Provided by:
debathena-xdsc_10.0.0-0debathena4~ubuntu10.10_i386 
NAME
xdsc - X interface to the discuss system
SYNOPSIS
xdsc
DESCRIPTION
The xdsc program provides a window-oriented user interface to the
discuss system. It currently uses an edsc co-process which does the
actual communication with discuss. By default, xdsc runs
'/usr/athena/etc/edsc'. If you want it to use a a different edsc, set
the environment variable EDSC to its full pathname.
BASIC SCREEN LAYOUT
xdsc displays a single window, divided into five areas:
- A row of eight buttons, some with pull-down command menus.
- A text window containing a listing of the meetings which the user
attends. This window can be also used to display a listing of the
transactions within a single meeting.
- A single line of text displaying the current status.
- A row of seven buttons, some with pull-down command menus.
- A second text window, used to show the text of the current
transaction.
Also, an assortment of popup windows will appear as necessary. These
are intended to be self-explanatory.
USING XDSC
This section will provide an introduction on how to use xdsc. It
explains how to read transactions, how to add and delete meetings from
the list of meetings you attend, and how to enter transactions of your
own. Each xdsc command button is explained.
UPPER TEXT PANE
The upper text pane initially contains a listing of the meetings you
attend. The current meeting, i.e., the one from which you are reading
transactions, will have a plus sign ("+") next to it. To change
meetings, you can either double-click on a meeting's line with mouse
button one, use the Up and Down buttons, or use the arrow keys as
described under "Keyboard Equivalents" below. If this is the first
time you have used discuss in any form, only two meetings will be
listed, namely "New_meetings" and "Everybody." You can use the
configure button, as described below, to add more meetings.
Changed meetings, i.e., those with new transactions, will have a "c"
next to their name.
This window can also be used, via the mode button, to show a list of
transactions within the current meeting. In this mode, doubleclicking
on a transaction's line with button one will cause the transaction's
text to be displayed in the lower window.
UPPER CONTROL AREA
The upper control area contains commands of a global nature:
Down Moves the current meeting to the next one with unread
transactions. If there is no such meeting, a warning popup
will appear.
Up Moves the current meeting to the previous one with unread
transactions. If there is no such meeting, a warning popup
will appear.
update Queries discuss for an updated meeting list. The new list will
reflect any transactions which may have come in since the last
update, as well as any changes the user may have made to the
list of meetings attended.
configure
Pops up a menu with two entries: add meeting and delete
meeting. These are used to modify the list of meetings you
attend. Selecting one of these items will pop up a dialog box
with fields to fill in; these fields may be cryptic to the
novice, but fear not: If the current transaction is the
announcement of a new meeting, the fields will already be
filled in, and the user need only confirm the action by
pressing the Add or Delete button at the bottom of the dialog
box.
The typical procedure for adding new meetings is as follows:
Read the New_meetings meeting by swiftly double-clicking on its
line in the upper text pane. Move through meeting
announcements with the next and prev buttons, and add the
meetings which seem interesting by selecting add meeting from
the configure menu and pressing the Add button at the bottom of
the dialog box.
You will need to press update before these new meetings will
appear in your list of meetings.
mode Pops up a menu with two entries: transactions and meetings.
Selecting either of these makes the upper window display either
a list of transactions in the current meeting or a list of
meetings attended, as appropriate. Note that while in
"transactions" mode, you cannot move between meetings.
show This button is only active while in transactions mode, as it
controls which transactions are listed. It pops up a menu with
three entries: unread, all and back ten. unread causes the
unread transactions to be listed. all summons up a list of all
transactions in the meeting (Danger! This can take a while!).
Finally, back ten adds the ten immediately previous
transactions to the top of the list, and is usually used for
searching backwards for a recent transaction.
HELP Displays a screen of help, briefly explaining what the buttons
currently on the screen do. To get rid of this screen, press
the dismiss button at its bottom.
QUIT Exits the application.
STATUS LINE
The status line briefly summarizes what xdsc is doing at the moment.
It typically lists the current meeting, the range of transaction
numbers within this meeting, and the current meeting number. This line
is also used for status messages when xdsc is doing something which may
take a while, such as reading the headers for all the transactions in
the "Everybody" meeting.
LOWER TEXT PANE
The lower text pane contains the text of the current transaction, or is
blank if there is no current transaction.
LOWER CONTROL AREA
The lower control area contains commands which operate on the current
transaction or meeting.
next Moves to the next transaction in the current meeting.
prev Moves to the previous transaction in the current meeting.
Next in chain
Moves to the next transaction in the same chain as the current
transaction.
Prev in chain
Moves to the previous transaction in the same chain as the
current transaction.
goto Pops up a five-entry menu, containing number, first, last,
start of chain, and end of chain, used for moving to specific
transactions. Selecting number pops up a dialog box prompting
you for a specific transaction number to go to. Selecting
first or last moves to the first or last transaction in the
current meeting. Selecting start of chain or end of chain
moves to the start or end of the current chain of transactions.
enter Is used for entering a transaction in the current meeting. It
pops up a menu with two entries, reply and new transaction.
Selecting reply will add the transaction to the chain of the
current transaction, while new transaction starts a chain.
After you select one of these entries, a dialog box will appear
with a subject line and a text widget. For replies, the
subject line will have a default already filled in, while new
transactions will have a blank subject line which the user
should fill in. The text widget is a standard Athena text
widget, where you can use emacs commands to enter the body of
your transaction.
When done entering the body of your transaction, press the Send
button to enter the transaction into the meeting. Press Abort
if you chicken out and decide not to send the transaction.
write Is used for writing the current transaction to a file. It pops
up a dialog box where the user can enter a file name, and
pressing the Write button causes the transaction to be written
out to this file. The mail to someone feature is not currently
available.
KEYBOARD EQUIVALENTS
Xdsc has been designed to minimize dependance on a mouse. Nearly every
function can be accessed with one or two keystrokes, and the user's
hands almost never need to leave the keyboard. The keyboard equivalent
for any button is always the first letter of its label, and hitting
this key has exactly the same action as pressing the button itself.
Note that uppercase and lowercase letters can be distinct. For
example, the lowercase "n" and "p" keys are synonyms for the next and
prev buttons, for going to the next and previous transactions, while
uppercase "N" and "P" stand for Next-in-chain and Prev-in-chain.
If a button triggers a menu, the menu will appear in stay-up mode and
take focus. Hitting a key corresponding to the first letter of a menu
entry will fire off that entry and pop down the menu. Any key which
does not match a menu entry will abort the menu and pop it down without
any action.
When a simple popup dialog box appears, such as goto-number, pressing
return will make it do its default action. You can abort a dialog box
by pressing ESC. For complex dialog boxes, i.e. those with more than
one text field, return moves focus between the text fields and control-
return makes it do its default action.
The arrow keys can be used to move the text caret up and down in the
upper text window. Pressing return then reads whatever meeting or
transaction the caret is sitting on.
Finally, in a way similar to rn, the space bar is bound to "do the
right thing." If the user is reading a transaction, the space bar will
scroll one page down. If at the end of a transaction, it moves to the
next transaction, and if at the end of a meeting, it moves to the next-
changed meeting. If there are no further transactions to read, it does
nothing. Backspace moves in a similar way, but backwards.
FILES
~/.meetings - discuss's list of meetings attended and transactions
read.
/var/tmp/xdsc* - temporary files.
SEE ALSO
discuss, edsc, X Toolkit Intrinsics, Athena Widget Set
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1991, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
AUTHOR
Andy Oakland, MIT Project Athena
May 14, 1992 XDSC(1)