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Text File | 1992-03-08 | 73KB | 1,982 lines

File: CISMAIL.DOC -- OZCIS AND CISMAIL This section covers OzCIS' Address Book, CISMail (private mail), and OzCIS' editors. THE ADDRESS BOOK The OzCIS Address Book stores names and UserID numbers of, and comments about, people with whom you're in frequent contact on CIS. Its window can be opened from many places in the program, including the editors. The "book" is a plain-text file called ADDRBOOK.DB ("DB" means "database") whose contents can be viewed with a file viewer like LIST.COM or edited with any text editor. (CAUTION: If you edit ADDRBOOK.DB outside of OzCIS, *ALWAYS* save the file as a plain-text file - never in the proprietary file format of a word-processing program like Microsoft Word, WordStar, and so on. ADDRBOOK.DB should not be renamed, and it should be stored in the directory where OZCIS.EXE itself resides). There is an ADDRBOOK.DB in the OzCIS distribution archives; but you you could create it from within OzCIS - as follows: From OzCIS' main screen, select MAIL > ADDRESS BOOK SERVICES. First, an alert appears announcing: ERROR 2 INITIALIZING ADDRESS BOOK (which will appear if you don't unpack ADDRBOOK.DB from the OzCIS distribution archive that contains it.) Close the alert. The Address Book window opens, headed CURRENT ADDRESS ENTRIES. A new menu bar appears that temporarily replaces the normal main menu bar, showing EDIT, DELETE, ADD, and QUIT commands. The following instructions apply whether or not you have unpacked ADDRBOOK.DB from the OzCIS distribution archive OZCIS3.EXE: CREATING A NEW ENTRY Select ADD. An EDIT ADDRESS BOOK ENTRY dialogue opens, containing Name, Address, and Notes data fields. (See the documentation file INTRO.DOC to review the keystrokes used in OzCIS dialogues.) As in some other OzCIS dialogues, information about each data field appears at the bottom of the screen. Hints about commands used in the dialogue appear in the dialogue window's border. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 42 NAME field: Enter a name - as many characters as the width of the window. Don't enter a CIS UserID number here. ADDRESS field: This is the field for the CIS UserID number; it can hold up to 132 characters. When the text of the address is wider than the window, OzCIS automatically scrolls it left and right as you edit it or move the cursor through it. NOTES field: You can enter up to three comment lines. The number of characters allowed per line is equal to the screen width of the field. IMPORTANT: OzCIS uses semicolons in the ADDRBOOK.DB file to separate blocks of information from one another within a given entry. NEVER type a semicolon into the data fields of any address book entry. Press F10 to save the new entry. If you change your mind, press ESC (or click the right mouse button) to close the dialogue without saving. If you're creating a new Address Book from scratch and close this first entry's dialogue without saving the information, OzCIS will not write the ADDRBOOK.DB file to disk. OzCIS often places brackets around the UserID number - e.g., "[12345,6789]". This is normal. CIS automatically strips the brackets. Sometimes OzCIS itself needs them for sorting or other purposes; please don't remove them. If you create an Address Book entry without filling in the name, or if you enter something in the Address field that OzCIS doesn't recognize as a bona fide UserID number, "UNKNOWN" will appear in the Address Book after you've saved the entry. Editing that entry and correcting the information in the field in question will remove "UNKNOWN." A new entry moves to the top of the list. Likewise, editing an entry moves it to the top of the list. As you add names, the Address Book window expands vertically. After it has reached its maximum depth and when there are more entries than fit into one window, you can scroll the list up and down via the mouse (and scroll bars) or via the PG UP, PG DN, HOME, and END keys. (When there are more names than will fit into the window, OzCIS displays "MORE" in the lower-right-hand part of the window frame.) As soon as you have more than one name in the Address Book, it becomes a pick-list. Select an entry using the highlighted cursor bar or by left-clicking its name with the mouse. QUICK LOCATION OF NAMES You can move through the Address Book by typing the first character of a name you want to find. Each time you press a key, the cursor bar ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 43 will jump to the next entry beginning with that character. When the bar has reached the last matching entry, another press of the same key will send the bar back to the first matching entry. If two entries begin with the same characters, you can narrow the selection by typing as many characters as are needed to make the name unique. Typing "ca" would make the cursor bar jump first to "cab" and only after that to "car". But typing "car" would send the bar straight to "car". EDITING AN ENTRY When a name in the Address Book is highlighted, pressing ENTER selects the EDIT command by default. (Or left-click "EDIT" or press ALT-E.) Press F10 to save the edits or ESC to close the editing dialogue without saving them. DELETING AN ENTRY Move the cursor bar to the entry you want to delete. Left-click on "DELETE" in the menu bar or press ALT-D. OzCIS will then ask you to confirm the deletion. CLOSING THE ADDRESS BOOK Press ESC, or click the right mouse button, or left-click "QUIT" in the menu bar, or press ALT-Q. ENTERING AN INTERNET ADDRESS Enter the person's name into the NAME field. In the ADDRESS field, enter: >INTERNET: username@address ... where "username@address" is a standard Internet address. The ">" character is required. Do not use "]" or "}"" or ")" instead of ">". Do NOT put a space anywhere WITHIN the character string ">INTERNET:". Example: In NAME field: John Q. Public In ADDRESS field: >INTERNET: jpub@grungy.dufus.party.skool.edu In the (extremely unlikely) event the Internet address is too long to fit into the ADDRESS field, try: In NAME field: >INTERNET: In ADDRESS field: jpub@grungy.dufus.party.skool [etc.] Other such gateways or services (FAX, POSTAL, and so on) are discussed in documentation you can obtain from CIS. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 44 SORTING THE ADDRESS BOOK OzCIS comes with a utility called SORTADDR.EXE, used to sort the names in the ADDRBOOK.DB file quickly. See the file UTILS.DOC for more information on SORTADDR.EXE. You can also move lines around in ADDRBOOK.DB by loading the file into a text editor (including OzCIS' own General Editor) - BUT: CAUTION: If you edit ADDRBOOK.DB, make sure that 1) You do not allow any line-wrapping to occur. Each address entry, INCLUDING any associated comments, must be on a SINGLE line. 2) The file is saved in plain-text format. 3) All semicolons on each line are left intact. Before moving on to the next section, add two or three names and UserID numbers to the Address Book, even if they are fictitious. You'll use them in an upcoming tutorial; you can delete any fake entries later on. CISMAIL (PRIVATE MAIL) Brief explanation of CISMail procedures: o Create new outgoing mail by selecting MAIL > NEW MESSAGE COMPOSE. This command starts the New Message Editor. o Select MAIL > READ CURRENT MESSAGES to read CISMail messages sent to you (uses the Message Reader.) o Give the "reply" command in the Message Reader, which splits the screen and starts the Reply Editor. o Before sending new outgoing mail, you can review it (and change it if need be) using the Review Editor. OzCIS' fifth editor is the General Editor, whose commands will be discussed later in this file. Detailed reference sections for the editors' command sets will follow, along with more information on other CISMail functions. First, a kind of tutorial for new users, covering the following subjects: ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 45 Creating a new message; Using the Address Book when creating new mail; Sending a private message to CIS; Reading and replying to new incoming mail; Using the Address Book when reading/replying to