\? M E S S A G E S E C T I O N N ... Display Next Highest Message P ... Display Previous Message E ... Enter a New Message K ... Kill (Delete) a Message T ... Display Mail Addressed TO YOU A ... Select a MESSAGE AREA U ... Update (Edit) a Message You Entered R ... Reply to a Message C ... Continuous Display L ... List Message Headers S ... Search Message Headers for Text W ... Write current msg to the editor BUFFER G ... Goodbye (Log-off) M ... Return to MAIN SECTION From here you can display or enter messages. There are¨ potentially more than one MESSAGE AREA; each Area contains¨ messages grouped by Subject. Enter the first letter of the command; or for specific help,¨ enter: "N?" for help with the "N)ext" command "E?" for help with the "E)nter" command . . * And so on for all the commands you see in the menu. (Don't enter the quotes, just the command letter and the¨ questionmark.) - Control-C Aborts Commands/text display - Control-K Aborts Commands/text display - Control-S Pauses Commands/text display - press any key to continue. READING MESSAGES ================ The last line of the command prompt looks like: (menu of commands available) or Message Number 1-23 (?=help) [4 N]: The "[4 N]" tells you two things: * "[4 x]" - 4 is the LAST MESSAGE read (or 0 first time) * "[x N]" - pressing [CR] reads "N)ext" message * "[x P]" - pressing [CR] reads "P)revious" message (When you use the "N)ext" or "P)revious" commands, Fido makes¨ them "stick" so you can use the shorthand method above) You can then enter: - Any command displayed - The specific number of a particular message (in this example, any number 1 to 23) - One of the Special Commands listed below - Just a [CR]. SPECIAL COMMANDS ================ The following special commands are always available: < Select LOWEST message and make "N)ext" stick; prompt will then¨ show "[1 N]". > Select HIGHEST message and make "P)revious" stick; prompt will¨ show "[x P]". x will be the HIGHEST message number. . Re-read the SAME message - Control-C Aborts Commands/text display - Control-K Aborts Commands/text display - Control-S Pauses Commands/text display - press any key to continue. \N N)ext Highest message. Reads next message or displays "Highest¨ Message" if you reach the end of the list. This command "sticks"¨ so that [CR] causes Fido to repeat the last message. - Control-C Aborts Commands/text display - Control-K Aborts Commands/text display - Control-S Pauses Commands/text display - press any key to continue. \P P)revious message. Reads previous message or displays "Lowest¨ Message" if you reach the beginning of the list. This command¨ "sticks" so that [CR] causes Fido to repeat the last message. - Control-C Aborts Commands/text display - Control-K Aborts Commands/text display - Control-S Pauses Commands/text display - press any key to continue. \E E)nter a new message. You will "fill in the blanks" for the¨ header (To:, Subject:, etc); and then you will enter the body of¨ the message with a Word Wrap line editor. You can make changes after filling in the header; help is¨ available when entering messages. Use R)eply if you want to Reply to a message. Use U)date to change a message you previously created with E)nter¨ or R)eply. \K K)ill (delete) the current message whose number is shown in the¨ prompt, assuming that you wrote it or that it is addressed¨ specifically to you. If your prompt shows "[17 N]", entering "K" will delete message¨ #17. \T T)o_You searches for messages addressed "To: (your name)"; the¨ names must match EXACTLY for this to work. Once you have read the¨ message, you can "K)ill" it or "R)eply" to it normally. Use¨ repeated "T)o_You" commands until it finds no more. \A A)rea-Change command gives you a menu of available Message Areas¨ from which you choose one. Messages are grouped generally by¨ subject. Each Message Area is totally self- contained. \U U)pdate (edit) a message that you previously saved. You can use¨ the same commands to edit the message as you did when you created¨ it. The message is marked [EDITED] after you U)pdate it. \R R)eply is similar to E)nter, in that it lets you create a new ¨ message, but it also fills in the To: and Subject fields for you,¨ and links your new reply to the original message. The "+" and "-" commands let you read replies and original ¨ messages directly. \C C)ontinuously read ALL MESSAGES starting with the current ¨ message number, and the current "sticky" direction, until the end¨ is reached or you manually abort it. \L L)ist only the message headers, starting at the current message¨ number and "sticky" direction. \S S)earch prompts for a pattern to match, then searches each¨ message header, starting with the current message and direction¨ until it finds a match. For example, a pattern of "ART" will display the next message¨ containing the three letters "art" in either the To: , From: , or¨ Subject: fields. \O O)verride-Path lets the SYSOP specify a disk subdirectory from¨ which to read/enter messages; this is most useful when there is a¨ .MSG file you wish to read, which is not in a regular message¨ area; such as when another SYSOP "file attaches" a message to¨ you. \W W)rite-Buffer stores a copy of the message you just read in a¨ temporary "EDIT BUFFER". When you later E)nter (R)eply, or¨ U)pdate) a new message, you can read the contents of the EDIT¨ BUFFER into your message. This is very sueful when you want to¨ reply to a message, and refer to what the author wrote. The¨ contents of the buffer are lost when you logoff. \G G)oodbye! Log-off of Fido. Depending upon the implementation of¨ Fido on this system, you may be prompted to optionally enter a¨ Private message to the SYSOP before you are logged off. After¨ log-off, you will be disconnected. It is safe to "Hang Up" on Fido; it is never harmful. \M M)ain-Menu returns you to the MAIN SECTION, the menu of commands¨ you see when you first log into Fido. From there, you can return¨ to the MESSAGE SECTION or go into the FILE SECTION.