source: trunk/athena/bin/xdsc/xdsc.1 @ 6127

Revision 6127, 9.7 KB checked in by lwvanels, 33 years ago (diff)
fixes bugs [9319]
Line 
1.\" This file uses -man macros.
2.TH XDSC 1 "May 14, 1992"
3.SH NAME
4\fIxdsc\fR \- X interface to the discuss system
5.SH SYNOPSIS
6.B xdsc
7.SH DESCRIPTION
8The
9.I xdsc
10program provides a window-oriented user interface to the discuss system.
11It currently uses an \fIedsc\fP co-process which does the actual
12communication with \fIdiscuss\fP.  By default, \fIxdsc\fR
13runs '/usr/athena/etc/edsc'.  If you
14want it to use a a different \fIedsc\fP, set the environment variable
15EDSC to its full pathname.
16
17.SH BASIC SCREEN LAYOUT
18\fIxdsc\fR displays a single window, divided into five areas:
19.TP 4
20.B \-
21A row of eight buttons, some with pull-down command menus.
22.PP
23.TP 4
24.B \-
25A text window containing a listing of the meetings which the user attends.
26This window can be also used to display a listing of the transactions
27within a single meeting.
28.PP
29.TP 4
30.B \-
31A single line of text displaying the current status.
32.PP
33.TP 4
34.B \-
35A row of seven buttons, some with pull-down command menus.
36.PP
37.TP 4
38.B \-
39A second text window, used to show the text of the current transaction.
40.PP
41Also, an assortment of popup windows will appear as necessary.  These
42are intended to be self-explanatory.
43
44.SH USING XDSC
45This section will provide an introduction on how to use \fIxdsc\fR.
46It explains how to read transactions, how to add and
47delete meetings from the list of meetings you attend, and how to
48enter transactions of your own.
49Each \fIxdsc\fR command button is explained.
50
51.SS UPPER TEXT PANE
52The upper text pane initially contains a listing of the meetings you
53attend.  The current meeting, i.e., the one from which you are
54reading transactions, will have a plus sign ("+") next to it. 
55To change meetings, you
56can either double-click on a meeting's line with mouse button one, use
57the \fIUp\fP and \fIDown\fP buttons, or use the arrow keys as described
58under "Keyboard Equivalents" below.
59If this
60is the first time you have used \fIdiscuss\fP in any form, only two
61meetings will be listed, namely "New_meetings" and "Everybody." 
62You can use the \fIconfigure\fP button, as described below,
63to add more meetings.
64
65Changed meetings, i.e., those with new transactions, will have a "c"
66next to their name.
67
68This window can also be used, via the \fImode\fP button, to show a list
69of transactions within the current meeting.  In this mode, doubleclicking
70on a transaction's line with button one will cause the transaction's text
71to be displayed in the lower window.
72
73.SS UPPER CONTROL AREA
74The upper control area contains commands of a global nature:
75
76.TP 8
77.B Down
78Moves the current meeting to the next one with unread transactions.  If there
79is no such meeting, a warning popup will appear.
80.TP 8
81.B Up
82Moves the current meeting to the previous one with unread
83transactions.  If there is no such meeting, a warning popup will appear.
84.TP 8
85.B update
86Queries \fIdiscuss\fP for an updated meeting list.  The new list will reflect
87any transactions which may have come in since the last update, as well
88as any changes the user may have made to the list of meetings attended.
89.TP 8
90.B configure
91Pops up a menu with two entries:  \fIadd meeting\fP and \fIdelete meeting\fP.
92These are used to modify the list of meetings you attend.  Selecting
93one of these items will pop up a dialog box with fields to fill in;
94these fields may be cryptic to the novice, but fear not:  If the
95current transaction is the announcement of a new meeting, the fields
96will already be filled in, and the user need only confirm the action
97by pressing the \fIAdd\fP or \fIDelete\fP button at the bottom of the
98dialog box.
99
100The typical procedure for adding new meetings is as follows:  Read the
101New_meetings meeting by swiftly double-clicking on its line in the upper
102text pane.
103Move through meeting announcements with the \fInext\fP and \fIprev\fP
104buttons,
105and add the meetings which seem interesting by selecting \fIadd meeting\fP
106from the \fIconfigure\fP menu and pressing the \fIAdd\fP button at the bottom
107of the dialog box.
108
109You will need to press \fIupdate\fP before these new meetings will appear
110in your list of meetings.
111.TP 8
112.B mode
113Pops up a menu with two entries:  \fItransactions\fP and \fImeetings\fP.
114Selecting either of these makes the upper window display either a list
115of transactions in the current meeting or a list of meetings attended, as
116appropriate.  Note that while in "transactions" mode, you cannot
117move between meetings.
118.TP 8
119.B show
120This button is only active while in transactions mode, as it controls
121which transactions are listed.
122It pops up a menu with three entries:  \fIunread\fP, \fIall\fP
123and \fIback ten\fP.
124\fIunread\fP causes the unread transactions to be listed.  \fIall\fP summons up
125a list of all transactions in the meeting (Danger!  This can take
126a while!).  Finally, \fIback ten\fP adds the ten immediately previous
127transactions to the
128top of the list, and is usually used for searching backwards for a
129recent transaction.
