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GEnie Atari ST Aladdin (tm) User's Manual Version 1.40 Atari ST Software by Timothy Purves Copyright (c) 1990 by GE Information Services GEnie ST Aladdin (tm) is a trademark of GE Information Services TOS, Atari, and Atari ST are registered trademarks of Atari Corp. GEnie is a trademark of General Electric Information Services Smartmodem is a trademark of Hayes Communications Corp. Aladdin Documentation originally written by: Juan E. Jimenez Micro Consulting Associates Atari ST Version manual revised and edited by Gordon Monnier Aladdin ST follows all of the popular conventions of the GEM operating system. In all cases Pull Down Menus and Pop Up dialogue boxes have been implemented for the ease of use of the operator. It is not necessary to learn how to use a different user interface. Just do all of the things you would normally do when operating any fully GEM integrated piece of software. This manual was last updated on November 15, 1991 Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 2 Table of Contents I. Introduction........................................7 1. What is Aladdin?...............................7 2. Purchasing and Registering Aladdin.............7 3. Minimum Hardware Requirements to Use Aladdin...7 4. Obtaining a GEnie Account......................8 II. An Introduction to GEnie...........................10 1. What is GEnie?.................................10 2. GEmail - Electronic Mail Services..............10 3. The GEnie RoundTables..........................11 4. The RoundTable Bulletin Board Areas............11 5. The RoundTable Software Libraries..............12 6. The RoundTable Real-Time Conference Area.......13 7. Other Services On GEnie........................13 III Setting Up Aladdin.................................14 1. Installation of the Aladdin Program Software...14 2. Starting Aladdin...............................14 3. Configuring the Modem..........................15 4. Configuring the Aladdin Software...............15 GEnie Options...................................15 Phone number....................................16 User ID.........................................16 Password........................................16 GE Mail Address.................................16 BBS Nickname....................................16 Prompt Character................................16 Break Character.................................17 Prime Time Rate, and Non Prime Time.............17 Standard - Non Standard.........................17 Modem Options...................................17 Speed...........................................17 Reset Command...................................17 Dial Command....................................18 Command Terminator..............................18 Connection Message..............................18 No Connection...................................18 Aladdin Options...................................18 Script filename.................................18 Address filename................................18 Timeout (seconds)...............................19 Notify Message..................................19 Use - XMODEM, ZMODEM, or FAST..................19 Scroll..........................................19 Bookmarks.......................................19 Stay............................................19 IV. The Aladdin Main Screen............................21 The File Menu.....................................21 1. & 2. Configuration and RoundTables...........21 Aladdin ST Manual Page 3 3. Product Index................................21 4. Change Password..............................21 5. Edit user Script.............................22 6. Browse File..................................22 7. Quit.........................................22 V. The Edit Menu.................................23 1. Cut..........................................23 2. Copy.........................................23 3. Paste........................................23 4. Paste Quote..................................23 5. Delete.......................................23 6. Paste File...................................23 7. Paragraph....................................24 8. Abort Edit...................................24 VI. The GEmail Menu..............................25 1. Retrieve Mail................................27 2. Send Mail....................................27 3. Read Mail....................................27 4. Write Mail...................................29 5. Edit-Delete Mail.............................30 6. Log On To Page 200...........................31 7. Address Book.................................31 8. GEmail Options...............................31 VII. The RoundTables Menu........................33 Adding a RoundTable.....................33 Editing an existing RoundTable.........33 Deleting a RoundTable...................33 Changing the RoundTable List Order......34 The RoundTable Editing Dialog Box.......34 Custom Pass:............................35 Files...................................36 Input Archive...........................36 Output archive..........................36 Software library settings...............36 1. Select RoundTable............................37 2. Retrieve New Messages........................37 3. Get New Messages.............................39 4. Do Pending Operations........................39 5. Read (and reply to) messages.................39 6. Edit-Delete Replies..........................41 8. Mark-Reply Old Topics........................41 9. Start New Topic..............................43 10. Update Topic List...........................44 11. Log on to the BBS...........................45 12. Log on to the RTC...........................45 13. View RT Bulletins...........................45 VIII. The Library Menu...........................46 1. Check For New Files..........................46 2. Do Pending Operation.........................46 3. Upload File..................................46 4. Edit-Delete Uploads..........................48 5. Choose Download-Browse.......................48 6. Choose From Main List 8. Log on to the RT Library.....................49 IX . The Terminal Menu............................51 1. Terminal Mode................................51 2. Log On.......................................54 3. Log Off......................................54 4. Hang Up......................................54 5. & 6. Do AutoPass 1 or 2......................54 7. Do Custom Pass..............................55 8. Do User Script...............................55 9. Start (End) Text Capture.....................55 10. Send Text File..............................55 11. & 12. XMODEM Download/Upload (CRC)..........56 Zmodem Downloads........................57 13. - 14. FAST Upload and Downloads.............58 15. View GEnie Banner...........................58 X. The Aladdin Script Language.........................58 1. Aladdin Script Language Syntax Guidelines......59 2. The SCRIPT Command.............................60 3. The ENDSCRIPT Command..........................60 4. The GOTO Command...............................60 5. The CALL Command...............................61 6. The RETURN Command.............................61 7. The PERFORM Command............................62 8. The IF, ELSE and ENDIF Commands................63 9. The SUCCESS Condition..........................64 10. The ONLINE Condition..........................64 11. The CURRENTLINEHAS Condition..................65 12. The STRING Condition..........................65 13. The DATAWAITING Condition.....................66 14. The KEYWAITING Condition......................66 15. The EXIST Condition...........................67 16. The DAYOFWEEK Condition.......................67 17. The MAILFOUND Condition.......................68 18. The SUCCESS Command...........................68 19. The ECHO Command..............................68 20. The CLEAR Command.............................69 21. The NOTE Command..............................69 22. The BEEP Command..............................69 23. The ALARM Command.............................69 24. The HIDE Command..............................69 25. The MONITOR Command...........................70 26. The PAUSE Command.............................70 27. The WAITUNTIL Command.........................71 28. The ERASEFILE Command.........................71 29. The CAPTURE and ENDCAPTURE Commands...........72 30. The SNAPSHOT Command..........................72 31. The XMODEM and ZMODEM Commands................73 32. The LOG ON/LOG OFF/LOG ONTO Commands..........74 33. The COMMANDMODE Command.......................75 34. The QUOTES Command............................75 35. The HANGUP Command............................75 36. The SEND Command..............................75 37. The SENDLINE Command..........................76 Aladdin ST Manual Page 5 38. The SENDCOMMAND Command.......................76 39. The SENDSPECIALCOMMAND Command................76 40. The WAITFOR Command...........................76 41. The WAITFORPROMPT Command.....................77 42. The WAITFORDATA Command.......................77 43. The WAITFORKEYPRESS Command...................78 44. The KEYWAITING Command........................78 45. The GETKEY Command............................79 46. The GETSTRING Command.........................79 XI The Aladdin Help Screens and File Names.............82 Aladdin File Name Extensions......................82 Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 6 I. Introduction 1. What is Aladdin? Aladdin is an automatic communications tool designed to provide you with the most efficient use of the features and services of the GEnie information service. GEnie is an acronym for General Electric Network for Information Exchange, a product of General Electric Information Services, the largest information network in the world. With a GEnie account and access to the GEnie network, Aladdin can automate all the normal functions of accessing and drawing information from GEnie and the various services within it. By handling most of the repetitive tasks within GEnie, Aladdin can save you a considerable amount of time and money in the form of reduced access and online charges. The concept behind Aladdin is to take the tasks which are associated with using the RoundTable and GEmail services on GEnie and integrate them into a software package which acts as an "interface" between the user and the GEnie system. You tell Aladdin what actions you want to take and prepare messages "off- line" at no cost to you in the form of access and connect charges. Aladdin then executes all the tasks you ask it to do in a minimum of time, reducing greatly the monthly charges on your GEnie account. 2. Purchasing and Registering Aladdin This program is free! The latest version of Aladdin can always be downloaded from the Aladdin Support RoundTable on GEnie. The only cost to you, the user, is the connect time to GEnie while downloading the file containing the latest and greatest version. 3. Minimum Hardware Requirements to Use Aladdin Aladdin was designed for use on all Atari ST, STe, Mega and TT computers. A hard disk is strongly recommended for operation with Aladdin, due to the disk-intensive nature of the program. It is possible to use Aladdin with two floppy drives, but we do not support this configuration due to the restrictive nature of it. Obviously, a modem and a RS-232 serial communication port are required to access GEnie. Aladdin was written for use with a Hayes Smartmodem or any other modem which is compatible with the Smartmodem command set. You can use other modems with Aladdin, but you must tell Aladdin how to reset the modem and originate a phone call with the type of modem that you own. Additionally, the modem must be capable of Aladdin ST Manual Page 7 accurately reflecting the state of a connection through the use of the CD (Carrier Detect) signal line and must respond to the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) signal line from the computer. Refer to the section entitled "Setting Up Aladdin" for more information on modem setups. Most of the modems on the market today support the features which Aladdin needs to be able to do its job in an efficient and accurate manner. However, there are some modems which have been found to be deficient in some areas. For more information on this refer to the Aladdin Support RoundTable on GEnie. You should already have a GEnie account. If you do not, refer to the section entitled "Obtaining a GEnie Account" for information on how to obtain one. Additionally, since Aladdin responds to commands and prompts from the GEnie service, your phone line must be relatively noise-free. If your phone line is "noisy", Aladdin may not be able to recognize the commands and prompts it needs and will be unable to function properly. If your line is noisy, please contact your telephone company to correct the situation before using Aladdin. You may also want to consider obtaining a modem which uses the "MNP" error-correcting protocol to "filter out" line noise in your phone connection. Aladdin will operate either with a monochrome (ST124) or color (ST1224) Monitor. In general, if the monitor works without any special modifications or drivers, Aladdin will be able to use that display. 4. Obtaining a GEnie Account Before you begin to use Aladdin, you must obtain a GEnie user account. To obtain information on getting a GEnie account, call 1-800-638-9636 to speak with a GEnie representative. GEnie is available in over 600 locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and in many foreign countries through international network services. The account creation process can also be performed using a traditional communications program. To electronically apply for an account, follow these steps. Make sure to have your credit card or checkbook handy, as you will need one of the two to obtain an account. The steps are: Set your communications program to 1200 baud, local echo (also known as half duplex), 7 data bits, 1 stop bit and even parity. If you are using Aladdin Terminal Mode, Aladdin will automatically set the data bits, stop bit and parity for you. All you need to do is set the baud rate and communications port (see the sections entitled "Configuring the Aladdin Software" and "Aladdin Terminal Mode"). If you are indeed using Aladdin Terminal Mode, make sure you "capture" the information that is displayed on your screen while you are requesting an account, see the section on "Terminal Menu", Text Capture. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 8 Instruct your communications or terminal program or modem to dial 1-800-638-8369. If you are using Aladdin's terminal mode with a Hayes or compatible modem, you can enter terminal mode and type the modem command "ATDT1-800-638-8369" and then press the <Return> key. When your modem achieves a connection, type the letter "H" three times, pausing for just a moment between each "H" (no more than one second and no less than one-tenth of a second). GEnie will respond with a "U#=" prompt. At this time type "XJM11957,GENIE" and press the <Return> key. Follow the instructions on the screen to apply for an account. At the end of the account creation process you will be issued a user identification number and a temporary password. Please make a note of these and keep them in a safe place, as you will need them for the Aladdin setup process. Also, make a note of the local access numbers for GEnie that are displayed during the signup process, as you will also need these during the Aladdin setup process. A GEnie representative will call you during the course of the next business day to verify the information that you provided during the signup process. Once the information has been verified, your account will be activated and you may begin using your GEnie account with Aladdin. Aladdin ST Manual Page 9 II. An Introduction to GEnie 1. What is GEnie? GEnie, as we mentioned before, stands for General Electric Network for Information Exchange, and is a service of General Electric Information Services (GEIS), the largest commercial communications network in the world. There are several different types of services on GEnie, ranging from bulletin-board-style message systems to complex role-playing games, a full service shopping mall with over two dozen merchants selling everything from coffee and chocolates to around-the-world vacation trips. GEnie is also constantly adding new services, and occasionally you will see a "banner" when you log on to GEnie which tells you about any new services GEnie is offering. GEnie gives you a variety of choices in entertainment, information and software exchange, communications, and shopping - all from your computer keyboard. You can talk to a friend across the country, go on an electronic shopping trip, try your luck in games ranging from multi-player Blackjack to Stellar Emperor (a multi-player simulation system) and finish the day by attending one of the many electronic conferences scheduled each day of the week, with subjects ranging from programming to genealogy. There are two services on GEnie for which Aladdin was designed to provide automated access and processing: GEmail and the RoundTables. All other services are accessible through Aladdin's communication facilities, terminal emulation functions and the Aladdin Script Language. Let's cover GEmail first; we'll get into the RoundTables in a moment. 2. GEmail - Electronic Mail Services GEmail is an electronic mail system which lets you send and receive letters using the speed and convenience of your computer. You can send letters, notes, information or any text you want, to anyone you choose within the GEnie system, without regard to where they are in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and some foreign countries, or what time of the day it happens to be when you send the message. When you requested your GEnie account, you were given a GEmail address. This address is up to 12 characters long, and is used to identify yourself to anyone on GEnie, throughout the entire system. In some cases you may choose to use an "alias" or "nickname" (such as in the CB area, see your GEnie User Manual) but your GEmail address will remain with you as long as you have a GEnie account. Every user on GEnie has their own personal GEmail address. These addresses are the key to using the Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 10 electronic mail system. To send a message of any kind to someone else, all you need is their GEmail address. Sending mail messages and data through the GEmail portion of GEnie is one of the services which Aladdin automates for you. You compose your message off-line at your leisure with Aladdin, and then ask Aladdin to send it for you by logging onto GEnie, sending the message and logging off, all as fast as Aladdin can communicate with GEnie. Again, the idea is to save time on connect and access charges, and Aladdin is designed specifically to save you money and time. For more information on the mail system and how to access it with Aladdin, see the section entitled "Sending/Receiving Mail". - IMPORTANT NOTE - You should never give your user ID (which looks like "XYZ12345") or password to anyone (not even while logged on to GEnie) or use it in any message on any part of the service. It is not required for anything other than logging on to the system. Your user ID is personal and private, and should be safeguarded for your account's protection. GEnie will never ask you for your user ID while you are on line. If you receive any type of on line message from anyone requesting your user ID, ignore it and call GEnie Client Services at 1-800-638-9636 to report this occurrence. GEnie Client Services personnel may ask you for your user ID, but only when you physically call a GEnie representative on the toll- free customer service telephone number. 3. The GEnie RoundTables One of the most popular features of GEnie is the RoundTables. If you are using GEnie, the RoundTables can be a very valuable source of information for you. For whatever type of computer you happen to be using. The RoundTables offer games, software of all types from small utilities to full-featured word processors and database programs and technical advice, information and discussions on every possible subject related to your computer. The RoundTables are also an excellent way to interact and stay in regular touch with people who share the same interests as you do, as well as meet new people in your field and make valuable contacts. 