the private upload directory if you force all uploads to be private--otherwise, they are stored in the public upload directory. This subcommand enables you to view a list of files and descriptions that are in the public upload directory of the current conference. V View a file. Sometimes you may want more detailed information about a particular file. When this subcommand is used you will be asked for the filename to view. If the filename is a valid filename PCBVIEW.BAT will be executed. This is a batch file that you can use to customize what information you see about that particular file. For more information about PCBVIEW.BAT please see the Batch Files chapter of this manual. Z Search entire file listing for text. A user may select only those files which contain particular text. Like other search functions in PCBoard, you may use Boolean operands for more complex searching. For more information on Boolean operands please see Searching For Text in the Sysop's Guide chapter of this manual. Description File transfers are one of the most popular attractions to bulletin boards. You may wish to view a list of files that are on the system to see if there are files that you wish to download or to make sure that a particular file is not already online. When the user presses F to access the file directories a list of file directories that may be viewed will be listed on the screen. After the list is displayed, you are given a file command prompt where you can use any of the previously listed subcommands to control what files are listed/downloaded. Examples To view all of the files that are available in file directory number 3, you would enter: F 3 To view the contents of ANYFILE.TXT, you would enter: F V ANYFILE.TXT FLAG for Download This command enables you to mark a file or group of files for download later during your call. Subcommand [Filename] The filename or filenames to flag or mark for download later. You can enter multiple filenames by using standard DOS wildcards or by typing multiple filenames separated with a SPACE or a ;. Description Sometimes you may want to flag or mark a file for download but do not want to begin the transfer right away. By flagging a file, PCBoard will remember the filename(s) until you are ready to begin the download. There are several ways that you can flag a file for download: At the conference command prompt by using the FLAG command While listing files with the F, Z, or N commands. PCBoard adds an additional prompt on each more? prompt which enables you to flag a file. Using the FLAG subcommand of the F user command. Once the transfer has begun, all of the files that are being downloaded are remembered in case the transfer is aborted. Any files that were not transferred completely will remain flagged so that you may make another attempt at transferring them. The only way to remove the flagged files is to either successfully download the files or to answer N to the Download Flagged Files? prompt. G Goodbye / Logoff of the BBS To disconnect properly from the BBS, use this command. Subcommands Y Yes. If you have files flagged for download or if you have enabled the Warning on Logoff Command, you will be warned before logoff. If you use this subcommand, PCBoard will not warn you. Description When you disconnect from a system, you "terminate the connection". Once disconnected, you can call other systems or perform other tasks. Although you can issue G;Y to skip the Proceed with logoff? question, you may also use the BYE command. This command is usually easier to remember than G;Y and is generally recommended H Online Help This command lets you explicitly access the on-line help system. Using this command, you can get help for any of the commands available on the main menu. Subcommand [command] The command or filename that you want additional assistance with. Description Each of PCBoard's main commands have additional assistance available in the form of on-line help. The on-line help will be displayed on the screen. Adding Help For Custom Commands To add help files for commands that you add to the system or for doors on your system, you can create a filename in your help subdirectory that comprise of the first 8 characters of the command. PCBoard will display the help file if it exists. Example If you add a command called ORDER to your system, create a file called ORDER and place it in your help subdirectory. Execute the following to get help with your ORDER command: HELP ORDER I Initial Welcome If you wish to review the welcome screen that was displayed to you when you first logged into the system, use this command. Any user may issue this command regardless of security level. J Join a Conference Conferences serve as a way to separate information and topics on a bulletin board system. By dividing up the information, you can find what you are after quicker than ever before. Subcommands : Alphabetical Listing [conf. name] Conference name to join. Specifies the conference name you wish to join. Joining a conference by name is useful when you do not remember conference numbers, or in case the conference is moved to a new number. [conf. num.] Conference number to join. Specifies the conference number you wish to join. Q Quick-join the conference. Sometimes the conference that is being joined will have a news or introduction file. This subcommand will make sure that these files are not displayed when the conference is joined. S Search conference names for text. As pointed out earlier, you may want to join a conference by name instead of number. What if you do not know or remember the conference names? This subcommand enables you to search the conference names on a system for text. When prompted for text to search for, enter the text you wish to search for. If a match is found in the conference name then both the conference name and number will be displayed. Description Conferences provide a method which information on the bulletin board system can be broken down into areas. Each conference can have unique file directories, message bases, scripts, bulletins, and doors, or it may share these with other conferences on the system. In order to go to one of these conferences, use this command. Once you join the conference all of the features of the conference are made available to you. Examples If you want to join conference number 13, enter the following at the conference command prompt: J;13 If you know the name of the conference instead of the number of the conference, type in the name of the conference to join. For example, if you want to join the Computer_Art conference then you would type: J;COMPUTER_ART If you do not know either the conference name or the conference number, use the search subcommand to help you find the right conference. For example, you may only remember that the conference deal with art. In that case, type the following at the conference command prompt: J;S;ART PCBoard will search the conference names to see if it could find a match. For this particular example, you may see a report like the following: 1) Classic_Art 13) Computer_Art 37) Digitized_Art The number to the left is the conference number and the conference name is listed to the right. You can then pick the conference number or name that you wish to join. K Kill a Message This command will mark a message for deletion making any message inactive and unreadable. The actual message is not physically removed until that message base is packed. Subcommand [msg. num.] The message number you wish to kill or make inactive. This subcommand is only available if you are issuing the K command from a conference command prompt. Description Eventually messages on your system will become outdated or no longer useful. You can delete any message on your system by using this command. When you kill a message you make it inactive but do not actually remove it from your system. In order to physically remove an inactive message from your system you need to pack the message base. There are only two prompts where you may delete a message. At any conference command prompt and at the read message prompt. If a message has a security option of RECEIVER ONLY, the recipient and the sender of the message are the only ones that may kill it. If a message is marked as SENDER PASSWORD, only the author of the message may kill it. Finally, on messages that are addressed as GROUP PASSWORD, only the users with the proper password may kill the message. The SysOp may kill any message even if the message is protected via password. Examples If you are at an End of Message Command prompt, type K to make the current message inactive. Sometimes you may already know the number of the message you wish to delete. For example, if you wanted to delete message number 3292 in the current conference, type the following at the conference command prompt. K 3292 LANG Change Current Language PCBoard has the ability to support multiple languages. Use this command to switch to the language you wish to use for your prompts after you have logged into the system. Subcommand [language #] The language number you wish to use. If you omit the language number a list of available languages will be displayed to you. Description The LANGuage command allows switching to other languages which are available on the system. These languages may vary from foreign languages to "humorous" type languages and even some that are dedicated to new callers. Choices that are available are displayed in menu format with a number corresponding to each operational language choice. Example To change to language number 3 on the system. enter the following: LANG 3 L Locate a Filename This command enables searching the file directories of the current conference for a particular filename. Wildcard characters are permitted. Subcommands: Alphabetical Listing [#] Directory #. When using this command, you must specify a directory or range of directories that PCBoard should search for the desired file(s). You may list a single directory, a range of directories in the format [#-#] or a list of directories in a [#;#;#] format. There are three letters you may use to represent special file directories. If you use A for the directory number, PCBoard will search all file directories in the current conference. Likewise, if you use U for the directory number, the upload directory of the current conference will be searched. Finally, if you have sufficient security, you may use P to specify the private upload directory for the current conference. [filename.ext] Filename to search for. In order to search the file directories for a filename you must supply the filename you want PCBoard to search for. The filename you specify can be a simple filename like READTHIS.TXT, or more frequently something that contains wildcard characters like READ*.*. The advantage in using wildcard characters is that you are not required to know the exact filename. D Flag the files for download that are found in the search. If a file that matches the parameters is located, it is flagged and prepared for download later during the call. If more than one file is found, all files will be flagged. N Combine the locate search with a new file scan. This subcommand will help limit your search by only searching for files equal to or after a specific date. If you use the N command you also need to include the minimum file date from which the scan should search for. If you would like to use the date you last scanned for files you may simply add an S to the N subcommand. NS Display the files found in non-stop mode. Files are displayed in non-stop mode (no More? prompts will be displayed). Description Quite often you will want to search the file directories on a BBS to determine if a particular file exists on the system. If you are looking for a particular filename, you would use this command to help you find that filename. Most of the time your search will include some sort of wildcard like TCRN*.* or similar. If you attempt to search for HSXM, PCBoard will automatically append an *.* making the search criteria HSXM*.