Caucus 2.7

Menu User's Guide

by Screen Porch, LLC

http://screenporch.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1	Introduction	1

1.1 What is Computer Conferencing?	1
1.2 What is Caucus?	2
1.3 Structure of Caucus Conferences	2
1.4 Conventions Used in This Guide	4

Chapter 2	Using the Caucus Standard Menu	5

2.1 Overview	5
2.2 Using Caucus the First Time	5
2.3 The Caucus Standard Menu	7

Chapter 3	Using the Caucus Executive Menus	15

3.1 Overview	15
3.2 What Is In a Menu	15
3.3 Looking Around	17
3.4 Participating in Conferences	18
3.5 Everyday Use	19
3.6 Learning About Caucus Participants	20
3.7 What Are Messages?	21
3.8 Advanced Operations	25
3.9 Changing Your User Environment	29
3.10 The Caucus Command Line	32

Chapter 4	Using the Teaching Menus	33

4.1 Overview	33
4.2 What Is in a Menu	33
4.3 Looking Around	35
4.4 Participating in Conferences	36
4.5 Everyday Use	38
4.6 Learning About Caucus Participants	40
4.7 What are Messages?	41
4.8 Advanced Operations	45
4.9 Using SET and CHANGE	48
4.10 The Caucus Command Line	54

Index	56

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1	What is Computer Conferencing?

Computer conferencing, also referred to as electronic or computer-moderated conferencing, enhances group communication.  A computer conference is like a meeting except that participants need not be in the same place nor meet at the same time.  Everything that everyone "says" is entered into Caucus and stored in the memory of the host computer.  Later participants review what others have entered and may add further comments.  This process can continue indefinitely.  The computer, using Caucus, keeps track of all the meeting details, such as who has read which discussions and what new material has been added.

Conferencing is used to supplement live meetings, to replace meetings where timing is not critical, or to bring together people who ordinarily would have a difficult time getting together due to location or cost constraints.

Conferences are valuable sources of information.  For example, a conference dedicated to discussing microcomputers is an excellent place to ask basic questions about what microcomputers are available and which are recommended.  A conference can include people who otherwise might never have met, yet who can, via conferencing, share information and expertise.

A major advantage of conferencing is that members can participate at their convenience.  Rather than arranging their schedules to fit meetings, users join whenever they wish.  Conferencing also saves a lot of time.  Participants can read much faster than they can listen and can skip over irrelevant discussions.

Compared to people at a face-to-face meeting, participants in a computer conference have a better chance to say what they want.  No one can interrupt another, and there is no pressure to respond immediately. Users can think about their response before entering it. If they change their mind or learn that their statement was incorrect, they can update their comment.

A computer conference can be used to conduct a discussion among groups that would be impossibly large for face-to-face meetings.  Everyone can be heard without shouting.  There is no background noise from people commenting quietly on what the speaker is saying.  If a smaller group wants to discuss another aspect of the topic at hand or an entirely different subject, they can start a separate discussion without interfering with the original exchange.
Computer conferencing is useful for decision making among groups of all sizes.  By contrast, ordinary channels of communication often break down when more than two or three people are involved.  Phone calls or messages (written or electronic) can quickly get out of hand as everyone tries to contact everyone else. Soon there are more messages than can be managed.  A conference handles this explosion of information much more efficiently by organizing and documenting the entire group's input.

Conferencing can be remarkably bias-free.  Participants are identified only by name and whatever identifying information they choose to give.  Participants may not know each other at the beginning, and, in fact, may never meet face to face.  As a result, many personal characteristics, such as race, gender, religion, age, or handicaps,  are invisible in a conference.

1.2	What is Caucus?

Caucus is a software package which hosts computer conferences on your computer system.  Caucus is not a service that you pay for by the hour; you buy a license to use Caucus on your computer the same way you buy a license to use a word processing or data base program.  Caucus supports multiple conferences, and each can be open or restricted depending on the organizer of that conference.

Caucus was carefully designed so that novice users quickly master the basics.  This means new users spend their time interacting with their group as opposed to trying to figure out how Caucus works. 

This guide describes how to use the Caucus menu interface(s) on a text-only computer terminal.  For more information about other Caucus interfaces, including the World-Wide-Web based interface, see our home page, at http://screenporch.com.

The Caucus User's Guide and the Caucus Menu User's Guide, in conjunction with each host system's Caucus Installation and System Manager's Guide, documents the extensive features of Caucus.  These include sophisticated capabilities and system interfaces for managers and more experienced users who wish to extend their conferencing mastery.  

1.3	Structure of Caucus Conferences

The following diagram provides an overview of how Caucus conferences are structured.  Referencing this figure while reading the text will help you quickly grasp how Caucus conferences work.

Each computer system hosting the Caucus software can support an unlimited number of conferences.  These conferences can be open (anyone who can access Caucus can access them) or private (restricted access).  Each conference typically deals with an issue or focus of interest to its members.

Within each individual conference, input is organized into discussions consisting of more specific topics, called Items.  Each conference can have up to ten thousand Items of varying lengths, with each Item identified by a title, number, author and date entered.  Caucus automatically indexes Items by title and author.  Items also may be grouped into subject categories.

Responses are the comments made by participants within each Item.  Responses to an Item form a linear chain.  These are added to the Item, one after another, as they are entered.  The Responses can be compared to a discussion period — and it is this input that is key to creating a successful conferencing and communication environment.  Each Item can have up to ten thousand Responses of any length.

Each Response may also have one "attachment".  An attachment is a file of any size or type.  A response in a discussion about finances, for example, could have an attached spreadsheet which the participants could view or copy.

Caucus also has a message facility (electronic mail).  This may be used by participants who need to share private information with other Caucus users which may not be appropriate for posting within the group conferencing environment.

1.4	Conventions Used in This Guide

A word in italics means that you should replace it with a specific word or words of that type.  For example, when you see the word conference, it should be replaced with the name of a particular conference.

In the examples in this guide, words typed by the user are shown in boldface.  Output from the computer is shown indented and in different type style.  For example:

	This line is displayed by the computer.

When you are directed to press a specific key, the name of the key is contained between the symbols "<" and ">".  For example, <RETURN> means "the key labeled RETURN on a standard typing keyboard".

All Caucus commands are shown in capital letters.  You can use either capital or lower-case letters when you type a command.  Abbreviations can also be used (Caucus prompts you for more letters if the abbreviation is not unique).

You must press <RETURN> at the end of every line that you type when you are using Caucus.

Chapter 2

Using the Caucus Standard Menu

2.1	Overview

This chapter describes the Caucus Standard Menu interface and shows how to register with Caucus.  The Standard Menu is a simple menu system designed to let users easily access and add new information to Caucus conferences and messages.  For most Caucus systems, new users will automatically be brought into the Standard Menus.

2.2	Using Caucus the First Time

This section provides an example of a new user using Caucus for the first time.  It goes through the new user's  with Caucus and shows how to join a conference, how to access HELP, and how to use the Caucus Standard Menu to participate in the conference.

Words shown in boldface are typed by the user.  Assume that the user pressed <return> at the end of each line.  The text displayed by Caucus is shown indented and in a different typeface.  The text in parentheses provides additional information.  Feel free to try this example yourself on your own computer.

The example assumes that the user has already logged onto a Caucus host computer by typing an account name or a userid and password.  How to log on varies from computer to computer.

Having logged onto a Caucus host computer, type:

	caucus

(On most computers you type "caucus" to start the program.  Details may vary from computer to computer.  If you logged into a host computer through a captive Caucus account, Caucus starts as soon as you have logged in.)

Caucus (TM) Version 2.3/SX.  Copyright (C) 1988-1993 Screen Porch.

Welcome to Caucus!

Since this is your first time using Caucus, you will be asked a few short questions.  Please answer them as well as you can.  (You can change the answers later if you need to.)  Caucus will use your answers to register you as a new user.

If this is your first time on Caucus, type NEWUSER and press RETURN.
This will let you register a new userid for yourself.

Otherwise, type your userid now: newuser

Please enter your last name: Doe

Caucus will ask you for a password each time you login.  Here Caucus asks you to pick your password.  The word you type will not show up on the screen.

Next time you log in, I'll ask you for a secret password so
that I'll know it's really you.

What would you like that password to be? PASSWORD
Please enter it again, just to make sure: PASSWORD

(The first time you use Caucus, it asks you to register.  The next time it will remember who you are.)

Please follow the instructions below to register as a Caucus user.
Type HELP or ? at ANY prompt if you need assistance.

Please enter your full name, in mixed case (capital and small letters):
>Joan Doe

When your name appears in an alphabetized list, under which word in your
name are you listed?  (For example, 'John Doe' is listed under 'Doe'.)

(The use of parentheses around (doe) indicates that this is Caucus' default selection.  If you press <return> you are listed alphabetically as "doe.")

List me under:  (doe) doe

Please enter your telephone number:
>518-273-0983
   
Please describe yourself briefly in a few lines.  Your description could include why you are using Caucus, what your role is in your organization, or even a few words about your personal interests.

Please describe yourself briefly in a few lines.  When you are
done, type a period (dot) at the beginning of the next line.
>Screen Porch employee.
>I also enjoy science fiction and white-water rafting!
>.

Please wait while Caucus completes your registration...

Remember that what you have done with Caucus so far is the one-time registration process.  The next time you use Caucus, you will not be asked for this information.  Later in this manual, you will find out how to change your registration information if you need to do so.

Welcome Menu
1 - What is Caucus?
2 - List the conferences
3 - Join a conference
0 - Quit

Enter your Choice: 3

Which conference would you like to join?  Type just the first few letters of the 	conference name. (You may also type LIST to see a list of all the conferences or 	type STOP to leave Caucus entirely.)

JOIN which conference? demonstration

(Your computer may host many different conferences.  Each conference has a different name.  In this case, the user is joining the DEMONSTRATION conference, which is distributed free with Caucus.)

This is the Caucus DEMONSTRATION conference.  It briefly describes the format and features of Caucus and then lets you try them out on excerpts taken from a variety of licensee applications.
   
Please answer YES when Caucus asks...
   
Do you wish to join this conference? yes
   
Welcome to the Caucus DEMONSTRATION conference.
(Charles Roth, organizer.)
   
The <CANCEL> key is Control-C.
   
New items are: 1-2
No new responses
   
Each time you join a conference, Caucus shows the name of the conference, identifies the organizer, indicates the system "cancel" key, and lists any unread items, responses, and mail messages.

2.3	The Caucus Standard Menu

The first menu you see is the Caucus Standard Menu.  This menu has three parts: a title, several choices, and a prompt.  

The title is Standard Menu.  The list of numbers and their explanations are the choices.  The last line of the display, the prompt, asks you what you want to do.  There is a default action for this and most menus, which is displayed on the prompt line in parentheses.  To choose the default action, simply press the <RETURN> key.  To choose another action simply press the number for that action and <RETURN>.

Standard Menu

 ?	-	HELP	(get more information)

 1	-	NEW TEXT	(read new conference responses & items)
 2	-	OLD TEXT	(read old conference responses &items)
 3	-	RESPOND	(add a new response to an item)
 4	-	ADD ITEM	(start a new item)
 5	-	ADD ATTACH	(add an attachment to a response)

 6	-	NEW MSGS	(read new private messages)
 7	-	OLD MSGS	(read old private messages)
 8	-	SEND	(send a private e-mail message)

 9	-	CHECK	(check all your conferences and messages for new activity)
 J	-	JOIN	(join another conference)
 M	-	MENUS	(use a different menu interface)
 0	-	QUIT	(leave Caucus)

	Enter your Choice (1)

2.3.1	Help (?)

At any prompt, you may type a "?" or the word "help" for more information on the commands you wish to use.  HELP gives you information about where you are in Caucus and what you can do next.

You can use Caucus HELP to understand any menu.  Try using HELP.  From the Standard Menu, type "?" followed by the <RETURN> key.  Caucus now displays the heading "Help for Standard Menu" followed by a screenful of text.

Note that Caucus stopped after exactly one screenful of text to give you a chance to read the information.  The last line on the screen asks you if you want to continue and read more text.  To continue reading, just press <RETURN>.  To stop here and not display any more of the Help text, type "s" followed by <RETURN>.  If you stop, Caucus returns to (redisplays) the Standard Menu.