4. The RoundTable Bulletin Board Areas Each RoundTable has something called a Bulletin Board. In effect, that is exactly what it is, a giant electronic bulletin board where users exchange open messages and information with each other. The Bulletin Board is divided into categories and topics. Each category deals with a broad subject area within the scope of the RoundTable. For example, a RoundTable oriented towards a specific computer might have categories for hardware, software, programming, utilities, news about that computer and maybe a general soapbox area for the users to place messages loosely Aladdin ST Manual Page 11 related to issues about that computer. A product support RoundTable, on the other hand, would have categories for each product that the RoundTable supports. Some RoundTables have very few categories, some have up to two dozen or more, depending on the level of complexity and number of subjects that the RoundTable is geared for. All categories are numbered (starting with the number 1) and have brief titles to explain the subject of the category. Aladdin will display the category name for each message it retrieves and displays for you. Each category is further subdivided into topics, which contain discussions of specific subjects within the scope of the category. For example, in a word processing category you might encounter topics discussing several types of word processors and text editing tools. In a programming category you might find topics discussing programming products and techniques. Each topic can contain any number of messages, which accumulate over time and are never deleted unless the System Operator (SysOp) of that RoundTable decides to delete them because they have served their purposes and will not be of use to anyone in the future or if the authors of one or more messages delete their messages from the topic. All other messages are stored indefinitely, which is a tremendous advantage to you. This means that if you have a specific question or problem you want to ask about, you can use Aladdin to search for an existing topic that matches your interest and have it download the messages into your computer for browsing at your leisure. If the subject of your inquiry has been discussed, it will in all probability still be there, and you may resolve your problem much faster than you ever expected with a minimum expense. If in fact you cannot find a topic which covers your area of interest, you can instruct Aladdin to start a new topic within a category to post your query. You then enter your message, have Aladdin post it for you on the Bulletin Board area of the RoundTable, and wait for a response, which will usually be available within 24 hours or less, 7 days a week. 5. The RoundTable Software Libraries Every RoundTable has a section called the Software Library. In this area you can Upload software or files with information that you want to share, or Download software and information that you are interested in or want to try out. The software library is divided into individual libraries where files of similar type and/or subjects are stored. Each library contains a directory with short and long descriptions of each file. Aladdin also acts as a useful interface here. Aladdin can, among other things, send and receive files into the software libraries and compile a list of all new files uploaded into each library automatically. Thus allowing you to select the files you Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 12 want at your leisure for retrieval during a subsequent GEnie session. 6. The RoundTable Real-Time Conference Area Each RoundTable has a small meeting area, or RTC for Real Time Conference area, usually consisting of three "rooms", in which the RoundTable operators schedule general get-togethers or presentations by special invited guests. These "rooms" are just that, electronic rooms in which users can talk to each other in real-time. For example, the Atari ST RoundTable schedules real- time conferences every Wednesday at 10:00 PM Eastern time. Users who are interested in discussing subjects related to the Atari ST log onto the RoundTable RTC area and chat with each other or the system operators, asking questions, discussing subjects or just socializing. Aladdin specifically supports the RTC functions of the RoundTables with a special terminal mode, called RTC Mode, (RoundTable Conference Mode), see "Aladdin Terminal Mode" and see the section entitled "RoundTable RTC's" for more information. 7. Other Services On GEnie Although Aladdin does not at this time support automated access to the other services on GEnie, you can access a large number of other GEnie features using Aladdin's "terminal mode" or the Aladdin Script Language. In Terminal mode you log on to GEnie and issue manual commands to access and use the services. For example, a game like Blackjack must be played on line, and therefore Aladdin cannot be used to generate plays off line for automated access. Aladdin does, however, provide you with a complete listing of all the services on GEnie and will, at the very least, log you on automatically and issue the commands to access that service. Once you are there, it is up to you to do whatever is necessary to use that service on GEnie. Aladdin ST Manual Page 13 III Setting Up Aladdin 1. Installation of the Aladdin Program Software Aladdin is extremely easy to install. All you need to do is following the instructions below. Hard Disk Installation Turn on your computer and switch to the hard disk partition where you will be installing Aladdin. If you will installing Aladdin on your "C:" partition, open that partition by pointing to the icon for that partition and double-clicking the mouse pointer. Create the folder where Aladdin will be stored by selecting "New Folder" from under the "File" menu on the GEM Desktop with the mouse pointer. A dialog box will prompt you for a name for your folder. For example, you could call this folder "Aladdin". Then use your mouse to point to the new folder and double-click to open the folder. If you downloaded Aladdin from GEnie, the program files will be contained in a special type of file called an ARC file. The Aladdin program files and manual are compressed and stored as one file to facilitate downloading. You will need a copy of the ARC program to unarc the individual files. (If you don't have a copy, it may be downloaded from the Atari ST Library area.) To extract the files, first copy the archive into the Aladdin directory by dragging the file with your mouse. (If you are not sure how to do this, refer to your Atari Users Manual.) Then, extract the archive by running the ARC program, normally called ARC.TTP (Tos Takes Parameters) and entering the following command line when the TTP dialog box appears - X ALADST.ARC *.*<Return> At this point the Aladdin program and data files will be extracted from the archive, and you will see the extraction progress as each file is extracted. Once the extraction process is complete, you have finished installation of the Aladdin program files. Make a copy of the Aladdin compressed archive file and keep it in a safe place, then delete the original .ARC file from the directory by dragging it to the Trash Can Icon (as it is no longer needed). 2. Starting Aladdin Starting the Aladdin program is very simple. Use the mouse pointer to point to the name "ALAD.PRG" in the Aladdin Folder and double click the mouse. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 14 3. Configuring the Modem The first thing you will want to do is to set up your modem so that Aladdin will function properly. Type the following commands from the Terminal screen of Aladdin or any terminal program that you may be using at the moment. <CR> means to press the RETURN or the ENTER key. AT&C1<CR> -- Sets Carrier Detect on. AT&D2<CR> -- Sets DTR to toggle off when the HANGUP command is used. AT&W<CR> -- This command will place the above commands into the modem's non-volitile RAM. This stores the commands so that when you turn off your modem, the instructions will not have to be sent to the modem again when you turn it back on, issue the ATZ command. If your modem does not respond 'OK' after issuing these commands, then check with your modem's manual to see what commands you should issue to get the above results. If the Carrier Detect or DTR is not set to ON, then Aladdin will not work properly! You may also need to check your modem cable to see if all the pins are there and are connected. Look at one end of your RS232 cable and see how many pins are there. If you have all the pins, then you should be ok. If you have pins 1-8 and 20, then you should be ok. If you only have 1-8 or 8 pins or less, then you will have to purchase another cable. Radio Shack will usually have these cables. The above items are a common problem in not being able to get Aladdin to connect with GEnie. 4. Configuring the Aladdin Software The next step in the installation of the Aladdin program is the configuration of the program itself. Open the File Menu, and select "Configuration" by pointing to it and clicking the mouse. A dialog box will appear for entering the information Aladdin needs. GEnie Options Located in the upper left corner of this dialog box, you will find a block titled "GEnie Options". This box contains the information Aladdin will need from you in order to operate properly: Phone number Aladdin ST Manual Page 15 Prompt Character User ID Break Character Password Prime Time Rate GE Mail Address Non Prime Time (Rate) BBS Nickname After you have entered the information, press the Return Key or clicking the Button marked "OK" will exit from the configuration screen and save all of the information in the Aladdin configuration (ALADDIN.CFG) file on your hard drive. Phone number This field holds the local GEnie access number that you want Aladdin to call when it logs on to the GEnie system. (Refer to the phone number listing at the end of this manual, to locate the number nearest you.) You should also place any special modem dialing characters in this field. For example, with Hayes and compatible modems, if you must insert a pause anywhere within the dialing process, you put a comma character "," in the dialing string at the point where the pause is desired. If a pause is necessary when you dial, include a comma at the proper place in Aladdin's phone number field. User ID This field holds your user ID string, assigned when you request a GEnie account. The user ID is a string of 8 characters; three letters and five numbers, beginning with an "X". For example, "XYZ55555" is an example of a correct user ID, but "ZXY89Z09" is not. Do not put spaces or a comma in this field. Password This field holds your password, also assigned to you when you first log on to GEnie and request an account. Your password can be changed at any time using Aladdin. Refer to the Changing Your Password in this manual. Do not put spaces or a comma in this field. GE Mail Address When you requested an account on GEnie, you were assigned to pick a mail address string of 12 characters or less. Enter the mail address string you selected in this field. BBS Nickname This field holds the "nickname" which Aladdin will use when you log into any RoundTable when you enter for the first time or for which your user record has been purged because you have not visited it in 30 days or more. The recommended entry for this field is your first name. Prompt Character Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 16 This field holds the character which Aladdin should recognize as the prompt from GEnie when it is waiting for a command. The default character is the question mark (?) and should not be modified unless you already had a GEnie account when you obtained Aladdin and had already changed your prompt character to something else. Break Character At any time while you are logged on GEnie, you can interrupt any operation (except uploads and downloads) by sending what GEnie calls a "break character". Aladdin's default is a [Ctrl-C] (ASCII 3). Do not change this setting unless you are having problems with GEnie's break character recognition. If your break character on GEnie is set to some other character other than a [Ctrl-C], you should manually change it before using Aladdin by accessing the User Settings page on GEnie. Prime Time Rate, and Non Prime Time Since Aladdin calculates the charges to your account every time it logs on to GEnie, it needs to know what GEnie is charging you for every hour you are connected. At the time of this release of Aladdin, the hourly rates are $18 per hour during prime time (8:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday) at any connect speed and $6 per hour during non prime time hours, weekends and holidays. These are the default values for Aladdin. Do not change this information unless you receive notice from GEnie about a rate change. You can also use these fields to approximate long distance fees if you do not have a local GEnie access number. Determine the average cost per minute for a phone call to the GEnie access point and add (a calculated hourly rate) to the hourly cost. This will give you a more accurate idea of how much it is costing you to access GEnie. Standard - Non Standard Selecting Standard, sets the Aladdin and Genie Prompt and Break Characters to the same. It is strongly recommended that you do not select the Non Standard unless you have a very important reason for doing so. Modem Options Modem options may be set in the box located on the upper right side of the screen. Speed Select the baud rate at which you wish to communicate with GEnie; 300, 1200, 2400 or 9600. Use the mouse click on the proper button. Reset Command This field holds the string that Aladdin must send to the modem to reset it. Hayes and compatible modems use "ATZ", the default value. If your modem is not a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to Aladdin ST Manual Page 17 your manual for the reset command. If you are using a Hayes Smartmodem 2400, you should change this field to read "AT&D2&C1". Dial Command This field contains the string that Aladdin must send to the modem to dial a number. The default is "ATDT" which is the Hayes command to dial a number using touch-tone dialing. If your telephone line does not support touch-tone dialing, change this field to "ATDP" to instruct the modem to dial using pulse dialing. If you do not have a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to your modem's user manual for the string to use in this field. Command Terminator This field holds the character which Aladdin must send to the modem so that the modem will execute the command. On Hayes and compatible modems (and most of the other non-compatible modems) the character is the carriage return (ASCII 13, or [Ctrl-M]). This is the default that Aladdin assigns to this field. Connection Message This field is the string which Aladdin will use to recognize that the modem has indeed achieved a connection with GEnie's modem at the local access number it has dialed. For Hayes and compatible modems, the default value of this field is the string "CONNECT 1200". If you are using a 2400 baud modem, change this field to "CONNECT 2400". If your modem is not a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to your modem's user manual for the connect indication string. No Connection This field is the string which Aladdin will use to recognize that the modem has failed to achieve a connection with GEnie's modem at the local access number it has dialed. For Hayes and compatible modems, the message returned by the modem is the "NO CARRIER" string, the default value of this field. If your modem is not a Hayes or compatible modem, refer to your modem's user manual for the connect failure indication string. Across the bottom half of the screen you will see a box labeled Aladdin Options Script filename This field holds the filename in which Aladdin script language commands are stored. See the section on The Aladdin Script Language for more information. Address filename This field holds the filename in which Aladdin will store your personal address list. See the section on Sending/Receiving Mail for more information on the address list feature of Aladdin. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 18 Timeout (seconds) This field is used to specify the number of seconds Aladdin will wait for GEnie to do something if it gets stuck. You should only change this number if you notice that GEnie is reacting slowly on a particular day, in which case you would increase the time-out value to prevent an unwanted disconnect. Notify Message The notify message which is found on the last line of the configuration screen can be changed to any desired message or can be left at the default of "This is Aladdin, I'll notify "________". When someone else who is on GEnie at the same time that you are sends you a NOTE (not GEmail) your copy of Aladdin will send the notify message to them automatically and will audibly alert you that a note has arrived. Use - XMODEM, ZMODEM, or FAST These are your download protocol choices. XMODEM uses 128 Byte blocks, XMDM-1K uses 1024 Byte blocks and ZMODEM (a streaming protocol) uses variable length blocks. Fast is a new technology (for GEnie) Click the mouse pointer on your download/upload protocol choice. We suggest using ZMODEM. Sometime after the first of the year GEnie will accept FAST uploads. This will be faster then X Modem. Until then you will have to use X Modem, but after GEnie impliments the FAST uploads you will have a choice. After entering the information press <Return> or click the "OK" button to exit. If you decide not to install the changes to Aladdin Setup, click "Cancel" to disregard the changes. Scroll If you select this when the messages scroll the last line of the previous screen will be the top line of the next screen. If it is not selected no lines will carry over from the previous screen. Bookmarks If you select this then Aladdin will remember what message you were last reading in a RT. Example. If you go to the ST RT and read 100 of 200 messages and then have to go write an email when you return to reading your messages you will go to message 100. If its not selected you would go to message 1. Stay If selected you will stay online at the end of any task. Otherwise you will have to select the stay button on the status line or Aladdin will log off when finished with its task. Aladdin ST Manual Page 19 4. OPENING MENU Desk File Edit GEmail Roundtable Library Terminal ----------------------------------------------------------------- Desk -- Library -- About Aladdin * Check For New Files * Do Pending Operation File -- Upload File Configuration Edit-Delete Uploads * RoundTables Choose Download Browse * Product Index Choose From Main List Change Password Search For Files Edit User Scripts * Log on to RT Library Browse file Quit Terminal -- Terminal Mode Edit -- * Log on Cut * Log Off Copy Hang Up Paste * Do AutoPass 1 Quote * Do AutoPass 2 Delete * Do Custom Pass Paragraph * Do User Script Abort Edit Start/End Text Capture * Send Text File GEmail -- * XMODEM Upload * Retrieve Mail XMODEM Download * Send Mail FAST Upload Read Mail FAST Download Write Mail View GEnie Banner Edit-Delete Mail * Log On To Page 200 Address Book GEmail Options Roundtable -- Select Roundtable * Retrieve NewMessages * Check New Messages * Do Pending Operation Read Messages * These items interact Edit-Delete Replies with Genie and could result in Mark-Reply OldTopics call to GEnie depending on the Start New Topic options that are selected. * Update Topic List * Log on to the BBS * Log on to the RTC View RT Bulletin Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 20 IV. The Aladdin Main Screen Aladdin is an automated access tool for GEnie users. Above everything else, Aladdin is designed to help you get the most use from GEnie for your hard-earned money. It will retrieve and send message for you from GEmail and the RoundTables, and will also download/upload files into the RoundTable software libraries. Additionally, it provides you with tools like Terminal Mode and the Script languages, each with its own features to make life as a GEnie user much easier for you. The Aladdin Main Screen is the door to all the features of Aladdin. In this section we will discuss each of the main menu items. The File Menu 1. & 2. Configuration and RoundTables We have already covered the Configuration from this menu in the manual section titled, "Setting Up Aladdin". If you have not yet read that section and/or setup Aladdin, please go back to that section now and follow the instructions to configure the Aladdin software. How to Configure RoundTables is found in this manual starting on page 34. 3. Product Index Clicking on Product Index pops up a window through which you can scroll through a complete list of all GEnie pages. This is shown as the page #, the page title, and a brief description. Options at the bottom of the window are shown in the following illustration. Please remember that Aladdin does not use the 8000 page numbers. Each RT Basic*Service RT has two page numbers an 8000 page and a smaller page number. Aladdin uses the smaller number. The are many ways of finding this smaller number, one of which is to sort by description which will show both page numbers. 4. Change Password There are three (3) options available from this menu selection. You can manually type in your own 8 character password or allow Aladdin to automatically generate a new password. A new password can be generated consisting of Random Words, or Random Characters. If you choose to have Aladdin select a new password composed of Random Characters, you can select from 209,000,000,000,000 possible choices. You can click the mouse button while pointing to the Random Characters Button until Aladdin displays a password Aladdin ST Manual Page 21 that you consider to be satisfactory, then press <Return> or click on "Ok" with the mouse button. Asking Aladdin to select a new password composed of two Random Words will yield 6,800,000 different choices. As before, you can continue to press the left mouse button while pointing to the Random Words button until Aladdin displays a password that you consider to be satisfactory, then press <Return> or click on the "Ok" Button to tell Aladdin to change the password to the one displayed. Aladdin will change your password instantly by logging on to GEnie. 5. Edit user Script See the Aladdin Script Language section for editing information. 