Chapter 3 - Using StreetTalk and STDA
StreetTalk is the naming system you use to locate and interact with users and resources in the VINES network. StreetTalk Directory Assistance (STDA) is a search facility that lets you quickly and easily search for and access the StreetTalk database for users, lists, and services found on your network.
This chapter describes how you can search for and access information about users and other network resources.
In Chapter 2, you learned the format of StreetTalk user names. The format is the same for all other network resources - printers, file volumes, and so forth. Every StreetTalk name follows the format Item@Group@Organization. The rest of this section describes the format in more detail.
Item@Group@Organization
The Item name is the most detailed part of the StreetTalk name. For users, it is usually their full name; for printers, it might be the type of printer (Laser Printer) or where the printer is located (Sales Printer).
Item@Group@Organization
The Group name is the name of the group to which the item name belongs. For users, it might be their department (Sales or Marketing); for printers, it might be the department where the printer is located (Sales or Marketing).
Item@Group@Organization
The Organization name is the name of the organization to which the group belongs. In smaller networks, the organization name is usually the name of the company.
Example
Multiple Organization Names
Larger networks might have multiple organization names. A company like World Commodity Trading (WCT) with branch offices in many countries, would specify organization names for each country. "WCTUS" is the organization name for the company' s US branch and "WCTNI" is the organization name for the company' s Japan branch.
The following examples show different uses of StreetTalk names:
Examples
StreetTalk User Name
Courtney Bryan, who works in the Marketing department in the Chicago offices of WCT, has this StreetTalk name:
Courtney E. Bryan@Mkt@WCTUS
StreetTalk Printer Name
The laser printer in Courtney' s department has this StreetTalk name:
Laser Printer@Mkt@WCTUS
StreetTalk File Volume Name
The marketing department maintains a file volume for data files on prospect profiles. The file volume has this StreetTalk name:
Prospect Files@Mkt@WCTUS
Your system administrator can create shorter nicknames to use in place of complete StreetTalk names.
Example
Using a Nickname
Courtney Bryan has the StreetTalk name, "Courtney E. Bryan@Mkt@WCTUS." The system administrator also assigned her the nickname "CEB@Mkt@WCTUS." When she logs on to a VINES server, Courtney can type the item part of her nickname, CEB, instead of her full item name, Courtney E. Bryan.
You can look up nicknames through STDA. Refer to the section "StreetTalk Directory Assistance" later in this chapter for information.
A list is a StreetTalk name that represents many StreetTalk names. This is a convenient way to refer to a group of names by using just one single name. Although everyone in the network can use them, lists are created and managed only by system or group administrators.
Example
StreetTalk Lists
The system administrator at WCT's Chicago office created the list, "Midwest Brokers@Mkt@WCTUS." This list contains the StreetTalk names of ten commodity brokers in the Midwest group. To send the same mail message to all ten brokers, a user simply types "Midwest Brokers" in the address field of the mail message form.
You can look up lists through STDA. Refer to the next section "StreetTalk Directory Assistance" for information on using STDA.
StreetTalk Directory Assistance
StreetTalk Directory Assistance (STDA) is a network service that enables you to quickly and easily access and search through a special database listing the StreetTalk names of users, lists, and services found on your network.
STDA periodically saves a version of the StreetTalk database to create its own database. This database is designed to let you quickly look up users and other network resources.
You access STDA through the VINES Utilities' Messages and Set Access Rights applications, and through VINES Mail for Macintosh.
VINES Mail for Macintosh is a software option purchased separately. Accessing STDA through VINES Mail for Macintosh is described in the accompanying documentation.
VINES Utilities is an application included with VINES Option for Macintosh, and is described in Chapter 5.
This section provides an overview of using the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window, and how to search for and select names. Using the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window involves these steps:
1. Clicking the STDA icon within the application
2. Searching for StreetTalk names
3. Selecting a StreetTalk name or names
4. Transferring the selection(s) to the application
5. Closing the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window
These steps are described in detail in the following sections.
You access STDA through VINES applications by either:
Clicking the STDA icon from the application window Choosing a command from an application menu
Accessing STDA displays the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window:
Table 3-1 describes the elements of the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window:
Element | Description |
Classes menu | Use the Classes pull-down menu to choose the class of StreetTalk names you want to display. |
List area | The current StreetTalk class of names appears in this area. |
Description | The description of the selected name appears here. (Some selected names do not have descriptions.) |
Key Search | Enter characters of the name you are searching for here. |
Search Editor | Click Search Editor to create a subset list of names based on patterns, such as *@Sal@WCTUS. |
You choose different STDA classes from the Classes pull-down menu:
On-line help is available at any time for VINES applications running on your Macintosh workstation. To view on-line help, choose the help command from the Apple menu, or press Cmd-H.
A help window appears:
To view information about a particular topic, click the topic to select it. Information about the topic appears in the area to the right.
To close the Help window, click the close box in the upper-left corner of the Help window.
There are different ways to search for StreetTalk names:
Enter characters in the Key Search text box Use the Search Editor to display a subset of StreetTalk names Use the scroll bar to scroll through the list
Using the Key Search Text Box
If you wish to find a name more quickly than you can with the scroll bar, use the Key Search text box located at the bottom of the window:
When you open the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window, a cursor appears in the Key Search text box.
Enter letters in the Key Search text box. As you enter characters, STDA searches for the closest match, which appears at the top of the list.
Example Using the Key Search Text Box
To search for the name "Fraser," enter the letters F, R, A ... You will find that STDA often displays the name before you finish entering the complete name.
Scrolling Through the List
You can also use the scroll bar to scroll through the list of names. Either click the scroll arrows, or use the scroll box to scroll through the list of names.
Using the Search Editor
If you want to search the STDA database for a particular list of names that match a pattern, click Search Editor. The Search Editor window appears:
The Search Editor window overlays the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window. You enter a StreetTalk name pattern and a description pattern, and click Search. Enter either or both to perform a subset search:
1. Type the StreetTalk name pattern and press tab. The cursor moves to the Description field.
2. Type a pattern that contains some or all of the characters you expect to find in the Description field and click Search. You can use wildcards anywhere in the patterns.
Click Cancel at any time to close the Search Editor window.
The STDA subset search includes names from all of the STDA classes (users, lists, and so on). However, you view one class of names at a time. The subset list of names currently displayed is that of the current STDA class. You view the other names in other classes by using the Classes pull-down menu.
Example Using STDA to Send a Network Message
If Duncan Fraser wants to send a network message to all managers in the Finance Department that match the name pattern *@Fin@WCTUS and the description pattern *Manager*, he:
1. Opens the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window. The Users class appears by default.
2. Clicks Search Editor to display the Search Editor window.
3. Enters the patterns in the text boxes and clicks OK.
When STDA completes the subset search, the STDA screen reappears, where the names that match the patterns are displayed.
Note that the Show Subset button changes to Show All. When you finish selecting names from the subset list, click Show All to display the original list.
To select a name, click the name. The name is highlighted. Select multiple names by holding down the Command key and clicking the name.
Depending on the VINES application, double-click a name to transfer it to the field or fields that appear at the top of the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window. If you access STDA from the VINES Utilities application, a blank area appears. If you access STDA from VINES Mail for Macintosh, address header fields appear.
Transferring names from VINES Utilities is described in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 in this guide. Transferring names from VINES Mail for Macintosh is described in the VINES Mail for Macintosh User' s Guide.
When you finish using STDA, close the StreetTalk Directory Assistance window by clicking OK. The window clears and the selected names appear in the appropriate fields in the application.