2.3.2	Read New Conference Items and Responses

To choose this option press "1" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

This option shows you the items and responses you haven't seen yet.  First, Caucus displays new responses to on-going discussions.  Next, Caucus displays new items (discussions) introduced since your last Caucus session.  To interrupt the display and return to the standard menu, press "s" followed by <RETURN> at the prompt at the bottom of the screen.  To continue press <RETURN>.

If others have entered responses to a particular item since your last response, Caucus shows your response before the new ones.  (If you don't want to be reminded of what you said, see "SET MYTEXT" in section 9.2.7 of the Caucus User's Guide to turn this feature off.)  After you read all the new responses to an item, Caucus asks if you want to reply to with a response of your own.  Following the text of the message, you see the prompt:

	Item 1...RESPOND, PASS, or ? for options (pass)

This is your opportunity to reply to the item.  Note what each piece of this prompt tells you:

ITEM  1	You have just seen item number 1.

RESPOND	You can type RESPOND (or just R) at this prompt to send a response to your correspondent.  Once you have entered a response, Caucus will repeat this prompt.

PASS	You can PASS on this item, and go on to see other new information.

? for options	The prompt includes the most common actions, RESPOND and PASS.  Type ? or HELP to learn about your other options.  After showing you what options are available, Caucus repeats the original prompt.
		
		One other available option is CHANGE which allows you to edit your own response.  You may not edit someone else’s items or responses. When CHANGE is chosen, Caucus will display your most recent response to the screen and ask if you wish to change it.  If you type yes, your response will be presented in the Caucus line editor.  To choose another editor, see the Caucus User’s Guide Section 9.2.  If you type no, Caucus will display your next previous response, until you type STOP, or Caucus has displayed all your responses for that item.

(pass)		Pressing <RETURN> in this case is the same as typing PASS.

If you do not want to do anything with this message, and you do not want to PASS on to any other new messages, press the <CANCEL> key.  Caucus will return to the Standard menu.

2.3.3	Read Old Responses & Items

To choose this option press "2" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt.

As conferences may contain a lot of text, this option does not automatically show all old text.  Instead, this option asks you for the number of the item or items you wish to see.  You may also type LIST at the prompt to see the numbers and titles of each item.

After viewing old text, you will see the prompt:

	Item 1...RESPOND, PASS, or ? for options (pass)

Please refer to section 2.3.2 for information on these options.

2.3.4	Respond

To choose this option press "3" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

There are two ways to add a new response to a Caucus item.  One way is to choose this option from the menu.  You will then be asked the item number to which you wish to respond.  Enter this number and press <RETURN>.  Then, enter the text of your response.  When you have finished entering the response text, enter a period (dot) at the beginning of the next line and press <RETURN>.

You may change your end-of-text character (EOT), the period (dot) in the above example, or change your editor for text entry.  Please see the Caucus User’s Guide section 9.2 for instructions on customizing these features.

The second way to add a response is to answer "respond" at the prompt which appears at the end of each item when you display it.  You may then enter the text of your response in the same fashion as above.

2.3.5	Add a New Item

To choose this option press "4" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

This option lets you add your own new item.  Caucus first prompts you for the text of the item.  Enter the text and press <RETURN> at the end of each line.  When you have finished entering the item text, enter a period (dot) at the beginning of the next line and press <RETURN>.  This tells Caucus you have finished entering the item.

After you finish entering your item text, Caucus prompts you for a one-line title.  Choose a clear and succinct title for your item to help other participants of the conference.  Caucus automatically assigns the next available number for your item; you do not have to supply one.

HINT:  Use RESPOND when you want to comment on an on-going discussion.  Use ADD ITEM when you want to start a completely new discussion.

2.3.6	Add a New Attachment

To choose this option press "5" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

This option lets you attach a file to an item or a response that you entered.  This file must already be present on the Caucus host computer.

Caucus first asks you where the file should be attached.  You will be prompted for an item and response number, separated by a colon.  (For example, answering "5:3" means you want to attach the file to item 5, response 3).  If you type just an item number, Caucus will try to attach the file to the beginning of that item.

Then Caucus prompts you for a file name.  Caucus will make a copy of this file, and attach it the response you selected.

After the file is attached, users who view your response will have the opportunity to see or make a copy of, your attachment.

2.3.7	Read New Private Messages

To choose this option press "6" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

When you choose this option, Caucus shows your new (unseen) private messages.   Whenever you receive a message, it gets placed in your mailbox and marked as NEW.  Caucus tracks all the messages you receive from other people.  Each message is numbered when it is received.  The first message you receive is Message 1, the second is Message 2, and so forth.  

You can access your Caucus messages from any conference.  Only you can look at your messages.  Once a message has been sent to you, it is yours to read, keep, or delete.  For each new message, Caucus displays:

	•	the message number
	•	the subject of the message
	•	the name of the sender with the time and date sent
	•	the text of the message

After you read each message, Caucus asks if you want to reply to the sender with a message of your own.  Following the text of the message, you see the prompt:

	Message 1...REPLY, PASS, DELETE, or ? for options (pass)

This is your opportunity to reply to the message.  Note what each piece of this prompt tells you:

MESSAGE  1	You have just seen message number 1.

REPLY	You can type REPLY (or just R) at this prompt to send a reply to your correspondent.  Once you have sent a reply, Caucus will repeat this prompt.

PASS	You can PASS on this message, and go on to see other new messages.  The message will stay in your mailbox.

DELETE	You can DELETE (erase) this message.  You should delete messages you no longer need.

? for options	The prompt includes the three most common actions, REPLY, PASS, and DELETE.  Type ? or HELP to learn about your other options.  After showing you what options are available, Caucus repeats the original prompt.

(pass)		Pressing <RETURN> in this case is the same as typing PASS.

If you do not want to do anything with this message, and you do not want to PASS on to any other new messages, press the <CANCEL> key.  Caucus will return to the Standard menu.

2.3.8	Read Old Private Messages

To choose this option press "7" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt.

As you may have kept many old messages, Caucus will ask you for the specific numbers of the messages you wish to read.  You may also type LIST at the prompt for a list of all messages.

2.3.9	Send a Private Message (e-mail)

To choose this option press "8" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

This option lets you send private messages, or e-mail, to other users.  You need to know the name of the person(s) to whom you are sending the message.  Caucus will ask you to:

Enter the text of your message.  When you're finished, type a period (dot) at the beginning of the next line, and press <RETURN>.

Typing a message is like typing a response.  You can edit the text of your message by typing "edit" at the beginning of a line.  (You can also edit your message by responding "YES" to the "Edit Message?" prompt described below).  You can cancel your message altogether by pressing the <CANCEL> key.  When you finish entering your message, type a dot (period) followed by a <RETURN> at the start of a new line.

After you complete your message, Caucus asks you to:

	Enter the (short) subject of your message:

You should type a line that briefly summarizes what your message is about.  This helps your recipient keep better track of his or her messages.

Next, Caucus gives you another chance to fix any mistakes in your message.  At the prompt:

	Edit ?  (no)

type "yes" if you want to edit your message before it is sent.  This starts up your default text editor with the text of your message.  If you would like to use an editor other than the default editor, please see .  If you do not wish to edit your message, type "no", or just press <RETURN>, since "no" is the default choice shown in parentheses.

Now that your message is ready to send, Caucus asks you who should receive the message.  Type a few of the letters from your first name, a space, and a few letters from your last name, to send this message to yourself.

	Enter name of recipient:  JO SMI

Usually you only need to type the first few letters of the person's name.  Caucus figures out who you mean and asks for confirmation to send the message by displaying the recipient's full name:

	OK to send this message to Joe Smith? (yes)
	Answer YES, RR (send with receipt), or NO: (yes)

Type "yes", "ok", or press <RETURN> (the default) to send the message.  Type "no" if you do not want to send the message to this person.  Type "rr" if you want a return receipt for this message.  This time, type "rr".

Requesting a return receipt means that Caucus automatically sends you a "receipt" message when Joe Smith reads your message.  The receipt tells you that Joe Smith read the message, when he read the message, and what the subject of the message was.  You also can include a preset number of lines from the original message.  (See section 9.2.10 of the Caucus User's Guide, SET , for more information.)

Finally, Caucus asks if you want to send the message to anyone else.  At the prompt:

	Enter another recipient (or press <RETURN>): 

you may type the name of another recipient.  Caucus continues to prompt you with "OK to send message" and "Enter another recipient" until you press <RETURN> at the latter.  You can thus send copies of your message to as many people as you like.

2.3.10	Check All Conferences and Messages for New Activity

To choose this option press "9" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

This command gives you a brief summary of the new items, responses, and messages.  Here is an example:

You have    0 new message(s).

	New		Items with		Total new		Conference
     	Items 	new responses	responses		---------
	   1	10	26	Demonstration
         1	4			  8		Support		

This example shows that there are 1 new item and 26 new responses in the demonstration conference.   It also tells you, in the first line, how many messages you have.

2.3.11	JOIN (other conferences)

To choose this option press "J" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

Since you will probably attend more than one conference, Caucus provides the ability to switch between conferences.  To join a conference, choose option 9, "JOIN" from the Standard Menu.  Caucus asks you to enter the name of the conference.    

At this point, your options are:
·	type the name of a conference
·	type STOP to exit Caucus
·	type LIST to see a list of all available conferences
·	type CHECK to see a list of new material in other conferences

You may not have permission to join all of the conferences that appear when you type LIST.

You can type just the first few letters in the name of the conference, and Caucus will figure out which conference you mean.  If more than one conference begins with those letters, Caucus will ask you for more detail.

If you attempt to join a conference that does not exist or which you are not permitted to join, you are returned to the "JOIN which conference" prompt.  Conferences cannot be named LIST or STOP.

2.3.12	Menus

To choose this option press "M" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

The standard menu is designed for everyday use of Caucus.  You may change your user interface to use menus with more advanced features or which accept Caucus “commands”.  Section 4.11.3 describes each of the menus in detail.

2.3.13	Quit Caucus

To choose this option press "0" and <RETURN> at the AND NOW? prompt. 

This command ends a Caucus session.  If you are using a captive Caucus account, quit not only ends your Caucus session, but it logs you off the system.  Ask your Caucus manager if you have any questions about how this command works on your system.

Chapter 3

Using the Caucus Executive Menus

3.1	Overview

This chapter describes the Caucus Executive Menus.  This is an alternative to the Caucus Standard Menu.  The executive menus are intended for users who wish a more sophisticated interface than that provided by the Standard Menus.  (Use of the other Caucus menu interfaces is documented later in this manual.)  See chapter 2 of this Menu User’s Guide for help using Caucus for the first time.

In this chapter you will learn:

·	what executive menu screens look like
·	how Caucus can help you
·	how to look at a discussion
·	how to participate in a discussion
·	what a person is
·	how to send private messages
·	how to change your environment

3.2	What Is In a Menu

This section describes the various parts of menus that will appear on your screen.  The next section provides an example of using these menus.

The first menu you will see is the Caucus Main Menu.  This menu has three parts: a title, several choices, and a prompt.  

Main Menu
 
1 -	Help
2 -	Conferences Menu
3 -	Items Menu
4 -	Responses Menu
5 -	Attachments Menu
6 -	Messages Menu
7 -	People Menu
8 -	User Environment
0 -	Quit

Enter your Choice: (3)

The title is Main Menu.  The list of numbers and their explanations are the choices.  The last line of display, the prompt, asks you what you want to do.

To choose one of the actions listed, type the number of the action and then press the <RETURN> key.  There is a default action for this and most menus.  The default action is displayed on the prompt line in parentheses.  To choose the default action, simply press the <RETURN> key.

There are several sub-menus similar in form to the Main Menu.  These are called .  There are two choices that all Decision Menus have in common.  Choice 0 always returns you "home" to the Main Menu.  (The only exception to this is that choosing 0 from the Main Menu terminates your Caucus session.)  Choice 1 is always "Help".  "Help" gives you information about where you are in Caucus and what you can do next.

A second type of menu is the .  This type asks you for specific details about what you want to access within a larger set of information.  For example, if you wish to see specific Items, a Range menu asks you which Items you would like to see.  You can answer in any number of ways, such as "all", "last", "1 2 3", "1-3", etc.  (These options are covered in more detail in later sections of this manual.)

