1 IRC IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is a server-client based conferencing system. If defined with IRC :== $ then IRC can be run as follows: IRC where is the nickname to be used, is the address, either IP or alphanumeric, of the server to connect to, and is the TCP/IP port number on the server to connect to, which is usually 6667. 2 ADMIN The ADMIN command show administrative information about the current server, or the server specified in the command line: ADMIN [server] 2 ALIAS The ALIAS command allows the defining of new commands. These commands will take precedence over hard-coded commands. Currently, only direct string substitution is supported. No parameters to aliases, no special characters for current channel, nickname etc. ALIAS [-][alias] [equivalence string] Without parameters, lists all ALIASes. A - in front of an alias name removes that alias. With an alias name, but no equivalence string, lists that alias, or all aliases beginning with that prefix. 2 AUTHORS The AUTHORS command lists the authors of the client, and a copyright message. 2 AWAY The AWAY command sets/clears the AWAY flag, and associated message. If you are AWAY, then anyone sending you a private message (eg by /MSG or /PRIVMSG) will receive the text you specify. AWAY with no parameters clears the AWAY flag: AWAY [text] 2 BOLD The BOLD command toggles bold mode...in bold mode, all text entered in the input window is bold, as well as input from the user displayed in the output window. 2 BROADCAST When the terminal receives a broadcast message from the system, eg new mail arriving, a message from sysadmin, or someone calling on phone, it is put in a broadcast window. The BROADCAST command toggles the display of this window, which has the same effect as . 2 BYE The BYE command exits IRC. If [text] is specified, the signoff message contains [text]. BYE [text] 2 CHANNEL The CHANNEL command is synonomous with the JOIN command, and joins one or more channels seperated by commas: CHANNEL [chan1][,chan2][,chan3][...] 2 CD The CD command changes the current working directory: CD [device:][[directory]] 2 CLS CLS clears the output screen. 2 CLOCK CLOCK displays a clock in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, in hours and minutes. 2 CMDCH CMDCH changes the command character. This is / by default, but can be changed to anything. CMDCH on it's own resets the command character to nothing: CMDCH [cmd-char] 2 CONNECT CONNECT is an operator-only command, which tells a local or remote server to try to connect to another server: CONNECT server [port] [remote-server] 2 COMMENT COMMENT puts a comment on the screen, and in the log file, if one is open. COMMENT [text] 2 CTCP The CTCP (Client To Client Protocol) command sends a CTCP request to the specified nickname or channel. Some standard CTCP requests are: CTCP nick request [other arguments] 3 Requests CLIENTINFO ACTION TIME FINGER USERINFO VERSION 3 CLIENTINFO Lists valid CTCP requests for that client. 3 ACTION Sends an action, by appending the specified text to your name. See also ME. 3 TIME Requests the time on the client's system. 3 FINGER Shows account name, and idle time of the client. 3 USERINFO Does very little, usually just sends a stupid reply. 3 VERSION Returns client version. 2 DATE DATE returns the time and date on the specified server, or the current server if none is specified: DATE [server] 2 DCL DCL creates a subprocess, and executes a command in that process, displaying the output in a reverse video window in the top half of the screen. It is possible, although not recommended, to read mail in this way. "DCL mail" will enter the mail utility, then "DCL read/new" will read new messages, and so on. DCL with no parameters toggles the display of the DCL window: DCL [command] 2 DIE DIE kills the current server. Requires IRC Operator status. 2 ENTER ENTER joins a channel, with an optional message being sent to the channel on joining: ENTER channel [text] 2 ERRLOG Currently does very little, but toggles logging of errors to the logfile. 2 ERROR Sends an error message to the local server: ERROR text 2 EXIT Exits IRC, with an optional message to be sent to those on any channels you're on: EXIT [text] 2 FKEY The FKEY commands allows defining of keys as commands, but this requires a decent VT terminal emulator. Keys that can be defined are the numbers on the numeric keypad, when the terminal is in application keypad mode, and normal alphabetic keys, accessed by pressing the GOLD, or PF1 key (or it's equivalent in your emulator), then the letter you have defined. If the first characters of the definition are "!1", then the command specified is executed immediately, without waiting for a return: FKEY key definition FKEY ? shows the current key definitions. 