*start*
01539 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:21 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: TO START YOUR HELP SESSION: Point cursor at "Display" and click the
left mouse button
To: @NewUsers
Welcome to the community of Laurel Users. Laurel is the Alto program that
serves as your mail reading, composition and filing interface to the Distributed
Message System. Since you are reading this message, you have already learned
to use the "Display" command.
While reading a message in this middle region you have the ability to scroll up
and down as in Bravo, using the double-headed arrow cursor in the left margin.
If the words End of Message in italics are not visible, then there is more
message to be seen, and you should scroll up to see more.
When Laurel started up, it read in this mail file named Help.mail. An index of
all messages in this mail file, called the Table of Contents, appears in the upper
text region of the Laurel screen. A triangular symbol at the left of the Table of
Contents entry corresponding to this message indicates that it is the SELECTED
message. Invoking "Display" at the beginning of a session displays the selected
message in this middle region.
Another use of "Display" is very useful in reading through your mail
sequentially. If the selected message is the same as the message displayed in the
middle region (as it is now) then "Display" will automatically select the next
message in the Table of Contents and display that message.
Try clicking the left mouse button over "Display" now.
*start*
01111 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:21 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Displaying a selected message
To: @NewUsers
Clicking the left mouse button while pointing at "Display" will continue to
select and display the next message if you do not make any explicit selections in
the Table of Contents. You may explicitly select any message in the Table of
Contents by moving the cursor into the line selection area to the left of the
Table of Contents text (as in Bravo) and clicking the left mouse button.
Try explicitly selecting some messages in the Table of Contents now, but do not
invoke "Display" on any of them just yet.
The Table of Contents may also be scrolled up or down as in Bravo. Scroll the
Table of Contents now so that message number 1 is visible, and select that
message.
If you invoke "Display" now, you will display the selected message as it is not
the currently displayed message. Invoke "Display" to see how displaying an
explicitly selected message works, then invoke "Display" twice more to cycle
through these messages until you are reading message number 3.
*start*
01680 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:22 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Message number 3 in Help.mail.
To: @NewUsers
A question mark next to an entry in the Table of Contents indicates that the
corresponding message has not yet been seen. You may have already noticed
that "Display" automatically removes a question mark from the Table of Contents
entry if one was present.
These questions marks are a special case of MARKS. You may change any mark
in the Table of Contents by pointing at the mark with the cursor, clicking the
left mouse button, and then typing a single character. You may even change a
mark back to ? to restore its unseen status. The best way to erase a mark is to
change it to a blank. You may play around with the marks now, but please
leave the question marks on messages 4 through the end.
When Laurel reads a mail file, it automatically selects and positions the Table of
Contents at the first question marked entry. This allows you to keep your place
easily in your mail file between sessions of using Laurel.
Command invocation in Laurel is accomplished by pointing the cursor at a
command, pressing down on the left button, and releasing the button while still
pointing at that command. If you move away from a command while the button
is still down, then that command will not be invoked when you release the
button. It is best to point at commands from below; placing the cursor on top of
a command may not activate that command.
Try moving the cursor around the screen with the left button depressed (release
the button over a neutral area such as over this message text.)
Invoke "Display" for the next message.
*start*
01063 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:23 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: "Delete" and "Undelete".
To: @NewUsers
"Delete" is used to delete the currently selected message. Invoke "Delete" now
and observe its effect.
This message has now been marked for deletion. When you "Quit", or when you
read a mail file, all messages marked for deletion are really deleted--there will
be no way to restore them to your files. Be careful about the messages you
delete. Laurel has another technique to deal with mail you don't want in your
current mail file, namely the "Move to" command. "Move to" will be explained
in a later message.
If a message has been marked for deletion, it may be restored to good health by
selecting that message in the Table of Contents and invoking "Undelete". Try
"Undelete" now.
Selecting a Table of Contents entry with the right mouse button extends the
selected message to a range of selected messages. Try selecting a range of
messages and "Delete" and "Undelete" them.
Select message 5 and invoke "Display".
*start*
00914 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:23 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Movable boundaries
To: @NewUsers
Reading some of the previous messages may have been a bit uncomfortable due
to the small size of the displayed message (middle) region. To remedy this
situation, you may adjust the boundaries to suit your needs.
