Category : BBS Programs+Doors
Archive   : WAF165.ZIP
Filename : USER.DOC

Waffle v1.65 - User's Guide
(C) Copyright 1992 Darkside International, All Rights Reserved.

C O N T E N T S

I Quick Summary of Commands
II Detailed Command Descriptions
III Input and Output
IV Line Editor
V User Directories

PART I - Q U I C K S U M M A R Y

ADMIN EXPAND MAIL SHELL
BAUD FEEDBACK MEMORY SHOW
BYE FINGER NEW STATUS
CD FILES NODE SYSMAIL
CHAT HELP OFF TAIL
CLEAR HOME OREO TERM
COOKIE INFO PAGE TIME
DATE JOIN PATH TYPE
DELETE JOURNAL PLAN UNJOIN
DIR LIST POOF USERS
ECHO LOGIN POST VALIDATE
EDIT LOGOFF PROMPT VERSION
EVENTS LOGOUT READ WELCOME
EXIT RENAME


PART II - D E T A I L E D D E S C R I P T I O N S

All of these commands are available from within the main
WAFFLE program. Some are reserved to privileged users,
especially those that deal with files or administration.

ADMIN

Administration of accounts is handled with the ADMIN command.
If "ADMIN" alone is entered, you are placed at an Admin prompt
where ADMIN subcommands can be issued:

Admin> d badguy

Additionally, single commands may be issued without entering
the ADMIN sub menu:

ADMIN a newuser
or
ADMIN e elvis

User accounts may be displayed and edited by any privileged user
with the ADMIN command. To display an account's most commonly
used information, use "ADMIN e account". Here is a sample display
from "admin e floyd":

Username floyd
Full Identity Floyd R Turbo
First/Real name T0M
Phone number 408/245-SPAM
Access level 4
Fake level string YOW
Comment text 100 billion bottles

These are all text fields. There are other parameters that are
flags, which can be set to Y or N, in other templates. Here is a
sample display from "admin s floyd", showing security information:

Password goober
Access level 4
Fake level string YOW
Privilege level 9
Group membership 0
Waffle system shell

Inform EVENTS of account use N
Enforce time limits Y
Permit local access only N
Splash file after login N

While ADMIN, to change a field just enter it over the old one;
to leave a field unchanged just hit return instead. Flag fields
(those with Y or N) that are different from the normal settings
are shown with a + next to the values:

Permit local access only + Y

This makes it easy to see what's unusual about a given account.

ADMIN functions are separated into two categories, those that
perform actions (such as copies, or deletes) and those that are
edit templates (the security or terminal templates).

Summary of action commands within ADMIN:

admin add username < Add user to system
admin copy user1 user2 < Copy account
admin delete username < Remove a user's account

Summary of edit templates within ADMIN:

admin e username < Most common attributes
admin f username < File transfer settings
admin n username < News and Mail privileges
admin r username < Command restrictions
admin s username < Account security
admin t username < Terminal and Editor settings
admin m username < Miscellanous settings

Additionally, to edit ALL templates of a given account:

admin * username < Edit Everything

If ALT-U is hit from the local console (DOS Version), the current
user's profile is edited on the sysop's screen.

The actual contents of these templates is described in the
MANUAL.DOC file, provided with the Waffle software.

BAUD

Change the speed as reported by the LIST command. Although
there is no legitimate reason to do this, certain persons take
immense Joy at inventing new rates.

BAUD ACHOO

will cause something on the order of

79779 ACHOO user A Modem User <9+> ...

to show up in the callers log. Gezundheit, Mark.

BYE

Logout of system, and terminate the connection. Account
information is updated at this time.

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29 pm (?=help!) -> BYE
lunatic logged out 04-Jul-69 06:29p

[dropping connection]

Aliases for this command include OFF, EXIT, LOGOUT, and LOGOFF.

CD

Change disk directory. Under normal circumstances CD is
permitted only for privileged users.

CD /waffle/system (you type)

/waffle/system (system responds)

The CD command given without arguments displays the
current directory.

CHAT

Request CHAT with the SYSTEM 0PERATOR. Normally this is only
possible with the DOS version of Waffle. People running the Unix
version of Waffle usually have CHAT run an external CB type
program with multiuser chat functions.

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29p (?=help!) -> CHAT

Do you, floyd, solemnly wish to disturb SYSTEM 0PERATOR
from a possible sound sleep, including but not limited to
such activities that might accompany said sleep, invoking
fear and loathing upon the users of this BBS? Y



Of course there must be someone on the other end to hear you;
the CHAT bell will go unheeded if nobody's around.

The SYSTEM 0PERATOR can turn CHAT on and off by activating or
deactivating the scroll lock light on the local keyboard; this
will display the "excuse" file instead of beeping the console.

This command can be abbreviated as "C".

CLEAR

Clear the screen, usually for reasons of privacy. This will be
effective only if your terminal supports this function, and only
if Waffle thinks your terminal is what it really is.

CLEAR is identical to the PAGE command.

COOKIE

Cookies are short inane bits of fluff, slogans,
proverbs, or quotes, that can pop up from time to time.

We consider this cookie to be rather odd:

HELP STAMP OUT CONTINENTAL DRIFT
[Max Pandaemonium, 13-Feb-89]

Users are permitted to add cookies with the COOKIE
command. For example,

Flatulence will get you nowhere.
[Zen Archer, 22-Jun-90]

Enter cookie, but no bufu.
: Crime doesn't pay... well enough.

