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Sun Java System Instant Messaging 7 2006Q1 Quick Reference 


Instant Messenger User Interface Overview

Main Window Overview


System Requirements

Sun Java™ System Instant Messenger software requires:


Installing Java

Both the Java Plug-in and Java Web Start are included with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) versions 1.4.2 or later

If you do not have version 1.4.2 or later, install the latest JRE version provided at:

http://java.sun.com/j2se/downloads.html

After installing Java, launch the Instant Messenger user interface (See Launching Instant Messenger with Java Web Start). If the user interface does not launch successfully, refer to Troubleshooting Sun Java System Instant Messenger for help.


Launching Instant Messenger with Java Web Start

Launch the Sun Java System Instant Messenger user interface using Java Web Start, which is an application launcher for Java 2 applets. Once the Sun Java System Instant Messenger user interface is launched, your browser can be closed or used to locate other URLs without affecting the Sun Java System Instant Messenger session.

To launch the user interface:

  1. Enter the URL provided by your system administrator in your browser or click the Start button. This will cause Java Web Start to download the Sun Java System Instant Messenger applet.
  2. A sign-on window displays. Enter your login name and password in the sign-on window and click OK.
  3. After the login name and password are authenticated, the main Sun Java System Instant Messenger window is displayed.

  4. Note

    The first time you use Sun Java System Instant Messenger, you may have to grant the messenger execution rights on your system.


This simple procedure assumes that your browser was able to find Java Web Start on your system.

If Java Web Start Does Not Launch

The reasons why Java Web Start may not launch are: Java Web Start is not installed, or Java Web Start is not enabled for your browser.

Once Java Web Start is installed and enabled, try launching the user interface again. If you are still having trouble, see Troubleshooting Sun Java System Instant Messenger that follows.

Troubleshooting Sun Java System Instant Messenger

If you had trouble launching the Instant Messenger user interface, its possible that your network environment uses proxies. Use the following information to fix this problem:

Difficulty in Loading Resources During a Launch - Proxy Settings     By default, Java Web Start attempts to connect to the Internet directly. If your network environment uses proxies, Java Web Start may need to be configured to use the HTTP proxy. This can be done from the Preferences panel of the Java Web Start Application Manager.

For UNIX and Linux platforms:

The Java Web Start Application Manager is invoked by calling:

$ jws-install-dir/javaws/javaws &

Where jws-install-dir is the installation directory you chose when installing Java Web Start.

For Windows and Mac platforms:

The Java Web Start Application Manager can be started from the Programs section of the Start Menu.

Windows Platforms: Configuring your System to Start Messenger Automatically (Java Web Start only)

Java Web Start provides you with the ability to create shortcuts on your Windows desktop or in your Windows Start menu to download applications.

To create a shortcuts of Sun Java System Instant Messenger:

Once the application manager is started, view the downloaded applications. If you have successfully used Sun Java System Instant Messenger before, you should see an icon for it.

The above procedure alone will not cause Sun Java System Instant Messenger to start automatically when you start your computer. To automatically start the Sun Java System Instant Messenger, copy one of the short-cuts created to the startup folder (or startup group). This can be done from the start menu, by:

  1. Locating the Sun Java System Instant Messenger icon among the programs in your start menu.
  2. Dragging the Sun Java System Instant Messenger icon to the Startup folder (also in the programs pull-down) by holding the Ctrl Key.


Common Tasks

The following sections describe common tasks in Instant Messenger.

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.
  2. In the Instant Messenger user interface, contacts are LDAP userIDs or groups that you use to send and receive instant messages with. You need to add contacts to your personalized contact groups so that you can monitor their online status. Other instant message environments refer to contacts as “buddies” and contact groups as “buddy lists.”

    Use these steps to search for and add contacts to a contact group:

    In the Main window, with the Contact List tab selected, you can add contacts to a group in the following ways:

    • Right-click on a contact group and select Add Contacts or Add Contacts by User ID from the pop-up menu.
    • Click the Add Contacts icon:
      Add Contacts
    • Select Add Contacts or Add Contacts by User ID from the File menu.
    • The “Add New Contact to Contact Group” window appears.

  3. Add the contacts to your contact groups.
  4. After entering the user name or ID, click OK. The result is displayed in the “Contacts to Add” or if your search finds more than one match, the Select Contact window is displayed.

    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 Contacts 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 select Delete in the File menu.
  6. To add contacts to a different contact group, select a contact group and click the Add Contacts icon.
  7. 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:

    • Right-click on a contact group and select “New contact group” from the pop-up menu.
    • Select New Contact Group from the File menu.
    • The “Create contact group” 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 on the group and select “Rename contact group” from the pop-up menu. Or, select the group, and select “Rename contact group” in the File 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 select Delete from the File Menu. Or, right-click on the group or contact, and select Delete.
  7. 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 with whom you want to chat.
  2. You can start a chat session with one or multiple contacts. Use the Shift or Control keys for multiple selections.

  3. You can initiate a Chat session with the selected contacts in the following ways:
    • Click the Chat icon:
      Chat
    • 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. 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, select Invite Others in the File menu of the Chat window.

