MCABBER(1) Manual Page
NAME
mcabber - a simple Jabber console client
SYNOPSIS
mcabber [ -f configfile ] [ --help | -h ]
DESCRIPTION
mcabber(1) is a small Jabber console client.
For now it needs a configuration file to start, so please copy the sample
mcabberrc file and adapt your connection settings.
You also need to have an existing Jabber account to use this software, as it cannot (un)register accounts yet.
The mcabber(1) screen is divided into 4 regions. The roster, alias buddylist, is on the left. The chat window, or chat buffer, is on the right. The input line lies at the bottom of the screen, under a small log window.
To display buddies chat buffers, you will have to enter chat mode. You can enter chat mode by pressing enter, and leave chat mode with the ESC key. Simply sending a message will also enable chat mode.
Here are some of the features of mcabber:
-
SSL support.
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MUC support (Multi-User Chat).
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History logging: If enabled (see the CONFIGURATION FILE section), mcabber can save discussions to history log files.
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Commands completion: If possible, mcabber will try to complete your command line if you hit the Tab key.
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External actions: Some events (like receiving a message) can trigger an external action, for example a shell script (you need to enable it in your configuration file). A sample events script ("eventcmd") is provided with mcabber source code, in the contrib directory.
OPTIONS
- --help, -h
- Quick help usage message
- -f configfile
- Use configuration file configfile
KEYS
Text typing occurs in the input line; basic operations are supported (left arrow, right arrow, home/end keys, insert, delete, backspace…).
PageUp and PageDown keys are used to move in the roster.
To send a message, move to the choosen buddy in the buddylist, type your message and hit enter. If the line begins with a slash, this will be interpreted as a command (see the COMMAND section below). Hit escape to leave the chat mode.
Here is a quick description of the key bindings:
Ctrl-a | Go to the beginning of the input line |
Ctrl-e | Go to the end of the input line |
Ctrl-l | Force a resize |
PgUp/PgDown | Move inside the roster (buddylist) |
Tab | Complete current word, in the input line |
Ctrl-g | Cancel completion / ctrl-g |
Ctrl-p/Ctrl-n | Scroll up/down half a screen in the buffer window (chat mode) |
Ctrl-u | Delete from beginning of the line to the cursor |
Ctrl-k | Delete from the cursor to the end of line |
Ctrl-w | Backward kill word |
Ctrl-t | Transpose chars |
Ctrl-o | Accept line and put the next history line in the input line (accept-line-and-down-history) |
Ctrl-q | Jump to the next unread message |
COMMANDS
- /add jid [nickname]
- Add the "jid" Jabber user to our roster (default group), and send a notification request to this buddy. If no nickname is specified, the jid is used.
- /alias name = command line
-
Add "name" as an alias for "command line".
Aliases are expanded only once, thus they can not be chained.
"/alias name" displays the value associated with the "name" alias; "/alias name =" unsets the "name" alias.
Example: "/alias away = status away". - /bind keycode = command line
-
Bind a command line to the key with the "keycode" code number.
Keycodes of unused keys are displayed by mcabber in the log window when pressing the key, for example "Unknown key=265".
"/bind keycode" displays the command line bound to the given keycode; "/bind keycode" unbinds the given keycode.
Note: aliases can be used in key bindings.
Example: "/bind 265 = status online" (265 is F1 for me, but it may depend on your ncurses installation). - /buffer clear|top|bottom|search_backward|search_forward|date|%
-
The buffer command manipulates the current buddy's buffer
(chat window).
clear clear the current buddy chat window bottom jump to the bottom of the current buddy chat buffer top jump to the top of the current buddy chat buffer up [n] scroll the buffer up n lines (default: half a screen) down [n] scroll the buffer down n lines (default: half a screen) search_backward text search for "text" in the current buddy chat buffer search_forward text search for "text" in the current buddy chat buffer date date jump to the first line after the specified date in the chat buffer (date format: "YYYY-mm-dd[THH:MM:SS]", "-" and ":" are optional) % n jump to position %n of the buddy chat buffer - /clear
- The clear command is actually an alias for "/buffer clear".
- /connect
- Establish connection to the Jabber server.
- /del
- Delete the current buddy from our roster, unsubscribe from its presence notification and unsubscribe it from ours.
- /disconnect
- Terminate connection to the Jabber server. Note: the roster is only available when the connection to the server is active, so the buddylist is empty when disconnected.
