File: SYSMSG, Node: Top, Next: (.MAIL.;BBOARD INFO)Policy, Up: (DIR)

ITS provides ways to send and read system announcements, of which
there are two kinds, System Messages and Bulletin Board messages.
System messages should be read by everyone, and thus (reciprocally)
should be only those messages of general interest to all who will see
them.  BBoard messages are read at the option of each user, so all
other announcements should go to BBoard.

* Menu:

* Policy: (.MAIL.;BBOARD INFO)Policy
		The consensus among AI and LCS staffers on which
		system-wide messages should go where.
		Please read this.

* Sending::	How to send system announcements.

* Reading::	How to read system announcements.

File: SYSMSG, Node: Sending, Previous: (.MAIL.;BBOARD INFO)Policy, Up: Top, Next: Reading

Use only the MAIL program for sending announcements; the EMACS-based
mail programs RMAIL and Babyl are not equipped to ask you for the
additional information which system-wide messages require.

Here is an example of how to send an announcement:

    :mail *MAC
    First filename for this *-MSG: semnar
    Subject: Talk on PL/I
    Xpires in (# days):
    Default: Expires in 7 days
    Msg:
    Arnie Frooble of MIT's Information Processing Service will give
    a talk about the virtues of PL/I, on Thursday the 30th of Feb.,
    in the 8th floor playroom.
	Abstract:
    PL/I is a much more useful and elegant language than LISP in any
    implementation.  An example of this is the massive use of PL/I
    in the Honeywell Multics operating system.  Use of Multics will
    be demonstrated.
    ^C

When you specify an system announcement address, MAIL will ask you for
an expiration time, a subject, and a first filename.  The expiration
time specifies for how many days the messages is to remain available
on the system.  The first filename is that of the message on the
.MSGS.; directory.  If you are sending a *MIT message about lost
keys, a good first filename would be LOST.  The message reading
programs (:MSGS, :GMSGS) will display the filename and the subject,
giving a short clue to the contents of the message.  You may also
specify the second filename, but you should be careful lest you
clobber another message by the same name.  To find out how to specify
information other than what MAIL asks for by itself, see *Note
Commands: (MAIL)Commands, and look at the X, 1, and 2 commands.

It is unnecessary to send to any system announcement address at more
than one ITS machine; messages sent to these addresses on any ITS are
automatically distributed to all machines.  Sending to the same
address at more than one machine will cause everyone affected by that
address to waste their time seeing duplicates of your message.

File: SYSMSG	Node: Reading	Previous: Sending	Up: Top

To print the announcements, as it probably tells you when you log in,
do:

	:MSGS *

If you don't type the *, only system messages (the important sort)
will be printed.  With the asterisk, BBOARD messages will also be
included.

ITS keeps track of when each user last read announcements. If you want
to see when it thinks you last did, do
	
	:PMDATE

To set the date yourself, use the :SMDATE command:

	:SMDATE 01/13/81 16:30:00

or simply
	
	:SMDATE 01/13

If you use a mail reading program such as RMAIL or Babyl, you might
want to have the messages appended (or prepended) to your mail file.
See *Note Gmsgs:(RMAIL)Gmsgs.