source: code/branches/environment/data/tcl/irk/docs/usage.txt @ 8600

A VERY ABBREVIATED INTRO TO IRK
===============================

All IRK commands are found within the ::irk namespace.

To open a connection with an IRC server, use:

   set conn [irk::connect twisted panda1]

This opens a connection to the server named 'twisted' (This is
actually the server twisted.ma.us.dal.net) with the nickname
'panda1'. It also saves the connection token in the variable 'conn'
for later use.

If you're behind a SOCKS5 firewall, you can configure IRK to use a
SOCKS5 proxy:

   irk::config -sockproxy <proxyhost> -sockport <port>

Do this before attempting to open connections to servers outside the
firewall. After this step all communication with remote IRC servers
goes through the SOCKS5 proxy. At present it is not possible to have
connections simultaneously to IRC servers inside and outside the firewall.

You can open any number of connections to different servers at the
same time, limited only by the resources available on the host
machine. Most IRC servers disallow opening two or more connections
from the same user to a single server.

Next, to join a channel, type:

   irk::join $conn #mycoolchannel

You can join any number of channels (no limits except those imposed by
the server).

To talk to a channel, do:

   irk::say $conn #mycoolchannel {Wow, I'm on IRC!}

The message "Wow, I'm on IRC!" (without the quotes) is sent to the
channel #mycoolchannel.

You can also send a private message to a specific nickname, via:

   irk::say $conn somenick {Hey, I'm talking to you}

To leave a channel use irk::leave. To close a connection with a server
use irk::close. Read lib/irkcommand.tcl for all the commands
provided. Full documentation will be provided eventually.

The above API is likely to be subsumed by a more OO API that will look
something like this:

   set conn [irk::connect twisted panda1]
   set mychan [$conn join #mycoolchannel]
   $mychan say {Wow, I'm on IRC!}
   set somenick [$conn user somenick]
   $somenick say {Hey, I'm taling to you}