textfiles/apple/DOCUMENTATION/abbs.inst

     INFORMATION ON THIS ABBS
 
TO TEMPORARILY STOP THIS (OR ANY OTHER
LISTING), TYPE CTRL-S.  TYPE ANY OTHER
CHARACTER TO RESUME.  TO GO BACK TO
THE COMMAND PROMPT, TYPE CTRL-C OR
CTRL-K.
     THIS ABBS ALLOWS YOU TO ENTER AND
RETRIEVE MESSAGES, FIND OUT INFORMA-
TION BY LISTING FILES, AND SEND AND
RECEIVE PROGRAMS TO AND FROM THE ABBS.
     THE ABBS USES YOUR W.A.P. NUMBER
(WAPXXX OR WPXXXX) TO KEEP TRACK OF
SENDERS AND RECIPIENTS OF MESSAGES.
MESSAGES ARE REFERENCED BY AN ARBI-
TRARY NUMBER (1-138) BUT YOU CAN USE
THE S (SUMMARY) AND L (LIST MULTIPLE
MESSAGES) COMMANDS TO REVIEW THEM IN
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER WITHIN A SPECIFIED
NUMBER OF DAYS.
  
     MESSAGES:
     ENTERING A MESSAGE:
     YOU WILL BE ASKED TO GIVE THE WAP
NUMBER OF THE PERSON TO WHOM THE MES-
SAGE IS INTENDED.  FOR MESSAGES TO
EVERYONE, USE "ALL".  YOU THEN ENTER
A 20-CHARACTER SUMMARY OF THE SUBJECT
OF THE MESSAGE.  YOU CAN THEN ENTER UP
TO 10 LINES OF UP TO 39 CHARACTERS
EACH.  YOU CAN FIND A PERSON'S WAP
NUMBER WITH THE "W" (WHO) COMMAND.  IF
SOMEONE HAS SENT A YOU A MESSAGE,
THEIR NUMBER WILL BE IN THE MESSAGE
HEADER ("FROM WAPXXX").  THE ABBS
WILL KEEP YOUR LINES TO LESS THAN 40
CHARACTERS.  USE BACKSPACE (LEFT-
ARROW), RIGHT-ARROW (CTRL-U) AND
CTRL-X AS YOU NORMALLY DO.  YOUR MES-
SAGE CAN ONLY BE 10 LINES LONG.  IF
YOU DON'T NEED 10 LINES, JUST ENTER A
RETURN WHEN YOU ARE THROUGH.  THEN THE
ABBS WILL ASK IF YOU WANT TO EDIT THE
MESSAGE OR SAVE IT AS IS.  IF YOU DO
NOT SAVE IT, YOU CAN USE THE EDIT COM-
MANDS (SEE "A" BELOW) TO MAKE CHANGES.
TO EXIT MESSAGE ENTRY, USE "CANCEL".
     RETRIEVING A MESSAGE:
     THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO RETRIEVE
MESSAGES:  "L" WILL LIST ALL MESSAGES
WITHIN A SPECIFIED NUMBER OF DAYS; EN-
TERING JUST A MESSAGE NUMBER WILL RE- 
TRIEVE THAT MESSAGE.
     AFTER YOU HAVE READ A MESSAGE
SENT ONLY TO YOU, YOU WILL BE ASKED
WHETHER YOU WANT TO DELETE THE MES-
SAGE.  UNLESS YOU MUST KEEP IT ON THE
SYSTEM FOR SOME REASON, PLEASE DELETE
IT TO FREE UP THE SPACE FOR ANOTHER
MESSAGE.  ALSO, DELETING IT WILL TELL
THE SENDER THAT YOU HAVE READ THE MES-
SAGE.  ONLY THE YOU, THE SENDER AND
THE SYSOP CAN DELETE A MESSAGE TO YOU,
AND I ONLY DO SO AFTER IT HAS BEEN ON
THE SYSTEM FOR MORE THAN A MONTH.
     MESSAGE SUMMARIES:
     SUMMARIES CAN BE OBTAINED WITH
EITHER THE "Q" COMMAND OR THE "S" COM-
MAND.
     THE "Q" COMMAND WILL GIVE YOU THE
MESSAGE NUMBERS OF MESSAGES SENT TO
YOU, TO ALL, AND FROM YOU.  WHEN YOU 
SIGN ON, THE ABBS ALSO LISTS THE
NUMBERS OF MESSAGES SENT TO YOU.
     THE "S" COMMAND ASKS YOU HOW FAR
BACK YOU WISH TO SEARCH, AND WHETHER
YOU WISH TO FLAG MESSAGES FOR LATER
READING IN FULL.  THE SUMMARY WILL
LIST THE SENDER, THE RECIPIENT, THE
DATE THE MESSAGE WAS SENT, AND THE
SUBJECT OF THE MESSAGE.
     DELETING A MESSAGE:
     THE "D" COMMAND WILL LIST THE
SUMMARY OF THE MESSAGE AND ASK YOU
IF YOU WANT TO DELETE IT.  ONLY THE
SENDER, THE RECIPIENT (IF NOT TO ALL)
AND THE SYSOP CAN DELETE MESSAGES.  SO
THAT EVERYONE CAN USE THE ABBS, PLEASE
DELETE YOUR OLD MESSAGES!!
     AMENDING A MESSAGE:
     THE "A" COMMAND AND THE EDIT OP-
TION OF THE "E" COMMAND ALLOW YOU TO
CHANGE THE RECIPIENT, SUMMARY OR TEXT
OF A MESSAGE.  IF THE MESSAGE HAS
FEWER THAN 10 LINES, YOU MAY ADD A
LINE.  YOU CAN'T DELETE A LINE, BUT
REPLACING IT WITH 1 OR 2 SPACES WILL
HAVE THE SAME EFFECT.
 
