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GEnie PC Aladdin(tm) User's Manual Version 1.30 Copyright (c) 1990 by GE Information Services All Rights Reserved GEnie PC Aladdin(TM) is a trademark of GE Information Services PC-DOS, IBM and IBM-PC are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation GEnie(SM) is a service mark of GE Information Services Smartmodem(TM) is a trademark of Hayes Communications Corp. This manual was written by: Juan E. Jimenez Micro Consulting Associates P.O. Box 9811 Santurce Station San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908-0811 (809) 725-9470 Voice - 721-8470 FAX GEmail : J.JIMENEZ AppleLink : JIMENEZ.J The following persons assisted in the writing and technical audit of this manual, and their assistance is greatly appreciated. David B. Kozinn Charles Strom Paul Homchick Dick Flanagan Rae M. Barent Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 2 Table of Contents I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. What is Aladdin? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Purchasing and Registering Aladdin . . . . . . . . . 1 3. Minimum Hardware Requirements to Use Aladdin . . . . 1 4. Obtaining a GEnie Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 II. An Introduction to GEnie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1. What is GEnie? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. GEmail - Electronic Mail Services . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. The GEnie RoundTables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4. The RoundTable Bulletin Board Areas . . . . . . . . . 7 5. The RoundTable Software Libraries . . . . . . . . . . 8 6. The RoundTable Real-Time Conference Area . . . . . . 8 7. Other Services On GEnie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 III. Setting Up Aladdin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1. Installation of the Aladdin Program Software . . . . 10 Hard Disk Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2. Starting Aladdin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3. Configuring the Aladdin Software . . . . . . . . . . 13 GEnie Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 [Esc] Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 [PgUp] and [PgDn] Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Configuration Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Phone number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 User ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 BBS Nickname . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 GE Mail Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Prompt Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Break Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Prime-time rate/hr, Non-prime-time rate/hr . . 15 Modem Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 COM: port (1 or 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Reset command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Dial command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Command terminator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Connection message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 No connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Video Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Long screen EGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Supress "snow"? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 RoundTable Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Use usual marks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Use Zmodem? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Editor Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Default to insert? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: i GE Mail Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Always pick up mail? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Automatic Xmodem? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Input archive file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Output archive file . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Downloaded mail path . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Aladdin Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Script file name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Address list file name . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Billing filename . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Time-out (seconds) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4. Setting the Aladdin Display Colors . . . . . . . . . 19 [Esc] key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 [PgUp] and [PgDn] Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 [Up] and [Down] (on keypad) . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 [Left] and [Right] (on keypad) . . . . . . . . . . 19 [Ctrl-Left] and [Ctrl-Right] (on keypad) . . . . . 20 "I" Intensity Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 5. Setting the RoundTable Configurations . . . . . . . . 20 [Esc] Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Editing a RoundTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Deleting a RoundTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Sorting the RoundTable List . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Moving Directly to the GEmail and Terminal Mode Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The RoundTable Editing Screen . . . . . . . . . . . 22 [Esc] key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 [Ctrl]-"A" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 [Up] and [Down] (on keypad) . . . . . . . . . 22 RoundTable Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 GEnie page number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 RoundTable name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Auto pass 1 days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 RoundTable Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Aladdin work files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Input archive file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Output archive file . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Auto-save Messages? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Software Library Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Default path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Last file date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 6. Script Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 IV. The Aladdin Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 1. Help! - [F1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 2. The RoundTable Menu Keys - "A" through "U" . . . . . 28 3. The GEmail Menu Key - [F2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4. Miscellaneous Operations - [F3] . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: ii 5. Terminal Mode - [F4] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 6. Automated Operations - Pass 1/Pass 2 - Scripts . . . 29 7. Aladdin, RoundTable and Script Setup - [F5], [F6] and [F7] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 List defined macros - [Alt-F5] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Begin-Edit/End macro - [Alt-F6/Alt-F7] . . . . . . . . . 30 10. File Reader - [Alt-F8] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 11. Exiting Aladdin - [Alt-F9] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 12. "Dropping" to DOS Temporarily - [Alt-F10] . . . . . 30 V. The RoundTable Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 1. Option "A" - Download all new messages . . . . . . . 33 2. Option "C" - Check for new messages . . . . . . . . . 34 3. Option "O" - Perform pending operations . . . . . . . 34 4. Option "G" - Log on to RoundTable BBS . . . . . . . . 35 5. Option "H" - Log on to RoundTable RTC . . . . . . . . 35 6. Options "1" and "2" - Perform Automatic Pass 1 or 2 . 35 7. Option "M" - Mark topics found by "C" . . . . . . . . 36 8. Option "J" - Reply to old topics . . . . . . . . . . 36 9. Option "T" - Start a new topic . . . . . . . . . . . 40 10. Option "U" - Update topic list . . . . . . . . . . . 42 11. Option "R" - Read and reply to messages . . . . . . 43 12. Option "E" - Edit or delete replies/new topics . . . 48 13. Option "B" - Viewing the Club Door Bulletin . . . . 49 14. Moving from RoundTable to RoundTable . . . . . . . . 49 15. Entering the Software Library Section of the RoundTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 16. Quick Access Keys - [F2], [F3] and [F4] . . . . . . 50 17. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . 50 VI. The RoundTable Software Library Section . . . . . . . . . 51 1. Option "D" - Check Library for New Files . . . . . . 51 2. Option "O" - Perform Pending Operations . . . . . . . 52 3. Option "G" - Log on to the RoundTable Software Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4. Option "H" - Log on to the RoundTable RTC . . . . . . 52 5. Options "1" and "2" - Perform Automatic Pass 1 or 2 . 52 6. Option "M" - Choose Files to Download or Browse . . . 52 7. Option "J" - Choose Files from the Main File List . . 55 8. Option "F" - Free-form Downloads . . . . . . . . . . 56 9. Option "U" - Add File to Upload . . . . . . . . . . . 56 10. Option "E" - Edit/Delete Uploads/Searches . . . . . 58 11. Option "B" - View Bulletin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 13. Entering the RoundTable Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 14. Quick Access Keys - [F2], [F3] and [F4] . . . . . . 59 15. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . 59 VII. GEmail Electronic Mail System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 1. Option "A" - Download All New Mail . . . . . . . . . 62 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: iii 2. Option "O" - Send Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 3. Option "G" - Go Online at Page 200 . . . . . . . . . 63 4. Option "R" - Read and Reply to Mail . . . . . . . . . 63 5. Option "W" - Write Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 6. Option "E" - Edit/Delete Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 8. Quick Access Keys - [F3] and [F4] . . . . . . . . . . 70 9. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . 70 VIII. Aladdin Miscellaneous Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . 71 1. Option "I" - Accessing the GEnie Product Index . . . 71 2. Option "P" - Changing Your Password . . . . . . . . . 74 3. Option "B" - Reviewing Your GEnie Account's Billing History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 4. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . 80 IX. Aladdin Terminal Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 1. Option "T" - Enter Terminal Mode . . . . . . . . . . 81 2. Option "G" - Log On to GEnie . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 3. Option "L" - Log Off from GEnie . . . . . . . . . . . 87 4. Option "H" - Hang Up the Phone . . . . . . . . . . . 87 5. Option "N" - View Notifies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 6. Option "F" - Flush Notifies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 7. Option "B" - View GEnie banner . . . . . . . . . . . 88 8. Option "A" - Begin/End ASCII Capture . . . . . . . . 88 9. Option "S" - Send ASCII File . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 10. Options "D" and "U" - XMODEM File Download and Upload (CRC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 11. Zmodem Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 12. Quick Access Keys - [F2] and [F3] . . . . . . . . . 94 11. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . 94 X. The Aladdin Script Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 1. Options "3" through "9" - Invoking an Aladdin Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 2. Option [F7] - Invoke Aladdin's Script Menu . . . . . 95 3. Aladdin Script Language Syntax Guidelines . . . . . . 97 4. The SCRIPT Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 5. The ENDSCRIPT Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 6. The GOTO Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 7. The CALL Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 8. The RETURN Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 9. The PERFORM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 10. The IF, ELSE and ENDIF Commands . . . . . . . . . . 101 11. The SUCCESS Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 12. The ONLINE Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 13. The CURRENTLINEHAS Condition . . . . . . . . . 103 14. The STRING Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 15. The DATAWAITING Condition . . . . . . . . . . . 105 16. The KEYWAITING Condition . . . . . . . . . . . 105 17. The EXIST Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: iv 18. The DAYOFWEEK Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 19. The MAILFOUND Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 20. The SUCCESS Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 21. The ECHO Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 22. The CLEAR Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 23. The NOTE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 24. The BEEP Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 25. The ALARM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 26. The HIDE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 27. The MONITOR Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 28. The PAUSE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 29. The WAITUNTIL Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 30. The ERASEFILE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 31. The CAPTURE and ENDCAPTURE Command . . . . . . . . . 111 32. The SNAPSHOT Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 33. The XMODEM and ZMODEM Commands . . . . . . . . . . . 113 34. The LOG ON/LOG OFF/LOG ONTO Commands . . . . . . . . 113 35. The COMMANDMODE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 36. The QUOTES Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 37. The HANGUP Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 38. The SEND Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 39. The SENDLINE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 40. The SENDCOMMAND Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 41. The SENDSPECIALCOMMAND Command . . . . . . . . . . . 116 42. The WAITFOR Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 43. The WAITFORPROMPT Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 44. The WAITFORDATA Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 45. The WAITFORKEYPRESS Command . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 46. The KEYWAITING Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 47. The GETKEY Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 48. The GETSTRING Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Appendix A - GEnie Access Number Listing . . . . . . . . . . 122 Appendix B - The Aladdin Keyboard Macro Facilities . . . . . 141 1. Loading and saving the macro definitions . . . . . . 141 2. Defining a keyboard macro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 3. Overwriting a macro definition . . . . . . . . . . . 142 4. Editing a macro definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 5. Deleting a macro definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 6. Finding out which macro keystrokes are active . . . . 143 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: v Table of Figures Figure III-1 - Aladdin GEnie/Modem/Options Configuration Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Figure III-3 - Aladdin RoundTable Configuration Menu . . . . 21 Figure III-4 - Aladdin RoundTable Editing Screen . . . . . . 24 Figure IV-1 - Aladdin Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Figure V-1 - The RoundTable Menu for the IBM PC RoundTable . 32 Figure V-2 - Mark/Reply to Old Topics Screen . . . . . . . . 37 Figure V-3 - Topic Selection by Date . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Figure V-4 - Start New Topic / Category Selection . . . . . . 41 Figure V-5 - New Topic Editing Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Figure V-6 - Pending message display screen . . . . . . . . . 43 Figure V-7 - Message Reply Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Figure V-8 - Private Message Reply Screen . . . . . . . . . . 47 Figure V-9 - Message Reply/Edit Selection Screen . . . . . . 49 Figure VI-1 - The RoundTable Software Library Section Menu . 51 Figure VI-2 - Software Library Download/Browse Screen . . . . 54 Figure VI-3 - RoundTable Software Library File Upload Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Figure VII-1 - Aladdin GEmail Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Figure VII-2 - Aladdin GEmail View/Reply/Store Screen . . . . 64 Figure VII-3 - Aladdin GEmail Reply Screen . . . . . . . . . 65 Figure VII-4 - Aladdin GEmail Message Compose Screen . . . . 68 Figure VII-5 - Aladdin GEmail Address List Window . . . . . . 69 Figure VIII-1 - Aladdin Miscellaneous Options Menu . . . . . 71 Figure VIII-2 - GEnie Product Index Screen . . . . . . . . . 72 Figure VIII-3 - GEnie Product Index Search Window . . . . . . 73 Figure VIII-4 - Aladdin Password Change Screen . . . . . . . 74 Figure VIII-5 - Account Billing History Selection Window . . 77 Figure VIII-6 - Billing History Sample Screen - All Months Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Figure VIII-7 - Billing History Sample Screen - Monthly Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Figure IX-1 - Aladdin's Terminal Mode Menu . . . . . . . . . 81 Figure IX-2 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Upper Section . 82 Figure IX-3 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Upper Section, in Automated Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Figure IX-4 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Look Back Mode Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Figure IX-5 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Bottom Section - Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Figure IX-6 - Aladdin XMODEM Download Transfer Progress Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Figure X-1 - Aladdin Script Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: vi I. Introduction 1. What is Aladdin? GEnie PC Aladdin is an automatic communications tool designed to provide you with the most efficient use of the features and services of the GEnie information service. GEnie is an acronym for General Electric Network for Information Exchange, a product of General Electric Information Services, the largest information network in the world. In this manual, from this point in, we will refer to GEnie PC Aladdin as "Aladdin". Given a GEnie account and access to the GEnie network, Aladdin can automate the vast majority of the normal functions of accessing and drawing information from GEnie and the various services within it. By handling most of the repetitive tasks within GEnie, Aladdin can save you a considerable amount of time and money in the form of reduced access and online charges. The concept behind Aladdin is to take the tasks which are associated with using the RoundTable and GEmail services on GEnie and concentrate them in one software package which acts as a "buffer" between the user and the GEnie system. You tell Aladdin what actions you want to take and prepare messages "off-line" at no cost to you in the form of access and connect charges. Aladdin then executes all the tasks you ask it to do in a minimum of time, greatly reducing the monthly charges on your GEnie account. 2. Purchasing and Registering Aladdin As of version 1.20, this program is free! The latest version of Aladdin can always be downloaded from the Aladdin Support RoundTable on GEnie. The only cost to you, the user, is the connect time to GEnie while downloading the file with the latest and greatest version. At this time, the average cost of downloading the Aladdin program file from GEnie is approximately four dollars. 3. Minimum Hardware Requirements to Use Aladdin Aladdin is designed to be used on IBM-PC or compatible personal computers. The computer must have 640k of memory available, out of which about 400k should be available when Aladdin is invoked. Aladdin can make use of EMS Expanded Memory, if available. For Aladdin to be able to use this type of memory, approximately 150k of expanded memory must be available at the time Aladdin is invoked. This applies to multi-tasking environments such as Software Carousel and Desqview. Aladdin also requires the PC-DOS or MS-DOS operating system, version 2.1 or higher (version 3.0 or higher is highly recommended). A hard disk Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 1 is strongly recommended for operation with Aladdin, due to the disk-intensive nature of the program. It is possible to use Aladdin with two floppy disk drives, but we do not support this configuration due to the restrictive nature of it. Obviously, a modem and a serial RS-232 communication port is required to access GEnie. Aladdin is designed to use a Hayes Smartmodem or any other modem which is compatible with the Smartmodem command set. You can use other modems with Aladdin, but you must tell Aladdin how to reset the modem and originate a phone call with the type of modem that you own. Additionally, the modem must be capable of accurately reflecting the state of a connection through the use of the DCD (Data Carrier Detect) signal line and must respond to the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) signal line from the computer. Refer to the section entitled "Setting Up Aladdin" for more information on modem setups. Most of the modems in the market today support the features which Aladdin needs to be able to do its job in an efficient and accurate manner. However, there are some modems which we have found to be deficient in some areas. For more information on this refer to the Aladdin Support RoundTable on GEnie. You should already have a GEnie account. If you do not, refer to the section entitled "Obtaining a GEnie Account" for more information on how to obtain an account. Additionally, since Aladdin responds to commands and prompts from the GEnie service, your phone line must be relatively noise- free. If your phone line is "noisy" Aladdin will not be able to recognize the commands and prompts it needs to see and will be unable to function properly. If your line is noisy, please contact your telephone company to correct the situation before using Aladdin. Aladdin will tolerate occasional line noise and has a function key which can be used while online in automated mode to handle a "garbled prompt" situation. You may also want to consider obtaining a modem which uses the "MNP" error-correcting protocol to "filter out" line noise in your phone connection. Aladdin will operate on any monochrome or color display supported by the IBM Personal Computer. In general, if it works with the operating system without any special modifications or drivers, Aladdin will be able to use that display. Aladdin can also take advantage of the additional number of lines that can be displayed on the screen with some video cards such as the EGA and VGA, if so desired. See the section entitled "Setting Up Aladdin" for more information. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 2 4. Obtaining a GEnie Account Before you begin to use Aladdin, you must obtain a GEnie user account. To obtain information on getting a GEnie account, call 1-800-638-9636 to speak with a GEnie representative. GEnie is available in over 600 locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and in many foreign countries through international network services. The account creation process can also be performed using a traditional communications program. To electronically apply for an account, follow these steps. Have your credit card or checkbook handy, as you will need one of the two to obtain an account. The steps are: a) Set your communications program to 1200 baud, local echo (also known as half duplex), 7 data bits, 1 stop bit and even parity. If you are using Aladdin's Terminal Mode, it will automatically set the data bits, stop bit and parity for you. All you need to do is set the baud rate and communications port (see the sections entitled "Configuring the Aladdin Software" and "Aladdin Terminal Mode"). If you are indeed using Aladdin's Terminal Mode, make sure you "capture" the information that is displayed on your screen while you are requesting an account (see the section on "Aladdin Terminal Mode/Capturing Text to a File"). b) Instruct your communications or terminal program or modem to dial 1-800-638-8369. If you are using Aladdin's terminal mode with a Hayes or compatible modem, you can enter terminal mode, type the modem command "ATDT1-800-638-8369" and then press the [Enter] key. c) When your modem achieves a connection, type the letter "H" three times, pausing for just a moment between each "H" (no more than one second and no less than one-tenth of a second). d) GEnie will respond with a "U#=" prompt. At this time type "XJM11718,ALADDIN" and press the [Enter] key. e) Follow the instructions on the screen to apply for an account. f) At the end of the account creation process you will be issued a user identification number and a temporary password. Please make a note of these and keep them in a safe place, as you will need them for the Aladdin setup process. Also, make a note of your local GEnie access numbers which are displayed during the signup process, as you will also need these during the Aladdin setup process. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 3 A GEnie representative will call you during the course of the next business day to verify the information that you provided during the signup process. Once the information has been verified, your account will be activated and you may begin using your GEnie account with Aladdin. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 4 II. An Introduction to GEnie 1. What is GEnie? GEnie, as we mentioned before, stands for General Electric Network for Information Exchange, and is a service of General Electric Information Services (GEIS), the largest commercial communications network in the world. There are several different types of services on GEnie, ranging from bulletin-board style message systems to complex role-playing games to a full service shopping mall with over two dozen merchants selling everything from coffee and chocolates to around-the-world vacation trips. GEnie is also constantly adding new services, and occasionally you will see a "banner" when you log on to GEnie which tells you about any new services GEnie is offering. GEnie gives you a variety of choices in entertainment, information and software exchange, communications, shopping - all from your computer. You can talk to a friend across the country, go on an electronic shopping trip, try your luck in games ranging from multi-player Blackjack to Stellar Emperor (a multi-player simulation system) and finish the day by attending one of the many electronic conferences scheduled each day of the week, with subjects ranging from programming to genealogy. There are two services on GEnie for which Aladdin is designed to provide automated access and processing: GEmail and the RoundTables. All other services are accessible through Aladdin's communication facilities, terminal emulation functions and the Aladdin Script Language. Let's cover GEmail first; we'll get into the RoundTables in a moment. 2. GEmail - Electronic Mail Services GEmail is an electronic mail system which lets you send and receive letters using the speed and convenience of your computer. You can send letters, notes, information or any text you want to anyone you choose within the GEnie system, without regard to where they are in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and some foreign countries, or what time of the day it happens to be when you send the message. When you requested your GEnie account, you were given a GEmail address. This address can be up to 12 characters long, and is used to identify yourself to anyone on GEnie, throughout the entire system. In some cases you may choose to use an "alias" or "nickname" (such as in the CB area, see your GEnie User Manual) but your GEmail address will remain with you as long as you have Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 5 a GEnie account. Every other user on GEnie also has their own personal GEmail address. These addresses are the key to using the electronic mail system. To send a message of any kind to someone else, all you need is their GEmail address. Sending mail messages and data through the GEmail portion of GEnie is one of the services which Aladdin automates for you. You compose your message off-line at your leisure with Aladdin, and then ask Aladdin to send it for you by logging into GEnie, sending the message and logging off, all as fast as Aladdin can communicate with GEnie. Again, the idea is to save time on connect and access charges, and Aladdin is designed specifically to save you money and time. For more information on the mail system and how to access it with Aladdin, see the section entitled "Sending/Receiving Mail". - IMPORTANT NOTE! - You should never give your user ID (which looks like "XYZ12345") or password to anyone (not even while logged on to GEnie) or use it in any message on any part of the service. It is not required for anything other than logging on to the system. Your user ID is personal and private, and should be safeguarded for your account's protection. GEnie will never ask you for your user ID while you are on-line. If you receive any type of on-line message from anyone requesting your user ID, ignore it and call GEnie Client Services at 1- 800-638-9636 to report this occurrence. GEnie Client Services personnel may ask you for your user ID, but only when you physically call a GEnie representative on the toll-free customer service telephone number. 3. The GEnie RoundTables One of the most popular features of GEnie are the RoundTables. If you are using GEnie, you most likely have a computer; and if you have a computer, then the RoundTables can be a very valuable source of information for you. For whatever type of computer you happen to be using (an IBM-PC or compatible, in the case of Aladdin), the RoundTables offer games, software of all types from small utilities to full-featured word processors and database programs and technical advice, information and discussions on every possible subject related to your computer. The RoundTables are also an excellent way to interact and stay in regular touch with people who share the same interests as you do, as well as meet new people in your field and make valuable contacts. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 6 4. The RoundTable Bulletin Board Areas Each RoundTable has something called a Bulletin Board. In effect, that is exactly what it is, a giant electronic bulletin board where users exchange open messages and information with each other. The Bulletin Board is divided into categories and topics. Each category deals with a broad subject area within the scope of the RoundTable. For example, a RoundTable oriented towards a specific computer might have categories for hardware, software, programming, utilities, news about that computer and maybe a general soapbox area for the users to place messages loosely related to issues about that computer. A product support RoundTable, on the other hand, would have categories for each product that the RoundTable is meant to support. Some RoundTables have very few categories, some have up to three dozen or more, depending on the level of complexity and number of subjects that the RoundTable deals with. All categories are numbered (starting with the number 1 and going up to 99) and have brief titles to explain the subject of the category. Aladdin will display the category name for each message it retrieves and displays for you. Each category is further subdivided into topics, which contain discussions of specific subjects within the scope of the category. For example, in a word processing category you might encounter topics discussing several types of word processors and text editing tools. In a programming category you might find topics discussing programming products and techniques. Each topic can contain any number of messages, which accumulate over time and are never deleted unless the System Operator (SysOp) of that RoundTable decides to delete them because they have served their purposes and will not be of use to anyone in the future, or if the authors of one or more messages delete their messages from the topic. In yet other cases the SysOp captures the messages and archives them into a file to be placed in the RoundTable's Software Library. All other messages are stored indefinitely, which is a tremendous advantage for you! For example, in the IBM-PC RoundTable you can find messages on important subjects that go as far back as 1985. This means that if you have a specific question or problem you want to ask about, you can use Aladdin to search for an existing topic that matches your interest and have it bring the messages into your computer for browsing at your leisure. If the subject of your inquiry has been discussed, it will in all probability still be there, and you may resolve your problem much faster than you ever expected with a minimum expense. If in fact you cannot find a topic which covers your area of interest, you can instruct Aladdin to start a new topic within a Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 7 category to post your query. You then enter your message, have Aladdin post it for you on the Bulletin Board area of the RoundTable, and wait for a response, which will usually be available within 24 hours or less. 5. The RoundTable Software Libraries Every RoundTable has a section called the Software Library. In this area you can upload software or files with information that you want to share, or download software and information that you are interested in or want to try out. The software library is divided into individual libraries where files of similar type and/or subject matter are stored. Each library contains a directory with short and long descriptions of each file. Aladdin also acts as a useful interface here. Aladdin can, among other things, send and receive files into the software libraries and compile a list of all new files uploaded into each library automatically, allowing you to select the files you want at your leisure for retrieval during a subsequent GEnie session. One particular feature of the software libraries stands out from any other information service. Files on GEnie are retained indefinitely. There is no "roll-over" or file limit that the library can grow to. 6. The RoundTable Real-Time Conference Area Each RoundTable has a small meeting area, or RTC for Real Time Conference area, usually consisting of three or more "rooms", in which the RoundTable operators schedule general get- togethers or presentations by special invited guests. These "rooms" are just that, electronic rooms in which users can talk to each other in real-time. For example, the Borland Language Products RoundTable schedules real-time conferences every Sunday at 8:00 PM Eastern time. Users who are interested in discussing subjects related to the Borland Language Products log on to the RoundTable RTC area and chat with each other or the system operators, asking questions, discussing subjects or just socializing. The IBM-PC RoundTable also schedules a weekly RTC on Sunday's at 9:30 PM. Aladdin specifically supports the RTC functions of the RoundTables with a special terminal mode, called RTC Mode (or "chat" mode, see the section entitled "Aladdin Terminal Mode"). See the section entitled "RoundTable RTC's" for more information. 7. Other Services On GEnie Although Aladdin does not at this time support automated Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 8 access to the other services on GEnie, you can access a large number of other GEnie features using Aladdin's "terminal mode" or the Aladdin Script Language. In Terminal mode you log on to GEnie and issue manual commands to access and use the services. For example, a game like Blackjack must be played on-line, and therefore Aladdin cannot be used to generate plays off line for automated access. Aladdin does, however, provide you with a complete listing of all the services on GEnie and will, at the very least, log you on automatically and issue the commands to access that service. Once you are there, it is up to you to do whatever is necessary to use that service on GEnie. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 9 III. Setting Up Aladdin 1. Installation of the Aladdin Program Software Aladdin is extremely easy to install. All you need to do is execute the following easy steps: Hard Disk Installation a) Turn on your computer and log on to the hard disk where you will be installing Aladdin. If you will installing Aladdin on your C: hard disk, type, C: [Enter] b) Log on to the root directory of the hard disk by typing the command, CD \ [Enter] c) Create the directory where Aladdin will be stored by typing the command, MKDIR ALADDIN [Enter] d) Log in to the Aladdin directory by typing, CD ALADDIN [Enter] e) If you downloaded the program from the Aladdin Support RoundTable on GEnie, the program files will be contained in an "LHARC" self-extracting archive with the name "ALAD###.EXE", where the ### is a three-digit number representing the version of Aladdin contained within the archive, i.e. ALAD130.EXE for Aladdin Version 1.30. You will need a copy of the ZOO program to unpack the ZOO archive and extract the individual files. To extract the files, copy the program to the ALADDIN directory with the COPY command and run the program. If the file is called ALAD130.EXE, you would type, ALAD130 [Enter] g) At this point the Aladdin program and data files will be extracted from the archive, and you should see the extraction process progress as each file is extracted. Once the extraction process is complete, you have finished the initial installation of the Aladdin program files. Make a copy of the Aladdin compressed archive file and keep it in a safe place, then delete the ALAD###.EXE from the directory Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 10 by typing, DEL ALAD###.EXE substituting the ### for the three digits in the file that you have. 2. Starting Aladdin Starting the Aladdin program is very simple. From the DOS command line, a) Type "CD \ALADDIN" and press the [Enter] key. b) Type "ALADDIN" and press the [Enter] key. Alternatively, you can substitute the word "ALAD" for "ALADDIN" in step two to skip the opening screen display. Aladdin also has a number of command line arguments that you can use: /MR Tells Aladdin to send the modem reset string once to the modem instead of each time it logs on. /7 Suppresses the special EGA/VGA mode option on the Video 7 VEGA VGA video card. /V Forces Aladdin to use the BIOS video support rather than write directly to video memory. If your machine is not 100% IBM-PC video compatible, use this option. /X Resets Aladdin's internal download/upload efficiency counters. /D### Sets a delay in milliseconds, from 1 to 200, that Aladdin will wait for after sending one of the control characters used during Xmodem or Xmodem-1k downloads and uploads. /K Tells Aladdin to wait before erasing the opening screen; it will ask you to press a key before continuing so you can read the opening screen. /LS Tells Aladdin to use script number 3 to call GEnie instead of using the internal commands that Aladdin normally issues. This option lets you customize how Aladdin uses the modem to call GEnie and is useful for those users who are using a modem which is not Hayes compatible. Note that the script should only issue the commands necessary to establish the call and go no further. For more information on scripts, see the section entitled "The Aladdin Script Language." Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 11 /NC Tells Aladdin to disable the internal clock and billing system. No clock will be shown on the upper-right hand corner of the screen, and Aladdin will not update the billing records. If you have a "slow" IBM-PC or compatible and Aladdin seems to be having trouble keeping up with GEnie at 2400 baud, use this command-line option to clear the problem. /1 Instructs Aladdin to immediately begin an automatic pass 1 and exit to DOS when finished. /2 Instructs Aladdin to immediately begin an automatic pass 2 and exit to DOS when finished. /NOEMS Instructs Aladdin not to use EMS expanded memory for overlay management. /NODMA Lets Aladdin know that you have a computer with no DMA (Direct Memory Access) capability, such as the IBM PCjr. Aladdin takes note of this and modifies how the Zmodem download protocol works to compensate for the lack of DMA capability on your computer. /NOMACROS Disables the keyboard macro facilities. This is particularly useful on semi-compatible computers which don't like to have the keyboard interrupt taken away from the operating system. /DV Instructs Aladdin to cooperate with multitasking operating system tools like DesqView and OmniView by directing all video output to the video area supplied by the program. /SAVEMAIL This option instructs Aladdin to save all incoming GEmail messages to the INPUT ARCHIVE specified in Aladdin's Configuration Screen, GEmail section. /NOSOUNDS Supresses all sounds that Aladdin normally generates except those generated by the "BEEP" and "ALARM" script language commands. The modem reset and Video 7 options are available when you start Aladdin by typing "ALADDIN" or "ALAD" from the DOS command prompt. The opening screen wait option only works when you type "ALADDIN" from the DOS command prompt, as there is no opening screen when you start Aladdin by typing "ALAD" from the DOS Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 12 command prompt. 3. Configuring the Aladdin Software The next step in the installation of the Aladdin program is the configuration of the program itself. Figure III-1 depicts the Aladdin GEnie/Modem/Options configuration screen. Figure III-2 depicts the Aladdin screen colors configuration screen. Refer to them as you read the configuration instructions. To access the primary configuration screens, press the [F5] Key from the Aladdin main menu. GEnie Options GEnie/Modem/Options Configuration menu Config [1] of [1] Video options: GEnie options: Long screen EGA: N Phone number: 555-1212 Suppress "snow"?: N User ID: XJM12345 RoundTable options: Password: KIRKSTUB Use usual marks? N GE Mail address: J.DOE Use Zmodem? N BBS Nickname: John Doe Editor options: Prompt character: "?" (63) Default to insert? Y Break character: ^C (3) GE Mail options: Prime-time rate/hr: 18.00 Always pick up mail? Y Non-prime-time: 6.00 Automatic Xmodem? Y Modem options: Input archive file: INPUT.TXT COM: port (1 or 2): 1 Output archive file: OUTPUT.TXT Speed: 1200 Downloaded Mail Path: Reset command: ATZ Aladdin options: Dial command: ATDT Script file name: SCRIPT.TXT Command terminator: ^M Address list file name: ADDRESS.TXT Connection message: CONNECT Billing file name: BILLING.TXT No connection: NO CARRIER Time-out (seconds): 60.0 Esc Exit F3 Create new config set F5 Previous set PgUp/PgDn Other sections F4 Delete this set F6 Next set Figure III-1 - Aladdin GEnie/Modem/Options Configuration Screen - NOTE - Some of the fields shown on this and other screens will allow you to type more characters than there is space shown on the field. An example of this is the Phone number field, in which you can type up to 255 characters. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 13 [Esc] Key - Exits from the configuration screen. [F3], [F4], [F5] and [F6] - With the introduction of Aladdin version 1.11, you can now create multiple configuration setups. If you have multiple GEnie accounts, you can save the configuration information for each. To create a new configuration setup for the current contents of the screen, press the [F3] function key. To delete the currently displayed configuration setup, press the [F4] function key. To display the previous configuration setup, press the [F5] function key. To display the next configuration setup, press the [F6] function key. When you press the [Esc] key to exit to the Main Menu, the currently displayed configuration will become the active one. [PgUp] and [PgDn] Keys - Switches between the main configuration and display color selection screen. Configuration Number - The two numbered fields on the second line from the top right-hand corner indicate which configuration (of a maximum of seven) you are currently working with. Phone number - This field holds the local GEnie access number that you want Aladdin to call when it logs on to the GEnie system. (Refer to Appendix A, GEnie Access Number Listing, to locate the number nearest you.) You should also place any special modem dialing characters in this field. For example, with Hayes and compatible modems, if you must insert a pause anywhere within the dialing process, you put a comma character "," in the dialing string at the point where the pause is desired. If you have to do this to dial, you should also put the comma into Aladdin's phone number field. User ID - This field holds your user ID string, assigned when you request a GEnie account. The user ID is a string of 8 characters; three letters and five numbers, beginning with an "X". For example, "XYZ55555" is a valid example of a user ID, but "ZXY89Z09" is not. Password - This field holds your password, also assigned to you when you first log on to GEnie and request an account. Your password can be changed at any time using Aladdin. Refer to the "Miscellaneous Operations/Changing Your Password" section of this manual. BBS Nickname - This field holds the "nickname" which Aladdin will log into any RoundTable which you enter for the first time or for which your user record has been purged because you have not visited it in 30 days or more. The recommended entry for this field is your first name. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 14 GE Mail Address - When you requested an account on GEnie, you were assigned a GEmail electronics mail "address" string of 12 characters or less. Enter your assigned mail address string in this field. Prompt Character - This field holds the character which Aladdin should recognize as the prompt from GEnie when it is waiting for a command prompt. The default character is the question mark (?) and should not be modified unless you already had a GEnie account when you obtained Aladdin and had already changed your prompt character to something else. Break Character - At any time while you are logged on GEnie you can interrupt most any operations (except uploads and downloads) by sending what GEnie calls a "break character". Aladdin's default is a [Ctrl-C] (ASCII 3). Do not change this setting unless you are having problems with GEnie's break character recognition. GEnie's default is a true break signal, but Aladdin is not capable of sending a true break. If your break character on GEnie is set to some other character other than a [Ctrl-C], you should change it before using Aladdin by accessing the User Settings page on GEnie. - NOTE - Option 5 on page 110, the main menu page for the Aladdin Support RoundTable, will automatically set all your terminal mode parameters to match Aladdin's default settings. To set the parameters from any GEnie system prompt, type "M110;5" and press [Enter]. Prime-time rate/hr, Non-prime-time rate/hr - Since Aladdin calculates the charges to your account every time it logs on to GEnie, it needs to know what GEnie is charging you for every hour you are connected. At the time of this release of Aladdin, the hourly rates are $18 per hour during prime-time (8:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday) at any connect speed and $6 per hour during non-prime-time hours, weekends and holidays at 1200 baud. These are the default values for Aladdin. Do not change this information unless you receive notice from GEnie about a rate change. If you are using a public data network like Tymnet or Telenet to access GEnie, add the hourly charge of those network services to the standard GEnie connect charges and enter the rates in this field. You can also use these fields to approximate long distance fees if you do not have a local GEnie access number. Determine the average cost per minute for a phone call to the GEnie access point and add this to the hourly cost. This will give you a more accurate idea of how much it is costing you to access GEnie. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 15 Modem Options COM: port (1 or 2) - Aladdin is capable of using either COM1 or COM2 communications ports on the IBM-PC and compatible. These are the standard ports for the IBM-PC, and Aladdin does not, at this time, support any others. In this field enter the port to which your modem is connected. Aladdin will accept an entry of 3 or 4 as well in this field, but we cannot guarantee that this will work on all IBM-PC and compatible personal computer models because of hardware differences in serial communication port implementations. For you tech buffs, for COM3 to work properly it must be configured for a base port address of 3E8 hex and IRQ 4, and there must not be any serial device active on COM1. For COM4 to work properly it must be configured for a base port address of 2E8 hex and IRQ 3, and there must not be any serial device active on COM2. Speed - Enter the baud rate at which you wish to connect to GEnie; 300, 1200 or 2400. Aladdin can also communicate with your modem at 4800 and 9600 baud, if your modem supports these communication speeds. Reset command - This field holds the string that Aladdin must send to the modem to reset it. Hayes and compatible modems use "ATZ", the default value. If your modem is not a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to your manual for the reset command. If you are using a Hayes Smartmodem 2400, you should change this field to read "AT&D2&C1". Dial command - This field contains the string that Aladdin must send to the modem to dial a number. The default is "ATDT" which is the Hayes command to dial a number using touch-tone dialing. If your telephone line does not support touch-tone dialing, change this field to "ATDP" to instruct the modem to dial using pulse dialing. If you do not have a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to your modem's user manual for the string to use in this field. Command terminator - This field holds the character which Aladdin must send to the modem so that the modem will execute the command. On Hayes and compatible modems (and most of the other non-compatible modems) the character is the Carriage Return (ASCII 13, or [Ctrl-M]). This is the default that Aladdin assigns to this field. Connection message - This field is the string which Aladdin will use to recognize that the modem has indeed achieved a connection with GEnie's modem at the local access number it has dialed. For Hayes and compatible modems, the default value of this field is "CONNECT 1200" string. If you are using a 2400 baud modem, change Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 16 this field to "CONNECT 2400".If your modem is not a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to your modem's user manual for the connect indication string. No connection - This field is the string which Aladdin will use to recognize that the modem has failed to achieve a connection with GEnie's modem at the local access number it has dialed. For Hayes and compatible modems, the message returned by the modem is the "NO CARRIER" string, the default value of this field. If your modem is not a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to your modem's user manual for the connect failure indication string. Video Options Long screen EGA - If your computer has an EGA or VGA display card and monitor, you can choose to have Aladdin display a 43-line or 50-line screen, respectively, instead of the usual 25 lines in text mode. Enter "Y" in this field if you have an EGA or VGA display card and monitor and want Aladdin to make use of the extended display modes. The default value for this field is "N". Supress "snow"? - If you have CGA video adapter on your personal computer and the display shows "snow" on the screen when Aladdin is running, enter a "Y" into this field. This will cause Aladdin to eliminate the snow from your screen. The clock and billing counters will not be displayed if this field is set to "Y", but they will still be running (as opposed to using the /NC command line argument when you invoke Aladdin, which completely disables Aladdin's clock and billing counter). RoundTable Options Use usual marks? - This option refers to the action that Aladdin will take when you ask it to check for new messages on a RoundTable. When you check for new messages in the RoundTable's topics you have to decide which topics you want to read using the [M]ark topics option. This displays a list of topics with new messages, and each mark defaults to "KEEP" which means do nothing with the topic. If you answer "Y" to Use Usual Marks then Aladdin will default to "KEEP", "NEW", or "IGNore" depending on which option you chose the last time you marked topics. This saves you the trouble of having to remember what you want to do with a topic since the last time Aladdin found new messages in it. Use Zmodem? - This fields tells Aladdin whether it should use the ZMODEM file transfer protocol to download files instead of the XMODEM protocol. The default is "Y". This field enables the use of automatic and invoked ZMODEM downloads. There is no other way to have Aladdin download files with ZMODEM. Setting this field to Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 17 "N" will force Aladdin to use Xmodem for all automatic download operations. It will also disable the feature of Aladdin which automatically detects when a ZMODEM download is being initiated. Editor Options Default to insert? - This field controls whether Aladdin's editor will always begin in insert or overstrike mode. The default entry for this field is "Y". If you enter a "N" in this field Aladdin's editor will begin operation in overstrike mode. GE Mail Options Always pick up mail? - This field controls whether or not Aladdin will always pick up mail when it detects that you have mail waiting in your mailbox while running an automatic operation. The default entry for this field is "Y". If you enter a "N" into this field Aladdin will only pick up mail from your mailbox when you specifically ask it to from the GEmail menu. Automatic Xmodem? - This options tells Aladdin whether or not to automatically download files that are attached to messages. If this option is set to "Y", every time Aladdin detects that a GEmail message has an attached file, it will download it. If it is set to "N", Aladdin will not download the file until you tell it to do so. Input archive file - This field holds the filename of the file to which Aladdin saves copies of messages which you tell it to save. Output archive file - This field holds the filename of the file in which Aladdin saves copies of all outgoing mail and messages. Downloaded mail path - This field holds the DOS path (directory) to which you want Aladdin to store files which are downloaded as part of a GEmail message (attached files). This field is also the default download path for automatic ZMODEM protocol file downloads. Aladdin Options Script file name - This field holds the name of the file in which Aladdin script language commands are stored. See the section on the Aladdin Script Language for more information on the script language. Address list file name - This field holds the filename in which Aladdin will store your personal address list. See the section on Sending/Receiving Mail for more information on the address list feature of Aladdin. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 18 Billing filename - Aladdin keeps track of all your connect charges in a file in ASCII text format. This field holds the filename of the file Aladdin will use to store the billing information. Time-out (seconds) - This field is used to specify the number of seconds Aladdin will wait for GEnie to do something if there seems to be no response to a command. You should only change this number if you notice that GEnie is reacting slowly on a particular day, in which case you would increase the time-out value. 4. Setting the Aladdin Display Colors If you are using Aladdin on a computer equipped with a video card and display monitor that is capable of displaying colors, you can modify the colors Aladdin uses to display items on the screen to suit your taste. To set the display colors for Aladdin, use the following keystrokes, making sure first that the [NumLock] key above the keypad is disabled (NumLock light should be dark), [Esc] key - The [Esc] key exits the configuration screen, saves the current display colors configuration and returns you to the Aladdin main menu. [PgUp] and [PgDn] Keys - Switches between the main configuration and display colors selection screen. [Up] and [Down] (on keypad) - Use these to select the item for which you want to change the display color. When you first enter this screen the top line of the display (showing the version number and copyright statement for Aladdin) will be blinking on and off. As you press the [Up] or [Down] keys other items will be selected and they in turn will begin blinking on and off. The previously selected item will stop blinking, of course. If none of the items on the screen are blinking then you will be modifying the main background color, and you need to use the [Ctrl-Left] and [Ctrl-Right] keys, explained in the next page. [Left] and [Right] (on keypad) - Use these to select the foreground color for the selected item. Pressing these keys will cycle the colors through 8 text colors. When you are satisfied with the color of the text, stop pressing the keys. To get the full 16 colors you must use the "I" intensity option, explained further down in this page. The colors are (in the order in which Aladdin shows them) black, blue, green, blue-green, red, violet, yellow and white. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 19 [Ctrl-Left] and [Ctrl-Right] (on keypad) - To use these keys, depress and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the [Left] or [Right] keys on the keypad. These keys set the background color for the selected item. Pressing these keys repeatedly cycle the background colors through all the available colors, in a manner similar to pressing the [Left] and [Right] keys alone for the foreground color. When you are satisfied with the background color for the item, stop pressing the keys and release the [Ctrl] key. "I" Intensity Control - If you press the "I" key on the keyboard, the intensity of the displayed text (foreground only) will be switched to low or high. This allows you to select a bright white instead of a gray color for the text editor display color, for example. 5. Setting the RoundTable Configurations Now that you have set up the primary and display color configurations, we will cover the setup of the RoundTables in the RoundTable Configuration screen. To access the RoundTable Configuration screen, press the [F6] key from the Aladdin main menu. Figure III-3 depicts the Aladdin RoundTable Configuration menu. Refer to it as you follow the instructions in this section. [Esc] Key Pressing the [Esc] key will exit the RoundTable Configuration screen, save any new/modified RoundTable configuration information and return you to the Aladdin main menu. Adding a RoundTable To add a RoundTable to the list, press "A". This will bring up the Aladdin RoundTable Editing screen, depicted in Figure III- 4. Aladdin will select the next available entry position for you. See the section below on "The RoundTable Editing Screen" for instructions on how to add a RoundTable to the list. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 20 RoundTable Configuration menu RoundTables A IBM-PC RoundTable Options: B A Add a RoundTable C E Edit a RoundTable D D Delete a RoundTable E F S Sort RoundTable list G H Navigation: I F2 Go to GE Mail menu J F4 Go to Terminal menu K Esc Return to Main menu L M N O P . . . U Command [ ] Figure III-3 - Aladdin RoundTable Configuration Menu Editing a RoundTable To edit a RoundTable on the list, press "E". This will cause Aladdin to ask you which RoundTable settings you wish to edit. Enter the letter of the RoundTable, as displayed in the RoundTable listing to the right of the screen. If you press "E" by accident, press the [Esc] key to abort the operation. If you accidentally press "E" and also select a RoundTable by accident, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press "A" once, then release the [Ctrl] key. This will abort the editing operation and return you to the function selection prompt. Editing a RoundTable is done on the same RoundTable Editing screen as when you add a RoundTable to the list. The same instructions apply. Deleting a RoundTable To delete a RoundTable from the list, press "D". This will cause Aladdin to delete the RoundTable from the list, permanently. Enter the letter of the RoundTable, as displayed in the RoundTable listing to the right of the screen. If you press "D" by accident, press the [Esc] key. This will abort the deletion operation and return you to the function selection prompt. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 21 Sorting the RoundTable List To sort the RoundTable list, press "S". This will sort the list alphabetically by RoundTable name. Sorting the RoundTable list is an optional operation. If you choose to sort the list, make sure and sort it every time you add or delete a RoundTable from the list. Moving Directly to the GEmail and Terminal Mode Screens Pressing the [F2] key takes you directly to the Aladdin GEmail screen (see "Sending/Receiving Mail"). Pressing the [F4] key will take you directly to the terminal mode (see "Aladdin Terminal Mode"). The RoundTable Editing Screen The RoundTable Editing screen is used to select and set the options for specific GEnie RoundTables that you want Aladdin to access automatically. [Esc] key - Exits the RoundTable Editing screen, saves the information for the selected RoundTable and returns to the RoundTable Configuration screen. [Ctrl]-"A" - If you press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the letter "A", Aladdin will discard any new/changed information on the RoundTable Editing screen and return you to the RoundTable Configuration screen without saving anything. [Up] and [Down] (on keypad) - The [Up] and [Down] keys will move you from field to field. You can also use the [Enter] key to move down a field. RoundTable Information GEnie page number - Enter the number of the GEnie page at which the RoundTable is located. Services on GEnie are assigned page numbers. For example, the IBM-PC RoundTable main menu is located on page 615, the Borland Language Products RoundTable is located on page 765 and the Microsoft Product Support RoundTable is located on page 505. If you are not sure on which page the RoundTable you want to add is located, return to the Aladdin main menu by pressing [Esc] twice, select the Miscellaneous Operations by pressing [F3] and select the GEnie product index function by pressing "I". This function displays all the services on GEnie and their respective GEnie page numbers. For more information on this function, see the section on "Miscellaneous Operations". You can also view the file "GENIE.LST" which is included in the Aladdin distribution files. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 22 Once you enter the page number, Aladdin will search the index and display the name of the service on that page, if it is found in the index. If it is not found, you will have to enter the RoundTable name in the following field. This should not happen under normal conditions. If you cannot find a RoundTable which you know exists by its page number, you may have to select the option to update the GEnie product index from the "Miscellaneous Operations/GEnie Product Index" section of Aladdin. RoundTable name - This field is normally filled in by Aladdin. Refer to the previous section for more information. Auto pass 1 options - This field holds the pass 1 options for Aladdin. In this field you will select what actions Aladdin will take every time it automatically accesses this RoundTable on GEnie when you select a "Pass 1" operation from the GEnie main menu. We will explain the pass operations later in the manual; for now suffice it to say that in a pass 1 operation Aladdin checks for and/or retrieves new messages and/or files. The possible options for this field are, for the message area, "A", "C" or "N". "A" will tell Aladdin that it should ask for and store all new messages. "C" tells Aladdin that it should check for new messages only and let you select which topics you want to read later on. It will take another log on session for Aladdin to get those new messages into your computer to allow you to view and reply to them. "N" is similar to "A" but it will instruct Aladdin to read only those topics which you have already read or replied to once before. These topics are referred to by GEnie as "marked" topics. If you want Aladdin to check for new files in the software library area of the RoundTable, enter a "D" into the field. Aladdin will then check the software library for new files every time it logs on to GEnie and accesses that RoundTable during a pass 1 operation. For example, if you want Aladdin to check for new messages only, enter a "C" in the pass 1 options field and press [Enter]. If you want it to check for and retrieve new messages and also check for any new files in the software library of that RoundTable, enter "AD" into the field and press [Enter]. If you only want Aladdin to check for new files in the software library area and ignore the message area, enter a "D" into the field and press [Enter]. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 23 RoundTable editing window RoundTable Information: GEnie page number: 615 RoundTable name: IBM PC RoundTable Auto pass 1 options: AD Auto pass 1 days: SUMTUWTHFSA RoundTable files: Aladdin work files: IBMPCROU Input archive file: INPUT.TXT Output archive file: OUTPUT.TXT Auto-save messages? N Software library settings: Default path: Last file date: 800101 Esc Save and quit Ctrl-A Quit w/o saving / Move Figure III-4 - Aladdin RoundTable Editing Screen Auto pass 1 days - This field controls which days of the week Aladdin will access the RoundTable during an automatic pass 1 operation. The default entry in this field is "SUMTUWTHFSA", which tells Aladdin to include this RoundTable on a pass 1 operation during all seven days of the week. If you wish to limit pass 1 operations on this RoundTable to certain days of the week, enter the days that you wish the RoundTable to be included as follows -- "SU", Sundays; "M", Mondays; "TU", Tuesdays; "W", Wednesdays; "TH", Thursdays; "F", Fridays; and "SA", Saturdays. For example, if you wish to have Aladdin include this RoundTable during a pass 1 operation only on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays of every week, you would enter "SUWF" into this field. You may enter the character equivalent(s) for each corresponding weekday in any order you wish -- Aladdin will look for a match anywhere within the string. RoundTable Files Aladdin work files - Aladdin will normally fill in this field automatically by taking the first eight (8) letters of the RoundTable name field, excluding spaces. This field represents the filename portion of the files which Aladdin creates to store incoming and outgoing messages, software library indexes, etc. for that RoundTable during normal operations. Aladdin uses its own extensions for each file, which you cannot modify. For example, retrieved messages are stored in a file with the extension ".MSG". If for some reason you are not satisfied with this filename, you may change it, but we recommend that you leave Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 24 it as is. Input archive file - This is the filename that Aladdin uses to store incoming messages and replies for the selected RoundTable when you tell Aladdin to save these. The default filename, filled in by Aladdin, is always "INPUT.TXT". If you want your saved incoming messages and replies for this RoundTable to be stored in a separate file, enter the desired filename in this field. Output archive file - This is the filename that Aladdin uses to store outgoing messages and replies for the selected RoundTable. The default filename, filled in by Aladdin, is always "OUTPUT.TXT". If you want your outgoing messages and replies for this RoundTable to be stored in a separate file, enter the desired filename in this field. Auto-save Messages? - This option requires a "Y" or "N" answer. Putting a "Y" instructs Aladdin to save all incoming messages from that specific RoundTable into the input archive file. Answering "N" (the default condition) will instruct Aladdin to discard all new messages after they are read and Aladdin retrieves new messages for processing. Note that setting this option to "Y" will cause Aladdin to use a lot of disk space to save all incoming messages, particularly on very active RoundTables like the IBM-PC RoundTable. Software Library Settings Default path - Under normal conditions, Aladdin will ask you where exactly do you want to put a file that is about to be downloaded. If you want Aladdin to save downloaded files in a separate directory, enter the directory's path here. For example, if you want Aladdin to save downloaded files for this RoundTable into the WORK directory on drive C:, enter "C:\WORK\" into this field and press [Enter]. You can always override the default and place the incoming files anywhere you want on your disk. Last file date - When Aladdin checks for new files in the software library of the selected RoundTable, it issues a command that displays the file directory of the library. As the files are displayed, it checks the upload date of file against the date in this field. As soon as files that were uploaded before this date begin showing up on the screen, Aladdin will send a "break" signal (as defined in the GEnie/Modem/Options Configuration Screen) to stop the directory listing. If there are no files with an upload date newer than the date in this field, Aladdin will ignore the listing and continue. If there are files that have been uploaded into the library after the date in this field and with a file number higher than the one stored in Aladdin's software library directory file for this RoundTable, Aladdin will Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 25 store them into a special file from which you can later select which ones you want to download, if any. The date is entered in the format "YYMMDD". If you want to tell Aladdin to ignore files in the library that were uploaded before January 1, 1988, enter "880101" into the field and press [Enter]. - Note - The default date in the "Last file date" field is January 1, 1980. Make sure you set this field to a later date, unless you want to see all the files in the library. If you already had a GEnie account before obtaining Aladdin and were up to date in the software library, enter today's date into this field. In this way Aladdin will not waste your time capturing the information for files that you already know about. 6. Script Configuration Script configuration is covered in the "Aladdin Script Language" section. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 26 IV. The Aladdin Main Menu Now that you have set up Aladdin with the information we have given you so far, you are ready to try it out for the first time. First, we'll discuss the Aladdin main menu, depicted below in Figure IV-1, and then we will give you a brief overview of how Aladdin works before getting into the details of each command. Main menu RoundTables A IBM PC RoundTable Main sections: B A-K RoundTable menu C F2 GE Mail menu D F3 Miscellaneous operations E F4 Terminal menu F Automated tasks: G 1-2 Perform automatic pass 1 or 2 H 3-9 Perform user script I Configuration: J F5 Aladdin setup K F6 RoundTable setup F7 Script menu User Scripts Hot-keys: 3 F1 Help! 4 Alt-F5 List defined macros 5 Alt-F6/F7 Begin-Edit/End macro 6 Alt-F8 File reader 7 Alt-F9 Exit Aladdin (^Q) 8 Alt-F10 Visit DOS 9 Command [ ] Off RDY 7bit ECHO Blanks OK Capture OFF Figure IV-1 - Aladdin Main Menu Aladdin is an automatic access tool for GEnie users. Above everything else, Aladdin is designed to help you get the most use from GEnie for your hard-earned money. It will retrieve and send messages for you from GEmail and the RoundTables, and will also download/upload files into the RoundTable software libraries. Additionally, it provides you with tools like the Terminal Mode and the Script languages, each with its own features to make life as a GEnie user much easier for you. The Aladdin Main Menu is the door to all of the features of Aladdin. In this section we will discuss each main menu option in general terms. 1. Help! - [F1] Aladdin has a built-in context-sensitive help facility. The hot key for help in any area of Aladdin is the [F1] function key. Pressing it at any place in the software will give you either Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 27 specific help for that item or a help index for that screen, from which you can select help information to be displayed by using the [Up] and [Down] keys and the [Enter] key. 2. The RoundTable Menu Keys - "A" through "U" The letters "A" through "U" will take you directly to the Aladdin menus for each of the RoundTables which you have told Aladdin to access for you. You can configure GEnie to access a maximum of twenty-one (21) RoundTables. From the RoundTable menus you can read and reply to messages, upload and download files, start new topics, reply to old topics and even access the Real Time Conferencing feature of each of the RoundTables on GEnie. If there are any pending actions to be taken by you, Aladdin will mark the RoundTable selection letter with a right chevron " ". If there are pending actions for Aladdin to perform, the letter will be marked with a left chevron " ". If there are both incoming and outgoing pending actions, the letter for the RoundTable will be marked with a left and right arrow marker " ". - NOTE - Even though you may have configured Aladdin to access more than 11 RoundTables, you will only see a maximum of 11 at a time in the RoundTables window. To display the other RoundTables, press the [Up] or [Down] arrow keys on the computer's keypad. 3. The GEmail Menu Key - [F2] Pressing the [F2] function key will take you directly into the Aladdin GEmail Menu, from which you can receive and send messages and replies. You can also attach files to messages to accomplish tasks such as sending a spreadsheet to a friend by using GEnie instead of the U.S. Mail or expensive services like Federal Express or United Parcel Service. There is another advantage: the file arrives instantaneously at the recipient's GEnie mailbox. No waiting for the delivery truck to arrive or making arrangements to receive packages or envelopes. It's there, ready to be picked up right away in the comfort of your home or office. If there are GEmail messages pending to be read by you, Aladdin will mark the [F2] option with a right chevron marker " ". If there are messages pending to be sent out, Aladdin will mark the menu option with a left chevron marker " ". If there are both incoming and outgoing pending messages, you will see a left and right arrow marker " ". Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 28 4. Miscellaneous Operations - [F3] Pressing the [F3] function key takes you to the Aladdin Miscellaneous Operations screen. From here you can view and update the complete list of services available on GEnie, change your password, or review your GEnie account's billing history, in summary or in detail, day by day for every single time you used the service through Aladdin. 