To use another computer, you must have an "account" (or "login") on that computer. The account is identified by your "user name" on the computer.
Accounts are created, or at least authorized, by the person or persons running the computer where the account exists. In order to prevent people from using other people's accounts, each account usually has a password. You will have to know both the user name and the password to use an account.
TOPS Terminal remembers descriptions for all the accounts you tell it about. An account description has five parts: your user name, the password for your user name, an indication of which computer contains the account, the terminal type to use on the account, and some check boxes for account options.
If you don't tell TOPS Terminal your password, you will be asked for the password once during every invocation of TOPS Terminal that connects to that computer.
For computers on TCP/IP networks, the procedures for getting an account vary widely. If you are using TOPS Terminal at work or school and you are unsure how to get the account(s) you need, contact your local computer support staff, or your advisor or teacher.
For small bulletin board systems run by private citizens in their homes on a non-profit basis, you can usually get an account just by calling and following the other computer's instructions.
For a commercial network like CompuServe, you usually have to buy a "login kit" at a bookstore or computer store; the kit will include the numerical "user name" and the password for your new account. However, in some cases (e.g., the WELL) you can call a commerical computer and give billing information for a new account over the phone.
The account description uses a check box to specify whether a temporary file is used for session transcripts using the account. A temporary file goes permanently into the trash upon having its window closed. You will NOT be asked whether you want to save changes on a temporary file unless you have saved it once already.
You would not want to use a temporary file, for instance, to retrieve stock quotations from Dow Jones On-Line Retrieval Service, but you probably would want a temporary file for a routine session at work or school.
If you want to keep a temporary file, just save it (using the Save or Save As command in the file menu) before closing it. This removes the "temporary" mark on the file.
Another check box controls whether "Capture Lines Off Top" is initially turned on for sessions to the account; see the help entry on "Capture Lines Off Top" for more information.
