# $EPIC: ischannel.txt,v 1.2 2006/08/01 03:40:36 sthalik Exp $
======Synopsis:======
$__ischannel__(<channel name>)

======Technical:======
   * This function returns 1 if <channel name> is a valid channel name, and 0 if it is not a valid channel name.
   * A channel is "valid" if it begins with the plus character, ('+'), the hash character ('#'), the ampersand ('&'), or the bang ('!').
   * This function does **NOT** tell you whether or not a channel exists.

======Practical:======
Some scripts like to prefix the # character to a channel name if you 
try to join a channel that isn't valid, as a shortcut.  Such as:

<file>
alias join (channel, ...) {
  if (ischannel($channel)) {
    //join $channel $*
  } else {
    //join #$channel $*
  }
}
</file>

======Returns:======
<file>
1 if the argument is a valid name for a channel
0 if not.
</file>

======Examples:======
<file>
$ischannel(#blah)              returns true
$ischannel(&blah)              returns true
$ischannel(blah)               returns false
</file>

======History:======
This function first appeared in ircII-2.2pre1