BBS [USER] COMMANDS

The following commands are available to the users connected to the BBS. It is IMPORTANT to note some commands may not be available by choice. To enable some commands, the administrator must compile with the feature "#defined". No harm is done since the typical response of jnos is “Huh?” when a command is not processable as entered by the user. This information is also available separately as the file 'mboxcmds.txt' for the administrator to edit for his own configuration, plus as one-line abbreviated form in the appendix for use as a "cheat-sheet". These commands have been validated on a linux system. The command vocabulary is:

AREA; The AREA command lists the public mail areas that contain messages the user may read. To read messages in one of the areas, type the AREA command with the selected area as a parameter as in:

You will then be told how many new, not previously read messages there are in this area. You may send mail to any of the listed areas with the command:

Examples of AREA command varients:

  1. A gives a short listing, whereas b.

  2. AF gives a full listing with descriptions c.

  3. AN shows areas that have new mail since you last logged off.

BYE; The Bye command is used to close access to the JNOS MBOX session. Control returns to the process in place prior to access. Bye will close your mailbox file and remove any messages that you have marked “K[ill]”.

CONNECT; The connect command establishes an AX.25 protocol connection with a remote station. It has the following modes:

  1. C[onnect] [port] [callsign] via [<digipeater> . . .] initiates a simple link

  2. C[onnect] [node] initiates a "net" link

CONVERSE; This is a round table discussion feature. Keyboard entries made by the user on a line-for-line basis are displayed at all other user stations who are in the converse group at the time.

  1. To identify the sender, the users call is prefixed to the line at all remote sites. Only if the input line begins with the "/" character, the remainder of the line is executed by jnos as a subcommand and is not shared with the group.

  2. The the group is said to share a "channel" for their own use.1.conv [<channel>] puts you in converse mode, and jnos responds with a "connected" message.

  3. The subcommand "/b" cancels the mode. <channel> allows specifying the conference channel you wish to join. Channel default = 0. Jnos supports [tbd] channels. Local user groups sometimes agree on a set of channels for their own purposes. The set of subcommands are documented at [tbd].

DOWNLOAD; Display a file from the remote system on the local terminal. Note that if the terminal in use includes a capture feature that is spooling display data, then the file is actually saved in that destination. The full path_name is added to the filename if the desired file is not in the working directory. Use the W[hat] command to explore the directory tree of the remote node.

  1. D[ownload] [/][<path_name>/]filename sends a plain ASCII text file. Please note that the character used to separate the path and filename is a "/" (forward slash).

  2. DM download the MotdTxtFile which is otherwise unavailable once you get into the mbox.

  3. DU [/][<path_name>/]filename downloads binary files converted to UUENCODED ASCII. Because AX.25 is an ASCII based technology, binary files are not compatible directly for transfer. The detail of this subject is beyond the scope of this document, thus once copied to the destination, the user is left to his own devices to UUDECODE the file into the original binary content.

ESCAPE; The escape command, when entered by itself, will display the character that is current set as the escape character, and whether escape processing is enabled. This character is what will be used if you want to exit from the current incomplete activity of the current session.

  1. For instance, if you have started a "chat" activity, and you don't get a response from the operator after waiting a few minutes, you can enter the escape character, followed by a <RETURN> or <ENTER>, and the activity will be terminated. You will then be returned to the MBOX prompt.

  2. E[scape] [<char> | <integer> | off|on] The escape character may be changed to one of your preference by entering "escape" followed by a <SPACE> and the character that will become the new escape character. This must be a single typed character (the <CTRL> key may be used in addition). Alternatively, an <integer> corresponding to the decimal code for the escape character may be specified.

  3. Escape processing can be enabled or disabled by specifying "on" or "off" as the only argument.. Be warned - you can cause yourself grief by mis-using this command, and the sysop may not exhibit much sympathy? SO - do not give your password out to practical jokers...

EXAMPLES

  1. escape ^Z (the ASCII character <CTRL>Z)

  2. escape X (the character "x" is the new escape)
  3. escape 120 (the character "x" is the new escape)
  4. escape off (suspend escape character processing)
  5. escape on (resume escape character processing)

FINGER <name>[@host]; The finger command displays information about users of a system, and some system specific parameters. This command depends on the site sysop to construct files of information on each user of his site, thus you might choose to send a message with the information you would like to see displayed to others. EXAMPLES:

  1. finger (list the known users on this system)
  2. f sysop (list info about the local user "sysop")
  3. f @wg7j (list the known users at host "wg7j")
  4. f johan@wg7j (display info about "johan" at host "wg7j")
  5. f help[@jnoshost] (shows which pseudo-user names are available or obtaining JNOS system info via f finger command).

