FIBS Command Help

The First Internet Backgammon Server may be reached by:

telnet fraggel65.mdstud.chalmers.se 4321
telnet 129.16.235.165 4321

The 'official' site for this document is currently:   http://www.cybercom.net/~damish/backgammon/fibshelp.html

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Commands

about - Display information about the server
accept - accepting doubles and resigns
addresss - make your email address known to other users.
autologin - how the TinyMUD style autologin feature works
average - show average number of users
away - Leaving a message for other users before leaving the terminal
back - Back again after the away command was used
beaver - Offering an instant redouble that is a beaver
beginner - very short introduction to the server
board - Displays the board again
boardstyle - the various boardstyles
bye - leave the First International backgammon Server
client - one way to use a client
cls - Clear the screen on a vt100 terminal
commands
complaints - how to complain about cheaters
countries - where do the players live
crawford - The Crawford rule
date - equivalent to the time command
dicetest - show statistics about the dice
double
erase - How and why accounts are erased
formula - The formulas used to calculate rating changes
help - help on different topic
hostnames - how to interpret hostnames given by the who command
invite - invite another user to play a game of backgammon
join - accept an invitation from another player
kibitz - talking to players and watchers
last - Display information about login times
leave - leave and save a game
look - Take a short look at a game
man - alias for help
message - Leave a message for a user
motd - Display the message of the day
move - Moving pieces on the board
names - name completion
off - bear off pieces with every possible move
oldboard - Display the board of a saved game.
oldmoves - Display the moves of a saved game.
otter - Offering an instant redouble that is an otter
panic - save a game to a special file
password - change password
pip - Display pip count
raccoon - Offering an instant redouble that is a raccoon
ratings - Display information from the rating list
rawboard - how to interpret the raw board output
redouble - accepting doubles by redoubling
reject
resign - resign a game
roll - roll the dice
rules - The basic rules of backgammon
- rule1 - how the board looks like
- rule2 - the direction you move pieces
- rule3 - the goal of the game
- rule4 - rolling the dice
- rule5 - moving pieces
- rule6 - moving pieces
- rule7 - bearing off pieces
- rule8 - winning
- rule9 - doubling
save - save your current toggle settings
say - talk to your opponent
screen - how to tell FIBS about your screen
set - how to set variables that are not toggles
shout - say something to all users
show - Display information
shutdown - shutdown the server
sortwho - how the 'who' command sorts it's output
stat - display system usage information about the server
tell - say something to a specific player
time - display the current time
timezones - How the server supports different timezones
tinyfugue - a few hints on using the TinyFugue client
toggle - display or change the value of toggles
- toggle-allowpip
- toggle-autoboard
- toggle-autodouble
- toggle-automove
- toggle-bell
- toggle-crawford
- toggle-double
- toggle-greedy
- toggle-moreboards
- toggle-notify
- toggle-ratings
- toggle-rawboard
- toggle-ready
- toggle-report
- toggle-silent
- toggle-telnet
- toggle-wrap
unwatch - stop watching a player
version - display version number of the server
watch - watch a player
where - display full hostnames
whisper - say something to watchers of a game
who - display information about currently logged in users
whois - Display information about a player
!! - repeat the last command

NAME: about - Display information about the server
SYNOPSIS: about
DESCRIPTION: The about command displays some general information about the First Internet Backgammon Server (FIBS).

NAME: accept - accepting doubles and resigns
SYNOPSIS: accept
DESCRIPTION: You can use 'accept' if your opponent has doubled and you think it's ok to accept. Use 'reject' if you don't. You can also use 'accept' if your opponent wants to resign and you accept to win the number of points displayed.
SEE ALSO: double; reject; resign

NAME: address - make your email address known to other users
SYNOPSIS: address <email_address>
DESCRIPTION: You can use the 'address' command to make your email address known to other players. They can use the 'whois' command to get this information about you. At the moment FIBS cannot check that this is really your valid email address. You should however make sure that the address you tell others is indeed valid. Abuse of this feature can be a reason to delete your account on FIBS.
EXAMPLE: address marvin@fraggel65.mdstud.chalmers.se
SEE ALSO: names; whois
Commands

NAME: autologin - how the TinyMUD style autologin feature works
DESCRIPTION: The usual way to login is to enter your user name after the login: prompt and your password after the password: prompt. There is an alternative way of logging in that is used by TinyMUD clients and that is understood by the server. At login: prompt you can send 'connect your_name your_password' to the server. If name and password are ok you will be logged in without seeing the password: prompt. Note that your password will appear as plain text on the screen if you use this login method with telnet. If you connect with this autologin feature the server assumes that you are using a client with a separate input window (like TinyFugue) and will not send those '>' prompts you see when using telnet. This makes the output look better (at least from my point of view). Autologin should not be used when connecting by means of a telnet client.

NAME: average - show average number of users
SYNOPSIS: average
DESCRIPTION: The 'average' commands shows the average number of users, by time of day. For each hour the output shows how many users were on average logged in during that period since the last restart of the program. If there is no information available for that period (because FIBS was last restarted less than 23 hours ago) the number of users will be shown as 0.00 . All times are in UTC (GMT).

NAME

away - Leaving a message for other users before leaving the terminal

SYNOPSIS

away

away <message>>

DESCRIPTION

If you type 'away message' everyone who tells you something or invites you is told that you are away. The message you give is shown after that. All messages sent to you will be displayed on your screen while you're away. Nothing will be lost. You can use the server as usual. It's just that others get the message when they talk to you or invite you. Type 'back' if you are back again. To remind you that you are away the prompt is changed from '>' to 'You're away. Please type 'back' >'.

This command should be useful when your boss calls you or if going to the restroom is more important than playing backgammon. You can type just 'away' to see the messages left by all users who are away.

SEE ALSO

NAME: back - Back again after the away command was used
SYNOPSIS: back
DESCRIPTION: Type 'back' if you have have already typed 'away' and want to be marked 'back'.
SEE ALSO: away

NAME: beaver - Offering an instant redouble that is a beaver
SYNOPSIS: beaver
DESCRIPTION: An instant redouble of an offered double is called "beaver". You can use the command 'redouble' instead. 'beaver' can only used for the first instant redouble while 'redouble' can be used for any of several instant redoubles in a row.
SEE ALSO: otter; raccoon; redouble

NAME

beginner - very short introduction to the server

DESCRIPTION

  Short help: If you want to play, enter the following commands:  toggle ready         (means that you are not refusing to play)  who                  (tells you who is logged on)  invite <player> <n>  (tells <player> you want to play a n point match)  If you get invited:  join <player>        (and the game can begin)  bye                  closes the connection to the backgammon server.  help <topic>         gives you more help on <topic>

SEE ALSO

help on other topics

'help rules' if you don't know the rules of the game

NAME

board - Displays the board again

SYNOPSIS

board

DESCRIPTION

The board command displays the board. As the board is displayed after every move if the autoboard toggle is set to YES (which is the default) you should only need to use this command if the board has scrolled from your screen. You can only use this command if you're playing or while you are watching another user playing.

