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NEWS.DOC
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1991-12-16
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Trumpet Version 1.04
A News Reader for MS-DOS machines.
Written by Peter R. Tattam
Copyright (c) Sep, 1991
************************** IMPORTANT ***********************************
YOU MUST SET UP YOUR NEWS READER NEWS.PRM FILE BEFORE EXECUTING NEWS.EXE
************************************************************************
The following document describes the setup of the news reader.
The files required are :
NEWS.EXE - the executable file.
NEWS.PRM - a setup file for the news reader.
NEWS.INI - a list of the newsgroups subscribed to.
NEWS recognizes the existence of a novell network, and will
act appropriately. Individual users will save their own NEWS.PRM and
NEWS.INI in their mail directory. This directory is SYS:MAIL\nnnn where
nnnn is their unique user-id number.
The relevant information for setting up is in NEWS.PRM
A typical stand-alone setup follows.
myip = 131.217.35.100
user = peter
netmask = 255.255.0.0
mygateway = 131.217.250.1
nntp-host = 131.217.1.19
smtp-host = 131.217.1.19
site = psychnet.psychol.utas.edu.au
organization= Psychology Department, University of Tasmania
mss = 512
fullname = Peter R. Tattam
signame = c:\news\my.sig
Parameters may be in any order.
The individual parameters are :
myip - an ip address, rarp or bootp (in lower case)
netmask - your ip local network mask
mygateway - ip address of your gateway outside your local net
nntp-host - ip address of the NNTP server.
smtp-host - ip address of the SMTP server
mss - maximum segment size that tcp can send. default 512
site - your e-mail site name
user - your e-mail user name
organization - the name of your organization
fullname - your full name
signame - your signature file name
Executing News
--------------
NEWS takes the following parameters.
news [ myip ] [ nntp-host ] [-d] { other-parameters }
The parameters 'myip' and 'nntp-host' can be overridden in this manner. The
option '-d' enables debugging. This is only used for debugging the TCP/IP part
of the program.
Novell users will have some parameters stored in their user parameter file.
The only parameters saved (via Setup menu option) are 'fullname' and 'signame'.
When running from a network, some parameters may change from machine to machine.
One such parameter is the ip address 'myip'. One can use RARP to determine the
IP address of a workstation. A way of overriding the IP address is to provide
this address as the first parameter when calling the program.
Using News
----------
When using NEWS, if all goes well, you should be connected to the NNTP server
and then you will be able to read the news. You will be presented with a large
window with 2 scrolling frames. The top frame is for locating a newsgroup, the
bottom for scanning through a group. A groups articles will not be displayed
until the newsgroup is selected with <enter>. To jump between the frames, type
<tab>. To move about, use the cursor keys. You may also locate a group or
subject by typing a sequence of characters which form part of the group name or
article subject. For example the sequence 'n','o','v','e' will located the
group 'comp.sys.novell'. This make it easy to locate a group or subject without
typing too much.
Note: if NEWS.INI does not exist, trumpet will attempt to subscribe to all the
newsgroups available. This could take some time, and make you think that the
computer has gone dead. A ticker should count over showing you that trumpet
is loading all the newsgroup info. The same thing happens when you select the
subscribe box.
To read an article, merely select the article in the lower window by pressing
<enter>.
All in all, the program is probably "self-explanatory".
(well not really, but I'm sure you'll figure it out :-)
Some special commands. Note [X] means press Alt-X.
In the news article window
F7/F8 - will jump to the prev/next group with articles to be read.
[R]eadall - will mark all the articles as having been read for the current
group and then scan to the next group with articles in it.
[U]nread - Unread 20 articles at a time
[T]oggle - will toggle the read status of an article.
[S]kip - will mark the article as having been read without reading it.
