Synopsis:

away
away -all
away <away message>
away -all <away message>
away – <away message>

Description:

You have the option of telling the irc server to send a message to anyone who tries to contact you (while you are away from your keyboard). This is your <away message>. You can use the -all option to set all servers to the same <away message>. When you return, use the command without any arguments. If your <away message> starts with a hyphen, you can prefix it with a double-hyphen so it won’t be treated as an option.

While you are away:

The set STATUS_AWAY expando (%A) will be displayed in your status bar using the value of set STATUS_AWAY (which is “(away)” by default).
If someone sends you a message, the server will send them your <away message>.
If someone WHOISes you, the server will include your <away message> in the reply.
If someone WHOs you or a channel you are on, your “away” status will be “G” (for “G”one), instead of “H” (for “H”ere).
If set BEEP_WHEN_AWAY is ON, your display will be beeped each time someone sends you a message.
If set AUTO_UNMARK_AWAY is ON, and you send a message or notice to someone else, the AWAY command will be run automatically to let the server know that you have returned.

Remember to execute the AWAY command with no arguments when you return, so the server will know that you are back!

Most networks don’t send your <away message> after a netsplit, so servers on the other side will not know you are away.

The <away message> is customarily limited to about 80 characters. If your server truncates your <away message> this is probably the reason.

If you get tired of seeing other people’s away messages each time you send them a message, you can load the newaway script (/LOAD newaway) and you will see each person’s away message only once.

Examples:

To mark yourself away:

    /away I'm not here right now, I'll be back soon

To mark yourself away on all servers:

    /away -all I'm in the shower, back in 10 minutes

To remove your away status on one server:

    /away

To remove your away status on all servers:

    /away -all

History:

The away command first appeared in ircII.

# $EPIC: away.txt,v 1.2 2006/08/01 03:10:13 sthalik Exp $