Acorn User 10/AU_CD10.iso/Internet/PD/News_Email/Newshound/!NewsHound/Docs/History

Text File | 1999-04-03 | 21KB | 485 lines

'todo' imminently
=================

* show number of articles downloaded rather than requested
* update article counts in status window during fetch
* what happens when date line is missing (from groupfile?) ?
* move Bytes: & Lines: to end of header for 'head' articles?
* add percentage of articles fetched to status win?
* -fetchonly option for use with Voyager? ([e-mail])
* socket watcher support
* counts crossposted articles twice? (at least for dups in msg id gets)
* Add group count to group status line (no x / total y)
* Make idhist add new reference time if the present one is too old
* add age column to rule file, so articles older than <x> days
  can be rejected.


Version        Details
=======        =======

v1.39        Released 03/04/99
20/02/99    Fixed NEWGROUP command putting a tab in the middle
          of the date. (was upsetting freeuk news server)
        New sprites! Big thankyou to Richard Whincup
          for them!
01/03/99    Improved some bits of logging
        Fixed an obscure bug that would cause an error if
          the NEWGROUP line in the group file was corrupt.
08/03/99    Fixed bug where a group numbering getting reset
          caused a obscure crash / corruption of groupfile.
20/03/99    Added option for news server hostname in group file
          to be a system variables. NB. This is for people
          who sometimes access the server via a proxy server,
          NOT for accessing multiple news servers.
22/03/99    Fixed bug causing spaces in usernames to be replaced
          by spaces.
        Corrected position of crossposting rule in the
          default rulefile.
        Includes V1.06 of the NewsHound transport, with
          support for Messenger Pro queue editting.
03/04/99    Changed !FetchEnd to use Fplay instead of THSound.


v1.38        Released 16/01/99
25/08/98    Changed default rulefile
        Added authentication support for the XOVER command
          (required for sony's news server).
05/10/98    Changed to use User-Agent: header instead of X-NNTP-Poster:
        Status window shows 'Xover <no of arts>' rather than
          '0/<no of arts>' during Xover fetching.
06/10/98    Fixed problem where fetch duration of less than one
          second caused stats not to be displayed.
11/10/98    Copes better when articles at the end of a group are
          cancelled.
        Improved several of the syslog error reports.
        Spaces accidently used in the groupfile should now be
          automatically corrected.
        Added Quit when Offline option.
12/10/98    Now keeps a backup group file.
25/10/98    Iconbar icon is now not filled and created the right width
          for whatever sprite is in use.
04/01/99    Fixed the number of newsgroups received so far being shown
          in the speed icon of the status window.
08/01/99    [transport] Fixed startup giving wrong error if mkgroups
          failed.
16/01/99    Added more checks to hopefully prevent a zero byte
          groupfile replacing a good copy.
        System variable 'NewsHound$DefaultServer' can now override
          the default server in the config file - useful if you
          dial upto more than one ISP.
        Id history code corrected so it could load / save dates
          after 2000.

v1.37ß        Duplicate suppresion now works properly for article in
16/08/98      'Get' files.
        When a fetch is aborted mid-article, the part received
          article is removed from the batch.

v1.36ß        Made menu appear in right place when opened from config
          window.
        Removed debugging left in newsbase transport fetchbody
          command by mistake.
28/5/98        Made changes to groupfile update in failure cases.
9/7/98        Changed badmarker system to move posting from articles
          to badmarker when a posting fails.
20/7/98        Fixed bug where 'CheckForDialup' wasn't loaded from the
        config file.
6/8/98        Changed newsbase transport to not put articles in badmarker.
13/8/98        Info win website and email buttons now support AcornURI
          protocol as well as the ANT URL one.
        Added 'Help...' and 'Show log...' to the main menu.
***        Added -voyager and -flashled options to control sending
          of voyager wimp messages.
        Added option to close status window at the end of a
          fetch, if it was automatically opened.
        Fixed nntp code not shutting down properly when you
          quit newshound whilst it was fetching
14/8/98        Added option to report newsgroups that don't exist on the
          server to the user - defaults to on.
          Untick 'Report errors: Non existent groups' in the
          'Fetch' choices window to disable this.

v1.35ß        Made id history hash table variable size, reduces
10/5/98          memory footprint by upto 66k or so.
14/5/98        Removed a debugging beep left in 1.34 by mistake.
25/5/98        Added 'BigStatus' option to make the status window open
          full size.
        Added 'NoIcon' option, allows newshound to run continuously
        without an icon bar present. To get it back, run NewsHound
        again.
        Fixed '-noicon' on command line - got broken in 1.34.

