Section 3 -- Quick Start Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Starting TAPCIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 IntroPak Sign-on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 CompuServe Default Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 Adding a Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Interactive Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 General Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 Setup Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 Creating Outbox Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 Starting the Autopilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 Inbox Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8 Other Main Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9 Interactive Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10 Editor Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11 Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12 Cursor Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12 Block Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12 TAPCIS(tm) Documentation Copyright (c) 1990, Support Group, Inc. 800-USA-GROUP, 301-387-4500 ======================================================================== Quick Start ======================================================================== ****> Read the following steps carefully. They are meant to get you set up and working with TAPCIS quickly. New users and those with non-standard configurations will want to follow through the detailed sections that are referenced with each step. If you know TAPCIS already, these instructions should be all you need to refresh your memory; refer to them in the future when you add a forum, change sections, etc. ------------------------------------ Installation * See Installation on page 4-5 for more information. 1. Create a directory to hold the TAPCIS program and files. In this documentation we'll use the drive and path of C:\TAP. You can use any other drive and directory you choose, but you must create it before TAPCIS can use it. 2. The program and files are stored in compressed form on the distribution disks. The file TAP.EXE contains all of them. To install the program from a disk in drive A:, use the command: A:TAP C:\TAP All the files will be extracted and placed in the directory you specify. If you received a documentation disk (for the shareware version), that can be installed in a similar way by typing: A:TAPDOC C:\TAP 3. TAPCIS expects to find its parameter file, PARAMS.CIS, in the default directory where TAPCIS is started. If one is not found there, a new one is created. 4. TAPCIS supports two other directories. A storage directory is where all messages, catalogs, and other working files are created. A download directory is for files downloaded by TAPCIS' automatic mode. You specify these directories on the

arameters screen. These directories must be created outside of the program before they can be used. We recommend that new users consider creating a directory for downloads (e.g., C:\TAP\DL) but not a storage path unless you need to store messages on a different drive to have enough space. 5. You can delete any unneeded files, but do not delete the TAPCIS.EXE program, the TAPCIS.HLP help file, the PARAMS.CIS file, nor the PARAMS.SCR script file for setting the online defaults (command ). Other script files (with a file extension of .SCR) are used for login scripts for alternative networks or for online actions. The USERID.CIS file (address book) and RATES.CIS (online charges hourly rates) are not required but are recommended. The XFER.LOG file can grow quite large if you are logging transfers. It must be deleted from DOS. The optional ONLINE.LOG (command line options L and G) is overwritten during each session. TAPCIS Quick Start 3-1 ------------------------------------ Starting TAPCIS * See Running TAPCIS on page 4-6 for more information. 1. From DOS go to the directory where you installed TAPCIS (usually using the command: CD C:\TAP). 2. Type the command TAPCIS and press . A list of command line options is on page 4-6 or they can be listed by typing TAPCIS ? from DOS. Callers outside the U.S. should read about the command line options in more detail. 3. If the program asks for your name, it is creating a new PARAMS.CIS file. If you are an unregistered user and wish to register, you should still answer NO to this question until you have the program up and running with CompuServe Mail. Each time you start the program it will give you a chance to register. Registered users should follow the instructions on recording their registration number found in section 1 of this manual. Upgrading users can re-use their old PARAMS.CIS. ------------------------------------ Parameters * See Parameters Setup on page 4-9 for more information. 1. Press