6. Browse File Clicking on "Browse File" calls the GEM file selector and allows a file to be clicked on for viewing. The file is displayed, and may be browsed by using the cursor keys or the slide bar at the right side of the window. Any ASCII file may be read with Browse File. To exit the Browse window, click on the Window Closer button at the top left of the window. 7. Quit Clicking QUIT from the File Menu is the suggested way to exit Aladdin, due to the number of files that Aladdin keeps open when it is operating. If you do not do this it is possible to corrupt one or more of these files. There are two (2) other acceptable ways to exit Aladdin. You may hold the ALT key down and press the X key or you may hold the Control key down and press the UNDO key. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 22 V. The Edit Menu The Edit Menu is accessible after you have selected any of the message writing or reply functions in Aladdin. 1. Cut Clicking on Cut or pressing [ALT-X] cuts the selected text (highlighted) out of the edit window you are working in and saves it to disk. This file is called SCRAP.TXT and is written to the root directory. This selected TXT file can then be pasted into another message in Aladdin or loaded into many of the editors common on the ST. 2. Copy Clicking on Copy or pressing [ALT-C] copies the selected text (highlighted) out of the edit window you are working in and saves it to disk. This file is called SCRAP.TXT and is written to the root directory. This selected TXT file can then be pasted into another message in Aladdin or loaded into many of the editors common on the ST. 3. Paste Clicking on Paste or pressing [ALT-V] will load the TXT file (SCRAP.TXT) previously made with the Cut command or with a standard editor (Like Steno) and paste it into the message you are now working on. 4. Paste Quote This will take whatever is in the Scrap.txt file and paste it into your message with a ">" at the beginning of the line. The normal way to use this is as follows. When you find some text in a message that you want to quote (1) select Reply, (2) move the cursor to the top (original message) window and select ALT C to copy the message to the SCRAP.TXT file. (2) Move the cursor back to the lower (reply) window. (3) Now press Alt Q and the original message is there with the GEnie quote marks. Do a wee bit of editing and you ready to go. 5. Delete Clicking on Delete or pressing [ALT-D] will delete one or more lines of text that has been selected (highlighted). 6. Paste File Aladdin ST Manual Page 23 Clicking on Paste File or pressing [ALT-I], brings up a standard GEM file selector box from which you can select a previously created file or files. 7. Paragraph Clicking on Paragraph or pressing [ALT-P] will reformat a paragraph after editing. Note: This will format from the location of the cursor to the next blank line. 8. Abort Edit Clicking on Abort Edit will pop up a dialog box titled "Really Abort", requiring you to click on a Yes or No button. Clicking No will put you back into editing your text, clicking Yes will discard all of the text and place you back at the Aladdin main screen. You may also press the UNDO key or press [CTRL-A] to abort an edit session. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 24 VI. The GEmail Menu One of the most important and useful features of the GEnie system is GEmail, GEnie's Electronic Mail system. GEmail is a very powerful system which allows you to do just about anything that has to do with mail, from sending a simple "Hi, there..." note to transferring entire files attached to messages. Aladdin, of course, gives you full access to the GEmail system. NOTE - Aladdin will always check your mail for you every single time it logs on to GEnie, regardless of what operation you told Aladdin to perform. If Aladdin calls GEnie, logs on and finds that there is mail waiting for you, it will either download it immediately or wait until it finishes all other pending operations before logging off. Before we get into the details of how Aladdin's GEmail management system works, let's cover some basic points about GEmail. A GEmail message is composed of five basic components. They are: 1) The recipient list 2) The "CC" list (CC stands for "carbon copy", a standard abbreviation used in correspondence). 3) The subject field 4) The body of the message 5) An optional attached file The recipient list and CC list are nothing more than a number of GEmail addresses. These identify who is going to receive a message within the GEnie system. The recipient list normally contains one or more "main addressees". This is the person or persons to whom the message is specifically directed. The CC list contains the "secondary addressees" of the message. These are the person or persons to whom you also want to send the message for reference or other purposes. For example, there are situations in which you want to send a regular U.S. Post Office letter to a someone but you also want someone else to receive a copy of the letter for reference purposes. The person to whom you are sending the letter and whose address is in the original letter is the "primary addressee" equivalent on GEnie. The person or persons to whom you are sending copies of the letter would be the "secondary addressees" of the letter. Each of the recipients and/or CC list addresses must be separated by commas "," to let GEnie know they are separate GEmail addresses. For example, if you wanted to send a message to a user whose GEmail address is "J.DOE", you would simply enter the address in the recipient list. If, on the other hand, you want "A.USER", "J.JONES" and "M.SMITH" to receive copies of the message as well, you would enter their addresses into the CC list as "A.USER,J.JONES,M.SMITH" (without the quotation marks). If you don't separate the GEmail addresses with commas, only one user Aladdin ST Manual Page 25 (the first one), or quite possibly none of them, will receive the copies of the message. The subject field is used to attach a one-line title to the message which summarizes its contents. For example, if a message is about an upcoming meeting, you would enter the words "Upcoming Meeting" into the subject field. Always enter a subject line into this field; GEmail copies the contents of this field into all replies that relate to the original message. If you don't have a subject field, it's very hard to remember what a letter is about, particularly when you are dealing with someone who replies to a notice with an "OK" and nothing else. The body of the message is just that, the body of the message. As far as Aladdin is concerned, you can have from 1 to approximately 64,000 characters in a message. That's about 7,000 words (on average). The optional attached file has to do with a very useful feature of GEmail. Suppose you wanted to send a friend of yours a file containing information, such as a spreadsheet, which would take a while to retype should it have to be entered manually into the computer. GEnie allows you to send an "attached file" with a message. The process is a little confusing if you are using GEnie in manual mode with a normal communications program, but Aladdin makes it easy. All you have to is tell Aladdin which file on your computer you want to attach to the message. It takes care of the rest, including the creation of the message and the uploading of the file into GEnie's mail system. For example, if you have a file called "WALLST.WKS" in your POWER directory which you want to send to someone using GEmail, all you have to do is create the message and attach the file to it. If the file is located in your \POWER directory, you enter "\POWER\WALLST.WKS" into the Path/File field, press <RETURN>, and that's all it takes. Or click on the Path/File field name to use the file selector to point out the file. Now that we have covered some of the basic concepts behind the GEmail system, let's discuss the specific commands on Aladdin's GEmail menu. NOTE - Aladdin does not check the attached file field to see if the path or filename is correct or exists when you enter it into the field. You must make sure that it is entered correctly for the attached file to be sent out, otherwise Aladdin will not be able to send the file. Retrieve Mail - Send Mail Select the GEmail Menu, from here you can "Retrieve Mail", "Send Mail", and reply to Mail you have received. You can also attach files to mail to accomplish tasks such as sending a spreadsheet to a friend by using GEnie instead of the U.S. Mail or expensive services like Federal Express or U.P.S. There is another Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 26 advantage: the file arrives instantaneously in the recipients GEnie mailbox. No waiting for the delivery truck to arrive or making arrangements to receive packages or envelopes. It's there, ready to be picked up right away in the comfort of your home or office. If you had logged onto GEnie in the terminal mode and decided to check for mail before you Log Off you could click on the Retrieve Mail option and your mail, if any, would be automatically downloaded. Or from an off line condition you can click on Retrieve Mail and Aladdin would dial GEnie and download your mail. 1. Retrieve Mail This option tells Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and download any new mail messages that may be waiting in your mailbox, including mail that has a file attached to it. Once the process is completed, Aladdin will log off. If there was in fact mail waiting for you in your mailbox, Aladdin will put a check mark next to the Read Mail option on this menu. 2. Send Mail Selecting this option tells Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and send all mail and mail commands that are pending in your computer. Aladdin will send all new mail, post replies and forward any mail which you have asked it to send to one or more third-party recipients. It will also send any messages with files attached. If there are any mail operations pending, Aladdin will put a triangle mark next to that option as well. 3. Read Mail This option is the heart of Aladdin's GEmail management system. This is where you will read and take action on all incoming mail that Aladdin has downloaded for you. Note that this option will only work if you have mail in your queue that Aladdin has downloaded for you and you have not read. The previous batch of mail messages remains readable until you ask Aladdin to log on again. At that time all current messages in your Aladdin mail queue are deleted. The number of commands available within this function of Aladdin are small, but very powerful. Pressing [Esc] will exit this screen and take you back to the Aladdin GEmail Menu. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys will scroll your message up and down if the message is too long to display on one screen. The [Left] and [Right] arrow keys will display the previous and next messages in the queue, respectively. The other available commands are: "R" - Pressing the "R" key or clicking on the Reply button tells Aladdin that you wish to reply to the currently displayed message. Aladdin will display a new screen which contains an editing window in which you can enter your reply as well as a Aladdin ST Manual Page 27 smaller window in which you can view and scroll the original message should you wish to refer to it as you compose your reply. Within the message reply screen there are a number of commands available. They are: [Esc] - Exit and save reply for posting. Pressing the [Esc] key will tell Aladdin that you are done editing the message reply and wish to save it on disk for later posting on GEnie. [Ctrl-A] - Abort the message reply. Pressing [Ctrl- A], the UNDO key or selecting Abort Edit from the Edit Menu will tell Aladdin that you do not want to send this reply. Aladdin will throw away any editing of a reply that you have done up to that point, so it will prompt you to see if you really want to abort the reply and throw it away. "F" - Forward a message. Pressing the "F" key or clicking on the Forward button tells Aladdin that you want to forward the message you are viewing to up to 5 users. Aladdin will present you with a new window in which you enter the GEmail addresses of one or more users to whom you want the GEmail system to send extra copies of this message. Remember that multiple GEmail addresses must be separated by commas. Once you have entered the addresses, press <RETURN> to complete the process. If you do not wish to forward any copies of the letter, press [Esc] to abort the procedure and return to the message view screen. Aladdin will ignore the forwarding request. If you need to forward a message to more than 5 users, issue multiple forwarding commands. Clicking Read Messages will load all active messages into Aladdin in the sequence in which they were received. At the bottom of the screen you will see the following series of buttons which will react to the message currently on the screen. Reply, Forward, First, Last, Topic, Save and Address. The Reply button (or pressing R) will Open a text window titled with the subject of the current message and allow you to write a Reply to that message. Closing the window will automatically store the reply for transmission to GEnie on the next Log ON. The Forward button (or pressing F) will pop up a dialog box requesting the address of the person to forward the Message to. The First button will take you to the First GEmail. The Last Button will take you to the Last message in the mail que. The Save Button will bring up a dialog box with the following choices. Archive, File, Printer and Printer FormFeed. as well as OK and Cancel. Clicking on Archive and then OK will save to the file Archive.txt Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 28 Clicking on Printer and then OK will print the message to the printer on only as much paper is needed. Clicking on File and OK will bring up the Message Save file selector with the cursor in the file name field, after entering the file name you may click OK or Cancel. Clicking on Printer/FormFeed will print the message and then OK will print the message and run the paper to the top of form, or in the case of a laser printer eject the paper after printing. Clicking on Address will save the name of the person who wrote you the GEmail in your address book. 4. Write Mail The Write Mail option is used to send mail with the help of Aladdin. The screen is similar to that displayed when you want to reply to a downloaded mail message except that the "TO", "cc", "Subject or file" and "Path\File" fields are empty and there is no window at the top of the screen to view any original messages. As explained earlier, the "TO" field contains the GEmail addresses of those persons to whom the message is addressed and the "cc" field contains the GEmail addresses of those persons to whom carbon copies of this message will be sent. If you run out of space in the "cc" field for carbon copy recipients, you can add more recipient addresses within the body of your message, by moving the cursor to the end of the body of your message and pressing <RETURN> to open a new line. Type the characters "*ACC," and enter the GEmail address of those additional recipients immediately following the comma ",", with each GEmail address separated by a comma as well. For example, if you need to send carbon copies to "J.DOE", "A.USER" and "MY.PAL" and you ran out of room for their GEmail addresses in the "cc" field, type the following line at the beginning of the last line of your message body: *ACC,J.DOE,A.USER,MY.PAL <RETURN> The "*ACC" is an internal GEnie message editor command that adds names to the list of carbon copy recipients. There are several more internal GEmail commands that you can use; refer to your GEnie User's Guide for more information. The "Subject or file" field contains either the subject of the message or the name of one attached file that will be sent with the message. The "Path\File" field contains the location and filename in your computer of the file that you want to attach to this message, if any. If you enter a path and filename into this last field, the filename will also be displayed in the "Subject or file" field as well. The bordered window is where the message text is entered. Aladdin ST Manual Page 29 Clicking on Write Mail takes you into the built in text editor that is part of Aladdin, from which you can write original letters or replies to GEmail you have already received. You will see a window open as follows: Write GEmail To : cc : Subject or file : Path\File : --------------------------------------------------------------- "To" is the Address/es (name/s) of where the file is to go. "cc" if you would like a carbon copy for yourself or others. The subject or file name of what you are sending. The search path and file name of what you are sending, which will automatically be sent via XMODEM protocol. By clicking the mouse pointer directly on the words "To" or "cc" you will bring up your Address Book from which you just click on the name or names to which you wish to send GEmail. Clicking on "Path\File" will bring up a GEM file selector box from which you can click on the file you want to send. When you are finished, click the mouse pointer on the close box of the Write Mail window or press ESC. To send what you just created go back to the GEmail menu and click on Send Mail, or it will be sent automatically upon selecting Do AutoPass 1 or 2. [Esc] - To save the message and exit back to the GEmail menu, press the [Esc] key. [Ctrl-A] - To terminate the process without saving the message, press [Ctrl-A] or the UNDO key and then click on the "YES" to confirm the command. If you change your mind, click on the "NO" to continue editing. [Up] - The [Up] arrow key is used when the cursor is in one of the fields at the top of the screen. As you press the key the description for the action it takes will change at the bottom of the display, telling you what will happen if you press it again. Basically it moves from field to field or into the message editing window. [Down] - The [Down] arrow key is used in exactly the same manner as the [Up] arrow key, except that it moves the cursor down through the fields and into the message editing window. 5. Edit-Delete Mail Clicking on Edit-Delete Mail will bring up a window titled Edit/Delete replies, which will list all mail which is on your system. You can then select each item by clicking on it then click on the Edit or Delete buttons at the bottom of the window Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 30 to select the desired action. When you are finished click on the Done button to return to the Aladdin main screen. 6. Log On To Page 200 Clicking on Log On To Page 200 instructs Aladdin to immediately dial up and log on to GEnie and take you to page 200, which is the page on which the GEmail Menu for GEnie is located. It then turns over the console to you, leaving you in terminal mode. You can then perform any manual operations on GEnie that you need to do. 7. Address Book The Address Book is a personal listing of GEnie addresses and additional information which can be selected automatically for insertion into letters created with the Write Mail selection. The Address Book is kept on line at all times for quick access. Sometime individuals use Addresses which might not always come to mind so you have a ready reference. The first column is the actual Address (up to 16 characters), followed by a space. The balance of the line can be used for the actual name or some other descriptive information. The ADDRESS BOOK can be edited when called from the GE Mail Menu. 8. GEmail Options Clicking on GEmail Options brings up the dialog box on the next page which allows you to determine how the following will be handled. The options for the way Aladdin handles GEmail may be set by clicking on "GEmail Options" from the "GEmail" menu. Always pick up Mail? - This field controls whether or not Aladdin will always pick up mail when it detects that you have mail waiting in your mailbox while running an automatic operation. The default entry for this field is "Yes". If you enter a "No" into this field Aladdin will only pick up mail from your mailbox when you specifically instruct it to from the GEmail menu. Automatic XMODEM? - This options tells Aladdin whether or not to automatically download files that are attached to messages. If this option is set to "Yes", every time Aladdin detects that a GEmail message has an attached file, it will download it. If it is set to "No", Aladdin will not download the file until you tell it to do so. Downloaded Mail Path - This field holds the path (directory) which Aladdin will use for storing files downloaded as part of a GEmail message (attached files). You might want to create a "New Folder" named Download inside your Aladdin folder, in which case you would specify C:\Aladdin\Download\, (maximum of 19 characters). Aladdin ST Manual Page 31 Input archive file - This field holds the filename of the file to which Aladdin saves copies of messages which you tell it to save. Output archive file - This field holds the filename of the file in which Aladdin saves copies of all outgoing mail and messages. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 32 VII. The RoundTables Menu Before we get into each item of the RoundTables menu we will go into some detail about the configuration of RoundTables and the Aladdin software. Setting the RoundTable Configurations Now that you have set up the primary and GEmail configurations, we will cover setting up the RoundTables in the RoundTable Configuration Dialog Box. To access the RoundTable Configuration Dialog, click on "Roundtables" from the "File" menu. This option allows adding new Roundtables and editing or deleting existing selections. Clicking "Ok", or pressing "Return" will exit the RoundTable Configuration screen, save any new/modified RoundTable configuration information and return you to the Aladdin main menu. Adding a RoundTable To add a RoundTable to the list, use the mouse and click on "<Click here to add>" with the left mouse button. This will bring up the Aladdin RoundTable Editing screen, "RoundTable settings". To add a RoundTable on the list, you can manually type the page number in, if you know it. Remember that Aladdin cannot use the 8000 page numbers. Or you can move the mouse pointer so that it points at the words GENIE PAGE NUMBER and double click. This will bring up the index and you can select the RT you wish to add. Editing an existing RoundTable To edit an existing RT point to the name displayed on your Roundtable list and double-click the left mouse button. The Roundtable Configuration Dialog Box will be displayed permitting options and settings to be edited. Editing a RoundTable is done on the same RoundTable Editing screen as when you add a RoundTable to the list. The same instructions apply. Deleting a RoundTable To delete a RoundTable from the list, point to the name on your RoundTable list and double-click the left mouse button. When the RoundTable Configuration Dialog box is displayed, click the "Delete" button at the bottom right. This will cause Aladdin to delete the RoundTable from the list, permanently, unless added at a later time. Aladdin ST Manual Page 33 Changing the RoundTable List Order The Roundtable list order may be changed by pointing to the names on the list with the mouse and pressing and holding the left mouse button to select the Roundtable name from the displayed list. Continue to hold the mouse button down while dragging the name to its new position on the Roundtable list. The RoundTable Editing Dialog Box The RoundTable Editing Dialog is used to select and set the options for specific GEnie RoundTables that you want Aladdin to access automatically. Pressing the <Return> key or clicking on the "Ok" Button - Exits the RoundTable Editing screen, saves the information for the selected RoundTable and returns to the RoundTable Configuration screen. Selecting Fields for Editing - The [Up] and [Down] Arrow Keys, Tab Key, or Mouse pointer may be used to move from field to field. RoundTable Settings GEnie page number - Enter the number of the GEnie page at which the RoundTable is located. Services on GEnie are assigned page numbers. For example, the Atari ST RoundTable main menu is located on page 475, the ST Aladdin RoundTable is located on page 1000. If you are not sure on which page the RoundTable you want to add is located, click on "GEnie Page Number". This function displays all the services on GEnie and their respective GEnie page numbers. For more information, see the File Menu section of this manual. You can also use the INDEX command under this same File menu. Once you enter the page number, and move to the next field, by striking the TAB key. Aladdin will search the index and display the name of the service on that page, if it is found in the index. If it is not found, you will have to enter the RoundTable name in the "Name" field. This should not happen under normal conditions. If you cannot find a RoundTable which you know exists by its page number, you may have to click on the option to update the GEnie product index. This option is available from "Product Index" under the "File" menu. RoundTable Name - This field is normally filled in by Aladdin. Refer to the previous section for more information. But you can change it to anything you wish. AutoPass 1 options - This field holds the AutoPass 1 options for Aladdin. In this field you will select what actions Aladdin will take every time it automatically accesses this RoundTable on GEnie when you click on "Do AutoPass 1" from the GEnie main menu. We will explain the Do AutoPass operations in the Terminal Menu section of the manual. In an AutoPass 1 operation Aladdin checks for and/or retrieves new messages and/or files. The possible Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 34 options for this field are buttons which can be clicked on with the mouse. Selections for the message area are, "All New Messages", "Check for New Messages", and "All New Replies". "All New Messages" tells Aladdin that it should ask for and store all new messages. "Check for New Messages" tells Aladdin that it should check for new messages only and lets you select which topics you want. If you click on "Check for New Messages", it takes another log on session for Aladdin to download the new messages for you to view and/or reply to. "All New Replies" instructs Aladdin to read only those topics which you have already read or replied to once before. These topics are referred to by GEnie as "marked" topics. If you want Aladdin to check for new files in the software library area of the RoundTable, Click on "Check for New Files". Aladdin will then check the software library for new files every time it logs on to GEnie and accesses that RoundTable during a Do AutoPass 1 operation. For example, if you want Aladdin to check for new messages only, click on "Check for New Messages" in the Do AutoPass 1 options field. If you want it to check for and retrieve new messages and also check for any new files in the software library of that RoundTable, click on "All New Messages" and "Check for New Files". If you only want Aladdin to check for new files in the software library area and ignore the message area, click only "Check for New Files". AutoPass 1 days - This field controls which days of the week Aladdin will access the RoundTable during an AutoPass 1 operation. The default entry in this field is all days (all buttons highlighted). This tells Aladdin to include this RoundTable on an AutoPass 1 operation all seven days of the week. If you wish to limit AutoPass 1 operations on this RoundTable to certain days of the week, use the mouse and click on the days to ignore with the left mouse button, unhighlighting the days to ignore. For example, if you wish to have Aladdin include this RoundTable during an AutoPass 1 operation only on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays of every week, you would highlight only the buttons for Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. Custom Pass: With this you can create a custom Pass for yourself. You can select Selected Days, Messages, and/or Libraries. An example would be say you have 15 RT's that you normally visit but 3 RTs have a lot of messages that you are like to read 2 or 3 times a day. Select the Message button for these 3 RT's then when you select DO CUSTOM PASS under the terminal menu, Aladdin will just get the messages (or whatever you have selected) for those 3 Aladdin ST Manual Page 35 RT's. It will not waste time by going to the libraries of to other RT's that can wait until tomorrow. Files Work files - Aladdin will normally fill in this field automatically by taking the first eight (8) letters of the RoundTable name field, excluding spaces. This field represents the filename portion of the files which Aladdin creates to store incoming and outgoing messages, software library indexes, etc. for that RoundTable during normal operations. Aladdin uses its own extensions for each file For example, retrieved messages are stored in a file with the extension ".MSG". If for some reason you are not satisfied with this filename, you may change it, but we recommend that you leave it as is. Input Archive Input archive - This is the filename that Aladdin uses to store incoming messages and replies for the selected RoundTable when you tell Aladdin to save these. The default filename, used by Aladdin, is always "INPUT.TXT". If you want your saved incoming messages and replies for this RoundTable to be stored in a separate file, enter the desired filename in this field. Output archive Output archive - This is the filename that Aladdin uses to store outgoing messages and replies for the selected RoundTable. The default filename, used by Aladdin, is always "OUTPUT.TXT". If you want your outgoing messages and replies for this RT to be stored in a separate file, enter the desired filename in this field. AutoSave messages? - This option requires the "Yes" or "No" button to be clicked on. Clicking "Yes" instructs Aladdin to save all incoming messages from that specific RoundTable into the input archive file. Clicking "No" (the default condition) will instruct Aladdin to discard all new messages after they are read and Aladdin retrieves new messages for processing. Note that setting this option to "Yes" will cause Aladdin to use a lot of disk space to save all incoming messages, particularly on very active RoundTables like the Atari ST RoundTable. Software library settings Default path - Under normal conditions, Aladdin will ask you where exactly you want to put a file that is about to be downloaded. If you want Aladdin to save downloaded files in a separate directory (folder), enter the directory's path here. For example, if you want Aladdin to save downloaded files for this RoundTable into the WORK directory on drive C:, enter "C:\WORK\" into this field. You can always override the default and place the incoming files anywhere you want on your disk. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 36 Last file date - When Aladdin checks for new files in the software library of the selected RoundTable, it issues a command that displays the file directory of the library. As the files are displayed, it checks the upload date of file against the date in this field. As soon as files that were uploaded before this date begin showing up on the screen, Aladdin will send a "break" signal (as defined in the GEnie/Modem/Options Configuration Screen) to stop the directory listing. If there are no files with an upload date newer than the date in this field, Aladdin will ignore the listing and continue. If there are files that have been uploaded into the library after the date in this field and with a file number higher than the one stored in Aladdin's software library directory file for this RoundTable, Aladdin will store the listing in a special file from which you can later select which ones you want to download, if any. The date is entered in the format "YYMMDD". If you want to tell Aladdin to ignore files in the library that were uploaded before January 1, 1988, enter "880101" in this field and press <RETURN>. NOTE - The default date in the "Last file date" field is January 1, 1980. Make sure you set this field to a later date, unless you want to see all the files in the library. If you already had a GEnie account before obtaining Aladdin and were up to date in the software library, enter today's date into this field. In this way Aladdin will not waste your time capturing the information for files that you already know about. 1. Select RoundTable By clicking on Select RoundTable you can see that up to twenty one (21) RoundTable titles can be displayed in the window. The ST Aladdin RoundTable is already set up in the version downloaded off of GEnie. Directly under the words "Select RoundTable" in the RoundTable Menu You will see the name of the currently selected RoundTable. Clicking on the name will sequentially toggle through your complete list. This is an alternate to clicking on Select RoundTable and selecting one from that menu. 2. Retrieve New Messages Clicking Retrieve New Messages will cause Aladdin to take the following actions: Aladdin will clear the screen and dial the local number that you entered into the GEnie/Modem/Aladdin Options configuration screen, if you are not already connected to GEnie. Once your modem achieves a connection with GEnie's modem, Aladdin will send three "H"'s to inform GEnie that someone is attempting to log on. The three "H"'s allow GEnie to determine what baud rate you are connecting at. GEnie will display the login prompt, which is the string "U#=". Aladdin recognizes this and sends GEnie your user ID, password, Aladdin ST Manual Page 37 and the number of the page for the RoundTable, and the option on that page, which will tell GEnie who you are and initially what you want to do. Your user ID and password are hidden from view, as Aladdin displays the word "SECRET" at this time instead of showing you what it sent. This is useful if someone happens to be watching over your shoulder. - IMPORTANT NOTE! - Never give your user ID or password to anyone (not even while logged on to GEnie) or use it in any message on any part of the service. For example, if you were to log on you would see something similar to the following on your screen, U#=SECRET SECRET SECRET If the user ID and password are valid, GEnie will display a welcome message, the news of the day for users, a notification of whether there is any mail waiting for you in your mailbox, and then it will take you to the selected RoundTable. Normally a short notice welcoming you to the RoundTable will be displayed then the club door welcome message for that RoundTable will follow. Aladdin issues a BRO NOR command, which tells GEnie that you want to browse all new messages. The new messages along with their topic titles and summaries are displayed on the screen, which GEnie captures into the active message file. When GEnie finishes displaying all the new messages (if any), it once again displays it's prompt, "?". At this time Aladdin will check to see if the initial GEnie screen had a notification that there was mail waiting for you in your mailbox, and if so it will issue a "READ" command, which tells GEnie to scroll the contents of your mailbox on the screen. Aladdin will capture the text of the messages to your Aladdin mailbox file in your personal computer. If there were no messages waiting in your mailbox when Aladdin logged on to GEnie, Aladdin skips this step. Since there are no more actions to take, Aladdin is finished. It issues a "BYE" command to GEnie, and waits until GEnie says goodbye and disconnects your modem. Aladdin then returns you to the RoundTable Menu. If there were any new messages in the RoundTable Bulletin Board area, Aladdin will put a triangle mark in front of that menu item. To read and optionally reply to the new messages click on Read New Mail from the GEmail menu. If there was any mail waiting for you when Aladdin logged on, it can be read and optionally replied to using Aladdin's GEmail section. Refer to the section "Sending/Receiving Mail". Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 38 3. Get New Messages This option will get messages only from the selected RT. You have three options. "BRO NOR" is the default and will get all the new messages in the RT's Bulletin Board area. Selecting RAM NOR will get new messages from all the Marked Topics. Selecting Specify and adding the command line after the word Command and Aladdin will do anything that you ask and GEnie knows how to do. This option will let you search the entire RT for messages from one person, Get all the messages posted after or before a certain date. Or just get messages in a certain topic that were posted after a selected date. This command line is not error checked. It is up to you to make certain you are following GEnie specs. You might want to read about this in the GEnie manual. 4. Do Pending Operations This command is used to tell Aladdin to immediately perform any pending operations for the current RoundTable displayed at the top of the screen in the menu title line. These include: Send any new/reply messages pending, including those that require a new topic which you have instructed Aladdin to start. Download any new messages from topics marked. Download, Upload or Browse any files selected in the software library section of the RoundTable menu. If there are any of the above operations pending, when you click on Do Pending Operation Aladdin will log on to GEnie, access the RoundTable, and process the operations in either the Bulletin Board or Software Library areas of the RoundTable. Aladdin will place a triangle mark in the RoundTable menu to indicate that there are pending operations. 5. Read (and reply to) messages This command can only be used if there are new messages pending in the queue after Aladdin logs off from GEnie. If there are no pending messages, the command will have no effect. If there are pending messages, Aladdin displays a marker beside the option on the menu. If you have pending messages, Select Read Message. Aladdin will then display the first message and topic in the pending list. The top of the message display screen shows the category title and the topic header, separated by a slash "/" character. Aladdin ST Manual Page 39 Immediately below that you see a message that tells you that this message is number 2 of 21 messages that are pending in your local queue at the moment. This means that Aladdin downloaded 21 new messages the last time you told it to log on and this is message number 2 of those 21. The next line tells you what category and topic number this message came from. The next line tells you the message number in the topic and the date that it was posted. The next line tells you who posted it and the time when the message was posted. The person who posted it is identified by the GEmail address. Following that is the text of the message itself. Read Commands: The [Esc] key is used to exit the viewing mode at any time. It will take you back to the RoundTable menu. The [Right] and [Left] arrow keys are used to view the previous or next message on the pending queue. You can also press the space bar to advance to the next message. Pressing the Control Right Arrow will advance you to the next Topic. "R" - Reply to the current message. This tells Aladdin that you want to reply to this message. Once you press the "R" key or click on the Reply button, Aladdin is immediately ready to accept a reply to the message. It already knows where to send it, so you do not have to make any header changes. All you have to do is type in the text of your reply. Once you are done, press [Esc] to save your reply in the outgoing queue. Aladdin will post it the next time you tell it to log on to that RoundTable. If you do not wish to reply at this time, or if you pressed the "R" key by accident, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the "A" key once. This will tell Aladdin that you want to abort the reply. Aladdin will ask you to confirm the abort of the reply. As you can see, Aladdin does not display all of the original message, simply because there is not enough room. If you need to refer to portions of the original message you are replying to while composing your reply. Click within the text window you wish to scroll up or down in. This function works in ANY window without a vertical slider bar. Always remember that the title bar of the window you want to work in must be highlighted, if not click the title bar to select the window that you want to work in. By clicking in the top two 2 or bottom two (2) lines of a window will cause the text to scroll two (2) lines at a time. By clicking in the third or fourth lines from the top or bottom of the window will cause the text to scroll a screen full at a time, (if there is that much text available) or it will go to the top or bottom of the file. "F" - Forward a message. Pressing the "F" key or clicking on the Forward button tells Aladdin that you want to forward the message you are viewing to one or more users. Aladdin will present you with a new window in which you enter the GEmail addresses of one or more users to whom you want GEnie to send extra copies of this message. Remember that multiple GEmail addresses must be Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 40 separated by commas. Once you have entered the addresses, press <RETURN> to complete the process. If you do not wish to forward any copies of the letter, press [Esc] to abort the procedure and return to the message view screen. "S" - Save the message. Pressing the "S" key or selecting the Save button will cause your message to be saved in the filename which you specified as your Input Archive during the Aladdin setup. This file is normally called "INPUT.TXT" and resides in the same directory in your computer as Aladdin. If the filename already exists when you select either of these two (*) options any new information is appended to the existing file. The Topic Button brings up the Mark/reply dialog box. This will allow you to do any of the functions in this box, like IGN PER or to get previous messages. Clicking on Address will bring up a dialog box with the name, (Address) of the individual that wrote the letter you are replying to and automatically add it to your address list. 6. Edit-Delete Replies Clicking on Edit-Delete Replies is used to edit or delete a number of actions which you may have instructed Aladdin to take, such as replying to messages, creating new topics, etc. When you click on Edit-Delete Replies, Aladdin will display a selector box from which you can select the item to Edit or Delete. Clicking the Done Button will exit the display mode and return you to the RoundTable menu. To select a particular message to edit, click on it, to have Aladdin display it for you. When you are done editing the message, press [Esc] to save it. Aladdin will return you to the previous display just in case you want to edit any more messages. If you want to delete a message from the reply queue, click on the message and press the "D" key. This will mark the message with a "DELETED:" prefix, and Aladdin will display this fact on the screen immediately. Pressing the "D" key once again will undelete the message and restore it to it's original condition. You can only undelete if you have not left the edit function. If you mark an entry for deletion by pressing "D" and then click on the Done button to exit, that's it; it's gone forever. 