1 ADD Adds a message to the specified folder. A file can be specified which contains the message. Otherwise, BULLETIN will prompt for the text. BULLETIN will ask for an expiration date and a header to contain the topic of the message. Format: ADD [file-name] 2 /ALL This option is restricted to privileged users. It is used in conjunction with the /BROADCAST qualifier. If specified, all terminals are sent the message. Otherwise, only users are sent the message. 2 /BELL This option is restricted to privileged users. It is used in conjunction with the /BROADCAST qualifier. If specified, the bell is rung on the terminals when the message is broadcasted. 2 /BROADCAST This option is restricted to privileged users and SYSTEM folders. If specified, a message is both stored and broadcasted to all users logged in at the time. If the folder is remote, a message will be broadcast on all nodes which are connected to that folder, unless /LOCAL is specified. A node which does not have BULLCP running cannot have a message broadcasted to it, (even though it is able to create a remote folder). A broadcasted message is limited to 1600 characters See also /ALL and /BELL. 2 /CLUSTER /[NO]CLUSTER This option specifies that broadcasted messages should be sent to all nodes in the cluster. /CLUSTER is the default. 2 /EDIT /[NO]EDIT Determines whether or not the editor is invoked to edit the message you are adding. /EDIT is the default if you have added /EDIT to your BULLETIN command line. 2 /EXPIRATION /EXPIRATION=time Specifies the time at which the message is to expire. Either absolute time: [dd-mmm-yyyy] hh:mm:ss, or delta time: dddd [hh:mm:ss] can be used. 2 /EXTRACT Specifies that the text of the previously read message should be included at the beginning of the new message. The previous message must be in the same folder. This qualifier is valid only when used with /EDIT. The text is indented with -> at the beginning of each line. This can be suppressed or the indentation character changed with /[NO]INDENT. 2 /FOLDER /FOLDER=(foldername,[...]) Specifies the foldername into which the message is to be added. Does not change the current selected folder. Folders can be either local or remote folders. Thus, a nodename can precede the foldername (this assumes that the remote node is capable of supporting this feature, i.e. the BULLCP process is running on that node. If it is not, you will receive an error message). If the the foldername is specified with only a nodename, i.e. FOO::, the foldername is assumed to be the default folder. NOTE: Specifying remote nodes is only possible if that remote node is running a special BULLCP process. If it isn't, the only way to add messages to that remote node is via the /NODE command. /FOLDER, however, is a much quicker method, and much more versatile. You can specify logical names which translate to one or more folder names. I.e. $ DEFINE ALL_FOLDERS "VAX1,VAX2,VAX3", and then specify ALL_FOLDERS after /FOLDER=. Note that the quotation marks are required. When using /FOLDER for remote nodes, proxy logins are used to determine if privileged options are allowed. If they are not allowed, the message will still be added, but without the privileged settings. 2 /LOCAL Specifies that when /BROADCAST is specified for a remote folder, the message is broadcasted ONLY on the local node. 2 /NODES /NODES=(nodes[,...]) Specifies to send the message to the listed DECNET nodes. The BULLETIN utility must be installed properly on the other nodes. (See installation notes). You can specify a different username to use at the other nodes by either using the USERNAME qualifier, or by specifying the nodename with 2 semi-colons followed by the username, i.e. nodename::username. If you specify a username, you will be prompted for the password of the account on the other nodes. Additionally, you can specify logical names which translate to one or more node names. I.e. $ DEFINE ALL_NODES "VAX1,VAX2,VAX3", and then specify /NODES=ALL_NODES. Note that the quotation marks are required. NOTE: It is preferable to use /FOLDER instead of /NODE if possible, since adding messages via /FOLDER is much quicker. 2 /INDENT /[NO]INDENT=string See /EXTRACT for information on this qualifier. 2 /NOSIGNATURE Specifies to suppress the automatically appended signature, if one exists. Signatures are appended for postings to mailing lists and to responds. See the help topic POST Signature_file for signature information. 2 /PERMANENT If specified, message will be a permanent message and will never expire. If an expiration limit is set, then permament is not allowed unless user has privileges. 2 /SUBJECT /SUBJECT=description Specifies the subject of the message to be added. 2 /SHUTDOWN /SHUTDOWN[=nodename] This option is restricted to privileged users. If specified, message will be automatically deleted after a computer shutdown has occurred. This option is restricted to SYSTEM folders. If the bulletin files are shared between cluster nodes, the message will be deleted after the node on which the message was submitted from is rebooted. If you wish the message to be deleted after a different node reboots, you have the option of specifying that node name. The message deletion is keyed by BULLETIN running on the node that reboots. It writes into the database info that the node has rebooted, and when BULLCP wakes up and sees this info, it will delete any shutdown messages for that node. NOTE: If the folder is a remote folder, the message will be deleted after the remote node reboots, not the node from which the message was added. The nodename cannot be specified with a remote folder. 2 /SYSTEM This option is restricted to privileged users. If specified, message is both saved in the folder and displayed in full as a system message when a user logs in. System messages should be as brief as possible to avoid the possibility that system messages could scroll off the screen. This option is restricted to SYSTEM folders. 2 /USERNAME Specifies username to be used at remote DECNET nodes when adding messages to DECNET nodes via the /NODE qualifier. 1 ATTACH Permits you to switch control of your terminal from your current process to another process in your job. The ATTACH command allows you to move quickly between processes that you have created with the SPAWN command. For example, while you are editing a file, you can SPAWN a subprocess to read a new message. Enter the ATTACH command to get back to back to the editing session. If you want to read another new message, you can use the ATTACH command to get back to the BULLETN subprocess you already created. Format: ATTACH [/PARENT] [process-name] 2 Parameters process-name Indicates the name of the subprocess to which the connection is to be made. Only the /PARENT qualifier or a process-name may be specified. 