On the Main Menu, choices 2 through 7 bring you to various sub-menus that help you to use Caucus to access conferences and your electronic mail.  Main Menu choice 8, "User Environment", lets you change personal information about yourself, or change the way that you interact with Caucus.

You can use Caucus "Help" to understand any menu.  Try using "Help".  From the Main Menu, type "1" followed by the <RETURN> key.  Caucus now displays the heading "Help for Main Menu" followed by a screenful of text.

Note that Caucus stopped after exactly one screenful of text to give you a chance to read the information.  The last line on the screen asks you if you want to continue and read more text.  To continue reading, you just press <RETURN>.  To stop here and not display any more of the Help text, type "s" followed by <RETURN>.  If you stop, Caucus returns to (redisplays) the Main Menu.

It is not important to understand all of the Main Menu choices now, but you should read through the Help text to familiarize yourself with Caucus and this menu.  Remember that choice 1 is Help on every menu.  Each menu has its own Help screen which describes all of the options available for that menu.

As the end of the Help text indicates, the default choice is 3, the Items Menu.  This is what Caucus will do next if you press <RETURN> without typing in a number first.

3.3	Looking Around

Now try walking through a simple operation: looking at the text in Item 1.  At the Main Menu, type "3" followed by a <RETURN>, or simply press <RETURN> as this is the default option.  This takes you to the Items Menu, which looks like this:

Items Menu
 
1 -	Help
2 -	List Items Sub-menu
3 -	Show Items Sub-menu
4 -	Add an Item
5 -	Change the Text of an Item
6 -	Change the Title of an Item
7 -	Search Item(s) for Word(s)
0 -	Main Menu

Enter your Choice: (3)

(Note that choice 0 takes you back to the Main Menu and choice 1 explains this menu.)

You want to see Item 1, so choose 3 (Show Items Sub-Menu) by typing a "3" and then pressing <RETURN>.  Caucus then displays the selected sub-menu:

Show Items Menu
 
1 -	Help
2 -	Show New Items
3 -	Show the Last Item
4 -	Show All the Items
5 -	Show Particular Item(s)
6 -	List the People Who have Seen an Item
9 -	Go Back to Items Menu
0 -	Main Menu

Enter your Choice (2)

Here we want to see a particular item, Item 1, so choose 5 (Show Particular Item(s)) by pressing "5" and then <RETURN>.  Caucus does not clear the screen, but adds to the display:

Please enter the number, or range of numbers, of the item(s) you would like to see:

You just want to see item 1, so type a "1" followed by <RETURN>.  Caucus displays the text of the item, followed by all the responses to the item.  Notice that Caucus stops displaying text after a screenful and waits for you to press <RETURN> before continuing.

At the end of the item, Caucus asks what you want to do next:

ITEM 1...RESPOND, PASS, or ? for options:  (pass)

As before, Caucus tells what the default is within parentheses.  At this point, you should pass by pressing <RETURN>.  Caucus then returns to and redisplays the Items Menu.

The next section explains how to participate in a conference, but this is a good place to take a break if you need one.  To leave Caucus from the Items Menu, choose Main Menu (type "0"), and then from the Main Menu choose "Quit" (type "0").

3.4	Participating in Conferences

Now you can take a further look at what discussions are occurring.  Go to the Items Menu (choice 3 in the Main Menu).  Then choose selection 2, the List Items Sub-Menu, which looks like this:

List Items Menu
 
1 -	Help
2 -	List the New Items
3 -	List the Last Item
4 -	List All the Items
5 -	List Particular Item(s)
9 -	Go Back to Items Menu
0 -	Main Menu

Enter your Choice: (2)

Before you continue, note that choice 9 is "Go Back to Items Menu".  Every sub-menu has a choice 9 which brings you back "up" one menu level — in this case to the Items Menu.

You want to learn what the "new" items are (those items which you have not seen yet), so choose "2" (List the New Items).  This displays a list similar to the following one:

Item   2	(	3)  A National Brief on Lawyers
Item   3	(	17)  Electronic Filing of Briefs
Item   4	(	23)  U.S. Army Forum

Press <RETURN> to continue...

This list gives information on all of the new items you have not seen yet.  Each line contains:

·	the item number
·	the number of responses to the item (in parentheses)
·	the title of the item

Now that you know what discussions are available, you can choose which you want to see.  For example, suppose you would like to read Item 2.  Return to the  Items Menu (choice "9" on the current List Items Menu).  From the Items Menu, choose "3" (Show Items).  You could also press <RETURN> instead of typing a "3", as this choice is the default action.  

You are now at the Show Items Menu.  You just want to read Item 2, so choose "5" (Show Particular Items), and then type a "2" followed by <RETURN> when prompted to do so.

For this example, press <RETURN> until you have read all of Item 2.  At the end of the item (or if you told Caucus to stop displaying this item) Caucus asks you if you want to respond to this item.  If you wish to add a comment to the discussion, type "respond" then press <RETURN> (respond can be abbreviated to "r").  Caucus now asks you to enter the text of your comment.  You may do so, but be sure to press <RETURN> at the end of every line.  After you have entered your last line of text, at the start of a new line type a dot (period) followed by a <RETURN> to tell Caucus that you are finished.

3.5	Everyday Use

In the last section you learned how Caucus can list all of the items you have not seen.  Caucus also knows which responses within each item you have not seen.  This means you do not have to reread parts of a discussion.  Instead, you tell Caucus to show you the responses entered by other people since you last used Caucus.  To do this, choose "3" from the Main Menu.  This takes you to the Responses Menu.  Here you can choose "3" to show these new responses.  If others have entered responses to a particular item since your last response, Caucus shows your response first to remind you what you were talking about.  (If you don't want to be reminded of what you said, see "SET MYTEXT" in section 9.2.7 of the Caucus User's Guide.)

Sometimes the amount of new conference material may be more than you want to see at the moment.  You could tell Caucus to list all the new items, then all the new responses, then all your new mail (which will be discussed in section 2.8), but there is a shortcut which allows you to preview any new activity.  From the Main Menu, choose 2, the "Conferences Menu".  Then choose 4, "Check status".  This gives you a brief summary of the new items, responses, and messages.  Here is an example from a typical conference:

Caucus (TM) Version 2.2/IM.  Copyright (C) 1988 Screen Porch.
The Conference is:	demonstration
The Organizer is: 	Charles Roth (roth)
You are:	Joan Doe
The time is:	29-OCT-89 14:41

The <CANCEL> key is Control-C.

New items are:	3
Unseen items are:	1
New responses on items:	2

This tells you that Item 3 is new, Item 2 has new responses, and that you have never read Item 1.  This is a good way to find out what conference you are in and how much new material there is in the conference.

3.6	Learning About Caucus Participants

Until now you have only seen one type of information Caucus stores: the text of the conferences.  Caucus also knows about people who take part in these conferences, and it is easy for you to find out about these participants as well.  From the Main Menu, choose "People".  The People Menu looks like this:

People Menu

1	-	Help
2	-	Display Brief Information
3	-	Display Complete Information
4	-	Display Responses a Person Has Seen
0	-	Main Menu

Enter your Choice: (2)

Choose "Display Brief Information" and Caucus then asks you to enter the word "ALL" or a person's name.  Type "ALL" and press <RETURN>.  Caucus will display a list similar to this one:

( 1)	*	Sue Anderson	(demo01_)
( 2)	*	Frank Burns	(frank)
( 3)	*	Scott Burns	(scott)
( 4)	*	Lisa Carlson	(lisa)
( 5)	*	Donald "Skip" Conover	(demo02_)
( 6)	*	Keith Daveline	(demo04_)
( 7)	*	Billye Lemon	(billye)
( 8)	*	Gary Obermeyer	(demo03_)
( 9)	*	Charles Roth	(roth)
(10)	*	Joan Stry	(stry)
(11)	*	Joan L. Sweeney	(sweeney)
(12)	*	Jeff Victor	(jvictor)

Each line displayed contains:

·	A number in parentheses
·	An asterisk (*) if the person is a participant of the conference you are in
·	The full name of the person
·	The userid of the person (inside parentheses)

The number in parentheses only means that the first person has been assigned number one in this particular list.  This number is helpful when selecting one name out of a list of similar names.

Return to the People Menu and choose "Display Complete Information".  When Caucus asks you to enter a name this time, enter "Burns".  Caucus gives a more detailed description of the people who have "burns" in their name.  (Caucus does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters.)

Remember that Caucus can find a person by a portion or abbreviation of their name.  Specifically, Caucus does what is called an "initial substring match".  This means that you can find anyone using the first few letters of any word in their full name.  As an example, telling Caucus to list people named "Ro" might display the names Ronald Reagan, Mr. Roberts and Charles Roth.  It would not list Oliver Cromwell (contains RO but does not begin with it) nor Camber-Roth (Camber-Roth is one word).

Caucus might say this about the Burns':

Frank Burns	(703) 243-6622 (frank)
  The elder.
Last on   Caucus: 11-SEP-89 16:57
Last in demonstration: 07-SEP-89 12:07

Scott Burns	(703) 243-6622 (scott)
  The not-so-elder.
Last on   Caucus: 07-SEP-89 12:09
Last in demonstration: 07-SEP-89 12:09

For each person listed, Caucus displays that person's:

·	full name
·	phone number
·	userid (inside parentheses)
·	brief introduction
·	last time and date on Caucus
·	last time and date in the conference you are in now

3.7	What Are Messages?

Items and responses are fine for group discussions, but there will be times when you want more privacy.  That is when you should use messages.  Send a message when you want to make a private comment to someone or ask a question ("How was your vacation, George?") that does not belong in the public conferences.

Caucus keeps track of the messages that you receive from other people.  Each message is numbered when it is received.  The first message you receive is Message 1, the second is Message 2, and so forth.  The newer the message, the higher the number.

Caucus stores your messages in a "mailbox" that you can access from any conference.  Only you can look at your messages.  Once a message has been sent to you, it is yours to read, keep, or delete as you prefer.

When you send a message, you can edit it before you send it.  Once you have sent it, however, you cannot retrieve it.  (Just like the U.S. Mail.  Once you drop a letter in a mailbox, it is mailed, and that is that.)

3.7.1	Sending a Message

To send mail or to read your own, start from the Main Menu.  Choose "Messages", which looks like this:

Messages Menu

1	-	Help
2	-	List Messages Sub-Menu
3	-	Read Messages Sub-Menu
4	-	Send a Message
5	-	Delete a Message
0	-	Main Menu

Enter your Choice: (3)

Here, choose "Send a Message", and Caucus explains how to enter the text of a message:

Enter the text of your message.  When you're finished, type a period (dot) at the beginning of the next line, and press <RETURN>.

Typing a message is like typing a response.  You can edit the text of your message by typing "edit" at the beginning of a line.  (You can also edit your message by responding "yes" to the "Edit Message?" prompt described below).  You can cancel your message altogether by pressing the <CANCEL> key.  When you finish entering your message, type a dot (period) followed by a <RETURN> at the start of a new line.

After you complete your message, Caucus asks you to:

	Enter the (short) subject of your message:

You should type a line that briefly summarizes what your message is about.  The subject is like the "regarding:" part of a memo or the title of a Caucus item, and it helps your recipient better track his or her private messages.

Next, Caucus gives you another chance to fix any mistakes in your message.  At the prompt:

	Edit ?  (no)

type "yes" if you want to edit your message before it is sent.  This starts up your default text editor with the text of your message.  If you would like to use an editor other than the default editor, please see Chapter 9 of the Caucus User's Guide.  Otherwise, type "no" (or just press <RETURN>, since "no" is the default choice shown in parentheses).

Now that your message is ready to send, Caucus asks you to whom it should send the message.  As this is a practice session, type a few of the letters each from your first name and your last name to send this message to yourself.

	Enter name of recipient:  JEF VI

Usually you only need to type the first few letters of the person's name.  Caucus figures out who you mean and asks for confirmation to send the message by displaying the recipient's full name:

	OK to send this message to Jeff Victor? (yes)
	Answer YES, RR (send with receipt), or NO: (yes)

Type "yes", "ok", or press <RETURN> (the default) to send the message.  Type "no" if you do not want to send the message to this person.  Type "rr" if you want a return receipt for this message.  This time, type "rr".