You can use 'b' as an abbreviation of 'board'.

SEE ALSO

toggle-autoboard

toggle-rawboard

NAME

boardstyle - the various boardstyles

DESCRIPTION

The backgammon server currently knows 3 different ways of displaying the backgammon board. You can choose one of the 3 styles by setting the variable 'boardstyle' with the 'set' command to one of the numbers 1 to 3. The three styles are:

1,2:: are nearly identical. Style 2 needs 2 lines more than style 1 to display the board.
3:: doesn't display a human readable board (for most humans :-), but a couple of numbers representing the board. The help on 'rawboard' explains the meaning of the numbers. The previously used toggle 'rawboard' is no longer available.

SEE ALSO

set

NAME: bye - leave the First International backgammon Server
SYNOPSIS: bye; adios; ciao; end; exit; logout; quit; tschoe
DESCRIPTION: The 'bye' command closes the connection to the backgammon server. If you are playing a game, the game is saved before you leave, but it's not very polite to do this without informing your opponent first. You can use any of the words given above to leave the server.

NAME

client - one way to use a client

DESCRIPTION

You can log in to FIBS with TinyMUD clients. I have tested this with a client called TinyFugue. Other (Tiny)MUD clients should work too. TinyFugue is a text client for UNIX platforms that is more comfortable than telnet. It offers a separate input window with line editing, user definable macros, autologin, a pager and more. You can get the client by ftp from ferkel.ucsb.edu . The file to get is pub/mud/Clients/tf.2.1.beta2.tar.z . At the same place you can get other MUD clients for several platforms and the MUD FAQ telling you more about what clients are available and where to get them. I will not be able to answer questions about how to compile or setup those clients. You'll have to try yourself. You can get some help on setting up the TinyFugue client by typing 'help tinyfugue'.

This reference to TinyMUD style clients does not mean I'll support all aspects of those clients or add features to them. It is meant as a hint what can be used as a client. Maybe somheleone else adds features to them or starts working on an own client after looking at the source. If you plan to do this let me know and maybe I'll be able to coordinate the efforts made. (btw: the server knows how to handle TinyMUD style autologins)

SEE ALSO

NAME: cls - Clear the screen on a vt100 terminal
SYNOPSIS: cls; clear
DESCRIPTION: 'cls' or 'clear' clears the screen. Note that this command currently works only if you are working on a vt100 or a similar terminal!!

NAME

commands

DESCRIPTION

To enter a command it's sufficient to type a prefix of the command that identifies it. There are some commands that are recognized with one or two letters although there are other commands starting with the same prefix. The commands that are are handled with this special treatment are:

  b=board k=kibitz m=move r=roll  s=say t=tell w=who wh=whisper

EXAMPLES

  'r'   -> roll                (special treatment, see above)  're'  -> unknown command re  (conflict between 'resign' and 'reject')  'res' -> resign              (no other command with that prefix)

NAME

complaints - how to complain about cheaters

DESCRIPTION

If you want to complain about another player because of cheating or because of something else, please don't send mail to marvin@rog.rwth-aachen.de. This address should only be used for bug reports or personal mail to me. Complaints should be sent to FIBS911@ouzo.rog.rwth-aachen.de. Mails to this address will be forwarded to several users of the backgammon server. I might not be able to answer every complaining email sent to my personal email address.

SUMMARY

bug-reports to marvin@rog.rwth-aachen.de
flames and insults to nobody@ouzo.rog.rwth-aachen.de
complaints to FIBS911@ouzo.rog.rwth-aachen.de

SEE ALSO

NAME

countries - where do the players live

DESCRIPTION

There are players from the following countries (and maybe more): Let me know if you miss your country. I'll then check the IP address you last came from.

 Australia       Austria         Belgium         Brazil Canada          Chile           Colombia        Croatia Cyprus          Czech Republic  Denmark         Egypt Estonia         Finland         France          Germany Greece          Hungary         Iceland         India Ireland         Israel          Italy           Japan Korea           Kuwait          Latvia          Luxembourg Macau           Malaysia        Mexico          Netherlands New Zealand     Norway          Philippines     Poland Portugal        Romania         Russia          Singapore Slovakia        Slovenia        South Africa    Spain Sweden          Switzerland     Taiwan          Thailand  Turkey          UK              USA             Venezuela

NAME

crawford - The Crawford rule

DESCRIPTION

This server uses the Crawford rule by default. Here is what is says:

If you are playing a n-point match and your opponent is ahead of you and he gets to n-1 points you are not allowed to use the doubling cube in the next game to come.
You can set the crawford toggle to NO if you don't want to use the Crawford rule. If your opponent did the same the rule won't be used.

EXAMPLE:          5 point match               score  game #   You      opponent     1      0          3     2      0          4     3      1          4   (you were not allowed to double in this game)     4      3          4   (you were allowed to double again)    ...    ...        ...

SEE ALSO

toggle-crawford

NAME: date - equivalent to the time command
SYNOPSIS: The date and time commands are equivalent.
SEE ALSO: time

NAME: dicetest - show statistics about the dice
SYNOPSIS: dicetest
DESCRIPTION: The dicetest command shows the results of several test that are performed on all the rolls of all players after a restart of FIBS. First it tells you how many rolls went into the results you'll see afterwards. The next 6 lines show you how often each pair of numbers appeared in those rolls. The next lines show a geometrical test: Look at the book 'Numerical Recipes. Example Book (C)' for a similar test. The next lines show how often it happened that a certain number appeared several times in a row. Each roll with two dice is treated as two rolls with a single die and the length of sequences of exactly n rolls are counted for each number. E.g. the number below 'n: 1' tells you how often there was exactly a single 1 (no 1 rolled before or after that). In each line 'S:' means 'sum:'. The last line tells you the theoretical values of the line above, so you can compare the theory to the number of n-runs rolled in real life FIBS.

