Document:	IRC manual
Disclaimer:	the information provided herein is the revorked
Disclaimer:	ircII 2.2.9 US_Help pages

Contents
1.0	Quick introduction for impatient
1.1	NEW USER INFORMATION FOR IRC
1.2	Etiquette
1.3	Users Behavior on the Internet Relay Chat system
1.4	Commands
1.4.1	General information
1.4.2	LIST
1.4.3	JOIN
1.4.4	QUIT
1.4.5	MSG
1.4.6	INVITE
1.4.7	USERS
1.4.8	WHO
1.4.9	WHOIS
1.4.10	WHOWAS
1.4.11	NOTICE
1.4.12	ME
1.4.13	AWAY


1.0	Quick introduction for impatient

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat
Irc is a multi-user, multi-channel chatting network.  It allows
people all over the internet to talk to one another in real-time.
Each irc user has a nickname they use.  All communication with
another user is either by nickname or by the channel that they or
you are on.  All IRCII commands begin with a / character.
Anything that does not begin with a / is assumed to be a message
that is sent to everyone on your channel.  Here is a list of
basic commands to help you get started:

    /NAMESShows the nicknames of all users on each
channel
    /JOIN <channel>Join the named channel.  All non-commands
you type will now go to everyone on that
channel
    /MSG <nick> <msg>Sends a private message to the specified
person.  Only the specified nickname will
see this message.
    /NICKChange your nickname
    /QUITExits irc.
    /HELP <topic>Gets help on all IRCII commands.
    /WHO <channel>Shows who is on a given channel,
including nickname, user name and host,
and realname.
    /WHOIS <nick>Shows the "true" indentity of someone
/HELP
to proceed with irc client you're advised to look through
/HELP NEWUSER
/HELP INTRO
/HELP ETIQUETTE
in this order. While working in IRC be prepared to pause screen prompltly.
This means quickly tweaking scrollLock knob in UNIX or ^S/^Q manipulations
in MSDOS. Your mileage will vary if your platform is different from
abovementioned two.
/HELP
command lists the topics help is available on.
/HELP SET SCROLL_LINES will display information on the SCROLL_LINES
parameter of the SET command.
/LIST command lists the channels available, number of ircers on each channel
and [optional] topic of the discussion. The language discussion is held on
maybe different from English, examine the topic of the channel carefully
if present. /LIST is a kind of command where quick reaction in tweaking
pause/continue knobs is really a big advantage ;^) After selection of
the channel you can join with /JOIN, say you've chosen the #russian
channel, you can jump in with
/JOIN #russian
When you join new channel you automatically leave an old one.

/LEAVE makes you out of the channel
/QUIT makes you out of irc

These commands should get you started on irc.  Use the /HELP
command to find out more about things on irc, or ask question to
people... most would be happy to help you out.

1.1	NEW USER INFORMATION FOR IRC

This section contains some caveats for people new to IRC. It is not a
guide to commands for IRC. For a brief guide to commands for new
users, see /HELP INTRO.

See /HELP ETIQUETTE for a guide to good manners on IRC.

IRC is an international network servicing 20 or more countries. There
are over 10,000 registered users, and a similar number of regular
unregistered users. Do not expect everybody to speak English.

The primary means of identification is currently by nickname. This can
be modified with /NICK, and registered with NickServ. (/MSG NickServ HELP
for information on NickServ). Note, however that some nicknames are
duplicated, and since unique nicknames CANNOT BE ENFORCED it is common
to find someone else using a registered nickname.
If you have any doubts about the identity of somebody using
a given nick, use /WHOIS NickName to find out more. This gives detailed
information on the person using the NickName. For example, if you
are getting abusive messages from "Fred", type:

/WHOIS Fred

If the information displayed is not the same as that which you would
expect for Fred, it is probably a case of impersonation.

Recently some users have been tricking others into allowing them to
control their IRC sessions or damaging their files. If somebody asks
you to type a command and you don't know what it does, use
/HELP CommandName to find out more about it first. In particular,
/ON has been used to cause trouble and is now initially disabled
for new users. Additionally, /QUI is short for /QUIT and will
terminate your IRC session. If you see any message asking you to
type /QUI or /QUIT, ignore it.

Some new users have been baffled by "CTCP" messages appearing on
the IRC session. These are messages from other users, asking your
client to perform some service for them. They are generally
generated by somebody typing in a CTCP command. See /HELP CTCP.

If you have not already done so, read the HELP files INTRO and
ETIQUETTE.