at the main menu to go to the parameters screen. 2. Check the COM port to make sure it matches the port assigned to your modem. (Note: if your modem is configured for COM2 but you do not have a COM1 in your machine, TAPCIS should be told to use "COM1"). 3. The modem initialization string is critical. The default setting will work with a properly configured modem, but most modems do not come from the factory properly configured. Unless you are sure your modem properly tracks Carrier Detect and Data Terminal Ready, please read the details in the Parameters Setup section on page 4-9. 4. You should not change the O>nline and F>ail report unless you find later that they are not working for you. 5. Enter your local access telephone numbers and correct baud rates. Make sure the access numbers and baud rates match your modem speed. If you are not using a CompuServe node, be sure to read about login scripts. 6. Enter your user ID, password, and name. Make sure your user ID and password are entered precisely with no extra spaces. 3-2 Quick Start TAPCIS ------------------------------------ IntroPak Sign-on * See IntroPak Sign-on on page 4-16 for more information. You may skip this section if you already have a permanent CompuServe user ID. 1. Enter IntroPak user ID and password in the parameters screen. 2. Press nteractive to go online. Follow the CompuServe prompts to create a new account. 3. Write down the permanent user ID and temporary password supplied during the sign-on. After they are supplied, go ahead and login again to make sure you have them written down properly. After logging off and returning to the main menu, press

and enter the new user ID and password in the parameters screen. 4. Watch for your permanent password which should arrive in the mail in a few weeks. On the date the password changes, enter the new password in the parameters screen. ------------------------------------ CompuServe Default Parameters * For more information see Getting TAPCIS to Work with CompuServe on page 4-18. * Proper setting of CompuServe online parameters (the ones stored in the GO DEFAULT pages) is vital to the proper automatic operation of TAPCIS. If you ever have a problem, you may wish to re-set these parameters again. The PARAMS.SCR file is needed for this procedure to work. Make sure you have it stored in the directory from which you started TAPCIS. 1. Set the CompuServe default parameters by pressing from the main menu. TAPCIS should logon and run through a script that sets all the parameters. If you notice any problems, run this procedure again. This procedure is very sensitive to line noise which can cause the script to lose its place. During the setup of CompuServe Mail, if you have already used electronic mail, you will see an error from CompuServe; you can ignore it. 2. Do this at each baud rate you intend to use on CompuServe. Different defaults are stored for each baud rate, so when you upgrade from one modem speed to another, be sure to use again. This procedure also sets the name attached to each of your Mail messages. ------------------------------------ Adding a Forum * For more information see Forums: Messages starting on page 6-1. 1. Go to the forums screen by pressing orums from the main menu, then press to deselect all active forums and CompuServe Mail. 2. Press and enter the exact forum page name as listed in the list of forums that begins on page D-1. If you do not enter the proper name, TAPCIS will halt when it tries to join the forum. Be sure not to enter any "owning TAPCIS Quick Start 3-3 pages" that are not actual forums but the top menu of a series of forums (e.g., NOVELL, PCMAGNET, BORLAND, MAUG). Several forums can be added at one time. Most forums use the default CIS: gateway. To accept it, just press . PCMAGNET is an example of a forum that requires a separate Gateway (PCM:). 3. If you know the section numbers you want to monitor, enter those numbers separated by spaces. If you don't know the numbers, press (you can edit the active section list later using the option on the forum screen). See also Changing Forum Options/Sections starting on page 6-11. 4. Select whether you want to read all messages in the selected sections (an "R", or Read thread forum), scan the message thread subject only for individual selection offline (a "Q", or Quick scan headers forum), or just read messages directed to your user ID (an "M", or read Marked forum). See sections starting on pages 6-4, 6-8, and 6-10. 5. Repeat steps 2-4 for any additional forums you want to add. 6. Press the letter assigned to the forum(s) you just added (so that an asterisk appears next to it). Press to return to the main menu. 7. Press to join the forum(s). TAPCIS will connect with CompuServe, go to the forum(s), join the forum(s), set parameters, and grab a list of section and library names. Then TAPCIS will logoff. After completion you can activate other forums and Mail and use the ew command to read or scan messages in the added forum. ------------------------------------ Messages * See also sections Reading Messages on page 6-13 and Writing Forum Messages on page 6-19. 