Figure 1, below, shows the steps in posting a new message on the Macintosh General Message Board:
Figure 1
==== Macintosh General Message Board ====
<P>ost a new public Message
<S>can Public Messages
<D>elete a public message
<R>ead public messages
<F>ind a user's valid name for message addressing
<B>ack to Main Bulletin Board Menu
<E>xit to Main Menu
<C>hain to Macintosh News Message Board
(15 minutes left) Command (P,S,D,R,F,B,E,C) ? P
Send message to (ALL for everyone): all ..............................1.........2.........3.........4
Subject (40 characters max.): test
You may now type in up to 40 lines of text. Lines will automatically wrap around at the 75th character. To stop entering, type a carriage return on a blank line.
At the menu we have entered "P" for Post, and the Host responds by asking to whom the message should be sent. We typed in "all", since we intend this to be an open message available to all users. Instead we could enter an AMUG BBS users name, and the message would then be sent as E-Mail (electronic mail) which can only be read by the addressee.
After finding out to whom the message is intended we are now asked to enter the subject. As noted, you are allowed a maximum of 40 characters. Try to make the subject descriptive in case someone remembers the message, and does a scan to try to locate it. I am sometimes guilty of using "cute" subjects that sometimes bear little objective relationship to the message. Because of that I have had difficulty locating a message I myself had sent! Anyhow, after entering the subject (in this case I used "test"), we are presented with three lines of instructions, then the cursor moves next to the first line indicated by "1:". Above this is a character counting guide. You can now just type in the text. As noted, word wrap automatically takes place at the 75th character. When through, just enter a return on a blank line. You can then edit your message to correct, and delete characters words or lines. When through editing type "S" for save, and you are all done.
Does that sound simple? Well, I don't know how simple it sounds, and how simple it actually is depends on a number of things. What I do know is no matter how simple that sounds, that is not the best way to do it, except (perhaps) for short simple messages. And if your typing is not so hot, you already know there's no such thing as a short, simple typed message. It is so important for both you, and fellow users that you use a better way, I will devote a lot of time to describing a better way. If you still use a typewriter instead of a wordprocessor, then you might as well skip the rest of this section; you are clearly a masochist, and won't take any advice. If not..... read on.
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WHY NOT JUST TYPE IN YOUR MESSAGE?
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Although I have seen a few pretty good hunt and peckers, unless you are a pretty fast and accurate touch typist, entering messages by on-line typing is just too slow. As you've no doubt discovered (or you soon will), there is a 30 minute time limit. While you are hunting and pecking, or just sitting there thinking about what to say, the clock is ticking. You may well be disconnected right in the middle of your work, losing the time already invested. With regard to sitting there thinking, note also that if a key is not pressed for 5 minutes, then you will be timed out for inactivity, even if your 30 minutes is not up. In case you think this timing out is rude and unnecessary, you would be surprised at how many people forget to hang up their telephones. If the time out feature wasn't present the system would just be tied up unnecessarily too frequently.
Also, editing your messages after you have finally got it entered is not so easy and it, too, is time-consuming. And there are some things you cannot correct, at least some of the time. For example, if you leave out a word, or even a letter, or want to substitute a longer word for a shorter, you may not be able to do so. The reason is the 75 character limit to lines.
So, if there is a better way, and there is, you should use it. Not just to preserve your allowed on-line time, but to free up the system for other users. The AMUG BBS is young, and will certainly continue to grow in use resulting in more frequent busy signals which some are noticing now. We must all cooperate in using the BBS more efficiently for the benefit of all.
THE BETTER WAY - UPLOADING TEXT FILE MESSAGES ===================================================
I think it was Winston Churchill that said "Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all the others". I hope you end up thinking the same about uploading messages instead of typing them in, because it is not without its tribulations. The scenario we are suggesting is this: You log on, read your mail and the new messages, noting and saving any that you wish to ponder over and reply to. You then log off. You compose any reply or new message you wish to post on your word/text processor. After you have edited it to your satisfaction, you log back on and upload your message. Ideally you might not even literally read your mail and messages on-line, but just let your software read it for you, at 1200 or 2400 BAUD if you have that speed. Virtually all communications software has a means of collecting the BBS output. You can scroll back to read it off-line, capturing to a disk file anything you need to save to be read by a wordprocessor.