130.TP 8
131.B HELP
132Displays a screen of help, briefly explaining what the buttons
133currently on the screen do.  To get rid of this screen, press the
134\fIdismiss\fP button at its bottom.
135.TP 8
136.B QUIT
137Exits the application.
138.SS STATUS LINE
139The status line briefly summarizes what \fIxdsc\fP is doing at the moment.
140It typically lists the current meeting,
141the range of transaction numbers within this meeting, and the current
142meeting number.  This line is also used for status messages
143when \fIxdsc\fP is doing something which may take a while, such as
144reading the headers for all the transactions in the "Everybody" meeting.
145.SS LOWER TEXT PANE
146The lower text pane contains the text of the current transaction,
147or is blank if there is no current transaction.
148.SS LOWER CONTROL AREA
149The lower control area contains commands which operate on the current
150transaction or meeting.
151.TP 8
152.B next
153Moves to the next transaction in the current meeting.
154.TP 8
155.B prev
156Moves to the previous transaction in the current meeting.
157.TP 8
158.B Next in chain
159Moves to the next transaction in the same chain as the current transaction.
160.TP 8
161.B Prev in chain
162Moves to the previous transaction in the same chain as the current transaction.
163.TP 8
164.B goto
165Pops up a five-entry menu, containing \fInumber\fP, \fIfirst\fP,
166\fIlast\fP, \fIstart of chain\fP, and \fIend of chain\fP, used for
167moving to specific transactions. 
168Selecting \fInumber\fP
169pops up a dialog box prompting you for a specific transaction number
170to go to. 
171Selecting \fIfirst\fP or \fIlast\fP moves to the first or last transaction
172in the current meeting.
173Selecting \fIstart of chain\fP or \fIend of chain\fP moves to the start or end
174of the current chain of transactions.
175.TP 8
176.B enter
177Is used for entering a transaction in the current meeting.  It pops
178up a menu with two entries, \fIreply\fP and \fInew transaction\fP.
179Selecting
180\fIreply\fP will add the transaction to the chain of the current
181transaction, while \fInew transaction\fP starts a chain.
182
183After you select one of these entries, a dialog box will appear with
184a subject line and a text widget.  For replies, the subject line will
185have a default already filled in, while new transactions will have a
186blank subject line which the user should fill in.  The text widget
187is a standard Athena text widget, where you can use emacs commands
188to enter the body of your transaction.
189
190When done entering the body of your transaction, press the \fISend\fP button
191to enter the transaction into the meeting.  Press \fIAbort\fP if you
192chicken out and decide not to send the transaction.
193.TP 8
194.B write
195Is used for writing the current transaction to a file.  It pops up a
196dialog box where the user can enter a file name, and pressing the
197\fIWrite\fP button causes the transaction to be written out to this file.
198The \fImail to someone\fP feature is not currently available.
199
200.SH KEYBOARD EQUIVALENTS
201Xdsc has been designed to minimize dependance on a mouse.  Nearly every
202function can be accessed with one or two keystrokes, and the user's hands
203almost never need to leave the keyboard.  The keyboard equivalent for
204any button is always the first letter of its label,
205and hitting this key has exactly the same action as pressing the button
206itself.   Note that uppercase and lowercase letters can be distinct.
207For example,
208the lowercase
209"n" and "p" keys are synonyms for the \fInext\fP and \fIprev\fP buttons,
210for going
211to the next and previous transactions, while uppercase "N" and "P"
212stand for \fINext-in-chain\fP and \fIPrev-in-chain\fP.
213
214If a button triggers a menu, the menu will appear in stay-up
215mode and take focus.  Hitting a key corresponding to the first letter
216of a menu entry will fire off that entry and pop down the menu.  Any
217key which does not match a menu entry will abort the menu and pop it
218down without any action.
219
220When a simple popup dialog box appears, such as goto-number, pressing
221return will make it do its default action.  You can abort a dialog
222box by pressing ESC.  For complex dialog boxes, i.e. those with more
223than one text field, return moves focus between the text fields
224and control-return makes it do its default action.
225
226The arrow keys can be used to move the text caret up and down in the
227upper text window.  Pressing return then reads whatever meeting or
228transaction the caret is sitting on.
229
230Finally, in a way similar
231to rn, the space bar is bound to "do the right thing."  If the user is
232reading a transaction, the space bar will scroll one page down.  If at
233the end of a transaction, it moves to the next transaction, and if at
234the end of a meeting, it moves to the next-changed meeting.  If there
235are no further transactions to read, it does nothing.  Backspace moves
236in a similar way, but backwards.
237
238.SH FILES
239~/.meetings - \fIdiscuss\fR's list of meetings attended and transactions read.
240.br
241/usr/tmp/xdsc* - temporary files.
242.SH SEE ALSO
243discuss, edsc, X Toolkit Intrinsics, Athena Widget Set
244.SH COPYRIGHT
245Copyright 1991, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
246.SH AUTHOR
247Andy Oakland, MIT Project Athena
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