I paid money for Journey's Greatest Hits.
[Bronze Tooth, 19-May-89]

These cookies are kept in the "cookie jar" and it is
considered polite for the SYSTEM 0PERATOR to remove the
stale or old cookies from time to time.

Type COOKIE LIST to see all the cookies. As this tends
to be tedious, a numeric argument, such as COOKIE 25,
will display cookies at the end of the file.

Cookies may not contain '|' characters. They are also not
permitted to contain Bufu. The exact definition of Bufu is
left as an exercise to the reader.

DATE

Display the current date and time, plus the time
online and time remaining:

Sun, 15 Jul 90 17:05:47 PDT, on for 2 minutes, 88 left

This is identical to the TIME command.

DELETE

Delete a file from the current disk directory. For a
privileged user, this can be any directory; otherwise,
it will be the user's personal directory.

DIR

Show a listing of the currently selected disk directory,
or an argument can be supplied to specify a filename or
directory. Wildcards may be specified:

DIR /waffle/extern/_*

_editors 48 01-Jul-90
_receive 138 18-Dec-89
_send 138 18-Dec-89
_system 198 02-Jul-90

Nonprivileged users are only able to look at files in the
own user directory, so a full pathname cannot be supplied.

ECHO

Print any parameters to the screen; similar to the DOS or
Unix "echo" commands. ECHO is sometimes useful when used in
people's startup files, or to inspect parameters.

ECHO You are at "%o"

interprets the %'option and prints something on the order of

You are at "Elf Consulting, Santa Cruz CA"

EDIT

Edit a file in the internal line editor or currently defined
external editor. If a file specified does not exist, the user
is prompted whether or not to create the file.

EDIT /waffle/system/entry

[...6 lines...]

Edit> L

1> ~%n (~%u)
2>
3> Test UUCP & Mail site,
4> ~%o
5>
6> Waffle version ~%V, out of the box.

Edit> Q

Nonprivileged users are only permitted to edit files in
their home directory; they cannot specify a full pathname.

To change the current editor, select "Editor" under
the STATUS command.

EVENTS

Display the last 20 items in the "Events Log". The Events Log
records what Waffle considers to be "interesting circumstances".

12-Jul-90 15:22 harrison | poof
12-Jul-90 20:26 user | Validated 9 user(s), 0 killed
12-Jul-90 21:38 harrison | admin e unknown
13-Jul-90 01:38 john | poof
13-Jul-90 13:18 saracen | Edit /user/saracen/plan
13-Jul-90 13:20 saracen | admin e buddha
13-Jul-90 17:36 yol | poof
13-Jul-90 22:56 user | Validated 11 user(s), 0 killed

This log is intended to maintain system security, both in keeping
tabs on remote sysops, and making sure that nobody has compromised
security from the outside.

"EVENTS 10" will display the last ten events.

To add an event manually, use the "EVENTS ADD" feature. Of course
tbere is some risk with people inventing all sorts of creative
events, but this can be amusing at times.

EVENTS ADD Log cleared 6/4/90

The EVENTS command (by itself) gives the same output as SHOW EVENTS.
Its use is limited to privileged users.

EXIT

An alias of BYE, included because some people actually do type
EXIT in order to logoff the system.

EXPAND

EXPAND prints a list of the recipients of a mailing list, that is,
all users or address that will receive mail if you send to the
given address. For example, "EXPAND cool-people" might give us:

01 - john (Someone Else?)
02 - lunatic (Robert De Niro)
03 - [email protected]
04 - root (Postmaster)
05 - sinatra (Habib Alberti Francisco)

The list is sorted with any detected duplicates removed.

This is very similar to the FINGER command except a list of addresses
is displayed instead of information on the corresponding accounts.

Multiple addresses can be EXPAND'ed on the same line.

FEEDBACK

The FEEDBACK command gets a message to the SYSTEM 0PERATOR.
It will send mail to a user named "system", which can be aliased
to another account if desired.

Feeeeedback, man.
Send note to system guru (yes/no)? Y

Type letter, single / when done.
/s to save message or /q to quit.

1> Just stopping in to say hello. "Hello."
2> /s

If you have remote sysops, the SYSMAIL command will read FEEDBACK
sent by inspecting the "system" mailbox. Replies to any letters
are generated from the originating account, not necessarily "system".

The system account will not allow all of its mail to be deleted
unless "system" is the current user. This prevents your remote sysops
from purging large amounts of mail that has not been read by other
remotes. Traditionally we allow mail to accumulate in this account
until it reaches 200-300 letters, as space is seldom a major concern.

FINGER

Display information about a user, group of users, or a mailing list.
If any of the users have "PLAN" files, those will be displayed as well.

User: lunatic (Lunatic Fringe)
Phone: 408/245-SPAM
Calls: 141
Posts: 116
U/D: 88k uploaded, 1412k downloaded
Last on: 04-Jul-69 15:31
Mail: 36 (4 new)

--
Stop, hey, what's that sound..
Everybody look what's going down

When a sysop (user with privilege level 9) invokes this command,
extra information is displayed in the output containing the phone
number and first name.

Information regarding users on other systems (for instance,
"FINGER [email protected]") cannot be displayed and a
warning message is printed.

Multiple users can be FINGER'ed on the same line, for example,
"FINGER root system john elvis" is a legal command.