Even more ideally you can create a script (macro) file to do all of that for you. Script1.6 was created by Mike Bean for the "Microphone" program and is available on this board. Now there is a script for Microphone II called MP II v.92 available as well as one for the Red Ryder program. These "scripts" or "procedures" do all of the above automatically. They also give you a listing of the new files available for downloading. Depending on how much mail, new messages or new files there are, you can do it pretty fast, often in less than a minute! Other software has similar capabilities. You can even set some software to execute scripts at a predetermined time, say 4 AM. You can then have something to read when you get up other than the morning paper! The script "MP II v.92 will do the same for 3 local Macintosh bulletin boards systems!. But even if you do everything manually except compose messages on-line, you will be doing yourself and other members a favor. The next section deals with how to create and upload text messages.
UPLOADING TEXT MESSAGES - HOW TO ===================================================
The prime requirements are:
(1) That messages to be uploaded be in plain (ASCII) text
(2) That there be no blank lines in the text
(3) That the text contain no more than 40 lines, and
(4) That you (may) need to be careful about entering carriage returns in the text.
We'll deal with these one at a time (how else; we don't have parallel processing until the next generation Macs!!).
PLAIN (ASCII) TEXT
All word processors I know of will allow you to save a file in text format (or convert one to text format). You can use your wordprocessor to create and edit your message, and just save it in text form. When you do, you will lose all special fonts, and special formatting your wordprocessor may allow. If your text has columns or figures lined up or centered, it could be a problem when you upload it. The best way to make sure that what you see from your wordprocessor is what you get when you upload the file is to use a monospaced font (such as Monaco), since what appears on the screen in the BBS is monospaced. Of course you don't have to do this if your text has no special formatting.
I should point out here that we are only talking about uploading a text file to be used as a message, that is to post a message on the BBS system or to send mail. You can upload a text file using Xmodem in whatever format you choose, including MacWrite, Word, etc. All your formatting and fonts will be preserved. It will not be able to be output directly to the AMUG BBS screen the way a plain text message can be. It will have to be downloaded, and whoever downloads it will have to have the wordprocessor you used (or one that can read it; for example, MicroSoft Word can read MacWrite files, but not vice versa; both can read plain text files).
There are some "text" (as opposed to "word") processors available from a variety of sources, including public domain, shareware and commercial sources. Many are available as desk accessories. MockWrite and miniWriter (available from the AMUG BBS download section) are a couple that are widely used. miniWriter is my favorite, but probably more people use MockWrite; and there are others. The obvious advantage of using a DA is that you can compose and edit text without leaving whatever application you are in, including your communication software. In fact, If you are reasonably dextrous, and can keep from getting timed out, you can compose your message while on-line, using the superior editing capabilities of these DAs (superior to that of the BBS I mean), then paste your message in. I don't recommend this as a normal practice, since that defeats the main purpose being expoused here, i.e.,. minimizing on-line time. The output of these text processor is plain (ASCII) text.
NO BLANK LINES!!!
The Host needs some way of knowing when you are through entering a message. It chooses a blank line as the method. If you are typing the message you may press return to start another line. You don't have to do this, since the Host will start a new line for you automatically after 75 characters. You may wish to do this to break the text up into paragraphs, or to align some words or numbers. If, after pressing return, you press return again without entering anything the Host assumes you are through, and then puts you in the editing mode. That's the normal way to end a message. You get this command line:
At this point if you do not wish to edit, just type "S". Your message is saved, and you are returned to whence you came for further action. If you don't like what you have done, and want to purge it from the board, just type "C" for cancel and your message is gone forever. The other choices involve editing your message which will be discussed in another section.
If you are uploading a text message, the important thing to remember is that when creating that message you cannot use a blank line to separate paragraphs (or for any other purpose). If you do, all sorts of interesting, sometimes panic-striking things occur. The Host takes the blank line to mean you are through, and puts you into edit mode. However, your communications software knows you are not through, and continues to send text. The Host assumes the characters now being received are editing commands, and tries to execute them!! Chaos!! If you can avoid panic, use whatever means your software has to tell it to stop sending text. Usually there is an abort or stop button to press to do that. You will then have to cancel your message and start all over, taking the blank lines out of your text file before trying to send it again.
