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OS/2 Help File
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1994-04-04
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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times for OS/2
Version : 3.2
Copyright (c) 1993-1994 by Steven Gutz
An NNTP New Reader for OS/2 2.x with IBM TCP/IP 1.2.1 or later.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. What is LA Times? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times is a multi-threaded 32-bit OS/2 application which can select and read
NNTP network news.
The program provides capabilities to receive and send news messages, as well as
sending SMTP e-mail. Any news article can be saved via menu selection to disk
or printed to a selected output device.
LA Times requires OS/2 2.0 or later and IBM TCP/IP 1.2.1 or later.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. What's new to this release? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Now that IBM has released NR/2 as part of the basic TCP/IP package, the aim of
LA Times has changed. In order to meet its goal, LA Times has been packed with
more advanced features than both the previous version, and NR/2. Some of these
new features are listed below:
o Improved performance. LA Times article, subscription and group windows have
been improved resulting in reduced demand on the network and much quicker
response.
o LA Times now offers optional toolbars for all windows.
o Automatic encoding/decoding of binary articles, including multi-part
articles.
o Searching/Highlighting can now be performed on subjects from a user-specified
list of keywords.
o LA Times can optionally notify you of replies to any articles you post.
o Support for "spoiler" messages has been added.
o It is now possible to Mark and Unmark all subjects in a subscription group
without having to open a subject window.
o The subscription window now permits multiple selections for unsubscribing,
and marking operations.
o You can now arrange the subscription list any way you choose.
o You can arrange subject window fields any way you choose, including the newly
added date, line count, and message-id fields.
o The default window placement for subject and article windows is now smarter
o String searching all articles can now be performed
o ROT13 support has been added.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. Credits ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
I would like to thank all of the people who helped beta test this release and
made suggestions which made it better.
William Chase
John DeCarlo
David Dunlap
Chris Hawkinson
Ken Hildabolt
Colin Longman
Tim McGinn
Tim Moloney
Nick Romero
Gary Schrock
Richard Stanton
Phil Stimson
David Tondreau
Daniel Tran
Alex Zoghlin
You all have helped create a much better product.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Disclaimer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Neither the LA Times product nor the author are in any way affiliated with the
Los Angeles Times.
Please do not credit or condemn the Los Angeles Times Newspaper for any
features contained within this program.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.5. Revision History ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Version 3.2 - 1994 April 4
o Corrected the April Fool's day bug in the shareware version. Program should
now give a full 30 days for the demo period.
Version 3.1 - 1994 March 1
o Posting is now more stable. Previous could crash without warning
o The Cancel button in the Printing Options dialog no longer causes an article
to be printed anyway.
o EMail and Posting code has been optimized
o The "In message xxx ???? writes:" string in posting and email windows now
wraps to 78 characters.
o UUEncoded posting have changed from 600 to 900 lines
o UUEncode process should now be more stable
o Temporary file from the UUENCODE process are now removed
o When posting from the main window, the currently selected subscription group
is now inserted into the "Group" field of the address dialog.
Version 3.0 - 1994 March 1
o Third major release
Version 2.2 - 1993 November 30
o Corrected problematic interaction with NNTP server
o Impoved upgradability for registered users
Version 2.1 - 1993 November 24
o Corrected hanging on reading of articles which no longer exist.
o Fixed occassional hang of system queue
o Remedied expiry problem which appeared on Nov 4 in shareware version
o Corrected occassional "hang" when posting and emailing
o Changed "posting" menus to indicate a new posting versus a follow-up
Version 2.00 - 1993 November 4
o Second Release
Version 1.20 - 1993 August 6
o Corrected problem of missing groups during subscription process.
o Groups which the server does not support are now removed from the list of
available groups.
Version 1.10 - 1993 July 26
o Corrected connection problems during first-time execution of the program.
o All server command are now terminated with a hard CR-LF rather than LF.
o Pressing the "Next" button on last article no longer hangs the program.
o LATimes no longer requires a server supporting the XHDR command.
o The read article indicator has been changed from a "*" to a checkmark.
o Main window update is now much quicker
o A -l command line option has been added to provide a log-file to be used for
bug reporting.
o The main window size and position is now saved on exit.
o The program will no longer display the connection message box.
o Corrected other numerous minor bugs reported from 1.00
o When Posting/Followup messages, LA Times now prevents any user interaction.