This command can be abbreviated as "F".

FILES

Enter the FILES transfer section. This is an area where
users are permitted to upload or download files using external
protocols such as X, Y, or ZMODEM, or Kermit.

The FILES prompt is normally (>, and a single key is accepted.
(Thus all commands start with different characters.)

A concept of "current directory", similar to Unix or DOS, is
maintained. To change directories, you must LOG a new directory;
in most cases Unix or DOS syntax to do this is acceptable.

Commands available under FILES:

% ARC Run the ARCVIEW program or equivalent, to
list the directory of a compressed archive,
such as ARC or ZIP.

% COPY Upload a file using ASCII -- in effect,
use no protocol at all. The upload is done
using the editor. COPY is useful for
short hand entered messages.

% DIR List files in current directory, their
dates & lengths, and a short description if
one exists. A file specification may be
given as an argument:

(>Directory: *.c

Pressing RETURN instead of entering a file
specification causes all files to be listed.

% FIND Locate a file or files by title. Wildcards
may be given. This will search all
directories known by Waffle, though not
all directories on the disks.

% HELP Display short menu, same as ?.

% LOG Change current directory. A user's access is
checked before permitting entry.

Unix or DOS syntax is acceptable:

(>Log: .. (move up 1 directory)
(>Log: ../comm (move up then down one)

% MASTER List ALL files in ALL directories that
you have access to.

% NEW Search all directories for all files since
a given date. The default date (printed after
typing N) is your last login date.

(>New files since: 08-Jul-90

This operates similar to FIND.

% PROTOCOL Select transfer protocol. Protocols are
given as single characters, and common ones
may include XMODEM, YMODEM, ZMODEM, or
Kermit (the first character is used for all
of these, so there can't be two protocols
starting with an X.)

(>Protocol: Y
Y protocol selected.

If you aren't sure what protocols are
available, hit ? for a list:

(>Protocol: ?

Protocols Available:

X - Xmodem
Y - Batch Ymodem
Z - Zmodem

Currently X is selected.

% QUIT Exit files section; you are placed
back at the main Waffle prompt.

% RECEIVE Upload a file using the currently
selected protocol. You are prompted for
a description of the file:

(>Receive: lugnut.zip
Description (44 chars max): History of lugnuts

Ready to receive

The procedure from here varies depending
on what terminal program you are using. With
many PC programs the PGUP key should be hit.

% SEND Download a file using the currently
selected protocol.

(>Send: lugnut.zip
144 blocks, 18k

You must then activate whatever download
facility you terminal program has; many PC
based programs use the PGDN key.

One "block" is equal to 128 bytes.

% VIEW View an ASCII file. If the file is binary
instead of ASCII, you may see nonsense.

% . Move back one directory; if you were located
in /files/comm, you hop back to /files.

% * Display a listing of all FILES areas
that can be logged, although this does not
necessarily guarantee access.

Additionally, privileged users can press ^D to delete a file
and ^E to edit a file.

HELP

Provide help or information. How helpful this information
is depends on whether or not it is maintained.

Information Available:

ADDRESS COMMANDS Forums JOIN
PUBLIC-UNIX TRANSFERS VIVISECTION

Topic?

If there are directories within the Waffle "HELP" directory,
these will be treated as containing subtopics:

Topic? FORUMS

LOCAL Forums local to this site
USENET Forums of a more international consequence

FORUMS Topic?

To exit any level of HELP, press the return key.

The "*" command at the main menu is an abbreviation
for "HELP FORUMS"; also, from within the JOIN command a
"HELP JOIN" is issued when help is requested. Thus it is
recommended that the FORUMS or JOIN directories be kept.

This command can be abbreviated as "H".

HOME

Change to a user's "home directory". In most cases this is only
useful for privileged users, since they are the only ones who are
permitted to move around on the directory tree.

Files in a user's home directory can also be accessed by
entering the FILES section, and logging the directory manually.

Typically, a user "elvis" will have a home directory /user/elvis.

INFO

Enter the System Bulletins & Information section. This area
contains information made available by the SYSTEM 0PERATOR for
callers to the system:

S Y S T E M I N F O R M A T I O N

1 Various pieces of help or background, designed to
illuminate your understanding of system.

2 Information about the BBS, its hardware, history,
and other nonsense that is barely worth reading.

Topic?

This command can be abbreviated as "I".

JOIN

JOIN enters the forum configuration section, where each
user can configure which newsgroups show up during a NEW
scan of messages.

The first time JOIN is invoked for a user, it will sign
you up to a list of default newsgroups (which are configured
by the operator of the system).

After this, the following menu is available:

JOIN / NEW scan Configuration Menu

Use JOIN LIST to show which newsgroups you are JOINED to.

You may wish to join rec.music.misc, rec.music.gaffa,
misc.security, rec.arts.comics, or alt.conspiracy.

or type FORUMS to see a list of newsgroups available.

Join command ADD DELETE FORUMS LIST QUIT? List

The LIST command shows currently JOINED newsgroups, and the
number of new messages in each group.

Currently JOINED to newsgroups:

(17 new) alt.bbs
(2 new) pubnet.nixpub
(0 new) pubnet.sysops
(0 new) pubnet.talk
(46 new) rec.arts.comics
(1 new) junk
(1 new) control
(0 new) monitor

Adding and removing a newsgroup are fairly straightforward.
It is only possible to ADD newsgroups that are currently
carried by the system; Waffle will tell you if a certain group
is not available.

