Background: with /server -n, it is possible to create a new status window with various parameters, such as the server to connect to and (with -i) the identity for that connection. I use /server -n on start-up to set up various connections, without immediately connecting to them, so that I can choose whether and when to initiate the connection myself (by clicking the Connect button in the toolbar for each). This works perfectly.. except for the very first status window. There, my script needs to use various other commands to set the identity for that connection (nick/anick/fullname etc), while there is no way at all (at least, that I am aware of) to pre-define the server that mIRC will connect to when I click on the Connect button. Usually that is fine, because the previous server is saved properly and used again after restarting mIRC. However, every once in a while, I do something that screws this up, which after restarting mIRC causes me to end up connecting to the wrong server. That only ever happens in the first status window, because the /server -n commands set the proper options for all other status windows on each start-up.

What I'd like to request, is a switch for /server that sets the options for the current server window, but without connecting just yet. In other words: the behavior of /server -n, but without creating a new window. That way, I can set up the first status window just like I do for the other status windows, just by using a different flag than -n. Other flags like -i/-p/-f/-o/-c would end up being honored at time of (user-initiated) connection, just like with -n.

This suggestion will probably also allow for a decent implementation of a "connection/identity management" type of script which generalizes the above with dialogs etc.

One question is how such a new switch would behave in case the current status window is already connected. I think it would be fine if that case would result in a failure of the /server command with an "already connected" type of error.

I believe the above is currently not already possible, but if there is already a way to accomplish the above with scripting right now (without destroying the first status window!), I'd love to hear it.


Saturn, QuakeNet staff