I personally hate to try to read lengthy messages without any paragraphing at all, and try to make my posts a little more readable. Although the Host won't let you separate paragraphs with blank lines, you can use a trick or two. One is to separate paragraphs with a line containing a single character, such as a period, a dash, or something similar. A space won't do it (I tried that!). That's not as readable as a blank line, but it helps. If you are typing in text you can do it with a Tab. That works very well, but you can't use this method in text being uploaded as a message. What I often do upload my text message with no blank lines, then separate paragraphs during edit mode by inserting a new line above each "new" paragraph and entering a Tab only. It works best to start with the last paragraph and work up. This takes a while, but I think its worth it to improve readability a bit.
WATCH YOUR RETURNS !!!
The next requirement is that you need to be a little careful about using returns due to the BBS limit of than 75 characters per line. Computerwise, the normal definition of a "line" is a group of characters followed by a carriage return (just "Return" on the keyboard). Some computers automatically add a carriage return (and linefeed) after so many characters. The Mac does not. Unless you enter a Return yourself, most text processors will end up giving you one long "line", clearly more than the 75 characters the AMUG BBS will accept for messages. The AMUG BBS will automatically add a carriage return at the 75th character (doing a word wrap, so words aren't split up).
So what's the problem? Well theoretically none, but in practice you will have a problem if you try to split up paragraphs with carriage returns. Sooner or later, by coincidence, the carriage return you entered to separate a paragraph will occur right after the AMUG BBS reads 75 characters. The Host will then do a Return. The next thing it sees is your return which it takes to mean you are through entering text. You run into the same panic problem mentioned above. The Host says you are through and puts you into edit mode, you say the heck I am and continue to send text, and the Host tries to interpret that text as editing commands. Even if this doesn't happen, what may is that the Host does a return after it sees 75 characters, then comes a word or two followed by a return you have placed in the text. You then end up with a lot of dis-jointed text with lines of only a word or two. This could also cause you to unwittingly exceed the 40 line limit to messages (see below for what happens to you then!). So, what to do about it.
One solution is to enter absolutely no returns at all in your text, and let the Host take care of putting them in. This works, but for long messages it results in a long, wide, uninterrupted block of text which is hard to read (see my comments above for my opinion of the importance of readability). If you are using Microphone you can set your send files to enter returns at a specified number of characters. I set it to 72 characters which I find to be more readable than 75. If your text is 40 lines or close thereto, you do need to be a little careful that reducing line length this way doesn't run you over the 40 line limit (see below). I find the ability of the software to set line length for text output very useful. Maybe other software can do this too.
Another easy way is to manually enter returns yourself at the end of each line, or where you want a new line to start for formatting purposes. Just make sure your lines are less than 75 characters. I think 72 is a nice, readable line so I use that when I use this method. If you are judging where a carriage return should to go by how it appears on your screen there are a couple things to remember. One is to consider the font you are using. The Host will use a 9-point font, so what looks like an effective place to put a return if you are using a 14-point font may not turn out to be so effective when a 9-point font is used. The other is the size of your screen window. If you are using a small font and a very wide window, putting a return at the right edge of the window might give you more than 75 characters.
By the way, there are some text processors that you can set to automatically enter a return (with word wrap) after a specified number of characters. Microeditor, a desk accessory that comes with Microphone, is one. Microphone has licensed this DA from Dreams of the Phoenix which sells it as part of their "Quick and Dirty Utilities, Volume 2" (I think it is volume 2). There are a number of utilities which will add or strip returns (and other characters) from text files. Evolutions, (available on this board, is one. Another I find useful is the Clipper FKey. I like this since you can use it "on the fly". It works only on text files (not, say, MacWrite files). With this, you can cut or copy text to the clipboard, then use the FKey to add or strip returns, then paste it back. I find this most useful to strip returns rather than to add them, since I often don't like the returns that others have entered into text files.