NAME: double
SYNOPSIS: double
DESCRIPTION: Type 'double' if you want to double the cube. Your opponent will then be asked if she or he wants to accept or reject the double. This program uses the Crawford rule by default.
SEE ALSO: accept; crawford; reject; toggle; toggle-crawford

NAME: erase - How and why accounts are erased
DESCRIPTION: I'm very sorry that this is necessary, but I can't wait any longer: There have been problems with users of the backgammon server complaining about other players. Complaints were about cheating and about insulting other users. It's not possible for me to verify if those incidents did really happen, because I'm not logged in all the time, because people tend to behave well as soon as I'm logged in and because listening to all players involved (which I tried) uses up a lot of the time I can use for maintaining and improving the server. Therefore I have asked a couple of players to report those incidents. Those players are users of this server for several months and I know that I can rely on what they tell me. If those players keep telling me that someone is misusing the server I will erase the account in question without discussing about it. I know this may not always be the ideal way to solve the problems, but I don't see any other way to deal with them.
REMARKS: Don't complain if it happens to you - it's not my decision. No, I won't tell who the players are whom I asked to keep their eyes open. I won't answer the insulting emails I'll get. I won't listen to complaints about other players by other players than the ones I asked to complain.

NAME

formula - The formulas used to calculate rating changes

DESCRIPTION

These are the formulas used to determine the ratings of a player: Let's say that two players P1 and P2 were playing a n-point match. The ratings of the players are r1 for P1 and r2 for P2 .

Let D = abs(r1-r2) (rating difference)
Let P_upset = 1/(10^(D*sqrt(n)/2000)+1) (probability that underdog wins)
Let P=1-P_upset if the underdog wins and P=P_upset if the favorite wins.

For the winner:
- Let K = max ( 1 , -experience/100+5 )
- The rating change is: 4*K*sqrt(n)*P
For the loser:
- Let K = max ( 1 , -experience/100+5 )
- The rating change is: -4*K*sqrt(n)*P

The 'experience' of a player is the sum of the lengths of all matches a player has finished. Every player starts with a rating of 1500 and an experience of 0.

SEE ALSO

NAME

help - help on different topic

SYNOPSIS

help

help <topic>

DESCRIPTION

'help <topic>' displays the help available on <topic> Help is currently available on the following topics:

  about  accept         address        autologin      average        away  back           beaver         beginner       board          boardstyle  bye            client         cls            commands       complaints  countries      crawford       date           dicetest       double  erase          formula        help           hostnames      invite  join           kibitz         last           leave          look  man            message        motd           move           names  off            oldboard       oldmoves       otter          panic  password       pip            raccoon        ratings        rawboard  redouble       reject         resign         roll           rules   save           say            set            shout          show  shutdown       sortwho        stat           tell           time   timezones      tinyfugue      toggle         unwatch        version  watch          where          whisper        who            whois  !!

NAME

hostnames - how to interpret hostnames given by the who command

DESCRIPTION

Whenever a connection between your computer and the server is established, all the server knows is the so-called 'IP address' of your computer (e.g. 134.130.130.46). If your local network is set up correctly the server is able to translate this information into a more readable address (e.g. ouzo.rog.rwth-aachen.de). There are two things that can go wrong:

The server knows which computer is responsible for this address but this machine says the address is invalid. In this case the server gives you the name of the responsible machine by displaying 'near: name.of.responsible.computer' as your address. Please ask your local network guru to add your machine to the name server database. (You can find out your IP address with the 'where' command)
The server can't find a computer responsible for your IP address. In this case it displays 'Illegal IP' in front of your address. Probably there is something wrong in the way your computer was installed. Please ask your local system administrator to check if your computer uses the correct IP address. It is possible that the server won't accept connections from those machines in the future.

SEE ALSO

who

NAME

invite - invite another user to play a game of backgammon

SYNOPSIS

invite <name> <number>

invite <name> unlimited

invite <name>

DESCRIPTION

The 'invite' command is used to ask other players if they want to play with you. You can only use this command if you are ready to play (see 'toggle ready'), the other player is ready to play and is not already playing with someone else. See help on 'who' to find out whom you can invite. There are three ways to invite other players (see above)

you want to start a <number> point match with <name>
you want to start a match of unlimited length with <name>
you want to resume a saved match with <player>

The first two of the above discard a saved game if <player> accepts the invitation, but <player> is told that there is a saved match. Invitations for matches longer than 9 points are limited to players whose experience is high enough to appear in the rating list. This was necessary because some new players cheated themselves into the rating list.

SEE ALSO

who

NAME

join - accept an invitation from another player

SYNOPSIS

join

join <name>

DESCRIPTION

You can type 'join <name>' if you get a message that <name> wants to play with you. If you don't want to play just do nothing. After joining the player who invited you the game starts immediately. See help on 'leave' if you don't know how to stop a game.

'join' without arguments is used to start a new game within a match. If one of the players is watching the server will automatically do an unwatch command for this player.

SEE ALSO

NAME

kibitz - talking to players and watchers

SYNOPSIS

kibitz <message>

DESCRIPTION

The 'kibitz' command is similar to the 'say' command. If you are playing or watching a game use 'kibitz <message>' to say <message> to everyone who is playing or watching the game. You can use the single letter 'k' as an abbreviation of 'kibitz'.

If you only want to talk to the watchers of the game (because you don't want to disturb the players) use the 'whisper' command.

SEE ALSO

say

NAME: last - Display information about login times
SYNOPSIS: last
DESCRIPTION: The 'last' command can be used to display the last logins and logouts. The last 20 entries of the login/logout list will be displayed. The command 'last <name>' is not available anymore. Use the 'whois' command instead.
SEE ALSO: whois

NAME: leave - leave and save a game
SYNOPSIS: leave
DESCRIPTION: You can type 'leave' if you are playing with someone and want to quit the game. The game is saved and will be reloaded when one of the players types 'invite <name>' and the other player joins. It's not very polite to leave a game without telling your opponent first. This feature should NOT be used to abort a match before you lose and your rating changes. This behavior is cheating!!
SEE ALSO: invite; join

NAME: look - Take a short look at a game
SYNOPSIS: look <name>
DESCRIPTION: You can type 'look <name>' to take a quick look at <name>'s game. You can use this command without watching a player or if you are playing yourself.
SEE ALSO: watch

NAME: man - alias for help
SYNOPSIS: man; man <topic>
DESCRIPTION: The man command is equivalent to the help command.
SEE ALSO: help

NAME

message - Leave a message for a user

SYNOPSIS

message <name> <message>

message

DESCRIPTION

You can use 'message <name> <message>' to leave a message for a user who is not logged in. The message will be displayed to <name> when she or he logs in again. If <name> is logged in while you send the message she or he will also see the message on screen immediately. If you just type 'message' without any argument you'll see the messages that were left for you. You can also use 'message' without arguments to read the messages left for you again. Every time you log out of FIBS all messages will be deleted, so you won't see them again the next time you log in.

