Chapter 5 - Using the VINES Messages Application with a Windows 3.1 Client
Viewing and Sending Network Messages
The VINES Messages application is a Windows application that lets you view and send network messages. In a VINES network, network messages notify you that you received mail or your print job spooled to the network printer. You can also send network messages to other users, and receive messages from other users or applications.
In Windows, the VINES Messages application lets you manage any network message you receive.
Network messages appear when you:
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Print a document. ![]()
Receive electronic mail or a network message from another user. ![]()
Receive a network message generated by the network, such as a VINES server going off-line.
You do not have run the VINES Messages application to receive network messages. A common example of a message is shown below.
By default, the message pop-up window appears for six seconds before it disappears from the screen. To clear the screen sooner either:
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Click the OK button. ![]()
Press CTRL-X.
Remember: you do not have to run the VINES Messages application to receive messages. But you must run the application to view a history of your messages or to change message notification options.
Starting the VINES Messages application depends on how your system administrator configured Windows to run on your workstation and on your network.
There are two ways to start the application:
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Double-click on the VINES Messages icon. ![]()
From either the File Manager window or the Program Manager window, choose the Run command. The Run dialog box appears.
Enter messages and press ENTER. The VINES Messages window appears, listing any network messages you received since you logged in to the network.
If you do not want the VINES Messages window to appear when you first run the application, click on the Run Minimized option box in the Run dialog box. Rather than opening the VINES Messages window, an icon labeled VINES Messages appears at the bottom of your screen. A message balloon in the icon notifies you when you receive new messages.
This section describes how to:
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View your message log. ![]()
Set notification options. ![]()
Delete messages.
To view a history of the last messages you received, open the VINES Messages application as described in "Starting VINES Messages" earlier in this chapter. The VINES Message window displays the last five messages received since you logged in to VINES. If you keep the Messages application running, it stores up to 50 messages. Once you exit Windows and log out of the network, however, your messages clear.
You determine how you want messages to appear on your screen through the Popup command in the Options menu. This is described in the next section.
To determine how you want your system to notify you of new messages, choose the Popup command from the Options menu.
The Message Popup Options dialog box appears.
The Message Popup Options dialog box has three options, described in Table 5-1.
Note: The SETMSGS statement in your user profile determines how you are notified of messages. Any changes you make through the Message Popup Options dialog box are valid for your current login session only.
To delete messages from the VINES Messages window:
1. Select a message or group of messages. To select:
- One message, click on the message to select it
- Multiple messages, click on one message, then shift-click on additional messages
2. Choose the Delete command from the Edit menu or press DELETE.
To delete all the messages from the VINES Messages window, choose:
1. The Select All command from the Edit menu
2. The Delete command from the Edit menu or press DELETE
The VINES Messages application lets you send a one-line message to one or more users on the network.
The recipient is the person or group of people who receives the message. Recipients must be logged in to the network to receive messages.
The rest of this section describes the Send dialog box, and how to address and compose a message.
To send a message, choose the Send command from the Message menu. The Send dialog box appears.
The Send dialog box has three elements:
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A text box labeled "To:" for the recipient ![]()
A text box labeled "Message:" for the message itself ![]()
A row of command buttons
The command buttons are described in Table 5-2.
Enter the recipient's StreetTalk name in the "To:" field text box. The StreetTalk name can be a:
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StreetTalk name of a user or a list. Remember to include the: - Group name if the recipient is in your organization, but not in your group
- Complete StreetTalk name if the recipient is not in your organization
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StreetTalk nickname. Remember to include the group and organization names, if necessary. ![]()
StreetTalk pattern, such as *@Sales@WCTUS. The wildcard asterisk (*) stands for "all," so the message is sent to everyone in the Sales group at the organization WCTUS.
If you are not sure of the proper StreetTalk name of your recipient, click the Browse button to search for users, nicknames, or lists. This is described in "Browsing for Recipients" later in this chapter.
You can enter only one address at a time. Note that you can include wildcards (*@group@organization) or lists to send messages to multiple users at one time.
Enter your message in the Message text box. You can enter a message up to 72 characters. If you enter a message longer than the text box, the text box scrolls to accommodate the length of your message.
The Send command button is dimmed until you enter a message and at least one StreetTalk address.
To send your message, either:
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Click Send. ![]()
Press ALT-S.
When you finish, click Done to close the Send dialog box and return to the VINES Messages window.
The Browse command button provides access to StreetTalk Directory Assistance (STDA). STDA is a database of StreetTalk names. This database is made up of classes that include users, lists, and nicknames.
The Browse feature allows you to:
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Scroll through the STDA database of names. ![]()
Enter the first few characters of a name to locate a name in the database. ![]()
Use the Subset command to search for names based on patterns.
This section describes how to use the Browse Recipients dialog box to search for users, nicknames, and lists for use in addressing your message.
When you click on the Browse command button in the Send dialog box, the Browse Recipients dialog box appears.
Using the Browse Recipients Dialog Box
The Browse Recipients dialog box has five elements:
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A Class drop-down list box that contains the STDA classes: Users, Nicknames, and Lists. ![]()
A search text area for entering characters to search for StreetTalk names. ![]()
A list area in the Browse Recipients dialog box that displays the STDA database of names. By default, the list of user names appears when you first open the dialog box.
The command buttons are described in Table 5-3.
Searching for Names
Use the StreetTalk drop-down list box to choose the STDA class of names you want to see in the list area of the dialog box. Click on the drop-down list box to display all the available classes. Select another class by selecting it.
To search for names, follow these steps:
1. Press TAB. The first StreetTalk name from the list appears in the Name(s) text box.
2. To move through the list, either:
- Use the scroll bar, arrow keys, or paging keys.
- Type the first letters of the StreetTalk name. The letters appear above the STDA List window and the first available match appears at the top of the list.
Typing the first letters of the StreetTalk name is the quickest way to locate user names, nicknames, or lists.
3. To choose the StreetTalk name, either:
- Double-click the name
- Select the name and click OK.
You can create smaller lists of names that match a StreetTalk pattern, such as *@Sales@WCTUS. In this example, all user names whose StreetTalk group and organization names match "Sales" and "WCTUS" appear in the STDA List area of the Browse Recipients dialog box.
To create a subset pattern, follow these steps:
1. Click Subsets from the Browse Recipients dialog box. The StreetTalk Directory Assistance dialog box appears.
You can enter StreetTalk patterns in either the:
- Name Pattern text box, such as *@Sales@WCTUS. The default pattern is *@*@*.
- Description Pattern text box. The default pattern is *.
2. Enter your pattern(s) and click OK. The names that match your pattern(s) appear in the STDA List area of the Browse Recipients dialog box.
If you want to save your Name pattern for later use, click Add in the StreetTalk Directory Assistance dialog box. Your Name pattern is added to the Name(s) drop-down list box. Likewise, click Remove to remove the pattern.
If you want your Name pattern to appear as the default, click Make First. Your pattern appears as the default pattern when you next choose to browse for StreetTalk names.