.nfl accept .nfl Lowercase .nfl space .nfl underline .nfl bold .nfl uppercase .fl substitute ~ .nast .ps 65 .RM 78.rm .fig 10 .c; VAX Notes .c; (Version 1.1) .s1 .c; On-line Conferencing on the VAX .s2 .c; User's Guide .s5 .c; SOFTECH-SUPPORT .c; Software Technologies Support .c; ~~day ~~month ~~year .s5 .lm 8 .lo 1,2 .rm 77 .pa .Title VAX Notes .subtitle Users Guide Version 1.1 ~~day ~~month ~~year .pa .dnm D .nmpg 1 .ch INTRODUCTION .hl1 WHAT IS VAX NOTES .p; VAX Notes (also called Notes) is a product from Digital Equipment Corp. It is a computer conferencing system that allows VAX users to conduct online conferences and meetings. .p; Notes is intended to be used as a major method of intercommunication between software personnel. It is a means of keeping everyone informed of everything. It facilitates the flow of information throughout the software department. It is designed to permit "many to many" communication. .hl1 WHERE IS NOTES INSTALLED? .p; VAX Notes has been installed on DEV1 and SIM07 at DAC. Anyone with an account on these systems can participate. .hl1 USER REFERENCE MANUALS .p; There are copies of the DEC VAX manual "Introduction to VAX Notes" available. The original run of ten copies has been distributed to various groups in both building 36 and 41. A list of the groups that have possession of these manuals is be available through the SAMPLE_CONFERENCE on NOTES. .hl1 TERMS AND CONCEPTS .p; VAX Notes can be thought of as a large database containing a series of user CONFERENCES. When a user enters VAX Notes he selects the conference in which he wishes to participate. .p; A conference is a set of DISCUSSIONS on a particular subject. Each discussion consists of a TOPIC which opens the discussion and REPLIES to that topic. There can be any number of replies to a topic. Topics and replies are referred to collectively as NOTES. .p; Within VAX Notes many conferences are occurring at the same time. Within each of those conference many discussions are also occurring at the same time. .p; VAX Notes automatically numbers the notes of a discussion in the following manner: Each topic is numbered starting with 1 and each reply to a topic is numbered starting with .1. .p; For example, if topic 4 has 3 replies, they are numbered 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3. The topic itself is numbered 4.0. A discussion is read by specifying the note (topic or reply) number(s). .c; View of a Notes Structure Within a Conference .lt Note-number +------------------------------------------------------ topic | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5| 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | +------------------------------------------------------ topic | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.2 | +------------------------------------------------------ topic | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | +------------------------------------------------------ topic | 4.0 | +------------------------------------------------------ topic | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.4 | +------------------------------------------------------ .el .p; A VAX Notes notebook is automatically created for the user the first time that he uses VAX Notes. The notebook defines the user's working environment. (What editor he will use, where is output will be printed, etc.) This is called the user's PROFILE. The user is responsible for defining his profile according to his personal needs. .p;The user does not have to add all the conferences which are in the database to his notebook. He selects those conferences which are of interest to him for inclusion in his notebook. .p; When a user adds a conference to his notebook VAX Notes keeps track of which notes the user has and has not read in that conference and provides convenient ways to access the notes that are new. Each time a user joins a conference he has the option of reading only the new notes for that conference. .ch NEW USER STARTUP INFORMATION .hl1 INVOKING NOTES .p; To invoke VAX Notes enter the following DCL command: .SK $NOTES .p; A four part screen will be presented: .ls .le; The Command Line - Displays the Notes> prompt. This is where the user enters NOTES commands. (The keypad may also be used to enter commands) .LE; The Message Line - Appears directly below the command line. NOTES error messages, system information messages, etc. appear on this line. Messages on the message line may be erased by pressing CTRL/W. .LE; The Heading Area - Displays information about what conference or note is being accessed. .LE; The Viewing /Editing Area - Displays various information depending on what command was entered the command line. This is where notes are displayed and entered.This is usually where information requested by the user appears. .els .s .c; Sample of a Notes Screen on Entry into Notes .lt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes> Copyright © Digital Equipment Corporation. 1986, 1989. All Rights Reserved. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Directory of Notebook class MAIN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Entry Name Unseen Last new note Topics Update status -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >CONF_OF_CONF 0 6-JUL-1989 09:03 6 ELXSI_GENERAL 0 27-JUN-1989 15:53 5 NOTES_ON_NOTES 0 5-JUL-1989 10:37 6 SAMPLE_CONFERENCE 0 6-JUL-1989 08:26 10 STAFF_NOTES 3 5-JUL-1989 12:38 5 TOOLS_BBS 20 5-JUL-1989 14:23 20 End of requested listing -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .el .hl1 ENTERING COMMANDS .p; Vax Notes commands may be entered by typing them on the command line at the Notes> prompt or by pressing defined function keys on the keypad. Commands may be abbreviated to the fewest unambiguous characters. .hl1 THE HELP COMMANDS .p; VAX Notes has a convenient online HELP to provide information about command syntax and usage and keypad definitions. The new-user option of the help command summarizes most of the information a new user needs to know to get started using NOTES. .p; To get the new user information enter the command HELP from the Notes command line (Notes>). HELP will display a list of NOTES commands and help options. To get help about a particular command or help option enter the command or option at the prompt on the bottom of the help screen. .p;A sample conference is provided with the VAX Notes system. This sample conference is there so that the user can experiment with it. It contains a user tutorial which takes about 30 minutes to complete. It is worthwhile for the new user to complete this tutorial. There are hints about how to run a conference, how to navigate through conferences, how to configure the Notes editor, and much more. The new user can use the sample conference to get hands-on experience using Notes. .p; For help using the keypad press the HELP key (PF2). This will display a layout of the keypad and a brief description of what each of the function keys does. .p; IMPORTANT: To leave on line help enter CTRL/Z or RETURN twice ( ). .hl1 WHEN AN ERROR OCCURS .p; If a user error occurs while in VAX Notes and the user would like more information about the error he should enter SHOW ERROR from the command line. This will display the full text of the error message. .hl1 FINDING OUT WHAT CONFERENCES ARE AVAILABLE? .p; Before the user can access a conference the conference must be in the users notebook. To see what conferences are available enter the command: .sk Notes>DIRECTORY/CONFERENCES .p; The names of the conferences appear in capital letters along with their titles which reflect the subject of each conference. .p; A conference-of-conferences will allow the user to get this information without issuing the DIRECTORY command. This conference exists on the system under the name of CONF_OF_CONF. .hl1 ADDING A CONFERENCE TO THE NOTEBOOK .p; When a user sees a conference whose subject interests him he should add it to his notebook by entering the following command from the Notes command line: .sk Notes>ADD ENTRY .p; In the conference-conference this is done by depressing KP7 when reading the note about the conference. This will work with any note that has an "*" associated with the note number. .hl1 ENTERING (OPENING) A CONFERENCE .p; There are two ways to enter a conference. The first way to for the user to use the terminal's arrow keys (KP2-up, KP5-down) to move the pointer (>) to the desired conference and then tap the SELECT key (KP7) on the keypad. The other way to open a conference is to enter the following command from the Notes command line: .sk Notes>OPEN .p; Upon entering a conference the first note of the conference which the user has not yet read will be displayed in the viewing area of the screen (This is topic 1.0 if the user is opening a conference for the 1st time). .hl1 FINDING OUT WHAT NOTES ARE IN A CONFERENCE .p; To list the topics of a conference enter the following command from the Notes command line: .SK Notes>DIRECTORY .p; This will list all the topics of that conference in reverse order (most recent topic first). To list a specific range of topics specify the starting and ending topic numbers as parameters of the DIRECTORY command. Starting and ending reply numbers may also be specified. For example, to list topics 5-9 enter the following command: .sk Notes>DIRECTORY 5-9 .p; To list all replies from 5.1 to 5.6 type the following command: .sk Notes>DIRECTORY 5.1-5.6 .p; The wildcard character may also be used. To see all notes (topics and replies) from topic 5 to the last reply in topic 9 enter the following command: .sk Notes>DIRECTORY 5.*-9.* .hl1 READING NOTES .p; To read a particular note enter the following command from the Notes command line: .sk Notes>READ .p; You may also simply enter the note number. It is not necessary to type READ. If the note does note fit on a single screen, the ENTER key, the RETURN KEY or KP0 may be pressed to continue reading the note. .p; Some other useful commands: .s1 .lt ------------------------------------------------------ TYPED KEYPAD COMMAND COMMAND FUNCTION ------------------------------------------------------ BACK REPLY KP1 Reads the previous note NEXT REPLY KP3 Reads the next note ENTER Reads the next note / scrolls screen NEXT TOPIC KP2 Reads the next topic LAST TOPIC KP5 Reads the last topic ------------------------------------------------------ .el .hl1 SEEN AND UNSEEN NOTES .p; VAX Notes maintains a record of which notes have and have not been read in a conference and provides convenient ways to access only the notes that have not been read yet. Until a note has been read by a user it is marked as UNSEEN in that user's notebook. VAX notes which have been read are marked as SEEN. A user may use the NEXT UNSEEN command to read only the new notes. .p; The use of the command SET SEEN will set all notes in a conference as seen. This is very useful when adding a conference to your notebook that has been ongoing for some time. .hl1 PRINTING NOTES .p; You may print notes by using the PRINT command. To print the note that you are currently reading just enter the word PRINT. The note will added to the job for your default printer queue (It will not be printed until you exit NOTES). You may also print a range of notes. Wild cards are permitted. For example to print topic 5 and all its replies enter: .SK Notes>PRINT 5.