/nof IBMSIG - The Source - Updated: 10 Jan 1987 - 217 Lines IBMSIG Menu Commands, Tips and Preliminary Menu Map There are as many ways to use the IBMSIG as there are members. No one perspective could provide all of the uses of the SIG and the most effective and efficient methods and procedures to use. However, there are some very basic concepts that everyone should try to follow. The first is that (except for CHATS) everything you do in the SIG should be done using the computer as a tool to quickly extract messages, notes, files, bulletins, or other items to your computer's disk so that you may review or use whatever it is OFF-LINE. Everything that you send to the SIG should be done in such a way that the computer, which works faster than you or I can, takes care of transmitting messages, notes, and files that you prepared OFF-LINE. If you find that you are spending hours on the system each day, you are not doing something right! The second basic concept deals with what you do with your time while OFF-LINE. The more you know about the SIG and the way its functions operate, the more you will be able to do OFF-LINE and minimize your connect time! The SIG Bulletins here in the [INFO]rmation menu as well as those in the [LIBRARY INFO]rmation menu provide a sound basis for learning the SIG. In the File Library, the DOWNLOAD.DOC and UPLOAD.DOC (ARC files are also available which take less time to download!) will provide much needed information about the file transfer process. PARTIDOC.ARC, which contains a PC-OUTLINE format file, provides "hot key" documentation for the PARTI Conference system. IBMSIG.ARC, which contains the IBMSIG.HLP file, is a complete set of examples of using every feature of the SIG. LIBSCAN.ARC contains a listing of all of the files as of the end of the previous month. It is replaced on the 1st or 2nd of each month. Ben Bacon's LIBSERCH.ARC file contains a program and documentation that will provide you with the file search capabilities of the SIG while OFF-LINE! John O'Boyle's AUTOPRCM.ARC file contains program and documentation to use along with ProComm to provide you with the ability to download files from the File Library in batches. ProComm, the best communication program in the user supported world and much better than any commercial program available today, is also available in the File Library and by mail. It provides the Sliding Windows Kermit protocol which is the fastest public domain file transfer protocol in use anywhere. To get the most out of ProComm and the IBMSIG, you should get the SIG-CMD.ARC file which contains ProComm command files and documentation for setting up ProComm to make everything work most efficiently. Getting all of these tools and assembling them OFF-LINE will improve your effectiveness and efficiency in using ON-LINE communication systems everywhere. The third and final basic concept is the benefits that we all derive from sharing our experiences and talents. It is a well known fact that the people who contribute to the talents and experiences of the SIG are also the people who reap the greatest benefit. Many members start out with simple questions of how to use a modem or communication program and end up learning so much that they are able to help other members along the way. It also develops the spirit and reality of an ON-LINE community. We are becoming members of a Global Village that knows little of bounds of politics, time and distance. We are the pioneers who are forging the way for the means of communication for future generations who may be scattered around the Galaxy or further. So! Endeavor to gain the knowledge and skills that will enable you to spend less time on the system, share with other members, participate in the Global Village, and get the most from your ON-LINE experience. If you are just starting out or if you are an experienced communicator and would like to expand your capabilities, I recommend that you get the ProComm communication program along with the SIG-CMD.ARC file that contains command files to use with ProComm that almost completely automates your use of the SIG. If you have been reading and answering your mail ON-LINE or have been using XMODEM for file transfers or have been using manual methods to try to download and upload messages, notes and so forth, you will be amazed by the speed at which these things can be done. If you have never done these things before, you will be spoiled right away and expect that every place you visit in the ON-LINE community will provide these capabilities. After you have read the SIG Bulletins the documentation for ProComm and the SIG-CMD files should be adequate to get you started. If you need a little more help, other members of the SIG and myself are conducting daily conversations in the "IBMSIG HELP" topic in PARTI and the ASK_SYSOPS Category of IBMSIG Post Messages. The answer to a simple (or complex) question may be just the thing that will help you get going. When you are reading the Bulletins in the SIG for OFF-LINE study, you should capture them to one or more LOG files. In order to make this take the least amount of time, you should become familiar with the .SCROLL ON command which may be used at most any prompt in the SIG (except in POST, MEMBERS, PARTI, and SourceMail). This command will cause whatever is being displayed NOT to stop at the end of each full screen. You