As this command is limited to one line, this feature is for short notes. If you want to write longer messages please use electronic mail. Please note that name completion doesn't work for this command.

SEE ALSO

NAME: motd - Display the message of the day
SYNOPSIS: motd
DESCRIPTION: Whenever you log in you'll see a message of the day telling you about news and changes. If you want to see this message again you can use this command for that purpose.

NAME

move - Moving pieces on the board

SYNOPSIS

move <from>-<to> ...

move <from> <to> ...

<from>-<to> ...

<from> <to> ...

DESCRIPTION

The move command tells the server what pieces you want to move. Each move must be given as '<from> <to>' or '<from>-<to>'. As <from> and <to> you can use the numbers between 1 and 24 and the words 'bar' and 'off'. You can use ' ' or '-' to separate <from> and <to>. To separate moves you have to use ' '. Example: 'move bar-5 bar 5 bar - 5 bar -5' moves 4 pieces from the bar to position 5.

'move' can be abbreviated by typing 'm'.
'bar' can be abbreviated by typing 'b'.
'off' can be abbreviated by typing 'o'.

You can omit the word 'move' and e.g. just type '1 3' instead of 'move 1 3' If your automove toggle is set to YES the server will move for you if there is only one possible move.

SEE ALSO

toggle-automove

NAME: names - name completion
DESCRIPTION: For most commands that need a name as an argument you only have to type the first few letters of a name. If you type 'tell ma Hi!' and the only player whose name starts with 'ma' is marvin, the server will do a 'tell marvin Hi!' for you. If there is another user called 'mama' the server will complain that you should greet either marvin or mama. (Note that in this example 't ma Hi!' is even shorter and that this feature does not work for the 'last', 'message' and 'ratings' commands). The name completion will first try to find a name that matches case sensitive. If this doesn't work it will try to find a name that matches case insensitive.

NAME: off - bear off pieces with every possible move
SYNOPSIS: off
DESCRIPTION: Often you will want to bear off one piece per move in the final phase of a game. If you have rolled a double you may want to bear off 4 pieces, otherwise you may want to bear off 2 pieces. Instead of entering the moves to do that manually, you can issue the 'off' command and FIBS will bear off for you automatically if possible.
SEE ALSO: toggle; toggle-greedy

NAME: oldboard - Display the board of a saved game.
SYNOPSIS: oldboard <name>
DESCRIPTION: If there is a saved game with a player called <name> the board of this game is displayed. Name completion doesn't work for this command, so the <name> has to match the player's name exactly. The 'oldboard' command can only be used while you are not playing.
SEE ALSO: names; oldmoves

NAME

oldmoves - Display the moves of a saved game.

SYNOPSIS

oldmoves <name>

DESCRIPTION

The oldmoves command displays a list of the moves of a saved game with a player called <name>. Name completion doesn't work for this command, so the <name> argument has to match the player's name exactly. This command can be used to display games that are already over and not displayed by the 'show saved' command.

LIMITATIONS

You shouldn't wait too long before using this command, because games that are saved but already over will be erased every few days.
If you try to display the moves of a game you are currently playing the last moves may be missing, because they are buffered before they are saved.
The output is a little minimalistic.
Information about who is X and who is O is only displayed for games that were started since version 1.198 of the server.
If you start a new game in a match the last game will be erased. If you want a list of it's moves use this command before you type 'join' to start a new game in the match.
It's up to you to see the moves that scroll from your screen.

SEE ALSO

NAME: otter - Offering an instant redouble that is an otter
SYNOPSIS: beaver
DESCRIPTION: An instant redouble of an offered "raccoon" is called "otter". You can use the command 'redouble' instead. 'otter' can only used for the third instant redouble while 'redouble' can be used for any of several instant redoubles in a row.
SEE ALSO: beaver; raccoon; redouble

NAME

panic - save a game to a special file

SYNOPSIS

panic

DESCRIPTION

Use the 'panic' command if you find a bug while playing. Your game is then saved in a special file together with the names of the players and the current time. To find the bug in the source code I'll need more information. Send mail describing the bug in detail to:

marvin@rog.rwth-aachen.de

I hope you'll never use this command. This command will be erased in the future because it isn't very helpful anymore.

NAME: password - change password
SYNOPSIS: password <old> <new> <new>
DESCRIPTION: The password command can be used to change your password. You have to give your new password twice to avoid typos. The password will appear on the screen while you type it! Make sure that nobody is looking at your screen while you change your password. If the 'cls' command works on your terminal it's a good idea to use it right after changing your password.
NOTE by marvin: All passwords are encrypted before they are saved to the database. That means that if you forget your password there is no way for me to recover it. Unless you can prove (you can't) that you are the owner of an account I will not change the password and send you a new one. So, please make sure that you remember your password.
SEE ALSO: cls

NAME

pip - Display pip count

SYNOPSIS

pip

DESCRIPTION

With the pip command you can see your and your opponent's pipcount. For those who don't know what 'pipcount' means: it's the total amount of points you have to move your pieces to bear them all off. This command can only be used if both players have set their 'allowpip' toggle to YES (that's the default). Type 'toggle allowpip' if you think that using a computer to compute the pipcount is not fair.

This command can also be used while watching a game if both players have set their allowpip-toggle to YES.

SEE ALSO

toggle-allowpip

NAME: raccoon - Offering an instant redouble that is a raccoon
SYNOPSIS: beaver
DESCRIPTION: An instant redouble of an offered "beaver" is called "raccoon". You can use the command 'redouble' instead. 'raccoon' can only used for the second instant redouble while 'redouble' can be used for any of several instant redoubles in a row.
SEE ALSO: beaver; otter; raccoon; redouble

NAME

ratings - Display information from the rating list

SYNOPSIS

ratings [<name>|all] [from <number>] [to <number>]

DESCRIPTION

You'll see the first 20 entries of the current rating list if you just type 'ratings'. You can see the ratings of all players that are currently logged in with the who command. To see the ratings of a player called <name> type 'ratings <name>'. To see all the ratings type 'ratings all'. The optional 'from <number>' and 'to <number>' arguments override the default positions 'from 1 to 20' for the rating list output.

Every player starts with a rating of 1500 points and an experience of 0. Every match you play (except unlimited matches) changes your rating. If your experience is greater than 50 you'll appear in the rating list. To see how rating changes are calculated type 'help formula'. To see a brief calculation of the rating change after a match make sure that your ratings toggle is set to YES.

