Mbeep FAQ

What does mbeep ?

Mbeep sounds like for Multicast Beeper. Mbeep provides a way to send emergency short messages to users running it.

When an user sends a message to the other members of the group, each member receives the same message in a new raised small window, in which the text area is prompted by the string "From: user@host", followed by the short message on the next line. The receiver can destroy this window by clicking on the bottom barre.

What you need to build mbeep ?

You need tcl/tk already installed on your system.
You need also the sound player play.

How to install mbeep ?

To build mbeep, just type make.
To install mbeep, just type make install.

How to use mbeep ?

To start mbeep in mode line, only type mbeeper. It starts with a default group address, a default port and a default ttl=16, limiting the scope to the site.
To start mbeep in a xterm window, type mbeep.
You can change theses parameters using the following syntaxe:

# mode line
$ mbeeper -t ttl dest/port
# mode line (receiver only)
$ mbeeper -r -t ttl dest/port
# mode line (sender only)
$ mbeeper -s -t ttl dest/port

# mode xterm
$ mbeep -t ttl dest/port

Mpeep can be also launched by sdr if its plugin is installed in ~/.sdr/plugins. The name of this plugin is "sdr2.plugin.S45.text.udp.mbeep" and its content is:

media:text
proto:udp
tool:mbeep
icon:text
fmt:mbeep
{
        fmtname:mbeep
}
flags:-t $(TTL)
flags:$(ADDRESS)/$(PORT)

The script-shell mbeep started by sdr launches mbeeper in a xterm window.

Who contact ?

Any bugs and suggestions must be sent to myself at mailto:dax@enst.fr.

Have fun !

Philippe Dax