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WildCat! 3.0 User's Manual
Main Menu
Since the Main Menu is always the first encountered following logon,
as well being a gateway to other areas of the system, the discussion
will start here. The menu choice selections are presented in
alphabetical order for easy reference.
B ulletin Menu
When the B option is selected, the Bulletin Menu is displayed. The
Bulletin menu could be considered a sub-menu of sorts, in that it
presents the options of reading one or more bulletins by selecting a
bulletin number, relisting the bulletins that are available for
display, downloading a bulletin, or simply returning to the Main
Menu. If any bulletins have been updated since your last logon, you
will be presented a listing of those bulletins by number, and an
opportunity to read only new bulletins.
C omment to the sysop
This choice enables you to enter a private message to the SysOp.
WILDCAT! makes these comments an integral part of the message base
for easy reply, if desired. All comments are placed in the message
conference from which they originate.
D oors
You will be presented the Doors Menu for further prompting as to
which door program should be run.
F ile Menu
Transfers you to the File Menu.
G oodbye & Logoff
If your current help level is set to the NOVICE mode, choosing the
Goodbye option is followed by the confirmation prompt "Are you
sure?". If you respond with a Y, then normal logoff procedures are
begun. Otherwise WILDCAT! will assume the command has been entered in
error, and will return you to the then current menu. If your current
help level is set to the REGULAR or EXPERT, this extra prompt will no
longer be displayed.
The confirmation prompt may be overridden even in the novice mode of
operation by entering G Y or G;Y. This method of stacking commands is
available in many locations within WILDCAT, and will be pointed out
where it is most commonly used. Note that command stacking may not be
used with the hot key option.
The Goodbye command is available in ALL major menus and performs
exactly the same in each of them.
? Help with Commands
There is a help screen associated with each major menu in WILDCAT!
which more fully explains the options available. You may select this
option as a refresher course after having toggled your help level
to REGULAR or EXPERT.
H elp Level
WILDCAT! supports three different levels of menu prompts:
[N]ovice - The first and the default value for new users is the Novice
level. At this level, you will be presented with full dynamic menus
with a command line prompt containing the name of current menu area,
and the first character for a particular option in the current menu.
[R]egular - The second level is the Regular level. At this level, menus
show only the command line with the name of the current area of the
system and the first letter option designators. No menus are
displayed at this level.
[E]xpert - The final and highest level is Expert. At this level only the
particular area of the system is displayed. No menus or letter
designators are included.
The Help level command is available in ALL major menus and the usage
is exactly the same in each of them.
I nitial Welcome Screen
Contents of the welcome files are re-displayed to you, with screen
pauses determined by the setup in these respective files and your
settings. If you stopped the original display of one or more of these
files using the space bar or CTRL-K, and then later wish to review
the contents of these entry-level display screens. The I option
permits doing so without having to logoff and then call again.
J oin Conference
Join conference allows you to change the active message area to
any other available on the system.
Note that it is not necessary to change to each conference in order
to read messages since the Read command allows automatic reading
across conference boundaries. For additional details see the Message
Menu commands Read and Update Default Conference. This command is
active on all menus.
M essage Menu
The MESSAGE menu is displayed.
N ewsletter
Displays the contents of the Newsletter file to you with screen
pauses.
P age the SYSOP
This selection is used to page the system operator. The response of
the a page request will vary depending on whether the current time is
within the SysOp's paging hours.
If a page is answered the SysOp can type directly to the caller from
the local keyboard.
If WILDCAT! has detected that you have ANSI enabled, the chat will
take place in split-screen mode.
If the page is not answered, you will be offered the option of
immediately entering the message editor to leave a comment to the
sysop regarding his page. If entered, the message is routed as a
comment to the conference sysop with a subject line indicating the
date and time, and that it resulted from an unsuccessful page.
Q uestionnaire
The user is presented the Questionnaire Menu for further prompting as
to which questionnaire to answer.
S ystem Statistics
This menu choice displays the system statistics file, which contains
information about the BBS.
