Guideposts and Groundrules

Guideposts and Groundrules
	Introduction

Typographic Conventions Used in this Book

When you see the teletype (typewriter-style font) typeface in this book, it's to let you know you that the affected words are:

Messages, prompts, file names, etc. which the operating system or an application puts on your screen. Such words appear in non-bolded teletype. For example: "Click the Get It! button."
Messages, file names, etc., similar to what you will see on your screen (what you see will vary according to specifics such as your userid or files in your directory). Such messages or names are displayed in non-bolded teletype italic.
Commands or information that YOU should TYPE in exactly as shown, including blank spaces. If the instructions show both upper- and lower-case letters, then you must match the case of each character, as shown. Such words appear in teletype bold, for example, "Enter the command ls -la." Note that if a command ends a sentence, we use a period to end the sentence. The period is not in teletype (period is visibly smaller and not bold), and therefore is not part of the command! Bold teletype words inside "angle brackets," such as <Ctrl> or <F1> indicate a key which you must press, alone or in conjunction with another key, to issue a command.

Words you must replace with user-supplied information such as a userid. Such words appear in bold teletype italic, for example, "Enter userid".

Summary of typographic conventions	The Computer Types (non-bold)	You Type (bold)
Exactly as shown (non-italic)	`normal teletype`	`bold teletype`
Substitute your information (italic)	`italic teletype (non-bold)`	`bold italic teletype`

On NERSP, Pine e-mail commands are displayed on your screen in forms such as ^T To Addrbk and L FOLDER LIST. That is, the name of the actual key(s) you press to execute a command is followed by the functional name of the command: L is the command and FOLDER LIST is the name of the command. In preparing this book, we chose to boldface the command keys, as inL FOLDER LIST, to avoid any confusion over what is a command and what is a description of a command.

Exceptions to Typographic Conventions

To avoid visual clutter when numerous references to a "teletype" word appear nearby, only introductory uses of the term, and the more active uses of commands and file names, etc., may be shown in teletype font.

Making a good case

Unlike many computer systems with which you may be familiar, UNIX is case sensitive. By that we mean UPPER-CASE letters and lower-case letters are NOT EQUIVALENT. If a file, a directory, or a command is called "FOO" but you type "foo", the computer will NOT recognize what you "mean." In fact the BEST you can hope for is that the computer will respond something like:

bash: foo: command not found

The worst that can happen would be that there is a command or program called "foo" and that command would be executed instead of "FOO".

Fortunately, most UNIX commands are all lower case (although some of the options which may accompany the commands are in upper case!), so, if you always stick to lower case, you should have relatively few problems. However, if you start to experience problems in running a command, or finding a file or directory, the first thing to do is to check your capitalization and make sure you've got it exactly right!

Glossary of Instructional Terms

Enter: To use the <Enter> key to execute a command. For example, "Enter the pine command" means to type the word pine at the command prompt, and immediately afterward press the <Enter> key to execute the command. In some instances in this book, use of the <Enter> key will be explicit; in other instances it will be implied, as in the example "Enter the pine command."
highlight: When we discuss the Pine e-mail system, there will be references to "highlighted selections" and the "selection bar." This means Pine displays certain text--typically, the names of its menus and selected commands--as white letters on a black horizontal bar. In the case of the "selection bar," you use the arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight the desired item, then press <Enter> to execute the command.
Inbox: The folder where your new (unread mail messages) reside (used by the Pine mail program).
screen: Your PC display/monitor and/or the information displayed on it. In this book most of the illustrations are of screens that Pine and the UNIX operating system display on your monitor.
teletype font: If you are reading the Web version of CNS UNIX, we don't know which typeface you are using to display "monospaced" words. It may be the font Courier, or Chicago, or something else. Therefore in this document we say "teletype font" to refer to any monospace-style font. Monospace means that a large fixed-width space is allotted to display all letters, numbers and characters, regardless of the fact that some letters (W, M, O, for example) are fatter than slim letters such as "l" and "i". See Typographic Conventions Used in this Book in Chapter 3 for details on the meaning of words displayed in teletype fonts.
terminal: Your PC; the keyboard/video monitor combination used to communicate with a computer. Displays your keystrokes, etc., as well as the data/output from the computer(s) you are using.


How Will CNS UNIX Help Me?		Part 1: Terminals, Connections & Registration