* to help you find the file(s) you are looking for. Examples If you want to locate any files that begin with ABC in all file directories for the current conference, type the following at the conference command prompt: L;ABC;A If you wanted to search for files that began with ABC in directories 1, 3, 9, and 15, type in the following command: L;ABC;1;3;9;15 If you found that two many files were showing up on your searches, you may want to restrict the files you search for by date. To do this, you would use the N subcommand that was described previously. For example, to search for any filename that begins with ABC in all directories but only show those that have a file date equal to or later than 10/21/93, type the following at the command prompt: L;ABC;N;102193;A M Graphics Mode This command will allow you to change the graphics mode between RIPscrip, ANSI, non-ANSI, and no-color, graphics modes. Subcommands: Alphabetical Listing CTTY Non-ANSI mode. Everything displayed by PCBoard will be in non-graphics, non-ANSI mode. This is the usually the safest mode for non-IBM computers like UNIX or Macintosh. ANSI ANSI cursor positioning. Everything displayed by PCBoard will be in non-graphics, ANSI mode. This allows for faster screen drawing without having to slow down the displays with the colors. GRAPH ANSI color and cursor positioning. Everything displayed by PCBoard will be in graphics, ANSI mode. This means that all prompts and text will be colorized. This mode is commonly referred to as graphics mode. RIP RIPscrip graphics mode. If you have made RIPscrip versions of your display files, they will be displayed to users who have this mode enabled. By entering ENTER at the Do you want graphics prompt, this mode will be enabled. Description Issued without subcommands, this command acts as a toggle between graphics and non-graphics display modes. If you execute this command with a subcommand then you may choose which mode you want without using the command to toggle back and forth. If you do not have ANSI capabilities or are unsure if you do, you should choose CTTY mode. If you accidentally choose the wrong mode and you get what seems to be garbage on your screen you can enter the command again with the CTTY subcommand to see if that clears up things for you. About RIPscrip While most communications programs are capable of displaying ANSI graphics, not all are capable of showing RIPscrip graphics. If you choose RIPscrip and your communications program is not able to interpreted the codes, it will appear that garbage characters are displaying on the screen. PCBoard itself, does not support the display of RIPscrip graphics on the local screen. As the SysOp, you will always see the RIPscip codes being displayed rather than the more appealing graphics. Examples If you are in graphics, ANSI mode and you wish to switch to non-color mode, simply execute the M command. It will change your mode. If you want to switch to CTTY mode so that no ANSI sequences will be sent you can do so by typing the following at the conference command prompt: M;CTTY NOTE: The only way to enable CTTY mode after you log in is via the M command and the CTTY subcommand. MENU Re-display Main Menu This command will re-display the main menu. Description You can redisplay the main menu at the command prompt. When executed, the main menu screen is displayed regardless of the expert status. N New File Scan This command will locate any files that are new since the specified date in the directories that you specify. Subcommands [date] This represents the date from which PCBoard begins a search for all new files. All files found are displayed. NOTE: If you pass the date on the command line (e.g., N;030394;A) and you want to specify only the files since your last scan then you would enter an S instead of an actual date. [directory #] When using this command, you must specify a directory or range of directories that PCBoard should search for the desired file(s). You may list a single directory, a range of directories in the format [#-#] or a list of directories in a [#;#;#] format. There are two letters you may use as a directory number. If you use A for the directory number, it tells PCBoard to search all file directories in the current conference. Likewise, if you use U for the directory number, the upload directory of the current conference will be searched. D All files found are queued for later download during your call. To download the files that have been queued, execute a download using either the D or DB commands. S PCBoard scans for files added since the date of the most recent files the caller has been shown. PCBoard keeps track of the most recent valid file date that you have seen in the file directories. For example, if you were to do a new scan searching all file directories on 12-24-94, but the latest file date that was displayed was 12-21-94, PCBoard will remember that the latest date you have seen is 12-21-94. NS Files are displayed in non-stop Mode (no More? prompts are displayed). Description A system commonly has hundreds or thousands of files online. Rather than viewing each of these directories and attempting to pick out the new files, use this command to limit the files that are displayed by date. Using the subcommands you will have control over the date to begin the search and the directory or directories that you would like to search for new files. Examples One of the most common searches is to find new files in all directories of the current conference. To perform this search, you would type the following at a conference command prompt: N;S;A If you wanted to only scan the upload directory for files that have a date which is equal to or greater than 07-19-93, type the following at a conference command prompt: N;071993;U A more complex search may specify only a few of the available file directories in the conference. As an example, if you want to scan for new files since 05-22-94 in directories 1-4,. 15, and 20-25, type the following at the conference command prompt: N;052294;1-4;15;20;25 NEWS Display System News Allows you to view the system news file which may list important events or notices about the bulletin board system. Description The news file usually contains important notes or events regarding the bulletin board system. You may use this command to read the news file for the current conference. Normally, this file is displayed when you log on to the system or join a conference but you may read it at any time by using this command. NODE Chat With Other Users This command is identical to the CHAT command. See the detailed explanation of the command for further details. O Operator Page If the SysOp is available for chat, this command will allow you to page the SysOp for chat. If the SysOp is not available, you will be given the opportunity to leave a comment. Description This command enables you to request an immediate chat with the SysOp. If the system operator is available, both your machine and the SysOp's will beep for 30 seconds or until the page is answered, in which case you enter SysOp chat. If, however, the SysOp does not answer the page or is unavailable at the time of your request, PCBoard will inform you that the SysOp is unavailable and asks if you would like to leave a comment instead. The time when the SysOp is available can be configured in PCBSetup | Configuration Options | Limits. OPEN a DOOR This command allows you to open a DOOR to another application. You may open a door via door number or by name. Subcommands [door #] This represents the number of the DOOR to open. It may either be stacked with the command at the conference command prompt (e.g., OPEN;1) or chosen after the DOOR menu is displayed. [door name] Instead of the DOOR number, you may type the actual DOOR name. For example, to open a door called 'EXCITING' you could type OPEN;EXCITING from the conference command prompt. NOTE: If you use the name to open a door then you can type just the name of the door at the conference command prompt. For example if you have a door called MAIL, type MAIL at the conference command prompt to open the door. [parameter] You may pass a parameter to the DOOR that is called. This parameter is similar to one passed at a DOS prompt to another application. Not all DOOR programs accept parameters so unless a particular DOOR states that it will accept parameters, assume that it does not. As an example, if you were to open a door by typing OPEN;SALES;ANYTHING, you would be opening a DOOR called SALES and ANYTHING would be passed as a parameter. To access the parameters in a DOOR batch file you need to read the PCBDOOR environment variable. See the Doors section of the Conference Setup chapter in this manual for further details. Description A DOOR can extend a BBS because a DOOR is more or less an application that is independent of the bulletin board system. For example, a door could be an on-line game or an on-line database. If you do not specify a door number or name to open, the door menu is displayed so that you may pick a door to open. P Page Length Setting Allows you to change the number of lines that PCBoard should think is on your display screen. Subcommand [# of lines] This number indicates the number of lines displayed per screen. This value may range between 0 and 99. Description You may specify the number of lines PCBoard displays before it prompts you with a (H)elp, More? line. The most common setting is 23, but you may choose any value between 0 and 99. If you select a page length setting of 0, it is like being in permanent non-stop mode (i.e., when the screen fills up, a More? prompt will not be displayed). Q Quick Message Scan This command will list message header information. The information pertaining to a message is listed on one line for easy viewing. Display Subcommands + Scan in forward direction. - Scan in reverse direction. L Begin with last message in message base. NS Display in non-stop mode. Message Selection Subcommands [beg. msg. #] Beginning message number. A Scan selected conferences. ALL Scan all conferences. F Message from you. FROM Read messages from a user. N New Messages by date. S Messages that you have not read yet. TO Read messages to a user. WAIT Scan messages in conferences where you have mail waiting. TS Messages that contain particular text. U All unread messages. USER Messages from a particular user. Y Messages addressed to you. Subcommands: Alphabetical Listing [beg. msg. #] Beginning message number. This is the message number that you wish to begin the scan with. The default scan direction is in the forward direction. If you wish to go in the reverse direction, use the - subcommand. + Scan in forward direction. When appended to the beginning message number you can set the direction in which PCBoard scans the message base. For example if you enter 762+, PCBoard will begin scanning at message number 762 in the forward direction. - Scan in reverse direction. When appended to the beginning message number you can set the direction in which PCBoard scans the message base. For example if you enter 3569-, PCBoard will begin scanning at message number 3569 in the reverse direction. NOTE: PCBoard defaults to searching in the forward direction. A Scan selected conferences. Scans not only the current conference but also those conferences which you have set for scanning via the SELECT command or the S conference flag in the users record. ALL Scan all conferences. Scans all conferences you are registered in even if you have not marked the conference for scanning. F Message from you. Only messages that are from you, the user currently online, will be displayed. FROM Read messages from a user. If you wish to read mail that is from a particular user, use this subcommand. When you use this subcommand, PCBoard will prompt you for the user you wish to read mail from. L Begin with last message in message base. Sets the beginning message number to the last message in the message base. When you use this subcommand you may omit the beginning message number. N New messages by date. The first message that is read is the one that matches the date that you specify. This enables you to read only messages that were left after a certain date. NS Display in non-stop mode. The listing of messages will be displayed in non-stop mode. This means that there will be no more? prompts to pause each time the screen becomes full. S Messages that you have not read yet. Searches only those messages that you have not read yet. TO Read