T alk to other Nodes
If a multi-line (multi-node) system is in operation this choice
allows users to enter into private and group chat with other nodes.
A sub-menu is presented.
U serlog List
You will be presented with the entire user list of the system,
displayed in alphabetical order, along with the type of computer they
are using, the date they last called and their "from" user entry. The
usual screen pauses are in effect while using this option.
V erify User
A search can be made on any portion of a user name on the system.
Pressing V brings up a sub-prompt to enter a name or partial name. At
the sub-prompt, enter all (or portion of) a user's first or last
name. The more information that is provided at this prompt, the more
detailed the resulting search. A search of Jim would find every user
named Jim on the system, along with their "from" entry and the date
of their last call.
A search of jim h would find, for example, both Jim Hightower and Jim
Harvey, plus any others whose first name was Jim and whose last name
begins with the letter H. Notice in this example that the search is
also insensitive to case.
W ho is on other nodes
Presents you with a list of the names logged on to other nodes
sharing the same Node Information file.
Y our System Settings
You are allowed to make changes to certain information in the
system's User database. When [Y] is selected a sub-menu is presented.
From the sub-menu, you may alter the items marked 1-15. The right
column, which is maintained by the system or the system operator, is
provided as information for the user, and may not be changed by a
caller.
Note that some items such as birthdate, phone and alias name may be
configured to only allow changes with sysop approval. The Alias field
will only be displayed when Your Settings is invoked from within a
conference supporting alias names.
MESSAGE MENU
C heck for Mail
WILDCAT! scans and lists the numbers of all messages which are
addressed to you. The scan first presents a sub-prompt to search the
[C]urrent conference or [S]elected conference based on your default
selection list. This is essentially an operation to review all
messages to you, whether new or old. It is a quick review method, but
there are more specific and more powerful options that may be used
instead.
D ownload Mail (off-line message reader)
This is a special message section menu choice which is used to enable
an off-line message reader, if desired. If used, it allows WILDCAT!
to transfer control to another program for downloading of messages.
It operates in a manner very similar to a door.
E nter Message
Messages may only be entered and saved into the currently active
conference. You will be presented with the prompt:
To ([ENTER] = All)? [ ]
At this prompt a specific user name may be entered and WILDCAT! will
check the user database. An entry not in the database is allowed only
if the conference is set for valid names only. In an alias conference
only valid alias names are accepted. A name not in the user database
is acceptable when the conference is used for echomail or other
wide-area communication where recipients of the message may have
never called the system.
After a name is entered the system prompts for the subject of the
message and may enter up to 40 characters.
Subject ([ENTER] = Abort)? [ ]
If no subject information is entered, the message is aborted.
If a specific user name was entered (as opposed to the word All), the
system then prompts whether the message should be made private:
Private? [N]
The default value is a public message, and it is skipped for mail
addressed to ALL. Private mail is seen only by the sender and
recipient, reading private mail may enabled for the sysop.
WILDCAT! then prompts if a confirmation of delivery (return receipt)
is needed:
Return receipt? [N]
Again the default is N and is selected if the [ENTER] key is pressed.
If Y is selected, WILDCAT! will watch for the message to be read by
the recipient and automatically generate a message from the WILDCAT!
Mail Room to the sender. This Return Receipt message indicates the
date and time the message was received, and is addressed as private
mail to the originator of the message. As soon as this Return Receipt
message is read by the original sender on a later call it is
automatically deleted by the Wildcat! Mail Room.
If you have selected a default editor, either the full screen editor
or the line editor, it is immediately invoked and message composition
can begin. If no default editor has been selected you are further
prompted:
Full Screen Editor? [Y]
Note that the default is Y, and that this choice is offered even if
ANSI has not been auto-detected. Some communications programs offer
ANSI routines that can make use of the editor, but fail to respond to
the ANSI query properly due to incomplete ANSI implementation. It is
up to you to determine if you have the capabilities to make use
of the full screen editor properly at this point.
Message text entry follows. Message length varies by conference, and
can be up to 150 lines long.