Asking for a return receipt means that Caucus automatically sends you a "receipt" message when Joe Smith reads your message.  The receipt tells you that Joe Smith read the message, when he read the message, and what the subject of the message was.  You also can include a preset number of lines from the original message. (See section 9.2.10 of the Caucus User's Guide, SET , for more information.)

Finally, Caucus asks if you want to send the message to anyone else.  At the prompt:

	Enter another recipient (or press <RETURN>): 

you may type the name of another recipient.  Caucus continues to prompt you with "OK to send message?" and "Enter another recipient" until you press <RETURN> at the latter.  You can thus send copies of your message to as many people as you like.  For now, send a copy of the message you have just entered to yourself, telling Cuacus you would like a return receipt for it.

3.7.2	Reading Your Messages

Whenever you receive a message, it gets placed in your mailbox and marked as NEW.  Seeing your new messages is very straightforward.  From the Messages Menu, choose “Read Messages Sub-Menu".  This menu looks like this:

Read Messages Menu
 
1	-	Help
2	-	Read my New Messages
3	-	Read my Last Message
4	-	Read Particular Message(s)
9	-	Go Back to Messages Menu
0	-	Main Menu

Enter your Choice: (2)

From here, choose the default selection, "Read my New Messages".  Caucus shows you each message in your mailbox that you have not seen yet.  For each new message, Caucus displays:

·	The message number
·	The subject of the message
·	The name of the sender with the time and date sent
·	The text of the message

After you read each message, Caucus asks if you want to reply to the sender with a message of your own.  Following the text of the message, you see the prompt:

	Message 1...REPLY, PASS, DELETE, or ? for options (pass)

This is your opportunity to reply to the message.  Note what each piece of this prompt tells you:

MESSAGE  1	You have just seen message number 1.

REPLY	You can type "reply" (or just "r") at this prompt to send a reply to your correspondent.  Once you have sent a reply, Caucus will repeat this prompt.

PASS	You can "pass" on this message, and go on to see other new messages.  The message will stay in your mailbox.

DELETE	You can "delete" (erase) this message.  You should delete messages you no longer need.

? for options	The prompt includes the three most common actions, "reply", "pass", and "delete".  Type "?" or "HELP" to learn about your other options.  After showing you what options are available, Caucus repeats the original prompt.

(pass)	Pressing <RETURN> in this case is the same as typing "PASS".

If you do not want to do anything with this message, and you do not want to "PASS" on to any other new messages, press the <CANCEL> key.  Caucus will return to the Read Messages Menu.

3.7.3	Replying to a Message

Replying to a message is much like ing a message.  Caucus prompts you to enter the text of your message and offers you the opportunity to edit it once you are done.  Since this is a reply, Caucus already knows who the message is going to and just asks for confirmation:

	OK to send message to Joe Smith? (yes)

Again, you have the option of sending the reply to other people.  At the prompt:

	Enter another recipient (or press <RETURN>): 

you may type the name of any other person.  Caucus continues to prompt you with "OK to send message" and "Enter another recipient" until you press <RETURN> at the latter.  Thus, you can send a copy of your reply message to as many people as you like.

3.7.4	Cleaning Out Your Mailbox

Messages, like dust under a bed, tend to accumulate.  From time to time, you should clean out messages that are no longer useful.  You can delete Caucus messages at any time.

Each time you read a message, after the text you will see the prompt:

Message 1...REPLY, PASS, DELETE, or ? for options (pass)

Type "delete" (or just "d") to delete that message.

To delete a message later on, choose the "Delete a Message" selection from the Messages Menu.  Caucus will ask you what message number, or message numbers, you would like deleted.  To find out which message numbers you would like to delete, first use the List Messages Sub-Menu to list all of your messages.

After identifying which message or messages you would like to delete, Caucus asks for confirmation that you really want to delete these messages.

3.8	Advanced Operations

In this section you will learn more about using Caucus for everyday communications.  So far you have only responded to a conference item that someone else entered.  Now you will learn how to more fully participate in Caucus conferences.

3.8.1	Adding an Item

This section describes how to start an item of your own.  From the Main Menu, choose the Items Menu.  From there, selection 4 is "Add an Item".  Choose this selection.  Caucus then prompts you for the text, which you enter just as you would enter a response or message.  Remember to press <RETURN> at the end of each line and enter a period (dot) followed by a <RETURN> at the beginning of a line to tell Caucus that you are finished entering the item text.

After you finish entering your item introduction, Caucus prompts you for a one-line title.  Choose a clear and succinct title for your item to help other participants of the conference.  Caucus automatically assigns the next available number for your item; you do not have to supply one.

3.8.2	Changing an Item

After entering the text of an item, you may want to change some of it.  You may later notice a mistake, or you may want to include some new information.  However, you can only change the text of an item that you entered.

To do this, start from the Items Menu.  Choose 5, "Change the Text of an Item".  Caucus asks you for the number of the item that you want to change.  After you enter the number Caucus displays the author and title of the item, to make sure it is the correct item.  Caucus gives you a choice of actions at this point.  You can delete the item completely, replace the text, or edit the text.  If you choose to delete the item, Caucus removes all traces that the item ever existed.

If you choose to edit or replace an item, Caucus proceeds to edit the text or prompt for the replacement text.  When you are finished, Caucus asks:

OK to make these changes to the original item?  (yes)

Typing NO (or pressing the <CANCEL> key) leaves the original item unchanged.

3.8.3	Changing the Title of an Item

After entering a new item, you may decide to change the title.  You can do this by choosing "Change the Title of an Item" from the Items Menu.  Caucus asks you for a new one-line title. 

3.8.4	Adding a Response

You may also add a response on your own initiative.  From the Main Menu, choose the Responses Menu.  From this menu, choose "Add a Response".  Caucus asks you for the number of the item to which you want to add a response.  If you are not sure of the item number, you first may want to list the items by using the Items Menu from the Main Menu.

3.8.5	Changing a Response

You can change a response using a method very similar to that for changing an item.  Just as with an item, you can only change responses that you entered.

To change a response, start from the Responses Menu.  Choose 6, "Change a Response".  Caucus asks you for an item number, or an "item : response" number.  After you enter one of these, Caucus displays the author and title of the item, to make sure it is the correct item.

For example, suppose you type "5:3".  This means that you want to change response 3 to item 5.  Caucus displays that response, and prompts you to:

EDIT, DELETE, REPLACE, <RETURN> for previous, or ? for options: 

If you are not sure of the response number, you can type just the item number.  Caucus will scan all of your responses for you.  It starts by displaying your last (most recent) response to the item, and then prompts you to:

EDIT, DELETE, REPLACE, <RETURN> for previous, or ? for options: 

As in the previous section, you can edit your response with the default text editor; delete the response altogether; or replace the entire response with new text.

If the response shown is not the one you want to change, you have two options.

·	Press <RETURN> and Caucus displays your next most recent response.  That is what "<RETURN> for previous" means.  Caucus prompts you again to edit, delete, or replace that response.  If you continue to press <RETURN>, Caucus will step back through your responses until there are no more in the item.
	
·	If you type a number, Caucus jumps directly to that response and displays it.  If that response is not yours, Caucus looks for your most recent response before that number.

Remember, when in doubt, type ? or HELP to see the list of all of your options.

When you edit, delete, or replace a response, Caucus does not ask you for confirmation, because the entire response is displayed before you change it.

3.8.6	Range Menus

Section 3.2 mentioned range menus.  Here you will learn more about how to use them.

A range menu asks for a specific instance of a class of objects.  For example, one instance of the class of object called "items" is the number "3" (the third item in the conference).  You have used the range menu associated with items before; it looks like this:

Please enter the number, or range of numbers,
of the item(s) you would like to see:

In previous examples, you just entered a number here that represented a particular item.  Caucus understands many ways of expressing groups of items and other objects.  You can separate 2 or more instances with a comma or a space, or both.  For example, "1 2 3" and "1, 2, 3" both mean all of 1, 2, and 3.  A hyphen means all the objects from the first one to the last one, including the first and last.  The instance "1-3" also means all of 1, 2, and 3.  These can also be combined.  "1-3, 5" means 1, 2, 3, and 5.

There are also a few words that have special meaning.  The word "all" can be used to specify all of the objects.  The word "last" means the one most recently entered.  Finally, "new" means all the ones you have not seen.

All of the above rules about ranges apply to all of the objects you have learned about in this chapter: items, responses, and messages.

There are also two other special words that Caucus understands when used in a Range Menu.  These two words are "" and "".  They can be used to tell Caucus to list or show items with a particular word in their title or items that were entered by a particular person.

Rather than entering a number or range of numbers, you thus can enter the word "title" followed by a word in quotation marks.  Caucus displays the items (or list of items) that have that word in their titles.  For example, if you entered:

	title "federal"

to a range menu in the List Items Menu, Caucus would list all of the items that had the word "federal" in them, regardless of capitalization.  Similarly, you can put two or more words between the quotation marks, and Caucus will list all the items that have all of those words.

If you enter:

author "smith"

at the same menu, Caucus would list all of the items that had been entered by people named "Smith".  Again, Caucus ignores capitalization.  Because Caucus always searches for names similar to the one you specify, 

author "j smi"

might find all the items entered by John Smith and Jane Smith.

3.8.7	Joining Other Conferences

Since you will probably attend more than one conference, Caucus provides the ability to switch between conferences.  

To find out what other conferences are available, first choose "Conferences" from the Main Menu.  Then choose "List the Conferences".  Caucus displays a list of all the conferences that you can join.  To join one of these conferences, choose "Join a Conference" from the Conferences Menu.  Caucus asks you to enter the name of the conference.  At this point, your options are:

·	type the name of a conference
·	type STOP to exit Caucus
·	type LIST to see a list of all available conferences
·	type CHECK to see a summary of new material in all conferences

You may not have permission to join all of the conferences you can LIST.

You can type just the first few letters in the name of the conference, and Caucus will figure out which conference you mean.  If more than one conference begins with those letters, Caucus will ask you for more detail.

If you attempt to join a conference that does not exist or which you are not permitted to join, you are returned to the "JOIN which conference" prompt.  Conferences cannot be named LIST or STOP.

3.8.8	Checking Your Status in Conferences

Caucus provides an easy method of checking each of the conferences in which you are a member.  For example, if you are a member of six different conferences, you might join each of the conferences in order to see if there was something new on any of them.  Choose the Conferences Menu, and then choice 3, "Check for new material".  Caucus tells you which of your conferences have new items or responses and whether you have any new messages.

3.9	Changing Your User Environment

Everywhere you go, you can sense the environment around you.  When you are in Caucus, you can sense, and even change, many of the characteristics and settings that make up your personal Caucus interface.  You do this by choosing the "User Environment" menu from the Main menu.  The User Environment Menu looks like this:

User Environment Menu

 1	-	Help
 2	-	Personal Information Sub-Menu
 3	-	Change my Interface Style Sub-Menu
 4	-	Change Dictionary
 5	-	Change Editor
 6	-	Change End-of-Text Character
 7	-	Change Screensize
 8	-	Change display of attachments
 9	-	Change terminal type
 0	-	Main Menu

Enter your Choice: (2)

The following sections walk through each of these choices in more detail.

3.9.1	Changing Personal Information

From the User Environment Menu, choose "Personal Information Sub-menu".  You use this menu to change all the information you entered when you originally registered with Caucus.  The Personal Information Menu looks like this:

Personal Information Menu

 1	-	Help
 2	-	Change my Name
 3	-	Change my Introduction
 4	-	Change my Phone Number
 5	-	Change my Password
 9	-	Go Back to User Environment Menu
 0	-	Main Menu

Enter your Choice: (0) 9

All but one of these choices are self-explanatory.  These relate to the registration information you entered in section 2.2.  The exception is the password that Caucus changes by choosing "5".  This is your Caucus password if Caucus asked you for one when you registered.  If Caucus did not ask you for a password, then choosing "5" will change your computer account password.

3.9.2	Changing the Default Interfaces

The Executive Menus described in this chapter are just one of the menu systems available to you.  Caucus comes with three other systems, the Standard Menus, the Teaching Menus (also called Long Menus) and the Short Menus.

