1 | ======================== |
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2 | Quick Guide To Using Owl |
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3 | ======================== |
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4 | |
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5 | ======================= |
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6 | Section 1: INTRODUCTION |
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7 | ======================= |
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8 | |
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9 | Owl is a tty, curses-based instant messaging client. This is a quick |
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10 | guide to learning how to use it. Currently Owl supports AIM & zephyr, |
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11 | but other messaging protocols, including Jabber, are on the way. Some |
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12 | major features of owl include: |
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13 | |
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14 | o) As a tty client it can be run over telnet, rlogin or text ssh |
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15 | sessions |
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16 | |
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17 | o) It uses a perl configuration file for setting preferences and |
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18 | formatting messages |
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19 | |
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20 | o) Emacs style editing of messages |
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21 | |
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22 | o) It is easy to use and runs without a configfile. |
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23 | |
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24 | o) Advanced sorting and coloring of messages |
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25 | |
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26 | ========================== |
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27 | Section 2: GETTING STARTED |
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28 | ========================== |
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29 | |
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30 | Owl will run happily without a configuration file, so to get started |
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31 | just run the program. Owl will take over the terminal window it is |
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32 | started in, so you may wish to have another terminal window available |
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33 | at the same time. |
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34 | |
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35 | On Athena you can find owl in the ktools locker. To run it, type: |
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36 | |
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37 | add ktools |
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38 | owl |
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39 | |
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40 | at the Athena% prompt. If you wish to run the latest beta release of |
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41 | owl use: |
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42 | |
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43 | add ktools |
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44 | owl-beta |
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45 | |
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46 | instead. The beta release will often have newer features, but is not |
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47 | as tried and true as the production release. As a result it may be |
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48 | less stable. |
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49 | |
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50 | The Screen Layout |
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51 | ----------------- |
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52 | There are three main parts to the owl screen. The large top portion |
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53 | of the screen is where messages are displayed. The status bar |
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54 | separates this area from the one below and displays owl status |
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55 | information. The space below that is used to type messages and is |
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56 | also used by owl to give warnings and information to the user. |
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57 | |
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58 | On Line Help |
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59 | ------------ |
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60 | Owl has a full on line help system. Pressing the 'h' key will bring |
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61 | up the basic help screen. Further help can be obtained using the help |
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62 | command, described later. |
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63 | |
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64 | Sending a Zephyr |
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65 | ---------------- |
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66 | To send a zephyr press the 'z' key. This will start a zwrite command, |
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67 | which you can finish by typing the name of the user you wish to send |
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68 | to, followed by enter. Begin typing your message. You will notice |
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69 | that most emacs-style editing is available. When you are ready to |
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70 | send the message type Control-D or a dot ('.') on a line by itself. |
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71 | If instead you wish to cancel the message type Control-C. |
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72 | |
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73 | If you wish to send to a class/instance pair simply supply -c and -i |
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74 | arguments to the zwrite command as you normally would. |
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75 | |
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76 | Sending an AIM message |
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77 | ---------------------- |
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78 | |
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79 | Before sending an AIM message you must login to AOL Instant Messenger. |
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80 | Use the 'aimlogin' command, with your screenname as an argument: |
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81 | |
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82 | aimlogin <screenname> |
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83 | |
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84 | You will be prompted for your password, which you must enter. Once |
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85 | you are successfully logged in you can send an AIM message by pressing |
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86 | the 'a' key, which will bring up an 'aimwrite' command: |
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87 | |
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88 | aimwrite <screenname> |
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89 | |
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90 | Supply the screen name you wish to write to as an argument and then |
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91 | send the message just as you would send a zephyr, as described above. |
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92 | |
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93 | Manipulating Messages |
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94 | --------------------- |
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95 | When there are zephyrs in the message window, one of them will be the |
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96 | 'current' message. Owl will indicate which one it is with an arrow |
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97 | that looks like this: -> The following keys will move you to different |
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98 | messages: |
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99 | |
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100 | n move to the next non-deleted message |
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101 | p move to the previous non-deleted message |
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102 | C-n or down move to the next message |
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103 | C-p or up move to the previous message |
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104 | < move to the first message |
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105 | > move to the last message |
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106 | C-v page down |
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107 | M-v page up |
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108 | right scroll the screen to the right |
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109 | left scroll the screen to the left |
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110 | P move to the next personal message |
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111 | M-P move to the previous personal message |
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112 | |
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113 | When you are ready to delete a message you can mark it for deletion |
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114 | with the 'd' key, and a 'D' will appear to the left of the message. |
