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.

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:

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.
/buffer clear|top|bottom
The buffer command manipulates the current buddy's buffer (chat window).
clear clear the current buddy chat window
top jump to the top of the current buddy chat buffer
bottom jump to the bottom of the current buddy chat buffer
/clear
The clear command is actually an alias for "/buffer clear".
/del
Delete the current buddy from our roster, unsubscribe from its presence notification and unsubscribe it from ours.
/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…).
/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.
/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).
/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).
/roster bottom|top|hide_offline|show_offline|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
hide_offline hide offline buddies
show_offline show offline buddies
search bud search for a buddy with a name or buddy containing "bud" (only in the displayed buddylist)
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.
/status [online|avail|invisible|free|dnd|notavail|away]
Set the current status. If no status is specified, display the current status.

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 a lot. Please tell me if you find one! :-)

AUTHOR

Written by Mikael BERTHE.
Originally based on Cabber, please consult the AUTHORS file for details.

RESOURCES

Main web site

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).