From the main Waffle prompt, you can enter some JOIN commands
without entering the menu:

JOIN LIST
JOIN comp.unix.xenix
UNJOIN alt.weemba

When you attempt to JOIN a newsgroup that you are already
JOINED to, you are prompted as to whether you wish to have that
group removed instead of added:

JOIN alt.bbs
Currently joined. UNJOIN alt.bbs ?

The list of newsgroups you are joined to is kept in a "JOIN"
file located in your user directory. It also contains the
numbers of the highest read message in each group you read.

JOURNAL

Display the system Journal. Users above a certain level
(journal_ok in the static file, if you must know) are permitted
to change the Journal entry.

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29p (?=help!) -> JOURNAL

Finally the top50 of all-time albums is ready. After some
hard work (If anyone wants to do this again, ask everyone to
send in a list in a uniform format) I've completed the list:

01 Dark Side of the Moon - PINK FLOYD 35
02 Moving Pictures - RUSH 29
03 Wish You Were Here - PINK FLOYD 25
...
48 Black Sea - XTC 6
49 Blood on the Tracks - BOB DYLAN 6
50 Fragile - YES 6

Anyway the list seems to be dominated by symphonic rock, but
I suppose that's how the cake bounces.

Change this (yes/no)?

The general idea behind the JOURNAL is to allow users to submit
various items, and let the exact nature of the submissions be a
surprise of sorts. Sometimes the JOURNAL will be a one or two
line "cookie" and other times a 25K diatribe.

This command can be abbreviated as "J".

LIST

List the last 20 callers, and some amount of information
regarding their stay on the system:

79666 2400b ferret Dave - A Twinkie <8> 4:49p 5:05p FRI 26 BYE
79667 2400b sm0jmn Bernt Andersson <0> 5:09p 5:10p FRI 3 BYE
79668 2400b joej Joe Rackelmann <1> 5:11p 5:16p FRI 4 BYE
79670 2400b grimm A/C <8> 5:18p 5:19p FRI 2 BYE
79671 1200b mentor The Mentor <2+> 5:21p 5:30p FRI 6 BYE
79673 1200b wright ken wright <0> 5:43p 5:44p FRI 3 LOST
79674 2400b greg Greg Montgomery <0> 6:14p 6:16p FRI 5 BYE
79677 1200b jim Jim Klessig <1> 6:23p 6:46p FRI 19 BYE
79778 2400b redline Redline <1> 6:49p 7:14p FRI 1 TIME

If a numeric argument NN is given, the last NN callers will be listed
instead of the last 20 (LIST 500 displays the last 500 callers).

Here's what lines in the caller log really mean:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
79665 2400b floyd Floyd R Turbo <9+> 3:15p 4:40p FRI 29 BYE

1 Caller number. Incremented after every connect.

2 Baud rate of user. People take insane pleasure in altering
this field with the BAUD command..

3 Account name of user.

4 Full Identity of user, with access level, and + if user
posted. Users often ask what the + means. If they do, we tell
them "That means they voted republican in the last election".

5 Login time.

6 Logout time.

7 Day of the week.

8 Number of commands user entered ("Moves"). This is an indication
of the amount of activity a user performed while online.

9 Method used to logout ("Egress"). This may be:

BYE logged out normally
LOST lost carrier
IN typed LOGIN
EXIT special shell
IDLE user timed out waiting for a key to be pressed
SiN user took 255 turns (far too many)

This command can be abbreviated as "L".

LOGIN

Logs out of the current account, and requests a new name and
password as if the user had just called the system.

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29 pm (?=help!) -> LOGIN
lunatic logged out 04-Jul-69 06:29p

Login or NEW:

This is useful for callers who have a friend present that
wants to login to the system without redialing, or if you want
to exit your account and use a system maintenance account.

LOGOFF or LOGOUT

Terminate connection to the system, the same as BYE.

MAIL

The MAIL command permits private electronic communications
between users on the system or users on other systems. Typing
MAIL places you in a "mail submenu" where a number of
commands are available.

Most of these commands may be abbreviated to a single letter.

% AGAIN Reread the current message. Also see the
VERBOSE command if you want all headers to
be visible.

% BACK Go backwards and read the previous message.

% CLEAR Clear the screen, usually used
for privacy reasons.

% DELETE Delete the current message.

Next/37 Mail> D
Message 36 marked for deletion.

To UNDELETE a message, DELETE it again.
In effect this command toggles the
"deleted" status.

The message will be retained until MAIL is
exited, after which it will be removed from
disk and can no longer be undeleted.

An argument may be specified containing a
message number to remove:

Next/37 Mail> D 5
Message 5 marked for deletion.

% DOWNLOAD Download the current mail message with the
active protocol.

Next/37 Mail> DOWN
Download #36 via Z protocol? y

17 blocks, 3k, with Z protocol

% EXPAND Expand a mailing list. This is the same
as the EXPAND command at the main Waffle menu.

% FOLLOW REPLY to a message, including quoted text
in the reply. This helps a lot towards
establishing the context of the remarks.

An address other than the originator of the
message may be specified:

FOLLOW [email protected]

Multiple addresses may be specified.

% FORWARD Resend the current message to a new recipient.
This is usually used when you want someone
to read the message, or if mail is accidentally
sent to the wrong box (through user error).