* .p; To print replies 5 thru 10 of topic 6 enter: .SK Notes>PRINT 6.5-6.10 .p; There are a series of qualifiers for the PRINT command. These permit the user to print notes by author, time, keyword, or title. The user can mark notes as seen or unseen and can specify print queues, formats and number of copies. For more information reference the PRINT command in the DEC VAX Notes Manual. .hl1 SAVING (EXTRACTING) NOTES .p; The SAVE and EXTRACT commands both perform the same function. They permit the user to copy notes into whatever file he specifies. .SK Notes>SAVE [] .p; The first parameter is mandatory. If a file name is specified without a file type the file type defaults to .TXT. The second parameter is optional. The default is to extract whatever note is currently being read. .p; There are a series of qualifiers for the SAVE and EXTRACT commands. These permit the user to save notes by author, time, keyword, or title. The user can mark notes as seen or unseen and can append the saved note to an exiting file. For more information reference the SAVE command in the DEC VAX Notes Manual. .hl1 DELETING NOTES .p; A user may use the DELETE NOTE command to delete replies and topics that he added to a conference. The number of the note must be specified as a parameter of the DELETE NOTE command. Otherwise VAX Notes assumes that the note to be deleted is the one currently being read. When a note is deleted VAX Notes does not reassign or rearrange the other note numbers. .hl1 SELECTING AN EDITOR .p; EVE, the VAX Notes editor is an interactive, extensible editor that provides three editing styles: standard EVE keypad editing, EDT style keypad editing or WPS style keypad editing. All these editing styles support multiple windows, a feature used by VAX Notes. If you are familiar with another editor, you may also specify that editor as the one you want to use in VAX Notes. To select an editor enter the following command: .SK Notes>SET PROFILE/EDITOR= .p; For example, to select the EDT editor type: .sk .lt Notes>SET PROFILE/EDITOR=EDT (This will not start a personal EDT init file.) .el .hl1 REPLYING TO A TOPIC .p; To add a reply to a discussion you must first be reading that discussion. You do not have to be reading the topic or the last reply but you must have entered the discussion. So the first step to issuing a reply is issuing a READ command for that discussion. .p; Next use the REPLY command to add a reply. While entering your reply you will be using whatever editor you specified. If you haven't specified an editor you will be using the EVE editor. Type anything appropriate for your reply. It can be as long or short as you wish. Use PREV SCREEN (KP.) or NEXT SCREEN (KP0) if needed to review your reply. Press F10 or CTRL/Z to indicate that you are finished entering your reply. You will be prompted to enter a title for your reply. After you enter the title you will be asked whether the reply should be written to VAX notes. Answer Y or N and tap the RETURN key. When you confirm that you want your reply added (answer=Y) VAX Notes adds your reply as the last reply in discussion. .p; You may also use the text of a previously prepared text file for your reply. To do this specify the file name as a parameter of the REPLY command. For example: .SK Notes>REPLY answer.dat .p; VAX Notes will give you a chance to edit the text in the file answer.dat before adding it as the last reply in the discussion. .p; When you enter a reply in a conference you are the author of the reply. Your user name appears in the reply heading and is displayed next to the title in a directory listing. You have privileges to delete the reply or to temporarily hide it from view of other participants. .hl1 OPENING A NEW TOPIC .p; Use the WRITE command to add a new topic to the conference. As long as you have the conference open you can issue the WRITE command. While entering your topic you will be using whatever editor you specified. If you haven't specified an editor you will be using the EVE editor. Type anything appropriate for your topic. It can be as long or short as you wish. Use PREV SCREEN (KP.) or NEXT SCREEN (KP0) if needed to review your topic. Press F10 or CTRL/Z to indicate that you are finished entering your topic. You will be prompted to enter a title for your topic. After you enter the title you will be asked whether the topic should be written to VAX notes. Answer Y or N and tap the RETURN key. When you confirm that you want your topic added (answer Y) VAX Notes will assign the next available number to your topic. .p; You may also use the text of a previously prepared text file for your topic. To do this specify the file name as a parameter of the WRITE command. For example: .SK Notes>WRITE topic.txt .p; VAX Notes will give you a chance