.TH notes 1 "University of Illinois"
.SH NAME
notes,
autoseq,
nfpipe,
nfprint,
nfstats \- a news system
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B notes
[
.B \-sxin
] [
.B "\-t termtype"
]
.B topic1
[
.B "-f file"
]
[
.B "..."
]
.PP
.B autoseq
.PP
.B nfpipe
.B topic
[ 
.B "-t title"
] [
.B "-d"
] [
.B "-a"
]
.PP
.B nfprint
[
.B "-nn"
]
.B topic
[
.B "note list"
]
.PP
.B nfstats
[
.B "-s"
]
.B topic
[
.B "..."
]
.PP
.B checknotes
[
.B "-qnvs"
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Notes
supports computer managed discussion forums.
It coordinates access to and updates of data bases of notes and their
responses.
A single 
.I notesfile
contains an ordered list of
.I "base notes,"
each of which may have an ordered list of responses associated with it.
A
.I "note string"
consists of a 
.I "base note"
and all of its responses.
Separate 
.I notesfiles
contain discussions on separate subject matters; microcomputers might
be discussed in a 
"micronotes" notesfile while
bicycling enthusiasts make their comments in a "bicycle" notesfile.
.PP
The 
.B \-s
option signals 
.I notes
to use the automatic sequencer.
With the sequencer enabled,
.I notes
shows the new notes and responses since your last entry into
that notesfile.
With the sequencer enabled by 
.B \-s
the notes program will not enter notesfiles which have no new text.
Specify
.B \-x
to use the sequencer and enter notesfiles even if they have no new 
text.
The 
.B \-i
and
.B \-n
options are still more sequencing modes,
.B \-i
is similar to 
.B \-s
but shows the index page instead of the first modified note.
.B \-n
turns the sequencer off.
.PP
Specify 
.B "\-t termtype" 
to override the TERM environment variable. This switch is mostly used
on version 6 systems.
.PP
The 
.B "-f"
option directs 
.I notes
to read the contents of 
a file
for a list of notesfiles to scan.
.PP
The
.B "topic list"
specifies which notesfiles are to be scanned.
The notesfiles are scanned from left to right; upon finishing the
first topic, the second is entered.
The shell's meta-characters are recognized within a topic
but must be escaped to prevent shell interpretation.
Specifying "net.*" will yield all the notesfiles with the 
prefix "net.".
Specify "*unix*" to read all notesfiles with the string "unix" in
their names.
Bracket and question mark constructs are also recognized.
.PP
The
.I autoseq
feature allows sequencing through a list of notesfiles with the sequencer
enabled using with a single command.
.PP
Notes and responses are entered by using an editor. The default editor is
.I /bin/ed.
This can be changed by setting one of the environment variables
.I NFED
or
.I EDITOR.
.PP
Some commonly used commands within the notesfile system are listed below:
.TP 10
space
Show the next page of the note/response.
.TP 10
;
Go the next response, if there are no more responses go to the next note.
.TP 10
-
Go to the previous page of the current note/response.
From the first page of a response, go to the previous response
(or the base note from the first response).
From the first page of a base note, go to the previous note.
.TP 10
newline
Go to the next note.
.TP 10
j
Jump to the next unread note/response (when using sequencer).
.TP 10
J
Jump to the next unread note, ignoring any further responses in the current
note string (when using sequencer).
.TP 10
w
When issued from the index page enters a new note.
When entered from a note/response display enters a response.
A capital-W will include the text of the currently displayed note/response
in the new response.
.TP 10
q
Leave the current notesfile.
.TP 10
Q
Leave the current notesfile without updating the sequencer information.
.TP 10
control-d
Return to the shell, ignoring any further notesfiles in the current 
invocation. 
No sequencer information is updated.
.TP 10
x
Search for a note with the (prompted for) string in its title.
Capital-X asks for a new search string, otherwise the last entered
string is used.
.TP 10
s
Saves the currently displayed note/response at the end of a (prompted for)
file.
Capital-S saves the entire note string.
.TP 10
M
Sends the text of the note/response displayed and
your comments  to another user(s).
The P command routes the letter to the author of
the note/response.
.TP 10
t
Issues a write(1) command to the author of the currently displayed 
note/response.
