| name | menus |
| description | Use when authoring or modifying Synchronet Terminal Server display/menu files — anything in `text/`, `text/menu/`, `mods/text/`, `mods/text/menu/`, `data/subs/<code>.*`, `data/dirs/<code>.*`. Covers Ctrl-A (^A) attribute codes, @-code message variables, the file-extension priority by terminal type (rip/ans/mon/asc/msg/seq/utf8), .Xcol/.cX width variants, language overlays, security gating, mouse hotspots, and the C++/JS/Baja entry points that render these files. For the runtime string database (`ctrl/text.dat`, `ctrl/text.ini`, `ctrl/text.<lang>.ini`) see the `text` skill. Trigger on tasks like "add help menu file", "fix CGA brown color", "show this only to sysops", "make this prompt work on PETSCII", "what @-codes are available in this context", "why isn't my .ans file being picked up", "wire @SHOW:LEVEL40@", or any work that touches the look/content of what a remote BBS user sees. |
Synchronet menu and display files
Reference (authoritative):
This skill describes the display-file side of customization: what a sysop sees inside text/, text/menu/, and the related mods/text/ overrides — the full-screen .ans / .msg / .utf8 / .rip files, plus the smaller .msg / .asc snippets — and how those bytes turn into pixels on a remote user's terminal. The runtime string database (ctrl/text.dat and its text.ini runtime overrides — the per-prompt one-liners that the BBS code emits via text[ID]) is covered by the text skill; text.dat is mentioned here only where the rendering machinery is shared (Ctrl-A codes, @-codes including @TEXT:N@ and @MENU:foo@).
Building / running the BBS itself is covered by the synchronet-build and jsexec skills.
File-system layout
<sbbs>/
├── ctrl/text.dat # all hard-coded BBS prompts/strings (one record per line)
├── text/
│ ├── *.msg / *.ans # login flow + special screens (answer, welcome, sbbs, feedback…)
│ ├── *.can # trash-can filter files (name.can, file.can, ip.can…)
│ ├── menu/ # the meat: per-shell, per-section menus and help screens
│ │ ├── <lang>/ # optional language overlay (matches useron.lang)
│ │ ├── main.* # main menu (default.src shell)
│ │ ├── mailread.* # reading-mail menu
│ │ └── …
│ └── QWK/ # files packed into outgoing .qwk packets
├── data/
│ ├── subs/<code>.* # info file for a sub-board (used by 'I' / 'IS')
│ └── dirs/<code>.* # info file for a file directory (used by 'ID')
└── mods/
└── text/ # sysop overrides; takes priority over <sbbs>/text/
└── menu/
text/ ships with Synchronet and is overwritten on update. mods/text/ and mods/text/menu/ are checked first when both exist — that's where a sysop puts their customizations so a pull / installer won't blow them away. (Configured under SCFG → System → Advanced Options → MODS directory.)
File-extension priority by terminal type
A single base name (e.g. main) may have multiple variants on disk. menu() walks the candidates in this order and stops at the first match:
| User's terminal | First | Then |
|---|
| RIPscrip | .rip | → .ans → .msg → .asc |
| ANSI / CP437 colour | .ans | → .msg → .asc |
| ANSI / CP437 monochrome | .mon | → .ans → .msg → .asc |
| ANSI / ASCII colour | .ans | → .asc → .msg |
| ANSI / ASCII monochrome | .mon | → .ans → .asc → .msg |
| PETSCII | .seq | → .msg → .asc |
| TTY / CP437 | .msg | → .asc |
| TTY / ASCII | .asc | → .msg |
| UTF-8 | .utf8 | → (falls back through the matching above) |
Rule of thumb when authoring one file for everyone: name it foo.msg (CP437 + Ctrl-A) or foo.asc (plain ASCII + Ctrl-A) and skip the rest. Ctrl-A codes are stripped automatically on terminals that don't render them. Design that single file to display legibly on a 40-column terminal when possible — see "Designing for narrow terminals" below. A user on a 40-col client (mobile telnet, retro hardware) will see the same file an 80-col user does unless you ship .40col.<ext> / .c40.<ext> width-specific variants alongside it, and those add maintenance cost.
Width-specific variants
| Pattern | Meaning |
|---|
foo.40col.ans | Exact 40-column terminal |
foo.80col.ans | Exact 80-column terminal |
foo.c80.ans | Minimum 80 columns (widest .cX ≤ user width wins) |
foo.ans | Default fallback |
Exact-width files are preferred over minimum-width which is preferred over the generic file.