1. Press the orums command and select the forums you would like to visit. A selected forum has an * next to the name. To select a forum press the letter adjacent to its name on the screen. To select all the forums you have defined press . 2. Press to return to the main menu. You should now have CompuServe Mail and your forums listed. 3. Press ew to tell TAPCIS to go online and download your messages or headers. 4. When TAPCIS finishes automatically downloading and logging off you should see an next to the forum number if you have messages to read or an <^> indicator if you have headers that need to be marked. 5. Press the number of the forum with messages to read and the messages will appear on your screen. You can reply to any message by pressing eply. See also Message Replying and Handling starting on page 6-15. 3-4 Quick Start TAPCIS 6. Press ark followed by the forum number that shows a <^> indicator, and TAPCIS will present you with a list of sorted headers. Press ead to mark the headers you want to read. When you're done press to return to the main menu. 7. Now tell TAPCIS that you want to go online and get the messages you have selected by pressing nline. 8. To write a new message press rite from the main menu and follow the prompts and menus that appear in the highlighted bars. 9. To send your message press nline or press ew to send your message and download new messages. TAPCIS will always perform any pending actions (sending messages, downloading files, etc.) with both the nline command and the ew command. ------------------------------------ Libraries * For more information see Forum: Libraries on page 7-1. 1. The ibrary command lets you search a series of forum libraries to create a catalog. You can limit the search by the age of the files in days, keywords, partial names including wildcards, or by the library numbers. 2. Once you tell TAPCIS to create the catalog, go nline to do the search. The results are saved in a file that you can search using the atalog command. Files can be marked for downloading in the catalog for the next time TAPCIS goes online. 3. If you know the exact name and library where a file is found, you can answer "Yes" to the search by name prompt and have TAPCIS download the file when it is found. ------------------------------------ Interactive Mode * For more information see Interactive Mode on page 8-1. 1. The nteractive command will log you on to CompuServe and allow you to explore areas not automated by TAPCIS (such as the Official Airline Guide, Executive News Service, IQuest database searching, the IBM File Finder, etc.). When you press you are asked to select a forum. You'd select a forum number if you wanted to manually upload a file there or participate in a conference. Pressing will log on and not go to a specific forum. Once you are in "Terminal Mode" indicated by a bar at the top of the screen, type GO CIS to get to the top CompuServe menu. You can use to review text that has scrolled off the display. You can use to save what comes from CompuServe to a separate file. Type "OFF" to logoff CompuServe. TAPCIS Quick Start 3-5 ======================================================================== Command Reference ======================================================================== This command reference is not meant as a complete guide to all TAPCIS commands. It is here only as an introduction and complete listing of the commands that are discussed in more detail throughout the rest of this manual. You can often use Help to get more information about the commands available to you in each part of the program. ------------------------------------ General Commands F1 - Cancel or abort F3 - Help! (Context sensitive) F7 - Exit Ctrl-F1 - Shell to DOS Sh-F1 - Execute a DOS command ------------------------------------ Setup Commands

- Parameters: COM port, modem settings, telephone numbers, user ID, password, disk pathnames, logging and outbox options, color settings, and full name. - Set CompuServe Default Parameters: Goes online, logs into CompuServe, sets your terminal and login options, and configures CompuServe Mail. Should be done before joining forums and after setting the

arameters screen information. - Forums: Add, Delete, Move (change order), Select/Deselect active forums, Edit forum options, Sections to monitor, and type of forum (Q forum for getting message headers for offline selection, R forum for reading all or specific sections, or M forum to just look for new messages just to your user ID). - Join Forums: Every forum you want to use with TAPCIS must be joined using the command from the main menu. This command logs onto CompuServe, visits each forum, sets the forum options properly, sets your name (the first time the forum is joined), and creates the section (forum.SEC) file of message and library names. You can use this command for one or more new forum or to get updated section lists when forums change their section names and organization. - Switch forum and parameters files: This command can be used from the main menu, the Forums menu, or the Parameters screen. You can use it to create a copy of your current PARAMS.CIS file with a new file extension. Use this to be able to define more than 20 forums or to switch between active forum sets, switch user IDs, change to a "travelling" set of parameters, or even to support your use of the program on two machines with different modem and drive configurations. 