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FastChat Full-Screen Chatting at its finest For RemoteAccess BBS Systems By: Peter Hebert 1:135/57 Preface ------- Welcome to the world of FastChat. I'm glad you took the time to download/FREQ this, and sincerely hope that you will continue to use it. Keep in mind that it comes with no guarantees whatsoever. I'm not responsible for any damages, loss of profits, etc. caused by your use of this software. I'm sure y'all've heard this before, so need I say more? Gets kinda boring after the fiftieth time... FastChat is shareware. Do not sell it or bundle it with anything without express permission from me. If this piece of software (or any other, for that matter) becomes a permanent part of your menu structure, you are expected to register it. A registration form is at the end of this document. Registration entitles you to a "key" (a coded number) which, once inserted into FCConfig, causes it to say "(Registered to: <your name>" whenever FastChat exits. FastChat is not in anyway CrippleWare (how I dread the word) and registration does not "unlock" any special features. As far as technical support is concerned, I love to answer netmail and E-mail, though sometimes I'm a little slow. So in any correspondence, try to be as specific as possible and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Netmail is preferred over SnailMail (without question!) "All trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners." Now onto the good stuff... FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- Introduction ------------ FastChat is sysop to user chatting at its finest - I designed FastChat to be extremely versatile and powerful. FastChat represents several months of development time and beta testing on my part and others'. Designed for RemoteAccess, FastChat uses many RA-specific features (thus is not guaranteed to run with any other BBS software.) Here is a partial features list that separates FastChat from other similar-but-different full screen chatting programs: * Configurable ANSI colors for the windows and text * Full screen configuration program with windows and moving bar menus and the such * Disable-able onscreen clock at the bottom of the screen * Works through the FOSSIL driver * Ties in with the [Wants Chat] flag - always know when your users are paging you * Ties in with RA's Alt-O function for paging overrides * Hours configurable for each day of the week * "Forced chat" function for use on an Alt-F? key * Color in ASCII mode on the sysop's side * Much much more ... Using FastChat is just as easy as using RemoteAccess's internal chat mode, and without sacrifice of features. There are even features that can be used if you enjoy playing around with your users (which I do a lot), like to disable their input and to jump into their window to type... There is something for everyone. Installation ------------ Installation couldn't be easier. Here's a step by step guide to installation for those who need it: 1) UnZip FastChat into any directory which you please. 2) If not the \RA directory, copy FASTCHAT.EXE, FASTCHAT.HLP, and FCCONFIG.EXE into the \RA directory. For good measure you may want to bring PAGERAC.EXE over, as well. 3) Replace your chatting option on the main menu (or wantchat menu if you have one) with a type 7, optional data = "\RA\FASTCHAT.EXE \RA\DORINFO1.DEF*!". Page 2 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- 4) In RaConfig, set one of your free Alt-Fx keys to "\RA\FASTCHAT.EXE !\RA\DORINFO1.DEF*!". This will allow you to force a FastChat by pressing Alt-Fx (makes much more sense then installing a hidden key on each of your menus!) 5) Run FCCONFIG, and read the next section of this document...(appropriately titled "Configuration") Configuration ------------- Configuration is easy and will not take very much time. In your base system directory (called \RA throughout this document), run FCCONFIG. It will report that a configuration file is not found and will ask you if you wish to create one. Respond "Y" for Yes. FCConfig will briefly read in Config.Ra to get some information, then you will be presented with the main menu. The main menu has eight options: Colors, Defaults, Options, Directories, Paging hours, Registration, Save and quit, and Quit without save. All eight will be discussed in depth shortly. To maneuver about FCConfig, follow these guidelines: Use Up, Down, Home, and End to move the highlight bar. Press Enter to select or to change an item. Pressing Escape will exit the current function - if inputting something it will abort, if at a submenu it will go back and if at the main menu it will save your changes and exit FCConfig. Configuration / Colors ---------------------- Upon selection "Colors" off the main menu, the screen will clear and a sample full screen FastChat session will appear. In the two windows will appear instructions which briefly summarize what is here. The top row number keys cycle through the colors for the various parts of the screen. When colors cycle, they go in the following order: Black (*) Dark Gray Blue (*) Light Blue Green (*) Light Green Cyan (*) Light Cyan Red (*) Light Red Magenta (*) Light Magenta Amber (*) Yellow Gray (*) White Page 3 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- Colors marked with an asterisk (*) do not apply to background colors. Background colors look somewhat tacky on the chatting screen and it is not recommended that you use them for aesthetic reasons. The keys for cycling through colors are... <1> User border foreground <2> User border background <3> Text color foreground <5> Sysop border foreground <6> Sysop border background <7> Status line lolite foreground <8> Status line lolite background <9> Status line hilite foreground <0> Status line hilite background In addition there are other available keys: <Space> Reset the colors (undo) <Enter> Accept these colors <Escape> Abort and return to main menu <Tab> Jump over to the ASCII-Chat colors menu Their function is fairly obvious, however the <Tab> function will be elaborated on. Pressing <Tab> will pop up a window with a sample of ASCII-Chat colors (for non-ansi users). ASCII colors only appear locally. To cycle them: <1> Sysop text color <2> User text color All additional keys except <Tab> are active as well. The status line in ASCII mode uses the same color set as the status line in split-screen mode. Configuration / Defaults ------------------------ The "Defaults" menu is where you set the various defaults for the Ctrl-key functions available while chatting. All defaults are "Yes/No" type options and usually control what the user can and cannot do. ---------- Capture on (default: No) This controls whether the capture file (the file which keeps a record of everything typed by both parties) is enabled upon entry of FastChat. This is toggled while chatting with Ctrl-A. Page 4 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ---------- Remote keyboard enabled (default: Yes) This controls whether or not the user's input is acknowledged upon entry. I don't know why in particular you would want to set this to No, however you can if you would like (feel free!). This is toggled while chatting with a Ctrl-K. ---------- Owner only backspacing (default: Yes) This controls whether or not the user can backspace what the sysop types. This is kind of useless but can be useful to toggle when you are chatting with that obnoxious user who always butts in while you're typing . . . (toggled while chatting with Ctrl-O). This option is ONLY available in ASCII mode. ---------- Double spacing (default: Yes) This controls whether double spacing is active on default when FastChat starts. Double spacing means that when either party presses Enter, it automatically jumps down two lines instead of one. This is rather useful since often that is how you separate 'paragraphs' when chatting. However, it does take a little getting used to...(toggled while chatting with Ctrl-D). This option is available in ASCII mode only, as well. ---------- User can TERMINATE chat (default: Yes) This controls (doesn't that phrase get to you after a while?) whether or not the user can terminate the chat from his/her side. If enabled, the user can type "terminate" on a blank line and when they press Enter the chat will end. If you don't want the user getting out then set this to No or press Ctrl-T while chatting. ---------- Start off in user's window (default: No) I really have no earthly idea why you would want to START in the user's window, however it is here if you'd like to. While chatting, you can jump between windows with a Ctrl-C. This, combined with Ctrl-K (remote keyboard disable) can be used to put words in a user's mouth (which is very amusing) ---------- High character filter (default: No) This controls the high character filter. In other words, it controls whether or not high characters (the "upper 128", box characters, etc) will be displayed when received from the user. They are always permitted to be entered from the sysop's side. This can also act as a line noise filter of sorts, as most line noise is in the "upper 128". Toggle while chatting with a Ctrl-F. Page 5 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ---------- User control keys (default: Yes) Simply controls whether Ctrl-W and Ctrl-R work for the user (these and all the other control keys are explained later). Toggle while chatting with a Ctrl-O, though the need for this is uncommon. Usually used if there is a really bad connection and ctrl-keys are coming down the line too... That's all for the "Defaults" menu. Don't fret it about all the control keys briefed here, these and more will be fully described later in the document. Configuration / Options ----------------------- The options menu is similar to the Defaults menu in that most of the options are "Yes/No". However it differs in the respect that there are no Ctrl-keys for these functions because these functions control more the way FastChat acts rather than how the user acts. For example... ---------- FastChat operates in silence (default: No) Controls whether fastchat stays silent at ALL times or whether it makes noise. This silence is universal, with effects reaching everywhere in