To move a boundary press down on the middle mouse button and move the
cursor to the small box on the boundary you wish to move (keep the button
down.) Note how the box will now move with the cursor. Move the box to the
position you wish it to be in and release the button.
Play around a bit with both movable boundaries until you have adjusted the
screen areas to a pleasing arrangement. Note that if you wish to abort moving a
boundary while you are moving the box around, you may do so by moving the
box far to the left.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
01571 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:24 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Thumbing
To: @NewUsers
You have already used the scrolling feature in both the displayed message
region and in the Table of Contents region. You may have noticed that Bravo
style thumbing does not work.
To thumb any of the Laurel text regions, use the middle mouse button on the
thin black line just above the text region you wish to thumb. This line, the
thumb line, is dotted for part or all of its length.
The cursor shape will change to a vertical line when the cursor points at a
thumb line and the middle button is down. If you lift up on the middle button
while still in the thumb line, the text will repaint itself according to the relative
position of the cursor along the length of the thumb line. The left edge of the
thumb line corresponds to the beginning of the text and the right edge
corresponds to the end of the text.
Try thumbing this message to various places.
The dotted portion of the thumb line corresponds to the visible portion of the
text at any given time. The Table of Contents and composed message (bottom)
regions contain selections in addition to text. The start of the selection in these
regions is indicated by a vertical line on the thumb line. To normalize a
selection (bring the start of the selection to the top line) position the thumbing
cursor on the selection indicator on the thumb line and release the middle
mouse button. Try normalizing the Table of Contents selection now.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
02005 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:25 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: "Mail file" and "Move to"
To: @NewUsers
The mail file you are now reading is named Help.mail. The default mail file
that Laurel uses when you do not specify a particular mail file is named
Active.mail.
Laurel allows you to arrange your messages in separate batches called mail files.
If you wish to move a message from the mail file you are now reading to another
mail file, "Move to" will accomplish this. When you invoke "Move to", a
blinking caret will appear in the brackets next to the command. You may now
fill in these brackets with the name of a mail file. The extension .mail will be
assumed if you do not provide any periods in the name.
When you have finished typing the file name, terminate with ESC or a middle
mouse button click or you may abort by typing DEL. The selected message(s)
will now be moved. If the file name already in the brackets is the one you
want, just type ESC or click the middle mouse button immediately.
Make sure that this message is the selected message, and move it to a file named
Test. Confirm that you want this new mail file when the exception message
appears below.
Invoke "Undelete" to keep a copy of this message in the Help.mail file.
Set the mark on this message (message 7 in the Table of Contents) to ?.
Now we will read the Test.mail file (it should have only one message--this
one--in it). Invoke "Mail file" and fill its brackets with Test. When you
terminate with ESC, the Help file will be cleaned up, deleted entries
removed, and the Test.mail file will be read. Invoke "Display" when ready to
continue reading this message (from this point on) in that file.
Here we are in Test.mail. Delete this message, invoke "Mail file" with Help to
get back to Help.mail (don't forget the ESC), "Display" this message once again,
and continue reading from this point on.
Now we are back in Help.mail.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
01693 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:27 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: "New mail"
To: @NewUsers
New mail that has been sent to you is collected in your inbox on another
machine. The "New mail" command is used to move this mail from your inbox to
the mail file that you are currently reading. The following is an explanation of
how to use "New mail", but do not invoke it during this tutorial session for
reasons that will become obvious as you read on.
WARNING: IT IS VERY EASY TO BRING MAIL TO LAUREL, BUT IT IS
TEDIOUS TO MOVE MAIL BACK TO YOUR INBOX. IF YOU ARE A
HARDCORE MSG USER, AND YOU USE MANY FUNCTIONS SPECIFIC TO MSG,
THEN YOU MAY NOT WANT TO BRING YOUR MAIL OVER TO YOUR ALTO.
Assuming that you like Laurel and your MSG affiliation is not that strong, the
best way to deal with new mail is as follows:
1) Make sure that your current mail file is Active.mail. You may have to
invoke "Mail file" to achieve this. (Do not do this now.)
2) Invoke "New mail". (Do not do this now.) This may take some time, but it
will append all your new mail to the end of the current mail file.
