Computer Life 1995 December/Computer Life December 1995.iso/tapcis/reading.doc

Text File | 1995-08-13 | 94KB | 2,266 lines

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                                                               CHAPTER 4

                                                        Reading Messages





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TAPCIS gives you navigation, organization, and management tools to help
you make the best use of the information stored within a file of
messages.

To navigate through the messages, you have all the commands on the Move
menu and their associated hotkeys, as well as the optional scroll bars
and mouse tool bar.

To organize the messages, TAPCIS offers "Views" which let you isolate
the messages of interest while filtering out those you don't (currently)
want to see. Views also let you choose the order in which the messages
are displayed; this is called the "sort order."

To manage messages, TAPCIS offers a variety of ways to select groups of
messages with a single keystroke or a choice from the Select menu. Then
you can act upon those messages to print, save, move, mark, hold, or
erase them. See the Action menu for more details.

Once you are finished with the messages, you can instruct TAPCIS to
"age" them, automatically removing and/or archiving old messages when
the file is rewritten. It is during the rewrite process that messages
flagged for erasure are actually deleted.

Of course, you can also write new messages and replies while you read
messages. You can specify library searches and downloads as well.

TAPCIS also gives you options under Setup | Parameters | Interface to
control how the messages and index are scrolled and displayed.

Note: In the descriptions, "item" refers to a message in a message file
or a library description in a catalog.

See also:
   Views--4-20                         Status Flags--4-30
   Rewrite File--4-6                   Sort Order--4-32
   Aging--4-6                          Index Files--4-33
   File Menu--4-4                      Read Request--4-34, Chapter 8
   Move Menu--4-9                      Mouse Support--4-34
   Select Menu--4-15                   Frequently Asked Questions--4-35
   Action Menu--4-18                   Hotkeys--4-37
   Index Window--4-28



                                                     Reading Messages   4-1


                                                Reading
                                                Messages

                                                Normal message
                                                reading screen
                                                showing a
                                                message with
                                                its header,
                                                status flags in
                                                the upper
                                                right, and
                                                message text
                                                below.





Reading New Messages ---

When you open a message file containing unread messages, TAPCIS assumes
you want to view just the unread messages rather than all the messages
in the file. So, out of a file of 500 messages, your view would contain
only unread messages (as well as messages that are Held). The bottom
status line might show:

   TAPCIS.MSG [20/500] 1/10 (View: *Unread*)

This means that you are reading the TAPCIS.MSG file. It contains 500
messages. You are looking at the 20th message in the entire file. This
is message 1 of 10 that are in the *Unread* view.

The other messages outside the view are still in the message file. You
can review them using the Move commands or the [Left]/[Right] and
[Ctrl+Left]/[Ctrl+Right] arrow keys.

Normally, you will just want to read unread messages. This is very easy.
The [Space] bar and [PgDn] will scroll the messages a screen at a time.
The [B]/[PgUp] scroll backwards, [F5]/[F6] or [Sh+Up]/[Sh+Dn] to scroll
by line. When you finish reading, File | Close [F7] returns to the main
menu.

You can use the Move menu to locate particular messages and navigate
through the message file. We've also assigned many hotkeys to make
message handling more keystroke efficient.

Tracking Unread Messages ---

As you read messages, the unread message status flags change from 'U' to
'u' to show that you have seen these messages.  These status flags are
stored on disk in the index when you close the message file.  Therefore,
if you have 10 unread messages but read only 3 before closing the file,
when you re-open the message file only the 7 remaining unread messages
will be in the view. If you want to keep a message in the view along

4-2   Reading Messages

with the unread messages, you can hold the message (press [H]), and it
will appear in the Unread view each time until the hold is removed.

A message is considered "read" when you move from it to another message
using Move | Message menu options Next, Previous, Before, or After. The
hotkeys [Space], [PgDn], [B], [PgUp], [Up], [Down], [Right], and [Left]
will also change the flag from 'U' to 'u' if they move to the next or
previous message. Note that when you are using the full screen index
(View | Index | Full), the unread flag is not changed, so you can use
that screen to locate and jump to the message you want to read without
having intervening ones flagged as read. (See The Index Window later in
this chapter.)

The Move | Subject | Next (hotkeys [Sh+F6], [X], or [5]) is a special
case. It marks as read the current message and all messages with the
same subject that follow it in the view. This way, when you "skip" a
subject because it does not interest you, the messages you don't want to
read will not stay flagged as unread messages.

You can quickly flag all unread messages as read using the Other | Skip
all unread [Alt+F9] function. Use this if you've read all the messages
you want to read in this file and do not want the remaining ones to
return as "unread" messages next time the file is opened.

Message Files ---

TAPCIS stores all the CompuServe messages it receives in a single ASCII
text file with the forum/service name as the filename and .MSG as the
file extension. These files are usually stored in a subdirectory called
MSG unless you have changed the directory using Setup | Directories from
the main menu. For example, messages from the TAPCIS Forum would all be
stored in C:\TAP\MSG\TAPCIS.MSG if you used our default setup, and your
TAPCIS directory is C:\TAP.

Folders are simply message files that are created by you and are not
necessarily affiliated with a particular forum or service. These are
stored in the FOLDERS subdirectory unless you specify otherwise. The
Action | Save command can be used to create folders for current or
selected messages.

Aging lets you trim down your message files to keep the size and disk
space requirement manageable. You can choose to have old messages
deleted, or they can be archived in filename.OLD files in the OLD
subdirectory. Aging is required unless you choose to erase the entire
file using File | Erase file. (See Aging later in this chapter).

Index Files ---

To make your access to the downloaded messages fast and efficient,
TAPCIS creates a separate index file for each message file. In the
index, TAPCIS stores data such as the starting location of the message
(so we can find it instantly), the subject and to/from information, the
date, and status flags indicating such things as whether or not you have
read the message.


                                                     Reading Messages   4-3

TAPCIS manages this information for you automatically. You will notice
that when you first open a message file, it takes a short time to
incorporate new messages in the index. Once the index is created,
opening and closing the message file is very rapid, even with up to
16,000 messages in the file.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
File Menu

The File menu is used to open a message file for reading, to close the
open file and go to either the main menu or another message file, to
exit to DOS, to execute a DOS command or shell to DOS, or to change the
file close options for preserving the status flags, erasing the file or
index, keeping messages as unread, or rewriting the message file.

File Open and Exit Functions ---

File | Open                                                   [Alt+F][O]

   To read the items in a particular file on disk, use File | Open and
   use the File Open dialog to specify/locate the path and filename to
   open. If you know the name of the file, you can specify the full
   pathname. Example:  C:\TAP\FOLDERS\MYFORUM.SAV    If you do not know
   the filename, enter a wildcard specification:  C:\TAP\FOLDERS\*.*
   The file you are reading is automatically closed before the new file
   is opened.

   If Read | Quick read [Q] was selected from the main menu to open the
   first message file, subsequent files are also opened using the Quick
   Read method without indexing new messages.

File | Close                                          [F7] or [Alt+F][C]

   To return to the main menu, use File | Close. When TAPCIS closes an
   open file, it normally saves the status flags and index. You can tell
   TAPCIS not to save any changed status flags, to rewrite the file to
   remove old and erased items, to delete the index, or to delete both
   index and the file using the File, Status, and Index Options on the
   file menu. You can use [Alt+F7] to close and rewrite in a single
   step.

File | Next                                           [F8] or [Alt+F][N]
File | Previous                                    [Sh+F8] or [Alt+F][P]

   These commands let you move to the next or previous file in sequence
   without having to return to the main menu.

   If you choose a file with new items to read by pressing [Enter] on an
   In box transaction, File | Next will take you to the next file of the
   same type shown in the In box. When you have visited all the files
   with new items, File | Next will return to the main menu. This is the
   usual way to move through all your new messages and library catalogs.



4-4   Reading Messages

   You can use [Alt+F8] to close and rewrite the current file and then
   move to the next.

File | Abort                                       [Alt+Z] or [Alt+F][A]

   To close a file and return to the main menu without updating the
   status flags or rewriting the file, use File | Abort. For example,
   you open a file with new items and quickly scan them, but you don't
   want TAPCIS to record that you've read them yet. Use File | Abort,
   and the next time you open the file, the items will still show as
   New.

File | Exit                                        [Alt+X] or [Alt+F][X]

   File | Exit closes the file (like File | Close) and then exits
   TAPCIS. This is a quick way to close the file and return to DOS
   without having to exit through the main menu.

File, Status, and Index Options ---

These options are normally off (as indicated by the underscore [_] in
front of each menu choice) until you select them. An option is selected
if an asterisk (*) appears in front of the option rather than the
underscore.

When you choose one of these options from the File menu, the choice
toggles on (*) or off (underscore). To exit the File menu, choose one of
the File open, close, next, or previous options, or press [Esc], or the
click with the right button of the mouse.

File | Preserve unread                                        [Alt+F][U]

   If you want the items you read this session to remain flagged as
   "unread," turn this option on before closing the file.

