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Monster Media 1996 #15
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Monster Media Number 15 (Monster Media)(July 1996).ISO
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pmics2b3.zip
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README
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1996-05-22
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====================================
PMICS User Guide: version 2.0 BETA 3
====================================
------------
Introduction
------------
PMICS is an OS/2 Warp interface for playing chess via the numerous chess
servers found on the internet. PMICS requires OS/2 Warp V3.0 or better and a
TCP/IP connection to the internet (such as the IBM Internet Connection supplied
on the OS/2 Warp BonusPak, or OS/2 Warp Connect). You must also use a mouse.
If you are new to internet chess, it is best to connect to the server in
text mode first to get a feel for what goes on. This will also help you to
select a handle which is not already in use.
Telnet to fics.onenet.net at port 5000 to enter the server in text mode.
-----------------------
About this beta version
-----------------------
This is a completely re-worked version of the original PMICS. New users will
find it easy to set up and get going.
Many things have changed from PMICS V1.0, including the author! First, PMICS
supports TCP/IP and OS/2 Warp *only*. There is no longer any support for shell
accounts - sorry.
Configuration is done using a notebook rather than the command line. If you
have an existing program icon for PMICS, you can now remove all the parameters.
-------------------
Changes from Beta 2
-------------------
Beta 3 is completely different internally from beta 2. There are lots of new
features and many improvements.
* The entire 'plumbing' of PMICS has been changed such that all game-related
events are detected. The title bar of a window shows the state of the
current game. Basically, it now works the way it should!
* Multiple games can now be observed simultaneously! For example, you can
observe both boards of a bughouse game. The first observed game will use the
main board. Further games will open smaller observation windows. PMICS will
keep track of the observation window positions. If you are observing a game
and then start playing, the played game will automatically use the main board.
The swap button on the observation window toolbar will swap the main board
game with the observation game.
Cool trick: if a simul match is playing, type the command 'obs <simul player>'
and watch all the games at once!
Note: FICS automatically unobserves games when you play (see Known Bugs). If
you use ICC, add the command 'set unobserve 0' to your login script to
continue observing games while you play.
* You can configure PMICS to automatically observe the partner board when you
watch or play a bughouse game. This is done by reading the finger notes of one
of the players in the first game.
* Command entry has been completely reworked. The buttons next to the command
line set the required mode. They are (in order) tell, channel tell, say,
finger, shout and it. When you select a button, the appropriate command is
automatically placed on the command line and the cursor is positioned so that
you can type immediately. Selecting the tell or finger modes will display a
list of gathered player names to select from. Selecting the channel tell mode
will display a spinner of channel numbers. Return to normal command entry by
deselecting the active mode button.
* The command line now has a retrievable history. Press the cursor up key to
retrieve old commands. The up and down keys will move through the history. Esc
will clear the command line. Commands are stored such that the most recently
used commands appear first.
* If you have TimeSeal for OS/2 you can now automatically set up a TimeSeal
connection to a host. Make sure that the TimeSeal executable is called
TIMESEAL.EXE and is in the same directory as PMICS.
* Toolbars now update themselves dynamically according to the state of the
current game. For example, examining a game will make the toolbar display
buttons for moving backwards and forwards.
* The menu bar has been removed. The functions it originally performed are now
located on the toolbar, the board popup menu and the dialogue controls next to
the command line.
* Player names can be gathered from the server. Each time a name appears in a
shout, tell, game etc. it is added to a combo box next to the command line.
* You can assign a login script to each host. This is a list of commands that
will be sent to the server after PMICS has sent its own login commands. Use it
to announce your presence to the masses!
* Notifications are now detected. These occur when people on your notify list
enter and leave the server. You can assign a colour and sound.
* The chess board now highlights the squares which change after every move. This
is especially useful during bughouse games and when you have disabled board
labels. You can configure the highlight colour for both white and black
squares.
* You can configure PMICS to automatically display the finger notes of someone
who challenges you to a match.
* Finger notes containing 'tells you:' or 'shouts:' are no longer interpreted as
events.
* All the sound configration options are available. You can now use a standard
file dialog to find sound files.
* Long multimedia sounds no longer pause the system.
* The open button on the toolbar is automatically selected when you start
playing a game. This reflects the open status on the server.
* The match dialog now appears in the centre of the board to reduce the risk of
obscuring the comms window.
* Fixed the default square and piece colours for 16-colour systems.
* Lots of little bug fixes and improvements.
