1 APPLICATION LAYER PROTOCOL FOR THE CITADEL SYSTEM
2 (c) 1995-2004 by Art Cancro et. al. All Rights Reserved
8 This is an attempt to document the application layer protocol used by the
9 Citadel system, beginning with version 4.00, which is the first version
10 to implement a client/server paradigm. It is intended as a resource for
11 programmers who intend to develop their own Citadel clients, but it may have
15 IMPORTANT NOTE TO DEVELOPERS!
16 -----------------------------
18 Anyone who wants to add commands or other functionality to this protocol,
19 *please* get in touch so that these efforts can be coordinated. New
20 commands added by other developers can be added to this document, so we
21 don't end up with new server commands from multiple developers which have
22 the same name but perform different functions. If you don't coordinate new
23 developments ahead of time, please at least send in an e-mail documenting
24 what you did, so that your new commands can be added to this document.
26 The coordinator of the Citadel project is Art Cancro
27 <ajc@uncensored.citadel.org>.
30 CONNECTING TO A SERVER
31 ----------------------
33 The protocols used below the application layer are beyond the scope of this
34 document, but we will briefly cover the methodology employed by Citadel.
36 Citadel offers Citadel BBS service using TCP/IP. It does so via a
37 multithreaded server listening on a TCP port. Local connections may also
38 be made using the same protocol using Unix domain sockets.
40 The port number officially assigned to Citadel by the IANA is 504/tcp. Since
41 our application layer assumes a clean, reliable, sequenced connection, the use
42 of UDP would render the server unstable and unusable, so we stick with TCP.
45 GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SERVER
46 ------------------------------------
48 The server is connection-oriented and stateful: each client requires its own
49 connection to a server process, and when a command is sent, the client must
50 read the response, and then transfer data or change modes if necessary.
52 The application layer is very much like other Internet protocols such as SMTP
53 or NNTP. A client program sends one-line commands to the server, and the
54 server responds with a three-digit numeric result code followed by a message
55 describing what happened. This cycle continues until the end of the
58 Unlike protocols such as FTP, all data transfers occur in-band. This means
59 that the same connection that is used for exchange of client/server
60 messages, will also be used to transfer data back and forth. (FTP opens a
61 separate connection for data transfers.) This keeps protocol administration
62 straightforward, as it can traverse firewalls without any special protocol
63 support on the firewall except for opening the port number.
69 The server will respond to all commands with a 3-digit result code, which
70 will be the first three characters on the line. The rest of the line may
71 contain a human-readable string explaining what happened. (Some client
72 software will display some of these strings to the user.)
74 The first digit is the most important. The following codes are defined for
75 this position: ERROR, OK, MORE_DATA, LISTING_FOLLOWS, and SEND_LISTING.
77 The second and third digits may provide a reason as to why a command
78 succeeded or failed. See ipcdef.h for the available codes.
80 ERROR means the command did not complete.
81 OK means the command executed successfully.
82 MORE_DATA means the command executed partially. Usually this means that
83 another command needs to be executed to complete the operation. For example,
84 sending the USER command to log in a user usually results in a MORE_DATA
85 result code, because the client needs to execute a PASS command to send the
86 password and complete the login.
87 LISTING_FOLLOWS means that after the server response, the server will
88 output a listing of some sort. The client *must* read the listing, whether
89 it wants to or not. The end of the listing is signified by the string
90 "000" on a line by itself.
91 SEND_LISTING is the opposite of LISTING_FOLLOWS. It means that the client
92 should begin sending a listing of some sort. The client *must* send something,
93 even if it is an empty listing. Again, the listing ends with "000" on a line
95 BINARY_FOLLOWS and SEND_BINARY mean that the client must immediately send
96 or receive a block of binary data. The first parameter will always be the
98 ASYNC_MESSAGE_FOLLOWS means that an asynchronous, or unsolicited, message
99 follows. The next line will be one of the above codes, and if a data transfer
100 is involved it must be handled immediately. Note that the client will not
101 receive this type of response unless it indicates to the server that it is
102 capable of handling them; see the writeup of the ASYN command later in this
108 Zero or more parameters may be passed to a command. When more than one
109 parameter is passed to a command, they should be separated by the "|"
112 In this example, we're using the "SETU" command and passing three
113 parameters: 80, 24, and 260.
115 When the server spits out data that has parameters, if more than one
116 parameter is returned, they will be separated by the "|" symbol like
119 In this example, we just executed the "GETU" command, and it returned us
120 an OK result code (the '2' in the 200) and three parameters: 80, 24, and
127 This is a listing of all the commands that a Citadel server can execute.
132 This command does nothing. It takes no arguments and always returns
133 OK. It is intended primarily for testing and development, but it might also
134 be used as a "keep alive" command to prevent the server from timing out, if
135 it's running over a transport that needs this type of thing.
138 ECHO (ECHO something)
140 This command also does nothing. It simply returns OK followed by whatever
146 Terminate the server connection. This command takes no arguments. It
147 returns OK and closes the connection immediately.
152 Log out the user without closing the server connection. It always returns
153 OK even if no user is logged in.
156 USER (send USER name)
158 The first step in logging in a user. This command takes one argument: the
159 name of the user to be logged in. If the user exists, a MORE_DATA return
160 code will be sent, which means the client should execute PASS as the next
161 command. If the user does not exist, ERROR + NO_SUCH_USER is returned.
166 The second step in logging in a user. This command takes one argument: the
167 password for the user we are attempting to log in. If the password doesn't
168 match the correct password for the user we specified for the USER command,
169 ERROR + PASSWORD_REQUIRED is returned. If a USER command has not been
170 executed yet, ERROR + USERNAME_REQUIRED is returned. If a user is already
171 logged in, ERROR + ALREADY_LOGGED_IN is returned. If the password is
172 correct, OK is returned and the user is now logged in... and most of the
173 other server commands can now be executed. Along with OK, the following
174 parameters are returned:
176 0 - The user's name (in case the client wants the right upper/lower casing)
177 1 - The user's current access level
180 4 - Various flags (see citadel.h)
182 6 - Time of last call (UNIX timestamp)
185 NEWU (create NEW User account)
187 This command creates a new user account AND LOGS IT IN. The argument to
188 this command will be the name of the account. No case conversion is done
189 on the name. Note that the new account is installed with a default
190 configuration, and no password, so the client should immediately prompt the
191 user for a password and install it with the SETP command as soon as this
192 command completes. This command returns OK if the account was created and
193 logged in, ERROR + ALREADY_EXISTS if another user already exists with this
194 name, ERROR + NOT_HERE if self-service account creation is disabled,
195 ERROR + MAX_SESSIONS_EXCEEDED if too many users are logged in, ERROR +
196 USERNAME_REQUIRED if a username was not provided, or ERROR + ILELGAL_VALUE
197 if the username provided is invalid. If OK, it will also return the same
198 parameters that PASS returns.
200 Please note that the NEWU command should only be used for self-service
201 user account creation. For administratively creating user accounts, please
202 use the CREU command.
205 SETP (SET new Password)
207 This command sets a new password for the currently logged in user. The
208 argument to this command will be the new password. The command always
209 returns OK, unless the client is not logged in, in which case it will return
210 ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN, or if the user is an auto-login user, in which case
211 it will return ERROR + NOT_HERE.
214 CREU (CREate new User account)
216 This command creates a new user account AND DOES NOT LOG IT IN. The first
217 argument to this command will be the name of the account. No case conversion
218 is done on the name. Note that the new account is installed with a default
219 configuration, and no password. The second argument is optional, and will be
220 an initial password for the user. This command returns OK if the account was
221 created, ERROR + HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED if the user is not an Aide, ERROR +
222 USERNAME_REQUIRED if no username was specified, or ERROR + ALREADY_EXISTS if
223 another user already exists with this name.
225 Please note that CREU is intended to be used for activities in which a
226 system administrator is creating user accounts. For self-service user
227 account creation, use the NEWU command.
230 LKRN (List Known Rooms with New messages)
232 List known rooms with new messages. If the client is not logged in, ERROR +
233 NOT_LOGGED_IN is returned. Otherwise, LISTING_FOLLOWS is returned, followed
234 by the room listing. Each line in the listing contains the full name of a
235 room, followed by the '|' symbol, and then a number that may contain the
238 #define QR_PERMANENT 1 /* Room does not purge */
239 #define QR_PRIVATE 4 /* Set for any type of private room */
240 #define QR_PASSWORDED 8 /* Set if there's a password too */
241 #define QR_GUESSNAME 16 /* Set if it's a guessname room */
242 #define QR_DIRECTORY 32 /* Directory room */
243 #define QR_UPLOAD 64 /* Allowed to upload */
244 #define QR_DOWNLOAD 128 /* Allowed to download */
245 #define QR_VISDIR 256 /* Visible directory */
246 #define QR_ANONONLY 512 /* Anonymous-Only room */
247 #define QR_ANON2 1024 /* Anonymous-Option room */
248 #define QR_NETWORK 2048 /* Shared network room */
249 #define QR_PREFONLY 4096 /* Preferred status needed to enter */
250 #define QR_READONLY 8192 /* Aide status required to post */
252 Then it returns another '|' symbol, followed by a second set of bits comprised
255 #define QR2_SYSTEM 1 /* System room; hide by default */
256 #define QR2_SELFLIST 2 /* Self-service mailing list mgmt */
258 Other bits may be defined in the future. The listing terminates, as with
259 all listings, with "000" on a line by itself.
261 Starting with version 4.01 and above, floors are supported. The first
262 argument to LKRN should be the number of the floor to list rooms from. Only
263 rooms from this floor will be listed. If no arguments are passed to LKRN, or
264 if the floor number requested is (-1), rooms on all floors will be listed.
266 The third field displayed on each line is the number of the floor the room
267 is on. The LFLR command should be used to associate floor numbers with
270 The fourth field displayed on each line is a "room listing order." Unless
271 there is a compelling reason not to, clients should sort any received room
272 listings by this value.
