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Text File | 1995-05-03 | 24KB | 624 lines

               ===========================================
               THE NUNTIUS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST
               ===========================================
                              13 JANUARY 1995



* Note: ALL COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
*       Please direct these comments to *me* (not to the list).
*       I am very grateful to those who have contributed (knowingly or
*       not) to this FAQ.
*
*       This FAQ is an on-going project, of course.  Please feel free
*       to help out by making suggestions, corrections, clarifications,
*       additions, and ruminations.  Thank you.
*
*    -- Aaron Freimark ([e-mail])




TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------

A. NUNTIUS INSTALLATION QUESTIONS

        1. Where can I get Nuntius?
        2. What is the current version of Nuntius?
        3. What does Nuntius need to run?
        4. What else does Nuntius need to run on the PowerPC?
        5. Is there documentation for Nuntius?
        6. What do "ppc", "68k", "fat", "sea", "hqx", and "src" mean?


B. GENERAL NUNTIUS QUESTIONS

        1. What does "Nuntius" mean?
        2. What does "threaded"mean?
        3. What's the difference between "Nuntius Personal Files" and
           "Nuntius Public Files"?
        4. How can I configure Nuntius to work in a public lab?
        5. Where are the group descriptions that Nuntius claims to fetch?
        6. How do I change my news server?
        7. Where is a PUBLIC news (NNTP) server?
        8. Can Nuntius decode ROT-13?
        9. What's the difference between "SAVE", "SAVE AS", and "SAVE A
           COPY AS"?
       10. How can I select multiple articles for binary extraction?
       11. How do I avoid the quotation marks and attribution when
           copying article text?
       12. Can Nuntius show the date, or search for text? or have a
            built-in editor? or a built-in mailer? or support for
            cross-posted articles? or support XOVER?


C. ARTICLE SORTING & POSTING QUESTIONS

        1. How does Nuntius sort articles?
        2. How come some follow-up's don't end up in the same thread?
        3. What do NEW, UNREAD, and UPDATED TODAY mean?
        4. How do I know whether posting works?
        5. How come I can't see the article I just posted?
        6. How come "Post Followup" or "Reply to author by mail" is
           disabled?
        7. How to I crosspost to multiple newsgroups?


D. COMMON NUNTIUS PROBLEMS

        1. I can't "Quit"!!!
        2. Does it work properly under A/UX?
        3. Why does Nuntius crash so often?


E. SUPPORT QUESTIONS

        1. How can I get help with Nuntius?
        2. How can I receive notification of new versions of Nuntius?
        3. How do I unsubscribe from the list?
        4. What happened to the Nuntius mailing list?
        5. How do I report a bug?

A. NUNTIUS INSTALLATION QUESTIONS
---------------------------------

(A.1)   Where can I get Nuntius?

        Peter Speck ([e-mail]), the author of Nuntius, puts all
        his versions and sources at the anonymous ftp site
        "ftp.ruc.dk".

        ftp://ftp.ruc.dk/pub/nuntius/

        I've set up a WWW page suitable for use with Mosaic, MacWeb,
        Netscape, etc.  You can find it here:

        http://guru.med.cornell.edu/~aaron/nuntius/nuntius.html

        Peter also regularly uploads Nuntius to the archives at
        sumex-aim, etc.


(A.2)   What is the current version of Nuntius?

        At this time, the current release version is 2.0  It is
        distributed as a "fat binary," and will run on both 68k and
        Power Macs.

        The information is this FAQ pertains to version 2.0 and may
        not be relevant to previous versions.


(A.3)   What does Nuntius need to run?

        Nuntius requires System 7, at least 5 Mb RAM, and a Mac with
        Internet access.  "Internet access" means that you need MacTCP
        (version 2.0.6 is recommended), and a network connection, such
        as Ethernet, SLIP or PPP.


(A.4)   What else does Nuntius need to run on the PowerPC?

        If you have a Power Macintosh, you will also need Apple's
        Thread Manager and AppleScript installed.

