BIX USER MANUAL Acknowledgments BIX, the BYTE Information Exchange, is based upon CoSy conferencing system software developed at the University of Guelph. BIX wishes to express its thanks to all BIX moderators for their work. Director of BIX: Steve Laliberte Executive Editor: George Bond Managing Editor: Tony Lockwood BIX Business and Marketing: Copy Editor: Lauren Stickler Design & Art Direction: Joe Gallagher Typography: Sherry Fiske, Christa Patterson, and Donna Sweeney Cover Illustration: Robert Tinney Chapter Illustrations: Tom Centola The BIX User Manual is published by: BIX/McGraw-Hill Inc. 1 Phoenix Mill Lane Peterborough, NH 03458 (800) 227-2983 In New Hampshire and outside of the United States and Canada, (603) 924-7681 BIX is a registered trademark of McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 McGraw-Hill, Inc. CoSy Conferencing System, Copyright 1984 University of Guelph III Table of Contents System Structure IV Introduction XI Chapter 1: Quickstart Guide 1 Chapter 2: Getting Your BIX Bearings 11 Chapter 3: Conference Participation 17 Part 1: Introduction 19 Part 2: Basic Commands 24 Part 3: Intermediate Commands 30 Part 4: Expert Commands 33 Part 5: Master Commands 35 Chapter 4: Sending and Receiving Mail 39 Part 1: Introduction 41 Part 2: Reading Your Mail 43 Part 3: How to Write a Mail Message 47 Part 4: Advanced Mail Options 50 Chapter 5: Editing Messages 59 Part 1: Verbose Editor 61 Part 2: Quiet Editor 66 Chapter 6: Listings 73 Chapter 7: Environment Options 97 Part 1: Introduction 99 Part 2: Explanation of BIX Options 101 Part 3: Miscellaneous BIX Options 106 Chapter 8: Personal BIX 109 Part 1: Introduction 111 Part 2: Your Resume 117 Chapter 9: CBIX: Chatting in Real Time 119 Part 1: Introduction 121 Part 2: CBIX Commands 123 Part 3: Private Conversations 130 Part 4: Other CBIX Commands 133 Part 5: Your CBIX Profile 137 Chapter 10: Advanced BIX Techniques 141 Part 1: Blink 143 Part 2: How to Upload a Message 151 Part 3: Miscellaneous BIX Commands 154 Chapter 11: Where to Get Help 165 Appendix A: Guide to BIX Commands 171 Appendix B: Glossary of BIX Commands 177 Appendix C: Log-On Instructions 205 Appendix D: Subscriber Agreement 208 Command Tree 210 Index 212 IV System Structure NOTE: BIX is always adding new conferences. See Chapter 2 for details on how to locate specific conferences. A "c" indicates a closed conference; all others are open. Bytebix (BYTE and BIX conferences) BYTE On Line: NEWS c byteweek The on-line version of the BYTEWeek newsletter o microbytes Daily news on technology and computing o microbytes.hw New hardware products o microbytes.sw New software products o reviews Upcoming BYTE reviews o reviews.hw BYTE hardware reviews o reviews.sw BYTE software reviews o short.takes Hands-on looks at new products BYTE On Line: Features o apps.only Ezra Shapiro: Applications Only o byte.89 Full texts of BYTE, beginning January 1989 o byte.88 Full texts of BYTE, beginning August 1988 o byte.bmarks BYTE's new suite of benchmarks o byte.covers Robert Tinney on BYTE covers o byte.reviews BYTE reviews up to February 1988 o byte.uk News from the United Kingdom o chaos.manor Jerry Pournelle o letters Write to BYTE o tojerry Messages for Jerry Pournelle o to.rtinney Robert Tinney on art and technology o to.wayne Getting Down to Business with Wayne Rash o unclassifieds Buy, sell, and swap on BIX o whats.ahead Coming events in BYTE BYTE On Line: Article Supplements o apr87.sup April 1987 BYTE article supplements o may87.sup May 1987 BYTE article supplements o jun87.sup June 1987 BYTE article supplements V o jul87.sup July 1987 BYTE article supplements o aug87.sup August 1987 BYTE article supplements o oct87.sup October 1987 BYTE article supplements BYTE On Line: BIX o ask.bix Questions and answers about computing o best.of.bix Extended excerpts of BIX conferences o bix.business Business information about BIX o bix.specials Special articles for BIX o dasnet.info How to connect with E-mail systems o interviews Interviews with computer newsmakers o learn A tutorial on using BIX o mh.news McGraw-Hill News, a premium service c moderators For conference moderators o user.manual Help beyond the Learn conference AI (Artificial Intelligence) o ai.digest Items of interest from the AI group o ai.theory Artificial intelligence theory o expert.sys Conference on expert systems o neural.nets Neural networks Applications o apps.digest Digest of the Applications group o apps.386 Programs for 80386-based computers o clipper Conference on Nantucket's Clipper o dbms Database management programs o engineering Engineering programs o framework Ashton-Tate's Framework o games The games program conference o gem The GEM interface o microsoft Products from Microsoft o sciences Conference on scientific programs o spreadsheets Discussions on spreadsheets o telecomm.pgms Telecommunications program conference o television Working with video o ventura.pub Ventura Publisher o word.processor Word-processing program conference VI Chips o chips.digest Items of interest from the Chips group o chips Semiconductor technology o cpus The microprocessor chip conference Computers o compu.digest Computers group digest o amiga Conference on the Commodore Amiga o amiga.dev Amiga Developers Conference o amiga.user Amiga users exchange o apple