----------------
Installing PMICS
----------------
Create a directory on your system and copy the pmicstcp.exe file to it. You can
set up a program icon for PMICS in the usual way. Future install scripts will do
this for you.
If you have a PMICS.INI file from a previous beta, the options you have already
set will be maintained. PMICS will create this file with default options if it
does not exist.
If you have a PMICS.HLP file from a previous beta, you can delete it. Beta 3
does not use it.
-------------
Running PMICS
-------------
The first thing you should do is connect to the internet using your normal
method.
The first time you run PMICS, click the Settings button on the toolbar to
set up the interface the way you want it. Pay special attention to the settings
for your chess server hosts. PMICS defaults to the Free Internet Chess Server
at ics.onenet.net:5000. If this is your normal host, just enter your handle and
password.
When you are done configuring, click the Login button on the toolbar and
select the server you wish to use. The communication window will show the
progress of the connection.
When you are connected - start playing!
-----------------
Configuring PMICS
-----------------
The configuration notebook has 5 pages; Hosts, On-line, Display, Colours and
Sounds. All changes made to the configuration take effect immediately - even
if you are already connected to a server.
The Hosts page allows you to set up multiple chess servers. For each server
you need a description, TCP/IP address and TCP/IP port number (usually 5000).
You should also enter your registered handle and password to enable automatic
login. If you are not a registered user, leave the password blank.
The 'Map CR to LF' checkbox is normally checked. If the server does not seem
to respond to your commands, try changing this. Advanced users can select
TimeSeal-based logins and login scripts.
The On-line page allows you to set your preferences during a session with a
chess server. They are mostly self-explanatory. Check the 'Autoflag' button to
automatically flag when you are playing a game and time runs out.
The Display page allows you to set up the PMICS display to your preferences.
The Colours page allows you to change the colours used by most of the PMICS
display elements.
The Sounds page allows you to attach sounds to some of the events that can
occur when you are playing chess. If you have MMPM/2 installed and a working
sound card, you can use standard .WAV files as well as beeps. When entering
a sound filename, use a full path i.e. 'D:\MMOS2\SOUNDS\BOING.WAV'.
-------------
Playing chess
-------------
Use the command line to enter commands to the chess server.
When playing a game, select a piece with the left mouse button and release
the button over the target square. A line will show the move you are about to
make.
Clicking the right mouse button on the board displays a pop-up menu
showing the available options for that square. This includes re-issuing the
previous move, flipping the board display, setting the piece that pawns will
promote to, dropping pieces in bughouse and setting up the board in examine. The
menu only displays options relevant to the game on which you click.
PMICS recognizes challenge messages and pops up a dialog informing you
of the match parameters. This also works when PMICS is minimized.
You can change the font used for the terminal window using the Settings.
You can grab the border separating the board and terminal windows and drag it
to resize them. The main use of this is to temporarily enlarge the terminal
window, e.g. for viewing large chunks of text or intense chat mode.
----------------
Issuing Commands
----------------
At the bottom of the PMICS window is a command line and a set of mode buttons.
You can type commands to the server here. Press Enter to execute a command. Esc
will clear the command line. You can retrieve previously issued commands using
the cursor up and down keys.
The mode buttons are useful if you plan to do some heavy chatting or shouting.
The modes are 't' for tell, 'c' for channel tell, 's' for say, 'f' for finger,
'S' for shout and 'i' for it. Clicking a mode button will automatically prefix
the command line with the selected command and place the cursor such that you
are ready to type. Pressing Enter to submit the command will return the command
line to the selected mode prefix.
If you select the tell or finger modes, a combo box will appear next to the
command line. You can select from the list of gathered names to automatically
add the name to the command line.
If you select the channel tell mode, a spinner appears next to the command line.
You can change the target channel using this. The channel number will
automatically be added to the command line.
To return to normal command mode simply click the active mode button. To
temporarily clear the command line and enter a different command, press Esc.
-----------------
The PMICS Toolbar
-----------------
Main Board - no connection
--------------------------
Settings Display the PMICS configuration dialog.
login Establish a connection to a chess server. If you are already
connected, you will be asked if you want to drop the current
connection.
Main board - connected
----------------------
refresh Press this button if the displayed position or status gets
messed up (very unusual).
open Toggles your availablility for games.
who Lists all users logged in to the current server.
avail Lists all users available for games on the current server.
games Lists all the games currently being played on the server. To
observe a game, type in the command 'obs <game number>' or
'obs <player name>'.
allobs Lists all the games which are being observed, and who is
observing them. Good for following the crowd!