        The Thread Manager is available from Apple as:

        ftp://ftp.austin.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/
              Apple.Software.Updates/Supplemental.System.SW/
              Thread.Manager.2.0.1/

        AppleScript should have come with your PowerMac, but you'll
        need to install it yourself.  The installer is in the "Apple
        Extras" folder.  If you don't have AppleScript ,then you'll
        need to purchase it.  But you would probably be better off
        purchasing System 7.5.

        Risto Virtanen ([e-mail]) notes that AppleScript is
        included in the book "The Tao of AppleScript," published by
        Hayden Books.

        Both of these extensions are included in System 7.5.


(A.5)   Is there documentation for Nuntius?

        Nuntius users are currently banding together and writing
        a user's guide.

        Mike Kuniavsky ([e-mail]) has made available some
        University of Michigan documentation on Nuntius.  Ftp to "
        ftp.css.itd.umich.edu", and look in "/users/mikek" for
        "new-nuntius.word5.hqx" and "new-nuntius.rtf" for Binhexed
        Mac Word 5 and RTF files.

        ftp://ftp.css.itd.umich.edu/users/mikek/

        There's also Cornell University documentation (originally
        written by me :-) on a WWW (Mosaic) page here:

        http://guru.med.cornell.edu/~aaron/nuntius/nuntius.html

        This FAQ is also on that page.


(A.6)   What does "ppc", "68k", "fat", "sea", "hqx", and "src" mean?

        ppc = PowerPC
        68k = Older, non-PowerPC Mac (68000 - 68040 model CPUs)
        fat = A program written for BOTH PowerPC and 68k Macs.

        sea = Self-Extracting Archive
        hqx = BinHex (binary encoded to text)

        src = Source code

        The first group of acronyms tell which Macintosh computers
        the software was designed for.  Both "68k" and "fat" programs
        will work with any Macintosh computer.  Both "fat" and "ppc"
        programs are optimized to run on the processor inside a Power
        Macintosh computer, the PowerPC.  If a file is missing one of
        these designations, it is probably "68k".

        The second group of acronyms tells how a Macintosh file has
        been encoded to be stored on an ftp server.  Usually, files
        are both compressed and BinHexed.

        Only programmers will want to look at the source code for
        Nuntius.



B. GENERAL NUNTIUS QUESTIONS
----------------------------

(B.1)   What does "Nuntius" mean?

        According to Erik Reuter ([e-mail]), "`Nuntius' is a
        Latin noun which translates to `messenger'."  He suggests that
        it is pronounced nun-tee-uss (not noon-tee-uss).  "But if you
        ask someone familiar with `Church Latin' you may get a
        different answer."

        Saul Kondrotas ([e-mail]) adds, "I had had some
        Latin back in my university years. To the best of my knowledge,
        'Nuntius' translates into 'emissary'. The word is still in use:
        that's how the Vatican's ambassadors are called. In Latin you
        say it 'noon-TSee-uss'."


(B.2)   What does "threaded" mean?

        It means two things.  In the context of newsreaders, threaded
        means that Nuntius arranges articles by subject within a
        newsgroup.  See answer (C.1), below, for more information.

        In the context of a Macintosh application, it means Nuntius can
        perform simultaneous tasks, such as checking for new articles,
        extracting and uudecoding a binary file, and fetching an
        article from the server to read.  Each task is called a thread.

        The "Thread Manager" is an extension from Apple which helps
        applications manage these tasks.  It is available from Apple
        (see answer (A.4), above).  The current version is 2.0.1.

        Nuntius can do threading just fine WITHOUT the Thread Manager.
        However, some users have reported the Thread Manager to be a
        bit more stable, and perhaps faster.


(B.3)   What's the difference between "Nuntius Personal Files" and
        "Nuntius Public Files"?

        From John T. Chapman ([e-mail]):

       "These folders store information on the various groups and
        articles.  The Personal Folder contains information on what
        articles _you_ have read.  The Public Folder contains article
        subjects, etc.

       "From what I've seen, you can delete all newsgroup items from
        the Public Folder. Nuntius will need to rebuild all of these
        the next time it opens those groups and will thus be slower.
        However, I've seen large amounts of space reclaimed (more than
        a meg). This is probably due to some inefficiency in the way
        Nuntius updates these files; the full rebuild causes some
        'housecleaning'.  Deleting items from the Personal Folder will
        result in you losing track of what items you have marked as
        read.