File | Preserve status                                        [Alt+F][S]

   The status flags, indicating whether an item has been read, marked,
   held, erased, etc., are normally saved in the index file when a file
   is closed. If for any reason you wish to close the file while
   preserving the status the flags had when the file was opened, turn
   this option on before using File Close, Open, Next or Previous.

File | Erase index                                            [Alt+F][I]

   The index file keeps track of the status flags as well as the
   information necessary to load and sort the file quickly. However, you
   may not wish to keep the index file for all files since it does use
   disk space. If you select this option, the index file will be erased
   when the message is closed.

   We do recommend that you keep an index file for all files where you
   need TAPCIS to track whether particular messages have been read by
   you. If you erase the index, TAPCIS will treat all messages in the
   file as "New" (and as "Unread") the next time the file is opened.

                                                     Reading Messages   4-5

File | Erase file                                             [Alt+F][L]

   This option deletes both the file and the index file from disk when
   the file is closed. It is used primarily for housekeeping--when you
   want to erase a file after taking a quick look at it.

File | Rewrite file                                           [Alt+F][R]

   Rewriting a file removes items flagged for erasure (see Action |
   Erase). The file is rewritten to a new file in the sort order
   currently active when the file is closed.

   For message files, you can specify "aging" options to remove old,
   read messages (that are not held or marked) when the file is
   rewritten. You can have TAPCIS delete those old messages or move them
   to an *.OLD file. You need to set up some aging options so that
   message files are kept at a reasonable size. (See File | Aging)

   In libraries, aging is not offered since "old" file descriptions can
   be as valuable as new ones. If you want to trim down the size of a
   library catalog, manually select and erase the items.

   Rewriting a file can take anywhere from a few seconds to several
   minutes, depending on how big it is. The process also requires enough
   disk space for 1) the original message file, 2) any messages being
   aged to an *.OLD file, and 3) a new file to contain the items that
   are not aged or erased. When the rewriting process is complete, the
   original file is deleted.

   If the Rewrite fails for some reason (e.g., not enough disk space),
   the original file is left untouched, and the new file is deleted. In
   the process, some messages may have been rewritten to the *.OLD file,
   but the originals will remain in the message file. If rewriting the
   file again results in some duplicates in the *.OLD file, that file
   can be opened by itself and rewritten to remove them. TAPCIS
   automatically flags duplicate messages for erasure when it indexes
   the file. In libraries, you must use the Library | Erase duplicates
   option before rewriting the file.

   In addition to using this setting followed by File | Close or File |
   Next, you can use the [Alt+F7] key to close the file, rewrite, and
   return to the main menu, or the [Alt+F8] to close the file, rewrite,
   and move to the next file.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aging

Aging is a process through which a message file is "pruned" of old
messages. If you don't "age" your message files, they eventually will
get too large to handle in TAPCIS. Further, the larger a message file
gets, the longer it takes to index and the more disk space it consumes.




4-6   Reading Messages

Therefore, unless you use File | Erase file to delete all the messages
in the file on occasion, aging is a *required process*. Fortunately, the
process is simple and can be done every few days or weeks as necessary.

   1) Use File | Aging | Defaults to set up the aging options you want
      to (generally) apply to your message files. (File | Aging is only
      available on the menu when you are reading messages). Unless you
      activate some kind of aging, no pruning will take place. You only
      need to do this once.

   2) Use File | Aging | File to set up aging for the particular file
      you are currently reading IF you want it aged in a way that is
      different from the default aging you established in step one. You
      only need to do this once for each file, as necessary.

   3) When the message file gets large enough that you feel it is time
      to trim it down, turn on File | Rewrite file  followed by File |
      Close [F7]. The shortcuts are to press [Alt+F7] to do both
      commands in a single keypress, or to press [Alt+F8] to rewrite the
      current file and then open the next message file from the In box.

Tip: If you have read all the messages in the file that you want to
read, be sure to use Other | Skip remaining [Alt+F9] to mark any stray
unread messages as read before you do the aging and rewrite. Otherwise,
the messages still flagged as Unread will remain in the message file.
(Held and Marked messages always remain in the message file).

Aging Options ---

You can choose one of three aging options under File | Aging  |
Defaults/File:

   1) No moving or deleting of old messages (no aging)--when a file is
      rewritten, the only messages that will be deleted from the file
      are ones that have been specifically flagged for erasure (by you,
      using Action | Erase, or automatically for duplicate forum
      messages). This is the default option (for safety), but you will
      need to change it to one of the other two options unless you
      always want to trim your files manually using Action | Erase
      before rewriting the file.

   2) Delete old messages (do not save a copy)--the one to use if you do
      not want to keep old messages; once they have been read and
      reached a certain "age," they will be deleted permanently.

   3) Move old messages to the forum.OLD file--archives aged messages
      into a file with the forum name as the filename and .OLD as the
      file extension. These archived messages go into the Oldfiles
      directory specified under Setup | Directories (which, if left
      blank, will store the .OLD file in the same directory as the
      messages file).





                                                     Reading Messages   4-7

What Makes a Message "Old"? ---

A message is considered to be "old" if it is older than a certain number
of days *compared to the most recent message in the file*.

The default settings are as follows:

   Message is older than  20   days or the message reply
   Tree has been inactive 10   days.

Forum messages form "reply trees," or threads with many different
branches. The pruning TAPCIS does is based both on the relative age of
an individual message and on how long its branch of the reply tree has
been inactive. In the example above, TAPCIS starts by aging all messages
that are more than 20 days older than the most recent message in the
file. It then looks and sees if any branches of the discussions that
remain have not had any new replies for over 10 days. If not, the whole
branch is pruned.

If you'd like TAPCIS to age complete threads only, rather than pruning
branches, set the message days value to 9999.

The net effect of the 20/10 days setting is that you'll keep mostly 10
days worth of messages. For discussions that are ongoing, you'll keep a
history of the parts of them that are still active for up to 20 days.
Note that the first number should be greater than the second number;
otherwise, only the age of the message will be taken into account.
(I.e., if you set it to "Message older than 10 days" and "Tree inactive
for 20 days," TAPCIS will have already aged all messages older the 10
days before it even looks for threads inactive for 20 days.)

For CompuServe MAIL message files, there is no threading, so the
"Message is older than ___ days" setting is the only one that has any
effect.

File Size Aging Limits ---

Often you'll want to limit the size of the forum message files by size
rather than just by age. The aging parameters offer you two settings to
control this:

   But always keep the file size:
      Below 5000  messages, and
      Below 2000  Kilobytes

This means that regardless of how many messages are left after the days-
based aging parameters are applied, continue to age the oldest messages
until the file is below 5000 messages. Then, continue to age the oldest
messages until the file size is below 2 megabytes (2000K).

You can set these to the maximum values (16000) if you want to use age-
based pruning only.




4-8   Reading Messages

What Does Not Age ---

Messages that are Unread, Held, or Marked will not age from a message
file, regardless of the settings. This means you can tell TAPCIS to age
messages that are more than 1 day old, and rewriting the file will age
all read messages that are not flagged as being held or marked.

Items flagged for erasure (E) are always erased, even if held, marked,
or unread. They are also not moved to the forum.OLD file even if they
would otherwise qualify under the aging options.

File | Aging | File                                        [Alt+F][G][F]

   Sets the aging options for the current file only. You get the option
   of selecting the default aging options, or setting specific options
   for this file.

   We recommend that you set up file specific aging for the MAIL.MSG
   file, generally with higher day specific aging (such as 90 days,
   rather than 10).

File | Aging | Defaults                                    [Alt+F][G][D]

   Aging defaults only apply to message files with the file extension
   .MSG. Changing the aging defaults affects all *.MSG files that do not
   have file specific aging parameters set.

   Note that files with file extensions other than .MSG require the use
   of File | Aging | File options in order for aging to apply to them.

File | Aging | Show                                        [Alt+F][G][S]

   If you'd like to see the effect of the current aging options before
   the are actually implemented, use this command to flag messages that
   qualify for aging with the Age flag (A).


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Move Menu

The Move Menu is used to scroll the current message (if it is longer
than one screen full), to move from message to message, to skip around
by subject or section, and to traverse the tree of replies that make up
a message thread. You can also search for text, jump to a particular
message number, and set/goto a bookmark.

You will choose most of these functions by using the hotkeys assigned to
the menu choices or the mouse tool bar.

Remember, in the help descriptions, "item" refers to a message in a
message file or a library description in a catalog.





                                                     Reading Messages   4-9

Scroll by Line or Page ---

These menu choices exist primarily to remind you of the hotkeys assigned
as shortcuts for each function. Obviously, selecting Move | Line | Next
is a lot less efficient than pressing [F6] or [Sh+Down] once.

Move | Line | Next                    [F6] or [Sh+Down] or [Alt+M][L][N]
Move | Line | Previous                     [F5] or [Sh+Up] [Alt+M][L][P]

   Scroll the item by line. If all of the item cannot fit on the screen
   at once, using [F5] or [Sh+Up]/[F6] or [Sh+Down] will scroll it line
   by line. The keys will not advance to another item when you reach the
   end or top of the item. In the full screen index these functions move
   to the next | previous entry.