private mail; Reviewing outgoing messages. CREATE A NEW MESSAGE -- USING THE NEW MESSAGE EDITOR From the main screen, select MAIL > NEW MESSAGE COMPOSE. This opens the New Message Editor. Start a new outgoing message - type a few lines. As you type, OzCIS performs line-wrapping, breaking the lines at the column you specified during general program configuration. Note the status-line display of information about what you're writing: cursor position by line number, by column number, by number of characters into the message, and finally the total number of characters entered so far. If you change your mind and decide to abandon the new message, press ESC or select QUIT from the menu bar. OzCIS will ask you to confirm abandoning the message. Answer YES, and you'll be returned to the main screen. Answer NO (or press ESC), and you'll be back in the editor. Here are some of the cursor- and screen-control commands used in the New Message Editor: PG UP scroll up one screen PG DN scroll down one screen HOME cursor to beginning of line END cursor to end of line ^HOME cursor to top of screen ^END cursor to bottom of screen ^PG UP cursor to top of message ^PG DN cursor to end of message LEFT cursor left one character RIGHT cursor right one character ^LEFT move cursor one word to the left ^RIGHT move cursor one word to the right UP cursor up one line DOWN cursor down one line When you've typed several lines of text, select SEND from the top-line menu (not SAVE, which has a different purpose). OzCIS doesn't yet know who the recipient is and opens a MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue, which contains NAME, ADDRESS, SUBJECT, RECEIPT, and COPIES fields. Note that the dialogue's window frame contains hints on commands available when the cursor is in a particular data field. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 46 With the cursor in either the NAME or ADDRESS field, press F2. This opens the Address Book. Move the cursor bar within the Address Book to highlight an entry; press ENTER (or left-click the name) to select it. OzCIS enters the person's name and UserID number into the NAME and ADDRESS fields of the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue. The Address Book closes. Move the cursor to the SUBJECT field and type something like "Test message." NOTE: CIS has a 40-character limit for the subject line. OzCIS will allow you to enter more characters there; but if CIS encounters that long a subject line, it will halt, ask you to enter a shorter line, and wait until you do so. This could cause some interesting (translation: expensive) trouble if you run an unattended mail pass on CIS. So keep the subject line as short as possible. On occasion CIS truncates that long a subject line. The RECOMMENDED maximum length is 36 characters. (The limit for FORUM message subject lines is 24 characters.) At this point you could close the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue by pressing F10, confirming the newly-entered name/address information and saving the outgoing message. The New Message Editor would close and you'd return to the main screen. But don't press F10 yet; there's more you can do here with the Address Book. Move the cursor into the NAME field of the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue. Press F2 to open the Address Book again. Highlight an entry different from the one you selected the last time and press ENTER. Note how the old name/address information is completely replaced by the new information (the SUBJECT field doesn't change). Again, you could press F10 to confirm, save, and quit - don't do it yet. Move the cursor into the NAME field again and type your OWN name. (Right: You're going to send the test message to yourself.) The text now in the filed disappears and is replaced by what you type. Move the cursor into the ADDRESS field and type your own CIS UserID number. Move the cursor into the SUBJECT field, but don't type anything there yet. Here is a way of storing new name/address information without having to re-type it into the Address Book: With the cursor in any of the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue fields, press F4. The Address Book window opens again, but pressing F4 also opens the EDIT ADDRESS BOOK ENTRY dialogue. OzCIS automatically puts the recipient's name and address information into the dialogue. Type a comment into the Notes field if you wish. NOW confirm the new information by pressing F10, saving it into the Address Book (and closing the edit-dialogue). Right: You've entered your own name and UserID into the Address Book. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 47 Close the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue by pressing F10 again. The message you're sending to yourself is now saved to disk, and you're back at the main screen. OzCIS saves outgoing CISMail messages into the file CISMAIL.REP, which is stored in the same directory as OZCIS.EXE. NOTE: Whenever you open the Address Book in an OzCIS editor, all Address Book functions are available. You can also open the Address Book (via the top-line ADDRESS menu) BEFORE you give the "save message" command. When you do save the new message, the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue will appear again for you to confirm the information about the recipient. There is a method of saving a new message and REMAINING in the New Message Editor to write another message. For information about that command, see the upcoming command reference section for the editor. WHAT NOT TO PUT INTO CISMAIL MESSAGES The following apply to CISMail messages and forum messages alike: Never place CTRL or "highbit" characters into your messages. The one exception is the "split message" character (which OzCIS can place into the message text for you). NEVER type a semicolon as the FIRST character of a line in a message; OzCIS will take it to be part of an instruction. This will lead to undesirable results (errors when transmitting mail, or what will look like file corruption if you try to read the outgoing mail in the Review Editor). If you need to place a semicolon as the first character on a line, first indent the line by at least one space, then type the semicolon. When you finish the last line of a message, press ENTER at least once, leaving the cursor BELOW the last line of text. Otherwise, the last line of the message might be lost. NEVER enter either a semicolon, nor a double-quote mark ( " ), into ANY part of a message address (in a CISMail message or forum message). MESSAGE FORMATTING; LINE LENGTHS CISMail lines will always break exactly as YOU wrote them. Not so with forum messages: CIS dynamically reformats forum messages to varying line lengths, based on callers' screen widths, many of which will be different from yours (width information is stored in each caller's on-line profile data). You can tell OzCIS to prevent this dynamic reformatting when you save outgoing forum messages (more on that in the documentation file FORUMS.DOC). ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 48 GOING ON-LINE TO SEND THE TEST MESSAGE Now you'll transmit the new message to yourself. Make sure you have chosen the right Host (note the display in the upper-left of the main screen). If you need to change it, select CONFIGURATION > HOSTS MAINTENANCE. The AVAILABLE HOSTS window opens. Highlight the desired Host name and choose SELECT (ALT-S) from the menu. The new Host name is now displayed on the main screen. Select MAIL > SEND/RECEIVE MAIL ONLINE. OzCIS goes into terminal mode and dials the Host. Note the status messages at the bottom of the screen as OzCIS logs onto CIS, enters your UserID and password, then goes to the CISMail service and sends the outgoing mail. This description assumes there isn't any new mail waiting for you. If there is, OzCIS first retrieves it, then sends your outgoing mail. NOTE: During dialing and as OzCIS begins making the connection to CIS, it displays "<ESC> Aborts" on its terminal-mode screen. As long as "<ESC> Aborts" appears there, pressing the ESC key will stop the dialing and log-on processes. When the connection is made, "<ESC>" will disappear and be replaced momentarily by "Connected." GETTING THE TEST MESSAGE YOU JUST SENT YOURSELF After it sends the outgoing mail, OzCIS logs off CIS and returns to the main screen. Wait 10 minutes or so for your new message to be posted to your own CIS mail box. During that time, compose and save another short message to yourself. Again select MAIL > SEND/RECEIVE MAIL ONLINE and transmit the second message to yourself. This time you'll see OzCIS retrieve the first message, then send the second. NOTE: When OzCIS finishes sending new outgoing mail, it always deletes the outbound-mail file (CISMAIL.REP). If you want to save outbound messages: 1) Make sure the particular Host is configured always to save outbound mail (see file INTRO.DOC for more information on Host configuration); or 2) Make sure it is configured to "ASK" - then review outbound messages (OzCIS asks if you want an "outbox save" done when you finish the review). See "Saving All Outgoing Messages To A File," below. You can restrict the "save" to the current message only. The way to do so is covered in the command reference section for the New Message Editor, later in this file. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 49 READING NEW MAIL -- USING THE MESSAGE READER OzCIS alerts you to the arrival of new mail via a small window at the lower-right corner of the main screen ("MAIL!"). Left-click within the "MAIL!" alert to start the mail reader (or select MAIL > READ PENDING CISMAIL MESSAGES). The Message Reader opens. Its functions are limited to scrolling through messages, copying text that will be pasted into another editing window, and replying. You can't alter any text in it. If you want to quit back to OzCIS' main screen right away, press ESC or select "QUIT" from the menu bar. Screen- and cursor-movement keys are the same as those used in the New Message Editor. Other Message Reader commands include: ALT-N Next message Alternate keystrokes: F5, space bar, "+", or "n" ALT-P Previous message Alternate keystrokes: F3, "-", or "p" ALT-R Reply to current message Alternate keystrokes: F2 or "r". ALT-J Jump to message number... This opens a data-entry field in which you type the number of the message to view. Press ENTER, and OzCIS moves immediately to that message. The ALT-J command is available in several of the other editors. Review their menus to see which ones support the "jump to..." command. NOTE: The Message Reader is unique among the editors in supporting the use of single keystrokes (without using ALT or CTRL) for "next," "previous," "reply," and some of its other commands. Pressing the space bar is probably the most convenient way of moving through new mail, because it 1) scrolls through a message one screen at a time; 2) moves to the next message within the present group (when you have reached the end of the current message). FORWARDING A MESSAGE: Press ALT-F while reading a message. A MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue opens. It's similar to the one you've seen before, but it does not have a SUBJECT field. As before, press F2 if you need to open the Address Book. When you have filled in the dialogue's fields and pressed F10 to save the information, the message you're now reading is forwarded in its entirety to the person whose name and CIS address you just placed into the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 50 OzCIS automatically fills in the SUBJECT field with the words "Forwarded Message" and adds a line reading "This is a forwarded message" to the top of the outgoing message (which goes right into your outbound-CISMail file, CISMAIL.REP). YOU are always shown to be the sender of a forwarded message. The forwarded message will also contain quoted header information to show the name, date, and subject matter attached to the original message. As with any other outgoing CISMail, a forwarded message can be edited in the Review Editor (see below). Other Message Reader commands will be discussed in detail in its command-reference section, below. USING THE ADDRESS BOOK FROM WITHIN THE MESSAGE READER Select ADDRESS from the menu bar (or press ALT-A). The Address Book opens, followed right away by the EDIT ADDRESS BOOK ENTRY dialogue. In this case OzCIS automatically selects "ADD" and enters the sender's name and UserID number into the NAME and ADDRESS fields of the dialogue box. Type a comment into the NOTES field if you want, then press F10 to close the edit-window. This is a quick way to add new names and UserID numbers without having to re-type them. If you don't want to add the name, press ESC to close the dialogue. In either case, the Address Book stays open (at which point you have access to all of its functions). HOW OZCIS STORES CISMAIL IN "GROUPS" Each time OzCIS logs onto CIS and collects private mail, it stores the messages in the file CISMAIL.MES (located in the same directory with OZCIS.EXE). Don't rename CISMAIL.MES or move it to some other directory, or OzCIS won't be able to find it. OzCIS considers each new batch of incoming mail (CISMail or forum messages) as being in a different "group" from the last batch you received. As you continue to collect new mail, OzCIS continues to store new groups in first-in/first-out fashion. The most-recently- retrieved mail is always the first group displayed when you start the Message Reader and is assigned the highest group number. You can keep up to 99 such mail groups. For example, if you've collected 30 batches of CISMail and haven't erased the CISMAIL.MES file (or altered it in a text editor), the command MAIL > READ PENDING CISMAIL MESSAGES from the main screen will first show the 30th (most recent) group in the Message Reader (watch its status line for the display of current group number, total number of groups, and which message within the current group you're ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 51 now viewing). Selecting "previous group" will display the mail you got the last time you logged onto CIS - the 29th group. The oldest batch of mail is Group 1. See the command reference for the New Message Reader, below, for a complete list of "next/previous" group commands. As you move from one group to the other, the status lines at the top of the screen will display the changing group numbers; the total- number-of-messages information will also change from group to group. During the general-configuration step, you made a selection telling OzCIS how to delete CISMail - never delete it, always delete it, delete by "sessions," or delete by "days." NEVER OzCIS continues to store groups of mail in CISMAIL.REP until you delete the file or edit it to remove messages manually. ALWAYS OzCIS stores only a SINGLE group; each new session on CIS removes the last batch of messages and replaces it with the new ones. SESSIONS OzCIS will keep only 'n' groups, where 'n' is the number you entered in the Purge Counter of the General Configuration dialogue. DAYS OzCIS will retain only 'n' days' worth of mail. If you collect CISMail more than once per day, the number of mail groups retained will not be the same number you entered in the Purge Counter. REPLY TO THE NEW MESSAGE -- USING THE REPLY EDITOR Press F2 or ALT-R or just "r". The screen splits into two windows, and the cursor moves into the bottom window - OzCIS' Reply Editor. The Reply Editor has many more functions than the Message Reader. Note that it has its own menu bar, appearing along the "split" in the screen. Its cursor-movement and screen-control commands are the same as those of the Message Reader. Some of the other important commands are shown just below. Unless otherwise noted, the keystrokes discussed below work ONLY when the cursor is in the Reply Editor. F2 Move cursor into the top window (the "parent" message). Pressing F2 again - or ESC - moves the cursor back to the Reply Editor. Notice that the commands in the top menu bar change depending on whether the cursor is in the upper ("parent" message) or lower (reply) window. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 52 F4 Save/send the reply. If there is no text in the reply-window at all, pressing F4 simply closes the reply-window. ALT-S Same as F4. F6 View next line (up) in upper window (Message Reader). F8 View next line (down) in upper window (Message Reader). F10 Move cursor into the upper menu bar (if cursor is in top window when you press F10, jumps back into the reply window) ALT-F10 Move cursor into the Reply Editor's own menu bar. ESC If the window is not split, quits the Message Reader and returns to the main screen. If the window is split and the cursor is in the upper window, sends the cursor into the lower window (like F2). If the cursor is in the lower window and the lower window contains text, ESC means "abandon reply"; OzCIS will ask you to confirm this choice before it closes the Reply Editor. Pressing either "n" or ESC in response to the query will tell OzCIS not to abandon the reply. If there's no text in the lower window: Closes the Reply Editor's window. F1 Context-sensitive help, including a quick reference to all of the above commands and others used in the editors. There are two commands to "unload" the message in the upper (parent) window and load into it either the previous or next message in the current group: F5 Get previous message F7 Get next message. These two commands enable you to make a single reply to a several-part message from the same person, quoting from the several messages into your reply-message. COPYING TEXT FROM THE "PARENT" MESSAGE WHEN YOU REPLY TO IT OzCIS has a universal "clipboard" you can use to transfer text from one window to another. Mark a block of text; copy it to the Clipboard; move the cursor to a new location; paste the copied text there. These block commands use the following WordStar-style commands: ^KB Start marking the text at the present cursor position. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 53 ^KK Used after you've moved the cursor to the end of the block of text you want to mark; highlights the block. Use ^KH to hide the highlighting or re-display it when hidden. ^JC Copies the selected text to the Clipboard, whether or not the highlighting is visible. If highlighting is visible, this command hides it again. This is a visual confirmation that the highlighted block has in fact been copied into the clipboard. ^JP Pastes the text in the clipboard at the current cursor position. (Note: You can't paste any text into the Message Reader window.) (^JP has no effect if there isn't any text in the Clipboard.) The stored text stays in the Clipboard until you quit OzCIS and return to DOS or until you store some other text in the Clipboard. If the text pasted into the Reply Editor is not formatted to the proper line width, use the "reformat paragraph" command (^B). You can rapidly reformat all text in the reply-window to your normal line length via the command ^KG. When you are done with the reply, give the SAVE command (ALT-S, or press F4 if the cursor is in the reply-window). OzCIS then asks you if this is a "Standard" or "Receipt Requested" message. Normally you'll want to send mail "Standard". If you ask for a receipt, you get a confirming message from CIS, also via CISMail. There is an additional $ 0.25 charge from CIS for this service. REVIEWING OUTGOING MAIL -- USING THE REVIEW EDITOR From the main screen, select MAIL > VIEW OUTGOING MESSAGES to open the Review Editor. The Review Editor's command set will be discussed in detail later. There are a few commands we'll note here. F3 View previous message (Alternative: ALT-P) F5 View next message (Alternative: ALT-N) ALT-K Kill the message now on the screen. If you select press ALT-K (or select "KILL" from the menu bar), OzCIS asks you to confirm this choice. If you reply YES, the message you're now reading (and only that one) is removed from the outbound mail file, CISMAIL.REP. If it is the ONLY outgoing message, CISMAIL.REP will be deleted. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 54 SAVING ALL OUTGOING MESSAGES TO A FILE When you quit the Review Editor, OzCIS asks if you want to save outgoing messages - if, during Host configuration, you selected the "ASK" option in the save-outbox-messages field. If you answer YES, all are saved to a file called CISMAIL.OBS ("OBS" means "outbox save"), written into the same directory where OZCIS.EXE resides. If the .OBS file doesn't exist, OzCIS creates it. If it exists, the newly-saved text will be added to it. If you chose "ASK" - but then don't review the outgoing messages before sending them - OzCIS automatically saves them when it has completed a mail "pass" on CIS. If you chose "ALWAYS," the messages are automatically saved to CISMAIL.OBS without query. There are other ways to save individual messages or selected text in individual messages. They will be discussed shortly. ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL "TO:" LINE VISIBLE IN THE REVIEW EDITOR OzCIS adds an additional line to the text you've just written, placing it at the top of the message. You won't see it until you review outgoing mail with the Review Editor. The line might look like this: TO: J. Schmoe [12345,6789] If J. Schmoe is the only recipient, the extra "TO:" line is not required for proper message routing and will be stripped when OzCIS posts the message on CIS. There is no need for you to remove it manually. Careful: If you alter the UserID information in the "TO:" line, OzCIS will think you're sending a copy of the message to another person and will try to comply with your request. If you don't want to send an unwanted copy, don't alter the "TO:" line. If you are sending copies of the message to other people, there will be more than one of these "TO:" lines at the top of the text. In that case, they MUST remain in the file. For more information about carbon copies, see "Sending Copies of Mail and Getting Return-Receipts," later in this file. COMMAND REFERENCE - NEW MESSAGE EDITOR The menu bar has several "flags" at its right side to give you information about editor status: INSERT Indicates that "insert mode" is on (typing text pushes other text to the right). If you toggle this mode via the INS key, or via ^V, "INSERT" changes to "OVER" (for "over-strike"). ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 55 SMART Indicates that you have enabled "smart" tabs. Toggling them off changes the flag to "FIXED". With "smart" tabs enabled, pressing the space bar several times in a row sets an automatic tab length. Let's say you use the space bar to create columns of unequal width, then press ENTER to begin a new line. Each time you press the TAB key, the cursor jumps to the next column whose position you established in the previous line via the space bar. INDENT Means you have the auto-indent function enabled. Otherwise, that part of the menu bar is blank. With auto-indent mode on, pressing ENTER at the end of a line indented from the left margin will begin a new line indented by the same amount. If you indent that line even more, the next new line will begin at the new indent-position. Pressing ENTER twice turns auto-indenting off, returning the cursor to the default left margin. WRAP Indicates that you have word-wrapping enabled. If you turn word- wrapping off, that part of the menu bar is blank. SAVE As soon as you alter a message's text in any way, "SAVE" appears to alert you of the changes. If you make changes to a line but then restore it to its original state, SAVE" will disappear. However, any change that includes adding or deleting lines will cause "SAVE" to appear and remain on the screen. (These flags also appear in the menu bars of the Review Editor and the General Editor.) CURSOR/SCREEN CONTROL UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, PG UP, PG DN As discussed in earlier sections of the documentation. ^LEFT and ^RIGHT Move cursor to previous word and next word, respectively HOME and END Beginning of line and end of line, respectively ^HOME and ^END Top and bottom of current screen, respectively ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 56 ^PG UP and ^PG DN Beginning of current message and end of current message, respectively CURSOR/SCREEN CONTROL (additional keystrokes not shown in menus) ^A Move to previous word (identical to ^LEFT) ^D Move cursor right one character ^E and ^X Cursor up one line and down one line, respectively - identical to UP and DOWN ^C and ^R Scroll up one screen and down one screen, respectively - identical to PG UP and PG DN ^W and ^Z Scroll window upward one line and downward one line, respectively (without moving the cursor) ^JL Jump to line number ... then a data field appears in which you type the desired line number. The value OzCIS places there by default is the CURRENT line number. MENU BAR ACCESS - F10 Move cursor into menu bar EDITOR - ALT-E Opens the General Editor ADDRESS BOOK - ALT-A Opens the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue. You can then open the Address Book by using commands discussed in the tutorial section, above. HELP - ALT-H or F1 Invokes the on-line-help system. FILE OPERATIONS SEND - ALT-S If you haven't yet addressed the message, opens a blank Message Address dialogue. Fill in the information and press F10 to confirm. Saves the message and quits the New Message Editor. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 57 SAVE - ALT-V If you haven't yet addressed the message, opens a blank Message Address dialogue. When the information is filled in, then confirmed via F10, this command saves a copy of the message in the file CISMAIL.OBS, after which you are still in the editor, editing the same message. SAVE is not the same as "save and quit" - use "SEND" for that. If you have already used the Address Book and filled in the recipient's information, SAVE immediately saves a copy of the message into CISMAIL.OBS and leaves you in the editor. SEND message, then start another one - F4 Opens the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue (blank unless you have already filled in the information via the "ADDRESS" command). Address the message. Press F10 to confirm. OzCIS briefly displays a small window confirming the "save" and then leaves you in the editor with a blank editing screen. If you have already filled in the MESSAGE ADDRESS fields, F4 opens the dialogue with the previously-written information in it. Pressing F10 confirms the information and stores the message with the other outgoing mail, leaving you in the editor with a blank editing screen. F4, used here, is different from other "save" or "send" commands. It tells OzCIS to remember the name and UserID information you last entered. The next SEND or F4 command will bring up the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue with the previous name and UserID information ALREADY typed into the NAME and ADDRESS fields. As long as you keep using F4, OzCIS keeps recalling the information about the last recipient and will continue to save and clear the screen. Thereafter, selecting SEND (from the top-line menu) saves the current message, then quits the New Message Editor. OTHER COMMANDS TEXT menu - ALT-T ^K followed by 0, 1, 2, or 3. Set one of four possible markers in the text. ^Q-[0 to 3] Jump to one of the numbered markers. ^KM Toggle the display of numbered markers on and off. ^QF Search for text. ^QA Search and replace text. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 58 The "search" and "search and replace" commands use certain flags that tell OzCIS how to find text. These single-character flags are typed into a data field that appears when you've typed the search text and pressed ENTER (or typed first the search text and pressed ENTER, then the replacement text and pressed ENTER). Some of the flags described below (group-related commands) are applicable only to the Message Reader: U Treats all text as if it were upper-case. That is, case is completely ignored during the search. B Search backwards through the message or group. If "B" is used in combination with "A" (see below), the search begins in the newest (highest-numbered) group and moves backward through it, then to the next-most-recent group, ending finally in Group 1. G Search the entire current group, either forward or backward, depending on whether "B" is also used - but only the current group. In a search/replace, "G" is necessary for replacing all occurrences of a character string. A Search all groups, either forward or backward, depending on whether "B" is also used. "A" always over-rides "G". ^L Repeat the last search. If the last command was a "search- and-replace" command, ^L performs another replacement. ^OC Center the current line ^B Reformat paragraph (re-wrap the lines to the presently- specified line length). If you set a temporary right margin (and/or left margin), ^B uses it (them) rather than the default value you established when you configured OzCIS. ^KG Global reformat - reformat ALL paragraphs in the message. ^QL Restore current line. If you make changes to a line, this command removes the changes (works only if you have not yet moved the cursor to another line). COMMANDS NOT SHOWN IN THE MENUS ^G Delete one character to the right ^T Delete word to right ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 59 ^N Open a new line (split present line) at the cursor position ^Y Delete entire line ^QY Delete from cursor position to end of line BLOCK menu - ALT-B ^KB Begin marking a block of text ^KK End marking of a block ^KT Mark a single word as a block ^KC Copy a marked block, inserting it at the current cursor position ^KV Move marked block, inserting it at the current cursor position (and removing it from its original position) ^KY Delete a marked block ^KH "Toggle" command to hide a marked block or re-display it when it has been hidden. ^KI Indent block ^KU Un-indent a block ^QB Jump to beginning of marked block ^QK Jump to end of marked block ^KP Print marked block ^KW Write marked block out to disk; OzCIS will then prompt you for the output file name ^KR Read a block of text now on disk, inserting it at the present cursor position. NOTE: ^KW and ^KR both allow you to specify file names containing wildcards. Using that kind of file name opens an OzCIS file pick-list. The ^KW command always over-writes files rather than appending text to them. If you specify an existing output file name, OzCIS asks you to confirm over-writing it. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 60 Case conversion: ^OU Convert marked text to upper case ^OV Convert marked text to lower case ^OO Toggle case CLIPBOARD menu - ALT-C ^JC Copy marked block of text to OzCIS' Clipboard. Highlighting will then be hidden - visual confirmation that text has been put into Clipbaord. ^JK Cut marked block of text to Clipboard (stores block in Clipboard and removes it from the text) ^JP Paste text in Clipboard at present cursor position OPTIONS menu - ALT-O INS Toggle insert/overstrike mode ^V Same as INS ^OI Set text-indent mode ("Smart" versus "Fixed") ^OB Set block indent. Sets the number of spaces the block indent/unindent commands (see above) move a marked block. Default value: 2 spaces. ^OR Set right margin ^OW Word-wrap on/off ^OF Toggle TAB mode - "SMART" versus "FIXED" ^OT Set size of fixed tabs (maximum = 10) MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS ^P "Print" a character onto the screen. Command is not shown in any menus. This is a means of quoting a CTRL character onto the screen. Rarely needed. It is absolutely, positively, NOT a good idea to put CTRL characters into CISMail messages (other than the "split" character - see below). ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 61 SENDING COPIES OF MAIL AND GETTING RETURN-RECEIPTS The MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue appears in the New Message Editor when you are ready to send a newly-composed message or when you select the ADDRESS command. The dialogue's COPIES field contains the word "ENTER," meaning that when you move the cursor into the field, press ENTER to get access to the Copies sub-dialogue. That dialogue contains two columns of blank entries. You can enter up to 30 different name/UserID entries for the message you want to copy. Pressing F2 when the cursor is in any of the fields opens the Address Book. If you make select an entry from the Address Book, the name/address information for that person will be entered into a field in the Copies dialogue. Press F10 when you're ready to confirm the "carbon-copy" information and close the dialogue. You'll be returned to the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue. Press ESC if you decide not to make any copies after all. OzCIS can mark a message "Return receipt requested." In that case, CIS will send you a confirming message noting the date and time the message was received by the addressee. CIS charges you a fee for this service (usually 25 cents per receipt request). Note also that CIS charges a fee for each message sent to the second and subsequent addressees in a CC'ed message (again, usually 25 cents). CC'ing messages can also become expensive. Using CC can be a great convenience for groups of people working together. But it can also be abused; there have been instances of people's doing advertising or sending "junk mail" information that way. CIS has rules about the use of the CC capability, and such "scattergrams" are specifically prohibited; violating the rule can lead to the suspension or revocation of your CIS access. Give the command "GO RULES" at a CIS "!" prompt for more information on CIS operating rules and policies. COMMAND REFERENCE -- MESSAGE READER CURSOR/SCREEN CONTROL: Same as for the New Message Editor. MOVING AMONG MESSAGE GROUPS: ALT-V, F4, or "v" alone, Display previous group (lower group number) (Again, the Message Reader is unique among the editors in supporting single alphabetic keystrokes as commands.) ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 62 ALT-X, F6, or "x" alone Display next group (higher group number) MOVING AMONG MESSAGES WITHIN A GROUP: ALT-P, F3, "-" (on either keypad), or "p" alone View previous message ALT-N, F5, "+" (on either keypad), space, or "n" alone View next message. ("space" is like PG DN until the end of a given message is reached; then pressing "space" again moves to the next message) ALT-J (no alternate keystrokes) Jump to message number. A small data field appears into which you type the desired line number. Then press ENTER. REPLYING: ALT-R, F2, or "r" alone Reply to current message BLOCK AND CLIPBOARD COMMANDS: Same as for the New Message Editor ADDRESS BOOK SERVICES: ALT-A or "a" alone Opens the Address Book, followed immediately by the dialogue for editing an Address Book entry. The name and address of the sender (of the message now being viewed) will be automatically entered into the NAME and ADDRESS fields of the add/edit dialogue. When you close this window (confirming or not-confirming the new information, your choice), all normal Address Book services are available. Pressing ESC will close the Address Book window. PRINTING: ALT-I or "i" alone Print the current message. If the printer is not ready, OzCIS warns you about it and gives you a chance to try again. (ESC to abort.) If you chose FILE instead of a printer port during general configuration, selecting PRINT brings up a data field in which you specify the file name for the printout. OzCIS supplies the name "PRN" by default, allowing you to print to your line printer after all. SAVE MESSAGE: ALT-S or "s" alone Save the current message to a file of your choosing. OzCIS supplies the file name CISMAIL.SAV by default; type some other name there if you want. Typing a file name containing wildcards, then pressing ENTER, will bring up an OzCIS file pick-list. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 63 This command never over-writes such "save files"; it will always append new text to them. EDITING: ALT-E or "e" alone Opens the General Editor. Commands used in the General Editor will be discussed shortly. OTHER FUNCTIONS - OTHER menu (ALT-O) ALT-M Rename file. This command is available only when OzCIS has retrieved a binary file someone has sent to you via CISMail. OzCIS gives such files names like "CM031092.2" (that name would mean it's the second CISMail binary file received on 03-10-92) to avoid any possibility of over-writing a file now in the OzCIS directory. When it downloads a binary file, OzCIS creates a short CISMail message that usually displays the downloaded file's original name. When you are viewing that message, choose "rename file". You can then rename the file to its original name. "Rename file" is accessible ONLY when you are viewing the message confirming the binary-file download. ALT-F Forward copy. This command allows you to forward a copy of the current message to another user. You will be prompted for the name and address of the user to whom the message is being forwarded. The entire message, including the "header", is sent. ALT-J Jump to message number. Brings up a small data field in which you type the number. Example: If you want to look at the third message in the current group, type ALT-J, then "3", then ENTER. ALT-T (or ^QF, which is not shown in the menu) Search for text. This opens a window into which you type the text to be searched. Press ENTER. A second window appears in which you type one or more single-letter search-criteria ("flags"). For more information on the flags, see the command reference for the New Message Editor, above. NOTE: The WordStar-style command ^L - "search again" - can be used following your first search launched from the dialogues brought up via ALT-T. ^L is not displayed in any menus. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 64 COMMAND REFERENCE -- REPLY EDITOR CURSOR/SCREEN CONTROL: Cursor and screen movement keystrokes See "Command Reference -- Message Reader" (above) WINDOW CONTROL; MENU BAR ACCESS F2 Toggle back and forth from Reply Editor window to Message Reader Window. ALT-R Same as F2 in either window (means "review parent message" when in Reply Editor and "return to reply" in Message Reader) ESC Same as F2 if cursor is in Message Reader. Abandons reply (with confirmation query) if cursor is in Reply Editor. F5 Display the previous message in the group (in the UPPER window). F6 Move text in the upper (Message Reader) window upward one line. F7 Display the next message in the group (in the UPPER window). F8 Move text in the upper (Message Reader) window downward one line. F10 Move cursor into top-line menu bar (if it's in the Reply Editor; if it's in the Message Reader, F10 puts cursor back into Reply Editor) ALT-F10 Move cursor into Reply Editor's own menu bar (which appears along the "split" in the screen) FILE OPERATIONS F4 Selects SEND from main menu bar; OzCIS then prompts for decision on your getting back a receipt from CIS, or no receipt ("Standard"). ALT-S Same as F4 ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 65 ALT-V Selects SAVE from main menu bar. Save this reply-message to the file OZCIS.OBS ("outbox save"), located in same directory as OZCIS.EXE. COMMANDS ACCESSIBLE FROM THE REPLY EDITOR'S OWN MENU BAR These commands are identical to those of the New Message Editor. The difference is that whereas the New Message Editor shows its functions in a single menu bar, the Reply Editor has some of them in the "split" between the windows and has the rest in the main menu bar. COMMAND REFERENCE -- REVIEW EDITOR CURSOR MOVEMENT; MENU BAR ACCESS As noted in command references for the other editors. MOVEMENT AMONG MESSAGES ALT-P or F3 Previous message ALT-N or F5 Next message NOTE: If you have edited a message, then given "previous message" or "next message" commands before saving the changes, OzCIS will ask you to confirm saving the changes before moving on. KILL A MESSAGE - ALT-K Remove the current message from the file of outgoing messages. You will be asked to confirm. SPLIT A MESSAGE - ALT-L OzCIS will insert a ^S character into the message text at the current cursor position. The character will cause the message to be split at that point. OzCIS will automatically insert new message header information into the continuation of the message, plus add "continued in" and "continued from" text into the two (or more) parts of the split message. OzCIS can automatically split messages, however, and it's usually more convenient to let it do the work for you. Use ALT-L to force a split, over-riding any decision OzCIS would make. Even if you put a "split" character into a message that is not long enough to warrant splitting, OzCIS will split the message. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 66 NOTE: The maximum size of a forum message is 2100 characters or 92 lines, whichever occurs first. The maximum size of a CISMail message is 512K. It is not usually necessary to split CISMail messages, and OzCIS will not do so even if you give a manual split-command. EDITOR - ALT-E Opens the General Editor ADDRESS BOOK: ALT-A Opens the Address Book. Does NOT also open the MESSAGE ADDRESS dialogue. HELP: ALT-H or F1 Invokes the on-line-help system SEND MESSAGE: ALT-S Saves the message and quits the Review Editor. If the current message has been changed, OzCIS asks you to confirm saving the changes before quitting. ESC Quit the Review Editor. If the current message has been altered, you are asked to confirm the changes before quitting. NOTE: Any "quit" command given in the Review Editor will bring up a dialogue in which you are asked if you want to save the replies to the "outbox save" file. See the upcoming section "A Review of 'Save' Options in the Message Editors" for more information. OTHER REVIEW EDITOR FUNCTIONS Virtually all editing commands available in the New Message editor - block commands, Clipboard commands, and so on - are also available in the Review Editor, even though its menu bar doesn't refer to these commands at all. See the command reference for the New Message Editor for complete information. COMMAND REFERENCE -- GENERAL EDITOR The General Editor, accessible from a number of different OzCIS editors and from the main screen (WINDOW > EDITOR), can edit any plain-text file and has an input-file size limitation of 64K. When you open the General Editor, OzCIS supplies "*.*" by default as the name of the file to load. As in other such situations, supply a file name of your choosing or leave "*.*" in the data-entry field (or some other name containing wildcards) to get a file pick-list. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 67 To start with a blank editing screen, type the name of a non- existent file into the data field, then press ENTER. FILE menu - ALT-F F2 Save file and continue editing. ALT-F2 "Save As..." - choose a new name for the file being edited, then save it using the new name. ^F2 Save the file and quit the General Editor. ESC Quit the General Editor. If the file on the screen has been changed but hasn't been saved yet, you're asked to confirm before quitting. F3 Get a new file. If the text on the screen has been changed but has not been saved, OzCIS asks you to choose saving the edits or abandoning them before loading the new file. TEXT menu - ALT-T (commands are all identical to those of the New Message Editor's TEXT menu; see above for information on the New Message Editor) BLOCK menu - ALT-B (identical to New Message Editor BLOCK menu commands) CLIPBOARD menu - ALT-C (again, identical to New Message Editor) WINDOW menu - ALT-W ALT-Z Zoom the window. Depending on where you are in OzCIS when you open the General Editor, its window will cover the full screen or only half the screen. Use the "zoom" command to toggle between a full- and half-screen display for the editor. ZOOMING AND MOVING THE WINDOW WITH THE MOUSE You can resize and re-position the General Editor window dynamically with the mouse: The "+" symbol in the window's lower-right corner is a "hotspot" that allows you to change the window size when the window is NOT "zoomed." Put the mouse pointer there and hold down the left button as you drag the "hotspot." The top bar of the window is the window's movement "hotspot": Place the mouse pointer there and "drag" with the left button held down to move the window around the screen. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 68 A REVIEW OF "SAVE" OPTIONS IN THE MESSAGE EDITORS NEW MESSAGE EDITOR: Pressing F4 or selecting SAVE from the New Message Editor's menu bar stores the header and body text information of the current message (and only that message) to a file called CISMAIL.OBS. If CISMAIL.OBS exists, the saved message is appended to the end of the file. If, during Host configuration, you put ALWAYS into the data field relating to outbox-saving, all outgoing messages will automatically be saved into CISMAIL.OBS. The "write marked block to disk" (^KW) command is available in the New Message Editor, but remember that it over-writes file (with your permission) rather than appending information to them. MESSAGE READER: Selecting "SAVE" stores the current message in a file. OzCIS supplies the destination file name CISMAIL.SAV by default; you supply another name if you want. If you include wildcards, you'll first see a standard file pick-list. This kind of "save" always appends to a file if it now exists. There is no "write block to disk" command in the Message Reader. However, you can copy a block of text in the window to the Clipboard; open the General Editor; paste the block into the General Editor window; then save the text in the window to a file (or use the "write block to disk" command within the General Editor). REVIEW EDITOR: There is no "save" menu selection, but when you quit the editor, OzCIS asks if you want to save the messages to a file (if, that is, you placed YES within the Host configuration dialogue field relating to outbox message saving). If you answer "yes," ALL of the as- yet-unsent messages are saved to the file CISMAIL.OBS. The Review Editor also supports the "write block to disk" command. GENERAL EDITOR: This editor also supports the "write block to disk" command, but there is no "save to file" option similar to that of the Review Editor or Message Reader. Use "Save As" instead. OzCIS considers CISMAIL.SAV and CISMAIL.OBS as "folders" (accessible via the MAIL > MESSAGES STORED IN FOLDERS command). They have a file format of their own. See "Messages Stored in Folders," later in this file, for more information. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 69 OTHER "MAIL" MENU OPTIONS UPLOADING A BINARY FILE AS PRIVATE MAIL You can transmit a binary file as mail that will be stored in the recipient's private CIS mailbox. Select MAIL > UPLOAD A FILE AS MAIL. This opens an INPUT FILE TO MAIL dialogue containing FILE NAME, SEND TO, and ADDRESS fields: FILE NAME Type the name, including path information if necessary, or press F2 to bring up a standard file pick-list. If the FILE NAME field is blank when you press F2, OzCIS assumes you want it to display all files in the current directory. Or type a file name containing wildcards that will limit the display - e.g., "*.DOC" - then press ENTER (not F2) for a file pick-list. You can include path information in the FILE NAME field; an ambiguous name like E:\*.DOC would restrict the display to all .DOC files on E:\. If you don't select a file from the first pick-list shown after supplying an ambiguous file name, OzCIS will then present a file pick-list showing all files in the current directory. SEND TO Enter the recipient's name here. ADDRESS Enter the recipient's UserID number here. If you press F2 with the cursor in either the SEND TO or ADDRESS fields, the Address Book opens. Press F10 to confirm the information or ESC to close the INPUT FILE TO MAIL dialogue without saving the information. After saving and confirming the information, if you review the outgoing mail, there will be a message looking something like this: **OzCIS Automatic upload to CISMail** File: D:\UPLOADS\FILENAME.EXT The recipient's name and UserID will appear in the usual place at the top of the Review Editor window. If you decide not to send the file, use the Review Editor's KILL command. This prevents the upload but does not delete the file itself. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 70 MONITORING UPLOAD STATUS When OzCIS starts to upload the binary file, it will open a window that displays a lot of information about the file transfer, including the file transfer protocol ("B Plus"), the file name and size, estimated transfer time, elapsed time, remaining time, number of errors encountered (if any), throughput (number of characters transferred per second), and efficiency (actual transfer speed as a percentage of the ideal speed for that baud rate). At the bottom of the window a "thermometer bar" shows, graphically, how much of the file has been sent and how much remains to be sent. Below that a status indicator reads "OK" as long as there are no errors. If there are errors, it will display what kinds of errors they were. CIS and OzCIS together will make a maximum of ten attempts to fix errors during the file transfer. If the tenth try fails, the file transfer is aborted, after which OzCIS continues with other mail processing, if any. DOWNLOADING A FILE SENT TO YOU AS PRIVATE MAIL If someone sends you a binary file as CISMail, OzCIS downloads it as part of a normal mail run. What happens when there is a binary file in your CIS mailbox depends on how you answered the question "Prompt on auto-download?" during Host configuration. If you answered NO, OzCIS automatically downloads the binary file without further ado. If you answered YES, OzCIS halts before downloading and asks you if you want the file. You have 15 seconds to decide. If you answer NO, OzCIS leaves the file in your mailbox; you can download it some other time. If you answer YES or don't respond within 15 seconds, OzCIS downloads the file, then deletes it from your mailbox. During the download, OzCIS opens a file transfer status window like the one it displays during CISMail file uploads. The file is stored on your system not with its real name, but with a name like CM12189.1 - "CM" means "CompuServe Mail"; the next six digits are the date of the download; the extension reflects how many binary files have been downloaded via CISMail that day. This naming scheme is used to avoid over-writing any existing files. To give the file its real name back, leave it in the directory where OzCIS stored it, and: Read your new mail. OzCIS will have written you a short message containing information about the file, often including something like ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 71 "UPLOAD: FILENAME.EXT" in the "Subj" line. The name after "UPLOAD:" is the file's real name. (This information is sometimes NOT available in the message.) Select OTHER > RENAME FILE (or press ALT-M). OzCIS will ask you to confirm renaming the file. Press N or ESC for NO, or Y for YES, then enter the new name into the next data field that appears. This function is available only in the Message Reader and only when you're reading the message that confirms the download. MESSAGES STORED IN "FOLDERS" As discussed earlier, you can save outbound messages to a file named CISMAIL.OBS from the New Message and Review editors. From the Message Reader, you can save individual messages written TO you in a file named CISMAIL.SAV (or some other name of your choosing). These "save" files - "folders," in OzCIS parlance - are not accessible from any of the OzCIS editors you normally use for writing or reviewing CISMail. However, you can read them using an altered version of the Message Reader by selecting MAIL > MESSAGES STORED IN FOLDERS from the main screen. A sub-menu then appears with four own menu items: SAVED RECEIVED MESSAGES: Messages TO you that have been stored to the file CISMAIL.SAV (or some other file you named when you chose SAVE in the Message Reader). This menu item will not be accessible if OzCIS cannot find a CISMAIL.SAV file in the OzCIS directory. You can reply to these messages, and the reply will be sent via CISMail as if you'd replied to them directly from the Message Reader. SAVED OUTBOX MESSAGES: Messages FROM you that have been saved to the file CISMAIL.OBS (the menu item is not accessible at all if OzCIS can't find CISMAIL.OBS). You can also reply to such messages in this kind of "folder". Selecting REPLY splits the screen and opens the Reply Editor. Thereafter, saving the reply sends it directly to the original recipient. PURGED MESSAGES: Messages you've had OzCIS "purge" but when you've also told OzCIS to save "purged" messages. This menu item is not accessible if OzCIS can't find a CISMAIL.PRG file in the OzCIS directory. MANUAL SELECTION: Saved messages written TO you that you've stored in some file other than the default (CISMAIL.SAV). If you choose MANUAL SELECTION, a data field appears in which you enter a single file name or else an ambiguous file name (OzCIS supplies the name CISMAIL.SAV to begin with). Entering a name containing wildcards opens a standard file pick-list. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 72 Here again, replying to such a message addresses it automatically to the original recipient. If you ask OzCIS to open a "folder" that is not in the correct format, you'll get an error message. OzCIS expects to find a plain-text file containing messages with headers that look like this: Date: 30-Dec-91 07:05 PST From: Josephine Schmoe [12345,9876] Subj: What are messages in folders? OzCIS will also display an error message if you have significantly altered the header information in the first message of the "folder." NOTE: The reader that displays messages in "folders" is like the Message Reader, but it doesn't support the Message Reader's "Previous Group" and "Next Group" commands. STAYING ON-LINE AFTER AN AUTOMATIC CISMAIL "PASS" You can't interrupt the transfer of CISMail unless you do something drastic like turn your modem off - NOT recommended! However, after the mail processing is done, you can prevent OzCIS from automatically logging off CIS, and instead stay on-line until you're ready to quit. During automatic mail processing, OzCIS' menu bar shows two commands, ALT-T and ALT-S. Press ALT-T while OzCIS is transferring mail (either to you or from you). A flag (highlighted text) appears at the lower right of the screen, notifying you that manual-terminal mode is pending. When OzCIS is done transferring mail, it halts and leaves you at the "!" prompt of the CIS mail service (sometimes you will not see a "!" prompt, but rather the word "OK"). The top-line menu changes as OzCIS shifts into its on-line-terminal mode. Do whatever you need to do on CIS. When you're ready to log off, press ALT-X or left-click EXIT in the terminal-mode menu bar. This logs you off CIS properly. (When you're in terminal mode, typing BYE at a "!" prompt will not log you off; you'll have to type additional commands. The EXIT command makes it much easier. IMPORTANT: Pressing ESC in that situation (instead of using the EXIT command) tells OzCIS to drop carrier. This is not a good idea; dropping carrier can confuse CIS such that it doesn't "stop the meter" for as long as 15 minutes after you log off. You would be charged for those extra minutes of phantom on-line time. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 73 If for some reason you MUST drop carrier, immediately log back onto CIS, then log right off again; this will properly reset the "meter." ALT-T OR ALT-S? If OzCIS is processing only CISMail, ALT-T and ALT-S have the same effect: They prevent OzCIS from automatically logging off at the end of the mail "pass." However, if the CIS session also involves forum messages and/or files, ALT-T and ALT-S have different functions. Use ALT-T to suspend automatic processing as soon as the work NOW in progress is done. Do whatever you need to do at the CIS prompt, then press ESC to get out of on-line-terminal mode. OzCIS, knowing where it left off, resumes automatic processing and finally logs off CIS (unless you interrupt it again with another ALT-T or ALT-S command.) Use ALT-S if you don't need to go into on-line-terminal mode until ALL automated processing is finished. When you've used ALT-S, by the time you see the CIS prompt, all automated processing will be done - do NOT press ESC thereafter to log off CIS; use the menu bar's EXIT command instead. NOTE: Both ALT-T and ALT-S are "toggles"; pressing them once makes the request for terminal mode; pressing them again cancels the request. The "flag" at the lower-right of the screen will disappear if you toggle the request off. Manual terminal mode commands will be covered in detail in the documentation file TERMINAL.DOC, which covers all manual on-line operations, including "conferencing" and OzCIS' script language. # # # ------------------------------------------------------------------- OzCIS 1.0 Copyright 1992 Steve Sneed Page 74