v1.34ß        Fixed another potential crash with overlong subjects/
1/3/98        message id's/references
        [Repeat after me : I won't give syslog more than 1k of
         data, I won't give....]
16/4/98        Now removes any empty articles from the fetch file
19/4/98        Includes date/time to auto created config files
3/5/98        Wimp frontend, new configuration window
        Added 'Only when dialup active' option
        Added 'Report Errors: None'
        Rewrote Idhist code, multitasks whilst loading and has lower
          memory foot print now.
9/5/98        Added option to not bounce failed postings
        Added option to check system variable is set before
          fetching
        Added default server to config window

v1.33a        Removed debugging message from getarticle in newsbase
1/3/98          transport.

v1.33        Updated newsbase transport for newsbase 0.60e:
16/2/98          now supports group descriptions
          mkgroups now returns group status (full / header only)
          supports changing group from full->header only and back
        Changes to id fetch code:
          now moves fetch file to a tmp file before starting to
            fetch, so id's can be added whilst they are being
            fetched
          loops back when it finishes fetching id's to check if
            anymore have got queued.
17/2/98        Fixed longstanding bug which occasionally caused
          newshound to 'forget' it had some data from the server
          waiting to be processed.
18/2/98        NewsHound will now check at the end of a fetch to see
          if any more id's have been added to the fetch file,
          and fetches them if they have.
19/2/98        Fixed a memory leak in the rule file code - it wasn't
          freeing the memory allocated to any reference or msgid
          section of a rule.
25/2/98        Now supports suspension of a group (puts a ! before group
          name in the group files, needs newsbase 0.60f or so)

v1.32        Fixed rule file, < now works for numeric fields.
2/1/98        Fixed a new typos in the auto created setup files.
4/1/98        !NewsHound.!FetchEnd will now be run at the end of
          a news fetch if enabled in Configure window.
          Example !FetchEnd that plays a 'boing' supplied.
          (Using THsound by Tony Houghton)
5/1/98        Removed some stray debug logging
        Changed syslog priority for 'Strange - Article doesn't
          exist' message so it's not logged by default.

v1.31        Default history is 7 days if there is no MaxAge tag in
6/12/97        the config file.
        If there are multiple CR's on the end of an article line
          received from the server, all are now stripped.
15/12/97    Fixed messages fetched by id not getting added to article
          count.
20/12/97    Will now create empty idhist file if it somehow gets
          removed.
        Missing idhist file will no longer case newshound to
          skip stages of startup.
        [unreleased. I put newshound under CVS, and tagged it
         as version 1.31, but never released that version of the
         code]

v1.30        Added broadcast of voyager_init for news fetcher type
30/10/97    Added new -post command line switch, causes newshound
          to autostart a postonly-fetch on loading
        Changed -noicon option so it implies both quit on finish
          and start fetch on loading.
        Voyager_init messages is sent for news sender if -post
          is passed on the command line.
        Added no. of articles, headers and kills to status
          window at end of fetch.
        Fixed bug where Bytes: header didn't get added to
          header only articles.

v1.29        Makes sure articles.folder dir is present
        Stopped config window opening before config is loaded
        Fixed a bug that stopped multiple default servers working
          if quit on finish was enabled.
        Opening the config window now defeats quit on finish

v1.28        Added fix so NewsHound doesn't mind if the NEWGROUP
13/10/97      has a space rather than a tab. (As the Acornet
          configurer creates it).

v1.27        Added number of killed articles to stats line
10/10/97    Made NewsHound wait for the '200 ' ready line from the
11/10/97    newsserver, if we've sent a string on connection.
        Multiple default servers can now be specified, by
        putting ,'s between the Default: line in the Config file.
        Servers will be fetched from in order, and attempts will
        be made to post article to each of the listed servers
        before bouncing them.


(There's a piece of perl by Matthew Astley that processes the stats line
 NewsHound produces in syslog: http://www.fruitcake.demon.co.uk/pub/ -
 don't forget to set the log level to 126)

v1.26        Added ability to send a string immediately on connection
09/10/97    to the newsserver (for people using proxies - see stronghelp
        manual under 'Usage with different ports')

v1.25        Fixed a problem that could cause a crash by overruning a
        buffer in syslog.

v1.24        Added AUTHINFO support (see stronghelp manual)

v1.23        Added option to not fetch active lists
12/09/97    Added option to not report failures during resolving
        Improved check to only allow one copy to be loaded
          - now exits silently if NewsHound task already present

v1.22        Corrected a long standing error in an ioctl() call :-(
17/8/97          This may have caused newshound to die on computers
          running strange zero page protectors.
        Now adds Bytes: field to header only article, if possible.
        Fixed another blank lines in groupfile bug
    *****    Rule matching changed - it's no longer case insensitive.
        Now a lower case letter matches upper for lower, but an
        upper case one matches *only* upper case.
29/8/97        Any errors reading the rulefile are now reported, as well
          as being logged. The line number is also included now.
1/9/97        Now logs information about bytes, no.arts/headers and time
          for each newsgroup fetched. (priority 125)

v1.21        Changes res file - you can no longer set pipeline size
31/7/97        to 0 in the configure window. Setting it to 0 breaks things!
10/8/97        Now doesn't quit if successfully configured the first time
          it's run.
        Small change to !Boot file
        Changed default id history age to 7 days

v1.20        Fixed 502 errors during message id gets too
27/7/97

v1.19        No code changes, but documentation is now all stronghelp
27/7/97        format.