This prevents server confusion which cause the program to get out of sync.
Version 1.00 - 1993 June 30
o Initial Release
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6. Known Bugs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
o none
If you encounter additional program errors or bugs, please contact the author.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.7. Contacting the Author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you have questions, suggestions or bug reports, you can reach the author at
any of the mail addresses below. The author can guarantee to answer mail from
all registered users, and will make an effort to answer queries from
non-registered users as well.
Snail Mail
Steven Gutz
R.R.#5
Pembroke, Ontario
CANADA, K8A 6W6
Internet Mail
gutzs@crl.aecl.ca
CompuServe Mail
73121,231
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Registration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Like all good shareware, LA Times for OS/2 is not free. To use this program
you must pay for it, but the price for LA Times is reasonable.
In addition to recognizing the effort that went into this program, your
registration also insures that you are kept updated with the latest program
revisions.
So try LA Times for 30 days, and if you like it, then please register it. The
price is $25US which includes postage to any destination in the known universe.
To register, display the Registration Form and select "Services/Print..."
from the menu. This will copy the registration form to your printer. Fill out
the form and mail it along with a check or money order for $25US to the address
indicated at bottom. Once registered you will receive the latest version of
the program.
As a registered user you are entitled to a free upgrade to the next release of
LA Times. For this reason it is very important that you fill in one of the
specified email addresses on the registration form (Please print neatly). This
guarantees that you will be contacted when new versions are released.
Upgrades are generally done by FTP download (free) or by mail by sending $5US
to cover shipping costs.
Volume discounts of LA Times are available as follows:
001-010 Units $25US
011-050 Units $22US
050-100 Units $18US
>100 Units $15US
Site License $2000US
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Registration Form ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times 3.00 Registration Form
Send $25 (U.S. funds) with this completed form to
Steven Gutz
R.R. #5
Pembroke, Ontario
CANADA K8A 6W6
Name ______________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Province/State ______________________________________________
Country ______________________________________________
Postal/Zip Code ______________________________________________
Internet Address (optional) _____________________________________
Compuserve ID (optional) _____________________________________
Where did you get LA Times?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Your signature below acknowledges the following:
USERS OF LATIMES MUST ACCEPT THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
LA Times is supplied 'as is'. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed
or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability
and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages,
direct or consequential, which may result from the use of LA Times. In any
case the maximum liability of the seller will be limited exclusively to product
replacement or refund of the purchase price.
Your signature _______________________________
Thank you for registering LA Times - I look forward to supporting you.
Steven Gutz
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This section describes how to install LA Times on your system. Please select
the version you are installing from the list below:
o Registered version
o Shareware version
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. Installing the Registered version ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times ships with an installation program. Insert the disk containing LA
Times and type INSTALL<Enter>
You will be prompted for a source drive\directory and a destination
drive\directory. Enter the correct parameters and click the "OK" button to
begin the installation. The "Cancel" button aborts the installation.
After the installation, you will see an LA Times object on your desktop. You
can move this to a more suitable location if you wish.
If you are currently using LA Times 2.x, you should experience no difficulties
if you install version 3.0 over your old version. The files are compatible
between these 2 releases.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.2. Installing the Shareware version ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you are installing the shareware version of LA Times you will not receive
the INSTALL program. To install this version, simply use an UNZIP program to
decompress the LA TIMES archive to the desired directory.
If you wish to make a desktop object, you must specify that the object run the
LATLOAD.EXE program rather than LATIMES.EXE. There is a bug in WPS which
causes the desktop to "hang" after the LATIMES.EXE program exits, and LATLOAD
gets around this. This problem should be corrected in later releases of OS/2.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Starting LA Times ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To start LA Times from the command line simply enter LATIMES [-arg1, -arg2, ...
-argn]<Enter>. The program will then start by performing a connection to the
default news server.
