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1.1 ! root 1: .ls 1 ! 2: .ch "Using Notesfiles" ! 3: ! 4: The notesfile system is invoked with a single command line. ! 5: Most notesfile commands require only a single character (like the vi editor). ! 6: Those that do require more than one character are terminated by a carriage ! 7: return. ! 8: ! 9: .se "Invocation" ! 10: ! 11: Invoke the notesfile system with: ! 12: ! 13: notes [ -sxi ] [-a subsequencer] [ -t termtype ] [ -f nfile ] [ topic1 ] [ topic2 ... ] ! 14: ! 15: The topic list (e.g., topic1) specifies the notesfiles to read. ! 16: Invoking the notes system with NO arguments yields a list of some ! 17: available topics. ! 18: When more than one topic is specified, the user encounters each topic ! 19: sequentially (i.e., topic2 is entered upon completion of topic1). ! 20: ! 21: The -s switch activates the ``notesfile sequencer'' which is discussed ! 22: in section 2.7. ! 23: Specify ``-x'' to use the extended sequencer. ! 24: The ``-i'' flag selects yet another sequencing mode. ! 25: The ``-a'' option specifies a particular subsequencer. ! 26: This allows several users sharing a signon to maintain their ! 27: own sequencing timestamp information. ! 28: ! 29: The -t option directs the notesfile system to use ``termtype'' as the user's ! 30: terminal type, overriding the TERM shell variable. ! 31: ! 32: The -f option directs the notesfile system to read the contents ! 33: of the file ``nfile'' for a list of notesfiles to read. ! 34: See section 2.3 (``The -f Option'') ! 35: for more information on the format of this file. ! 36: ! 37: .se "Notesfile Names and Wildcards" ! 38: ! 39: Notesfiles can be specified in several ways. ! 40: The most common is to merely give the name of the notesfile, ! 41: such as ``general''. ! 42: These notesfiles typically reside in the directory ! 43: ``/usr/spool/notes''. ! 44: Notesfiles may also be specified by their complete pathname; ! 45: thus you could also refer to ``general'' by its full ! 46: pathname ``/usr/spool/notes/general''. ! 47: Using complete naming, notesfiles can be placed anywhere in ! 48: the filesystem. ! 49: This allows ``private'' notesfiles to be ! 50: stored in personal directories. ! 51: ! 52: The notesfile system supports pattern matching for names in ! 53: the same manner as the shell. ! 54: By using the shell meta-characters ``*'', ``?'', ``['' and ``]'', the user ! 55: can specify a number of notesfiles with a single entry. ! 56: To read all the notesfiles that pertain to ! 57: unix, enter the following ! 58: line (the quotes are required to protect the asterisks from interpretation ! 59: by the shell): ! 60: ! 61: notes ``*unix*'' ! 62: ! 63: There are several ways to read the notesfiles ! 64: test1, test2, test3 and test4: ! 65: ! 66: notes test1 test2 test3 test4 ! 67: .br ! 68: notes ``test?'' ! 69: .br ! 70: notes ``test[1234]'' ! 71: ! 72: Entries can also be eliminated from th list of notesfiles to ! 73: look at. ! 74: By prefixing a notesfile name (possibly containing wildcard characters) ! 75: with a `!', the notesfiles are removed from the list of notesfiles ! 76: to be examined. ! 77: If one wished to look at all of the ``test'' notesfiles except ! 78: test3, one could specify: ! 79: ! 80: notes ``test?'' !test3 ! 81: ! 82: ! 83: These features are available from ! 84: the normal entry (notes) and ! 85: the automatic sequencer entry (see section 2.8). ! 86: Most notesfile programs recognize this format. Among those ! 87: which do not are programs which must receive exactly one ! 88: notesfile name. ! 89: ! 90: .se "The -f Option" ! 91: ! 92: The ``-f'' option of the notesfile system ! 93: specifies a file of notesfile names to read. ! 94: The file consists of lines containing notesfile names: ! 95: ! 96: .ne 4 ! 97: .nf ! 98: nfgripes ! 99: net.unix-wizards ! 100: net.general ! 101: fa.telecom ! 102: .fi ! 103: ! 