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diff --git a/man/1/collab-clients b/man/1/collab-clients new file mode 100644 index 00000000..9a652fda --- /dev/null +++ b/man/1/collab-clients @@ -0,0 +1,202 @@ +.TH COLLAB-CLIENTS 1 +.SH NAME +collab: chat, poll, poller, whiteboard \- collaborative activities +.SH SYNOPSIS +.B collab/clients/chat +[ +.I servicedir +] +.I chatroom +.PP +.B collab/clients/poll +[ +.B -d +] +[ +.I servicedir +] +.I station +.PP +.B collab/clients/poller +[ +.B -d +] +[ +.I servicedir +] +.I station +.PP +.B collab/clients/whiteboard +[ +.I servicedir +] +.I id +.SH DESCRIPTION +These commands are +.IR wm (1) +programs that are clients of the services of +.IR collabsrv (8). +It must therefore be running in the network for any of them +to be usable. +Furthermore, +.IR collabsrv 's +service directory must appear somewhere in the client's name space, +for instance by using +.IR connect (1), +although plain +.I mount +(see +.IR bind (1)) +can also be used. +In all cases, +the optional parameter +.I servicedir +names the service directory +(default: +.BR /n/remote/services ). +Finally, +.I collabsrv +must be configured to provide the service. +.PP +.I Chat +is a simple multi-user chat program. +Each user that wishes to chat starts +.I chat +naming the desired +.IR chatroom , +which is an identifying string agreed amongst the clients. +(It is often convenient to use the path name of a shared file.) +.I Chat +attempts to enter the given +.IR chatroom . +It announces the results of the connection, and if successful, +displays subsequent chat room messages. +Its window provides a scrollable text area that forms a transcript +of the current conversation, and a single line of editable text at the bottom +of the window for sending messages. +Messages sent by others appear in the transcript tagged with the sender's name. +When the user types a new line (return, enter) in the text entry area, +.I chat +sends the text to all the members of the chat room, +and it subsequently appears in the user's own transcript, +tagged with +.B <you> +in place of the user's name. +.I Chat +also notes in the transcript the arrival and departure of other users. +.PP +.I Poll +and +.I poller +together enable simple real-time polls. +One user runs +.IR poller , +which activates the given polling +.IR station . +The other users can subsequently join using +.IR poll , +naming the same +.IR station , +and can come and go as they please as long +as the +.I poller +remains. +The polling station closes when the +.I poller +leaves. +.PP +.I Poller +drives the interaction for a sequence of one or more real-time polls. +It is assumed that the poller is in the same room as those polled, allowing the +questions and answers to be read out each time, as in quiz shows and exit polls. +Alternatively, something like +.I chat +could be used to pose questions to a distant audience. +For each poll, the polling user selects, in +.IR poller 's +window, the number of possible answers (2, 3, or 4) using radio buttons, +and hits the +.B Start +button. +A bar chart shows results as they come in: each bar shows the percentage of those polled +(thus far) that have selected the corresponding alternative. +Once the polling user hits +.BR Stop , +no further results are accepted, and the bar chart represents the final result. +The +.B \-d +option causes +.I poller +to display a debugging transcript of the messages it receives. +.PP +Each user being polled runs +.IR poll , +and initially +sees an array of radio buttons with labels +.BR A , +.BR B , +.BR C +and +.BR D . +They remain disabled until the +.I poller +hits +.BR Start , +at which point +.I poll +enables as many radio buttons as allowed by the poller for this round. +If the user selects a button, +.I poll +immediately send the selection to the polling station +(and thus to the +.IR poller ), +and disables all the buttons, although the user's selection remains marked. +All buttons are also disabled when the +.I poller +says to stop, +whether or not a choice has been made. +Buttons are enabled again at the start of the next question. +The +.B \-d +option causes +.I poll +to display a debugging transcript. +.PP +.I Whiteboard +allows several users to draw on the shared canvas with the given +.IR id , +which is an identifying string agreed amongst the clients. +The whiteboard window +contains a canvas to be drawn on with stylus, or mouse button 1. +Strokes drawn in a given +.I whiteboard +appear in all others with the +same board +.IR id . +There are two controls at the bottom of the window: +the lower left-hand corner has a small pop-up menu of brush shapes, +including one for erasing; and a long coloured button showing the current drawing colour that +pops up a choice of drawing colour from a palette. +Artists can come and go as they please, but +the drawing vanishes for ever when the last artist leaves the whiteboard. +.SH FILES +.TF /n/remote/services +.TP +.B /n/remote +default mount point of collaborative resources +.br +.TP +.B /n/remote/services +.IR collabsrv (8) +collaborative activity services directory +.SH SOURCE +.B /appl/collab/clients/chat.b +.br +.B /appl/collab/clients/poll.b +.br +.B /appl/collab/clients/poller.b +.br +.B /appl/collab/clients/whiteboard.b +.SH SEE ALSO +.IR connect (1), +.IR collabsrv (8) |