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115 | Messages will not actually be removed until you perform an expunge. |
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116 | The following keys are used to delete, undelete and expunge messages: |
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117 | |
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118 | d mark a message for deletion |
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119 | u unmark a message for deletion |
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120 | x expunge deleted messages |
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121 | T mark all 'trash' messages for deletion |
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122 | M-D mark all messages in the view for deletion |
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123 | M-u unmark all messages in the view for deletion |
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124 | |
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125 | If you would like to respond to a message sent to you there is a reply |
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126 | shortcut: |
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127 | |
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128 | r Reply. Personal messages get a personal reply, |
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129 | group messages get a group reply. |
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130 | R Reply to sender. Always replies personally |
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131 | to the sender. |
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132 | M-r Reply but allow editing of the command line. |
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133 | M-R Reply to sender but allow editing of the |
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134 | command line. |
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135 | |
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136 | In the event that the current message is too large to fit on the |
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137 | screen, you can scroll within the message using the following keys: |
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138 | |
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139 | SPACE page down |
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140 | b page up |
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141 | RETURN line down |
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142 | BACKSPACE line up |
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143 | |
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144 | The message pointer will change to indicate that the message is not |
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145 | starting at the first line. |
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146 | |
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147 | Two other keys that relate to the current message: |
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148 | |
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149 | i print detailed information about the message |
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150 | w instruct netscape to visit a URL in the message |
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151 | |
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152 | Other Functions |
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153 | ---------------- |
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154 | Some other functions that can be performed with a single keystroke: |
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155 | |
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156 | A toggle zephyr zaway on or off |
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157 | C-l refresh and resize the screen |
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158 | C-z suspend |
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159 | |
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160 | Command Mode |
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161 | ------------ |
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162 | Owl has a command mode from which you can enter more detailed commands |
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163 | for Owl to process. To enter command mode press the colon (':') key: |
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164 | |
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165 | : begin command mode |
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166 | |
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167 | Owl will give you a command prompt and you can begin typing your |
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168 | command. Type Enter to execute the command, Control-C to cancel. |
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169 | There are many commands. The basic commands are listed on the basic |
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170 | help screen (by pressing 'h'). If you'd like a list of all commands |
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171 | you can use the command: |
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172 | |
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173 | show commands |
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174 | |
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175 | And for detailed information on the syntax and use of a command you |
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176 | can use: |
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177 | |
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178 | help <command> |
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179 | |
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180 | For example "help zwrite" will display all the options available when |
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181 | using the zwrite command. |
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182 | |
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183 | Variables |
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184 | --------- |
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185 | Owl has a number of internal variables that can be used to change the |
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186 | behavior the program. The 'print' command will let you view the value |
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187 | of a variable and the 'set' commmand will let you set the value of a |
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188 | variable. For example: |
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189 | |
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190 | set personalbell on |
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191 | |
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192 | will set the value of the variable 'personalbell' to 'on'. The |
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193 | command: |
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194 | |
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195 | print personalbell |
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196 | |
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197 | will show you the current value. The 'print' command with no |
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198 | arguments: |
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199 | |
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200 | print |
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201 | |
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202 | Owl will show you the value of all variables. You can also use |
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203 | |
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204 | show variables |
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205 | |
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206 | show variable <variable> |
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207 | |
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208 | To display further information on owl variables. |
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209 | |
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210 | |
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211 | ================ |
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212 | Section 3: VIEWS |
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213 | ================ |
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214 | |
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215 | Owl always displays a current "view" of messages. The view describes |
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216 | which set of messages should be included on the display. The default |
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217 | view is called "all" and includes every message. However, you can |
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218 | narrow the view to a particular set of messages: |
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219 | |
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220 | M-n Narrow view to the selected conversation |
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221 | M-N Narrow view to selected conversation by instance |
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222 | V Return to the home view (the 'all' view) |
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223 | X Expunge messages and return to home view |
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224 | |
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225 | If you press M-n while the pointer is on a personal message, the view |
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226 | will be narrowed to the conversation with that user only. If used on |
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227 | a group message the conversation will be narrowed to that group. |
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228 | |
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229 | There are also some Owl commands related to views: |
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230 | |
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231 | viewclass <class> Narrow the view to the named zephyr class |