Next/37 Mail> forward sysop

To: sysop
Letter saved.

This only forwards the current message; it does
not apply to future mail.

% GO Prints a selection of mail folders, of which
you may make a selection or hit RETURN.

The default folder is the MAILBOX folder, where
all normal incoming mail ends up.

Next/1441 Mail> G

Current folder is: mailbox

Folder Letters Bytes Last modified
---------- --------- --------- ---------------------
MAILBOX 1442 3882384 14-Feb-92 02:02
CIS 3 1402 31-Jan-92 00:09

Enter folder name or RETURN to resume: CIS

"GO CIS" will do the same, but omits the menu.

Folders are created using the MOVE command
after reading a message.

If you need to get to the folder list but you don't
have any mail, use MAIL * from the main prompt.

% HELP Gives the MAIL menu, a quick
summary of these commands.

% LIST List the dates and sender of each message.

Next/37 Mail> LIST

37 19 Jun 90 - ferret (Dave - A twinkie)
38 19 Jun 90 - jas (The Slipped Disk)
39 23 Jun 90 - [email protected] (Thomas E Dell)
40 26 Jun 90 - Frank Chiquerie
41 29 Jun 90 - lunky!pez (J Beauregard Pez)

A starting number and header (LIST 1 SUBJECT), or
just a header (LIST ORGANIZATION) may be specified:

Next/37 Mail> LIST 1 SUBJECT

1 19 Jun 90 - Welcome to the system!
2 19 Jun 90 -
3 23 Jun 90 - The largest gear we've ever had!
4 26 Jun 90 - We have no bananas.
5 29 Jun 90 - Re: The largest gear we've ever had!

(In this instance message #2 has no Subject: line).

Upon entering MAIL, a LIST is normally displayed.
To abort a list, use ^C (Unix/DOS) or spacebar (DOS).

% MOVE Move current message to a folder. If the folder
does not exist, one is created by that name.

If you don't give an argument, the GO menu is shown
and you may select a folder from it.

Next/32 Mail> MOVE BOUNCES
Message 31 moved to BOUNCES folder.

MOVE marks the message as deleted. As you exit
the mailbox the message was in, it is then deleted.

% NEXT Read the next message.

This is the same as pressing , which
is what people normally should do.

Next/34 Mail>

To: sysop
From: elvis (Elvis Aaron Presley)
Comments: what's going on around here anyway
Date: Sat, 25 Aug 90 10:51:43 PDT

Please remove my account.
I will be no longer calling your system,
due to my unfortunate circumstances.

Next/35 Mail>

% QUIT Exit MAIL. If messages have been deleted, they are
removed at this time, otherwise the question

Next/37 Mail> q
Purge all letters? y

40 messages purged.

is asked. This will NOT be asked if you are
reading FEEDBACK with the SYSMAIL command.

% REPLY Reply to a message. The "Subject:" will have
a "Re:" attached in front if one does not already
exist. For example,

Next/37 Mail> r

To: Frank Chiquerie
Subject: Re: 408 Area Code

A REPLY can also be sent to someone other than
the person who sent the message,

Next/37 Mail> R [email protected]

This is often necessary if the address has been
munged beyond recognition by the time it gets to
your site, plus various other scenarios.

% SEND Send a message. Same as "MAIL address"; does
not use the previous message's Subject.

Next/36 Mail> send [email protected]

% VERBOSE Redisplay message with ALL headers, including
those turned off with the "ignore" parameter in
the static file.

% WRITE Save the current message in a file in the
user's home directory. If the file already
exists the message will be appended.

Next/36 Mail> write
Appended to file /user/lunatic/mailbox

If a name is specified, that filename will
be used to store the message:

Next/36 Mail> write yip.txt
Written to file /user/lunatic/yip.txt

It is generally more efficient to keep old mail
in such a file rather than in the mailbox.

Privileged users may WRITE to device files;

ie., "WRITE PRN", to send output to the printer.

Typing a message's number at the MAIL prompt will cause
that message to be read.

If you want to add additional headers to messages, the static
file parameter "ask:" should be added; see STATIC.DOC file.

The MAIL command can be abbreviated as "M".

MEMORY

For the DOS version of Waffle, tells how much memory
is still free for running other programs.

coreleft = 224824

If this number is low, say 50k or less, either there is
a configuration problem or your machine had little memory
to start with.

NEW

Read all new messages on all subscribed newsgroups.

For people who do not have a JOIN file, the date of the
last NEW scan is used to determine if messages are new.

For those with JOIN files, only subscribed groups
will be checked for new messages. See the description of
the JOIN command for more information.

All READ menu commands are available with the NEW
command. See the information on READ for a more detailed
description of these.

If an argument is given, the NEW can will start at
that group; this is useful if you only want to read a
few groups near the end of your NEW scan.

This command can be abbreviated as "N".

NODE

The least useful Waffle command. Displays the network name
of the machine, for example:

elf.santa-cruz.ca.us

This is generally the same name used on return addresses.

OFF

An alias for the BYE command. Logoff the system,
and terminate connection.

OREO

A nutritional food item yet to be featured on the
Twin Peaks television show. This is included so that people
typing "O" are not immediately logged out because of OFF.

When another command starting with "O" is added to the list
of available commands, this practice will be discontinued.

