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The /me Command This specification defines recommended handling of the /me command in XMPP instant messaging clients. &LEGALNOTICE; 0245 Experimental Historical Standards Council XMPP Core XMPP IM NOT_YET_ASSIGNED &stpeter; 0.1 2008-06-18 psa

Initial published version.

 0.0.1 2008-06-09 psa

First draft.

Many Jabber/XMPP instant messaging clients provide special processing and presentation of the string "/me " at the beginning of a message body. This specification describes the recommended handling of this "command".

The /me command The string "/me " is usually pronounced "slash-me". is a text string that enables a human user to type an action phrase and have it be presented in a special way within an instant messaging client. The text string is followed by a verb or verb phrase, such as "/me laughs" or "/me is logging off now". This command does not result in the generation of any XMPP protocol. Instead, the command is sent as-is (e.g., <body>/me laughs</body>) and the receiving client performs string-matching on the first four characters of the data included in the &BODY; element to determine if the message begins with the string "/me ". If the client finds a match, the receiving client will show the message in a special format. It is RECOMMENDED for the client to show the user name, nickname, or handle On the difference between user names, nicknames, and handles, see &xep0165; and &xep0172;. of the sender followed by the verb phrase in italicized text, prepended by the "*" character.

For example, imagine that the Greek god Atlas is in a chatroom with the other gods and types the following text in his IM client:

That text will be sent to all the occupants in the chatroom as follows:

/me shrugs in disgust ]]>

Each recipient's client would then show the message with some special formatting, such as:

* Atlas shrugs in disgust

If the receiving client does not find a match on the string "/me " in the first four characters of the message body, it SHOULD NOT present the text in a special way. For example, the following message bodies do not match:

/meshrugs in disgust /me's disgusted /me shrugs in disgust "/me shrugs in disgust" Why did Atlas say "/me shrugs in disgust"? ]]>

This specification describes the /me command in terms of visual presentation. A client that presents messages aurally MAY modify its presentation of /me commands and SHOULD at a minimum transform the string "/me " into the user name, nickname, or handle of the sender.

There are no security concerns related to use of the /me command.

This document requires no interaction with &IANA;.

This document requires no interaction with the ®ISTRAR;.