       "Supposedly, one or both folders can be Aliased to someplace
        outside the System Folder (a server volume?)

       "There is also the 'dummy file' trick from the Nuntius Notes
        file - replace the 'Nuntius personal folder' with a dummy file
        and Nuntius will only open when a Nuntius Preferences file is
        double-clicked on. This helps administrators configure Macs
        that will be used by several people (e.g. public labs)."

        Peter Speck ([e-mail]) also notes:

       "The 'dummy file' trick used for the personal files can [also] be
        used with the public files.  The effect is: Nuntius doesn't save
        its database (but operates otherwise normal).  This will save you
        diskspace, but opening large groups will be slower.


(B.4)   How can I configure Nuntius to work in a public lab?

        The short answer is that you make users launch Nuntius from a
        "Nuntius Preferences" file, and not from the Nuntius
        application.

        You should make copies of the "Nuntius Personal Files" folder
        from the Preferences folder.  You may put this folder elsewhere
        on that hard drive, on a floppy, or on a server.  Inside each
        copy will be a separate "Nuntius Preferences" folder.

        For example, I'm going to copy the "Nuntius Personal Files"
        folder and rename it "Aaron's News".

        If you launch Nuntius by double-clicking on a "Nuntius
        Preferences" file, it will use the copied folder as a
        replacement for the standard "Nuntius Personal Files" folder in
        the Preferences Folder.

        In the example, I'll launch Nuntius by opening up "Aaron's
        News", and double-clicking on "Nuntius Preferences".  Nuntius
        will then associate my preferences and articles with my folder,
        which I may move from Mac to Mac.

        To *force* users to open Nuntius this way, create a FILE called
        "Nuntius Personal Files" in the Preferences folder.  If you
        try to launch Nuntius by double-clicking on the application
        (the normal way), Nuntius will politely explain that the
        administrator of this Macintosh wishes you to launch from a
        preferences file.


(B.5)   Where are the group descriptions that Nuntius claims to fetch?

        Turn on Balloon Help and look in the List of All Groups.
        Pretty cool, huh?  Unfortunately, this doesn't work in saved
        group lists.


(B.6)   How do I change my news server?

        That information is stuck inside the Nuntius Preferences
        document.  You will need to trash that document, and reset all
        your preferences.


(B.7)   Where is a PUBLIC news (NNTP) server?

        From Dr. Chaos:

       "Arnold Lesikar has produced a compilation of publicly
        addressable news sources, annotated with comments like whether
        or not they allow posting, etc.  Before you get too excited and
        go looking for a site carrying alt.binaries.pictures.erotica,
        forget it ... the administrators at these sites know that their
        systems are going to be on the list, so it's unlikely this list
        will provide you with that kind of source.  You can get the
        latest version of the list from nctuccca.edu.tw (Taiwan)
        located in Lesikar.NNTP-Servers in the
        documents/Internet/MaasInfo/Other directory.  Alternatively,
        'finger [e-mail]'.  Included in the file
        are the Gopher bookmark entries to access these sites."


(B.8)   Can Nuntius decode ROT-13?

        Yes, beginning with version 1.2.  Press Command-D when reading
        a message.


(B.9)   What's the difference between "SAVE", "SAVE AS", and "SAVE A
        COPY AS"?

        SAVE is the easiest way to save; it simply updates the disk
        file with the same name as the title.

        SAVE AS... allows me to change the name of the document.  For
        example, I may save as "Aaron's Other Groups".  The window's
        title will change to "Aaron's Other Groups".  The file
        "Aaron's Groups" will still be on the disk, but it may contain
        older information.

        SAVE A COPY AS... does just that.  If the current title is
        "Aaron's Groups", and I save a copy as "Aaron's Other Groups",
        then the window title will remain "Aaron's Groups" (but there
        will be an "Aaron's Other Groups" file on the disk, as well as
        "Aaron's Groups").  If I then SAVE, the "Aaron's Groups" file
        will be updated (not "Other").