3-6 Quick Start TAPCIS - Macros: You can create 20 macros for both the TAPCIS editor and for use in the interactive terminal mode. You must create these macros from the main menu by pressing . Macros cannot include control codes or TAPCIS commands other than (represented in a macro by the vertical bar <|>). ------------------------------------ Creating Outbox Actions These are commands that create actions for TAPCIS to perform online. The actions are stored in files in your computer until you go online with one of the autopilot commands. - Write a message. Mail messages must be addressed to specific accounts and are confidential. Forum messages can be addressed to All, Sysop, *SYSOP (a "public" message that can only be read by the forum administrators), or other name. Forum messages are public in general (some forums do support private forum messages although those are discouraged). Remember, though, that unless you address a forum message to a specific user ID there is no guarantee that the right person will read it. - Library search and catalog creation based on the filename, keyword, or age. Most of the time you use the command to create a catalog (viewed with the command). You can also tell the ibrary command that you want to search for a file of a specific name in a certain library of the forum and have the file downloaded if found. - Additional (advanced) online commands you want TAPCIS to perform in a forum. These include reading new messages to you in a specific forum (R), new messages addressed to All (L), all messages old and new addressed to you (T), all messages old and new addressed by you (B), deleting private messages to or from you if they have been read (Z), and the ever useful ser command. For some examples on user commands, press at the main menu and then press Help. ------------------------------------ Starting the Autopilot The TAPCIS autopilot will call CompuServe, log in, and perform the actions you have set up in the outbox (above) along with any actions that are part of the autopilot command. You should not need to do anything with the keyboard from the time you press these commands until TAPCIS logs off CompuServe. - Get new messages and headers. By far the most commonly used TAPCIS command, pressing at the main menu is used to visit each of the active forums and get either new messages (for Mail and R Forums), quick scanned headers (Q Forums), or messages to your user ID that you have not read yet (M Forums). It will also perform in the same pass any pending actions in the Outbox. For example, if you wrote replies the day before and have selected some files to download, and you want to get new messages at the same time, use . TAPCIS Quick Start 3-7 - Works exactly the same way does but also runs a special script called FRONTEND.SCR that (usually) saves things like stock quotes, news, and weather as a Mail message for you to read after TAPCIS logs off CompuServe. See page 9-3 for more details. - Go online and do only the pending outbox actions. Use this if you don't want to get any new messages but want to send your written messages and replies, perform any library searches and downloads, etc. If you press and don't have anything pending, TAPCIS will not connect to CompuServe. - Does the same things as the command but also picks up any messages sent to you specifically in Mail and other forums. Like it will not connect to CompuServe if there are no pending actions. - A useful variant of , the ead Waiting command does all the pending outbox actions that does, and reads messages to your user ID. Pressing will always call CompuServe and visit all active forums. We use instead of ew during the day when we want to check for messages to us but don't have time to read all new messages. ------------------------------------ Inbox Processing The "inbox" commands refer to those commands that take information captured by the autopilot and let you work with it offline while the meter is not running. Many of these commands <>also create actions in the outbox for TAPCIS to perform online. The difference is that most of these commands come after an autopilot session with ew. <1>-<8> - After a session with ew the forums where there are new messages to read will have an exclamation point after their number. For example, if there is new CompuServe Mail, you'd see 1! in the forums box at the bottom of the main menu. To read that mail, press <1>. Forums are 1-8 and then Shift-F2 though Shift-F8 for forums 9 through 15. Use to