CNet's extremely powerful Text Editor is used at all points throughout the system where text messages are written or edited. All Editor commands are "dot commands"--that is, they are activated by hitting a period ( . ) at the very beginning of any new line. The Editor will prompt you with "Command:" after you've done this to let you know that it's now waiting for a command. To actually enter a period at the beginning of a line, simply type a second period, and the "Command:" will be replaced by a period.
The most basic of editor commands are "A" to abort (that is, quit the editor without saving what you have written), "S" to save your message as-is, and "?" or "H" to receive a complete listing of all editor commands and their functions. For most commands, especially those that will irreverisbly alter text, the Editor will wait for you to press ENTER before actually doing anything. Before pressing ENTER, it is possible to cancel a command by pressing your backspace key.
One very important concept to be aware of while in the editor subsystem is that of paragraphs. CNet has been designed to automatically format messages for the current user's column width to avoid broken words at the end of lines regardless of how the message was written. In order for CNet to effectively accomplish this, it must know where your paragraph breaks are.
If you are at the end of a line and have not finished a paragraph, continue to type, and C-Net will automatically "wrap" your word to the next line. Only press the ENTER key when you are about to begin a new paragraph. You can manually alter paragraph boundaries on lines by using the .T command.
For a complete tour of all of the editor's functions, enter .H the next time you are in the editor subsystem.
One major feature of CNet's editor and CNet in general is the MCI (Message Command Interpreter). MCI commands are imbedded message commands. For more information, use the help topic MCI.