To change the menu system you use, or to stop using menus altogether, choose "Change My Interface Style" from the User Environment Menu.  This menu looks like this:

 ?	-	Help
 1	-	Standard menus
 2	-	Standard menus, Advanced form (allows full Caucus commands)
 3	-	Object-oriented, "executive" menus
 4	-	Action-oriented, long-form menus
 5	-	Action-oriented, short-form menus
 0	-	Go back to previous menu

Enter your Choice: (0)

The Caucus Standard Menu provides a new user with all the features needed to get acquainted with Caucus.  The Long Menus are very helpful for teaching you how to use the Caucus Command Line Interface while providing an easy-to-use interface for everyday communications.  For more information on using this menu system, see Chapter 4 of this manual.  The Short Menus are structured like the Long Menus, except that they have much briefer choice and prompt text.

While all major Caucus capabilities are included in the menu interfaces, menus cannot provide all of the rich functionality of the Caucus command line interface without becoming overly cumbersome.  If you would like to use the Caucus Command Line Interface, you should read the Caucus User's Guide.  If you try commands and would prefer to go back to using the menus, type "menus" at the "AND NOW?" prompt.  Caucus commands can also be typed at any "Enter your choice" menu prompt.

3.9.3	Changing Dictionaries

One of the choices in the User Environment Menu is "Change Dictionary".  You use this to select any non-standard Caucus interfaces which your Caucus system manager has set up for your site.  To learn what, if any, interfaces have been tailored to your Caucus system, contact your Caucus manager or one of your conference organizers.  See Section 9.2.1 of the Caucus User's Guide or your Caucus Manager for more information on changing your dictionary.

3.9.4	Changing Editors

The "Change Editor" selection in the User Environment Menu controls which text editor you use when editing text in Caucus.  If you have a favorite text editor on your computer system, choose "Change Editor".  When Caucus asks you for the name of your new default editor, enter the name of your favorite editor.  If you do not know what editors are available on your system, consult your Caucus Manager or System Manager.

If your system has no editor, or if you do not wish to use it, Caucus has its own built-in editor.  This is your initial default editor and is described in detail in chapter 10 of the Caucus User’s Guide.

3.9.5	Changing the End-of-Text Indicator

The “Change End of Text Character” selection in the User Environment Menu controls how you tell Caucus that you are finished entering text into an item, response, or message.  The default is entering, at the start of a new line, a dot (period) followed by a <RETURN> (as explained earlier in this chapter).  You can change this to be either of the special values "2return" or "1eof", or to any word or character of your own choice.  For example:

.	the initial default described above.

2RETURN	pressing return twice (once at the end of your last line of text and once more at the next ">" prompt) to indicate you are through entering text.

1EOF	typing your system's end-of-file character at the beginning of a line ends text entry.  On most computers, this is either Control‑D or Control-Z.

.s	typing .s at the beginning of a line ends text entry.

STOP	typing STOP at the beginning of a line ends text entry.

You must always type your chosen end of text character at the beginning of a line at the ">" prompt.  This tells Caucus that you are finished entering text.

3.9.6	Changing Screensize

"Screensize" is the number of lines which are displayed on your terminal at any one time.  The value must be a number from 0 to 9999.  The default value is 23, which is one screenful of text for most terminals.

If there are more than the  screensize value of lines of text to be seen, Caucus displays "<RETURN>=more, s=stop" and waits for you to type something.  You can press <RETURN> to see the next screenful or press <CANCEL> (or an 's' followed by <RETURN>) to interrupt the display.

If you do not want Caucus to prompt you after each screenful, change your screensize to 0 (zero).  Caucus will display text without pausing after each screenful.

3.10	The Caucus Command Line

A menu system cannot provide all of the rich functionality of the Caucus command line interface without becoming overly cumbersome.  Many users will want to learn the Caucus "commands", especially for more complex instructions.  The Teaching Menus provide an excellent way to learn the Caucus commands while providing an easy-to-use Caucus interface for everyday communications.  This menu interface is explained in detail in Chapter 4.  Here is a list of some of the Caucus features that you can access from the Caucus Command Line that are not included as choices in the Executive Menus:

·	Leaving a conference permanently (RESIGN)
·	Subject categories (SUBJECT)
·	Input and output redirection (redirection, file transfer or >, >>, and <)
·	Forget Items you're not interested in (FORGET)
·	Stop discussion on an item you created (FREEZE)
·	Change conference characteristics (CUSTOMIZE)
	(for Organizers only) 
·	Complex searching (SEARCH)
·	More User Environment variables (SET)
·	Directly access UNSEEN and FRESH items
·	Printing conference text (PRINT)

For more details on these features, see the Caucus User's Guide. 

Chapter 4

Using the Teaching Menus

4.1	Overview

This chapter shows you how to use the Teaching Menus.  The Teaching (or Long and Short form) Menus are supplied as an alternative to the Caucus Standard Menu.  They provide a more sophisticated interface than the Standard Menu.

This menu system also has a special purpose: to teach the Caucus command syntax.  Because a menu system cannot provide all of the rich functionality of the Caucus command line interface without becoming overly cumbersome, many users will want to learn the Caucus "commands", especially for more complex instructions.  The Teaching Menus provide an excellent way to learn the Caucus commands while providing an easy-to-use Caucus interface for everyday communications.  See chapter 2 of this Menu User’s Guide for help using Caucus the first time.

For a complete tutorial using the Caucus command line interface, see the Caucus User's Guide.

In this chapter you will learn:

·	what menu screens look like
·	how Caucus can help you
·	how to look at a discussion
·	how to participate in a discussion
·	what a person is
·	how to send private messages
·	how to change your environment

4.2	What Is in a Menu

This section describes the various parts of menus that will appear on your screen.  The next section provides an example of using these menus.

The first menu you see is the Main Menu.  This menu has three parts: a title, several choices, and a prompt.  

Main Menu

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	 -	Items Menu 	[read or add items & responses]
 3	-	Messages Menu 	[read or send private messages]
 4	-	Persons Menu 	[get info about other persons]
 5	-	Other Menus 	[Index, Search, Change, Set]
 6	-	Choose Menu style 	[use long, short, or no menus]
 7	-	(ST)atus .	[find out where you are & what's new]
 8	-	(CHE)ck 	[check new activity in other conf's]
 9	-	Conferences Menu 	[join or see list of other conf's]
 0	-	(QUIT) 	[end this session and log out]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice) (2)

The title is Main Menu.  The list of numbers and their explanations are the choices.  The last line of display, the prompt, asks you what you want to do.

To choose one of the actions listed, type the number of the action and then press the <RETURN> key.  There is a default action for this and most menus, which is displayed on the prompt line in parentheses.  To choose the default action, simply press the <RETURN> key.

There are several sub-menus similar in form to the Main Menu.  These are called .  There are two choices that all Decision Menus have in common.  Choice 0 always returns you "home" to the Main Menu.  (The only exception to this is that choosing 0 from the Main Menu terminates your Caucus session.)  Choice 1 is always "Help".  "Help" gives you information about where you are in Caucus and what you can do next.

Every Decision Menu also incorporates the special purpose of this menu system.  Some of the choices are parts of a Caucus command, and some are entire Caucus commands.  Any Caucus command may be abbreviated to its shortest unique form.  For example, the command SHOW can be entered as SH, but not S, because Caucus might confuse that with the SEARCH command.

Those menu choices that are directly related to a particular Caucus command have parentheses to indicate the shortest abbreviation Caucus accepts for that command.  In the Main Menu, you can see that H is the shortest abbreviation for the HELP command, and ST is the shortest abbreviation for the STATUS command.  Caucus does not confuse ST with the STOP command because any command used to exit Caucus (STOP, QUIT, BYE, etc.) must by typed in full.

A second type of menu is the .  This type asks you for specific details about what you want to access within a larger set of information.  For example, if you wish to see specific Items, a Range menu asks you which Items you would like to see.  You can answer in any number of ways, such as "ALL", "LAST", "1 2 3", "1-3", etc. (These options are covered in more detail in later sections of this manual.)

On the Main Menu, choices 2 through 6 and choice 9 bring you to various sub-menus that help you to use Caucus to access conferences and your electronic mail.  Choices 7 and 8 are actual Caucus commands, so no further menus are needed.  You can also use the Caucus help screens to get more information on any menu.  Try using HELP.  From the Main Menu, type "1" followed by the <RETURN> key.  Caucus now displays the heading "Help for Main Menu" followed by a screenful of text.

Note that Caucus stopped after exactly one screenful of text to give you a chance to read the information.  The last line on the screen asks you if you want to continue and read more text. To continue reading, just press <RETURN>. To stop here and not display any more of the Help text, type "s" followed by <RETURN>.  If you stop, Caucus returns to (redisplays) the Main Menu.

It is not important to understand all of the Main Menu choices now, but you should read through the Help text to familiarize yourself with Caucus and this menu.  Remember that choice 1 is HELP on every Decision Menu.  Each menu has its own HELP screen which describes all of the options available for that menu.

As the end of the HELP text indicates, the default choice is 2, the Items Menu.  This is what Caucus will do next if you press <RETURN> without typing in a number first.

Remember that the Teaching Menus are designed to familiarize you with the Caucus command interface.  You can practice with these commands by typing them (instead of a menu number) at any "Enter your choice" prompt.

4.3	Looking Around

Now try walking through a simple operation: looking at the text in Item 1.  At the Main Menu, press <RETURN> to select the default choice.  This takes you to the Items Menu, which looks like this:

Items (& Responses) Menu

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(L)ist (I)tems	[see list of discussion items]
 3	-	(L)ist (R)esponses (NE)w [see list of new responses]
 4	-	(SH)ow (I)tems 	[read discussion items]
 5	-	(SH)ow (R)esponses 	[read responses to items]
 6	-	(A)dd (I)tem 	[add new discussion item]
 7	-	(A)dd (R)esponse 	[add new response to an item]
 8	-	Index Menu 	[go to Index Menu for items]
 9	-	Messages Menu 	[go to private messages menu]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[return to main menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice) (2)

(Note that choice 0 takes you back to the Main Menu and choice 1 explains this menu.)

You can see from this menu that "SH I" is the shortest form of the command SHOW ITEMS. 

You want to see Item 1, so choose 4, "(SH)ow (I)tems", by typing a "4" and then pressing <RETURN>.  Caucus then displays the selected sub-menu:

(SH)ow *which* (I)tems ?

1 -	(H)elp
2 -	(NE)w	[items you have not yet seen]
3 -	(LA)st 	[the most recently entered item]
4 -	(A)ll 	[all items in this conference]
5 -	select particular item 	[such as 2, 2-23, etc.]
9 -	Items Menu 	[go back to Items Menu]
0 -	Main Menu 	[go back to Main Menu]

Enter your choice: (2)

Here we want to see a particular item, Item 1, so choose 5, "select particular item" by pressing "5" and then <RETURN>.  Caucus does not clear the screen, but adds to the display:

Enter the item number, or range, you want to (SH)ow:

You just want to see item 1, so type a "1" followed by <RETURN>.  Caucus displays the text of the item, followed by all the responses to the item.  Notice that Caucus stops displaying text after a screenful and waits for you to press <RETURN> before continuing.

At the end of the item, Caucus asks what you want to do next:

ITEM 1...RESPOND, PASS, or ? for options:  (pass)

As with other prompts, Caucus tells what the default is within parentheses.  At this point, you should pass by pressing <RETURN>.  Caucus then returns to and redisplays the Items Menu.

The next section explains how to participate in a conference, but this is a good place to take a break if you need one.  To leave Caucus from the Items Menu, choose Main Menu (type "0"), and then from the Main Menu choose "QUIT" (type "0").

