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.
| [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. |
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. |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. |
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. |
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.
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 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.
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.