   The end of the item is indicated by a horizontal line at the right
   side of the last line.

   The mouse can be used to click on the scroll bars to scroll the item
   or index as well.

   The [Up]/[Down] keys may be re-mapped to scroll an item by line
   rather than move from one item to the next. This is changed through
   Setup | Parameters | Interface and the "Up/Down scroll item" option,
   and also affects the [Right]/[Left] arrow keys.

Move | Page | Next                    [PgDn] or [Space] or [Alt+M][P][N]
Move | Page | Previous                    [PgUp] or [B] or [Alt+M][P][P]

   To view the next screen of a multi-screen item, use Move | Page |
   Next. The [PgDn] and [Space] bar hotkeys are the ones used most often
   in TAPCIS. When you begin to read messages or library descriptions,
   pressing either of these keys will advance to the next screen. At the
   end of the item, they advance to the next item in the view.

   If you want to backtrack, use the [PgUp] or [B] hotkeys for Move |
   Page | Previous. At the top of an item, either key will take you to
   the top of the previous item in the view.

   If you'd prefer that [PgUp] [PgDn] move only within a multi-screen
   item and not move to the next/previous one, turn off the "Page
   through" option under Setup | Parameters | Interface. This option
   does not affect the [Space] and [B] hotkeys.

   In the index these keys move to the next/previous page of index
   entries.

Move | Line or Page | First             [Ctrl+PgUp] or [Alt+M][L | P][F]
Move | Line or Page | Last              [Ctrl+PgDn] or [Alt+M][L | P][L]

   Use these commands to move to the top or bottom of a multi-screen
   item. In the index these commands move to the first or last item in
   the view. The mouse can be also used to scroll the message.



4-10   Reading Messages

Move by Item ---

Move | Item | Next                        [Down] or [+] or [Alt+M][I][N]
Move | Item | Previous                      [Up] or [-] or [Alt+M][I][P]

   These commands move to the next or previous item in the view.  You
   will notice in the index display that all items are shown in
   sort order. The items in the view are indicated with V status flag on
   the left side and are in a different color.

   The [Up]/[Down] keys may be re-mapped to scroll an item by line
   rather than move from one item to the next. This is changed through
   Setup | Parameters | Interface and the "Up/Down scroll item" option.
   This option also affects the [Right]/[Left] arrow keys. See the help
   for that option for details.

Move | Item | After               [Right] or [Sh+Right] or [Alt+M][I][A]
Move | Item | Before                [Left] or [Sh+Left] or [Alt+M][I][B]

   These commands position to the item after or before the current item
   regardless of whether that item is in the view.

Move | Item | First                       [Home] or [1] or [Alt+M][I][F]
Move | Item | Last                         [End] or [9] or [Alt+M][I][L]

   Position to the first or last item in the current view.

Move | Item | Beginning                     [Ctrl+Home] or [Alt+M][I][G]
Move | Item | End                            [Ctrl+End] or [Alt+M][I][E]

   Position to first/last item in the sort order, ignoring the view.

Move by Subject  ---

Move | Subject | Next             [Sh+F6] or [X] or [5] or [Alt+M][S][N]
Move | Subject | Previous             [Sh+F5] or [Bksp] or [Alt+M][S][P]
Move | Subject | First                              [4] or [Alt+M][S][F]

   A subject consists of all message items in the file with precisely
   the same subject text. Two identically worded subjects with different
   capitalization are treated separately.

   Move | Subject | Next is the command to use when you start reading a
   group of messages with the same subject, and you decide you are not
   interested in reading the rest of the replies. This command marks the
   skipped messages as read so you won't see them in the *Unread* view
   when the file is opened again.

   Move | Subject | Previous and Move | Subject | First are the same
   function except that First will not move backwards once it reaches
   the top of the subject. The Previous command, if already at the first
   message in the subject, will position to the first message of the
   previous subject.



                                                     Reading Messages   4-11

    All the commands only show messages that are in the current view. You
   can View | Toggle all [F3] if you want to see all messages in the
   file.

Move by Thread ---

These commands move within the "tree of replies," also known as a
message "thread." Let's say you leave a message in the TAPCIS forum and
ask a question. Your original message is the "root" of the thread tree.
We say that it has a depth of zero (0). Then, your message gets two
replies. Each reply is at a depth of one (1). You reply to the first
message (depth 2), and the recipient replies to your message (depth 3).
The thread tree looks like this (with the depth shown in parenthesis and
the order of posting alphabetical):

          A(0) --- B(1) --- D(2) --- E(3)
               |-- C(1)

In the normal sort order for reading forum messages, TAPCIS would show
you the messages A-B-D-E-C. This way you read all the replies in
context.

All the Move | Thread commands will go outside the view if necessary to
show you the proper message.

Move | Thread | Next                        [Ctrl+Down] or [Alt+M][T][N]

   Positions to first reply to the current message. If there are no
   replies, no movement occurs.

Move | Thread | Previous       [Ctrl+Up] or [Ctrl+Left] or [Alt+M][T][P]

   Positions to the parent of the current message (if one exists in the
   message file). The message to which you reply is the "parent" of your
   reply. In the thread tree diagram above, the parent of B(1) is A(0).
   A(0) is also the parent of C(1). D(2)'s parent message is B(1).
   You'll notice that the parent is always one level above the message.
   The root message (A(0)) does not have a parent.

   The parent (Thread | Previous) is not always the message right before
   the message you are viewing. For example, if you are looking at C(1)
   and want to read the parent, you would have to backtrack through
   E(3), D(2), and B(1) to get to A(0). This command will take you to
   A(0) directly, even if A(0) is not in the current view.

Move | Thread | First                               [0] or [Alt+M][T][F]

   Positions to the root message (the first message in the thread at
   level 0), even if not in the view. The root message is the one that
   "got things started." Referring back to the root message will often
   refresh your memory and let you reread the entire thread in context.
   From any message in the diagram, Move | Thread | First will position
   to A(0).



4-12   Reading Messages

Move | Thread | After                        [>] or [.] or [Alt+M][T][A]
Move | Thread | Before                       [<] or [,] or [Alt+M][T][B]

   These commands move within the current reply level. From B(1), Move |
   Thread | After would skip the branch containing the replies to B(1)
   (Messages D(2) and E(3)) and position to C(1). Move | Thread | Before
   does the same in reverse (from C(1) to B(1)).  These commands are
   useful when you want to read all the direct replies to a message,
   excluding replies to replies.

Move by Section ---

Forums are organized into message and library sections. Each section
contains messages or files on a particular subtopic in the forum's
broader subject area.

Move | Section | Next                         [Ctrl+F6] or [Alt+M][C][N]
Move | Section | Previous                     [Ctrl+F5] or [Alt+M][C][P]
Move | Section | First                                     [Alt+M][C][F]

   Moving by Next or Previous section lets you quickly get to a section
   of interest, leaving items in the skipped sections for reading later.
   (Unlike the message reading commands Move | Subject and Move |
   Thread, Move | Section does not mark skipped messages as having been
   read).

   Move | Section | First positions to the first item in the current
   section. If already at the first item, no movement occurs.

Move | Section | Choose                                    [Alt+M][C][C]

   Lets you choose the section you want to locate. Type the number of
   the section (if you know it) or use the right/left arrow keys to
   cycle through the possibilities. Pressing [F2] or clicking with the
   mouse will bring up a pick list of the sections and their names.

Finding Text ---

Move | Find Text                               [F2] or [F] or [Alt+M][F]

   To locate a message or library description that contains specific
   text, use Move | Find text. You will be asked for the text to find
   and given several options to choose. By default, only items in the
   current view from the current location forward are searched.

   Note: if you are already positioned to an item where the text match
   is found, TAPCIS will not move to the next item if you re-use this
   command. This way you can still find matches when they exist in the
   current item. To move to the next match, use the Move | Find next [N]
   function.

   To search all items and ignore the current view, use View |
   Toggle all [F3] before you search.



                                                     Reading Messages   4-13

    Select "Match case" if you want the text to match precisely including
   capitalization.

   Select "Reverse search" to start searching from the current item
   towards the first message in the sort order. Use [Sh+F2] to start a
   reverse search where this option is automatically selected for you.

   Select "Originate search start/end" to begin a forward search from
   message #1 or a reverse search from the end without having to first
   move to the start or end.

   The search can be limited to particular parts of the item. You can
   tell TAPCIS to search the "entire" item or the "body" (text other
   than the header items). For messages, you can search the subject,
   "from" name and address, "to" name and address, or a combination of
   these.

   For library items, you can search the name of the file, the type of
   file (the file extension), the title, and/or the keywords.

Move | Find next                          [Ctrl+F2] or [N] or [Alt+M][N]

   Continue the search you specified with the Move | Find text command.
   The direction of the search, the options, and the text remain
   unchanged.