2 Qualifiers /PARENT Allows you to attach to your process' parent process. If there is no parent process an error message is printed. 2 Examples 1. $ SPAWN BULLETIN %DCL-S-SPAWNED, process MAGNANI_3 spawned %DCL-S-ATTACHED, terminal now attached to process MAGNANI_3 BULLETIN> ATTACH MAGNANI_2 %DCL-S-RETURNED, control returned to process MAGNANI_2 $ ATTACH MAGNANI_3 BULLETIN> This example shows how to spawn subprocesses (MAGNANI_2 and MAGNANI_3) to move from BULLETIN to DCL back to BULLETIN. The ATTACH command allows you to transfer control between subprocesses. NOTE You always SPAWN a new process and ATTACH to a process that already exists. 1 BACK Displays the message preceding the current message. 2 /EDIT Specifies that the editor is to be used to read the message. This is useful for scanning a long message. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Specifies that if a message header exists, the header will be shown. If /HEADER or /NOHEADER is specified, the setting will apply for all further reads in the selected folder. The default is /HEADER for non- NEWS folders, /NOHEADER for NEWS folders. If the SET STRIP command is set for the folder, it will change the default to be /HEADER. A user can make this option the default for a particular folder or news group. See HELP Customizing. 1 BULLETIN The BULLETIN utility permits a user to create a message for reading by all users. Users are notified upon logging in that new messages have been added, and what the topic of the messages are. Actual reading of the messages is optional. (See the command SET READNEW for info on automatic reading.) Messages are automatically deleted when their expiration date has passed. 1 CHANGE Replaces or modifies existing stored message. This is for changing part or all of a message without causing users who have already seen the message to be notified of it a second time. You can select qualifiers so that either the message text, expiration date, or the header are to be changed. If no qualifier is added, the default is that all these parameters are to be changed. If the text of the message is to be changed, a file can be specified which contains the text. If the editor is used for changing the text, the old message text will be extracted. This can be suppressed by the qualifier /NEW. Format: CHANGE [file-name] 2 /ALL Makes the changes to all the messages in the folder. Only the expiration date and message headers can be changed if this qualifier is specified. 2 /EDIT /[NO]EDIT Determines whether or not the editor is invoked to edit the message you are replacing. The old message text is read into the editor unless a file-name or /NEW is specified. /EDIT is the default if you have added /EDIT to your BULLETIN command line. 2 /EXPIRATION /EXPIRATION[=time] Specifies the time at which the message is to expire. Either absolute time: [dd-mmm-yyyy] hh:mm:ss, or delta time: dddd [hh:mm:ss] can be used. If no time is specified, you will be prompted for the time. 2 /GENERAL Specifies that the message is to be converted from a SYSTEM message to a GENERAL message. 2 /HEADER Specifies that the message header is to be replaced. You will be prompted for the new message description. 2 /OWNER /OWNER=string Specifies a new owner name. Can only be changed if you own the folder or have privileges. 2 /NEW If the editor is to be used for replacing the text of the message, NEW specifies not to read in the old message text, and that a totally new text is to be read in. 2 /NUMBER /NUMBER=message_number[-message_number1] Specifies the message or messages to be replaced. If this qualifier is omitted, the message that is presently being read will be replaced. A range of messages can be specified, i.e. /NUMBER=1-5. Only the expiration date and message headers can be changed if a range is specified. The key words CURRENT and LAST can also be specified in the range, in place of an actual number, i.e. CURRENT-LAST, 1-CURRENT, etc. 2 /PERMANENT Specifies that the message is to be made permanent. 2 /SHUTDOWN /SHUTDOWN[=nodename] Specifies that the message is to expire after the next computer shutdown. This option is restricted to SYSTEM folders. 2 /SUBJECT /SUBJECT=description Specifies the subject of the message to be added. 2 /SYSTEM Specifies that the message is to be made a SYSTEM message. This is a privileged command and is restricted to SYSTEM folders. 2 /TEXT Specifies that the message text is to be replaced. 1 COPY Copies a message to another folder without deleting it from the current folder. Format: COPY folder-name [message_number][-message_number1] The folder-name is the name of the folder to which the message is to be copied to. Optionally, a range of messages which are to be copied can be specified following the folder name, i.e. COPY NEWFOLDER 2-5. The key words CURRENT and LAST can also be specified in the range, in place of an actual number, i.e. CURRENT-LAST, 1-CURRENT, etc. 2 /ALL Specifies to copy all the messages in the old folder. 2 /GROUPS /GROUPS=(newsgroup,[...]) Valid only if a NEWS group is selected. Specifies to send the message to the specified NEWS group(s) in addition to the selected NEWS group. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Valid only if destination folder is a news group. Specifies that header of message is to be included with the text when the text is copied. The default is /NOHEADER. 2 /LOCAL If specified and destination is a folder, the message will only be copied to the folder, and will not be emailed to a corresponding email address or sent to a an associated news group, if either is present for the folder. If the destination is a news group, message header has line added to it to avoid having the message from being copied to a folder which has that news group feeding to it. 2 /MERGE Specifies that the original date and time of the copied messages are saved and that the messages are placed in correct chronological order in the new folder. This operation is lengthy if the new folder is large. 2 /ORIGINAL Specifies that the owner of the copied message will be the original owner of the message. The default is that the copied message will be owned by the person copying the message. 