5. Terminal Mode - [F4] Aladdin's Terminal Mode is discussed in the section of the same name further on in this manual. The [F4] option on the menu will be marked with a left chevron marker " " if there are system notifications pending to be read by you. For more information, refer to the Terminal Mode section of this manual. 6. Automated Operations - Pass 1/Pass 2 - Scripts Aladdin has two types of passes in which it processes information to or from GEnie. Pass 1 is the operation in which Aladdin logs on to GEnie, checks your mail and all configured RoundTables for messages and/or new files and sends out any pending mail or RoundTable messages/replies and/or files. Pass 2 also logs on to GEnie, but only sends out pending messages and/or replies and files, and retrieves marked messages from topics. Your GEmail is also checked on pass 2 if Aladdin detects that you have mail waiting for you. Aladdin has a very powerful script language, designed so you can tailor a specific action that you want Aladdin to perform on GEnie. For example, you might want to occasionally access the RSCARDS Multi-Player Blackjack area and download the manual and host software if there has been a version number upgrade. Since Aladdin does not support this type of operation from any of the built-in facilities, you can use the script language to "teach" Aladdin how to do this. You can have up to seven (7) scripts accessible from the Aladdin main menu. 7. Aladdin, RoundTable and Script Setup - [F5], [F6] and [F7] We have already covered the Aladdin and RoundTable setup commands in section III, "Setting Up Aladdin". If you have not yet read that section and/or setup Aladdin, please go back to that section now and follow the instructions to configure the Aladdin software. The Script Setup option is covered in the "Aladdin Script Language" section. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 29 8. List defined macros - [Alt-F5] With the introduction of version 1.11, Aladdin now has a built-in keyboard macro facility which allows you to redefine one of 26 keystrokes (Alt-A through Alt-Z) into a string of up to 1,024 characters in length. This hotkey is available anywhere in Aladdin and will display all the available macro keys. Those keystrokes that have macros defined will be highlighted. 9. Begin-Edit/End macro - [Alt-F6/Alt-F7] Aladdin's macro definition and editing facilities are controlled with these hotkeys. Alt-F6 is used to define a macro. If the keystroke to which you want to assign the macro already has a macro in it, Aladdin will give you the option to overwrite or edit the macro. The Alt-F7 keystroke terminates the macro recording process. Refer to Appendix B, Aladdin Macro Facilities, for more information on Aladdin's keyboard macro functions. 10. File Reader - [Alt-F8] Aladdin has a hot key that can be used to read text files stored on disk. To access this feature, press and hold the [Alt] key and press the [F8] function key once, then release the [Alt] key. Aladdin will ask you for the path and filename of the file you want to view/browse. Enter the path and filename and press [Enter]. Aladdin will load the file and show it to you. The file viewer can display a maximum of 64,000 lines of text. 11. Exiting Aladdin - [Alt-F9] To exit Aladdin from any point in the program you press and hold the [Alt] key and press the [F9] function key once, then release the [Alt] key. This will terminate Aladdin and return you to the operating system. You may also press the [Ctrl-Q] to exit, but only from the Aladdin Main Menu. Note that Aladdin does not tell the modem to hang up the phone and terminate the call automatically when you exit to DOS by pressing [Alt-F9]. If you are not sure whether you are still online or not and want to exit Aladdin, press [F4] to transfer to the Terminal Mode menu, and press the "H" key once. Aladdin will then tell the modem to hang up the phone and terminate the call. 12. "Dropping" to DOS Temporarily - [Alt-F10] During the time that you are using Aladdin, you may run into situations in which you do not want to exit Aladdin to do something. Instead, you may want to drop to the DOS operating system, do something quickly and get right back into Aladdin. The developers of Aladdin realized this need, and the result is Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 30 another hot key combination that will allow you to do just that. To exit to DOS temporarily, press and hold the [Alt] key, press the [F10] function key once, and then release the [Alt] key. Aladdin will suspend operations and put you at the DOS prompt. You may now execute any DOS commands. Keep in mind, though, that the amount of free memory to execute these commands will probably be very low (around 200k or less) and you may only be able to use some small programs and the DOS built-in commands like COPY, DEL, CHDIR, etc. Once you are finished and are ready to go back to Aladdin, type the word "EXIT" from the DOS command prompt and you will be taken right back into Aladdin, exactly at the place where you left off when you pressed [Alt-F10]. This hot key works from any point in Aladdin except when you are downloading/uploading files and doing automatic passes. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 31 V. The RoundTable Menu The Aladdin main menu (refer to figure IV-1) displays up to 11 of 21 RoundTables in the upper right-hand window of the menu (only one in the demonstration version). Each entry, labeled "A" through "U", shows one RoundTable that has been properly setup using the RoundTable Configuration screen, explained earlier in this manual. Once the RoundTable is set up, you can access its RoundTable Menu by pressing the key for its label. The entry and letter for the RoundTable does not have to be displayed for you to be able to reach that RoundTable. At this time, press the letter "A" on your keyboard. Aladdin will display the RoundTable Menu for the IBM PC RoundTable, which is depicted in Figure V-1 below. RoundTable menu - IBM PC RoundTable (Bulletin Board section) On-line operations: Message management: A Download all new messages R Read and reply to messages C Check for new messages E Edit or delete replies/new topics O Perform pending operations: Send messages/start topics Miscellaneous: Download marked topics B View bulletin Download/browse marked files G Log on to RoundTable BBS Navigation: H Log on to RoundTable RTC Previous RoundTable 1 Perform automatic pass 1 Next RoundTable 2 Perform automatic pass 2 Software Library section F2 Go to GE Mail menu Topic management: F3 Go to Miscellaneous Options M Mark topics found by C F4 Go to Terminal menu J Mark/reply to old topics Esc Return to Main menu T Start new topic U Update topic list Command [ ] Off 7bit ECHO Blanks OK Capture OFF Figure V-1 - The RoundTable Menu for the IBM PC RoundTable As you can see, the title of the menu specifies that the menu displayed is the one for the Bulletin Board (message) section of the RoundTable. There is a second half of the menu, the Software Library side, which we will explain shortly. Let's cover each command in detail. We will explain to you how each works; refer to Figure V-1 above as we go along. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 32 1. Option "A" - Download all new messages Pressing the letter "A" on your keyboard will cause Aladdin to take the following actions: a) Aladdin will clear the screen and dial the local number that you entered into the GEnie/Modem/Aladdin Options configuration screen, if you are not already connected to GEnie. b) Once the modem achieves a connection with GEnie's modem at the local access point and Aladdin determines that the initial connection is "clean", Aladdin will send three "H"'s to inform GEnie that someone is at the modem attempting to log in. The three "H"'s is a way of telling GEnie what baud rate you are connected at. c) GEnie will display the login prompt, which is the string "U#=". Aladdin recognizes this and sends GEnie your user ID, password, the number of the page in which the IBM PC RoundTable is and the option on that page, "1", which will tell GEnie who you are and initially what you want to do. Your user ID and password are hidden from view. This is particularly useful if someone happens to be watching over your shoulder. - IMPORTANT NOTE! - You should never give your user ID or password to anyone (not even while logged on to GEnie) or use it in any message on any part of the service. d) If the user ID and password is valid, GEnie will display a welcome message, the news of the day for GEnie users, a notification of whether there is any mail waiting for you in your mailbox, and then it will take you to the IBM PC RoundTable. A short notice welcoming you to the RoundTable would be displayed and the club door welcome message for the RoundTable will follow. The Bulletin Board area welcome message is displayed, and the Bulletin Board prompt "1 ?" appears. e) Aladdin issues a BRO NOR command, which tells GEnie that you want to browse all new messages. The new messages (along with their topic titles and summaries) are displayed on the screen, which GEnie captures into the active message file. f) When GEnie finishes displaying all the new messages (if Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 33 any), it once again displays the prompt. g) At this time Aladdin will check to see if the initial GEnie screen had a notification that there were messages waiting for you in your mailbox, and if so it will issue a "READ" command, which tells GEnie to scroll the contents of your mailbox on the screen. Aladdin will capture the text of the messages to your Aladdin mailbox file in your personal computer. If there were no messages waiting in your mailbox when Aladdin logged on to GEnie, Aladdin skips this step. h) Since there are no more actions to take, Aladdin is finished. It issues a "BYE" command to GEnie, and waits until GEnie says goodbye and disconnects your modem. Aladdin then returns you to the RoundTable Menu. i) If there were any new messages in the RoundTable Bulletin Board area, Aladdin will put a marker, " ", next to the "R" option in the menu. To read and optionally reply to the new messages, refer to the "Option 'R' - Read and reply to messages" topic further on in this section of the manual. If there was any mail waiting for you when Aladdin logged on, it can be read and optionally replied to using Aladdin's GEmail section. Refer to the section "Sending/Receiving Mail". 2. Option "C" - Check for new messages This option is identical to option "A", except in that it does not issue a "BRO NOR" command to have GEnie display all new messages in the Bulletin Board section of the RoundTable. Instead, it issues a "NEW" command to have GEnie display all the topics (by category and topic number) which contain new messages. If there are topics that contain new messages, Aladdin will store this information in a file. You can then use the "M" option, described further on in this section, to select which new messages you want to read from the available topics. In all other regards, this command performs in the same manner as the "A" command. 3. Option "O" - Perform pending operations The "O" command is used to tell Aladdin to immediately perform any pending operations for the current RoundTable displayed at the top of the screen in the menu title line. These include: a) Send any new/reply messages pending, including those that require a new topic which you have instructed Aladdin to start using the "T" option, (discussed further on in this Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 34 section). b) Download any new messages from topics marked using the "M" option (discussed further on in this section). c) Download, upload or browse any files selected with the "M" or "U" options in the software library section of the RoundTable menu (discussed further on in the RoundTable Menu section). If there any of the above pending operations, when you press "O" Aladdin will log on to GEnie, access the RoundTable, and process the operations in either the Bulletin Board or Software Library areas of the RoundTable. Aladdin will place a marker, " ", next to the "O" in the RoundTable menu to indicate that there are pending operations, and a diamond-shaped marker, " ", next to the first letter of the type of operation that is pending. 4. Option "G" - Log on to RoundTable BBS The "G" command is used to tell Aladdin to immediately dial the local number, log on, and take you to the Bulletin Board area of the RoundTable. If Aladdin detects that there is mail waiting for you, it will issue a "READ" command to collect your mail first, then it will release control to you after having placed you on the Bulletin Board prompt. At this point you can issue manual Bulletin Board command by using Terminal Mode. 5. Option "H" - Log on to RoundTable RTC The "H" command tells Aladdin to immediately dial the local access number, log on, and take you to the RoundTable Real Time Conference area. If Aladdin detects that there is mail waiting for you, it will tell GEnie to scroll it and Aladdin will collect it first, then Aladdin will release control to you in Terminal Mode after taking you to the RTC area. This is a useful command for when you don't want to do anything except attend an RTC immediately. 6. Options "1" and "2" - Perform Automatic Pass 1 or 2 Automatic passes 1 and 2 refer to the heart of the Aladdin system, the portion of Aladdin which automates your access to GEnie. Pressing "1" will cause Aladdin to execute automatic pass 1, which checks your mailbox and performs all normal actions in each selected RoundTable, including checking for and/or downloading Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 35 new messages and file descriptions. During pass 1 Aladdin will also take care of any pending actions in any of the Aladdin areas, including GEnie mail and the RoundTables. This includes sending messages/replies and uploading/downloading files. Automatic pass 2, invoked by pressing "2", will only take care of pending actions, including sending messages/replies and downloading/uploading files. Pass 2 will also retrieve any mail in your mailbox if there is any when it logs on to GEnie, and will also retrieve messages in RoundTables which are posted between the time you last read the topic and the time you posted a new message/reply in that topic. In this case, GEnie will notify that there were one or more unread messages before your message/reply was posted. Aladdin detects this and retrieves these unread messages, but only within these conditions. Aladdin will not read or check for any other new messages in other topics while executing automatic pass 2. You may also retrieve messages for individual RoundTables using the "M" and "J" options on the RoundTable Menu. 7. Option "M" - Mark topics found by "C" The "M" option is used to tell Aladdin what to do about the topics in which it found that there were new messages available after executing option "C", checking for new messages. If Aladdin finds topics in the RoundTable with unread new messages, it will store the information about these topics in a special file. When you press "M", Aladdin will display a screen similar to V-2. Each topic in which GEnie told Aladdin there were new messages is displayed on the screen. You now have to tell Aladdin which topics out of the ones displayed you want to read. This is done by moving the cursor up and down and marking the topics you want to read. This option works just like the next option covered in this section, Option "J", except that it only works with those topics found by the "C" command. 8. Option "J" - Reply to old topics The "J" option is used to tell Aladdin that you want to reply to an already existing topic for which Aladdin has performed some action in the past. All topics found during reading, replying to or checking messages are stored in a database file which contains a list of these topics for the selected RoundTable. Pressing "J" tells Aladdin to display the list of existing topics in a format similar to Figure V-2. The topics are displayed by category, topic, title, number, current status and a "mark" status which tells you what actions you have asked Aladdin Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 36 to take since the last time you used the "J" option, as long as you have answered "Y" in the "Use usual marks?" in the RoundTable Setup menu. The [Esc] key will tell Aladdin to exit this screen and save your selection parameters for future action. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys are used to move up and down the topic list during the selection process. Topic name Top Closed Msgs Mark Category 1: Welcome & Announcements Welcome & Announcements 1 Closed KEEP Helpful Hints for New Members 2 KEEP FREE File Uploads on GEnie 3 Closed KEEP Topics Moved to Other Categories 4 Closed KEEP GEnie Auto-logon Scripts & Techniques 5 KEEP Xmodem on GEnie 6 KEEP GEnie Break Character Problems? 7 KEEP Comm Program settings for GEnie 8 KEEP feedback to sysop 9 KEEP telephone software 10 KEEP New GEnie protocols Xmodem-1K Ymodem 11 KEEP Mouse for DBaseiii+ 12 KEEP Western Digital cards 13 KEEP help with downloading 14 KEEP Esc Exit K Keep msgs D Read DAT=<> / Move one line I IGNore msgs U Read AUT= PgUp/PgDn Move one screen P Ignore PERmanent # Read #-# Shift-PgUp/Dn Move one category N Read NEW msgs R Reply to topic Ctrl-PgUp/Dn Move to top/bottom A Read ALL msgs S Search for topic L Read LAST msg C Cancel category Figure V-2 - Mark/Reply to Old Topics Screen The [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys perform the same action as the arrow keys but move down one full page at a time. Holding down any of the [Shift] keys will pressing these will move the cursor to the first message in the next or previous message category, respectively. Holding down the [Ctrl] key while pressing these will move you to the last and first topics in the entire list, respectively. The cursor moves up and down the topic list but in fact remain within the "mark" column. Within each topic you can instruct Aladdin one of many actions displayed on the screen. They are: Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 37 "K" - Cancel all actions on that topic and leave it alone. Aladdin will not do anything with this topic. "KEEP" is the default condition of a topic. "I" - Tell GEnie that you want to ignore all the current messages in this topic, including those messages which you have not read since the last time Aladdin logged on to GEnie. "P" - Tell GEnie that you never want to bothered with new messages in this topic again. Basically, this means that as far as you are concerned this topic will not exist. This action is reversible, but you must log on to GEnie manually and use the "Unignore" command. See your GEnie user manual for more information on this subject. "N" - Read all new messages on this topic. "A" - Read all messages on this topic, from number 1 to the latest message posted on the topic. "L" - Read the last message on this topic. This is sometimes useful on long topics to get an idea of what is the current drift of the topic. Many topic on GEnie, especially those that people find interesting, tend to "mutate" into other entirely different subjects as time goes on. "D" - Read messages that have been posted on, before or after a certain date. When you press "D", Aladdin displays a new bottom section of the screen, as displayed in Figure V-3 below. Pressing the [Enter] key will end the date parameter selection process. Pressing the "<", "=" or ">" keys tells Aladdin Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 38 that you want to read only those messages posted before, on or after a certain date. The data itself is entered in a YYMMDD format, where YY is the last two digits of the year, MM is the two-digit month number and DD is the two-digit day. Esc Abort YYMMDD Date Accept date < Read msgs before date DAT<870301 Read msgs before March 1, 1987 = Read msgs on date DAT=860128 Read msgs on January 28, 1986 > Read msgs after date DAT>871231 Read msgs after December 31, 1987 Figure V-3 - Topic Selection by Date "U" - Read all messages posted on the selected topic by one specific user. You must know what that user's GEmail address is. Aladdin will prompt you for the user's GEmail address. "#" - Read messages on this topic between two message numbers, inclusive. Aladdin will prompt you for the first and last message to read. It will then read all messages in the topic whose message numbers are between those two numbers, inclusive. "R" - Reply to the selected topic. Aladdin will display the message editor. At this time you can enter a reply message to be posted on this topic. Press [Esc] when you are finished editing the message. Aladdin will then save it and post it to the topic when you next instruct it to log on to GEnie. "S" - Search the topic list for a specific keyword(s). Aladdin will prompt you for the keyword and will then search the topic list to see if it can find a topic which has that exact keyword(s) in the topic Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 39 subject header. Try to keep the keyword down to one word; it will be easier to find topics in this manner because Aladdin will always look for an exact match. "C" - Cancel the category in which the cursor is current located. This command will move the cursor to the first topic in the category and mark it as being cancelled with the mark "CANCEL". When Aladdin next processes this action it will issue the necessary commands to terminate all participation in the selected category on the selected RoundTable. The only way to restart your participation in the category is to manually request to do something within the category, or ask Aladdin to perform an action of any kind specific to one of the topics in the category, such as reading the last message in a topic. 9. Option "T" - Start a new topic If after searching the current topic index for a RoundTable you cannot find a topic which seems suitable for a query of the subject you want to discuss in that RoundTable, you can instruct Aladdin to tell GEnie to open a new topic for you in a category of that RoundTable. The "T" option does just that. Pressing the "T" key displays the screen depicted in Figure V-4. Aladdin asks you what category you want to start the topic under. The categories displayed in Figure V-4 are very comprehensive so it should be very easy to select one for the subject of your topic. On other RoundTables it may be a little more difficult to decide what category to place the new topic under. If you have a doubt as to which category to select, choose category 1. In most cases the Sysop of the RoundTable will either move the topic to the proper category or, if the subject deems it, will begin an entirely new category for that subject. The latter doesn't happen very often, though. In most cases there is an existing category under which your topic will fit. If there are more topics than can be displayed on the screen, you can use the [Up] and [Down] arrow keys, as well as the [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys to scroll up and down the list. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 40 Once you have selected the category and pressed [Enter], Aladdin will display the screen depicted in Figure V-5. RoundT On-line 1 Welcome & Announcements A Dow 2 Hardware N New 3 Applications topics C Che 4 Programming O Per 5 Operating Systems S 6 Communications & Connectivity D 7 Games & Entertainment D 8 Clones and Look-Alikes G Log 9 On-Line Product Support H Log 10 General RoundTable Business 1 Per 11 Speakers' Corner 2 Per 12 For Sale and Other Commercial Pursuits 14 Aladdin ns Topic m M Mar Ctrl-U Update list J Mar T Sta Which Category? U Upd Command [ ] Off 7bit ECHO Blanks OK Capture OFF Figure V-4 - Start New Topic / Category Selection If at any point during the process you want to abort the procedure, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the "A" key. This will tell Aladdin that you want to abort the procedure and do not want to start a new topic at this time. Aladdin will ask you if you really want to abort the process (just in case you pressed [Ctrl-A] by accident). You can also press [Esc] at any point to exit and save the parameters for the new topic. Aladdin will then process the new topic request the next time you ask it to log in to GEnie. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys are used while in the topic header field to switch between that field and the first message window, which is explained below. Once you have entered the topic header and pressed [Enter] those two options on the screen change to [Ctrl-E] to edit the topic header and [Ctrl- W] to switch between the long description and first message windows. The first thing you have to do is select a topic header, which in essence becomes the topic subject. The cursor is automatically positioned in this field when the screen is displayed, so all you have to do is type it in. Select a topic header that will give the reader a good idea of what the topic is Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 41 intended to be about. For example, "Printers" is not a good topic header but "Printer Problems - Okidata 2410" is. Topic name: . . . . . . Esc Save Edit topic header Ctrl-A Abort Edit first message Figure V-5 - New Topic Editing Screen Once you have entered the topic header, press [Enter]. The cursor will move to the next window below, which is the "long description" part of the topic header. In this window you should enter a longer description of the topic. For example, following the topic header example given above, you could enter a long description like this: "This topic is for discussion of problems interfacing and using the Okidata 2410 Pacemark high speed dot- matrix printer." The long description is limited to a maximum of 3 lines. Again, try to write a long description in general terms so that the reader can get a good idea of what the topic is about. Don't try to go into too many details here, you'll have plenty of opportunity to include as much detail as you want in the next step of the process. Next, you need to enter the first message of the topic. You have the option of not entering a first message, but we recommend that you always enter a first message. There is no reason to limit the query to just the long description; use the first message to state your query or topic subject in full with all the details that you want to include in it. 10. Option "U" - Update topic list This command instructs Aladdin to immediately log on, go to the selected RoundTable and request a topic index for that RoundTable from GEnie. The topic index list is captured, and Aladdin logs off. The old topic index is discarded, the new index is made the current one, and you now have a fresh index with all Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 42 available topics. This is particularly useful when you have not logged on to GEnie in a while and do not want to be bombarded with a slew of new topics and messages. 11. Option "R" - Read and reply to messages This command can only be used if there are new messages pending in the queue after Aladdin logs off from GEnie. If there are no pending messages, the command will have no effect. If there are pending messages, Aladdin displays a marker beside the option on the display (see Figure V-1, where the marker is displayed). If you have pending messages, press "R". If you have not read the pending messages, Aladdin will first show you a screen with the RoundTable bulletin, containing the opening information as well as any RoundTable news. Pressing the [Esc] key, space bar or [Enter] key will exit the bulletin display. Aladdin will then display the first message and topic in the pending list, using a display format similar to that in Figure V- 6. Hardware/What's the best AT computer? (message 2 of 21) Category 2, Topic 44 Message 110 Mon Jan 16, 1989 J.L.SMITH at 18:02 EST Has anyone had any experience with the Northgate 386/20? Sounds like a very nice machine. But have you ever read an ad that made a product look miserable? . . . . . . Esc Exit R Reply P Print ^P Print/Eject / Scroll this message ^L Address list S Save normal / View other messages F Forward ^S Save Special Figure V-6 - Pending message display screen The top of the message display screen shows the category title and the topic header, separated by a slash "/" character. Immediately below that you see a message that tells you that this message is number 2 of 21 messages that are pending in your local queue at the moment. This means that Aladdin downloaded 21 new messages the last time you told it to log on and this is message number 2 of those 21. The next line tells you what category and topic number this message came from. The next line tells you the message number in the topic and the date that it was posted. The Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 43 next line tells you who posted it and the time when the message was posted. The person who posted it is identified by the GEmail address. Following that is the text of the message itself. The [Esc] key is used to exit the viewing mode at any time. It will take you back to the RoundTable menu. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys are used to scroll up and down on the current message. The [Right] and [Left] arrow keys are used to view the previous or next message on the pending queue. The specific commands available at this point are: "R" - Reply to the current message. This tells Aladdin that you want to reply to this message. Aladdin displays the screen depicted in Figure V-7. Once you press the "R" key, Aladdin is immediately ready to accept a reply to the message. It already knows where to send it, so you do not have to make any header changes. All you have to do is type in the text of your reply. Once you are done, press [Esc] to save your reply in the outgoing queue. Aladdin will post it the next time you tell it to log on to that RoundTable. If you do not wish to reply at this time, or if you pressed the "R" key by accident, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the "A" key once. This will tell Aladdin that you want to abort the reply. Aladdin will ask you to confirm the abort of the reply. Category 2, Topic 44 Message 110 Mon Jan 16, 1989 J.L.SMITH at 18:02 EST Has anyone had any experience with the Northgate 386/20? Sounds like F5 Scroll up F6 or F9 Scroll down What's the best AT computer? . . . . . . . . . . . . Esc Save Ctrl-A Abort Ctrl-P Private Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 44 Figure V-7 - Message Reply Screen As of version 1.30 of Aladdin, if you have already prepared one or more replies to messages in one topic, when you press the "R" key to compose another reply the current reply text will be brought up for editing. In other words, all replies to messages in one topic are consolidated into one reply at the reply composition level. As you can see, Aladdin does not display all of the original message, simply because there is not enough room. If you need to refer to portions of the original message you are replying to while composing your reply, use the [F5] function key to scroll the original message up in the upper window, and use the [F6] or [F9] functions keys to scroll the message down. Aladdin is also capable of making a reply a private one by sending it via GEmail instead of posting it in the open on the RoundTable. To make a reply private, you must first choose to make a reply. Once the reply screen in Figure V-7 is displayed, press and hold [Ctrl] and press the "P" key once. Aladdin will then modify the reply screen, which will now look as displayed in Figure V-8. Note private replies must be composed before any public replies to any messages in the topic. As you can see, the message now has a header field section in which the recipient of the message is listed. It also has a "CC:" field in which you can add other GEmail addresses of people to whom you want to send copies of this message as well. The mail message also has a subject, which consists of the topic header. If the topic header is too long to fit in the message subject field, it is truncated. If you change your mind and wish to make the message public, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the "P" key once. If you wish to edit the message header to add or change information to the fields, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the "E" key once. The cursor will move to the header Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 45 section where you can edit the fields. Press [Enter] on the subject field to return to the message editing window. The same functions for the [Esc], [Ctrl-A], [F5], [F6] and [F9] key combinations as for the normal message reply screen apply here as well. [Ctrl-L] - Pressing the [Ctrl-L] key invokes a feature of Aladdin which makes it easy to remember the GEmail addresses of people to whom you frequently send messages. Aladdin can keep a list of these people for you in a file, subsequently allowing you to search it to find the GEmail addresses of these persons. When you press [Ctrl-L], Aladdin will display a screen showing the GEmail address of the person who sent you the letter you are reading, the real name of that person or entity as registered on GEnie, and an extra field which you can use to enter a comment about that GEmail address. If you press [Esc], Aladdin will save this address in your personal address file (the file is a standard ASCII text file called "ADDRESS.TXT"). Once the address is saved, you can search for it when composing new mail messages or forwarding messages you have already received to other GEnie users. This makes it easier to remember who's who on GEnie. If you do not wish to enter this address into your personal address file, press [Ctrl-A] to abort the procedure. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys will move you from field to field in the window. "F" - Forward a message. Pressing the "F" key tells Aladdin that you want to forward the message you are viewing to one or more users. Aladdin will present you with a new window in which you enter the GEmail addresses of one or more users to whom you want GEnie to send extra copies of this message. Remember that multiple GEmail addresses must be separated by commas. Once you have entered the addresses, press [Enter] to complete the process. If you do not wish to forward any copies of the letter, press [Esc] to abort the procedure and return to the message view screen. You can also press [Ctrl-L] to search your personal address file for the GEmail addresses of those users to whom you want to forward the current message. See the section on composing new messages for an explanation on how this feature works. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 46 Category 2, Topic 4 Message 110 Mon Jan 16, 1989 J.L.SMITH at 18:02 EST Has anyone had any experience with the Northgate 386/20? Sounds like F5 Scroll up F6 or F9 Scroll down To: J.L.SMITH cc: Subject or file: What's the best AT computer? . . . . . . . . . . . . Esc Save Ctrl-P Public Ctrl-E Edit header info above Ctrl-A Abort Figure V-8 - Private Message Reply Screen "P" - Print the current message. Pressing the "P" key tells Aladdin to print a copy of the message on your printer. Make sure that your printer is online and that the paper is loaded properly before issuing this command. [Ctrl-P] - Prints the current message and sends a "form feed" command to the printer which forces it to eject the page once the message is printed. Again, make sure that your printer is online and that the paper is loaded properly before issuing this command. "S" - Save the message. Pressing the "S" key will cause your message to be saved in the filename which you specified as your Input Archive during the Aladdin setup. This file is normally called "INPUT.TXT" and resides in the same directory in your computer as Aladdin. [Ctrl-S] - Special save of the message to a file. This is useful for when you receive a particularly important message that you want to save separately from your normal mail and message traffic. Pressing [Ctrl-S] is similar to pressing the "S" key, but instead of saving it to the input Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 47 archive, Aladdin will prompt you for a filename to save the message to. Once you enter it, press [Enter]. If the file already exists, Aladdin will ask you if you want to add the text of the message to the file, delete the file first and start a new one with the text of the message, try a new filename, or abort the procedure. If you want to add the message to the file, press the "A" key. If you want to overwrite the file, press the "O" key. If you made a mistake when you typed in the filename or you want to use another filename, press [Enter] and Aladdin will ask you for the filename once again. If you do not want to save the message, press [Esc] and Aladdin will take you back to the message view screen. 12. Option "E" - Edit or delete replies/new topics The "E" option is used to edit or delete a number of actions which you may have instructed Aladdin to take, such as replying to messages, creating new topics, etc. When you press "E", Aladdin will display a screen similar to that depicted in Figure V-9. The screen display has been shortened a bit to save some room. You will see a full screen. Pressing the [Esc] key will exit the display mode and return you to the RoundTable menu. To select a particular message to edit, use the [Up] and [Down] cursor keys to select the particular message and press "E" to have Aladdin display it for you. The editing screen is exactly the same as that depicted in Figure V-8, with the exception that there is no message being replied to, so the display covers the entire screen. The same key command combinations are available as well. When you are done editing the message, press [Esc] to save it. Aladdin will return you to the previous display just in case you want to edit any more messages. If you want to delete a message from the reply queue, highlight the message with the cursor keys and press the "D" key. This will mark the message with a "DELETED:" prefix, and Aladdin will display this fact on the screen immediately. Pressing the "D" key once again will undelete the message and restore it to it's original condition. You can only undelete a deleted message if you have -not- left the edit function. If you mark an entry for deletion by pressing "D" and then press [Esc] to exit, that's it; it's gone forever. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 48 Message to Advice on a comm program? Topic in Communications & Con . . . . . . Esc Exit / Select E Edit D Delete/undelete Figure V-9 - Message Reply/Edit Selection Screen 13. Option "B" - Viewing the Club Door Bulletin The "B" option is used to view what GEnie calls the "Club Door Bulletin". This is the text that you see every time you enter a particular RoundTable. This bulletin always contains a preset opening text, but sometimes also contains what GEnie calls "one-time notices". One-time notices are used by the Sysop of the RoundTable to inform one or more users about a significant piece of information (such as an upcoming Real Time Conference). The notice shows up once after it is set for you, and you don't see it again. Since you might miss an important notice while you are away from your computer and Aladdin is performing some tasks on GEnie, Aladdin gives you the option to see what the latest club door bulletin looked like. If there were any special one-time notices for you, you will see those as well. To return to the Aladdin RoundTable menu after viewing the bulletin, press the [Esc] key. 14. Moving from RoundTable to RoundTable On the RoundTable menu, pressing the [Right] and [Left] arrow cursor keys will move you to the next or previous RoundTable menu, respectively. If you are at the last RoundTable you have defined and you press the [Right] arrow cursor key, you will move into the GEmail Menu. Likewise, if you are at the first defined RoundTable and you press the [Left] arrow cursor key you will move to the GEmail Menu as well. 15. Entering the Software Library Section of the RoundTable Pressing the [Down] arrow cursor key will move you to the Software Library section for the selected RoundTable. We will cover the Software Library area in the next section of this manual. The menu option depicting the down arrow will be marked with a left chevron marker " " if there are new files pending action or you if you have asked Aladdin to download, browse or Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 49 upload any files from the selected RoundTable. 16. Quick Access Keys - [F2], [F3] and [F4] Pressing the [F2] function key will immediately take you to the GEmail Menu on Aladdin. Pressing the [F3] function key will immediately take you to the Miscellaneous Options Menu on Aladdin. Pressing the [F4] function key will take you to the Terminal Menu on Aladdin. 17. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu Pressing the [Esc] key will exit the RoundTable Menu and return you to the Aladdin Main Menu. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 50 VI. The RoundTable Software Library Section As we pointed out in the previous section, pressing the [Up] or [Down] arrows from the RoundTable Menu takes you to that RoundTable's Software Library section. It is from this section that Aladdin gives you access to the hundreds of thousands of files available in the GEnie RoundTables. Figure VI-1 depicts the IBM-PC RoundTable's Software Library section menu. RoundTable menu - IBM PC RoundTable (Software Library section) On-line operations: Library management (uploads): D Check library for new files U Add a file to upload O Perform pending operations: Send messages/start topics Library management (miscellaneous): Download marked topics E Edit/delete uploads/searches Download/browse marked files G Log on to RoundTable SL Miscellaneous: H Log on to RoundTable RTC B View bulletin 1 Perform automatic pass 1 2 Perform automatic pass 2 Navigation: Previous RoundTable Library management (downloads): Next RoundTable M Choose files to download or browse Bulletin Board section J Choose from main file list F2 Go to GE Mail menu F Free-form downloads F3 Go to Miscellaneous Options S Search for files F4 Go to Terminal menu Esc Return to Main menu Command [ ] Figure VI-1 - The RoundTable Software Library Section Menu From this menu you can access all of the features of the RoundTable's Software Library, from searching for files by keywords, uploader or upload date to browsing the long descriptions of each file and performing multiple batch downloads, automatically and with a minimum amount of effort on your part. 1. Option "D" - Check Library for New Files Pressing "D" while on this menu will tell Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie, go to the RoundTable's Software Library, and check to see if there are any new files available for downloading. For those of you that are familiar with GEnie's library commands, Aladdin issues a command to display all files in the library. You don't have to worry about Aladdin spending hours checking for new files, though. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 51 Aladdin keeps track of the last time it checked that specific library for new files. As soon as it finds a file with an upload date which is equal to or earlier than the date Aladdin knows was the last time it checked for new files, it sends GEnie a "break", which stops the file listing. Aladdin will then log off and return you to the Software Library section of the RoundTable. If there are any new files available, Aladdin will display a " " marker next to the "M" option in the menu, indicating to you that there are new files available on the RoundTable's Software Library. The "M" option is covered in detail a little further on in this section of the manual. Aladdin will also display the same marker next to that RoundTable's entry in the Aladdin main menu. This marker will remain until you access the "M" option. 2. Option "O" - Perform Pending Operations The "O" option is exactly the same as the "O" option in the RoundTable Menu. Refer to the previous section for more information on this command. 3. Option "G" - Log on to the RoundTable Software Library The "G" option tells Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and take you directly to the Software Library of the selected RoundTable. Aladdin then puts you into terminal mode, where you can perform manual commands. 4. Option "H" - Log on to the RoundTable RTC The "H" option is exactly the same as the "H" option in the RoundTable Menu. Refer to the previous section for more information on this command. 5. Options "1" and "2" - Perform Automatic Pass 1 or 2 The "1" and "2" options are exactly the same as the "1" and "2" options in the RoundTable Menu. Refer to the previous section for more information on these commands. 6. Option "M" - Choose Files to Download or Browse The "M" option tells Aladdin that you want to view any files which Aladdin has found that have recently become available. These are "new" files that just became visible in the Software Library listing and whose descriptions were retrieved either through an Automatic Pass 1 or through the "D" option in the Software Library section menu. This option will only work if there is a " " marker next to the option on the menu. If there Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 52 is, and you press the "M" key, you will be shown a display similar to Figure VI-2. It will also work if you previously used the "M" option but have not instructed Aladdin to do either an Automatic Pass 1 or 2 or another check of the library for new files. In essence, it retains the list until it has to check again. The display in Figure VI-2 shows a typical download/browse display screen. Each file is listed on two lines. The first line lists the file name, the type (X for Xmodem/Binary, 7 for 7-bit text), the date when it was uploaded, in YYMMDD format, the size of the file in bytes, how many times it has been accessed or downloaded since it was uploaded, which library it is located in, and the cost of downloading the file. On this display the cost is not displayed; you will see a figure in dollars and cents which will give you an idea of how much it will cost you to download the file, based on the non- prime-time rate. The cost figure is displayed if you have downloaded at least one file since you changed the baud rate in the configuration screen. The second line of the file display shows the status of the file within the Aladdin queue and the short description of the file which the uploader put on it when the file was posted to the Software Library. Pressing the [Esc] key will return you to the RoundTable Software Library section menu. The [Up] and [Down] arrow cursor keys move up and down the list (if there are more files than Aladdin can fit in one screen); so will the [PgDn] and [PgUp] keys, except these move up and down in full screen jumps. The other options available are: "K" - "Keep" the file. In other words, do nothing with this file entry. This is the default condition of the file entries when you first use the "M" option. "B" - Browse the file's long description. This tells Aladdin that the next time it logs on you want it to download the full description of the file instead of just the short, one-line description. Aladdin will mark the status field next to the description with a "BROWSE" marker. This is useful for when the short description is either too terse, not descriptive enough, or for when you want to see more information about a large file before you spend money downloading it. When you Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 53 select this option and Aladdin gets the long description for you, you use the same "M" option from the software library section, but instead of seeing a screen such as the one in Figure VI-2, you will see one with a full description of the files you asked to browse. No. File Name Type Address YYMMDD Bytes Accesses Lib Cost 13439 ADDCON42.PKA X R.KEBER 890302 126000 25 3 KEEP Desc: ADDRESS CONTROLLER 4.2 (ShareWare) 13438 ADD.ARC X T.GREER 890302 100800 13 12 KEEP Desc: HF ANTENNA DESIGN PGM (3-30 MHZ) 13435 DYRTS.ARC X T.MADISON1 890302 55440 18 12 KEEP Desc: Music Trivia Game (lots of graphics) 13434 MAXI152.ARC X MIKLOS.G 890302 44100 39 5 KEEP Desc: Ver. 1.52 of Maxi Form floppy fmt 13433 STS_101.PKA X B.FORREST1 890302 57960 29 5 KEEP Desc: Menued File Handler for Pk-Ware 13429 Y-N-3.ARC X J.LASALLE1 890301 7560 25 5 KEEP Desc: BATch branch on yes/no queries Esc Exit K Keep (do nothing) Ctrl-A Add free-form file / Move 1 line B Browse long desc. Ctrl-D Delete free-form file PgUp/PgDn Move 1 screen D Download file S Search for a file Figure VI-2 - Software Library Download/Browse Screen "D" - This option tells Aladdin that you want to download the file to your personal computer. The next time you issue an Automatic Pass 1 or 2 command, or the "O" option within the RoundTable's menus, Aladdin will download the file for you and place it in the directory specified in the RoundTable Setup screen for the selected RoundTable (see page 17 of this manual, Software Library Settings/Default Path). You can also override the default directory and filename. When this option is selected, Aladdin will mark the status field with a "DOWNLOAD" message. "S" - This option is used to search for a file within the files on this screen. When you press "S", Aladdin prompts you with a window containing fields entitled KEYWORD, UPLOADER and DAYS BACK. The KEYWORD field is used to search the files by a specific keyword, such as the possible name of the Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 54 file you are looking for. The UPLOADER field is used to search for a file by the name of the person who uploaded it (using that person's GEmail address). The DAYS BACK field is used to limit the search to a specific number of days back from today's date. For example, if you enter a number 30 in this field, Aladdin will only search for files that have been uploaded in the last 30 days. Pressing [Esc] will abort the search operation, pressing [Ctrl-S] will begin the search. If the search is successful, Aladdin will move the cursor to the listing for the first file that matched the search parameters. If the search is not successful, the cursor will stay where it was when you began the search operation. [Ctrl-A] - Pressing [Ctrl-A] will tell Aladdin that you want to add a filename to the list. This command is useful for when you know that a file exists but for some reason it is not displayed. This condition may happen if the Sysops of the RoundTable do not "release" the files for download in the order in which they were uploaded. Aladdin will prompt you for a file name or a file number. Pressing [Esc] will immediately terminate this operation at this point. Once you enter the filename or the file number of the "free-form" file you want to download, press [Enter]. Aladdin will add the file entry at the top of the list, and will then prompt you for the location in your computer to which the file will be saved when it is downloaded. This prompt will contain a default path and filename. If you are satisfied with the default, press [Enter], otherwise you can edit it to suit your needs and then press [Enter]. Aladdin will then mark the new entry with a "DOWNLOAD" message in the status field an return you to the normal function of the download/browse screen. [Ctrl-D] - If you have entered a free-form file download specification by using the [Ctrl-A] option, you can reverse the action by moving the cursor to the entry and pressing [Ctrl-D]. This will delete the free-form file at that cursor position. This will only work with free-form file download requests which have been entered using the [Ctrl-A] option. 7. Option "J" - Choose Files from the Main File List The "J" option is similar to the "M" option except that Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 55 instead of displaying the newly-available files from that RoundTable's Software Library, it displays the files for which Aladdin has previously stored information. Every time Aladdin retrieves information for new files, it adds these files to an incremental database which holds all the files for which Aladdin has downloaded information. This option is useful for when you want to download or search for a file which you saw a while back in a previous session but is no longer accessible through the "M" option. The commands in the display screen for this option work exactly the same as those used with the "M" option. Refer to the previous section for more information. 8. Option "F" - Free-form Downloads The "F" option lets you instruct Aladdin to download specific files, which can be identified by file name or file number. This option is the stand-alone equivalent of the [Ctrl-A] and [Ctrl-D] options in the "J" and "M" option descriptions. The additional commands within these option are the same as those for the "M" option. Please refer to the section on the "M" option for more information. 9. Option "U" - Add File to Upload The "U" option is used to upload files from your personal computer into the selected RoundTable's Software Library area. Selecting the "U" will cause a screen similar to Figure VI-3 to be displayed on your screen. File to upload: Name for GEnie: Software library: 1 Keywords: More keywords: Short description: . . . . . . Esc Save Edit Long description Ctrl-A Abort Edit Name for GEnie Figure VI-3 - RoundTable Software Library File Upload Screen To upload a file, the first thing you have to do is tell Aladdin the name of the file that you want to upload. For Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 56 example, if you want to upload the file MYFILE.TXT, and the file is located in your C:\DOCUMENT directory. you would type "C:\DOCUMENT\MYFILE.TXT" into the first field. You must enter a filename in this field; if you do not, Aladdin will discard the entire upload request when you try to save it by pressing the [Esc] key. The "Name for GEnie" field corresponds to the filename that you want to have GEnie store the file as. For example, if your MYFILE.TXT file should be displayed as TECHINFO.TXT in the RoundTable's Software Library file directory, you would type "TECHINFO.TXT" into this field. Do not enter a path or directory in this field, only the GEnie filename should be entered here. The "Software Library" field defines which library the file will be uploaded to. All Software Libraries are divided into categories, such as "Utilities", "Games", "Demonstration Programs", etc. You should enter the proper library number in this field. If you are not sure which library to use, press the "?" key to display a list of the software libraries available. If you are still not sure, upload the file to library 1. The Sysop will then move the file to the proper library during file verification. The next two fields are "Keyword" fields. These fields are used to perform file searches in the RoundTable's Software Library. There are two fields with the same name, just in case you run out of room in the first field. The keywords should be entered in capital letters, with a comma separating each keyword. You should choose keywords which will make it easy to find your program in a search. For example, if you are uploading a file directory display utility, you might want to use keywords such as "FILE,DIRECTORY,DISPLAY,UTILITY" instead of "FILE,PROGRAM". Make sure you do not repeat any keywords, this wastes space and is unnecessary because the GEnie search algorithm checks all keywords once to try and find a match. The "Short Description" field is used to enter a short, one- line file description which is displayed with the filename during searches, directory displays, etc. This should be a concise but clear one-line message which tells the next person to see that file entry what the file is or does. For example, for the file directory display utility, a good short description would be "File Directory Display Utility V99.9". Don't be too verbose on this short description, just be concise and to the point. Once you have filled out the top part of the screen, the cursor will jump down to the bottom window. This window is where you will enter a long description for the file which should not exceed 10 lines of text. Here's where you will list the complete Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 57 description for the file, including any information which you think will give the user a very detailed idea of what's in the file. For programs, you should include version numbers, whether the program is shareware or not, who makes it and your opinion of it as well. Text files should include good descriptions of the contents and subject of the file. When you are finished entering the information for the upload, press [Esc]. This will save your upload information and return you to the Software Library section menu. If you wish to abort the upload process, press [Ctrl-A]. Aladdin will prompt you to see if you really want to abort the process. Answer "Y" to abort, "N" to continue preparing the upload. 10. Option "E" - Edit/Delete Uploads/Searches The "E" option in the Software Library section menu works very much like the "E" option in the RoundTable Menu. The difference is that you are editing file upload or search operations instead of messages. When you press the "E" key, you will be shown a display very similar to Figure V-9. Select the upload or search operation that you want to edit and press "E" again. If you select an upload operation to edit, you will be shown the upload specification screen, just as if you had selected the "U" option from the Software Library section menu, with the information in the fields which you already entered. Refer to the "U" option description for more details. If you decide to edit a search operation, you will be shown the same display as if you had selected the "S" option from the Software Library section menu. See the section on the "S" option for more details. If you decide to abort the edit operation before selecting an upload or search to edit, press [Esc]. This will return you to the Software Library section menu. If you are already within an editing operation, press [Ctrl-A]. This will return you to the editing selection screen. To delete an upload or search request entirely, press "D". This will mark the selected entry for deletion. If you change your mind, press "D" again to "undelete" the deletion and return it to the pending action queue. 11. Option "B" - View Bulletin The "B" option is exactly the same as the "B" option in the RoundTable menu. Refer to the RoundTable Menu section for more information. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 58 12. Moving from RoundTable to RoundTable Pressing the [Right] and [Left] arrow cursor keys will move you to the next or previous RoundTable Software Library section menu, respectively. If you are at the last RoundTable you have defined and you press the [Right] arrow cursor key, you will move into the GEmail Menu. Likewise, if you are at the first defined RoundTable and you press the [Left] arrow cursor key you will move to the GEmail Menu as well. 13. Entering the RoundTable Menu Pressing the [Up] arrow cursor key will move you to the RoundTable Menu for the selected RoundTable. If there are messages pending to be read or replies pending to be posted to the selected RoundTable, this menu option will be marked with a left chevron marker " ". 14. Quick Access Keys - [F2], [F3] and [F4] Pressing the [F2] function key will immediately take you to the GEmail Menu. Pressing the [F3] function key will immediately take you to the Miscellaneous Options Menu. Pressing the [F4] function key will take you to the Terminal Menu. 15. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu Pressing the [Esc] key will exit the RoundTable Software Library section menu and return you to the Aladdin Main Menu. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 59 VII. GEmail Electronic Mail System One of the most important and useful features of the GEnie system is GEmail, GEnie's Electronic Mail system. GEmail is a very powerful system which allows you to do just about anything that has to do with mail, from sending a simple "Hi, there..." note to transferring entire files attached to messages. Aladdin, of course, gives you full access to the GEmail system. To get to the GEmail menu, press the [F2] function key. Doing so will take you from any Aladdin menu directly to the Aladdin GEmail menu, which is depicted in Figure VII-1. Mail menu On-line operations: A Download all new mail O Send mail G Go online at page 200 Off-line operations: R Read and reply to mail W Write mail E Edit/delete mail Navigation: L Go to last RoundTable R Go to first RoundTable F3 Go to Miscellaneous options F4 Go to Terminal menu Esc Return to Main menu Command [ ] Figure VII-1 - Aladdin GEmail Menu - NOTE - Aladdin will always check your mail for you every single time it logs on to GEnie, regardless of what operation you told Aladdin to perform. If Aladdin calls GEnie, logs on and finds that there is mail waiting for you, it will either download it immediately or wait until it finishes all other pending operations before logging off. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 60 Before we get into the details of how Aladdin's GEmail management system works, let's cover some basic points about GEmail. A GEmail message is composed of five basic components. They are: 1) The recipient list 2) The "CC" list (CC stands for "carbon copy", a standard abbreviation used in correspondence). 3) The subject field 4) The body of the message 5) An optional attached file The recipient list and CC list are nothing more than a number of GEmail addresses. These identify who is going to receive a message within the GEnie system. The recipient list normally contains one or more "main addressees". This is the person or persons to whom the message is specifically directed. The CC list contains the "secondary addressees" of the message. These are the person or persons to whom you also want to send the message for reference or other purposes. For example, there are situations in which you want to send a regular U.S. Post Office letter to a someone but you also want someone else to receive a copy of the letter for reference purposes. The person to whom you are sending the letter and whose address is in the original letter is the "primary addressee" equivalent on GEnie. The person or persons to whom you are sending copies of the letter would be the "secondary addressees" of the letter. Each of the recipient and CC list GEmail addresses is separated by commas "," so as to let GEnie know they are separate GEmail addresses. For example, if you wanted to send a message to a user whose GEmail address is "J.DOE", you would simply enter the address in the recipient list. If, on the other hand, you want "A.USER", "J.JONES" and "M.SMITH" to receive copies of the message as well, you would enter their addresses into the CC list as "A.USER,J.JONES,M.SMITH" (without the quotation marks). If you don't separate the GEmail addresses with commas, only one user (the first one), or quite possibly none of them, will receive the copies of the message. The subject field is used to attach a one-line title to the message which summarizes its contents. For example, if a message is about an upcoming meeting, you would enter the words "Upcoming Meeting" into the subject field. Always enter a subject line into this field; GEmail copies the contents of this field into all replies that relate to the original message. If you don't have a subject field, it's very hard to remember what a letter is about, particularly when you are dealing with someone who replies to a Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 61 notice with an "OK" and nothing else. The body of the message is just that, the body of the message. As far as Aladdin is concerned, you can have from 1 to approximately 240,000 characters in a message. That's about 30,000 words (on average), longer than most essays and magazine or newspaper articles. The optional attached file has to do with a very useful feature of GEmail. Suppose you wanted to send a friend of yours a file containing information, such as a spreadsheet, which would take a while to retype should it have to be entered manually into the computer. GEnie allows you to send an "attached file" with a message. The process is a little confusing if you are using GEnie in manual mode with a normal communications program, but Aladdin makes it easy. All you have to is tell Aladdin which file on your computer you want to attach to the message. The file which you wish to attach to the message must exist when the message is prepared. Aladdin takes care of the rest, including the creation of the message and the uploading of the file into GEnie's mail system. For example, if you have a file called "WALLST.WKS" in your Lotus 1-2-3 directory which you want to send to someone using GEmail, all you have to do is create the message and attach the file to it. If the file is located in your \LOTUS directory, you enter "\LOTUS\WALLST.WKS" into the attached file field, press [Enter], and that's all it takes! Now that we have covered some of the basic concepts behind the GEmail system, let's discuss the specific commands on Aladdin's GEmail menu. 1. Option "A" - Download All New Mail The "A" option is used to tell Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and download any new mail messages that may be waiting in your mailbox, including mail that has a file attached to it. Once the process is completed, Aladdin will log off. If there was in fact mail waiting for you in your mailbox, Aladdin will put a " " marker next to the "R" option on this menu and also next to the "F2" option on the Aladdin Main Menu. 2. Option "O" - Send Mail The "O" option is used to tell Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and send all mail and mail commands that are pending in your computer. Aladdin will send all new mail, post replies and forward any mail which you have asked it to send to one or more third-party recipients. It will also send any messages with files attached. If there are any mail operations pending, Aladdin puts a " " marker next to the "O" option as well as next to the "F2" Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 62 option on the Aladdin Main Menu. 3. Option "G" - Go Online at Page 200 The "G" option instructs Aladdin to immediately log on and take you to page 200 on the GEnie system, which is the page on which the GEmail Menu for GEnie is located. It then turns over the console to you, leaving you in terminal mode. You can then perform any manual operations on GEnie that you need to do. 4. Option "R" - Read and Reply to Mail The "R" option is the heart of Aladdin's GEmail management system. This is where you will read and take action on all incoming mail that Aladdin has downloaded for you. Note that this option will only work if you have mail in your queue that Aladdin has downloaded for you and you have not read. The previous batch of mail messages remains readable until you ask Aladdin to log on again. At that time all current messages in your Aladdin mail queue are deleted. Figure VII-2 depicts a typical screen where Aladdin is showing us a downloaded mail message. The number of commands available within this function of Aladdin are small, but very powerful. Pressing [Esc] will exit this screen and take you back to the Aladdin GEmail Menu. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys will scroll your message up and down if the message is too long to display on one screen. The [Left] and [Right] arrow keys will display the previous and next messages in the queue, respectively. The other available commands are: "R" - Pressing the "R" key tells Aladdin that you wish to reply to the currently displayed message. Aladdin will display a new screen which contains an editing window in which you can enter your reply as well as a smaller window in which you can view and scroll the original message should you wish to refer to it as you compose your reply. This message reply screen is depicted in Figure VII-3. Within the message reply screen there are a number of commands available. They are: [Esc] - Exit and save reply for posting. Pressing the [Esc] key will tell Aladdin that you are done editing the message reply and wish to save it on disk for later posting on GEnie. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 63 (message 1 of 1) Item 8337498 89/03/08 19:25 From: A.USER Albert A. User To: M.PAL My Pal Sub: Meeting Hi Pal! Don't forget about the meeting at my house tomorrow to plan the fishing trip! Esc Exit R Reply P Print ^P Print/Eject / Scroll this message ^L Address list S Save normal / View other messages F Forward ^S Save special Figure VII-2 - Aladdin GEmail View/Reply/Store Screen [Ctrl-A] - Abort the message reply. Pressing [Ctrl- A] will tell Aladdin that you do not want to send this reply. Aladdin will throw away any editing of a reply that you have done up to that point, so it will prompt you to see if you really want to abort the reply and throw it away. [Ctrl-E] - Edit the message reply header. Pressing [Ctrl-E] will tell Aladdin that you want to edit the message reply header. Editing the header allows you to change the recipient list or "CC" list of the message or add an attached file to the message. [F5] - Scroll the original message up. Pressing the [F5] function key will tell Aladdin to move the original message that you are replying to up one line at a time in the upper part of the screen. [F6]-[F9]- Scroll the original message down. Pressing either the [F6] or [F9] function keys will tell Aladdin to move the original message that you are replying to down one line at a time. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 64 Item 8337498 89/03/08 19:25 From: A.USER Albert A. User To: M.PAL My Pal F5 Scroll up F6 or F9 Scroll down To: A.USER cc: Subject or file: Meeting Path\File: . . . . . . Esc Save Ctrl-E Edit header info above Ctrl-A Abort Figure VII-3 - Aladdin GEmail Reply Screen [Ctrl-L] - Pressing the [Ctrl-L] key invokes a feature of Aladdin which makes it easy to remember the GEmail addresses of people to whom you frequently send messages. Aladdin can keep a list of these people for you in a file, subsequently allowing you to search it to find the GEmail addresses of these persons. When you press [Ctrl-L], Aladdin will display a screen displaying the GEmail address of the person who sent you the letter you are reading, the real name of that person or entity as registered on GEnie, and an extra field which you can use to enter a comment about that GEmail address. If you press [Esc], Aladdin will save this address in your personal address file (the file is a standard ASCII text file called "ADDRESS.TXT"). Once the address is saved, you can search for it when composing new mail messages or forwarding messages you have already received to other GEnie users. This makes it easier to remember who's who on GEnie. If you do not wish to enter this address into your personal address file, press [Ctrl-A] to abort the procedure. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys will move you from field to field in the window. "F" - Forward a message. Pressing the "F" key tells Aladdin that you want to forward the message you Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 65 are viewing to up to 5 users. Aladdin will present you with a new window in which you enter the GEmail addresses of one or more users to whom you want the GEmail system to send them extra copies of this message. Remember that multiple GEmail addresses must be separated by commas. Once you have entered the addresses, press [Enter] to complete the process. If you do not wish to forward any copies of the letter, press [Esc] to abort the procedure and return to the message view screen. You can also press [Ctrl-L] to search your personal address file for the GEmail addresses of those users to whom you want to forward the current message. See the section on composing new messages for an explanation on how this feature works. If you do not enter a GEmail address and press [Enter], Aladdin will ignore the forwarding request. If you need to forward a message to more than 5 users, issue multiple forwarding commands. "P" - Print the current message. Pressing the "P" key tells Aladdin to print a copy of the message on your printer. Make sure that your printer is online and that the paper is loaded properly before issuing this command. [Ctrl-P] - Prints the current message and sends a "form feed" command to the printer so that the page is ejected when the message is printed. Again, make sure that your printer is online and that the paper is loaded properly before issuing this command. "S" - Save the message. Pressing the "S" key will cause your message to be saved in the filename which you specified as your Input Archive during the Aladdin setup. This file is normally called "INPUT.TXT" and resides in the same directory in your computer as Aladdin. [Ctrl-S] - Special save of the message to a file. This is useful for when you receive a particularly important message that you want to save separately from your normal mail and message traffic. Pressing [Ctrl-S] is similar to pressing the "S" key, but instead of saving it to the input archive, Aladdin will prompt you for a filename to save the message to. Once you enter it, press [Enter]. If the file already exists, Aladdin will ask you if you want to add the text of the message to the file, delete the file first and start a new Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 66 one with the text of the message, try a new filename or abort the procedure. If you want to add the message to the file, press the "A" key. If you want to overwrite the file, press the "O" key. If you made a mistake when you typed in the filename or you want to use another filename, press [Enter] and Aladdin will ask you for the filename once again. If you do not want to save the message, press [Esc] and Aladdin will take you back to the message view screen. 5. Option "W" - Write Mail The "W" option is used to write mail with the help of Aladdin. The screen is similar to that displayed when you want to reply to a downloaded mail message (see Figure VII-4), except that the "TO", "cc", "Subject or file" and "Path\File" fields are empty and there is no window at the top of the screen to view any original messages. As explained earlier, the "TO" field contains the GEmail addresses of those persons to whom the message is addressed and the "cc" field contains the GEmail addresses of those persons to whom carbon copies of this message will be sent. If you run out of space in the "cc" field for carbon copy recipients, you can add more recipient addresses within the body of your message, by moving the cursor to the end of the body of your message and pressing [Enter] to open a new line. Type the characters "*ACC," and enter the GEmail address of those additional recipients immediately following the comma ",", with each GEmail address separated by a comma as well. For example, if you need to send carbon copies to "J.DOE", "A.USER" and "MY.PAL" and you ran out of room for their GEmail addresses in the "cc" field, type the following line at the beginning of the last line of your message body: *ACC,J.DOE,A.USER,MY.PAL [Enter] The "*ACC" is an internal GEnie message editor command that adds names to the list of carbon copy recipients. There are several more internal GEmail commands that you can use; refer to your GEnie User's Guide for more information. The "Subject or file" field contains either the subject of the message or the name of one attached file that will be sent with the message. The "Path\File" field contains the location and filename in your computer of the file that you want to attach to this message, if any. If you enter a path and filename into this last field, the filename will also be displayed in the "Subject or file" field as well. The bordered window is where the message text is entered. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 67 [Esc] - To save the message and exit back to the GEmail menu, press the [Esc] key. [Ctrl-A] - To terminate the process without saving the message, press [Ctrl-A] and then press "Y" to confirm the command. If you change your mind, press "N" to continue editing. [Up] - The [Up] arrow key is used when the cursor is in one of the fields at the top of the screen. As you press the key the description for the action it takes will change at the bottom of the display, telling you what will happen if you press it again. Basically it moves from field to field or into the message editing window. [Down] - The [Down] arrow key is used in exactly the same manner as the [Up] arrow key, except that it moves the cursor down through the fields and into the message editing window. To: cc: Subject or file: Path\File: . . . . . . Esc Save Edit letter text Ctrl-L Address list Ctrl-A Abort Edit "cc" Figure VII-4 - Aladdin GEmail Message Compose Screen [Ctrl-L] - The [Ctrl-L] option invokes Aladdin's address list feature, which we have already explained in the section about reading download messages. In that section we explained how to add GEmail addresses to your personal address list. When composing a new message using Aladdin, the [Ctrl-L] option invokes a feature of Aladdin which draws information from the address list. Once you press [Ctrl-L], a new window will be displayed on top of the current contents of the screen, similar to the Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 68 window displayed in Figure VII-5. The idea behind this feature of Aladdin is to help you locate the GEmail addresses of those persons to whom you send mail most often, without having to remember cryptic GEmail identification strings. As soon as you press [Ctrl-L], Aladdin will display the first entry in the address list file. To search for an address, enter the search string. If you are looking for "John Doe"'s address, you can enter "DOE" or "JOHN" as the search string and press [Enter] to begin the search. Aladdin will display the first match. If there are more "John"'s in your personal address list, you can press [Enter] as many times as needed to locate the person that you want to send a message or carbon copy to. Once you have found the address of that person(s), press [Ctrl-U] to close the window and return to your message. Aladdin will insert the GEmail address displayed in the window after the search into the TO: field of the reply. If you do not wish to perform a search at this time, press [Esc] to exit the search window and return to the message reply editing screen. Search string: Address found: A.USER Addresses: Esc Exit Search for next occurrence of string Ctrl-U Use address found Figure VII-5 - Aladdin GEmail Address List Window 6. Option "E" - Edit/Delete Mail The "E" option works exactly the same as the "E" options in the Aladdin RoundTable and RoundTable Software library messages, with the sole exception that you are shown mail messages in the selection screen. When you choose to edit a message, the display looks exactly the same as that depicted in Figure VII-4, with the exception that the fields and message body contain the addresses and text that you entered when you created a reply or new message. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 69 7. Moving from RoundTable to RoundTable Pressing the [Right] and [Left] arrow cursor keys will move you to the last or first RoundTable section menu, respectively. If you are at the last RoundTable you have defined and you press the [Right] arrow cursor key, you will move into the GEmail Menu. 8. Quick Access Keys - [F3] and [F4] Pressing the [F3] function key will immediately take you to the Miscellaneous Options Menu. Pressing the [F4] function key will take you to the Terminal Menu. 9. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu Pressing the [Esc] key will exit the GEmail section menu and return you to the Aladdin Main Menu. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 70 VIII. Aladdin Miscellaneous Options Menu The Aladdin Miscellaneous Options menu gives you access to a number of features of Aladdin that are designed to help you manage things like the list of all the available services on GEnie, your login password maintenance and the perpetual billing history which Aladdin maintains for you. Figure VIII-1 depicts the Aladdin Miscellaneous Options menu. Miscellaneous Options menu I Access GEnie product index P Change password B Review billing history Esc Return to Main menu Command [ ] Figure VIII-1 - Aladdin Miscellaneous Options Menu 1. Option "I" - Accessing the GEnie Product Index As part of its suite of configuration and data files, Aladdin maintains a list of all the services, with mnemonic access code and page numbers, that are available on GEnie. This list is kept in the file "GENIE.LST", which is located in the Aladdin directory and is in plain text format. This list is used, among other things, to locate the title and name of a RoundTable which you want to access when you install it in the RoundTable Setup Menu. Pressing the "I" key displays a screen similar to that depicted in Figure VIII-2, which gives you access to this product list. This screen displays three pieces of information about each service on GEnie, 1) Its "PAGE" number 2) Its "MNEMONIC" code 3) Its full name The page number refers to a numbering scheme that GEnie uses to assign a "location" within GEnie for each service. This number can be used with the "move" command, a shortcut way of getting to different places within GEnie. For example, the page number for the IBM-PC RoundTable is 615. By typing "M615", GEnie takes you to the IBM-PC RoundTable's opening screen. You will notice that Aladdin uses this command to move from RoundTable to RoundTable. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 71 The mnemonic code refers to an abbreviation which GEnie assigns to each service to make it easier to get to the services without having to remember the page numbers. For example, the abbreviation for the IBM-PC RoundTable is "IBMPC". By typing this command at any GEnie page prompt, GEnie will take you to the IBM- PC RoundTable's opening menu. Aladdin does not normally use this type of command. The third item, the service's full name, is self- explanatory. It tells you what the service is. Pg# Mnemonic Product description 001 TOP GEnie Top-Level Menu 010 GENIE About GEnie 011 TIPS Quick Tips 012 RATES Rates 013 POLICY Policies & Guidelines 015 INDEX Index of Services 080 GIFTOFTIME Gift Of time 100 NEW What's new on GEnie 200 MAIL GE Mail 210 GRAM GEnie Quik-Gram 260 DJNS Dow Jones News Retrieval 280 SOAPS Soap Opera Summaries 300 NEWS US & World News 301 REFERENCE Reference Library 304 USATODAY USA Today 305 PRESS Press Releases 310 BOWEN A Networker's Journal 315 FCC FCC Proposal News 320 CAA Computing Across America Esc Exit U Update list 890101 P Sort by page number / Choose product N Find new item M Sort by mnemonic Log on to product S Search for item D Sort by description Figure VIII-2 - GEnie Product Index Screen Within the GEnie Product Index screen there are several commands available to you. [Esc] - Pressing the [Esc] key exits from the Product Index screen and returns you to the Miscellaneous Options menu. [Up] - Pressing the [Up] arrow key moves the selection bar up one position on the screen. [Down] - Pressing the [Down] arrow key moves the selection bar down one position on the screen. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 72 [Enter] - Pressing the [Enter] key tells Aladdin to immediately log you on to Aladdin and take you directly to the selected service's opening page. Aladdin then turns over control to you in Terminal Mode. "U" - Pressing the "U" key tells Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie. It then issues a number of commands which makes GEnie transmit the latest complete listing of all the services available on GEnie. Aladdin then updates the database, logs off, and returns control to you at this same screen. The date next to the word "list" on that option's label tells you the last time Aladdin updated its internal product list database. You should issue this command once a month to keep the list up-to-date. New products are marked with an asterisk "*" character. "N" - Pressing the "N" key instructs Aladdin to compare the current list in memory with the database on disk to determine if there are any new services available on GEnie since the last time you updated the product list. This is a very easy way to find out "what's new" on GEnie. "S" - Pressing the "S" key causes a small window to be displayed on the screen which is used to search for a particular GEnie service in which you may be interested in. The window is similar to that depicted in Figure VIII-3. Search string: Esc Exit without searching Ctrl-S Begin search Figure VIII-3 - GEnie Product Index Search Window To search for a service, enter a search string in the field, and press [Ctrl-S]. Aladdin will search the database, and if it finds a match, it will move the selection bar to the matched service. You can then press [Enter] to tell Aladdin to take you to that service on GEnie. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 73 "P"/"M"/"D" - The "P", "M" and "D" commands are used to define the way in which the database of products is displayed on the screen. Pressing "P" tells Aladdin to display the database in order of page numbers. This is the default method which Aladdin uses when you enter this screen. Pressing the "M" key tells Aladdin to sort and display the database by the alphabetic order of the mnemonic codes. Pressing the "D" key tells Aladdin to display the database by the alphabetic order of the long descriptions of each service. Note that there will be a slight delay while Aladdin completes the sort. Aladdin displays a " " marker on the horizontal line separating the display from the menu options. The marker appears on the left- hand side and moves to the right as the sorting process continues. When the marker reaches the right-hand side, the sorting process is complete and Aladdin displays the product index list in the order which you have selected. 2. Option "P" - Changing Your Password The "P" option is used to change your GEnie login password. When you press the "P" key, Aladdin displays a small window like the one depicted in Figure VIII-4. New password: Esc Abort Change password Ctrl-L Random letters (209 trillion choices) Ctrl-W Random words (6.8 million choices) Figure VIII-4 - Aladdin Password Change Screen You have three options to change your password. 1) You can enter a new password in the "New password:" field and press [Enter]. 2) You can press [Ctrl-L] to have Aladdin select a new password composed of random letters. As the text explains, this method can yield 209,000,000,000,000 different choices. You can continue to press [Ctrl-L] until Aladdin displays a password that you consider to be satisfactory, then press Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 74 [Enter] to tell Aladdin to change the password to the random password displayed in the field. 3) You can press [Ctrl-W] to have Aladdin select a new password composed of a two random words. As the text explains, this method can yield 6,800,000 different choices. You can continue to press [Ctrl-W] until Aladdin displays a password that you consider to be satisfactory, then press [Enter] to tell Aladdin to change the password to the random password displayed in the field. Once you press [Enter], Aladdin will log on to GEnie and change your password for you. If you do not want to change the password, press [Esc]. This will abort the process and return you to the Miscellaneous Options screen. - NOTE - The password change is reflected in your configuration screen as well, since Aladdin needs to know what the new password is. However, the change is reflected only in the ACTIVE configuration, not on any other additional configurations. You must manually change the password in the other configurations, if you have any. You should get into the habit of changing your password at least once every 3 months or so to ensure that your account is secure from unauthorized use by third parties. - WARNING - Make sure that if you change your password you also write it down on a piece of paper and store it in a safe location. If you change your password and then lose it (or if for some reason the Aladdin configuration file ALADDIN.CFG is deleted), you will not be able to log on and you will have to call the GEnie Client Services department to obtain a new password. This is particularly important if you like to choose random letters for a password. Random words are a little easier to remember, but you should still take the precaution of writing the password down and saving it somewhere. Make sure that you do not write it down or store it in a place where others can read it and use it. You are responsible for use of your account. Safeguard your password properly! Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 75 3. Option "B" - Reviewing Your GEnie Account's Billing History One of the neatest features of Aladdin is that it keeps track of the money you are spending on your GEnie account while you are logged on, as long as you use Aladdin exclusively for accessing the GEnie services. You may have noticed that Aladdin keeps a dollar and cent count of your running charges when you are logged on and displays this count on the screen while it is accessing GEnie (we will cover this subject in the next section, Aladdin's Terminal Mode). Every time you log off GEnie, Aladdin adds the total dollar and cent count to a file which contains the billing history of your account from the point at which you started using GEnie. The "B" option in the Miscellaneous Options menu gives you access to this billing history. When you press "B", Aladdin displays a window similar to that shown in Figure VIII-5 on your screen. - NOTE - To ensure that Aladdin keeps a correct billing history of your account it is imperative that you ensure that Aladdin knows the amount of money you are being charged for GEnie usage. This billing rate figure is entered in the Aladdin Setup Screen (see the section on Setting Up Aladdin"). At the time this manual was written, at 300 baud the connect charges are $5.00 per hour, $6.00 per hour at 1200 baud and $10.00 per hour at 2400 baud. The prime-time rate is an even $18.00 per hour. Some services on GEnie have additional surcharges, and the method of access you are using may also carry another surcharge, such as when you use Telenet to access GEnie. If you are not sure what your billing rates are, contact GEnie Client Services for more information and assistance. If Aladdin does not know what your billing rate is, or if the billing rate is incorrect, the billing history will also be incorrect. At any rate, it is impossible for Aladdin to predict what all the billing rates and surcharges will be, so at best the billing history will always be a close approximation of your actual billing charges, to be used as a general usage charge guideline only. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 76 Which month? A January G July B February H August C March I September D April J October E May K November F June L December Esc Exit X All months Command [ ] Figure VIII-5 - Account Billing History Selection Window At this point you select which month you wish to view your account's billing history for. Press the letter on your keyboard that is next to the month you want to work with. You may also choose to view your entire billing history by pressing the "X" key. If you do not want to view your billing history at this time, press the [Esc] key to close the window and return to the Miscellaneous Options menu. If you select a single month, Aladdin will display a detailed listing of the month's activity. If there is activity for more than one year in the data file, Aladdin will separate the listing for each year's selected month. If you select all months, Aladdin will display a summary of the activity for each month of each year for which Aladdin has information in its data file. Figure VIII-6 shows a sample activity screen displayed when all months are selected. As you can see, Aladdin displays the approximate billing for each month in dollars and cents, followed by the number of calls Aladdin made to GEnie, the total time it spent online in HOURS:MINUTES:SECONDS format, the average duration of each call in the same display format and the average cost of each call in dollars and cents. If you select a particular month for viewing, Aladdin will display a screen similar to that depicted in Figure VIII-7. Aladdin may display a message stating that a "Summary of charges follows listing", which means that if you move further down you will find a summary of the month's billing activity. If there is only a small amount of activity in the data file for that month, Aladdin will display the summary on the same screen and you will not see the message. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 77 File _BILLING.HST Total for November 1988 $634.52 Number of calls made 127 Total time on-line 47:35:04 Duration of average call 00:22:28 Cost of average call $5.00 Total for December 1988 $425.98 Number of calls made 98 Total time on-line 56:15:09 Duration of average call 00:34:26 Cost of average call $4.35 Esc Exit / Move one line X Extract F7 Mark block start PgUp/PgDn Move one screen S Search F8 Mark block end Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn Move to top/bottom Figure VIII-6 - Billing History Sample Screen - All Months Selected Next, Aladdin displays the month's billing activity in columnar form, with the first column representing the date in which an entry was made, the duration of the call in HOURS:MINUTES:SECONDS format and the cost of the call in dollars and cents. If the call was made during prime-time, a letter "P" will be placed to the right of the cost figure to indicate that fact to you. The command available from this screen are, [Esc] - Pressing [Esc] will exit from this screen and return you to the billing selection window. [F7] - [F8] - The [F7] and [F8] function keys are used to mark a block of text within the display window for extraction to a file. These functions work hand in hand with the "X" command, which we will cover in a moment. To select a block of text to extract, move the cursor to the position at the beginning of the block which you wish to extract and press the [F7] function key. Move the cursor to the end of the block and press the [F8] function key. Aladdin will then mark the block of text for you so that you can see what you have selected. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 78 File _BILLING.HST Summary of charges follows listing Date Time Duration Cost 881201 01:09 00:04:32 0.37 881201 11:51 00:13:22 7.74 P 881201 12:33 00:06:42 3.85 P 881201 14:19 00:18:45 10.88 P 881201 20:17 00:23:40 1.97 881201 21:20 00:13:30 1.12 881202 12:55 00:13:42 7.94 P 881202 14:27 01:04:36 37.64 P 881203 02:59 00:15:22 1.27 881203 03:37 00:06:27 0.53 881203 10:57 00:13:23 1.11 881203 11:45 00:25:49 2.15 881203 15:16 01:21:27 6.78 881203 21:45 00:40:00 3.33 881203 22:03 00:03:17 0.27 881203 03:32 00:09:11 0.76 Esc Exit / Move one line X Extract F7 Mark block start PgUp/PgDn Move one screen S Search F8 Mark block end Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn Move to top/bottom Figure VIII-7 - Billing History Sample Screen - Monthly Detail "X" - Pressing the "X" key will tell Aladdin to extract a previously marked block of text to a file. You must mark a block of text with the [F7] and [F8] function keys for this feature to work. Aladdin will display a window on the screen which prompts you for the filename of the file you want to save the marked block of text to. If the file exists, Aladdin will ask you if you want to add the text to the contents of the file, overwrite the file or abort the operation. You can also specify a destination of "PRN" to print the text. Aladdin will tell you that this file exists. This is normal. Select "A" to print the text to the printer. [Up] - Pressing the [Up] arrow key moves the cursor up one line on the screen. [Down] - Pressing the [Down] arrow key moves the cursor down one line on the screen. [PgUp] - Pressing the [PgUp] key on the numeric keypad scrolls the information up on the screen one page. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 79 [PgDn] - Pressing the [PgDn] key on the numeric keypad scrolls the information down on the screen one page. [Ctrl-PgUp] - Pressing the [Ctrl-PgUp] keys moves the cursor to the beginning of the billing information screen. [Ctrl-PgDn] - Pressing the [Ctrl-PgDn] keys moves the cursor to the end of the billing information screen. "S" - Pressing the "S" key tells Aladdin that you want to search the billing information that is currently displayed for a specific string of characters. Aladdin will display a window on the screen and prompt you for the search string. Enter the text to be searched into the field and press [Ctrl-S] to begin the search. If Aladdin finds the text in the currently displayed billing information, it will move the cursor to the line. If it doesn't, Aladdin will let you know about it and ask you to press any key to return to the billing information display. If you do not want to conduct the search, press [Esc] to exit the search function and return to viewing the billing information. This search feature is useful for finding specific dates within the billing display. For example, if you want to find what activity if any you had on January 15th, 1989, you would enter a search string of "890115" into the search string field and press [Ctrl-S]. If there was any activity during that day, Aladdin will find it in the billing information and move the cursor to it. 4. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu When you are finished with the Miscellaneous Options menu, press the [Esc] key and Aladdin will take you back to the Aladdin Main Menu. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 80 IX. Aladdin Terminal Mode Aladdin's window to the outside world is through its Terminal Mode screen. When in Terminal Mode, Aladdin will either show you its progress as it executes an Automatic Pass, or it will allow you to manually access GEnie (or for that matter any other communication service which can be accessed through your modem). Aladdin has two distinct ways in which it presents its Terminal Mode to you. The first is when it is performing an automated task on GEnie, such as checking a RoundTable for new messages. The other is when you invoke the manual mode. We will cover both in this section, but first we will discuss the Terminal Mode menu and its related screens. Aladdin's Terminal Mode menu is shown in Figure IX-1. Terminal menu Terminal options: T Terminal mode G Log on L Log off H Hang up Miscellaneous B View GEnie banner N View Notifies F Flush Notifies Disk options: A Begin ASCII capture S Send ASCII file D Xmodem Download (CRC) U Xmodem Upload (CRC) Navigation: F2 Go to Mail menu F3 Go to Miscellaneous Options Esc Return to Main menu Command [ ] Figure IX-1 - Aladdin's Terminal Mode Menu 1. Option "T" - Enter Terminal Mode Pressing the "T" key puts Aladdin into terminal mode and turns over complete control of the communications system to the user. At this point, Aladdin is basically a dumb terminal which communicates via a serial port and a modem to the outside world. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 81 The Aladdin Terminal Mode screen, when entered into by using the "T" option, is composed of three distinct areas. 1) The upper two lines of the screen show the Aladdin copyright notice and a list of available command keystrokes. This section of the screen is depicted in Figures IX-2 and IX-3. 2) The bottom line of the screen shows a status line, which displays a number of status messages and fields related to Aladdin's operations. This portion of the screen is depicted in Figure IX-5. 3) The portion of the screen between these two areas is the communications screen. GEnie PC Aladdin 1.30 $4.51 05:02:00a Esc Menu F6 RTC F7 Echo F8 Blanks F9 8th bit F10 Look back Figure IX-2 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Upper Section - Commands In this line of the screen, there are only two items which change. On the top line of the screen, all the way to the right, there is a time display which shows you the time as kept by your computer's internal clock. When you are on-line with GEnie during an Automatic Pass or in manual mode, there is a second display between the copyright information and the current time. It is currently shown as "$4.51". This represents the dollars and cents which Aladdin has calculated that your charges will be for this call. This display is continuous; while you are online it will increase. If it is flashing on and off as well, it means that Aladdin detected that you are calling during a prime-time period. It flashes to draw your attention to the fact that charges will be incurred at a much faster rate than during a non-prime-time session. This running charges display is not shown while Aladdin is not online to GEnie. There is another variation of this status line, depicted in Figure IX-3, which shows the function key options available when Aladdin is performing an automated operation. GEnie PC Aladdin 1.30 $ 4.51 05:02:00a Esc Abort operation F4 Fix garbled prompt F5 Stay on-line when done Figure IX-3 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Upper Section, in Automated Task Let's examine the commands available in the top section of the Terminal Mode screen, [Esc] - Pressing the [Esc] while Aladdin is performing an automated task causes the task to be terminated. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 82 Aladdin the turns over control to you in terminal mode. Pressing the [Esc] key while in terminal mode (no automated tasks running) exits Terminal Mode and returns you to the Terminal Mode menu. - NOTE - Aladdin does not terminate a phone call or hang up the modem when it exits terminal mode if the mode was entered by using the "T" option in the Terminal Mode menu. It is up to the user to terminate the phone call by using the "L" or "H" option on the Terminal Mode menu, or disconnecting the call manually by turning off the modem. If the status line's left-hand field has an "ON" status and the dollars and cents counter is still climbing (and possibly flashing because you are connected during prime time) you are still online with GEnie and account charges are being accrued! The following function key commands are only available while Aladdin is processing an automated task. [F4] - The [F4] function key reads "Fix garbled prompt", but in fact it should read "Give Aladdin a nudge", because that's exactly what it does. There are some situations in which the phone line you are using may be a little too "noisy". The symptoms of this condition are the display of garbage characters on the screen. Aladdin is very picky about what characters it receives, since it is looking for some very specific responses from the GEnie system. If for some reason it does not receive exactly what it is waiting for, it may decide that it did not receive the proper response. It will then wait until it does receive a response. If you see, on the screen, that GEnie did in fact respond, you can press the [F4] function key. This tells Aladdin "it's ok, go ahead and continue with what you were going to do next." [F5] - The [F5] function key toggles the "STAY" indicator on the status line, which tells Aladdin whether or not it is to log off from GEnie when it finishes performing an automated operation. The following function key commands are only available while Aladdin is in manual terminal mode. [F6] - The [F6] function key toggles RTC mode while in manual terminal mode. This mode splits the screen into two sections with a dividing line located about three-quarters of the way down the communications area of the terminal mode Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 83 screen. The top area displays characters received from GEnie. The bottom area displays the text that you type from the keyboard, and only sends it to GEnie when you press the [Enter] key. When you ask Aladdin to log you on to an RTC for any of the RoundTables, it will put you into this RTC mode. [F7] - The [F7] function key toggles the "ECHO" status indicator at the bottom of the screen while in terminal mode. See the explanation on the "ECHO" status indicator further on in this section for more information. [F8] - The [F8] function key toggles the "Blanks OK/Blanks OFF" status indicator at the bottom of the screen in terminal mode. See the explanation on the "Blanks OK/Blanks OFF" status field further on in this section for more information. [F9] - The [F9] function key toggles the "7bit/8bit" status indicator at the bottom of the screen in terminal mode. See the explanation on the "7bit/8bit" status field further on in this section for more information. [F10] - The [F10] function key toggles the terminal mode screen between displaying normal communications and "Look Back" mode. Aladdin stores the last few screens of characters that it receives from GEnie, and allows you to browse through that text. This feature is useful for when you are looking for something that just scrolled off the top of the screen but you don't want to have to issue more GEnie commands to redisplay the information. When you press the [F10] function key, Aladdin changes the screen to display the scrolled text and puts a small menu section at the bottom of the screen with the available commands in "Look Back" mode, depicted in Figure IX-4. Esc Exit / Move one line X Extract F7 Mark block start PgUp/PgDn Move one screen S Search F8 Mark block end Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn Move to top/bottom Figure IX-4 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Look Back Mode Menu Within the "Look Back" mode all the key commands work exactly the same as in the billing history screen. Refer to the explanation of the keys available in the billing history section in the previous chapter of this manual. Figure IX-5 depicts Aladdin's status line, which is located at the bottom of every screen except some of the internal operation screens such as message reply, etc. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 84 Off 7bit ECHO Blanks OK Capture OFF Terminal mode Figure IX-5 - Aladdin Terminal Mode Screen - Bottom Section - Status The small squares in Figure IX-5 represent additional fields in the status line that are not showing any information at the moment. Each little section of the status line display shown in Figure IX-5 constitutes a status display for one particular function of Aladdin. Note that this status line is displayed on all the Aladdin menus except some of the lower levels such as when you are editing a message reply. The fields are, from left to right: On/Off-line Indicator - This status indicator tells you if your modem is currently connected to a remote system such as GEnie. For those of you that have a deeper understanding of modem communications, this field is set to "ON" when the modem signals Aladdin that it has detected the carrier signal from GEnie's modem and the "CD" (carrier detect) signal is asserted. When the carrier is lost due to the modem terminating the call the status field is set to "OFF". RDY Indicator - This indicator displays the message "RDY" when it tells the modem that the computer is ready to communicate with it. For those of you that are familiar with RS-232 communications, Aladdin displays the "RDY" message when it asserts the "DTR" (Data Terminal Ready) line to enable the modem. 7bit/8bit Indicator - This status indicator tells you if Aladdin is operating in 7- or 8-bit mode. The only importance of this field is when you are connected to another communication service other than GEnie which can display the full character set of the IBM-PC. Aladdin itself always operates in 8-bit mode internally. For example, if the system you are connected to is sending you line graphics characters, Aladdin will not display them correctly in 7-bit mode. You need to switch Aladdin to 8-bit mode to display these characters properly. If you intend to use Aladdin exclusively for access to GEnie, you will never have to worry about this indicator ECHO Indicator - This indicator tells you whether you will be able to see what you type on the screen as you press the keys on the keyboard. Aladdin's default (and the best choice for communication with GEnie) is ECHO mode (otherwise known as "Half-Duplex Mode"). In this mode whatever you type on the keyboard will also show up on the screen. If the Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 85 indicator is turned off (blank), Aladdin is in "No Echo" mode, which means that you will not be able to see what you type. Aladdin only uses the "No Echo" mode when it is logged into the RTC area of a RoundTable. RTC Indicator - This indicator tells you if Aladdin is in RTC mode. We will cover RTC mode a little further on in this section of the manual. STAY Indicator - This indicator tells you whether or not Aladdin will terminate the current session on GEnie after performing an automatic operation. The status of this indicator can only be changed by pressing the [F5] function key while Aladdin is performing an automated operation. If the indicator reads "STAY", once Aladdin completes the automated operation, be it a full pass or a simple message reply, it will return control to you with the call still connected and the session in progress. Control will be returned to the menu from which the automated operation was initiated. If the indicator is blank, once Aladdin finished the automated operation it will issue a "BYE" command to GEnie, wait until GEnie finishes the session, and then return control to you. BLANKS OK/BLANKS OFF Indicator - When this indicator displays the "BLANKS OK" message, Aladdin will display each incoming line exactly as it is sent to your computer. If the indicator reads "BLANKS OFF", when Aladdin receives a blank line of text, the blank line will not be displayed. Only lines that contain some text will be displayed. The "BLANKS OFF" mode is used in RTC mode, but you can use it anywhere you want on GEnie. CAPTURE ON/CAPTURE OFF Indicator - This indicator tells you if Aladdin is currently capturing all the text being sent to it by GEnie. Capturing text requires a command from the Terminal Mode menu. If the indicator reads "Capture OFF", Aladdin is displaying the text it receives but is not saving it. If you instruct Aladdin to capture the session to a file, Aladdin will place a "Capture ON" status in this field and will also display the number of characters captured to the text file since you began the capture. XON/XOFF Indicator - This field displays an "X" when Aladdin must send an "XOFF" signal to the remote computer to ask it to pause the transmission of characters for a moment while Aladdin processes what it already has received. This condition occurs when Aladdin's communications buffer is almost full. General Mode Indicator - This indicator is used by Aladdin Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 86 to tell you what particular task it is performing while it is processing an automated operation. For example, if it is sending mail, Aladdin will put a "Sending Mail" message in this field. When you are using the manual terminal mode, Aladdin puts a message here that reads "Terminal mode". This field is not used while you are in any other section of the Aladdin program. 2. Option "G" - Log On to GEnie Pressing the "G" key while in the Terminal Mode menu causes Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and turn over control to you in terminal mode on the opening page of the GEnie system. 3. Option "L" - Log Off from GEnie Pressing the "L" key logs you off from GEnie. You must be connected to GEnie for this command to work. Aladdin will issue a "BYE" command, wait until GEnie hangs up the phone and then turn over control to you in the Terminal Mode menu. 4. Option "H" - Hang Up the Phone Pressing the "H" key immediately hangs up the phone. This is the "panic" command to log off, and should not be used except in extreme circumstances when nothing else seems to work. For those of you who are more familiar with how modems work, Aladdin drops the signal on the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) line, which causes the modem (if configured correctly for use with Aladdin) to immediately hang up the phone. 