Jumping to an Item ---

Move | Jump                                [Alt+F2] or [J] or [Alt+M][J]

   Jump to a specific position in the sort order or within the current
   view. On the bottom status line, there are two ranges. For example,
   [432/456] 7/30. This indicates that you are looking at item #432 out
   of 456 items in the file, arranged according to the current sort
   order. This is also item #7 of 30 in the current view.

   In the Jump dialog, entering 13 will go to [13/456] in the file. Use
   a leading "V," as in V13, to go to the 13th item in the current view.

   When reading messages, you can enter a number with a leading # sign
   (e.g., #327530). TAPCIS will try to locate that message within the
   file and position to it (whether it is in the current view or not).
   If you enter a number greater than the number of items in the file,
   TAPCIS assumes you want to find a CompuServe message number; the #
   sign would not be needed.

Tracking Items Previously Seen ---

Move | Track | Back                 [Ctrl+Right] or [[] or [Alt+M][T][B]
Move | Track | Forward                              []] or [Alt+M][T][F]

   As you move through the messages or library descriptions, TAPCIS
   keeps track of the most recent items at which you've stopped. For
   example, if you start at item #5 and jump to #23, then Find text in
   #37 and #123, you can use Move | Track | Back to go from #123 to #37

4-14   Reading Messages

   to #23 to #5. Once you have used Track | Back, Track | Forward takes
   you forward in the list from #5 to #23 to #37 and finally to #123.

   These track commands are quite useful. If you use Move | Thread |
   First to position to the root message, Track | Back will return you
   to the message you were reading.

   It is also useful with Jump, Find text and Find next, and Move |
   Subject | Next. You can also use it anytime you accidentally move to
   a message and lose your place. Track | Back will return you to where
   you were.

Bookmarks ---

Move | Bookmark set                                    [K] or [Alt+M][K]
Move | Goto bookmark                                   [G] or [Alt+M][G]

   A bookmark is a place in the file to which you would like to return
   (after Move | Find text or a Move | Jump, for example). When you set
   the bookmark, a (B) character shows on the index line. From any item
   in the file, Move | Goto bookmark will return to this item.

   The bookmark position is saved when you exit the file. However,
   TAPCIS does not automatically position to the bookmark when you re-
   open the file. Use Move | Goto bookmark to locate that position.

   There is only one bookmark. Setting a new bookmark removes the old
   one.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select Menu

Items are selected so that you can perform some Action on them, such as
saving, printing, or erasing. Let's say you want to print a series of
items all at once from your file. You select the ones you want to print
from different parts of the file and then use Action | Print to print
them. You could then re-select these items with a single keystroke
[Ctrl+R] and save them to a file.

If you have not selected any items, the action commands act on the
current item only.

The select flag shows as an asterisk (*) in the index display and
"Select" in the status area at the top of the text.

Remember that if you use a command that selects more than one item at a
time (e.g., Select | Section), it will select only items in the current
view unless you turn off the Select | Use view option.

The number of selected items is shown on the bottom status line until
you choose an action command, one of the write commands that use
selected items, or Select | Clear.



                                                     Reading Messages   4-15

Select Commands ---

The behavior of these select commands depends on the Toggle, Set, or
Clear options. The default is to "toggle" the flag, turning it ON if it
is OFF and OFF if it is ON.

The commands also respect the "Use view" setting, which by default will
select only items in the current view. If you want to select from all
items, you can do one of two things: 1) turn Select | Use view OFF, or
2) press View | Toggle All [F3] to put ALL messages into the current
"view" temporarily.

Select | Item                       [Ctrl+I] or [*] or [8] or [Alt+S][I]

   Select the current item. Use [8] if you want to select the current
   item and automatically move to the next item.

   You can select items individually or by using one of the select group
   commands below.

Select | Subject                                  [Ctrl+S] or [Alt+S][S]
Select | Branch                                   [Ctrl+B] or [Alt+S][B]
Select | Section                                  [Ctrl+C] or [Alt+S][C]

   To select all messages with the same subject, use Select | Subject
   while you are reading any message with that subject. To select the
   current message, all its replies, and all replies to those replies,
   use Select | Branch. (Only works with messages that have been sorted
   into thread order).

   To select all items in the current message or library section, use
   Select | Section.

Select | All                                      [Ctrl+A] or [Alt+S][A]

   Selects all items in the current view (unless you turn off Select |
   Use view in order to act on the entire file). You could use this to
   print, save, erase, or hold all the items at once.

   One excellent use of this command is first to select all the items
   you want to keep in your file. Make sure Select | Toggle is on and
   then use Select | All. The items you want to keep will be cleared of
   the select flag and all those you want to erase will be selected. Use
   Action | Erase, and you'll have flagged for erasure the items you no
   longer want. Choose File | Rewrite and then File | Close to remove
   them from the file permanently.

Select | Marked                                   [Ctrl+K] or [Alt+S][K]
Select | Held                                     [Ctrl+H] or [Alt+S][H]
Select | Erase                                                [Alt+S][E]

   You can select the items that have Mark, Hold, or Erase status flags
   using these select commands. For example, over several days you use
   the Mark flag to tag messages you want to forward to a friend. You
   then Select | Marked followed by Write | Forward to send them as a

4-16   Reading Messages

   batch. Once you've forwarded them, use Select | Marked and then
   Action | Mark to clear the mark flags.

Select | Bookmark                                             [Alt+S][O]

   Selects all items between the current position and the bookmark,
   inclusive. Use this to select a block of items. For example, you
   might sort a message file by the From name, put a bookmark on the
   first message from a particular person, move to the last message from
   the person, and use Select | Bookmark followed by Action | Save to
   save the messages to a file.

Select | Clear                                    [Ctrl+L] or [Alt+S][L]

   Clears all selections. If you clear the selections accidentally,
   Select | Re-select will return the items to Selected status.

Select | Re-select                                [Ctrl+R] or [Alt+S][R]

   Re-selects the last selection set. Every time you use an Action on a
   set of selected items, the selection set is cleared. If you want to
   perform more than one action (e.g., first save and then print),
   select the items, initiate the first action, immediately use Select |
   Re-select to re-select the items, and then do the next action.

Select | Toggle                                               [Alt+S][G]
Select | Set on                                               [Alt+S][N]
Select | Set off                                              [Alt+S][F]

   The normal action, when you select an item, is to "toggle" the select
   flag ON (shown as an * in the index) if it is OFF and turn the flag
   OFF if it is ON. This is the default setting and is shown on the
   Select menu with an asterisk (*) in front of the Toggle menu choice.

   On rare occasions you may want to change this behavior. For example,
   you've been selecting a number of items in Section 1 to save. After
   reading further, you decide you want to save the whole section. If
   you use Select | Section with toggle flag on, the ones you had
   previously selected will be toggled off. Choose Select | Set on first
   before the Select | Section, and you'll get what you want.

   Select | Set off will always clear the select flag when you use any
   of the other Select menu choices such as Select | Item, Select |
   Section, etc.. If you find you can't select any items, you may have
   inadvertently chosen this option.

Select | Use view                                             [Alt+S][V]
Select | Ignore view                                          [Alt+S][W]

   The select commands normally use the view to determine which items to
   select. For example, if the view is showing only unread items, and
   you choose Select | Section, only the items in that section that are
   in the view are selected--not those you have read before.



                                                     Reading Messages   4-17

    To apply the selection to all items (not just those in the view), use
   the Select | Ignore view option so that the asterisk (*) moves to in
   front of that menu item. You can also make this the default using
   Setup | Parameters | Interface and turning the "Select: Use view"
   option off [_].


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action Menu

This menu lets you perform actions, such as saving, printing, erasing,
or holding, on selected items. If you have not selected any items, the
action is performed on the current item.

For commands such as Hold, Mark, and Erase that change a status flag,
the action command will toggle the setting of that flag. For example, if
the current item is held and you choose Action | Hold, the hold flag
will be turned off.

Other commands such as Save, Move, and Print take place immediately.

Hold, Mark, Erase ---

These actions toggle. For example, to change an item from held to
unheld, re-use the Action | Hold command on the item.

Action | Hold                                          [H] or [Alt+A][H]

   A typical use for the hold flag is to exempt an item from aging and
   to force it to reappear along with unread items each time the file is
   loaded (the default *Unread* view always includes Held messages). A
   good candidate for a hold would be an item you've looked at but want
   to be reminded about later.

Action | Mark                                          [M] or [Alt+A][K]

   Mark is like hold, but a marked item is not displayed along with new
   items in the default *Unread* view. You might mark items you are
   putting together over a period of days to forward or print. The
   Select | Marked command will select all these marked items, and then
   another action can be performed on that set.

   Remember, the select flag is not saved in the index. Use the mark
   flag if you need to tag a set of items and have those tags remain
   when the file is closed and reopened.

Action | Erase                                [E] or [Del] or [Alt+A][E]

   The erase flag is used to tell TAPCIS that you want this item removed
   from the file the next time the file is rewritten using File |
   Rewrite file. Since the erasure is not immediate, if you accidentally
   mark items for removal, you can turn off the erase flag by using
   Action | Erase again.
   Note: Messages flagged for erasure are never aged to an .OLD file.