1.2	Etiquette

HOW TO BEHAVE ON IRC

Authors:      Lea Viljanen (LadyBug)  viljanen@kreeta.helsinki.fi
              Ari Husa     (luru)     so-luru@tolsun.oulu.fi 
Modified by:  Troy Rollo   (Troy)     troy@plod.cbme.unsw.oz.au

1) Language

   The most widely understood and spoken language on IRC is English. 
However! As IRC is used in many different countries, English is by
no means the only language. If you want to speak some other language
than English (for example with your friends), go to a separate channel
and set the topic (with /topic) to indicate that. For example
   /topic Finnish only!
would mean that this channel would be reserved for Finnish discussion.
On the other hand, you should check the topic (with /list command) 
before you move to a channel to see if there are any restrictions about 
language.
   On a channel not restricted by /topic, please speak a language
everybody can understand. If you want to do otherwise, change channels
and set the topic accordingly.

2) Hello/Goodbye

   It's not necessary to greet everybody on a channel personally.
Usually one "Hello" or equivalent is enough. And don't expect everybody
to greet you back. On a channel with 20 people that would mean one
screenful of hellos. It's sensible not to greet, in order not to be rude
to the rest of the channel. If you must say hello to somebody you know,
do it with a private /msg. The same applies to goodbyes.

   Also note that using IRCII's /ON facility to automatically say hello
or goodbye to people is extremely poor etiquette. Nobody wants to receive
autogreets. They are not only obviously automatic, but even if you think
you are being polite you are actually sounding insincere and also
interfering with the personal environment of the recipient when using
autogreets. If somebody wants to be autogreeted on joining a channel,
they will autogreet themselves.


3) Discussion

   When you come to a new channel it's advised you to listen
for a while to get an impression of what's discussed. Please feel free
to join in, but do not try to force your topic into the discussion
if that doesn't come naturally.


4) {}|[]\

   IRC has quite a lot of people from Scandinavian countries,
the above characters are letters in their alphabet. This 
has been explained on IRC about a thousand and one times, so
read the following, do not ask it on IRC:

   {     is an A with 2 dots over it
   }     is an A with a small circle above it
   |     is either an O with 2 dots over it or an O with a dash (/) through it
   [, ], and \ are the preceding three letters in upper case.


5) ATTENTION!

   Remember, people on IRC form their opinions about you only by 
your actions, writings and comments on IRC. So think before you type.

1.3	Users Behavior on the Internet Relay Chat system

Definitions:

   IRC-ADMIN - Person who have access to all files concerning ircd.
   IRC-OP    - Person who have privileges given to him by an IRC-ADMIN.
       And who is in charge at HIS server.
   CHAN-OP   - Person who runs a channel and has absolute rights there.
   USER      - Person who is using IRC.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Internet Relay Network (IRC) is a system for communicating with other
peoples.

IRC is a free speech system. Users may exchange viewpoints with other
users. But to protect people from abuse there are certain rules that the 
user MUST respect.

If a USER doesn't respect the guidelines/rules stated below, then the
IRC-ADMIN may suspend or reduce the availability for the USER.

These things are prohibited:

   * Using offensive words in channel topics.
    
   * Harassing another user. Harassment is defined as behavior towards 
     another user with the purpose of annoying them. 
     Harassment is a matter of opinion of the IRC-OP.

   * "Dumping" a lot of text to a channel.

   * Annoying another user or a channel with constant beeping. 

   * Any behavior reducing the functionality of IRC.

What kind of action a user is doing to break these rules are up to the 
IRC-OP to decide.

Violation should be straighted out via a civilized conversation between
the IRC-OP and the USER.
If the USER is not on-line then the USER should be notified by EMail.
If the USER wont respect what he's been told then it is up to the IRC-ADMIN 
what to do with the USER.

Many many problems can be avoided all together if the CHAN-OP puts necessary
restrictions on his/her channel or if the USER learns how to use IGNORE.

If someone finds a USER violating these rules he may contact the USER's
IRC-ADMIN.
To find a USERS IRC-ADMIN one may use the /ADMIN <nick-name>.


Ove Ruben R Olsen
IRC-ADMIN for Bergen Edu. College, Norway.

EMail: rubenro@viggo.blh.no

1.4	Commands

1.4.1	General information

All IRCII commands typed on the command line must begin with one
of the CMDCHAR settings (see SET CMDCHARS).  By default, this 
is set to /.  Thus, any input line whose first character is a 
/ is treated as an IRCII command. For example:

/MSG BigCheese Howdy!

This executes the MSG command, which sends a private message to 
"BigCheese", and that message is "Howdy!"

You can create aliases for commands or redefine what an existing
command does.  This is done with the ALIAS command.  For example:

/ALIAS M /MSG 

NOTE: Command within aliases and other functions do not need the
      CMDCHAR, and thus the above alias could be written as 
      /ALIAS M MSG    as well.
      The exception to this, is the // convention mentioned below.