messages to a user. If you wish to read mail that is addressed to a particular user, use this subcommand. When you use this subcommand, you will be prompted for the user name that you wish to read mail from. TS Messages that contain particular text. This subcommand enables you to search for text in the message body, the TO: field, and the FROM: field. You can search for a word/phrase or you can use any Boolean search. For more information on searching for text please see Searching For Text in the Sysop's Guide chapter of this manual. U All unread messages. If a message has not yet been read then it will be displayed. NOTE: A message that is addressed to ALL will always show up in such a search because the read status is not maintained on a message addressed to all users on the system. USER Messages from a particular user. You may search the message header for a particular user. When PCBoard searches for a particular user it will search both the TO: and FROM: fields in the message header. You must enter a full user name. Partial matches cannot be made with this command. WAIT Scan messages in conferences where you have mail waiting. Messages are read from only conferences that you currently have personal mail waiting to be read. For example, if you login and see that you have mail waiting in conferences 2,3, and 25 you could read all new messages in only those conferences by entering R;WAIT at the conference command prompt. Y Messages addressed to you. Only messages that are addressed to you will be listed. Description You may analyze a brief list of messages that may be read by you if you use the Q user command. When executed, PCBoard will display the following information about each message: Message number Reference number Sender Addressee Subject Read Status The reference number indicates the previous message to which a reply was entered to. This command can be used to quickly search message headers for information. Format of the list The list that is produced by the format contains the following information: Msg #. The actual message number in the message base. Just before the message number is a status code that shows if the message has been read, etc. For a list of status codes please see the section titled Status Codes. Ref #. If the message is a reply, this field will contain the message number which was replied to. To. Displays who the message is addressed to. Only the first 16 characters of who a message is address to is displayed in this list. From. Displays who the message is from. The first 16 characters of who the message(s) are from will be displayed. Subject. Displays the subject of the message. Even though a subject may be quite long, only the first 25 characters of the subject is displayed with this command. Status Codes Next to each message number is a status code. You can use these status codes to determine if the message has been read, if it has replies, etc. The following is a list of all valid message status codes: [blank] A message which can be read by anyone. * A private message to a specific person which has not been read by the person it was addressed to. + A private message which has been read by the person it was addressed to. - A message to a specific person, which was readable by anyone, which has been read by the person it was addressed to. ~ A comment to the SysOp which has not been read by the person defined as SysOp record #1. ` A comment to the SysOp which has been read by the person defined as SysOp record #1. % A message protected by sender password which has not been read. ^ A message protected by sender password which has been read. ! A message protected by group password which has not been read. # A message protected by group password which has been read. $ A message protected by group password which is addressed to ALL. Examples To display the header information for all messages in the current message base in reverse order you would issue the following at the command prompt: Q L To search for all messages (beginning with the first message in the message base) either to or from a user named Wally Peterson you would issue the following at the command prompt: Q USER WALLY PETERSON 1+ QWK Transfer Main In QWK Format This command will capture messages and create a QWK packet that can be downloaded and read off-line. This command can also be used to upload any reply packets that you may have. Subcommands : Alphabetical Listing [protocol] If a protocol is not specified for transferring the QWK (mail) or REP (reply) packet, the default protocol will be used. BYE When you use this subcommand, PCBoard will logoff after your transfer is complete. Use of this subcommand is ideal for performing automated mail-runs. U This subcommand is used to upload a REP packet. D This subcommand is used to download a QWK packet. PCBoard scans the conferences that have been selected for scanning with the SELECT user command. Description To save time and money, a common practice is to transfer mail packets to and from a bulletin board system. The messages can then be read and replied to off-line. PCBoard will create a QWK mail packet when using this command. In addition, the REP file can be uploaded with this command when using the U subcommand. If you do not specify any subcommands when executing the command you will be asked if you will be downloading or uploading a mail packet. Choose the appropriate response for the action your desire. Examples To download a QWK packet using the Z protocol, the following would be entered: QWK D Z If there are replies to the QWK packet they will be stored in a REP file. This file needs to be uploaded for the replies to be posted on the bulletin board system. The following command would prepare PCBoard to upload the REP packet: QWK U R Read Messages The Read messages command permits you to read messages on a bulletin board system. Messages may be addressed to you, or to other people. From this command you may also reply to messages you are reading, search for text in messages, and get a synopsis of messages that are currently on the system. Read: Selection Subcommands The following is a list of what are called the selection subcommands. These commands will determine the criteria for the messages that you will read. With the exception of the message #, you may use any subcommand in conjunction with any other subcommand. For example, if you wanted to read new mail in all conferences that you have set for scanning, enter R;S;A. Likewise, if you wanted to read the same messages, but only display those from a user named FRANK CROSS, enter R;S;A;USER;FRANK CROSS at the conference command prompt. [Message #] Message number to read. A Scan all selected conferences. ALL Scan all conferences that you have access to. F Read messages from current user. FROM Read messages from a user. N New Messages by date. S Read new messages. TO Read messages to a user. TS Search messages for specific text. U Read unread messages. USER Search messages to or from a particular user. WAIT Scan messages in conferences where you have mail waiting. Y Read messages addressed to you. YA Read messages to you or to ALL. Read: Scan Subcommands These particular subcommands can be used to set the direction that you will read mail. For example, if you wanted to begin reading at the end of the current message base, you would enter R;L. + / - Set read direction 1+ Begin with first message in the message base. L Begin with the last message. N New messages by date. RM Read memorized message. RM+ Read memorized message and continue reading forward. RM- Read memorized message and continue reading reverse. Read: Capture Subcommands One time-saving feature that PCBoard offers is the ability to capture messages into one single file which you may download and browse off-line. The resulting file is an ASCII file that looks just like what you see on the screen when viewing messages. Sometimes you may want to download a group of messages or just a single message. These subcommands allow you to capture messages and then download them to either a file or printer on your system. C Capture messages D Capture messages QWK Capture messages to a QWK packet Z Capture and compress messages Read: General Subcommands The following commands could be categorized as miscellaneous subcommands. Here, you will find commands to perform various functions that may not necessarily be directly related to reading messages, but are still available for your convenience. DE De-select current conference G Goodbye. J Join a conference. K Kill a message. LONG Use the extended message header for displaying. NS non-stop mode. O Read-only mode. Q Quick scan messages. SE Select current conference for scanning. SET Set the last message read number. SHORT Use the brief message header for displaying. End of Message: Scan Subcommands After you read each message, PCBoard will display an End of Message Command prompt. From this prompt you can enter numerous subcommands. Most often, you will be entering subcommands which allow you to continue reading, memorizing the current message number, etc. Following is a list of the subcommands you may access most frequently. [Message #] Message number to read R Read next message in current direction + / - Set read direction JUMP Jump to the next conference. L Begin with the last message. M Memorize current message number. NEXT Read next message. PREV Read previous message. RM Read memorized message. RM+ Read memorized message and continue reading forward. RM- Read memorized message and continue reading reverse. RR Read reference message. SKIP Skip current conference. T+ Thread read (forward direction). T- Thread read (reverse direction). End of Message: Reply Subcommands Communications is a two way street. Therefore, you will most likely read messages which you wish to respond to. The following is a list of reply subcommands that you can use to enter responses to messages. RE Reply to current message. RO Reply to a message but send reply to a different user. End of Message: Capture Subcommands If you are in the middle of reading messages and decide that you would like to capture the rest of the messages that you would have read into a text file, you may do so with the following subcommands. C Capture current message D Capture current message Z Capture and compress current message End of Message: Selection Subcommands While you are reading messages there are a few subcommands you can use to change the future messages you will be reading. You can use these to make specific searches. For example, if you began reading all new messages (R;A;S) and decided that there were too many messages, you should restrict your search. If you decided that it would be faster to read mail addressed to you or ALL, enter YA at the End of Message Command prompt. F Read messages from current user. S Read new messages. TS Search messages for specific text. USER Search messages to or from a particular user Y Read messages addressed to you. YA Read messages to you or to ALL. End of Message: General Subcommands The following subcommands are the remaining commands that are available at the End of Message Command prompt. / Re-display current message ALIAS Toggle use of alias. DE De-select current conference E Edit message header information. EDIT Edit the content of a message. FLAG Flag a file for download. G Goodbye. J Join a conference. K Kill the current message. LONG Use the extended message header for displaying. N Quit reading messages. NS non-stop mode. SHORT Use the brief message header for displaying. SE Select current conference for scanning. SET Set the last message read number. V View a downloadable file. End of Message: SysOp Subcommands There are several subcommands that are available only to SysOps at the End of Message Command prompt. You can copy or move messages, access user records, edit message header information and more. COPY Copy a message to another conference. F Access the sender's user record. FF Access the sender's user record. FT Access the recipients user record. MOVE Move message to another conference. P Make current message private. U Make current message public. Subcommands: Alphabetical Listing For your convenience, the following is a detailed alphabetical list of subcommands that are available with the R command. Even the subcommands that are available at the End of Message Command prompt are listed. [Message #] Message number to read. This number indicates the number of the message that you wish to read. If you wish, you may also append either a + or a - to the message number to read in the forward or reverse direction, starting with the message number specified. For example, to read message #3236 and every message afterwards, you would enter 3236+ instead of just 3236. You may also specify a range of message numbers by adding a dash between the low message number and high message number. For example, to specify messages between 3000 and 4000 , enter 3000-4000. (Enter) Read next message in current direction. When pressed at the End of Message Command? prompt, the next message is displayed in the direction that you are reading. + / - Set read direction. When appended to a message number or used by itself, PCBoard displays all messages in forward-numerical or reverse-numerical order respectively from that point. You can always tell what mode you are in by looking at the Read Type at the top of the message you are reading. In that field you will see either a + or a - to denote which direction you are reading. / Re-display current message. When this subcommand is entered at an End of Message Command prompt the message that was just displayed will be re-displayed. 