advance from one message to the next. Up and down arrow as well as page up and down work, too. There are many other commands available. See the section on Reading Messages for a full description. Don't forget that help is as close as the key. When reading messages, there is additional help available on . A major group of those commands are for responding to what you see on the screen. This is one of the real powers of TAPCIS. It lets you become involved with the forums with ease and at minimal cost. - Reply to the message being read, sending a response to the sender of the message under the same subject. - Use the sender of the message for the reply but prompt for a new subject for the message. - Send a message under a new subject to the person in the To: field. 3-8 Quick Start TAPCIS - Send a reply but prompt for a new forum (e.g., MAIL) - Writes a new message in the forum unrelated to the current message. - Forward a full copy of this message to someone via CompuServe Mail. You are prompted for the addressee and subject. Note: You should remove the "#:" from the message being forwarded if you do not want the recipient to reply to the sender of the forwarded message. - While not a message writing command, the Address Book command is an important one to use while reading messages. When you press you are given the option of saving the address of the to or from fields, or both, along with a comment and a user name in parenthesis. See the address book section for more details. - Mark headers from a Q Forum. First the headers must be captured by the TAPCIS autopilot using the ew command. The forums with headers that need marking show with a caret <^> status mark next to the forum number. You mark the headers, choosing the threads you want TAPCIS to retrieve from the forum the next time it goes nline. Only the threads you mark will be retrieved and placed in your message file for reading offline. You'll get the best results if you minimize the time between the ew session, marking the headers, and going nline to get them. - Catalog of available files. After a catalog is created by the ibrary search command, you use the catalog command to search it. When you find a file you want to download, you press . This creates an action in the outbox to download the file the next time you go nline. ------------------------------------ Other Main Menu Commands - View a file of saved messages. When reading messages you can save a message using to the forum.SAV file. Or, you can use the Save key to put the message in another file (e.g., 2DO). If on the parameters screen you've selected to save your outbox messages (messages you write), they are also put in the .SAV file. To view a forum.SAV file, press iew then the forum number. To view an individual message file, press iew ile then type the filename. - Edit a file. This is usually used to edit one of the pending action files like the forum.SND file. You should exercise extreme caution when editing these files to make sure you do not change the special commands TAPCIS uses. If you need help editing one of these files, it is best to ask on the TAPCIS forum for guidance. Pressing dit will bring up a list of the files that you can edit by their file extensions. See the list of files created by TAPCIS for a description. You can also use the dit ile command to edit files like CONFIG.SYS or scripts. If the file can fit in the available TAPCIS Quick Start 3-9 memory, you can use dit ile to look at files captured by scripts as well. Any ASCII file can be edited as long as it fits in memory. You will be told if it will not fit in which case you'd need to use an external editor. - Kill a file. If you specify a then you're prompted for one of the forum specific files. If you press instead of a forum number, you can type in the full pathname of a file to be erased. There is no confirmation so be careful! <$> - This main menu command runs the external accounting module for TAPCIS stored in STATS.EXE which must be found in the current directory. For the accounting module to work, you must have turned on time logging on the parameters screen. If you do not have sufficient free RAM to run STATS from within TAPCIS, you can run it from DOS. - TAPCIS keeps the indicators for pending actions in the parameters file. If you make changes to the files TAPCIS uses from DOS or you switch parameter files using , the indicators may not show the true status of the program. Using will refresh all the indicators except the exclamation mark (used to show if there are unread messages; it will only remove the ! mark if the message file is missing). <*> - Send a formfeed to the printer by pressing the asterisk on the main menu. - TAPCIS Simple Terminal. This is a direct method of communicating with your modem to change factory settings or to verify that the program is talking to the modem properly. For example, if you press from the main menu, you should be able to type modem commands like ATZ and get a Hayes