3) You may read this new mail, delete some of it, move some of it to other mail
files, or leave some mesages in Active.mail as a reminder to you that you have
not fully acted upon them.
"New mail" will fail if you are not properly logged in. To log in invoke "User"
and type your name and password, terminating each with ESC.
Every five minutes, Laurel checks your inbox to see if it contains any new
mail. When Laurel discovers that you have new mail it will tell you via a
message posted just above the "User" command.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
02265 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:28 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: "Hardcopy"
To: @NewUsers
Laurel provides a hardcopy function that prints selected messages as formatted
memos, with each message starting a new page. Laurel uses the information in
the file Laurel.Profile on your disk for various parameters affecting hardcopy.
The most important of these is the name of your Hardcopy server. Before you
use "Hardcopy", be sure that the Hardcopy: line in your Laurel.Profile has the
proper server name (do not use quotes!)
The information in Laurel.Profile is read by Laurel once at the start of each
session. Therefore, if you modify Laurel.Profile, and you wish to have Laurel
notice the change, you must "Quit" from Laurel and restart (by typing Laurel to
the Alto executive.)
Assuming that your Laurel.Profile is correct, invoke "Hardcopy" now to see this
message as sample hardcopy output.
You may select a range of messages to be hardcopied together. Deleted messages
will not be hardcopied. If the amount of output will be very large, Laurel will
break up the transmission of your hardcopy into batches. This is done to be
kind to your printing server and to other users of that server who will be able to
print output between your batches of mail. After the completion of the hardcopy
command, a summary message will appear in the exceptions area explaining how
many pages were printed in how many batches.
Note: Laurel considers the hardcopy to be printed as soon as it has been
accepted by the printing server. There may be some additional delay at the
printer before your hardcopy is actually printed.
For some hardcopy uses, such as archives of all messages received, the built in
"Hardcopy" command may produce unsuitably bulky output. For these uses, we
recommend printing your mail file with some other printing program such as
Empress. The output will contain some funny control information, but the
messages will be readable. Printing with Bravo is not suitable in general, as mail
files may grow to sizes larger than Bravo can handle.
There are a number of hardcopy options available in the Laurel.Profile that are
explained further in the Laurel manual.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
02036 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:30 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Composing messages
To: @NewUsers
Composing messages that you wish to send is very easy in Laurel. The lower
text region contains a Bravo style editor that you will use to type in and edit
your message.
The Laurel editor is not an exact copy of Bravo, but is so similar that Bravo
users will not need much explanation. The main points to remember are:
To start composing a message, invoke one of the four message initialization
commands, "New form", "Answer", "Forward", or "Get".
"New form" gives you a skeleton message with fields that should be replaced by
the proper text. Try "New form" to see its format.
"Answer" automatically fills in the To: field with the name(s) of the sender(s) of
the currently DISPLAYED (not necessarily selected) message and fills in the
Subject: and In-reply-to: fields. Try "Answer" to observe its effect.
"Forward" automatically inserts a copy of the currently displayed message in the
message body. Try "Forward" now.
"Get" replaces the current text in the lower text region with the contents of a file
from your disk or from a file server. More information on file reading and
writing commands will be found in a subsequent message.
To see a list of available editor commands, type ?
Replacing, inserting or appending from a secondary selection works. The
secondary selection may be in either the message you are composing or the
currently displayed message.
Only one font is available--Times Roman 10--which you are looking at now.
You may edit any part of the message you are composing in any order. Be
careful not to delete the blank line after the header, nor to insert any blank
lines in the header. Laurel uses this blank line as an indication that the header
is finished. You may of course insert blank lines anywhere you want farther
down in the message.
Try some editing on the composed message below, but do not deliver it yet.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
02294 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 1:02 pm PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Recipient names
To: @NewUsers
To send a message, you must know the official names of the intended recipients. If you are properly logged into your Alto then your recipient name will appear in the brackets following the "User" command. Anyone sending a message to you will include your recipient name in the "To" or "cc" field of that message.
If you have not yet logged in properly then you can do so by selecting the
"User" command and typing in your recipient name followed by ESC, then
typing in your password followed by ESC.