ETHICS

There are several ways to manipulate the rating list and get a high rating. This is cheating and not fair. Until there is a way to prevent cheating the sysop will erase accounts that have been manipulated.

SEE ALSO

who

NAME

rawboard - how to interpret the raw board output

DESCRIPTION

If the rawboard toggle is set to yes you won't see the text representation of the board but a number of tokens separated by colons. The tokens sent by the server and their meaning are (the first token is always the word 'board'): (tokens marked with + are new)

+ name: the player's name
name: the opponent's name
match length: match length or 9999 for unlimited matches
player got: player's points in the match so far
opponent got: opponent's points in the match so far
board: 26 numbers giving the board. Positions 0 and 25 represent the bars for the players (see below). Positive numbers represent O's pieces negative numbers represent X's pieces
turn: -1 if it's X's turn, +1 if it's O's turn 0 if the game is over
dice: 2 numbers giving the player's dice. If it's the players turn and she or he hasn't rolled, yet both numbers are 0
+ dice: the opponent's dice (2 numbers)
cube: the number on the doubling cube
may double: 1 if player is allowed to double, 0 otherwise
+ may double: the same for the opponent
was doubled: 1 if your opponent has just doubled, 0 otherwise
color: -1 if you are X, +1 if you are O
direction: -1 if you play from position 24 to position 1; +1 if you play from position 1 to position 24
home: 0 or 25 depending on direction (obsolete but included anyway)
bar: 25 or 0 (see home)
on home: number of pieces already removed from the board by player
+ on home: same for opponent
on bar: number of player's pieces on the bar
+ on bar: same for opponent
can move: a number between 0 and 4. This is the number of pieces you can move. This token is valid if it's your turn and you have already rolled.
forced move: don't use this token
did crawford: don't use this token
+ redoubles: maximum number of instant redoubles in unlimited matches

SEE ALSO

NAME

redouble - accepting doubles by redoubling

SYNOPSIS

redouble

beaver

raccoon

otter

DESCRIPTION

A "beaver" or an "instant redouble" is an unlimited match feature that allows the receiving party of a double to accept it at twice the level at which it was offered. A "raccoon" is an instant redouble of a beaver and an "otter" is an instant redouble of a raccoon. There are no special names for further redoubles. Each of the redoubles can be accepted or rejected the same way normal doubles are accepted or rejected. The maximum number of instant redoubles in a row is the minimum of both players' 'redoubles' variable. This variable is initially set to 0 but it can be changed with the 'set' command.

The commands 'beaver', 'raccoon' and 'otter' are only allowed if the redouble really is a beaver, raccoon or otter. The command 'redouble' can be used for either of them and for further redoubles.

SEE ALSO

set

NAME: reject
SYNOPSIS: reject
DESCRIPTION: You can use the reject command if your opponent has doubled and you don't think you should accept the double. Use 'accept' if you do. You can also use this command if your opponent wants to resign and you don't agree with the number of points you'll win if you accept.
SEE ALSO: accept; double; resign

NAME

resign - resign a game

SYNOPSIS

resign <how>

DESCRIPTION

You can type 'resign <how>' if you want to resign. Your opponent will be asked to accept or reject your resign. The number of points you lose is determined by <how>. You can give the following values of <how>:

normal: You'll lose the number of points on the cube.
gammon: You'll lose twice the number of points on the cube.
backgammon: You'll lose three times the number of points on the cube.

You can use 'n', 'g' and 'b' instead of 'normal', 'gammon' and 'backgammon'.

SEE ALSO

NAME

roll - roll the dice

SYNOPSIS

roll

DESCRIPTION

With the roll command you tell the server to roll the dice for you. The server program then tells you the two numbers it rolled for you and how many pieces you have to move. If you are not allowed to double because you don't own the cube or the crawford rule applies the server will roll for you automatically. If you set your double toggle to NO the server will roll for you even if you were allowed to double instead.

'roll' can be abbreviated by typing 'r'.

SEE ALSO

NAME

rules - The basic rules of backgammon

SYNOPSIS

help ruleX

DESCRIPTION

Type 'help ruleX' to see rule X. Currently X can be a number between 1 and 9. The rules are:

   1: the board           2: direction          3: the goal   4: rolling           5,6: moving             7: bearing off   8: winning             9: doubling

These are not the 'official' rules word for word but my version of them. They should say pretty much the same as the official rules. I left out some rules that have no meaning for the server (like: what happens if you roll the dice before your opponent has finished her or his move - the server simply doesn't allow this). Currently there are no rules for matches here. They will be added later.

SEE ALSO

rule1 rule2 rule3 rule4 rule5 rule6 rule7 rule8 rule9

NAME

rule1 - how the board looks like

DESCRIPTION

Backgammon is a two player game. It's played with 2 dice and 15 pieces for each player on a board with 24 positions and a field called the bar. Before the game starts the pieces are placed on the board like this:

            +-24-23-22-21-20-19-------18-17-16-15-14-13-+            |  X              O |   |     O           X |            |  X              O |   |     O           X |            |                 O |   |     O           X |            |                 O |   |                 X |            |                 O |   |                 X |            |                   |BAR|                   |v            |                 X |   |                 O |            |                 X |   |                 O |            |                 X |   |     X           O |            |  O              X |   |     X           O |            |  O              X |   |     X           O |            +--1--2--3--4--5--6--------7--8--9-10-11-12-+

SEE ALSO

rule2 rule3 rule4 rule5 rule6 rule7 rule8 rule9

NAME: rule2 - the direction you move pieces
DESCRIPTION: (refer to the board shown in rule 1 for the numbers of the positions) One of the players (O) moves her or his pieces from position 1 to position 24, the other one (X) from position 24 to position 1. For the board shown in rule 1 you would move the X pieces from 24 to 1. The last six positions for each player (1-6 for O and 19-24 for X) are called the player's home board. You always move the pieces to your side of the board, but note that the home board is on the left of the board from X's point of view and on the right from O's point of view. The server always shows a 'v' on one side of the board indicating the direction of your moves.
SEE ALSO: rules; rule1 rule3 rule4 rule5 rule6 rule7 rule8 rule9

NAME: rule3 - the goal of the game
DESCRIPTION: When you have moved all of your pieces into your home board you can bear them off (remove them from the board according to the numbers on the dice). The winner of a game is the first player who succeeds in bearing of all own pieces from the board.
SEE ALSO: rules; rule1 rule2 rule4 rule5 rule6 rule7 rule8 rule9

