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- Newsbase Network
- v0.93
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- This is a prerelease version of Newsbase Network -- the Newsbase LAN server.
- Here's a quick guide to getting a server going:
-
- * Ensure you are running Freeway on both the server and client(s)
- (Freeway is a relocatable module), unless you know the IP address
- of the server
-
- * Copy everything out of the archive into a new directory, and
- double-click on !SysLog in the new directory
-
- * Run Newsbase on the server
-
- * Press F12, and type "*SysLog NBnetwork 256". Then press Return, to
- go back to the desktop.
-
- * Run !NBnetwork on the server <fx: lots of whirring> (an error may
- be given at this point if you're not running Freeway -- ignore it)
-
- * Now open up the file !SysLog.Logs.NBnetwork, and search for lines
- similar to the following:
-
- Found a local Newsbase task; switching to server mode
- Advertising server via Freeway (organisation = ...)
-
- If they're not there, panic. ;-)
-
- * Press F12 again, and type "*FwShow", and search for an entry similar
- to the following:
-
- Type 8193:
- *Name=Newsbase Holder=192.168.0.1
-
- If its not there, panic. ;-) Press Return to go back to the desktop.
- (Obviously, if you're not running Freeway, then ignore this point.)
-
- Okay, your server's setup.
-
- And now for the client:
-
- * Again, copy everything out of the archive into a new directory, and
- run !SysLog in the new directory
-
- * Press F12 and type "*SysLog NBnetwork 256", and press Return.
-
- * Open up a shared disc (via ShareFS, NFS, LanManFS, or whatever) so that
- you can see !Newsbase from the client machine (you should be looking at
- it over the network). Shift-double click on !Newsbase, go into the
- "Autoboot" directory, and double-click on !NewsDir, to get that setup
- (this won't need to be done in a future release).
-
- * Now run !NBnetwork on the client machine! <fx: more whirring>
- (if you're not using Freeway, go into the !NBnetwork.Choices file and
- add a line saying “server_at <server IP address>”.)
-
- * Check the log for lines similar to the following:
-
- Searching for Newsbase Network servers
- Found Newsbase Network server at 192.168.0.1 (organisation = ...)
- Found server (ip = 192.168.0.1, nbver = 58, ver = 100, org = ...)
- ;switching to client mode
-
- If they don't exist, panic.
-
- * Okay, now load up a standard newsreader like TTFN or Messenger, and
- use it as though Newsbase was running on the client machine! You are
- now using Newsbase across a network. Fun, eh? Wait for the next
- version...
-
- Technical notes
- ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
- The documentation isn't finished, and you may like to reduce the setting
- of "timeslice" in the choices file to make your computer go faster but
- increase Newsbase Network performace. You'll find the choices file in
- !Boot.Choices.NBnetwork if you're using a RiscPC.
-
- The status window doesn't exist yet, and there's all kinds of missing
- features, not least removal of filing-system dependency (i.e. having to "see"
- !NewsDir first). However, this is a very early alpha version. In case you
- hadn't noticed, this is a complete and utter rewrite from scratch of the
- old Newsbase Network, using UDP sockets, message/event queueing and cacheing,
- asynchronous communications and lots of ARM code. By the time this is
- finished, about 90% will be "loving hand-crafted" assembler, which should
- speed things up even more.
-
- If things don't go according to the brief installation guide I've got here,
- email me. But first -- look in !NBnetwork.Documents.Trouble and see if you
- can solve the problem. (A quick hint is that if TTFN reports “article not
- found”, press F12 and type “*Set NewsDir$Path <NewsDir$Dir>.”.)
-
- Chris Rutter,
- 06 August 1997.