4.3BSD/usr/contrib/notes/man/notes.1
.TH NOTES 1 "May 10, 1986" "University of Illinois"
.SH NAME
notes,
autoseq,
readnotes \- a news system
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B notes
[
.B \-sxin
] [
.B "-o"
.I date-spec
] [
.B "-a"
subsequencer
]
[
.B "\-t"
termtype
]
[
.B "-f"
file
]
topic1
[ ... ]
.PP
.B autoseq
[
.B "-a"
subsequencer
]
.PP
.B readnotes
[
.B "-a"
subsequencer
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Notes
supports computer managed discussion forums.
It coordinates access to and updates of data bases of notes and their
responses.
A single
.I notesfile
contains an ordered list of
.I "base notes,"
each of which may have an ordered list of responses associated with it.
A
.I "note string"
consists of a
.I "base note"
and all of its responses.
Separate
.I notesfiles
contain discussions on separate subject matters; microcomputers might
be discussed in a
``micronotes'' notesfile while
bicycling enthusiasts make their comments in a ``bicycle'' notesfile.
.PP
The
.B \-s
option signals
.I notes
to use the automatic sequencer.
With the sequencer enabled,
.I notes
shows the new notes and responses since your last entry into
that notesfile.
With the sequencer enabled by
.B \-s
the notes program will not enter notesfiles which have no new text.
Specify
.B \-x
to use the sequencer and enter notesfiles even if they have no new
text.
The
.B \-i
and
.B \-n
options are still more sequencing modes,
.B \-i
is similar to
.B \-s
but shows the index page instead of the first modified note.
.B \-n
turns the sequencer off.
.PP
The
.B -o
option helps users find articles that are vaguely remembered
with terms such as ``some note in the last 3 days in one of
several notesfiles''.
These can be found with a command like:
notes -o "3 days ago" nf1 nf2 nf3
which sequences past all articles written in
notesfiles ``nf1'', ``nf2'', and ``nf3'' in the last 3 days.
The user's timestamps are not updated.
.PP
The
.B "-a"
option specifies a
.IR "subsequencer" "."
This allows several people sharing the same signon to
maintain their own sequencer file.
The actual sequencer name is generated by concatenating the
user name and the subsequencer name.
It is recommended that subsequencer names be unique within the
first 6 characters.
.PP
Specify
.B "\-t"
.I termtype
to override the TERM environment variable.
This switch is primarily for V6 systems.
.PP
The
.B "-f"
option directs
.I notes
to read the contents of
a file
for a list of notesfiles to scan.
This file and the directories must be readable by the notesfile
user id.
.PP
The
topic list
specifies which notesfiles are to be scanned.
The notesfiles are scanned from left to right; upon finishing the
first topic, the second is entered.
The shell's meta-characters are recognized within a topic
but must be escaped to prevent shell interpretation.
Specifying ``net.*'' will yield all the notesfiles with the
prefix ``net.''.
Specify ``*unix*'' to read all notesfiles with the string ``unix'' in
their names.
Bracket and question mark constructs are also recognized.
.PP
Notesfile names are parsed such that a notesfile will be entered
only once no matter how many times it is listed on the command
line and in any files specified by the
.B -f
option.
Notesfiles can also be excluded by prefixing their names with
a `!'. Thus to see all notesfiles except ``general'', one might
type:
notes "*" !general
.PP
The
.I autoseq
and
.I readnotes
commands allow sequencing through a list of notesfiles with the sequencer
enabled using with a single command.
.I Autoseq
and
.I Readnotes
function identically.
They are
syntactically equivalent to
``notes -s $NFSEQ''.
The environment variable NFSEQ contains a comma separated
list of notesfile specifications.
A typical
.I NFSEQ
definition for the Bourne shell
looks like:
NFSEQ=``general,announce,net.*,bicycle,srg,:/usr/essick/nflist''.
Specifications beginning with a `:' specify a file to read
for more notesfile names.
In the previous example, the last specification reads the
contents of the file `/usr/essick/nflist' for more notesfile
specifications. Many of these can appear in the
.I NFSEQ
variable.
.PP
Notes and responses are entered by using an editor. The default editor is
.IR "ed" (1).