4-18   Reading Messages

   Use the [Del] (Delete) key if you want to erase and automatically
   move to the next item.

Deleting from the forum ---

Action | Delete CIS                             [Ctrl+Del] or [Alt+A][L]

   Deleting a message from CompuServe is done rarely. The usual
   etiquette is to leave all public messages in the forum for others to
   read.  As a general rule, you should not delete messages you write or
   receive. You should, however, delete (P)rivate forum messages you
   receive. (TAPCIS prompts you to delete private messages once you have
   replied to them).

   You must be the sender or recipient of a message in order to delete
   it from a forum.

   CompuServe Mail messages are normally deleted from your online
   mailbox by TAPCIS when it receives them, so this command only applies
   to forum messages.

   Erasing library files must be done interactively by browsing the file
   and using the ERA command.

Saving and Moving ---

Action | Save                     [S] or [Ctrl+F] or [Ins] or [Alt+A][S]

   This command saves selected items in a different file. The result is
   an ASCII text file that can be opened and read within TAPCIS just
   like normal message (*.MSG) or library catalog (*.CAT) files.

   If the file does not exist, TAPCIS asks whether you want to create
   it. If it does exist, the items are appended to the end of the file.

   When saving a message from a forum message file, the default name is
   forumname.SAV. From a library catalog, it is forumname.LSV.

   Use the [Ins] (Insert) key if you want to save to the default file
   without having to confirm the file through the Action | Save dialog.

Action | Move                                          [V] or [Alt+A][V]

   Move is identical to Action | Save except once the items are saved,
   the erase flag is set for the items. They will be removed from the
   file the next time the file is rewritten.

Printing ---

Action | Print                              [P] or [Sh+F7] or [Alt+A][P]

   Prints the selected items to the printer. Choose the printer port
   using  Setup | Parameters | Printer.



                                                     Reading Messages   4-19

Action | One eject                                            [Alt+A][O]

   This is the default choice for printing. After all items are printed,
   a single page eject (form feed) is sent to the printer.

Action | All eject                                            [Alt+A][A]

   Choose this option if you want a page eject (form feed) after each
   item.

   Turn both one eject and all eject off if you do not want any page
   eject sent after the items print. The setting of One eject or All
   eject is maintained until changed.

Action | Eject Page                                           [Alt+A][J]

   Sends a single page eject (form feed) to the printer. Does not print
   any items.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Views

A "view" shows you just the items you want to see. It isolates the
messages or file descriptions that you are interested in from amidst a
file that can contain thousands of items.

A simple example is the *Unread* view. This view picks out all the items
you've not yet read, plus the items you've Held, excludes any items to
be erased, and presents them as a group. All the items that don't match
are considered "outside the view" even though they are still in the file
and easily available to you.

Views make it easy for you to read what you want to read using the
normal navigation keys. Using [Space] to scroll by screen, or
[Up]/[Down] to move by item, you read through the items; TAPCIS flags
them as being read as you go. If you exit the file, when you return to
the *Unread* view, it will show you just what you have not read.

You can load views to look at just the new messages to you, all items
except those to be erased, items within a date range, new items that
were most recently received from CompuServe, and much more.

When you're getting started, all you really need to know about views is
that the *Unread* view will show you what you haven't read. What you
have not looked at will return in the view each time you open the file.
Once you've read everything in the file, next time you open it you'll
see the *All* view (everything in the file except items to be erased).

Turning Off the View ---

You can, at any time, toggle off the view so you see ALL items with
View | Toggle all, which has a hotkey of [F3]. If you cannot seem to
find something, press [F3], then [Home], and look from the top of the
file.

4-20   Reading Messages

View | Toggle all                                     [F3] or [Alt+V][A]

   If you "can't find" your messages, use View | Toggle all, which we've
   assigned to the [F3] key. A view takes the entire message file and
   shows you only a part of it. Even the *All* view eliminates from the
   view those messages that have been flagged for erasure.

   Press [F3] and the bottom status line changes to read "ALL messages."
   You can then use any of the Move commands to navigate through the
   entire message file. When you are done and want to return to the
   view, press [F3] again.



                                                View Editing

                                                Editing an
                                                Unread_ToMe
                                                view that shows
                                                all unread
                                                messages that
                                                are to the
                                                current user
                                                ID.







View Editing ---

View | Edit view                                  [Ctrl+V] or [Alt+V][E]

   To create a view we start with "filters." These filters are applied
   in sequential order to a set of items, either messages or library
   file descriptions. The idea is to be able to isolate just the items
   that are currently of interest, leaving the rest of the items
   "outside the view" (but still in the file and easily available).

   Once the items for the view are located, all items in the file are
   organized into a "sort order" of your choice. This determines the
   order in which the items in the view are presented.

   You can use the View edit dialog to load other views, as well,
   previewing what they do before you "Use" one. From the View name
   field, use the [Right] and [Left] arrow keys to scroll through the
   view choices.







                                                     Reading Messages   4-21

Filters and Buttons ---

TAPCIS starts with no items in the view. It then takes the filters in
*sequential order, from the top of the list to the bottom* and "applies"
them. For each filter there is a symbol that tells TAPCIS how you want
this filter applied.

The easiest way to understand this is through an example. Let's say you
want to create a view to show you all messages in the file that are
Unread or Held. You want to exclude messages from you.

From the list of filters, you "add" unread and held messages to the view
by putting the plus sign in front of those filter names:

   + Unread
   + Hold

Then, you "strike" from the view all messages from this user ID using
the slash [/] and the from name #ME (which TAPCIS translates for you
into the current user ID).

   / From #ME

In front of each of the other filters, you put the "ignore" symbol, an
underscore [_], if one is not already present.

From the symbol field (left side of the filter names), you can press
[F2] to get this list:

   _  --    Ignore this filter option
   +  --    Add messages to View if they match this filter
   /  -- Remove messages from View if they match this filter
   &  -- Keep messages in View ONLY if they match this filter
   !  -- Add messages to View if they do NOT match this filter

Let's say you wanted to change the view to show you unread and held
messages, but ONLY those that are to your user ID. The view would then
be:

   + Unread
   + Hold
   & To #ME

Filters for Message Files ---

The first filter you specify as something other than ignore [_] must be
either + or !. TAPCIS starts building the set of items in the view from
a "clean slate"--not from the current view. Therefore, the remove [/]
and keep [&] symbols don't make sense until you've added something to
the set.

   Section: Identifies the sections to be included. Use [F2] to choose
      from a list or enter the section list yourself. "+ Section All"
      starts the view with all items in the file.


4-22   Reading Messages

   Unread, New, Hold, Mark: Items with these flags are filtered.

   Date: Filter by date range. If you want a specific date, use MMDDYY,
      YYMMDD, MM/DD/YY, DD.MM.YY, MMM DD, or DD-MMM-YY (e.g., 31-Oct-94)
      formats. If you enter a number that isn't a date, it is treated as
      a relative number of days. For example: "Date: 3 through [blank]"
      will filter based on the last three days in the file. "Date: 3
      through 10/19/94" will filter based on three days prior to 19-Oct-
      94.

   Message: Filter based on a CompuServe message number range.

   Subject, Text, From, To: Filter on whether the phrase is found in the
      subject, the text (body), or the from/to fields of the message.

   Selected: Filter based on whether the item is currently selected.

   Viewable: Filter based on whether the item is in the view that is
      currently active. This lets you take one view and then "refine"
      it. See the view tips for more details.

   Is a reply: If the message is a reply to another message, the filter
      is applied.

   Has replies: If the message has replies (that TAPCIS knows about),
      the filter is applied.

   I've replied: If the message has a "Replied" (R) flag, apply the
      filter.

   Erase: Filter if the item is flagged for erasure when the file is
      next rewritten.

   Repeat: If the item is considered a repeat/duplicate message (+),
      apply the filter.

   Block: This filter is designed solely to block messages from
      particular users or names from being part of the view. For
      example, entering #77777,1234 would keep you from seeing any
      messages from that user ID. Be sure to put a # in front of the
      userID. It will also take a name. Note that the messages stay in
      the file marked as Unread. You'll want to use Other | Skip
      remaining to flag old blocked messages as read before rewriting
      the file.

View Buttons ---


[Use] -- The default button. It activates  the currently displayed
   filters and sort order. If the view has not been edited, the view
   name will be shown on the status line. Otherwise, the name *Current*
   will be shown.


[Save as] -- If you modify a view, you will need to use [Save as] to
   resave it or save it under a different view name. Saving a view also
   makes it active.

                                                     Reading Messages   4-23

[Delete] -- Delete the view shown in the View name field.

[Cancel] -- Cancel and return to the current view (also [ESC]).

View Naming Conventions ---

Views are named depending on whether you want them to load automatically
or not. If you do not want a view to load automatically, avoid view
names that match forum names or have periods [.] in them or the word
DEFAULT.

Before we describe automatic loading, let's recall that there are two
built-in views. The default *Unread* view shows you all unread items,
plus held items, excluding items flagged for erasure. If TAPCIS loads a
file and doesn't find any items that fit those criteria, TAPCIS "falls
back" to the *All* view. The *All* view includes all items except those
flagged for erasure. So, we see that there is a default view and a
fallback view for each file.