Anyhow, for what it's worth here is how I handle the problem. I prepare text using carriage returns to separate paragraphs and indenting the first line of paragraphs with a tab, or more usually 3-5 spaces. I set Microphone to send returns at 72 characters, and upload away. I take my chances that I may by coincidence get two consecutive carriage returns (mine and the one the Host enters after 75 lines). It doesn't often happen, and if it does I'm prepared to start over. I then often go in and edit in lines with tabs only on them to separate paragraphs. You can use this same method.
If you don't like to "take you chances", you could compose your text, then use clipper 1.5, Evolutions, or a similar utility to add returns at a specified number of characters, convert the text to a 9-point, monospaced font, then take a look at it. That should be as close as you can get to what you see is what you get on the AMUG BBS screen.
NO MORE THAN 40 LINES
I hate this! As you may have noted from the length of this document I do tend to go on a bit. I'm not sure why the Host places this limit on messages. I suppose the idea is to reduce the length of on-line message reading. If posts get too large, it may be better to upload them instead as down-loadable files. One could then post a short message telling what the file is, and why the author thinks one should go to the trouble of down-loading it. Anyhow, like or not, that's it: 40 lines.
If you are typing messages in, when you have finished 40 lines, the Host tells you so, and puts you in edit mode. At that point you have a couple choices. You can just save it, then start another post to continue your message. Before doing so you might wish to change the last line to read "Continued next post" or some such. Another choice would be to cancel the post and reenter it leaving out a few lines. Or, you could just forget the whole thing. I have done all of the above at one time or another.
If you are uploading a text message file which contains more than 40 lines you run into the same panic problem mentioned above. The Host says you are through and puts you into edit mode, you say the heck I am and continue to send text, an the Host tries to interpret that text as editing commands. To avoid that problem you need to keep track of how many lines you have when you are creating the message on your wordprocessor. That may not be as easy as it sounds. Forty lines to the Host means as it creates them, using the 9-point font it uses. A line to the Host is indicated by a Return, or 75 characters, whichever comes first. If you are entering returns manually in your word processor at the end of each line, you can check things out by changing to a 9-point font (after completing the message if you prefer to use a larger font for editing). You can then re-size your window if it looks larger or smaller than normal. Or you can use the margin setting capabilities of your wordprocessor to give you say 72 characters per line, and set your window accordingly. You can just count the number of lines, unless you have some utility to do it for you.
If your message is more than 40 lines you will have to break it into two or more files, ending with "Continued next post" as described above. There are some utilities that will break a long text file into shorter ones. As of this writing, I don't know of one which will let you specify number of lines, or even the number of characters. The ones I know of let you break a file into k-bytes, and don't let you specify how many. I'm sure there is one out there some place. I'll let you know when I find it.
I compose most of my text using the miniWriter desk accessory. It comes closer to being a wordprocessor than any of the other desk accessory text processors I know of. You can set the font to any in your system (all text has to be the same font, as with the others). It has a line, word, character counter built in. Perhaps the best is that it prints using the native ImageWriter fonts. What this means is that it you can get much better quality drafts and "best" at a faster speed. If you install the ImageWriter fonts and use them, it comes pretty close to what you see is what you get. And, it provides an easy way to insert bold, italics and underline to get those typestyles at the faster speeds. Of course much of this doesn't help directly for uploads, but I've taken the time because I think it is such a good desk accessory text processor.
BOTTOM LINE (YES, THERE IS - FINALLY - AN END) ===================================================
Uploading text messages is not as difficult as I may have made it appear. Don't judge by the length of this article; I have gone into depth to cover all the angles (or all I could think of) and hit a few asides on the way. In the end, there will be some trial with errors (I'm still having them myself!). But, it will be worth the effort, both for you, and your fellow AMUG members.
NOTE: There are three other help files for the AMUG BBS:
"AMUG-About" - A general descriptive files meant for those who have not been on the BBS very long at all.
"AMUG-TIPs - Some help on how to best navigate around the BBS, including how to get validated, how to keep from getting bumped off, etc.
"AMUG-D'Loads" - Some tips on how to download files from the AMUG BBS, including some files you will need (Stuffit, for one).