Language overlay
If useron.lang is set and the menu code doesn't already contain /, menu() tries <lang>/<code>.<ext> first under both text/menu/ and mods/text/menu/. Localized menus live in text/menu/<lang>/ (and the matching text.<lang>.ini lives in ctrl/).
Random menus
logon*.{ans,msg,…} and a random* glob — menu() picks one at random when the code contains * or ?.
Where files actually get rendered (call sites)
| From | Call | Notes |
|---|
| C++ (sbbs) | sbbs->menu("code", mode, jsobj) | Resolves under text/menu/, applies all the priority above |
| C++ (sbbs) | sbbs->printfile(path, mode, org_cols, jsobj) | Lower-level — pass an absolute or full-relative path |
| C++ (sbbs) | sbbs->menu_exists(code, ext, outpath) | Probe without rendering — useful for conditional UI |
| JavaScript | bbs.menu("code", mode, scope_obj) | Same lookup rules as the C++ version |
| JavaScript | console.printfile("path", mode) | Lower-level path-based |
| JavaScript | console.printtail("path", lines, mode) | Tail-only display |
| Baja (PCMS) | MNU code | Compiles to menu() under the hood |
| text.dat record | @MENU:foo@, @CONDMENU:foo@ | Inline include of a menu file from a text.dat string |
| text.dat record | @INCLUDE:path@, @TYPE:path@ | Inline include of an arbitrary file |
Mode flags worth knowing on printfile / menu: P_NOABORT, P_NOATCODES, P_NOCRLF, P_NOERROR, P_OPENCLOSE, P_CPM_EOF, P_HONOR_PAUSE, P_NOPAUSE (see sbbsdefs.js / sbbs.h). | | |
The default menu() modes already set P_OPENCLOSE | P_CPM_EOF. Pass P_NOERROR to suppress the "file not found" error if a menu is optional.
Ctrl-A codes (^A)
A Ctrl-A code is a 2-byte sequence: the literal byte 0x01 (Ctrl-A) followed by one operand char. In text.dat and JS/Baja source they appear as \1X or \x01X — the runtime stuffs the actual 0x01 byte at load time. In binary .msg / .ans files the byte is literal (see cat -v → ^A).
For BBS-wide Ctrl-A colour substitution — "retheme every \1g to \1m", or any one-operand-to-another rewrite that should apply to every string the BBS emits without you editing files individually — don't use attr.ini. attr.ini only repaints named colour slots (userhigh, nodestatus, chatlocal, etc.) used by specific code paths; literal \1G bytes embedded in .msg/.ans/text.dat lines are dispatched directly by con_out.cpp's ctrl_a() and cannot be remapped by attr.ini — which is what trips most sysops who grep their text/ tree, find hundreds of hard-coded ^AGs, and conclude "there's no global knob." There is — it's just in a different file.
Add this to ctrl/text.ini:
[substr]
\1g: \1m
Then touch ctrl/recycle.term to load it. The [substr] substitution is applied to every string going out to a user, regardless of source (.msg file, .ans file, text.dat line, JS-built output) — so a single line reaches everywhere ^AG appears. Repeat for \1G/\1H\1G if you want bright green → bright magenta too.
For the full [substr] traps (case-sensitive matches, the don't-substitute-short-tokens warning, the global-applies-to-everything implication) and the rest of text.ini — [JS] overrides, per-language overlays, the by-ID override section — see the text skill.
The one exception is the file-embed form: Ctrl-A "filename (the " operand, then a filename terminated by another Ctrl-A or end-of-line).
Colors
| Color | Fg ^A | Bg ^A |
|---|
| Black | K | 0 |
| Red | R | 1 |
| Green | G | 2 |
| Yellow / Brown | Y | 3 |
| Blue | B | 4 |
| Magenta | M | 5 |
| Cyan | C | 6 |
| White / Gray | W | 7 |
Attributes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|
H | High intensity (sticky — stays until N) |
I | Blink (slow), terminal-permitting |
E | Bright background (iCE colors) — v3.17c+ |
f | Set blink only if the alternate Blink-font is active (v3.17+) |
F | Set blink only if alternate High-Intensity Blink-font is active (v3.17+) |
N | Normal — resets both High and Blink to defaults (light gray) |
- | Optimized normal: only resets if High/Blink/iCE bg is set (or pops attr stack) |
_ | Optimized normal: only resets if Blink or iCE bg is set |
+ | Push current attributes onto LIFO stack |
- does double duty: with a non-empty attribute stack it pops; with an empty stack it's optimized-normal. _ is unconditional optimized-normal (resets only blink/iCE-bg, never pops).