the program, from the paging bell all the way to the Ctrl-key bleeps. ---------- Carrier loss detection (default: Yes) Setting this to No will cause FastChat NOT to exit if and when a user drops carrier. If you have your own means of handling this, then set this to No, otherwise let FastChat worry about it and do all necessary housecleaning when a user dumps you. ---------- Watch user's online time (default: No) If you find that you often chat wwaaayyy too long, setting this to Yes will cause FastChat to exit when the user is nearing the end of their time. This is rather useless if you are using the *! option with RemoteAccess, however if you're a stickler about time, set this to Yes. ---------- Use CTS/RTS handshaking (default: No) CTS/RTS handshaking is used normally with high speed modems in conjunction with a locked port. If your port is locked and you have an intelligent FOSSIL driver, the port will by default use CTS/RTS handshaking. Setting this to Yes will cause FastChat to turn it on. Usually unnecessary however still good measure if you use a high speed modem. ---------- Clock on the bottom line (default: Yes) Normally when in split screen (ANSI) mode, there is a clock on the bottom line of the sysop's window. If your system clock is never set or you find the clock annoying, you can turn it off with this option. Page 6 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ---------- Sysop is Male (default: Yes) No, I'm not sexist....<grin> In some of the default (no .ASC/.ANS screen) messages, FastChat uses a third person pronoun (He or She)...Setting this to Yes will cause it to use "he", setting it to no will cause it to use "she". ---------- Maximum number of pages per call (default: ?) This determines how many times the user can page in one session. The default is determined by reading CONFIG.RA upon creation of the FastChat configuration file. If you really don't care then set this to some high number like 99 or so... ---------- Page bell options (defaults: Over the Hill, 10) Selecting this option will pop up yet another submenu which controls aspects about the paging bell (like which one to use, and how long to ring it). These options are described below: -------------------- Page bell type Selecting this pops up a little menu from which you select your paging bell type. There are six to choose from: Over the hill - Five notes up and five notes down. Simple. Staircase - Similar to Over the hill, but ten notes up. Random sounds - Technojunk. Random tones. Telephone - Like a cheap telephone ringing. English Cop - Similar to an English cop car's siren External - Use the PAGE.RA/FASTPAGE.FC file You HAVE to pick one - the escape key is not active in this menu. Selecting one of the top five will cause it to play a quick little demo (one "iteration" of that sound). Selecting External will cause FastChat to use the PAGE.RA/FASTPAGE.FC combo (more on this later). -------------------- Page bell length This allows you to enter the length of the page bell in seconds. FastChat plays the same jingle over and over until it gets near the point of the value you specify here. ---------- End of window action (default: Wrap) Selecting this will bring up a popup menu with three choices for end-of-window actions. In plain English, this determines what happens when your chat reaches the end of the window. This feature was really the whole reason I wrote FastChat in the first place - the chat program I *WAS* using always cleared at the end of window and it drove me crazy....thus I wrote FastChat! (ok so it may be trivial but interesting nonetheless) Page 7 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- You have three choices: Wrap around - Jumps up to the top of the window again. Text remains on the other lines of the window. Like unix 'xtalk' if you've ever used it. Clear window - Yes, the dreaded clear window option. Clears the window once you reach the bottom. Scroll - This one's a little tricky. When selected, it asks you how many lines to scroll by. What happens is that once you reach the end of the window, it scrolls up all the remaining text X number of lines. X is a hard number to find, setting it too high makes the chat hard to follow, too low makes it too slow because scrolling is not particularly speedy....(particularly at 1200 baud!) And that's the end of the Options menu. It's all real easy from here. Configuration / Directories --------------------------- Here you specify the various directories and filenames for various files. The six things you should specify are... ---------- RA System directory This is the directory that PAGESTAT.RA is sought in. Defaults to the system directory specified in RaConfig. ---------- RA TxtFiles directory This is the directory in which all .ASC and .ANS files are held. FastChat will display certain .ASC and .ANS files when certain conditions are met (sysop did not answer, etc..) These files will be explained later. ---------- EXITINFO.BBS directory This is the directory which holds the door/bbs interface file, EXITINFO.BBS. This is the most important file, because without it the [Wants Chat] flag