Fractor/MXP of NTR (Gerald Friedland) 
						presents
									MstbIRC

1.) What it is
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	MstbIRC is not meant serious. It was build as a try of how to write a 
	parser that would read whole sentences in and give answers to it.
	And that's what it does:
	It takes a given sentence and separates each word and takes it as a 
	keyword. Then it searches a database of words and answers and looks how
	often a keyword matches a answer. The answer which matches most keywords
	wins and is printed out. You can add keywords and answers to the 
	database using the /new command.

2.) How to use it
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	
	Compile MstbIRC (see below) and start it. There are some commands, that 
	could be useful to you. To show a list type "/help". Any command begins 
	with a slash - as you are used to it in real IRC...
	
	Command			Function
	-----------------------------------------------------------------------
	/quit			Get out
	/clear			Clear the screen
	/system			Temporarily exit to a shell
	/new 			Add new keys/answers to the database
	/file <filename>	Change database file (also: create a new one)
	/debug			Enter debug mode. (Good to see how it works)
	/help			Show a help screen

	Besides the commands just type in a sentence and try to chat with your 
	computer. If there is no response - or no useful response, edit the 
	database file (default name is: mstbirc.dat) using the /new command.
	The distribution includes a small database file, which should give some 
	useful answers.
	
3.) Which version to compile/use
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	
	MstbIRC was originally written on my notebook in the holidays. This 
	notebook is not Linux capable, so I made a DOS project out of it. 
	However later I ported it to Linux. But the Linux version is not as good
	as the DOS version is if you look at the user interface, since it has 
	bugs. Another point is, that you must have the Linux conio.h in order to
	compile the Linux version. So I decided to write another version, which 
	is system independent and can be compiled an every system, it also has
	the advantage, that input and output can be redirected into/out of a 
	file which makes it useful if you want to use it in connection with
	other programs (like a real chatter..).
	To resume:
	If you have Watcom C++32 10.0 for DOS or later or if you have Linux and 	Linux-conio version 1.02 or later, then try to compile "mstbirc.c", 
	because it's nicer.
	In all other cases just compile "mstbirci.c", with any C compiler under 
	any platform.
	To compile under DOS:
	C:\> wcl386 mstbirc.c
	or
	C:\> wcl386 mstbirci.c
	ATTENTION: DO NOT USE A 16BIT C-COMPILER, I THINK IT WON'T WORK !

	To compile under Linux:
	:~/> gcc mstbirc.c -I<coniodir> -L<coniodir> -lncurses -lconio
	with coniodir being the directory where the Linux-conio is located.
	or just
	:~/> gcc mstbirci.c

4.) Additional information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	
	Don't ask me, whether this is a useful program or not - it might be 
	useful in connection with a real chatter to fake a user. It also might
	be interesting just to see how the computer reacts, when the database 
	has grown so big, that you can't remember all answers. You could also
	exchange database files with your friends, in order to communicate 
	INDIRECTLY with him - something between chatting and email...
	Or your friend could make you guess a word, just be letting the computer
	answer you questions until you ask the right one.
	Or you could just look into the source code and see how to write a 
	very simple sentences parser... :)

5.) Copyright
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	This project is copyrighted using the GNU General Public License 
	Version 2 or higher.
	
	To contact the author write to:
	fractor@germanymail.com
	
	Or get the home page:
	http://www.obh.snafu.de/~marte/friends/mxp.html or fractor.html
	
6.) Where does the name mstbirc come from
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Don't ask me... It was a holiday project...
	