| X | Rainbow (wraps) — uses attr.ini rainbow key |
| x | Rainbow (repeat last) — attr.ini rainbow key |
| U | Sysop user-defined high (userhigh in attr.ini) |
| u | Sysop user-defined low (userlow in attr.ini) |
| V | Mnemonic high (mnehigh) |
| v | Mnemonic low (mnelow) |
Control
| Code | Meaning |
|---|
P | Pause prompt ("Hit a key") |
Q | Reset auto-pause line counter |
L | CLS + clear hotspots + home cursor |
' | Home cursor (no clear) |
, | Delay 0.1 s |
; | Delay 0.5 s |
. | Delay 2.0 s |
J | Clear to end of screen |
> | Clear to end of line |
< | Non-destructive backspace (cursor left) |
[ | CR (cursor to column 1) |
] | LF (cursor down) |
/ | Conditional newline — emits CRLF only if not already at column 1 (v3.17+) |
\ | Conditional line-continuation prefix (LongLineContinuationPrefix in text.dat) |
? | Conditional blank line — emits a blank line only if previous wasn't blank |
~X | Hungry mouse hotspot (single-char command X) |
`X | Strict mouse hotspot (single-char command X) |
A | Emit a literal Ctrl-A byte |
z | Emit a literal Ctrl-Z (v3.17c+) |
Z | Premature end-of-file (stop rendering) |
D | Macro: current system date |
T | Macro: current system time |
S | Sync node status (calls nodesync()) |
"name | Embed file text/name inline (until next Ctrl-A or EOL) |
| 128-255 | Move cursor right (code - 127) columns |
Security gating
These hide / show downstream text based on the current user. The level codes (!@#$%^&*() are documented toggles — emitting the same code a second time turns visibility back. ) re-enables display for everyone unconditionally. The A–Z flag codes show following text only to users with that Flag Set #1 flag set.
| Code | Gate |
|---|
A–Z | Show following only to users with Flag Set #1 flag A–Z |
! | Toggle off/on for users < level 10 |
@ | Hide from users < level 20 |
# | Hide from users < level 30 |
$ | Hide from users < level 40 |
% | Hide from users < level 50 |
^ | Hide from users < level 60 |
& | Hide from users < level 70 |
* | Hide from users < level 80 |
( | Hide from users < level 90 |
) | Restore display to ALL users |
Note: ^A followed by A is overloaded — in the colour table it means "emit literal Ctrl-A", but in security context it means "show only if flag A". The parser disambiguates by what's currently in flight. Don't lean on this; use @SHOW:ars@ (below) for non-trivial gating.
Sticky-high-intensity and the CGA-brown gotcha
- Setting
^AH once makes every subsequent color change bright until ^AN resets it. So ^AH^AY and ^AY^AH both produce bright yellow; bare ^AY after a reset produces CGA brown (dim yellow).
- When you need a multi-color prompt without re-pairing
^AH, set ^AH early and then ride it: ^AH^AYText (^AW?^AY=help): ^AN.
- Background colors
0–7 are not affected by H; use ^AE for bright backgrounds (iCE colors).
@-codes (message variables)
@-codes are @NAME@ macros expanded at display time by the runtime. They work in:
text.dat strings,text/menu/* files (every supported extension),text/*.msg login-flow files,- email and sub-board messages only if posted by user #1 (the sysop) — otherwise left as plain text,
- explicit
bbs.atcode("CODE") JS calls.
The code name is always uppercase (e.g. @SYSOP@, not @Sysop@). Exception: text-string IDs from text.dat used as @-codes preserve their mixed-case spelling.
Format modifiers
Append after the code name with - (one modifier, no params) or | (multiple modifiers OK, params via : OK):
| Modifier | Effect |
|---|
L | Pad/left-justify |
R | Pad/right-justify |
C | Pad/center (v3.17b+) |
W | Display double-wide (Unicode fullwidth or padded) |
Z | Zero-pad and right-justify (v3.17b+) |
T | Thousands-separated number (v3.17c+) |
U | Force uppercase (v3.18a+) |
> | Allow terminal-wrap (don't truncate) overly-long expansions |
Width comes after the modifier as a decimal number (@NODE|L2@) or as a string of non-numeric non-space placeholder characters (@ALIAS|R##############@ for a 14-wide right-justified alias).