This can be changed by setting one of the environment variables
.I NFED
or
.I EDITOR.
.I Notes
looks for
.I NFED
before looking for
.I EDITOR,
allowing users to use different editors for writing notes and
for other tools.
.PP
Some commonly used commands within the notesfile system are listed below:
.TP 10
space
Show the next page of the note/response.
.TP 10
;
Go the next response, if there are no more responses go to the next note.
.TP 10
-
Go to the previous page of the current note/response.
From the first page of a response, go to the previous response
(or the base note from the first response).
From the first page of a base note, go to the previous note.
.TP 10
newline
Go to the next note.
.TP 10
j
Jump to the next unread note/response (when using sequencer).
.TP 10
J
Jump to the next unread note, ignoring any further responses in the current
note string (when using sequencer).
.TP 10
w
When issued from the index page enters a new note.
When entered from a note/response display enters a response.
A capital-W will include the text of the currently displayed note/response
in the new response.
.TP 10
q
Leave the current notesfile.
.TP 10
Q
Leave the current notesfile without updating the sequencer information.
.TP 10
control-d
Return to the shell, ignoring any further notesfiles in the current
invocation.
No sequencer information is updated.
.TP 10
x
Search for a note with the (prompted for) string in its title.
Capital-X asks for a new search string, otherwise the last entered
string is used.
.TP 10
s
Saves the currently displayed note/response at the end of a (prompted for)
file.
Capital-S saves the entire note string.
.TP 10
M
Sends the text of the note/response displayed and
your comments to another user(s).
The P command routes the letter to the author of
the note/response.
.TP 10
t
Issues a write(1) command to the author of the currently displayed
note/response.
No action is taken if the note originated on a remote system or
is anonymous.
.TP 10
!
Forks a shell.
.PP
Only the
.I "notesfile owner"
can create new notesfiles.
The
.I "notesfile owner"
will create the notesfile and turn control over to
the person requesting the notesfile.
This person is the
.I "notesfile director;"
he may designate others to also be
.I "notesfile directors."
The
.I "notesfile director"
has special privileges including:
deleting any note,
determining policy for the notesfile,
permitting anonymous notes,
and
determining accessibility of the notesfile.
.PP
An interface is provided to
.IR news (1).
Transfers in both directions are supported.
See
.IR newsoutput (8)
and the
.ul
Notesfile Reference Manual
for more information on this facility.
.PP
Facilities for mailing to notesfiles (
.IR nfmail (8)
), networking notesfiles (
.IR nfxmit (8)
), printing notesfiles (
.IR nfprint (1)
), archiving old notes (
.IR nfarchive (8)
), and
several user routines (
.IR nfabort (3)
and
.IR nfcomment (3)
) exist.
.PP
The concept of a
notesfile
was taken from the PLATO system (a trademark of Control Data Corporation)
designed at the University of Illinois
to provide automated teaching capabilities.
.SH FILES
.PD 0
.TP 45
/etc/passwd
for the users name
.TP 45
/etc/group
for the users group(s)
.TP 45
/etc/termcap
for terminal capabilites
.TP 45
/usr/spool/notes
the default notesfile data base
.TP 45
/usr/spool/notes/.utilities
utility programs and online help
.TP 45
/usr/spool/notes/.sequencer/\fIuser\fP
Sequencing timestamps for
.I user.
.TP 45
/usr/spool/notes/.sequencer/\fIuser\fP:\fIsubsequencer\fP
Sub-sequencing timestamps for
.I user.
.PD
.SH SEE ALSO
checknotes(1),
ed(1),
mknf(8),
news(1),
newsoutput(8),
nfabort(3),
nfaccess(8),
nfarchive(8),
nfmail(8),
nfpipe(1),
nfprint(1),
nfstats(1),
nfxmit(8),
nfcomment(3),
notes(8),
termcap(3),
write(1),
.br
.ul
The Notesfile Reference Manual
.SH AUTHORS
.nf
Ray Essick (uiucdcs!essick, essick%uiuc@csnet-relay.arpa)
Department of Computer Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL
.sp
Rob Kolstad (kolstad@convex.UUCP)
CONVEX Computer Corporation
Richardson, TX
.fi