by Steven Flintham (15A) This is a short info file for the
messaging system. A full info file is
available on TBI-00.
Introduction
The 8BS messaging system allows members
to message one another in private or in
public. It also allows members to
comment on programs or write short
articles. Members create their messages
and then send the message file to the
editor on their submission disc.
Basic instructions Run the program. Insert your 8BS
submission disc. Press SPACE.
DO NOT take your submission disc out of
the drive until you have finished using
the program.
DO NOT PRESS BREAK, particularly when
editing a message.
If a message file does not exist, you
will be asked for your user ID and
name. You do not have to enter your
name (just press RETURN). If you enter
your name it will be placed at the top
of all your messages.
You will now be presented with the main
menu, these are the options available:
New message Create a new message. You will be asked
to enter the ID of the user who is to
receive the message. You can:
1. Enter an individual member's ID, in
which case he/she will receive the
message privately
2. Enter 999, in which case the message
will end up in the "Messages and ads"
section
3. Enter CCC, in which case the message
will be treated as comments on a
program
Once the destination ID has been
entered, the main editing screen will
appear. The program automatically puts
a heading at the top of the message.
When you enter the editing screen the
cursor is automatically positioned so
that you can type in either the subject
of the message or the title of the
program to which the comment relates.
Editing a message
Changing the user ID in the line at the
top of the message will NOT change the
destination of the message! You must
edit the "To:" line and also press
SHIFT-f9 and enter the new destination
ID.
In editing mode you can use the cursor
keys to move around the message:
SHIFT + left or right cursor keys moves
you to the start or end of the current
line.
SHIFT + the up or down cursor keys
moves you up and down a page at a time.
RETURN moves the cursor to the left
hand edge of the next line down and
automatically places a teletext colour
code.
DELETE deletes backwards as in a
wordprocessor, closing up the gap
created by moving the rest of the line
to the left.
CTRL+f6 inserts a space at cursor.
Word wrap is provided, but only when
typing forwards.
CTRL+f7 inserts a line above the
current line if there is enough room
in the message.
CTRL-f8 deletes the current line.
CTRL-f9 for help when editing.
f0-f6 enter text colour codes. As you
type, a new code is inserted at the
start of each line automatically.
View/edit the messages Browse through the messages created.
Cursor up and down to scroll through
each message.
Cursor left and right to move from
message to message.
D to delete a message.
E to edit a message. Once this has been
selected, the program behaves as in the
section "Editing a message" above.
f0 for help.
Tidying the messages Messages "deleted" by the D option
actually remain on disc and can be
recovered using the undelete option. If
you use the "tidy messages" option,
this totally removes all trace of
deleted messages which then cannot be
recovered. Use this option before
sending your submission disc to 8BS.
Re-enter your user ID/name
If you typed your ID or name
incorrectly when you first ran the
program, use this option. You will have
to edit any messages you created
earlier too as these will still have
your incorrectly entered ID and name.
Quit This returns you to BASIC.
If you encounter any problems. DON'T
PANIC! Send the problem disc off to the
editor with a detailed explanation of
what happened. Most files are
recoverable as long as you have not
used the "tidy" option.
Advanced editing facilities SHIFT-f0 to f6 places graphic colour
codes.
f9 toggles pixel editing and text
modes. Pixel editing mode allows you to
toggle the pixels of the graphics
character at the cursor using:
QW [ 1 character
AS [ is made with
ZX [ 6 blocks ie ]
Remember that if you want to use the
pixel editor you must first enter a
graphic colour code to the left of the
point you are going to edit.
f7 Steady f8 Flash
SHIFT-f7 Colour background SHIFT-f8 Black background ^
CTRL-f0 Contiguous graphics
CTRL-f1 Separated graphics
CTRL-f2 Hold graphics
CTRL-f3 Release graphics
CTRL-f4 Double height
CTRL-f5 Single height
Note that you must enter the text on
both lines yourself when using double
height.
Undelete messages
I you used the "delete message" option,
the message deleted can be recovered
using this option. However, if you
deleted a message and then used the
"tidy messages" option, "undelete" will
not work.
Undelete recovers EVERY deleted
message. This means that you will have
to re-delete a lot of messages as
whenever you edit an existing message a
new message is created.
The program only allows 25 undeleted
messages in a message file, but there
is no limit on deleted messages.
Once there are 25 undeleted messages,
no more can be undeleted and so you may
not be able to get back the message you
wanted. You can reduce the risk of this
happening by tidying the file regularly
to keep the number of deleted messages
in the file as low as possible.