274 The fifth field is a special bit bucket containing fields which pertain to
275 room access controls:
277 #define UA_KNOWN 2 /* Known room */
278 #define UA_GOTOALLOWED 4 /* Access will be granted to this room
279 * if the user calls it up by name */
280 #define UA_HASNEWMSGS 8 /* Unread messages exist in room */
281 #define UA_ZAPPED 16 /* Zapped from known rooms list */
283 The sixth field is the user's current view for the room. (See VIEW command)
286 LKRO (List Known Rooms with Old [no new] messages)
288 This follows the same usage and format as LKRN.
291 LZRM (List Zapped RooMs)
293 This follows the same usage and format as LKRN and LKRO.
296 LKRA (List All Known Rooms)
298 Same format. Lists all known rooms, with or without new messages.
301 LRMS (List all accessible RooMS)
303 Again, same format. This command lists all accessible rooms, known and
304 forgotten, with and without new messages. It does not, however, list
305 inaccessible private rooms.
308 LPRM (List all Public RooMs)
310 Again, same format. This command lists all public rooms, and nothing else.
311 Unlike the other list rooms commands, this one can be executed without logging
315 GETU (GET User configuration)
317 This command retrieves the screen dimensions and user options for the
318 currently logged in account. ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN will be returned if no
319 user is logged in, of course. Otherwise, OK will be returned, followed by
320 four parameters. The first parameter is the user's screen width, the second
321 parameter is the user's screen height, and the third parameter is a bag of
322 bits with the following meanings:
324 #define US_LASTOLD 16 /* Print last old message with new */
325 #define US_EXPERT 32 /* Experienced user */
326 #define US_UNLISTED 64 /* Unlisted userlog entry */
327 #define US_NOPROMPT 128 /* Don't prompt after each message */
328 #define US_DISAPPEAR 512 /* Use "disappearing msg prompts" */
329 #define US_PAGINATOR 2048 /* Pause after each screen of text */
331 There are other bits, too, but they can't be changed by the user (see below).
334 SETU (SET User configuration)
336 This command does the opposite of SETU: it takes the screen dimensions and
337 user options (which were probably obtained with a GETU command, and perhaps
338 modified by the user) and writes them to the user account. This command
339 should be passed three parameters: the screen width, the screen height, and
340 the option bits (see above). It returns ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN if no user is
341 logged in, and ERROR + ILLEGAL_VALUE if the parameters are incorrect.
343 Note that there exist bits here which are not listed in this document. Some
344 are flags that can only be set by Aides or the system administrator. SETU
345 will ignore attempts to toggle these bits. There also may be more user
346 settable bits added at a later date. To maintain later downward compatibility,
347 the following procedure is suggested:
349 1. Execute GETU to read the current flags
350 2. Toggle the bits that we know we can toggle
351 3. Execute SETU to write the flags
353 If we are passed a bit whose meaning we don't know, it's best to leave it
354 alone, and pass it right back to the server. That way we can use an old
355 client on a server that uses an unknown bit without accidentally clearing
356 it every time we set the user's configuration.
361 This command is used to goto a new room. When the user first logs in (login
362 is completed after execution of the PASS command) this command is
363 automatically and silently executed to take the user to the first room in the
364 system (usually called the Lobby).
366 This command can be passed one or two parameters. The first parameter is,
367 of course, the name of the room. Although it is not case sensitive, the
368 full name of the room must be used. Wildcard matching or unique string
369 matching of room names should be the responsibility of the client.
371 Note that the reserved room name "_BASEROOM_" can be passed to the server
372 to cause the goto command to take the user to the first room in the system,
373 traditionally known as the Lobby>. As long as a user is logged in, a
374 GOTO command to _BASEROOM_ is guaranteed to succeed. This is useful to
375 allow client software to return to the base room when it doesn't know
378 There are also two additional reserved room names:
379 "_MAIL_" translates to the system's designated room for e-mail messages.
380 "_BITBUCKET_" goes to whatever room has been chosen for messages
383 The second (and optional) parameter is a password, if one is required for
384 access to the room. This allows for all types of rooms to be accessed via
385 this command: for public rooms, invitation-only rooms to which the user
386 has access, and preferred users only rooms to which the user has access, the
387 room will appear in a room listing. For guess-name rooms, this command
388 will work transparently, adding the room to the user's known room list when
389 it completes. For passworded rooms, access will be denied if the password
390 is not supplied or is incorrect, or the command will complete successfully
391 if the password is correct.
393 The third (and also) optional parameter is a "transient" flag. Normally,
394 when a user enters a private and/or zapped room, the room is added to the
395 user's known rooms list. If the transient flag is set to non-zero, this is
396 called a "transient goto" which causes the user to enter the room without
397 adding the room to the known rooms list.
399 The possible result codes are:
401 OK - The command completed successfully. User is now in the room.
402 (See the list of returned parameters below)
404 ERROR - The command did not complete successfully. Check the second and
405 third positions of the result code to find out what happened:
407 NOT_LOGGED_IN - Of course you can't go there. You didn't log in.
408 PASSWORD_REQUIRED - Either a password was not supplied, or the supplied
409 password was incorrect.
410 ROOM_NOT_FOUND - The requested room does not exist.
412 The typical procedure for entering a passworded room would be:
414 1. Execute a GOTO command without supplying any password.
415 2. ERROR + PASSWORD_REQUIRED will be returned. The client now knows that
416 the room is passworded, and prompts the user for a password.
417 3. Execute a GOTO command, supplying both the room name and the password.
418 4. If OK is returned, the command is complete. If, however,
419 ERROR + PASSWORD_REQUIRED is still returned, tell the user that the supplied
420 password was incorrect. The user remains in the room he/she was previously
423 When the command succeeds, these parameters are returned:
424 0. The name of the room
425 1. Number of unread messages in this room
426 2. Total number of messages in this room
427 3. Info flag: set to nonzero if the user needs to read this room's info
428 file (see RINF command below)
429 4. Various flags associated with this room. (See LKRN cmd above)
430 5. The highest message number present in this room
431 6. The highest message number the user has read in this room
432 7. Boolean flag: 1 if this is a Mail> room, 0 otherwise.
433 8. Aide flag: 1 if the user is either the Room Aide for this room, *or* is
434 a regular Aide (this makes access checks easy).
435 9. The number of new Mail messages the user has (useful for alerting the
436 user to the arrival of new mail during a session)
437 10. The floor number this room resides on
438 11. The *current* "view" for this room (see views.txt for more info)
439 12. The *default* "view" for this room
441 The default view gives the client a hint as to what views the user should
442 be allowed to select. For example, it would be confusing to allow messages
443 in a room intended for calendar items. The server does not enforce these
444 restrictions, though.
447 MSGS (get pointers to MeSsaGeS in this room)
449 This command obtains a listing of all the messages in the current room
450 which the client may request. This command may be passed a single parameter:
451 either "all", "old", or "new" to request all messages, only old messages, or
452 new messages. Or it may be passed two parameters: "last" plus a number, in
453 which case that many message pointers will be returned, or "first" plus a
454 number, for the corresponding effect. If no parameters are specified, "all"
457 In Citadel 5.00 and above, the client may also specify "gt" plus a number,
458 to list all messages in the current room with a message number greater than
461 The third argument, valid only in Citadel 5.60 and above, may be either
462 0 or 1. If it is 1, this command behaves differently: before a listing is
463 returned, the client must transmit a list of fields to search for. The field
464 headers are listed below in the writeup for the "MSG0" command.
466 This command can return three possible results. ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN will
467 be returned if no user is currently logged in. Otherwise, LISTING_FOLLOWS
468 will be returned, and the listing will consist of zero or more message
469 numbers, one per line. The listing ends, as always, with the string "000"
470 alone on a line by itself. The listed message numbers can be used to request
471 messages from the system. If "search mode" is being used, the server will
472 return START_CHAT_MODE, and the client is expected to transmit the search
473 criteria, and then read the message list.
475 Since this is somewhat complex, here are some examples:
477 Example 1: Read all new messages
480 Server: 100 Message list...
486 Example 2: Read the last five messages
489 Server: 100 Message list...
497 Example 3: Read all messages written by "IGnatius T Foobar"
500 Server: 800 Send template then receive message list
501 Client: from|IGnatius T Foobar
515 Note that in "search mode" the client may specify any number of search
516 criteria. These criteria are applied with an AND logic.
519 MSG0 (read MeSsaGe, mode 0)
521 This is a command used to read the text of a message. "Mode 0" implies that
522 other MSG commands (MSG1, MSG2, etc.) will probably be added later on to read
523 messages in more robust formats. This command should be passed two arguments.
524 The first is the message number of the message being requested. The second
525 argument specifies whether the client wants headers and/or message body:
529 3 = Headers only, with MIME information suppressed (this runs faster)
531 If the request is denied, ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN or ERROR + MESSAGE_NOT_FOUND
532 will be returned. Otherwise, LISTING_FOLLOWS will be returned, followed by
533 the contents of the message. The following fields may be sent:
535 type= Formatting type. The currently defined types are:
536 0 = "traditional" Citadel formatting. This means that newlines should be
537 treated as spaces UNLESS the first character on the next line is a space. In
538 other words, only indented lines should generate a newline on the user's screen
539 when the message is being displayed. This allows a message to be formatted to
540 the reader's screen width. It also allows the use of proportional fonts.
541 1 = a simple fixed-format message. The message should be displayed to
542 the user's screen as is, preferably in a fixed-width font that will fit 80
544 4 = MIME format message. The message text is expected to contain a header
545 with the "Content-type:" directive (and possibly others).
547 msgn= The message ID of this message on the system it originated on.
548 path= An e-mailable path back to the user who wrote the message.
550 time= The date and time of the message, in Unix format (the number of
551 seconds since midnight on January 1, 1970, GMT).
553 from= The name of the author of the message.
554 rcpt= If the message is a private e-mail, this is the recipient.
555 room= The name of the room the message originated in.
556 node= The short node name of the system this message originated on.
557 hnod= The long node name of the system this message originated on.
558 zaps= The id/node of a message which this one zaps (supersedes).
560 part= Information about a MIME part embedded in this message.