1+ Begin with first message in the message base. If you want to specify the first message in the message base you would specify this subcommand. A Scan all selected conferences. Messages are read from all conferences that have been selected for scanning. You may choose which conferences you wish to scan for messages by using the SE command at the conference command prompt or by using DE or SE with the R user command. These conference scanning flags may also be modified while editing a user record. ALIAS Toggle usage of alias. When you are in a conference that allows usage of an alias, you may or may not want to enter messages using your alias. This command allows you to toggle whether or not your alias will be used. ALL Scan all conferences that you have access to. Messages are read from all conferences that you have access to whether you have selected them for scanning or not. C Capture messages. The messages displayed by the current command are captured, placed in a file, and prepared for download. You are given the choice to continue with the download, abort the transfer, or hangup after the transfer. COPY Copy a message to another conference. This subcommand for SysOps enables copying of a message to another conference. When you copy a message you leave the original message but also make another copy of the message in the conference that you specify. D Capture messages. The messages displayed by the current command are captured, placed in a file, and immediately prepared for download. DE De-select current conference. If a particular conference is chosen for scanning, the conference is de-selected. This has the same effect as using the Select command from the main menu and de-selecting the conference by pressing the corresponding number for the conference. This would cause the "X" flag in the flags column from the SELECT command (executed from a conference command prompt) to be removed. E Edit message header information. At times, you may want to change who you addressed a message to or the subject of a message. If this is the case, use the E subcommand to edit those two fields of any message that you have entered. If you have SysOp security level, you may also change the reference number, whether the message has been read yet, and the protection of the message. This subcommand is only available at the End of Message Command? prompt. E Enter a message. See the E user command for more details. Note, this command is not available at the End of Message Command? prompt. See the previously described subcommand. EDIT Edit the content of a message. The current message will be placed in the editor for modification. You may want to re-edit a message if you accidentally lost carrier while entering a message or changed your mind, etc. F Access the sender's user record. As a SysOp, you may be reading a message and want to access the user record of the user who left the message. This command will display the user record of the user who left the message. The format of the user record and the commands that are available when the user record is displayed are all discussed in the description of the 7 SysOp command. F Read messages from current user. The message base is scanned for all messages from you. FLAG Flag a file for download. Enables you to flag a file for download later during the session. This subcommand is identical to the FLAG user command. FF Access the sender's user record. See the F subcommand for more details. FROM Read messages from a user. If you wish to read mail that is only from a particular user, use this subcommand. When you use this subcommand, PCBoard will prompt you for the user you wish to read mail from. FT Access the recipients user record. Like the F subcommand, this subcommand allows you to access user records while you are reading messages. The difference, however, is that the user record of the whom the message is addressed to will be displayed. G GoodBye. (See the G user command for more details.) J Join a conference. You may join another conference. (See the J user command for more details.) JUMP Jump to the next conference. If you read all conferences (R;A or R;ALL), you may jump to the next available conference for message base scanning by using this command. The last message read pointer is not advanced to the last message when you jump a conference. Next time you scan for new mail in that conference, all of the messages you jumped over will be shown in the scan. This subcommand is only available at the End of Message Command prompt. K Kill the current message. If the message is to/from you then you may kill it. When you kill a message, you make it inactive in the message base. The SysOp may recover any message which has been killed but not yet packed out of the message base by using the 4 SysOp command. If you do not issue this command at an End of Message Command prompt, you will be asked to enter the message number that you wish to kill. L Begin with the last message. The current message base is read backward from the last message to the first. LONG Use the extended message header for displaying. Displays the extended message header. All message header fields are displayed, but the extended header uses 7 lines as opposed to the 5 lines used by the short header display. M Memorize current message number. When executed, PCBoard memorizes the current message number. PCBoard will only remember one message number. If you try to memorize another message number, the previous one will be lost. When you want to return to the memorized message number, you may type RM, RM+, or RM-. MOVE Move message to another conference. This subcommand for SysOps will move a message to another conference. Moving implies that the message will be copied to the conference that you specify and then the original message will be deleted. When you use this subcommand you will be prompted to enter the conference you wish to move the message to. If you enter the number of the conference you are currently in, the message will be moved to the end of the current conference's message base. N New messages by date. The first message that is read is the one that matches the date that you specify. This enables you to read only messages that were left after a certain date. N Quit reading messages. At the End of Message command prompt, reading ends and you are returned to the conference command prompt. NEXT Read next message. The next message in the message base is displayed. NS non-stop mode. Messages are displayed in non-stop mode, thus eliminating More? prompts from the display. O Read messages in read-only mode. When you want to read messages and do not want your last message read updated as you read the mail, read the mail in what is called read-only mode. Additionally, if you have sufficient security as defined in PCBSetup | Security Levels | Sysop Commands, the message read status will not be updated. This means that even though you have read the message, it will not be shown as having been read and your last message read pointers will not be updated. P Make current message private. A quick way to make any message security RECEIVER ONLY is to use this subcommand. This subcommand is available to SysOps only and is quite useful when you need to make a message private but do not want to use the E subcommand to edit all of the message header information. PREV Read previous message. The previous message in the message base will be displayed. Q Quick scan messages. See the Q user command for more information. QWK Capture message in QWK format. One of the most popular off-line message format is the QWK format. With what is called a QWK packet you can load it into an off-line mail reader and read and reply to messages off-line saving time and money. If you use this subcommand, any message that would have normally been displayed to your screen will be sent to a QWK packet that you may download and read off-line. RM Read memorized message. The message previously memorized is re-displayed. RE Reply to current message. When you wish to respond to an individual's message you enter a message called a reply. To enter a reply to the current message you use the RE command which will create a new message addressed to the sender of the original message. This is the command you will be using most often when replying to a message because the message that you want to respond to is the message you are currently reading. Therefore, you will not have to enter a message number to respond to because you are currently reading the message. See the REPLY to Message command for additional information. RM+ Read memorized message and continue reading forward. The message previously memorized is re-displayed and the message base is placed in forward mode for further reading. RM- Read memorized message and continue reading reverse. The message previously memorized is re-displayed and the message base is placed in reverse mode for further reading. RR Read reference message. If the message you are reading displays a message number in the REFER# field of the message header, you may read the reference message by typing RR and pressing the ENTER key. This is also where the memorize a message command (M) comes in handy. Using that command you can memorize the current message, read the reference message and then quickly return to the original message by returning to the memorized message number. S Read new messages. All messages in the current conference that have not already been read will be displayed. You may specify the A or ALL subcommand to scan for new mail in other conferences besides the current conference. SE Select current conference for scanning. While reading a message you may select the current conference to scan for messages. This has the same effect as if you executed the Select command from the main menu and placed an "X" in the flags column. Using this command you may select the conferences you wish to scan for mail on-the-fly. SET Set the last message read number. PCBoard stores last message read pointers for each conference. These pointers contain the last message number that you read in any particular conference. By looking at this value, PCBoard is able to determine which messages you have not read yet. As you read messages, this number will be automatically updated. If you need to manually update this value, use this command. When executed, you will be asked to enter the highest message number that you have read. Enter any valid message number into the field. If the number you enter is higher than the highest message in the conference, your last message read will be set to the highest number in the conference. SHORT Use the brief message header for displaying. Displays the four line version of the message header. This means that not all of the fields in the header are displayed so that more of the message will be displayed on the screen. SKIP Skip current