How to setup ics.el for use.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Remember ics.el requires GNU Emacs 19.28 or later (current development
platform is 20.3 so I can't guarantee it'll work with earlier versions
but I'll try not to break anything ;),  running under X-windows.   It 
works best in conjunction with xboard.

Remember also that ics.el is currently still alpha software.  It may
crash. It may mangle your other Emacs buffers.  It may just plain not
work.  New versions may be COMPLETELY INCOMPATIBLE with old
versions.  Keybindings and variable names may change etc. etc. etc.

i.e. use it at your own risk.

more information,  and the current version, is available at 
http://www.oakden.org/mark/icsel/

If you don't know what the emacs key sequences below are,  you
probably don't want to be using ics.el.  It requires at least a
minimal knowledge of Emacs.

To get it up and running,  follow the numbered steps below.

0) Read this whole file.

1) Read the comments at the top of the ics.el source file.

2) In your .emacs file,  add the following line to tell emacs where to
   find the ics.el code.

   (setq load-path (cons (expand-file-name "~/lisp") load-path))

   Where ~/lisp should be replaced by the name of whatever directory
   you want to keep ics.el in.

3) Add the following line to your .emacs file to tell emacs to
   autoload ics.el whenever needed.

   (autoload 'ics "ics-0.3.5alpha" "ics package" t)

   Change ics-0.3.5alpha to be whatever the filename you have for the
   ics.el package (minus the .el)

4) Add an ics-startup-hook to your .emacs file.  This is where you can
   add customisation stuff etc.  Use this to tell Emacs what your ics
   handle is etc.  e.g. (;; lines are comments)

   (add-hook 'ics-startup-hook 
             (function (lambda ()
                         ;; my handle is Sheridan
                         (setq ics-default-handle "Sheridan")
                         ;; I can get away with Sheridan as my 
                         ;; handle regexp too,  since it wont match
                         ;; spurious stuff
                         (setq ics-handle-regexp
                               '("Sheridan" 0))
                         ;; I'd like ics.el to send my handle at login
                         ;; time.
                         (setq ics-send-handle t)
                         ;; I like the buttons even if they sometimes
                         ;; screw up the highlighting.
                         (setq ics-add-buttons t)
                         ;; Change the 'light to 'dark if you use a dark
                         ;; background in your emacs window
                         (setq ics-background-mode 'light))))

   A more complicated example.... (my current ics-startup-hook, in fact)

(add-hook 'ics-startup-hook
	  (function (lambda ()
		      (setq ics-do-auto-commands t)
		      (setq  ics-auto-command-alist
			     '(("^\\([a-zA-Z0-9-]+\\)\\(([^)]*)\\)* tells you: " 1 ics-idle-p
				ics-wakeup)
			       ("^Notification: \\([^ ]+\\) has arrived" 1 t
				"i > (ics-auto-greet '%s)")
			       ("^--> \\(MAd\\).* (ics-auto-.* 'Sheridan)" 1 t
				"i > (ics-auto-respond-to '%s)")))
		      (setq ics-idle-time 300)
		      (define-key ics-mode-map "\C-c\C-z" 
			'ics-insert-zippyism)
		      ;; handle and a funky regexp for highlighting
		      (setq ics-default-handle "Sheridan")
		      (setq ics-handle-regexp
			    '("\\<[Ss]herr?[iy]?[\\- _]*\\([Dd]an\\)?\\>" 0))
		      ;; I want it to send my handle
		      (setq ics-send-handle t)
		      ;; I like the buttons even if they are buggy
		      (setq ics-add-buttons t)
		      ;; I like abbrevs 
		      (setq ics-use-abbrev-mode t)
		      ;; my emacs windows are dark coloured backgrounds
		      (setq ics-background-mode 'dark)
		      ;; personal regexp and facelist for chan0 stuff
		      (setq ics-chan0-regexp 
			    '("^[^ ]+(0):.*$\\|^Note to channel 0:.*$" 0))
		      (setq ics-chan0-face '(("red" nil nil t t nil)
					     ("red" nil nil t t nil)
					     bold))
		      ;; other specials (ch 80 and 95 and move
		      ;;  timestamping activation message
		      (setq ics-othspec-regexp 
			    '("^[^ ]+(\\(80\\|95\\)):.*$\\|^--->.*$" 0))
		      (setq ics-othspec-face '(("forest green" nil nil t t nil)
					       ("magenta" nil nil t t nil)
					       bold))
		      ;;
		      (setq ics-highlight-items (append 
						 '("othspec" "chan0")
						 ics-highlight-items))
		      (setq ics-interface "xboard")
		      (setq ics-interface-with-helper-args 
			    '(list "-ics"
				   "-icshost" 
				   ics-address 
				   "-icsport"
				   ics-port
				   "-size" "small"
				   "-telnet" 
				   "-autosave"
				   "-telnetProgram"
				   ics-connect-method))
		      (setq ics-interface-args 
			    '(list "-ics"
				   "-icshost" 
				   ics-address 
				   "-icsport"
				   ics-port
				   "-size" "small"
				   "-autosave"))
		      ;; reset the aliases list to use timestamp/timeseal
		      ;;   where possible
		      (setq ics-servers-alist 
			    '(("i" "ICC" "204.178.125.65" "5000"
			       "timestamp") ; ICC
			      ("f" "A-FICS" "64.71.131.140" "5000"
			       "timeseal") ; main fics
			      ("c" "BCF" "216.151.111.76" "6000" 
			       "timeseal") ; BCF online
			      ("e" "E-FICS" "130.225.18.157" "5000" 
			       nil) ; krypton.daimi.aau.dk
			      ("d" "D-FICS" "193.78.33.69" "5000" 
			       nil) ; dds.hacktic.nl
			      ("b" "B-FICS" "137.205.192.12" "5000" 
			       nil) ; holly.csv.warwick.ac.uk
			      ("g" "G-FICS" "131.246.89.3" "5000"
			       nil) ; chess.unix-ag.uni-kl.de
			      ("m" "M-FICS" "132.76.80.77" "5000"
			       nil) ; wisdom.weizmann.ac.il 
			      ("h" "qqqq" "qqqq" "5000" nil)
			      )))))


5) (not absolutely necessary but desirable) Enter Emacs and byte 
   compile the ics.el file. (by typing 

   M-x byte-compile-file RET ics-0.3.4alpha.el RET

   Where ics-0.3.4alpha.el is the filename you saved ics.el under).
   You should now have a file with the same name except that it has a
   .elc extension instead of .el

That's it.

To fire it up,  type "M-x ics RET" (you may have to start a fresh
emacs up,  so that your changes in your .emacs file are picked up.)

If you have any problems, try reading the source first.  There are
documentation strings for most variables and functions which may clear
up your problem.  If not, and you think you have a genuine bug, which
is not listed in the KNOWN BUGS section of the above web page, let me
<mark@oakden.org> know and I'll see what I can do.  If you find a bug
that makes emacs go beep, set debug-on-error to t and send me the
Backtrace.

Mark Oakden,
31.10.95,  updated 22.09.01

Good luck.