After message entry is completed and corrections made using the
appropriate editor commands, you have several options. If additional
recipients of the message are desired the Ca[r]bon Copy prompt can be
selected after text entry by pressing R. Doing so saves the main
message and the carbon copy prompt is presented:
Carbon copy to ([ENTER to end)? [ ]
As many carbon copies as desired may be sent.
F iles Menu
Presents you with the Files menu. This choice is available from both
the Main menu and the Message Menu.
G oodbye
Refer to the [G] option discussion under MAIN menu.
? Command Help
Refer to the [?] option discussion under MAIN menu.
H elp Level
Refer to the [H] option discussion under MAIN menu.
K ill a Message
This is a routine for erasing old messages directly from the MESSAGE
menu. It requires that (1) the message to be deleted is either to or
from the user who is attempting to erase same, and (2) that the
message number is already known. Messages may also be deleted
interactively while reading them in the message area.
Q uit to Main Menu
Exits the current menu and returns to Main Menu.
R ead Messages
This command allows you to select which messages you want to read.
Reading can be done using a number of options, or may be as simple as
using a single command to always read all new messages in all
conferences.
A sub-menu is displayed with the following choices:
[22-1845] - Allows you to enter a beginning message number from the
message range available. Entering a number begins reading at that
message and continues in a forward direction, reading newer messages
in chronological order. You are prompted whether you want to read
messages in ALL conferences after selecting a number to begin.
[N]ew mail - Reads all messages that have been entered since the last
time you read mail in the conference. A high message number mark is
maintained for each conference, and all new messages can be read with
the New mail command. You are prompted whether you want to read new
mail in ALL conferences after making the selection. This is the
easiest method of reading ALL new messages in ALL conferences.
[U]nread personal - Reads all messages that are addressed TO you, and
have not been read previously. This command is used to read only mail
addressed to you that has never been read previously, and is often
used to read personal mail at every logon. You are prompted whether
you want to read messages in ALL conferences. Note that Unread
personal mail will locate all messages to you that have not been
flagged read, regardless of your last message read pointer. It scans
all conferences, even those which are not included in your default
conferences using the Update Conference command on the message menu.
[S]earch - This command brings up a sub-menu allowing you to search for
messages based on a number of criteria. You may search based on text
in the From field, To field, Subject, and Message body text. You may
also start at any message number and search either forward or reverse
directions.
Messages found using Search are displayed with the full message text.
The Scan command on the message menu supports the same search
criteria, but displays only header information, allowing you to MARK
messages for later reading. The default Search criteria encompasses
all messages, and can be narrowed by altering the individual fields.
Note that the fastest searches make use of the From, To and Subject
fields since they are indexed. Any searches for specific Msg. [B]ody
text take much longer, and should be further narrowed if possible.
[M]arked - Reads all messages that have been marked for reading. This
command is used to read mail that you have marked while using the
Scan command. It ONLY appears as a menu choice if messages have been
marked previously using Scan.
There are several other commands that may be entered on the command
line when entering messages that are not displayed. They are:
A - The A or ALL command may be added to a command to extend reading to
ALL conferences in your Conference profile. Entering the command 3 A
requests to read mail starting at message number 3 in ALL
conferences. Another example would be N A to read all new mail in ALL
conferences. The A command may be added to any command and will cause
the prompt for "Read mail in ALL conferences" to be skipped.
+/- - The read command always assumes reading in a forward direction
unless advised otherwise. Appending the - command indicates you want
to read in reverse order.
After entering a message read command, WILDCAT! offers a prompt
allowing reading messages in ALL conferences. Y will read all mail as
requested starting from the first conference selected in your default
conference setup. N indicates reading only in the current conference.
After a message is read you have several possible options, depending
on the nature of the message, your security profile and whether the
message is TO or FROM you.
### - After each message you may branch to another message number in the
same manner as when the Read command was initiated.
[E]dit - The ability to edit a message after reading is offered to you
and those who have been given sysop mail reading privileges.
Selecting the edit mode clears the screen and re-displays the message
with the same prompts encountered when message entry is completed.