Apple II family conference o a.t.and.t AT&T computers conference o atari Atari computers conference o atari.st New Atari.ST machines o commodore Commodore computers conference o compaq Compaq computers conference o digital DEC computers conference o epson Epson computers conference o hp Hewlett-Packard computers o ibm.at IBM AT conference o ibm.pc IBM PC XT conference o ibm.ps Conference on IBM Personal Systems o laptops Small, battery-powered portables o macintosh Macintosh family conference o next The NeXT computer conference o other.brands For other brands of computers o s.100 S-100 conference o sun Sun Microsystems o supermicros Supermicro computers conference o tandy Tandy desktop computers o ti Texas Instruments computers o zenith Heath/Zenith computer conference Graphics o graphic.digest Graphics group digest o cad Computer-aided design VII o graphic.disp Conference on graphics displays o graphic.exch Graphic exchange (NAPLPS, Videotext) o graphic.pgms Programming and graphics Languages o lang.digest Languages group digest o ada Ada language conference o apl APL conference o assembler Assembly language conference o basic BASIC language conference o c.language C programming language conference o cobol COBOL language conference o codasyl COBOL language and screen development o forth Forth programming language o fortran FORTRAN language conference o lisp Lisp language conference o logo Logo language conference o modula.2 Modula 2 language conference o oberon Dr. Wirth's new experimental language o other.lang Conference on other languages o pascal Pascal language conference o prolog Prolog language conference o smalltalk Smalltalk language conference o soft.eng Efficient and reliable software design o utilities Utilities conference Op.Sys (Operating Systems) o op.sys.digest Op.Sys group digest o cpm CP/M conference o ms.dos MS/PC DOS conference o os.2 IBM/Microsoft OS/2 operating system o os.386 Systems software for the 80386 o os.9 OS-9 conference o other.dos For other disk operating systems o rwars The Great Operating System Debate o unix Unix conference VIII Regions o africa Life and the arts in Africa o arizona Computing in the Sun Belt o bay.area Computing in San Francisco Bay Area o britain Life, computing in the British Isles o canada For Canadians and their friends o chicago For Chicago-area BIX members o international Using computers around the world o los.angeles For the Los Angeles metropolitan area o miami For Miami-area BIXen o new.england On and about New England o new.york The Empire State and metro area o san.diego Computers in California's southland o seattle Friends of the Pacific northwest o silicon.valley Computing in the computer heartland o switzerland For Swiss BIXen and friends o washington.dc What's doing in the nation's Capitol? Technology o tech.digest Technology group digest o cd.rom Optical storage for micros o data.center Data center managers and supervisors o hypertext Hypertext publishing o lans Local-area networks (LANs) o robotics Conference on robotics o security Security issues and concerns o tech.hardware Discuss computer hardware o tech.news Discuss Microbytes news o tech.notes Collect useful programming code o tech.support Help for programming problems/questions Telecomm (Telecommunications) o teleco.digest Telecomm group digest o bbs Dial-up bulletin board systems o conferencing About computerized conferencing o networks Conference on information networks o packet.nets Packet-switching networks IX o protocols Small-computer communications protocols c sysops Conference for BBS sysops only o telecomm.pgms Telecommunications programs conference o telecomm.tech New telecommunications technology Other o other.digest Other group digest o algorithms Using algorithms to solve problems o ask.webster According To Webster: Bruce Webster o astronomy A star party for amateur astronomers o autos For automobile fans o aviation Plane talk about computers o boating Salty mariners meet and swap tales o bridge For Bridge players o cats Cats and computers o chatter CB chat area o chess A conference about the game of chess o comp.chron The Computer Chronicles TV program o contact Science fiction meets science o current.events Discussing the news of the day o desktop.pub Using micros for publishing o disasters Natural and man-made disasters o dogs For a dog's best friend o golf For Duffers o ham.radio Computing, digital electronics, radio o handicapped Computing and the handicapped o mediation Mediation techniques o music Computers and music o music.on.cd For audiophiles interested in Compact Disks o other Topics not covered elsewhere o photo Conference for photographers o scuba For scuba enthusiasts o sf For science fiction and fantasy fans o space Space exploration and development o television The technology and uses of TV o users.386 Experiences with 80386-based computers o women Women's issues o writers Writers, published or hopeful X Professionals o consultants The art and business of consulting o copyright Source code and user interface issues o education Computers in America o financial Financial news and information o law Computers and the law o libraries Computers in the library o marketing Promotion, sales, public relations and high tech o medicine Medical and health services fields o retailers