I got tired of using DATABASE in line mode. You do some SEARCH, then INDEX,
then PRINT, then *poof* the index is no longer there, INDEX again, PRINT some
other item... You cannot scroll back and forward as in normal XEDIT :-) So I
decided to write a full-screen interface for LISTSERV supporting scrolling,
some form of locate command, and of course DATABASE mode and normal
conversations with LISTSERV (that's the same, you do a LIST SHORT to, say,
FINHUTC, and it does never fit on one screen). The thing evolved as I was
writing it (I was curious to see what can one do with good old XEDIT as
opposed to this *&^*&* full-screen CMS) and now it supports normal dialog with
LISTSERV and DATABASE mode, it can also be used as a normal chatting program,
and it provides a limited full-screen CMS capability (i.e., a kind of
full-screen CMS, with normal MORE and SCROLLED status -- and not this
completely unusable thing you have with IBM FULLSCREEN, where you never know
if you're in MORE status --, dynamically defined maximum session size, BOT and
TOP and locate, but of course without VM READs :-( -- someone knows of an easy
way to simulate VM READs from an XEDIT-driven session using YWAKEUP? :-) --).
Another drawback is that you have to poll (by pressing the ENTER key) to
receive messages (again, does someone know of any way to avoid polling from
XEDIT?).
The program is called LSVTALK, and is available from LISTSERV at DEARN as
LSVTALK PACKAGE (filelist LOCSOFT). This includes the program, a built-in help
(with pop-up windows :-)), a conventional HELPCMS file, a short installation
guide and some sample profiles. It requires one of YWAKEUP MODULE or WAKEUP
MODULE (version 5.35 or better) to run, and has been tested on CMS releases
3,4 and 5 and on the CMS4 component of VM/XA SF 2. If you don't have YWAKEUP
or WAKEUP, you can get YWAKEUP MODULE and HELPCMS from several places,
including LISTSERV at DEARN (from filelist L-MSGSRV).
Jose Maria
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