Chapter 7 - Communicating with Other Users
There are three VINES programs and commands that let you to communicate with other users from your workstation:
SEND - Lets you display a one-line message at the bottom of another user's DOS workstation screen.
CHAT - Lets you have interactive, on-screen conversations with up to four other users.
MAIL - Lets you send and receive mail messages within the network.
This chapter discusses the VINES SEND and CHAT programs. For complete instructions on using MAIL, refer to the Intelligent Messaging User's Guide. (Intelligent Messaging is not part of the VINES base software package. It must be purchased separately.)
Network messages are sent by other users or generated by printers and servers on your network. For example, a message informing you that your document has printed appears on the bottom of your screen as a network message. Likewise, a message sent by your system administrator also appears as a network message.
Network messages appear at the bottom of your workstation's screen for a specified period of time. This amount of time, usually six seconds, is specified in your user profile.
OS/2
If your workstation is running OS/2, and if you have a Full-screen session open, network messages appear at the bottom of your screen for a period of time specified in your user profile.
Clear network messages by pressing CTRL-X at any time.
If you want to change the amount of time network messages appear on your screen, ask your system administrator for assistance.
SEND is a VINES command that lets you to send a network message to one or more users on the network from a DOS workstation.
OS/2
If your workstation is running OS/2, see Appendix A for information on VINES Messages. This application is a Presentation Manager-based application that lets you view and send network messages. Unlike other VINES applications, the Messages application has a graphical interface and supports the use of a mouse.
This section describes how to use the SEND command for DOS workstations.
Sending a network message involves two main steps:
1. Entering the recipient's name
2. Entering a message
There are two ways to send a network message:
From the system prompt, type send and press ENTER. Prompts appear for you to enter the recipient's StreetTalk name and to enter the text of your message. From the system prompt, type send followed by the recipient's name and the message all on one line, as follows: send recipient "message"
Example Sending a Message Using Prompts
F:\DuncanF> send
Message Courier
Press ENTER when done.
To: CourtneyB@Mkt
Message: Meeting in 10 minutes. - Duncan
Message:
To:
F:\DuncanF>
In this example:
1. Duncan types send and presses ENTER. The To: prompt appears.
2. At the To: prompt, he types the StreetTalk name of the recipient and presses ENTER. The message prompt appears.
3. At the Message: prompt, he types the text of the message and presses ENTER.
4. To return to his system prompt, he presses ENTER twice.
Pressing ENTER once displays the Message: prompt, giving Duncan the option of typing another message. Pressing ENTER without entering a message displays the To: prompt, giving Duncan the option of typing another recipient's StreetTalk name.
Pressing ENTER without typing a name displays the system prompt.
Example Sending a Message on One Line
F:\DuncanF> send CourtneyB@Mkt "Meeting in 10 minutes. - Duncan"
Duncan (the sender) sends a message to Courtney (the recipient) and encloses the message in quotes, using the syntax described above.
The rest of this section describes the SEND command in more detail, and how to use STDA to search for StreetTalk names.
Entering the Recipient's Name
The recipient is the person or group of people who receive the message. SEND messages are not saved, so recipients must be logged on to get them. Also be aware that administrators can configure workstations not to display network messages. If a recipient's workstation is configured not to display network messages, the recipient receives them, but does not see them.
The recipient is any one of the following:
The StreetTalk name of a user or a list, including the group name if the recipient is in your organization but not in your group; and the complete StreetTalk name if the recipient is not in your organization. Nicknames are allowed. A StreetTalk pattern, such as *@Sal@WCTUS. The asterisk (*) stands for "all," so the message would be sent to everyone in the Sales department at the U.S. headquarters of WCT. The keyword ALL, which sends the message to all users with LANs connected to the sender's server.
Using STDA to Search for Names
If you do not know the name of the recipient, use STDA to search for the StreetTalk name. For complete information about using STDA, see Chapter 4.
To use STDA, load the STDA program by typing stdirect at the system prompt and pressing ENTER.
Follow these steps to use STDA to choose a name:
1. Press ALT-N to display the STDA screen.
2. Select the name using the methods described in Chapter 4.
3. Press ENTER. The name is pasted into the To: prompt.
4. Press ESC. The STDA screen clears from the screen.
5. Press ENTER to display the Message: prompt.
Now, enter the text for the message at the Message: prompt.
Entering a Message
You type one-line messages to the same recipient, pressing ENTER after each line. Each message has a maximum of 72 characters. The message displays on the bottom of the recipient's screen, one line at a time.
If you type send followed by the recipient's StreetTalk name and the message all on one line, the message is sent without further prompting. The system prompt appears when you press ENTER.
The SEND command does not automatically include your name in the message. Be sure to include your name in the message text so the recipient knows who sent the message.
When you finish entering the message, press ENTER at the next Message: prompt, and again at the To: prompt. You can also exit the SEND program at any time by pressing CTRL-C. The system prompt appears.
The CHAT program lets you have interactive, on-screen conversations with up to four users at the same time. You use the program as you would your telephone - for short conversations and for conference calls with other users.
There are two ways to CHAT with other users. From the system prompt, type chat by itself and press ENTER, or type chat followed by the user's StreetTalk name and press ENTER.