To Subscribe to a Conference

Conference 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. Conferences unlike Chats, do not disappear after all the participants have left the conference. Conferences remain in the system so that users can join and leave them at their convenience. Also, the participants can be assigned various access levels in a conference. 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 conferences.
  2. Enter the conference by selecting Enter Conference from the Tools menu or by double clicking on the conference.
  3. The conference window is displayed with the name of the conference in the title bar.

  4. Once the conference 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, select Invite Others from the File menu of the Conference window.

To Create and Manage a Conference Room

  1. In the Main Window, with the Conference tab selected, select Manage Conferences from the File Menu.
  2. The Manage Conferences window is displayed. Click the New Conference button.

    The Create a New Conference window is displayed.

  3. Type a name for the room in the “Conference 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: 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:
    • Select a Conference in the Conference tab.
    • The Conference window displays.

    • Select Moderate in the File menu of the Conference window.
    • 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.

  8. To save the messages, select the Save option from the File menu of the Conference window.

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
    • Right-click on the selected contacts and select Alert from the pop-up menu.
    • Select Alert from the Tools menu.
    • The “Send Alert” 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 remove recipients, click the “To” button to display the Add Recipients window.
  5. The Add 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 removing 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 Delivery 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.

  3. In the Main window, select Poll from the Tools menu.
  4. 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 remove recipients, skip to Step 4.

  5. To add or remove recipients, click the “To:” button. The Add Recipients window appears.
  6. The Add 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 removing recipients.

  7. In the Poll Users window, type your question in the “Poll Users with this Question” text box.
  8. 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.
  9. The answer is displayed in the list of Available answers.

  10. If you want to remove an answer from the list, select the answer and click Remove Answer button.
  11. If you want users to be able to specify their own answer to the question, select the “Allow recipients to customize answers” check box.
  12. 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.
  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 Keyboard Shortcuts 

Emoticon

Name

Shortcut Character

Alarm Clock icon

Alarm Clock

((O))

Angel icon

Angel

0:)

Angry icon

Angry

X-(

Balloons icon

Balloons

88=

Birthday Cake icon

Birthday Cake

~[

Calendar icon

Calendar

[#]

Can of Worms icon

Can of Worms

&]

Clown icon

Clown

:O)

Cool Icon

Cool

B:

Dead Icon

Dead

D:

Devil icon

Devil

>:)

Don’t Tell Icon

Don’t Tell

:-$

Drink icon

Drink

)-|

Embarrassed Icon

Embarrassed

:$

Exclamation Point Icon

Exclamation Point (glow required)

:E

Flowers icon

Flowers

@=

Ghost Icon

Ghost

G:

Gift icon

Gift

@[

Gold Star icon

Gold Star

(*)

Grin Icon

Grin

:-D

emo_smiley

Happy

:-)

Kiss Icon

Kiss

:*

Knife icon

Knife

-->>

Laugh icon

Laugh

:))

Life Preserver icon

Life Preserver

o=

Lightning icon

Lightning

\\\

Lovestruck Icon

Lovestruck

:-x

Money icon

Money

$$

Mug of Beer icon

Mug of Beer

@]

Music icon

Music

~~

Nerd Icon

Nerd

8-|

Not Talking Icon

Not Talking

[-(

Phone icon

Phone

(~)a

Rat Hole icon

Rat Hole

<O~

Sad icon

Sad

:-(

Sick Icon

Sick

+O(

Sleep Icon

Sleep

|:)

Straightfaced Icon

Straightfaced

;|

Sun Shining icon

Sun Shining

=O=

Surprised icon

Surprised

:O

Tongue Out Icon

Tongue Out

:p

Violin icon

Violin

~\~

Whatever Icon

Whatever

W:

Wink Icon

Wink

;-)

Keyboard Shortcuts for Quick Access Menus

The follow tables list the quick access main menu and the submenu options and their keyboard shortcuts, for the Contact Tab selected.

These tables consist 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 Main Window Menu Options and Their Keyboard Shortcuts 

Menu Option Name

Quick Access Pop-up Sub Options Available

Keyboard Shortcuts

File

  • Delete
  • Exit
  • Ctrl+D
  • Ctrl+E

Tools

  • Chat
  • Alert
  • Poll
  • News
  • Settings
  • Ctrl+T
  • Ctrl+L
  • Ctrl+P
  • Ctrl+N
  • Ctrl+S

Help

  • Help Topics
  • Ctrl+H

Table 4  Quick Access Chat/Conference Window Sub-menu Options and Their Keyboard Shortcuts 

Menu Option Name

Quick Access Pop-up Sub Options Available

Keyboard Shortcuts

File

  • Send
  • Invite Others
  • Ctrl+D
  • Ctrl+I

Edit

  • Cut
  • Copy
  • Paste
  • Ctrl+X
  • Ctrl+C
  • Ctrl+V

Tools

  • Alert
  • Settings
  • Ctrl+A
  • Ctrl+S

Help

  • Help Topics
  • Ctrl+H

Table 5  Quick Access News Window Sub-menu Options and Their Keyboard Shortcuts 

Menu Option Name

Quick Access Pop-up Sub Options Available

Keyboard Shortcuts

File

  • Close
  • Print Message
  • Ctrl+D
  • Ctrl+P

Help

  • Help Topics
  • Ctrl+H



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