1 CREATE Creates a folder of messages. This is similar to the folders in the VMS MAIL utility. Folders are often created so that messages of a similar topic are grouped separately, or to restrict reading of certain messages to specified users. Once created, that message is automatically selected (see information on SELECT command). The commands that can be used to modify the folder's characteristics are: MODIFY, REMOVE, SET ACCESS, SET BBOARD, SET NODE, and SET SYSTEM. Format: CREATE folder-name The folder-name is limited to 25 letters and must not include spaces or characters that are also invalid in filenames (this is because the folder is stored in a file name created with the folder name). NOTE: Creation of folders may be a restricted command if the installer has elected to install it as such. This is done by modifying BULLCOM.CLD. 2 /ALWAYS Specifies that the folder has the ALWAYS attribute. This causes messages in the folder to be displayed differently when logging in. SYSTEM messages will be displayed every time a user logs in, rather than just once. Non-SYSTEM message will also be displayed every time (in whatever mode is selected, i.e. BRIEF, SHOWNEW, or READNEW) until the user actually reads that message (or a later one). This feature is meant for messages which are very important, and thus you want to make sure they are read. 2 /ADD_ONLY Specifies that the folder has the ADD_ONLY attribute. If a mailing address is present (see /DESCRIPTION), when messages are added to the folder, they will also be mailed to the address. Users are prevented from using the POST command. Instead, the ADD command will be used if the POST command is entered. One use for this is a local board which is also distributed to non-local users. 2 /BRIEF Specifies that all users automatically have BRIEF set for this folder. Only a privileged user can use this qualifier. (See HELP SET BRIEF for more information.) 2 /DESCRIPTION /DESCRIPTION=description Specifies the description of the folder, which is displayed using the SHOW FOLDER command. If omitted, you are prompted for a description. If this folder is to receive messages from a network mailing list via the BBOARD feature, and you wish to use the POST and RESPOND/LIST commands, the address of the mailing list should be included in the description. This is done by enclosing the address using <> and placing it at the end of the description, i.e. INFOVAX MAILING LIST You can also use this feature to have messages which are added to a folder to be mailed to the email address. This is common if you have users that don't have access to BULLETIN. Note: When you specify an email address, the folder automatically will have the ADD_ONLY flag set, which causes both ADD and POST to both add a message and send mail the message. Note that a message added to the folder via the BBOARD feature will also be mailed to the specified email address. In this way, users without access to BULLETIN can add messages by sending mail to the BBOARD account. If you create a remote folder pointing to a folder associated with an email address, you must specify the email address in the description of the remote folder also. Please also read about the SET GATEWAY command. It is also possible to use the description to specify a news group from which messages are fed into the folder. See the file FOLDER_TO_NEWS.TXT for more info. 2 /ID Designates that the name specified as the owner name is a rights identifier. The creator's process must have the identifier presently assigned to it. Any process which has that identifier assigned to it will be able to control the folder as if it were the folder's owner. This is used to allow more than one use to control a folder. The identifier can not be any longer than 12 characters. Note: This feature will not work during remote access to the folder. 2 /NODE /NODE=node Specifies that the folder is a remote folder at the specified node. A remote folder is a folder in which the messages are actually stored on a folder at a remote DECNET node. The specified node is checked to see if a folder of the same name is located on that node. If so, the folder will then be modified to point to that folder. For example if there was a folder on node A with name INFO, and you issued the command: CREATE INFO/NODE=A from node B, then if INFO is selected on node B, you will actually obtain the folder INFO on node A. In this manner, a folder can be shared between more than one node. This capability is only present if the BULLCP process is running on the remote node via the BULL/STARTUP command. If the remote folder name is different from the local folder name, the remote folder name is specified using the /REMOTENAME qualifier. NOTE: If a message is added to a remote node, the message is stored immediately. However, a user logging into another node might not be immediately alerted that the message is present. That information is only updated every 15 minutes (same algorithm for updating BBOARD messages), or if a user accesses that folder. Thus, if the folder is located on node A, and the message is added from node B, and a user logs in to node C, the BULLETIN login notification might not notify the user of the message. However, if the message is added with /BROADCAST, the message will be broadcasted immediately to all nodes. 2 /NOTIFY Specifies that all users automatically have NOTIFY set for this folder. Only a privileged user can use this qualifier. (See HELP SET NOTIFY for more information.) 2 /OWNER /OWNER=username Specifies the owner of the folder. This is a privileged command. See also /ID. 2 /POST_ONLY Specifies that the folder has the POST_ONLY attribute. This causes the ADD command to mail the message to the mailing address if it is present (see /DESCRIPTION), rather than add to the folder. 2 /PRIVATE Specifies that the folder can only be accessed by users who have been granted access via the SET ACCESS command. Note: This option uses ACLs and users who are granted access must be entered into the Rights Data Base. If the RDB does not exist on your system, a privileged user will have to create it. If a user is not in the RDB, this program will automatically enter the user into it (unless this feature was disabled during the compilation of this program). NOTE: See HELP SET ACCESS for more info. WARNING: This command can not be used with remote nodes. Create the folder without it and then use SET ACCESS to change protection. Also, access protection on the remote node will override local protection. 2 /READNEW Specifies that all users automatically have READNEW set for this folder. Only a privileged user can use this qualifier. (See HELP SET READNEW for more information.) 