book.mark.goto (bg or b.m.g)
To use the bookmark to return to the marked spot the user enters
"bg
book.mark.list (b.m.l)
When this command is issued a list of the contents of the "transform"
file is displayed. It should be noted that the "transform" file may
contain data in addition to the bookmarks that the user has created.
book.mark.delete (b.m.d)
When this command is issued the user will be asked to supply the name
of the bookmark he/she wishes to delete from the "transform" file. The
name may be included with the command as "b.m.d
book.mark.edit (b.m.e)
When this command is issued the user will be asked to supply the name
of the bookmark he/she wishes to edit. The name may be included with
the command as "b.m.e
Return to General Help Files menu or
go to Main Menu
WHAT IS IT?
wip.txt is a file saved by CIX in a system file area when an abnormal
end-of-job occurs while you are composing a message.
HOW IS IT CREATED?
If a wip.txt file has been saved by the system, the next time you log
in you will see the following message:
"Previous work-in-process file found!
If your response is "y" the file will be stored in your personal filestore
area for future use. If there is already a file there by this name
(wip.txt) the old file will be replaced by the new file and will no
longer be available.
HOW IS IT USED?
Access the message composing area just as though you were going to create
a message by typing it in the message composing area - enter the
recipient address and subject just as though you were typing in the new
message. As the first line of text enter "~rwip.txt". The text will not
be displayed but you will receive a message indicating the number of
lines that have been added to your message. They can be displayed by
entering "~l". Whether or not you display the message you can now
start entering the rest of your message.
WHAT TO DO WHEN FINISHED WITH WIP.TXT.
The file should be deleted from your personal filestore area as any
other obsolete file would be. If you forget to do this it will be
replaced the next time you save a wip.txt message but it is preferable
to get rid of it in order to conserve file space.
Return to General Help Files menu or
go to Main Menu
A CIX FileStore is a portion of CIX storage space reserved for files. These
files may be text, data, programs, pictures, sound, anything which can be
stored electronically. Every registered CIX user has their own Personal
FileStore. A good analogy for a FileStore is a diskette. Just as if they
had
their own diskette in the CIX diskette drive, users may use their Personal
FileStore to store anything that fits in it.
Other FileStores exist besides individual user's Personal FileStores. Sysops
generally have a FileStore in their area to contain the text files their
menus
display, programs and data specific to their area of expertise, etc. Sysops
may offer a public FileStore as part of their area for exchange of binary
programs and data. Groups of users may share private FileStores for the same
purpose.
Every file in a FileStore must have A NAME, and no two files in the same
FileStore may have the same name. File names may be up to 15 characters
long,
start with a letter, and contain only letters and numbers. File names may
contain a single period and a suffix identifying the type of the file (e.g.
".txt" for a text file).
To access a FileStore, a user has to enter it just like they enter areas and
boards. A user's Personal FileStore, for instance, is entered via a menu
choice on their Personal E-Mail Menu. Entering a FileStore presents the user
with the FileStore Menu:
The "Upload a File (FROM your PC)" menu choice moves a file from the user's
PC
to CIX (described below). The "Edit (Change) a File" menu choice allows the
user to use their chosen text editor to edit the file. Choosing this causes
CIX to prompt for the name of the file to edit, and if a valid filename is
entered CIX starts the user's chosen text editor on the file. All of TSO's
editors are text editors, therefore editing binary files is impossible.
Although it is possible to tell CIX to edit a binary file with this choice,
the result is usually an abrupt end to the user's call.
The "Delete a File" menu choice removes a file from the FileStore and frees
up
whatever disk space it was using. Choosing this causes CIX to prompt for the
name of the file to delete, and if a valid filename is entered CIX deletes
the
file after asking the user for verification. Note, there is no way to
recover
or un-delete a file on CIX.
The "Copy a File" menu choice creates an exact duplicate of an existing file
under a new name. Choosing this causes CIX to prompt for the name of the
existing file to copy from and the name of a nonexistent file to copy to. If
the copy from file does not exist, or the copy to file does exist, the copy
operation is aborted.
The "Rename a File" menu choice allows the user to change the name of a file
to a different valid file name. The same file naming rules which apply when
creating a new file apply to the renamed file. One special use of this menu
choice is that it allows renaming invalidly named files to validly named
files. This is the only menu choice which will accept an invalid file name
as
the name of the file to be processed.
