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WildCat! 3.0 User's Manual Main Menu Since the Main Menu is always the first encountered following logon, as well being a gateway to other areas of the system, the discussion will start here. The menu choice selections are presented in alphabetical order for easy reference. B ulletin Menu When the B option is selected, the Bulletin Menu is displayed. The Bulletin menu could be considered a sub-menu of sorts, in that it presents the options of reading one or more bulletins by selecting a bulletin number, relisting the bulletins that are available for display, downloading a bulletin, or simply returning to the Main Menu. If any bulletins have been updated since your last logon, you will be presented a listing of those bulletins by number, and an opportunity to read only new bulletins. C omment to the sysop This choice enables you to enter a private message to the SysOp. WILDCAT! makes these comments an integral part of the message base for easy reply, if desired. All comments are placed in the message conference from which they originate. D oors You will be presented the Doors Menu for further prompting as to which door program should be run. F ile Menu Transfers you to the File Menu. G oodbye & Logoff If your current help level is set to the NOVICE mode, choosing the Goodbye option is followed by the confirmation prompt "Are you sure?". If you respond with a Y, then normal logoff procedures are begun. Otherwise WILDCAT! will assume the command has been entered in error, and will return you to the then current menu. If your current help level is set to the REGULAR or EXPERT, this extra prompt will no longer be displayed. The confirmation prompt may be overridden even in the novice mode of operation by entering G Y or G;Y. This method of stacking commands is available in many locations within WILDCAT, and will be pointed out where it is most commonly used. Note that command stacking may not be used with the hot key option. The Goodbye command is available in ALL major menus and performs exactly the same in each of them. ? Help with Commands There is a help screen associated with each major menu in WILDCAT! which more fully explains the options available. You may select this option as a refresher course after having toggled your help level to REGULAR or EXPERT. H elp Level WILDCAT! supports three different levels of menu prompts: [N]ovice - The first and the default value for new users is the Novice level. At this level, you will be presented with full dynamic menus with a command line prompt containing the name of current menu area, and the first character for a particular option in the current menu. [R]egular - The second level is the Regular level. At this level, menus show only the command line with the name of the current area of the system and the first letter option designators. No menus are displayed at this level. [E]xpert - The final and highest level is Expert. At this level only the particular area of the system is displayed. No menus or letter designators are included. The Help level command is available in ALL major menus and the usage is exactly the same in each of them. I nitial Welcome Screen Contents of the welcome files are re-displayed to you, with screen pauses determined by the setup in these respective files and your settings. If you stopped the original display of one or more of these files using the space bar or CTRL-K, and then later wish to review the contents of these entry-level display screens. The I option permits doing so without having to logoff and then call again. J oin Conference Join conference allows you to change the active message area to any other available on the system. Note that it is not necessary to change to each conference in order to read messages since the Read command allows automatic reading across conference boundaries. For additional details see the Message Menu commands Read and Update Default Conference. This command is active on all menus. M essage Menu The MESSAGE menu is displayed. N ewsletter Displays the contents of the Newsletter file to you with screen pauses. P age the SYSOP This selection is used to page the system operator. The response of the a page request will vary depending on whether the current time is within the SysOp's paging hours. If a page is answered the SysOp can type directly to the caller from the local keyboard. If WILDCAT! has detected that you have ANSI enabled, the chat will take place in split-screen mode. If the page is not answered, you will be offered the option of immediately entering the message editor to leave a comment to the sysop regarding his page. If entered, the message is routed as a comment to the conference sysop with a subject line indicating the date and time, and that it resulted from an unsuccessful page. Q uestionnaire The user is presented the Questionnaire Menu for further prompting as to which questionnaire to answer. S ystem Statistics This menu choice displays the system statistics file, which contains information about the BBS. T alk to other Nodes If a multi-line (multi-node) system is in operation this choice allows users to enter into private and group chat with other nodes. A sub-menu is presented. U serlog List You will be presented with the entire user list of the system, displayed in alphabetical order, along with the type of computer they are using, the date they last called and their "from" user entry. The usual screen pauses are in effect while using this option. V erify User A search can be made on any portion of a user name on the system. Pressing V brings up a sub-prompt to enter a name or partial name. At the sub-prompt, enter all (or portion of) a user's first or last name. The more information that is provided at this prompt, the more detailed the resulting search. A search of Jim would find every user named Jim on the system, along with their "from" entry and the date of their last call. A search of jim h would find, for example, both Jim Hightower and Jim Harvey, plus any others whose first name was Jim and whose last name begins with the letter