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Sun Java System Instant Messaging 6 2004Q2 Quick Reference 


Instant Messenger User Interface Overview

Instant Messenger Interface


System Requirements

The system requirements for Sun™ ONE Instant Messenger software are:

To Search for and Add Contacts to a Contact Group

When you run the Instant Messenger user interface for the first time, the Main window’s Contact List tab shows one contact group named “My Contacts.” To get started, do the following:

  1. Search for and add contacts to this contact group.
  1. Search for contacts you want to add to your contact groups.
  2. Use the Search by drop-down menu to choose the type of search, either User ID or Name, and then type the user ID or name in the text box. When you search by Name, use the Search Options drop-down menu to choose Contains, Starts With, or Ends With. For example, if you know the contact’s last name, choose “Ends With” and type the last name in the text box.

  3. After entering your search criteria, click Search. The result is displayed in the List of contacts to Add, or if your search finds more than one match, the Select Contact window is displayed.
  4. If the Select Contact window is displayed, select the contacts that you want to add to a contact group and click OK. You can use multiple selection in this window.

    The “Add New Contact to Contact Group” window is updated with the contacts and the “Select Contact” window is closed.

  5. To remove a contact from the list, select the contact and click Remove.
  6. Use the Add contacts to group drop-down menu to select a contact group.
  7. Click Add Contacts.
  8. The Instant Messenger program updates your contact group with the contacts.

To Organize Contacts within a Contact Group

  1. In the Main window, with the Contact List tab selected, you can create contact groups for different categories of users you want to communicate with, and add contacts to them.
  2. You can create a new contact group in the following ways:

    • Click the Create a New Group icon:Create a New Group icon
    • Right-click on Contact Group and select “Create a new contact group” from the pop-up menu.
    • Select New Contact Group from the File menu.
    • The “Enter new contact group name” window appears.

  3. Type the contact group name and click OK.
  4. The new contact group is displayed in the Contact List tab.

  5. To rename a contact group, right-click the group and select “Rename contact group” from the pop-up menu.
  6. To remove a contact group or a contact from a contact group, select the contact group or the contact from the group and click the Delete icon.
  7. Tip: You can also drag and drop contacts to the delete icon or select Delete from the File menu.

  8. To move a contact from one contact group to another contact group, select the contact and drag and drop it to the new contact group.

To Start a Chat Session

  1. With the Contact List tab highlighted, select the contacts you want to chat with.
  2. You can start a chat session with one or multiple contacts. Use the Shift or Control keys for multiple selection.

  3. You can initiate a Chat session with the selected contacts in the following ways:
    • Click the Chat icon: Chat icon
    • Right-click on a contact name and select Chat from the pop-up menu
    • Select Chat from the Tools menu
    • The Chat window appears.

      Tip: You can double-click a contact (or contacts) to launch the Chat window.

  4. Type your message in the input area. When done, click Send.
  5. You can configure the settings to send messages when the enter key is selected. To configure the settings:

    1. Select the settings option from the Tools menu. The User Settings window appears.
    2. Select “Send message on enter key option” within the Chat tab window.
    3. The message is sent to the users displayed and appears in your upper display area. As users respond, their messages also appear here.

      Tip: Use the toolbar to change text size or color, to emphasize with bold, italic, or underlining, or to add emoticons.

  6. To invite other online contacts to join the chat session, click the Invite Others button.

To Subscribe to a Conference Room

Conference room subscriptions enable the user to search and select among existing conferences and insert those as favorites, shown in the conference tab. To subscribe to a conference:

To Join a Conference Room

You can talk to multiple online contacts at the same time by joining a conference room from the list of predetermined conference rooms displayed. You can also invite other contacts to participate in the chat.The Conference room unlike the Chat room, does not disappear after all the participants have left the conference. The Conference room remains in the system so that users can join and leave it at their convenience. Also, the participants in a conference room can be assigned various access levels to that room. For example, Manage, Read, Write or None.

To join a conference room

  1. Select the Conference Tab in the Main window to view a list of conference rooms.
  2. Select a conference room from the list of Conference rooms displayed and click the Enter icon: Enter icon
  3. Tip: You can select “Enter room” from the Tools menu or double click a Conference room to launch a chat window.

    The Chat window is displayed with the name of the conference room in the title bar.

  4. Once the chat window is open, you and the other participants simply type your messages and click the Send button. Each entry is displayed in the upper message pane.
  5. To invite other contacts to participate in a chat, click the Invite Others button.

To Create and Manage a Conference Room

  1. In the Main Window, with the Conference tab selected, click the Manage Conference Room button (the gold shield) icon:
  2. Manage Conference Room Icon

    The Conference Room Administration Window is displayed. Click the New Room button.

    The Create a New Room window is displayed.

  3. Type a name for the room in the “Room name” text box.
  4. Use the Default Access drop-down list to select the room access that will be granted to all users. The available access options are: Manage, Write, Read and None.
  5. Select “Show participants in chat window” checkbox to display the list of current users in the room.
  6. The new room appears in the Conference Room list.

  7. To moderate a conference, click the Moderate button in the Conference Room window.
  8. As a moderator of a conference you can filter the messages viewed by others in the conference using the Accept or Reject buttons.

    Note: You need Manage privileges to be able to moderate a conference.

  9. To save the messages, select the Save option from the File menu.

To Send an Alert

Use alerts, rather than chat, to send notifications. The alerts are displayed as pop-up messages on the recipients desktop.

Note: You need Alert privileges to be able to send alerts. Contact your administrator for more information.

  1. With the Contact List tab highlighted, select the contacts to whom you want to send the alert.
  2. You can send an alert to one or multiple contacts. Use the Shift or Control keys for multiple selection.