     INFORMATIONAL PRINTOUTS:
     THE "H" COMMAND GIVES A SHORT
DESCRIPTION OF ALL AVAILABLE COMMANDS
AND CONTROL CHARACTERS.  NEW USERS MAY
WANT TO MAKE A PRINTOUT OF THIS LIST
FOR HANDY REFERENCE.  (IF YOUR PRINTER
IS TOO SLOW, SEE THE "N" COMMAND,
EXPLAINED BELOW.)
     THE "?" COMMAND LISTS ONLY THE
LETTERS OF ALLOWED COMMANDS, AND IS
FOR QUICK REFERENCE.
     THE "B" COMMAND LISTS OTHER COM-
PUTER BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS.  IF YOU
KNOW OF ANY CHANGES THAT SHOULD BE
MADE -- AND CHANGES OCCUR FREQUENTLY
AS SYSTEMS START UP OR SHUT DOWN --
PLEASE LEAVE THE SYSOP A MESSAGE.
     THE "P" COMMAND WILL PRINT OUT
THE BULLETIN THAT YOU WERE GIVEN THE
OPTION OF SEEING WHEN YOU SIGNED ON.
IT ALSO PRINTS OUT THE LIST OF MES-
SAGES FOR YOU.
     THE "M" COMMAND LISTS THE MEETING
DATES, TIMES AND LOCATIONS OF ALL
MEETINGS OF WASHINGTON APPLE PI AND
THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA APPLE USERS
GROUP, NOVAPPLE.  ALSO LISTED IS IN-
FORMATION ON MEETINGS OF W.A.P.'S
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, KNOWN BY THE
ABBREVIATION "SIG", AND TUTORIALS,
CLASSES ON SPECIAL SUBJECTS FOR WAP
MEMBERS.
     THE "$" COMMAND LISTS THE CURRENT
ITEMS AND PRICES OF ITEMS OFFERED FOR
SALE THROUGH THE CLUB STORE.  THESE
PRICES ARE NOT OFFICIAL, AS THIS IS
NOT A COMMERCIAL BULLETIN BOARD.
POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS SHOULD CALL THE
CLUB STORE FOR FURTHER, DEFINITIVE
INFORMATION.
     THE "O" COMMAND IS A USERS' OPIN-
ION POLL.  THIS IS AN IMPORTANT FEED-
BACK DEVICE FOR THE SYSOP AND FOR THE
CLUB.  QUESTIONS ARE CHANGED WEEKLY.
PLEASE GIVE EVERYONE THE BENEFIT OF
YOUR OPINION!
     THE "I" COMMAND LISTS THIS INFOR-
MATION ABOUT THE ABBS.
 