PAGE

Clear the screen, usually for reasons of privacy. This will be
effective only if your terminal supports this function, and only
if Waffle thinks your terminal is what it really is.

PAGE is identical to the CLEAR command.

PATH

An alias for the CD command, to change disk directories.
Using PATH requires a privileged account.

PLAN

Create a PLAN file, which is displayed when someone
fingers your account:

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29p (?=help!) -> PLAN

Create /user/floyd/plan? Y

[...0 lines...]

1> We all shine on..
2> Like the moon, and the stars, and the sun..
3> /s

If you already had a PLAN file in your home directory, this
will edit the file rather than create a new one.

POOF

Vanish from the system without leaving a trace.

You can use the POOF command to skip entering yourself in
the caller log. This is commonly used by sysops who don't want
to show up there too much, and by timid users who are
ashamed to show their faces.

Normal users may not POOF on their first call of any day.
This is to discourage hidden users of your BBS. All POOF's are
recorded in the EVENTS log.

POST

Post a message on a forum or newsgroup. A subject will be
requested, although additional headers may also be requested
if the system has been configured in that manner.

Access to post in a particular forum is required before a
user is permitted to enter a message.

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29p (?=help!) -> POST

Subject: BBQ - This Sunday at 6PM

Enter message, single / when done.
/s to save or /q to quit without saving.

1> Under penalty of death all users are expected
2> to attend the barbequeue. This order comes
3> from the Highest Authority.
4> /s

Message saved.

With Usenet newsgroups, it is often convenient to crosspost
an article to multiple groups. You can do this by specifying
arguments to POST, such as

POST rec.arts.comics,alt.cyberpunk

Crossposting is forbidden to moderated newsgroups, or
newsgroups where this facility has been disabled with the
"/solo" configuration keyword.

This command can be abbreviated as "P".

PROMPT

Change the main Waffle prompt. Normally, this is set to

%B%|%T (?=help!) -> %

which translates to current newsgroup (full name) followed by
a carriage return, the time and "(?=help!) -> ".

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29p (?=help!) -> _

A full description of % options is available in STATIC.DOC
documentation file.

Entering PROMPT without an argument changes back to the
default prompt. If you really want NO prompt, use "PROMPT %".

The default prompt is configured in the static file parameter
"prompt"; this command is included to allow users to customize
their prompts by using their "waffle" startup files.

READ

The READ command enters Waffle's "newsreader mode", for
reading & responding to Usenet messages. "READ" alone
will read the currently selected newsgroup, where "READ group"
will read a different one.

Normal behavior after typing READ is to just hit return
to read messages. Other commands that are available with
READ or NEW are:

% AGAIN Read the current message again. Also see
the VERBOSE command if you want to read it
without any headers supressed.

% BACK Go back one message to read the previous
message. However, to go forward a message
hit RETURN (the NEXT won't do this).

% CANCEL Remove a message that you had previously
posted. If the message was sent over the
network, a CANCEL control message will be
generated to remove the message on all systems.

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: cancel

From: [email protected] (Robert F. Jones, x3312)
Subject: Re: Making your car explode

Cancel 434 on rec.pyrotechnics?

Although a privileged user may cancel any
message, it is considered impolite to CANCEL
messages from people on other systems.

% CATCH Mark ALL messages as read. If this is a NEW
scan, Waffle will proceed to the next newsgroup.

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: catch
Catch up ALL MESSAGES on rec.pyrotechnics? y

% DOWNLOAD Download current message, using the
currently selected protocol.

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: download
Download #434 via Z protocol? y

17 blocks, 3k

You should then start up the receiving
end of your terminal to receive the file.

% FOLLOW Post, including quotes. Text from the most
recently read message is prefixed by >'s.

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: f
Subject: Re: The safest pyrotechnic

NOTE - Please delete any unnecessary text in the
quoted message, as it tends to get annoying...

You are now placed in the editor to
compose a response.

% FORWARD Mail copy of message elsewhere. This is similar
to the MAIL forward command except deals with a
posted message instead of a letter.

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: forward jim

To: jim
Letter saved.

% LIST Display message subjects or other headers.

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: LIST

434: Re: Stupid Childhood Activities
435: Re: The safest pyrotechnic
...etc...

A numeric argument will begin listing at that number.
When an "alpha" argument is given, that header
will be listed instead of the SUBJECT line:

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: list from

434: [email protected] (Robert F. Jones, x3312)
435: [email protected] (Doug Mueller)
...etc...

These two forms may be combined:

[RET] 434-533, Q)uit: list 450 subject

450: Kansas State University, Dept. of Computing
451: University of California, Berkeley
...etc...

% MAIL Send private mail to author, with quoted
text of the message included. This is in effect
a followup mailed to the author rather than
posted for the rest of the world to see.

% NEXT Skip to following forum, leaving any
remaining messages unread. This is NOT the
same as just pressing return to read the
following message.

% POST Post public message. Newsgroups may be
specified in the argument. See the full
section on the POST command.

This will also occur if you answer YES to
a "Post Here?" question during a NEW scan.

% QUIT Exit to main menu. The newsgroup you were
in when you started will be reentered.

% SEARCH Search by subject or author. The first
time give the search string as an argument
to SEARCH; after that "s" without any
argument will continue the search where
you left off.

[RET] 435-534, Q)uit: s thermite

<..a message is displayed that contained the
word "thermite" in the header..>

[RET] 435-534, Q)uit: s
Not found.