104: The names start at the left margin; they are indented here ! 105: for readability. ! 106: Wildcard characters (``*'', ``?'', ``['', and ``]'') ! 107: are acceptable in this context. ! 108: Full names such as ``/usr/spool/notes/general'' ! 109: are also accepted. ! 110: Notesfiles can be eliminated through the ``!'' feature ! 111: as described in section 2.2. ! 112: The sequencer mode can be changed ! 113: by inserting a line of the form: ! 114: ! 115: -s ! 116: ! 117: Again, this starts at the left margin. ! 118: The ``s'' can be any of: ``s'', ``x'', ``i'', or ``n''. ! 119: When a line of this form is read from the file, the sequencer mode ! 120: is set to the corresponding mode: The normal ``s''equencer, ! 121: the e``x''tended sequencer, ! 122: the ``i''ndex sequencer, ! 123: and ! 124: ``n''o sequencer. ! 125: ! 126: To always enter nfgripes, micronotes, and bicycle ! 127: while only entering the networked notesfiles ``net.*'' when new notes ! 128: are present, one might use ``notes -f myfile'' ! 129: with the following ``myfile'': ! 130: ! 131: .ne 6 ! 132: .nf ! 133: -x ! 134: nfgripes ! 135: micronotes ! 136: bicycle ! 137: -s ! 138: net.* ! 139: .fi ! 140: ! 141: ! 142: .se "General" ! 143: ! 144: Almost all notesfile commands require exactly one character ! 145: (no carriage return). Only commands that are longer than one character ! 146: require a terminating carriage return (currently, choosing a note to read ! 147: is the only non-single character command). ! 148: ! 149: The commands were chosen to be easy to remember. ! 150: Upper case forms of commands usually function ! 151: like their lower case counterparts but with some additional ! 152: feature or power (i.e., ``w'' writes a response, ``W'' includes the current ! 153: displayed text in the response). ! 154: ! 155: Some commands are available almost everywhere in the notesfile ! 156: system. These include those for help, exiting, forking a shell, ! 157: and making a comment for the suggestion box. ! 158: ! 159: .ss "Help" ! 160: ! 161: Typing ``?'' anywhere will list the available options in ! 162: an abbreviated format. ! 163: ! 164: .ss "Exiting" ! 165: ! 166: Type ``q'' (``quit'') to leave the current notesfile. ! 167: Capital ``Q'' ! 168: leaves the current notesfile and refrains from entering your ! 169: last entry time into the sequencer table (see section ``The Sequencer''). ! 170: The notesfile system ! 171: proceeds to the next topic in the invocation list. ! 172: The ``k'' and ``K'' keys function exactly as ``q'' and ``Q''. ! 173: ! 174: Use control-D (``signoff'') ! 175: to leave the notesfile system completely (without updating ! 176: entry time information). ! 177: The ``z'' command behaves similarly to control-D, ! 178: the user exits the notesfile system immediately. ! 179: Unlike control-D, the ``z'' command updates the ! 180: entry time information for the current notesfile. ! 181: The ``z'' command functions only when reading notes or responses ! 182: or when on the index page. ! 183: ! 184: ! 185: .ss "Shells" ! 186: ! 187: Fork a shell at any time by typing ``!'' ! 188: (just like many other Unix programs). ! 189: ! 190: .ss "Comments & Suggestions" ! 191: ! 192: Type capital ``B'' (``suggestion Box'') ! 193: while on the index page or reading notes ! 194: to make a comment or suggestion about the notesfile program. ! 195: Your suggestion will be stored in another ! 196: notesfile reviewed frequently by the notesfile system manager. ! 197: ! 198: .se "The Index Page" ! 199: ! 200: When the notes system is invoked without the -s option, ! 201: the user sees an index ! 202: of the most recent notes. ! 203: A sample page is shown below: ! 204: ! 205: .KS ! 206: .nf ! 207: .in +10 ! 208: Workstation Discussion 2:03 pm Jan 4, 1982 ! 209: ! 210: .ta .75i 3.0i 3.25i ! 211: 12/9/81 2 Stanford SUN 4 horton ! 212: 3*WICAT 68000 kolstad ! 213: 4 M68000 1 horton ! 214: 5 Dolphin 3 duke!johnson ! 215: 12/10 6 CDC Standalone 1 smith ! 