561 pref= Information about a multipart MIME prefix such as "multipart/mixed"
562 or "multipart/alternative". This will be output immediately prior
563 to the various "part=" lines which make up the multipart section.
564 suff= Information about a multipart MIME suffix. This will be output
565 immediately following the various "part=" lines which make up the
568 text Note that there is no "=" after the word "text". This string
569 signifies that the message text begins on the next line.
572 WHOK (WHO Knows room)
574 This command is available only to Aides. ERROR + HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED
575 will be returned if the user is not an Aide. Otherwise, it returns
576 LISTING_FOLLOWS and then lists, one user per line, every user who has
577 access to the current room.
580 INFO (get server INFO)
582 This command will *always* return LISTING_FOLLOWS and then print out a
583 listing of zero or more strings. Client software should be written to expect
584 anywhere from a null listing to an infinite number of lines, to allow later
585 backward compatibility. The current implementation defines the following
586 parts of the listing:
588 Line 1 - Your unique session ID on the server
589 Line 2 - The node name of the server BBS
590 Line 3 - Human-readable node name of the server BBS
591 Line 4 - The fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server
592 Line 5 - The name of the server software, i.e. "Citadel 4.00"
593 Line 6 - (The revision level of the server code) * 100
594 Line 7 - The geographical location of the BBS (city and state if in the US)
595 Line 8 - The name of the system administrator
596 Line 9 - A number identifying the server type (see below)
597 Line 10 - The text of the system's paginator prompt
598 Line 11 - Floor Flag. 1 if the system supports floors, 0 otherwise.
599 Line 12 - Paging level. 0 if the system only supports inline paging,
600 1 if the system supports "extended" paging (check-only and
601 multiline modes). See the SEXP command for further information.
602 Line 13 - The "nonce" for this session, for support of APOP-style
603 authentication. If this field is present, clients may authenticate
605 Line 14 - Set to nonzero if this server supports the QNOP command.
606 Line 15 - Set to nonzero if this server is capable of connecting to a
607 directory service using LDAP.
609 *** NOTE! *** The "server type" code is intended to promote global
610 compatibility in a scenario in which developers have added proprietary
611 features to their servers or clients. We are attempting to avoid a future
612 situation in which users need to keep different client software around for
613 each BBS they use. *Please*, if you are a developer and plan to add
614 proprietary features:
616 -> Your client programs should still be able to utilize servers other than
618 -> Clients other than your own should still be able to utilize your server,
619 even if your proprietary extensions aren't supported.
620 -> Please contact Art Cancro <ajc@uncensored.citadel.org> and obtain a unique
621 server type code, which can be assigned to your server program.
622 -> If you document what you did in detail, perhaps it can be added to a
623 future release of the Citadel program, so everyone can enjoy it. Better
624 yet, just work with the Citadel development team on the main source tree.
626 If everyone follows this scheme, we can avoid a chaotic situation with lots
627 of confusion about which client program works with which server, etc. Client
628 software can simply check the server type (and perhaps the revision level)
629 to determine ahead of time what commands may be utilized.
631 Please refer to "developers.txt" for information on what codes belong to whom.
635 RDIR (Read room DIRectory)
637 Use this command to read the directory of a directory room. ERROR + NOT_HERE
638 will be returned if the room has no directory, ERROR + HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED
639 will be returned if the room's directory is not visible and the user does not
640 have Aide or Room Aide privileges, ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN will be returned if
641 the user is not logged in; otherwise LISTING_FOLLOWS will be returned,
642 followed by the room's directory. Each line of the directory listing will
643 contain three fields: a filename, the length of the file, and a description.
645 The server message contained on the same line with LISTING_FOLLOWS will
646 contain the name of the system and the name of the directory, such as:
648 uncensored.citadel.org|/usr/bbs/files/my_room_directory
651 SLRP (Set Last-message-Read Pointer)
653 This command marks all messages in the current room as read (seen) up to and
654 including the specified number. Its sole parameter is the number of the last
655 message that has been read. This allows the pointer to be set at any
656 arbitrary point in the room. Optionally, the parameter "highest" may be used
657 instead of a message number, to set the pointer to the number of the highest
658 message in the room, effectively marking all messages in the room as having
659 been read (ala the Citadel <G>oto command).
661 The command will return OK if the pointer was set, or ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN
662 if the user is not logged in. If OK is returned, it will be followed by a
663 single argument containing the message number the last-read-pointer was set to.
666 INVT (INViTe a user to a room)
668 This command may only be executed by Aides, or by the room aide for the
669 current room. It is used primarily to add users to invitation-only rooms,
670 but it may also be used in other types of private rooms as well. Its sole
671 parameter is the name of the user to invite.
673 The command will return OK if the operation succeeded. ERROR + NO_SUCH_USER
674 will be returned if the user does not exist, ERROR + HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED
675 will be returned if the operation would have been possible if the user had
676 higher access, and ERROR + NOT_HERE may be returned if the room is not a
680 KICK (KICK a user out of a room)
682 This is the opposite of INVT: it is used to kick a user out of a private
683 room. It can also be used to kick a user out of a public room, but the
684 effect will only be the same as if the user <Z>apped the room - a non-stupid
685 user can simply un-zap the room to get back in.
688 GETR (GET Room attributes)
690 This command is used for editing the various attributes associated with a
691 room. A typical "edit room" command would work like this:
692 1. Use the GETR command to get the current attributes
693 2. Change some of them around
694 3. Use SETR (see below) to save the changes
695 4. Possibly also change the room aide using the GETA and SETA commands
697 GETR takes no arguments. It will only return OK if the SETR command will
698 also return OK. This allows client software to tell the user that he/she
699 can't edit the room *before* going through the trouble of actually doing the
700 editing. Possible return codes are:
702 ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN - No user is logged in.
703 ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED - Not enough access. Typically, only aides
704 and the room aide associated with the current room, can access this command.
705 OK - Command succeeded. Parameters are returned.
707 If OK is returned, the following parameters will be returned as well:
709 0. The name of the room
710 1. The room's password (if it's a passworded room)
711 2. The name of the room's directory (if it's a directory room)
712 3. Various flags (bits) associated with the room (see LKRN cmd above)
713 4. The floor number on which the room resides
714 5. The room listing order
715 6. The default view for the room (see views.txt)
716 7. A second set of flags (bits) associated with the room
719 SETR (SET Room attributes)
721 This command sets various attributes associated with the current room. It
722 should be passed the following arguments:
724 0. The name of the room
725 1. The room's password (if it's a passworded room)
726 2. The name of the room's directory (if it's a directory room)
727 3. Various flags (bits) associated with the room (see LKRN cmd above)
728 4. "Bump" flag (see below)
729 5. The floor number on which the room should reside
730 6. The room listing order
731 7. The default view for the room (see views.txt)
732 8. A second set of flags (bits) associated with the room
734 *Important: You should always use GETR to retrieve the current attributes of
735 the room, then change what you want to change, and then use SETR to write it
736 all back. This is particularly important with respect to the flags: if a
737 particular bit is set, and you don't know what it means, LEAVE IT ALONE and
738 only toggle the bits you want to toggle. This will allow for upward
741 The _BASEROOM_, user's Mail> and Aide> rooms can only be partially edited.
742 Any changes which cannot be made will be silently ignored.
744 If the room is a private room, you have the option of causing all users who
745 currently have access, to forget the room. If you want to do this, set the
746 "bump" flag to 1, otherwise set it to 0.
751 This command is used to get the name of the Room Aide for the current room.
752 It will return ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN if no user is logged in, or OK if the
753 command succeeded. Along with OK there will be returned one parameter: the
754 name of the Room Aide. A conforming server must guarantee that the user is
760 The opposite of GETA, used to set the Room Aide for the current room. One
761 parameter should be passed, which is the name of the user who is to be the
762 new Room Aide. Under Citadel, this command may only be executed by Aides
763 and by the *current* Room Aide for the room. Return codes possible are:
764 ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN (Not logged in.)
765 ERROR + HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED (Higher access required.)
766 ERROR + NOT_HERE (Room cannot be edited.)
767 OK (Command succeeded.)
770 ENT0 (ENTer message, mode 0)
772 This command is used to enter messages into the system. It accepts four
775 0 - Post flag. This should be set to 1 to post a message. If it is
776 set to 0, the server only returns OK or ERROR (plus any flags describing
777 the error) without reading in a message. Client software should, in fact,
778 perform this operation at the beginning of an "enter message" command
779 *before* starting up its editor, so the user does not end up typing a message
780 in vain that will not be permitted to be saved. If it is set to 2, the
781 server will accept an "apparent" post name if the user is privileged enough.
782 This post name is arg 5.
783 1 - Recipient. This argument is utilized only for private mail messages.
784 It is ignored for public messages. It contains, of course, the name of the
785 recipient of the message.
786 2 - Anonymous flag. This argument is ignored unless the room allows
787 anonymous messages. In such rooms, this flag may be set to 1 to flag a
788 message as anonymous, otherwise 0 for a normal message.
789 3 - Format type. Any valid Citadel format type may be used (this will
790 typically be 0; see the MSG0 command above).
791 4 - Subject. If present, this argument will be used as the subject of
793 5 - Post name. When postflag is 2, this is the name you are posting as.
794 This is an Aide only command.
796 Possible result codes:
797 OK - The request is valid. (Client did not set the "post" flag, so the
798 server will not read in message text.) If the message is an e-mail with
799 a recipient, the text that follows the OK code will contain the exact name
800 to which mail is being sent. The client can display this to the user. The
801 implication here is that the name that the server returns will contain the
802 correct upper and lower case characters. In addition, if the recipient is
803 having his/her mail forwarded, the forwarding address will be returned.
804 SEND_LISTING - The request is valid. The client should now transmit
805 the text of the message (ending with a 000 on a line by itself, as usual).
806 ERROR + NOT_LOGGED_IN - Not logged in.
807 ERROR + HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED - Higher access is required. An
808 explanation follows, worded in a form that can be displayed to the user.