        Or, as Kevin Boyce ([e-mail]) says, "Gawrsh,
        it's just the same as in any other program, why was I so
        confused?"


(B.10)  How can I select multiple articles for binary extraction?

        Hold down the Shift key if the parts are next to each other,
        or the Command key if they are not.

        These are actually standard keys for extending a selection,
        but they are not very well known.


(B.11)  How do I avoid the quotation marks and attribution when
        copying article text?

        When choosing "Copy" from the Edit menu, the Shift key
        will leave off the attribution ("In article xxx, yyy wrote:"),
        and the Option key will leave off the quotation marks (">").

        The same modifiers work with the "Follow-up" and "Reply by
        mail" commands.

        There is no way in Nuntius to select less than a full line
        at a time.


(B.12)  Can Nuntius show the date, or search for text? or have a
        built-in editor? or a built-in mailer? or support for
        cross-posted articles? or support XOVER?

        No.  But the source code (in C++ & MacApp) is available (see
        A.1, above).  You are free to add it yourself.



C. ARTICLE SORTING & POSTING QUESTIONS
--------------------------------------

(C.1)   How does Nuntius sort articles?

        Nuntius is a "threaded" news reader.  In this context, threaded
        means that it sorts articles into threads.

        OK, wiseguy, so what's a thread?  A thread is an article and
        all the followups (responses or modifications) to it.  A simple
        example of a thread is an article with the question "What's the
        sum of 2 and 2?", and a followup, "Re: What's the sum of 2 and
        2?".

        Standard news practice says that followups be designated in two
        ways.  (1) the phrase "Re:", meaning "regarding" or "response
        to" is placed in the subject of the followup.  Therefore, the
        followup to "XYZ" is "Re: XYZ".  (2) A "References:" header is
        added to the followup with a reference to its original (parent)
        article.  Not every newsreader uses both methods (Nuntius
        does).

        Nuntius sorts by grouping articles which share references.  It
        ALSO displays the threads alphabetically, so that articles
        with like subjects which DON'T have proper "Reference:" headers
        are next to each other.


(C.2)   How come some follow-up's don't end up in the same thread?

        Some newsreaders do not put the reference header in a followup.
        Nuntius therefore thinks that this is a new post (regardless of
        it's subject), and places it in a new thread.

        Newswatcher, for example, sorts by subject.  This is not
        necessarily a better way, but a different way.  Ideally,
        perhaps, both methods could be used.

        (Recent versions of Nuntius sort newsgroups alphabetically,
        so even "damaged" threads usually end up next to each other.)


(C.3)   What do NEW, UNREAD, and UPDATED TODAY mean?

        NEW articles have been fetched from the server since the last
        time I opened the newsgroup.  They are marked with a bullet
        (Black Dot, option-8).

        UNREAD articles have not yet been read by me.  That is, I may
        have opened the newsgroup (read the subjects), but I have not
        opened the thread containing the article (not read the
        article).  NEW articles are a subset of UNREAD articles.
        UNREAD articles which are not NEW are marked with a dash.

        UPDATED TODAY articles have been fetched from the server today.
        They may contain NEW, UNREAD and/or READ articles.  There is no
        special marking for these articles.

        For example, I open comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc, a group I have never
        before opened, and all of the articles are marked with a bullet
        (NEW).  I read a few of the articles, then close the group.

        The next day, I open the group again.  Now, the articles which
        have been posted since yesterday have a bullet (NEW).  The
        articles which are older, but which I didn't read yesterday,
        are marked with a dash (UNREAD, but not NEW).  And the articles
        which I have read have no mark.


(C.4)   How do I know whether posting works?

        Post to a test group, such as "misc.test".  You should see the
        message you posted there within a few minutes.  You may have to
        open and close the group again.

        Watching misc.test, in particular, are a number of automatic
        responders which send you mail when they see your message.
        Using these, you can find out is your posts are getting out to
        the world.


(C.5)   How come I can't see the article I just posted?

        Nuntius only checks for new articles when you open a group, so
        you may have to close and re-open the window.

        Also, not every news server shows articles immediately.
        Cornell's Sparc 10 running INN shows a posted article within
        about 15 seconds, but I had to wait half a day when I used a
        VAX running a poorly configured VMSNEWS.