conference. While executing an R;ALL or an R;A command, you may use SKIP to bypass the remaining messages in the current conference and to set the last message read pointer to the last message. In the R;A case, however, invoking SKIP will act just as it does with the R;A command only it moves you to the next available conference and permits you to continue reading messages in the next conference. T Thread read. PCBoard allows you to read only messages that have the same subject in the message header. This is called reading messages by thread. You may choose to read forward or reverse in the thread by appending a + or a - next to the T (e.g. T+, T-). Normally, you memorize your current position (by using the M command) and use the RM command to return to the original message after the thread read is complete. TO Read messages to a user. If you wish to read mail that is addressed to a particular user, use this subcommand. When you do, you will be prompted for the user name that PCBoard will use to search the TO: field of each message. TS Search messages for specific text. Each message is scanned for the text that you indicate. You may perform complex text searches by using Boolean text searches. For more information on Boolean text searches, refer to Searching For Text in the Sysop's Guide chapter of this manual. U Read unread messages. Anytime that you want to read messages that have not been read, you can use this subcommand. If a message has been read by the recipient, PCBoard will display the date and time that the message was read in the message header. Messages to ALL will always be considered as unread. U Make current message public. Like the P subcommand, this subcommand allows you to quickly change the message security of the current message. However, this subcommand will make a message a PUBLIC message. This subcommand is only available to SysOps since it is able to change the security of the current message. USER Search messages to or from a particular user. When executed you are prompted to enter the name of the user you would like to search for. After you enter a valid user name, the message base is scanned for messages both for a specified user and those left by a specified user. V View a downloadable file. Enables a downloadable file to be viewed online via PCBVIEW.BAT. This subcommand is identical to the V subcommand for the F user command. In other words, it is identical to typing F;V at a conference command prompt. WAIT Scan messages in conferences where you have mail waiting. Messages are read only from conferences that you currently have personal mail waiting to be read. For example, if you login and see that you have mail waiting in conferences 2,3, and 25 you could read all new messages in only those conferences by entering R;WAIT at the conference command prompt. Y Read messages addressed to you. The message base is scanned for all messages addressed to you. YA Read messages to you or to ALL. The message base is scanned for all messages addressed to you or to ALL. Z Capture and compress messages. As with the D command, the messages displayed by the current command are captured and placed in a file. The file, however, is compressed before it is downloaded and therefore may not be sent to your local printer. Description Exchanging electronic mail or messages between users is probably the most popular form of communications on bulletin board systems. Users will enter and read messages almost every call. PCBoard has several subcommands that allow you to read only those messages that interest you. While the number of subcommands may overwhelm you at first, you will find that you will become familiar with them after a little bit of practice. You may also find that using mnemonics will help you remember the commands easier. By looking at the subcommands described earlier you would find that you could enter R;S;A at a conference command prompt to read all new messages in the conferences that you have selected for scanning. You may find it easier to remember that R;S;A means Read mail Since last time in All selected conferences. Use the selection subcommands to determine the messages that you will read. After you read each message you will be presented with an End of Message Command prompt where you can enter other commands that enable you to reply to messages and other functions as well. Combining Read Subcommands Once you understand how you can combine the various read subcommands, you will be able to better make use of PCBoard's power. The following section is designed to help you find the right subcommand for the right situation. If you enter R at a conference command prompt you will see a line which shows you the range of the message numbers in the current conference message base and will ask you what Message Read Command you would like to use. At this point, choose at least one subcommand from the Read: Selection Subcommands section. For example, if you were to enter a Y, you are telling PCBoard to read messages that are addressed to you. Now that PCBoard has enough information to go on, it will begin scanning with message #1 for any mail that is addressed to you. You may be wondering what you would do if you did not want to begin scanning at message number one (m,aybe you only wanted to scan any new mail that is addressed to you). What you would do in this case is use both the Y and the S subcommands. Simply enter both subcommands at the Message Read Command prompt putting either a space ( SPACE ) or a semicolon ( ; ) between each command. The following is a sample scenario: (50 min. left) Main Board Command? R (H)elp, (3523-5032), Message Read Command? Y;S At this point, PCBoard would begin scanning all new mail in the current conference for any messages that are addressed to you. The Difference Between LONG and SHORT Message Headers The message header is the information that you are displayed regarding who the message is from or to, the subject of the message, etc. PCBoard supports two different message headers -- long and short. The long message header closely resembles the message header of previous versions of PCBoard with the exception that the, TO, FROM, and SUBJECT fields all take one line a piece. The long message header displays the following information: Date Message number Reference number (if message is a reply) Who the message is address to Who the message is from The subject of the message The security of the message If the message has been read or not The status of a message (has replies, message security, etc.) Type of message read you are using All in all, this format takes a hefty 7 display lines on the screen including the blank line between the header and the message text. This amounts to nearly one third of the entire display area on the screen. The short header, on the other hand, uses only 5 display lines including the blank line. This amounts to less than one quarter of the display screen enabling you to fit more message text on the screen. The short message header displays the following information: Date and time the message was entered Message number If the message has replies (displayed as an R on the top line of the header) If the message has been read (displayed as an * on the top line of the header) Who the message is addressed to Who the message is from The subject of the message The following shows the long message header style: The following illustrates the short message header style As you can see two lines of information really does make a difference. The default header that is used is determined by how you answered the following question using the W user command: Use long headers when reading messages? (Y) You can also switch between long and short headers by typing either LONG or SHORT at the End of Message Command prompt. In addition, you may also use these words when using the R user command. For example: R;A;LONG R;Y;S;SHORT Examples If you do not like to read a lot of mail when you login to a system, you may want to only read new messages that are addressed to you in all conferences that you are able to join. To do this, you would enter the following at the conference command prompt: R;Y;S;ALL If you wanted to read the same messages but instead you wanted to capture them to a file that you could download, you would enter the following instead: R;Y;S;ALL;C Sometimes you may want to search for messages that only have certain text in either the message header or the actual message body. For, example, if you wanted to search all of the messages in the current message base for HARD DRIVE you would enter the following: R;TS;HARD DRIVE At this point, PCBoard would ask you what message you wished to begin the scan with. If you enter L it will begin with the end of the message base and search backwards. If you want to scan with the beginning message and search forward, you would enter 1+. REPLY Reply To A Message Subcommands # The message number (between 1 and 16,777,216) that you wish to respond to. If you wish to reply to multiple messages you may do so by entering a message number followed by a comma, a space and then the next message number (e.g., 3252, 3523) Description A reply is nothing more than a new message. There are a couple of things that make a reply different than entering a regular message. These differences are listed below: The message is automatically addressed so that your response is sent to the proper user. The subject automatically defaults to the one of the previous message--you may change the subject if you wish You may quote from the message you are responding to enhance the clarity of your response. If security of the message that you are replying to is PUBLIC then you may change the security level of your reply. Otherwise, the message security of the original message will be carried through to the reply. In other words you can respond to a PUBLIC message and make the reply a RECEIVER ONLY message. However, you cannot respond to a RECEIVER ONLY message and make the reply PUBLIC. The message number of the original message displays in the header of your reply message as REFER #. Aside from the differences listed, a reply is exactly like entering any other message. Therefore, you will want to refer to the E command to find what options are available to you while entering your reply. Quoting The Previous Message Quoting the original message in your reply can enhance the clarity of your reply. It makes it easier to understand the message and what you are responding to. Very little effort is required for quoting a message. The following paragraphs describe the various methods of quoting the previous message. Remote: From remote, there are two ways you can quote the original message. If you are in the full-screen editor then you can press CTRL-O to pull up the previous message or you may press ESC and then select Q from the message entry command prompt. When the message is displayed, on your screen you will see line numbers to the left of each line. When the message has been displayed you will be asked to enter the beginning line number you would like to quote, followed by the ending line number to quote. Once you have entered the line numbers to quote, you will be returned to the message you are writing. Where you left off you will now see the lines that you quoted. To set the quote apart from your message, you will see a -> to the left of each line that is a quote. When reading the message, these will show up in color to make it stand out even more. Local: When you are not calling in from remote and want to quote a message you may use PCBoard's scroll back buffer in addition to the methods that are described for remote users. Since your arrow keys are active in the full screen editor, you can access the scroll back buffer by pressing the o key on your keyboard. When you are in the scroll back buffer, simply press the SPACE where you want to begin your quote and then cursor to the last part you want to quote and press the SPACE bar again. The text that you have marked is now shown in reverse text. If you want to use that text, press ESC to quote the marked text. You may also remark the text you want to quote using the SPACE bar as previously mentioned. Example If you wanted to reply to the following message you would type RE at