is not updated nor is the "number of pages this call" counter. FastChat will chirp when run if this file cannot be found. ---------- Capture filename This is the full path and filename for the capture file. This is the log of all things typed that is opened with a Ctrl-A while chatting. Specify a full path and filename here. Page 8 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ---------- Reason Ques. filename (optional) The reason to chat questionnaire is an optional feature which FastChat supports. If on your system you have a .Q-A file which is executed before chat program, put the name here. FastChat will attempt to read the .ASW file and extract the reason to chat. This reason will be displayed in a box when paging and in the log afterward. If you do not wish to support this, leave this field blank. ---------- Log filename (optional) FastChat will keep a record of all actions and reasons in an optional log file. If you wish a log file to be kept, fill in this field with a full path and filename. The log file is formatted much like a FrontDoor style log. And that concludes the Directories section of the configuration, only two little submenus left.. Configuration / Paging hours ---------------------------- When it comes to paging hours, FastChat is extremely flexible. The paging hours menu has one Yes/No option: "Ignore paging hours", which disables paging hours altogether. The remaining seven options are for setting each day of the week's valid paging hours. When you select one, a little box will appear prompting you for the start time. In this box you may enter the start time in any of the following formats: hh:mm (ex: 23:45 for 11:45 PM) hh:mmXX (ex: 11:23 PM) hhXX (ex: 1 PM for 1:00 PM) midnight (for 12:00 AM) noon (for 12:00 PM) X (if paging is not allowed on this day of the week) The "time-parser" is very flexible and will try to translate anything you throw at it. Note that "X" (for "Not Allowed") is only permitted in the "start time" box. Do the same for the end time, and then for all the days of the week. By default, each day's time will be set to the appropriate time specified in RAConfig. Configuration / Registration ---------------------------- Page 9 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- Like I said in the beginning, FastChat is shareware. In order to know whether you have a registered copy or not, there is a "slot" here for a registration number. This number is unique (in theory) to your name, and provided by me upon your registration. There are only two options on this menu: ---------- Registered name This is your name as you would like it shown to the users. Hopefully you provided me with the same name so that I could whip you up a valid key number <grin>. The default is taken from CONFIG.RA. ---------- Registered number This is the number which I provide you upon registration. It's usually in the range of about 5,000 to 30,000 depending on how long your name is and what its letters are. And that basically concludes Configuration. The remaining two options on the configuration main menu are self explanatory - Save and exit, and Quit without save. You ought to be able to figure out what these do... Onto the next section... ASC/ANS screens --------------- The rest of the setup is minimal. If you do not have them installed already with RA, unzip SAMPSCRN.ZIP (it ought to be included in the distribution archive) into the TxtFiles directory. This is for the custom ASC/ANS files on certain paging conditions. These files are not required, as FastChat has its own default messages that will be displayed if a corresponding ASC/ANS file is not found. Valid filenames are: NOTAVAIL.A?? - Displayed if user paged during non-paging hours. This one is also used internally in RemoteAccess. MAXPAGE.A?? - Displayed if the user pages too many times (beyond the number of time specified in FCConfig) This one too is in RemoteAccess. SYSPABRT.A?? - Displayed if the sysop aborts the page. (same filename in RemoteAccess) PAGED.A?? - Displayed if the page times out. Use to inform the user that you are not around however lights are flashing and if you walk by you will break in. (same filename in RemoteAccess) Page 10 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ALREADY.A?? - Displayed if the user already has WantChat on (they have already paged w/o a response). This one is not in RA... Again, these all have default messages if you choose not to implement them. The sample ones provided have the 'style' of my BBS, so you may want to change them to suit your BBS's style.... External paging bell -------------------- FastChat fully supports the external paging bell available in RA 0.03. As a matter of fact, it expands slightly on the PAGE.RA language. One caveat though - the PAGE.RA file is COMPILED into a file called FASTPAGE.FC by a utility that should be in this distribution archive, PageRaC. Why compile? No, it's not to take up an extra cluster on your hard disk. It reduces the size of FASTCHAT.EXE somewhat and also makes for faster loading. However, you need not concern yourself with that, only concern yourself with the