


                    Ask(V1.3 in C:) (v 2.x & 3.x internal)



     NAME
          Ask - Query user interactively.

     SYNOPSIS
          Ask Prompt WARN OK TIMEOUT

     DESCRIPTION
            Ask is a program that allows you to get a simple form 
        of input from a user.  It is most useful in Execute 
        scripts.

            You may specify a Prompt string, which will be 
        displayed to the user, and you may also specify a string 
        to match on for both YES and NO responses, as well as 
        specifying a time limit on the users response in seconds.  
        All of these strings have default values, the default for 
        the WARN string is 'Y', the default for the OK string is 
        'N', and the default for the Prompt is a single question 
        mark.

            If the user enters a string which matches the WARN 
        string, Ask will exit with a return code that will cause 
        an IF WARN statement to succeed.  If the user enters a 
        string which matches the OK string, exceeds the value 
        given in TIMEOUT, or simply hits RETURN then Ask will 
        exit with a ZERO return, suitable for the ELSE portion of 
        such an IF statement.

            More simply: A 'yes' returns a 5. A 'no' returns a 0.

            If the user enters a string other than those 
        specified in WARN and OK, then ASK will redisplay the 
        prompt, urging the user to give a better answer.

     EXAMPLE
            Here is an example of an Ask command which will 
        return a WARNING if the user types "Amiga", and an OK if 
        the user types "BigBlue", or waits longer than 10 seconds 
        to respond:

          Ask "Amiga or BigBlue?" "Amiga" "BigBlue" Timeout 10
          IF WARN  ; typed amiga!
          Echo "Obviously a person of quality"
          ELSE ; typed big blue? or couldn't decide
          Echo "You seem to be misguided"
          ENDIF