You may delete lines, insert lines, edit specific lines, change the
subject, list the message and save a revised copy. A special help
file is available within the edit function. When the edit is
complete, the revised message is saved with an updated date and time
stamp.
[F]orward - This choice allows sending a copy of the message to any
other user on the system. It creates a private message to the new
recipient with a note indicating that it was originally addressed to
another person and forwarded by you. Forwarding a message to ALL is a
valid response which creates a public message to ALL.
[R]eply - This choice is available on all messages unless your security
level prohibits message entry. A reply generates a message FROM the
caller addressed TO the sender of the original message, with the
option of changing the subject, if desired. The decision to keep or
alter the subject is important since message THREADING is based on
the subject.
[K]ill - The ability to kill (delete) a message is offered to the
sender, receiver and those who have been given sysop mail reading
privileges, but only if they have been extended the ability to use
the [K]ill message command on the message menu. When the kill option
is used the selected message is flagged as being deleted, but can
still be read by the sysop if enabled in the conference. A deleted
message is actually removed from the database when the sysop command
[W]astebasket dump is executed.
[N]onstop - Selects nonstop message reading from that message forward.
It may be used to capture messages to a file for reading off-line, or
to quickly move forward in the message base. Nonstop reading can be
terminated with a tap on the spacebar.
Note that nonstop reading while reading across multiple conferences
will not stop between conferences.
[S]ysop - This choice is offered only to those with sysop privileges in
the conference. The first two choices, [F]rom user edit and [T]o user
edit, allow displaying the user record of the sender or recipient of
the message. Full database modification is allowed since this choice
actually invokes the user database functions of the sysop menu. When
the user database functions are complete, quitting the database menu
returns to the message reading prompt. When selected the user is
presented with a sub-menu.
[P]ublic/Private - Changes the status of any message from public to
private or vice-versa.
[M]ove to conference - Presents another sub-prompt Moving a message
to another conference actually copies the message as a new message
in the destination conference message database (with a new date/time
stamp), and deletes the original message. A conference listing is
available using the [L]ist conferences command.
[C]opy to conference - Creates a duplicate of the message in another
conference message database with a new date and time stamp. The
original message is unaltered.
[U]ndelete - Flags the message as readable after having been [K]illed.
S can Messages
Scanning messages operates in a similar manner to [T]ext search,
except that the entire message is not presented for messages meeting
the selection criteria.
Scanning allows you to search for and display message headers, and
then mark selected messages for reading using the Read Marked
command.
You may search based on text in the From field, To field, Subject,
and Message body text. You may also start at any message number and
search either forward or reverse directions. The default Search
criteria encompasses all messages, and can be narrowed by altering
the individual fields. Note that the fastest searches make use of the
From, To and Subject fields since they are indexed. Any searches for
specific Msg. [B]ody text take much longer, and should be further
narrowed if possible.
Messages matching the criteria are displayed one per line with header
information only. Each message is preceded by a reference number, and
each screen of messages is followed by a -pause- prompt that allows
[M]arking messages for reading after the scan is completed. Multiple
messages can be marked at one time by specifying the message numbers
separated by spaces, or in groups such as 2 5 7-11 14 to indicate
three individual messages and all those between 7 and 11.
U pdate Conference Scan/Read
This option allows you to establish which conferences are searched by
default when performing message functions in multiple conferences.
Reading and scanning mail are two such activities. All conferences to
which access is allowed is the initial setting for this option.
You may select or deselect individual conferences or groups of
conferences by entering a single number or a range such as 3 or 3-7.
[D]eselect all or [S]elect all will affect all conferences, and
toggle the selection marker accordingly. The presence of the asterisk
indicates a conference is "selected", and will be accessed whenever
default conference names are used. If the asterisk is not present,
the conference will not be accessed when reading or scanning messages
in default conferences.
Message Editor Operation
WILDCAT! contains two distinctly different editors, the Line Editor
and the Full-Screen Editor. Any caller can make full use of the Line
Editor, but the Full-Screen Editor requires ANSI.SYS for proper
operation. Either can be selected as your default to be used each
time a message is entered, or the choice may be made prior to each
message. Note that the Full-Screen Editor may be invoked and set as a
user default even if ANSI is not enabled for the call. In this
situation, you will find that it operates improperly and should
switch to the Line Editor.
