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Section 8 -- Interactive Mode
Interactive Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
The Interactive Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Conference Mode Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
TAPCIS(tm) Documentation Copyright (c) 1990, Support Group, Inc.
800-USA-GROUP, 301-387-4500
========================================================================
Interactive Mode
========================================================================
Up to this point we have described primarily the autopilot capabilities of
TAPCIS. This manual started off by telling you that TAPCIS was designed
primarily for forums and CompuServe Mail. That is true. However, TAPCIS can be
used to access the other parts of the vast CompuServe Information Service,
too. This is done in "interactive mode" where you give the CompuServe
computers commands directly. This is also referred to as "terminal mode."
The <I>nteractive command is given from the main menu. If you want to go to a
specific forum, enter that forum's number at the prompt. Otherwise, press
<Enter> to connect to CompuServe and be left in your personal file area. For a
list of CompuServe commands see page ?.
Issue the command GO CIS to get to the top of the CompuServe menu system. You
can tour CompuServe just by following the menus to areas you find interesting.
Watch the elapsed time in the upper right corner though!
TAPCIS Interactive Mode 8-1
------------------------------------
The Interactive Keyboard
Most of the keys when interactive are passed directly through to CompuServe.
Some are interpreted by TAPCIS as commands. A letter preceded by a caret <^>
means to hold the control key and press the letter:
<Alt-Q> This is perhaps the most reliable way to end an interactive
session. TAPCIS sends a command to CompuServe to logoff and
then immediately drops the connection. However, if you are in
the middle of downloading a file, TAPCIS will wait until the
download is complete to logoff.
<Alt-H> Aborts whatever you're trying to do and hangs up the phone.
This is the "bail out" key. You should first try to logoff
normally or use <Alt-Q>.
<PgDn> If you want to capture what you are doing interactively, press
<PgDn> and then enter the name of the file in which you want
the captured session stored. If you want to stop the capture at
any time press the <PgDn> key again. You can use PRN as a file
name to echo the screen to your printer. However, this slows
transmission down and is much less economical than capturing
the file and printing it offline.
<PgUp> Is used to upload an ASCII file without error checking or to
start the execution of a script. TAPCIS scripts must end with
the file extension .SCR.
<Ctrl-X> Enter the CO mode. In this mode you type in a small three line
window at the bottom of the screen. When you press <Enter>
twice in a row or you press <Enter> at the end of the third
line, your input is sent to CompuServe all at once. In a CO
this is useful so that you can start typing your response while
the other person is still "talking." When the other person is
done you can send your text or erase it. Remember that in a
conference that all CO commands start with a slash in the first
column. All other lines are sent to all people in the
conference.
<Alt-L> Scrollback allows you to look at the last 350 lines of text.
Useful for reviewing information that passes too quickly on the
screen. A reminder that you are viewing the scrollback buffer
remains at the top of the screen. You can use the up/down
arrows and PgUp/PgDn to review the text.
<Alt-B> Sends a <break>.
You can also tell TAPCIS that you would like to stay online interactively
during a normal session generated by pressing <N>ew or <O>nline. After TAPCIS
logs on you can press <Esc> at any time to stay online. A "Remaining online"
message will appear on the top line as a reminder. <Esc> is a toggle, and if
you press it twice, the message will disappear and TAPCIS will log off
automatically.
8-2 Interactive Mode TAPCIS
========================================================================
Conference Mode Screen
========================================================================
Figure 0 shows several CO commands. The /HELP will give you a full list of
commands. (You could capture that list with the <PgDn> key). The /UST command
gives you a list of users in the forum and the names of the ones in CO. The
/HANdle command lets you change your name for the CO (you should do this to
make your name shorter).
The /EXIT command gets you out of the CO. Notice that the command has not been
transferred to CompuServe since the second <Enter> has not been pressed.
A second ^X (<Ctrl-X>) switches back to terminal mode.
<Ctrl-Y> erases the current line.
<Ctrl-U> in the above example would erase the /EXIT command even though it is
on the line above the cursor. (Once the command is sent to CompuServe these
keys would not have an effect).
Macros can also be used to automate many of the conference functions. See
Macros on page 9-7.
TAPCIS Interactive Mode 8-3