H. Notice in this example that the search is also insensitive to case. W ho is on other nodes Presents you with a list of the names logged on to other nodes sharing the same Node Information file. Y our System Settings You are allowed to make changes to certain information in the system's User database. When [Y] is selected a sub-menu is presented. From the sub-menu, you may alter the items marked 1-15. The right column, which is maintained by the system or the system operator, is provided as information for the user, and may not be changed by a caller. Note that some items such as birthdate, phone and alias name may be configured to only allow changes with sysop approval. The Alias field will only be displayed when Your Settings is invoked from within a conference supporting alias names. MESSAGE MENU C heck for Mail WILDCAT! scans and lists the numbers of all messages which are addressed to you. The scan first presents a sub-prompt to search the [C]urrent conference or [S]elected conference based on your default selection list. This is essentially an operation to review all messages to you, whether new or old. It is a quick review method, but there are more specific and more powerful options that may be used instead. D ownload Mail (off-line message reader) This is a special message section menu choice which is used to enable an off-line message reader, if desired. If used, it allows WILDCAT! to transfer control to another program for downloading of messages. It operates in a manner very similar to a door. E nter Message Messages may only be entered and saved into the currently active conference. You will be presented with the prompt: To ([ENTER] = All)? [ ] At this prompt a specific user name may be entered and WILDCAT! will check the user database. An entry not in the database is allowed only if the conference is set for valid names only. In an alias conference only valid alias names are accepted. A name not in the user database is acceptable when the conference is used for echomail or other wide-area communication where recipients of the message may have never called the system. After a name is entered the system prompts for the subject of the message and may enter up to 40 characters. Subject ([ENTER] = Abort)? [ ] If no subject information is entered, the message is aborted. If a specific user name was entered (as opposed to the word All), the system then prompts whether the message should be made private: Private? [N] The default value is a public message, and it is skipped for mail addressed to ALL. Private mail is seen only by the sender and recipient, reading private mail may enabled for the sysop. WILDCAT! then prompts if a confirmation of delivery (return receipt) is needed: Return receipt? [N] Again the default is N and is selected if the [ENTER] key is pressed. If Y is selected, WILDCAT! will watch for the message to be read by the recipient and automatically generate a message from the WILDCAT! Mail Room to the sender. This Return Receipt message indicates the date and time the message was received, and is addressed as private mail to the originator of the message. As soon as this Return Receipt message is read by the original sender on a later call it is automatically deleted by the Wildcat! Mail Room. If you have selected a default editor, either the full screen editor or the line editor, it is immediately invoked and message composition can begin. If no default editor has been selected you are further prompted: Full Screen Editor? [Y] Note that the default is Y, and that this choice is offered even if ANSI has not been auto-detected. Some communications programs offer ANSI routines that can make use of the editor, but fail to respond to the ANSI query properly due to incomplete ANSI implementation. It is up to you to determine if you have the capabilities to make use of the full screen editor properly at this point. Message text entry follows. Message length varies by conference, and can be up to 150 lines long. After message entry is completed and corrections made using the appropriate editor commands, you have several options. If additional recipients of the message are desired the Ca[r]bon Copy prompt can be selected after text entry by pressing R. Doing so saves the main message and the carbon copy prompt is presented: Carbon copy to ([ENTER to end)? [ ] As many carbon copies as desired may be sent. F iles Menu Presents you with the Files menu. This choice is available from both the Main menu and the Message Menu. G oodbye Refer to the [G] option discussion under MAIN menu. ? Command Help Refer to the [?] option discussion under MAIN menu. H elp Level Refer to the [H] option discussion under MAIN menu. K ill a Message This is a routine for erasing old messages directly from the MESSAGE menu. It requires that (1) the message to be deleted is either to or from the user who is attempting to erase same, and (2) that the message number is already known. Messages may also be deleted interactively while reading them in the message area. Q uit to Main Menu Exits the current menu and returns to Main Menu. R ead Messages This command allows you to select which messages you want to read. Reading can be done using a number of options, or may be as simple as using a single command to always read all new messages in all conferences. A sub-menu is displayed with the following choices: [22-1845] - Allows you to enter a beginning message number from the message range available. Entering a number begins reading at that message and continues in a forward direction, reading newer messages in chronological order. You are prompted whether you want to read messages in ALL conferences after selecting a number to begin. [N]ew mail - Reads all messages that have been entered since the last time you read mail in the conference. A high message number mark is maintained for each conference, and all new messages can be read with the New mail command. You are prompted whether you want to read new mail in ALL conferences after making the selection. This is the easiest method of reading ALL new messages in ALL conferences. [U]nread personal - Reads all messages that are addressed TO you, and have not been read previously. This command is used to read only mail addressed to you that has never been read previously, and is often used to read personal mail at every logon. You are prompted whether you want to read messages in ALL conferences. Note that Unread personal mail will locate all messages to you that have not been flagged read, regardless of your last message read pointer. It scans all conferences, even those which are not included in your default conferences using the Update Conference command on the message menu. [S]earch - This command brings up a sub-menu allowing you to search for messages based on a number of criteria. You may search based on text in the From field, To field, Subject, and Message body text. You may also start at any message number and search either forward or reverse directions. Messages found using Search are displayed with the full message text. The Scan command on the message menu supports the same search criteria, but displays only header information, allowing you to MARK messages for later reading. The default Search criteria encompasses all messages, and can be narrowed by altering the individual fields. Note that the fastest searches make use of the From, To and Subject fields since they are indexed. Any searches for specific Msg. [B]ody text take much longer, and should be further narrowed if possible. [M]arked - Reads all messages that have been marked for reading. This command is used to read mail that you have marked while using the Scan command. It ONLY appears as a menu choice if messages have been marked previously using Scan. There are several other commands that may be entered on the command line when entering messages that are not displayed. They are: A - The A or ALL command may be added to a command to extend reading to ALL conferences in your Conference profile. Entering the command 3 A requests to read mail starting at message number 3 in ALL conferences. Another example would be N A to read all new mail in ALL conferences. The A command may be added to any command and will cause the prompt for "Read mail in ALL conferences" to be skipped. +/- - The read command always assumes reading in a forward direction unless advised otherwise. Appending the - command indicates you want to read in reverse order. After entering a message read command, WILDCAT! offers a prompt allowing reading messages in ALL conferences. Y will read all mail as requested starting from the first conference selected in your default conference setup. N indicates reading only in the current conference. After a message is read you have several possible options, depending on the nature of the message, your security profile and whether the message is TO or FROM you. ### - After each message you may branch to another message number in the same manner as when the Read command was initiated. [E]dit - The ability to edit a message after reading is offered to you and those who have been given sysop mail reading privileges. Selecting the edit mode clears the screen and re-displays the message with the same prompts encountered when message entry is completed. You may delete lines, insert lines, edit specific lines, change the subject, list the message and save a revised copy. A special help file is available within the edit function. When the edit is complete, the revised message is saved with an updated date and time stamp. [F]orward - This choice allows sending a copy of the message to any other user on the system. It creates a private message to the new recipient with a note indicating that it was originally addressed to another person and forwarded by you. Forwarding a message to ALL is a valid response which creates a public message to ALL. [R]eply - This choice is available on all messages unless your security level prohibits message entry. A reply generates a message FROM the caller addressed TO the sender of the original message, with the option of changing the subject, if desired. The decision to keep or alter the subject is important since message THREADING is based on the subject. [K]ill - The ability to kill (delete) a message is offered to the sender, receiver and those who have been given sysop mail reading privileges, but only if they have been extended the ability to use the [K]ill message command on the message menu. When the kill option is used the selected message is flagged as being deleted, but can still be read by the sysop if enabled in the conference. A deleted message is actually removed from the database when the sysop command [W]astebasket dump is executed. [N]onstop - Selects nonstop message reading from that message forward. It may be used to capture messages to a file for reading off-line, or to quickly move forward in the message base. Nonstop reading can be terminated with a tap on the spacebar. Note that nonstop reading while reading across multiple conferences will not stop between conferences. [S]ysop - This choice is offered only to those with sysop privileges in the conference. The first two choices, [F]rom user edit and [T]o user edit, allow displaying the user record of the sender or recipient of the message. Full database modification is allowed since this choice actually invokes the user database functions of the sysop menu. When the user database functions are complete, quitting the database menu returns to the message reading prompt. When selected the user is presented with a sub-menu. [P]ublic/Private - Changes the status of any message from public to private or vice-versa. [M]ove to conference - Presents another sub-prompt Moving a message to another conference actually copies the message as a new message in the destination conference message database (with a new date/time stamp), and deletes the original message. A conference listing is available using the [L]ist conferences command. [C]opy to conference - Creates a duplicate of the message in another conference message database with a new date and time stamp. The original message is unaltered. [U]ndelete - Flags the message as readable after having been [K]illed. S can Messages Scanning messages operates in a similar manner to [T]ext search, except that the entire message is not presented for messages meeting the selection criteria. Scanning allows you to search for and display message headers, and then mark selected messages for reading using the Read Marked command. You may search based on text in the From field, To field, Subject, and Message body text. You may also start at any message number and search either forward or reverse directions. The default Search criteria encompasses all messages, and can be narrowed by altering the individual fields. Note that the fastest searches make use of the From, To and Subject fields since they are indexed. Any searches for specific Msg. [B]ody text take much longer, and should be further narrowed if possible. Messages matching the criteria are displayed one per line with header information only. Each message is preceded by a reference number, and each screen of messages is followed by a -pause- prompt that allows [M]arking messages for reading after the scan is completed. Multiple messages can be marked at one time by specifying the message numbers separated by spaces, or in groups such as 2 5 7-11 14 to indicate three individual messages and all those between 7 and 11. U pdate Conference Scan/Read This option allows you to establish which conferences are searched by default when performing message functions in multiple conferences. Reading and scanning mail are two such activities. All conferences to which access is allowed is the initial setting for this option. You may select or deselect individual conferences or groups of conferences by entering a single number or a range such as 3 or 3-7. [D]eselect all or [S]elect all will affect all conferences, and toggle the selection marker accordingly. The presence of the asterisk indicates a conference is "selected", and will be accessed whenever default conference names are used. If the asterisk is not present, the conference will not be accessed when reading or scanning messages in default conferences. Message Editor Operation WILDCAT! contains two distinctly different editors, the Line Editor and the Full-Screen Editor. Any caller can make full use of the Line Editor, but the Full-Screen Editor requires ANSI.SYS for proper operation. Either can be selected as your default to be used each time a message is entered, or the choice may be made prior to each message. Note that the Full-Screen Editor may be invoked and set as a user default even if ANSI is not enabled for the call. In this situation, you will find that it operates improperly and should switch to the Line Editor. Line Editor The line editor allows entering text on a single line at a time, and only allows backspacing on that line to make corrections. The backspace is destructive in nature, and all deleted text must be reentered. Once the ENTER key is pressed to end a line or word-wrap moves the cursor to the next line, the previously entered line(s) cannot be re-edited by the same method. After a line is completed it can be edited using the [E]dit command only. The message line editor is probably one of the most misunderstood functions in message entry. To begin, there must be a way to tell the editor what text is bad, and what text to use instead. To accomplish this the terminology used is OLDSTRING for the text to be replaced and NEWSTRING for the new text. After asking for the line number to be edited, WILDCAT! needs to know what needs to be changed. The syntax used to implement this is OLDSTRING;NEWSTRING (note the semicolon between the two words). This command is translated as take the first occurrence of the characters OLDSTRING and delete them, then insert the characters NEWSTRING in the same location. For example, if the message line reads: this is a message to shw how to use th Edit command. Obviously we need to change two errors, the word th for the and shw for show. First lets fix shw by using the command shw;show which scans for the word shw and replaces it with show. Now the harder correction. Notice that the first occurrence of the incorrect text th is actually a part of correct text this in the 1st word. Therefore we can't simply use the command th;the or the new message will read theis is a message.... The proper method is to broaden the OLDSTRING search to include additional unique text such as use th;use the. Notice that we can replace any number of letters even with a shorter or longer NEWSTRING. After an edit you are presented with the corrected line and allowed to make more corrections, if needed. A blank ENTER terminates the Edit mode. Note that editing an existing message (one that has previously been saved) will result in a change to the message date and time to properly reflect the revised contents. Full Screen Editor This editor allows you to move the cursor freely about the editing page using cursor keys and Home, End, PgUp and PgDn, very much like many word processors. In order to do so it makes use of ANSI codes to tell your cursor where it should move on the screen. Since most communications programs have provisions to make use of ANSI terminal mode, almost any caller can use this feature if desired. Some of the Full Screen Editor functions are not available as standard ANSI codes and require additional emulation modes to operate properly. These functions include options such as PgUp, Home, and several other keys which are not defined in the standard ANSI mode. If a caller's communication program supports DOORWAY mode it can make use of these extended functions. Both Telix and Qmodem have a doorway mode which can be invoked with ALT= (holding ALT while pressing the equal sign). This toggle is necessary since most communications programs use the PgDn key to begin a download. Unless doorway mode is invoked, only the cursor keys, Del, Bksp, and the control keys will be active. The Full Screen Editor makes use of the following keys in standard ANSI mode and Doorway mode: ANSI-BBS DOORWAY OPERATION ^A Ctrl-Left Arrow Cursor word left ^B Format paragraph ^C PgDn Page down ^D Right Arrow Cursor right ^E