MacSlurp is a two way batch news transfer application.
It will connect to a
remote NNTP server and download all the articles in a specified set of Usenet newsgroups which have arrived after a specified time (normally the last time MacSlurp was run). The news is delivered in a batch format suitable for unbatching by ToadNews, or reading with uAccess.
MacSlurp then finds all the articles you've posted on your Mac, and sends each of them to the server. The posting application can be rnMac, TheNews-UUCP or uAccess.
Ñ Who needs MacSlurp?
If you read Usenet news on your Macintosh, and your connection to your news source is a slow TCP/IP link, e.g. a SLIP connection running at 14.4Kb or less, MacSlurp will save you connection charges, and remove the annoying waits for an article to appear.
Ñ What other software do I need to use MacSlurp
MacTCP and a LAP, e.g. MacSLIP, MacPPP, Interslip etc.
ToadNews and either rnMac or TheNews-UUCP, or uAccess alone
Ñ Configuration
You will need to configure MacSlurp, ToadNews and rnMac or TheNews-UUCP. I don't have uAccess, so I can't describe its setup.
- MacSlurp
The directory tree MacSLurp uses should look like this:
MacSlurp Folder:MacSlurp 1.5
:MacSlurp Files:slurp.sys
:spool:<batch files and outgoing news created here>
MacSlurp configuration information is stored in two places, the "MacSlurp
Prefs" file in the Preferences folder, and in the "slurp.sys" file. The
"slurp.sys" file must be in the folder "MacSlurp Files", which must be in
the same folder as the MacSlurp application.
The preferences are set by the File Options... menu command. The options
are:
News server address: This should be set to the hostname of your NNTP server machine, e.g. news.demon.co.uk.
Get news newer than: Only articles received after this time will be retrieved. Each time news is successfully received this time is reset to the time at which the connection was made. Set this option manually before retrieving your first batch. A date a few hours to a few days in the past is reasonable. Note that this time is GMT.
Maximum time to sleep: This is an experimental parameter. If you feel that MacSlurp is using too much of your Mac's power while receiving news, try increasing this parameter. This may reduce the speed of transfer.
Batch File Format: This can be either UUCP D. and X. files, or rnews format. Select D. and X. files if you are using uAccess, otherwise select rnews format.
The slurp.sys file contains the list of newsgroups to retrieve. You will
have to use an editor such as TeachText to set it up.
- The hostname *must* be the same as the hostname 'News server address' is
set to in the Options... dialog.
- There must be *no* white space in the list.
- Lines can be as long as desired. If the list is split onto multiple
lines each line except the last must have a '\' as its last character.
- The ',' is needed between all each group, even if the name ends at a
line break!
- A group name can have an '*' as its last component, e.g.
comp.sys.mac.* means 'retreive all the comp.sys.mac groups
(comp.sys.mac.apps, comp.sys.mac.hardware, and so on).
- A group name can be preceded by a '!'. This means 'except', so
'comp.sys.mac.*,!comp.sys.mac.advocacy' means 'all the comp.sys.mac
groups except comp.sys.mac.advocacy'.
- ToadNews
In the ToadNews Preferences Unbatcher... dialog, set:
- The batch file directory to <your disk>:<MacSlurp Folder>:MacSlurp Files:spool
- The unbatched directory to <your disk>:<rnMac or TheNews Folder>:News
- I recommend that you don't allow cross posted articles.
- rnMac
In the Edit Edit rnMac Settings dialog set:
SPOOLDIR to <your disk>:<MacSlurp Folder>:MacSlurp Files:spool
USERNAME to your username
NODENAME and DOMAIN to your full nodename (i.e. foo.bar.co.uk)
TIMEDIFF to a three letter time code. Like 'BST' *not* something like '0100 (BST)'.
REALNAME and ORGANISATION as appropriate
- TheNews-UUCP
Put the file 'UUPC settings file' (provided with this release of MacSlurp) in the folder containing TheNews-UUCP. Open it with ResEdit and set: (assuming you are tomd@horse.demon.co.uk)
- MAILBOX to your login name (e.g. tomd)
- NAME to 'Firstname Lastname' (e.g. Tom Davies)
- DOMAIN to your fully qualified domain name (e.g. horse.demon.co.uk)
- ignore HOME and MAILDIR
- CONFDIR to the pathname of the folder containing 'UUPC settings file' (e.g. 'Clydesdale:thenews-uucp-224')
- MAILSERVICE to 'news' (this is already set)
- NODENAME to your fully qualified domain name (e.g. horse.demon.co.uk)
- ignore SPEED and TEMPDIR
- SPOOLDIR to the pathname of the 'spool' folder in the folder containing MacSlurp (e.g. 'Clydesdale:MacSlurp 1.5:MacSlurp Files:spool')
- ignore PUBDIR
- TIMEDIFF to a three letter time zone code *only*
- ignore MAILCOPY
- SIGNATURE doesn't seem to work, don't know why.
- ignore ALIAS, ROUTEVIA, PASSWORD and SLEEPTIME
- USERNAME to what you want in your From: line (e.g. tomd@horse.demon.co.uk (Tom Davies))
Then start TheNews-UUCP and choose File Preferences...
Set your organisation name and distribution (probably 'world')
Set the 'news spooldir path' to the unbatched directory you chose for ToadNews.
Set the 'news active file path' to '<unbatched directory>:ToadNews Active'.
Set the 'UUPC settings path to point to the 'UUPC settings file'.
Bugs
Probably infinite... In particular:
- If you have an error getting news, the MacTCP session isn't closed.
- The 'Path:' line in the header is incorrect.
- Setting things up is non-trivial.
MacSlurp has been run on my IIsi under 7.0.1., and an SE under 6.?.?, among others. There is no reason why it should not run on all Macs and systems, but I make no guarantees.
I'm happy to answer questions, hear about bugs, and receive suggestions
for enhancements.
Tom Davies (tomd@horse.demon.co.uk)
P.S. MacSlurp is BullionWare -- If you like it, send me a multi-Kilogram Gold ingot...