216: 8 IBM Personal Computer henry ! 217: 9 Personal computers harmful? 8 Anonymous ! 218: 10 Ethernet interfaces 3 mhz? 23 essick ! 219: 11 Requirements for uiucdcs 10 botten ! 220: 1/1/82 12 Happy New Year! 5 mjk ! 221: ! 222: ! 223: - - - - - - - - - - - - - ! 224: ! 225: .TA ! 226: .in ! 227: .fi ! 228: .KE ! 229: The upper left corner shows the notesfile's title. In this ! 230: example, the notesfile discusses personal workstations. ! 231: The current time and date are displayed in the upper right corner. ! 232: Approximately ten note titles are displayed (if available). ! 233: More notes are displayed on longer ! 234: screens (such as the Ann Arbor Ambassador). ! 235: Each note is displayed ! 236: with its date (if different from the previous date), note number, ! 237: title, number of responses (if any), and author. The first note above ! 238: was written by user ``horton'' on December 9th. It is titled ``Stanford ! 239: SUN'' and has four responses. Note 7 has been deleted for some reason ! 240: (by either its author or a notesfile director). Note 5 was written ! 241: by user ``johnson'' whose signon resides on the ``duke'' system. ! 242: Note 9 was written by an author who preferred to remain unidentified. ! 243: Notes with director messages (sometimes denoting importance) are displayed ! 244: with a ``*'' next to the note number (see note 3 above). ! 245: ! 246: From the index page the user may: ! 247: ! 248: .br ! 249: .bx ! 250: .ix ! 251: Scroll the index forward or backward. ! 252: .ix ! 253: Read a note. ! 254: .ix ! 255: Write a note. ! 256: .ix ! 257: Go to the next unread note. ! 258: .ix ! 259: Search for notes or responses after a specific date/time. ! 260: .ix ! 261: Search for keywords within notes' titles. ! 262: .ix ! 263: Search for notes/responses by a specific author. ! 264: .ix ! 265: Go to another notesfile. ! 266: .ix ! 267: Consult the notesfile's archive. ! 268: .ix ! 269: Read the policy note. ! 270: .ix ! 271: Check on anonymous and networked status. ! 272: .ix ! 273: Register a complaint/suggestion about notesfiles. ! 274: .ix ! 275: Fork a shell. ! 276: .ix ! 277: Exit the notes program. ! 278: .ix ! 279: Invoke notesfile director options (if the user is a director). ! 280: .ex ! 281: ! 282: .ss "Scrolling the Index Page" ! 283: ! 284: Scroll the index page by: ! 285: ! 286: .nf ! 287: .ls 1 ! 288: + forward one page ! 289: * forward to the most recent page (* is multiple +'s) ! 290: - backward one page ! 291: = backward all the way (= is multiple -'s) ! 292: <return> forward one page ! 293: <space> forward one page ! 294: .br ! 295: .ls ! 296: .fi ! 297: ! 298: .ss "Choosing Notes & Responses" ! 299: ! 300: While on the index page, choose a note to read by typing its number ! 301: followed by a carriage return. ! 302: (This is the only command that requires a carriage return after it.) ! 303: Usually the space bar is used to scan text. ! 304: To skip to a special note or response, use the features below. ! 305: ! 306: While reading a note, ``;'' or ``+'' ! 307: advances to the ! 308: first response of the note. ! 309: The next note is displayed if there are no responses. ! 310: The number keys (``1'', ``2'', ... , ``9'') advance that many ! 311: responses. ! 312: If there are fewer responses, the last response is displayed. ! 313: The return key skips the responses and goes to the next note. ! 314: Press ``-'' or backspace to see the previous page of the current note; ! 315: if the page currently displayed is the first, the notesfile program ! 316: displays the first page of the previous note. ! 317: ! 318: While a response is on the screen, the ``;'' and ``+'' keys ! 319: display the next response. ! 320: As with reading a note, if there are no further responses these ! 321: keys advance to the next note. ! 322: The number keys (``1'', ... , ``9'') will advance the appropriate number ! 323: of responses. ! 