may see an example of its use in the FILES.CMD command file which is a part of the SIG-CMD files for ProComm. The rest of this Bulletin is a Menu Map for the IBMSIG. The Map is important because you can string menu commands together and bypass the display of menus. This saves time. Any feature in the SIG can be executed right from the -> prompt on The Source. With the exception of POST, MEMBERS, PARTI and SourceMail, you may also hop around inside of the SIG from one menu item to another by using similar menu command strings. The only difference is that at the -> command prompt, all SIG commands begin with the IBMSIG command. Inside of the SIG, the corollary is to use the M command to access the Main menu. Let's look at the Menu Map and then give a few examples of stringing commands. By the way, the menu names in square brackets my be used in place of the menu option numbers. You will see this in the examples. The menus are presented nested inside of each other to show the relationship of each of the menus. The numbers closest to the left margin are the Main menu options. Each successive menu level is displayed indented to the right from its parent menu. If you don't like 'N-level menus', just observe the relationship of the menu names and use them as commands. IBMSIG Main Menu (Precedes menu names below from -> prompt) 1 * PC User's Databases [USERS] 1 PC User Groups [GROUPS] 1 Search User Group Database [SEARCH] 2 Post User Group Information [POST] 3 Describe Groups Database [DESCRIBE] 2 PC Bulletin Boards [BBS] 1 Search the BBS Database [SEARCH] 2 Post your BBS Information [POST] 3 Describe the BBS Database [DESCRIBE] 3 PC Information Sources [SOURCES] 1 Search the Info Sources [SEARCH] 2 Post a new Info Source [POST] 3 Describe Info Sources [DESCRIBE] 4 PC Hot News Items [NEWS] 1 Search the Hot News Items [SEARCH] 2 Post a Hot News Item [POST] 3 Describe Hot News Items [DESCRIBE] 5 Member Special Requests [REQUEST] 1 Search for Requests [SEARCH] 2 Post a new Request [POST] 3 Describe Special Requests [DESCRIBE] 6 Describe User's Databases [DESCRIBE] 2 * IBMSIG Post Messages [POST] 3 * IBMSIG Member's Directory [MEMBERS] 4 * IBMSIG On-line CHATS [CHATS] 5 IBMSIG Conferences [PARTI] 6 * IBMSIG File Library [LIBRARY] 1 Search File Library [SEARCH] 2 Download a file by name [DOWNLOAD] 3 Submit Files to the Library [SUBMIT] 4 How to... (Download, etc.) [INFO] 1 User Supported Software [SUPPORT] 2 File Conversions for Use [CONVERT] 3 Submit/Upload Files [UPLOAD] 4 Downloading Files for Use [DOWNLOAD] 5 International Connection [ACCESS] 1 Access from Argentina [ARGENTIN] 2 Access from Canada [CANADA] 3 Access from Germany/Europe [GERMANY] 4 Access from Israel [ISRAEL] 5 Access from Japan [JAPAN] 6 Access from United Kingdom [UK] 6 How to get Kermit/Utilities [MAILAWAY] 5 Software Disclaimer [DISCLAIM] 7 SourceMail [SMAIL] 8 * IBMSIG Products/Support [PRODUCTS] 1 Reveiws of Products/Support [REVIEWS] 1 Search the Reviews [SEARCH] 2 Post your Review [POST] 3 Describe the Reviews [DESCRIBE] 2 Announcements of Products [ANNOUNCE] 1 Search the Announcements [SEARCH] 2 Post a new Announcement [POST] 3 Describe Announcements [DESCRIBE] 3 PC Hardware Database [HARDWARE] 1 Search for PC Hardware [SEARCH] 2 Post a new PC Hardware item [POST] 3 Describe the PC Hardware [DESCRIBE] 4 PC Software Database [SOFTWARE] 1 Search for PC Software [SEARCH] 2 Post a new PC Software item [POST] 3 Describe the PC Software [DESCRIBE] 5 PC Services Database [SERVICES] 1 Search for PC Services [SEARCH] 2 Post new PC Services [POST] 3 Describe PC Services [DESCRIBE] 6 Describe Products Databases [DESCRIBE] 9 * IBMSIG Information [INFO] 1 IBMSIG and Main menu [ABOUTSIG] 2 Special, Low SIG Rates [SIGRATES] 3 IBMSIG User Databases [DATABASE] 4 IBMSIG Post Messages [POST] 5 IBMSIG Member's Directory [MEMBERS] 6 IBMSIG PARTI Conferences [IBMPARTI] 1 About PARTI Conferencing [INFO] 2 New PARTI User - Start Here [NEWUSER] 3 Hot PARTI Conferences [TOPICS] 7 IBMSIG File Library [LIBRARY] 8 Menu Commands and Tips [TIPS] In this Menu Map, the option numbers are on the left. The command names are on the right. If you are at the IBMSIG Main menu, you must pick an option from the Main menu by its number or name. You travel down (or IN) the menus until you reach the item you wish to execute. For instance, say you wanted to read the Hot PARTI Conferences Bulletin from the -> propmpt. Using the option numbers the command would be: IBMSIG 9 6 3 Using the menu commands that same command would be: IBMSIG INFO IBMPARTI TOPICS To download a file named LIBSCAN.ARC using the Kermit protocol and starting at the command prompt, the menu command method would be: IBMSIG LIBRARY DOWNLOAD LIBSCAN.ARC KE Now you say, "Why use the command names? They contain more characters and take longer to type!" Well, that's true. However, if you use command files with your communication program you will appreciate the fact that the machine is much faster. The microseconds of delay are more than worth it when you consider that menu changes like just occurred in the IBMSIG would cause most command files to fail. Besides, names are easier to remember just in case you need to perform SIG access manually. Please provide additional comments, suggestions or complaints so that this document and the SIG may continue to improve. Mike Todd SysOp, IBMSIG Source ID: SIG003