To determine the default view, TAPCIS looks to the file of stored views.
TAPCIS looks for the following, in order, and will use the first view it
finds in which:

1) The view name and FILENAME.EXT match (e.g., FOLDER.MY);
2) The view name matches the forum name--MSG and CAT files only (e.g.,
   CRFORUM);

3) The view name is DEFAULT.ext where .ext matches this file's extension
   (e.g., DEFAULT.SAV);
4) The view is called DEFAULT;
5) No view names match, and the *Unread* view is used.

If this primary view does not contain any items, TAPCIS looks for the
fallback view. It searches for the same items shown above but with .FB
at the end of the view name. If no matching saved views are found, it
uses the *All* view.

Below is the sequence of view names TAPCIS will look for when
determining the view to use for the CRFORUM message file, CRFORUM.MSG:

   Default        Fallback
1) CRFORUM.MSG    CRFORUM.MSG.FB
2) CRFORUM        CRFORUM.FB
3) DEFAULT.MSG    DEFAULT.MSG.FB
4) DEFAULT        DEFAULT.FB
5) *Unread*       *All*

Message views are stored in MSGVIEWS.TAP. Library catalog views are
stored in CATVIEWS.TAP.








4-24   Reading Messages

View Loading & Switching ---

View | Load                                      [Ctrl+F3] or [Alt+V][L]

   Load one of the default views (*Unread* or *All*), one of the
   standard views provided with TAPCIS, or a view that you have saved
   from the View | Edit dialog. Press the first letter of the choice if
   you want to quickly position to it. If there is more than one (e.g.,
   MAIL, MAIL.FB, and MAIL.NEW), press the first letter repeatedly until
   the correct one is highlighted. Then press [Enter]. You can also use
   the mouse or arrow keys.

   TAPCIS finds the items that you want in the view. If there are not
   any that match, TAPCIS beeps and gives you a notice that no items
   match the view. Use View | Load or View | Edit again, or press [F3]
   to put all messages into the view. The name of the current view is
   shown on the status line. Example: (View: *Unread*)

View | Previous view                               [Sh+F3] or [Alt+V][P]

   Switch back to the previous view. If you start with *Unread* view and
   then load the "ToMe" view, using this command will return to
   *Unread*. You cannot use it again to toggle between views.

Standard Views ---

These two views are built into TAPCIS and cannot be deleted or modified:

   *All* -- Display all items (messages and library descriptions) in the
      file, excluding the items flagged for erasure.

   *Unread* -- Display all Unread and Held items, excluding the items
      flagged for erasure.

Message Views ---

These are the standard Views for messages included in MSGVIEWS.TAP:

   MAIL -- Default view for CompuServe MAIL. It is automatically loaded
      rather than the *Unread* view. It sorts messages in the order they
      are received. You can edit this view to change the default sort
      order, or delete it to have TAPCIS use *Unread* for MAIL.

   MAIL.FB -- This is the "fallback" view for MAIL when no messages
      match the MAIL view. It is like *All* but shows the mail in the
      order received.

   New -- Shows messages with New status flag. This means the message
      was in the last batch of items added and indexed (usually the last
      session online).

The following views demonstrate the ability to "refine" a view. They
take the messages in the current view and isolate those that match
certain criteria. For example, load the *Unread* view with [Ctrl+F3].
Then load the ToMe view. You'll get the unread messages to the current

                                                     Reading Messages   4-25

user ID. If you load *All* before ToMe, you'll get all messages in the
file to this user ID.

   ToMe -- Isolate those messages in the current view that are to this
      user ID, excluding any announcement messages.

   Loners -- Isolate those messages in the current view that are not
      replies to other messages, have no replies, to which I've not
      replied, and that are not from this user ID. Excludes announcement
      messages.

   NoHolds -- Eliminate held messages from the current view. Useful for
      striking them from the *Unread* view.

   S13 -- Example that isolates those messages in the current view that
      are in section 13.

   AddSelected -- Add selected items to the current view. Select items
      outside the current view, then load AddSelected. Can be repeated
      to add more items to the view.

Views and Sort Orders ---

Other than MAIL and MAIL.FB, these views do not include a default sort
order. Therefore, when you load one of these views, TAPCIS will use the
sort order from the previous view.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
View Ideas & Tips

Checking the Current View ---

If you use View | Edit view to look at the current view but do not make
any changes, it is best to use [Esc] or the [cancel] button to exit the
dialog. If you press [F7] or [Use], the view is re-created, and you'll
be positioned to the first item in the view.

Creating a View from Another View ---

Select the view you want to use as your model by pressing [F2] in the
view name field. Make the changes for the new view, then use the [Save
as] button.

Using the Viewable Filter ---

The "viewable" filter lets you refine a view. Let's say the current view
is *Unread*. You then load a view called ToMe. It has the filters set
to:
   + To #ME
   & Viewable

TAPCIS creates this ToMe view by starting with an EMPTY list of items.
It then sees the + To #ME, searches all messages to find those that are
to the current user ID, and adds them to the list. At this point, the

4-26   Reading Messages

list contains all messages to you. Then, TAPCIS sees the & Viewable
filter, and it keeps (&) on the list only those messages that were in
the view used prior to loading this view. Therefore, & Viewable is used
to extract a SUBSET of items. Load *Unread* then load ToMe. You get a
view of unread messages to you. Load *All* and then load ToMe. You get a
view of ALL messages that are to you.

You can use + Viewable to ADD to the view all items in the previous
view. Let's say your default view is:

   + Section: 0,13
   & Unread
   / Erase

TAPCIS creates this view by starting with an empty list, adds all
messages in sections 0 & 13, keeps on the list only those messages that
are unread, and strikes from the list messages to be erased.

You want to read these messages but you also want to read any unread
messages to you. Load a view that has:

   + Unread
   & To #ME
   + Viewable
   / Erase

TAPCIS takes all unread messages, keeps only those to you, adds the
messages from the prior view of sections 0 & 13, and eliminates the ones
flagged for erasure.

Note: We plan to make this possible in a single step in the future. For
now, you must use multiple views to refine what you want to see if a
single does not suffice.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
View Technical Details

For the filters where you can specify text to match: If you want to
specify more than one word or phrase, use a vertical bar [|] between
them (e.g., "BOB|FRED|SUE"). Do not include spaces unless you want them
to be part of the search. You can specify a filename that includes the
phrases (one per line) with @filename.

Example: & From BOB|FRED|SUE would keep in the view only those messages
from Bob *or* Fred *or* Sue.

Matching is done without regard to upper or lowercase, and matches
partial words as well. For example, FRED will match Fred, Frederick,
Alfred, and FREDDY. If you want to distinguish between upper/lower case,
put a + at the beginning of the phrase (e.g., +Fred matches Fred and
Frederick but not Alfred or FREDDY). If you want an upper/lowercase
sensitive EXACT match, use an equals [=] at the beginning of the text.



                                                     Reading Messages   4-27

Prefix user IDs with a pound sign [#]. If you don't, TAPCIS treat as a
match for 74020,10 the ID 74020,102 and any other with extra digits
after the 10.

If you have more phrases than can fit on a line, or you want to re-use
phrases from a file, enter the filename preceded by an @ sign (e.g.,
@MYWORDS.TAP). In the file put each phrase on a line by itself.

Message views are stored in MSGVIEWS.TAP. Library catalog views are
stored in CATVIEWS.TAP.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Index Window

The index window shows each item on a single line in the current sort
order. On the left side are the status flags such as U for unread, N for
new, and H for held.

If the item is in the view, a V appears at the right end of the status
flags and the item is usually shown in a different color than items
outside the view. Selected items have an asterisk [*] shown to the right
of the flags.

For messages, the index also shows the subject, thread depth, and the
from and to name and address.



                                                Full Screen
                                                Index

                                                Toggle this
                                                window on and
                                                off using the
                                                [I] hotkey or
                                                the right mouse
                                                button.








The only confusing part of this is the thread depth. We show you this to
help you "visually" follow a conversation without having to use up too
much of the screen with a tree display.

If I post a new message, and you post a reply, my message (the 'root')
is at depth 0, and yours at depth 1. All other replies to my message
will be at depth 1. Any replies to your message will be at depth 2.
Replies to those messages will be at depth 3, etc.


4-28   Reading Messages

In most cases, you can likely ignore this information and just read.
Sometimes, though, a conversation can go all over the place.

            0
      +-----+-----+
      1     1     1
      |
   65 msgs
   depth 2+

In the diagram above, you see that to the message that started
everything off (depth 0), there are three replies at depth 1. Thread
order, however, will show you the first reply, and then all 65 messages
that are part of the tree of replies attached to that message... all
BEFORE you see the other two replies at depth 1! That's the only way to
present the messages in some kind of logical sequence.