This example creates a new command, M, which does the same thing
as MSG, you can now do:

/M BigCheese Howdy!

and it will work exactly like MSG.  Suppose however you did this:

/ALIAS MSG //MSG BigCheese

Now, the MSG command will only send messages to BigCheese:

/MSG Howdy!

Note that in the alias, there are two / in front of MSG.  Putting
two of the CMDCHAR in front of a command tells IRCII that you
want to use the original command, and not any alias of it.
Therefore, even if you had the above alias for MSG, you could
still do the following:

//MSG Cheese I can still use the original MSG command.

Furthermore, if you wish you can turn off your display 
(See SET DISPLAY) for the duration of a command.  This is
done by putting a ^ character between the / and the command
word.  For example, if you do:

/^MSG BigCheese Hello

You will not see any visible effect to this command (unless the
nickname BigCheese does not currently exist).

Lastly, if you do the following:

/ /this is a test

Note there is a space after the /.  This form forces the following
text to be sent to your current channel no matter what.  You can
thus send lines that begin with your CMDCHAR.  It can also
be used to force a message to your current channel when you are
using QUERY.

1.4.2	LIST

Usage: LIST [<flag> [<arg>]] [<channel>] 
  LIST gives you a listing of channels which includes channel name,
  number of users, and a topic (if one is set).  If no channel
  is specified, all channels are shown, otherwise only channels
  that match are displayed (the channel may contain wildcards)
  If the channel given is the character "*" LIST only returns the 
  information for the current channel.
  The displayed list may also be limited by using one or more of 
  the following flags:
-MIN nWhen n the minimum number of user.  Channels
with less than n users are not shown.
-MAX nWhen n the maximum number of user.  Channels
with more than n users are not shown.
-PUBLICOnly shows Public channels
-PRIVATEOnly shows Private (*) channels
-ALLOverrides previous -PUBLIC and/or -PRIVATE
-TOPICShow channels with topic set
-WIDEShows channel names and sizes in as little
space as possible. Listing can be sorted using:
-NAMESort by name of the channel
-USERSSort by number of users in the channel

1.4.3	JOIN

Usage: JOIN [-INVITE|<channel_list> [<key>]]
  Changes your current channel to the channel specified.
  If no parameters are given, your current channel is displayed.

  Channel names begin with a # or & and may contain any character
  except space, carriage return, null and line feed. For example,
  #My_Channel, # or #!@$%^&* are valid channel names.
  Channel names beginning with the character '&' are local to your server.

  If the specified channel does not already exist, it will be created.
  Otherwise, if MODE +k <key> is enabled on the channel, you will have to
  supply the <key> to complete join.

Available flags:
  -INVITE
    If the -INVITE switch is used, you will join the channel that you were
    last INVITED to.  Or, if we wish to be grammatically correct,
    you will join the channel to which you were last invited.

Note:
  Joining a channel does not cause you to leave your previous
  channel unless NOVICE is set to ON. See SET NOVICE
  If you have NOVICE off, it is possible to join several channels
  at the same time.. with
    JOIN #channel1,#channel2,#channel3
  You must use commas and no spaces to separate the channel names.

  CHANNEL and JOIN are identical.

See Also:
  SET NOVICE
  MODE for information about changing channel characteristics.

1.4.4	QUIT

Usage: QUIT [<reason>]
  Quits your IRC session. If a reason is supplied, it is displayed
  to other people on your channels.
  BYE, EXIT and SIGNOFF are identical.

1.4.5	MSG

Usage: MSG <nicknames>|<channel>|%<pid>|=<nick>|@<user>|<n>|<command> <text>
  Sends a private message to the nicknames or list of nicknames
  specified.  A list of nicknames should by separated by commas
  (no spaces).  Three special case nicknames are defined.  If the
  nickname is "," (a comma), the message is sent to the last
  person who sent you a MSG.  If the nickname is "."  (a
  period), the message is sent to the last person to whom you
  sent a message.  If the nickname is "*" the message is send to
  the current channel.

  The second form allows you to specify a channel name to which
  to send the message.  The message will go to everyone on that
  channel.

  The third form specifies an EXEC process id to send output to.

  The fourth form allows you to specify a DCC CHAT connection over
  which to send the message. The nick specifies the nickname under
  which the connection was established.

  The fifth form allows you to specify a DCC TALK connection over
  which to send the message. The user specifies the user part of
  the user@host used to establish the DCC TALK connection.

  The sixth form lets you specify a process number to which the
  message will go, where n is the process number.  This works
  just like the EXEC -IN command.  For example:
    MSG %1 Homina homina homina
  will send the text to process 1.  Process 1 must be running
  already using a previous call to EXEC.
    