NAME: rule4 - rolling the dice
DESCRIPTION: At the beginning of a game each player rolls with a single die. If both players roll the same number they have to roll again. The player who finally rolls the higher number makes the first move using the two numbers just rolled. After the opening roll both players roll alternating using two dice.
SEE ALSO: rules; rule1 rule2 rule3 rule5 rule6 rule7 rule8 rule9

NAME

rule5 - moving pieces

DESCRIPTION

After rolling the dice you have to move pieces. Moving pieces means either:

moving one or more pieces on the board. You move the number of positions according to the number of the dice. E.g: if one of the dice shows the number 4 you can move one of your pieces 4 positions in your direction. If you move one piece with both numbers on the dice this is considered being two separate moves.
entering one or more pieces from the bar into your opponent's home board according to the numbers on the dice. E.g.: if one of the dice shows the number 4 you can enter one piece from the bar to position 4 or 21 (depending on where your opponent's home board is).
bearing off pieces from the the board if none of your pieces is on the bar or outside your home board. (see rule 7 for details)

SEE ALSO

rule1 rule2 rule3 rule4 rule6 rule7 rule8 rule9

NAME

rule6 - moving pieces

DESCRIPTION

If you roll a double the number on the dice is used four times to move a piece.
You have to use both (all) numbers on the dice if possible. You can use any of the numbers first. If you can use either of the numbers but not both, you have to use the higher one for moving one piece.
It's not allowed to move a piece to a position occupied by two or more pieces of your opponent.
If you move a piece to a position occupied by a single piece (blot) of your opponent, this piece is removed from the board and placed on the bar. This piece can later be re-entered into your home board according to rule 5.
If one of your pieces is on the bar, you are not allowed to move pieces on the board before the piece on the bar has been re-entered.

SEE ALSO

rule1 rule2 rule3 rule4 rule5 rule7 rule8 rule9

NAME: rule7 - bearing off pieces
DESCRIPTION: When you are allowed to bear off pieces (rule 5) you can bear off a piece from a position matching the number on a die (e.g. 5 or 20 if you have rolled a 5) or a piece from the highest occupied position smaller than the number on the die. If you roll a number matching an unoccupied position you are not allowed to bear off pieces from smaller positions if there are any pieces on higher positions. You have to move one of the pieces on the higher positions in this case. You are not forced to bear off pieces if it is also possible to move pieces inside your home board and rule 6 is not violated.
SEE ALSO: rules; rule1 rule2 rule3 rule4 rule5 rule6 rule8 rule9

NAME

rule8 - winning

DESCRIPTION

The value of a game is the number of points the winner gains at the end of the game. This value is initially 1.

The player who bears off all her or his pieces first is the winner of the game and wins the value of that game. If you win and your opponent couldn't bear off any piece the value of the game is doubled (this is called winning a 'gammon').

You win a 'backgammon' if your opponent couldn't bear off any piece and one or more of her or his pieces are still on the bar or inside your home board. In this case the value of the game is multiplied by 3.

SEE ALSO

rule1 rule2 rule3 rule4 rule5 rule6 rule7 rule9

NAME

rule9 - doubling

DESCRIPTION

Any player may offer to double the value of a game. After the first double the right to offer the next one alternates between the two players. The player who has accepted the last double is the one who is allowed to offer the next one. You may offer a double when it's your turn to roll but you haven't rolled yet. An offered double can be accepted or rejected (declined). If a double is declined the game is over and the player who has offered the double wins the value of the game before the double was offered.

If a player wins a gammon or a backgammon the value of the game as deter- mined by previous doubling is multiplied by 2 or 3 (see rule 8).

SEE ALSO

rule1 rule2 rule3 rule4 rule5 rule6 rule7 rule8

NAME: save - save your current toggle settings
SYNOPSIS: save
DESCRIPTION: If you want to save the settings of your toggles just type 'save'. The next time you log in the server will restore the toggles as you saved them. The only toggle that won't be saved is the 'double' toggle (which is reset to YES before every game anyway).
SEE ALSO: toggle

NAME: say - talk to your opponent
SYNOPSIS: say <message>
DESCRIPTION: The say command allows you to say something to your opponent. It can only be used while you are playing. If you want to say something when you are not playing use the tell command. To say something to your opponent and all watching players use the 'kibitz' command. To say something to the watchers only you can use the 'whisper' command. You can use the single letter 's' as an abbreviation for 'say'.
SEE ALSO: kibitz; shout; tell; whisper

NAME

screen - how to tell FIBS about your screen

DESCRIPTION

Some commands produce more output than will fit on your screen. You can tell FIBS about the size of your window or screen by setting the two variables 'linelength' and 'pagelength'. The pagelength should be set to the number of lines in your window, the linelength should be set to the number of columns (or to a value slightly less than that). If you have a 80x24 screen you might issue the following commands:

> set pagelength 24
> set linelength 79

You should try 78 and 80 for the linelength too and see what you like best. You can then use the 'save' command to make those settings permanent. Using the values from this example FIBS would wrap lines so they contain at most 79 characters and if the output of single command exceeds 23 lines it will print [Return] in the bottom line of the screen. Just hit your return key to see the next page of output, or type any other command to continue without seeing the rest of the output.

SEE ALSO

set

NAME

set - how to set variables that are not toggles

SYNOPSIS

set

set <variable>

set <variable> <value>

DESCRIPTION

With the set commands it is possible to assign a value to a variable that is not a toggle. 'set' without argument displays the values of all available variables. 'set' with one argument <variable> displays the value of <variable>. 'set' with two arguments sets <variable> to <value>.

There are currently 6 variables you can set to a value:

'boardstyle': see help on 'boardstyle'
'linelength': see help on 'screen'
'pagelength': see help on 'screen'
'redoubles': see help on 'redouble' for details
'sortwho'. see help on 'sortwho'
'timezone': see help on 'timezones'

SEE ALSO

boardstyle redouble

NAME

shout - say something to all users

SYNOPSIS

shout <message>

DESCRIPTION

With the shout command you can say <message> to all users who are logged in and whose silent toggle is set to NO. If your own silent toggle is set to YES you can't use this command.

LIMITATIONS

The '!!' command doesn't work with shouts.
The number of shouts is limited for newcomers. This is a Backgammon server. If you want to talk to lots of people rather than play Backgammon please use IRC (ask your system administrator how to use IRC).

SEE ALSO

say

NAME

show - Display information

SYNOPSIS

show <item>

DESCRIPTION

You can use the show command to get information about <item>. There are only a few items currently available:

'show games'

gives you a list of all games that are played at the moment.