Param-bearing codes (use : after the code)
| Suffix | Means |
|---|
[:b] | Byte-count format: B/K/M/G/V(verbal) |
[:d] | Duration format: F/!/A/T/B/V/C/W/D/S/M |
:t | strftime format string (use \x20 for space, \x3A for :) |
Example: @DATE:%Y-%m-%d\x20%H:%M:%S@ → 2026-05-17 12:34:56.
Frequently-used @-codes (representative, not exhaustive)
System / dynamic:
@VER@ @VER_NOTICE@ @BBS@ @SYSOP@ @INETADDR@ @LOCATION@ @SERVED@ @NODE@ @TNODES@ @DATE@ @TIME@ @DATETIME@ @UPTIME[:d]@
Current user:
@ALIAS@ @REALNAME@ @FIRST@ @USERNUM@ @SEC@ @TIMELEFT@ @MAILW@ @MAILU@ @CREDITS[:b]@ @LASTON[:t]@ @CALLS@
Current message context:
@MSG_FROM@ @MSG_TO@ @MSG_SUBJECT@ @MSG_DATE@ @SMB_SUB@ @SMB_AREA@ @CONF@
Current file context:
@FILE_NAME@ @FILE_DESC@ @FILE_SIZE@ @FILE_AREA@ @LIB@ @DIR@
Terminal control / formatting:
@CLS@ @CLEAR@ @PAUSE@ @CRLF@ @CENTER@ @WRAP@ @WRAPOFF@ @TRUNCATE@ @TRUNCOFF@ @COLS@ @ROWS@ @CHARSET@ @TERM@ @HANGUP@
Cursor:
@HOME@ @UP:n@ @DOWN:n@ @LEFT:n@ @RIGHT:n@ @GOTOXY:x,y@ @POS:x@ @PUSHXY@ @POPXY@ @CLR2EOL@ @CLR2EOS@ @CLRLINE@
Special characters (terminal-aware):
@CHECKMARK@ @COPY@ @TRADEMARK@ @ELLIPSIS@ @DEGREE_C@ @DEGREE_F@ @U+20AC@ (any Unicode codepoint)
@U+code:fallback@ — explicit fallback string for non-UTF-8 terminals.
Gating / conditional:
@SYSONLY@ — toggle off/on for non-sysops
@SHOW:ars@ — show following only if user matches ARS (e.g. @SHOW:LEVEL40@)
@SHOW@ — turn display back on for all users
@ONOFF:ars@ — emit "On" or "Off" by ARS
@YESNO:ars@ — emit "Yes" or "No" by ARS
External content:
@MENU:foo@, @CONDMENU:foo@ — inline render another menu file
@TYPE:path@, @INCLUDE:path@ — inline render an arbitrary file
@EXEC:module arg arg@ — run a Baja/JS module in-process
@TEXT:N@ — emit text.dat record N
@Text-ID@ — emit a text.dat record by its symbolic ID (e.g. @SearchStringPrompt@)
@!X@ — execute one or more Ctrl-A operands (e.g. @!HY@ ≡ bright yellow)
@AT@ — literal @ (v3.20d+)
@NOCODE@ — disable further @-code parsing in this file
Hot-spots / mouse:
@HOT@ — colorize mouse hotspots in the following text using the @-code's own color
@HOT:HUNGRY@ / @HOT:STRICT@ — same, choosing hotspot type
@HOT:OFF@ — disable hotspot generation
@~text@ / @~text~cmd@ — define a hungry hotspot with optional alternate command
@`text@ / @`text`cmd@ — same, strict variant
Rainbow:
@RAINBOW@ / @RAINBOW:OFF@ / @RAINBOW:RAND@ / @RAINBOW:index@ / @RAINBOW:R:RH:B:BH@ (custom pattern)
The wiki page has the complete, current list — when in doubt, fetch the raw page (?do=export_raw) and grep.
Common style patterns to mirror
Framed-menu pattern (the dominant style in text/menu/)
Almost every "menu" file in text/menu/ follows one structure — see multchat.msg, qwk.msg, maincfg.msg, mailread.msg, transfer.40col.msg:
^An^Ah^Ac@HOT@^An@CLEAR@
^A4^AC┌──────────────────────────────^AK┐^A0
^A4^AC│ ^AH^AYMenu Title ^AN^A4^AK│^A0
^A4^AC└^AK──────────────────────────────┘^A0^AB▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄^AK
^AB█ ^AH^AC X ^AY ^AN^ACDescription of option^AW^A<binding>^AB█^AK
^AB█ ^AH^AC Y ^AY ^AN^ACAnother option ^AW^A<binding>^AB█^AK
...
