Mystic BBS Terminal Screen Design (ANSI + MCI)

This page documents how to create a terminal-style interface inside Mystic BBS, similar to MRC (Multi Relay Chat).

The goal is to create a reusable ANSI template + MPL script system that can be used for:

* Chat clients (MRC style) * External messaging systems * Terminal dashboards * Chickadee integration * Node monitoring tools * Live data feeds

Mystic does not use GUI widgets. Instead it uses:

* ANSI art for the screen layout * MCI codes for dynamic fields * MPL scripts to control logic and user input

—

Typical layout used by Mystic terminal programs:

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Title Bar                                                   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Status / Info Line (Room, Topic, Users, etc.)               |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                             |
|                                                             |
| Chat / Message Area                                        |
|                                                             |
|                                                             |
|                                                             |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Input Line                                                  |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Help / Command Line                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

Example usage:

* MRC Chat * IRC client * Packet BBS console * Real-time BBS tools

—

Mystic terminal programs typically use three parts:

Example (MRC architecture):

User Terminal
     ↓
ANSI screen (layout)
     ↓
MPL script
     ↓
Temp message files
     ↓
Python client
     ↓
Network server

—

Mystic loads ANSI screens to draw the interface frame.

Example files from MRC:

* `mrcmain.ans` → main chat screen * `mrcscrl.ans` → scrollback screen

These files contain:

* box drawing characters * color codes * Mystic MCI variables * cursor positioning

Example ANSI layout:

|CL
|19╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
|19║ |15Multi Relay Chat                                      |19║
|19╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

`|CL` clears the screen.

—

Mystic uses MCI codes to control colors and screen behavior.

Common ones used for terminal screens:

Example:

|[X01|[Y01|15Mystic Terminal

This moves the cursor to column 1 row 1.

—

The main message area is usually left blank in the ANSI file.

Example:

|19║                                                          ║
|19║                                                          ║
|19║                                                          ║
|19║                                                          ║

The MPL script later writes messages into this region.

Typical chat area:

* rows 5–20 * width 70–78 characters

—

A typical input prompt appears near the bottom.

Example:

|[X01|[Y23|10Say > |07

User input is captured by the MPL script.

—

Many terminal programs include a live status bar.

Example fields:

* room name * topic * latency * users online

Example:

Room >>> General
Topic >>> BBS Chat
Users >>> 12
Latency >>> 32ms

These are updated dynamically by MPL.

—

Many Mystic terminal tools include a secondary screen.

Example:

`mrcscrl.ans`

Purpose:

* browse old chat lines * page up/down * search logs

Typical commands:

—

The MPL script handles:

* keyboard input * message display * command parsing * updating MCI variables * launching external programs

Typical tasks:

load ansi screen
position cursor
read keyboard input
write message to temp file
refresh message area

—

Example message flow:

User types message
      ↓
MPL script writes temp packet file
      ↓
External program sends packet
      ↓
Server replies
      ↓
External program writes new message file
      ↓
MPL reads file and displays text

This allows real-time chat inside the BBS.

—

Chickadee could use the same architecture.

Example layout:

Chickadee Terminal
────────────────────────────────────────

Channel >>> #general
Users   >>> 8
Server  >>> amigaz.org

---

(chat messages here)

---

> type message here
>
> 

Possible features:

* cross-BBS chat * private messaging * file sharing * bot commands * status notifications

—

mystic/
 ├─ ansi/
 │   ├─ chickadee_main.ans
 │   └─ chickadee_scroll.ans
 │
 ├─ mpl/
 │   └─ chickadee_terminal.mpl
 │
 ├─ data/
 │   └─ chickadee/
 │
 └─ scripts/
     └─ chickadee_client.py

—

* Design ANSI art using 80×25 * Keep the chat area fixed * Avoid writing over the frame * Use consistent colors * Reserve bottom rows for input

Useful ANSI tools:

* PabloDraw * Moebius * Mystic built-in editor

—

Mystic documentation:

* https://wiki.mysticbbs.com

Relevant sections:

* MCI Codes * ANSI Screens * MPL Scripting * External Programs

—

Terminal-style screens are ideal for:

* chat systems * live dashboards * message relays * sysop monitoring tools

The MRC client is a good reference implementation for this architecture.