Mini board
----------
swap Swaps the board displayed in the mini-window with the one
displayed in the main window. Allows you to concentrate on any
of the observed games.
Any board - observing game
--------------------------
moves Displays the list of moves for the current game.
unobserve Removes game from the observation list. If the game is already
inactive, the board is reset to the initial position. If this is
done on a separate window, the window is closed.
Any board - playing game
------------------------
draw Issue a draw request.
resign Resigns the game you are playing.
flag Issues a flag command manually. Use this when your opponent
runs out of time.
accept Sends an accept command i.e. to accept a takeback request
decline Sends a decline command i.e. to decline an abort request
moves Displays the list of moves for the current game.
Any board - examining game
--------------------------
moves Displays the list of moves for the current game.
start Resets game to starting position
backward Moves back one move
forward Moves forward one move
end Move to final game position
unexamine Stops game examination.
----------
Known Bugs
----------
* If you use the configuration notebook, PMICS will trap on exit with a
SYS3170. This doesn't cause any harm, but can be a bit alarming. This is
caused by a bug in OpenClass and I'm waiting for IBM to fix it. I've chatted
with them and am awaiting their analysis of the problem.
STOP PRESS!! During the packaging of this beta, IBM released a test-case of
CTO304 - the next fixpak for OpenClass. This fixes the trap problem on exit,
but makes toolbar buttons which display text only a little too large. I've
decided to release this beta using the new fix, since it eliminates a trap.
If the final fixpak sorts out the toolbar problem, I'll release a new build
of the beta.
* Toolbar bitmaps are awful. Dammit Jim, I'm a programmer, not an artist.
* Name combo on command line will 'flash' the list up the first time it
is used. It is fine after that.
* Command line doesn't always keep focus. This occurs mostly when you scroll
the comms window and you reach the end.
* FICS doesn't support the 'unobserve' variable found on the ICC. If you are
observing multiple games then begin a match, the observation windows will
not detect the server removing the games from the observation list. Simply
close the windows.
* With 'auto observe bughouse' active - if you observe a bughouse game and the
game completes before the partner game is observed, the interface can get a
little confused when the next bughouse game is observed. It seems to sort
itself out eventually.
* Multimedia sound has failed to initialise for me once or twice. I can't
reproduce this at will.
-----------
Future work
-----------
* Fix bugs.
* Proper help files.
* Better toolbar bitmaps. Possibly better piece bitmaps as well.
* Colouring and automatic handling of Tournament Director (tomato, mamer)
messages and notifications. Comments?
* Simplified selection of games for observe/examine.
* What do *you* want to see?
I need someone to test playing bughouse games and report the results. I've never
played bughouse, so I haven't tested it myself.
I'm happy with the feature set now. Barring any wonderful ideas that you folks
come up with during this beta, the next beta will be a release candidate. PMICS
will then be released as version 2.1.
--------------
Update history
--------------
96/05/22 2.00 (beta3)
See above for changes.
96/04/14 2.00 (beta2)
Paul Mitchell is now the code maintainer. All bug reports
and enhancement requests to him.
94/12/12 1.00 (beta)
94/11/22 1.00 (alpha)
---------------------
Contacting the Author
---------------------
Paul Mitchell (aka MysticUK) can be reached as paulm@secondnature.co.uk. If
you don't get a response within a couple of days, try 73064.761@compuserve.com
------------
IMPORTANT!!!
------------
To be notified of new releases of PMICS, send me email. Just a simple "Hi, I'm
using PMICS" will be fine. However, more would be better - read on...
It is my intention to make PMICS the best available chess interface for OS/2.
However, I'd prefer that is the best chess interface available, period. I can't
do this alone - I need help from you, yes YOU! :-)
I need to know what you think of PMICS and how I can improve it. I need to know
if you love it or hate it - any feedback is good. A good OS/2 chess interface
is good for OS/2. If it is the *best* interface available, it may just help to
bring people across from "the other side" :-).
----------------
Acknowledgements
----------------
From Paul Mitchell:
Many thanks to Kevin Nomura for the first version. Fond regards to Figbert and
MrsFigbert for initial testing, comments and encouragement. Check out the OS/2
version of Timeseal by Figbert. Respect to IBM, TeamOS/2 and all OS/2 users.
From Kevin Nomura:
PMICS was inspired by the excellent DOS interface, GIICS, written by
Tony Acero. The bitmaps for the pieces are taken from the GNU program xboard.
Serial port IOCTL magic was adapted from the PD comm program comtalk.
Kevin Nomura (aka woof) can be reached as chow@netcom.com