to edit the text in the file topic.txt before adding it as the last reply in the discussion. .p; When you enter a topic in a conference you are the author of the topic. Your user name appears in the topic heading and is displayed next to the title in a directory listing. You have privileges to delete the topic or to temporarily hide it from view of other participants. .hl1 LEAVING A CONFERENCE .p; To leave a conference enter the CLOSE command or CTRL/Z. .SK Notes> CLOSE .p; This will take you back to the initial Notes screen which lists your available conferences. At this point you may pick another conference to OPEN or you may exit NOTES. .hl1 EXITING NOTES .p; To end the VAX Notes session enter the EXIT command or CTRL/Z. .SK Notes> EXIT .p; At this time any notes queued to the printer will be printed and the user will find himself back in DCL mode ($ prompt). .hl1 USING MAIL FROM VAX NOTES .p; A message can be MAILED from within VAX Notes by using the SEND or FORWARD command. If a conference is private or restricted a message can be sent to all the members of the conference by using the /MEMBERS qualifier with the SEND or FORWARD command. .hl1 PERSONAL NAMES .p; Notes allows the user to define a personal name that will appear on the header of each note that the user posts. These personal names are very important in helping other users determine who posted a note (some usernames are not known, but the users personal name is). For this reason the following format is a recommended personal name format: .sk .lt name (DAC-LB/dept_num/dept_name) phone Example: Al Jones (DAC-LB/E43/DEVSIM) 496-0101 .el .p; To add a personal name enter the following command: .sk .lt Notes> SET PROFILE /PERSONAL_NAME= "Al Jones (DAC-LB/E43/DEVSIM) 496-0101" .el .ch MARKERS .p; A MARKER is a word or phrase assigned to a particular note. VAX Notes gives the user the ability to name markers in a meaningful way so that he can remember notes of interest. To return to a note of interest the user can name the marker name instead of the note number. .hl1 ADDING MARKERS .p; Use the ADD MARKER (MARK) command to add a marker to a particular note. VAX Notes adds the marker to the note currently being read unless a note number is specified. Marker names must be unique within a conference. The example below assigns the marker BIG_PROBLEM to note 3.4. .SK Notes> MARK BIG_PROBLEM 3.4 .hl1 DISPLAYING MARKERS .p; Use the SHOW MARKER command, specifying the marker name to show what note is associated with that marker. To see all the markers in a notebook use the SHOW MARKER/ALL command. .hl1 READING MARKED NOTES .p; Use the READ/MARKER command to read a marked note. You don't have to be in a conference before you use this command. If the same marker name is used in more than one conference only the first marked note will be displayed. If you are in a conference and issue the READ/MARKER command to read a note in another conference VAX Notes automatically closes the current conference and opens the conference containing the marked note. So, you may use markers to jump from conference to conference without opening and closing the conferences. .hl1 DELETING MARKERS .p; Use the DELETE MARKER command to delete a marker from the current conference. If the same marker name is used in another conference, that marker remains untouched. .ch TYPES OF CONFERENCES .hl1 PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND RESTRICTED CONFERENCES .p; PUBLIC conferences are available on a read/write basis to all the users. .p; A PRIVATE conference limits participation to a select group of users. The conference moderator specifies which users will be invited to participate in this private conference. .p; Public or private conferences may have restrictions on the types of operations participants may perform. The conference moderator specifies the conference restrictions. .hl1 BULLETIN BOARDS .p; Bulletin Boards are another form of NOTES conference. These conferences are designed to provide the community with information that requires no reply from the user community. Acting much like the current BULLETIN system on both of the DEVSIM and DEVCLU clusters, this method will allow announcements to be posted by the moderator (or moderators) that may or may not affect you. It also allows for the bulletins to be inserted into topic streams. The example below shows how a user could access a bulletin board and read only those notes that interested him. .s2 .lt (log onto the DEV1 and enter notes) $ NOTES (notes comes up and you see that 6 new items have been added to DEVSIM_BBS) NOTES> OPEN DEVSIM_BBS (the conference is opened and you see only one topic that deals with you - SSCB Minutes - Topic 3) NOTES> 3. (This sets you inside the topic) NOTES> DIR .