The "Display a File" menu choice allows the user to display the content of
any
file in the filestore area. If it is found that the file requires changes
these must be made with the Edit choice - users may not make changes to file
with the Display choice.
The "Filter a File (e.g. uudecode)" menu choice creates a slightly changed
duplicate of an existing file under a new name. The change(s) made by this
command on a file depend on which of the available CIX file filters the user
selects. Choosing this choice causes CIX to prompt for which filter the user
wishes to use, for the name of the existing file to filter from, and for the
name of a nonexistent file to filter into. If an invalid filter name is
entered, or the filter from file does not exist, or the filter to file does
exist, the filter operation is aborted. See the help file "x-filters" for
description of the CIX filters available.
Typically, the only files directly manipulated on CIX are message files.
Other types of files are not manipulated on CIX; instead, CIX is used as a
gateway or staging area between two users' computers. The last two FileStore
commands allow users to move files from their computers to and from CIX with
ease. Moving files to and from CIX is accomplished with so called "binary"
or
"error-free" transfer protocols. CIX offers 4 of these: Xmodem, Ymodem,
Zmodem, and Kermit. In addition, CIX offers plain ASCII (text) file
transfers
for cases where a user wishes to move a file containing only text without
checking for errors.
Using one of these file transfer protocols requires the user have the
corresponding file transfer software on their computer. Error-free file
transfer protocols by definition require cooperation between the sending
computer and the receiving computer. This means software on both ends. Most
users should be able to find software which implements at least one of the
four protocols CIX offers. If a user has the choice of several, they should
choose, in order: Zmodem, Ymodem, Kermit, Xmodem, or ASCII.
When a user chooses to upload or download a file, CIX first asks the user to
specify which file transfer protocol to use by entering the first letter of
the protocol name (i.e. "X", "Y", "Z", "K", or "A"). CIX also asks for the
filename to upload into or download from. For a download, this file must
exist. For an upload, if the file exists it will be overwritten, otherwise a
new file is created. Users attempting to upload a newer version of an
important file should upload to a temporary name first, and copy the
temporary
file into place once they know the upload was successful.
After CIX asks for the type of transfer and the file name to use, it displays
instructions for the user to start the file transfer program on their local
PC. CIX waits for the user to press RETURN, indicating they are ready to
begin the transfer process.
During an error-free file transfer, CIX relinquishes control of the user's
screen display to whatever file transfer software the user has chosen.
Because of this, users should refer to the documentation on their specific
file transfer software for further information on how to start the transfer,
what is displayed during the transfer, and how the transfer finishes.
When the upload or download completes, CIX tries to determine if the transfer
was successful, displays a message indicating success or failure, and takes
back control of the user's screen display.
Return to General Help Files menu or
go to Main Menu
Since all computer systems do not use exactly the same formats for files
CIX has provided a number of file.filters which may be used to convert
one type of file to another.
All such conversions must take place in the user's filestore area. The
CIX command "file.filter" (abbreviated "f.f") can be used to perform
these converstins. The program will ask for the name of the file.filter,
the name of the file to be converted and the name of the file which has
been converted - this latter will be created in the filestore area.
Below is a brief description of the various filters that are available:
Return to General Help Files menu or
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In uploading and downloading files between your system and CIX you will
normally require one of a number of file transfer protocols that are
available.
Currently supported protocols are XMODEM, YMODEM, ZMODEM, and KERMIT.
Use a protocol that is provided with your PC's terminal emulator program.
Each protocol will perform differently depending on the speed and clarity
of your connection. The main differences are in the error detection
capabilities. Which you select will depend upon a number of factors and
you may have to do some experimenting to determine which is best for you.
Zmodem is probably the most complete of the four but it is often not
supported by PC terminal programs. On the other hand Kermit seems to be
the most reliable but it probably has less demanding error checking
routines than other protocols - Kermit is certainly the preferred
protocol to use when transmitting over the Internet.
Obviously, the protocol which you select to use with your terminal
program must be the same protocol you tell CIX to use.
Return to General Help Files menu or
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While normal scrolling needs to stop displayed text from going
off the top of the screen before the user has time to read this can be
handled by setting the proper lines per screen option in the user's
parameters or by using the display.lines.set command. However, there may be
occasions when the user will want to manually stop and restart scrolling.