[F]ollow - do a follow up to the article
[P]ost - post a new article
f[O]rward - forward article to mail user (defaults to self)
In the news group window
Ins - open a window of all the unsubscribed groups
(when open, <enter> will subscribe the newsgroup)
Del - unsubscibe from a news groups
[Z]ap - Unsubscribe from all news groups
In the article reader window
[H]eader - toggle viewing of the header
[W]ordwrap - toggle word wrapping
[P]rint - print an article (Can also save to a file this way)
[S]ave - save article to a file (if files exists, then it is appended)
[M]ail - mail a letter to author of the article.
[R]eply - mail a reply to the author of the article. (includes article)
f[O]rward - forward article to mail user (defaults to self)
The use of a mouse is supported via the standard mouse driver. Load your
mouse driver before use.
Notes for Novell Users (non-supervisor)
----------------------------------------
The suggested way to run trumpet is as follows. The trumpet news.exe program
should reside in a public directory. e.g. SYS:PUBLIC or SYS:TRUMPET
A typical public setup follows. Notice that some parameters are missing.
myip = rarp
netmask = 255.255.0.0
mygateway = 131.217.250.1
nntp-host = 131.217.1.19
smtp-host = 131.217.1.19
dns-host = 131.217.1.19
time-host = 131.217.1.19
site = psychnet.psychol.utas.edu.au
organization= Psychology Department, University of Tasmania
rwin = 4096
mss = 1024
A typical user setup follows.
signame = c:\news\my.sig
Trumpet will only require the file NEWS.PRM in the public directory. This file
should contain all the trumpet parameters except for the username, fullname and
.sig file location.
The users will automatically have a NEWS.INI and NEWS.PRM created in their mail
directory. When trumpet is started, the existence of a NEWS.INI is checked,
and if one is not found, a list of news groups will be retrieved from the
NNTP server. This can take some time, so be patient.
The sequence of events for a novell user are :
1) determination of mail directory
2) NEWS.PRM loaded from user mail directory. (if exists)
3)
4) NEWS.PRM loaded from NEWS.EXE directory. This will override any attempt
to forge some of the global parameters.
5) username and fullname recovered from novell server.
6) NNTP session opened.
7-a) if NEWS.INI exists in user mail directory then load it
7-b) or if NEWS.INI exists in NEWS.EXE directory then load it
7-c) or subscribe to all newsgroups on the NNTP server.
....
....
[ optional
8) User changes Setup (limited to only .sig file name)
9) NEWS.PRM saved in mail directory
]
....
....
10) User quits.
11) NEWS.INI saved in mail directory
12) NNTP session ended.
13) program ends.
Debug options
-------------
The command line parameter -debug enables certain debugging options.
the format is
news -debug=xyz
where xyz is a string of the following characters
e = ether header trace (only if ip trace, arp trace or rarp trace is on)
a = arp trace
r = rarp trace
u = udp trace
i = ip trace
t = tcp trace
e.g.
news -debug=ate
will trace arp packets with ether headers, and trace the tcp
The -d option is equivalent to -debug=t
You can also send output to a debug file with the option
e.g.
news -d -dbfile=test.dbg
will trace the tcp info into the file 'test.dbg'
NEWS.INI format
---------------
You may modify your own news.ini file. This can save space in trumpet.
The file is simply a list of lines, one per newsgroup.
Each line has the following format.
<name> <subscribed> <readto> <unread-list>
where <name> ::= string
<subscribed> ::= Y | N
<readto> ::= integer
<unread-list> ::= { integer [ - integer ] }
e.g.
comp.sys.novell Y 2345
sci.physics Y 1234 1021 1034-1041 1211
Bug Reports
-----------
If you find a bug in Trumpet, I would like to hear about it.
You can e-mail me at
peter@psychnet.psychol.utas.edu.au
If you can, send me the NEWS.PRM that you are using (supervisor version if
using Novell), and the NEWS.INI file (if one has been created).
If you are having networking troubles, send the following traces to a text
file using the -debug and -dbfile options and e-mail that with your problem.
news -debug=t -dbfile=debug.tcp
news -debug=eairtu -dbfile=debug.all
Trouble shooting check list
---------------------------
Can't connect to NNTP server.