8. Mark-Reply Old Topics This is used to tell Aladdin that you want to reply to or to apply certain functions to existing topics. All topics found during reading, replying to or checking messages are stored in a Aladdin ST Manual Page 41 database file which contains a list of these topics for the selected RoundTable. We recommend updating your topic list every month or so since sysops sometimes delete or move topics that are no longer of relevance. Updating the topic list is explained further in section 10 of this manual. Clicking on Mark-Reply OldTopic tells Aladdin to display the list of existing topics. The topics are displayed by category, topic, title, number, current status and a "mark" status which tells you what actions you have asked Aladdin to take since the last time you used this option. The [Esc] key will tell Aladdin to exit this screen and save your selection parameters for future action. The mouse pointer is used to move up and down the topic list during the selection process. A highlight bar moves up and down the topic list. Within each topic you can instruct Aladdin to perform one of many actions displayed on the screen. They are: "K" - "KEEP" is the default condition of a topic. "M" - Mark Topic marks a topic for read under the Read Marked Topics option (on the Roundtable Menu). "U" - Unmark Topic unmarks a marked topic. "I" - Tell GEnie that you want to ignore all the current messages in this topic, including those messages which you have not read since the last time Aladdin logged on to GEnie. "P" - Tell GEnie that you never want to bothered with new messages in this topic again. Basically, this means that as far as you are concerned this topic will not exist. This action is reversible by pressing the "L" key. "N" - Read all new messages on this topic. "A" - Read all messages on this topic, from number 1 to the latest message posted on the topic. "L" - Read the last message on this topic. This is sometimes useful on long topics to get an idea of what is the current drift of the topic. Many topic on GEnie, especially those that people find interesting, tend to "mutate" into other entirely different subjects as time goes on. "D" - Read Dat=<> will let you read messages that have been posted on, before or after a certain date. When you press "D", Aladdin displays a new bottom section of the screen. Pressing the <RETURN> key will end the date parameter selection process. Clicking on the "<", "=" or ">" keys tells Aladdin that you want Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 42 to read only those messages posted before, on or after a certain date. The data itself is entered in a YYMMDD format, where YY is the last two digits of the year, MM is the two-digit month number and DD is the two-digit day. "T" - Read AUT= will let you read all messages posted on the selected topic by one specific user. You must know what that user's GEmail address is. Aladdin will prompt you for the user's GEmail address. "#" - Read messages on this topic between two message numbers, inclusive. Aladdin will prompt you for the first and last message to read. It will then read all messages in the topic whose message numbers are between those two numbers, inclusive. "R" - Reply to the selected topic. Aladdin will display the message editor. At this time you can enter a reply message to be posted on this topic. Press [Esc] when you are finished editing the message. Aladdin will then save it and post it to the topic when you next instruct it to log on to GEnie. "S" - Search the topic list for a specific keyword(s). Aladdin will prompt you for the keyword and will then search the topic list to see if it can find a topic which has that exact keyword(s) in the topic subject header. Try to keep the keyword down to one word; it will be easier to find topics in this manner because Aladdin will always look for an exact match. "C" - Cancel the category in which the cursor is current located. This command will move the cursor to the first topic in the category and mark it as being canceled with the mark "CANCEL". When Aladdin next processes this action it will issue the necessary commands to terminate all participation in the selected category on the selected RoundTable. The only way to restart your participation in the category is to manually request to do something within the category, or ask Aladdin to perform an action of any kind specific to one of the topics in the category, such as reading the last message in a topic. 9. Start New Topic If after searching the current topic index for a RoundTable you cannot find a topic which seems suitable for a query of the subject you want to discuss in that RoundTable, you can instruct Aladdin to tell GEnie to open a new topic for you in a category of that RoundTable. The Start New Topic option does just that. Aladdin asks you what category you want to start the topic under. The categories displayed are very comprehensive (see the so it should be very easy to select one for the subject of your topic. Aladdin ST Manual Page 43 On other RoundTables it may be a little more difficult to decide what category to place the new topic under. If you have a doubt as to which category to select, choose category 1. In most cases the Sysop of the RoundTable will either move the topic to the proper category or, if the subject deems it, will begin an entirely new category for that subject. The latter doesn't happen very often, though. In most cases there is an existing category under which your topic will fit. If at any point during the process you want to abort the procedure, press and hold the [Ctrl] key and press the "A" key or click on ABORT from the Edit Menu. This will tell Aladdin that you want to abort the procedure and do not want to start a new topic at this time. Aladdin will ask you if you really want to abort the process (just in case you pressed [Ctrl-A] by accident). You can also press [Esc] at any point to exit and save the parameters for the new topic. Aladdin will then process the new topic request the next time you ask it to log in to GEnie. The [Up] and [Down] arrow keys are used while in the topic header field to switch between that field and the first message window, which is explained below. The first thing you have to do is select a topic header, which in essence becomes the topic subject. The cursor is automatically positioned in this field when the screen is displayed, so all you have to do is type it in. Select a topic header that will give the reader a good idea of what the topic is intended to be about. For example, "Printers" is not a good topic header but, "Printer Problems - Okidata 2410" is. Once you have entered the topic header, press <RETURN>. The cursor will move to the next window below, which is the "long description" part of the topic header. In this window you should enter a longer description of the topic. For example, following the topic header example given above, you could enter a long description like this: "This topic is for discussion of problems interfacing and using the Okidata 2410 Pacemark high speed dot- matrix printer." The long description is limited to a maximum of 3 lines. Try to write a long description in general terms so that the reader can get a good idea of what the topic is about. Don't try to go into too many details here, you'll have plenty of opportunity to include as much detail as you want in the next step of the process. Next, you need to enter the first message of the topic. You have the option of not entering a first message, but we recommend that you always enter a first message. There is no reason to limit the query to just the long description; use the first message to state your query or topic subject in full with all the details that you want to include in it. 10. Update Topic List Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 44 This command instructs Aladdin to immediately log on, go to the selected RoundTable and request a topic index for that RoundTable from GEnie. The topic index list is captured, and Aladdin logs off. The old topic index is discarded, the new index is made the current one, and you now have a fresh index with all available topics. This is particularly useful when you have not logged on to GEnie in a while and do not want to be bombarded with a slew of new topics and messages. 11. Log on to the BBS This command is used to tell Aladdin to immediately dial the local number, log on, and take you to the Bulletin Board area of the RoundTable. If Aladdin detects that there is mail waiting for you, it will issue a "READ" command to collect your mail first, then it will release control to you after having placed you on the Bulletin Board. At this point you can issue manual Bulletin Board command by using Terminal Mode. 12. Log on to the RTC This command tells Aladdin to immediately dial the local access number, log on, and take you to the RoundTable Real Time Conference area. 13. View RT Bulletins This option is used to view what GEnie calls the "Club Door Bulletin". This is the text that you see every time you enter a particular RoundTable. This bulletin always contains a preset opening text, but sometimes also contains what GEnie calls "one- time notices". One-time notices are used by the Sysop of the RoundTable to inform one or more users about a significant piece of information (such as an upcoming Real Time Conference. The notice shows up once after it is set for you, and you don't see it again. Since you might miss an important notice while you are away from your computer and Aladdin is performing some tasks on GEnie, Aladdin gives you the option to see what the latest club door bulletin looked like. If there were any special one-time notices for you, you will see those as well. To return to the Aladdin RoundTable menu after viewing the bulletin, press the [Esc] key or click on the closer. Aladdin ST Manual Page 45 VIII. The Library Menu From this menu you can access all of the features of the RoundTable's Software Library, from searching for files by keywords, uploader or upload date to browsing the long descriptions of each file and performing multiple batch downloads, automatically and with a minimum amount of involvement on your part. 1. Check For New Files Clicking Check For New Files from the Library Menu will tell Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie, go to the RoundTable's Software Library, and check to see if there are any new files available for downloading. For those of you that are familiar with GEnie, Aladdin issues a command to display all files in the library. You don't have to worry about Aladdin spending hours checking for new files, though. Aladdin keeps track of the last time it checked that specific library for new files. As soon as it finds a file with an upload date which is equal to or earlier than the date Aladdin knows was the last time it checked for new files, it sends GEnie a "break", which stops the file listing. Aladdin will then log off and return you to the Software Library section of the RoundTable. If there are any new files available, Aladdin will display a triangle mark next to the option in the menu, indicating to you that there are new files available on the RoundTable's Software Library. This option is covered in detail a little further on in this section of the manual. Aladdin will also display the same marker next to that RoundTable's entry in the Aladdin main menu. This marker will remain until you access the Check Library for New Files option. 2. Do Pending Operation This option is exactly the same as the corresponding option in the RoundTable Menu. Refer to the previous section for more information on this command. 3. Upload File The Upload file option is used to upload files from your personal computer into the selected RoundTable's Software Library area. Clicking on this option will cause a standard GEM file selector box to be displayed on your screen. To upload a file, the first thing you have to do is tell Aladdin the name of the file that you want to upload. For example, if you want to upload the file MYFILE.TXT, and the file is located in your C:\DOCUMENT directory. you would type "C:\DOCUMENT\MYFILE.TXT" into the first field. You must enter a Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 46 filename in this field; if you do not, Aladdin will discard the entire upload request when you try to save it by clicking on OK. The "Name for GEnie" field corresponds to the filename that you want to have GEnie store the file as. For example, if your MYFILE.TXT file should be displayed as TECHINFO.TXT in the RoundTable's Software Library file directory, you would type "TECHINFO.TXT" into this field. Do not enter a path or directory in this field, only the GEnie filename should be entered here. The "Software Library" field defines which library the file will be uploaded to. All Software Libraries are divided into categories, such as "Utilities", "Games", "Demonstration Programs", etc. You should enter the proper library number in this field. If you are not sure which library to use, upload the file to library 1. The Sysop will then move the file to the proper library during file verification. The next two fields are "Keyword" fields. These fields are used to perform file searches in the RoundTable's Software Library. There are two fields with the same name, just in case you run out of room in the first field. The keywords should be entered in capital letters, with a comma separating each keyword. You should choose keywords which will make it easy to find your program in a search. For example, if you are uploading a file directory display utility, you might want to use keywords such as "FILE,DIRECTORY,DISPLAY,UTILITY" instead of "FILE,PROGRAM". Make sure you do not repeat any keywords, this wastes space and is unnecessary because the GEnie search algorithm checks all keywords once to try and find a match. The "Short Description" field is used to enter a short, one- line file description which is displayed with the filename during searches, directory displays, etc. This should be a concise but clear one-line message which tells the next person to see that file entry what the file is or does. For example, for the file directory display utility, a good short description would be "File Directory Display Utility V99.9". Don't be too verbose on this short description, just be concise and to the point. Once you have filled out the top part of the screen, the cursor will jump down to the bottom window. This window is where you will enter a long description for the file which should not exceed 10 lines of text. Here's where you will list the complete description for the file, including any information which you think will give the user a very detailed idea of what's in the file. For programs, you should include version numbers, whether the program is shareware or not, who makes it and your opinion of it as well. Text files should include good descriptions of the contents and subject of the file. When you are finished entering the information for the upload, press [Esc]. This will save your upload information and return you to the Software Library section menu. If you wish to abort Aladdin ST Manual Page 47 the upload process, press [Ctrl-A]. Aladdin will prompt you to see if you really want to abort the process. Click on "YES" to abort, "NO" to continue preparing the upload. 4. Edit-Delete Uploads Clicking on Edit-Delete Uploads will bring up a window titled Edit/Delete Uploads, which will list all mail which is on your system. You can then select each item by clicking on it then click on the Edit or Delete buttons at the bottom of the window to select the desired action. When you are finished click on the Done button to return to the Aladdin main screen. 5. Choose Download-Browse This option tells Aladdin that you want to view any files which Aladdin has found that have recently become available. These are "new" files that just became visible in the Software Library listing and whose descriptions were retrieved either through an AutoPass 1. This option will only work if there is a marker next to the option on the menu. It will also work if you previously used the Browse option but have not instructed Aladdin to do either an AutoPass 1 or 2 or another check of the library for new files. In essence, it retains the list until it has to check again. The following display shows a typical download/browse display screen. Each file is listed on two lines. The first line lists the file name, the type (X for Xmodem/Binary, 7 for 7-bit text), the date when it was uploaded, in YYMMDD format, the size of the file in bytes, how many times it has been accessed or downloaded since it was uploaded, and which library it is located in. The second line of the file display shows the status (Keep/Browse/DownLoad), of the file within the Aladdin queue and the short description of the file which the uploader put on it when the file was posted to the Software Library. Clicking on the word KEEP will toggle to BROWSE, clicking again will toggle DOWNLOAD. Pressing the [Esc] key will return you to the RoundTable Software Library section menu. The other options available are: "K" - "Keep" the file. In other words, do nothing with this file entry. This is the default condition of the file entries which are added to your main list. "B" - Browse the file's long description. This tells Aladdin that the next time it logs on you want it to download the full description of the file instead of just the short, one-line description. Aladdin will mark the status field next to the description with an "*". This is useful for when the short description is either too terse, not descriptive enough, or for when you want to see more information about a large file before Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 48 you spend money downloading it. When you select this option and Aladdin gets the long description for you, you will see a full description of the files you asked to browse. "D" - This option tells Aladdin that you want to download the file to your personal computer. The next time you issue an AutoPass 1 or 2 command, Aladdin will download the file for you and place it in the directory specified in the RoundTable Setup screen for the selected RoundTable. When this option is selected, Aladdin will mark the status field with a "DOWNLOAD" message. "S" - This option is used to search for a file within the files on this screen. When you press "S", Aladdin prompts you with a search dialog box, with the fields KEYWORD, UPLOADER and DAYS BACK. The KEYWORD field is used to search the files by a specific keyword, such as the possible name of the file you are looking for. The UPLOADER field is used to search for a file by the name of the person who uploaded it (using that person's GEmail address). The DAYS BACK field is used to limit the search to a specific number of days back from today's date. For example, if you enter a number 30 in this field, Aladdin will only search for files that have been uploaded in the last 30 days. Pressing [Esc] will abort the search operation, pressing [Ctrl-S] will begin the search. If the search is successful, Aladdin will move the cursor to the listing for the first file that matched the search parameters. If the search is not successful, the cursor will stay where it was when you began the search operation. 6. Choose From Main List Works the same as Download-Browse except that it works on the Archived list rather than the list made during your last Check For New Messages. 7. Search For Files Clicking Search For Files pops up the Software Library search dialog box. You now have the following three (3) fields in which to insert information. Keywords, Uploader and Days old. In the Keywords field you would insert a search word ie. "postscript", "clip art" which will instruct Aladdin to search files with those words in their Keyword lists. In the Uploader field you would insert the name of the person that you think has uploaded files that you would be interested in. The Days old field will instruct Aladdin how far back to go in it's search for files that match the above two criteria. When you are satisfied with what you have entered click on the OK button, if you change your mind click the Cancel button. 8. Log on to the RT Library The selection tells Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and take you directly to the Software Library of the selected Aladdin ST Manual Page 49 RoundTable. Aladdin then puts you into terminal mode, where you can perform manual commands. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 50 IX . The Terminal Menu Aladdin's window to the outside world is through its Terminal Mode screen. When in Terminal Mode, Aladdin will either show you its progress as it executes an Automatic Pass, or it will allow you to manually access GEnie (or for that matter any other communication service which can be accessed through your modem). Aladdin has two distinct ways in which it presents its Terminal Mode to you. The first is when it is performing an automated task on GEnie, such as checking a RoundTable for new messages. The other is when you invoke the manual mode. We will cover both in this section, but first we will discuss the Terminal Mode menu and its related screens. 