NDCHAT - User Manual¶
Chat between people on the ND-100 machines. You type a line, everyone in the room sees it - including people sitting at a different machine.
Version: NDCHAT 2.1 client, checked against the running lab on 2026-09-02. Where the screens come from: every screen marked captured was read off a real terminal (D100 / FJELL) on that date. Screens marked from the program show the exact wording the client prints, taken from its source, but were not photographed in that exact situation.
Related: the admin manual for whoever runs the server, and the specification for what the server does behind the scenes.
1. Starting¶
Log in to SINTRAN as usual, then type CHAT.
ENTER SYSTEM
PASSWORD:
OK
@CHAT
Available terminal types are:
2: Teletype ASR 33 3: Tandberg TDV 2115
6: DEC VT100 (80 columns) 53: Tandberg TDV 2200/9 ND-NOTIS
80: Tandberg TDV 2200/9 ND-NET 83: Tandberg TDV 2200/9 V2 ND-NOTIS
90: Tandberg TDV 2200/9S ND-NET 93: Tandberg TDV 2200/9S ND-NOTIS
100: Tandberg TDV 2200/9S 25 ND-NET 103: Tandberg TDV 2200/9S 25 ND-NOTIS
106: Nokia ND-Display Terminal 301 110: Tandberg TDV 1200/1 ND-NET
113: Tandberg TDV 1200/1 ND-NOTIS 121: Wordplex 80/90
131: DEC VT220 (Multinational mode) 132: DEC VT220 (National mode)
134: DEC VT100 (132 columns) 135: ANSI Standard Terminal
What is your terminal type?
The program asks this only when SINTRAN does not already know what your terminal is. Answer
with the number - 6 for a VT100, 53 for a TDV 2200. On a screen terminal you get the
full-screen chat below. On a printing terminal (type 2) you get a plain line-by-line version
with the same commands.
A few seconds later the room appears:
+-- NDCHAT 2.1 --------------------------------------------------SYSTEM@FJELL--+
| LOBBY 1 here /help for commands 02 09 07:35 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 02:31 TESTER india |
| 02:31 TESTER juliet |
| 02:31 TESTER kilo |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|> |
| [1 LOBBY] |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
You are put straight into the room called LOBBY. The three lines already there were said before you arrived - the server keeps the last lines of every room and shows them to a newcomer.
What the screen shows:
| Where | What it is |
|---|---|
top right corner SYSTEM@FJELL |
your name, and the name of the machine you are on |
LOBBY |
the room you are in |
1 here |
how many people are in the room (you included) |
02 09 07:35 |
date and time |
| the middle | the conversation: time, who said it, what they said |
> line |
where you type |
[1 LOBBY] |
the window bar - see section 6 |
Your name is your SINTRAN user name the first time. Change it with /nick (section 3); the
client remembers the new name in a small file called CHAT:CNFG in your own file area and
offers it next time.
2. Talking¶
Type a line and press RETURN. It goes to everybody in the room. This is OLAV on FJELL and KARI on VIDDA, another machine, talking:
+-- NDCHAT 2.1 --------------------------------------------------TESTER@FJELL--+
| LOBBY@trunk #manuals d 2 here /help for commands 02 09 07:49 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 02:31 TESTER india |
| 02:31 TESTER juliet |
| 02:31 TESTER kilo |
| 07:48 * TESTER is now OLAV |
| 07:48 OLAV hello everyone, is anybody on the other machine? |
| 07:49 * SYSTEM@VIDDA has joined |
| 07:49 * KARI@VIDDA has joined |
| 07:49 * SYSTEM@VIDDA has left |
| 07:49 KARI@VIDDA yes, I am on VIDDA - I can read you fine |
| 07:49 * topic: manuals day - say anything, it gets photographed |
| |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|> |
| [1 LOBBY] |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Reading it:
- Your own line appears only when it comes back from the server. That is normal - it is the server's copy, with the server's time on it, so everybody sees the lines in the same order. If you press RETURN and your line never shows up, the server is not hearing you: see section 8.
- Someone on another machine has the machine's name after theirs:
KARI@VIDDA. People on your own machine are shown bare.@VIDDAmeans "not here". - Lines with
*in the name column are notices from the chat itself: who joined, who left, who changed name, a new topic. Then herecount in the header follows them. - A person on another machine who changes their name shows up as the new name joining and the
old one leaving (
KARI@VIDDA has joined,SYSTEM@VIDDA has left), not asis now. - The topic goes into the header after the room name, cut to fit the field
(
LOBBY@trunk #manuals d). Ask/topicto read it in full.