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232 | viewuser <user> Narrow the view to the named user |
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233 | |
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234 | More information on views and how they work is included in the section |
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235 | on "FILTERS AND COLORS". |
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236 | |
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237 | ============================= |
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238 | Section 4: FILTERS AND COLORS |
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239 | ============================= |
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240 | |
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241 | Filters |
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242 | ------- |
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243 | Owl will allow you to create custom message filters. A message filter |
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244 | is an expression that matches a set of messages based on certain |
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245 | criteria. Owl comes with a number of build-in filters already. You can |
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246 | view a list of them with the command: |
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247 | |
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248 | show filters |
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249 | |
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250 | The default filters include: |
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251 | |
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252 | all Matches all messages |
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253 | none Matches no messages |
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254 | personal Only personal messages (no group messages) |
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255 | login Login/Logout notifications |
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256 | auto Messages generated by automated programs |
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257 | out Messages sent from you to another user |
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258 | aim AIM messages |
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259 | zephyr Zephyr messages |
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260 | trash "Trash" messages |
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261 | ping Zephyr pings |
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262 | reply-lockout Messages for which the reply commands |
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263 | should not work |
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264 | |
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265 | If you wish to view the messages that match a particular filter, use |
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266 | the 'view' command. For example: |
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267 | |
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268 | view personal |
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269 | |
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270 | This will display only personal messages on the screen. You can |
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271 | change back to the 'all' view by pressing the 'V' key (capitalized). |
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272 | Note that the 'v' key (not capitalized) is a shortcut to bring up the |
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273 | 'view' command. |
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274 | |
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275 | You can also create your own filters. For more information on this, |
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276 | consult the Owl Advanced Users Guide. |
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277 | |
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278 | Colors |
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279 | ------ |
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280 | Every filter can have a color associated with it. Messages matching |
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281 | the filter will then be displayed in that color if your terminal |
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282 | supports it. The color for a filter can be set by using the '-c' |
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283 | option to the filter command. For example: |
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284 | |
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285 | filter personal -c white |
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286 | |
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287 | This cause all messages in the 'personal' filter to be displayed in |
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288 | white. You can produce a list of the colors available to Owl with the |
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289 | command: |
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290 | |
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291 | show colors |
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292 | |
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293 | If a message matches more than one filter it will be displayed in the |
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294 | color specified in the last filter listed in the 'show filters' |
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295 | command. |
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296 | |
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297 | If you would like your color settings to persist, such that they are |
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298 | preset every time you start Owl, please read the "Saving Your |
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299 | Settings" section below. |
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300 | |
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301 | =============================== |
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302 | Section 5: SAVING YOUR SETTINGS |
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303 | =============================== |
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304 | |
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305 | Any changes you make to Owl are lost when the program is terminated, |
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306 | unless you specify otherwise. If you would like a setting to persist |
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307 | such that it is available every time you start Owl you can use the |
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308 | word 'startup' before any command. For example: |
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309 | |
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310 | startup filter personal -c white |
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311 | |
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312 | Will instruct Owl to color personal messages white both in the current |
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313 | session and in any future Owl session. You may revert this behavior |
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314 | with the 'unstartup' command: |
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315 | |
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316 | unstartup filter personal -c white |
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317 | |
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318 | which will not affect the current session, but will cause future |
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319 | sessions not to take this action. |
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320 | |
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321 | Here is another example, this instructs Owl to display zephyr ping |
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322 | messages: |
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323 | |
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324 | startup set rxping on |
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325 | |
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326 | ========================== |
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327 | Section 6: THE CONFIG FILE |
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328 | ========================== |
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329 | |
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330 | *** WARNING: This interface may change substantially in the near future *** |
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331 | |
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332 | This file is interpreted by the perl interpreter. |
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333 | If you wish to execute an owl command use the |
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334 | function owl::command(). i.e. |
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335 | |
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336 | owl::command("set zsigproc \"/mit/kretch/bin/getzsig foo\""); |
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337 | |
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338 | will set the owl variable zsigproc. |
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339 | |
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340 | Subroutines created with the names below will be executed at the |
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341 | specified times: |
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342 | |
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343 | subroutine name properties |
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344 | --------------- ---------- |
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345 | owl::startup() run when owl first starts |
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346 | owl::shutdown() run when owl exits |
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347 | owl::format_msg() run to format messages when using the perl style. |