In order to stop scrolling enter ^S (CTRL-S). Then enter ^Q (CTRL-Q)
to resume scrolling. These commands may be entered at any time.
Note that these commands are not unique to CIX but are available with
most teminal and/or bulletin board programs.
Return to General Help Files menu or
go to Main Menu
Transform is a very useful CIX function based on a very simple concept -
the user chooses a short, simple name for a long and/or complex string
and then enters the complex string in his processing merely by typing
in the short, simple name.
Transform entries are kept in a file called "transform" in the user's
personal filestore area. This is the same file that is used by the CIX
bookmark function (bookmark is a sub-set of transform tailored for ease
in use). If the file already exists the file.edit (f.e) command is used
to add transform items to the file while if the file does not exists the
file.transfer.upload (f.t.u) command is used to create the file.
Entries to the "transform" file consist of two parts: a user selected
name and the text of the entry - the text of the entry is the complex
string referred to above. The name should be entered starting in
column 1 - the text is to be entered following the name and separated
from it by one or more spaces. The entire entry may not exceed 78
characters. If the text begins with a space then the entire text must
be enclosed in quotes ("). A tilde (~) placed at the end of the text
will cause a carriage return to be executed when the text is used.
To use the transform entry the user enters the name followed by a
control-t - henceforth in this file the combination ^T indicates that
the control key and the t key are to be depressed simultaneously.
Now for some examples of possible uses of the transform function - the
following is by no means intended to be the only uses possible - users
can no doubt come up with additional uses.
Address aliases:
If I wanted to have a mail alias for a user named John Doe on the
Heartland Freenet I would create a transform file:
jd es [email protected]~
When I wanted to send mail to this person I would enter "jd^T" at any
prompt and the system would enter the address and await my entry of the
subject. If the es were omitted the transform file "jd" could be used
anywhere I wanted to use John Doe's address in a message.
Accessing other systems:
If I wanted a transform entry that would permit me to easily access the
Dayton Area Freenet I would create a transform entry like this:
DAFN J /teleport/freenet;10~
If I then entered "dafn^T" I would find myself at the Dayton Freenet
awaiting entry of my id there.
Signature files:
If I have a runfile containing a rather complex signature file I could
have a transform entry like this:
sig f.rname
When I entered sig^T my signature file would be added to my message.
Users are invited to be inventive and find further uses for the transform
function on their own - and urged to post any neat uses they come up
with in the User Support comments area.
Return to General Help Files menu or
go to Main Menu
WIP.TXT FILES
Do you want it saved in "mail/(your user ID)/files/wip.txt"?(y/n):"
PERSONAL FILESTORE AREA
<<< FILES AREA MENU >>> Command
1) List Existing File Names File.List
2) Edit (Change) a File File.Edit
3) Delete a File File.Delete
4) Upload a File (FROM your PC) File.Transfer.Upload
5) Download a File (TO your PC) File.Transfer.Download
6) Copy a File File.Copy
7) Rename a File File.Move
8) Filter a File (e.g. uudecode) File.Filter
9) Display a File File.View
---------------------------------------
h = help q = quit system
p = previous menu t = top (main) menu
Like the board menus, the FileStore Menu offers, in order, choices to read
files, write files, and manage files. The "List Existing File Names" menu
choice shows the names of all the files in the FileStore. The "Download a
File (TO your PC)" menu choice moves a file from CIX to the user's PC
(described below).
FILE FILTERS
uuencode - Only ASCII 0-127 can be transmitted over the Internet. Binary
files contain ASCII 0-255. This filter converts binary files
to text files which may be transmitted over the Internet. Since
uuencoded files use multiple characters to represent the ASCII
values of characters which cannot normally be transmitted over
the Internet the converted file will be larger than the original.
uudecode - This filter decodes files which have been uuencoded back to
their original state.
xxencode - This filter performs the same function as uuencode but is
usually used when mainframe files are involved.
xxdecode - This filter decodes files which have been xxencoded back to
their original state.
compress - This filter compresses Unix files. Such files should be
identified by having .Z as their extention.
uncompress - This filter converts files which have been compressed with
the Unix compress function back to their original state.
toms ----- Unix (TSO) stores files with just a linefeed ending each
line while on the PC files are stored with a linefeed AND
a carriage return. This filter converts Unix type files to
PC type files.
toix ----- This filter converts the PC type files to the Unix type
files.
FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOLS
SCROLLING
TRANSFORM
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