fact that you MUST compile. Syntax: PageRaC [filename] If [filename] is not specified, then it defaults to PAGE.RA. The commands available in the song file are: ---------- TONE [freq] [dur] This sounds a tone (whose frequency is [freq]) for [dur] units. "Units" is centiseconds or milliseconds depending on how you have it set (it defaults to centiseconds, for compatibility with RA). The list of frequencies can be found in the PAGE.RA that came with RemoteAccess as well as in the RemoteAccess documentation. ---------- WAIT [dur] This causes a period of silence [dur] units long. -------{*} REPEAT [times] .... END loop This is an extended PageRaC command. It allows you to repeat stanzas more than once in a row more concisely than simply repeating it physically in the file. This and all the other extended commands (marked with a {*}) can be preceded with ;- so that RA will think they are a comment. Confusing? Perhaps. An example may clear things up: Page 11 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ;-REPEAT 2 TONE 200 40 TONE 400 40 TONE 600 40 TONE 800 40 WAIT 20 ;-END That would play those four notes twice. Notice the ;- prefixing the REPEAT and END commands. This is purely OPTIONAL. -------{*} MS This makes the duration of TONE and WAIT statements milliseconds rather than centiseconds. -------{*} CS This makes the duration of TONE and WAIT statements centiseconds (the default) rather than centiseconds. That's all for the external page bell. One last note: You only need to run PageRaC once, unless you change your PAGE.RA file. It's the type of thing you will do then forget about. Invocation ---------- You may have noticed in the Installation section that I specifically gave you a set of command line parameters. This is probably what you would want to use. However, FastChat accepts other parameters, as well. Here is a list of all valid command line types: (parameters are case insensitive) ---------- FastChat /Local This activates a local test mode. No ExitInfo file is needed, no user need be online. Everything you type is echoed into the user's window. (the absence of an ExitInfo file will cause a chirp, however) ---------- FastChat /Version This causes FastChat to display its version number and exit. This also displays registration information (telling you if the copy is registered or not). Run this after installing your registration number in FCConfig. ---------- FastChat [!]p:[h]b(t,g) "user" This is the "command-line" format of starting up FastChat. You wouldn't usually need to use this. As a type 7 parameter, it would look like this: d:\ra\fastchat.exe *p:*b(*t,*g) "*f *l" Page 12 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- Use - When you are being paged ------------------------------ This is basically what the screen looks like when someone pages you: FastChat - Version 0.95 Copyright 1990 Peter Hebert - 1:135/57 +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | This is a sample user reason. This can be up to five lines of | | sixty-five characters each. | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Typical User is paging you... Press <C> to Chat or <A> to Abort the page... Paging the SysOp, please wait... The top two lines are the intro and copyright stuff. These will always appear, whether you initiate a page or whether the user does. The reason will appear only if you have put something in the "Reason to chat Ques." field in FCConfig, and have executed the questionnaire prior to running FastChat. The reason will also go in the log if you have it enabled, and the original .ASW will be deleted. Then you see the user's name, and a little prompt. Just like it says: press <C> if you want to start chatting, or <A> if you want to abort. Simple, eh? The user can also abort the page by pressing Ctrl-C or Ctrl-K. More dots will appear after the "Paging the SysOp, please wait..." line, about one every second. It is during this time in which you are allowed to answer the page. It's really quite simple. Colors will appear in both ANSI and ASCII mode, however in ASCII mode colors are not visible to the user. Page 13 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- Use - Split-Screen chatting mode -------------------------------- This is perhaps the most complex section of the document. The split screen mode is very powerful and complex, and will probably take a little getting used to. However once you use it for a little while you will undoubtedly become "hooked". Once you answer the page, and the user is in ANSI mode, a screen similar to the "Colors" screen in FCConfig will appear. Now....CHAT! You may both type at the same time, and wordwrap is active. You may wish to double-space, however whether you do or not is a matter of personal style and taste. A few things to keep in mind: When you both type at the same time, things may get a little chunky (particularly at lower baud rates). Don't worry about this, it's normal. Also, if you have End of window Scrolling enabled, you CAN type while it is scrolling. No need to wait for it to stop scrolling before you can continue. The user has two keys at his/her disposal: Ctrl-W - Clear window Ctrl-R - Redraw screen (in case of line noise, etc) Also the enter, backspace, and tab keys work as would be expected. As sysop, you have several keys at your disposal: Ctrl-A - Toggle capture file Ctrl-C - Jump between windows Ctrl-F - Toggle high character filter Ctrl-G - Beep the user Ctrl-K - Toggle remote keyboard Ctrl-O - Toggle user's ability to use Ctrl-W/R Ctrl-Q - Clear the USER'S window Ctrl-R - Redraw the screen Ctrl-S - Shell to DOS Ctrl-T - Toggle user's ability to 'TERMINATE' the chat Ctrl-W - Clear your window Esc-Esc - Terminate chat Each of the "toggle" Ctrl-keys produce a sound when pressed: If the notes go up, that option was just turned on. If the notes go down, then the option is being turned off. Page 14 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- Now for the explanation of all these keys: ---------- Ctrl-A: Toggle capture file This simply toggles the capture file on and off. The capture file (if you recall) is the file in which everything that is typed is recorded. ---------- Ctrl-C: Jump between windows (the C stands for "C"hange, by the way). Pressing this will send you into the other window. Everything you type will then appear in that window. Used in conjunction with Ctrl-K this is a blast.... ---------- Ctrl-F: Toggle high character filter The high character filter disallows/allows upper-128 characters. These are the box characters and ALSO (usually) the line noise characters. Turning the filter on can often aide chatting over a noisy connection (but of course, the best solution is to have an MNP modem on both ends). ---------- Ctrl-G: Beep user I have absolutely NO idea what the G stands for, ask the people who invented ASCII. Pressing Ctrl-G sends a beep to the remote side. Use this to wake up that sleeping user..... ---------- Ctrl-K: Toggle remote keyboard This is definitely my favorite key. It allows you to disallow the user's typing. This may be kind of moot, after all the purpose of the program is to aide chatting, not hinder it, however it's nice for sticking words in the user's mouth (see Ctrl-C) or if you absolutely MUST interject something extremely important in the middle of what they are saying. Don't overuse (ticks people off...) ---------- Ctrl-O: Toggle user cOntrol (Ctrl-W/R) This allows you to disable/enable the user's use of the Ctrl-W and Ctrl-R keys. On a particularly noisy line, some control characters may be coming through and this effectively filters out those extraneous characters that wreck havoc with the display. ---------- Ctrl-Q: Clear user's window Admittedly "Q" is not very mnemonic, however it is right next to "W" so that should give you a clue to its function. It's similar to the Ctrl-W function (which operates on your window when you press it) however clears the user's window. Simple. ---------- Ctrl-R: Redraw screen This is exactly like the user's Ctrl-R, it redraws the screen from the bottom up. Use this if somehow your screen gets messed up (like perhaps another screen bleeding through from a DESQview process). Note that it does affect the remote side too. Page 15 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ---------- Ctrl-S: Shell to DOS This clears the display and brings you to a DOS prompt. FastChat remains in memory (occupying approximately 64k). Type EXIT to return to chat mode. ---------- Ctrl-T: Toggle ability of user to terminate Depending on your setup in FCConfig, the user may or may not be able to end a chat by typing 'terminate' on a blank line. Ctrl-T allows you to do a quick switch between modes if you don't want to let someone out for some reason or another, or vice versa. ---------- Ctrl-W: Clear window This simply clears your window and returns the cursor to the top. The user has a function just like it (same key, too!) ---------- Esc-Esc: Terminate chat mode To end your chatting session with the user, simply press Escape twice in succession. That basically describes how to use the full screen chat mode. The more you use it the less you will have to look things up in this manual....it gets intuitive after a while. Use - Non-split screen mode --------------------------- Non-split screen mode (ASCII) is pretty boring. It's very similar to RA's internal chat, with a few extra features. Locally, the sysop's text appears in yellow and the user's text appears in dark cyan (like RA's internal ANSI chat mode). The user does not see these colors. Also, The user has no control keys in this mode. The SysOp, however, has plenty: Ctrl-A - Toggle capture file Ctrl-D - Toggle double spacing Ctrl-F - Toggle high character filter Ctrl-G - Beep the user Ctrl-K - Toggle remote keyboard Ctrl-L - Scroll the screen clear Ctrl-O - Toggle owner-only backspacing Ctrl-S - Shell to DOS Ctrl-T - Toggle user's ability to 'TERMINATE' the chat Esc-Esc - Terminate chat Here are brief descriptions of their functions (mostly copied verbatim from the ANSI chat mode section): Page 16 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ---------- Ctrl-A: Toggle capture file This simply toggles the capture file on and off. The capture file (if you recall) is