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348 | The return value is used to display the message on the |
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349 | screen. |
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350 | owl::receive_msg() run when a message is received, and after |
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351 | it has been added to the message list |
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352 | |
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353 | Both owl::format_msg and owl::receive_msg are passed |
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354 | perl owl::Message objects which contain attributes of the message. |
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355 | Please see the advanced.txt file for further documentation |
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356 | of the Perl extension API. |
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357 | |
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358 | The "appendtosepbar" variable may be set in owl::format_msg() |
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359 | to set text to be appended to sepbar that separates the received |
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360 | message list from the edit window. |
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361 | |
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362 | |
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363 | ========================================== |
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364 | Section 4: KEYBINDINGS AND COMMAND ALIASES |
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365 | ========================================== |
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366 | |
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367 | Aliases |
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368 | ------- |
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369 | |
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370 | Command aliases allow users to create shortcuts |
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371 | for commonly used commands. Aliases can be created wit |
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372 | the alias command: |
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373 | |
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374 | alias NAME VALUE |
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375 | |
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376 | For example: |
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377 | |
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378 | alias zw zwrite |
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379 | |
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380 | Will make "zw" an alias for the zwrite command. As such, "zw aphacker" |
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381 | will be expanded to "zwrite aphacker". If the value of an |
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382 | alias is multiple words, use of the alias will result in the alias |
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383 | command name being replaced by the sequence of words. |
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384 | Any arguments following the alias name will be appended |
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385 | after the expanded alias value. For example: |
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386 | |
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387 | alias vs view -s |
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388 | |
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389 | will result in "vs standard" being expanded to "view -s standard". |
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390 | There is not yet any way to allow an alias to take arguments |
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391 | that will be inserted in the middle of the expansion. |
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392 | |
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393 | |
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394 | Separating Commands |
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395 | ------------------- |
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396 | |
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397 | Multiple commands can be grouped together with parentheses |
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398 | and then separated by semicolons. For example: |
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399 | |
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400 | ( smartnarrow ; delete view ; expunge ; view all ) |
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401 | |
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402 | Will result in the four commands being executed |
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403 | in sequence. This is particularly useful with key bindings |
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404 | and coommands. For example: |
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405 | |
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406 | alias sn-delete ( smartnarrow ; delete view ) |
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407 | |
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408 | will create an "sn-delete" alias that will smartnarrow |
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409 | to a view and them mark the view for deletion. |
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410 | |
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411 | Using "show commands" will list all existing aliases. |
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412 | |
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413 | |
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414 | Key Bindings |
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415 | ------------ |
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416 | |
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417 | New key bindings may be created with the "bindkey" command. Each key |
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418 | binding is associated with a particular keymap which is applicable in |
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419 | a particular context/situation. When the key associated with a |
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420 | binding is pressed in the right context, it will result in an owl |
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421 | command being run. The syntax is: |
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422 | |
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423 | bindkey <keymap> <keyseq> command <command> |
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424 | |
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425 | For example: |
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426 | |
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427 | bindkey recv C-k command delete |
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428 | |
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429 | will bind Control-k to the delete command, but only in the |
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430 | recv window context. |
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431 | |
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432 | Some keymaps inherit their bindings from more |
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433 | general keymaps. The valid keymaps are: |
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434 | |
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435 | - global - owl-wide defaults (apply everywhere) |
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436 | |-edit - all text editing and command windows |
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437 | | |-editmulti - multi-line text editing windows |
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438 | | |-editline - single-line editing and command windows |
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439 | | |-editresponse - single-line responses to questions |
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440 | |-popless - scrolling pop-up windows |
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441 | |-recv - the main message list window |
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442 | where received messages are displayed |
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443 | |
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444 | The existing key bindings can be shown with "show keymaps". |
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445 | The use of "show commands" will list all available commands. |
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446 | Note that not all commands may be used in all contexts. |
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447 | |
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448 | Key sequences may be surrounded by quotes and include |
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449 | a sequence of keys that must be pressed in order |
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450 | to execute the command. For example: |
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451 | |
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452 | bindkey recv "C-s v" command view -s vt |
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453 | |
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454 | will result in "Control-s" followed by "v" in the recv window |
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455 | causing the command "view -s vt" to be run. |
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456 | |
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457 | |
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458 | |
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459 | ============================== |
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460 | Section 6: FURTHER INFORMATION |
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461 | ============================== |
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462 | |
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463 | $Id$ |
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