Zephyr How-to
Contents:
Basics
What is
Zephyr?
Getting
Connected
Starting
zephyr
Stopping
Zephyr
Writing a
personal Zephyr message
Classes (group messages)
Subscribing to
zephyr classes
Sending
Messages to zephyr classes
Seeing who else
is on Zephyr
Troubleshooting
Getting rid of
multiple logins on Zephyr (
Seeing
messages you missed (zrepeat)
Cool Typing
Changing your
signature
Receive new
email notification through Zephyr
Shortening
what you type to send a message (Aliases)
Bolding
letters and words
Stopping class
messages without unsubscribing
Stopping
login/logout messages without unsubscribing
Hiding from
others
Sending
messages to someone outside CMU Andrew
Etiquette
Lurkers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is Zephyr?
Zephyr is a
text-based messaging system. Think of it
as “AIM” without all the bells and whistles programmed in. You can use zephyr to send messages to anyone
at CMU, and a couple other schools. You
can also have group discussions on “classes”, which are similar to chat rooms. Zephyr can be very simple to get started, and
you can add and use other features as you go along.
Getting connected:
From a Windows machine:
1. Open a telnet window
(Use
"Nifty Telnet" or open the Start -> Run window and type
"telnet")
2. Connect to "sun4.andrew.cmu.edu"
3. Log in using your Andrew userid and password.
(At this point
you may send messages, but not receive.)
From a (campus) Mac machine:
1. Open "Nifty Telnet"
(In the System
menu)
2. Connect to "sun4.andrew.cmu.edu"
3. Log in using your Andrew userid and password.
(At this point
you may send messages, but not receive.)
From a (campus) UNIX machine:
1. Logged in? Skip
to "Writing a Personal Zephyr message"
Starting zephyr:
1. At the telnet prompt, type
"zstart"
You are now
able to send & receive zephyrs.
On UNIX machines, zephyrs will show up in their own boxes
in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
Clicking on the message will get rid of them.
Stopping zephyr (logging out):
1. Type "zstop" to stop receiving messages.
2. Type "logout" to log out from unix#.andrew.cmu.edu
Writing a Personal Zephyr message:
1. Type "zwrite userid"
(Where userid
is the Andrew userid of the person receiving the zephyr)
If screen says, "Userid not logged in to
messages", you cannot send a message to that person until they log on.
If screen says, "Type your message now. End with a Ctrl-D or period on a line by
itself", you may send a message to that person.
2. Type your message.
Remember to
press "Enter" at the end of each line (about 80 characters).
3. To send the message, type "Enter" to reach a
new line, a period, then "Enter" again.
Subscribing to zephyr classes:
These are like
chat rooms that people can send & receive messages. People subscribed to the zephyr class receive
all the messages sent to that class.
1. In your home directory, open a file called ".zephyr.subs"
(Type "pico ~/.zephyr.subs")
If this file does not exist, opening it in pico will create it.
2. Type "213,*,*"
on a line by itself.
3. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type “y” to save the changes you made.
4. Type "zctl load”.
This will make
the changes come into effect.
Sending Messages to zephyr classes:
These instructions assume you are sending to the 213
class.
1. Type "zwrite -c 213 -i instance" and press Enter.
-c is the
zephyr class, in this case "213"
-i is the instance, or
subject. Please make the subject one
word, or multiple words separated by periods instead of spaces (e.g. - "garage.hours").
Avoid symbols.
2. Type your message.
Remember to
press "Enter" at the end of each line (about 80 characters).
3. To send the message, type "Enter" to reach a
new line, a period, then "Enter" again.
Seeing who else is on Zephyr:
Set-Up: Set up a file with a list of who you want to see
if they are online.
1. In your personal main directory, open a file called
".anyone"
(type "pico ~/.anyone")
2. Type Andrew userids, one per
line, no symbols.
3. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type “y” to save the changes you made.
4. To check your list without editing it, type "cat
.anyone"
Using it:
1. While logged into zephyr, type "znol"
This will show
you all the people on your list & are logged in to zephyr.
If you are not logged in to zephyr, type "znol
-l"
Adding People: Type “echo userid >> .anyone”
Removing people: Type “cat .anyone | egrep
-v ^userid$ > .anyone”
You will also receive login and logout messages each time
someone in your .anyone logs in or logs out, respectively.
From a UNIX machine:
This will open a window with a list of all the people in
your .anyone who are currently online.
1. Open a new “Xterm” window.
2. Type “zwatch”
Getting rid of multiple logins on Zephyr (Flushing):
This is for cases where you lost your connection but
didn't log out from zephyr. Zephyr will
show that you are still logged in. These
phantom connections are also called "Ghosts."