the file in which everything that is typed is recorded. ---------- Ctrl-D: Toggle double spacing This turns automatic double spacing on or off. When auto- double spacing is on, an Enter key from either party double spaces, as is normal convention when chatting. This takes a little getting used to however you'll learn to love it... ---------- Ctrl-F: Toggle high character filter The high character filter disallows/allows upper-128 characters. These are the box characters and ALSO (usually) the line noise characters. Turning the filter on can often aide chatting over a noisy connection (but of course, the best solution is to have an MNP modem on both ends). ---------- Ctrl-G: Beep user I have absolutely NO idea what the G stands for, ask the people who invented ASCII. Pressing Ctrl-G sends a beep to the remote side. Use this to wake up that sleeping user..... ---------- Ctrl-K: Toggle remote keyboard This is definitely my favorite key. It allows you to disallow the user's typing. This may be kind of moot, after all the purpose of the program is to aide chatting, not hinder it, however it's nice for sticking words in the user's mouth. Also useful if you absolutely MUST interject, without getting the text all scrambled. Don't overuse (ticks people off...) ---------- Ctrl-L: Clear screen Pressing this clears the screen, in a fashion similar to pressing Enter 24 times rapidly. ---------- Ctrl-O: Toggle owner-only backspacing This toggles the user's ability to backspace what the sysop types. It may seem a little useless however it works great for obnoxious users...... ---------- Ctrl-S: Shell to DOS This clears the display and brings you to a DOS prompt. FastChat remains in memory (occupying approx. 64k). Type EXIT to return to chat mode. ---------- Ctrl-T: Toggle ability of user to terminate Depending on your setup in FCConfig, the user may or may not be able to end a chat by typing 'terminate' on a blank line. Ctrl-T allows you to do a quick switch between modes if you don't want to let someone out for some reason or another, or vice versa. Page 17 FastChat 0.95 - Full screen chatting for RemoteAccess ----------------------------------------------------- ---------- Esc-Esc: Terminate chat mode To end your chatting session with the user, simply press Escape twice in succession. As you can see, ASCII chat mode is simpler than split-screen mode. There's not much to it, and due to the lack of ANSI function codes on the remote side, not very much that FastChat can do to expand it... Conclusion ---------- I certainly hope this documentation is clear and wish you best of luck in getting FastChat up and running. I'd like to thank the following beta testers (the whole team!): Arturo Batista Tero Karkkainen Mariano Sokal Cindy Edens Without them, FastChat would never have been what it is today. Also, if you ever need to get in touch with me, you can in the following ways: Netmail: Peter Hebert 1:135/57 BBS: The Software Cuisine, 1:135/57 1-305-642-0754: Miami, FL, USA 14.4k HST through 1200 baud SnailMail: Peter Hebert 2352 SW 4th St. Miami, FL 33135-3134 The latest version of FastChat is always FREQable 22 hours a day under the magic name FASTCHAT from the following systems: Node# Location Maximum baud rate ----------- ----------------------- ----------------- 1:135/57 Miami, FL 14.4k HST 1:135/79 Miami, FL 2400 plain 4:900/109 Buenos Aires, Argentina 2400/MNP5 Enjoy! Sincerely - Peter Hebert, Author Page 18 Registration form for FastChat 0.95 ----------------------------------- When registering, please fill out the following form and send it SnailMail with the appropriate amount (checks only, please) enclosed: Peter Hebert FastChat Registration 2352 SW 4th St. Miami, FL 33135-3134 Please make checks out to Peter Hebert. Your registration will entitle you to a key number, which once inserted in FCConfig, makes your copy officially registered. Registration is valid for all future versions of plain vanilla FastChat. It is preferred that keys are sent NetMail however if it must be by SnailMail then so be it....(the key is simply a number, so there is no need for me to enclose a file or anything). Only one registration is required per PHYSICAL BBS. If you run sixteen lines, then you only need one registration, however if you run three different BBSs (ie, different names, different computers, etc), then you need three. If you don't know what you need contact me and I'll figure it out. Note that just because your registration will WORK on all future versions, it is your responsibility to FIND all future versions, as for $15 I certainly cannot send you a new version everytime one comes out. Item Price Qty. Total ********************************* ****** ***** ************ FastChat (all future versions $15.00 _____ ____________ as well) ************************************************************ Name _____________________________ Node# _____________ Address _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ BBS name/# _________________________________________________ Comments _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Thank you for using FastChat!