  The last form allows messages of the type MSG COMMAND <message>
  which allows you to send a message to some command.  Try MSG /ECHO blue
  This is meant to be used with QUERY primarily.

*  There is also a use of wildcards for operators.
*    MSG $*.edu
*  will address all users having .edu in their serverinfo.
*    MSG #*.edu
*  will address all users having .edu at the end of their host name.
 
See Also:
  SET BEEP_ON_MSG
  EXEC

1.4.6	INVITE

Usage: INVITE <nickname> [<channel>]
  Invites another user to a channel.  If no channel is specified,
  your current channel is used.  To go to the last channel to
  which you were INVITEd, use
    JOIN -invite

See Also:
  JOIN

1.4.7	USERS

Usage: USERS [<server>]
  Shows the users logged into the machine where the specified
  server is running.  If no server is given, the current server
  is used.  Many servers do not have this feature enabled.

1.4.8	WHO

Usage: WHO [-switch [<arg>]] [<wildcard expression>]
  Gives a listing of the users on irc.  If no flags are
  specified, the wildcard expression you supply will 
  match any field returned by WHO.  However, if the wildcard
  expression is "*" (an asterisk), the users on the current
  channel are shown.  Note that WHO * will fail if you 
  are not on a channel.  If the expression is 0, all users on 
  irc are shown.  The following switches are also recognized 
  and used to limit the listing:
    -OPERATORS            - lists only operators
    -LUSERS  - lists only non operators
    -CHOPS  - lists only channel operators
    -NAME <username>      - lists only people with matching 
                            user-ids
    -FILE <filename>      - lists only people listed in the
    file
    -HOST  - Lists users from the specified host.
    -SERVER  - Lists users from the specified server.
    -HERE  - Lists only those marked as here.
    -AWAY  - Lists only those marked away.
    -NICK   - Match only the given nickname

  The switches may be abbreviated unambiguously.  All matching of
  usernames, hostnames, and servernames may contain wildcards (*).
  Wildcards in the form "*.edu" are also correctly recognized
  by the IRC server (so there's no need for ircII to do that).

1.4.9	WHOIS

Usage: WHOIS <nickname>
       WHOIS <nick1>,<nick2> [...]
       WHOIS <server> <nickname>[,<nick2>...]
  Shows more detailed information about the nickname specified.
  This info includes the users name, host, server, "real" name,
  and away message.  As you can see in the second line you can
  use WHOIS on multiple nicknames. The third line demonstrates
  how you can send the WHOIS request to a distant server. If
  you WHOIS a person on his server you will receive extra info
  about his idle time.
    WHOIS nickname nickname
  where the two nicknames are the same will query the user's server
  about his information just like the WHOIS <server> <nickname> form.

See Also:
  WHOWAS

1.4.10	WHOWAS

Usage: WHOWAS <nickname> [<count>]
  Shows information about who used the given nickname last, even
  if no one is currently using it.  If <count> is specificed,
  then only the last <count> entries are shown.

1.4.11	NOTICE

Usage: NOTICE <nickname>|<channel> <text of message>
  Sends a private message to the nicknames or list of nicknames
  specified.  Unlike MSG, no automated response messages (such as
  generated by IGNORE or an automaton) will be sent in response
  to a NOTICE.  Other than that, it's just like a MSG.

See Also:
  MSG for a description of parameters and switches.

1.4.12	ME

Usage: ME <action description>
  or   <your_nickname> <action description>

  This command can be used to send a description of what you are doing
  or how you are feeling or just about anything concerning you, to the
  current channel or query. When I type:
    ME opens up the fridge
  is supposed to produce a line on my talking partners'screens stating:
    * Lynx opens up the fridge.

  You can also use your own nickname as command, that is you can type the
  line with a leading slash, like this:
    lynx reaches out for the orange juice
  Hopefully resulting into:
    Lynx reaches out for the orange juice.

  This command makes use of CTCP and is not understood by all IRC programs.
  If you get an error message, your description has not arrived properly.

See Also:
  DESCRIBE
  LOAD ACTION
  LOAD MUDLIKE
  CTCP
  CTCP ACTION

1.4.13	AWAY

Usage: AWAY [<flags>] [<away message>]
  Marks you as "away".  Whenever someone sends you a MSG or a
  does a WHOIS on you, they automatically see whatever message
  you set.  While you are away, all messages you receive will be
  timestamped and you will optionally get beeped (see SET 
  BEEP_WHEN_AWAY) for each message.  Using AWAY with no
  parameters marks you as no longer being away.

Available Flags:
  -one  Send away message to only the server in the current window.
  -all  (default) send away message to all servers you may be on.

See Also:
  SET BEEP_WHEN_AWAY
  SET SHOW_AWAY_ONCE