324: If there are fewer responses, the last response is displayed. ! 325: The ``-'' or backspace keys display the previous page of the current ! 326: response. If the current page is the first page of the response, ! 327: these keys display the first page of the previous response. ! 328: Enter ``='' to see the base note of the current note string. ! 329: Press the return key to proceed to the next note. ! 330: ! 331: .se "Notes & Responses" ! 332: ! 333: .ss "Reading Notes" ! 334: ! 335: After selecting a note from the index page (or entering the ! 336: notesfile with your ``sequencer'' on), the note is displayed. A sample ! 337: display is shown below: ! 338: ! 339: .KS ! 340: .nf ! 341: Note 15 Workstation Discussion 2 responses ! 342: horton WICAT 150 4:03 pm Dec 11, 1981 ! 343: ! 344: Wicat System 150 ! 345: ! 346: 8 MHz 68000, Mem. mgmt, Multibus architecture, 256k to 1.5 Mb RAM ! 347: 16/32/64Kbyte EPROM, ! 348: ! 349: 10 ms interval timer, 2 RS232 (19.6k async, 56k sync), 16 bit parallel ! 350: intelligent disk controller ! 351: 10 Mbyte winchester (5.25", 3600 rpm, access: 3 ms trk-trk, 70 avg, 150 max), ! 352: 960Kb floppy (5.25", 300 rpm, access 10 ms trk-trk, 267 avg, 583 max) ! 353: ! 354: Options: battery backed clock, graphics with touch panel, video disk control, ! 355: High Speed Serial Network Interface ! 356: ! 357: Unix/V7 avail, Pascal, C, APL, ADA, Cobol, Fortran, Lisp, Basic, Asm ! 358: ! 359: ====================================== ! 360: .fi ! 361: .KE ! 362: ! 363: This is note number 15 in the ``Workstation Discussion'' file. ! 364: User ``horton'' wrote this note at 4:03 pm on December 11th, 1981. Two ! 365: responses have been written. The note's title is ``WICAT 150''. If a ! 366: director had written the note, the ``director message'' might have been ! 367: displayed beneath the note's title. Director's notes sometimes contain ! 368: important information or new policies. ! 369: ! 370: Notes and responses can be up to 65535 bytes long, ! 371: much more than can be displayed in a single screen. ! 372: The display routine pages text automatically. ! 373: For all but the last page of a long note or response, ! 374: the lower right corner of the display shows the percentage of the ! 375: note that has been shown. ! 376: For all but the first page of long text, the message ``[Continued]'' ! 377: appears in the upper left portion of the display. ! 378: Use the space bar to see the next page of a long note or response. ! 379: When the last page is displayed, the space key functions as the ``;'' ! 380: key: it proceeds to the next response. ! 381: The ``-'' and backspace keys back up the display to the previous page. ! 382: Only the first 50 pages of text are managed this way; ! 383: typing ``-'' from the fifty-second page will return to the fiftieth page. ! 384: The ``='' key returns to the first page of the note. ! 385: ! 386: While reading a note, it is possible to: ! 387: ! 388: .br ! 389: .bx ! 390: .ix ! 391: Display the next page of the note. ! 392: .ix ! 393: Display the previous page of the note. ! 394: .ix ! 395: Display the first page of the note. ! 396: .ix ! 397: Write a response to the displayed note. ! 398: .ix ! 399: Read next note or previous note. ! 400: .ix ! 401: Read next unread response or note. ! 402: .ix ! 403: Return to the index page. ! 404: .ix ! 405: Skip to a given response. ! 406: .ix ! 407: Delete the note (if you are its author or a file director). ! 408: .ix ! 409: Edit the note's title (if it is yours). ! 410: .ix ! 411: Edit the note (if it is yours and there are no responses). ! 412: .ix ! 413: Copy the note to another notesfile. ! 414: .ix ! 415: Save the note in your file space. ! 416: .ix ! 417: Mail the note to someone. ! 418: .ix ! 419: Talk (``write'') to the author of the note. ! 420: .ix ! 421: Search for keywords in note titles. ! 422: .ix ! 423: Search for notes/responses by a particular author. ! 424: .ix ! 