5. Option "N" - View Notifies Pressing "N" will show you the notifies that you may have received while connected to GEnie. Notifies are real-time messages that a user can send to another on GEnie. To send a notify to a user, you must be online and in terminal mode, and on a GEnie page prompt, i.e. "P 200?" as the current prompt. The notify is sent by typing an "N" and a space, then the user's GEmail ID and a space, followed by a message up to 240 characters in length. You then press [Enter] to send the message to the user. An example, P 200?N JOE.USER Hi Joe! I see you're back online! If the users is online, GEnie will check to see if the user has told GEnie that he/she is willing to receive notify messages. This is controlled with the NONOTIFY command. Typing a "NONOTIFY" at a GEnie page prompt will signal GEnie that you do not want to receive notifies. GEnie will confirm this. If you send the Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 87 command again, you are telling GEnie that you do want to receive notifies, and GEnie also confirms this. The command is like a pushbutton switch. You press (send) it once and it's ON. You press (send) it again and it's off. If GEnie determines that the user is online, and notifies are enabled, GEnie will send the message to the user and tell you that it sent it. The user will receive it the next time the recipient gets to a page prompt. At that point GEnie will send you a message saying that the recipient received the notify. You will see the confirmation the next time -you- get to a page prompt. If the recipient has notifies disabled, you will be told that such is the case and the message will not be sent. If the user is not online at the time you want to send the notify message, GEnie will also inform you of this fact and the message will not be sent either. The purpose of this menu option is to allow you to go back after a session is over and see if anyone sent you any notify messages. If so, the "N" option will have a " " marker next to it. 6. Option "F" - Flush Notifies The notifies that Aladdin receives while you are online are stored in memory (for you techie programmer types, they are stored on a linked list). Once you have read the notifies and replied to those you wish feel you need to, it's a good idea to remove them from memory. The "F" option does just that. It removes all the stored notifies from memory (think of it as flushing them down the toilet, hence the term "flush"). The marker next to the "N" option is also removed, if indeed there were stored notifies in memory and the marker was set. 7. Option "B" - View GEnie banner Everytime Aladdin logs onto GEnie, GEnie displays a "login banner", usually a screenful of information regarding new products and important announcements. Pressing the "B" displays this banner, which Aladdin stores for you on disk for easy reference. You should check the banner every day for important information and announcements. 8. Option "A" - Begin/End ASCII Capture Aladdin is capable of capturing all incoming text from GEnie to a file. This feature is accessed through the use of the "A" option in the Terminal Mode menu. To capture incoming text to a file, press the "A" key. Aladdin will prompt you for the file name to which you want it to capture the incoming text. Enter the Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 88 file name and press [Enter]. If the file already exists, Aladdin will ask you if you want to append the incoming text to the file, overwrite the file, try another name or abort the command. If you want to append the incoming text to a file, press the "A" key. If you want Aladdin to erase the file and start saving the text from scratch, press the "O" key. If you gave Aladdin the wrong name or if you want to try another file name, press the [Enter] and enter the file name again. If you want to abort the capture command, press the [Esc] key. Once the capture process has begun, the menu option text for option "A" changes from "Begin ASCII capture" to "End ASCII capture". Press the "T" key to return to terminal mode (or begin any other automated or manual command). When you are finished with your session on GEnie, or when you have captured the text that you wanted, return to the Terminal Mode menu and press the "A" key once again. Aladdin will terminate the capture process and close the file. 9. Option "S" - Send ASCII File The "S" option is used to tell Aladdin to send a text file through the communications line to another computer system. - WARNING - Make sure that the file which you ask Aladdin to send using this command is indeed a text file. If it is a program or data file that is not in ASCII text format, you will get some very unpredictable results. To send an ASCII text file, you must first be connected to GEnie and must have prepared GEnie to receive the ASCII text file. If you are uploading the file as a message to one of the RoundTables, you need to tell GEnie that you are replying to a message, and when it gives you the "1>" prompt to begin entering your reply, type the "*UP" command. This puts the GEnie software in a mode in which it will receive the file properly into the message area. If you do not do this, your message will not come out properly. The same commands apply to GEmail. If you are uploading a text file into a software library, use the "Upload a file" option and select 7-bit text protocol. Make sure that you want until GEnie says it is ready to receive the file. In any case, both of these operations can be performed by Aladdin without any intervention on your part other than telling it what file to send or composing the message that you want to post. Let Aladdin take care of the hard things as much as possible, that's what it was designed for! Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 89 To initiate the send process, press the "S" key. Aladdin will then ask you to tell it what file you want it to send. Enter the file name and press [Enter]. Aladdin will then proceed to send the file as fast as it can. When it is finished it will return control to you at the Terminal Mode menu. Note that Aladdin does not perform any "pacing" nor does it look for any "cues" from the receiving end to determine when it can or can't send the text file data. It just sends it as fast as it can, period. 10. Options "D" and "U" - XMODEM File Download and Upload (CRC) The "D" and "U" options are used to initiate XMODEM file transfers to/from a remote computer system such as GEnie. Before we explain how the commands work, let's cover a little background history of the XMODEM file transfer protocol. The XMODEM file transfer protocol was developed by Ward Christensen. It was designed as an easy (though back then it wasn't as easy as it is today) and efficient way to transfer files from one computer to another using a modem. It was also designed to be easy to implement on virtually all types of computers, from the first hacker boxes to the latest Cray supercomputers. The way XMODEM works is by dividing a file into chunks of 128 characters each (also known as "packets" or "blocks") and sending them out one at a time. The computer that sends the file also includes a verification number which the receiving computer can use to check that the data was received properly. Originally this number was a "checksum" of the 128 bytes of data (a checksum is simply the sum of all the values of the data, truncated to a maximum of 16 bits, or 65536). Later on a new verification process was designed which uses a method known as Cyclic Redundancy Check (or CRC for short). This method uses a mathematical formula to calculate the check value. The receiving computer then applies the same formula to the incoming data and, if the results are the same, the packet was received properly. If the result does not match, the receiving computer asks the sending computer to send the packet again. Besides the packets of data, the computers communicate through a simple "OK" and "NOT OK" language. The characters used for this are the "ACK" and "NAK" characters, respectively. These characters are special one- character codes defined by convention as part of the complete ASCII character set. Aladdin has a built-in implementation of the XMODEM-CRC protocol which it uses to download and upload files from/to GEnie. It invokes this feature automatically when Aladdin is Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 90 processing an automated task which calls for such an action to be taken, but you can also invoke the XMODEM file transfer routines manually from the Terminal Mode menu. The "D" option is used to receive files from the remote computer system. To initiate a file transfer, you must wait until the remote computer system is ready to send you the file. In the case of GEnie, it will send you a message that contains words such as "File is ready, start your XMODEM file transfer now". Once the remote system is ready to send the file, you exit terminal mode with the [Esc] key to return to the Terminal Mode menu, and press "D" to begin the download. Aladdin will prompt you for the file name that you want to give to the file. Enter the file name and press [Enter]. If the file already exists, Aladdin will ask you if you want to overwrite the file, try another name or abort the process. If you want to overwrite the existing file, press the "O" key. If you want to try another file name, press the [Enter] key and enter another file name. If you want to abort the download command, press the [Esc] key. Once you have entered the file name and pressed [Enter], Aladdin will return to the Terminal Mode menu and display a file transfer status window which shows you the progress of the file transfer as it is performed. Figure IX-6 depicts the file transfer progress window. - NOTE - If you told GEnie to start an Xmodem download and you changed your mind, you will need to abort the download on the GEnie side. To do this, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the "X" key ONCE, then release the [Ctrl] key. GEnie should respond with a message that says that the download was aborted. If it doesn't, try send the [Ctrl-X] sequence again. Zmodem downloads are aborted by pressing the [Esc] key when Aladdin automatically begins the download process. There are several distinct sections and one available command in this window. Let's cover them one by one, starting from the top left, Download filename - This field tells you the name of the file that Aladdin is downloading. Note that this is the file name that you assigned to the incoming file, not the one on the sending computer. Most of the time the file names are the same, but sometimes they are not. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 91 [Esc] - To abort the file transfer, press the [Esc] once. Aladdin will terminate the transfer and return you to the Terminal Mode menu. Bytes Received - This field keeps a running count of the number of characters received during the transfer. Downloading MYFILE.TST Press Esc to abort transfer Bytes received Transfer speed Blocks received Efficiency Blocks re-sent Elapsed time Errors Est. time left Figure IX-6 - Aladdin XMODEM Download Transfer Progress Window Blocks Received - This field keeps a running count of the number of packets of data received during the transfer. Blocks re-sent - This field keeps track of the number of times that Aladdin could not match the verification number for a received packet of data with the number that the remote computer gave it, so Aladdin had to ask the remote computer to send the packet again. Errors - This field keeps track of the total number of errors encountered during the file transfer. Transfer speed - This field keeps track of how many characters per second Aladdin is receiving from the remote computer. This is an average number, not a total count, and it takes into account the pauses between packets to give you an idea of how fast the transfer is going. This field applies to all files downloaded during a single session, so it eventually reaches a pretty good average figure. Efficiency - This field is a percentage field, and it gives you the efficiency of the transfer. 100% is perfect. Aladdin figures out what the time to transfer the file should be under perfect conditions, and constantly compares that to the actual time it is taking to transfer the file. This field applies to all files transferred during a session as well. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 92 Elapsed time - This field gives you the time elapsed in hours, minutes and seconds since you began the file transfer. Est. time left - This field gives you Aladdin's estimate of how much time is left for the transfer to be completed. This is a function of file size (if you are connected to GEnie Aladdin always knows how big the incoming file is) and the current efficiency factors. Last error message area - The shaded area below the "Errors" field is a message area, Every time Aladdin detects an error, it will display the cause of the error in this area. When another error is detected, Aladdin overwrites the last message and displays a new one. Returning to the Terminal Mode menu, the "U" command performs the opposite operation of the "D" command. Instead of receiving a file, it sends a file. You must also make sure that the receiving computer is ready to receive the file. GEnie usually signals that is is ready with a "READY" prompt message. Aladdin will also prompt you for a path and/or file name when you select the "U" command, but if you make a mistake when you type it will simply tell you that the file does not exist. Enter the file name and press [Enter]. Aladdin will then go to the terminal mode screen and display a window exactly the same as the one in Figure IX-6, except that instead of saying "Downloading" it will say "Uploading". All the fields have the same meanings as when you are downloading a file. 11. Zmodem Downloads With the introduction of version 1.11, Aladdin now has the built-in capability to perform file downloads using the Zmodem protocol. When in terminal mode, the Zmodem download process is completely automatic. You simply ask GEnie to begin the download of one or more files (up to 20) using the Zmodem protocol, and Aladdin will take care of the rest. It will detect that GEnie wishes to initiate a Zmodem download and begin the process automatically. The only difference between a Zmodem download progress window and an Xmodem download progress window is in the "Blocks re-sent" field. The Zmodem driver uses this area to display the type of packets that GEnie is using to transfer the files. Normal packets will display a "CRC32" string in this field, compressed packets will display a "CRC32/RLE" string in the field, and packets using the MobyTurbo(tm) Zmodem-90 extension will display a "CRC32/Moby" string in the field. Multiple file requests are handled automatically. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 93 12. Quick Access Keys - [F2] and [F3] Pressing the [F2] function key will immediately take you to the GEmail Menu on Aladdin. Pressing the [F3] function key will take you to the Miscellaneous Options on Aladdin. 11. Exiting to the Aladdin Main Menu Pressing the [Esc] key will exit the GEmail section menu and return you to the Aladdin Main Menu. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 94 X. The Aladdin Script Language Aladdin, with all its powerful features and functions, is not capable of accessing all services on GEnie in the process of performing an automatic pass. It also does not have any built-in functions to access other services other than GEnie, even though it is a communications program. To make up for these shortcomings, it was decided to give Aladdin a tool that would make it flexible enough to perform user-defined automated tasks, within GEnie or any other service. This facility is the Aladdin Script Language. In this section we will cover the Aladdin Script Language, as well as the menu options and tools within Aladdin that go along with the language. Before we begin, let's cover some basic points about scripts. All Aladdin scripts are stored in one file, the "SCRIPT.TXT", which comes with the Aladdin distribution kit. When installed, Aladdin comes with only one script entry, and it is an empty script. You can edit the script file with a normal text editor, but we recommend that you use Aladdin's script editor as it is designed to work with the format of the script file. In that way you don't have to worry about where to place the scripts or what to call them, Aladdin does that automatically. If you refer to Figure IV-1, which depicts Aladdin's main menu, you will notice that there are a number of commands and a display window which refer to scripts. Since the access to the script language options and tools is the first thing you notice about scripts, we'll cover them first. 1. Options "3" through "9" - Invoking an Aladdin Script The window on the lower right-hand side of the main menu shows a number of fields, numbered "3" through "9". Pressing one of the number keys in that range instructs Aladdin to execute that particular script. 2. Option [F7] - Invoke Aladdin's Script Menu Pressing the [F7] function key causes Aladdin to display its Script Menu, depicted in Figure X-1. The available commands within this menu are: "A" - Pressing the "A" key tells Aladdin that you want to add a script to the script file. If there is an empty slot in the "User Scripts" window, Aladdin will immediately go into script editing mode using that script number. Script editing mode is simply a text editor window that allows you to edit the text within a script. Pressing the [Esc] key Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 95 within the script editor saves the current script and returns to the Aladdin script menu. Pressing [Ctrl-A] tells Aladdin to abort the script editing task. Aladdin will ask you to confirm the abort command. Press "Y" if you indeed want to terminate the editing process and return to the script menu. Press "N" if you want to continue editing the script. Script menu User Scripts 3 untitled Editing options: 4 A Add a script 5 E Edit a script 6 D Delete a script 7 8 Navigation: 9 Esc Return to Main menu F2 Go to GE Mail menu F3 Go to Miscellaneous Options F4 Go to Terminal menu Command [ ] Figure X-1 - Aladdin Script Menu "E" - Pressing the "E" key tells Aladdin that you wish to edit a script. Aladdin will display a small window asking you which script you want to edit. Press the key corresponding to the number of the script, from "3" through "9". Aladdin will load the script into the script editor and you may begin editing. If you change your mind about editing a script, press the [Esc] key. Aladdin will close the window and return you to the script menu. "D" - Pressing the "D" key tells Aladdin that you want to delete a script from the script file. Aladdin will display a window asking you which script you want to delete. Press the key for the number of the script from "3" through "9". Aladdin will then delete the script from the script file and the script listing for that script in the right-hand window of the script menu will disappear. If you do not want to delete a script, press the [Esc] key. Aladdin will close the window and return you to the script menu. [Esc] - Pressing the [Esc] key causes Aladdin to exit from the script menu and return you to the main menu. [F2], [F3] and [F4] quick access keys - Pressing the [F2] function key will take you immediately to Aladdin's GEmail menu. Pressing the [F3] function key takes you immediately Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 96 to Aladdin's Miscellaneous Options menu. Pressing the [F4] function key takes you immediately to Aladdin's Terminal Mode menu. That's about it for the Script menu. Its a relatively simple one, compared to some of the other menus. Next, let's get into the fun part. As we promised at the beginning of the manual, here's the section on the Aladdin Script Language. 3. Aladdin Script Language Syntax Guidelines The following general guidelines and rules apply to all scripts, - You may only have one command per line. - Command words must be separated by at least one "TAB" or space character. - The language is not case-sensitive. Command words can be any combination of upper- and lower-case characters. - If a line does not contain any commands it must either be blank or have a semicolon ";" or a colon ":" as the first non-blank character. If the line begins with a colon then the line is considered to be a label or place-marker within the script that can be referred to in other commands. If the line begins with a semi-colon then the line is a comment and is ignored during script execution. - Any text remaining in a line after the formal command is ignored. This makes for easy commenting of script commands without having to worry about special delimiting characters. - In the descriptions of the commands, {STRING} refers to any sequence of characters surrounded by a pair of delimiters. A delimiter is any single character. If the left-hand delimiter is anything other than the (, [, {, < or ' characters, then the right-hand delimiter must be the same as the left-hand delimiter. If one of these five characters is used as a left-hand delimiter, then the right-hand delimiter must be the corresponding ), ], }, > or ', respectively. The text within the delimiters must not contain the right delimiter character. - In a {STRING}, the symbols "^A" through "^Z" are converted into the corresponding control characters Ctrl-A through Ctrl-Z. - All occurrences of the characters %0 through %9 in any Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 97 script are replaced with the corresponding user-defined string equivalent. User-defined strings 0 through 9 are created using the SETSTRING or GETSTRING commands. If you want to use the % character followed by a digit in your scripts without it being replaced for a user-defined string, use the %% combination instead. For example, %0 refers to user-defined string number 0, but %%0 defines a string with the characters % and 0. 4. The SCRIPT Command The SCRIPT command is required at the beginning of every script. The syntax for the SCRIPT command is: SCRIPT {digit} {text} The {digit} argument defines which script number this is and must be a value between 3 and 9. There may not be more than one SCRIPT command with the same {digit} argument. The {text} argument represents the title of the script to be displayed in the script windows, and may be any string up to 20 characters long. An example of the SCRIPT command is: SCRIPT 3 My First Script! Every SCRIPT command must have a corresponding ENDSCRIPT command. 5. The ENDSCRIPT Command The ENDSCRIPT commands marks the end of a script. Every SCRIPT command must have a corresponding ENDSCRIPT command. The ENDSCRIPT command takes no arguments. 6. The GOTO Command The GOTO command transfers execution of a script to a specific location within the script. The location is referred to as a label. The syntax of the GOTO command is: GOTO {label} The {label} argument represents a location in the script defined by a colon ":" as the first character of a line and a label name following immediately thereafter. A label can be any sequence of characters not containing blanks or "TAB" characters. An example of the GOTO command is: Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 98 ... GOTO MyLabel ... ... :MyLabel ... In this example, the GOTO command refers to the label "MyLabel". When Aladdin reaches this command, it will jump to the location in the script with the label ":MyLabel", skipping all intervening script commands and continuing execution at that point. Note that labels are only available within the script in which they are defined, so you can't issue a GOTO command to transfer execution to a label in another script. 7. The CALL Command The CALL command transfers execution to a specific location within a program indicated by a label. Execution continues until a RETURN statement is encountered, at which point execution is returned to the first line immediately after the line containing the CALL command. The syntax of the CALL command is: CALL {label} The {label} argument references a line within the script which begins with a colon ":" character and is immediately followed by a label name, which may not contain any spaces or tabs. An example of the CALL command is: ... CALL MyLabel ... ... :MyLabel ... RETURN ... In this example, the CALL command will transfer execution to the point in the script where the label "MyLabel" is defined. Execution will continue until the RETURN statement is encountered, at which point execution is again transferred to the script line immediately following the one containing the CALL command. Those of you familiar with BASIC will recognize this command as the equivalent of BASIC's GOSUB command. Its use is exactly the same, to execute user-defined subroutines. Note that labels are only available within the script where they are defined, so you can't make a CALL to a label in another script. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 99 8. The RETURN Command The RETURN command is used to mark the point at which execution is to be returned to the statement following a CALL command. The RETURN command takes no arguments, as depicted in the example covering the CALL command. 9. The PERFORM Command The PERFORM command is used to invoke a script from within another script. The syntax of the command is: PERFORM {digit} The {digit} argument is a number from 1 to 9, inclusive, which refers to a script's identification number. Aladdin will immediately execute the script identified by the {digit} argument, and execution will continue in that script until the ENDSCRIPT command is encountered, at which point execution is returned to the script command line immediately following the one containing the PERFORM command. If you specify 1 or 2 as the script to execute, Aladdin will perform an automatic pass 1 or 2, respectively, as if you had selected these automated operations from the Aladdin Main Menu. An example of the PERFORM command is: SCRIPT 3 1st Script NOTE (We are in script number 3) PERFORM 4 NOTE (We are back in script number 3) PERFORM 5 NOTE (We are back in script number 3 once again) ENDSCRIPT SCRIPT 4 2nd Script Note (We are in script number 4) ENDSCRIPT SCRIPT 5 3rd Script NOTE (We are in script number 5) ENDSCRIPT In this example, if Script number 3 is invoked, the user will see the following text on the screen: We are in script number 3 We are in script number 4 We are back in script number 3 We are in script number 5 We are back in script number 3 once again Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 100 Execution begins on the first line of script number 3, which is a NOTE command (which displays a text message to the user on the screen; we'll cover it in a minute). The next command is a PERFORM command making reference to script 4, so Aladdin executes script number 4, which prints its own little message on the screen. The next command in script number 4 is an ENDSCRIPT, so execution returns to the next line in script number 3 after the PERFORM command, which is another NOTE command. Once again, a PERFORM command is encountered, but making reference to script number 5 this time, so script 5 is performed. It prints its message, and the ENDSCRIPT command returns control to script number 3 after the PERFORM command. The final message is printed, and a final ENDSCRIPT command is encountered, at which point Aladdin finishes the script execution. The PERFORM command is similar to the CALL command except that it expands your script so that it can call other scripts to perform other functions as well. 10. The IF, ELSE and ENDIF Commands The IF command provides the Aladdin Script Language with a feature which is critical to any programming language, the ability to make simple decisions and take courses of action based on the state or result of a condition. The IF command does just that. The syntax of the IF command is: IF {condition} ... ELSE ... ENDIF The {condition} argument can be one of the following keywords: SUCCESS ONLINE CURRENTLINEHAS {string} STRING {digit} {verb} {string} DATAWAITING KEYWAITING EXIST {string} DAYOFWEEK IS {day} MAILFOUND Each one of these conditions is evaluated as a TRUE or FALSE result. If the condition returns a TRUE result, the statements within the IF command and the first ENDIF encountered in the script will be executed. If the condition argument returns a FALSE result and there is no ELSE command between the IF command Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 101 and the next ENDIF command, the statements are ignored and execution continues on the first line after the ENDIF command. We will cover each one of the conditions separately in the next few pages of this manual and present examples for each possible condition argument as well. All IF commands must have a matching ENDIF command. The ELSE optional command tells Aladdin that if the condition evaluated in the IF command is evaluated to a FALSE result, execution of the script will jump to the first line immediately after the ELSE command and continue from that point. If the condition is evaluated as a TRUE result, Aladdin will execute the statements immediately after the IF command. When it gets to the ELSE command, all statements up to the next ENDIF command are ignored, and execution continues on the next line immediately after the ENDIF command. The ELSE command basically extends Aladdin's decision-making powers from a simple "if this condition is TRUE do this" to a more complete "if this condition is TRUE do this; if it is FALSE, do this instead". The ENDIF command marks the end of a block of instructions related to the previous IF command. Again, all IF commands must have a matching ENDIF command. IF commands may be nested, which means that you can have IF commands within other IF commands. 11. The SUCCESS Condition The SUCCESS condition depends on the previous operation performed, such as a LOG ON command. The condition takes no arguments. - NOTE - Do not confuse the SUCCESS condition argument with the SUCCESS command. They are two different statements altogether. The SUCCESS command is covered a little further on in this section. If the previous operation was successful, the SUCCESS condition is evaluated as a TRUE; otherwise it evaluates as FALSE. The following commands affect the status of the SUCCESS condition: Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 102 CAPTURE ENDCAPTURE ERASEFILE GETSTRING LOG ON LOG ONTO SNAPSHOT SUCCESS WAITFOR WAITFORPROMPT WAITUNTIL XMODEM For explanations on each of these commands, see the appropriate sections in this chapter. An example of the use of the SUCCESS condition is: LOG ON Log on to GEnie IF SUCCESS Did we make it? NOTE (You are logged on.) Tell user ELSE Oops, problem! NOTE (Unable to log on.) Tell user ENDIF Required ENDIF 12. The ONLINE Condition The ONLINE condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if and only if the modem is on-line - the CD (Carrier Detect) signal is on - at the time the IF command with the ONLINE condition is executed. The condition takes no arguments. An example of the ONLINE condition is: SENDLINE "ATDT123-4567" Tell modem to dial :MyLoop Define label "MyLoop" IF ONLINE Are we online? GOTO Connected Yes, jump to "Connected" label ELSE GOTO MyLoop No, wait, jump to :MyLoop" label ENDIF Required ENDIF :Connected Define "Connected" label 13. The CURRENTLINEHAS Condition The CURRENTLINEHAS condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if and only if the line of text being received from the modem at the time of the IF command execution contains a string being looked for. The syntax of the CURRENTLINEHAS condition is: CURRENTLINEHAS {string} where the {string} argument represents the string that is Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 103 being looked for in the incoming line of text. Lines of text are separated by incoming carriage returns (ASCII character 13). The comparison performed by Aladdin is case-sensitive, which means that you must specify the string you are looking for in the exact combination of upper- and lower-case characters that you want to match. One of the uses of the CURRENTLINEHAS condition is to test the presence or absence of a particular GEnie prompt, for example: IF CURRENTLINEHAS "Enter #" Is GEnie on full page menus? SENDCOMMAND "C" Go into command mode ENDIF Required ENDIF 14. The STRING Condition The STRING condition is used to examine a user-defined string (%0 through %9) to see if it is exactly the same as, or contains, a particular string of characters that you are looking for. The syntax of the STRING condition is: STRING {digit} {verb} {string} The {digit} argument represents a user defined string and can be any number from 0 through 9. This user-defined string should already contain the text that you will compare your string against. Strings are stored into user-defined strings with the SETSTRING or GETSTRING commands, which we will cover a little further on in this chapter. The {verb} argument can be one of two keywords, "IS" or "HAS". If you specify the "IS" keyword, the STRING condition will only return a TRUE result if the text in the user-defined string is exactly the same as the string that you have specified in the command. The comparison is case-sensitive, which means that Aladdin will take into consideration whether or not the characters are upper- or lower-case. For example, in a case-sensitive matching situation, the string "THE WORD" is not the same as the string "The Word", because the case of the letters does not match. If the {verb} argument is "HAS", the STRING condition will only return a TRUE result if the string which you specified is contained within the string in the user-defined string. In this case, the string that you specify must be located in a contiguous fashion within the specified user-defined string. For example, if the string that you are looking for is "ABCD" and the user-defined string contains the string "123ABCD456", the condition will return a TRUE result. However, if the user-defined string contains the string "123ACBD456", the Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 104 condition will return a FALSE result because even though the characters are indeed in the user-defined string, they are in the wrong order. An example of the STRING condition is: NOTE "Password, please:" Prompt for password :TryAgain Define "TryAgain" label GETSTRING 1 Store in user-defined string %1 IF STRING 1 IS "SESAME" Does %1 contain "SESAME"? GOTO GoodGuy Yes! Its one of the good guys! ELSE %1 does not have "SESAME", so... NOTE "You typed "%1"... Try again." Tell user and... GOTO TryAgain ...do it all over again ENDIF Required ENDIF :GoodGuy Define "GoodGuy" label 15. The DATAWAITING Condition The DATAWAITING condition is evaluated as a TRUE condition if there are one or more incoming characters waiting in the communications buffer. The command takes no arguments. An example of the DATAWAITING condition is: IF DATAWAITING Any characters in the buffer? NOTE "Data in the buffer!" Yes, tell the user. ENDIF Required ENDIF Yes, this is a rather useless example, but it is an example nonetheless. 16. The KEYWAITING Condition The KEYWAITING condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if there is a keystroke waiting in your computer keyboard's buffer. Note that the KEYWAITING condition will only work if the command "KEYWAITING ON" is executed before you try to use the condition in an IF command. However, if "KEYWAITING ON" has been issued, Aladdin will not be able to check the keyboard for an [Esc] or [F5] keystroke while the script is executing. The condition takes no arguments. An example of the KEYWAITING condition is: KEYWAITING ON Enable the KEYWAITING condition NOTE "Press any key to stop." Display message to user :Loop Define "Loop" label MONITOR Display chars in buffer IF KEYWAITING Is there a pending keystroke? GOTO QuitListing Yes, jump to "QuitListing" ELSE No key waiting? Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 105 GOTO Loop Jump to "Loop" and do it again ENDIF Required ENDIF :QuitListing Define "QuitListing" label KEYWAITING OFF Disable the KEYWAITING condition The MONITOR command is covered a little further on in this chapter. 17. The EXIST Condition The EXIST condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if a specified file exists on your computer. The syntax of the EXIST condition is: EXIST {string} where the {string} argument represents the name of the file which you want to check for. An example of the EXIST condition is: IF EXIST "FOO.TXT" Check for file "FOO.TXT" NOTE "File exists!" It's there, tell the user ELSE If it is not there... NOTE "File does not exist!" ...tell the user as well! ENDIF Required ENDIF 18. The DAYOFWEEK Condition The DAYOFWEEK condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if the day that you specify for the condition matches the day of the week stored in your computer's clock. The syntax of the DAYOFWEEK condition is: DAYOFWEEK IS {day} where the word IS is a required keyword and the {day} can be one of the following seven words, SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT You may also use the entire name of the day of the week, but Aladdin will only look at the first three characters of the {string} argument to determine which day you want to check for. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 106 Do not surround the {day} argument in quotes or use any other delimiter, as the argument to this condition is not a string! An example of the DAYOFWEEK condition is: IF DAYOFWEEK IS WED Is it Wednesday already?! CALL GetDowJonesQuotes Oh! Get latest stock quotes! ENDIF Required ENDIF ... :GetDowJonesQuotes Define the label ... RETURN Finished, go back 19. The MAILFOUND Condition The MAILFOUND condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if Aladdin finds that there was is mail waiting for you in your mailbox. The condition takes no arguments. An example of the MAILFOUND condition is: SCRIPT 5 Wake me for mail! Define script number and title LOG ON Log on to GEnie to check mail LOG OFF Log off from GEnie IF MAILFOUND Was there mail waiting for me? ALARM Yes, wake me up! ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT for end of script Note that Aladdin will always check for mail when it logs on to GEnie as a result of using the LOG ON or LOG ONTO commands, which is how this script works! 20. The SUCCESS Command The SUCCESS command is used to set the state of the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE or FALSE state. The syntax of the SUCCESS command is: SUCCESS {condition} where the {condition} argument can be either TRUE or FALSE. An example of the SUCCESS command is: SUCCESS FALSE Set SUCCESS condition to FALSE state IF SUCCESS Test the condition NOTE "This line will never execute." This will never show ELSE NOTE "This line will always execute." This will always Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 107 show. ENDIF Required ENDIF 21. The ECHO Command The ECHO commands enables or disables the display of script commands as they are executed. Do not confuse this command with the echo/no echo or half/full duplex status of Aladdin's communications function; this is a command to aid you in determining whether or not your scripts are doing what you originally designed them to do. Programmers call this a "programming aid" or a "debugging aid." The syntax of the ECHO command is: ECHO {state} where the {state} argument can be one of two keywords, ON or OFF. The initial state of the ECHO command is ON, which means that script commands will be displayed as they are executed. If you use the OFF keyword, Aladdin will not display your script commands as they are executed. Note that the ECHO command itself will not be displayed as a script command, even if ECHO is indeed in an ON state. 