HELP; Display on-line assistance for user commands. Help comes in several formats:

  1. ?; displays a grouped list of commands that are available for use on the host. Commands are grouped by similar functionality, "Mail" is a sample group.
  2. H[ELP]; displays an alphabetic list of commands that text is available for. Help text may be available for commands not implemented on the host.

  3. H[ELP] <command>; Displays syntax and assistance for a specific command. 1.Example: 'h connect' Display assistance for the command 'connect'.

IHEARD; Display the TCP/IP connected hosts recently heard. The list displays IP address, port name, time since heard, and packet count. For the ax.25 ports, show all tcp/ip activity even when this host was not involved in it. For other ports, show those systems that this host actively routed packets for (i.e. systems that talked to us). The list is sorted into time orcer - most recent on top.

  1. I[heard] Show tcp/ip activity for all ports.

  2. I[heard] [<port>] Show tcp/ip activity for <port>.

INFO; Display Sysop-supplied site information.

IPROUTE; IP[route] shows some TCP/IP routes the system has configured. It shows the interfaces and gateways involved in the routes, and also the expiration timer (if applicable).

  1. USER NOTE: This could be a LONG list if the system has a lot of static routes in the table, and many routes may also be "hidden" for simplicity. The user may ask the sysop for more information about routes, this author however suggests restraint. The command iproute is configured to display what the sysop believes to be significant to the average user rather than the complete diagnostic tome.

JHEARD; The jheard command displays a list of the station callsigns that have been involved in packet traffic on each port. The list will show callsign, the time since the station was heard last, and the total number of packets recorded. The sysop will configure the list to be one of "sending call", "receiving call", or "both calls", in a packet. The list is sorted by time, with most-recent on top of the list. Warning: if this system has been on the air for very long, and the channels are very active, the "heard" list could be extremely long. See the Ports command for determining which channel is heard on each port.

  1. J[heard] displays the "heard" list for all ports - listed in groups for the specific port.

  2. J[heard] [<port>] displays a list of the stations heard on one particular port.

KILL; The kill command allows you to delete messages from the current mailbox (if you have been given that permission by the operator). The kill command applies to messages in the current mail "area". See the "A[rea]" command to check or modify the current mail area. At least one message number must be supplied. The action of deleting and re-sequencing the mail list happens during termination upon entering the "B"ye command.

  1. K[ill] <message_number_or_range> [<message_number_or_range> . . .] is the full syntax of the kill command. 1.<message_number_or_range> The parameters list the <message_number> to delete. The message numbers you can select from may be displayed with the "L[ist]" command. You may specify a range of message numbers to kill by placing a "-" between the first and last message numbers of the range. No intervening spaces are allowed inside the "#-#" text.

  2. <MUA> selected abbreviations are supported - see examples.

Examples of KILL usage:

  1. KM will delete all messages in the area.
  2. KU will un-kill a message that was previously marked for killing.
  3. KA will delete all messages in the area.
  4. K 4-7 is equivalent to K 4 5 6 7.

LIST; L[ist] [<starting_msg_number> [<ending_msg_number>] ] Displays a list of the messages in the mailbox (or "area") queue. For each message, the list contains the number, the subject header line, the time and date it was created, who it is from, how many bytes long it is, and whether or not it has been read. The user may limit the display in case there are a large number of messages in a particular "area" mailbox.

  1. <starting_msg_number> You may include an optional "first_msg_number" from which to begin displaying the list.

  2. <ending_msg_number> If you specify a starting msg number, then you may also include an optional "last_number_number" as well.

  3. Variations in the "List" command are supported to give various views of the messages available for reading.

The following briefly describes the various views:

  1. L shorthand for LM command.
  2. LA display all messages, read or unread

  3. LL <number> display only the last quantity of message headers.

  4. LM display the headers for all unread messages in the current 'area', if any. These are thought of as "Mine".
  5. LB display all messages classified as bulletins
  6. LS [text] display only messages with 'text' in the subject line.
  7. LT display all messages classified as traffic

  8. L> xxx display all messages that have the string 'xxx' in the To: address including numeric strings.

  9. L< xxx display all messages that have the string 'xxx' in the From: address including numeric strings.

Mailbox Mailbox is an array of seven commands to display connected users and mailbox contents in various ways.

  1. M[box]; will display a list of all the current users, how they connected, and their current activity.

  2. MC <path, area>; (for sysop use) copies the current message to the path or area indicated. This command accepts a range of messages, e.g., mc 5-26 junk will copy messages 5 through 26 to area 'junk'.