425: Toggle the director message (if privileged). ! 426: .ix ! 427: Fork a shell. ! 428: .ix ! 429: Go to another notesfile. ! 430: .ix ! 431: Make a comment or suggestion about notesfiles. ! 432: .ix ! 433: Exit the notesfile program. ! 434: .ex ! 435: ! 436: .ss "Reading Responses" ! 437: ! 438: Response displays are similar to those of main notes with the exception that ! 439: ``Response x of y'' replaces the note's title. ! 440: The first response to note 15 is shown below: ! 441: ! 442: .KS ! 443: .nf ! 444: Note 15 Workstation Discussion ! 445: koehler Response 1 of 2 11:53 pm Dec 11, 1981 ! 446: ! 447: Does anyone have any insight about the relative speeds of the Winchester ! 448: disks available on these systems? The previous disk seems to have ! 449: track to track response times commensurate with reasonably fast 8" ! 450: floppies. I wonder if some of the manufacturers are using disks that ! 451: will not meet reasonable specifications for response time for these ! 452: kinds of applications. ! 453: ! 454: On the other hand, with intelligent layout of file sectors, the I/O system ! 455: could romp and stomp on often used files... ! 456: ! 457: ====================================== ! 458: .fi ! 459: .KE ! 460: ! 461: The commands for manipulating the text of a long response ! 462: are the same as those for looking at long notes. ! 463: Typing space will move to the next page. ! 464: Typing ``-'' or backspace will display the previous page, within the ! 465: same limitations as for reading notes (only 50 pages are kept). ! 466: Press ``='' to go back to the first page of the text. ! 467: ! 468: The options available while reading responses include: ! 469: ! 470: .bx ! 471: .ix ! 472: Display the next page of the response. ! 473: .ix ! 474: Display the previous page of the response. ! 475: .ix ! 476: Display the first page of the response. ! 477: .ix ! 478: Go to a different response (usually the next one). ! 479: .ix ! 480: Go to the next unread note/response. ! 481: .ix ! 482: Reread the base note. ! 483: .ix ! 484: Reread the previous note. ! 485: .ix ! 486: Return to the index page. ! 487: .ix ! 488: Copy the response to another notesfile. ! 489: .ix ! 490: Mail the response to someone. ! 491: .ix ! 492: Save the response in your file space. ! 493: .ix ! 494: Talk to the response's author. ! 495: .ix ! 496: Write another response to the note. ! 497: .ix ! 498: Search for keywords in note titles. ! 499: .ix ! 500: Search for notes/responses by particular authors. ! 501: .ix ! 502: Delete the response (if you are its author or a file director). ! 503: .ix ! 504: Edit the response (if it is yours and there are no later responses). ! 505: .ix ! 506: Fork a shell ! 507: .ix ! 508: Go to another notesfile. ! 509: .ix ! 510: Register a suggestion or complaint about the notesfile program. ! 511: .ix ! 512: Exit the notesfile program. ! 513: .ex ! 514: ! 515: ! 516: .ss "Writing Notes & Responses" ! 517: ! 518: Write new base notes by hitting ``w'' while reading the index page. ! 519: The notesfile system will then invoke an editor ! 520: (the default editor is ! 521: ``ed'', use either of the shell variables NFED or EDITOR to change it). ! 522: After the prompt, ! 523: type the insert command along with the text you wish to enter. ! 524: Write the text to the disk and leave the editor. The system will prompt ! 525: you for various options if they are available: anonymity, director ! 526: message status, and the note's title. ! 527: ! 528: To write a response to a note type ``w'' while that note or any of ! 529: its responses is displayed. ! 530: The same steps used to write a base note ! 531: should then be followed. ! 532: ! 533: .ss "Mailing Notesfile Text" ! 534: ! 535: Both notes and responses can be mailed to other users (with ! 536: optional appended text). ! 537: The capital ``M'' (``mail'') command gives you the opportunity to edit the text then send ! 