4.4	Participating in Conferences

Now you can take a further look at what discussions are occurring.  Go to the Items Menu (choice 2 in the Main Menu).  Then choose selection 2, (L)ist (I)tems, which displays this menu:

Items (& Responses) Menu

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(L)ist (I)tems 	[see list of discussion items]
 3	-	(L)ist (R)esponses (NE)w	[see list of new responses]
 4	-	(SH)ow (I)tems 	[read discussion items]
 5	-	(SH)ow (R)esponses 	[read responses to items]
 6	-	(A)dd (I)tem 	[add new discussion item]
 7	-	(A)dd (R)esponse 	[add new response to an item]
 8	-	Index Menu 	[go to Index Menu for items]
 9	-	Messages Menu 	[go to private messages menu]
 0	-	Main Menu	[return to main menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice) (2)

Note that the shortest abbreviation for the LIST command is L, and the shortest abbreviation for ITEMS is I.  Right now you would like to see just a list of certain items, so press <RETURN> to choose the default "List Items".

(L)ist *which* (I)tems ?

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(NE)w 	[items you have not yet seen]
 3	-	(LA)st 	[most recently entered item]
 4	-	(A)ll 	[all items in this conference]
 5	-	select particular item 	[such as 2, 2-23, etc.]
 9	-	Items Menu 	[go back to Items Menu]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[return to Main Menu]

Enter your choice: (2)

Note that NE is the shortest abbreviation for NEW.  While the proper command to list the items that you haven't seen is LIST ITEMS NEW, you can abbreviate this to L I NE.

You want to learn what the "new" items are (those items which you haven't seen yet), so choose 2 "(NE)w".

Caucus can produce lists with two different formats: a long one and a short one.  Unless you specify a brief listing, Caucus will display the longer format.  The BRIEF modifier is very useful when you want to scan a large number of items.  At this point Caucus asks you which format you would like:

(L)ist selected items in full or (B)rief ?

1	-	full 	[ 3 lines each item, with blank lines ]
2	-	(B)rief 	[ 1 line each item, with no blank lines ]

Enter your choice: (2)

Choose a brief listing (the default) by pressing <RETURN>.  This displays a list similar to the following one:

Item   2	(	3)  A National Brief on Lawyers
Item   3	(	17)  Electronic Filing of Briefs
Item   4	(	23)  U.S. Army Forum

This list gives information on all of the new items you have not seen yet.  Each line contains:

·	the item number
·	the number of responses to the item (in parentheses)
·	the title of the item

Now that you know what discussions are available, you can choose which you want to see.  For example, suppose you would like to read Item 2.  From the Items Menu, choose 4, "(SH)ow (I)tems". (You can press <RETURN> instead of typing a "4" as this choice is the default action.)

You are now at the Show Items Menu, which looks like this:

(SH)ow *which* (I)tems ?

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(NE)w	[items you have not yet seen]
 3	-	(LA)st 	[most recently entered item]
 4	-	(A)ll 	[all items in this conference]
 5	-	select particular item 	[such as 2, 2-23, etc.]
 9	-	Items Menu 	[go back to Items Menu]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[go back to Main Menu]

Enter your choice: (2)  5

You just want to read Item 2, so choose 5, "select particular item", and then type a "2" followed by <RETURN> when prompted to do so. 

For this example, press <RETURN> until you have read all of Item 2.  At the end of the item (or if you told Caucus to stop displaying this item) Caucus asks you if you want to respond to this item.  If you wish to add a comment to the discussion, type "respond" then press <RETURN> (respond can be abbreviated to "r").  Caucus now asks you to enter the text of your comment.  You may do so, but be sure to press <RETURN> at the end of every line.  After you have entered your last line of text, at the start of a new line type a dot (period) followed by a <RETURN> to tell Caucus that you are finished.

At this point Caucus asks again if you wish to respond to this item.  Note that Caucus tells you that there are two other choices: PASS and ?.  PASS, which is the default choice, tells Caucus that you are finished with this item for now.  If you enter a “?”, Caucus interprets this as a synonym for “HELP”.  At any prompt, you can enter “?” or HELP” to find out what CAUCUS is expecting of you.  Just press <RETURN> this time, and Caucus automatically returns you up one level to the Items Menu.

4.5	Everyday Use

In the last section you learned how Caucus can list all of the items you have not seen.  Caucus also knows which responses within each item you have not seen.  This means you do not have to reread parts of a discussion.  Instead, you tell Caucus to show you the responses entered by other people since you last used Caucus.  To do this, choose 2 from the Main Menu.  This takes you to the Items & Responses Menu.  Here you can choose 5 to get to the "Show Responses" menu, which looks like this:

(SH)ow *which* (R)esponses ?

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(NE)w 	[responses you have not seen]
 3	-	select particular item 	[such as 2, 2-23, etc]
 9	-	Items Menu 	[go back to Items Menu]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[go back to Main Menu]

Enter your choice: (2)

Here you should choose 2 to show the new responses.  If others have entered responses to a particular item since your last response, Caucus shows your response before the others', to remind you what you were talking about.  (If you don't want to be reminded of what you said, see "SET MYTEXT" in section 9.2.7 of the Caucus User's Guide.)

Sometimes the amount of new conference material can be more than you want to see at the moment.  You could tell Caucus to list all the new items, then all the new responses, then all your new mail (which will be discussed in section 4.9), but there is a command which allows you to preview any new activity.  From the Main Menu, choose 7, the STatus command.  As we saw in section 4.4, ST is the shortest abbreviation for STATUS.  This command gives you a brief summary of the new items, responses, and messages.  Here is an example from a typical conference:

Caucus (TM) Version 2.2/IM.  Copyright (C) 1988 Screen Porch.
The Conference is:	demonstration
The Organizer is: 	Charles Roth
You are:	Joan Doe
The time is:	29-OCT-89 14:41

The <CANCEL> key is Control-C.

New items are:	3
Unseen items are:	1
New responses on items:	2

This tells you that Item 3 is new, Item 2 has new responses, and that you have never seen Item 1.  This is a good way to find out what conference you are in and how much new material there is in the conference.

4.6	Learning About Caucus Participants

Until now you have only seen one type of information Caucus stores: the text of the conferences.  Caucus also knows about people who take part in these conferences, and it is easy for you to find out about these participants as well.

From the Main Menu, choose the "Persons Menu".  The Persons Menu looks like this:

Persons Menu

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(L)ist (PE)rsons 	[see just names & ids]
 3	-	(SH)ow (PE)rsons 	[see names, phones, etc.]
 4	-	What a person has seen 	[items & resp's person has seen]
 5	-	Who has seen an item 	[persons who have seen an item]
 8	-	Messages Menu 	[go to private Messages Menu]
 9	-	Items Menu 	[go to Items Menu]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[go to Main Menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice): (2)

Choose "(L)ist (PE)rsons", and Caucus asks you to enter the word "ALL" or a person's name.  Type "ALL" and press <RETURN>.  Caucus will display a list similar to this one:

( 1)	*	Sue Anderson	(demo01_)
( 2)	*	Frank Burns	(frank)
( 3)	*	Scott Burns	(scott)
( 4)	*	Lisa Carlson	(lisa)
( 5)	*	Donald "Skip" Conover	(demo02_)
( 6)	*	Keith Daveline	(demo04_)
( 7)	*	Billye Lemon	(billye)
( 8)	*	Gary Obermeyer	(demo03_)
( 9)	*	Charles Roth	(roth)
(10)	*	Joan Stry	(stry)
(11)	*	Joan L. Sweeney	(sweeney)
(12)	*	Jeff Victor	(jvictor)

Each line displayed contains:

·	A number in parentheses
·	An asterisk ( * ) if the person is a participant of the conference you are in
·	The full name of the person
·	The userid of the person (inside parentheses)

The number in parentheses only means that the first person has been assigned number one in this particular list.  This number is helpful when selecting one name out of  a list of similar names.

Return to the Persons Menu and choose "(SH)ow (PE)rsons".  When Caucus asks you to enter a name this time, enter "Burns".  Caucus gives a more detailed description of the people who have "Burns" in their name.

Remember that Caucus can find a person by a portion or abbreviation of their name.  Specifically, Caucus does what is called an "initial substring match".  This means that you can find anyone using the first few letters of any word in their full name.  As an example, telling Caucus to list people named "Ro" might display the names Ronald Reagan, Mr. Roberts and Charles Roth.  It would not list Oliver Cromwell (contains RO but does not begin with it) nor Camber-Roth (Camber-Roth is one word).

Caucus might say this about the Burns':

Frank Burns	(703) 243-6622 (frank)
  The elder.
Last on   Caucus: 11-SEP-89 16:57
Last in demonstration: 07-SEP-89 12:07

Scott Burns	(703) 243-6622 (scott)
  The not-so-elder.
Last on   Caucus: 07-SEP-89 12:09
Last in demonstration: 07-SEP-89 12:09

For each person listed, Caucus displays that person's:

·	full name
·	phone number
·	userid (inside parentheses)
·	brief introduction
·	last time and date on Caucus
·	last time and date in the conference you are in now

4.7	What are Messages?

Items and responses are fine for group discussions, but there will be times when you want more privacy.  That is when you should use messages.  Send a message when you want to make a private comment to someone or ask a question ("How was your vacation, George?") that does not belong in the public conference.

Caucus keeps track of the messages that you receive from other people.  Each message is numbered when it is received.  The first message you receive is Message 1, the second is Message 2, and so forth.  The newer the message, the higher the number.

Caucus stores your messages in a "mailbox" that you can access from any conference.  Only you can look at your messages. Once a message has been sent to you, it is yours to read, keep, or delete as you prefer.

When you send a message, you can edit it before you send it.  Once you have sent it, however, you cannot retrieve it.  (Just like the U.S. Mail.  Once you drop a letter in a mailbox, it is mailed, and that is that.)

4.7.1	Sending A Message

To send mail or to read your own, start from the Main Menu.  Choose "Messages Menu", which looks like this:

Messages Menu

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(L)ist (M)essages 	[ see list of private messages]
 3	-	(SH)ow (M)essages 	[ read private messages]
 4	-	(SEN)d message 	[ send a new private message]
 5	-	(D)elete (M)essages 	[ delete old messages]
 8	-	Persons Menu 	[ get info about other persons]
 9	-	Items Menu 	[ read or add items & responses]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[ return to Caucus Main Menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice): (3)

Here, choose "(SEN)d message", and Caucus explains how to enter the text of  a message:

Enter the text of your message.  When you're finished, type a period (dot) at the beginning of the next line, and press <RETURN>.

Typing a message is like typing a response.  You can edit the text of your message by typing "edit" at the beginning of a line.  (You can also edit your message by responding "YES" to the "Edit Message?" prompt described below).  You can cancel your message altogether by pressing the <CANCEL> key.  When you finish entering your message, type a dot (period) followed by a <RETURN> at the start of a new line.

After you complete your message, Caucus asks you to:

	Enter the (short) subject of your message:

You should type a line that briefly summarizes what your message is about.  The subject is like the "regarding:" part of a memo or the title of a Caucus item and helps your recipient better track his or her messages.

Next, Caucus gives you another chance to fix any mistakes in your message.  At the prompt:

	Edit ?  (no)

type YES if you want to edit your message before it is sent.  This starts up your default text editor with the text of your message.  If you would like to use an editor other than the default editor, please see Section 4.10.1.  Otherwise, type NO (or just press <RETURN>, since NO is the default choice shown in parentheses).

Now that your message is ready to send, Caucus asks you to whom it should send the message.  Type a few of the letters from your first name, and a few from your last name, to send this message to yourself.

	Enter name of recipient:  JEF VI

Usually you only need to type the first few letters of the person's name.  Caucus figures out who you mean and asks for confirmation to send the message by displaying the recipient's full name:

	OK to send this message to Jeff Victor? (yes)
	Answer YES, RR (send with receipt), or NO: (yes)

Type YES, OK, or press <RETURN> (the default) to send the message.  Type NO if you do not want to send the message to this person.  Type RR if you want a return receipt for this message.  This time, type RR.

Asking for a return receipt means that Caucus automatically sends you a "receipt" message when Joe Smith reads your message.  The receipt tells you that Joe Smith read the message, when he read the message, and what the subject of the message was.  You also can include a preset number of lines from the original message. (See section 9.2.10 of the Caucus User's Guide, SET , for more information.)

Finally, Caucus asks if you want to send the message to anyone else.  At the prompt:

	Enter another recipient (or press <RETURN>): 

you may type the name of another recipient.  Caucus continues to prompt you with "OK to send message" and "Enter another recipient" until you press <RETURN> at the latter.  You can thus send copies of your message to as many people as you like.

