Difference between Fronttalk and Picospan This help topic summarizes differences between Fronttalk and Picospan. They are similar enough that Picospan users will find most things work the same, but Fronttalk does not attempt to clone Picospan exactly. Differences include: * Several Picospan commands aren't implemented yet in Fronttalk. Missing commands include LEAVE. You can't yet use the SET command to set RESIGN, JOIN, or PASSWORD. * Some Picospan features will never be implemented in Fronttalk. This includes party (synchronous) items and clusters. Commands like MAIL, CHAT and WHO which are just wrappers around unix commands also will probably not be implemented. Settings like RELOAD, SAVESEEN, MESG, and AUTOSAVE will never be implemented. * On the Fronttalk command line or on the JOIN command you can give a conference name like "hvcn:design" or "grex:agora" to indicate that you want to join the given conference on the given system. * The Fronttalk SERVER command connects you to a different Backtalk server. "DISPLAY SERVERS" gives a list of servers known to Fronttalk. "DISPLAY THISSERVER" gives information about the current server. * In Fronttalk, you can use the FAVOR command to mark items as favorites, and these will be shown before other items, unless you read or browse with the NOFAVFIRST flag. There is also a DISFAVOR command. * Fronttalk can retitle an item with the RETITLE command, which can be issued either at the OK prompt or the "Respond or pass" prompt. * Fronttalk users can set a private title on any item using the MYTITLE command. * In Fronttalk, if you connected to a system in observer mode, without logging in, you can login later with the LOGIN command. * Fronttalk uses "readline" to read commands. This enables editing the command line and accessing the command history with your arrow keys. * In Fronttalk, the NOFORGET flag doesn't make hidden responses visible, it only makes retired and forgotten items visible. Instead there is a separate "SET NOHIDE" switch that makes hidden responses visible. Also, in Fronttalk, doing "ONLY 12" will display the text of response 12 even if it is hidden. * When the Fronttalk NEXT command hits the end of the conference list, it does an automatic REWIND. * The Fronttalk NEW and POSTPONE commands take an optional argument. If given, this is the response number which will be the first new response the next time you read the item. Fronttalk adds HOLD as a synonym for POSTPONE. * Fronttalk adds an UNEXPURGATE command. HIDE is a synonym for EXPURGATE. SHOW is a synonym for UNHIDE. ERASE is a synonym for SCRIBBLE. * In Fronttalk, FORGET, REMEMBER, FREEZE, THAW, RETIRE, UNRETIRE, and KILL can be given with arguments at the "Respond or Pass" prompt, just as they can be at the OK prompt. Without an argument they default to the current item, of course. * In Fronttalk, FORGET, REMEMBER, FREEZE, THAW, RETIRE, UNRETIRE, LINK, FIX, and KILL can be given CONFIRM or NOCONFIRM flags. If CONFIRM is set, each selected item's header will be printed, and you'll be asked if you want to operate on that item. Confirm defaults on for the KILL command and off for the rest. * In Picospan, the SET STAY flag effects all commands RESPOND, FORGET, REMEMBER, FREEZE, THAW, RETIRE, and UNRETIRE. In Fronttalk it effects only the RESPOND command. The SET MODESTAY flag effects the others and defaults on instead of off. * The FIND command also searchs text of item titles and can search for responses by particular authors. * In Fronttalk, item ranges on commands like READ, BROWSE, or FORGET can include arguments like (joe,sue,fred) to select only items authored by the listed users. * The Picospan "DISPLAY CONFERENCE" command is not supported in Fronttalk. Use "DISPLAY THISCONFERENCE" instead. In Fronttalk, "DISPLAY CONFERENCES" is a synonym for Picospan's "HELP CONFERENCES". * Fronttalk does not have a built-in text entry system. An external program like "gate" must be used. Because of this, the EDALWAYS flag is always on. * Fronttalk's parsing of dates in commands like "READ SINCE Jan 31" is different than Picospan. It mostly accepts a broader range of date syntax, but it may interpret some dates slightly differently. In particular "-1" means 24 hours ago, not the begining of yesterday. * Separator syntax differs to some degree. There are a number of Picospan separators that Fronttalk doesn't implement, and there are a few additions to the separators. Some of the default separators are different as well.