* (This gives you a directory of all the items/replies in the topic) NOTES> .LAST (Moves you to the last note in the topic) (After reading the new messages you say...) NOTES> SET SEEN NOTES> CLOSE (This sets all unseen messages to seen and then closes the conference and returns to the conference selection screen) (you could continue to other conferences or exit at this time) .el .hl1 CONFERENCE OF CONFERENCES .p; The final conference type is a conference of conferences. This conference is a listing of all the conferences on the system. From inside this conference you can elect to add additional conferences to your notebook. .ch CREATING AND MODERATING CONFERENCES .hl1 CONFERENCE CREATOR RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPTIONS .p; When the conference is created the person who created it has the option of becoming the moderator for that conference. That is, he may specify what persons participate in the conference and the types of Notes operations the participants can perform within his conference. Additionally the moderator should keep the notes of conference participants on the subject of the conference and promote participation in the conference. .p; VAX Notes allows both moderated and unmoderated conferences. Unless the person who opened the conference issues a SET MODERATOR command, the conference is unmoderated. The person who initiated the conference may issue the SET MODERATOR command at any time after the conference has be started. .p; Whether or not he issues the SET MODERATOR command, the conference creator is responsible for announcing the conference, giving the conference a title which will appear in the conference heading and composing an introductory topic to explain the purpose of the conference, rules for communicating and any other necessary information. This information is normally provided as Note 1.0 when the conference is opened. .hl1 CREATING A CONFERENCE .p; To create a conference perform the following steps: .ls .le; Create the conference using the CREATE CONFERENCE command. Specify whether access or keyword creation is to be restricted. This is done using the restriction qualifiers: /RESTRICT, /RESTRICT=MEMBERS, OR /RESTRICT=KEYWORDS. The /RESTRICT qualifier alone specifies that both member and keyword access is restricted. .p; [A KEYWORD is a word or phrase that lets you group notes that are concerned with a particular subject but do not have other attributes (author, title, date ...) in common. By default keywords are restricted.] .LE; The creator will be prompted to enter a conference title which will appear in the conference heading. .le; The creator will be prompted to enter text for the introductory topic, and a title for the introductory topic. Notes displays the introductory topic (Note 1.0) to confirm that it was successfully added to the conference. Entering the following command will prevent participants from adding replies to the introductory topic: .sk SET NOTE /NOWRITE 1.0. .p; [This command can also be issued for any other topic. The SET MODERATOR command must have been issued before the SET NOTE command can be issued.] .le; If the conference is private (MEMBERS restricted) the creator is responsible for composing a membership list of people who will be invited to participate in the conference. The SET MODERATOR COMMAND must be issued before this list can be implemented. .p; The moderator uses the ADD MEMBER command to add members one at at time to the conference. The ADD MEMBER command has the following format: .SK ADD MEMBER node::username .p; The ADD MEMBER command has a /PRIVILEGES qualifier which lets the person who created the conference give other conference members moderator or create keyword privileges. .els .hl1 CREATING A BULLETIN CONFERENCE .p; A bulletin board is created by issuing a CREATE CONFERENCE command followed by a SET CONFERENCE/NOWRITE command to prohibit anyone but the conference creator from adding notes to the conference. .ch ETIQUETTE AND TECHNIQUES FOR COMPOSING NOTES .p; Notes are seen by many people. For this reason, it is important to remember a few simple rules. .s1 .ls "*" .le; Please avoid all humor and sarcasm .le; Many people will be reading what you write, some don't know you and all they see of you is what you write so make an extra effort to write well .le; If no one writes, no one will read. What goes in generates responses, don't be afraid to REPLY .le; Titles are main search keys. The title should be carefully composed and use keywords that describe the context of the note .le; How do you SHOUT? UPPER TEXT!!! Keep the case mixed, its easier to read. Emphasis an be placed on words by enclosing them in "*" like *this* .els .p; If you want to include someone else's comment in your reply, extract just what you need (not the whole thing) and preface each line with a > or >>. This tells the reader that they are reading extracted text. .tp13 .c; EXAMPLE .s1 .lt >> approve authorize the expenditure of additional funds for the >> use of the department to purchase the additional software. >> Please provide a list of the software that you want. I would like the following software purchased: VAX Notes DEC/CMS SCAN DTR .el .p; In the example above note that only enough of the prior note was extracted to provide a basis for the reply. It is easy to see what was extracted versus what the writer has added to the conference. .p; Another useful tool in communications is "shorttalk." Shorttalk is used to take common phrases and make them less painful to read or write. Common shorttalk phrases include: .s1 .lt BTW - By the way WRT - With respect to OTOH - On the other hand IMHO - In my humble opinion TNX - Thanks .el .p; There are many other additional hints on communications within conferences in section 3.1 of "Introduction to VAX Notes." .ch CLOSING REMARKS .p; There is constantly talk about a "critical mass" when discussing NOTES. This term is defined as enough writers to keep the conferences interesting and enough