A recipient name has two parts separated by a period. The second part is a
registry name, and the first part is the name for someone in that registry. A
registry is nothing more than a device for grouping related names. The registry
name helps the mail system determine which machine will have the inbox for a
recipient. Registry names currently correspond roughly to "campuses" of activity
within Xerox, which should make them easier to remember. At present, the
following registries exist:
PA - Palo Alto, CA
ES - El Segundo, CA
EOS - EOS, Pasadena, CA
DLOS - Dallas, TX
WBST - Webster, NY
HENR - Henrietta, NY
XRCC - Xerox Research Center, Toronto, Canada
STHQ or CORP - Corporate Headquarters, Stamford, CT
Most messages are sent within a single campus, and since registries correspond to
campuses, most of the recipients of a message tend to be in the same registry.
Laurel allows you to omit the registry name for recipients who are in your
registry, just as you may omit an area code when telephoning your neighbor
across the street. For example, someone in the registry for the Palo Alto area, say
"Someone.PA", could send a message with the following acceptable message
header:
Subject: Demonstration of recipient naming
To: Person1, Person2
cc: Person3, FarAwayPerson1.ES
Laurel assumes that names that lack registries are in the sender's registry, which
in this case is "PA". Since "FarAwayPerson1.ES" explicitly includes a registry,
"ES" rather than "PA" is used by Laurel. Thus, in this case the message will go
to "Person1.PA", "Person2.PA", "Person3.PA", and "FarAwayPerson1.ES".
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
01326 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 9:51 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: "Deliver"
To: @NewUsers
Invoking "Deliver" will send the composed message to all its intended recipients.
Each recipient will receive only one copy of the message, even if his or her
name appears more than once.
"Deliver" appears only after you have edited an initial form or after you have
edited a message that has already been sent. This feature should help prevent
you from sending duplicate messages.
Try "New Form", fill in your own name in the To: field, be sure to delete the
cc: line if you won't be using it, replace Message with an appropriately witty
saying, and invoke "Deliver". When the word "delivered" appears in place of
"Deliver", the message has been deposited in your inbox.
Later, when you invoke "New mail" (wait until your current mail file is
Active.mail) you will see the message that you just sent.
You may cancel a delivery that is in progress by typing DEL. If the delivery is
canceled, none of the recipients will receive the message, and you will be
notified of this fact in the exceptions area. If instead you see the word
"delivered" replace the command "Deliver", then your DEL was typed too late
and the delivery was made to the recipients.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
01318 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 10:03 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Public distribution lists
To: @NewUsers
The mail system provides a way to address messages to groups of recipients.
Each registry includes some recipient names whose first part ends with the
character "↑". Such names identify groups rather than individuals. Using such
a name as the recipient of a message causes the message to go to all the
individuals included in the group. For example, the "To" line:
To: CSL↑.PA
will cause the message to be delivered to all of the approximately 75 recipients in
the Computer Science Laboratory of the Palo Alto Research Center.
The public distribution lists for each registry are stored on the mail server
machine for that registry. The are maintained by the administrators of that
registry. You can have your recipient name added to appropriate lists by
contacting the administrator. While you are able to use any public distribution
list from any registry in delivering any message, you should think very
carefully about your choice of message and list so as not to bother recipients
with messages they don't care to read. Check with experienced users to find out
which lists should be used for which kinds of messages.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
01239 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 10:11 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: Private distribution lists
To: @NewUsers
The mail system also provides a way for you to create private distribution lists.
You may have noticed that all these messages are addressed to @NewUsers. The
"@" indicates that NewUsers is a private distribution list and that the real
recipients are contained in the file "NewUsers" on my Alto disk. The general
form:
@Filename.extension
may be placed in the To: or cc: fields as long as you have the corresponding file
on your disk. Laurel will read the file as part of the deliver operation and
include all names found in the file as recipients for the message. You can create
the private distributon list file with the Laurel editor or another editor such as
Bravo. The file should contain a list of recipient names separated by commas.
It is also possible to use files stored on remote file servers as private distribution
lists. The syntax for naming them is:
@[host]<directory>subdirectory>..>filename.extension
Remotely stored private distribution lists are useful if a small group of people
want to share the use of the list.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
03194 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 10:17 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: "Get" and "Put"
To: @NewUsers
Laurel provides four commands that read and write files on your local disk or
remote file servers. These are the "Get" and "Put" commands located in the lower
menu and the G and P commands accepted by the editor in the lower text area.