809 ERROR + NO_SUCH_USER - The specified recipient does not exist.
812 RINF (read Room INFormation file)
814 Each room has associated with it a text file containing a description of
815 the room, perhaps containing its intended purpose or other important
816 information. The info file for the Lobby> (the system's base room) is
817 often used as a repository for system bulletins and the like.
819 This command, which accepts no arguments, is simply used to read the info
820 file for the current room. It will return LISTING_FOLLOWS followed by
821 the text of the message (always in format type 0) if the request can be
822 honored, or ERROR if no info file exists for the current room (which is
823 often the case). Other error description codes may accompany this result.
825 When should this command be used? This is, of course, up to the discretion
826 of client software authors, but in Citadel it is executed in two situations:
827 the first time the user ever enters a room; and whenever the contents of the
828 file change. The latter can be determined from the result of a GOTO command,
829 which will tell the client whether the file needs to be read (see GOTO above).
832 DELE (DELEte a message)
834 Delete a message from the current room. The one argument that should be
835 passed to this command is the message number of the message to be deleted.
836 The return value will be OK if the message was deleted, or an ERROR code.
837 If the delete is successful, the message's reference count is decremented, and
838 if the reference count reaches zero, the message is removed from the message
842 MOVE (MOVE or copy a message to a different room)
844 Move or copy a message to a different room. This command expects to be
845 passed three arguments:
846 0: the message number of the message to be moved or copied.
847 1: the name of the target room.
848 2: flag: 0 to move the message, 1 to copy it without deleting from the
851 This command never creates or deletes copies of a message; it merely moves
852 around links. When a message is moved, its reference count remains the same.
853 When a message is copied, its reference count is incremented.
856 KILL (KILL current room)
858 This command deletes the current room. It accepts a single argument, which
859 should be nonzero to actually delete the room, or zero to merely check
860 whether the room can be deleted.
862 Once the room is deleted, the current room is undefined. It is suggested
863 that client software immediately GOTO another room (usually _BASEROOM_)
864 after this command completes.
866 Possible return codes:
868 OK - room has been deleted (or, if checking only, request is valid).
869 ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN - no user is logged in.
870 ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED - not enough access to delete rooms.
871 ERROR+NOT_HERE - this room can not be deleted.
874 CRE8 (CRE[ate] a new room)
876 This command is used to create a new room. Like some of the other
877 commands, it provides a mechanism to first check to see if a room can be
878 created before actually executing the command. CRE8 accepts the following
881 0 - Create flag. Set this to 1 to actually create the room. If it is
882 set to 0, the server merely checks that there is a free slot in which to
883 create a new room, and that the user has enough access to create a room. It
884 returns OK if the client should go ahead and prompt the user for more info,
885 or ERROR or ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED if the command will not succeed.
886 1 - Name for new room.
887 2 - Access type for new room:
889 1 - Private; can be entered by guessing the room's name
890 2 - Private; can be entered by knowing the name *and* password
891 3 - Private; invitation only (sometimes called "exclusive")
892 4 - Personal (mailbox for this user only)
893 3 - Password for new room (if it is a type 2 room)
894 4 - Floor number on which the room should reside (optional)
895 5 - Set to 1 to avoid automatically gaining access to the created room.
896 6 - The default "view" for the room.
898 If the create flag is set to 1, the room is created (unless something
899 went wrong and an ERROR return is sent), and the server returns OK, but
900 the session is **not** automatically sent to that room. The client still
901 must perform a GOTO command to go to the new room.
904 FORG (FORGet the current room)
906 This command is used to forget (zap) the current room. For those not
907 familiar with Citadel, this terminology refers to removing the room from
908 a user's own known rooms list, *not* removing the room itself. After a
909 room is forgotten, it no longer shows up in the user's known room list,
910 but it will exist in the user's forgotten room list, and will return to the
911 known room list if the user goes to the room (in Citadel, this is
912 accomplished by explicitly typing the room's name in a <.G>oto command).
914 The command takes no arguments. If the command cannot execute for any
915 reason, ERROR will be returned. ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN or ERROR+NOT_HERE may
916 be returned as they apply.
918 If the command succeeds, OK will be returned. At this point, the current
919 room is **undefined**, and the client software is responsible for taking
920 the user to another room before executing any other room commands (usually
921 this will be _BASEROOM_ since it is always there).
924 MESG (read system MESsaGe)
926 This command is used to display system messages and/or help files. The
927 single argument it accepts is the name of the file to display. IT IS CASE
928 SENSITIVE. Citadel looks for these files first in the "messages"
929 subdirectory and then in the "help" subdirectory.
931 If the file is found, LISTING_FOLLOWS is returned, followed by a pathname
932 to the file being displayed. Then the message is printed, in format type 0
933 (see MSG0 command for more information on this). If the file is not found,
936 There are some "well known" names of system messages which client software
937 may expect most servers to carry:
939 hello - Welcome message, to be displayed before the user logs in.
940 changepw - To be displayed whenever the user is prompted for a new
941 password. Warns about picking guessable passwords and such.
942 register - Should be displayed prior to the user entering registration.
943 Warnings about not getting access if not registered, etc.
944 help - Main system help file.
945 goodbye - System logoff banner; display when user logs off.
946 roomaccess - Information about how public rooms and different types of
947 private rooms function with regards to access.
948 unlisted - Tells users not to choose to be unlisted unless they're
949 really paranoid, and warns that aides can still see
950 unlisted userlog entries.
952 Citadel provides these for the Citadel Unix text client. They are
953 probably not very useful for other clients:
955 mainmenu - Main menu (when in idiot mode).
960 saveopt - Options to save a message, abort, etc.
961 entermsg - Displayed just before a message is entered, when in
965 GNUR (Get Next Unvalidated User)
967 This command shows the name of a user that needs to be validated. If there
968 are no unvalidated users, OK is returned. Otherwise, MORE_DATA is returned
969 along with the name of the first unvalidated user the server finds. All of
970 the usual ERROR codes may be returned as well (for example, if the user is
971 not an Aide and cannot validate users).
973 A typical "Validate New Users" command would keep executing this command,
974 and then validating each user it returns, until it returns OK when all new
975 users have been validated.
978 GREG (Get REGistration for user)
980 This command retrieves the registration info for a user, whose name is the
981 command's sole argument. All the usual error messages can be returned. If
982 the command succeeds, LISTING_FOLLOWS is returned, followed by the user's name
983 (retrieved from the userlog, with the right upper and lower case etc.) The
984 contents of the listing contains one field per line, followed by the usual
985 000 on the last line.
987 The following lines are defined. Others WILL be added in the futre, so all
988 software should be written to read the lines it knows about and then ignore
994 Line 4: Street address or PO Box
995 Line 5: City/town/village/etc.
996 Line 6: State/province/etc.
998 Line 8: Telephone number
1000 Line 10: Internet e-mail address
1003 Users without Aide privileges may retrieve their own registration using
1004 this command. This can be accomplished either by passing the user's own
1005 name as the argument, or the string "_SELF_". The command will always
1006 succeed when used in this manner, unless no user is logged in.
1009 VALI (VALIdate user)
1011 This command is used to validate users. Obviously, it can only be executed
1012 by users with Aide level access. It should be passed two parameters: the
1013 name of the user to validate, and the desired access level
1015 If the command succeeds, OK is returned. The user's access level is changed
1016 and the "need validation" bit is cleared. If the command fails for any
1017 reason, ERROR, ERROR+NO_SUCH_USER, or ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED will be
1021 EINF (Enter INFo file for room)
1023 Transmit the info file for the current room with this command. EINF uses
1024 a boolean flag (1 or 0 as the first and only argument to the command) to
1025 determine whether the client actually wishes to transmit a new info file, or
1026 is merely checking to see if it has permission to do so.
1028 If the command cannot succeed, it returns ERROR.
1029 If the client is only checking for permission, and permission will be
1030 granted, OK is returned.
1031 If the client wishes to transmit the new info file, SEND_LISTING is
1032 returned, and the client should transmit the text of the info file, ended
1033 by the usual 000 on a line by itself.
1038 This is a simple user listing. It always succeeds, returning
1039 LISTING_FOLLOWS followed by zero or more user records, 000 terminated. The
1040 fields on each line are as follows:
1045 4. Date/time of last login (Unix format)
1048 7. Password (listed only if the user requesting the list is an Aide)
1050 Unlisted entries will also be listed to Aides logged into the server, but
1051 not to ordinary users.
1054 REGI (send REGIstration)
1056 Clients will use this command to transmit a user's registration info. If
1057 no user is logged in, ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN is returned. Otherwise,
1058 SEND_LISTING is returned, and the server will expect the following information
1059 (terminated by 000 on a line by itself):
1062 Line 2: Street address or PO Box
1063 Line 3: City/town/village/etc.
1064 Line 4: State/province/etc.
1066 Line 6: Telephone number
1067 Line 7: e-mail address
1071 CHEK (CHEcK various things)
1073 When logging in, there are various things that need to be checked. This
1074 command will return ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN if no user is logged in. Otherwise
1075 it returns OK and the following parameters:
1077 0: Number of new private messages in Mail>
1078 1: Nonzero if the user needs to register
1079 2: (Relevant to Aides only) Nonzero if new users require validation
1080 3: The user's preferred Internet e-mail address
1083 DELF (DELete a File)
1085 This command deletes a file from the room's directory, if there is one. The
1086 name of the file to delete is the only parameter to be supplied. Wildcards
1087 are not acceptable, and any slashes in the filename will be converted to
1088 underscores, to prevent unauthorized access to neighboring directories. The
1089 possible return codes are:
1091 OK - Command succeeded. The file was deleted.
1092 ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN - Not logged in.
1093 ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED - Not an Aide or Room Aide.
1094 ERROR+NOT_HERE - There is no directory in this room.
1095 ERROR+FILE_NOT_FOUND - Requested file was not found.
1100 This command is similar to DELF, except that it moves a file (and its
1101 associated file description) to another room. It should be passed two
1102 parameters: the name of the file to move, and the name of the room to move
1103 the file to. All of the same return codes as DELF may be returned, and also
1104 one additional one: ERROR+NO_SUCH_ROOM, which means that the target room
1105 does not exist. ERROR+NOT_HERE could also mean that the target room does
1106 not have a directory.