     HOUSEKEEPING COMMANDS:
     LINEFEEDS AND NULLS:
     IF AT ANY TIME YOU SEND THE ABBS
A LINEFEED, THE ABBS WILL BEGIN TO
SEND YOU LINEFEEDS.  IF YOUR COMPUTER
SENDS A LINEFEED AFTER CARRIAGE RE-
TURNS, THE FIRST "ENTER A CARRIAGE
RETURN" SHOULD ENABLE LINEFEED INSER-
TION.  (LINEFEEDS ARE NEEDED BY CP/M
SYSTEMS AND SOME PRINTING TERMINALS.)
YOU CAN USE THE "N" COMMAND TO TURN
LINEFEED INSERTION ON OR OFF.
     NULLS ARE THE ABBS' WAY OF ALLOW-
ING YOUR PRINTER TO KEEP UP WITH THE 
ABBS.  CRT'S AND SOME PRINTERS DON'T
NEED THEM.  IF YOU DO NEED THEM, THE
"N" COMMAND WILL TELL YOU THE CURRENT
DELAY AFTER CARRIAGE RETURNS, WHICH 
CAN BE 0-2.55 SECONDS, AND SPEED.  BE-
CAUSE NORMAL TRANSMISSION IS ONLY AT
30 CHARACTERS/SECOND, ONLY SPEEDS OF
100 OR LESS HAVE ANY EFFECT.  "SPEED="
IS IN EFFECT AT ALL TIMES REGARDLESS
OF WHETHER LINEFEED INSERTION IS ON.
"SPEED=" IS JUST APPLESOFT'S "SPEED="
COMMAND.
     KNOWLEDGABLE USER:
     WHEN YOU KNOW THE WORKINGS OF THE
ABBS WELL, YOU CAN USE THE "K" COMMAND
TO ELIMINATE SOME OF THE PROMPTS.
THIS WILL SPEED UP OPERATIONS SOME.
TO TURN IT OFF, ENTER "K" AGAIN.
     80-COLUMN MODE:
     IF YOU ARE USING A PRINTER OR 80-
COLUMN BOARD, YOU CAN CHANGE EVERY
OTHER CARRIAGE RETURN INTO A SPACE
WITH THE "+" COMMAND.  TO TURN IT OFF,
ENTER "+" AGAIN.
     USERS AND WAP NUMBERS:
     THE "W" (WHO) COMMAND ALLOWS YOU
TO FIND A PERSON'S WAP NUMBER IF YOU
KNOW THE FIRST TWO LETTERS OF THE PER-
SON'S LAST NAME, AND TO FIND HIS OR
HER NAME IF YOU KNOW HIS OR HER WAP
NUMBER.
     LOWER CASE:
     USE CTRL-L LIKE A SHIFT-LOCK KEY
TO TOGGLE OFF OR ON LOWER-CASE TRANS-
LATION.  IF YOU WANT TO SEE LOWER
CASE, ENTER CTRL-L ANY TIME THE ABBS
EXPECTS INPUT.  ENTERING CTRL-L AGAIN
MAKES ALL LOWER CASE INTO UPPER CASE.
ONLY THE SUBJECT AND TEXT OF MESSAGES
CAN BE MADE LOWER CASE; EVERYTHING
ELSE WILL ALWAYS BE UPPER CASE.
     CHATTING WITH THE SYSOP:
     OCCASIONALLY, I WILL BE ABLE TO
CHAT WITH YOU.  TO SEE IF I AM AVAIL-
ABLE, ENTER "C".  IF I AM LISTED AS 
"NOT AVAILABLE", IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT
I AM NOT PHYSICALLY HERE, IT MEANS
ONLY THAT I AM OTHERWISE OCCUPIED WITH
MY MUNDANE EXISTENCE (EATING, SLEEP-
ING, DOING CHORES, ETC.) IF I AM
LISTED AS AVAILABLE, YOU CAN RING ME.
CONTINUE USING THE ABBS, AND WHEN I
COME TO THE KEYBOARD, I WILL BREAK IN
FOR A FRIENDLY CHAT ABOUT WHATEVER
INTERESTS US.
 
     FILE TRANSFER SYSTEMS:
     THE "X" COMMAND ENTERS A FILE
TRANSFER SUBSYSTEM.  IT HAS A SEP-
ARATE HELP COMMAND.
   
     GENERAL INFORMATION:
     THIS SYSTEM RUNS ON AN APPLE II
IN APPLESOFT AND ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE
USING A D.C. HAYES MICROMODEM II UNDER
A PROGRAM WRITTEN BY THOMAS S. WARRICK
(BASED ON SOME EARLIER WORK DONE BY
JOHN MOON) FOR WASHINGTON APPLE PI,
THE WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST APPLE COM-
PUTER USERS' GROUP.
     YOUR CURRENT SYSOP IS:  (INSERT
YOUR NAME)
     THE POLICY OF THIS ABBS PROHIBITS
COMMERCIAL MESSAGES.  "COMMERCIAL"
MEANS ANY OFFER OR SOLICITATION OF AN
OFFER FOR A PRODUCT OR SERVICE BY ANY-
ONE IN THE TRADE OR BUSINESS OF SEL-
LING THAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE.  CASUAL
SALES OF PERSONAL PROPERTY ARE PERMIT-
TED.  THESE RULES SHOULD NOT BE CIR-
CUMVENTED THROUGH THE ACTIVITY OF
OTHERS.
     EXCEPT FOR CONTROL CHARACTERS C,
H (BACKSPACE), K, L, M (RETURN),  S,
AND U (RIGHT-ARROW), ALL CONTROL CHAR-
ACTERS ARE IGNORED.  (THIS MEANS NO
"BEEPS".)
     I WELCOME ALL YOUR COMMENTS AND
SUGGESTIONS.  MANY OF THEM WILL BE
ACTED ON AS SOON AS THEY CAN BE IN- 
CORPORATED INTO THE PROGRAM.  MANY 
OF THE MOST USEFUL FEATURES IN THE
SYSTEM WERE SUGGESTED BY USERS.
     ARTICLES EXPLAINING THE ABBS AP-
PEARED IN THE JULY AND AUGUST 1982
ISSUES OF WASHINGTON APPLE PI MAG-
AZINE.
     ENJOY!
                 (YOUR NAME) 
                 SYSOP