readers to become writers. As a notes system starts up there are lots of people who want to read, but not to write. This leads to no one using the system. It is important that you write into NOTES. Don't be afraid of what the "other guy" might think, everyone's opinion counts, even if it is to say that you agree with someone else and that you support the position taken in another note. .p; As you start to use the system, tell others about it. This is not a static environment and conferences will always be starting and stopping. Keep aware of the conferences and you will find that you will enjoy the system much more. And don't forget to write. .ax SUMMARY OF NOTES COMMANDS .p; This appendix covers the commands that a NOTES user can issue while inside NOTES. For a more comprehensive description of NOTES and its associated commands, please see the DEC VAX "Introduction to VAX Notes." .s1 .lt Getting Started Commands ------------------------ NOTES Invokes VAX Notes from the DCL level HELP Accesses online help DIR/CONF List available conferences on your node ADD ENTRY Adds a conference to your notebook OPEN Opens a conference in your notebook DIR Lists topics and replies in a conference READ Displays the specified note SET PROF/EDI Set the editor you like REPLY Adds a reply to the current discussion WRITE Adds a new topic in the current conference PRINT Prints notes CLOSE Close a conference and return to notebook EXIT End the session Notebook Commands ------------------ Organizing Entries ------------------ ADD ENTRY Adds a conference to your notebook DELETE ENTRY Remove a conference from you notebook MODIFY ENTRY Changes information about an entry SET CLASS Sets the specified class as the current class SHOW CLASSES Lists classes in your notebook SHOW ENTRY Shows information about the specified entry Using Markers -------------- ADD MARKER Adds a marker to a specified note MARK Synonym for ADD MARKER SHOW MARKER Shows the note number associated to the marker READ/MARKER Displays the note associated to the marker DELETE MARKER Removes the marker Getting Directories ------------------- DIR/CONF List available conferences DIR/ENTR List entries in a class DIR/NOTE Synonym for DIR/ENTR Other Notebook Commands ----------------------- CLOSE Close a conference OPEN Open a conference SET PROFILE Creates or modifies your profile UPDATE Used to determine if you have new notes Additional Commands ------------------- Informational Commands ---------------------- SHOW CONFERENCE Currently selected conference ERROR Full text of last error message KEYWORDS Current conference keywords MEMBER Current (private) conference members NOTE Specified note information PROFILE Current profile settings VERSION Version of Notes being run Navigation ---------- BACK Display previous reply (synonym for BACK REPLY) BACK NOTE Displays previous note BACK TOPIC Display previous topic LAST Display last topic in conference .LAST Display last note in topic NEXT Display next reply (synonym for NEXT REPLY) NEXT NOTE Display next note NEXT TOPIC Display next topic NEXT UNSEEN Display next unseen TOPIC Display current topic for discussion Using the Topic.Reply Numbers ----------------------------- *. Used to access topic information .* Used to access reply information within a topic n A topic number .n A reply number n.n A topic and reply number .end lit .ax ONE-KEY NOTING .p; The following addendum introduces a process called "One-key noting." One-key noting is designed to simplify the process of using VAX Notes. While a number of the application keys are predefined in Notes (KP, = next unseen), there are a large number of commonly used functions that are not. .p; The purpose of "one-key noting" is to add these additional functions to the noting process. The list that follows details the additional one-key functions that are supported on the DAC Notes conferences on both SIM07 and DEV1. .p; One-key noting requires that the following command be inserted into your login.com file: .s .lt $ DEFINE NOTES$COMMAND MGRDISK:[UTILITIES]NOTES$COMMAND.TPU .el .p; Once that command has been added, and the command has been processed, you will have access to these additional commands. .s .c; Enhanced VAX Notes Keypad Keys .s2 .lt Key Definition -------------------------- KP4 DIR GOLD KP4 DIR/ALL KP6 DIR/UNSEEN GOLD KP6 DIR/CLASS=* GOLD KP7 EXIT KP8 UPDATE GOLD KP8 UPDATE/CLASS=* KP9 REPLY GOLD KP9 WRITE PF3 SEARCH/NEXT GOLD PF3 SEARCH (prompts for string) GOLD ENTER NEXT UNSEEN CONFERENCE GOLD W WHAT CONFERENCE? .el .p; The next section will explain each key and the action that it performs. .ls " " .le; KP4 (DIR) .p; Show me a directory of all topics in this conference .s .le; GOLD KP4 (DIR/ALL) .p; Show me a directory of all topics and replies in this conference .s .le; KP6 (DIR/UNSEEN) .p; Show me a directory of all unseen topics and replies in this conference .s .le; GOLD KP6 (DIR/CLASS=*) .p; Show me a directory of all conferences in all classes that are defined. .s .le; GOLD KP7 (EXIT) .p; Exit me from this level of notes .s .le; KP8 (UPDATE) .p; Perform an update on the current class of conferences .s .le; GOLD KP8 (UPDATE/CLASS=*) .p; Perform an update on all conferences in all classes .s .le; KP9 (REPLY) .p; Reply to a topic or note within the current topic selected .s .le; GOLD KP9 (WRITE) .p; Write a new topic in the current conference selected .s .le; PF3 (SEARCH/NEXT) .p; Searches for next occurrence of a string (string must be given in GOLD PF3) .s .le; GOLD PF3 (SEARCH) .p; Prompts for a string that should be searched for and selects the first occurrence of that string .pa .s .le; GOLD ENTER (NEXT UNSEEN CONFERENCE) .p; Find the next conference (within all established classes) with unseen notes in it and then open that conference .s .le; GOLD W (WHAT CONFERENCE?) .p; Shows what conference is currently selected .els .s .p; When using the editor to enter a topic or reply, the following additional keys have been defined: .s2 .lt Key Definition -------------------------- GOLD B OTHER WINDOW (Buffer) GOLD E EXIT GOLD O OTHER WINDOW GOLD Q QUIT GOLD T MESSAGE TIME GOLD Z EXIT GOLD = TOGGLE WINDOW (1 => 2 or 2 => 1) .el .s .p; The keys will do the following .ls " " .le; GOLD B (OTHER WINDOW) .p; Swaps between two windows in an edit session (very useful in reply) .s .le; GOLD E (EXIT) .p; Exits the edit process (exit and save) .s .le; GOLD O (OTHER WINDOW) .p; Swaps between two windows in an edit session (very useful in reply) .s .le; GOLD Q (QUIT) .p; Exits the edit process (exit without save) .pa .s .le; GOLD T (MESSAGE TIME) .p; Tells the time that the message in the top buffer (the original) was sent .s .le; GOLD Z (EXIT) .p; Exits the edit process (exit and save) .s .le; GOLD = (TOGGLE WINDOW) .p; Swaps between two windows in an edit session (1 => 2 or 2 => 1) .els .p; Using the one-key noting keys defined above, should make noting easier. Remember that these keys are not a standard part of VAX Notes, but are an enhancement that has been added here at DAC. .p; Comments and questions on one-key noting should be placed in the NOTES_ON_NOTES conference. This conference can be added to your notebook by entering the following command from within Notes: .s .lt Notes> ADD ENTRY NOTES_ON_NOTES .el .s .p; You can select the conference from within the CONF_OF_CONF conference. Do this by entering Notes and selecting (KP7) CONF_OF_CONF (if this conference is not in your notebook you can add it by issuing the command: ADD ENTRY CONF_OF_CONF at the Notes> prompt). Go to the topic titled NOTES_ON_NOTES and use the select key (KP7) to select the conference. The conference will be added to your notebook. .ax Conference Moderation .p; Within this appendix there is mention of a "Canons of Conduct." This "document" is a statement of the rules for a conference. Below is a sample Canons of Conduct for a Notes conference. .s .lt Canons of Conduct The following Canons of Conduct are to be followed on this conference: 1) Participants will conduct themselves in a professional manner marked by integrity and a spirit of fair play. 2) The use of vulgar, obscene, racially oriented, sexually oriented, or other inappropriate language will not be allowed. 3) The moderators reserve the right to determine if any activity is in violation of the Canons of Conduct. 4) The moderators may hide or delete any entry that is in violation of the Canons of Conduct 5) All decisions by the moderators are final. .el .hl1 Moderation of an Open/Public conference .p; Public conference moderation requires that the moderator check the new notes and topics that are added to a conference to insure that they are not violating the Canons of Conduct for that conference. .p; The moderator should also try to keep the topics on course, and should recommend that the direction be maintained when necessary. The moderator should also redirect notes that are not appropriate to a conference by first hiding the note and then talking to the notes author to determine the best place for the note. .p; NOTE: DELETION BY MODERATORS IS NOT RECOMMENDED. The preferred method is note relocation. If the note is against the Canons of Conduct it should be first hidden (and the author talked to) and then deleted. If the note is inappropriate for the topic, it may have to be moved. If the note is a topic that should be a reply, then it should be moved. .p; It is not recommended that topic threads be tampered with once started. This could be a time consuming process and it may destroy the topic thread. Alternate methods of performing conference surgery of this type are explained in the conference IN_MODERATION, a private conference open only to moderators. .hl1 Moderation of Private Conferences .p; Private conferences require less stringent moderation, since the threat of elimination from the conference by offending users acts as a detriment to breaches of the Canons of Conduct. .p; The key to a private conference is the membership list. This list allows access to the conference by a limited number of users. By using the ADD MEMBER and DELETE MEMBER commands, the moderator controls access to the conference. .p; The other task of the moderator in a private conference is to provide direction to the flow of topics within a conference. Most conferences don't need much of this, but being referred to as the "Topic Police" moderators try to insure that conferences stay within reasonable bounds of the initial topic note. .hl1 Moderation of a BBS .p; Moderation of a Bulletin Board System in VAX Notes is a simple task. Unlike moderation of an ongoing conference, there is little to no clean-up work or topic policing. .p; In order to write messages to a Bulletin Board you must have moderation privileges on that Bulletin Board. To