1109 NETF (NETwork send a File)
1111 This command is similar to MOVF, except that it attempts to send a file over
1112 the network to another system. It should be passed two parameters: the name
1113 of the file to send, and the node name of the system to send it to. All of
1114 the same return codes as MOVF may be returned, except for ERROR+NO_SUCH_ROOM.
1115 Instead, ERROR+NO_SUCH_SYSTEM may be returned if the name of the target
1118 The name of the originating room will be sent along with the file. Most
1119 implementations will look for a room with the same name at the receiving end
1120 and attempt to place the file there, otherwise it goes into a bit bucket room
1121 for miscellaneous files. This is, however, beyond the scope of this document;
1122 see elsewhere for more details.
1125 RWHO (Read WHO's online)
1127 Displays a list of all users connected to the server. No error codes are
1128 ever returned. LISTING_FOLLOWS will be returned, followed by zero or more
1129 lines containing the following three fields:
1131 0 - Session ID. Citadel fills this with the pid of a server program.
1133 2 - The name of the room the user is currently in. This field might not
1134 be displayed (for example, if the user is in a private room) or it might
1135 contain other information (such as the name of a file the user is
1137 3 - (server v4.03 and above) The name of the host the client is connecting
1138 from, or "localhost" if the client is local.
1139 4 - (server v4.04 and above) Description of the client software being used
1140 5 - The last time, locally to the server, that a command was received from
1141 this client (Note: NOOP's don't count)
1142 6 - The last command received from a client. (NOOP's don't count)
1143 7 - Session flags. These are: + (spoofed address), - (STEALTH mode), *
1144 (posting) and . (idle).
1145 8 - Actual user name, if user name is masqueraded and viewer is an Aide.
1146 9 - Actual room name, if room name is masqueraded and viewer is an Aide.
1147 10 - Actual host name, if host name is masqueraded and viewer is an Aide.
1148 11 - Nonzero if the session is a logged-in user, zero otherwise.
1150 The listing is terminated, as always, with the string "000" on a line by
1154 OPEN (OPEN a file for download)
1156 This command is used to open a file for downloading. Only one download
1157 file may be open at a time. The only argument to this command is the name
1158 of the file to be opened. The user should already be in the room where the
1159 file resides. Possible return codes are:
1162 ERROR+NOT_HERE (no directory in this room)
1163 ERROR+FILE_NOT_FOUND (could not open the file)
1167 If the file is successfully opened, OK will be returned, along with the
1168 size (in bytes) of the file, the time of last modification (if applicable),
1169 the filename (if known), and the MIME type of the file (if known).
1172 CLOS (CLOSe the download file)
1174 This command is used to close the download file. It returns OK if the
1175 file was successfully closed, or ERROR if there wasn't any file open in the
1179 READ (READ from the download file)
1181 Two arguments are passed to this command. The first is the starting position
1182 in the download file, and the second is the total number of bytes to be
1183 read. If the operation can be performed, BINARY_FOLLOWS will be returned,
1184 along with the number of bytes to follow. Then, immediately following the
1185 newline, will be that many bytes of binary data. The client *must* read
1186 exactly that number of bytes, otherwise the client and server will get out
1189 If the operation cannot be performed, any of the usual error codes will be
1193 UOPN (OPeN a file for Uploading)
1195 This command is similar to OPEN, except that this one is used when the
1196 client wishes to upload a file to the server. The first argument is the name
1197 of the file to create, and the second argument is a one-line comment
1198 describing the contents of the file. Only one upload file may be open at a
1199 time. Possible return codes are:
1202 ERROR+NOT_HERE (no directory in this room)
1203 ERROR+FILE_NOT_FOUND (a name must be specified)
1204 ERROR (miscellaneous errors)
1205 ERROR+ALREADY_EXISTS (a file with the same name already exists)
1208 If OK is returned, the command has succeeded and writes may be performed.
1211 UCLS (CLoSe the Upload file)
1213 Close the file opened with UOPN. An argument of "1" should be passed to
1214 this command to close and save the file; otherwise, the transfer will be
1215 considered aborted and the file will be deleted. This command returns OK
1216 if the operation succeeded or ERROR if it did not.
1219 WRIT (WRITe to the upload file)
1221 If an upload file is open, this command may be used to write to it. The
1222 argument passed to this command is the number of bytes the client wishes to
1223 transmit. An ERROR code will be returned if the operation cannot be
1226 If the operation can be performed, SEND_BINARY will be returned, followed
1227 by the number of bytes the server is expecting. The client must then transmit
1228 exactly that number of bytes. Note that in the current implementation, the
1229 number of bytes the server is expecting will always be the number of bytes
1230 the client requested to transmit, but the client software should never assume
1231 that this will always happen, in case changes are made later.
1234 QUSR (Query for a USeR)
1236 This command is used to check to see if a particular user exists. The only
1237 argument to this command is the name of the user being searched for. If
1238 the user exists, OK is returned, along with the name of the user in the userlog
1239 (so the client software can learn the correct upper/lower casing of the name
1240 if necessary). If the user does not exist, ERROR+NO_SUCH_USER is returned.
1241 No login or current room is required to utilize this command.
1244 OIMG (Open an IMaGe file)
1246 Open an image (graphics) file for downloading. Once opened, the file can be
1247 read as if it were a download file. This implies that an image and a download
1248 cannot be opened at the same time. OIMG returns the same result codes as OPEN.
1250 All images will be in GIF (Graphics Interchange Format). In the case of
1251 Citadel, the server will convert the supplied filename to all lower case,
1252 append the characters ".gif" to the filename, and look for it in the "images"
1253 subdirectory. As with the MESG command, there are several "well known"
1254 images which are likely to exist on most servers:
1256 hello - "Welcome" graphics to be displayed alongside MESG "hello"
1257 goodbye - Logoff banner graphics to be displayed alongside MESG "goodbye"
1258 background - Background image (usually tiled) for graphical clients
1260 The following "special" image names are defined in Citadel server version
1263 _userpic_ - Picture of a user (send the username as the second argument)
1264 _floorpic_ - A graphical floor label (send the floor number as the second
1265 argument). Clients which request a floor picture will display
1266 the picture *instead* of the floor name.
1267 _roompic_ - A graphic associated with the *current* room. Clients which
1268 request a room picture will display the picture in *addition*
1269 to the room name (i.e. it's used for a room banner, as
1270 opposed to the floor picture's use in a floor listing).
1273 NETP (authenticate as network session with connection NET Password)
1275 This command is used by client software to identify itself as a transport
1276 session for IGnet/Open BBS to BBS networking. It should be called with
1277 two arguments: the node name of the calling system, and the "shared secret"
1278 password for that connection. If the authentication succeeds, NETP will
1279 return OK, otherwise, it returns ERROR.
1282 NSYN (Network SYNchronize room)
1284 This command can be used to synchronize the contents of a room on the
1285 network. It is only usable by Aides. It accepts one argument: the name of
1286 a network node (which must be a valid one).
1288 When NSYN is run, the *entire* contents of the current room will be spooled
1289 to the specified node, without regard to whether any of the messages have
1290 already undergone network processing. It is up to the receiving node to
1291 check for duplicates (the Citadel networker does handle this) and avoid
1294 The command returns OK upon success or ERROR if the user is not an Aide.
1297 NUOP (Network Upload OPen file)
1299 Open a network spool file for uploading. The client must have already
1300 identified itself as a network session using the NETP command. If the command
1301 returns OK, the client may begin transmitting IGnet/Open spool data using
1302 a series of WRIT commands. When a UCLS command is issued, the spooled data
1303 is entered into the BBS if the argument to UCLS is 1 or discarded if the
1304 argument to UCLS is 0. If the client has not authenticated itself with a
1305 NETP command, ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED will be returned.
1308 NDOP (Network Download OPen file)
1310 Open a network spool file for downloading. The client must have already
1311 identified itself as a network session using the NETP command. If the command
1312 returns OK, the client may begin receiving IGnet/Open spool data using
1313 a series of READ commands. When a CLOS command is issued, the spooled data
1314 is deleted from the server and may not be read again. If the client has not
1315 authenticated itself with a NETP command, ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED will
1319 LFLR (List all known FLooRs)
1321 On systems supporting floors, this command lists all known floors. The
1322 command accepts no parameters. It will return ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN if no
1323 user is logged in. Otherwise it returns LISTING_FOLLOWS and a list of
1324 the available floors, each line consisting of three fields:
1326 1. The floor number associated with the floor
1327 2. The name of the floor
1328 3. Reference count (number of rooms on this floor)
1331 CFLR (Create a new FLooR)
1333 This command is used to create a new floor. It should be passed two
1334 arguments: the name of the new floor to be created, and a 1 or 0 depending
1335 on whether the client is actually creating a floor or merely checking to
1336 see if it has permission to create the floor. The user must be logged in
1337 and have Aide privileges to create a floor.
1339 If the command succeeds, it will return OK followed by the floor number
1340 associated with the new floor. Otherwise, it will return ERROR (plus perhaps
1341 HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED, ALREADY_EXISTS, or INVALID_FLOOR_OPERATION)
1342 followed by a description of why the command failed.
1347 This command is used to delete a floor. It should be passed two
1348 argument: the *number* of the floor to be deleted, and a 1 or 0 depending
1349 on whether the client is actually deleting the floor or merely checking to
1350 see if it has permission to delete the floor. The user must be logged in
1351 and have Aide privileges to delete a floor.
1353 Floors that contain rooms may not be deleted. If there are rooms on a floor,
1354 they must be either deleted or moved to different floors first. This implies
1355 that the Main Floor (floor 0) can never be deleted, since Lobby>, Mail>, and
1356 Aide> all reside on the Main Floor and cannot be deleted.
1358 If the command succeeds, it will return OK. Otherwise it will return
1359 ERROR (plus perhaps HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED or INVALID_FLOOR_OPERATION)
1360 followed by a description of why the command failed.