the End of Message prompt. RE is the subcommand to reply to the message that you are currently reading. Depending on the conference configuration, the following information may be asked before you can enter a reply to a message: Subject: When entering a reply, you are given the ability to change the subject of the message if you wish. If you simply press ENTER when prompted for the subject, the subject of the message you are replying to will be used. Message Security: If the message you are responding to is a public message, you are asked if you would like to change the security of the message in case you wish to respond privately rather than in a public message. Echo Message: If the Echo Mail in Conference option is turned on for the conference where the reply is entered, you are also asked if you would like to echo your response. Route message to: If your response is to be echoed and if the response is a private response, and if the Prompt for ROUTE info option is turned on, this question will be asked. You can enter any routing information (such as a site address or personal address) in this field as appropriate for the NetMail system that the conference carries. Request Return Receipt: If the message is private, you are given the option to request a return receipt. If you request a return receipt, you will receive a message notifying you when a user has read your message. Use Full Screen Editor: If you have setup your defaults to ask which editor each time you enter a message ( W user command ), you will be asked this question. Once these questions have been asked, you are ready to enter the response. Usually, however, you will want to quote some of the text from the original message. From within the full-screen editor, you can press CTRL-O to quote from the previous message. You will be shown the message you are responding to (with line numbers at the beginning of every line). Once the original message has been displayed, you are asked which line you wish to begin your quote from followed by the last line you wish to quote. In this example, you could quote line one by specifying both the starting and ending line number as line 1. You are then returned back to the editor and you will see that quoted text is now in your message with each line prefixed with -> so you can differentiate between your reply text and the quoted text. If you are using the line editor instead of the full-screen editor, the method you use to quote will be a little different because that particular editor does not recognize CTRL-O. Instead, you get to the message command prompt by pressing ENTER on a blank line in the editor. At the command prompt, press Q followed by R. You may then quote the message in the same manner that was used to quote from the full-screen editor. If you are logged in locally, you can use the methods described previously to quote a message, or you can take advantage of PCBoard's scroll-back buffer (if you have it enabled). You can mark any text in the scroll-back buffer and have it included in the message as quoted text. To do so, simply hit the o key and you will be in scroll-back mode. You will notice that you have a cursor that you can move around the screen. Simply move the cursor to the beginning of the text you want to quote and press M. Next, move the cursor to the last portion of the text you want to quote and press M. All of the text between your beginning and ending mark is now highlighted. Simply press E, and it will be entered in your reply as quoted text. You may then continue to enter your reply and quote more text if you need to. Once you have finished entering your response and quoting text, you can save your message just as you normally would if you were entering a message from scratch. RM Re-Read Memorized Message This command allows you to read a message that you have previously memorized. If you try to execute this command and you have not memorized a message number, you will be notified that no message number has been memorized. For more information on this command see the RM, RM+, and RM- subcommands for the R user command. S Script Questionnaires Script questionnaires allow you to answer various questions that the SysOp has designed for you to answer. These questions may cover a wide variety of topics and can vary in length. When you execute this command you will be presented with a list of script questionnaires available in the current conference. You simply select the number of the questionnaire you would like to answer and the questionnaire will be presented to you. Answer each question in the space presented. SELECT Select Conferences for Scanning Or Reading In order to determine what conferences you want to scan or read mail in, you must select the conference. This command will enable you to select the conferences that you want to select. Subcommands [Conf. Num(s)] Conference number(s) to select. You may specify a single conference or multiple conferences. If you want to specify multiple conferences, you must do so by specify a range (e.g., 32-53) or by separating each conference by a space or semicolon. You can even combine ranges and individual conferences. See the example section of this command for more details. S Select all conferences. This subcommand selects all conferences for scanning or reading. D De-select all conferences. This subcommand de-selects all conferences for scanning or reading. Using the SELECT Command Interactively If you do not specify any subcommands when you run the SELECT command then you will be running it in interactive mode. The only thing you need to remember about interactive mode is that it is slightly different than specifying everything when you use the command with subcommands. The following lists the differences between the various subcommands when you are using the command in interactive mode. [Conf. #] Conference number(s) to select. In interactive mode When you select a conference you toggle its status. If you select conference 1 and it was already selected (had an X in the FLAGS column), you will deselect that particular conference. If you select a conference that was not already selected, you will be asked what you wish to set your last message read pointer to. You may set the last message read pointer to any value that is within the range of messages in the conference. To find the range of messages in the conference look to the left of the conference name on the prompt where it is asking you to enter your last message read. You will see a range of numbers that will look something like 3005-8292. The first number is the lowest message in the conference and the second number is the highest. In addition, you can add a D to the right of the conference number(s) to de-select the conference(s) that you specify. S Select all conferences. This subcommand selects all conferences for scanning and all conferences will have an "X" placed in its flags field. D De-select all conferences. This subcommand de-selects all conferences for scanning and removes the "X" if there was one in this conference's flags field. Q Quit. This subcommand quits the Select command. Control is returned to the main menu. Description Quite often, there will be conferences on a bulletin board that you do not want to participate in. This command enables you to choose which conferences to automatically scan for messages both at login and when you use the A subcommand with a message read or scan command (e.g., the R, TS, and Q commands). A two-column listing of conferences that you are able to join is displayed. In the list, PCBoard includes the conference number, description, last message read, highest message in the conference, and an "X" if you have marked this conference for scanning. Only the conferences that you have access to will be listed. If you find that a conference is not listed, it is because you do not have access to it. The following is an example of the screen that is displayed to you: Last High Num Conference Read Num. Flags ------------------------------------------- 1 Main Board 8548 7978 X 2 SysOps Talk 1018 1001 X 3 For Sale 6289 4301 X 5 Programming 2106 1839 6 Operating Systems 5119 4768 X 7 Chit Chat 7831 7659 X 8 BBS Ads 6711 6584 9 Modem Info 2478 2178 X Enter Conference Numbers, (S)elect All, (D)eselect All, or (Q)uit? Examples If you want to make sure that conferences 1 through 9 and conference number 12 were selected, you could do this right from the command line by typing the following: SELECT 1-9;12 Now, if you wanted to deselect just those conferences, you should do that by running the SELECT command interactively by typing SELECT on the command line. At the next prompt, type 1-9;12 and you will see that the conferences will be deselcted. T Transfer Protocol In order to transfer a file while connected to a bulletin board system you must use a file transfer protocol. This command allows you to select your default file transfer protocol. Subcommand [protocol] Protocol letter. You can change your transfer protocol to any valid transfer protocol letter. If you do not specify a protocol letter when you execute the command, you will be given a list of available protocols from which you may choose. Valid protocol letters are A-Z and 0-9. Description When executed, a list is displayed that allows you to choose from among several different file transfer protocols for uploading or downloading files. Each is denoted by a single character, a letter or a number from 0 to 9. When determining which protocol to select, it is important to remember that the same protocol must be used on the bulletin board system and by the communications program that you are using. If you are unsure of which protocol to select or will be changing your selected protocol, select N for no default protocol. If you select None, you will be asked each time you transfer a file which protocol you would like to use. TEST Test A Downloadable File This command allows you to test a file for download before you actually download the file. The testing procedure is determined by the SysOp so it may vary from system to system. Subcommand [filename] Filename to test. This is the file that will be tested according to the testing procedures designated by the SysOp. You may only specify one filename at a time. Description How many times have you downloaded a file only to find that it will not uncompress due to errors? The TEST command permits you to check files for viruses and other corruptions that might exist in a particular file. When you enter the filename to test, you will be informed after a short delay whether the file passed or failed the predetermined criteria. If the filename you enter to test does not exist on the system, you will be notified that the filename you entered does not exist and you will be allowed to enter a new filename to test. TS Text Search Messages Subcommands [Text] Text to search for. This subcommand is required for use with the TS command. This is the text you wish to scan for in the message base. This may be a single word or it may be a complex Boolean search string. NOTE: You may also specify any subcommands of the Read a Message command (R): Read: Selection Subcommands Read: Capture Subcommands Description Every once in a while you may have a need to search through all or a portion of messages on a particular system. You might be experiencing a problem that you need help with or you may have a particular question in mind. The TS command is very similar to the R command. The major difference is that only the messages that contain the search text that you specify are displayed. Giving you the ability to scan messages and message headers to locate a specified text in a message makes it easier for you to display only those messages that interest you. By using conditional text searches you can further limit the messages that are displayed to you. U Upload a File Like the D user command, this allows you to transfer files between systems. In this case, however, you are sending a file to the bulletin board system instead of receiving one. Subcommands [file(s)] Filename(s) to upload. The parameter is given to identify the uploaded file in the PCBoard system. PCBoard will ask for the filename or it may be included on the command line. If more than one file is