About Chris Tackett Expertise Currently I can answer basic and advanced questions on the subject of Pirch as well as majority of the other IRC Chat Clients. ( mIRC, xIRCon, Pirch16, Pirch32, Pirch98, Pirch98 For Talk City, Ircle, Ircle for Talk City) I can handle medium questions on scripting but I am not a master scriptor, I know enough to get by. However, I know the basic problems when encountered and I do know where to find material on the internet about majority of the chat clients.
Experience
Past/Present clients While contracted by Talk City since 1998 , I worked on various partner sites: NBCi.com, HBO.com, FoodTV, ABC, Showtime and many many more.. I could take days to list Talk City's partners that contracted me through Talk City.
Question Hi. What is IRC? What is scripting and what is it used for? I know a little computer programming, so don't hessitate to explain.
Thanks
Rick
Answer Howdy Rick,
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is network client/server system on which Internet users can ‘talk' together using their computers. People gather in individual areas called channels. Some channels have a basic topic of discussion or are special interest groups. Many channels are simply dedicated to small talk or chat. And then there are those that can be used to get help on finding places of interest on the Internet, getting technical assistance with software problems, etc. You would be surprised at the number of people you can find on IRC that basically donate their time to help others.
IRC is basically divided into 2 large networks and many smaller networks. The two most popular networks are known as EFNet and Undernet. Both of these network systems have servers located throughout the world in various countries, maintaining hundreds to thousands of channels, and several thousand users at any given time; with EFNet being the larger of the two.
You login to an IRC network using an IRC server host and a nickname. This nickname is the name by which people on the network will refer to you. An IRC Clients connection dialog box contains a number of server names for you to choose from and allows a place to enter your preferred nickname (and an alternate nickname in the event you first choice has already been taken by someone else). Note: It is generally best to connect to the server located nearest you.
Once you have connected, you can list the available channels on the network and join a given channel that looks interesting to you. When you join a channel, you will see a list of nicknames... these are the people who are already in the channel. Once you have entered... you can join in on the discussion or chat.
Channels are generally under the control of channel operators. Operators are experienced IRC users and their nicknames will be preceded by an @ symbol in the names list. If you have questions regarding the channel, you can usually direct them to the channel's operator(s).
How you behave on a channel depends on the type of channel you have joined. Many channels, like those dedicated to new users or a younger audiences prohibit profanity. It's up to you to find out what a given channel's rules are and to follow those rules. If you do not... the channel's operators have the power and ability to kick you out of the channel, and even prevent you from ever entering the channel again.
Many channels are controlled by special programs called bots (short for robots). The bots have the same powers as channel operators. These bots will show up on your channel names list just like any other IRC user. On the Undernet network, many channels are controlled by one of two bots that go by the names of X and W. If you see these user names, you can be assured they are bots and there really is no point in attempting to talk to them.
Now when it comes to scripting it depends on what IRC Client you choose..
mIRC uses scripting type called pasteal and PIRCH uses PIL
The best way to exmplain this one is to have you download either chat client and then read the help file on PIL ( found in PIRCH help) or "Scripts" ( in mIRC )