4.7.2	Reading Your Messages

Whenever you receive a message, it gets placed in your mailbox and marked as NEW.  Seeing your new messages is very straightforward.  From the Messages Menu, choose "(SH)ow (M)essages".  This menu looks like this:

(SH)ow *which* (M)essages ?

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(NE)w 	[new messages you have not seen]
 3	-	(LA)st 	[your most recent message]
 4	-	(A)ll 	[all messages in your messagefile]
 5	-	select particular message[such as 2, 2-23, etc.]
 9	-	Messages Menu 	[go back to Messages Menu]
 0	-	Main Menu	[go back to Main Menu]

Enter your choice: (2)

From here, choose "(NE)w".  This completes the command "SHOW NEW MESSAGES", which can be abbreviated to "SH NE M".  Caucus shows you each message in your mailbox that you haven't read yet.  For each new message, Caucus displays:

·	The message number.
·	The subject of the message.
·	The name of the sender with the time and date sent.
·	The text of the message.

After you read each message, Caucus asks if you want to reply to the sender with a message of your own.  Following the text of the message, you see the prompt:

	Message 1...REPLY, PASS, DELETE, or ? for options (pass)

This is your opportunity to reply to the message.  Note what each piece of this prompt tells you:

MESSAGE  1	You have just seen message number 1.

REPLY	You can type REPLY (or just R) at this prompt to send a reply to your correspondent.  Once you have sent a reply, Caucus will repeat this prompt.

PASS	You can PASS on this message, and go on to see other new messages.  The message will stay in your mailbox.

DELETE	You can DELETE (erase) this message.  You should delete messages you no longer need.

? for options	The prompt includes the three most common actions, REPLY, PASS, and DELETE.  Type ? or HELP to learn about your other options.  After showing you what options are available, Caucus repeats the original prompt.

(pass)	Pressing <RETURN> in this case is the same as typing PASS.

If you do not want to do anything with this message, and you do not want to PASS on to any other new messages, press the <CANCEL> key.  Caucus will return to the  "(SH)ow (M)essages"  menu.

4.7.3	Replying to a Message

Replying to a message is much like ing a message.  Caucus prompts you to enter the text of your message, and offers you the opportunity to edit it once you are done.  Since this is a reply, Caucus already knows who the message is going to and just asks for confirmation:

	OK to send message to JOE SMITH? (yes)

Again, you have the option of sending the reply to other people.  At the prompt:

	Enter another recipient (or press <RETURN>): 

you may type the name of any other person.  Caucus continues to prompt you with "OK to send message" and "Enter another recipient" until you press <RETURN> at the latter.  Thus, you can send a copy of your reply message to as many people as you like.

4.7.4	Cleaning Out Your Mailbox

Messages, like dust under a bed, tend to accumulate.  From time to time, you should clean out messages that are no longer useful.  You can delete Caucus messages at any time.

Each time you read a message, after the text you will see the prompt:

	Message 1...REPLY, PASS, DELETE, or ? for 	options (pass)

Type DELETE (or just D) to delete that message.

To delete a message later on, choose the "(D)elete (M)essages" selection from the Messages Menu.  Caucus will ask you what message number, or message numbers, you would like deleted.  To find out which message numbers you would like to delete, first use the "(L)ist (M)essages" menu to list all of your messages.

After identifying which message or messages you would like to delete, Caucus asks for confirmation that you really want to delete these messages.

4.8	Advanced Operations

In this section you will learn more about using Caucus for everyday communications.  So far you have only responded in an item that someone else has entered.  Now you will learn how to participate in other ways.

4.8.1	Adding an Item

This section will show you how to start an item of your own.  From the Main Menu, choose the Items Menu.  In the Items Menu selection 6 is "(A)dd (I)tem".  Choose this selection.  Caucus prompts you for the text, which you enter as if you were entering a response.  Remember to press <RETURN> at the end of each line, and enter a period (dot) followed by a <RETURN> at the beginning of a line to tell Caucus that you are finished entering the item text.

After you finish entering your item introduction, Caucus prompts you for a one-line title.  Choose a clear and succinct title for your item to help other participants of the conference.  Caucus automatically assigns the next available number for your item; you do not have to supply one.

4.8.2	Adding a Response

Similarly, you may add a response on your own initiative.  From the Main Menu, choose the Items menu.  From this menu, choose "(A)dd (R)esponse".  Caucus asks you for the number of the item to which you want to add a response.  If you are not sure of the item number, you first may want to list the items by using the Items menu from the Main menu.

4.8.3	Range Menus

Section 4.3 mentioned Range Menus.  Here you will learn more about how to use them.

A range menu asks for a specific instance of a class of objects.  For example, one instance of the class of object called 'items' is the number "3".  You have used the range menu associated with items before; it looks like this:

Please enter the number, or range of numbers,
of the item(s) you would like to see:

In previous examples, you just entered a number here that represented a particular item.  Caucus understands many ways of expressing groups of items, and other objects.  You can separate 2 or more instances with a comma or a space, or both.  For example, "1 2 3" and "1, 2, 3" both mean all of 1, 2, and 3.  A hyphen means all the objects from the first one to the last one, including the first and last.  The instance "1-3" means all of 1, 2, and 3.  These can also be combined.  "1-3, 5" means 1, 2, 3, and 5.

There are also a few words that have special meaning.  The word ALL can be used to specify all of the objects.  The word LAST means the one most recently entered.  Finally, NEW means all the ones I have not seen.

All of the rules about ranges in this section apply to all of the objects you have learned about in this chapter: items, responses, and messages.

There are also two other special words that Caucus understands when used in a Range Menu.  These two words are  and .  They can be used to tell Caucus to list or show items with a particular word in their title, or items that were entered by a particular person.

Rather than entering a number or range of numbers, you thus can enter the word "TITLE" followed by a word in quotation marks.  Caucus displays the items (or list of items) that have that word in their titles.  For example, if you entered:

TITLE "federal"

to a range menu in the List Items Menu, Caucus would list all of the items that had the word "federal" in them, regardless of capitalization.  Similarly, you can put two or more words between the quotation marks, and Caucus will list all the items that have all of those words consecutively, in the order you specify.

If you enter:

AUTHOR "smith"

at the same menu, Caucus would list all of the items that had been entered by people named "Smith".  Again, Caucus ignores capitalization.  Because Caucus always searches for names similar to the one you specify, 

AUTHOR "j smi"

might find all the items entered by John Smith and Jane Smith.

4.8.4	Joining Other Conferences

Since you will probably attend more than one conference, Caucus provides the ability to switch between conferences.  

To find out what other conferences are available, first choose "Conferences Menu" from the Main Menu.  Then choose "Conference List".  Caucus displays a list of all the conferences that you can join.  To join one of these conferences, choose "(J)oin" from the Conferences Menu.  Caucus asks you to enter the name of the conference.  At this point, your options are:

·	type the name of a conference
·	type STOP to exit Caucus
·	type LIST to see a list of all available conferences
·	type CHECK to see a summary of the new material in other conferences

You may not have permission to join all of the conferences you can LIST.

You can type just the first few letters in the name of the conference, and Caucus will figure out which conference you mean.  If more than one conference begins with those letters, Caucus will ask you for more detail.

If you attempt to join a conference that does not exist or which you are not permitted to join, you are returned to the "JOIN which conference" prompt.  Conferences cannot be named LIST or STOP.

4.8.5	Checking Your Status in Conferences

Caucus provides an easy method of checking each of the conferences in which you are a member.  For example, if you are a member of six different conferences, you might join each of the conferences in order to see if there was something new on any of them.  Instead, choose "(CHE)ck" from the Main Menu.  (This choice is also duplicated in the Conferences Menu.)  Caucus tells you which of your conferences have new items or responses and whether you have any new messages.

4.9	Using SET and CHANGE

Everywhere you go, you can sense the environment around you.  Even when you are in Caucus, you can sense, and even change, many of the characteristics and settings that make up your personal Caucus interface.  The two commands you use to do this are SET and CHANGE.  Both of these commands are available from the "Other Menus" selection in the Main Menu.  

Other Menus looks like this:

Other Menus

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(SET) Menu 	[change interface]
 3	-	(CH)ange Menu 	[change personal info or text]
 4	-	(SEA)rch Menu 	[search for keywords in items]
 5	-	Index Menu 	[find items by subject, author, etc]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[go back to Main Menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice): (0)

The following sections looks at each of these choices in more detail.

4.9.1	Using the SET Menu

From "Other Menus", choose "() Menu".  You use the SET command to adopt Caucus to your own computer system environment.  For example, you can use SET to tell Caucus to always use your favorite system text editor.  The SET Menu looks like this:

Set Menu

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(SET) (DICT)ionary 	[use different interface]
 3	-	(SET) (ED)itor 	[use different text editor]
 4	-	(SET) (EOT)	[use different "end-of-text"]
 5	-	(SET) (F)ormat 	[controls text reformatting]
 6	-	(SET) (SCREENS)ize	[control screen pauses]
 7	-	(SET) (SCREENW)idth 	[control width of screen display]
 8	-	(SET) (V)erbose 	[prompt size in command mode]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[go back to Main Menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice): (0)  0

Dictionaries

SET  controls what language Caucus uses.  All of the commands, keywords, prompts, menus and help text in Caucus are located in a master dictionary.  Dictionary 0 is the standard English dictionary distributed with Caucus and is your initial default dictionary.

Dictionary 0 includes 4 standard menu interfaces (the Standard Menu described in chapter 2, the Executive Menus in chapter 3, and the Long and Short "teaching" menus) as well as the command driven interface documented in the Caucus User's Guide.  

The Caucus manager for your system can create new dictionaries ranging from minor prompt and help modifications to translations to other languages.  You should contact your Caucus manager or conference organizer to learn which, if any, alternative dictionaries are available on your system.  The value used with the SET DICTIONARY command must be a number from 0 to 999.

Editors

The "(SET) (ED)itor" selection controls which text editor you use when editing text in Caucus.  If you have a favorite text editor on your computer system, choose "(SET) (ED)itor".  When Caucus asks you for the name of your new default editor, enter the name of your favorite editor.  If you do not know what editors are available on your system, consult your Caucus Manager or System Manager.

If your system has no editor, or if you do not wish to use it, Caucus has its own built-in editor.  This is your initial default editor and is described in detail in chapter 10 of the Caucus User's Guide.

End of Text

The "(SET) " selection in the "User Environment" menu controls how you tell Caucus that you are finished entering text into an item, response, or message.  The default is a dot (period) followed by <RETURN>, as explained in this chapter.  You can change this to be either of the special values "2return" or "1eof", or to any word or character of your own choice.  For example:

 .	the initial default described above

 2RETURN	pressing return twice (once at the end of your last line of text and once more at the next ">" prompt) to indicate you are through entering text

 1EOF	typing your system's end-of-file character at the beginning of a line ends text entry.  On most computers, this is either Control-D or Control-Z

 .s	typing .s at the beginning of a line ends text entry

 STOP	typing STOP at the beginning of a line ends text entry

You must always type your chosen end of text character at the beginning of a line at the ">" prompt.  This tells Caucus that you are finished entering text.

Format

SET  controls whether Caucus reformats the text (item, response, or message) that you enter.  Your initial default value (OFF) leaves your text just the way you typed it.  You can instruct Caucus to "fill" or "wrap" lines within paragraphs of text by choosing "(SET) (F)ormat" from the SET Menu.

Screensize

"(SET) (SCREENS)ize" controls the number of lines which are displayed on your terminal at any one time.  The value must be a number from 0 to 9999.  The default value is 23, which is one screenful of text for most terminals.

If there are more than the  value of lines of text to be seen, Caucus displays "<RETURN>=more, any key=stop" and waits for you to type something.  You can press <RETURN> to see the next screenful or press <CANCEL> (or an 's' followed by <RETURN>) to interrupt the display.

If you do not want Caucus to prompt you after each screenful, change your screensize to 0 (zero).  Caucus will display text without pausing after each screenful.

Screenwidth

"(SET) (SCREENW)idth" tells Caucus the width of your terminal screen in characters.  The value must be a number from 10 to 200.  The default value is 80, which is the width of most terminals.