1. Terminal Mode Clicking on Terminal Mode from the Terminal Menu puts Aladdin into terminal mode and turns over complete control of the communications system to the user. At this point, Aladdin is basically a dumb terminal which communicates via a serial port and a modem to the outside world. The Aladdin Terminal Mode screen, when entered into is composed of three distinct areas. 1) The top line of the screen show the main Aladdin menu bar. 2) The Next two (2) lines on the screen shows the following BUTTONS which can be clicked on, Capture, Fix, Stay, RTC, Echo, Strip, and Lookback. Also displayed is the current time and the words Terminal mode to indicate your current status. The balance of twenty two (22) lines is the active portion of the screen. In this line of the screen, there are only two items which change. On the top line of the screen, all the way to the right, there is a time display which shows you the time as kept by your computer's internal clock. When you are on line with GEnie during an Automatic Pass or in manual mode, there is a second display, which represents the dollars and cents which Aladdin has calculated that your charges will be for this call. This display is continuous; while you are online it will increase. If there is a "P" in front of this display it means that you are calling during a prime-time period. Let's examine the commands available in the top section of the Terminal Mode screen, [Esc] - Pressing the [Esc] while Aladdin is performing an automated task causes the task to be terminated. Aladdin the turns over control to you in terminal mode. Pressing the [Esc] key while in terminal mode (no automated tasks running) exits Terminal Mode and returns you to the Terminal Mode menu. NOTE - Aladdin does not terminate a phone call or hang up the modem when it exits terminal mode if the mode was entered by Aladdin ST Manual Page 51 clicking Log On from the Terminal Mode menu. It is up to the user to terminate the phone call by clicking on Hang Up from the Terminal Mode menu, or disconnecting the call manually by turning off the modem. If the status line's left-hand field has an "ON" status and the dollars and cents counter is still climbing you are still online with GEnie and account charges are being accrued! The following function key commands are only available while Aladdin is processing an automated task. [F3] - The [F3] function key reads "Start/Stop Text Capture". This function allows you to automatically capture all of the information that scrolls across your screen into an ASCII file for later reading. [F4] - The [F4] function key reads "Fix garbled prompt", but in fact it should read "Give Aladdin a nudge", because that's exactly what it does. There are some situations in which the phone line you are using may be a little too "noisy". The symptoms of this condition are the display of garbage characters on the screen. Aladdin is very picky about what characters it receives, since it is looking for some very specific responses from the GEnie system. If for some reason it does not receive exactly what it is waiting for, it may decide that it did not receive the proper response. It will then wait until it does receive a response. If you see, on the screen, that GEnie did in fact respond, you can press the [F4] function key. This tells Aladdin "it's ok, go ahead and continue with what you were going to do next." [F5] - The [F5] function key toggles the "STAY" indicator on the status line, which tells Aladdin whether or not it is to log off from GEnie when it finishes performing an automated operation. The following function key commands are only available while Aladdin is in manual terminal mode. [F6] - The [F6] function key toggles RTC mode while in manual terminal mode. This mode splits the screen into two sections with a dividing line located about three-quarters of the way down the communications area of the terminal mode screen. The top area displays characters received from GEnie. The bottom area displays the text that you type from the keyboard, and only sends it to GEnie when you press the <RETURN> key. When you ask Aladdin to log you on to an RTC for any of the RoundTables, it will put you into this RTC mode. [F7] - The [F7] function key toggles the "ECHO" status indicator at the bottom of the screen while in terminal mode. See the explanation on the "ECHO" status indicator further on in this section for more information. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 52 [F10] - The [F10] function key toggles the terminal mode screen between displaying normal communications and "Look Back" mode, offering the same features as clicking on Browse File. Aladdin stores the last few screens of characters that it receives from GEnie, and allows you to browse through that text. This feature is useful for when you are looking for something that just scrolled off the top of the screen but you don't want to have to issue more GEnie commands to redisplay the information. When you press the [F10] function key, Aladdin will function the same as when in the Browse mode. Each section of the status line display constitutes a status display for one particular function of Aladdin. Note that this status line is displayed on all the Aladdin menus except some of the lower levels such as when you are editing a message reply. ECHO Indicator - This indicator tells you whether you will be able to see what you type on the screen as you press the keys on the keyboard. Aladdin's default (and the best choice for communication with GEnie) is ECHO mode (otherwise known as "Half- Duplex Mode"). In this mode whatever you type on the keyboard will also show up on the screen. If the indicator is turned off (blank), Aladdin is in "No Echo" mode, which means that you will not be able to see what you type. Aladdin only uses the "No Echo" mode when it is logged into the RTC area of a RoundTable. RTC Indicator - This indicator tells you if Aladdin is in RTC mode. We will cover RTC mode a little further on in this section of the manual. STAY Indicator - This indicator tells you whether or not Aladdin will terminate the current session on GEnie after performing an automatic operation. The status of this indicator can only be changed by pressing the [F5] function key while Aladdin is performing an automated operation. If the indicator reads "STAY", once Aladdin completes the automated operation, be it a full pass or a simple message reply, it will return control to you with the call still connected and the session in progress. Control will be returned to the menu from which the automated operation was initiated. If the indicator is blank, once Aladdin finished the automated operation it will issue a "BYE" command to GEnie, wait until GEnie finishes the session, and then return control to you. CAPTURE ON/CAPTURE OFF Indicator - This indicator tells you if Aladdin is currently capturing all the text being sent to it by GEnie. Capturing text requires a command from the Terminal Mode menu. If the indicator reads "Capture OFF", Aladdin is displaying the text it receives but is not saving it. If you instruct Aladdin to capture the session to a file, Aladdin will place a "Capture ON" status in this field. General Mode Indicator - This indicator is used by Aladdin to tell you what particular task it is performing while it is processing an automated operation. For example, if it is sending mail, Aladdin will put a "Sending Mail" message in this field. When you are using the manual terminal mode, Aladdin puts a Aladdin ST Manual Page 53 message here that reads "Terminal mode". This field is not used while you are in any other section of the Aladdin program. 2. Log On Pressing [ALT-L] or clicking Log on from the Terminal menu in the Terminal Mode menu causes Aladdin to immediately log on to GEnie and turn over control to you in terminal mode on the opening page of the GEnie system. 3. Log Off Pressing [ALT-O] or clicking Log off from the Terminal menu logs you off of GEnie. You must be connected to GEnie for this command to work. Aladdin will issue a "BYE" command, wait until GEnie hangs up the phone and then turn over control to you in the Terminal Mode menu. 4. Hang Up Clicking on Hang Up immediately hangs up the phone. This is the "panic" command to log off, and should not be used except in extreme circumstances when nothing else seems to work. For those of you who are more familiar with how modems work, Aladdin drops the signal on the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) line, which causes the modem to immediately hang up the phone. 5. & 6. Do AutoPass 1 or 2 Autopass 1 or 2 (under the Terminal Menu) refers to the heart of the Aladdin system, the portion of Aladdin which automates your access to GEnie. Clicking on Do Autopass 1 will cause Aladdin to execute automatic pass 1, which checks your mailbox and performs all normal actions in each selected RoundTable, including checking for and/or downloading new messages and file descriptions. During AutoPass 1 Aladdin will also take care of any pending actions in any of the Aladdin areas, including GEnie mail and the RoundTables. This includes sending messages/replies and uploading/downloading files. Clicking on Do AutoPass 2 will only take care of pending actions, including sending messages/replies and downloading/uploading files. AutoPass 2 will also retrieve any mail in your mailbox if there is any when it logs on to GEnie, and will also retrieve messages in RoundTables which are posted between the time you last read the topic and the time you posted a new message/reply in that topic. In this case, GEnie will notify that there were one or more unread messages before your message/reply was posted. Aladdin detects this and retrieves these unread messages, but only within these conditions. Aladdin will not read or check for any other new messages in other topics while executing automatic pass 2. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 54 7. Do Custom Pass This will execute a Custom pass if you have marked some RTs for the custom pass on the RT configuration page. You can read more about this in the chapter on RoundTables. 8. Do User Script See the Aladdin Script Language section for more information. 9. Start (End) Text Capture Aladdin is capable of capturing all incoming text from GEnie to a file. This feature is accessed by clicking Start Text Capture in the Terminal Mode menu. Aladdin will append all incoming text to the capture file. If you want to abort the capture command, press [F3], click on the word Capture in the status bar or click on End Text Capture from the Terminal Menu. 10. Send Text File Clicking Send Text File from the Terminal Menu will bring up a file selector box from which you can select a file to upload to GEnie. - WARNING - Make sure that the file which you ask Aladdin to send using this command is indeed a text file. If it is a program or data file that is not in ASCII text format, you will get some very unpredictable results. To send an ASCII text file, you must first be connected to GEnie and must have prepared GEnie to receive the ASCII text file. If you are uploading the file as a message to one of the RoundTables, you need to tell GEnie that you are replying to a message, and when it gives you the "1>" prompt to begin entering your reply, type the "*UP" command. This puts the GEnie software in a mode in which it will receive the file properly into the message area. If you do not do this, your message will not come out properly. The same commands apply to GEmail. If you are uploading a text file into a software library, use the "Upload a file" option and click on 7-bit text protocol. Make sure that you wait until GEnie says it is ready to receive the file. In any case, both of these operations can be performed by Aladdin without any intervention on your part other than telling it what file to send or composing the message that you want to post. Let Aladdin take care of the hard things as much as possible, that's what it was designed for! Aladdin ST Manual Page 55 To initiate the send process, click on the file name in the file selector box and then click on OK. Aladdin will then send the file as fast as it can. When it is finished it will return control to you at the Terminal Mode menu. Note that Aladdin does not perform any "pacing" nor does it look for any "cues" from the receiving end to determine when it can or can't send the text file data. It just sends it as fast as it can, period. 11. & 12. XMODEM Download/Upload (CRC) The XMODEM file transfer protocol was developed by Ward Christensen. It was designed as an easy and efficient way to transfer files from one computer to another using a modem. It was also designed to be easy to implement on virtually all types of computers, from the first Apple to the latest Cray supercomputers. The way XMODEM works is by dividing a file into chunks of 128 characters each (also known as "packets" or "blocks") and sending them out one at a time. The computer that sends the file also includes a verification number which the receiving computer can use to verify that the data was received properly. Originally this number was a "checksum" of the 128 bytes of data (a checksum is simply the sum of all the values of the data, truncated to a maximum of 16 bits, or 65536). Later on a new verification process was designed which uses a method known as Cyclic Redundancy Check (or CRC for short). This method uses a mathematical formula to calculate the check value. The receiving computer then applies the same formula to the incoming data and, if the results are the same, the packet was received properly. If the result does not match, the receiving computer asks the sending computer to send the packet again. Besides the packets of data, the computers communicate through a simple "OK" and "NOT OK" language. The characters used for this are the "ACK" and "NAK" characters, respectively. These characters are special one character codes defined by convention as part of the complete ASCII character set. The Aladdin program has a built-in implementation of the XMODEM protocol which it uses to download and upload files to/from GEnie. It invokes this feature automatically when Aladdin is processing an automated task which calls for such an action to be taken, but you can also invoke the XMODEM file transfer routines manually from the Terminal Mode menu. Click on XMODEM Download to receive files from GEnie. To initiate a file transfer, you must wait until the remote computer system is ready to send you the file. In the case of GEnie, it will send you a message that contains words such as "File is ready, start your XMODEM file transfer now". Once the remote system is ready to send the file, Click XMODEM Download and a file selector box will pop up. Set your path if necessary and type in the file Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 56 name, then click on OK, and the dialog box shown below will pop up with a running display of your download status, as follows. Protocol - This will in most cases be XMODEM-CRC. Clicking XMODEM Upload from the Terminal Mode menu performs the opposite operation of XMODEM Download. Instead of receiving a file, it sends a file. You must also make sure that the receiving computer is ready to receive the file. GEnie usually signals that it is ready with a "READY" prompt message. Enter the file name and path if necessary in the file selector box and click on OK or press <RETURN>. Aladdin will then go to the terminal mode screen except that instead of saying "Downloading" it will say "Uploading". All the fields have the same meanings as when you are downloading a file. File - This field is the name you assigned to the file that Aladdin is downloading, not the one on the sending computer. Most of the time the file names are the same, but sometimes they are not. Size - The file size in Bytes as recorded by GEnie. CPS - The transfer speed (Baud rate) you are communicating at. Bytes xfer - The total Byte count that has been transferred so far. Bytes left - The Byte count that remains to be transferred. Est. time left - An approximation of the time remaining to download the "Bytes left" in the file. [Esc] - To abort the file transfer, press the [Esc] once. Aladdin will terminate the transfer and return you to the Terminal Mode menu. The shaded area at the bottom of the window is a message area. If Aladdin detects an error, it will display the cause of the error in this area. When another error is detected, Aladdin overwrites the last message and displays a new one. Zmodem Downloads Aladdin has the built-in capability to perform file downloads using the Zmodem protocol. When in terminal mode, the Zmodem download process is completely automatic. You simply ask GEnie to begin the download of one or more files (up to 20) using the Zmodem protocol, and Aladdin will take care of the rest. It will detect that GEnie wishes to initiate a Zmodem download and begin the process automatically. The only difference between a Zmodem download progress window and an Xmodem download progress window is in the "Blocks re-sent" field. The Zmodem driver uses this area to display the type of packets that GEnie is using to Aladdin ST Manual Page 57 transfer the files. Normal packets will display a "CRC32" string in this field, compressed packets will display a "CRC32/RLE" string in the field. Multiple file requests are handled automatically. 13. - 14. FAST Upload and Downloads FAST uploads and Downloads are new to GEnie. The Fast Uploads when implemented by GEnie will be a big improvement over XMODEM. You can select FAST downloads if you wish, but Zmodem has one big advantage in that it can resume a download in the event you have a problem in mid download. 15. View GEnie Banner Everytime Aladdin logs onto GEnie, GEnie displays a "Logon banner", usually a screenful of information regarding new products and important announcements. Clicking View GEnie Banner displays this banner, which Aladdin stores for you on disk for easy reference. You should check the banner every day for important information and announcements. X. The Aladdin Script Language Aladdin, with all its powerful features and functions, is not capable of accessing all services on GEnie in the process of performing an automatic pass. It also does not have any built-in functions to access other services other than GEnie, even though it is a communications program. To make up for these shortcomings, it was decided to give Aladdin a tool that would make it flexible enough to perform user-defined automated tasks, within GEnie or any other service. This facility is the Aladdin Script Language. In this section we will cover the Aladdin Script Language, as well as the menu options and tools within Aladdin that go along with the language. Before we begin, let's cover some basic points about scripts. All Aladdin scripts are stored in one file, the "SCRIPT.TXT", which comes with the Aladdin distribution kit. When installed, Aladdin comes with only one script entry, and it is an empty script. You can edit the script file with a normal text editor, but we recommend that you use Aladdin's editor as it is designed to work with the format of the script file. In that way you don't have to worry about where to place the scripts or what to call them, Aladdin does that automatically. Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 58 Script creation and editing is done by clicking on Edit User Scripts from the File Menu. Clicking Edit User Scripts brings up a window titled User Scripts, which supports all of the standard editing features of Aladdin which you have become accustomed to. If you refer to Figure IV-1, which depicts Aladdin's main menu, you will notice that there are a number of commands and a display window which refer to scripts. Since the access to the script language options and tools is the first thing you notice about scripts, we'll cover them first. User Scripts are executed by clicking on Do User Script from the Terminal Menu. This brings up a selector box titled Select User Script. The scripts are sequentially numbered (3 through 9) and all you have to do is double click the one you want to run or click on it and click the ok button at the bottom of the window. Or if you change your mind click on the cancel button. As we promised, here's the section on the Aladdin Script Language. 1. Aladdin Script Language Syntax Guidelines The following general guidelines and rules apply to all scripts, - You may only have one command per line. - Command words must be separated by at least one "TAB" or space character. - The language is not case-sensitive. Command words can be any combination of upper- and lower-case characters. - If a line does not contain any commands it must either be blank or have a semicolon ";" or a colon ":" as the first non-blank character. If the line begins with a colon then the line is considered to be a label or place-marker within the script that can be referred to in other commands. If the line begins with a semi-colon then the line is a comment and is ignored during script execution. - Any text remaining in a line after the formal command is ignored. This makes for easy commenting of script commands without having to worry about special delimiting characters. - In the descriptions of the commands, {STRING} refers to any sequence of characters surrounded by a pair of delimiters. A delimiter is any single character. If the left-hand delimiter is anything other than the (, [, {, < or ` characters, then the right-hand delimiter must be the same as the left-hand delimiter. If one of these five characters is used as a left-hand delimiter, then the right-hand delimiter must be the corresponding ), ], }, > or ', respectively. The text within the delimiters must not contain the right delimiter character. Aladdin ST Manual Page 59 - In a {STRING}, the symbols "^A" through "^Z" are converted into the corresponding control characters Ctrl-A through Ctrl-Z. - All occurrences of the characters %0 through %9 in any script are replaced with the corresponding user-defined string equivalent. User-defined strings 0 through 9 are created using the SETSTRING or GETSTRING commands. If you want to use the % character followed by a digit in your scripts without it being replaced for a user-defined string, use the %% combination instead. For example, %0 refers to user-defined string number 0, but %%0 defines a string with the characters % and 0. 