For retail professionals o softlic Software licensing, transactional pricing o sw.author The business of programming o tort Tort liability: hardware and software o writers.pros Professional writers User.Groups o atex Atex user-group conference c dasnet.users For DASnet subscribers only o dataflex Dataflex Users Group The Vendor.Support Group A number of vendors are using BIX for customer support. Vendor conferences are staffed by vendors' personnel, not by BIX. To see which vendors have online conferences, enter: show group vendor.support XI Introduction WELCOME to BIX, the BYTE Information Exchange. BIX is an electronic conferenc- ing system that lets you participate in discussions with people from around the world. Although BIX is computer-based, it is an integral part of BYTE magazine. This manual describes the BIX command-level interface. If you are using the BIX menu mode, please refer to BIX Menu Guide. To use BIX, you need a computer, modem, and telecommunications software appropriate for your system, or an ASCII terminal. Once you sign on to BIX, you will find conferences on a range of subjects, including computers from Amiga to Zenith; languages from Ada to Smalltalk; special-interest topics like computers in education, law, and music; technology; graphics; artificial intelligence; and a host of others. You can think of BIX as a large house party, with stimulating conversations going on in each of the rooms. BIX's structure consists of a main area, akin to the entry hall of the house, and five other areas: Conferences, Listings, Mail, CBix, and Options. Each BIX area has its own prompt, which appears at the beginning of the line and tells you that BIX is waiting for you to type something. These prompts are: Area Prompt Main system : Conferences Read: Listings File Area: Mail Mail: CBix / [CBix command] Options Opt: A glance at the prompt tells you where you are in BIX. Each time you sign on to BIX, you start at the main prompt. From there you can go to any other area or jump between areas. Let's take a look at some of these areas. Conferences The Conference area is the heart of BIX. It is here that you join any BIX conference, read messages, and add your own thoughts or comments. Each time you sign on to BIX, the system automatically displays a list of XII your conferences that have had new messages added while you were off line. Each BIX conference has one or more topics, like discussion groups in a room at a party. Joining a conference automatically makes you a participant in all the topics. Of course, you can leave a conference any time you choose, move around from topic to topic, or resign from a particular confer- ence or topic -- just as you can walk out of a room if you get tired of the people, the patter, or the pretzels. Each conference has a moderator whose job is to answer questions, help newcomers, and act like the party host. Listings BIX maintains a large area of public domain and shareware programs. Also on line are the files that correspond to articles that appear in BYTE maga- zine, and the full text of BYTE articles, beginning with the August 1988 issue. You must join Listings explicitly whenever you want to upload or download a program file. For more information on using the Listings area, see the Chapter 6, "Listings," on page 73. Mail For private communication, BIX's mail area lets you send messages to and receive messages from any other BIX user, including conference moderators, the BYTE staff, and many BYTE authors and columnists. In addition, you can send binary files, such as a Quattro spreadsheet, privately through BIX mail. Each time you enter the mail area, BIX tells you what's new in your mailbox. BIX also tells you if the recipients have read the messages you've sent them. BIX offers DASnet, a third-party service that allows BIX members to send mail to people on other electronic services and to receive mail from them. DASnet is a subscription-based system. For more information, join the BIX conference 'dasnet.info,' or contact DA Systems, Inc., 1503 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell, CA 95008, (408) 559-7434. Options The Options area lets you tailor the BIX operating environment to your liking. You can pick an on-line text editor to use to write messages, choose the length of prompts that BIX gives you, and tell BIX the depth and breadth of your display screen. You can even replace many BIX commands with synonyms that are more familiar to you. Each BIX user has a profile that tells BIX the options to run during the session. XIII If, after experimenting with a new option, you decide to make it permanent, you can easily write the option into your profile. From that day on, BIX automatically sets up that option each time you sign on. McGraw-Hill News McGraw-Hill News is available through BIX. McGraw-Hill News is a general business news service that generates 200 to 250 stories each business day on companies, industries, the economy, domestic and international stock markets, and the government. This is a premium-priced service, and you will be notified of this fact each time you use it. For more information on current pricing or assistance, send BIXmail to `mh.news,' or call the McGraw-Hill News customer helpline at (800) 4260647. Outside the U.S., call (212) 512-3158. XIV