<..there were no more messages about
thermite, apparently..>

% UNJOIN Unsubscribe to newsgroup. If you answer YES,
it will be removed from your JOIN file.

[RET] 435-534, Q)uit: u
Unsubscribe to rec.pyrotechnics? y

If you have no JOIN file, this has no effect.
To resubscribe, type "JOIN newsgroup" at
the main Waffle prompt.

If you just want to scan a newsgroup without
JOINING, type "READ newsgroup" at the main
prompt. This will not alter your JOIN file.

% VERBOSE Redisplay the current message, including
any headers that would normally be
suppressed by the "ignore" statement in
the static file.

The "ignore" headers normally clutter up
a message, but occasionally someone will want
to see what the missing headers are.

% WRITE Save the current message in a file in the
user's home directory. If the file already
exists the message will be appended.

Next/36 Mail> write
Appended to file /user/lunatic/messages

If a name is specified, that filename will
be used to store the message:

Next/36 Mail> write yap.txt
Written to file /user/lunatic/yap.txt

Also whenever a number is entered instead of a command,
that message will be displayed. Hitting RETURN causes the
next message to be read.

The READ command can be abbreviated as "R".

RENAME

Rename a disk file. Also, under some circumstances, the file
may be renamed into a different directory (provided the directory
is on the same physical disk as the original file).

REN oldfile.txt newfile.txt

RENAME is reserved for privileged users. This command can
be abbreviated as "REN".

SHELL

Enter the operating system (usually COMMAND.COM or the
Unix C shell). Obviously, for security reasons only
privileged users are permitted access to the SHELL command:

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29p (?=help!) -> SHELL

[shell - type EXIT to return]

C:\WAFFLE\BIN>DIR R*.EXE

Volume in drive C is DROOL
Directory of C:\WAFFLE\BIN

RMAIL EXE 23966 7-05-90 8:55p
RNEWS EXE 38640 7-03-90 8:19p
2 File(s) 913408 bytes free

C:\WAFFLE\BIN>EXIT

A similar display results with the Unix version of Waffle.

If arguments are given to the SHELL command, they are
executed without a command line. For instance,

SHELL DIR R*.EXE

has the same effect as the above.

When running under DOS, it should be noted that there are
some programs that are not "well behaved", that is, the
input or output cannot be intercepted by Waffle to send over
the modem. Such programs should not be used with a modem.

SHOW

Examine the system logs. There are a number of logfiles
maintained by Waffle in the /waffle/admin directory that are
useful to examine from time to time:

SHOW TRANSFER

will display the last 20 file transfers. To view more
transfers, an additional numeric argument can be specified:

SHOW 50 TRANSFER

Some other interesting logfiles that can be examined in this
manner include

SHOW CALLERS Equivalent to LIST command

SHOW ERRORS Any errors that the system has detected;
some errors occur due to normal use.

SHOW EVENTS Equivalent to EVENTS command

SHOW LOGFAIL Login failures detected by the
Waffle login sequence.

SHOW REQUESTS Account request information, including
any answers to the newuser questionnaire.

There are more logfiles that are specific to the DOS networking
utilities, such as SHOW NET and SHOW UUCP; refer to the
documentation regarding those programs for further information.

STATUS

The STATUS command allows the user to display and modify
information pertaining to his or her account. A list of the
current information is shown, some of which may be altered:

Account Name: system (SYSTEM 0PERATOR)

Password: 14*boom
Calls so far: 882
Posts left: 239
New messages: 105 since 06-Jul-90

Uploads: 974k
Downloads: 264k

Text Editor: vi
Terminal Type: vt100

System calls: 79854
..and posts: 20046

Last caller: grogant (Tim Grogan)

change Editor Level Rank Name Password Terminal?

The user may change any one of the following:

EDITOR Text editor, to be used when
entering messages or mail.

LEVEL, For BBS's that have been configured
RANK, or with a rank/level system, these three
COMMENT items can be changed by people with
sufficient access level. Example:

Level 0: Unvalidated

Here, "0" is the LEVEL and "Unvalidated"
is the RANK (or COMMENT).

NAME Change user's name; this is the
"identity" rather than the login name.

PASSWORD Set password -- do not forget what you
change it to or you will be unable to login.

TERMINAL Configure terminal type. Common terminal
types include "none" and "vt100". See
the section under "TERM" form additional
information.

The display of this command is controlled by the file
/waffle/system/status, and can be altered if the need arises.

SYSMAIL

Read and respond to FEEDBACK. Specifically, any privileged
account can access the mailbox of user "system" with SYSMAIL.

[ Mail for ]

80 12 Jul 90 - [email protected] (Larry Gilbert)
81 13 Jul 90 - greg (Greg Montgomery)
82 13 Jul 90 - anwyn (anwyn)
83 13 Jul 90 - jim (Jim Klessig)
84 14 Jul 90 - "Erik E. Fair"

Next/78 Mail> QUIT

The last ten letters are listed when first entering SYSMAIL;
the example above has been abbreviated.

Any responses to mail in the "system" mailbox are sent with the
originator's return address.

TAIL

View the last few lines of a file. For instance,

TAIL /waffle/system/callers

will show the last 20 lines, or fewer if there aren't that
many lines in the file. When an additional argument is given,
a number other than 20 can be viewed:

TAIL 400 /waffle/system/callers

will give you the last 400 lines, if you are so inclined.