22. The CLEAR Command The CLEAR command is used to clear the terminal mode display area. It takes no arguments. 23. The NOTE Command The NOTE command is used to display a message to the user on the screen. The NOTE command itself is never displayed, even if the state of the ECHO command is ON at the moment the NOTE command is executed by Aladdin. The syntax of the NOTE command is: NOTE {string} where the {string} argument represents the message string that you want to display to the user at the moment the NOTE command is executed. For examples of the use of the NOTE command, refer to previous sections of this chapter; there are several examples in the explanations of previous commands. 24. The BEEP Command The BEEP command will cause Aladdin to emit a short "beep" sound. The command takes no arguments. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 108 25. The ALARM Command The ALARM command will cause Aladdin to emit a continuous series of "beep" sounds which will continue until the user presses any key on the keyboard of their computer. The ALARM command takes no arguments. Refer to the explanation of the MAILFOUND condition for an example of how to use the ALARM command. 26. The HIDE Command The HIDE command is used to prevent the user (or anyone else within sight of the computer's display) from seeing any text received from the remote computer system. The syntax of the HIDE command is: HIDE {state} where the {state} argument can be one of the two keywords, ON or OFF. If you issue a HIDE ON command, any text received from the remote system will be displayed with the word "SECRET", repeating over and over again for all text received. You may recognize this command as the command that Aladdin uses to hide your password as Aladdin sends it to GEnie during the login procedure. If you issue a HIDE OFF command, Aladdin will no longer hide the incoming data and instead will display it as it is received from the remote computer system. An example of the HIDE command is: SENDLINE "ATDT123-4567" Tell the modem to dial this number :Loop Define "Loop" label IF ONLINE Are we online yet? GOTO Continue Yes, jump to "Continue" label ELSE No, we are not? GOTO Loop Keep waiting, jump to "Loop" label ENDIF Required ENDIF :Continue Define "Continue" label WAITFOR "Enter your name:" Wait for login from computer SENDLINE "JOHN DOE" Send your name WAITFOR "Password:" Wait for the password prompt HIDE ON Hide incoming text SENDLINE "MyPassword" Send the password HIDE OFF Display incoming text normally This example is obviously not usable to login to GEnie. There is a specific command, LOG ON, for use with GEnie. This example could be used to log in to a private bulletin board system, though. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 109 27. The MONITOR Command The MONITOR command will take a character received from the remote system and display it on the screen. If there are no waiting characters, the MONITOR command does not do anything. The MONITOR command takes no arguments. See the section on the KEYWAITING command for an example of how to use the MONITOR command. 28. The PAUSE Command The PAUSE command tells Aladdin to wait a specific amount of time which can be full seconds or fractions of a second. The syntax of the PAUSE command is: PAUSE {seconds} where the {seconds} argument represents the number of seconds for which you wish Aladdin to pause. Examples of the PAUSE command are: PAUSE 30 Pause for 30 seconds PAUSE 0.25 Pause for one-quarter of a second Note that if any characters are received from the remote computer during the PAUSE period, Aladdin will display them on the screen. 29. The WAITUNTIL Command The WAITUNTIL command is used to instruct Aladdin to wait until the system clock on your computer reaches a certain time. The syntax of the WAITUNTIL command is: WAITUNTIL {time} where the {time} argument is represented by a time in HH:MM 24 hour format. If the [Esc] key is pressed before your system clock reaches the desired time of day, the SUCCESS condition is set to a FALSE status. If your system clock reaches the desired time of day with no interruptions, the SUCCESS condition is set to a TRUE status. An example of the WAITUNTIL command is: Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 110 SCRIPT 6 Alarm Clock Define script number and title WAITUNTIL 13:30 Wait until 1:30 pm IF SUCCESS Did we get there? PERFORM 1 Perform script number 1 LOG OFF Log off from GEnie BEEP Signal with a "beep" sound ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT 30. The ERASEFILE Command The ERASEFILE command is used to erase a file from your computer's hard or floppy disk. The syntax of the ERASEFILE command is: ERASEFILE {string} where the {string} argument represents the file that you want to erase. If Aladdin finds the file and successfully erases it, it sets the status of the SUCCESS condition to TRUE. If Aladdin cannot find the file or if it cannot erase the file for whatever reason, it will set the SUCCESS condition to a FALSE state. An example of the ERASEFILE command is: ERASEFILE "\WORK\FOO.TXT" Erase FOO.TXT in the \WORK IF SUCCESS Did Aladdin erase the file? NOTE "File erased." Yes, tell the user ELSE No, not able to erase the file NOTE "File not found or" ...tell the user as well. NOTE "unable to erase it!" ENDIF Required ENDIF 31. The CAPTURE and ENDCAPTURE Commands The CAPTURE command is used to tell Aladdin to save all incoming text from the remote computer to a file. The syntax of the CAPTURE command is: CAPTURE {filename} where the {filename} argument represents the file name to which you want to save all the incoming text. If the capture file already exists, the incoming text will be appended to the end of the existing file. If a capture file is already open either because of a previous CAPTURE command or by the use of the "A" option in the Terminal Mode menu, the current capture file will be closed before the new one is opened. If the CAPTURE command is successful and can initiate and complete the capture of the incoming text, the SUCCESS condition is set to a TRUE state; if Aladdin has any problems opening the file or saving the text, it Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 111 will set it to a FALSE state. An example of the use of the CAPTURE command is: SCRIPT 6 IBM RTC and record Define script number and title LOG ONTO "615;2" Log on and go to IBM RTC IF SUCCESS Were we able to log on? SENDLINE "2" Choose RTC room 2 WAITFOR "is here" Wait for RTC to acknowledge you SENDLINE "/NAM JOHN" Set your RTC nickname WAITFORDATA STOP Wait until no incoming text ERASEFILE "RTC.LOG" Erase the existing log CAPTURE "RTC.LOG" Start capturing the RTC text IF SUCCESS Ok opening the capture file? ELSE If yes, take no action NOTE "Can't open log!" Notify user of problem ENDIF Required ENDIF SENDLINE "/STA" Get list of people in RTC ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT The ENDCAPTURE command simply ends the capture process and closes the capture file. The command takes no arguments. ENDCAPTURE also sets the status of the SUCCESS condition to indicate whether or not it was successful in finishing the capture process and closing the capture file properly. 32. The SNAPSHOT Command The SNAPSHOT command takes a "picture" of the screen at the moment the command is issued and stores it into a file. The syntax of the SNAPSHOT command is: SNAPSHOT {filename} where the {filename} argument represents the name of the file to which Aladdin is to save the "snapshot" of the screen. If the file already exists, it will be erased and replaced with a new file. If Aladdin cannot open the file or save the text into it, it will set the status of the SUCCESS condition to FALSE; otherwise it will set it to a TRUE state. An example of the SNAPSHOT command is: SNAPSHOT "MYSNPSHT.TXT" Take a snapshot of the screen IF SUCCESS Everything ok? NOTE "Snapshot OK!" Yes, tell the user ELSE Oops, something happened NOTE "Snapshot ERROR!" Let the user know of a problem ENDIF Required ENDIF Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 112 33. The XMODEM and ZMODEM Commands The XMODEM and ZMODEM commands are used to download or upload files using the XMODEM file transfer protocol. For more information on the protocol, see the section on the Terminal Mode menu. The syntax of the XMODEM and ZMODEM commands are: XMODEM {direction} {filename} ZMODEM {filename} where the {direction} argument determines whether the file will be received to or transmitted from your personal computer and is one of two keywords, DOWNLOAD or UPLOAD. Note that the ZMODEM command does not accept a {direction} argument as Aladdin is only capable of downloading files using the ZMODEM file transfer protocol. The {filename} argument represents the name of the file which will either be sent from or received to your computer. If the transfer is successful, the SUCCESS condition will be set to a TRUE state; if it is not, for whatever reason, it will be set to a FALSE state. An example of the XMODEM command is: WAITFOR "file.^M^J" Wait for ready msg from GEnie XMODEM DOWNLOAD "MYFILE.TXT" Start the XMODEM download IF SUCCESS Was the transfer successful? NOTE "XMODEM transfer completed" Yes, tell the user ELSE Oops, ran into a problem BEEP Ring the "bell" NOTE "XMODEM transfer not successful!" Tell the user ENDIF Required ENDIF If you want to use the ZMODEM protocol instead of the standard XMODEM protocol, substitute the keyword "ZMODEM" for the "XMODEM" keyword. 34. The LOG ON/LOG OFF/LOG ONTO Commands The LOG command is used to tell Aladdin to either log you onto GEnie, log you onto a particular section of GEnie or log you off from GEnie. There are three variations of the LOG command, and their forms are: LOG ON LOG OFF LOG ONTO {string} The LOG ON command tells Aladdin to dial the local access number for GEnie and login to the system. The SUCCESS condition is set to TRUE if the operation is successful; otherwise, it is set to FALSE. If Aladdin detects that you are already logged on Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 113 to GEnie, the SUCCESS condition is set to TRUE and no other action is taken. The LOG OFF command instructs Aladdin to issue a "BYE" command to GEnie. It then waits for GEnie to terminate the session and hangs up the phone. Execution resumes on the next script line. The LOG OFF command will be ignored if the STAY indicator (see the Terminal Mode chapter) is set to "ON" or if the command is executed as part of a script that was invoked with the PERFORM command. The SUCCESS condition is not affected by the LOG OFF command. The LOG ONTO command will log you on to GEnie and take you directly to a GEnie page number and, optionally, a selection within that page number. The {string} argument represents the page and optional selection number, and is specified as a string containing a page number and, optionally, a semicolon ";" and an selection number. If you are currently not online to GEnie, Aladdin will make the call, wait for a connection and then issue the login command, appending to your password the "short-cut" way of getting to a page number from the login prompt. See your GEnie reference manual for more information on this "short-cut" method. If you are already logged on to GEnie, Aladdin issues an "M" command, instead, to move to that page and optional selection number. If the login is successful and you reach the selected page and selection, Aladdin sets the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state; otherwise the condition is set to a FALSE state. - NOTE - The LOG ONTO command CANNOT be used if you are offline and have invoked Aladdin with the /LS autologin script option. Doing so will cause unpredictable behavior on the part of Aladdin. Note that you cannot use this command to log onto a GEnie page that does not use your pre-configured prompt character, such as page 200, selection 6, which always uses the interrogation sign "?" as its prompt character regardless of what your normal prompt character is. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 114 An example of the LOG command is: SCRIPT 7 Mail Command Mode Define script number and title LOG ONTO "200" Login and go to page 200, GEmail IF SUCCESS All ok? SENDSPECIALCOMMAND "6" "?" Command mode with special prompt ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT 35. The COMMANDMODE Command Under normal conditions, Aladdin will always tell GEnie to put the system into "command mode" every time it runs into an "Enter #" in a page prompt when it is expecting a "P ###" prompt. This saves time and money because Aladdin does not need to see the full GEnie menus to do its job. There are some cases in which an "Enter #" is in fact an appropriate prompt and you cannot have Aladdin issue the "C" command to GEnie. To enable and disable this automatic switching feature in a script, you use the COMMANDMODE command. The syntax of the COMMANDMODE command is: COMMANDMODE {state} where the {state} argument is one of two keywords, ON or OFF. If you issue a COMMANDMODE ON command, Aladdin will always attempt to switch GEnie into command mode anytime that it sees an "Enter #" prompt. If instead you issue a COMMANDMODE OFF command, Aladdin will not try to make the switch. 36. The QUOTES Command The QUOTES command lets you tell Aladdin to convert the single quote "'" characters that appears in NewsGrid items into the normal character. The syntax for the QUOTES command is: QUOTES {state} where the {state} argument represents one of two keywords, ON or OFF. If you issue a QUOTES ON command, the single quotes in NewsGrid items will be changed to double quotes; if you issue a QUOTES OFF command, the single quotes will be left as they are. 37. The HANGUP Command The HANGUP command instructs Aladdin to immediately hang up the phone and terminate the call. It will not issue any logoff commands; it will simply hang up. For those of you familiar with communications with modems, Aladdin drops the signal on the DTR Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 115 (Data Terminal Ready) line, which will force the modem to drop the connection if its switch settings are correctly set. The HANGUP command does not take any arguments. 38. The SEND Command The SEND command is used to tell Aladdin to send a string of text to the remote computer system. The syntax of the SEND command is: SEND {string} where the {string} argument represents the text that is to be transmitted by Aladdin. Note that the SEND command only sends the text and no other characters. If you need to send a carriage return/line feed pair following the string (simulating the pressing of the [Enter] key in terminal mode) use the SENDLINE command. An example of the send command is" SEND "^C" Send a break (Ctrl-C) character 39. The SENDLINE Command The SENDLINE command is exactly the same as the SEND command, except that it will also send a carriage return and a line feed at the end of the line. This simulates typing a line in terminal mode and pressing the [Enter] key. 40. The SENDCOMMAND Command The SENDCOMMAND command is the same as the SENDLINE command except that, after the command is sent, Aladdin will wait for your prompt character to be sent from the remote computer. Additionally, it will set the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state if the prompt is received; otherwise it will set it to FALSE. For example, the command SENDCOMMAND "M615;2" is equivalent to SENDLINE "M615;2" WAITFORPROMPT 41. The SENDSPECIALCOMMAND Command The SENDSPECIALCOMMAND command is identical to SENDCOMMAND except that it takes one additional argument. It is used in situations where GEnie's default prompt character is not used, Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 116 such as on page 200, option 6, the GEmail command mode. The syntax of the SENDSPECIALCOMMAND command is: SENDSPECIALCOMMAND {string} {promptstring} where the {string} argument represents the command to send and the {promptstring} argument represents the characters of the prompt which GEnie is expected to reply with. An example of the SENDSPECIALCOMMAND command is: SENDSPECIALCOMMAND "M200;6" "?" GEmail page 200's option 6 is a function that always replies with a "?" prompt regardless of what you have your default prompt set to. 42. The WAITFOR Command The WAITFOR command is used to tell Aladdin to wait until a specific combination of characters is received from the remote computer system. The syntax of the WAITFOR command is: WAITFOR {string} where the {string} argument represents the string for which Aladdin will wait before continuing the execution of the script. Aladdin will wait until the string is received or until Aladdin stops receiving text from the remote computer system for the amount of time specified as the "timeout period" in the Aladdin setup screen. If a matching string is received, Aladdin sets the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state and continues with the script; otherwise it will set it to a FALSE state and then continue. An example of the WAITFOR command is: SENDLINE "SET 10" Set category to 10 in the bulletin board WAITFORPROMPT Wait for the system prompt SENDLINE "REP 1" Initiate a reply to topic number 10 WAITFOR ">" Wait for the message editor prompt 43. The WAITFORPROMPT Command The WAITFORPROMPT command is very similar to the WAITFOR command, except that it only waits for a specific character, the character which you have specified in the Aladdin setup screen as your prompt character. Additionally, the prompt character must not be followed by any other characters, ensuring that you, indeed, have received a prompt from GEnie. The other parameters and conditions for successful execution of a WAITFOR command apply to the WAITFORPROMPT command as well. For an example of the Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 117 WAITFORPROMPT command see the previous section on the WAITFOR command. 44. The WAITFORDATA Command The WAITFORDATA command is used to instruct Aladdin to wait until it begins or stops receiving data from the remote computer system. The syntax of the WAITFORDATA command is: WAITFORDATA {keyword} where the {keyword} argument is one of two keywords, START or STOP. If you issue a WAITFORDATA START command, Aladdin will wait until one or more characters are received from the remote computer system. If you issue a WAITFORDATA STOP, Aladdin will wait until the modem stops receiving characters from the remote computer system and there are no more characters waiting in the communications buffer. For example, the command WAITFORDATA START is equivalent to the following statements: :Loopit IF DATAWAITING ELSE GOTO Loopit ENDIF On the other hand, the WAITFORDATA STOP command is equivalent to the following statements: :Loopit IF DATAWAITING MONITOR GOTO Loopit ENDIF 45. The WAITFORKEYPRESS Command The WAITFORKEYPRESS command is used to tell Aladdin to stop execution of the script and wait until the user presses any key on the keyboard. The key will not show up as an incoming character from the keyboard, though, as it is removed from your computer's keyboard buffer. The WAITFORKEYPRESS command takes no arguments. An example of the WAITFORKEYPRESS command is: NOTE "Press any key to continue..." Tell user what to do WAITFORKEYPRESS Wait for any key to be pressed Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 118 46. The KEYWAITING Command The KEYWAITING command is used to enable and disable the use of the IF KEYWAITING command. The syntax of the KEYWAITING command is: KEYWAITING {state} where the {state} argument is one of two keyword, ON or OFF. Under normal conditions, Aladdin will stop the execution of a script when the [Esc] key is pressed. It will also recognize the pressing of the [F5] function key during a session in which a script is running a task on GEnie. This will prevent the script from disconnecting the phone call after the script is finished, regardless of what commands are in the script to terminate the session. These are the actions taken by Aladdin if you issue a KEYWAITING OFF command, which happens to be the default state of KEYWAITING when you first execute the Aladdin program. However, there are situations when you do want to be able to check for characters waiting in your computer's keyboard buffer, and in particular when you want to use the IF KEYWAITING conditional command. In these cases, you must issue a KEYWAITING ON command to enable the IF KEYWAITING command to work. The [Esc] and [F5] keys will not be recognized while Aladdin is running the script, so make sure that you restore KEYWAITING to the OFF state as soon as you don't need to use IF KEYWAITING anymore in the script. 47. The GETKEY Command The GETKEY command is used to ask Aladdin to wait for the user to press any key on the computer's keyboard. However, instead of throwing the keystroke away as the WAITFORKEYPRESS does, the keystroke is made available to the script in one of the user-defined strings. The syntax of the GETKEY command is: GETKEY {digit} where the {digit} argument represents a digit from 0 to 9, which defines which user-defined string, %0 through %9, is going to receive the keystroke. Note that some keys do not have any ASCII text character equivalents. These keys are the functions keys, the cursor keys on the keypad, etc. These keys are considered to be "extended keys". If a user presses one of these keys Aladdin will store the string "^@" into the user-defined string. You will then have to issue another GETKEY command to retrieve a second code from the keyboard, which is the keyboard's scan code. In general, scan codes are used to identify keystrokes that have no ASCII equivalents. An example of the GETKEY command is: Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 119 SCRIPT 8 Simple Dumb Terminal Script number and title NOTE "Press [Ctrl-Q] to quit." Tell the user how to get out KEYWAITING ON Enable IF KEYWAITING command :Dumb Define the "Dumb" label IF KEYWAITING Any keystrokes pressed? GETKEY 7 Yes, keystroke into string %7 IF STRING 7 IS "^Q" Is it a [Ctrl-Q]? GOTO Quit Jump to the "Quit" label ENDIF Required ENDIF IF STRING 7 IS "^@" Pressed a special key? GETKEY 7 Yes, get scan code ELSE No, normal keystroke SEND "%7" Send it out! ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDIF Close second IF statement GOTO Dumb Keep doing this all over again :Quit Define "Quit" label ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT 48. The GETSTRING Command The GETSTRING command is used to obtain a full line of text from the user through the keyboard. The syntax of the GETSTRING command is: GETSTRING {digit} where the {digit} argument represents a digit from 0 to 9, which tells Aladdin which user-defined string, %0 through %9, to store the text to. Upon encountering this command in a script, Aladdin will wait for the user to enter a full line of text, up to 79 characters long, which is finished by pressing the [Enter] key. If all goes well, Aladdin will set the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state. If, on the other hand, the user presses the [Esc] key before pressing the [Enter] key, Aladdin will abort the input, clear the user-define string and set the SUCCESS condition to a FALSE state. An example of the GETSTRING command is: Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 120 SCRIPT 8 Start Capture to a File Define script # and title NOTE "Enter capture filename:" Ask for capture file name GETSTRING 3 Get file to string %3 IF SUCCESS All ok? IF EXISTS "%3" See if file exists NOTE "File exists, erase (Y/N)?" Ask if erasable GETKEY 4 Get response IF STRING 4 IS "Y" Ok, you asked for it! ERASEFILE "%3" It's gone. CAPTURE "%3" Start capture ENDIF Required ENDIF ELSE File doesn't exist, so... CAPTURE "%3" ...start capture. ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDIF Close first ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 121 Appendix A - GEnie Access Number Listing The following is a list of cities and numbers where GEnie local telephone access is available. The "S" before a phone number indicates remote cities with a $2.00 per hour additional surcharge. The "T" before a number indicates tri-speed capability - 300/1200/2400 baud An "X" indicates tri-speed capability with a $2.00 per hour additional surcharge. All 300/1200 baud telephone numbers are Bell 103A/212A compatible unless otherwise noted. All 2400 baud numbers are V.22bis compatible and support up to MNP Level 4 unless otherwise noted. ALABAMA ALABAMA ======= ======= Anniston S (205) 237-7754 Birmingham ( ) 323-7900 2400 ( ) 323-5011 Dothan T 2400 ( ) 671-0791 Hartselle X 2400 ( ) 773-6551 Huntsville T 2400 ( ) 539-9451 Mobile T 2400 ( ) 432-0571 Montgomery T 2400 ( ) 262-5197 Florence T 2400 ( ) 760-8013 Tuscaloosa T 2400 ( ) 349-5891 ALASKA ALASKA ====== ====== Anchorage (907) 276-0911 ARIZONA ARIZONA ======= ======= Benson X 2400 (602) 586-3681 Kingman X 2400 ( ) 753-5520 Phoenix ( ) 275-7337 T 2400 ( ) 275-9486 Tucson T 2400 ( ) 622-2758 ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ======== ======== Rogers (Bentonville) X 2400 (501) 631-5925 Conway X 2400 ( ) 327-2237 Springdale (Fayetteville) T 2400 ( ) 751-3103 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 122 Fort Smith ( ) 782-9197 Jonesboro X 2400 ( ) 932-1548 Little Rock T 2400 ( ) 372-6389 Stuttgart X 2400 ( ) 673-6384 CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA ========== ========== Fresno T 2400 (209) 264-4655 Madera X 2400 ( ) 645-4048 Merced X 2400 ( ) 384-2271 Modesto T 2400 ( ) 529-8055 Stockton T 2400 ( ) 465-9656 Visalia X 2400 ( ) 627-1013 Culver City S (213) 202-0540 Los Angeles 300 ( ) 776-7222 1200 ( ) 776-2710 T 2400 ( ) 776-2005 San Pedro (Long Beach) ( ) 513-6893 T 2400 ( ) 835-0411 Monterey S (408) 372-0347 Salinas S ( ) 455-1020 San Martin S ( ) 683-4195 Santa Cruz T 2400 ( ) 427-3904 Sunnyvale 300 ( ) 738-3635 1200 ( ) 746-0651 T 2400 ( ) 738-2685 Antioch S (415) 778-4010 Concord T 2400 ( ) 825-9111 Fremont/Newark (Freemont) T 2400 ( ) 793-7771 Oakland 300 ( ) 836-6800 1200 ( ) 836-5060 T 2400 ( ) 452-1233 Pleasanton T 2400 ( ) 734-8121 Redwood City T 2400 ( ) 364-0900 San Francisco (W. San Fran) S ( ) 433-4211 S. San Francisco ( ) 952-5400 T 2400 ( ) 875-3942 San Rafael ( ) 454-5300 Oceanside T 2400 (619) 439-9980 Palm Springs X 2400 ( ) 320-2568 Mira Mesa/San Diego S ( ) 530-1950 T 2400 ( ) 530-2692 San Diego ( ) 696-0060 T 2400 ( ) 696-7366 Victorville S ( ) 245-1655 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 123 Eureka T 2400 (707) 445-5412 Santa Rosa T 2400 ( ) 579-0454 Ukiah S ( ) 462-0384 Vallejo S ( ) 552-7630 Colton X 2400 (714) 825-5781 Corona S ( ) 736-0105 Garden Grove 300 ( ) 636-5102 1200 ( ) 636-5330 T 2400 ( ) 636-6602 Ontario S ( ) 983-9841 Rialto T 2400 ( ) 875-8751 Capistrano Valley (S.J. Cap.) S ( ) 661-2804 Bakersfield T 2400 (805) 833-6260 Lompoc X 2400 ( ) 735-6493 Oxnard T 2400 ( ) 487-9871 San Luis Obispo X 2400 ( ) 541-3215 Santa Barbara T 2400 ( ) 963-6811 Thousand Oaks X 2400 ( ) 497-7852 Burbank S (818) 848-2286 Canoga Park T 2400 ( ) 884-2127 El Monte ( ) 579-6440 Chico X 2400 (916) 342-0262 Marysville S ( ) 742-5139 Roseville X 2400 ( ) 726-5697 Sacramento T 2400 ( ) 441-6126 CANADA CANADA ====== ====== ALBERTA ------- Calgary (403) 232-6121 BRITISH COLUMBIA ---------------- Vancouver T (604) 253-8429 ONTARIO ------- Streetsville (Toronto) (416) 858-1230 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 124 QUEBEC ------ Montreal (514) 333-1117 COLORADO COLORADO ======== ======== Denver (303) 698-0084 T 2400 ( ) 698-1086 Fort Collins S ( ) 224-4159 Grand Junction S ( ) 245-3331 Greeley ( ) 351-6148 Loveland S ( ) 663-0907 Montrose S ( ) 249-7311 Colorado Springs T 2400 (719) 574-9090 Pueblo X 2400 ( ) 543-2289 CONNECTICUT CONNECTICUT =========== =========== Bridgeport (Fairfield) 300 (203) 373-2905 1200 ( ) 373-3047 T 2400 ( ) 373-2502 Bristol X 2400 ( ) 584-8364 Danbury T 2400 ( ) 748-0837 Groton T 2400 ( ) 445-7466 Hartford 300 ( ) 727-8400 1200 ( ) 527-5554 T 2400 ( ) 724-7527 Middletown T 2400 ( ) 527-5554 New Haven T 2400 ( ) 865-7971 Norwalk T 2400 ( ) 853-6733 Old Saybrook X 2400 ( ) 388-4481 Stamford 300 ( ) 348-2448 1200 ( ) 964-1714 T 2400 ( ) 348-3117 Waterbury T 2400 ( ) 573-9003 DELAWARE DELAWARE ======== ======== Wilmington T 2400 (302) 652-3074 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ==================== ==================== Washington (Rockville) T 2400 (301) 340-4800 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 125 T 2400 ( ) 340-5096 2400 ( ) 340-5565 FLORIDA FLORIDA ======= ======= Ft. Lauderdale T 2400 (305) 791-6202 Miami 300 ( ) 633-9772 1200 ( ) 635-6431 T 2400 ( ) 635-7826 Boca Raton T 2400 (407) 482-1055 Ft. Pierce ( ) 464-8305 Kissimmee T 2400 ( ) 847-0269 Melbourne ( ) 724-4660 Orlando ( ) 422-2823 T 2400 ( ) 422-0280 Sanford T 2400 ( ) 330-7061 Stuart S ( ) 286-1119 Vero Beach S ( ) 569-9304 W. Palm Beach ( ) 833-0116 Clearwater T 2400 (813) 447-9521 Ft. Myers ( ) 275-7071 Lakeland T 2400 ( ) 688-6020 Naples T 2400 ( ) 649-7667 Sarasota T 2400 ( ) 957-0472 Sebring T 2400 ( ) 471-0050 Tampa 300 ( ) 286-1117 1200 ( ) 286-8525 T 2400 ( ) 287-1478 Daytona Beach (904) 258-5484 Ft. Walton Beach T 2400 ( ) 664-6151 Gainesville ( ) 378-0244 Jacksonville ( ) 396-7210 T 2400 ( ) 399-8281 New Smyrna Beach S ( ) 428-2413 Ocala S ( ) 351-8039 Palatka S ( ) 328-7703 Pensacola T 2400 ( ) 434-5661 Starke S ( ) 964-4499 Tallahassee T 2400 ( ) 668-7610 GEORGIA GEORGIA ======= ======= Athens T 2400 (404) 354-6785 Atlanta ( ) 325-7293 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 126 T 2400 ( ) 633-8552 Augusta T 2400 ( ) 724-4557 Columbus T 2400 ( ) 324-7314 Dalton S ( ) 226-3400 Pine Mountain X 2400 ( ) 663-2091 Rome X 2400 ( ) 235-6031 Albany T 2400 (912) 435-4425 Macon T 2400 ( ) 742-7040 Savannah ( ) 232-4481 HAWAII HAWAII ====== ====== Hilo S (808) 935-3920 Honolulu ( ) 524-8750 T 2400 ( ) 526-2862 Wailuku (Maui) S ( ) 244-3188 IDAHO IDAHO ===== ===== Boise T 2400 (208) 344-5876 Idaho Falls T 2400 ( ) 523-0126 Kellogg X 2400 ( ) 784-1111 Nampa X 2400 ( ) 466-0209 Pocatello T 2400 ( ) 233-9612 ILLINOIS ILLINOIS ======== ======== Champaign/Urbana (Champaign) X 2400 (217) 384-1938 Decatur T 2400 ( ) 429-0192 Effingham X 2400 ( ) 342-9772 Quincy X 2400 ( ) 223-6569 Springfield X 2400 ( ) 753-8631 Bloomington T 2400 (309) 827-3861 Macomb X 2400 ( ) 833-3530 Peoria T 2400 ( ) 637-4033 Rolling Meadows (312) 303-1540 Chicago 300 ( ) 750-0501 1200 ( ) 726-0350 T 2400 ( ) 346-2868 Deerfield S (708) 405-0406 Elgin ( ) 931-4550 Naperville ( ) 369-4394 T 2400 ( ) 983-9444 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 127 Schaumburg ( ) 303-1540 Waukegan X 2400 ( ) 662-4171 De Kalb S (815) 756-8491 Freeport S ( ) 233-2621 Joliet X 2400 ( ) 722-0481 Kankakee X 2400 ( ) 933-3974 Morrison X 2400 ( ) 772-7251 Rockford ( ) 962-5062 INDIANA INDIANA ======= ======= Bluffton X 2400 (219) 824-4900 Elkhart X 2400 ( ) 295-1550 Fort Wayne 300 ( ) 456-4585 1200 ( ) 456-4471 T 2400 ( ) 745-0038 Gary X 2400 ( ) 884-6320 South Bend T 2400 ( ) 234-2931 Valparaiso X 2400 ( ) 462-7527 Anderson S (317) 643-1292 Indianapolis 300 ( ) 844-8392 1200 ( ) 844-8649 T 2400 ( ) 844-9180 Kokomo S ( ) 456-3246 Lafayette ( ) 742-1948 Muncie ( ) 289-6386 New Castle S ( ) 521-3904 Richmond S ( ) 962-8556 Greenwood (Whiteland) X 2400 ( ) 881-0596 Bloomington X 2400 (812) 332-4584 Columbus ( ) 378-1919 Crane S ( ) 854-7392 Evansville T 2400 ( ) 464-9376 Tell City X 2400 ( ) 547-6404 Terre Haute ( ) 235-6021 IOWA IOWA ==== ==== Burlington X 2400 (319) 754-8481 Cedar Falls T 2400 ( ) 233-7623 Cedar Rapids T 2400 ( ) 364-3136 Davenport T 2400 ( ) 324-0590 Dubuque X 2400 ( ) 556-7413 Belmond X 2400 (515) 444-3894 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 128 Des Moines T 2400 ( ) 280-8861 Marshalltown X 2400 ( ) 752-6776 Carroll X 2400 (712) 792-5612 Sioux City ( ) 252-2917 KANSAS KANSAS ====== ====== Hesston X 2400 (316) 327-4171 Independence X 2400 ( ) 331-2120 McPherson X 2400 ( ) 241-0346 Wichita T 2400 ( ) 262-0415 Hays X 2400 (913) 628-1704 Leavenworth ( ) 682-3317 Topeka ( ) 234-0197 KENTUCKY KENTUCKY ======== ======== Bowling Green T 2400 (502) 781-3897 Louisville ( ) 589-3820 T 2400 ( ) 589-9561 Owensboro X 2400 ( ) 685-3125 Boone (Cincinatti, OH) (606) 371-1403 T 2400 ( ) 371-1925 Lexington T 2400 ( ) 253-1556 LOUISIANA LOUISIANA ========= ========= Alexandria T 2400 (318) 448-0996 Lafayette ( ) 237-7390 T 2400 ( ) 237-9501 Lake Charles T 2400 ( ) 474-9074 Monroe T 2400 ( ) 361-0031 Shreveport T 2400 ( ) 227-9592 Baton Rouge T 2400 (504) 292-8140 Mandeville X 2400 ( ) 626-1755 New Orleans ( ) 887-7335 T 2400 ( ) 887-6637 MAINE MAINE ===== ===== Augusta (207) 622-9341 Bangor (Brewer) ( ) 989-1418 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 129 Brunswick ( ) 729-5106 Kennebunkport S ( ) 967-8642 Kittery X 2400 ( ) 439-3870 Lewiston S ( ) 784-4618 Portland ( ) 775-6593 MARYLAND MARYLAND ======== ======== Myersville (Hagerstown) X 2400 (301) 293-1920 Rockville T 2400 ( ) 340-4800 T 2400 ( ) 340-5096 T 2400 ( ) 340-5565 Salisbury X 2400 ( ) 860-5175 Towson (Baltimore) ( ) 583-7541 T 2400 ( ) 823-7630 MASSACHUSETTS MASSACHUSETTS ============= ============= North Adams X 2400 (413) 664-6787 Pittsfield ( ) 494-2351 Springfield T 2400 ( ) 781-5854 Attleboro T 2400 (508) 222-7550 Beverly S ( ) 927-7047 Fitchburg ( ) 345-7544 Framingham T 2400 ( ) 875-8248 Lawrence T 2400 ( ) 681-0501 Milford X 2400 ( ) 478-3160 Worcester T 2400 ( ) 757-3862 Cambridge (Boston) 300 (617) 868-2500 1200 ( ) 868-2830 T 2400 ( ) 868-3269 Lynn ( ) 598-7172 Quincy ( ) 471-4500 MICHIGAN MICHIGAN ======== ======== Ann Arbor T 2400 (313) 663-6866 Detroit 300 ( ) 862-0500 1200 ( ) 862-1040 T 2400 ( ) 345-9443 Flint T 2400 ( ) 785-8311 Mayfair (Farmington Hills) S ( ) 626-6570 Pontiac S ( ) 681-4291 Adrian X 2400 (517) 263-7587 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 130 Bay City X 2400 ( ) 892-0261 Jackson X 2400 ( ) 750-4115 Lansing T 2400 ( ) 484-4999 Saginaw T 2400 ( ) 752-4195 Battle Creek X 2400 (616) 968-0275 Benton Harbor X 2400 ( ) 925-9645 Grand Rapids T 2400 ( ) 459-2205 Holland T 2400 ( ) 392-1986 Kalamazoo T 2400 ( ) 343-0333 Muskegon X 2400 ( ) 725-9255 Traverse City T 2400 ( ) 947-6251 Marquette T 2400 (906) 226-7551 MINNESOTA MINNESOTA ========= ========= Duluth S (218) 722-1855 Mankato S (507) 388-1605 Owatonna S ( ) 455-1224 Minneapolis 300 (612) 623-3536 1200 ( ) 623-0038 T 2400 ( ) 623-4951 St. Cloud S ( ) 253-9706 MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI =========== =========== Aberdeen S (601) 369-6141 Bay St. Louis X 2400 ( ) 467-9228 Gulfport T 2400 ( ) 864-6294 Jackson T 2400 ( ) 948-3193 Meridian S ( ) 482-2655 MISSOURI MISSOURI ======== ======== Columbia T 2400 (314) 874-4164 Kirkwood (St. Louis) ( ) 821-9090 T 2400 ( ) 821-9099 Joplin X 2400 (417) 782-8989 Springfield T 2400 ( ) 881-2560 Kansas City (816) 472-4425 T 2400 ( ) 474-1778 Maryville S ( ) 562-2721 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 131 MONTANA MONTANA ======= ======= Billings T 2400 (406) 245-1122 Bozeman T 2400 ( ) 586-0816 Butte T 2400 ( ) 494-3320 Great Falls T 2400 ( ) 452-8517 Helena X 2400 ( ) 442-4630 Missoula X 2400 ( ) 549-9726 NEBRASKA NEBRASKA ======== ======== Kearney X 2400 (308) 234-6589 Lincoln T 2400 (402) 474-7084 Omaha 300 ( ) 344-0700 1200 ( ) 344-7840 T 2400 ( ) 345-6579 York X 2400 ( ) 362-2007 NEVADA NEVADA ====== ====== Las Vegas (702) 382-6810 2400 ( ) 385-5639 Reno ( ) 323-1671 2400 ( ) 322-0221 NEW HAMPSHIRE NEW HAMPSHIRE ============= ============= Concord X 2400 (603) 224-8024 Keene ( ) 352-8780 Manchester T 2400 ( ) 647-1603 Nashua T 2400 ( ) 889-3450 NEW JERSEY NEW JERSEY ========== ========== Bernardsville (Basking Rdg) S (201) 766-0133 Boonton (Morristown) 300 (...) 263-5053 1200 (...) 263-8826 2400 (...) 