  3. You can send an Alert message to the selected contacts in the following ways:
    • Click the Alert icon:Alert icon
    • Right-click on the selected contacts and select Alert from the pop-up menu
    • Select Alert from the Tools menu
    • The “Send alert message” window appears. Recipients of the alert appear in a scrollable list box. If you do not need to add or delete recipients, skip to Step 4.

  4. To add or delete recipients, click the Edit Recipients button to display the Edit Recipients window.
  5. The Edit Recipients window enables you to build a recipient list from your personal contact list, or to search the LDAP directory for additional recipients. When you are done with adding or deleting recipients, click OK.

  6. In the “Send alert message” window, type the subject of the alert message in the Subject text box. Type the text of the message. Use the text formatting tool bar options to format and edit your message.
  7. Select the “Show message status” check box, if you want a pop-up Status window to be displayed on your desktop showing the alert status of each recipient.
  8. Click Send to send the alert.
  9. The alert appears on the recipients’ desktops, and in the Alerts tab in their News Channels window if the recipients have subscribed to that channel. If you selected the “Show message status” check box, a Status pop-up appears on your desktop.

    Tip: You can chat with the sender of an alert. In the “Alert received” window, select “Chat with sender” from the Tools menu.

To Conduct a Poll

The polling option enables you to poll contacts for their response to a question. You send a question and possible answers to selected contacts and they respond with their answer.

  1. With the Contact List tab selected, click the contacts you want to poll.
  2. You can send a poll to one or multiple contacts. Use the Shift or Control keys for multiple selection.


    Note

    You can click the Poll icon without selecting any contacts then add them later. See Step 3.


  3. In the Main window, select the Poll option in the following ways:
    • Click the Poll icon:Poll icon
    • Select Poll from the Tools menu.
    • The Poll Users window appears. Recipients of the poll (if any) appear in a scrollable list box. If you do not need to add or delete recipients, skip to Step 4.

  4. To add or delete recipients, click the Edit Recipients button. The Edit Recipients window appears.
  5. The Edit Recipients window enables you to build a recipient list from your personal contact list, or to search the LDAP directory for additional recipients. Click OK after adding or deleting recipients.

  6. In the Poll Users window, type your question in the “Poll users with this question” text box.
  7. Click the Add Answer button to display the Input dialog box. If required click Add Answer button again to type another possible answer to the list of available answers and click OK.
  8. The answer is displayed in the list of Available answers.

  9. If you want to remove an answer from the list, select the answer and click Remove Answer button.
  10. If you want users to be able to specify their own answer to the question, select the “Allow recipients to customize answers” check box.
  11. When you have filled in the question and answers, click OK to send the poll to the selected recipients.

To Subscribe to News Channels

News channels are available for viewing on a subscription basis. There are two ways in which you can be subscribed to a news channel:

Once you are subscribed, a tab for each news channel appears in your News Channels window.

To View News Channel Messages

Follow these steps to view the news channel messages:

  1. In the Main window, select News from the Tools menu or click the News icon:News icon
  2. The News Channels window appears.
  3. Select the tab for the desired news channel.
  4. The first message for that channel appears in the message pane.

  5. Click the View Next Message and View Previous Message buttons to see the other messages posted to this channel.

The News Channels window can also be configured to scroll through all messages and News channels.


Appendix

This section lists the commonly used abbreviations for:

Commonly Used Abbreviations

Table 1 lists the commonly used abbreviations for Chat.

This table consists of two columns; the first column displays the abbreviation, and the second lists the full form of the abbreviation.

Table 1  Commonly Used Abbreviations for Chat 

Abbreviation

Meaning 

ASAP

As Soon As Possible

BFN

Bye For Now

BRB

Be Right Back

BTW

By The Way

FYI

For Your Information

IAC

In Any Case

IMO

In My Opinion

IOW

In Other Words

JK

Just Kidding

K

O.K.

LOL

Laughing Out Loud

NP

No Problem

NRN

No Reply Necessary

OIC

Oh, I see

See PVT

See Private Chat

TX

Thanks

TIA

Thanks In Advance

Shortcut Keys for Emoticons

Table 2 lists the available emoticons and their shortcut characters. The table consists of three columns; the first the displays the emoticons; the second mentions the emotion signified by the emoticon; the third describes the appropriate keyboard shortcuts.

Table 2  List of Available Emoticons and Their Shortcut Characters 

Emoticons

Name

Shortcut Characters

Angry icon

 

Angry

 

X-(

Devil icon

 

Devil

 

>:)

Laugh icon

 

Laugh

 

:))

Angel icon

 

Angel

 

0:)

Smiley icon

 

Smiley

 

:-)

Love icon

 

Love

 

:-x

Grin icon

 

Grin

 

:-D

Wink icon

 

Wink

 

;-)

Sad icon

 

Sad

 

:-(

Surprise icon

 

Surprise

 

:O

 

Keyboard Shortcuts for Quick Access Menus

Table 3 lists the quick access main menu and the submenu options and their keyboard shortcuts, for the Contact Tab selected.

This table consists of three columns; the first column lists the menu name; the second lists the quick access pop-up option; and the third lists the appropriate keyboard shortcuts.

Table 3  Quick Access Submenu Options and Their Keyboard Shortcuts 

Menu option Name

Quick Access Pop-up Sub Options Available

Keyboard Shortcuts

Files

  • New Contact group
  • Delete
  • Add Users
  • Exit
  • Ctrl+N
  • Ctrl+D
  • Ctrl+A
  • Ctrl+Q

Tools

  • Chat
  • Ctrl C



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