to be uploaded, each must be listed on the command line. [protocol] Protocol to use for the upload. If you wish to specify a protocol that is different than your default protocol, specify the protocol letter to use on the command line. BYE Logoff after transfer is complete. After the file transfer is complete, you may choose to disconnect automatically. This option may be included on the command line with the other options of this command. Before you are disconnected from the bulletin board system, you have 10 seconds to abort and continue with your session. Description When you upload a file to a BBS you are adding a particular file to the file system so that other users can download the file. When you upload the file it could immediately be made available for download, or the SysOp may make all uploads private to review files before posting them for download. When you begin an upload, you must specify the filename to upload and provide a description for the file before PCBoard will proceed with the transfer. After the filename and description has been provided, you will see the following: Upload Drive : 341,188,608 Bytes Free Disk Space Upload Status: Posted Immediately Protocol Type: Ymodem/G BATCH (Ctrl-X) Aborts Transfer The first line shows you that there is over 331 megabytes of free space for your upload. Obviously this would be plenty of space to handle just about any upload. The second line tells you if the file will be Posted Immediately for download or Screened Before Posting. The third line will display the protocol that you have selected for the transfer. Only the protocol description is listed (not the protocol letter). The final line just informs you that you may press CTRL-X to abort the transfer. From the time you see these four lines you will have about 60 seconds to begin your transfer before PCBoard will automatically abort your transfer. Local Uploads If you have logged into PCBoard locally and you use an internal PCBoard protocol for an upload, PCBoard will do what is called a local upload. When you do a local upload instead of trying to transfer the file via the normal methods, PCBoard will pop-up a box which asks you where it can find the file(s) you wish to upload. Inside of the box you will see Local Upload Path or Filename? In the box, enter the file(s) that you want to upload. To specify more than one file you will need to enter a wildcard filename such as C:\TEMP\*.ZIP. Example If you want to upload a file called TMAL352.ARJ using Zmodem (which is protocol Z), you would type in the following: U TMAIL352.ARJ Z You will now be asked to enter a description of TMAL352.ARJ. You will be told how many lines of description you may enter and that you may begin the description with a / to make the file a private upload to the SysOp. You must enter at least 5 characters for your description--PCBoard will reject any other description. UB Upload Batch This command functions similarly to Upload A File with one minor exception. The UB command immediately assumes that more than one file will be uploaded. Subcommands [file(s)] Filename(s) to upload. If you wish, you may specify the filename(s) that you wish to transfer on the command line. If you specify more than one filename you need to separate each filename with a space. [protocol] Protocol to use for the upload. If you wish to specify a protocol that is different than your default protocol, you may do so on the command line. BYE Logoff after transfer is completed. After the file transfer is complete, you may indicate that you wish to disconnect. This option may be included on the command line with the other options of this command. Before you are disconnected from the bulletin board system you are given 10 seconds to continue on with your current call. Description You will be prompted for each filename you wish to upload. When you have finished entering all the files that you wish to upload press ENTER at the Filename to Upload prompt. If you specify more than one filename to transfer then you will only be allowed to select batch file transfer protocols such as Ymodem Batch, Zmodem, or Ymodem/G. Unannounced Uploads When you finish an upload, PCBoard will check all of the files to make sure that there is a description for each file that has been uploaded. Any file that does not have a description when the transfer is completed is called an unannounced upload. If an unannounced upload is received, PCBoard will scan the uploaded file to see if it contains a FILE_ID.DIZ file. If it does, it will send the file directly to the upload tester without asking you for a description of the file. This capability is made available for ZIP, ARJ, LZH, PAK and ARC files as well as self-extracting versions of each. It is built right into PCBoard. It is fast. And it does not require outside (third party software) to do it. At this point, you will be prompted to enter descriptions for any filename that does not yet have a file description. Once all files have descriptions, PCBoard will begin testing the files (if you have that option enabled). Before testing begins, you are given the option to hang up and let the testing proceed while you are off-line. If you are calling long-distance this can save you a lot of time and money. NOTE: You will not be given the choice to hang up if you upload files while logged in locally. USER List Active Users This command allows you to search the user file for a text string. PCBoard will display the user's name, location, and the last date the user logged into the system for each matching record. Subcommand [text] Text to search for. You may specify any text to search for. PCBoard analyzes this input, scans the USERS file, and displays the name, city/location, and last date on for all matching records. The search string you enter could be part of a first or last name, or even part of a city name. This search string may also be Boolean if you need to restrict your search further. Description This command allows you to search the user file for a text string. You are responsible for inputting the text string. PCBoard provides a list of users with the text string found somewhere in their records. In the list are the user's name, location, and the last date the user logged into the system. NOTE: PCBoard does not display any sensitive or confidential information with this command. Only the name and location (City and State) of each user found will be displayed. In addition, only fields which do not contain confidential information will be searched in the users record (e.g., the password field is not searched). Example If you wanted to find everyone from Evergreen, Nevada, you may want to search all user records for the word evergreen. If this was the case, you would enter the following at the command line. USER EVERGREEN At this point you will may see the following on your screen: User Name Location Last On ------------------------ ------------------------ --------------- MARK HAMPTON EVERGREEN, NEVADA 10-09-93 03:47 CYRUS NEILSON EVERGREEN, NV 04-23-94 21:12 MAX SANCHEZ EVERGREEN,NV 12-13-93 14:21 GERALD CARPENTER EVERGREEN,NEVADA 05-13-91 14:04 ALLEN ROBERTS EVERGREEN, AZ 06-11-93 03:31 V View Settings This command displays the current settings of your user record. Description This command allows you to view various information and stats regarding your current call. The display may look like the following: Caller Num.: 1,005,213 Lst Date On: 02-08-93 Expire Date: None # Times On : 6,008 Page Length: 23 Expert Mode: On Security Lv: 120 # Downloads: 684 # Uploads : 256 Bytes Avail: Unlimited Byte Ratio : 7.3:1 File Ratio : 10.2:1 L/Msg. Read: 117,261 High Msg. #: 117,261 Active Msgs: 1,936 Tr/Protocol: No default protocol -- ask each time. The following describes each field that you may see on the status screen: Caller Num: This is the number of calls that the bulletin board system you are calling has answered since operation of the system began. Lst Date On: The last date you called the system is stored in this field. Expire Date: This field contains the date at which your account will expire. If you have no expiration date then this field will contain the word None. Some bulletin board systems set their users to expire at a certain date. When you are "expired" your security level is usually dropped until you follow the instructions that are displayed to you. # Times On: This value shows how many times you have called this system. Page Length: The page length setting allows you to configure how many lines will be displayed on your screen before you want PCBoard to issue a More? prompt and ask you if you are ready for the next screen. This value may be changed by using the P user command. Expert Mode: If expert mode is turned on, an On is displayed. Otherwise, you are in novice mode and an Off is displayed. You may toggle expert mode by using the X user command. Security Lv: This value is the security level that you have been assigned on this system. The bulletin board system uses this value to control what you can and cannot do on the system. # Downloads: This is the total number of files you have downloaded from the system. # Uploads: This is the total number of files you have uploaded to the system. Bytes Avail: This field shows you how many bytes you can download for the remainder of the day. If this value is set to Unlimited then you may download as much as your time allows. Byte Ratio: Shows the total number of bytes that have been downloaded for each byte uploaded. The number to the left of the colon shows the number of bytes downloaded for each byte shown to the right of the colon. File Ratio: Shows the total number of files that have been downloaded for each file uploaded. The number to the left of the colon shows the number of files downloaded for each file shown to the right of the colon. L/Msg. Read: This field contains the last message number you have read in the current conference. As you change conferences this value will be updated. High Msg. #: This value is the highest message number in the conference you are currently in. Active Msgs: This value is the number of messages that are active in the conference you are currently in. While you will see that each conference has a range of messages (e.g. 332-982) some of the messages in that range may have been deleted. Therefore, you cannot subtract the low message number from the high message number to get the actual number of active messages. Tr/Protocol: This is the name of the protocol you have selected as your default transfer protocol. If None is displayed, you will be prompted for a transfer protocol to use each time you start a file transfer. If you happen to be logging in as the SysOp (as record #1 in the USERS file) then two additional lines will be displayed to you: Defined #'s: When you setup a conference, you are asked how many message blocks you want for the particular conference. If you enter 4 in that field, then you will be allowed to have a range of 4096 active messages in the conference. This field will list the number of active messages that can be in the current conference. This number is obtained by taking the message blocks as defined in the conference and multiplying it by 1024. Free Msg #s: Displays the number of messages that you may add to the current conference before exceeding the number of message blocks that you have defined. For example, if your low message number is 4362, your high message number is 8257, and you have defined the conference for 6 message blocks (6144 messages) then you will have 2248 free messages before you exceed your defined range of active messages. WHO Other Users Online This command enables you to see who is currently online. Each user name is displayed including the city/location and a brief synopsis of what the user is currently doing online. Description Most users on multi-node systems like to know who else is currently on the system. To satisfy this curiosity you can use the WHO command. When executed, PCBoard displays the status of each node on a multi-node system. You can use this command to see if anyone is online that you would like to chat with, who is doing what on the system, etc. This command is only available on multi-node systems. If you try to execute it on a single node system you will