538: it to anyone. Its inferior counterpart, ``m'', allows you to mail a message to ! 539: anyone. ! 540: To mail to the author of the text, ! 541: use capital ``P'' (``Personal comment'') to send the text ! 542: and your comments; use ``p'' for a simple letter. ! 543: ! 544: To use a specific mail program, set the environment variable ! 545: MAILER. If this is not set, a standard mail program is used. ! 546: ! 547: .ss "Forwarding Text To Other Notesfiles" ! 548: ! 549: There are several methods for forwarding text from one notesfile ! 550: to another. ! 551: Single notes or responses can be copied with the `c' or `C' command ! 552: while entire note strings can be forwarded with the `f' and `F' ! 553: commands. ! 554: ! 555: The ``f'' (``forward'') command is given when a base note ! 556: is displayed on the screen. ! 557: When given, the ``f'' command causes the base note and all of it's ! 558: responses to be copied to another notesfile. ! 559: The user is prompted for the destination notesfile. ! 560: The copied note and all of the copied responses contain header ! 561: information detailing their origin. ! 562: Where ``f'' copies the note string without change, the ``F'' ! 563: command allows the user to edit the text of the note and each ! 564: response before inserting it into the target notesfile. ! 565: ! 566: The ``c'' (``copy'') command prompts for a destination notesfile ! 567: then ! 568: copies the currently displayed note or response to the target notesfile. ! 569: The user is allowed to choose between forwarding the note as a response ! 570: or as a new base note. ! 571: The ``c'' command does not give the user a chance to edit the text ! 572: before inserting it in the new notesfile. ! 573: The extended copying command ``C'' ! 574: allows editing of the note text before it is copied to the other notesfile. ! 575: ! 576: Both the ``c' and ``C'' commands provide for ! 577: the forwarded text to be entered as either a new note or as a response ! 578: to an existing note. ! 579: In the latter case, an index page is given to the user so that he may ! 580: choose the appropriate note to which he wishes to respond. ! 581: ! 582: .ss "Saving Text in Local Files" ! 583: ! 584: The ``s'' (``save'') command appends the current displayed text to a ! 585: file of your choice (which is created if not present). ! 586: Notesfiles prompts for the file name; ! 587: typing only a carriage return aborts the command -- no text is saved. ! 588: Capital ``S'' appends ! 589: the base note and all its responses. ! 590: ! 591: The number of lines saved and the file they were written to ! 592: are printed when the command completes. ! 593: ! 594: .ss "Deletion" ! 595: ! 596: Capital ``D'' (``delete'') deletes a note or response if it is yours and ! 597: has no subsequent responses. Notes already sent to the network can not be ! 598: deleted by non-directors. ! 599: Directors can delete any note or response with the ``Z'' (``zap'') command. ! 600: ! 601: ! 602: .ss "Online Communication" ! 603: ! 604: Typing ``t'' (``talk'') attempts to page the author of the current displayed ! 605: text. The Unix ``write'' command to him/her is issued ! 606: if the author is local and non-anonymous. ! 607: ! 608: If the environment variable WRITE is defined, ! 609: the program it specifies is used to write to the author. ! 610: ! 611: .ss "Editing Note Titles" ! 612: ! 613: While reading a base note, type ``e'' (``edit'') to ! 614: change the note's title ! 615: (provided you are the author of the note or a notesfile director). ! 616: ! 617: .ss "Editing Notes/Responses" ! 618: ! 619: ``E'' allows editing of the text of a note or response. ! 620: It is not permitted to edit an article if it has subsequent responses or ! 621: if it has been sent to the network. ! 622: If the ``later responses'' are deleted, it is possible to edit the ! 623: original text.
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