  3. ML; will list all past users of the system, when they were last on and how many times they've connected.
  4. ML n; will show the last n users of the system
  5. ML call; will list when 'call' last logged in

  6. MM <path, area>; (for sysop use) moves the current message to the path or area desired. This command accepts a range of messages, e.g., mm 5-26 junk will move messages 5 through 26 to area 'junk'.

  7. MS; will give some info on the number of messages handled since the system has been up

NODES; Node prints a list of NET/ROM nodes that are known to this system. A '>' prepended to the name indicates that the route has been used in the past 60 seconds. Following are variations on the command:

  1. N[odes] When used without a target <nodename> it displays a simple table of all known nodes at the time.

  2. N[odes] * When used with a target wildcard it displays a detail table of all known nodes including "hidden" nodes (those with IDs beginning with '#') and multiple paths to a destination.

  3. N[ode] <nodename> When used with a <nodename> target, it displays the detail of various routes (paths) available for use from the local node to <nodename> including:

    • the neighbor network node starting the path to the selected destination node. Both the alias and the station call are displayed.
    • the port to use for the initial hop
    • the quality of the path from the definition of the network
    • the obsoletion count
    • the node type:
    • the packets dispatched to the neighbor since establishing the link
  4. There are also a couple variables that do not print at the moment.
  5. NR[oute] command will list all known netrom neighbor stations, with a listing of:
    • the neighbor network node starting the path to a selected destination node. Both the alias and the station call are displayed.
    • the path quality index to the neighbor node
    • the number of destinations the neighbor knows
    • the obsolescence count

    • the packets dispatched to the neighbor since establishing the link shown in both completed and incomplete retries that determine the percentage complete path quality

  6. NRR <nodename> displays the path detail to the destination.

OPERATOR; O[perator] allows you to "talk" keyboard-to-keyboard with the operator of this NOS system if the system is attended.

  1. When you wish to terminate the chat session, type the escape character on your keyboard, and then press <ENTER> or <RETURN>. The default escape character is "CTRL-X". This escape character may be changed to whatever you prefer by using the "E[scape]" command.

PING <host>; Check if the TCP/IP connected <host> is alive. Returns RTT or "Round Trip Time" in seconds if the host responds, or a time-out message if no response is heard. See the IHeard command.

PORTS; P[orts] prints a list of AX.25 interfaces (ports) that are installed in this system. A description of the port is also given if one has been setup for that port. These ports can be used to make outgoing AX.25 connections with the "C[onnect]" command.

QUERY; This queries the BuckMaster CDRom callbook server for info about the calls given. Example: Q <call> [<call> . . .] More then one call per query is allowed. This command is optionally implemented and the default is to not define the command.

READ; Read a message (or messages) from the current mail area. To read a specific message, you may either type "read #" or just the number by itself. You can also simply advance sequentially through the messages by just pressing the <ENTER> or <CR> key. This will display the next message in order. The "read" command displays only an abbreviated portion of the mail headers. If you want to display all the header lines, use the V[erbose] command instead.

  1. # Reads the one message numbered “#” > the “R” is presumed.

  2. R[ead] # The full form of the read command. 3.R[ead] <msg_number_or_range> [<msg_number-or_range> . . .] If there is a specific list of messages you are interested in (determined by the use of the L[ist] command, for instance), you may enter the list of message numbers (separated by spaces) on the "read" command-line.

  3. RM display without interruption all unread messages.

EXAMPLES:

  1. read 3 5 (Display only messages 3 and 5)
  2. 4 (Display message 4)

  3. <CR> (Display next message)

SEND; The send command allows you to create a message and jnos will move it into a user mailbox at either this system, or some other system on the network. The "S" command may also be specialized for other message type or handling (e.g. SP wb7xxx @ n7xxx).

  1. S[end] <user>[ @ <host>] [< <from_addr>] [$<bulletin_id>] is the general form of the send mail command.

    1. <user> is the id of the recipient in the target mail system. For BBS users, the name is typically the call sign of the BBS user.

    2. <host> is the target system ID. Various forms of ID are permitted if the hosts involved are configured. ID may be one of:

    3. <call> For AX.25 networks, the BBS ID including the ssid define the target system.

    4. <ip> for TCP/IP networks, the remote host static IP number or DNS resolvable host name may be used.

    5. <from_addr> may be added if a reply is to be delivered to another host. This field is for special use and won't be covered here in detail.

    6. <bulletin_id> may be added and is the subject of [tbd] This field is for special use and won't be covered here in detail.

  2. SB <user>[@<host>] (Send Bulletin) As above, but ANY <user> may read the message from the mailbox.

    1. <User> is usually a category rather than an individual user when sending bulletins.