1365 Edit the parameters of a floor. The client may pass one or more parameters
1368 1. The number of the floor to be edited
1369 2. The desired new name
1371 More parameters may be added in the future. Any parameters not passed to
1372 the server will remain unchanged. A minimal command would be EFLR and a
1373 floor number -- which would do nothing. EFLR plus the floor number plus a
1374 floor name would change the floor's name.
1376 If the command succeeds, it will return OK. Otherwise it will return
1377 ERROR (plus perhaps HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED or INVALID_FLOOR_OPERATION)
1380 IDEN (IDENtify the client software)
1382 The client software has the option to identify itself to the server.
1383 Currently, the server does nothing with this information except to write
1384 it to the syslog to satisfy the system administrator's curiosity. Other
1385 uses might become apparent in the future.
1387 The IDEN command should contain five fields: a developer ID number (same as
1388 the server developer ID numbers in the INFO command -- please obtain one if
1389 you are a new developer), a client ID number (which does not have to be
1390 globally unique - only unique within the domain of the developer number),
1391 a version number, a free-form text string describing the client, and the name
1392 of the host the user is located at.
1394 It is up to the server to determine whether to accept the host name or to
1395 use the host name it has detected itself. Generally, if the client is
1396 running on a trusted host (either localhost or a well-known publically
1397 accessible client) it should use the host name transmitted by IDEN,
1398 otherwise it should use the host name it has detected itself.
1400 IDEN always returns OK, but since that's the only way it ever returns
1401 there's no point in checking the result code.
1404 IPGM (identify as an Internal ProGraM)
1406 IPGM is a low-level command that should not be used by normal user clients.
1407 It is used for various utilities to communicate with the server on the same
1408 host. For example, the "sendcommand" utility logs onto the server as an
1409 internal program in order to run arbitrary server commands. Since user clients
1410 do not utilize this command (or any of its companion commands), developers
1411 writing Citadel-compatible servers need not implement it.
1413 The sole argument to IPGM is the system's internal program password. This
1414 password is generated by the setup program and stored in the config file.
1415 Since internal programs have access to the config file, they know the correct
1418 IPGM returns OK for a correct authentication or ERROR otherwise.
1421 CHAT (enter CHAT mode)
1423 This command functions differently from every other command in the system. It
1424 is used to implement multi-user chat. For this to function, a new transfer
1425 mode, called START_CHAT_MODE, is implemented. If a client does not support
1426 chat mode, it should never send a CHAT command!
1428 In chat mode, messages may arrive asynchronously from the server at any
1429 time. The client may send messages at any time. This allows the arrival of
1430 messages without the client having to poll for them. Arriving messages will
1431 be of the form "user|message", where the "user" portion is, of course, the
1432 name of the user sending the message, and "message" is the message text.
1434 Chat mode ends when the server says it ends. The server will signal the end
1435 of chat mode by transmitting "000" on a line by itself. When the client reads
1436 this line, it must immediately exit from chat mode without sending any
1437 further traffic to the server. The next transmission sent to the server
1438 will be a regular server command.
1440 The Citadel server understands the following commands:
1441 /quit - Exit from chat mode (causes the server to do an 000 end)
1442 /who - List users currently in chat
1443 /whobbs - List users currently in chat and on the bbs
1444 /me - Do an irc-style action.
1445 /join - Join a new "room" in which all messages are only heard by
1446 people in that room.
1447 /msg - /msg <user> <msg> will send the msg to <user> only.
1448 /help - Print help information
1449 NOOP - Do nothing (silently)
1451 Any other non-empty string is treated as message text and will be broadcast
1452 to other users currently in chat.
1455 SEXP (Send instant message)
1457 This is one of two commands which implement instant messages (also known
1458 as "paging"). Commands ending in "...EXP" are so-named because we called
1459 them "express messages" before the industry standardized on the term
1460 "instant messages." When an instant message is sent, it will be
1461 logged in user to another. When an instant message is sent, it will be
1462 displayed the next time the target user executes a PEXP or GEXP command.
1464 The SEXP command accepts two arguments: the name of the user to send the
1465 message to, and the text of the message. If the message is successfully
1466 transmitted, OK is returned. If the target user is not logged in or if
1467 anything else goes wrong, ERROR is returned.
1469 If the server supports extended paging, sending a zero-length message
1470 merely checks for the presence of the requested user without actually sending
1471 a message. Sending a message consisting solely of a "-" (hyphen) will cause
1472 the server to return SEND_LISTING if the requested user is logged in, and the
1473 client can then transmit a multi-line page.
1475 The reserved name "broadcast" may be used instead of a user name, to
1476 broadcast an instant message to all users currently connected to the server.
1478 Do be aware that if an instant message is transmitted to a user who is logged
1479 in using a client that does not check for instant messages, the message will
1480 never be received. Also, instant messages are NOT sent via the following
1481 transports: SMTP, POP3.
1484 PEXP (Print instant messages) ***DEPRECATED***
1486 This command is deprecated; it will eventually disappear from the protocol and
1487 its use is not recommended. Please use the GEXP command instead.
1489 Called without any arguments, PEXP simply dumps out the contents
1490 of any waiting instant messages. It returns ERROR if there is a problem,
1491 otherwise it returns LISTING_FOLLOWS followed by all messages.
1493 So how does the client know there are instant messages waiting? It could
1494 execute a random PEXP every now and then. Or, it can check the byte in
1495 server return code messages, between the return code and the parameters. In
1496 much the same way as FTP uses "-" to signify a continuation, Citadel uses
1497 an "*" in this position to signify the presence of waiting instant messages.
1500 EBIO (Enter BIOgraphy)
1502 Transmit to the server a free-form text file containing a little bit of
1503 information about the user for other users to browse. This is typically
1504 referred to as a 'bio' online. EBIO returns SEND_LISTING if it succeeds,
1505 after which the client is expected to transmit the file, or any of the usual
1506 ERROR codes if it fails.
1509 RBIO (Read BIOgraphy)
1511 Receive from the server a named user's bio. This command should be passed
1512 a single argument - the name of the user whose bio is requested. RBIO returns
1513 LISTING_FOLLOWS plus the bio file if the user exists and has a bio on file.
1514 The return has the following parameters: the user name, user number, access
1515 level, date of last call, times called, and messages posted. This command
1516 returns ERROR+NO_SUCH_USER if the named user does not exist.
1518 RBIO no longer considers a user with no bio on file to be an error condition.
1519 It now returns a message saying the user has no bio on file as the text of the
1520 bio. This allows newer servers to operate with older clients.
1523 STEL (enter STEaLth mode)
1525 When in "stealth mode," a user will not show up in the "Who is online"
1526 listing (the RWHO server command). Only Aides may use stealth mode. The
1527 STEL command accepts one argument: a 1 indicating that the user wishes to
1528 enter stealth mode, or a 0 indicating that the user wishes to exit stealth
1529 mode. STEL returns OK if the command succeeded, ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN if no
1530 user is logged in, or ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED if the user is not an Aide;
1531 followed by a 1 or 0 indicating the new state.
1533 If any value other than 1 or 0 is sent by the client, the server simply
1534 replies with 1 or 0 to indicate the current state without changing it.
1536 The STEL command also makes it so a user does not show up in the chat room
1540 LBIO (List users who have BIOs on file)
1542 This command is self-explanatory. Any user who has used EBIO to place a bio
1543 on file is listed. LBIO almost always returns LISTING_FOLLOWS followed by
1544 this listing, unless it experiences an internal error in which case ERROR
1548 MSG2 (read MeSsaGe, mode 2)
1550 MSG2 follows the same calling convention as MSG0. The difference between
1551 the two commands is that MSG2 outputs messages in standard RFC822 format
1552 rather than in Citadel proprietary format.
1554 This command was implemented in order to make various gateway programs
1555 easier to implement, and to provide some sort of multimedia support in the
1556 future. Keep in mind that when this command is used, all messages will be
1557 output in fixed 80-column format.
1560 MSG3 (read MeSsaGe, mode 3 -- internal command)
1562 MSG3 is for use by internal programs only and should not be utilized by
1563 user-mode clients. It does require IPGM authentication. MSG3 follows the
1564 same calling convention as the other MSG commands, but upon success returns
1565 BINARY_FOLLOWS followed by a data block containing the _raw_ message format
1569 TERM (TERMinate another session)
1571 In a multithreaded environment, it sometimes becomes necessary to terminate
1572 a session that is unusable for whatever reason. The TERM command performs
1573 this task. Naturally, only Aides can execute TERM. The command should be
1574 called with a single argument: the session ID (obtained from an RWHO command)
1575 of the session to be terminated.
1577 TERM returns OK if the session was terminated, or ERROR otherwise. Note that
1578 a client program is prohibited from terminating the session it is currently
1584 DOWN (shut DOWN the server)
1586 This command, which may only be executed by an Aide, immediately shuts down
1587 the server. It is only implemented on servers on which such an operation is
1588 possible, such as a multithreaded Citadel engine. The server does not restart.
1589 DOWN returns OK if the user is allowed to shut down the server, in which case
1590 the client program should expect the connection to be immediately broken.
1593 SCDN (Schedule or Cancel a shutDowN)
1595 SCDN sets or clears the "scheduled shutdown" flag. Pass this command a 1 or
1596 0 to respectively set or clear the flag. When the "scheduled shutdown" flag is
1597 set, the server will be shut down when there are no longer any users logged in.
1598 Any value other than 0 or 1 will not change the flag, only report its state.
1599 No users will be kicked off the system, and in fact the server is still
1600 available for new connections. The command returns ERROR if it fails;
1601 otherwise, it returns OK followed by a number representing the current state
1605 EMSG (Enter a system MeSsaGe)
1607 This is the opposite of the MESG command - it allows the creation and editing
1608 of system messages. The only argument passed to EMSG is the name of the
1609 file being transmitted. If the file exists in any system message directory
1610 on the server it will be overwritten, otherwise a new file is created. EMSG
1611 returns SEND_LISTING on success or ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED if the user
1614 Typical client software would use MESG to retrieve any existing message into
1615 an edit buffer, then present an editor to the user and run EMSG if the changes
1619 UIMG (Upload an IMaGe file)
1621 UIMG is complemenary to OIMG; it is used to upload an image to the server.
1622 The first parameter supplied to UIMG should be 0 if the client is only checking
1623 for permission to upload, or 1 if the client is actually attempting to begin
1624 the upload operation. The second argument is the name of the file to be
1625 transmitted. In Citadel, the filename is converted to all lower case,
1626 appended with the characters ".gif", and stored in the "images" directory.