2 /REMOTENAME /REMOTENAME=foldername Valid only if /NODE is present, i.e. that the folder is a remote folder. Specifies the name of the remote folder name. If not specified, it is assumed that the remote name is the same as the local name. 2 /SHOWNEW Specifies that all users automatically have SHOWNEW set for this folder. Only a privileged user can use this qualifier. (See HELP SET SHOWNEW for more information.) 2 /SEMIPRIVATE Similar to /PRIVATE, except that the folder is restricted only with respect to adding or modifying messages. All users can read the folder. WARNING: This command can not be used with remote nodes. Create the folder without it and then use SET ACCESS to change protection. Also, access protection on the remote node will override local protection. 2 /SYSTEM Specifies that the folder is a SYSTEM folder. A SYSTEM folder is allowed to have SYSTEM and SHUTDOWN messages added to it. This is a privileged command. If this is a remote folder, /SYSTEM cannot be specified unless the folder at the other node is also a SYSTEM folder. 1 Ctrl-C Except for when BULLETIN is awaiting input from the terminal, a CTRL-C will cause BULLETIN to abort the execution of any command. If BULLETIN is waiting for terminal input, a CTRL-C will cause BULLETIN to return to the BULLETIN> prompt. If for some reason the user wishes to suspend BULLETIN, CTRL-Y will usually do so. However, this is not always true, as BULLETIN will ignore the CTRL-Y if it has a data file opened at the time. (Otherwise it would be possible to put the files in a state such that they would be inaccessible by other users.) 1 CURRENT Displays the beginning of the message you are currently reading. If you are reading a long message and want to display the first part of the message again, you can enter the CURRENT command. Format: CURRENT 2 /EDIT Specifies that the editor is to be used to read the message. This is useful for scanning a long message. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Specifies that if a message header exists, the header will be shown. If either /HEADER or /NOHEADER is specified, the setting will apply for all further reads in the selected folder. The default is /HEADER for non- NEWS folders, /NOHEADER for NEWS folders. If the SET STRIP command is set for the folder, it will change the default to be /HEADER. A user can make this option the default for a particular folder or news group. See HELP Customizing. 2 /ROTATE Specifies to decode the message using ROT-13 coding. 1 DELETE Deletes the specified message. If no message is specified, the current message is deleted. Only the original owner or a privileged user can delete a message. Note that the message is not deleted immediately, but its expiration is set 15 minutes in the future. This is to allow a user to recover the message using the UNDELETE command. If you want the message deleted immediately, use the /IMMEDIATE qualifier. Format: DELETE [message_number][-message_number1] The message's relative number is found by the DIRECTORY command. It is possible to delete a range of messages by specifying two numbers separated by a dash, i.e. DELETE 1-5. However, a range cannot be specified if the folder is remote. The key words CURRENT and LAST can also be specified in the range, in place of an actual number, i.e. CURRENT-LAST, 1-CURRENT, etc. 2 /ALL Specifies to delete all the messages in the folder. Note: This will not work for remote folders. Only one message can be deleted from a remote folder at a time. 2 /IMMEDIATE Specifies that the message is to be deleted immediately. Not applicable to news groups that are stored on disk. 2 /LOCAL Only used with news groups stored on disk. Only the local message will be deleted. No delete message will be sent to the Usenet network to delete the message at other nodes. 2 /NODES /NODES=(nodes[,...]) Specifies to delete the message at the listed DECNET nodes. The BULLETIN utility must be installed properly on the other nodes. You can specify a different username to use at the other nodes by either using the USERNAME qualifier, or by specifying the nodename with 2 semi-colons followed by the username, i.e. nodename::username. If you specify a username, you will be prompted for the password of the account on the other nodes. The /SUBJECT must be specified to identify the specific message that is to be deleted. Additionally, you can specify logical names which translate to one or more node names. I.e. $ DEFINE ALL_NODES "VAX1,VAX2,VAX3", and then specify /NODES=ALL_NODES. Note that the quotation marks are required. 2 /SUBJECT /SUBJECT=subject Specifies the subject of the bulletin to be deleted at a remote DECNET node. The DECNET node must be specified with the /NODE qualifier. The specified subject need not be the exact subject of the message. It can be a substring of the subject. This is in case you have forgotten the exact subject that was specified. Case is not critical either. You will be notified if the deletion was successful. See also /NEGATED. 2 /USERNAME Specifies username to be used at remote DECNET nodes when deleting messages on other DECNET nodes via the /NODE qualifier. 1 DIRECTORY Lists a summary of the messages. The message number, submitter's name, date, and subject of each message is displayed. Format: DIRECTORY [folder] If a folder is specified, that folder is selected before the directory is listed. Unless otherwise specified, listing starts with the first newest message. If there are no new messages, listing will start at the first message, or if a message has already been read, it will start at that message. 2 /ALL Lists all messages. Used if the qualifiers /MARKED, /UNMARKED, /SEEN, or /UNSEEN were previously specified. 2 /CONTINUE Used with /GROUP. Allows you to continue a search after you have broken the search by entering a command, i.e. READ, SEARCH, etc. Note: If you enter a SEARCH command which specifies a string, and then continue the directory search using /CONTINUE, the new search pattern will be used when continuing the search. 2 /DESCRIBE Valid when used with /FOLDERS. Specifies to include description of folder. 2 /EXPIRATION Shows the message's expiration date rather than the creation date. 2 /END /END=message_number Indicates the last message number you want to display. 2 /EXTRACT /EXTRACT=filename Specifies that the text of the messages which are found by the DIRECTORY command are to be written into the specified file. All qualifiers which are valid for the EXTRACT command are valid in conjunction with /EXTRACT except for /NEW which conflicts with the DIRECTORY /NEW qualifier. The listof messages to be printed will be displayed on the terminal (in nopaging format). See the command SET FILE_DIRECTORY for info on setting the directory where files are stored. The default directory is SYS$LOGIN. 