^AZ
Key bits:
@HOT@/@CLEAR@ at top (hotspot color + clear screen).- CP437 box-drawing (┌─┐ │ └─┘ ▀▄█▌▐) for the frame; right-edge shadow via
^AB█ then ▀/▄ shadow row.
- Title in bright yellow (
^AH^AY).
- Each entry: bright-cyan letter + spaces +
^AN^AC description + a single ^A<byte> (binding byte 128–255 stuffs that keycode into the input buffer if the user clicks the hotspot or presses a configured equivalent).
- Trailing
^AZ — wait-for-key (premature EOF).
Use this pattern when adding a new menu under text/menu/ that needs visible options and hotkeys.
Narrative info-screen pattern
Free-form text with sparse Ctrl-A for emphasis. Used by text/feedback.msg, text/inactive.msg, text/sbbs.msg, etc. Appropriate for help screens, system info dumps, anything without single-letter hotkeys. No frame, no @HOT@, no trailing ^AZ.
Pick this only for files that live in text/ (not text/menu/) or for help screens explicitly invoked between prompts.
Authoring practicalities
Designing for narrow terminals
When only one menu file will exist (no .40col / .c40 siblings), prefer a layout that fits in 40 columns so PETSCII, mobile telnet clients, and retro hardware see something legible. Two specific techniques:
-
^A\ conditional line continuation. This Ctrl-A code emits the
LongLineContinuationPrefix string from text.dat only when the user's
terminal is < 80 columns. Use it at line breaks in long-line content so
the same source renders as one logical line on 80-col terminals and wraps
cleanly on 40-col ones, without you maintaining two files. Example:
^AyChoose: ~A^Aw)~A^Andd, ~^AwR^Anemove, ~^AwE^Andit, ~^AwV^Aniew,^A\
~^AwQ^Anuit, ~^AwP^Anrev or [~^AwN^Anext]:
-
Don't write into or past the last column. Synchronet emits whatever
you wrote; if the cursor reaches column N+1 on an N-column terminal,
nearly every terminal auto-wraps to the next row, throwing your
subsequent layout off by one. Leave column N empty, or end the line with
a ^A\ continuation, or use a @>@ modifier on the final @-code when
you genuinely want to allow wrap.
Counting rows and columns correctly
When you size a menu file (e.g. picking a row count that fits in a 25-line
window, or making sure a line doesn't auto-wrap), what matters is the
rendered width and rendered row count, not the byte count of the source:
- Ctrl-A codes consume zero visible columns and zero rows.
^AH^AY is
4 bytes in the file, 0 columns on screen. The text editor's column ruler
is wrong; count the visible characters only.
- @-codes expand at display time to a string whose width depends on the
current user, current node, current message, etc.
@ALIAS@ could be 2
chars or 25. To make the layout predictable, pin the width with a
format modifier: @ALIAS|L12@ (12 chars, left-padded) or @CREDITS|R8@.
- CP437 box-drawing chars are one column each, regardless of editor
display width.
- Some @-codes emit row-changing escapes (
@CRLF@, @CLS@, @PAUSE@,
@GETKEY@, @CENTER@, @CONTINUE@, embedded @MENU:…@ or @INCLUDE:…@).
These can add (or zero out) rows you didn't write in the source. When
the row count matters (e.g. fitting under a header), expand mentally or
test against a real session.
- Width-variant files (
.40col, .c80) preempt the generic file when
the terminal width matches. If you ship foo.40col.ans and foo.ans,
a 40-col user sees the narrow one, an 80-col user sees the wide one,
and there's no ^A\ gymnastics needed. The tradeoff is two files to
keep in sync.
Entering Ctrl-A bytes
Most editors render Ctrl-A as ^A (caret-A) or a happy-face glyph. Use one of:
- A BBS-aware ANSI editor (TheDraw, ACiDDraw, Pablo, MysticDraw) — see
resource:ansi editors on the wiki.
text/menu/*.msg files contain literal 0x01 bytes; in PowerShell, [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes() / WriteAllBytes() handles them safely. From bash, printf '\x01H...' writes raw bytes.- In
ctrl/text.dat and JS/Baja source, use the escape form \1X or \x01X — the runtime stuffs the byte at parse time.
ans2asc / asc2ans
Two-way converters: ans2asc takes a .ans file with ANSI X3.64 escapes and produces a Ctrl-A-encoded .asc/.msg; asc2ans reverses it so you can hand a file to an ANSI editor. Both ship as Synchronet utilities. Convenient when collaborating with an ANSI artist who wants real ESC[ codes.
