Channelbot

Channelbot

Instructions for use of the Channelbot plugin on the Babaschess interface!

Joining a Channelbot channel

Many of the Channelbot channels are by invitation only. Some are password protected. First you join a Channelbot channel with a FICS server command such as

tell ChannelBot join <channelNumber> [password]

(Throughout these instructions, replace the placeholder <channelNumber> with the actual channel number that you are joining.) If the join command that you were given includes a password, please note that Channelbot passwords are case sensitive.

Interacting with Channelbot

After joining, there are two ways to interact with Channelbot. You can either type console commands (using an alias to save keystrokes) OR install the Channelbot plugin for Babaschess. The plugin is recommended because it is so easy to use; it displays Channelbot channels in a tabbed window alongside your regular channels.

Installing the Channelbot Plugin for Babaschess

The procedure to install this plugin has several steps. You'll (1) download a small file, (2) install it and restart Babas, (3) verify the plugin installation, then (4) make one change to your Babaschess preferences. Ready?

First download the Channelbot plugin for Babaschess and save the file on your hard drive. Make a note of where you saved it. (Don't try to run the file; installation doesn't work that way.) You may have seen a version of the Channelbot plugin on the Babaschess website, but we recommend the uplevel version hosted here on the Emporium in which the channel tabs are distinctly labelled.
Now install the plugin as follows. On your Babaschess menu bar, click Plugins, Configure, Add. Navigate to the 64k file named ChannelBot.BCPLUGIN file that you just downloaded and select it. Babaschess will restart.
After Babas has restarted, your screen looks the same! Don't worry -- this is normal. The Channelbot window won't appear until you send it a tell, like so. On your FICS console type
tell channelbot tell <channelNumber> hello
You should now see the Channelbot Channel <channelNumber> tab to the right of your other channel tabs.
You can send an automatic tell every time you log in to FICS by editing your Babaschess preferences.
On your Babas menu bar, click File, Preferences. Select the Server menu. (If it isn't visible, then expand the General menu by clicking the plus (+) sign under General on the left side.)
The Logon Scripts form is a white space where you can paste several lines of FICS commands that should run every time you log on to FICS. Into the Logon Scripts form, type or paste what you want to tell the channel whenever you log on. For example:
tell channelbot tell <channelNumber> has logged on
Save your Babas Preferences. To test your new logon script, just log off and log on again. You should see your message appear in the Channelbot window.

Congratulations -- you're done! Now go chat with your friends in your new Channelbot window. :-)

Alias

If you don't use Babaschess or you don't want to install the Channelbot plugin, there is an alternative: you can talk to Channelbot in your console using an alias. An alias is a short text string that the FICS server replaces with a longer command string. The purpose of an alias is to reduce the number of keystrokes you need to type. In this procedure we will define

as an alias that stands for the string

tell channelbot xtell <channelNumber>

Go to your FICS main console and type, or cut and paste

alias c xtell channelbot tell $@

To send a tell to channelbot 323, for example, type

c 323 message

In this example, c 323 means tell channelbot tell 323.

Jin users who have to interact with Channelbot in the main console can improve the visual interface a little bit by configuring Channelbot messages to appear in a different color, since Jin is incapable of displaying channels in a window.

This Website maintained by Botchviniksince 2005 The majority of the content on this page was contributed by SkyMeadow of FICS

channelbot.bcplugin
File Size:	53 kb
File Type:	bcplugin

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