2 /FEEDBACK Used only in conjunction with /GROUP. Specifies to show when new news groups are selected. 2 /FOLDERS Lists the available message folders. Shows last message date and number of messages in folder. An asterisk (*) next to foldername indicates that there are unread messages in that folder. This will not show newsgroups. To see newsgroups, use the NEWS command or DIR/NEWS. 2 /FROM /FROM=[string] Specifies that only messages whose username contains the specified string are to be displayed. This cannot be used in conjunction with /MARKED. If no string is specified, the previously specified string is used. See also /NEGATED. 2 /GROUP /GROUP=(string,[...]) Specifies a list of groups to be searched. Used with the search qualifiers /SEARCH, /SUBJECT, or /FROM. Wildcards are permitted in the specified string. Use /FEEDBACK to see when groups are selected. At any time during the search you may enter other commands, i.e. you may read a message, see a full directory listing, etc. You may then restart the search listing by typing DIR/CONTINUE. For more info, see help on the /CONTINUOUS qualifier. 2 /NEGATED Used with /SUBJECT, /FROM, & /SEARCH. If specified, messages who don't match the specified search command are displayed. 2 /MARKED Lists messages that have been marked (indicated by an asterisk). This is equivalent to selecting the folder with /MARKED, i.e. only marked messages will be shown and be able to be read. To see all messages, use either /ALL, or reselect the folder. 2 /UNMARKED Lists messages that have not been marked (marked messages are indicated by an asterisk). Using /UNMARKED is equivalent to selecting the folder with /UNMARKED, i.e. only unmarked messages will be shown and be able to be read. To see all messages, use either /ALL, or reselect the folder. 2 /SEEN Lists messages that have been seen (indicated by a greater than sign). Using /SEEN is equivalent to selecting the folder with /SEEN, i.e. only seen messages will be shown and be able to be read. To see all messages, use either /ALL, or reselect the folder. 2 /UNSEEN Lists messages that have not been seen (seen message are indicated by a greater than sign). Using /UNSEEN is equivalent to selecting the folder with /UNSEEN, i.e. only unseen messages will be shown and be able to be read. To see all messages, use either /ALL, or reselect the folder. 2 /NEW Specifies to start the listing of messages with the first unread message. 2 /NEWS Lists the available news groups. This does the same thing as the NEWS command. See that command for qualifiers which apply. 2 /OUTPUT /OUTPUT=filename Specifies to write the directory output to a file rather than the terminal. 2 /PRINT Specifies that the text of the messages which are found by the DIRECTORY command are to be printed. All qualifiers which are valid for the PRINT command are valid in conjunction with /PRINT. The list of messages to be printed will be displayed on the terminal (in nopaging format). 2 /REPLY Specifies that only messages which are replies to the current message are to be displayed. This cannot be used in conjunction with /MARKED. 2 /NOREPLIES Specifies that only messages which are not replies (i.e. whose subject do not start with RE:) are to be displayed. This cannot be used in conjunction with /MARKED. 2 /SEARCH /SEARCH=[string] Specifies that only messages which contain the specified string are to be displayed. This cannot be used in conjunction with /MARKED. If no string is specified, the previously specified string is used. See also /NEGATED. 2 /SINCE /SINCE=date Displays a listing of all the messages created on or after the specified date. If no date is specified, the default is TODAY. 2 /START /START=message_number Indicates the first message number you want to display. For example, to display all the messages beginning with number three, enter the command line DIRECTORY/START=3. Not valid with /FOLDER. 2 /SUBJECT /SUBJECT=[string] Specifies that only messages which contain the specified string in it's subject header are to be displayed. This cannot be used in conjunction with /MARKED. If no string is specified, the previously specified string is used. 1 EXCLUDE Specifies to exclude reading messages based on the message owner or the subject. If it is determined that a message is to be excluded, then the message is skipped when a user tries to read a message bytyping NEXT or BACK, or by hitting the return key. Specify /FULL to make all EXCLUDEs and INCLUDEs for the specified folder apply to all other BULLETIN commands, including directory listings. Format: EXCLUDE [string] If a string is specified, then the message is excluded if the owner or the subject contains that string, depending on whether /FROM or /SUBJECT is specified. Otherwise, if no string is specified, then the owner name or subject of the current message is used. /FROM is the default. Note: EXCLUDEs take precedence over INCLUDEs. 2 /ALL Used with /DISABLE to specify to disable all EXCLUDEs. 2 /DISABLE Specifies to permanently disable the EXCLUDE. 2 /FROM Specifies to exclude the message based on the message owner. This is the default. /FROM and /SUBJECT cannot be specified at the same time. 2 /FULL If specified, causes all excludes and includes for the selected folder to be applied to all BULLETIN commands, including directory listings. See help customizing for info on how to make this the default for all folders. Note that specifying this may substantially slow down directory listings. When /FULL is specified, the EXCLUDE command will not add an exclude, so it can't be used with any other qualifier except for /DISABLE. 2 /LIMIT /LIMIT=days Specifies that the exclude will be automatically deleted if no match is found for the specified number of days. The default is no limit, which is specified by 0. This can be changed via the SET EXLIMIT command. 2 /SUBJECT Specifies to exclude the message based on the message subject. /FROM and /SUBJECT cannot be specified at the same time. 2 Storing_EXCLUDEs EXCLUDEs are stored in the file SYS$LOGIN:BULL.CUSTOM or in the file pointed to by the logical name BULL_USER_CUSTOM. The format is: folder_name:EXCLUDE:FROM(or SUBJECT):string In order for /FULL to be the default for a folder, the following line must be present: folder_name:defaults:kill excluding the folder_name causes it to apply to all folders. 