Manhattan allows people in the same classroom to exchange messages. The simplest form of a Manhattan message is simply text that is typed in, on the spot, pretty much the same way you would compose an email message.
You can also attach up to 20 files of any size and type to any Manhattan message. The most common type of file attached to a message is probably a word processing file. You might have, for example, prepared lecture notes using Word. You can make those notes available to your students by attaching the Word file. Similarly, your students might use Word to write their term papers and will attach them to Manhattan messages when they are ready to "hand them in" for grading. Since a modern word processor such as Word can incorporate elements like tables and graphics, attached Word files can be quite elaborate.
Similarly, you can attach PowerPoint files, graphics images, PDF (Adobe Acrobat) files, RTF (rich text format) files, Real Audio files, MPG (audio) files - again, any type of file of any size - to any Manhattan message. When the person reading your message clicks on the hyperlink that represents your attached file, their web browser will automatically start the appropriate program to display that file on their computer. For example, when a student clicks on your syllabus.doc attachment, which is the Word file containing the course syllabus, Microsoft Word will automatically launch on her computer displaying the syllabus.
In addition to normal files, Manhattan also supports the idea of attaching web sites to any message. This feature makes it possible to use Manhattan to deliver course materials using any multimedia that can be delivered on the World Wide Web.
Keep these capabilities in mind as we discuss Manhattan messages in this manual. A message could be a single plain text sentence, or it could contain a 60 minute Real Audio presentation of a recorded lecture.