1. Before zstarting
again, type "zctl flush_locs"
You can now
log in, but you are hidden when you zstart again (no one can see when you log
in).
2. Type "zctl unhide"
Seeing messages you missed (zrepeat)
This displays the last message you received.
1. Type “zrepeat” and press
Enter.
2. To see messages before that one, type “zrepeat #”
Example: “zrepeat 2” will display the second to last message you
received.
Changing your signature (zsigs)
This is to change the name that appears with every
message you send.
1. In your personal main directory, open a file called
".zephyr.vars"
(type "pico ~/.zephyr.vars")
If this file does not exist, opening it in pico will create it.
2. Type "zwrite-signature = ", followed by your
new signature.
Example: zwrite-signature = 213 Rocks!
Note:
Signatures work best if they are only one line.
3. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type “y” to save the changes you made.
Receive new email notification through Zephyr:
This sets up zephyr to send you a personal message each
time you receive new email.
1. In your personal main directory, open a file called
".zephyr.subs"
(type "pico ~/.zephyr.subs")
2. Type "mail,*,%me%"
on a line by itself.
3. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type “y” to save the changes you made.
Shortening what you type to send a message (Aliases)
Set-Up: This is to shorten what you type each time you
send a message to a friend or class.
1. In your personal main directory, open a file called
".cshrc"
(type "pico .cshrc")
Leave the contents in the file untouched and add your
shortcuts to additional lines.
2. Type alias <shortcut> "<full
typing>"
Example:
alias z213 "zwrite -c 213 -i"
alias zu "zwrite userid" (Replace “u” & “userid” with the
initial and userid, respectively, of the person you are writing to)
alias f "finger"
alias zz "zstart; znol"
alias zadd 'echo \!* >>
~/.anyone'
alias zremove cat ~/.anyone \| egrep -v
\"^\!\*\"$ \> ~/.anyone.temp
\; mv ~/.anyone.temp
~/.anyone
Notes:
a. Commands
that need a subject are left blank at the end, like the class instance or
finger profile. You will have to fill in
the instance or userid when you use these aliases.
b. The
";" symbol acts like pressing "Enter"
c. Long
commands need to be on ONE line. For the
last alias, open pico by typing “pico
–w .cshrc”.
This allows you to paste it all onto one line.
3. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type “y” to save the changes you made.
4. Open your login file by typing “pico
.login”
(This makes
the aliases work next time you log in).
5. At the end of the file (after
the last line), type “source .cshrc”
6. Type "Ctrl-X" to exit Pico. Type “y” to save the changes you made.
7. To use aliases before logging in again, type “source .cshrc” at the normal prompt.
Bolding letters and words
This makes your letters blue on most telnet screens.
1. In your message, put @b(word)
around the word, phrase, or letters you want bolded.
Example: “Pointers are @b(cool)!” will make “cool” bold.
Note: You can
also use this in your zsig.
Stopping class messages without unsubscribing:
This is for cases when you want to have personal
conversations without seeing class messages.
1. Type "zctl punt class
instance *@REALM"
Example: “zctl punt 213
\* \*”
The next time you log in, you will receive class messages
again.
Stopping Login/Logout messages:
1. Type "znol off"
To get class messages back, type “ zctl unpunt 213 \* \*”.
Unsubscribing to a zephyr class:
This will stop messages and pull it out of your .zephyr.subs file.
1. Type “zctl dl 213 \* \*”
Hiding from others:
This will allow you to send and receive messages, but not
show up when someone types "znol"
1. Type "zctl hide"
2. To become visible again, type "zctl unhide"
Sending messages to someone outside CMU Andrew
You can send messages to people at MIT, in CS at CMU, or
AB Tech, to name a few other groups that use zephyr. To send a message to someone in a different
realm, type “zwrite userid@REALM.ORG”
Example: zwrite someone@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
zwrite geek@CS.CMU.EDU
zwrite alum@ABTECH.ORG
(This works better with real userids
of course ;-)
Etiquette:
1. No huge long zephyrs, unless you warn ahead of time so
people can "punt" the class and instance. Some people are set up to see pop-up windows
of messages or have a small buffer space.
2. If you want to discuss something unrelated to 213 on the 213 zephyr class (ie, if zephyr
is your substitute for actually having a social life), please use the graffiti instance so other people can punt just that instance.
Shamelessly ripped off from: Katherine Crawford's zephyr howto
Other information: http://web.mit.edu/answers/zephyr/