v1.18        Now ignores blank lines in group file
22/7/97        New config files are now created with QuitOnFinish set to No
        Now ignores any 502 errors returned from the server
          whilst fetching articles

v1.17        Initial groups file is now created with a sensible NEWGROUPS
06/7/97          time.
        Now pays more attention to socket errors that occur.

v1.16        Fixed newgroup code so it appends to the output file
05/6/97          (rather than writing over what we already had, with
          'interesting' results sometimes)
        New !Boot file which doesn't go wrong if you have
          multiple copies of NewsHound lying round
20/6/97        Updated docs for PD release

v1.15        Added ability to fetch active file from the server.
23/5/97          Invoke from newsbase transport window, active file
          downloaded to !newshound.folder.activelist.
        Added counter to download for active file / new groups
        Broadcasts newsbase_update message as news postings are
          sent.
        [transport] Added active list bits
        [transport] Added (commented) old style uncached
                    getarticle

v1.14        Frontend code modified slightly
17/5/97        New 'Fetch bodies' option which just does Msg-Id gets
        Removes any junk after newsgroup name in newgroup data

v1.13        Fixed bug where failure to read newgroup time resulted
28/4/97          in newshound reading from a null pointer (technically
          address 1, but who's counting?)
        Fixed bug where errors returned at start of a connect()
          were ignored. (eg. No route to host)
        Default number of retries is 10 rather than 0
1/4/97        Removed surplus syslog messages
2/4/97        Routine to generate header from xover data now includes
          a Path: header too (to comply with the relevant RFC)
        Bounce error dialogue now contains reason server rejected
          article.
10/5/97        Added config options - Noxover, No date, send arts immediate
        Fixed bug in idhist handling where old id's would never
          get expired if there were more than 255 distinct times
        Now doesn't try to refetch whole newsgroup if last article
          is cancelled.
        Warning / Error windows now opened centrally
        Added 'Set' button to configure window

v1.12        New style status window
20/4/97        Can now cope with servers that do not have the DATE command,
27/4/97          or which don't have the XOVER command.
        With no XOVER, it just fetches all new articles from each
          newsgroup.
        Reverted to old status window

v1.11        Delay between retries in config window now adjusts in 0.1 steps
17/4/97        Made group file reading & updating more closely equivalent
          in the way they read from the group file.
          (Means updating will work in newline is missing at EOF)
        Changed 'Could not open xxxGet file, skipping... ' message
        More sourcefile reorganisation
        -noicon option starts newshound with no iconbar icon,
          and makes it exit when it becomes idle.
        Initial config now creates all required dirs.

v1.10        'Start Fetch' & right-click on icon now start fetch
7/4/97          to last server fetched from, rather than default one.
        Now has 'Send posts' submenu
        Newshound$Running is clear from the program, rather than
          at the end of the run file.
        event_poll_idle is now called with min time to return
          set to 10 seconds
        Changed History file to be in reverse order
        Added Utils dir with ConvertID and CopyGroups
10/4/97        [transport] !altgroup now claims input focus
                    !altgroup gives choice - art/header/xover header
                    !altgroup/params updated for newsbase 0.58
                    !altgroup defaults to fetch upto 50 arts
v1.10 /*REQUIRES*/ Newsbase 0.58 release for the Newsgroups control
      window to work correctly.

v1.09ß        Removed spurious logging from xposts routine
        Rewrote routines for making connection to server
        (binary got uploaded with version string set to v1.08)

v1.08ß        Fixed problem where '<' didn't work by lines / bytes in
          download rules
        Rewrote rule handling code, and added msg-id, references
          and number of crossposts to it's capabilities.
(fields for rulefiles are now:
  group  subject  from  bytes  lines  msg-id  ref's  x-posts  amount,
  the old format is still acceptable to newshound, though.
  see docs.ExampRule )

v1.07        Added more verbose status messages during article posting
        Fixed another bug that meant it sometimes got stuck in
          "Getting msg-id's" state after an aborted fetch.

