Visual IRC '96's DDE interface (0.65 and above)
===============================================

IMPORTANT NOTE!! This has changed EXTENSIVELY in 0.65. Your old DDE stuff
will not work.

ViRC '96 currently supports two types of DDE requests: IRC_ParseVars and
IRC_Execute. IRC_ParseVars evaluates an expression, parsing the variables
and functions out, and IRC_Execute causes ViRC '96 to execute an IRC
command as if it were typed at the keyboard. Thus "front-end" programs can
be written to control ViRC '96. This is, of course, a very powerful
capability.

Usage examples
--------------

The examples provided are written in Visual Basic, however, the technique
is very simple and is easy to do in Delphi or C++ too.

IRC_ParseVars
---------

Create a label on a VB form and call it txDDE. Then execute the following
code:

  txDDE.LinkTopic = "VIRC96|DDE"
  txDDE.LinkItem = "IRC_ParseVars"
  txDDE.LinkMode = 1
  txDDE.LinkExecute "$rand(100)"

The will parse the text $rand(100), returning a random number between 0 and
99, and setting the caption of txDDE to the returned random number.

You can return the value of any text, for example, you could use the
following code:

  txDDE.LinkTopic = "VIRC96|DDE"
  txDDE.LinkItem = "IRC_ParseVars"
  txDDE.LinkMode = 1
  txDDE.LinkExecute "My nickname is $N."

This would return the string "My nickname is <your nickname>".

IRC_Execute
-----------

Causes ViRC '96 to execute an IRC command, as if it were entered at the
keyboard. Example:

  txDDE.LinkTopic = "VIRC96|IRC_Execute"
  txDDE.LinkMode = 2
  txDDE.LinkExecute "Join #quake"

This will make ViRC '96 join the channel #quake. Any valid IRC command
may be placed in the LinkExecute field.