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NOTES(1) University of Illinois (May 10, 1986) NOTES(1)
NAME
notes, autoseq, readnotes - a news system
SYNOPSIS
notes [ -sxin ] [ -o date-spec ] [ -a subsequencer ] [ -t
termtype ] [ -f file ] topic1 [ ... ]
autoseq [ -a subsequencer ]
readnotes [ -a subsequencer ]
DESCRIPTION
Notes supports computer managed discussion forums. It
coordinates access to and updates of data bases of notes and
their responses. A single notesfile contains an ordered
list of base notes, each of which may have an ordered list
of responses associated with it. A note string consists of
a base note and all of its responses. Separate notesfiles
contain discussions on separate subject matters;
microcomputers might be discussed in a ``micronotes''
notesfile while bicycling enthusiasts make their comments in
a ``bicycle'' notesfile.
The -s option signals notes to use the automatic sequencer.
With the sequencer enabled, notes shows the new notes and
responses since your last entry into that notesfile. With
the sequencer enabled by -s the notes program will not enter
notesfiles which have no new text. Specify -x to use the
sequencer and enter notesfiles even if they have no new
text. The -i and -n options are still more sequencing
modes, -i is similar to -s but shows the index page instead
of the first modified note. -n turns the sequencer off.
The -o option helps users find articles that are vaguely
remembered with terms such as ``some note in the last 3 days
in one of several notesfiles''. These can be found with a
command like:
notes -o "3 days ago" nf1 nf2 nf3
which sequences past all articles written in notesfiles
``nf1'', ``nf2'', and ``nf3'' in the last 3 days. The
user's timestamps are not updated.
The -a option specifies a subsequencer. This allows several
people sharing the same signon to maintain their own
sequencer file. The actual sequencer name is generated by
concatenating the user name and the subsequencer name. It
is recommended that subsequencer names be unique within the
first 6 characters.
Specify -t termtype to override the TERM environment
Page 1 (printed 2/25/88)
NOTES(1) University of Illinois (May 10, 1986) NOTES(1)
variable. This switch is primarily for V6 systems.
The -f option directs notes to read the contents of a file
for a list of notesfiles to scan. This file and the
directories must be readable by the notesfile user id.
The topic list specifies which notesfiles are to be scanned.
The notesfiles are scanned from left to right; upon
finishing the first topic, the second is entered. The
shell's meta-characters are recognized within a topic but
must be escaped to prevent shell interpretation. Specifying
``net.*'' will yield all the notesfiles with the prefix
``net.''. Specify ``*unix*'' to read all notesfiles with
the string ``unix'' in their names. Bracket and question
mark constructs are also recognized.
Notesfile names are parsed such that a notesfile will be
entered only once no matter how many times it is listed on
the command line and in any files specified by the -f
option. Notesfiles can also be excluded by prefixing their
names with a `!'. Thus to see all notesfiles except
``general'', one might type:
notes "*" !general
The autoseq and readnotes commands allow sequencing through
a list of notesfiles with the sequencer enabled using with a
single command. Autoseq and Readnotes function identically.
They are syntactically equivalent to ``notes -s $NFSEQ''.
The environment variable NFSEQ contains a comma separated
list of notesfile specifications. A typical NFSEQ
definition for the Bourne shell looks like:
NFSEQ=``general,announce,net.*,bicycle,srg,:/usr/essick/nflist''.
Specifications beginning with a `:' specify a file to read
for more notesfile names. In the previous example, the last
specification reads the contents of the file
`/usr/essick/nflist' for more notesfile specifications.
Many of these can appear in the NFSEQ variable.
Notes and responses are entered by using an editor. The
default editor is ed(1). This can be changed by setting one
of the environment variables NFED or EDITOR. Notes looks for
NFED before looking for EDITOR, allowing users to use
different editors for writing notes and for other tools.
Some commonly used commands within the notesfile system are
listed below:
space Show the next page of the note/response.
Page 2 (printed 2/25/88)
NOTES(1) University of Illinois (May 10, 1986) NOTES(1)
; Go the next response, if there are no more
responses go to the next note.
- Go to the previous page of the current
note/response. From the first page of a response,
go to the previous response (or the base note from
the first response). From the first page of a
base note, go to the previous note.
newline Go to the next note.
j Jump to the next unread note/response (when using
sequencer).
J Jump to the next unread note, ignoring any further
responses in the current note string (when using
sequencer).
w When issued from the index page enters a new note.
When entered from a note/response display enters a
response. A capital-W will include the text of
the currently displayed note/response in the new
response.
q Leave the current notesfile.
Q Leave the current notesfile without updating the
sequencer information.
control-d Return to the shell, ignoring any further
notesfiles in the current invocation. No sequencer
information is updated.
x Search for a note with the (prompted for) string
in its title. Capital-X asks for a new search
string, otherwise the last entered string is used.
s Saves the currently displayed note/response at the
end of a (prompted for) file. Capital-S saves the
entire note string.
M Sends the text of the note/response displayed and
your comments to another user(s). The P command
routes the letter to the author of the
note/response.
t Issues a write(1) command to the author of the
currently displayed note/response. No action is
taken if the note originated on a remote system or
is anonymous.
! Forks a shell.
Page 3 (printed 2/25/88)
NOTES(1) University of Illinois (May 10, 1986) NOTES(1)
Only the notesfile owner can create new notesfiles. The
notesfile owner will create the notesfile and turn control
over to the person requesting the notesfile. This person is
the notesfile director; he may designate others to also be
notesfile directors. The notesfile director has special
privileges including: deleting any note, determining policy
for the notesfile, permitting anonymous notes, and
determining accessibility of the notesfile.
An interface is provided to news(1). Transfers in both
directions are supported. See newsoutput(8) and the
Notesfile Reference Manual for more information on this
facility.
Facilities for mailing to notesfiles ( nfmail(8) ),
networking notesfiles ( nfxmit(8) ), printing notesfiles (
nfprint(1) ), archiving old notes ( nfarchive(8) ), and
several user routines ( nfabort(3) and nfcomment(3) ) exist.
The concept of a notesfile was taken from the PLATO system
(a trademark of Control Data Corporation) designed at the
University of Illinois to provide automated teaching
capabilities.
FILES
/etc/passwd for the users
name
/etc/group for the users
group(s)
/etc/termcap for terminal
capabilites
/usr/spool/notes the default
notesfile data
base
/usr/spool/notes/.utilities utility
programs and
online help
/usr/spool/notes/.sequencer/user Sequencing
timestamps for
user.
/usr/spool/notes/.sequencer/user:subsequencer
Sub-sequencing
timestamps for
user.
SEE ALSO
checknotes(1), ed(1), mknf(8), news(1), newsoutput(8),
nfabort(3), nfaccess(8), nfarchive(8), nfmail(8), nfpipe(1),
nfprint(1), nfstats(1), nfxmit(8), nfcomment(3), notes(8),
termcap(3), write(1),
The Notesfile Reference Manual
Page 4 (printed 2/25/88)
NOTES(1) University of Illinois (May 10, 1986) NOTES(1)
AUTHORS
Ray Essick (uiucdcs!essick, essick%uiuc@csnet-relay.arpa)
Department of Computer Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL
Rob Kolstad (kolstad@convex.UUCP)
CONVEX Computer Corporation
Richardson, TX
Page 5 (printed 2/25/88)