find out if you are a permitted moderator on a Bulletin Board do the following: .s1 .ls 0 " " .le; Enter Notes .le; Open the Bulletin Board conference that you wish to participate in .le; type the command SHOW MOD .els .p; If you are a moderator your name will appear on the list with a [M] following your username. If you are not on the list of moderators you can request to have your name added to the list by requesting it from a moderator on the list. .p; In a Bulletin Board System on VAX Notes each topic level note (created with a WRITE command) becomes an introduction to the topic. The replies under that note are the bulletins that are being posted to that topic. .p; A Bulletin Board conference is set with the entire conference as /NOWRITE. In order to write a note to the conference (either as a topic or a reply) it is necessary to provide yourself with the privileges to override the /NOWRITE. This can be accomplished by turning on the moderator privileges using the command SET MOD. .p; The following two sessions show a topic creation and a bulletin insertion. .s1 .c; Adding a new topic to a BBS .s .ls 0 " " .le; NOTES .le; OPEN conf_bbs .le; SET MOD .le; WRITE .le; (enter the topic introduction and exit (F10) giving the topic a title) .le; SET NOMOD .le; ^Z or EXIT .s .c; Adding a bulletin to a BBS topic .s .le; NOTES .le; OPEN conf_bbs .le; SET MOD .le; 5 (goto the topic the bulletin is to be added to) .le; REPLY .le; (enter the bulletin and exit (F10) giving the bulletin a title) .le; SET NOMOD .le; ^Z or EXIT .els .p; It is recommended that the Bulletins not be "created" in Notes. Bulliten notes should be created as text files outside of Notes and then inserted into Notes using the include capabilities of the available editors. In this manner, all work can be fully checked prior to being inserted into Notes. This will save you from having to remove and re-insert bulletins. .ax Multi-system Notes .p; Currently, the DAC DEVSIM VAX Notes system operates on two machines on separate clusters. While this is not "bad" there are some operations that have to be performed by the users if they wish to enhance the operation of VAX Notes in their environments. .p; The first thing that a user must do is determine the system that they will will be logging into most of the time. This system (the home system) will be the location for the users "notebook." This notebook is a file that will reside in the sys$login called notes$notebook.note. As described earlier, the notebook is a file that keeps track of what conferences you are interested in and the last time that you accessed the conference. .p; The system that is not the "home" system should have the login.com file modified to allow it access to the home systems notebook. In this manner, both systems will be in synch when Notes is started on either system. What follows are the commands that should be added to the login.com file for the system that is not being used as the home system. .lt $ RMTDEFINE node disk $ DEFINE NOTES$NOTEBOOK disk:[main_dir]NOTES$NOTEBOOK.NOTE example: (home system is DEV1) $ RMTDEFINE DEV1 USER_DEVSIM $ DEFINE NOTES$NOTEBOOK USER_DEVSIM:[USER]NOTES$NOTEBOOK.NOTE ------------------------------------------------------------ this command defines the location of the notebook thus allowing the secondary system use the home systems notebook ------------------------------------------------------------ .el .p; VERY IMPORTANT: Notes will not allow a users notebook to be opened by more than one session at any one time. This disallows the use of the users notebook if the user is already running Notes in another session. If an attempt is made to open a notebook that is already opened, the notebook will fail to open. This will not stop Notes from operation, but will also not provide the support that is provided by the notebook (markers, selected conferences and seen notes will not be available). .p; One specific process that is always requested is the ability to perform an automatic update on login that will then advise you of any unseen notes. A process that performs this function is available on this system. To access this function some commands must be added to the login.com file of those systems that will access Notes. These commands are: .lt $ Define vnotes MGRDISK:[UTILITIES] $ spawn/nowait @vnotes:unseen .el .p; This command may take some time to complete. In order to insure that the login process is not slowed down, it is recommended that the process be run as a spawned job. The process will still perform reporting to the screen, but will not cause the login to take any additional time. This process can be initiated by the user at any time to update the conferences in the notebook and advise if there are any unseen notes. Again, it is recommended that this process be run as a sub-process due to the amount of time that the process consumes. .p; As additional functions are added that allow for clean-up or enhancements of Notes, these functions will be discussed in the NOTES_ON_NOTES conference. It is recommended that this conference be added to your notebook as soon as possible, along with the CONF_OF_CONF conference. .p; This document will be updated as required. When such updates are performed, notification will take place via the NOTES_ON_NOTES conference. A copy of this document will always be online in the NOTES_ON_NOTES conference.