Two things on this screen are wrong and known: after /nick OLAV the top-right corner still
says TESTER, and the header reads LOBBY@trunk for a room that is simply LOBBY. Both are
cosmetic and listed in the plan.
3. Commands¶
Every command starts with /. Anything else is said to the room. You can shorten a command
to the first letters as long as it is still unambiguous: /j is /join, /n is /nick.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/help |
show this list on the screen |
/join <room> |
go to another room. Leaves the one you are in. A room that does not exist is created |
/nick <name> |
change your name (up to 16 characters). Everyone in the room is told |
/who |
who is in this room, including people on other machines. Outside a room: everybody, everywhere |
/list |
which rooms exist and how many people are in each |
/map |
which machines there are and which are connected right now |
/topic |
show the room's topic |
/topic <text> |
set the topic (up to 64 characters). Everyone is told |
/tell <name> <text> |
a private message to one person - section 5 |
/w <n> or /window <n> |
go to window n. A bare /w goes to the next one - section 6 |
/close |
close the private-conversation window you are looking at |
/leave |
leave the room. You stay in the program and can /join another |
/exit (or /quit) |
leave the room and end the program |
This is what /help shows - it opens over the room, and any key closes it:
+-- NDCHAT 2.1 --------------------------------------------------TESTER@FJELL--+
| LOBBY@trunk #manuals d 2 here /help for commands 02 09 07:49 |
|---------+---------------------------------------------------------+----------|
| 02:31 T| CHAT commands | |
| 02:31 T| | |
| 02:31 T| /join <room> join another room | |
| 07:48 *| /nick <name> change your nickname | |
| 07:48 O| /who who is in this room |? |
| 07:49 *| /list rooms, and how many in each | |
| 07:49 *| /map the machines and their trunks | |
| 07:49 *| /topic show the room topic | |
| 07:49 K| /topic <text> set it | |
| 07:49 *| /tell <name> <text> a message to one person |ographed |
| | /w <n> go to window n (ctrl-W cycles) | |
| | /close close a conversation window | |
| | /leave leave the room | |
| | /exit Exit chat program | |
| | | |
| | anything else is said to the room | |
| | | |
|---------| -- any key closes this -- |----------|
|> +---------------------------------------------------------+ |
| [1 LOBBY] |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Answers open in a panel¶
/help, /who, /list, /map and a bare /topic are answers to you, not to the room,
so they open in a panel in the middle of the screen instead of scrolling through the
conversation. Press any key to close the panel. That key does nothing else - it will not
end up in your typed line. Anything that arrived while the panel was open is shown the moment
it closes.
Changing your name¶
/nick OLAV
Everyone sees SYSTEM is now OLAV and the corner of your screen changes. A name that someone
in the room already has is refused: refused: that nickname is taken. Pick another.
If you are refused on the way IN (your name is already taken in the room), you are not in the
room yet; /nick <other name> then tries again with the new name.
Rooms¶
/join PROJECT
Rooms have short names (up to 16 characters). /list shows the rooms that exist right now and
how many people are in each; a room disappears when its last member leaves, though what was said
in it is kept and shown again to the next person who joins it.
4. Who is here, and where¶
/who opens a panel with the names in your room. People on another machine are shown with the
machine name:
| 07:49 * SY+-----------------------------+ |
| 07:49 * KA| who is here | |
| 07:49 * SY| | |
| 07:49 KARI@VIDDA ye| OLAV KARI@VIDDA |ou fine |
| 07:49 * to| |, it gets photographed |
| | -- any key closes this -- | |
| +-----------------------------+ |
/map tells you which machines exist and whether your machine can reach them:
| +-------------------------------------+ |
| | the machines | |
| | | |
| | this is FJELL - VIDDA up SKOGEN up | |
| | | |
| | -- any key closes this -- | |
| +-------------------------------------+ |
up means the connection between the two chat servers is working; down means people on that
machine cannot see you right now (and you cannot see them). Nothing you can do from the client
changes that; the operator's manual covers it.
/list shows the rooms on your own machine and how many people are in each - LOBBY(1)
while OLAV and KARI were both in LOBBY, because KARI's seat is on VIDDA. /who is the one
that counts across machines.
5. Private messages¶
/tell KARI are you free at three?