'show saved'

tells which of your matches are saved and what the score is.
If one of your opponents in those matches is currently logged in, you'll see an asterisk '*' before his or her name.
If your opponent is logged in and ready for a match you'll see two asterisks in front of the name.

'show watchers'

tells you who is watching who.

'show max'

displays the maximum of simultaneous users.

NAME: shutdown - shutdown the server
SYNOPSIS: shutdown <minutes> [restart]; shutdown now [restart]; shutdown stop
DESCRIPTION: This command shuts down the server. It can only be used by privileged users. If the first argument is a number the server shuts down in that number of minutes. If the second argument is the word 'now' the server shuts down immediately. If the word 'stop' is given as the first argument the shutdown sequence is halted. You can use the optional argument 'restart' to restart the server immediately after the shutdown. This is useful for installing a new version of the server.
During the last 10 minutes of a shutdown sequence the server disables all new logins.

NAME

sortwho - how the 'who' command sorts it's output

DESCRIPTION

The 'who' command can sort it's output in various styles. The style it uses is determined by the 'sortwho' variable. Valid values are:

login - sort by login time
name - sort by user name

You can set the 'sortwho' variable to one of the above values with the set command. If you want 'who' to sort by name you type: > set sortwho name

I will currently not add an option to sort the output by the player's ratings. People tend to overestimate the meaning of the ratings for the server. This will not be supported by sorting the who commands' output by those ratings.

SEE ALSO

set

who

NAME: stat - display system usage information about the server
SYNOPSIS: stat
DESCRIPTION: This command displays information about the system usage of the server on it's host machine (fraggel65.mdstud.chalmers.se). It's useful for the sysop only.

NAME: tell - say something to a specific player
SYNOPSIS: tell <name> <message>
DESCRIPTION: The say command is used to tell <name> that you say <message> to her or to him. If you are playing with <player> you can use the say command instead. To say something to all players and watchers of a game use the kibitz command. To say something to the watchers of a game only use the whisper command and to say something to all users use the shout command. You can use the single letter 't' as an abbreviation of 'tell'.
SEE ALSO: kibitz; say; shout; whisper

NAME: time - display the current time
SYNOPSIS: time; time <zone>; date; date <zone>
DESCRIPTION: The time command displays the current time. The timezone used for this is determined by the 'timezone' variable (default is UTC) or by the optional argument.
SEE ALSO: set; set

NAME

timezones - How the server supports different timezones

DESCRIPTION

The 'timezone' variable controls which timezone some commands use for displaying times. The commands that currently support timezones are 'who', 'date', 'last' and 'time'. Other commands do not use timezones yet.

To select a timezone you can type 'set timezone <zone>' where <zone> is the name of your timezone. You'll get a list of all supported timezones if you try to choose an unknown timezone name. I can't explain all the zones here. There are some US timezones that appear twice. If your timezone is e.g. EST and there is daylight saving time in your state you choose EST5EDT. But if you live in Indiana you choose EST because there's no daylight saving time in Indiana. There are many timezones. If you miss one, use one of the GMT+n or GMT-n zones or just use UTC. I cannot add support for more timezones and I can't change their names.

Your timezone setting is currently not saved. This will change.

SEE ALSO

set

who

NAME

tinyfugue - a few hints on using the TinyFugue client

DESCRIPTION

get it by ftp: from ferkel.ucsb.edu pub/mud/Clients/tf.2.1.beta2.tar.z
NEW: An improved version that uses a separate window to display the backgammon board is available now by ftp from figment.csee.usf.edu in directory pub/misc/FIBS_client Use the patch file to update from the original client or get the file tf.2.1.beta2.fibs.tar.z for the whole package.
unpack it using the gunzip and the tar program.
read the documentation that comes with TinyFugue. (esp. INSTALLATION)
edit the Makefile if necessary. I had to replace -DTERMCAP by -DHARDCODE in the FLAGS=... line near the top of it. Try this if the program tells you it can't use visual mode when you run it.
type 'make install'
create a file called .tfrc in your home directory containing the lines:
- /visual on
- /addworld FIBS your_login_name your_password 129.16.235.153 4321
  - (leave out name _and_ password if you don't like plain passwords on disk)
  - (make sure others can't read the file: chmod 600 .tfrc)
run the client
If you have problems using it, type the client's /help command.

That's as much help as I can give. PLEASE don't send mail to me about problems with it. It worked for me and all I wanted to do is showing you that MUD clients can be used (and maybe expanded) for FIBS.

NAME

toggle - display or change the value of toggles

SYNOPSIS

toggle

toggle <option>

DESCRIPTION

'toggle <option>' toggles the status of <option>.
'toggle' without any option gives you a list of currently available options and their status.
You can type 'to' instead of 'toggle'.

Valid options are:

  allowpip            autoboard           autodouble  automove            bell                crawford  double              greedy              moreboards    notify              ratings             rawboard   ready               report              silent    telnet              wrap

Type 'help toggle-<option>' to find out what <option> means.
Example: To find out what the 'bell' toggle means type: help toggle-bell

SEE ALSO

toggle-allowpip

toggle-autoboard

toggle-autodouble

toggle-automove

toggle-crawford

toggle-moreboards

toggle-rawboard

toggle-allowpip

NAME: toggle-allowpip
VALUES: YES: You allow the use of the servers 'pip' command.; NO: You don't allow the use of the servers 'pip' command.
DEFAULT: YES
SEE ALSO: toggle; pip

toggle-autoboard

NAME: toggle-autoboard
VALUES: YES: The board will be redrawn after every move; NO: You have to use the 'board' command to see the board.
DEFAULT: YES
SEE ALSO: toggle; board

toggle-autodouble

NAME: toggle-autodouble
VALUES: YES: doubles as the first roll double the cube.; NO: doubles as the first roll won't double the cube.
DEFAULT: NO
SEE ALSO: toggle

toggle-automove

NAME: toggle-automove
VALUES: YES: forced moves are done automatically.; NO: You have to move yourself.
DEFAULT: NO
SEE ALSO: toggle; move

NAME: toggle-bell
VALUES: YES: Your terminal rings the bell if someone talks to you or invites you.; NO: It doesn't.
DEFAULT: NO
SEE ALSO: toggle

toggle-crawford

NAME: toggle-crawford
VALUES: YES: You insist on using the Crawford rule.; NO: You would like to play without it if your opponent agrees.
DEFAULT: YES
SEE ALSO: toggle; crawford

NAME

toggle-double

VALUES

YES: You will be asked if you want to double.

NO: You won't be asked if you want to double.