v1.07ß        Fixed error lines in !Run to report 'NewsHound' rather
          than 'MinApp'
        [transport] !altgroup now passes on key presses correctly,
          and return is the same as 'Update'
        All commands send to the server are now logged at priority
          250.
        Fixed problem whereby it would sometimes get stuck in the
          'Getting msg-ids' stage.
        Fixed multiple 'group seems to be been reset' messages
          in syslog.
        New rule type of 'xover', which generates "fake" article
          headers from the server xover data.
        Totally rewrote routines for posting articles

v1.06        Now handles a failed write to the group file correctly.
          (eg. if someone *close's in the middle of a fetch)
        Stopped it retrying on a connection refused error.
        Blank lines in the rulefile are not longer logged
          as errors.
        Rulefile matches are now logged, priority 250.
        Now correctly matches Lines field in rulefile

v1.05        Added 'Abort Fetch' option to main menu
         (forcefully closes connection to news server, rather
          than just asking nicely....)
        Adjust on iconbar icon does 'Start Fetch'
        Changed config window so that timeout, refetch, postcheck
          can all be switched off.
        Got rid of 'Buffer too short' error messages when updating
          the status window.
        Fixed the bug whereby 'Start Fetch' did not work when
          it was set not to connect to a server on startup.
        [transport] !altgroup is now used to remove groups from
          the feed, and will remove header only entries for the
          group from the rule files, too.
        Made sure receive buffer is cleared when a fetch is stopped.
        Corrected '<x> articles requested' count
        Made xover parser fetch whole article on a recoverable
          error.

v1.04        Added option of news-server.domain:port
        Improved RMEnsure lines in !Run file
        Now calls event_poll_idle when idle
        Periodically checks for articles to be posted
         (and posts any found to the last / default server)
        Added new options to config file
         (timeout, newsfetch, fetchonload, postcheck)
        Will newsfetch every <newsfetch> secs / mins
        Added timeout if server goes quiet for too long
        Only newsfetches on startup if fetchonload true
        Rewrote config routines to take above into account
        Added config option from main menu
        Added servers option from main menu
          (just opens dir atm :-( )
        Updated transport for newsbase 0.58
        Improved history file loading
        Made multiple rule files work properly
        Reorganised source files
        Improved memory effiency for idhist again
        Some speed improvements to idhist

v1.03        Stopped unnecessary update of group file when no new
          articles in a group.
[on April '97 AU Cover disc]

v1.02        Made retry work whem server closes connection during
          connection startup, as well as for '400 server busy'

v1.01        Added ReTry / ReTry delay
        Updated configure routines to take account to these

0.05ß/v 1.00    Added setup to transport (filer_opendir...)
        Fixed crashing on over long Xover lines (introduced in 0.03ß)
        New libresolv - v1.06 - should cure problems resolving demon
        Few fixes to syslog messages
        Added new config window routines when run for first time
        Added detection of socket errors for connect()
        Transport tidied up a bit, stronghelp file added

0.04ß        Fixed bug with reading pipesize from Config file
        Added code to try and make sure pipesize is always a valid
          number.
        Actually added right debugging code to 'seems to have..reset'

0.03ß        Running speed counters
        Stop Fetch menu option
        Start Fetch / Stop fetch greyed out as appropriate
        Made incoming buffer larger
        Changed pipeline size to 10
        Made 'articles have been missed' message more verbose
        New, window based 'addgroup' program
        All rule files must now have names ending 'Rule'
        Pipeline max size now read from config file (pipelinesize:)

0.02ß        Ooops. Changed the sprite name in !Sprites to !freenntp...
        No longer required DNSResolver to be loaded - code is linked
          in at compile time
        Changed name to NewsHound
        Fixed spurious group files left open in resolver code
        Added StartFetch menu
        Made sure bytes in&out count reset at start of newfetch
        Added hostname to top of status window
        Added 'brag' line to postings
        Added -x in group file, where x>1, means get upto (x-1)
          articles from group on next fetch
        Changed transport 'group' program to take account of this
        Added new style error & warning boxes
        Ids now saved at end of each fetch
        Reading of tags in config file now case insensitive
        Added OpenStatusOnStart and QuitOnFinish to Config.Config
        Made id code only save if history has been modified
        50x code returned by server (0<=x<=3) displayed as warnings

0.1ß        Made IdHist code use less mem by putting times into
        their own array.
        Possibily removed ###Group limitations from main code
        (still need to do transports)
        Added global Config file, default server
        Added maxage to config file.
        Made connect() and gethostbyname() calls multitask
        Made start fetch work
        Made info box version string automatically update
        Make speed times integers rather than doubles ;-)
        Fixed spurious 'group seems to have been reset' messages
        (hopefully) fixed newgroups date again
        Made sure NewGrp and rule files closed in correct place
        Stopped new group wiping exists new groups when a fetch starts
        Fixed code that could possibily remove ###Get files in some
          cases when it shouldn't
        Added more verbosity to the status window
        Hopefully fixed problems with opening GetFiles