Line Editor
The line editor allows entering text on a single line at a time, and
only allows backspacing on that line to make corrections. The
backspace is destructive in nature, and all deleted text must be
reentered. Once the ENTER key is pressed to end a line or word-wrap
moves the cursor to the next line, the previously entered line(s)
cannot be re-edited by the same method.
After a line is completed it can be edited using the [E]dit command
only. The message line editor is probably one of the most
misunderstood functions in message entry. To begin, there must be a
way to tell the editor what text is bad, and what text to use
instead. To accomplish this the terminology used is OLDSTRING for the
text to be replaced and NEWSTRING for the new text. After asking for
the line number to be edited, WILDCAT! needs to know what needs to be
changed. The syntax used to implement this is OLDSTRING;NEWSTRING
(note the semicolon between the two words). This command is
translated as take the first occurrence of the characters OLDSTRING
and delete them, then insert the characters NEWSTRING in the same
location. For example, if the message line reads:
this is a message to shw how to use th Edit command.
Obviously we need to change two errors, the word th for the and shw
for show. First lets fix shw by using the command shw;show which
scans for the word shw and replaces it with show. Now the harder
correction. Notice that the first occurrence of the incorrect text th
is actually a part of correct text this in the 1st word. Therefore we
can't simply use the command th;the or the new message will read
theis is a message.... The proper method is to broaden the OLDSTRING
search to include additional unique text such as use th;use the.
Notice that we can replace any number of letters even with a shorter
or longer NEWSTRING.
After an edit you are presented with the corrected line and
allowed to make more corrections, if needed. A blank ENTER terminates
the Edit mode. Note that editing an existing message (one that has
previously been saved) will result in a change to the message date
and time to properly reflect the revised contents.
Full Screen Editor
This editor allows you to move the cursor freely about the editing
page using cursor keys and Home, End, PgUp and PgDn, very much like
many word processors. In order to do so it makes use of ANSI codes to
tell your cursor where it should move on the screen. Since most
communications programs have provisions to make use of ANSI terminal
mode, almost any caller can use this feature if desired.
Some of the Full Screen Editor functions are not available as
standard ANSI codes and require additional emulation modes to operate
properly. These functions include options such as PgUp, Home, and
several other keys which are not defined in the standard ANSI mode.
If a caller's communication program supports DOORWAY mode it can make
use of these extended functions. Both Telix and Qmodem have a doorway
mode which can be invoked with ALT= (holding ALT while pressing the
equal sign). This toggle is necessary since most communications
programs use the PgDn key to begin a download. Unless doorway mode is
invoked, only the cursor keys, Del, Bksp, and the control keys will
be active.
The Full Screen Editor makes use of the following keys in standard
ANSI mode and Doorway mode:
ANSI-BBS DOORWAY OPERATION
^A Ctrl-Left Arrow Cursor word left
^B Format paragraph
^C PgDn Page down
^D Right Arrow Cursor right
^E Up Arrow Cursor up
^F Ctrl-Right Arrow Cursor word right
^G Del Delete character at cursor
^H Backspace Backspace (destructive)
^I Tab Tab
^J Join lines
^L Re-draw screen
^M Enter New line
^P End Cursor end of line
^R PageUp Page up
^S Left Arrow Cursor left
^T Delete word right
^V Insert Toggle insert mode
^W Home Cursor to start of line
^X Down Arrow Cursor down
^Y Delete line
^Z Display help
Note that the full screen editor display on the local host system
will show the last few line numbers wrapped on a single line above
the user record screen, if displayed. This is a normal occurrence and
does not affect the remote display.
Message Commands
After entering text in the editor, the message editing prompt appears
at the end of the text.