No action is taken if the note originated on a remote system or
is anonymous.
.TP 10
!
Forks a shell.
.PP
.B Nfpipe
reads standard input to create a note in the
specified notesfile.
The title of the note is specified using the
.B "-t" 
parameter.
The 
.B "-d"
flag specifies that this note is to have the director message flag
enabled;
if the author has no director privileges in the notesfile, this flag
has no effect.
Specifying
.B "-a"
makes the note anonymous;
if anonymous notes are not permitted
this flag has no effect.
.PP
.B Nfprint
gives the user the ability to print the contents of notesfiles.
The 
.B "-nn"
parameter specifies the page length to use
(66 lines/page is
the default).
The 
.B "note list"
is the set of notes which are to be printed.
An example note list is:
1,30-36,13,10,42-50.
.B Nfprint
writes to standard output.
.PP
.B "Nfstats"
prints usage statistics for notesfiles.
This program takes a list of notesfiles and lists their statistics on
standard output.
If more than one notesfile is specified, an aggregate set of statistics
is also produced.
Specify
.I "-s" 
to have only this aggregate report printed and the individual reports
suppressed.
.PP
.B "Checknotes"
reports on the existence of new notes.
.B "Checknotes" looks at each of the notesfiles in your .notesrc to determine 
if there are new notes.
The various flags specify the method of notification.
Use
.I "-q"
to have the message "There are new notes" printed
if this is so.
Specify 
.I "-n"
to get a message "There are no new notes" if this is the case.
With the
.I "-v" 
option enabled, 
.B "checknotes"
prints the names of the notesfiles which have new notes in them.
The 
.I "-s"
option is silent; no output is produced.
Regardless of the option, the program exits with 0 (TRUE)
if new notes exist and with 1 (FALSE) if no new notes exist.
.PP
An interface is provided to news(1). 
Transfers in both directions are supported.
See notes(8) for more information on how this works.
.PP
Only the 
.B "notesfile owner"
can create new notesfiles.
The 
.B "notesfile owner"
will create the notesfile and turn control over to
the person requesting the notesfile.
This person is the
.B "notesfile director;"
he may designate others to also be 
.B "notesfile directors."
The 
.B "notesfile director"
has special privileges including:
deleting any note,
determining policy for the notesfile,
permitting anonymous notes,
and
determining accessibility of the notesfile.
.PP
The concept of a
notesfile
was taken from the PLATO system (a trademark of Control Data Corporation)
designed at the University of Illinois
to provide automated teaching capabilities.
.SH BUGS
Only the name of a note's originating system is kept;
another utility must be
used to generate paths for mailing to distant (more than 1 hop) authors.
.PP
Some of the notesfile programs do not check to make sure the user
is not the ANONUID user who is not allowed to run
.I notes;
the programs that fail to do this are ones which do not allow writing.
.PP
Sometimes interrupting a display with the RUBOUT or DELETE key will
leave the program in a state where it prints only the first
character of titles and other headers.
.SH FILES
.PD 0
.TP 35
/etc/passwd
for the users name
.TP 35
/etc/group
for the users group
.TP 35
/etc/termcap
for terminal capabilites
.TP 35
/usr/spool/notes
the notesfile data base
.TP 35
/usr/spool/notes/.utilities
utility programs and online help
.TP 35
/usr/spool/notes/topic/text
text of the notes in notesfile `topic'
.TP 35
/usr/spool/notes/topic/note.indx
the note descriptors for notesfile `topic'
.TP 35
/usr/spool/notes/topic/resp.indx
the response descriptors for notesfile `topic'
.TP 35
/usr/spool/notes/topic/access
the permission list for the notesfile `topic'
.PD
.SH SEE ALSO
ed(1),
news(1),
nfcomment(3),
notes(8),
termcap(3),
write(1),
.br
.ul
The Notesfile Reference Manual
.SH AUTHORS
Ray Essick (uiucdcs!essick, uiucdcs!notes)
.br
Rob Kolstad (uiucdcs!kolstad)
.br
Rick L Spickelmier (ricks@ucbcad)
.br
Lou Salkind (salkind@NYU)
.br
.so /usr/src/new/notes/notes.update