3 Examples FKEY 1 !1/quit This defines the keypad key "1" as /quit, and executes the command immediately. This can be accessed by simply pressing one, assuming the terminal is in application keypad mode, which is set when the client runs. FKEY h /msg hottub This defines as "/msg #hottub ", and waits until return is pressed before executing the command. This can be useful when you regularly use several channels. To access this definition, press the GOLD or PF1 key, which is the first of four keys just above the numeric keypad, on a genuine VT-series terminal, and then the "h" key. 2 FLAGS The FLAGS command displays various settings in the client, such as log file, nickname, current channel, and much more. 2 FLUSH Flushes incoming text that has not yet been displayed. Useful during mass server kills, netsplits, etc. Also accessable from CTRL-\. 2 HELP Display on-screen help. This lists each command, and a short description of that command, in a series of screens. Type any character to go onto the next screen, or CTRL-Z to exit help. Note, this is VERY slow at modem speeds (ie 2400 and below). 2 HERE The HERE command resets the AWAY flag and message. Equivalent to typing in the AWAY command with no parameter. 2 INVITE Invites a user to a channel: INVITE nick channel 2 INFO Displays the information about the authors/contributors to the IRC server. 2 INPSCROLL The INPSCROLL command sets the number of characters to move the input line back by when the line reaches the edge of the screen. The default is 65, which works fairly well in general, but you should experiment to see which value suits you best. Note that the smaller the number, the slower scrolling is: INPSCROLL num 2 IGNORE This allows a user to IGNORE all messages from a particular nick!user@host, whether it's a /msg, join messages, kills, etc. This will be modified in future to allow users to ignore a particular type of message, rather than all messages: IGNORE [user@host | nick][,...] 2 JOIN The JOIN command tells the server you wish to JOIN a channel, providing the channel has been set up to allow anyone to join, or you have been invited: JOIN channel[,channel][,...] 2 KICK If you are a channel operator, you can KICK someone off the channel. If no channel is specified, it defaults to the current channel: KICK [channel] 2 KILL KILL removes someone from IRC. This command should be used with caution, as it can be the cause of problems between operators if misused. Requires IRC Operator status. KILL 2 LIST Shows the topic for a public channel, if set, and the number of (visible) people on that channel. If no channel is specified, all public channels are listed: LIST [channel] 2 LEAVE The LEAVE command allows you to set an alarm to tell you when to get off IRC. The format is a valid VMS delta or absolute time, eg: dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm:ss for absolute, or d hh:mm:ss for delta time, where all fields must be included, but can be empty. eg, "-- 12::", specifies 12pm, and whatever the current minutes and seconds are. LEAVE with no time cancels an alarm: LEAVE [time] 2 LINKS The LINKS command lists servers currently on the net, excluding those that are behind host-masks. You can specify a particular server, or use wildcards: LINKS [server] 2 LOG LOG turns logging of the IRC session on or off. If you specify a file-name, and logging is currently off, the client will open that file and log output to it. If no file is specified, logging will be turned off: LOG [file] 2 LUSERS The LUSERS command displays current stats for IRC. It shows the number of users on IRC, the number of operators, channels and servers, and the number of users and server connected to the server. If a server is specified, then stats for that server/wildcard is displayed, or if two servers are specified, then the first server is used to get stats on the server(s) specified in the second parameter: LUSERS [server] [server] 2 ME ME sends an ACTION to the current channel. ME 2 MIRROR Sends text reversed end-to-end to or the current channel. MIRROR |* 2 MODE MODE sets the mode of a channel, or your nick. MODE ? brings up a window describing the various modes you can use. MODE [param] MODE [param] MODE ? 3 Modes +|- add|remove modes on named channels p private mode s secret mode (invisible channel) a anonymous mode [users are invisible] t topic limit (Set only by ChanOp) m moderated channel (ChanOp-MSGs only) i INVITE only channel n no PRIVMSGs on this channel l limited channel o add/remove channel operator 2 MOTD MOTD shows the message-of-the-day text for your current server, or the server specified in [server]. MOTD [server] 2 MSG See PRIVMSG. 2 NAMES NAMES shows the names of all the people that are on irc and are not invisible. 2 NICK NICK changes your nick to the new nickname you specify. NICK 2 NOKILL NOKILL toggles printing full KILL messages or shortened KILL messages. 2 NOTICE Sends a private message to the nicknames or list of nicknames specified. NOTICE messages NOTICE [,...] 