Verifying what a file looks like rendered
- Live: connect a terminal client to the BBS and trigger the path that displays the file (or use
jsexec exec/printfile.js path if available).
- From a script:
bbs.menu("foo") / console.printfile("path") — both work under a session, not under jsexec.
- Quick byte inspection:
cat -v file.msg (renders Ctrl-A as ^A and high-bit bytes as M-X), od -c file.msg | head, or xxd file.msg | head.
Modifying a stock file safely
Don't edit text/foo.msg in place — a future git pull (or release update) will overwrite it. Copy first:
cp <sbbs>/text/menu/main.msg <sbbs>/mods/text/menu/main.msg
$EDITOR <sbbs>/mods/text/menu/main.msg
The runtime picks up mods/text/menu/main.msg before the stock one because cfg.mods_dir is checked first in menu_exists() (see src/sbbs3/prntfile.cpp).
Modifying ctrl/text.dat
ctrl/text.dat is one record per line; lines that look like "\1...string..." NNN SymbolName are records. The line count and ordering matter — the C side reads it by index via the TOTAL_TEXT enum from src/sbbs3/text.h, which is generated from text.dat by textgen.exe. Don't add or remove records unless you also regenerate text.h / text_defaults.c / text_id.c (and rebuild). You can freely edit the string value of an existing record without regenerating anything — the BBS picks it up on next reload of text.dat.
To rebuild after structural changes:
cd <sbbs>/src/sbbs3
./textgen
If a running BBS doesn't pick up a text.dat edit, restart sbbsctrl or call bbs.reload_text() from a JS console.
Localization
useron.lang is a short language code (matches ctrl/text.<lang>.ini and text/menu/<lang>/). When set and the menu code doesn't contain /, menu() tries the language-prefixed path first and falls back to the unprefixed one on miss. Author a localized variant by dropping it under text/menu/<lang>/<base>.<ext> — same naming rules apply within the lang dir.
Pitfalls
- CGA brown:
^AY without ^AH is brown on CGA. Always pair, or rely on sticky ^AH. (See the dedicated section above.)
mods/text/ precedence: an old stale file in mods/text/menu/ will silently shadow a freshly-pulled stock file. When stock files change in an update, audit mods/text/menu/.text.dat line drift: adding/removing a record without regenerating text.h produces a total_text != TOTAL_TEXT startup error.- @-codes don't expand in non-sysop messages: posted text shows the raw
@SYSOP@ to readers. Use the JS bbs.atcode() API at message-render time if you need expansion in user content.
- Hyphen-modifier + colon-param doesn't work:
@FOO-L:bar@ is invalid; use the pipe form (@FOO|L:bar@).
- Width modifier truncates from the right:
@ALIAS|L8@ on a 12-char alias keeps the first 8 chars. Use > if you'd rather wrap.
^AZ is sticky-fatal: a ^AZ byte in the middle of a file stops rendering at that point, no further bytes are seen. Useful, but easy to misplace.- Ctrl-A operand
A is overloaded (security flag A vs literal-Ctrl-A) — prefer @SHOW:FLAG1A@ for flag-based gating instead of relying on ^AA.
- Hotspot binding bytes (128–255): the value above 127 in
^A<byte> after an option is the keycode "stuffed" when the hotspot fires. Common assignments live in sbbsdefs.js / key.h as K_* constants.
menu() returns false silently on missing file — pass P_NOERROR for optional menus, otherwise the user sees "missing menu" errors.
Reading the source for the call site
When you don't know which prompt or menu drives a given screen:
grep -rn '"PromptName"' src/sbbs3/text.dat — find the text.dat record index/ID.grep -rn 'PromptName' src/sbbs3/*.cpp — find the C++ call site (often bputs(text[PromptName])).grep -rn 'menu("foo"' src/sbbs3/ exec/ — find what triggers menu() with a given base name.- For Baja shells:
grep -rn 'MNU foo' exec/*.src.
When to use this skill vs. others
- Just rendering text to a user in a custom JS module → look at the @-codes table and Ctrl-A reference, then write the file. No skill needed unless you hit the priority / mods-dir / language-overlay logic.
- Adding a new prompt to
text.dat → also pulls in synchronet-build (textgen + rebuild).
- Testing what a file looks like rendered → connect a BBS session; jsexec can't
console.printfile standalone.
- Updating the wiki → use the
synchronet-wiki skill.