Goes to KARI only. If there is exactly one KARI anywhere the chat can see - on your machine or on any connected one - it is delivered. You are told where it went:
sent to D102!KARI
If two people are called KARI you are not asked to guess - it is refused and both full names are shown. Send it again with the machine in front:
/tell D102!KARI are you free at three?
If nobody of that name is there, it is refused and nothing is kept:
NOT sent to KARI: nobody of that name is here now, and nothing is kept for later
A private message - sent or received - gets its own window, one per person (section 6). This
is what KARI saw on VIDDA after OLAV's /tell KARI are you free at three? this one is private,
then her own /tell FJELL!OLAV yes, three is fine:
+-- NDCHAT 2.1 --------------------------------------------------------KARI@VIDDA--+
| LOBBY 2 here /help for commands 02 09 07:50 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 07:49 * *(FJELL!OLAV) are you free at three? this one is private |
| 07:50 * *(SYSTEM) yes, three is fine |
| |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|> |
| 1 LOBBY[2 =FJELL!OLAV] |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The stars mark a private line. The name in brackets is the full name to type back -
FJELL!OLAV, machine first. If every window is taken the line goes into the room instead,
still with the stars, so it cannot be mistaken for room traffic.
Reply with /tell, not with a plain line. A plain line goes to the whole room, whichever
window you are looking at.
Known cosmetic fault: your own half of the conversation is labelled with the name you logged
in as (*(SYSTEM) above, though KARI had done /nick KARI), and the corner of the screen
keeps the old name too. The other person sees your current name.
Limits: the machine name form only reaches machines your server talks to directly. A message to someone two hops away is refused in words, never lost silently.
6. Windows¶
The bottom line of the screen is the window bar. Three real states of it, in order, from the same session as section 5:
| [1 LOBBY] 2 =VIDDA!KARI OLAV sent a /tell; window 2 opened for KARI
| [1 LOBBY] 2 =VIDDA!KARI* 1 KARI answered: one unread line in window 2
| 1 LOBBY[2 =VIDDA!KARI] after /w 2 (or Ctrl-W): looking at window 2
| 1 LOBBY 1[2 =FJELL!OLAV] a room line arrived meanwhile: 1 unread in window 1
- Window 1 is always the room. It cannot be closed.
- A private conversation gets its own window, one per person, the first time a message arrives
from them or you
/tellthem. The window is named after the person, machine first. - The window you are looking at is in brackets. A
*and a number after a name are unread lines in that window.
Move between windows with /w 2, /w (next window) or Ctrl-W (also next window). Lines
you type while looking at a conversation window go to the room, not to the person - use /tell.
/close puts the conversation window away; the room stays.
7. Leaving¶
/exit
says goodbye to the room and returns you to the @ prompt. /quit does the same. /leave
leaves the room but keeps the program running so you can /join another one or use /list,
/who, /map while outside any room. On a screen terminal /leave gives no visible sign - the
header still names the room - but the others are told you left and the count drops on their
screens (watched on VIDDA: 2 here became 1 here). Known, cosmetic, in the plan.
If you just log out, or your terminal is stopped, the server notices within a minute or so and tells the others you have left.
8. When something looks wrong¶
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| you press RETURN and your own line never appears | the server is not hearing you - usually the operator reloaded the server and your seat is gone. The screen looks completely normal otherwise | /exit, then start CHAT again |
refused: that nickname is taken |
somebody already uses that name in the room | /nick another name |
refused: ... on the way in and you never get a room |
same, at join time | /nick <other name> retries the join |
not in a room yet - wait or /join |
you typed something that needs a room (say, /topic, /tell) while outside one |
/join LOBBY |
/map shows a machine down |
the link between the two chat servers is not up | wait - it reconnects by itself, on a growing interval up to five minutes; or tell the operator |
the program ends with --EXIT-- or ABORTED BY SYSTEM at the @ prompt |
SINTRAN's idle timeout ended it | start CHAT again |
| the screen is garbled | wrong terminal type | /exit, start again, and give the right number |
AMBIGUOUS FILE NAME when you type CHAT |
the program is not installed on this machine, only files with similar names | tell the operator (admin manual, section 3) |
Nothing is stored for you while you are away. History shown on entry is the room's last lines, not a mailbox. A private message to somebody who is not there is refused, not queued.
9. Limits worth knowing¶
- 16 people per machine at a time. The 17th is refused with a message.
- Names and room names: 16 characters. Topic: 64. A typed line: one screen line, it wraps in the room display when it has to.
- What you type is sent when you press RETURN; there is no line editing beyond backspace.