TERM

Select a terminal type. The DOS version of Waffle supports
two types of terminals, vt100 (or ansi), and a plain terminal.

Type TERM for a list of terminals available:

[#1: the Public Barbequeue]
6:29p (?=help!) -> TERM

This flavor of Waffle supports two types of terminals,

vt100 VT100 emulation
none No emulation at all

To select a terminal, either issue the TERM command, as

[#1: the Public Barbequeque]
6:29p (?=help!) -> TERM vt100

Terminal set to vt100

or select "Terminal" from the STATUS command's menu.

The Unix version of Waffle supports any terminal handled by
Unix termcap, including vt100, vt52, vt220, and many others.
The specifics vary from one version of Unix to another.

TIME

Display the current date and time, plus the time
online and time remaining:

Sun, 15 Jul 90 17:05:47 PDT, on for 2 minutes, 88 left

This is identical to the DATE command.

TYPE

View a file; similar to the DOS "type" or Unix "cat" commands.
The filename may be a file or a pathname.

TYPE welcome

For unprivileged users, the file is assumed to be in the
user's directory; otherwise the current directory is checked.

UNJOIN

Remove a newsgroup from your JOIN file, and thus from
your NEW scan. For example,

UNJOIN comp.sys.ibm.pc

Much more information on this can be found under JOIN.

USERS

Display a listing of all users on the system, along with
identity, last call date, and comment:

Userlist @ darkside.com, 1334 total

aahz | Aahz | 01-Mar-90 | Psychedelica
aldr_do | Mark Aaldering | 22-May-90 | obba babatumbe
ard | Aardvark | 09-May-90 | Generic Rank
able | Able Baker | 15-Dec-89 | who goes
abs | Al Sinclair | 13-Jun-90 | Have you seen
absolute | Absolute | 17-Jun-90 | It's 2am & the
achilles | Achilles | 12-May-90 | Toe Jam Football
ack | Bill the un Cat | 28-Jun-90 | Black Velvet
acumen | Acumen Publishing | 08-Feb-90 | Be good to your

This command can be abbreviated as "U".

VALIDATE

Searches though the userlist for newly created accounts
and asks whether to validate these or not:

Validate floyd (Floyd R Turbo) Bud at 408/245-SPAM - y/n/kill? Y

If "Y" is given as an answer, an ADMIN EDIT command is
for that account; an "N" answer will cause the account to be
remain unvalidated. A "K" will remove the account.

After validation, an event is placed in the EVENTS log to
allow assignment of credit/blame to the validators, in the
event several people are using VALIDATE.

VERSION

Display the version number of Waffle that you are using.

Waffle v1.65 compiled 3.1.92

(C) Copyright 1992 Darkside Int'l
PO Box 4436 Mountain View CA 94040

Public access dialup at +1 408 245 SPAM

Inquiries to [email protected]
..apple!uuwest!vox!dell

Of course you probably know what version you are running, but
other people on your system may not.

WELCOME

Redisplay the welcome message that was viewed immediately
after logging in. (Occasionally an announcement is missed by
an overzealous abort key, and someone wants to review the
welcome bulletins..)


I N P U T A N D O U T P U T

o Control characters and line input

When entering a line:

^H - backspace (or DEL)
^W - delete previous word
^X - delete entire line

Words will wrap at about 78 characters (though this can be
adjusted by the "wordwrap" parameter in the static file.

o Pausing or stopping output

^S will temporarily stop output until you hit another key.
SPACE (for the DOS version only) or ^C (for both the DOS and
Unix versions) will abort most displays.


L I N E E D I T O R

o Line numbers

To specify line numbers you wish to LIST, PRINT, or
DELETE, the following formats are valid:

Edit> L 8 List just line 8
Edit> L 3,8 List lines 3 through 8
Edit> L 3 8 List lines 3 through 8

Edit> D Delete lines 4 through 5
Delete (1-14)? 4,5

A space or comma may be used to separate line numbers.

o Uploading messages

The UPLOAD command from within the line editor allows
text to be submitted via XMODEM, or whatever the currently
defined protocol is.

o Saving ANONYMOUS messages

Type SAVE ANONYMOUS (in full) to save an anonymous
message. This option might be disabled, either in full
or on certain boards, depending on the discretion of
the SYSTEM 0PERATOR. Though your name won't be associated
with the POST, the time and date will be displayed and
can be matched up in the caller LIST.

The system will prevent a network-bound message from
being posted anonymously, as a good neighbor policy.


U S E R D I R E C T O R I E S

o User directories

Users are allowed to create user directories, to keep
Stuff in. (We all need places to put our Stuff). You can
archive mail messages, posts, or other files. From
the FILES section you can also LOG your user directory.

PLAN will create a /user/username directory for
you and allow you to edit your plan file.

o Files in the user directory:

Files that you may find in your directory include:

sig Your signature file. Text from this
file will be appended to any message
you post. This should not be more than
five or so lines or people will
become upset.

mailsig Your MAIL signature file.

plan Your plan file. This is displayed
when another user FINGERs your account,
and can be changed with the PLAN command.

messages Archived messages, saved with the WRITE
command from the READ menu.

mailbox Archived mail, saved with the WRITE
command from within the MAIL system.

waffle File containing BBS commands that
will be executed as you login.

--
[email protected]
(C) Copyright 1992 Darkside Int'l.