1 EXIT Exits the BULLETIN program. 1 EXTRACT Synonym for FILE command. 1 FILE Copies the current message to the named file. If the file exists, the message is appended to the file, unless the /NEW qualifier is specified. Format: FILE [filename] [message_number][-message_number1],[...] If the filename is omitted, a file will be created based on the name of the folder. A range of messages to be copied can optionally be specified, i.e. FILE 2-5. The key words CURRENT and LAST can also be specified in the range, in place of an actual number, i.e. CURRENT-LAST, 1-CURRENT, etc. See the command SET FILE_DIRECTORY for info on setting the directory where files are stored. The default directory is SYS$LOGIN. 2 /ALL Copies all the messages in the current folder. 2 /FF Specifies that a form feed is placed between messages in the file. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Controls whether a header containing the owner, subject, and date of the message is written in the file. The default is to write the header. 2 /NEW Specifies that a new file is to be created. Otherwise, if the specified file exists, the file would be appended to that file. 1 FIRST Specifies that the first message in the folder is to be read. 1 Folders All messages are divided into separate folders. New folders can be created by any user. As an example, the following creates a folder for GAMES related messages: BULLETIN> CREATE GAMES Enter a one line description of folder. GAMES To see the list of available folders, use DIRECTORY/FOLDERS. To select a specific folder, use the SELECT command. If a user selects a folder and enters the SET READNEW command, that user will be alerted of topics of new messages at login time, and will then be given the option of reading them. Similar to READNEW is SHOWNEW, which displays the topics but doesn't prompt to read them. Even less is SET BRIEF, which will cause only a one line output indicating that there are new messages in the folder. There also is the SET NOTIFY option, which will cause a message to be broadcast to a user's terminal alerting the user that a new message has been added. Any of these options can be the default for the folder by using the /DEFAULT switch on the command. A folder can be restricted to only certain users, if desired. This is done by specifying CREATE/PRIVATE. Afterwards, access to the folder is controlled by the creator by the SET [NO]ACCESS command. If instead you specify /SEMIPRIVATE, all users can read the messages in the folder, but only those given access can add messages. A folder can be converted into a remote folder using CREATE/NODE or SET NODE. A remote folder is one which points to a folder on a remote DECNET node. Messages added to a remote node are actually stored on the folder on the remote node. The BULLCP process (created by BULLETIN/STARTUP) must be running on the remote node for this option to be used. A folder can be specified as a SYSTEM folder, i.e. one in which SYSTEM/ SHUTDOWN/BROADCAST messages can be added. One use for this is to create a remote SYSTEM folder which is shared by all nodes, so that the default folder is used for messages pertaining only to the local host, while the remote folder is used for messages pertaining to all nodes. Another use is to create a folder for posting SYSTEM messages only meant for a certain UIC group. This is done by creating a PRIVATE SYSTEM folder, and giving access to that UIC group. Only users in that UIC group will see the messages in that folder when they log in. 1 FORWARD Synonym for MAIL command. 1 HELP To obtain help on any topic, type: HELP topic 1 INCLUDE This command is a synonym for the THREAD command. 1 INDEX Gives directory listing of all folders or subscribed groups in alphabetical order. Useful for scanning your folders or news groups for new messages without having to manually select them. If the INDEX command is re-entered while the INDEX scan is in progress, the scan will skip to the next folder. This is useful for skipping past a folder. It also can be used to continue the scan from where one left off after one has read a message. /RESTART must be specified to start from the first folder if a scan is in progress. All other qualifiers are ignored while a scan is in progress. Format: INDEX When a directory is displayed, you can read the first message in the list by typing READ. NOTE: /NEW and /SET are the defaults. This was not the case for older versions of BULLETIN. 2 /MARKED Lists messages that have been marked (marked messages are indicated by an asterisk). This is equivalent to selecting the folder with /MARKED, i.e. only marked messages will be shown and be able to be read. 2 /UNMARKED Lists messages that have not been marked (marked messages are indicated by an asterisk). Using /UNMARKED is equivalent to selecting the folder with /UNMARKED, i.e. only unmarked messages will be shown and be able to be read. 2 /SEEN Lists messages that have been seen (indicated by a greater than sign). Using /SEEN is equivalent to selecting the folder with /SEEN, i.e. only seen messages will be shown and be able to be read. 2 /UNSEEN Lists messages that have not been seen (seen message are indicated by a greater than sign). Using /UNSEEN is equivalent to selecting the folder with /UNSEEN, i.e. only unseen messages will be shown and be able to be read. 2 /NEW /[NO]NEW Specifies to list only those folders or groups that have new unread messages, and to start the listing with the first unread message. Otherwise, the listing will start with the first message. /NEW is the default. Is ignored if /[UN]SEEN or /[UN]MARKED are specified. 2 /RESTART If specified, causes the listing to be reinitialized and start from the first folder. 2 /SET /[NO]SET Specifies that only folders that have READNEW, BRIEF, or SHOWNEW set are to be shown. SET is the default. Ignored if /SUBSCRIBE is specified. 