get a Sorry, no Network is Active message. Example (#) Status User --- --------------------- ----------------------------- 1 Out of Code in DOOR JIM HALBROM - MAIL 2 Available for CHAT NEIL GRANGER (SANDY CREEK, MN) 3 Transferring a File BILL MOWERY (CHERBOURG, TX) 4 Available for CHAT TAMARA ANTHONY (ASHWOOD, NJ) 5 No Caller this Node From the above example display we can see that the user on node 1 is currently running a door called MAIL. The users on node 2 and 4 are logged in and probably reading messages or scanning for files. The user on node 3 is transferring a file. Nobody is currently on node 5 because it is waiting for a call. W Write User Information This command allows you to change various information about your account such as your password. Description This command allows you to change your own user information. Based on how the Disable Full Record Updating option was answered in PCBSetup, certain questions may not be updated via this command. The following lists each question which will be asked depending on how you answered the Disable Full Record Updating option in PCBSetup | Configuration Options | System Control. Disable Full Record Updating : N Password (one word please)? City and State calling from? Business or data phone # is? Home or voice phone # is? Brand of CPU? Clear the screen between each message? Scroll multi-screen messages? Use long headers when reading messages? Full Screen Editor Default: (Y)es, (N)o, (A)sk? Set editor workspace default to 79 columns? Select Conference(s)? Disable Full Record Updating : Y Password (one word please)? Clear the screen between each message? Scroll multi-screen messages? Use long headers when reading messages? Full Screen Editor Default: (Y)es, (N)o, (A)sk? Set editor workspace default to 79 columns? Select Conference(s)? X Toggle Expert Mode This command enables you to toggle expert mode on the system. Using subcommands you may also explicitly specify if you want expert mode or not. Subcommands ON Explicitly select expert mode. OFF Explicitly select non-expert or novice mode. Description When this command is used with no subcommands it acts as a toggle between expert and novice modes. If expert mode is turned on, menus are not shown. In novice mode, if there is a menu, it will be displayed after each command is executed. Examples If you simply want to toggle expert mode then you would press X at any conference command prompt. If you wanted to explicitly select either expert or novice mode then you would need to use one of the subcommands. For example, if you want to make sure that you are in export mode, then you would enter X OFF at any conference command prompt. Y Your Personal Mail This command permits you to scan for mail addressed to you to determine if you have sent or received messages. Subcommands + Scan forward. When added to a message number (e.g., 300+), PCBoard scans from that message forward. - Scan reverse. When added to a message number(e.g., 300-), PCBoard scans from that message backward. A Scan all selected conferences. PCBoard scans all selected conferences for messages from or to you. ALL Scan all conferences. PCBoard scans all conferences for messages from or to you. C Scan current conference. Only the current message base is scanned for messages. L Scan in long report mode. This option shows messages in long list mode. The message bases are scanned and the corresponding number of each message found is displayed. NS Display in non-stop mode. Screen displays are placed in non-stop mode (without more? prompts). Q Scan in quick report mode. Messages are shown in quick list mode. The message bases are scanned, but only the number of messages and the number of messages to you are displayed and not what those message numbers are. S Scan unread mail. The message base is scanned from the last message read. Only messages after this point are displayed. Description This command allows you to display the number of messages that are addressed to or from you. You can use the subcommands to help select the conferences that will be scanned and if you want to start from the beginning of the message base or only messages you have not read. The report format you choose determines if PCBoard only counts the number of messages or if it will actually show the message numbers. The Difference Between Short And Long Reports The Y command can report in short or long form. When you select short form, your display will resemble the following: Messages Messages Num Conference To You Found ------ ------------- --------- --------- 0 Main Board 0 6 1 Hardware 0 14 6 Software 0 5 9 Chit_Chat 2 6 This display tells you that there are a total of 25 messages that you have not read yet in the Main Board, Hardware and Software conferences. In the Chit_Chat conference, there are 6 new messages, 2 of which are addressed to you. In long form, the same scan would look like the following: Scanning Main Board Msgs For You: None Msgs From You: None # Msgs Found: 6 Scanning Hardware (1) Conference Msgs For You: None Msgs From You: None # Msgs Found: 14 Scanning Software (6) Conference Msgs For You: None Msgs From You: None # Msgs Found: 5 Scanning Chit_Chat (9) Conference Msgs For You: 10472 10475 Msgs From You: 10474+ # Msgs Found: 6 As you can see, the long mode displays not only messages to you, but also from you. In addition, it lists the message numbers and to the right of each message number it displays the message status code if appropriate. For a list of message status codes, see the Q user command. The default scan mode is determined by the Default to (Q)uick on Personal Mail Scan setting in PCBSetup | Configuration Options | Messages. If you answer Y to this question then PCBoard will default to quick display mode. Otherwise, long display mode will be the default. Examples If you want to count the new mail in the conferences that you have selected for scanning, enter the following command: Y;Q;S;A Z Zippy Directory Scan This command enables you to search through the file descriptions in various file directories for the text that you specify. Subcommands [directory #] Directory number to search. PCBoard scans for the indicated text in this directory. When using the Zippy Directory Scan command, you must specify a directory or range of directories that PCBoard should search for the file specification. You may list a single directory, a range of directories in the format #-# or a list of directories in a #;#;# format. There are two letters that you may use as a directory number. If you use A for the directory number, it tells PCBoard to search all file directories in the current conference. Likewise, if you use U for the directory number, the upload directory of the current conference will be searched. [search text] Text to search for. This is the text you wish to search for in the directory listings. If you wish to search for an imbedded space (e.g., "TEST "), you will need to imbed that part of the string in quotes as shown above. Since you cannot enter quote characters on the command line you would not be able to enter the above example on the command line. This search string may also make use of Boolean operands if you wish to further qualify your search. NOTE: The search is not case-sensitive. This means that if you search for the word TEXT then it is the same as if you had searched for word Text. In other words, capitalization of your search text does not matter. D Each file found with the specified text is flagged for download. The system does not immediately download the files, but waits until the D or DB user commands. N This subcommand enables you to include the minimum file date from which the scan should search for. This is identical to the N user command but you can use it in conjunction with a zippy scan to help restrict the file descriptions that you search. NS Screen output is displayed in non-stop or continuous mode. Description This command scans the file directories to find a specified text string. If you do not specify the text to search for on the command line, you will be prompted to enter the text you wish to search for. Possibly one of PCBoard's most powerful time-saving features, the Zippy directory scan command will locate text in both the file name field and the descriptions. Like other PCBoard searching features, the zippy directory scan command utilizes Boolean operands (AND, OR, and NOT). How To Make Your Search More Specific Quite often you may notice that your search found too many matches. Rather than wading through all of the matches to find what you were really after, let PCBoard help you make your search more specific so that you can save some additional time. Perhaps the easiest way to restrict your search is to use Boolean operands. As an example, let's say that you scanned all file directories in the current conference for the word DISK. After a couple of screenfulls, you realized that you did not make your search specific. At this point, you realize what you are really after is a utility which will format a floppy disk. You could enter "Format a disk" in the text to search for. However, you are pretty sure that all of the descriptions of the utilities that format disks would not contain "Format a disk" in the description. What you would need to use in this example is the Boolean AND operator. In the text to search for, tell PCBoard that you want to search for DISK & FORMAT. The & character signifies to PCBoard that you want to search for both words in the description but you do not care if they are right next to each other in the description. Instead, you just want them to be anywhere in the file description. If you searched for DISK & FORMAT and it still turned up too many matches, you may need to restrict your search even further. You notice that some of the matches were dated back in 1989 and may not be compatible with your current system. Therefore, you want to display only utilities that are dated 01-01-90 or older. What you could do, is use the N subcommand as described above. You would type the following for this final search: Z N 010190 DISK & FORMAT A You will notice that this tells PCBoard to zippy scan all file directories but only display those files that are newer than 01-01-90 and that have the words DISK and FORMAT in the description. How To Make Your Searches Less Specific Sometimes you may want to make your searches less specific. You may be wondering why you want to make your searches less specific. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is with an example. If you were searching for all hard drive utilities you may enter HARD DRIVE as your search text. However, some people may call them hard disks instead of hard drives. You are now faced with a small dilemma. You either have to run two searches, or you have to find a way to search for either HARD DRIVE or HARD DISK. To specify that you want to search for either phrase you use the Boolean OR operator. You use the | character to denote the Boolean OR operator. If you will recall, we were going to search for HARD DRIVE or HARD DISK. If you simply replace the word or with the | character that will make the search string correct. Now, when you search, you will be searching for HARD DRIVE or HARD DISK anywhere in the description. You could get fancy with Boolean operators and consolidate this just a little more by searching for HARD & (DRIVE | DISK). Since you are going to be looking for HARD DRIVE or HARD DISK, you can just say search for the word HARD and either the word DISK or DRIVE. Examples Perhaps the simplest example would be to search for a single word in all file directories in the current conference. If you wanted to search for the word VGA then you would enter the following at the conference command prompt. Z VGA A Obviously, this would probably turn up quite a few matches, so you may want to define your search better. If you were only interested in games that supported VGA then you may want to modify so that you search for the words VGA and GAME. You would enter the following at the conference command prompt: Z VGA & GAME A Since you are searching for the words VGA and GAME, it does not matter what order you put the words in. For example, you would perform the exact same search if you typed the following: Z GAME & VGA A