Up Arrow Cursor up ^F Ctrl-Right Arrow Cursor word right ^G Del Delete character at cursor ^H Backspace Backspace (destructive) ^I Tab Tab ^J Join lines ^L Re-draw screen ^M Enter New line ^P End Cursor end of line ^R PageUp Page up ^S Left Arrow Cursor left ^T Delete word right ^V Insert Toggle insert mode ^W Home Cursor to start of line ^X Down Arrow Cursor down ^Y Delete line ^Z Display help Note that the full screen editor display on the local host system will show the last few line numbers wrapped on a single line above the user record screen, if displayed. This is a normal occurrence and does not affect the remote display. Message Commands After entering text in the editor, the message editing prompt appears at the end of the text. This prompt is the same for both the full screen editor and the line editor, and even allows switching from one editor to the other after message entry [A]bort - signals a desire to discontinue message entry and lose all text entered. A warning follows: Are you sure you want to abort? A yes answer will return you to the message menu, or to reading messages if the aborted message was a reply. [C]ontinue - Returns to the message editor at the next available line. This choice returns to the LINE EDITOR only, use [F] to return to the full-screen editor. [I]nsert - This item is needed only by the LINE EDITOR, and allows insertion of new lines of text between existing ones. You are prompted for the line number where new lines should be inserted. The selected line number moves down, and a new line is added at the chosen number. Any number of new lines will be inserted as word-wrap creates more new lines as needed. In the full screen editor pressing ENTER creates a new line as does ^M. [L]ist - This command redisplays all message lines using appropriate pauses. [E]dit - This item is needed only by the LINE EDITOR since the full screen editor can edit lines using the cursor keys. The line editor correction system is probably one of the most misunderstood functions in message entry, and is covered in its entirety in the previous section Line Editor. Ca[r]bon - At this prompt you may enter additional names of additional recipients up to a maximum of 9. Each will receive a copy of the message with the notation cc: User Name appended to the bottom. Carbon Copies are always toggled private. Note that pressing carbon copy saves the message as is and sends copies to the recipient and any carbons desired. It should not be used until message editing is completed. [Q]uote - This option only appears when replying to another message. It allows placing all or part of the original message in the reply for clarity. When quote is selected the entire text of the original message is displayed, and the user is prompted for a beginning and ending line to quote from the messages. The quoted lines are added to the bottom of the message in progress. You can also quote during a reply as an automatic part of the reply process. Auto-quoting can be turned on in any individual user record using the Main Menu command [Y]our settings. When auto-quoting is activated the entire original message is quoted in the reply when it is begun. Coupled with the power of the full screen editor, auto-quoting offers and easy way to make a clear reply. [F]ull screen - This is the proper key to use to re-enter the full screen editor rather than the [C]ontinue key. It continues editing at the end of the last line of the message. [D]elete - This item is needed only by the LINE EDITOR since the full screen editor can delete lines while editing using Ctrl Y. It prompts for the first line to delete and then for the last line. Prior to performing the deletion the text of the lines to be deleted is displayed for confirmation. Deleted lines are removed and higher-numbered lines move up. [S]ave - After the message has been proofread and edited, the Save command will update the message base with the message and appropriate carbon copies, if requested. [H]elp - Presents you with the contents of the help display file which contains information similar to the instructions here. At[t]ach - Allows attaching a file to the message. Its use may be limited on a conference basis. When selected, you are prompted whether you want to attach a file to the message since this choice is often not fully understood. If the reply is Y you are further prompted. The name of the file attached may be anything you desire but must not include any path information. After entering the name you are prompted for the file transfer protocol to be used for the upload. Any available protocol may be selected and the file transfer will begin just as it does when uploading a file. At completion of the upload, you are returned to the message entry prompt and may add additional text before saving the message, if desired. A message with a file attached contains an additional line at the end which is generated by WILDCAT! as the message is displayed. When a message with a file attachment is read, the read prompt contains an additional choice to [D]ownload the file. If download is selected you are prompted to select a protocol in the exact same manner as the file menu choice. After completion of the download you are returned to message reading at the point the download was begun. Mail Doors & Off-line Readers A mail door is a program that allows you to call into the BBS and request all new messages in selected conferences. These messages are packed together in a compressed file and made available for download using a choice of protocols. All this activity takes place from a menu choice on the message menu, and is the primary reason for the MAIL door option at that location. The mail door program only needs to be purchased by the BBS system operator, not the callers to the BBS. Once a mail packet has been downloaded, you disconnect from the BBS and use an off-line reader to extract and read the messages in the packet. While reading, replies can be entered as desired, often using a wide choice of editors. You then call back at your convenience and again uses the mail door to upload your reply packet.