2 /SUBSCRIBE If specified, lists only news groups which have been subscribed to. 1 KEYPAD +--------+--------+--------+--------+ | PF1 | PF2 | PF3 | PF4 | | GOLD | HELP | EXTRACT|SHOW KEY| | |ST NOKEY| FILE |SH KY/PR| |--------|--------|--------|--------| | 7 | 8 | 9 | -- | | ADD | REPLY | MAIL |READ/NEW| | ADD/EDI|RP/ED/EX|M/NOHEAD|SHOW NEW| |--------|--------|--------|--------| | 4 | 5 | 6 | , | | CURRENT| RESPOND| LAST | DIR/NEW| |CURR/EDI|RS/ED/EX| | INDEX | |--------|--------|--------|--------| | 1 | 2 | 3 |ENTER | | BACK | PRINT | DIR | | | NEXT |P/NONOTI|DIR/FOLD| | |--------+--------|--------| ENTER | | 0 | . | SELECT | | SHOW FOLDER/FULL| DELETE | | | SHOW FLAGS | UNDELE | | +-----------------+--------+--------+ 2 Suggestions Here are keypads settings that the author personally uses. Note that the IND/SUBS commands are useful only for reading NEWS. DEFINE/KEY PERIOD "IND/SUBS"/TERM DEFINE/KEY PERIOD "IND/SUBS/NONEW"/IF_STATE=GOLD/TERM DEFINE/KEY MINUS "READ/THREAD"/IF_STATE=GOLD/TERM DEFINE/KEY PF1 ""/IF_STATE=GOLD/SET=NOEDIT DEFINE/KEY PF1 ""/IF_STATE=NOEDIT/SET=NOH DEFINE/KEY PF3 "EXT"/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP9 "MAIL/EDIT/NOHEAD"/IF_STATE=NOEDIT/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP8 "REPLY/NOEDIT"/IF_STATE=NOEDIT/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP7 "SEND/NOEDIT"/IF_STATE=NOEDIT/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP4 "CUR/H"/IF_STATE=NOEDIT/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP4 "CUR/NOH"/IF_STATE=NOH/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP5 "RESPOND/NOEDIT "/IF_STATE=NOEDIT/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP5 "RESPOND/EXTRACT/LIST/EDIT "/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP2 "SEARCH/REP "/TERM DEFINE/KEY KP2 "SEARCH/REV/REP "/TERM/IF_STATE=GOLD DEFINE/KEY KP2 "SEARCH/REV "/IF_STATE=NOEDIT DEFINE/KEY COMMA "SPAWN"/TERM 1 LAST Displays the last message in the current folder. Format: LAST 2 /EDIT Specifies that the editor is to be used to read the message. This is useful for scanning a long message. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Specifies that if a message header exists, the header will be shown. If /HEADER or /NOHEADER is specified, the setting will apply for all further reads in the selected folder. The default is /HEADER for non- NEWS folders, /NOHEADER for NEWS folders. If the SET STRIP command is set for the folder, it will change the default to be /HEADER. A user can make this option the default for a particular folder or news group. See HELP Customizing. 2 /ROTATE Specifies to decode the message using ROT-13 coding. 1 MAIL Invokes the VAX/VMS Personal Mail Utility (MAIL) to send the message which you are reading to the specified recipients. Format: MAIL recipient-name[s] The input for the recipient name is exactly the same format as used by the MAIL command at DCL level. Note that this means when specifying an address that has quotes, in order to pass the quotes you must specify triple quotes. I.e. a network address of the form xxx%"address" must be specified as xxx%"""address""". 2 /EDIT Specifies that the editor is to be used to edit the message before mailing it. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Controls whether a header containing the owner, subject, and date of the message is written in the mail. The default is to write the header. 2 /SUBJECT /SUBJECT=text Specifies the subject of the mail message. If the text consists of more than one word, enclose the text in quotation marks ("). If you omit this qualifier, the description of the message will be used as the subject. 1 MARK Sets the current or message-id message as marked. Marked messages are displayed with an asterisk in the left hand column of the directory listing. A marked message can serve as a reminder of important information. The UNMARK command sets the current or message-id message as unmarked. Format: MARK [message-number or numbers] UNMARK [message-number or numbers] NOTE: The list of marked messages for non-NEWS folders are stored in a file username.BULLMARK, and NEWS folders are stored in username.NEWSMARK. The files are created in the directory pointed to by the logical name BULL_MARK. If BULL_MARK is not defined, SYS$LOGIN will be used. 1 MODIFY Modifies the database information for the current folder. Only the owner of the folder or a user with privileges can use this command. Format: MODIFY 2 /DESCRIPTION Specifies a new description for the folder. You will be prompted for the text of the description. NOTE: If this folder is to receive messages from a network mailing list via the BBOARD feature, and you wish to use the POST and RESPOND/LIST commands, the address of the mailing list should be included in the description. This is done by enclosing the address using <> and placing it at the end of the description, i.e. INFOVAX MAILING LIST You can also use this feature to have messages which are added to a folder to automatically mailed to the email address. This is common if you have users that don't have access to BULLETIN. In order to do this, you should use the SET ADD_ONLY command. This causes all messages added to the folder to also be sent to the email address. This also applies to messages which are added via the BBOARD feature. In this way, users without access to BULLETIN can add messages by sending mail to the BBOARD account. Please also read about the SET GATEWAY command. 2 /ID Designates that the name specified as the owner name is a rights identifier. The creator's process must have the identifier presently assigned to it. Any process which has that identifier assigned to it will be able to control the folder as if it were the folder's owner. This is used to allow more than one use to control a folder. Note: This feature will not work during remote access to the folder. 2 /NAME /NAME=foldername Specifies a new name for the folder. 2 /OWNER /OWNER=username Specifies a new owner for the folder. If the owner does not have privileges, BULLETIN will prompt for the password of the new owner account in order to okay the modification. See also /ID. 1 MOVE Moves a message to another folder and deletes it from the current folder. Format: MOVE folder-name [message_number][-message_number1] The folder-name is the name of the folder to which the message is to be be moved to. Optionally, a range of messages which are to be moved can be specified following the folder name, i.e. COPY NEWFOLDER 2-5. However, if the old folder is remote, they will be copied but not deleted, as only one message can be delted from a remote folder at a time. The key words CURRENT and LAST can also be specified in the range, in place of an actual number, i.e. CURRENT-LAST, 1-CURRENT, etc. 2 /ALL Specifies to move all the messages from the old folder. Note: If the old folder is remote, they will be copied but not deleted, as only one message can be deleted from a remote folder at a time. 2 /GROUPS /GROUPS=(newsgroup,[...]) Valid only if a NEWS group is selected. Specifies to send the message to the specified NEWS group(s) in addition to the selected NEWS group. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Valid only if destination folder is a news group. Specifies that header of message is to be included with the text when the text is copied. The default is /NOHEADER. 