8BS65: Messaging System Info

Version 2.04C

by Steven Flintham (15A)

Introduction

The messaging system is designed to
allow 8BS members to send both messages
for publication in the disc magazine
and private messages to each other.

Members use the program to write their
messages which they can then send in
to the editor on their submission disc.
The editor then uses a separate program
which sorts out all the messages ready
for inclusion in the magazine.

Inserting your submission disc

When the program is run, it asks you to
insert your submission disc in drive 0.

At this point you can select a filing
or continue with the one you are using.
Press D, A or H for DFS, ADFS or HADFS,
or SPACE for the current filing system.

If you are using DFS you are strongly
advised to put absolutely nothing else
on the same disc as the message file.

Of course, when you no longer need to
edit the messages you can copy other
files onto the same disc ready to send
it off.

You should leave the submission disc
in the drive at all times.

You should also avoid pressing BREAK

Entering your user ID and name

If you have not previously used this
disc to store messages you will be
asked to enter your user ID and name.

You can just press RETURN instead of
entering your name if you wish to
remain anonymous.

You can also choose what function key
layout you want to use.

The main menu

You can choose an option by either
pressing the letters shown at the right
hand edge of the screen or using the up
and down cursor keys. When you have
highlighted an option, pressing RETURN
will confirm your choice.

You can usually return to the main menu
by pressing ESCAPE if you get stuck
anywhere else in the program.

Writing a new message

To start writing a new message, choose
the "Start a new message" option from
the main menu. You will be asked for
the user ID to send the message to, or
you can enter 999 to send a general
message to everyone.

When you enter a user ID, you can also
enter their real name if you know it,
and it will appear in the message.

You are then asked if it is a public
message, where it will get sent to
everybody; or a private message, where
it will get sent only to that one user.

Once you have entered the user ID and
pressed RETURN the main editing screen
will appear.

The message editor

The message editor is used to edit both
new and old messages. If you are
writing a new message, the cursor will
be placed on the subject line, ready
for you to enter the subject.

The message editor is similar to a word
processor, although there are several
important differences making it more of
a text editor.

Pressing RETURN will move you down onto
the next line, as you would expect, and
and as you type words which won't quite
fit at the end of lines they will be
moved automatically onto the next line.

You can use the cursor keys to move
around and whatever you type will
appear at the cursor, as in a word-
processor.

When you reach the bottom of the
screen, either by typing or by using
the cursor keys, it will scroll to
allow you to continue. There is a limit
to the length of a message but this
should not be a problem. If you run up
against the limit you should rewriting
rewriting the message as a complete
article.

The DELETE key works almost as normal
but you cannot DELETE back past the
start of a line as you can in some
wordprocessors. If you in the middle of
a line, only the characters on that
line will move up to fill the space.

An important point to bear in mind is
that if you simply type over the
recipient's ID at the top of the

message, that will

not

change the

recipient. You must also press SHIFT

and type in the new ID when asked.

The ID of the person who will actually
receive the message is always shown on
the bottom line of the screen when you
are editing a message. You should
ensure that this is the same as the ID
at the top of the message.

If you find this confusing, simply
take care to enter the correct user ID
when first starting a new message and
don't change the ID at the top of the
message.

When you are happy with the message,
press ESCAPE to leave the editor and
save the message to disc.

Viewing, editing, deleting and

printing existing messages

To examine any messages that you have
already written, choose the view/edit/
print option from the main menu.

Each line in the menu begins with the
user ID to which it will be sent and
then has as much of the subject line as
will fit.

As with the main menu, you can use the
up and down cursor keys to move the
highlight. There are no other keys you
can press to move the highlight on this
menu.

When you have highlighted a message you
can select one of the following:

(V)iew the message (or press RETURN)
(E)dit the message
(P)rint the message
(D)elete the message

Printing all the messages

If you want to print all the messages,
you can choose the "Print all the
messages" option from the main menu.

You will be asked if you are sure you
want to print the messages, printing
will only start if you press Y.

You can press ESCAPE while the
messages are being printed and the
computer will stop. However, if you
have a large printer buffer printing
may continue - this is unavoidable.

Tidying the messages

When you delete a message it is not
actually removed, it is just made
"invisible".

When you tidy the message file these
invisible messages are removed.

You are recommended to tidy the message
file periodically to prevent it growing
too large. In particular, it would be a
good idea to tidy the message file
before sending your submission disk in,
although this is not strictly required.

Re-entering your user ID and name

Choosing the "Re-enter your user ID/
name" option allows you to correct any
errors you made when you were first
asked for your user ID and name.

Undeleting messages

If you have accidentally deleted a
message which you wanted to keep you
can probably recover it by choosing
"Undelete deleted messages" from the
main menu. This will not work if the
message file has been tidied in the
meantime, but no harm will result from
trying.

Leaving the program

To leave the program, you should choose
"Quit" from the main menu. Pressing
BREAK is not recommended, but shouldn't
create problems if at the main menu.

More advanced editing features

This section is described in full in
the unabridged instructions to be found
on TBI-00.

The function keys can be used to insert
various teletext effects and to perform
editing functions. The layout can be
set when you enter your user ID.

Keyboard layout 0 (old):

Unshifted SHIFT CTRL

f0 Text- Red -Graphics

Joined G's

Text- Green -Graphics

Separated G's

Text- Yellow-Graphics

Hold G's

Text- Blue -Graphics

Release G's

Text-Magenta-Graphics

Double Height

Text- Cyan -Graphics

Single Height

Text- White -Graphics Insert Char

Steady New Backgd Insert Line

Flash Black Backgd Delete Line

Pixel Edit Set dest.

Keyboard layout 1 (new):

Unshifted SHIFT CTRL

Pixel Edit Set dest. Ins. Char

(Block) Text- Red -Graphics

Normal Height

Text- Green -Graphics

Double Height

Text- Yellow-Graphics

Joined G's

Text- Blue -Graphics

Separated G's

Text-Magenta-Graphics

Black Backgnd

Text- Cyan -Graphics

New Backgnd Text- White -Graphics

Hold G's Flash Ins. Line

Release G's Steady Del. Line

Layout 0 is similar to the TED teletext
editor. Layout 1 is similar to the ABZ
teletext editor. Keystrips can be
printed out using the MsgKEYS program.

Reporting problems

If you have any problems with the
messaging system please let me know.
The more information you can supply
about the problem, the more likely it
is that I can fix it.

You should try turning the computer
off, disabling any extra ROMs etc.,
before running the program to see if
that solves the problem. If it does,
then the problem is incompatibility
with some part of your system. If you
can track down the problem, I will be
pleased to try and fix the it.