Verbose

"(SET) (V)erbose" controls the length of the Caucus prompts.  SET VERBOSE ON tells Caucus to use the longer, more detailed prompts illustrated in this guide.  SET VERBOSE OFF tells Caucus to use shorter prompts and is intended for more experienced users.  The default value is ON.

4.9.2	Changing Information You Entered

The next selection in Other Menus is "(CH)ange Menu".  The CHANGE command has two functions.  With it, you can change all the information you entered when you originally registered with Caucus.  You can also change the text of any item or response that you entered.  This is the Change Menu:

Change Menu

 1	-	(H)elp
 2	-	(CH)ange (N)ame 	[change your conference name]
 3	-	(CH)ange (IN)tro 	[change your brief introduction]
 4	-	(CH)ange (PH)one 	[change your phone number]
 5	-	(CH)ange (PA)ssword 	[change your password]
 6	-	(CH)ange (TI)tle 	[change title of an item]
 7	-	(CH)ange (IT)em 	[change text of an item]
 8	-	(CH)ange (R)esponse 	[change text of a response]
 9	-	(SET) Menu 	[change interface]
 0	-	Main Menu 	[go back to Main Menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice): (0)

Each of "(CH)ange (N)ame", "(IN)tro", and "(PH)one" let you re-enter the information that you entered when you originally registered with Caucus.  All but one of these choices are self-explanatory.  These relate to the registration information you entered in section 2.2.  The exception is the password that Caucus changes by choosing "5".  This is your Caucus password if Caucus asked you for one when you registered.  If Caucus did not ask you for a password, then choosing "5" will change your computer account password.

Changing Text

You may wish to modify an item or response you already entered into a conference.  That is what the CHANGE verb is for.  The menu selections:

	(CH)ange  	(IT)em

	(CH)ange  	(R)esponse

	(CH)ange  	(TI)tle

tell Caucus that you want to change an item, response, or title of an item, respectively.  In all cases, Caucus will ask you to select an item or set of items.  This set can be any of the forms shown in the examples in section 4.8.3.

Changing an Item

Changing an item means changing the introductory text you created with ADD ITEM.  You can only change the introduction for items that you created.  (Only the conference organizer can change the text of any item in the conference.)

When you change an item, Caucus first displays the title of the item and then offers you several choices about what to do with the item.  For example:

Change Menu

1	-	(H)elp
2	-	(CH)ange (N)ame 	[change your conference name]
3	-	(CH)ange (IN)tro 	[change your brief introduction]
4	-	(CH)ange (PH)one 	[change your phone number]
5	-	(CH)ange (PA)ssword 	[change your password]
6	-	(CH)ange (TI)tle 	[change title of an item]
7	-	(CH)ange (IT)em 	[change text of an item]
8	-	(CH)ange (R)esponse 	[change text of a response]
9	-	(SET) Menu	[change interface]
0	-	Main Menu 	[go back to Main Menu]

AND NOW? (Enter number of menu choice): (0)  7
Change which item? 3

	Item 3  14-APR-89  16:46  Jeff Victor 
	Current Trends in Network Services

	EDIT, DELETE, REPLACE, or ? for options:  (edit)

Notice what each piece of this prompt tells you:

EDIT	Type EDIT (or just E) to edit the text of this item with the default text editor.

DELETE	Type DELETE (or just D) to completely erase the entire item including all of its responses.

REPLACE	Type REPLACE (or just R) to erase your introduction to this item, and replace it with new text.  The responses remain unchanged.

? for options	Type ? or HELP to learn about your other options.

(edit)	Press <RETURN> to select the default choice, which is EDIT.

Caucus protects you from accidentally damaging or destroying an item by always asking for confirmation before changing an item.  Whenever you choose to delete an item, Caucus prompts you with:

Are you absolutely sure you want to delete this item and all of its responses?

Delete this item? (no)

As a further precaution, the default response (if you press <RETURN>) is "NO", that is, do not delete the item.  You must type "YES" to delete the item.

If you choose to EDIT or REPLACE an item, Caucus proceeds to edit the text or prompt for the replacement text.  When you are finished, Caucus asks:

OK to make these changes to the original item?  (yes)

Typing NO (or pressing the <CANCEL> key) leaves the original item unchanged.

Changing a  Response

Changing a response means changing the text of a response you added to an item.  You can only change your own responses.  (The conference organizer can change anyone's responses.)

Even though you are changing a response, Caucus asks you for an item number.  For example, entering "5" at this prompt tells Caucus that you want to change a response that you added to Item 5.

How does Caucus know which response you want to change?  Caucus starts by displaying your last (most recent) response to the item.  It then prompts you to:

EDIT, DELETE, REPLACE, <RETURN> for previous, or ? for options: 

As in the previous section, you can EDIT your response with the default text editor, DELETE the response altogether, or REPLACE the entire response with new text.

If the response shown is not the one you want to change, you have two options.

·	Press <RETURN> and Caucus displays your next most recent response.  That is what "<RETURN> for previous" means.  Caucus prompts you again to EDIT, DELETE, or REPLACE that response.  If you continue to press <RETURN>, Caucus will step back through your responses until there are no more in the item.
	
·	If you type a number, Caucus jumps directly to that response and displays it.  If that response is not yours, Caucus looks for your most recent response before that number.

Remember, when in doubt, type ? or HELP to see the list of all of your options.

When you EDIT, DELETE, or REPLACE a response, Caucus does not ask you for confirmation because the entire response is displayed before you change it.

Changing a  Title

Changing a title means changing the title of an item that you created with ADD ITEM.  You can change only the titles of items that you created.  (The organizer can change the title of any item.)

As with "(CH)ange (I)tem", Caucus prompts you for an item number.  Once Caucus knows what item you want to change, it displays the old title of the item and prompts you to enter a new one.  The title of an item must fit on one line.  You cannot edit a title; you can only replace it.

4.9.3	Changing the Default Interfaces

The Teaching Menus, or Long Menus, are just one of the menu systems available to you.  Caucus comes with other systems, the Short Menus (a variation of the Teaching Menus with much briefer text prompts and descriptions), the Standard Menus which ease the process of adding and accessing new information, and the Executive Menus.  The Standard Menus are explained in chapter 2 of this manual and the Executive Menus are described in chapter 3.  Also, your Caucus Manager may have created other menu systems for your site.  Contact this person if you would like to use any locally created menu systems.

To change the menu system you use, or to stop using menus altogether, select "Choose Menu Style" from the Main menu.  "Choose Menu Style" looks like this:

 ?	-	Help
 1	-	Standard menus
 2	-	Standard menus, Advanced form (allows full Caucus commands)
 3	-	Object-oriented, "executive" menus
 4	-	Action-oriented, long-form menus
 5	-	Action-oriented, short-form menus
 6	-	Command line (no menus)
 0	-	Go back to previous menu

Enter your choice: (0)

The Standard Menus are very good for everyday users who are not interested in learning how to use the Caucus Command Line Interface.  For more information on using this menu system, see chapter 2 of this manual.

As noted earlier, none of these menus provide the full capability of Caucus.  Only by using the Caucus commands can you perform many of the more complex, advanced Caucus functions.  Before using the Caucus Command Line, you should read the Caucus User's Guide.  If you do try this and would like to go back to using the menus, type "menus" at the "AND NOW?" prompt.

4.10	The Caucus Command Line

As mentioned in section 4.2, a menu system cannot provide all of the rich functionality of the Caucus command line interface without becoming overly cumbersome.  Here is a list of some of the Caucus features that you can access from the Caucus Command Line that are not explained in this chapter nor included as choices in the Teaching Menus:

·	Leaving a conference permanently (RESIGN)
·	Subject categories (SUBJECT)
·	Input and output redirection (redirection, file transfer or >, >>, and <)
·	Forget Items you're not interested in (FORGET)
·	Stop discussion on an item you created (FREEZE)
·	Change conference characteristics
	(for Organizers only) (CUSTOMIZE)
·	Complex searching (SEARCH)
·	More User Environment variables (SET)
·	Directly access UNSEEN and FRESH items
·	Printing conference text (PRINT)
 
For more details on these features, see the Caucus User’s Guide.

Index

"rr", 13
*, 20, 40
?, 9, 12, 24, 44
<, 32, 55
<CANCEL>, 9, 12, 22, 24, 42, 44
<RETURN>, 4
>, 32, 55
>>, 32, 55
ADD
ITEM, 10, 25–27
RESPONSE, 26
all, 28, 46
asterisk, 20, 40
attachment, 3
author, 28
boldface, 4
CHANGE, 51
(IT)em, 51
(R)esponse, 51
(TI)tle, 51
ITEM, 26, 52
RESPONSE, 26–27, 53
TITLE, 53
CHECK, 13–14, 29, 47
comma, 27, 46
command, 4
commands, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35
conferences
LIST, 28, 47
CUSTOMIZE, 32, 55
Decision Menus, 8–9, 8–9
DELETE, 12, 24, 27, 44, 52, 53
MESSAGE, 25, 26
Dictionary, 31, 48
dot, 12, 22, 42
edit, 27, 53
ITEM, 26, 52
MESSAGE, 12, 22, 42
RESPONSE, 53
SET EDITOR, 31, 49
editor, 12, 31, 42, 49
changing, 31
file transfer, 32, 55
FORGET, 32, 55
FREEZE, 32, 55
FRESH, 32, 55
HELP, 8, 9, 12, 16, 24, 35, 44
hyphen, 28, 46
italics, 4
ITEM, 46, 51, 52
ADD, 10, 25–27
CHANGE, 26
LIST, 11–12, 11–12
SHOW, 10, 11–12, 10, 12–13
items, 27
Items Menu, 17, 35, 37
JOIN, 14, 29, 28–29, 47, 28–29
LIST, 14, 28–29, 28–29
last, 28, 46
LIST, 14, 29, 47
conferences, 28, 47
ITEM, 10, 11–12
PEOPLE, 14, 22–23
List Items Menu, 18, 37
Long Menus, 30
mail. (see MESSAGE). (see MESSAGE). (see MESSAGE)
mailbox, 22, 41
Main Menu, 15, 16, 34
MESSAGE, 11–12
DELETE, 12, 24, 25, 44, 26
NEW, 24, 44
READ, 23–24
REPLY, 25, 26
SEND, 12–13, 25–26, 44
SHOW, 11–12, 25–26
Messages, 22
Messages Menu, 42, 43
NEW, 11, 19, 28, 39, 43, 46
PASS, 9, 11, 24, 44
password, 30, 51
PEOPLE, 20–21, 25
LIST, 14, 22–23
SHOW, 23–24
People Menu, 20
period, 12, 22, 42
Personal Information Menu, 30
Persons Menu, 40
phone number, 21, 41
PRINT, 32, 55
QUIT, 14, 16, 18, 34, 36
Range Menu, 8–9
Range Menus, 27–28, 27–28
Read Messages Menu, 24
RECEIPTSIZE, 13, 23, 43
redirection, 32, 55
REPLACE, 26, 27, 52, 53
REPLY, 11, 24, 44
Replying, 25
RESIGN, 32, 55
RESPOND, 9, 19, 38
RESPONSE, 27, 53
ADD, 26
CHANGE, 26–27
SHOW, 8–9, 12–13, 14
return receipt, 13, 23, 43
RR, 23, 43
SEARCH, 32, 55
SEND, 25
MESSAGE, 12–13
SET, 32, 48–50, 55
(EOT), 49
DICTIONARY, 48
EDITOR, 31, 49
FORMAT, 50
RECEIPTSIZE, 13, 23, 43
SCREENSIZE, 32, 50
SCREENWIDTH, 50
VERBOSE, 50
Short Menus, 30
SHOW
ITEM, 8–9, 11–12, 10, 11–12
MESSAGE, 11–12, 26
PEOPLE, 25
RESPONSE, 8–9, 12–13, 14
Show Messages Menu, 43
space, 27, 46
Standard Menu, 7, 8, 30
Standard Menus, 30
STATUS, 13–14, 20–21
STOP, 14, 29, 47
subject, 12, 22, 32, 42, 55
Teaching Menus, 30
title, 10, 26, 28, 45, 28
CHANGE, 53
UNSEEN, 32, 55
User Environment Menu, 29
userid, 20, 21, 40, 41