2 /LOCAL If specified and destination is a folder, the message will only be moved to the folder, and will not be emailed to a corresponding email address or sent to a an associated news group, if either is present for the folder. If the destination is a news group, message header has line added to it to avoid having the message from being copied to a folder which has that news group feeding to it. 2 /MERGE Specifies that the original date and time of the moved messages are saved and that the messages are placed in correct chronological order in the new folder. This operation is lengthy if the new folder is large. 2 /ORIGINAL Specifies that the owner of the moved message will be the original owner of the message. The default is that the moved message will be owned by the person moving the message. 1 NEWS Displays the list of available news groups. Format: NEWS [string] If the string is specified, lists news groups whose name contains that string. If the string contains an asterisk, a wild card match will be applied. I.e. if ALT* is specified, all groups starting with ALT will be displayed. The status column of the display shows the status of the news group. "y" means the news group is available. "m" means the news group is moderated, and posting may or may not be allowable. "=" means the newsgroup has been renamed. The new name is shown on the display line immediately following the old name. Only those news groups which are enabled are shown. Adding /ALL will show both enabled and disabled groups. If this is done, the status will show "x" if the group has been deactived by the news server feed, and "n" if the group has been deactived locally. 2 /ALL If specified, all news groups will be shown, including those that have been disabled. 2 /CLASS If specified, will show news group classes. For more info on classes, see help for SET NEWS/CLASS. 2 /COUNT If specified, will show number of messages in the news group instead of the status. 2 /DEFAULT If specified, will show news groups that have be defined as default groups using the SET SUBSCRIBE command. 2 /NEWGROUP If specified, will list new news groups that have been added since the last time that a user has accessed a news group. If there are new groups, a user will see a message indicating that there are new groups when the user accesses a news group. 2 /PERMANENT If specified, will show news groups that have be defined as permanent groups using the SET SUBSCRIBE command. 2 /START /START=string If specified, the list will start with the first group which follows alphabetically after that string. I.e. if /START=B is specified, the list will start with groups whose name starts with a B. 2 /STORED If specified, only those news groups which are stored on disk are shown. 2 /SUBSCRIBE If specified, lists only those news folders which have been subscribed to. An asterisk before the group indicates that new messages are present for that folder. 1 New_features Here is a list of new features which may be of interest to the general BULLETIN user. If you find a bug or have a good suggestion for a new feature, send mail to MRL@PFC.MIT.EDU. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- V 2.24 Removed INCLUDE command and replaced it with the THREAD command. This allows you to save and easily read new messages in threads via the READ/THREADS command. 11/13/95 V 2.23 Added /LIMIT to EXCLUDE and also the SET EXLIMIT command. These allow excludes to be specified so that they expire after a specified amount of days. The SHOW EXCLUDE now will show the last time a message was found that matched the exclude. 8/16/95 Added /GROUP qualifier to DIRECTORY command to allow specifying groups to search using wild cards names. 8/3/95 Added /GROUP qualifier to SEARCH command to allow specifying groups to search using wild cards names. 6/20/95 V 2.22 SHOW EXCLUDE and INCLUDE commands added. 5/16/95 V 2.21 Added /CANCEL to PRINT command which cancels previous print commands. 10/28/94 Added /FOLLOWUP to POST command when used with news groups. It specifies which news group you want replies to your message to be sent to. 10/28/94 V 2.20 Logical names can be specified in POST/GROUPS=. 5/12/94 Added SET FILE_DIRECTORY command. 5/11/94 V 2.19 Add /MATCH qualifier to SEARCH command, and allow more than 1 string to be specified. 12/2/93 V 2.18 Added SET [NO]EXCLUDE command to be able to ignore any excludes or includes that have been specified for that folder. 5/20/93 V 2.17 Added /FULL to EXCLUDE and INCLUDE command to make it affect all commands, such as directory listings. 5/13/93 V 2.15 A user can make /HEADER be made the default for a folder or news group by adding a line to the user's customization file. 2/21/93 Added /EXTRACT qualifie to DIRECTORY command. 1/31/93 V 2.13 Added /[NO]HEADER and /ROTATE to NEXT (help said they were there, but they weren't). 1/15/93 Added RESET command. 1/9/93 V 2.12 Added INCLUDE and EXCLUDE commands which allow avoiding reading messages based on subject and address headers. 12/15/92 V 2.11 NEWS command now by default shows only groups which are active. Can show all groups with /ALL command. /STORED and /COUNT are new qualifiers. 11/5/92 INDEX command modified to make it more useful. /NEW is now the default, and now only shows folders or groups that have new messages. /SET added to show only folders which have READNEW, SHOWNEW, or BRIEF set, and /SET is the default. 11/5/92 Folder names can now be up to 44 letters long. 11/5/92 Added /ROTATE for read commands to allow reading messages encoded in ROT-13 coding. This is used by some news groups to display messages which could be taken as being offensive (i.e. rec.humor.funny). 11/5/92 1 NEXT Skips to the next message and displays it. This is useful when paging through the messages and you encounter a particularly long message that you would like to skip over. 2 /EDIT Specifies that the editor is to be used to read the message. This is useful for scanning a long message. 2 /HEADER /[NO]HEADER Specifies that if a message header exists, the header will be shown. If /HEADER or /NOHEADER is specified, the setting will apply for all further reads in the selected folder. The default is /HEADER for non- NEWS folders, /NOHEADER for NEWS folders. If the SET STRIP command is set for the folder, it will change the default to be /HEADER. A user can make this option the default for a particular folder or news group. See HELP Customizing. 2 /ROTATE Specifies to decode the message using ROT-13 coding.