263-1080 Bound Brook S ( ) 271-1340 Franklin Park (New Brunsw) 300 ( ) 422-0009 1200 ( ) 422-8359 T 2400 ( ) 422-1133 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 132 Hackensack 300 ( ) 489-0220 1200 ( ) 489-0570 T 2400 ( ) 487-1553 Kearny T 2400 ( ) 997-7735 Perth Amboy S ( ) 442-7420 Rahway T 2400 ( ) 381-5044 Red Bank T 2400 ( ) 741-8490 Somerville (Raritan) S ( ) 722-1722 Westfield T 2400 ( ) 654-0115 Westwood (Hillsdale) S ( ) 666-1661 Atlantic City 2400 (609) 383-1998 Heightstown X 2400 ( ) 448-6110 Mrchntvll (Chrry Hll) T 2400 ( ) 486-1657 Moorstwn (Mrchntvll) T 2400 ( ) 234-9588 Pitman X 2400 ( ) 589-6874 Pleasantville (Atl. City) ( ) 641-2477 Princeton T 2400 ( ) 924-6960 NEW MEXICO NEW MEXICO ========== ========== Albuquerque T 2400 (505) 843-7790 Carlsbad S ( ) 887-5564 Hobbs X 2400 ( ) 393-1771 Las Cruces T 2400 ( ) 527-1765 Roswell S ( ) 624-0020 Santa Fe T 2400 ( ) 982-4293 NEW YORK NEW YORK ======== ======== New York City 300 (212) 980-5450 1200 ( ) 980-5441 T 2400 ( ) 752-5505 Auburn T 2400 (315) 255-3391 Syracuse ( ) 478-7005 T 2400 ( ) 422-1244 Utica ( ) 797-6550 Amityville (West Babylon) T 2400 (516) 789-2450 East Hampton X 2400 ( ) 324-5002 Mineola T 2400 ( ) 294-9170 Port Jefferson T 2400 ( ) 473-5331 Amsterdam X 2400 (518) 842-4720 Glens Falls X 2400 ( ) 793-5603 Schenectady 300 ( ) 385-1931 1200 ( ) 385-0241 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 133 T 2400 ( ) 385-3268 Binghamton (607) 772-8200 Corning ( ) 937-8391 Elmira S ( ) 734-3944 Norwich S ( ) 336-1856 Oneonta S ( ) 432-8622 Buffalo T 2400 (716) 882-0112 Niagara Falls ( ) 284-3771 Rochester 300 ( ) 546-7600 1200 ( ) 546-8200 T 2400 ( ) 454-4150 Elmsford S (914) 592-1774 Maybrook X 2400 ( ) 427-2848 Mt. Kisco S ( ) 241-8925 Nyack S ( ) 353-3492 Port Chester ( ) 939-6226 T 2400 ( ) 939-1725 Poughkeepsie T 2400 ( ) 454-0890 Woodstock X 2400 ( ) 679-8987 NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA ============== ============== Asheville S (704) 258-8396 Brevard S ( ) 883-8275 Charlotte ( ) 372-0500 T 2400 ( ) 377-6921 Gastonia S ( ) 867-1285 Hendersonville S ( ) 692-0517 Monroe S ( ) 289-5591 Newton S ( ) 465-2400 Salisbury S ( ) 637-6073 Burlington S (919) 227-9031 Burlington (Elon College) S ( ) 584-7025 Durham T 2400 ( ) 286-5507 Fayetteville ( ) 323-0968 Greensboro ( ) 275-0940 T 2400 ( ) 272-4724 High Point S ( ) 886-5038 N. Wilkesboro S ( ) 838-2461 Raleigh ( ) 834-5747 T 2400 ( ) 834-0932 Wilmington ( ) 763-3605 Winston-Salem ( ) 788-6727 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 134 NORTH DAKOTA NORTH DAKOTA ============ ============ Fargo T 2400 (701) 280-1609 Underwood X 2400 ( ) 442-3261 OHIO OHIO ==== ==== Akron T 2400 (216) 535-1594 Alliance X 2400 ( ) 821-9980 Avon Lake (Lorain) X 2400 ( ) 933-4600 Canton X 2400 ( ) 453-3374 Cleveland 300 ( ) 362-8300 1200 ( ) 362-8350 T 2400 ( ) 362-2953 Elyria X 2400 ( ) 323-5902 Youngstown ( ) 743-2116 Mansfield T 2400 (419) 522-8707 Sandusky X 2400 ( ) 625-4746 Toledo T 2400 ( ) 255-6516 Dayton T 2400 (513) 223-7174 Mason S ( ) 398-5623 Middletown S ( ) 423-4996 Springfield X 2400 ( ) 323-3037 Troy X 2400 ( ) 339-2684 Boone, KY/Cincinatti (606) 371-1403 T 2400 ( ) 371-1925 Athens X 2400 (614) 592-3058 Columbus ( ) 263-5282 T 2400 ( ) 263-5574 Coshocton T 2400 ( ) 622-0011 Martins Ferry (Wheeling, WV) T 2400 ( ) 633-2959 OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA ======== ======== Duncan S (405) 255-8489 Oklahoma City ( ) 525-9512 T 2400 ( ) 528-8948 Bartlesville T 2400 (918) 336-1493 Tulsa ( ) 664-1090 T 2400 ( ) 628-1422 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 135 OREGON OREGON ====== ====== Corvallis X 2400 (503) 752-0220 Eugene T 2400 ( ) 485-2343 Phoenix (Medford) X 2400 ( ) 535-7368 Portland ( ) 287-9045 T 2400 ( ) 249-8365 PENNSYLVANIA PENNSYLVANIA ============ ============ Allentown T 2400 (215) 439-0278 Coatesville X 2400 ( ) 384-6050 Langhorne X 2400 ( ) 757-8719 Lansdowne (Philadelphia) 300 ( ) 284-9310 1200 ( ) 284-9343 T 2400 ( ) 284-0206 Norristown ( ) 277-4030 T 2400 ( ) 284-0206 Reading T 2400 ( ) 372-4751 Butler S (412) 285-6914 New Kensington S ( ) 335-1818 Pittsburgh ( ) 572-7330 T 2400 ( ) 572-7320 Bloomsburg X 2400 (717) 389-1263 Carlisle X 2400 ( ) 245-9420 Harrisburg T 2400 ( ) 233-1465 Hazelton X 2400 ( ) 455-7561 Lancaster T 2400 ( ) 293-3234 Scranton X 2400 ( ) 348-2121 Selinsgrove X 2400 ( ) 374-1104 Williamsport ( ) 327-1858 York T 2400 ( ) 854-0225 Brookville S (814) 849-5289 Erie T 2400 ( ) 453-3641 State College ( ) 231-8010 PUERTO RICO PUERTO RICO =========== =========== Puerto Rico T 2400 ( ) 725-1200 RHODE ISLAND RHODE ISLAND ============ ============ Providence T 2400 (401) 351-0840 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 136 SOUTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA ============== ============== Aiken T 2400 (803) 649-7369 Anderson ( ) 225-4393 Charleston ( ) 722-2781 Clemson S ( ) 654-9232 Columbia T 2400 ( ) 254-6732 Florence ( ) 662-4519 Greenville ( ) 235-8871 T 2400 ( ) 235-5469 Greenwood ( ) 223-0107 Greer (Duncan) S ( ) 877-6660 Myrtle Beach S ( ) 448-2052 Spartanburg T 2400 ( ) 585-7952 Sumter X 2400 ( ) 773-9149 SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA ============ ============ Rapid City S (605) 348-8545 Sioux Falls ( ) 336-0451 TENNESSEE TENNESSEE ========= ========= Bristol X 2400 (615) 968-7583 Chattanooga ( ) 265-2920 T ( ) 266-2107 Clarksville S ( ) 645-9691 Elizabethton X 2400 ( ) 543-3662 Jefferson City X 2400 ( ) 475-3808 Johnson City X 2400 ( ) 928-7196 Kingsport T 2400 ( ) 246-7444 Knoxville T 2400 ( ) 546-7595 Murfreesboro S ( ) 896-1764 Nashville ( ) 377-8900 T 2400 ( ) 377-6171 Oak Ridge X 2400 ( ) 481-3145 Brownsville X 2400 (901) 772-4500 Jackson T 2400 ( ) 423-4404 Memphis T 2400 ( ) 761-7884 TEXAS TEXAS ===== ===== Dallas 300 (214) 638-0123 1200 ( ) 638-1227 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 137 T 2400 ( ) 634-0203 Longview T 2400 ( ) 753-4641 Sherman X 2400 ( ) 893-4648 Tyler T 2400 ( ) 595-2465 Bay City X 2400 (409) 244-3766 Beaumont T 2400 ( ) 838-2314 Bryan T 2400 ( ) 822-3067 Clute/Lk Jackson (Lk Jack) T 2400 ( ) 297-8895 Lufkin T 2400 ( ) 634-4054 Port Arthur X 2400 ( ) 985-2006 Txs Cty/LaMarque (Galveston) T 2400 ( ) 935-2161 Austin T 2400 (512) 476-6046 Brownsville ( ) 542-9175 Corpus Christi T 2400 ( ) 888-4421 Harlingen S ( ) 425-7183 Laredo X 2400 ( ) 727-7298 McAllen X 2400 ( ) 686-0060 New Braunfels X 2400 ( ) 620-0142 San Antonio 300 ( ) 225-8787 1200 ( ) 226-6513 T 2400 ( ) 271-0538 San Marcos X 2400 ( ) 392-4148 Victoria T 2400 ( ) 576-1123 Houston 300 (713) 620-7531 1200 ( ) 620-7500 T 2400 ( ) 620-7538 Amarillo T 2400 (806) 372-2403 Levelland X 2400 ( ) 894-1553 Lubbock T 2400 ( ) 763-2351 Pampa X 2400 ( ) 665-5705 Fort Worth (817) 336-0102 T 2400 ( ) 336-6209 Temple X 2400 ( ) 778-4840 Waco T 2400 ( ) 776-5860 Abilene T 2400 (915) 677-1994 Big Springs X 2400 ( ) 263-8459 El Paso ( ) 532-1631 T 2400 ( ) 533-9506 San Angelo T 2400 ( ) 949-0027 Seminole T 2400 ( ) 758-9283 Teminal (Midland-Odessa) ( ) 561-8322 T 2400 ( ) 561-5001 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 138 UTAH UTAH ==== ==== Brigham City S (801) 734-9423 Clearfield S ( ) 773-9690 Pleasant Grove (Lindon) S ( ) 785-7273 Salt Lake City ( ) 363-5503 T 2400 ( ) 485-8110 VERMONT VERMONT ======= ======= Brattleboro (802) 254-8764 Burlington T 2400 ( ) 658-0110 VIRGINIA VIRGINIA ======== ======== Blacksburg T 2400 (703) 552-7668 Bristol X 2400 ( ) 466-5952 Fredericksburg X 2400 ( ) 371-4902 Harrisonburg X 2400 ( ) 434-7317 Herndon T 2400 ( ) 391-2150 Roanoke T 2400 ( ) 774-2427 Waynesboro T 2400 ( ) 949-7411 Charlottesville T 2400 (804) 971-3641 Chester S ( ) 748-6373 Lynchburg ( ) 528-3626 Newport News (Hampton) T 2400 ( ) 245-5131 Norfolk T 2400 ( ) 625-3079 Richmond ( ) 359-6940 T 2400 ( ) 359-6966 WASHINGTON WASHINGTON ========== ========== Everett S (206) 355-2511 Olympia T 2400 ( ) 943-0641 Seattle 300 ( ) 286-6480 1200 ( ) 286-6560 T 2400 ( ) 286-6584 Tacoma T 2400 ( ) 272-2035 Vancouver X 2400 ( ) 693-3029 Kennewick T 2400 (509) 735-3579 Spokane T 2400 ( ) 534-1830 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 139 WEST VIRGINIA WEST VIRGINIA ============= ============= Beckley X 2400 (304) 255-5226 Charleston T 2400 ( ) 345-3150 Milton (Huntington) X 2400 ( ) 743-0552 Shepherdstown X 2400 ( ) 876-2537 Martins Ferry,OH (Wheelng Wv) (614) 633-2959 WISCONSIN WISCONSIN ========= ========= Appleton T 2400 (414) 739-0244 Green Bay X 2400 ( ) 432-4144 Milwaukee ( ) 475-0245 T 2400 ( ) 475-1627 Racine T 2400 ( ) 637-9721 Sheboygan T 2400 ( ) 457-5517 La Crosse T 2400 (608) 785-2810 Madison T 2400 ( ) 274-2459 Marinette X 2400 (715) 735-6604 WYOMING WYOMING ======= ======= Casper (307) 237-5201 Gillette S ( ) 686-2178 Sheridan S ( ) 672-5845 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 140 Appendix B - The Aladdin Keyboard Macro Facilities This section of this manual will cover Aladdin's keyboard macro facilities, including the macro creation, status and editing capabilities of the program. Aladdin's keyboard macro facilities are capable of storing, editing, deleting and playing back a total of 26 macro definitions, each containing 1,024 characters. The 26 macros correspond to the keystrokes [Alt-A] through [Alt-Z]. The [Alt-H] key is a special case in that it can have a macro defined to it, but if you are in the terminal mode's RTC (chat) mode the [Alt-H] keystroke's definition is overridden by an internal macro which is designed to locate and say "Hello" to everyone in the RTC room which you are visiting. All the keyboard macros which you have defined are stored in the file ALADDIN.MAC, located in the same directory where the Aladdin program files are located. The macros are loaded when you run Aladdin, and they are saved automatically when you exit the program. The keystrokes which control the keyboard macro functions are, [Alt-F5] - Lists all possible macro keystrokes and highlights those that have an active macro definition. [Alt-F6] - Begins a macro recording, optionally allows to edit, overwrite or abort a macro definition operation if the keystroke already has a macro definition attached to it. [Alt-F7] - Ends a macro recording and stores the defined macro in memory. [Alt-A] thru [Alt-Z] - Plays back the macro for that keystroke, if any. These control keys are listed only on Aladdin's main menu screen, but they are available anywhere in Aladdin. 1. Loading and saving the macro definitions Aladdin loads the macro definitions automatically from the file ALADDIN.MAC when you first start the program. Aladdin also saves the macro definitions to the file ALADDIN.MAC when you exit the program and return to DOS. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 141 2. Defining a keyboard macro To define a keyboard macro, press and hold the [Alt] key and press the [F6] key once, then release the [Alt] key. A small window will appear on the screen asking you which keystroke do you wish to define a macro for. The options are [Alt-A] through [Alt-Z]. Note that you must press the full [Alt][Key] keystroke which you wish to define. For example, if you wish to define a macro for the [Alt-A] keystroke, press [Alt-F6] and then press [Alt-A]. Aladdin will then check to see if the keystroke already has a macro definition attached to it. If it does not, Aladdin will immediately begin recording all keystrokes (up to 1,024) and will put a flashing "M" on the upper left-hand corner of the screen to let you know that it is recording a macro. Begin pressing any keys which you want to record. Aladdin will continue to interpret the keystrokes normally, so if one of the keys you press tells Aladdin to do something it will do so. 3. Overwriting a macro definition If there is already a macro definition for the keystroke which you want to record a macro for, Aladdin will pop up a second window that will ask you if you wish to overwrite the macro definition with a new one, edit the current definition, or abort the macro definition command. If you wish to overwrite the existing macro definition, press the "O" key once. Aladdin will proceed to record the macro as described in the paragraph above. 4. Editing a macro definition If you wish to edit the existing macro, press "E". Aladdin will then present you with the full-screen macro editor facility. This facility is very similar to a text editor, except that it presents keystrokes in "literal" form. For example, if one of the keystrokes in the macro definition is the function key [F6], the editor will show that keystroke as "[F6]" on the editing window. The control keys available in the macro editor are as follows: [Enter] - Finish editing and save the macro definition. [Esc] - Stop editing and restore the original macro definition. [Left] - Move the cursor one character position to the left. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 142 [Right] - Move the cursor one character position to the right. [Up] - Move the cursor one line up. [Down] - Move the cursor one line down. [Ins] - Toggle insert/overwrite mode. [Del] - Delete the keystroke at the cursor position. [BkSp] - Delete the keystroke to the immediate left of the cursor position. [Ctrl-BkSp] - Delete all keystrokes in the macro definition. [Scroll Lock] - Toggle between command mode and literal mode. In literal mode, pressing any of the keys listed above will insert that key into the macro, rather than executing the command. 5. Deleting a macro definition To delete a macro definition, press [Alt-F6] to bring up the macro keystroke definition selection window, select the existing macro by pressing the keystroke to which it is assigned, then select "E" to edit the macro. Press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press then [BkSp] key once. All the characters in the macro definition will be deleted. Press [Enter] to finish editing. The macro facility will take a look at the macro and, seeing that it is empty, will disable it. 6. Finding out which macro keystrokes are active To find out which keystrokes of the available [Alt-A] through [Alt-Z] have active macro definitions, press and hold the [Alt] key, then press the [F5] function key once. A window will open in the middle of your display that will show you which keystrokes are active. The active keystrokes will be highlighted, the inactive keystrokes will not. Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 143 Index Aladdin Terminal Mode . 3, 81 ^A . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Aladdin work files . . . . 24 ^Z . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Aladdin, RoundTable and 24 hour format . . . . . 110 Script Setup . . 29 43-line screen . . . . . . 17 Aladdin's script editor . . 95 7bit/8bit Indicator . . . . 85 Aladdin's software 7bit/8bit status l i b r a r y indicator . . . . 84 directory . . . . 25 9. Begin-Edit/End macro . . 30 Alias . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Aborting a file transfer . 92 Always pick up mail? . . . 18 Aborting a reply . . . . . 44 ASCII character 13 - Access charges C a r r i a g e savings . . . . . . . 6 Return . . . . 104 ACK . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 ASCII character set . . . . 90 Add a script . . . . . . . 95 ASCII text file . . . . . . 89 Adding a free-form Attached file . . . . . . . 62 d o w n l o a d Auto pass 1 days . . . . . 24 request . . . . . 55 Auto pass 1 options . . . . 23 Adding a RoundTable . . . . 20 Auto-save Messages? . . . . 25 Additional surcharges . . . 76 Automated operations . . 100 Address list file name . . 18 Automatic access tool . . . 27 A L A D ? ? ? . E X E Automatic pass . . . . 31, 81 Self-extracting Automatic Pass 1 . . . . . 52 distribution Automatic pass 1 or 2 . . 100 archive . . . . . 10 Automatic passes 1 and 2 . 35 Aladdin copyright notice . 82 Automatic Xmodem? . . . . . 18 Aladdin distribution kit . 95 Average cost of each Aladdin GEmail Menu . . . . 28 call . . . . . . 77 Aladdin GEnie/Modem/Optio Average duration of each n s call . . . . . . 77 configuration Background color . . . 19, 20 screen . . . . . 13 Banner Aladdin Main Menu 27, 32, 50, new GEnie services, 59, 70, 80 announcement Aladdin Miscellaneous of . . . . . . . 5 Operations BASIC's GOSUB command . . . 99 screen . . . . . 29 Baud rate . . . . . 3, 16, 33 Aladdin Options . . . . . . 18 BBS Nickname . . . . . . . 14 Aladdin phone number Begin ASCII capture . . . . 81 field . . . . . . 14 Begin-Edit/End macro - Aladdin RoundTable [Alt-F6/Alt-F7] Editing screen . 20 . . . . . . . . 30 Aladdin screen colors Begin/End ASCII Capture . . 88 configuration Billing activity . . . . . 78 screen . . . . . 13 Billing filename . . . . . 19 Aladdin Script Language 5, 9, Billing history . . . . 29, 76 95, 97 Billing history screen . . 84 Aladdin Setup Screen 76, 117 Billing information . . 19, 80 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 144 Billing rate . . . . . . . 76 random letters . . . . 74 Blackjack . . . . . . . . . 9 random words . . . . . 75 BLANKS OK/BLANKS OFF CHDIR . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Indicator . . . . 86 Check for new files . . 23, 25 Blanks OK/Blanks OFF Check for new messages 23, 34 s t a t u s Checkbook . . . . . . . . . 3 indicator . . . . 84 Checking the library for Blocks re-sent . . . . . . 92 new files . . . . 51 Blocks Received . . . . . . 92 Checking your mail . . . . 60 Borland Language Products Checksum . . . . . . . . . 90 RoundTable . 8, 22 Choosing files from the Break character . . . . 15, 52 main file list . 55 Break signal . . . . . . . 25 Choosing files to BRO NOR command . . . . 33, 34 download or Browse all new messages . . 33 browse . . . . . 52 Browsing the long Christensen, Ward descriptions of inventor of Xmodem each file . . . . 51 file transfer Bulletin Board . . . . 7, 33 protocol . . . . 90 Bulletin Board (message) Closing the capture file 112 section . . . . . 32 Club Door Bulletin . . . . 49 Bulletin Board System Club door welcome (BBS) . . . . . . 10 message . . . . . 33 BYE command . . . . . . . . 34 Colors Bytes Received . . . . . . 92 setting . . . . . . . 19 Calling during a COM1 . . . . . . . . . . . 16 prime-time COM2 . . . . . . . . . . . 16 period COM3 . . . . . . . . . . . 16 billing indicator . . 82 COM4: . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Canada Command line arguments access to GEnie . . . 3 Aladdin . . . . . . . 11 Cancelling a category . . . 40 Command mode . . . . . . 115 Capture incoming text to Command terminator . . . . 16 a file . . . . . 88 Command-line arguments CAPTURE ON/CAPTURE OFF /1 . . . . . . . . . . 12 Indicator . . . . 86 /2 . . . . . . . . . . 12 Capturing text . . . . . . 86 /7 . . . . . . . . . . 11 Carbon copy . . . . . . . . 67 /D### . . . . . . . . 11 Carrier detect . . . . . . 85 /DV . . . . . . . . . 12 Case-sensitive matching . 104 /k . . . . . . . . . . 11 Categories . . . . . . . . 7 /ls . . . . . . . . . 11 Category title . . . . . . 43 /mr . . . . . . . . . 11 CC list . . . . . . . . . . 61 /NC . . . . . . . . . 12 CD (Carrier Detect) /NOEMS . . . . . . . . 12 signal . . . . 103 /NOSOUNDS . . . . . . 12 CD (Carrier Detect) /SAVEMAIL . . . . . . 12 signal line . . . 2 /V . . . . . . . . . . 11 Change password . . . . . . 71 /X . . . . . . . . . . 11 Changing your password 29, 74 Commenting of script frequency . . . . . . 75 commands . . . . 97 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 145 Communications . . . 1, 3, 5 Dial command . . . . . . . 16 Communications buffer . . 105 Directory Communications port . . . . 3 software library . . . 8 Communications screen . . . 82 Disconnecting the call Composing new mail manually . . . . 83 messages . . . . 46 Display Composing new messages . . 46 supported . . . . . . 2 Computer keyboard buffer 118 Display a message . . . . 108 Computer's internal Display of script clock . . . . . . 82 commands . . . 108 Configuration information Display the scrolled saving . . . . . . . . 14 text . . . . . . 84 Configuration Number . . . 14 DOS . . . . . . . . . . 30, 31 Configuring the Aladdin DOS operating system . . . 30 Software . . . . 13 Download All New Mail . . . 62 Connect charges . . . . . . 76 Download all new Connection message . . . . 16 messages . . . . 33 Context-sensitive help Download and upload facility . . . . 27 files . . . . . . 90 Control characters . . . . 97 Download filename . . . . . 91 COPY . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Download or upload files 113 Cost of downloading a Download/browse display file . . . . . . 53 screen . . . . . 53 CRC . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Downloaded mail path . . . 18 Creating new topics . . . . 48 Downloading . . . . . . . . 91 Credit card . . . . . . . . 3 Downloading files that Ctrl-A through Ctrl-Z . . . 97 are attached to Cyclic Redundancy Check . . 90 messages . . . . 18 Data bits . . . . . . . . . 3 Downloading the full Data Terminal Ready . . . . 85 description of Database file . . . . . . . 36 a file . . . . . 53 Date parameter selection Downloading/uploading process . . . . . 38 files . . . . . . 31 Day of the week . . . . . 106 Downloads DAYS BACK field . . . . . . 55 Default path . . . . . 25 Default condition of a Dropping to DOS topic . . . . . . 38 Temporarily . . . 30 Default download path . . . 18 DTR (Data Terminal Default path and Ready) . . 87, 116 filename . . . . 55 DTR (Data Terminal Ready) Default prompt character . 15 signal line . . . 2 Default to insert? . . . . 18 Dumb terminal . . . . . . . 81 DEL . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 ECHO Indicator . . . . . . 85 Delete a script . . . . . . 96 ECHO status indicator . . . 84 DELETED: prefix . . . . . . 48 Edit or delete Deleting a free-form replies/new d o w n l o a d topics . . . . . 48 request . . . . . 55 Edit/Delete Mail . . . . . 69 Deleting a RoundTable . . . 21 Editing a RoundTable . . . 21 Demonstration version . . . 32 Editing file upload or Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 146 s e a r c h messages . . . . 60 operations Files not released in . . . . . . . . 58 o r d e r o f Editing screen . . . . . . 48 upload . . . . . 55 Editing the script file . . 95 Finding specific dates Editor Options . . . . . . 18 within the Efficiency factors . . . . 93 b i l l i n g EGA . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 display . . . . . 80 mode, suppresion of . 11 First message of a topic . 42 EGA or VGA display card Fix garbled prompt . . . . 82 and monitor . . . 17 Floppy disk . . . . . . . . 2 Electronic bulletin Flush Notifies . . . . . . 88 board . . . . . . 7 Foreground color . . . 19, 20 Electronic conferences . . 5 Forward a message . . . 46, 65 Electronic mail system . . 5 Forwarding messages . . . . 46 Electronic rooms . . . . . 8 Free memory . . . . . . . . 31 Electronic shopping trip . 5 Free-form Downloads . . . . 56 Empty script . . . . . . . 95 Free-form file download . . 55 Entertainment . . . . . . . 5 Garbage characters on the Erase a file . . . . . . 111 screen . . . . . 83 Execution of a script . . . 98 Garbled prompt . . . . . . 2 EXIT command GE Mail Address . . . . . . 15 returning to Aladdin GE Mail Options . . . . . . 18 from DOS after GEmail . . . 1, 5, 27, 34, 60 p r e s s alternative to [Alt-F10] . . . . 31 F e d e r a l Exiting Aladdin . . . . . . 30 Express . . . . . 28 Extended keys . . . . . . 119 alternative to U.S. Extracting a previously Mail . . . . . . 28 marked block of altternative to text to a file . 79 United Parcel Extraction process . . . . 10 Service (UPS) . . 28 Extraction to a file . . . 78 attached file . . . . 18 File description . . . . . 57 checking during pass File descriptions . . . . . 36 1 or 2 . . . . . 29 File Reader - [Alt-F8] . . 30 GEmail address . . . . 5, 39 File sizes . . . . . . . . 53 GEmail command mode . . . 117 File transfer . . . . . . . 91 GEmail Electronic Mail File transfer efficiency . 92 System . . . . . 60 File transfer elapsed GEmail Menu . . 28, 50, 59, 96 time . . . . . . 93 GEmail message . . . . . . 61 File transfer errors . . . 92 GEmail message components File transfer est. time body of the message . 61 left . . . . . . 93 CC list . . . . . . . 61 File trasnfer last error main addressees . . . 61 message area . . 93 maximum size of body File types ("X" or "7") . . 53 of message . . . 62 File upload dates . . . . . 53 optional attached File verification . . . . . 57 file . . . . . . 61 Files attached to recipient list . . . . 61 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 147 s e c o n d a r y character . . . 116 addressees . . . 61 GEnie/Modem/Aladdin specifying multiple O p t i o n s addresses . . . . 61 configuration subject field . . . . 61 screen . . . . . 33 GEmail message queue . . . 63 GEnie/Modem/Options Genealogy . . . . . . . . . 5 Configuration General Electric Screen . . . . . 25 Information Give Aladdin a nudge . . . 83 Services . . . . 1 Half duplex . . . . . . . . 3 General Electric Half-Duplex Mode . . . . . 85 Information Hang up . . . . . . . . . . 81 S e r v i c e s Hang up the phone . . 30, 87, (GEIS) . . . . . 5 114, 115 General Electric Network Hard disk . . . . . . . . . 2 for Information Hard Disk Installation . . 10 Exchange . . . 1, 5 Hayes modems . . . . . . . 14 General Mode Indicator . . 86 Hayes Smartmodem . . . . . 2 GEnie Hayes Smartmodem 2400 list of services . . . 29 reset string . . . . . 16 GEnie Access Number Header field section . . . 45 Listing . . . . . 14 Help! . . . . . . . . . . . 27 GEnie account . . . . . . . 2 hot key . . . . . . . 27 GEnie Client Services . 6, 76 Hiding your password . . 109 GEnie file keyword search Hot key . . . . . . . . . . 31 algorithm . . . . 57 IBM PC RoundTable . . . . . 33 GEnie information IBM-PC . . . . . 1, 2, 6, 16 service . . . . . 1 IBM-PC RoundTable 10, 22, 25, 71 GEnie mail . . . . . . . . 36 Ignoring topics GEnie mailbox . . . . . . . 28 permanently . . . 38 GEnie message editor Incremental files command database . . . . 56 *ACC, add carbon Information . . . . . . . . 5 c o p y Input archive file . . 18, 25 recipients . . . 67 INPUT.TXT GEnie MOVE command . . . . 71 incoming text GEnie Network storage . . . . . 25 local access point . . 33 Installation of the GEnie page number . . 22, 114 Aladdin Program GEnie product index . . 71, 72 Software . . . . 10 sorting the display . 74 Intensity Control . . . . . 20 GEnie representative Intensity option . . . . . 19 customer service . . . 3 International network GEnie RoundTables . . . . . 6 services . . . . 3 GEnie User Manual . . . . . 5 Interrupting an operation GENIE.LST . . . . . . . . . 71 break character . . . 15 filename, holds Invoke Aladdin's Script GEnie product Menu . . . . . . 95 index . . . . . . 22 Invoking an Aladdin GEnie's default prompt Script . . . . . 95 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 148 KEEP . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Mark a block of text . . . 78 Keyboard buffer . . . 105, 118 Mark status . . . . . . . . 36 Keyboard scan code . . . 119 Mark topics found by "C" . 36 KEYWORD field . . . . . . . 54 Marked topics . . . . . . . 23 Keyword(s) . . . . . . . . 39 Marking a block of text . . 79 Last file date . . . . 25, 26 Maximum RoundTables . . . . 28 Last message in a topic . . 38 Message display screen . . 43 L H A R C f i l e Message number . . . . . . 43 archive/compres Message reply . . . . . . . 64 sion utility . . 10 Message reply header . . . 64 Libraries Messages waiting . . . . . 34 software . . . . . . . 8 Microsoft Product Support Line noise . . . . . . . . 2 RoundTable . . . 22 List defined macros - Minimum Hardware [Alt-F5] . . . . 30 Requirements . . 1 List of existing topics . . 36 Miscellaneous Operations 22, 29 Local access numbers . . . 3 Miscellaneous Options Local echo . . . . . . . . 3 Menu 50, 59, 70-72, Local GEnie access 80, 97 number . . . . . 14 Mnemonic access code . . . 71 Log off . . . . . . . . . . 81 Modem . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3 Log Off from GEnie . . . . 87 connection . . . . . . 33 Log on . . . . . . . . . . 81 dialing string . . . . 14 Log On to GEnie . . . . . . 87 No connection . . . . 17 Log on to RoundTable BBS . 35 Reset command . . . . 16 Log on to RoundTable RTC . 35 s u c c e s s f u l Logging on to the connection RoundTable RTC . 52 messages . . . . 16 Login procedure . . . . . 109 Modem reset string . . . . 11 Login prompt . . . . . . . 33 Modem setup . . . . . . . . 2 Long distance fees . . . . 15 Modem switch settings . . 116 Long file description . . . 57 Modems . . . . . . . . . 115 Long screen EGA . . . . . . 17 Modifying the display Look Back mode . . . . . . 84 colors . . . . . 19 Macro Facilities . . . . 141 Moving from RoundTable to Macros RoundTable . . . 49 defining . . . . . . 142 Moving the cursor up and d e l e t i n g a down . . . . . . 36 definition . . 143 MS-DOS . . . . . . . . . . 1 editing an existing Multi-player Blackjack . . 5 definition . . 142 Multiple configuration editor control keys 142 setups . . . . . 14 listing active Multiple GEmail keystrokes . . 143 addresses . . 46, 66 loading . . . . . . 141 Multiple GEnie accounts overwriting an configuration of . . . 14 existing one . 142 NAK . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 saving . . . . . . . 141 NEW command . . . . . . . . 34 Mail waiting . . . . . . . 35 New messages . . . . . . . 38 Mailbox . . . . 33-35, 62, 107 New messages pending . . . 43 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 149 New services available on Place-marker . . . . . . . 97 GEnie . . . . . . 73 Pre-configured prompt New topics and messages . . 43 character . . . 114 News of the day . . . . . . 33 Prime-time . . . . . . . . 15 NewsGrid items . . . . . 115 Prime-time rate . . . . . . 76 Nickname . . . . . . . . . 5 Printing a message . . . . 66 Non-prime-time . . . . . . 15 Printing the current Normal prompt character . 114 message . . . . . 47 NumLock . . . . . . . . . . 19 Private replies . . . . . . 45 On/Off-line Indicator . . . 85 Product index . . . . . . . 22 One-time notices . . . . . 49 Program version numbers . . 58 Online charges . . . . . . 1 Programming . . . . . . . . 5 Open a new topic . . . . . 40 Prompt Opening screen . . . . . . 11 GEnie, login . . . . . 3 Operating system . . . . . 2 Prompt Character . . 15, 114 Optional attached file . . 62 Public data network . . . . 15 Output archive file . . 18, 25 Puerto Rico OUTPUT.TXT access to GEnie . . . 3 output text archive Pulse dialing . . . . . . . 16 file . . . . . . 25 Quick Access Keys . 50, 59, 70 Packets of data . . . . . . 92 RDY Indicator . . . . . . . 85 Page numbers . . . . . . . 71 Read and Reply to Mail . . 63 on GEnie, meaning . . 22 Read and reply to Parity messages . . . . 43 communications . . . . 3 READ command . . . . . 34, 35 Pass 1 . . . . . . . . 23, 29 READY prompt message . . . 93 Pass 2 . . . . . . . . . . 29 Real Time Conference . . . 8 Password . . . . . . . 14, 33 Real Time Conferencing . . 28 changing of . . . . . 14 Receive files . . . . . . . 91 protection and Recipient list . . . . . . 61 safeguarding Reply to old topics . . . . 36 of . . . . . . . 6 Reply to the current Password maintenance . . . 71 message . . . . . 44 Path and/or file name . . . 93 Replying to messages . . . 48 PC-DOS . . . . . . . . . . 1 Review billing history . . 71 Pending actions . . . . . . 36 Role-playing games . . . . 5 Pending messages . . . . . 43 Rooms Perform Automatic Pass 1 Real Time Conference or 2 . . . . . . 35 Areas . . . . . . 8 Perform pending Root directory . . . . . . 10 operations . . . 34 RoundTable . . . . . . 1, 27 Performing multiple batch file directory . . . . 25 downloads . . . . 51 RoundTable Bulletin Performing pending Board . . . . . . 34 operations . . . 52 RoundTable Configuration Perpetual billing screen . . . 20, 32 history . . . . . 71 RoundTable Editing Personal address file . 46, 65 Screen . . . . . 22 Personal address list . 18, 68 RoundTable Files . . . . . 24 Phone line . . . . . . . . 2 RoundTable Menu 32, 36, 50, 51 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 150 RoundTable Menu Keys . . . 28 109, 115, 119 RoundTable name . . . . . . 23 {string} argument . 103, RoundTable Options . . . . 17 106, 108, 111, 113, RoundTable Real Time 114, 116, 117 Conference {text} argument . . . 98 area . . . . . . 35 {time} argument . . 110 RoundTable Setup Menu . . . 71 {verb} argument . . 104 RoundTable Software ALARM . . . . . 107, 109 Library section BEEP . . . 108, 111, 113 menu . . . . . . 59 CALL . . . . . . . . . 99 RoundTables . . . . . . . . 5 CAPTURE . 103, 111, 121 RSCARDS Multi-Player case-sensitive Blackjack area . 29 matching . . . 104 RTC . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 CLEAR Command . . . 108 RTC (Real Time COMMANDMODE . . . . 115 Conferences) . . 8 CURRENTLINEHAS RTC Indicator . . . . . . . 86 Condition . . . 103 RTC Mode . . . . . . . 8, 83 DATAWAITING Running charges . . . . . . 76 Condition . . . 105 Running charges display . . 82 DAYOFWEEK Condition 106 Save all incoming debugging aid . . . 108 messages . . . . 25 display of script Saving a message . . . . . 47 commands . . . 108 Saving incoming text . . 111 ECHO . . . . . . . . 108 Scan code . . . . . . . . 119 ELSE . 101, 106, 111-113, Script Configuration . . . 26 118, 120, 121 script delimiters . . . . . 97 ENDCAPTURE . . . 103, 111 Script editing mode . . . . 95 ENDIF . . 101, 106, 107, Script editor . . . . . . . 96 111-113, 115, 118, Script file name . . . . . 18 120, 121 Script identification ENDSCRIPT 98, 107, 111, number . . . . 100 112, 115, 120, 121 script labels . . . . . . . 97 ERASEFILE 103, 111, 112, 121 Script language . . . . 18, 95 EXIST Condition . . 106 "HAS" verb . . . . . 104 GETKEY . . . . . . . 119 "IS" verb . . . . . 104 GETSTRING 98, 103, 104, 120 {condition} GOTO 98, 103, 105, 118, 120 argument . 101, 107 HANGUP . . . . . . . 115 {day} argument . . . 107 HIDE . . . . . . . . 109 {digit} argument . . 98, IF . 101, 105, 106, 109, 104, 119, 120 111-113, 115, 118, {direction} 120, 121 argument . . . 113 KEYWAITING 105, 110, 119 {filename} argument 113 K E Y W A I T I N G {keyword} argument . 118 Condition . . . 105 {label} argument . . . 99 label . . . . . . . . 98 {promptstring} LOG . . . . . . 103, 111 argument . . . 117 LOG OFF . . . . 107, 113 {seconds} argument . 110 LOG ON . . 102, 107, 113 {state} argument . . 108, LOG ONTO . . . . 112, 113 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 151 MAILFOUND Condition 107, 109 keywords, MONITOR . 105, 110, 118 u p l o a d e r NOTE 100, 105, 106, 108, or upload 111-113, 118, 120, 121 date . . . . . . 51 ONLINE Condition . . 103 Searching the billing PAUSE . . . . . . . 110 information . . . 80 PERFORM . . . . 100, 111 Searching the topic list . 39 QUOTES . . . . . . . 115 Selecting a block of RETURN . . . 99, 100, 107 text . . . . . . 78 scope of a label . . . 99 Selection parameters . . . 37 SCRIPT . . 98, 107, 111, Send ASCII file . . . . 81, 89 112, 115, 120, 121 Send Mail . . . . . . . 62, 67 SEND . . . . . . 116, 120 Sending a file . . . . . . 93 SENDCOMMAND . . 104, 116 Sending a spreadsheet . . . 28 SENDLINE 103, 109, 112, 116 Sending/Receiving Mail . . 34 SENDSPECIALCOMMAND 115, 116 Shopping . . . . . . . . . 5 SETSTRING . . . 98, 104 Shopping mall . . . . . . . 5 SNAPSHOT . . . . 103, 112 Short description of a STRING Condition . . 104 file . . . . . . 53 SUCCESS . . . . 103, 107 Single quote "'" . . . . 115 SUCCESS Condition . 102, Smartmodem . . . . . . . . 2 107, 110, 111, 113, Software exchange . . . . . 5 116, 117, 120 Software Library 8, 23, 32, 52 TRUE or FALSE Software library indexes . 24 result . . . . 101 Software Library listing . 52 user-defined string 104 Software library numbers . 57 user-defined Software Library section 49, subroutines . . . 99 51, 52 WAITFOR . 103, 109, 112, Software Library 113, 117 Settings . . . . 25 WAITFORDATA . . . . 118 Sorting the RoundTable WAITFORDATA STOP . . 112 List . . . . . . 22 WAITFORKEYPRESS . . 118 Special delimiting WAITFORPROMPT 103, 116, 117 characters . . . 97 WAITUNTIL . . . 103, 110 Special modem dialing XMODEM . . . . . 103, 113 characters . . . 14 XMODEM1K . . . . . . 113 Special one-time notices . 49 Script Language Command Special save (Ctrl-S) . . . 66 {text} argument . . . 98 Special save of a message Script Language Syntax to a file . . . . 47 Guidelines . . . 97 Start a new topic . . . . . 40 Script languages . . . . . 27 Start new topics . . . . . 28 Script menu . . . . . . . . 97 Starting a new topic Script number . . . . . . . 95 w i t h i n a Script window . . . . . . . 98 category . . . . 8 Scripts . . . . . . . . . . 95 Starting Aladdin . . . . . 11 Search for a service . . . 73 Status line . . . . . . . . 82 Search string field . . . . 80 Status messages and Searching for a file . . . 54 fields . . . . . 82 Searching for files by Status of a file . . . . . 53 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 152 Browse . . . . . . . . 53 Touch-tone dialing . . . . 16 download . . . . . . . 54 Transfer files . . . . . . 90 Keep . . . . . . . . . 53 Transfer speed . . . . . . 92 STAY indicator . 83, 86, 114 True break . . . . . . . . 15 Stay on-line when done . . 82 Tymnet . . . . . . . . . . 15 Stellar Emperor . . . . . . 5 Unauthorized use of your Stop bit . . . . . . . . . 3 GEnie account . . 75 Store all new messages . . 23 Unignore command . . . . . 38 Subject field . . . . . 46, 61 Unread messages . . . . . . 36 Summary of the month's Upcoming Real Time b i l l i n g Conferences . . . 49 activity . . . . 77 Update topic list . . . . . 42 Supress "snow"? . . . . . . 17 Updating the GEnie Sysop . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Product Index . . 73 System clock . . . . . . 110 Upload date . . . . . . 25, 52 System Operator (SysOp) Upload keywords . . . . . . 57 System Operator . . . 7 Upload request paths and Technical advice . . . . . 6 filenames . . . . 56 Telenet . . . . . . . . 15, 76 UPLOADER field . . . . . . 55 Telephone company . . . . . 2 Uploading a file . . . . . 56 Temporary password . . . . 3 Use usual marks? . . . . . 17 Terminal emulation . . . . 5 Use Zmodem? . . . . . . . . 17 Terminal Menu . . . . . 50, 70 User ID . . . . . . . . . . 33 Terminal mode . 9, 27, 29, 35, User ID string . . . . . . 14 52, 81 User identification Terminal Mode menu 91, 97, 113 number . . . . . 3 Terminal Mode screen . . . 81 User-defined automated Terminal program . . . . . 3 tasks . . . . . . 95 Terminate the call . 30, 115 User-defined string . 98, 104, Terminate the session . . 114 119, 120 Text editor display User-defined subroutines . 99 color . . . . . . 20 VGA . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Text editor window . . . . 95 mode, suppresion of . 11 Text mode . . . . . . . . . 17 Video 7 VEGA VGA video Time of day . . . . . . . 110 card Time-out (seconds) . . . . 19 supression of Time-out value . . . . . . 19 EGA/VGA mode Timeout period . . . . . 117 of . . . . . . . 11 Topic header . . . 41, 43, 45 Video Options . . . . . . . 17 Topic index . . . . . . 40, 42 View GEnie banner . . . . . 88 Topic subject . . . . . . . 41 View Notifies . . . . . . . 87 Topic subject header . . . 40 View your billing Topic subject/content history . . . . . 77 "mutation" . . . 38 Viewing the Club Door Topic titles and Bulletin . . . . 49 summaries . . . . 33 Xmodem Download (CRC) . . . 81 Topics . . . . . . . . 7, 36 XMODEM File Download and automatic pass 1 Upload (CRC) . . 90 options . . . . . 23 XMODEM file tranfers . . . 90 Topics with new messages . 17 XMODEM file transfer Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 153 protocol . 90, 113 Xmodem Upload (CRC) . . . . 81 XON/XOFF Indicator . . . . 86 YYMMDD format . . . . . . . 39 Zmodem Downloads . . . . . 93 ZOO file archive and compression program . . . . . 10 Aladdin User's Manual Copyright (c) 1990 GE Information Services Page Number: 154