Check that you have a packet driver loaded. Packet drivers are
available from omnigate.clarkson.edu.
Check that you have a valid IP-address either manually or via
RARP or BOOTP.
Try telnetting to port 119 of the NNTP host using NCSA telnet to see
if it is accessible.
Can access NNTP server but can't read any articles.
You need to be authorized to use the NNTP server.
See the administrator of the NNTP server.
Can read articles, but can't POST.
You need to be authorized to post articles.
Some groups don't allow posting.
Can read articles, but can't MAIL.
You need to be authorized to use the SMTP host.
See the system administrator.
Interface runs really, really slow. (on ethernet)
Packets are most likely being dropped because your host is sending
too many packets at a time. Try setting RWIN=512, and MSS=512.
Experiment a little.
Interface runs really, really slow. (via SLIP).
You really want to use trumpet via SLIP???? :-)
Seriously... Later versions of trumpet may have special
facilities for background SLIP processing.
When I read large groups or large articles, trumpet bombs.
This is a known bug. Future versions of trumpet will attempt to
fix it up by providing article/group limits.
Trumpet hangs halfway through a session.
Many possible causes.
IPXPKT being used with mss > 256.... set mss=256
Communications broken.
Some TSR is interacting badly with trumpet.
Mouse driver behaving badly.
Monster groups/articles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Known bugs:
Please report any bugs to
peter@psychnet.psychol.utas.edu.au
You can trace bugs with posting by creating a file called POST.LOG in
the same directory as NEWS.INI. All lines posted to the NNTP server will be
saved in this file.
large articles still crash trumpet. This is because of
poor error handling when expanding Turbo Vision Collections.
Current wish list:
Archiving of articles via a simple database. (a bit further off)
Automatic uuencode/uudecode facility for binary postings.
Saving of wordwrap/header options etc.
Specify packet driver interrupt
Use external editor
Use novell bindery for posting/reading/mailing restrictions.
Version 1.01 fixes the following bugs.
--------------------------------------
Internal - NNTP result codes interpreted when exceptions occur.
TCP/IP - modified to recycle packets out of sequence
Unable to change IP address on command line.
Some posting editor bugs fixed.
Fixed RARP packets, timeout 10 seconds (was 5).
Enhancements in Version 1.01
----------------------------
On initial startup (or NEWS.INI missing) the setup screen appears
automatically.
Any error conditions will display a message on the screen for a couple of
seconds.
U(nread command now unreads 20 articles at a time
Version 1.02 fixes the following bugs
-------------------------------------
Check for low memory. Displays a message, and limps on with reduced memory.
Article numbers > 65535 should work now.
Version 1.03 fixes the following bugs
-------------------------------------
Some ARP code broken.
TCP code improved for sending data.
SMTP address not saved after setup screen.
fixed bug when unread list contains old articles which have disappeared from
NNTP host.
Fixed bug in screen display when focussing a new group without loading.
Fixed bug introduced by Memory low checking. If there were unread articles,
the readto pointer was assigned to the last of them. Updated correctly now.
Version 1.03 Enhancements
-------------------------
Forwarding command in article and news item windows. (defaults to self)
Mail command sends new letter to author of article.
Reply command replies to author of article.
Indicator on start up about IP address shows netmask and default gateway.
More dials on load/save of news.ini.
Full name extracted from Novell bindery.
BOOTP installed.
More robust Novell usage.
Command line entry of all parameters.
Extended debug options.
Version 1.04 Bug fixes
----------------------
TCP code modified to avoid Silly Window Syndrone
Inclusion of RWIN parameter for small/slow ethernet adaptors.
RARP bug fixed (The BOOTP enhancement broke this part)
Path line contains the DNS look up for the IP address.
Date line fixed to conform to Usenet format.
Traces may be sent to a text file for later analysis
You can now escape using any when reading large groups.
You can now shell to DOS.