- /group fold|unfold|toggle
-
The group command changes the current group display.
fold fold (shrink) the current group tree in the roster unfold unfold (expand) the current group tree in the roster toggle toggle the state (fold/unfold) of the current tree - /info
-
Display info on the selected entry (user, agent, group…).
For users, resources are displayed with the status, priority and status message (if available) of each resource. - /move [groupname]
-
Move the current buddy to the requested group. If no group is
specified, then the buddy is moved to the default group.
This command only works with users (not agents), at the moment.
Tip: if the chatmode is enabled, you can use "/roster alternate" to jump to the moved buddy. - /msay begin|verbatim|send|abort
-
Send a multi-line message. To write a single message with several
lines, the multi-line mode should be used.
In multi-line mode, each line (except command lines) typed in the input line will be added to the multi-line message. Once the message is finished, it can be sent to the current selected buddy with the "/msay send" command.
The verbatim multi-line mode disables commands, so that it is possible to enter lines starting with a slash. Only the "/msay" command (with send or abort parameters) can be used to exit verbatim mode.begin enter multi-line mode verbatim enter verbatim multi-line mode send send the current multi-line message to the currently selected buddy abort leave multi-line mode without sending the message - /quit
- Disconnect and leave mcabber(1).
- /rawxml send
- send string: send string (raw XML format) to the Jabber server. No check is done on the string provided. BEWARE! Use this only if you know what you are doing, or you could terminate the connection.
- /rename nickname
- Rename current buddy to the given nickname. This command does not work for groups, at the moment (but you can move the buddies to another group with the "/move" command).
- /room invite|join|leave|names|nick|privmsg|remove|topic|unlock
-
The room command handles Multi-User Chat room actions.
invite jid [reason] invite jid to the current room join room nick join "room", using "nick" as nickname leave [message] leave the current room names display members of the current room nick nick change your nickname in the current room privmsg nick msg send private message "msg" to "nick" remove remove the current room from the roster (you must have left this room before) topic set topic for current room unlock unlock current room (if you are the owner) - /roster bottom|top|hide_offline|show_offline|toggle_offline
- /roster alternate|unread_first|unread_next
- /roster search bud
-
The roster command manipulates the roster/buddylist. Here are the available parameters:
bottom jump to the bottom of the roster top jump to the top of the roster up move up in the roster down move down in the roster hide_offline hide offline buddies show_offline show offline buddies toggle_offline toggle display of offline buddies search bud search for a buddy with a name or buddy containing "bud" (only in the displayed buddylist) alternate jump to alternate buddy. The "alternate" buddy is the last buddy left while being in chat mode (this command is thus especially useful after commands like "/roster unread_first") unread_first jump to the first unread message unread_next jump to the next unread message - /say text
- Send the "text" message to the currently selected buddy. Can be useful if you want to send a message beginning with a slash, for example.
- /say_to jid text
- Send the "text" message to the specified jid. Please note that this command doesn't set the default resource for a contact, so if you want to send several messages to a specific ressource you will have to use "/say_to" for each message.
- /status [online|avail|invisible|free|dnd|notavail|away [-|StatusMessage]]
-
Show or set the current status.
If no status is specified, display the current status.
If a status message is specified, it will overrride the message* variables (these variables can be set in the configuration file). If no relevant message* variable is set and no status message provided, the current status message is kept. If StatusMessage is "-", the current status message is cleared. - /status_to jid online|avail|invisible|free|dnd|notavail|away [StatusMessage]
-
Send the requested status to the specified Jabber user.
Note: this status will be overridden by subsequent "/status" commands. If you are using the auto-away feature, the status will overridden too.
Note: The jid can include a resource (i.e. user@server/resource).
CONFIGURATION FILE
See the provided sample configuration file, which should be self-documented.
FILES
The following files can be used by mcabber(1):
$HOME/.mcabber/mcabberrc Default configuration file $HOME/.mcabberrc Configuration file used if no other has been found $HOME/.mcabber/histo/ Default directory for storing chat history files, if enabled
BUGS
Certainly. Please tell me if you find one! :-)
AUTHOR
Written by Mikael BERTHE.
Originally based on Cabber, please
consult the AUTHORS file for details.
RESOURCES
COPYING
Copyright © 2005 Mikael Berthe.
Some portions are Copyright © 2002-2004 cabber@ajmacias.com.
Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).