2 NOTIFY NOTIFY adds or deletes users from a list of nicknames to watch for. NOTIFY without any arguments shows a list of nicknames present (if any) and a list of nicknames absent (if any). NOTIFY [<+|->nick [+nick2...]] 2 OPER OPER enables IRC Operator privileges. It requires an id and a password. OPER 2 OOPS OOPS resends the text of the last MSG you sent to the nickname . If [text] isn't specified it sends a "MSG Oops, please ignore..." the the recipient of the last message; if [text] is specified, [text] is sent instead. OOPS [text] 2 PART PART leaves your current channel, or the channel specified. PART [channel] 2 PING PING sends a CTCP PING to . Use PING to see if there is lag between you and PING 2 QUERY QUERY sends everything that isn't a command to , without having to type "/MSG [text]" every time. QUERY ? shows who you are currently querying. QUERY QUERY ? 2 QUIT The QUIT command exits IRC. If [text] is specified, the signoff message contains [text]. Defaults to "Leaving". QUIT [text] 2 QUOTE QUOTE passes all of it's arguments to the current server. 2 RECALL RECALL brings up a window from which you can select lines to echo on the commandlne. While in RECALL, use the following keys: PrevScr or P Move to the previous page NextScr or L Move to the next page Crsr Up/Down Move one line up/down Select or S Select buffer for pasting SPACE Send actual line to channel Return Send selected buffer and exit RECALL Ctrl-Z Exit RECALL without pasting Ctrl-L,Ctrl-W Redraw screen Ctrl-R Recall help Ctrl-B Toggle broadcast window 2 REDIRECT REDIRECT sends the last line of text sent to a channel to 2 REHASH Reloads the current server's configuration file. Requires IRC Operator status. 2 REMIRROR Shows recent messages reversed end-to-end, like /MIRROR. 2 REROT13 Shows recent messages ROT13'd, like /ROT13. 2 ROT13 ROT13 does simple encryption (A-M,B-N,C-O, etc) on and sends it to or the current channel. ROT13 |* 2 STATS STATS shows server statistics. STATS [mode] [server] 3 Mode M - commands L - links C - C:/N: lines K - K: lines I - I: lines Y - Y: lines 2 SCRIPT SCRIPT loads a file of VMS IRC commands. SCRIPT 2 SERVER SERVER changes your current server to . If [port] is specified, the client connects to that port of . Currently, this is limited to IP addresses, due to a TCP/IP bug. SERVER [port] 2 SHOWESC SHOWESC toggles between interpreting escape characters and displaying them. Warning: When interpretation of escape characters is enabled, people can send you messages containing screen clearing codes, backspace characters to erase their nick and display someone else's nickname, a server notice, etc. It is STRONGLY recommended that you accept the default setting, which is to display control characters. In future versions, ^G will be dealt with as a special case, but currently ^G (bell) is treated as any other control character. 2 SIGNAL SIGNAL turns on beeping for a specified type of message. SIGNAL ? shows the types of messages being signalled. SIGNAL SIGNAL ? 3 Message Types NONE - don't beep on any messages PRIV - beep on private messages MSG - same as PRIV MOD - [broken!] ALL - beep on all messages 2 SPAWN SPAWN starts a DCL subprocess from which you may execute any VMS command. 2 SQUIT SQUIT removes a link from a server. Requires IRC Operator status. SQUIT 2 SRVINFO SRVINFO shows information about the current server. SRVINFO [server] 2 STATUS STATUS toggles the display of a status line, showing the time, your nickname, current channel, and some other things. 2 SUMMON SUMMON sends a message to the user@host specified requesting them to join you on irc. Note: works only for users on the same machine as a server. SUMMON 2 TIME TIME shows the local time for the current server, or [server], if specified. TIME [server] 2 TOPIC TOPIC with no arguments shows the topic of the current channel. With an argument of [text], TOPIC sets the topic on the current channel to [text]. TOPIC [text] 2 TRACE TRACE shows active links for the current server, or [server], if specified. TRACE [server] 2 TYPE Sends to or the current channel. TYPE |* 2 USERS USERS shows the users logged in on the machine the current server is on. If [server] is specificed, USERS shows the users logged in to the machine that server is on. USERS [server] 2 VERSION VERSION shows the version of the current server, or [server], if specified. VERSION [server] 2 WHO WHO shows the users on the current channel, or on a specific channel. WHO <*>| 2 WHOAWAY WHOAWAY shows everyone who is /AWAY. 2 WHOIS WHOIS gives detailed information on WHOIS 2 WHOOP WHOOP is like WHO, but only shows operators for the current channel, or a specified channel. WHOOP <*>| 3 Operator Type @ shows channel operators only. * shows IRC Operators only. # shows both channel operators and IRC Operators. 2 WHOSRV WHOSRV shows nicknames with the server they're on. 2 WHOWAS WHOWAS shows WHOIS-type information for nicknames that are no longer on irc. WHOWAS