The K Desktop Environment

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3. Usage

3.1 Connecting to a mud host

Quick Connect

To connect quickly to a host simply go in the Mud-Menu an selecet the quick connect option. Enter the hostname or the ip-adress of the host and the portnumber. If you do not specify the portnumber the value 23 (standard telnet port) will be assumed.

Connection Wizard

The connection wizard is used to create character/mud profiles for connecting to a mud. To display the connection wizard, select "Connection Wizard" in the "Mud" menu.

To create a new character and mud profile, click the "New" button. A new dialog comes up where you can enter the characters name into the "name" text field. You can assign an existing profile to this character when you press "Select" beside the profile. Then enter the details for the mud into text fields in the mud section. If the mud already exists and your just creating a new character, clicking the "Select" button will allow you to select a mud. Once the detils have been entered click "Ok" to return to the main window or "Connect" to connect to the new mud.

To edit an existing character and mud, select the profile from the list on the left hand side. This will display the character details in a new dialog. Make any changes that are needed using the text fields then press the "OK" button to update the changes and close the dialog.

3.2 Aliases / Macros

Alias are used to perform commands when either text is entered into the kmud input line or a command is preformed by pressing a key. This could be used for example to show a players health when the alias 'hp' is used.

To create an alias select "Aliases" from the "Profile" menu. The aliases are used to create new commands. The new commands are made up from several existing commands. If for example you wanted to create a command called "move" that made a character move north , south then west you would press the "New" button in the aliases dialogue,a new dialog comes up and then enter the commands "north ; south ; west" into the "Definition" text field. The name of the new alias should be entered into the "Alias Name" field, in our case "move". If you wish the alias to be activate by pressing a key like F1 then press the "change" button and setup the key you want to use. Kmud recognizes numpad keys. So that way you can setup numpad walking by assigning for example the "8" on your keypad to "north". Press "OK" to apply the changes or "Cancel" for just closing the dialog.

Same way like inserting a new alias you can edit an existing one by selecting an alias in the list and clicking on the "Edit" button. To delete an alias select the alias from the list and press the "Delete" button. Press "OK" in the alias dialog to close the dialog and save your changes. "Cancel" will close the dialog without applying the changes.

3.3 Triggers

Triggers allow Kmud to send a command to a mud when a certian text message is received from the mud. This could be done for example to make a character take a drink when the Kmud recives the message "You are thristy.".

To create a trigger, select the triggers option in the profile menu. This will display a dialog with a list of triggers that have been created. If there are no triggers for the current mud then the list will be empty.

To create a new trigger select the 'New' button. This will open a new dialog with two text fields. Enter the text into the trigger field that cause Kmud to send a command to mud. The command is be sent should be entered into the definition field. Click the 'OK' button to create the trigger or the 'Cancel' button to cancel the creation of the trigger.

Triggers can be edited or deleted from the trigger list by clicking on the 'Delete' and 'Edit' buttons in the triggers dialog. Clicking the 'OK' button in the triggers dialogs will save the triggers and clicking the 'Cancel' button will close the dialog with out saving the changes.

3.4 Logging

The logging options in Kmud are used to save the output from Kmud into a text file. The logging option can be activated/deactivated clicking the logging button on the tool bar.

To change the file that the log is written to, select the logging option from the Profile menu. This will open the logging setup dialog. This has a check box for activating/deactivating the logging and a text field where the file name of the log that is to be appended to. Clicking the 'OK' button will save the settings and the 'Cancel' button will abort the changes.

3.5 Speed walking

The speed walking option eables Kmud to repeat a command several times upon it's entry into the input line. For example it walk north 6 times the user would enter '.6n'. This allows the charcater to speed walk to places. The '.' character is the speedwalking character and can be configured from the preferences.

3.6 Options

You can change the Font and Colour settings in the Menu "Options". Under "Preferences" you can setup the echo behaviour and the memory settings. "Keep last input" means that the when enter is pressed in the input line the text is not deleted only highlighted. "Auto reconnect" is used to turn the auto reconnect option on or off. The options "Use \007 as a beep" when set is used to make a character 7 received from the mud produce a beep sound. "Local Echo" means the printing of your input to the mud-window and "Input Echo" the showing of your entered text in the input line (command line). In the buffer setup you can limit the maximum number of saved in the mud-window and in the input history to save memory allocated by the application. "Save" will explicitly save your options, but they are saved in any case you change the settings, either.

3.7 Connection indicator and timer

On the status bar there is a timer that shows how long you have been connect to a mud. This timer will start when you connect to a mud and stop when you disconnect from the mud. There is also a icon that changes to represent the connected/disconnected state of Kmud.

3.8 Auto Reconnect

Kmud provides a feature for reconnecting to a mud when the mud disconnect you. The Auto Reconnect options can be activated in the preferences. When the options is on and Kmud is disconnect from the mud that is running, a window will appear asking if you want to reconnect. Click on the "Reconnect" button to reconnect or cancel if you don't wish to reconnect. If neither of the buttons have been pressed in 10 seconds, then Kmud will attempt to connect automatically.

3.9 Multiline input for entering large texts with line breaks

It is possible to send large amounts of text to a mud. This can be difficult to do using the input lines. There is a option in the view menu that is used to display the mutiline input window. This window will allow multiple lines of text with line breaks to be sent a mud. This can be useful for things like chatting.

3.10 Output notification after some silent time in the mud

If kmud receives output and the user does not use kmud for a configurable amount of time, then kmud will inform the user that kmud as received input by flashing the kmud icon on the title bar.

The time before the icon starts to flash can be configured in the preferences in the Output Notification section.

3.11 Split screen when scrolling back in history

When scrolling backwards in the history window of kmud, the history window will split into two sections. The top section is the history and this can be scrolled through using the scroll bar. The bottom section is used is display any new input that arrives from the mud while you are scrolling through the history. To join the two sections again, scroll too the bottom of the history section.

3.12 Command Line Parameters

There are several command line parameters than can be used when starting Kmud from the command line. Kmud suppors the following parameters:

  • -h, --help Show this help.
  • -v, --version Show kmud version.
  • -h host, --host host Connect to specified host.
  • -p port, --port port Connect to specified port.
  • -w , --wizard Connect to specified mud wizard entry.
  • Examples: kmud -w \"Sunbright@Midnight Sun\" kmud --wizard Sunbright@WOW kmud --host midnight-sun.ludd.luth.se --port 3000

    3.13 Help

    This user manual will be displayed when you press F1 in the application. Besides there are many situations where you can get quickhelp. Just right-click on the area where you want help and select "Quickhelp" in the appearing menu.

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