1628 UIMG returns OK if the client has permission to perform the requested upload,
1629 or ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED otherwise. If the client requested to begin
1630 the operation (first parameter set to 1), an upload file is opened, and the
1631 client should begin writing to it with WRIT commands, then close it with a
1634 The supplied filename should be one of:
1636 -> _userpic_ (Server will attempt to write to the user's online photo)
1637 -> Any of the "well known" filenames described in the writeup for the
1641 HCHG (Hostname CHanGe)
1643 HCHG is a command, usable by any user, that allows a user to change their RWHO
1644 host value. This will mask a client's originating hostname from normal
1645 users; access level 6 and higher can see, in an extended wholist, the actual
1646 hostname the user originates from.
1648 The format of an HCHG command is:
1652 If a HCHG command is successful, the value OK (200) is returned.
1655 RCHG (Roomname CHanGe)
1657 RCHG is a command, usable by any user, that allows a user to change their RWHO
1658 room value. This will mask a client's roomname from normal users; access
1659 level 6 and higher can see, in an extended wholist, the actual room the user
1662 The format of an RCHG command is:
1666 If a RCHG command is successful, the value OK (200) is returned.
1669 UCHG (Username CHanGe)
1671 UCHG is an aide-level command which allows an aide to effectively change their
1672 username. If this value is blank, the user goes into stealth mode (see
1674 will show up as being from the real username in this mode, however. In
1675 addition, the RWHO listing will include both the spoofed and real usernames.
1677 The format of an UCHG command is:
1681 If a UCHG command is successful, the value OK (200) is returned.
1684 TIME (get server local TIME)
1686 TIME returns OK followed by the current time measured in seconds since
1687 00:00:00 GMT, Jan 1, 1970 (standard Unix format).
1689 This is used in allowing a client to calculate idle times.
1692 AGUP (Administrative Get User Parameters)
1693 ASUP (Administrative Set User Parameters)
1695 These commands are only executable by Aides and by server extensions running
1696 at system-level. They are used to get/set any and all parameters relating to
1697 a user account. AGUP requires only one argument: the name of the user in
1698 question. SGUP requires all of the parameters to be set. The parameters are
1699 as follows, and are common to both commands:
1703 2 - Flags (see citadel.h)
1708 7 - Timestamp of last call
1709 8 - Purge time (in days) for this user (or 0 to use system default)
1711 Upon success, AGUP returns OK followed by all these parameters, and ASUP
1712 simply returns OK. If the client has insufficient access to perform the
1713 requested operation, ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED is returned. If the
1714 requested user does not exist, ERROR+NO_SUCH_USER is returned.
1718 GPEX (Get Policy for message EXpiration)
1720 Returns the policy of the current room, floor, or site regarding the automatic
1721 purging (expiration) of messages. The following policies are available:
1722 0 - Fall back to the policy of the next higher level. If this is a room,
1723 use the floor's default policy. If this is a floor, use the system
1724 default policy. This is an invalid value for the system policy.
1725 1 - Do not purge messages automatically.
1726 2 - Purge by message count. (Requires a value: number of messages)
1727 3 - Purge by message age. (Requires a value: number of days)
1729 The format of this command is: GPEX <which>
1730 The value of <which> must be one of: "room" "floor" "site" "mailboxes"
1732 If successful, GPEX returns OK followed by <policy>|<value>.
1736 SPEX (Set Policy for message EXpiration)
1738 Sets the policy of the current room, floor, or site regarding the automatic
1739 purging (expiration) of messages. See the writeup for the GPEX command for
1740 the list of available policies.
1742 The format of this command is: SPEX <which>|<policy>|<value>
1743 The value of <which> must be one of: "room" "floor" "site" "mailboxes"
1745 If successful, GPEX returns OK; otherwise, an ERROR code is returned.
1749 CONF (get or set global CONFiguration options)
1751 Retrieves or sets various system-wide configuration and policy options. This
1752 command is only available to Aides. The sole parameter accepted is a command,
1753 which should be either GET or SET. If the GET command succeeds, CONF will
1754 return LISTING_FOLLOWS followed by the fields described below, one line at a
1755 time. If the SET command succeeds, CONF will return SEND_LISTING and expect
1756 the fields described below, one line at a time (don't worry about other fields
1757 being added in the future; if a 'short' configuration list is sent, the missing
1758 values at the end will be left unchanged on the system). If either command
1759 fails for any reason, ERROR is returned.
1761 The configuration lines are as follows:
1764 2. Fully qualified domain name
1765 3. Human-readable node name
1766 4. Landline telephone number of this system
1767 5. Flag (0 or 1) - creator of private room automatically becomes room aide
1768 6. Server connection idle timeout (in seconds)
1769 7. Initial access level for new users
1770 8. Flag (0 or 1) - require registration for new users
1771 9. Flag (0 or 1) - automatically move Problem User messages to twit room
1772 10. Name of twit room
1773 11. Text of <more> prompt
1774 12. Flag (0 or 1) - restrict access to Internet mail
1775 13. Geographic location of this system
1776 14. Name of the system administrator
1777 15. Number of maximum concurrent sessions allowed on the server
1778 16. (placeholder -- this field is no longer in use)
1779 17. Default purge time (in days) for users
1780 18. Default purge time (in days) for rooms
1781 19. Name of room to log instant messages to (or a zero-length name for none)
1782 20. Access level required to create rooms
1783 21. Maximum message length which may be entered into the system
1784 22. Minimum number of worker threads
1785 23. Maximum number of worker threads
1786 24. Port number for POP3 service
1787 25. Port number for SMTP service
1788 26. Flag (0 or 1) - strict RFC822 adherence - don't correct From: forgeries
1789 27. Flag (0 or 1) - allow Aides to zap (forget) rooms
1790 28. Port number for IMAP service
1791 29. How often (in seconds) to run the networker
1792 30. Flag (0 or 1) - disable self-service new user registration
1793 31. (placeholder -- this field is no longer in use)
1794 32. Hour (0 through 23) during which database auto-purge jobs are run
1795 33. Name of host where an LDAP service may be found
1796 34. Port number of LDAP service on above host
1799 37. Password for LDAP Bind DN
1800 38. Server IP address to listen on (or "0.0.0.0" for all addresses)
1802 CONF also accepts two additional commands: GETSYS and PUTSYS followed by an
1803 arbitrary MIME type (such as application/x-citadel-internet-config) which
1804 provides a means of storing generic configuration data in the Global System
1805 Configuration room without the need to add extra get/set commands to the
1808 Please note that the LDAP-specific configs have no effect on Citadel servers
1809 in which LDAP support is not enabled.
1813 MSG4 (read MeSsaGe, mode 4 -- output in preferred MIME format)
1815 This is the equivalent of MSG0, except it's a bit smarter about messages in
1816 rich text formats. Immediately following the "text" directive, the server
1817 will output RFC822-like MIME part headers such as "Content-type:" and
1818 "Content-length:". MIME formats are chosen and/or converted based on the
1819 client's preferred format settings, which are set using the MSGP command,
1824 MSGP (set MeSsaGe Preferred MIME format)
1826 Client tells the server what MIME content types it knows how to handle, and
1827 the order in which it prefers them. This is similar to an HTTP "Accept:"
1830 The parameters to a MSGP command are the client's acceptable MIME content
1831 types, in the order it prefers them (from most preferred to least preferred).
1832 For example: MSGP text/html|text/plain
1834 The MSGP command always returns OK.
1838 OPNA (OPeN Attachment)
1840 Opens, as a download file, a component of a MIME-encoded message. The two
1841 parameters which must be passed to this command are the message number and the
1842 name of the desired section. If the message or section does not exist, an
1843 appropriate ERROR code will be returned; otherwise, if the open is successful,
1844 this command will succeed returning the same information as an OPEN command.
1847 GEXP (Get instant messages)
1849 This is a more sophisticated way of retrieving instant messages than the old
1850 PEXP method. If there are no instant messages waiting, PEXP returns ERROR;
1851 otherwise, it returns LISTING_FOLLOWS and the following arguments:
1853 0 - a boolean value telling the client whether there are any additional
1854 instant messages waiting following this one
1855 1 - a Unix-style timestamp
1856 2 - flags (see server.h for more info)
1857 3 - the name of the sender
1858 4 - the node this message originated on (for future support of PIP, ICQ, etc.)
1860 The text sent to the client will be the body of the instant message.
1862 So how does the client know there are instant messages waiting? It could
1863 execute a random GEXP every now and then. Or, it can check the byte in
1864 server return code messages, between the return code and the parameters. In
1865 much the same way as FTP uses "-" to signify a continuation, Citadel uses
1866 an "*" in this position to signify the presence of waiting instant messages.
1869 FSCK (check message base reference counts)
1871 Verify, via the long way, that all message referenmce counts are correct. If
1872 the user has permission to do this then LISTING_FOLLOWS is returned, followed
1873 by a transcript of the run. Otherwise ERROR is returned.
1876 DEXP (Disable receiving instant messages)
1878 DEXP sets or clears the "disable instant messages" flag. Pass this command a
1879 1 or 0 to respectively set or clear the flag. When the "disable instant
1880 messages" flag is set, no one except Aides may send the user instant messages.
1881 Any value other than 0 or 1 will not change the flag, only report its state.
1882 The command returns ERROR if it fails; otherwise, it returns OK followed by a
1883 number representing the current state of the flag.
