==================================================================
MICRORIM'S BULLETIN BOARD SYSOP'S NIFTY BBS TRICKS
==================================================================
Doc# 661 September, 1992
==================================================================
Here are a few things that you can do to get in, get out, and quit
hanging about to save you big money on your long distance charges
when dialing into the Microrim Bulletin Board Service:
Scan all the message conferences and download the messages
----------------------------------------------------------
Some people dial in and mosey through all the conferences one at a
time and read the messages online (i.e., while still on a long
distance call). You can, however, dial in, scan all the conferences
and immediately download the messages in a file, then read them
offline. This can save you many minutes, even hours, in long
distance charges.
To do this, at the MAIN conference prompt, type R A S D, which
means "Read messages from All conferences Since the last time I've
logged in, then Download them to my PC."
In addition you can add the "Y" parameter (R A S Y D) to only
collect messages from or to you. You can also include a "Z" and
it will compress the capture file before you download it, for even
more savings!
You can even have the board software log off for you when the
download is done so that you can fire it up and (once you're sure
it's going) leave, allowing it to run automatically.
Create new messages offline then upload them when you dial in
-------------------------------------------------------------
Many users type 10 times slower than they read. Is there any
reason why you should do that while on long distance? You can
compose your messages offline in singular text files, then upload
them when you dial in.
If you have been reading messages offline (following the above
guidelines), you can reply to messages in the same way. It is
helpful if you name the text file response the same as the message
number to which you're responding to keep them straight.
Here's how to do it:
Let's say that you're reading a message batch that you just down-
loaded. You come across a message to which you'd like to respond
(let's say message #522). Some editors and word processors support
the ability to have two files in memory at the same time, so create
a new file called 522.TXT. If you really want to get fancy, copy
the text from the original message over to your response so that the
respondee sees the original question (or statement) and then your
reply. This helps make your messages more complete and under-
standable. For example, if you sent a reply to a message that was
authored a couple weeks ago and all you said was...
CALL ME NEXT TIME YOU'RE IN TOWN.
...the recipient would have to go look at the original message
that was sent to find out what this was about. However, if you
include the original statement or question, your reply is much
more meaningful:
-> Can we meet to discuss this?
CALL ME NEXT TIME YOU'RE IN TOWN.
You may be saying "Okay, nice tip, but how do I save money?" (this
everyone ALWAYS wants to know).
Now that you've composed your messages offline, dial back in and bring
up message #522. Type RE to REply. If you're not in the full-screen
editor, get there by pressing the enter key to get the menu at the
bottom and type "F". Now that you're at the full screen editor, press
[ESC] to get the previous menu again and type "U" for Upload. At that
point, proceed as though you're uploading any old file (that is, tell
your local comm software to transmit 522.TXT).
You can do this any number of times for different messages. This
decreases your long distance time dramatically.
Include the original statement or question into your reply
----------------------------------------------------------
This won't save you big money, but others will think you're a real
BBS whiz when they see you doing this technique. As mentioned above,
including the original statement or question in your reply to
someone's message helps make your messages more complete and under-
standable. There are two techniques for doing this, one is faster,
but the other is more precise, and both must be done online.
Method 1) When you REply to a message that you just read, get to
the submenu that has a bunch of letters in parens (A), (C), etc.
Type a "Q" and the software will show you the message to which
you're replying with line numbers. You tell it the line numbers
for the text that you want to capture into your reply, then press
enter. The lines are instantly put into your message with a " -> "
preceding each line so that the recipient knows that it is his/her
original words.
Method 2) This technique is basically the same, but is more precise.
When using the technique above, very often the question or statement
to which you're responding is embedded within a paragraph. When you
specify the line numbers, it will take a bunch of words from the
surrounding sentences. With this method, you can pick out exactly
the text that you want.
When you REply to the message that you just read and it's sitting there
waiting for your words of wisdom, hit the UP arrow! You'll be shown
the message to which you're responding. You can then move your cursor
to the beginning of the line of text, press the [ENTER] key (TAG)
to the end of the line of text that you want (which can span several
lines), then press the [ENTER] key again. The entire string will be
highlighted. Press [ESC] and it instantly becomes part of your
response.
Select only the conferences you like
------------------------------------
Right now most users are set up to scan all conferences. Some may
have stuff in it that you really don't care to see (due to different
versions or other R:BASE products that you don't have, etc.). By
choosing the conferences in which you're really interested, you can
employ the above techniques to capture only the information that is
important to you.
To do this, at the conference level prompt, type "W" for "Write user
info". It allows you to change several things about your user account,
including which conferences you'd like to frequent. If you have chosen
to not visit a particular conference when scanning, you can always go
visit it by typing "J" for "Join", then pick that conference number.
Scan the message base for a problem that you are experiencing
-------------------------------------------------------------
Let's say that you've been having a problem with your Novell network
and R:BASE. You'd like to see if anyone else has had a similar
problem and how they might have solved it. Well, you COULD post a
message asking for help, then maybe that special someone will call in
and give you an answer before the next time that you access the BBS.
Or, you can check the message base to see if anyone for the past year
has had problems similar to what you're having, then download all
this info so you can scan it offline.
To scan messages, from any conference prompt (this technique only
works from one conference at a time), type "TS NOVELL D". You will
be asked at which message number you'd like to start the scan.
Specify the lowest number possible. It will then go through the
message base for that conference and pick up all the messages that
have the word NOVELL in it.
As a variation on this, let's say that you choose "Q" for "Quick
scan" to see the message headers. You spy a topic that you think
would be interesting and you want to get, for example "MAILING
LABELS". Follow the same procedure demonstrated above: "TS MAILING
LABELS D". The BBS then scans the conference and picks up all the
messages that contain those words (whether in the SUBJECT: field or
in the body of the message).
That's all I have for now. I'll try to include more hints into this
bulletin as I come up with them. If you know of any, please let me
know by sending a COMMENT TO THE SYSOP. Good luck and happy
communicating!