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3.1 Basics

Starting

When you start PyIRC, you will be asked to select a server from the server selection window. As it is the first time you connect, you will have to enter some default values.

First, enter new servers in the server section of the dialog box. Enter the server address in the Server address line editor, and the server port in the Server port line editor. Click on the Add server button to add the server in the server list. You can repeat this operation as many times as you want. Do not remember to select a server in the list, and select the nickname section of the dialog box.

In the nickname section, enter the nickname you want to use in the Nickname line editor. Enter the username we will try to use in the Username line editor. I said we will try, because if the server uses ident and your host has an ident daemon, your username will be your login. Finally, enter your ircname (also known as realname) in the Ircname/Realname line editor, and select the settings section of the dialog box.

In the settings section of the connection dialog box, you can save your current settings (to do so, click on the Save button) or you can revert your changes by clicking on the Load button. The changes are saved in the file $HOME/.pyirc.conf, where $HOME is the user's home directory). You can finally click on the Ok button.

You will be connected to the server you have selected, and the client will register you on the server.

As soon as you get registered (when you receive the "Welcome to the Internet Relay..." message), PyIRC will search a file named $HOME/.pyircrc (where $HOME is the user's home directory) and will execute it, if it is found. This file must be a PyIRC script, as described in a next section.

Server window

The main window is the Server window. This is where all the server-related messages are echoed. The server window is divided into three parts. The top part of the window contains a menu bar, the bottom part of the window, a command line, and in the rest, the message widget, used to display the messages.

The menu bar

Here is a description of the server window's menu bar:

The message widget

The message widget is used to display all the informations. Its behaviour is common to all windows in PyIRC. It displays text with optional attributes:

In all cases, it is better to select a non proportionnal font for the message widget. The default one is Courier 12.

The command line

The command line is common to all windows in PyIRC. However, in the server window, all input must start with the command character, which is / (slash). It allows you to enter commands.

The channel window

A channel window is a window which contains the dialogs of a channel. It allows the user to log the conversations in a file, and it has a nick list, representing the people who are on the channel. You can use the right mouse button to pop up a context sensitive menu which doesn't work yet in version 0.07 .

The message window

The message window is designed to handle queries with users.


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