If set to NO the server will roll for you even if you are allowed to double.

DEFAULT

YES

This toggle is reset to YES every time a new game is started or reloaded.

SEE ALSO

NAME: toggle-greedy
VALUES: YES: Try to bear off one piece per rolled number automatically.; NO: Let the player decide what pieces to bear off.
DEFAULT: NO; This toggle is reset to NO every time a game is started or loaded.
NOTE: Setting this toggle to YES is equivalent to issuing the 'off' command after every roll (if possible). This feature is not meant to be used by beginners. Make sure that you set this toggle to YES in non contact positions only, otherwise FIBS will automatically make moves for you that you certainly don't like. If you don't know what a (non) contact position is: this feature is not for you!
SEE ALSO: toggle; off

toggle-moreboards

NAME: toggle-moreboards
VALUES: YES: The board will be redrawn after each move and each roll.; NO: The board will be redrawn after each move only.
NOTE: Addtional boards will only be sent if you use boardstyle 3 to avoid unneccessary netload. This toggle was implemented to make it easier for programmers of graphical clients to receive information about rolls and moves.
SEE ALSO: toggle; boardstyle

NAME: toggle-notify
VALUES: YES: You'll be notified whenever someone logs in or out.; NO: You'll have to use the 'who' command to find out who is logged in.
DEFAULT: YES
SEE ALSO: toggle; who

NAME: toggle-ratings
VALUES: YES: You'll see how the ratings are calculated.; NO: You won't.
DEFAULT: NO
SEE ALSO: toggle; formula; ratings

toggle-rawboard

NAME: toggle-rawboard
DESCRIPTION: This toggle doesn't exist anymore. It was replaced by the variable 'boardstyle'. This variable can be changed with the 'set' command.
SEE ALSO: toggle; board; rawboard

NAME: toggle-ready
VALUES: YES: You are willing to play a game.; NO: You're refusing games.
DEFAULT: NO
SEE ALSO: toggle; invite

NAME: toggle-report
VALUES: YES: You will be informed whenever a match is started or finished.; NO: You won't be informed.
DEFAULT: YES
SEE ALSO: toggle

NAME: toggle-silent
VALUES: YES: You won't hear other players shouting.; NO: You will hear other players shouting.
DEFAULT: NO
SEE ALSO: toggle; shout

NAME: toggle-telnet
DESCRIPTION: Warning: The following description might look a bit technical. Users of client program might have the problems with the way FIBS shows the '[Return]' line when your 'pagelength' is set. If you need to receive an extra 'newline' just set this toggle to YES.
At the moment you can't save this toggle.
VALUES: YES: You are using telnet and don't need extra 'newlines'.; NO: You are using a client and will receive extra 'newlines'.
DEFAULT: YES
SEE ALSO: toggle; screen

NAME: toggle-wrap
VALUES: YES: The server will wrap lines longer than 80 characters.; NO: Your terminal knows how to wrap long lines.
DEFAULT: NO
NOTE: With the introduction of the pagelength and linelength variables this feature is obsolete. It will not be supported at all in the near future.
SEE ALSO: toggle; screen

NAME: unwatch - stop watching a player
SYNOPSIS: unwatch
DESCRIPTION: 'unwatch' is the opposite of 'watch'. You stop watching the player you are currently watching.
SEE ALSO: watch

NAME: version - display version number of the server
SYNOPSIS: version
DESCRIPTION: Type 'version' if you want to know what version of the server is currently running.

NAME

watch - watch a player

SYNOPSIS

watch <name>

DESCRIPTION

'watch <name>' can be used to watch the game <name> plays. You'll be informed about all rolls, moves and doubles in that game. If your autoboard toggle is YES you'll also see the board after each move. The board will be shown from 'player's point of view. You can't watch if your playing yourself and you can't watch more than one player at the same time. Use the 'unwatch' command if you don't want to watch 'player' anymore.

While watching you can use the kibitz and whisper commands to talk to players and other watchers.

SEE ALSO

toggle-autoboard

NAME: where - display full hostnames
SYNOPSIS: where; where <name>
DESCRIPTION: The 'where' command can be used to display the hostname usually shown by the 'who' command. Unlike the who command the hostname is always shown without length limitation. (The who command displays at most 29 characters of the hostname). Note that this command (unlike the 'last' command) uses name completion but it can only be used to look up users who are currently logged in. If no parameter <name> is given the server will show your hostname.
SEE ALSO: last; names; who

NAME: whisper - say something to watchers of a game
SYNOPSIS: whisper <message>
DESCRIPTION: You can use the whisper command if you are watching or playing a game and want to say something to all users watching this game. If you want to say something to the players too use the 'kibitz' command. You can use 'wh' as an abbreviation for 'whisper'.
SEE ALSO: kibitz; say; shout; tell

NAME

who - display information about currently logged in users

SYNOPSIS

who [ ready | playing | away | <name>]

DESCRIPTION

This command gives you a list of all players that are currently logged in. The optional arguments 'ready', 'playing' and 'away' limit the output to those players who are ready, playing or away. You can also give a player's <name> as an argument to get information about that player only. There are several columns of output for every player:

  S: Status of the player. It is displayed in 3 columns:    column 1:  P player is playing               R player is ready to play               - player is refusing to play    column 2:  W player is watching a game    column 3:  A player is marked away  username:    The name you can use to contact the player  rating:      The player's rating in the rating system.  login:       login time   idle:        Idle time of the user in minutes and seconds.  from:        name or Internet address of the player's computer  You can use 'w' as an abbreviation of 'who'  The way who sorts it's output is determined by the 'sortwho' variable.

SEE ALSO

set

NAME

whois - Display information about a player

SYNOPSIS

whois <name>

DESCRIPTION

The 'whois' command can be used to get information about a player. You will see the following information about the player:

the last login time
the last logout time (if known)
whether she or he is logged in at the moment or not and if so:
whether she or he is ready/playing/watching/away
the idle time if she or he is logged in
rating and experience (No information on the rank in the rating list is given. Don't ask for it, I will not add it)
her or his email address if she or he has used the 'address' command to make the address known to others.

Please not that this command does not use name completion so the name has to be given exactly as it is.

SEE ALSO

NAME: !! - repeat the last command
SYNOPSIS: !!
DESCRIPTION: If you want to repeat your last command just type !!. This does not work for the shout, tell, say, kibitz and whisper commands. For the message command it only works if you used it without arguments to check if there are new messages for you.

Mark Damish <damish@ll.mit.edu>

Last modified: Tue Aug 30 09:03:05 1994