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USE OF THE STANFORD AI LAB TIME-SHARING SYSTEM


	This  brief writeup  is  for people  who  intend to  use  the
Stanford  Artificial Intelligence Laboratory for  purposes other than
programming.  More information is contained in the Monitor Manual.

	The first step in using the system is to log in and  the last
step is to  log out.  Before that  you need log in initials.   Let us
suppose  your name is Isaac  B. Newton and you would  like to use the
initials  IBN.   More  than  three  letters won't  work  and  certain
programs produce highly ambinguous results with one or two, so please
use exactly three.  To  find whether IBN is  already in use, type  to
the system "FING IBN".  If it replies that  the user is unknown, then
the initials are free,  and you can use them.  Otherwise it will tell
you some facts about user IBN, and you have to choose other initials.

	Besides programmer initials one needs a project name.   These
have no special  meaning in our laboratory, so choose  what you want,
but  students in  a course  should choose  the number of  the course.
Assuming that Isaac using  the computer in connection with  CS666, he
would  then log  in by  typing  "l 666/ibn".   (The  system  and many
programs don't  distinguish  upper  and lower  case  for  programmer,
project and file  names).  The  system will respond with  some system
messages and finally with  ".".  The system always types . when it is
ready to  obey  a  command.   Other  programs  use  different  prompt
characters when they are ready for commands.

	One  can always  get  the system's  attention  by typing  the
button labelled "CALL".

	All commands to the system end with carriage return, and many
programs also require carriage return to terminate a command.

	When one is  ready to quit, one  gives the command "K"  which
logs out  and frees  the terminal and  other resources you  have been
using.  Naturally you have  to be talking to  the system to log  out,
and so you may have to type CALL first.


FILES

	Much of  one's  use of  the computer  involves the  creation,
modification,  and use of files.   These files are  kept on the Ampex
disk, and our total capacity is about one billion bytes,  but various
overheads reduce  this considerably.  You  will have a quota  of disk
files,  and if you  try to keep more  than this, some  of them may be
purged.  The  only way to make  the system remember information  from
one day to another is to keep it in a file.

	For each project-programmer combination (called a ppn), there
is  a  directory,  which  is  a  file  listing  the  names  and  some
characteristics of  each  file belonging  to that  ppn.   Within  the
directory each file  has a name consisting of two parts the second of
which may be missing.  The first part is up to 6 characters,  and the
second part  is up to three  characters and is called  the extension.
Some  programs  give certain  extensions  particlular meanings.   The
following are all legal file names:

	GEORGE
	GEORGE.DOC
	A11.7

As you have noted, the  two parts are separated by ".".   These names
are for use  when logged in under the ppn  to which the files belong.
Their full names  would be  GEORGE[666,IBN], GEORGE.DOC[666,IBN]  and
A11.7[666,IBN], and  the full names  must be used  when logged  in as
something other than  [666,ibn].  Note the square brackets.  Here are
some system  commands dealing with  files; to  use them  you must  be
talking to the system.

	DI lists the files in your directory.
	DEL <file name> deletes that file.
	COPY <file name  1> ← <file name 2> copies  file2, naming the
copy file1.
	RENAME <file name 1> ← <file name 2> gives it the name file2.
	SP  <file name>  prints it  on the  line printer.   DON'T USE
LIST.
	XS <file name> prints it on the xgp printer.   This uses more
computer time.

All these commands have variants described in the Monitor Manual.


THE KEYBOARD

	The terminals  in the laboratory use a  special keyboard.  An
ordinary typewriter keyboard has  a SHIFT key  that modifies the  the
effect of  other  keys but  has no  effect  if pressed  itself.   Our
keyboard  has four shift keys  called SHIFT, TOP,  CONTROL, and META.
SHIFT is used for distinguishing upper  and lower case.  TOP is  used
for  getting the  top  symbol on  the  key.   CONTROL  and META  have
functions  determined by the program being  used.  Besides these keys
and the ordinary keys, there are keys called BREAK, ESC, CLEAR, FORM,
CALL, LINE, and ALT.   Some of their functions are inherited from the
ways particular programs interpreted the keys on a Model 33 teletype,
but they depend on the program.


THE LINE EDITOR

	A program can tell  the system whether it wants  to see every
character  immediately when it is  typed or whether it  is willing to
wait for a signal character and  then take all that have been  typed.
It can say  what the signal characters shall be.   Carriage return is
always  a signal  character, and  for many  programs, it is  the only
signal character.  In that  case, program needn't be in  memory until
carriage return is typed.   Until you type a carriage return or other
signal character, you are talking to a part of the system called  the
line editor.  It  is fully described in the Monitor  Manual, but here
are a few of its more useful features.

	BS takes back the last character typed.
	CLEAR clears the line for a fresh start.
	<CONTROL>BS moves back in the line one character to get early
mistakes.
	<CONTROL>SPACE moves  forward in  the line  without  changing
characters.
	<CONTROL>TAB moves to the end of the line.
	<META><any character> inserts that character.
	<CONTROL>I enters "insert mode" and any of the above gets out
of it.

	Except  in  certain programs,  <CONTROL>carriage  return gets
back the last  line typed so  that it can  be modified with the  line
editor.


RUNNING A PROGRAM

	If the program is a  public program, R <program> loads it and
starts it up.  It will usually give a prompt character (often *), and
then you are talking to it with results determined by its description
or  manual.  You  can always  get back to  the system with  CALL, but
often the program prefers some more graceful way of exiting  and will
finish what it was doing for you.   If the program belongs to a user,
the  command is RU <program  name>.  If you aren't  logged in as that
user, then the name must be the full name.

	Sometimes the program requires  a file name or other  data as
an argument  on the command line  that calls it.   Also some programs
are called by  just typing their  names without R.   This is  because
these programs are considered particularly useful.


THE EDITOR E

	An editor is a program used to  create and modify text files.
We  have several, but E  is the editor  most used and  favored by the
system.  It is entered from the system by the command CE  <file name>
if you wish to create a new file with that name and by the command ET
<file name> if you with to edit a file with that name.

	An  E file consists of at least  two pages the first of which
is a directory.  CE  <file name> will get you started ready  to write
the second page of the file.  E has lots of commands and the best way
to learn them is with system  command HELP ETEACH which will get  you
into a program that will teach you to use E.


OTHER COMMANDS PROGRAMS AND FEATURES

	"MAIL ibn" can be used to send a message  to user ibn that he
will  be told about  the next time  he logs in.   After  you type the
carriage return, you will be instructed, but as usual, there  is more
in the Monitor Manual.

	To receive  mail, type  ET ∂,  and you  will be  editing your
incoming mail file with E.  It helps to know how to use E.

	FING tells who is logged into the system.

	FING  <programmer> tells when a user  last used the system or
where he is logged in.

	FIND <item> IN <file name> searches a file for occurrences of
<item> and prints the  "paragraph" punctuated by blank lines in which
it occurs.  FIND Newton will find our friend Newton's address in  the
Laboratory telephone directory.

	PUB is  a  program for  printing nice  documents,  but it  is
expensive to use.

	Finally, if you  actually must write a program, the languages
SAIL, LISP,  FORTRAN,  FAIL (PDP-10  assembly language)  and  several
others  are  available with  manuals.    The  UUO Manual  tells  what
programs can tell the time-sharing system.