(C.6)   How come "Post Followup" or "Reply to author by mail" is
        disabled?

        You need to highlight some text in the original article.  This
        is because Nuntius can display many articles at once; you need
        to tell Nuntius WHICH article you want to followup or reply
        to.


(C.7)   How to I crosspost to multiple newsgroups?

        Type in the newsgroup names separated by a comma, with no
        spaces.  This is the specification for news.  Someday, Nuntius
        will be smarter.



D. COMMON NUNTIUS PROBLEMS
--------------------------

(D.1)   I can't "Quit"!!!

        Or, "My "Quit" menu choice is grayed-out!  This is one that
        people occasionally see, but that Peter hasn't been able to
        figure out yet.  He has, however, hacked in "fix".  If you hold
        down the Control key when you click in the menu bar, "Quit"
        should be enabled.

        Also try to "click twice" on the menu bar.  Peter says, "That's
        just how MacApp is."


(D.2)   Does it work properly under A/UX?

        Nuntius used to have problems with replying and posting under
        A/UX.  One of two problems (colons in filenames) has been fixed.
        The other problem (a hack for Eudora) has been "solved" with
        AppleScript.

        So now the question is, does AppleScript work with A/UX?  I
        don't know the answer to that one.


(D.3)   Why does Nuntius crash so often?

        Heh.  Because you're using an old version.  Update to the latest
        version, which is so much more stable you'll think you are using
        someone else's program.  Great job fixing the bugs, Peter!



E. SUPPORT QUESTIONS
---------------------

(E.1)   How can I get help with Nuntius?

        Post a question to the newsgroup comp.sys.mac.comm.  Reading
        that newsgroup are a number of experienced Nuntius and
        Macintosh users.

        Please do NOT write me with questions or problems.


(E.2)   How can I receive notification of new versions of Nuntius?

        You can subscribe to the listserv NUNTIUS-ANNOUNCE-L.  This
        is an announcement-only list.

        Send a message to <[e-mail]> with the following
        one line in the body of the message:

        SUBSCRIBE NUNTIUS-ANNOUNCE-L your name

        For example, type "SUBSCRIBE NUNTIUS-L Tom Swift".

        You will receive a confirmation with instructions on how to
        communicate with the list.  KEEP THESE INSTRUCTIONS!  You may
        need them later.

        If you have problems with the list, please write me at
        <[e-mail]>.  I am always willing to help
        subscribers (or potential subscribers) with listserv problems,
        but PLEASE ask me politely.


(E.3)   How do I unsubscribe from the list?

        Send an E-mail message to <[e-mail]>.  Make sure
        the "From:" address is the same as the address from which you
        originally subscribed (that is very important!).  Type the
        following one line in the body of the message:

        UNSUBSCRIBE NUNTIUS-ANNOUNCE-L

        Note that your name doesn't appear here.  The listserver will
        send you confirmation.  If you have any problems, please kindly
        ask me for help at <[e-mail]>.


(E.4)   What happened to the Nuntius mailing list?

        The mailing list NUNTIUS-L was shut down in December, 1994,
        by a vote of its subscribers.

        One reason for this was the the newsgroup seemed a more
        appropriate forum for discussion of Nuntius than the mailing
        list.

        Unfortunately, this creates a gap in support.  For example,
        a user may not have the knowledge or ability to post a
        question to the newsgroup.  Hopefully, Nuntius documentation
        will be forthcoming and will fill this gap.


(E.6)   How do I report a bug?

        First, make sure you are using the latest version of Nuntius.

        Second, make sure you can reproduce the bug, maybe even on
        someone else's Mac.

        Third, read the FAQ to see if it is a common problem.

        Fourth, read the newsgroup comp.sys.mac.comm to see if
        everyone else in the world already knows about the bug.

        Finally, if you have gotten this far, send a nice message to
        Peter Speck at "[e-mail]" with the following information:

         * Your Macintosh model
         * Your System version
         * The version of Nuntius you are using
         * Versions of any related software (Eudora, Netscape, etc.)
         * As much information about the bug as possible


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END OF THE FAQ