    2. <host> directs the bulletin to one specific host, but if host is not provided it will cause the message to be delivered to all known hosts. PLEASE USE WITH CAUTION

  3. SC <user>[ @ <host>] [< <from_addr>] [$<bulletin_id>] Send a message to more than one user. The system will prompt with "Cc: ", which allows you to add more users to be sent 'carbon copies' of the message. Separate users on the Cc: line with commas.

  4. SF <user>[ @ <host>] [< <from_addr>] [$<bulletin_id>] The "SF" command will forward a copy of the current message to the user specified.

  5. SP <user>[ @ <host>] (Send Personal) As in the "S" version, but only the addressee (<user>) may read the message from the mailbox.

  6. SR [msg_number] "reply" to either the current message or the message number specified. The subject will be copied and the reply will be sent to the address it was sent from or from the "reply to" field of the message header.

    1. msg_number refers to the message as displayed by the "L"ist command at the time of posting the response.

  7. ST <user>[ @ <host>] The "ST" command allows you to send "traffic" to <user> specified. Traffic has special meaning to AX.25 specification and is not covered here.

EXAMPLES

  1. send kf7xx (Send a message to the local user, kf7xx)
  2. s kf7xx @ wb7xxx (Send a message to kf7xx at the wb7xxx host)
  3. sr 3 (Reply to message number 3)
  4. sf n7aaa%n7bbb@w7ccc (Forward current msg to n7aaa at n7bbb via w7ccc)
  5. sc wg7j (Send with Carbon copy to others) Cc: ka7ehk, n7dva@n7dva

TELNET; The telnet command establishes a TCP/IP protocol connection with a remote station. This allows an AX.25 user with minimal equipment of terminal, TNC, and radio, to gain access to the TCP/IP network. The network may use both radio and Internet paths to the remote station.

NOTE: Both of the above may be true on some platforms. To resolve this ambiguity the user must know the <port> assignments on the remote host for the two servers.

UPLOAD; Create an ASCII file from the terminal keyboard on the working directory at the connected host. Note that if the terminal in use locally has a spooling feature, then effectively a file-to-file transfer can be initiated. Include the full path_name if the file is to be created in a subdirectory of the working directory on the remote system. The working directory is determined at login time from configuration data set by the administrator. Use the W[hat] command to explore the directory tree of the remote node.

  1. U[pload] [/][<path_name>/]<filename> The transfer proceeds line-by-line until you terminate transfer by entering either a "<CTRL>Z" or "/ex" as the first item on a blank line.

EXAMPLES:

  1. upload kepler.txt
  2. u /public/satelite/oscar1
  3. txt

VERBOSE; This command allows you to read a message (or messages) from the current mail area, and it includes all the header lines for display. The R[ead] command operates the same way, but with abbreviated header lines.

  1. V[erbose] <msg_number_or_range> [<msg_number_or_range> . . .] Ddisplay a specific message or a list of messages with all headers.

  2. VH 'verbose held' is verbose-read-held mesages (sysop only). 3.VM 'verbose mine' Display, without interruption, all unread messages in the area.

WHAT; W[hat] [/][<path_name>] Generate a sorted directory listing of the current directory or the one specified by the optional path_name. The listing includes the filename (or subdirectory name if there is a "/" appended), the file size in bytes, creation time, and date.

XPERT; The Xpert command toggles the prompts that the system gives. The states set by a user at any time are retained and used for subsequent sessions.

  1. X - toggles the prompt between using long and short prompts.

  2. XA - toggles the 'current area' indication on or off.

  3. XG - addr/#bits - establishes an encapped route for addr, if permitted. The XG command, when allowed by the 0x2000000 permission bit in FtpusersFile, lets the sender register as a gateway for the indicated host or subnet, for a period of time. This could be used by systems connecting with a dynamic IP address, to facilitate tcp forwarding of bulletins. (effective with jnos1.11a)

  4. XN - toggles the 'netrom id' prompt on or off

  5. XM - shows the number of lines before -more- prompting occurs in lists

  6. XM n - sets the number of lines ...

  7. XP - toggles LINEMODE-style prompting for input (telnet/tip users).

  8. XR - shows if 'Reply-to' line is added when sending mail. You need to have set an email address when you registered.

ZAP; Z[ap] [/][<path_name>/]<filename> The zap command allows you to delete a file in the current directory of one you specify with the optional path_name. Use of this command requires that permission be granted by the operator of this system.

EXAMPLES

Deletes myfile.txt in the current dir

Deletes myfile.txt in /nos/mydir

As differences in use for each platform become known they will be documented below.

BBSCommands (last edited 2008-06-13 00:25:47 by GeorgeVerDuin)