This prompt is the same for both the full screen editor and the line
editor, and even allows switching from one editor to the other after
message entry
[A]bort - signals a desire to discontinue message entry and lose all
text entered. A warning follows: Are you sure you want to abort? A
yes answer will return you to the message menu, or to reading
messages if the aborted message was a reply.
[C]ontinue - Returns to the message editor at the next available line.
This choice returns to the LINE EDITOR only, use [F] to return to the
full-screen editor.
[I]nsert - This item is needed only by the LINE EDITOR, and allows
insertion of new lines of text between existing ones. You are
prompted for the line number where new lines should be inserted. The
selected line number moves down, and a new line is added at the
chosen number. Any number of new lines will be inserted as word-wrap
creates more new lines as needed. In the full screen editor pressing
ENTER creates a new line as does ^M.
[L]ist - This command redisplays all message lines using appropriate
pauses.
[E]dit - This item is needed only by the LINE EDITOR since the full
screen editor can edit lines using the cursor keys. The line editor
correction system is probably one of the most misunderstood functions
in message entry, and is covered in its entirety in the previous
section Line Editor.
Ca[r]bon - At this prompt you may enter additional names of additional
recipients up to a maximum of 9. Each will receive a copy of the
message with the notation cc: User Name appended to the bottom.
Carbon Copies are always toggled private. Note that pressing carbon
copy saves the message as is and sends copies to the recipient and
any carbons desired. It should not be used until message editing is
completed.
[Q]uote - This option only appears when replying to another message. It
allows placing all or part of the original message in the reply for
clarity. When quote is selected the entire text of the original
message is displayed, and the user is prompted for a beginning and
ending line to quote from the messages. The quoted lines are added to
the bottom of the message in progress.
You can also quote during a reply as an automatic part of the reply
process. Auto-quoting can be turned on in any individual user record
using the Main Menu command [Y]our settings. When auto-quoting is
activated the entire original message is quoted in the reply when it
is begun. Coupled with the power of the full screen editor,
auto-quoting offers and easy way to make a clear reply.
[F]ull screen - This is the proper key to use to re-enter the full
screen editor rather than the [C]ontinue key. It continues editing at
the end of the last line of the message.
[D]elete - This item is needed only by the LINE EDITOR since the full
screen editor can delete lines while editing using Ctrl Y. It prompts
for the first line to delete and then for the last line. Prior to
performing the deletion the text of the lines to be deleted is
displayed for confirmation. Deleted lines are removed and
higher-numbered lines move up.
[S]ave - After the message has been proofread and edited, the Save
command will update the message base with the message and appropriate
carbon copies, if requested.
[H]elp - Presents you with the contents of the help display file which
contains information similar to the instructions here.
At[t]ach - Allows attaching a file to the message. Its use may be
limited on a conference basis. When selected, you are prompted
whether you want to attach a file to the message since this choice is
often not fully understood. If the reply is Y you are further
prompted. The name of the file attached may be anything you desire
but must not include any path information. After entering the name
you are prompted for the file transfer protocol to be used for the
upload. Any available protocol may be selected and the file transfer
will begin just as it does when uploading a file. At completion of
the upload, you are returned to the message entry prompt and may add
additional text before saving the message, if desired.
A message with a file attached contains an additional line at the end
which is generated by WILDCAT! as the message is displayed. When a
message with a file attachment is read, the read prompt contains an
additional choice to [D]ownload the file. If download is selected you
are prompted to select a protocol in the exact same manner as the
file menu choice. After completion of the download you are returned
to message reading at the point the download was begun.
Mail Doors & Off-line Readers
A mail door is a program that allows you to call into the BBS and
request all new messages in selected conferences. These messages are
packed together in a compressed file and made available for download
using a choice of protocols. All this activity takes place from a
menu choice on the message menu, and is the primary reason for the
MAIL door option at that location. The mail door program only needs
to be purchased by the BBS system operator, not the callers to the
BBS.
Once a mail packet has been downloaded, you disconnect from the BBS
and use an off-line reader to extract and read the messages in the
packet. While reading, replies can be entered as desired, often using
a wide choice of editors. You then call back at your convenience and
again uses the mail door to upload your reply packet.