2. The SCRIPT Command The SCRIPT command is required at the beginning of every script. The syntax for the SCRIPT command is: SCRIPT {digit} {text} The {digit} argument defines which script number this is and must be a value between 3 and 9. There may not be more than one SCRIPT command with the same {digit} argument. The {text} argument represents the title of the script to be displayed in the script windows, and may be any string up to 20 characters long. An example of the SCRIPT command is: SCRIPT 3 My First Script! Every SCRIPT command must have a corresponding ENDSCRIPT command. 3. The ENDSCRIPT Command The ENDSCRIPT commands marks the end of a script. Every SCRIPT command must have a corresponding ENDSCRIPT command. The ENDSCRIPT command takes no arguments. 4. The GOTO Command The GOTO command transfers execution of a script to a specific location within the script. The location is referred to as a label. The syntax of the GOTO command is: GOTO {label} The {label} argument represents a location in the script defined by a colon ":" as the first character of a line and a label name following immediately thereafter. A label can be any sequence of characters not containing blanks or "TAB" characters. An example of the GOTO command is: ... GOTO MyLabel Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 60 ... ... :Mylabel ... In this example, the GOTO command refers to the label "MyLabel". When Aladdin reaches this command, it will jump to the location in the script with the label ":MyLabel", skipping all intervening script commands and continuing execution at that point. Note that labels are only available within the script in which they are defined, so you can't issue a GOTO command to transfer execution to a label in another script. 5. The CALL Command The CALL command transfers execution to a specific location within a program indicated by a label. Execution continues until a RETURN statement is encountered, at which point execution is returned to the first line immediately after the line containing the CALL command. The syntax of the CALL command is: CALL {label} The {label} argument references a line within the script which begins with a colon ":" character and is immediately followed by a label name, which may not contain any spaces or tabs. An example of the CALL command is: ... CALL MyLabel ... MyLabel ... RETURN ... In this example, the CALL command will transfer execution to the point in the script where the label "MyLabel" is defined. Execution will continue until the RETURN statement is encountered, at which point execution is again transferred to the script line immediately following the one containing the CALL command. Those of you familiar with BASIC will recognize this command as the equivalent of BASIC's GOSUB command. Its use is exactly the same, to execute user-defined subroutines. Note that labels are only available within the script where they are defined, so you can't make a CALL to a label in another script. 6. The RETURN Command The RETURN command is used to mark the point at which execution is to be returned to the statement following a CALL command. The Aladdin ST Manual Page 61 RETURN command takes no arguments, as depicted in the example covering the CALL command. 7. The PERFORM Command The PERFORM command is used to invoke a script from within another script. The syntax of the command is: PERFORM {digit} The {digit} argument is a number from 1 to 9, inclusive, which refers to a script's identification number. Aladdin will immediately execute the script identified by the {digit} argument, and execution will continue in that script until the ENDSCRIPT command is encountered, at which point execution is returned to the script command line immediately following the one containing the PERFORM command. If you specify 1 or 2 as the script to execute, Aladdin will perform an automatic pass 1 or 2, respectively, as if you had selected these automated operations from the Aladdin Main Menu. An example of the PERFORM command is: SCRIPT 3 1st Script NOTE (We are in script number 3) PERFORM 4 NOTE (We are back in script number 3) PERFORM 5 NOTE (We are back in script number 3 once again) ENDSCRIPT SCRIPT 4 2nd Script Note (We are in script number 4) ENDSCRIPT SCRIPT 5 3rd Script NOTE (We are in script number 5) ENDSCRIPT In this example, if Script number 3 is invoked, the user will see the following text on the screen: We are in script number 3 We are in script number 4 We are back in script number 3 We are in script number 5 We are back in script number 3 once again Execution begins on the first line of script number 3, which is a NOTE command (which displays a text message to the user on the screen; we'll cover it in a minute). The next command is a PERFORM command making reference to script 4, so Aladdin executes script number 4, which prints its own little message on the screen. The next command in script number 4 is an ENDSCRIPT, so execution returns to the next line in script number 3 after the Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 62 PERFORM command, which is another NOTE command. Once again, a PERFORM command is encountered, but making reference to script number 5 this time, so script 5 is performed. It prints its message, and the ENDSCRIPT command returns control to script number 3 after the PERFORM command. The final message is printed, and a final ENDSCRIPT command is encountered, at which point Aladdin finishes the script execution. The PERFORM command is similar to the CALL command except that it expands your script so that it can call other scripts to perform other functions as well. 8. The IF, ELSE and ENDIF Commands The IF command provides the Aladdin Script Language with a feature which is critical to any programming language, the ability to make simple decisions and take courses of action based on the state or result of a condition. The IF command does just that. The syntax of the IF command is: IF {condition} ... ELSE ... ENDIF The {condition} argument can be one of the following keywords: SUCCESS DATAWAITING ONLINE KEYWAITING CURRENTLINEHAS {string} EXIST {string} STRING {digit} {verb} {string} DAYOFWEEK IS {day} MAILFOUND Each one of these conditions is evaluated as a TRUE or FALSE result. If the condition returns a TRUE result, the statements within the IF command and the first ENDIF encountered in the script will be executed. If the condition argument returns a FALSE result and there is no ELSE command between the IF command and the next ENDIF command, the statements are ignored and execution continues on the first line after the ENDIF command. We will cover each one of the conditions separately in the next few pages of this manual and present examples for each possible condition argument as well. All IF commands must have a matching ENDIF command. The ELSE optional command tells Aladdin that if the condition evaluated in the IF command is evaluated to a FALSE result, execution of the script will jump to the first line immediately after the ELSE command and continue from that point. If the condition is evaluated as a TRUE result, Aladdin will execute the statements immediately after the IF command. When it gets to the ELSE command, all statements up to the next ENDIF command are ignored, and execution continues on the next line immediately after the ENDIF command. The ELSE command basically extends Aladdin ST Manual Page 63 Aladdin's decision-making powers from a simple "if this condition is TRUE do this" to a more complete "if this condition is TRUE do this; if it is FALSE, do this instead". The ENDIF command marks the end of a block of instructions related to the previous IF command. Again, all IF commands must have a matching ENDIF command. IF commands may be nested, which means that you can have IF commands within other IF commands. 9. The SUCCESS Condition The SUCCESS condition depends on the previous operation performed, such as a LOG ON command. The condition takes no arguments. - NOTE - Do not confuse the SUCCESS condition argument with the SUCCESS command. They are two different statements altogether. The SUCCESS command is covered a little further on in this section. If the previous operation was successful, the SUCCESS condition is evaluated as a TRUE; otherwise it evaluates as FALSE. The following commands affect the status of the SUCCESS condition: CAPTURE SNAPSHOT ENDCAPTURE SUCCESS ERASEFILE WAITFOR GETSTRING WAITFORPROMPT LOG ON WAITUNTIL LOG ONTO XMODEM For explanations on each of these commands, see the appropriate sections in this chapter. An example of the use of the SUCCESS condition is: LOG ON Log on to GEnie IF SUCCESS Did we make it? NOTE (You are logged on.) Tell user ELSE Oops, problem! NOTE (Unable to log on.) Tell user ENDIF Required ENDIF 10. The ONLINE Condition The ONLINE condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if and only if the modem is on-line - the CD (Carrier Detect) signal is on - at the time the IF command with the ONLINE condition is executed. The condition takes no arguments. An example of the ONLINE condition is: SENDLINE "ATDT123-4567" Tell modem to dial :MyLoop Define label "MyLoop" IF ONLINE Are we online? Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 64 GOTO Connected Yes, jump to "Connected" label ELSE GOTO MyLoop No, wait, jump to :MyLoop" label ENDIF Required ENDIF :Connected Define "Connected" label 11. The CURRENTLINEHAS Condition The CURRENTLINEHAS condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if and only if the line of text being received from the modem at the time of the IF command execution contains a string being looked for. The syntax of the CURRENTLINEHAS condition is: CURRENTLINEHAS {string} where the {string} argument represents the string that is being looked for in the incoming line of text. Lines of text are separated by incoming carriage returns (ASCII character 13). The comparison performed by Aladdin is case-sensitive, which means that you must specify the string you are looking for in the exact combination of upper- and lower-case characters that you want to match. One of the uses of the CURRENTLINEHAS condition is to test the presence or absence of a particular GEnie prompt, for example: IF CURRENTLINEHAS "Enter #" Is GEnie on full page menus? SENDCOMMAND "C" Go into command mode ENDIF Required ENDIF 12. The STRING Condition The STRING condition is used to examine a user-defined string (%0 through %9) to see if it is exactly the same as, or contains, a particular string of characters that you are looking for. The syntax of the STRING condition is: STRING {digit} {verb} {string} The {digit} argument represents a user defined string and can be any number from 0 through 9. This user-defined string should already contain the text that you will compare your string against. Strings are stored into user-defined strings with the SETSTRING or GETSTRING commands, which we will cover a little further on in this chapter. The {verb} argument can be one of two keywords, "IS" or "HAS". If you specify the "IS" keyword, the STRING condition will only return a TRUE result if the text in the user-defined string is exactly the same as the string that you have specified in the command. The comparison is case-sensitive, which means that Aladdin will take into consideration whether or not the characters are upper- or lower-case. Aladdin ST Manual Page 65 For example, in a case-sensitive matching situation, the string "THE WORD" is not the same as the string "The Word", because the case of the letters does not match. If the {verb} argument is "HAS", the STRING condition will only return a TRUE result if the string which you specified is contained within the string in the user-defined string. In this case, the string that you specify must be located in a contiguous fashion within the specified user-defined string. For example, if the string that you are looking for is "ABCD" and the user-defined string contains the string "123ABCD456", the condition will return a TRUE result. However, if the user-defined string contains the string "123ACBD456", (note position of B & C), the condition will return a FALSE result because even though the characters are indeed in the user-defined string, they are in the wrong order. An example of the STRING condition is: NOTE "Password, please:" Prompt for password :TryAgain Define "TryAgain" label GETSTRING 1 Store in user-defined string %1 IF STRING 1 IS "SESAME" Does %1 contain "SESAME"? GOTO GoodGuy Yes! Its one of the good guys! ELSE %1 does not have "SESAME", so... NOTE "You typed "%1".. Try again." Tell user and... GOTO TryAgain ...do it all over again ENDIF Required ENDIF :GoodGuy Define "GoodGuy" label 13. The DATAWAITING Condition The DATAWAITING condition is evaluated as a TRUE condition if there are one or more incoming characters waiting in the communications buffer. The command takes no arguments. An example of the DATAWAITING condition is: IF DATAWAITING Any characters in the buffer? NOTE "Data in the buffer!" Yes, tell the user. ENDIF Required ENDIF Yes, this is a rather useless example, but it is an example nonetheless. 14. The KEYWAITING Condition The KEYWAITING condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if there is a keystroke waiting in your computer keyboard's buffer. Note that the KEYWAITING condition will only work if the command "KEYWAITING ON" is executed before you try to use the condition in an IF command. However, if "KEYWAITING ON" has been issued, Aladdin will not be able to check the keyboard for an [Esc] keystroke while the script is executing. The condition takes no arguments. An example of the KEYWAITING condition is: Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 66 KEYWAITING ON Enable the KEYWAITING condition NOTE "Press any key to stop." Display message to user :Loop Define "Loop" label MONITOR Display chars in buffer IF KEYWAITING Is there a pending keystroke? GOTO QuitListing Yes, jump to "QuitListing" ELSE No key waiting? GOTO Loop Jump to "Loop" and do it again ENDIF Required ENDIF :QuitListing Define "QuitListing" label KEYWAITING OFF Disable the KEYWAITING condition The MONITOR command is covered a little further on in this chapter. 15. The EXIST Condition The EXIST condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if a specified file exists on your computer. The syntax of the EXIST condition is: EXIST {string} where the {string} argument represents the name of the file which you want to check for. An example of the EXIST condition is: IF EXIST "FOO.TXT" Check for file "FOO.TXT" NOTE "File exists!" It's there, tell the user ELSE If it is not there... NOTE "File does not exist!" ...tell the user as well! ENDIF Required ENDIF 16. The DAYOFWEEK Condition The DAYOFWEEK condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if the day that you specify for the condition matches the day of the week stored in your clock. The syntax of the DAYOFWEEK condition is: DAYOFWEEK IS {day} where the word IS is a required keyword and the {day} can be one of the following seven words, SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT You may also use the entire name of the day of the week, but Aladdin will only look at the first three characters of the Aladdin ST Manual Page 67 {string} argument to determine which day you want to check for. Do not surround the {day} argument in quotes or use any other delimiter, as the argument to this condition is not a string! An example of the DAYOFWEEK condition is: IF DAYOFWEEK IS WED Is it Wednesday already?! CALL GetDowJonesQuotes Oh! Get latest stock quotes! ENDIF Required ENDIF :GetDowJonesQuotes Define the label RETURN Finished, go back 17. The MAILFOUND Condition The MAILFOUND condition is evaluated as a TRUE result if Aladdin finds that there was is mail waiting for you in your mailbox. The condition takes no arguments. An example of the MAILFOUND condition is: SCRIPT 5 Wake me for mail! Define script number and title LOG ON Log on to GEnie to check mail LOG OFF Log off from GEnie IF MAILFOUND Was there mail waiting for me? ALARM Yes, wake me up! ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT for end of script Note that Aladdin will always check for mail when it logs on to GEnie as a result of using the LOG ON or LOG ONTO commands, which is how this script works! 18. The SUCCESS Command The SUCCESS command is used to set the state of the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE or FALSE state. The syntax of the SUCCESS command is: SUCCESS {condition} where the {condition} argument can be either TRUE or FALSE. An example of the SUCCESS command is: SUCCESS FALSE Set SUCCESS condition to FALSE state IF SUCCESS Test the condition NOTE "This line will never execute." This will never show ELSE NOTE "This line will always execute." This will always show. ENDIF Required ENDIF 19. The ECHO Command Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 68 The ECHO commands enables or disables the display of script commands as they are executed. Do not confuse this command with the echo/no echo or half/full duplex status of Aladdin's communications function; this is a command to aid you in determining whether or not your scripts are doing what you originally designed them to do. Programmers call this a "programming aid" or a "debugging aid." The syntax of the ECHO command is: ECHO {state} where the {state} argument can be one of two keywords, ON or OFF. The initial state of the ECHO command is ON, which means that script commands will be displayed as they are executed. If you use the OFF keyword, Aladdin will not display your script commands as they are executed. Note that the ECHO command itself will not be displayed as a script command, even if ECHO is indeed in an ON state. 20. The CLEAR Command The CLEAR command is used to clear the terminal mode display area. It takes no arguments. 21. The NOTE Command The NOTE command is used to display a message to the user on the screen. The NOTE command itself is never displayed, even if the state of the ECHO command is ON at the moment the NOTE command is executed by Aladdin. The syntax of the NOTE command is: NOTE {string} where the {string} argument represents the message string that you want to display to the user at the moment the NOTE command is executed. For examples of the use of the NOTE command, refer to previous sections of this chapter; there are several examples in the explanations of previous commands. 22. The BEEP Command The BEEP command will cause Aladdin to emit a short "beep" sound. The command takes no arguments. 23. The ALARM Command The ALARM command will cause Aladdin to emit a continuous series of "beep" sounds which will continue until the user presses any key on the keyboard of their computer. The ALARM command takes no arguments. Refer to the explanation of the MAILFOUND condition for an example of how to use the ALARM command. 24. The HIDE Command Aladdin ST Manual Page 69 The HIDE command is used to prevent the user (or anyone else within sight of the computer's display) from seeing any text received from the remote computer system. The syntax of the HIDE command is: HIDE {state} where the {state} argument can be one of the two keywords, ON or OFF. If you issue a HIDE ON command, any text received from the remote system will be displayed with the word "SECRET", repeating over and over again for all text received. You may recognize this command as the command that Aladdin uses to hide your password as Aladdin sends it to GEnie during the login procedure. If you issue a HIDE OFF command, Aladdin will no longer hide the incoming data and instead will display it as it is received from the remote computer system. An example of the HIDE command is: SENDLINE "ATDT123-4567" Tell the modem to dial this number :Loop Define "Loop" label IF ONLINE Are we online yet? GOTO Continue Yes, jump to "Continue" label ELSE No, we are not? GOTO Loop Keep waiting, jump to "Loop" label ENDIF Required ENDIF :Continue Define "Continue" label WAITFOR "Enter your name:" Wait for login from computer SENDLINE "JOHN DOE" Send your name WAITFOR "Password:" Wait for the password prompt HIDE ON Hide incoming text SENDLINE "MyPassword" Send the password HIDE OFF Display incoming text normally This example is obviously not usable to login to GEnie. There is a specific command, LOG ON, for use with GEnie. This example could be used to log in to a private bulletin board system, though. 25. The MONITOR Command The MONITOR command will take a character received from the remote system and display it on the screen. If there are no waiting characters, the MONITOR command does not do anything. The MONITOR command takes no arguments. See the section on the KEYWAITING command for an example of how to use the MONITOR command. 