All these commands require that a file name be specified; the brackets located in
the lower menu are used for this purpose. The syntax for naming local or remote
files is the same as that for naming files that are private distribution lists, but
the "@" is unnecessary.
Try the "Get" command now. Invoke "Get" with the left mouse button, then
type the name of a small text file into the brackets (Laurel.Profile will do
nicely.) Terminate the file name with ESC. If previous editing has left you in a
state where Laurel requests you to confirm, do so.
The message in the lower composition window has been replaced by your text
file. Do not edit it now.
Now try the "Put" command. Invoke "Put" with the left mouse button. Now that
the caret is blinking in the brackets, you may type a new file name or ESC
which will confirm the name already in the brackets. Type ESC now. Laurel
will notify you that it will overwrite that file since it already exists on your
disk. Laurel differs from Bravo here in that Laurel will not create a backup file,
but will overwrite the existing file. At this point you may confirm or cancel
this command. For now, confirm with ESC.
With "Get" and "Put", Laurel provides a simple text editor that may be used for
numerous simple text editing tasks. Some typical uses of "Get" and "Put" are:
1) Saving a composed message that couldn't be delivered due to network
problems.
2) Creation of standard message forms or "boilerplate" for command files. The
recommended method for creation of customized message forms is to start with a
"New form", edit it, and "Put" it on some easily remembered file.
The G and P editor commands are similar to "Get" and "Put", but they work on
the selected text rather than the entire composed message.
The G editor command has the effect of replacing the selected text by the
contents of a file. In addition, the brackets are initialized to the selected text, so
if you select a file name in the composed message, and then type G, most of
your work is already done. ESC will confirm this file name, any other typing
will start the typein of a different file name.
To try the G editor command do the following. Invoke "New form" now.
Replace the word Message with Laurel.Profile. Type G, then type ESC.
The P editor command will write the text selection on a named file. There is no
automatic brackets fill-in here, but ESC to confirm the existing file name or
typein to begin a new file name work as usual.
Get and G will also work on public distribution lists. Simply type the name of
the distribution list into the brackets, complete with "↑". Getting a public
distribution list is a good way to find out the set of individuals that will receive
a message sent to that distribution list.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
01336 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 10:22 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: @LaurelUsers distribution list
To: @NewUsers
If you plan to become a Laurel user, you should ask to have your name added to
the private LaurelUsers distribution list. This private list is used to send
messages about Laurel changes to Laurel users. You may have your name added
to the list by sending a message to that effect to LaurelSupport. To make this as
painless as possible, we have included a copy of that message here.
---------
Subject: Add to @LaurelUsers
To: LaurelSupport.PA
Please add my name to the private LaurelUsers distribution list.
Thank you.
----------
To send this message do the following. Invoke "New form". Select everything
(from the first character to the last) in the new form. Sorry, the Bravo E
command won't work, you have to select everything explicitly.
Type R for Replace. Select all lines between the dashes above (do not include
the dashes.) Type ESC.
What fun! Check to make sure that the first line in the message composition
window begins with Subject:
Be sure you are properly logged in. Only authenticated users will be added to
the list.
Now invoke "Deliver". Laurel will insert a From: field with your name filled in
automatically.
Invoke "Display" to read the next message.
*start*
01195 00024 UU
Date: 7 Mar 1980 10:24 am PST (Friday)
From: LaurelSupport.PA
Subject: We're done
To: @NewUsers
Much more information about Laurel can be found in the Laurel manual, available as Laurel.press from the <Laurel> directory on you favorite file server. We recommend that you read this manual soon to find out about many items that
could not be included in this brief tutorial.
Any comments you have about the operation of Laurel or on this tutorial should
be sent to LaurelSupport.PA.
To leave Laurel, just invoke "Quit". A confirmation (ESC) will be necessary. Be
sure that you have not deleted some precious message as any deleted messages
will be forgotten forever.
If you wish to move some of the previous messages to your Active file, you
may do so now by selecting those messages and invoking "Move to" with Active
for the file name in the brackets. Messages 8, 10, and 12 are particularly
relevant, as they contain information about actions that you were requested not
to perform while you read through this tutorial. Once you have moved these
messages to Active, you may invoke "Mail file" on Active and you will have
become a real Laurel user.
Good luck!