So, if you are reading a message at depth 23 and the next message in the
thread is at depth 2, you can see that the conversation has jumped back
to another reply to a depth 1 message. Remember that at any point, you
can use Move | Thread | Previous [Ctrl+Left] to see the parent of any
message if you cannot remember the context. Return to the original
message with Move | Track | Back [Ctrl+Right].

For library catalogs, the index shows the status flags, the filename,
file extension, library number, size of the file (e.g., 20K, which is
roughly 20,000 bytes), the date the file was last modified, and the
title.



                                                View | Index
                                                Top

                                                The recommended
                                                reading display
                                                with the index
                                                on the top,
                                                giving a
                                                picture of
                                                where the
                                                current message
                                                falls in the
                                                thread and
                                                whether there
                                                are replies.










                                                     Reading Messages   4-29

View | Index                                                  [Alt+V][I]

   The index display gives you a one line summary of each item and its
   status flags. There are four different index displays.

   None   --   Uhhh... let me guess. No index display? CORRECT! (the
               default)

   Top    --   A five line index at the top of the screen while
               reading. This is the recommended index display. It gives
               you a feel while you read and navigate of the items that
               may be related but outside the current view. It can be
               made the default using Setup | Parameters |
               Interface and the "Start with index" option. We
               recommend turning off the "Freeze header" and "Header
               line" options when using this setting.

   Full   --   Full screen index.

   Header --   Full screen index with header of the current item at
               bottom of screen. In this mode you can scroll the header
               to see the text using [F5] and [F6].

View | Index | Switch              [I] or [Right click] or [Alt+V][I][S]
View | Index | Toggle                          [Ctrl+I] or [Alt+V][I][G]

   Switch [I] toggles between the most recent None/Top setting and
   Full/Header setting. The right mouse button does the sme. Index |
   Toggle [Ctrl+I] toggles between None and Top index displays when
   reading items, or between Full and Header in the index.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Flags

Status flags tell you about the current item--whether it has been read,
marked for erasure, saved, marked, held, etc. Besides telling you the
status of the item, the flags are used in Views to filter the items.

The flag letters are shown on the left side of the index display. The
flag names are shown in the upper right of the text window.

Flag  Name     Description

  V   View     Item is in the current view.

      Outview  Item is outside of the current view. Items outside the
               view are recognized in the index display by the lack of
               the "V" in the status flag area and a different color.

  N   New      Item was newly added to the file since the previous time
               the file was indexed.

  U   Unread   Item has not yet been read.


4-30   Reading Messages

  u   Read     Item was Unread when this file was opened. It has now
               been read or skipped. (See 'Unread to Read' section
               below).

               If a message was read or skipped in a prior reading
               session, the "U" status flag will be blank and "Read"
               will NOT appear in the header of the item.

  B   Bookmrk  Bookmark is set on this item. Shows as "b" if item is
               also selected.

  *   Select   Item is currently selected.

  H   Held     Item is held and will reappear as part of the *Unread*
               view and will not be aged.

  M   Mark     Item is marked. It will not be aged and can be selected
               with Select | Marked or added/removed from a view using
               the Mark filter.

  E   Erase    Item is flagged for deletion from the file the next time
               the file is rewritten or aged. This flag overrides the
               Held, Mark, or Unread flags. When the file is rewritten,
               any Erase flagged messages are removed, regardless of
               their other status flags.

  +   Repeat   Item is a duplicate of another item. The older duplicates
               are flagged for Erasure.

  R   Replied  A reply was composed and released when reading this
               message. (If you do not release the reply at the time of
               composition but do so later, the Replied flag is not
               updated. If you reply, release, but later delete or
               discard, the Replied flag is not removed). Messages only.

  O   Forwded  Item was forwarded. (Flag is handled in the same way as
               Replied flag).

  P   Printed  Item was printed.

  S   Saved    Item was saved to a file or folder.

  -   Del-CIS  Messages can be deleted from a forum using Action |
               Delete CIS [Ctrl+Del]. When you use this command, this
               flag is added to the message status, and a transaction to
               delete the message is added to the outbox. If you choose
               Action | Delete CIS again and the transaction is still in
               the outbox, it will be cancelled. However, once you go
               online, the message is deleted from the forum
               permanently. You can only delete messages that are
               to/from your userID. In general, we recommend that you do
               not delete messages from the forum unless they are
               private or posted accidentally as a public message. A few
               forums do not allow members to delete messages; if you


                                                     Reading Messages   4-31

               encounter this situation and want to remove a message,
               send a request to *Sysop in that forum.

  A   Age      After File | Aging | Show, messages that will be aged are
               flagged with the "Age" flag. The messages will not
               actually be aged until the file is rewritten.

Unread to Read ---

TAPCIS doesn't know whether you've actually read an item or not, so it
makes certain assumptions. If you move from an unread item to the next
or previous using any of the Move by item or page commands (including
the arrow keys, [PgUp]/[PgDn], [Space] or [B]), that item's flag is
changed from "U" to "u." Also, if you skip a subject using Move |
Subject | Next [Sh+F6 or X or 5], all the messages you skip are flagged
as "u."

If you exit a message file on an Unread message, that message is left as
Unread unless there are no other unread messages in the file, in which
case, TAPCIS marks it as read.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sort Order

An unorganized mass of messages or files is about as useful as a huge
bin of unmatched socks. The sort order lets you choose how you'd like
the items arranged.

A sort order can be a simple sort on one item, such as date or message
number. Or, it can be a sort that considers several different criteria
to come up with the final order (such as sorting by the originator of a
message and then by date).

TAPCIS uses single letter codes to specify the sort order. Here are the
items you can sort on:

    Messages               Libraries
    c seCtion number       c seCtion number
    s Subject              n Name
    m Message order        y tYpe
    d Date/time            d Date
    f From                 u Uploader
    t To                   p file Position
    n message Number
    p file Position

    Default=c(sm)n         Default=p

Notice that the default for messages is rather complicated. The result
of a c(sm)n order is thread order, like that normally displayed by
CompuServe. It sorts by section, then groups the subjects into message
(thread) order, then puts those groups in order by when the thread was
first posted.  Sort order csm would give alphabetical threads within
each section.

4-32   Reading Messages

Other popular sort orders for messages are d (date/time order), -d
(date/time with most recent ones first), and p (file position). Press
[F2] from the sort order field of the view editing dialog for a list.

Remember that you can use a default view for a forum or file to specify
a sort order that is different from the default. We do that for you with
the MAIL view, using the file position sort order (p) rather than thread
sorting which doesn't apply in CompuServe Mail.

Blank Sort Order ---

A sort order can be left blank. TAPCIS interprets this to mean "use the
sort order currently in effect." You typically use a blank sort order
when you want to create views to be loaded manually where you don't want
the sort order to change with the new view. If you edit a view, you must
manually blank the sort order before using [Save as]. Otherwise, the
current sort order will be saved as the standard for this view and used
anytime this view is loaded.

File Rewrite Order ---

When a file is rewritten, the items are copied in the current sort
order. Normally, this is what you want. But if you don't want to change
the file order, you must switch to a "p" sort order before using file
rewrite.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description of Index Files

TAPCIS creates a companion "index file" for each message file or library
catalog it opens. This index contains the position of each item, status
flags, sort information, and other extracted data from the full file.
This lets TAPCIS open a file far, far faster than it could if it had to
process the whole text file each time.

The index tends to run about 1/10th the size of the file it covers once
you have a few thousand items in the file. The minimum size is 9K even
with only one item in the file.

Index filenames intentionally look strange. TAPCIS takes the first
letter of the file extension and turns it into a tilde [~]. So, the
index for the TAPCIS Forum message file TAPCIS.MSG is TAPCIS.~SG. For
the Court Reporters Forum library catalog CRFORUM.CAT the index is
CRFORUM.~AT.

Tip: You can see a directory of all message files and their indexes
using *.?SG as the file specification from DOS and most file managers.

You can delete an index without harming the information in the file
itself. What you lose, however, are the status flags; TAPCIS won't know
which items have been read, held, replied to, downloaded, tagged for
erasure, etc.



                                                     Reading Messages   4-33

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read Request

Other | Read request                                          [Alt+O][R]

   The read request commands let you ask for specific CompuServe
   messages from a forum. These commands individually go into the Out
   box and are processed during the next online session.

   This command is a shortcut for accessing the Other | Special action
   [Sh+F4], Selected forum messages command. (See chapter 8, Other
   Features, in the Special Actions section).


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mouse Support

You can click on the scroll bars to scroll the item text or move through
the index. Right click switches between the text view and the index
(View | Index | Switch [I]).