compatible modem to respond OK. If that does not work, you may need to change COM: port settings on the parameters screen. ------------------------------------ Interactive Commands - From the main menu, pressing will log you in to CompuServe and leave you in the interactive terminal mode. If you specified a forum number after you pressed then you'll be left in that forum. That is useful if you plan to download files from a forum interactively but want the forum name stored in the XFER.LOG file. - The key is used most places in TAPCIS as an alternative to Abort. There is one notable exception. After issuing an autopilot command, TAPCIS will tell you that you can press at anytime to stay online after the autopilot actions are complete. You'll see a message "Remaining Online" at the top of the screen. If you press again, you won't stay online. So, is a toggle. - In terminal mode once online with CompuServe, you can use the command to review the last 350 lines received by TAPCIS. 3-10 Quick Start TAPCIS Use the arrow and page keys to review the buffer and then press to return to terminal mode. - This command has two effects. If you are in the middle of file transfer, pressing tells TAPCIS to logoff after the transfer is complete. This lets you walk away from the computer during a long transfer without worrying about coming back to logoff. If you are not transferring a file, logs off immediately. - If you need to hang up the phone, will do so. It works best on Hayes compatible modems. Most of the time is a better choice. If you are aborting an autopilot session, you must press Cancel before using either or to hang up. - In terminal mode the key lets you open up a file on disk to capture the information CompuServe sends. You are prompted for a filename. Press again to turn off the capture. This command appends to the file, so you can open and close the same file without losing previously stored information. - If you have a script (with the .SCR file extension), you can press and enter the script filename with or without the extension and TAPCIS will execute the script. If the file you specify does not have a .SCR extension, TAPCIS will send the file one line at a time to CompuServe. This is useful in a conference to send pre- prepared text or to send a FEEDBACK or CONGRESSGRAM message. - Toggles in and out of the TAPCIS conference mode where you have three lines at the bottom of the screen that function as a type ahead buffer (so you can type your messages without interruptions from messages sent by other participants). - Execute a macro (created using from the main menu. - CompuServe recognizes several control codes that may be useful to you in terminal mode. aborts the current CIS command in most cases when which is the preferred "abort" is not recognized. pauses the output and restarts it. tells CompuServe to stop sending you output from the current command and start again at the next prompt. erases the current input line. ------------------------------------ Editor Reference The TAPCIS editor is very simple. You type and letters appear. Backspace deletes the character last typed. When a word cannot fit on the line, it is wrapped to the next line. Press only at the end of paragraphs. Leave blank lines between paragraphs with an extra return (this is highly recommended to make your messages more readable). The arrow keys, backspace, and delete work as they do in most editors. TAPCIS Quick Start 3-11 Editing Commands Ins - Toggle insert/overwrite Del - Delete character at cursor Bksp - Destructive backspace Ctrl-End - Delete from cursor to end of line Ctrl-Y - Delete line Ctrl-Bksp - Delete word Ctrl-T - Delete from cursor to end of word and following space Ctrl-F1 - Shell to DOS Ctrl-F3 - Reformat from cursor to end of paragraph (also Ctrl-B). When you edit paragraphs text is not automatically reformatted. You must reformat automatically using this function. Alt-F10 - Transpose characters Cursor Movement The up and down arrow keys move a line at a time in the up or down direction. You cannot move down beyond the end of the text you've entered. The right and left arrow keys move by character. Holding the ctrl key while pressing either right or left arrow will move by word. Home - Beginning of line End - End of line PgUp - Up one screen PgDn - Down one screen Ctrl-PgUp - Top of message Ctrl-PgDn - End of message Most of the original WordStar cursor movement commands are still active in TAPCIS. Block Commands Ctrl-KB - Mark start of BlocK (blocks always start at the first character on a line and you can mark the start of the block from anywhere on the line. Ctrl-KK - Mark the end of the BlocK (which will end at the last character on the line where you mark the block end) Ctrl-KY - Yank (delete) the block Ctrl-KC - Copy the block to the line below the current cursor position Ctrl-KV - To move a block mark it, go to the line above its destination, then <^KV> Ctrl-KH - To hide a block (un mark) 3-12 Quick Start TAPCIS