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.