Toolbar ---

The toolbar is designed to let you navigate through messages without
having to use the keyboard. Just click on the buttons to perform common
commands. You turn on the toolbar using Setup | Parameters | Interface.
Once it is active, you see on the bottom of the screen above the status
line the buttons described below. The equivalent menu options are shown
in parentheses, and the hotkeys in brackets:

[<-]Subj[->]      Move to the previous or next subject
                  (Move | Subject | Previous/Next) [Sh+F5/Sh+F6]

[Rewind]          Track back through the previous messages displayed
                  (Move | Track | Back) [ [ ]

[Before] [After]  Move to message before or after current message, even
                  if that message is not in the current view.
                  (Move | Item | Before/After) [Left/Right]

[Parent]          Move to the parent of this message
                  (Move | Thread | Previous) [Ctrl+Left]

[Prev] [Next]     Move to previous or next item in View
                  (Move | Item | Previous/Next) [Up/Down]

[PgUp] [PgDn]     Scroll to show previous or next page
                  (Move | Page | Previous/Next) [PgUp/PgDn]








4-34   Reading Messages

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frequently Asked Questions

*** How can I see the messages I've already read that seem to have
disappeared?

Use View | Toggle all or press [F3]. This turns thecurrent "view" off.
You can also use View | Load [Ctrl+F3] and switch to the *All* view.

*** My message file is getting huge. How do I get rid of old messages
and ones I've flagged for erasure?

Messages are not removed from the file until the file is rewritten, a
process you control. If you want to get rid of messages over a certain
age, you must use File | Aging to set up default or file specific aging
options. Through this, you instruct TAPCIS either to save old messages
to an archive with the .OLD file extension or to delete the old messages
permanently.

Once you have activated aging for a file, use File | Rewrite file
followed by File | Close [F7] (or use the shortcut key [Alt+F7]). TAPCIS
will tell you how many messages will be erased and/or aged before it
actually rewrites the file.

To delete all messages in a file, whether read or not, use File | Erase
file followed by File | Close [F7].

*** How can I keep message files as small as possible?

Use File | Aging to set the aging parameters to keep the message file
below the size or message quantity limits that work best for you. The
most aggressive setting is to use "Below 1 message." Each time you
rewrite the file, all messages except those that are held, marked, or
unread will be deleted.

*** Messages I skipped from prior sessions keep coming back as unread.
What should I do to tell TAPCIS to forget about such messages?

Use Other | Skip all unread (or press [Alt+F9]) before you exit the file
*if you know that any remaining unread messages are no longer of
interest to you*. This flags all messages inthe file whether in the
current view or not, as having been read. The messages flagged as having
been read will not return as part of the *Unread* view (unless they are
also Held)..

If you want only newly added messages in your view, use View | Load view
[Ctrl+F3] and choose the "New" view, or to make this method the
replacement for the *Unread* view use View | Edit view [Ctrl+V] to
create a view with only:

      + New
      / Erase




                                                     Reading Messages   4-35

Save this view with the [Save as] button with the name DEFAULT, if you
want this to replace *Unread* for all forums, or use the forum name
(e.g., CRFORUM) if you want it to replace *Unread* for just one forum.

*** How do I tell TAPCIS to display messages in the order they were
shown in TAPCIS 5?

Use View | Edit view [Ctrl+V]. Start with the *Unread* view. Change the
Sort Order to P which stands for file position--the order the messages
appear in the disk file. Use the [Save as] button to save the view as
DEFAULT to have it replace *Unread* for all forums, or save as the forum
name to apply this technique to just a single forum. Then, do the same
thing with the *All* view, saving it as DEFAULT.FB or forumname.FB.

*** How many messages or file descriptions can TAPCIS handle in a single
file? What happens if that limit is exceeded?

The limit is 16,300. After that limit is reached, you must rewrite the
file and erase some items before the items after the limit are
accessible. They do remain in the file, and you are warned that the
limit has been exceeded each time the file is opened.

*** Can file indexing performance be improved?

Indexing takes longer as more items are added to the file. You can set
the file aging parameters to lower settings to keep fewer old messages
in the file. You can also erase items no longer of interest. Remember
that you have to use File | Rewrite file before closing the file to
remove any "erased" items from the file.

A disk cache is also *highly* recommended. Caches such as PC-CACHE and
SMARTDRV help dramatically in all areas of TAPCIS performance. You
should, however, turn off  "delayed writes" for optimal compatibility
with modem communications.

*** How do the Hold and Mark actions differ?

Held items show up in the default *Unread* view (which includes +Hold).
Marked items do not. Both held and marked messages are not aged from the
file until the hold or mark is removed or they are explicitly flagged
for erasure. Therefore, we use Hold for items we want to return to us
each time we open the file (meaning, they need to be acted upon), and
Mark for items we want to keep in the file for future
reference/saving/printing but that we do not want to have to see each
time.

*** Where am I?

Look at the status line. It tells you the current filename, and your
relative position within the file and within the current view. You can
toggle the index on and off by pressing [I] or [Ctrl+I]. This shows you
a picture of the current item in relation to the other items in the
file.



4-36   Reading Messages

Remember that when a view is on (the normal state), you are seeing a
subset of all the items. Use [F3] until the status line says "ALL
Messages." Then you can more easily find what you are looking for (if it
is in the file).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hotkeys

Key        Equivalent Function
---        -------------------

A          Other | Address
B          Move | Page | Previous
C          Write | Change
E          Action | Erase
F          Move | Find text
G          Move | Goto bookmark
H          Action | Hold
I          View | Index | Switch
J          Move | Jump
K          Move | Bookmark set
L          Library | Library Search
M          Action | Mark
N          Move | Find next
O          Write | Forward
P          Setup | Parameters
R          Write | Reply
S          Action | Save
T          Write | Use to
U          Write | Use from
V          Action | Move
W          Write | Write New
X          Move | Subject | Next

Ctrl+A     Select | All
Ctrl+B     Select | Branch
Ctrl+C     Select | Section
Ctrl+D     Library | Download
Ctrl+E     Write | Re-edit
Ctrl+F     Action | Save
Ctrl+H     Select | Held
Ctrl+I     View | Index | Toggle
Ctrl+L     Select | Clear
Ctrl+M     Select | Marked
Ctrl+P     Action | Print
Ctrl+R     Select | Re-select
Ctrl+S     Select | Subject
Ctrl+V     View | Edit view
Ctrl+W     Write | Resume

Alt+A      Action
Alt+F      File
Alt+H      Help
Alt+L      Library
Alt+M      Move

                                                     Reading Messages   4-37

Key        Equivalent Function
---        -------------------

Alt+O      Other
Alt+S      Select
Alt+U      Setup
Alt+V      View
Alt+W      Write
Alt+X      File | Exit
Alt+Y      Sysop
Alt+Z      File | Abort

F1         Help
F2         Move | Find text
F3         View | Toggle all
F5         Move | Line | Previous
F6         Move | Line | Next
F7         File | Close
F8         File | Next
F10        Bring up menu

Sh+F1      File | DOS
Sh+F2      Move | Find, reverse
Sh+F3      View | Previous view
Sh+F4      Other | Special actions
Sh+F5      Move | Subject | Previous
Sh+F6      Move | Subject | Next
Sh+F7      Action | Print
Sh+F8      File | Previous

Ctrl+F1    File | Shell
Ctrl+F2    Move | Find next
Ctrl+F3    View | Load view
Ctrl+F5    Move | Section | Previous
Ctrl+F6    Move | Section | Next
Ctrl+F9    Other | Skip section
Ctrl+F10   Other | Macro recording

Alt+F1     Shell to DOS, no swap [No menu choice]
Alt+F2     Move | Jump
Alt+F6     Move | Section | Choose
Alt+F7     File | Close with Rewrite
Alt+F8     File | Next with Rewrite
Alt+F9     Other | Skip all unread
Alt+F10    Other | Macro playback











4-38   Reading Messages

Key        Equivalent Function
---        -------------------

1          Move | Item | First
4          Move | Subject | First
5          Move | Subject | Next
6          Other | Unmark
8          Select | Item + Move | Item | Next
9          Move | Item | Last
0          Move | Thread | First

^          Other | Unmark
*          Select | Item
-          Move | Item | Previous
+ =        Move | Item | Next
< ,        Move | Thread | Before
> .        Move | Thread | After
/          Menu (same as [F10])
[          Move | Track | Back
]          Move | Track | Forward

Space      Move | Page | Next
BackSp     Move | Subject | Previous
Enter      Read item (from index)
Ctrl+Ent   Dialog box select item
Insert     Action | Save without confirmation
Delete     Action | Erase + Move | Item | Next
Ctrl+Del   Action | Delete CIS
Home       Move | Item | First
End        Move | Item | Last
PgUp       Move | Page | Previous
PgDn       Move | Page | Next
Up         Move | Item | Previous
Down       Move | Item | Next
Right      Move | Item | After
Left       Move | Item | Before

Sh+Up      Move | Line | Previous
Sh+Down    Move | Line | Next
Sh+Left    Move | Item | Before
Sh+Right   Move | Item | After
Ctrl+Rt    Move | Track | Back
Ctrl+Lt    Move | Thread | Previous
Ctrl+PgUp  Move | Line | First
Ctrl+PgDn  Move | Line | Last
Ctrl+Home  Move | Item | Beginning
Ctrl+End   Move | Item | End
Ctrl+Down  Move | Thread | Next
Ctrl+Up    Move | Thread | Previous
Tab        Move | Section | Next
Sh+Tab     Move | Section | Previous





                                                     Reading Messages   4-39