Mnemonic strings are strings of text characters displayed by the Terminal Server where command-key mnemonics are either highlighted using the Mnemonic Prompts High attribute value from the ctrl/attr.cfg file (when the user's terminal supports ANSI or PETSCII) or identified with enclosing parenthesis or brackets, for example:
Private: (T)elegram, (M)essage, (C)hat, (I)nterBBS, or (Q)uit:
The mnemonic source strings are located in either the ctrl/text.dat file or various Baja or JavaScript source files and displayed with the respective MNEMONICS or console.mnemonics() functions.
The command keys are identified in mnemonic source strings by preceding the command character with a tilde (~) character or a backtick (`) character, for example:
Private: ~Telegram, ~Message, ~Chat, ~InterBBS, or ~Quit:
In addition to highlighting the command-keys, mouse hot-spots are automatically created so that a BBS user with a supporting terminal can use their mouse to click the command and the appropriate key will be automatically stuffed into the keyboard input buffer. By default, so-called “hungry hot-spots” are created. To create “strict hot-spots” instead, use the backtick syntax, for example:
Private: `Telegram, `Message, `Chat, `InterBBS, or `Quit:
Commands preceded by backticks (instead of tildes) are also displayed with brackets instead of parenthesis for non-ANSI/PETSCII terminals:
Private: [T]elegram, [M]essage, [C]hat, [I]nterBBS, or [Q]uit:
To create a hungry hot-spot that sends a carriage-return (CR) when clicked, place the ~ before a control character or the end of the string, for example:
Which, ~Quit or [Next]: ~