If you type chat by itself, the CHAT screen appears.
If you type chat and include the user's StreetTalk name, the CHAT screen appears and the CHAT program automatically attempts to call the user.
If you type chat and the user's StreetTalk name to start the CHAT program, that user is called automatically. If you type chat by itself, you need to identify the user.
To call a user, follow these steps:
1. Press F2 to identify the user.
2. At the prompt, type the user's StreetTalk name and press ENTER. CHAT displays a message that it is attempting to call the user.
CHAT tries to call the user up to five times, and notifies you every 20 seconds while trying. The dots appearing after the "Calling" message tell you that CHAT is ringing the user. If the user does not answer, CHAT informs you. If you decide at any time that you do not want to complete the call, press ESC.
CHAT informs you if the user is not logged in or if the user's StreetTalk name cannot be identified.
When your call is answered, CHAT opens a conversation window for the user. Now you can begin your conversation as described in the sections that follow.
If you want to call additional users while in CHAT, press F2 to identify a user, and repeat the steps above.
Using StreetTalk Names in CHAT
Use the guidelines in Table 7-1 when identifying a user for CHAT.
You cannot use StreetTalk lists (for example, List@Sal@WCTUS) or StreetTalk patterns (for example, *@Sal@WCTUS).
Using STDA to Search for Names
If you do not know the name of the recipient, use STDA to search for the StreetTalk name. For complete information about using STDA, see Chapter 4.
To use STDA, load the STDA program by typing stdirect at the system prompt and pressing ENTER.
Follow these steps to use STDA to choose a name:
1. Press F2 to call a user. A prompt appears in the prompt area.
2. Press ALT-N to display the STDA screen.
3. Select the name using the methods described in Chapter 4.
4. Press ENTER. The name is pasted into the prompt.
5. Press ESC. The STDA screen clears from the screen.
6. Press ENTER. CHAT displays a message telling you that it is attempting to call the user.
When you first start CHAT, one window, named YOUR WINDOW, appears on the screen.
When you call a user, CHAT creates a window for that user and displays his or her name at the top. CHAT creates a separate window for each user you call or who calls you. You can CHAT with up to four users at the same time.
When a user attempts to call you through CHAT, your workstation beeps and displays a network message, such as:
Courtney Bryan@Mkt@WCTUS wants to CHAT. Type CHAT to answer.
There are two ways to answer this call:
If you are not using CHAT, type chat and press ENTER at the system prompt. CHAT connects you to the caller. If you are already using CHAT, press F3 to connect to the caller.
Two conversation windows appear: one for you and one for the new caller.
If a user attempts to CHAT with you while you are already chatting with four other users, or if you want to hold a private conversation, you can put one of the four on hold. See "Advanced CHAT Features" later in this chapter for instructions.
To start a conversation, simply type your message at the CHAT screen. The text appears in your window and simultaneously in the window on the receiver's CHAT screen, labeled with your name.
CHAT automatically wraps words from one line to the next and scrolls when the window fills up. Use the backspace key to erase letters.
Be aware that if you and the other user type at the same time, the CHAT program delays text from immediately appearing on the screen. The CHAT program works best when you and the other user (or users) take turns, much like a telephone conversation.
When you finish chatting, press F5. If you are chatting with only one user, CHAT hangs up immediately.
If you are chatting with more than one user, CHAT prompts you to enter the user's name. After you type the name, CHAT prompts you to confirm the disconnection; type Y for yes or type any other key to continue chatting. If you type Y to confirm the disconnection, CHAT notifies the user that you have hung up.
When you finish chatting with all users, press F10. CHAT prompts you to confirm the disconnection; type Y for yes or type any other key to continue chatting. If you type Y to confirm the disconnection, CHAT notifies the user that you have hung up and returns you to the system prompt.
Table 7-2 briefly describes the function keys displayed at the bottom of the CHAT screen. More information about these key is provided in "Advanced CHAT Features," which follows.
Because you can chat with up to four other users at the same time, CHAT lets you put users on hold and clear all windows of existing text. The rest of this section describes these advanced features.
Putting a User on Hold
To put a user on hold, press F4. If you are chatting with more than one user, you are prompted to enter the name of the user to put on hold.
Type the user's name and press ENTER. Just press ENTER to put the user in the top-most conversation window on hold.
When identifying the user to put on hold, you do not have to type the complete user name. You can type just the first few letters or enough to distinguish it from other users with whom you are chatting. (For example, "Dun" instead of "DuncanF.") If you type a partial name and CHAT cannot recognize it, CHAT assumes the user in the top-most window of your screen.
When you put a user on hold, the user's window disappears from your screen, but all other conversation windows remain active. The user you put on hold is notified with a screen message.
You can have as many as four users on hold at once. If you are chatting with just one user when you press F4, CHAT automatically puts that user on hold.
Taking a User off Hold
To take a user off hold, press F7. If only one user is on hold, you resume the conversation immediately.
If you have more than one user on hold, CHAT displays a numbered list of the users on hold and prompts you to type the StreetTalk name of the user you want to take off hold.
Clearing the Conversation Window
You might want to clear the screen if it becomes cluttered with text, or if it contains text that you do not want a new caller to read.
To erase the text, press F6. CHAT clears every window.
