Control-key Commands

The control-key commands below work from most anywhere on a Synchronet BBS — at any prompt, in the middle of a long display, while reading messages, while at the Main or File Transfer prompt. They're handled by Synchronet itself rather than by the command shell or any of its menus, so they behave the same way in every shell.

To use a control-key command, hold down the Ctrl key and press the indicated letter (e.g. Ctrl-S = hold Ctrl, press S).

Pressing Ctrl-K at any prompt displays the menu of control-key commands:

Ctrl-Key Commands (from most anywhere)

^K  This Menu
^C  Abort Current Process
^O  Toggle Pause Prompt Temporarily (currently On)
^Z  Toggle Raw Input/Output Mode (e.g. for ASCII-uploading msg text)
^U  List Users Online
^P  Send Instant-Messages and Telegrams
^T  Time Information

(^K is shorthand for Ctrl-K, ^C for Ctrl-C, etc.)

Shows the menu above.

The global abort key. Stops a long file listing, message dump, file search, or any in-progress BBS command and returns you to the prompt. At a “Hit a key” prompt, Ctrl-C (or Q) stops further pagination.

Turns the “Hit a key” pause off (or back on) for the current command. Useful when you want to dump a long file or message thread into a scrollback buffer without being interrupted by pause prompts. Reverts to your default (User Settings -> P) when the command finishes.

Switches between cooked and raw I/O. Most users never need this; it's intended for ASCII-uploading message text (i.e. sending pre-composed message text directly into the built-in line editor without the BBS interpreting individual characters as commands).

Shows the list of users currently logged on to the BBS, with their node numbers and what each is doing.

Send a private one-line instant message to another user currently online (it appears on their screen immediately), or a telegram to a user not online (queued for them to read at next logon). Synchronet picks the right delivery method based on whether the recipient is online.

Shows your time used, time remaining, your current node, and the time of day.

A handful of additional control characters are interpreted by the terminal layer (TCP/IP, telnet, the BBS's I/O code) but aren't on the Ctrl-K menu because they're not “BBS commands” per se:

• Ctrl-S / Ctrl-Q — pause / resume scrolling (if your terminal honors XON/XOFF flow control). The Ctrl-K pause (Ctrl-O) is the BBS-level equivalent and works regardless of terminal flow-control support.
• Ctrl-J (or Down Arrow) — at auto-pause prompts, scroll one line at a time (instead of one full page).

When the BBS is prompting you for text input (a username, a subject line, a search string, etc.) a richer set of editing keys becomes active. These work on the current input line only — they are not the global Ctrl-K commands. Arrow keys and extended keys work on terminals that support them; the Ctrl-key equivalents work on any terminal.

For a complete technical reference, see Terminal Server → Extended Keys.

• User Documentation
• User Listings (Ctrl-U is one entry point; the listing menus let you query more deeply)
• User Settings (Ctrl-O state defaults configured here as the Screen Pause option)
• Terminal Server — extended-key escape sequences and technical details