1886 REQT (REQuest client Termination)
1888 Request that the specified client (or all clients) log off. Aide level
1889 access is required to run this command, otherwise ERROR+HIGHER_ACCESS_REQUIRED
1892 The REQT command accepts one parameter: the session ID of the client which
1893 should be terminated, or 0 for all clients. When successful, the REQT command
1896 It should be noted that REQT simply transmits an instant message to the
1897 specified client(s) with the EM_GO_AWAY flag set. Older clients do not honor
1898 this flag, and it is certainly possible for users to re-program their client
1899 software to ignore it. Therefore the effects of the REQT command should be
1900 considered advisory only. The recommended implementation practice is to first
1901 issue a REQT command, then wait a little while (from 30 seconds up to a few
1902 minutes) for well-behaved clients to voluntarily terminate, and then issue a
1903 TERM command to forcibly disconnect the client (or perhaps a DOWN command, if
1904 you are logging off users for the purpose of shutting down the server).
1907 SEEN (set or clear the SEEN flag for a message)
1909 Beginning with version 5.80, Citadel supports the concept of setting or
1910 clearing the "seen" flag for each individual message, instead of only allowing
1911 a "last seen" pointer. In fact, the old semantics are implemented in terms
1912 of the new semantics. This command requires two arguments: the number of the
1913 message to be set, and a 1 or 0 to set or clear the "seen" bit.
1915 This command returns OK, unless the user is not logged in or a usage error
1916 occurred, in which case it returns ERROR. Please note that no checking is
1917 done on the supplied data; if the requested message does not exist, the SEEN
1918 command simply returns OK without doing anything.
1921 GTSN (GeT the list of SeeN messages)
1923 This command retrieves the list of "seen" (as opposed to unread) messages for
1924 the current room. It returns OK followed by an IMAP-format message list.
1927 SMTP (utility commands for the SMTP gateway)
1929 This command, accessible only by Aides, supports several utility operations
1930 which examine or manipulate Citadel's SMTP support. The first command argument
1931 is a subcommand telling the server what to do. The following subcommands are
1934 SMTP mx|hostname (display all MX hosts for 'hostname')
1935 SMTP runqueue (attempt immediate delivery of all messages
1936 in the outbound SMTP queue, ignoring any
1937 retry times stored there)
1940 STLS (Start Transport Layer Security)
1942 This command starts TLS on the current connection. The current
1943 implementation uses OpenSSL on both the client and server end. For future
1944 compatibility all clients must support at least TLSv1, and servers are
1945 guaranteed to support TLSv1. During TLS negotiation (see below) the server
1946 and client may agree to use a different protocol.
1948 The server returns ERROR if it does not support SSL or SSL initialization
1949 failed on the server; otherwise it returns OK. Once the server returns OK and
1950 the client has read the response, the server and client immediately negotiate
1951 TLS (in OpenSSL, using SSL_connect() on the client and SSL_accept() on the
1952 server). If negotiation fails, the server and client should attempt to resume
1953 the session unencrypted. If either end is unable to resume the session, the
1954 connection should be closed.
1956 This command may be run at any time.
1959 GTLS (Get Transport Layer Security Status)
1961 This command returns information about the current connection. The server
1962 returns OK plus several parameters if the connection is encrypted, and ERROR
1963 if the connection is not encrypted. It is primarily used for debugging. The
1964 command may be run at any time.
1966 0 - Protocol name, e.g. "SSLv3"
1967 1 - Cipher suite name, e.g. "ADH-RC4-MD5"
1968 2 - Cipher strength bits, e.g. 128
1969 3 - Cipher strength bits actually in use, e.g. 128
1972 IGAB (Initialize Global Address Book)
1974 This command creates, or re-creates, a database of Internet e-mail addresses
1975 using the vCard information in the Global Address Book room. This procedure
1976 is normally run internally when the server determines it necessary, but is
1977 also provided as a server command to be used as a troubleshooting/maintenenance
1978 tool. Only a system Aide can run the command. It returns OK on success or
1982 QDIR (Query global DIRectory)
1984 Look up an internet address in the global directory. Any logged-in user may
1985 call QDIR with one parameter, the Internet e-mail address to look up. QDIR
1986 returns OK followed by a Citadel address if there is a match, otherwise it
1987 returns ERROR+NOT_LOGGED_IN.
1990 ISME (find out if an e-mail address IS ME)
1992 This is a quickie shortcut command to find out if a given e-mail address
1993 belongs to the user currently logged in. Its sole argument is an address to
1994 parse. The supplied address may be in any format (local, IGnet, or Internet).
1995 The command returns OK if the address belongs to the user, ERROR otherwise.
1998 VIEW (set the VIEW for a room)
2000 Set the preferred view for the current user in the current room. Please see
2001 views.txt for more information on views. The sole parameter for this command
2002 is the type of view requested. VIEW returns OK on success or ERROR on failure.
2005 QNOP (Quiet No OPeration)
2007 This command does nothing, similar to the NOOP command. However, unlike the
2008 NOOP command, it returns *absolutely no response* at all. The client has no
2009 way of knowing that the command executed. It is intended for sending
2010 "keepalives" in situations where a full NOOP would cause the client protocol
2013 Naturally, sending this command to a server that doesn't support it is an
2014 easy way to mess things up. Therefore, client software should first check
2015 the output of an INFO command to ensure that the server supports quiet noops.
2019 ICAL (Internet CALendaring commands)
2021 This command supports a number of subcommands which are used to process the
2022 calendaring/scheduling support in Citadel. Here are the subcommands which
2026 Test server for calendaring support. Always returns OK unless the server
2027 does not have the calendar module enabled.
2029 ICAL respond|msgnum|partnum|action
2030 Respond to a meeting request. 'msgnum' and 'partnum' refer to a MIME-encoded
2031 meeting invitation in the current room. 'action' must be set to either
2032 "accept" or "decline" to determine the action to take. This subcommand will
2033 return either OK or ERROR.
2035 ICAL conflicts|msgnum|partnum
2036 Determine whether an incoming VEVENT will fit in the user's calendar by
2037 checking it against the existing VEVENTs. 'msgnum' and 'partnum' refer to
2038 a MIME-encoded meeting invitation in the current room (usually the inbox).
2039 This command may return ERROR if something went wrong, but usually it will
2040 return LISTING_FOLLOWS followed by a list of zero or more conflicting
2041 events. A zero-length list means that there were no conflicts.
2043 ICAL handle_rsvp|msgnum|partnum
2044 Handle an incoming "reply" (or RSVP) to a meeting request you sent out.
2045 'msgnum' and 'partnum' refer to a MIME-encoded reply in the current room.
2046 'action' must be set to either "update" or "ignore" to determine the action
2047 to take. If the action is "update" then the server will hunt for the meeting
2048 in the user's Calendar> room, and update the status for this attendee. Either
2049 way, the reply message is deleted from the current room. This subcommand will
2050 return either OK or ERROR.
2052 ICAL freebusy|username
2053 Output the free/busy times for the requested user. If the user specified
2054 has a calendar available, this command will return LISTING_FOLLOWS and a
2055 compound VCALENDAR object. That object, in turn, will contain VEVENT
2056 objects that have been stripped of all properties except for the bare
2057 minimum needed to learn free/busy times (such as DTSTART, DTEND, and
2058 TRANSP). If there is no such user, or no calendar available, the usual
2059 ERROR codes will be returned.
2063 Readers who are paying attention will notice that there is no subcommand to
2064 send out meeting invitations. This is because that task can be handled
2065 automatically by the Citadel server. Issue this command with <bool> set to 1
2066 to enable Server Generated Invitations. In this mode, when an event is saved
2067 to the user's Calendar> room and it contains attendees, Citadel will
2068 automatically turn the event into vCalendar REQUEST messages and mail them
2069 out to all listed attendees. If for some reason the client needs to disable
2070 Server Generated Invitations, the command may be sent again with <bool> = 0.
2074 MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher)
2076 Multi Router Traffic Grapher (please see http://www.mrtg.org for more info) is
2077 a tool which creates pretty graphs of network activity, usually collected from
2078 routers using SNMP. However, its ability to call external scripts has spawned
2079 a small community of people using it to graph anything which can be graphed.
2080 The MRTG command can output Citadel server activity in the format MRTG expects.
2082 This format is as follows:
2087 Line 3: uptime of system
2088 Line 4: name of system
2091 MRTG accepts two different keywords. "MRTG users" will return two variables,
2092 the number of connected users and the number of active users. "MRTG messages"
2093 will return one variable (and a zero in the second field), showing the current
2094 highest message number on the system. Any other keyword, or a missing keyword,
2095 will cause the MRTG command to return an ERROR code.
2097 Please get in touch with the Citadel developers if you wish to experiment with
2102 GNET (Get NETwork configuration for this room)
2103 SNET (Set NETwork configuration for this room)
2105 These commands get/set the network configuration for the current room. Aide
2106 or Room Aide privileges are required, otherwise an ERROR code is returned.
2107 If the command succeeds, LISTING_FOLLOWS or SEND_LISTING is returned. The
2108 network configuration for a specific room includes neighbor nodes with whom
2109 the room is shared, and mailing list recipients. The format of the network
2110 configuration is described in the file "netconfigs.txt".
2114 ASYN (ASYNchronous message support)
2116 Negotiate the use of asynchronous, or unsolicited, protocol messages. The
2117 only parameter specified should be 1 or 0 to indicate that the client can or
2118 cannot handle this type of messages. The server will reply OK followed by a
2119 1 or 0 to tell the client which mode it is now operating in.
2121 If the command is not available on the server (i.e. it returns ERROR), or
2122 if the command has not been executed by the client, it should be assumed that
2123 this mode of operation is NOT in effect.
2125 The client may also send any value other than 0 or 1 to simply cause the
2126 server to output its current state without changing it.
2128 When asynchronous protocol mode is in effect, the client MUST handle any
2129 asynchronous messages as they arrive, before doing anything else.
2134 ASYNCHRONOUS MESSAGES
2135 ---------------------
2137 When the client protocol is operating in asynchronous mode (please refer to
2138 the writeup of the ASYN command above), the following messages may arrive at
2142 902 (instant message arriving)
2144 One or more instant messages have arrived for this client.