26. The PAUSE Command The PAUSE command tells Aladdin to wait a specific amount of time which can be full seconds or fractions of a second. The syntax of the PAUSE command is: PAUSE {seconds} Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 70 where the {seconds} argument represents the number of seconds for which you wish Aladdin to pause. Examples of the PAUSE command are: PAUSE 30 Pause for 30 seconds PAUSE 1 Pause for one second Note that if any characters are received from the remote computer during the PAUSE period, Aladdin will display them on the screen. 27. The WAITUNTIL Command The WAITUNTIL command is used to instruct Aladdin to wait until the system clock on your computer reaches a certain time. The syntax of the WAITUNTIL command is: WAITUNTIL {time} where the {time} argument is represented by a time in HH:MM 24 hour format. If the [Esc] key is pressed before your system clock reaches the desired time of day, the SUCCESS condition is set to a FALSE status. If your system clock reaches the desired time of day with no interruptions, the SUCCESS condition is set to a TRUE status. An example of the WAITUNTIL command is: SCRIPT 6 Alarm Clock Define script number and title WAITUNTIL 13:30 Wait until 1:30 pm IF SUCCESS Did we get there? PERFORM 1 Perform script number 1 LOG OFF Log off from GEnie BEEP Signal with a "beep" sound ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT 28. The ERASEFILE Command The ERASEFILE command is used to erase a file from your computer's hard or floppy disk. The syntax of the ERASEFILE command is: ERASEFILE {string} where the {string} argument represents the file that you want to erase. If Aladdin finds the file and successfully erases it, it sets the status of the SUCCESS condition to TRUE. If Aladdin cannot find the file or if it cannot erase the file for whatever reason, it will set the SUCCESS condition to a FALSE state. An example of the ERASEFILE command is: ERASEFILE "\WORK\FOO.TXT" Erase FOO.TXT in the \WORK IF SUCCESS Did Aladdin erase the file? NOTE "File erased." Yes, tell the user ELSE No, not able to erase the file Aladdin ST Manual Page 71 NOTE "File not found or" ...tell the user as well. NOTE "unable to erase it!" ENDIF Required ENDIF 29. The CAPTURE and ENDCAPTURE Commands The CAPTURE command is used to tell Aladdin to save all incoming text from the remote computer to a file. The syntax of the CAPTURE command is: CAPTURE {filename} where the {filename} argument represents the file name to which you want to save all the incoming text. If the capture file already exists, the incoming text will be appended to the end of the existing file. If a capture file is already open either because of a previous CAPTURE command or by the use of the "A" option in the Terminal Mode menu, the current capture file will be closed before the new one is opened. If the CAPTURE command is successful and can initiate and complete the capture of the incoming text, the SUCCESS condition is set to a TRUE state; if Aladdin has any problems opening the file or saving the text, it will set it to a FALSE state. An example of the use of the CAPTURE command is: SCRIPT 6 IBM RTC and record Define script number and title LOG ONTO "615;2" Log on and go to IBM RTC IF SUCCESS Were we able to log on? SENDLINE "2" Choose RTC room 2 WAITFOR "is here" Wait for RTC to acknowledge you SENDLINE "/NAM JOHN" Set your RTC nickname WAITFORDATA STOP Wait until no incoming text ERASEFILE "RTC.LOG" Erase the existing log CAPTURE "RTC.LOG" Start capturing the RTC text IF SUCCESS Ok opening the capture file? ELSE If yes, take no action NOTE "Can't open log!" Notify user of problem ENDIF Required ENDIF SENDLINE "/STA" Get list of people in RTC ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT The ENDCAPTURE command simply ends the capture process and closes the capture file. The command takes no arguments. ENDCAPTURE also sets the status of the SUCCESS condition to indicate whether or not it was successful in finishing the capture process and closing the capture file properly. 30. The SNAPSHOT Command The SNAPSHOT command takes a "picture" of the screen at the moment the command is issued and stores it into a file. The syntax of the SNAPSHOT command is: Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 72 SNAPSHOT {filename} where the {filename} argument represents the name of the file to which Aladdin is to save the "snapshot" of the screen. If the file already exists, it will be erased and replaced with a new file. If Aladdin cannot open the file or save the text into it, it will set the status of the SUCCESS condition to FALSE; otherwise it will set it to a TRUE state. An example of the SNAPSHOT command is: SNAPSHOT "MYSNPSHT.TXT" Take a snapshot of the screen IF SUCCESS Everything ok? NOTE "Snapshot OK!" Yes, tell the user ELSE Oops, something happened NOTE "Snapshot ERROR!" Let the user know of a problem ENDIF Required ENDIF 31. The XMODEM and ZMODEM Commands The XMODEM and ZMODEM commands are used to download or upload files using the XMODEM file transfer protocol. For more information on the protocol, see the section on the Terminal Mode menu. The syntax of the XMODEM and ZMODEM commands are: XMODEM {direction} {filename} ZMODEM {filename} where the {direction} argument determines whether the file will be received to or transmitted from your personal computer and is one of two keywords, DOWNLOAD or UPLOAD. Note that the ZMODEM command does not accept a {direction} argument as Aladdin is only capable of downloading files using the ZMODEM file transfer protocol. The {filename} argument represents the name of the file which will either be sent from or received to your computer. If the transfer is successful, the SUCCESS condition will be set to a TRUE state; if it is not, for whatever reason, it will be set to a FALSE state. An example of the XMODEM command is: WAITFOR "file.^M^J" Wait for ready msg from GEnie XMODEM DOWNLOAD "MYFILE.TXT" Start the XMODEM download IF SUCCESS Was the transfer successful? NOTE "XMODEM transfer completed" Yes, tell the user ELSE Oops, ran into a problem BEEP Ring the "bell" NOTE "XMODEM transfer not successful!" Tell the user ENDIF Required ENDIF If you want to use the ZMODEM protocol instead of the standard XMODEM protocol, substitute the keyword "ZMODEM" for the "XMODEM" keyword. Aladdin ST Manual Page 73 32. The LOG ON/LOG OFF/LOG ONTO Commands The LOG command is used to tell Aladdin to either log you onto GEnie, log you onto a particular section of GEnie or log you off from GEnie. There are three variations of the LOG command, and their forms are: LOG ON LOG OFF LOG ONTO {string} The LOG ON command tells Aladdin to dial the local access number for GEnie and login to the system. The SUCCESS condition is set to TRUE if the operation is successful; otherwise, it is set to FALSE. If Aladdin detects that you are already logged on to GEnie, the SUCCESS condition is set to TRUE and no other action is taken. The LOG OFF command instructs Aladdin to issue a "BYE" command to GEnie. It then waits for GEnie to terminate the session and hangs up the phone. Execution resumes on the next script line. The LOG OFF command will be ignored if the STAY indicator (see the Terminal Mode chapter) is set to "ON" or if the command is executed as part of a script that was invoked with the PERFORM command. The SUCCESS condition is not affected by the LOG OFF command. The LOG ONTO command will log you on to GEnie and take you directly to a GEnie page number and, optionally, a selection within that page number. The {string} argument represents the page and optional selection number, and is specified as a string containing a page number and, optionally, a semicolon ";" and an selection number. If you are currently not online to GEnie, Aladdin will make the call, wait for a connection and then issue the login command, appending to your password the "short-cut" way of getting to a page number from the login prompt. See your GEnie reference manual for more information on this "short-cut" method. If you are already logged on to GEnie, Aladdin issues an "M" command, instead, to move to that page and optional selection number. If the login is successful and you reach the selected page and selection, Aladdin sets the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state; otherwise the condition is set to a FALSE state. - NOTE - You cannot use this command to log onto a GEnie page that does not use your pre-configured prompt character, such as page 200, selection 6, which always uses the interrogation sign "?" as its prompt character regardless of what your normal prompt character is. An example of the LOG command is: SCRIPT 7 Mail Command Mode Define script number and title LOG ONTO "200" Login and go to page 200, GEmail IF SUCCESS All ok? SENDSPECIALCOMMAND "6" "?" Command mode with special prompt Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 74 ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT 33. The COMMANDMODE Command Under normal conditions, Aladdin will always tell GEnie to put the system into "command mode" every time it runs into an "Enter #" in a page prompt when it is expecting a "P ###" prompt. This saves time and money because Aladdin does not need to see the full GEnie menus to do its job. There are some cases in which an "Enter #" is in fact an appropriate prompt and you cannot have Aladdin issue the "C" command to GEnie. To enable and disable this automatic switching feature in a script, you use the COMMANDMODE command. The syntax of the COMMANDMODE command is: COMMANDMODE {state} where the {state} argument is one of two keywords, ON or OFF. If you issue a COMMANDMODE ON command, Aladdin will always attempt to switch GEnie into command mode anytime that it sees an "Enter #" prompt. If instead you issue a COMMANDMODE OFF command, Aladdin will not try to make the switch. 34. The QUOTES Command The QUOTES command lets you tell Aladdin to convert the single quote "'" characters that appears in NewsGrid items into the normal character. The syntax for the QUOTES command is: QUOTES {state} where the {state} argument represents one of two keywords, ON or OFF. If you issue a QUOTES ON command, the single quotes in NewsGrid items will be changed to double quotes; if you issue a QUOTES OFF command, the single quotes will be left as they are. 35. The HANGUP Command The HANGUP command instructs Aladdin to immediately hang up the phone and terminate the call. It will not issue any logoff commands; it will simply hang up. For those of you familiar with communications with modems, Aladdin drops the signal on the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) line, which will force the modem to drop the connection if its switch settings are correctly set. The HANGUP command does not take any arguments. 36. The SEND Command The SEND command is used to tell Aladdin to send a string of text to the remote computer system. The syntax of the SEND command is: SEND {string} Aladdin ST Manual Page 75 where the {string} argument represents the text that is to be transmitted by Aladdin. Note that the SEND command only sends the text and no other characters. If you need to send a carriage return/line feed pair following the string (simulating the pressing of the [Enter] key in terminal mode) use the SENDLINE command. An example of the send command is" SEND "^C" Send a break (Ctrl-C) character 37. The SENDLINE Command The SENDLINE command is exactly the same as the SEND command, except that it will also send a carriage return and a line feed at the end of the line. This simulates typing a line in terminal mode and pressing the [Enter] key. 38. The SENDCOMMAND Command The SENDCOMMAND command is the same as the SENDLINE command except that, after the command is sent, Aladdin will wait for your prompt character to be sent from the remote computer. Additionally, it will set the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state if the prompt is received; otherwise it will set it to FALSE. For example, the command SENDCOMMAND "M615;2" is equivalent to SENDLINE "M615;2" WAITFORPROMPT 39. The SENDSPECIALCOMMAND Command The SENDSPECIALCOMMAND command is identical to SENDCOMMAND except that it takes one additional argument. It is used in situations where GEnie's default prompt character is not used, such as on page 200, option 6, the GEmail command mode. The syntax of the SENDSPECIALCOMMAND command is: SENDSPECIALCOMMAND {string} {promptstring} where the {string} argument represents the command to send and the {promptstring} argument represents the characters of the prompt which GEnie is expected to reply with. An example of the SENDSPECIALCOMMAND command is: SENDSPECIALCOMMAND "M200;6" "?" GEmail page 200's option 6 is a function that always replies with a "?" prompt regardless of what you have your default prompt set to. 40. The WAITFOR Command Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 76 The WAITFOR command is used to tell Aladdin to wait until a specific combination of characters is received from the remote computer system. The syntax of the WAITFOR command is: WAITFOR {string} where the {string} argument represents the string for which Aladdin will wait before continuing the execution of the script. Aladdin will wait until the string is received or until Aladdin stops receiving text from the remote computer system for the amount of time specified as the "timeout period" in the Aladdin setup screen. If a matching string is received, Aladdin sets the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state and continues with the script; otherwise it will set it to a FALSE state and then continue. An example of the WAITFOR command is: SENDLINE "SET 10" Set category to 10 in the bulletin board WAITFORPROMPT Wait for the system prompt SENDLINE "REP 1" Initiate a reply to topic number 10 WAITFOR ">" Wait for the message editor prompt 41. The WAITFORPROMPT Command The WAITFORPROMPT command is very similar to the WAITFOR command, except that it only waits for a specific character, the character which you have specified in the Aladdin setup screen as your prompt character. Additionally, the prompt character must not be followed by any other characters, ensuring that you, indeed, have received a prompt from GEnie. The other parameters and conditions for successful execution of a WAITFOR command apply to the WAITFORPROMPT command as well. For an example of the WAITFORPROMPT command see the previous section on the WAITFOR command. 42. The WAITFORDATA Command The WAITFORDATA command is used to instruct Aladdin to wait until it begins or stops receiving data from the remote computer system. The syntax of the WAITFORDATA command is: WAITFORDATA {keyword} where the {keyword} argument is one of two keywords, START or STOP. If you issue a WAITFORDATA START command, Aladdin will wait until one or more characters are received from the remote computer system. If you issue a WAITFORDATA STOP, Aladdin will wait until the modem stops receiving characters from the remote computer system and there are no more characters waiting in the communications buffer. For example, the command WAITFORDATA START is equivalent to the following statements: Aladdin ST Manual Page 77 :Loopit IF DATAWAITING ELSE GOTO Loopit ENDIF On the other hand, the WAITFORDATA STOP command is equivalent to the following statements: :Loopit IF DATAWAITING MONITOR GOTO Loopit ENDIF 43. The WAITFORKEYPRESS Command The WAITFORKEYPRESS command is used to tell Aladdin to stop execution of the script and wait until the user presses any key on the keyboard. The key will not show up as an incoming character from the keyboard, though, as it is removed from your computer's keyboard buffer. The WAITFORKEYPRESS command takes no arguments. An example of the WAITFORKEYPRESS command is: NOTE "Press any key to continue..." Tell user what to do WAITFORKEYPRESS Wait for any key to be pressed 44. The KEYWAITING Command The KEYWAITING command is used to enable and disable the use of the IF KEYWAITING command. The syntax of the KEYWAITING command is: KEYWAITING {state} where the {state} argument is one of two keyword, ON or OFF. Under normal conditions, Aladdin will stop the execution of a script when the [Esc] key is pressed. It will also recognize the pressing of the [F5] function key during a session in which a script is running a task on GEnie. This will prevent the script from disconnecting the phone call after the script is finished, regardless of what commands are in the script to terminate the session. These are the actions taken by Aladdin if you issue a KEYWAITING OFF command, which happens to be the default state of KEYWAITING when you first execute the Aladdin program. However, there are situations when you do want to be able to check for characters waiting in your computer's keyboard buffer, and in particular when you want to use the IF KEYWAITING conditional command. In these cases, you must issue a KEYWAITING ON command to enable the IF KEYWAITING command to work. The [Esc] key will Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 78 not be recognized while Aladdin is running the script, so make sure that you restore KEYWAITING to the OFF state as soon as you don't need to use IF KEYWAITING anymore in the script. 45. The GETKEY Command The GETKEY command is used to ask Aladdin to wait for the user to press any key on the computer's keyboard. However, instead of throwing the keystroke away as the WAITFORKEYPRESS does, the keystroke is made available to the script in one of the user- defined strings. The syntax of the GETKEY command is: GETKEY {digit} where the {digit} argument represents a digit from 0 to 9, which defines which user-defined string, %0 through %9, is going to receive the keystroke. Note that some keys do not have any ASCII text character equivalents. These keys are the functions keys, the cursor keys on the keypad, etc. These keys are considered to be "extended keys". If a user presses one of these keys Aladdin will store the string "^@" into the user-defined string. You will then have to issue another GETKEY command to retrieve a second code from the keyboard, which is the keyboard's scan code. In general, scan codes are used to identify keystrokes that have no ASCII equivalents. An example of the GETKEY command is: SCRIPT 8 Simple Dumb Terminal Script number and title NOTE "Press [Ctrl-Q] to quit." Tell the user how to get out KEYWAITING ON Enable IF KEYWAITING command :Dumb Define the "Dumb" label IF KEYWAITING Any keystrokes pressed? GETKEY 7 Yes, keystroke into string %7 IF STRING 7 IS "^Q" Is it a [Ctrl-Q]? GOTO Quit Jump to the "Quit" label ENDIF Required ENDIF IF STRING 7 IS "^@" Pressed a special key? GETKEY 7 Yes, get scan code ELSE No, normal keystroke SEND "%7" Send it out! ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDIF Close second IF statement GOTO Dumb Keep doing this all over again :Quit Define "Quit" label ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT 46. The GETSTRING Command The GETSTRING command is used to obtain a full line of text from the user through the keyboard. The syntax of the GETSTRING command is: GETSTRING {digit} Aladdin ST Manual Page 79 where the {digit} argument represents a digit from 0 to 9, which tells Aladdin which user-defined string, %0 through %9, to store the text to. Upon encountering this command in a script, Aladdin will wait for the user to enter a full line of text, up to 79 characters long, which is finished by pressing the [Enter] key. If all goes well, Aladdin will set the SUCCESS condition to a TRUE state. If, on the other hand, the user presses the [Esc] key before pressing the [Enter] key, Aladdin will abort the input, clear the user-define string and set the SUCCESS condition to a FALSE state. An example of the GETSTRING command is: Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 80 SCRIPT 8 Start Capture to a File Define script # and title NOTE "Enter capture filename:" Ask for capture file name GETSTRING 3 Get file to string %3 IF SUCCESS All ok? IF EXISTS "%3" See if file exists NOTE "File exists, erase (Y/N)?" Ask if erasable GETKEY 4 Get response IF STRING 4 IS "Y" Ok, you asked for it! ERASEFILE "%3" It's gone. CAPTURE "%3" Start capture ENDIF Required ENDIF ELSE File doesn't exist, so... CAPTURE "%3" ...start capture. ENDIF Required ENDIF ENDIF Close first ENDIF ENDSCRIPT Required ENDSCRIPT Aladdin ST Manual Page 81 XI The Aladdin Help Screens and File Names Aladdin Help Screens There are five (5) Help Screens in Aladdin to help you through some of the more complex areas. These screens are accessible by pressing either the HELP key or the F1 key. They are available for the Editor (write Mail), Reading Messages, Software Library, Browsing and Terminal Mode. Rather than taking a lot of paper to explain them just click on each item and then press the Help key or F1. Aladdin File Names ALADDIN.CFG Configuration data GENIE.LST GEnie Products Index DEADMAIL.TXT Unpostable main or messages DOWNLOAD.LOG List of all downloaded files by name ACTIVITY.TXT Result/Errors from AutoPass 1 or 2 Aladdin File Name Extensions .MSG Incoming mail and messages .KEY Line index to MSG file .REP Replies/searches .BTN Log-on bulletins .TOP Current topic list .TMK Topic marks .IDX Software library index .DAT Software library data file .FMK File marks (browse/download) .BRO File browse text .BKY Line index to BRO file Copyright 1990 by General Electric Page 82 Aladdin ST Manual Page 83