If this is the first time LA Times has been executed, a dialog box entitled
Select LA Times NNTP Server will be displayed. This dialog consists of a list
box which will initially be empty. In the edit line at the top of list box,
enter the address of the server you wish to connect to, then press the "Add"
button, and the server will be added to the list. You can then connect to that
server by pressing the "OK" button.
For more information on the server dialog box see Setting up server connections
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Command-line Parameters ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are several command-line parameters recognized by LA Times.
-s[optional server name]
Permits you to add, remove or select news servers from the active server
list. This option will let you change the default server to which LA Times
connects on start up. You can specify the server on the command line be
entrering a string such as "-sserver.here.com" or if you specify the -s
option alone, you will be given the server dialog box to the desired
selection or modification
-l
Enables debug data logging. The log file is used when reporting software
bugs to the author. If you experience a crash, rerun LA Times with the -l
option specified and attempt to reproduce the crash. If you can, send the
created LATIMES.LOG file to the author along with a description of the
problem. You should not use the option during normal use as it degrades
performance slightly.
-p<port number>
Permits users of non-standard news servers to configure the TCP/IP port
number used to connect to the server. By default LA TIMES uses port number
119.
-x<number of connections>
Permits you to specify the number off connections to attempt to your news
server. In general more connections will give better performance,
particularly during subscription updates; however, be aware that servers
generally have a finite number of connections available, so if you use them
all, other users may be unable to connect. The number of connections must
be in the range 1-20.
-c
Displays the configuration notebook permitting you to make changes before
the program connects to the news server.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Setting Up LA Times ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This section describes the initial set up sequence for LA Times.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. Setting up server connections ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times supports connections to multiple servers through the Select LA Times
NNTP Server dialog. This window will be displayed automatically during the
first execution of the program, or you can manually invoke it by specifying the
-s command line argument when you start LA Times.
This dialog contains a combination list box which has an edit window attached.
If you have previously executed LA Times, the edit window will contain the
currently selected default server. If the list contains more than one server
entry, you can select another server as your default by choosing it from the
list and pressing the "OK" button.
If you would like to add an additional server to the list, enter the server's
name in the edit window and press the Add button. This will add the server to
the list.
If you want to remove a server from your list, select the server from the list
box and press the Remove button.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. LA Times for Multiple Users ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times has built-in support for more than one user, and setting up this
configuration is easy.
First install LATimes as normal, but place the LATimes program directory in the
path statement of your CONFIG.SYS file. Then make a directory for each user,
and have each them run the program from that working directory.
You can also create a desktop object for each persons' version of the program,
but make sure you specify the correct working directory.
It is also a good idea to copy the LATIMES.MAC file from the LA Times directory
to each users' working directory. This contains a list of frequently used
strings for the LATIMES editors.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3. Frequently Used Editor Strings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times has support for automatic insertion of frequently used strings while
in editor mode (editing email, postings or follow-ups). By default, LA Times
includes a number of "smileys" and acronyms, but you can add your own to the
list simply by editing the file LATIMES.MAC in your working directory.
Each entry must be separated by a carriage return, and although LA Times sets
no limits on the length or number of entries you may have, OS/2 menus do not
permit scrolling, so you are limited to 20-30 entries for 1024x768 displays
(less for VGA).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. LA Times Basic Windows ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The main LA Times client window owns all other windows created by LA Times. It
consists of a main menu, and optional toolbar and a client area where all other
windows are displayed.
o Main Toolbar
The following is a list the basic windows provided by LA Times and a brief
description of their operation.
GROUP
Contains a list of all available USENET news groups provided by the
selected server. New subscriptions are select from this list.
SUBSCRIPTION
Contains a list of USENET news group subscriptions selected by the user,
and an indication of the number of unread subjects in each group.
SUBJECT
Contains a list of USENET news group articles available for reading. LA
Times can have a subject window open for each news group subscription.
ARTICLE
Displays a selected article for reading, saving and printing. LA Times
supports up to 8 article windows at a time.
EMAIL
Similar to an article window, the EMAIL window contains a user's article
response which can be edited and mailed using the SENDMAIL program in IBM
TCP/IP.
POSTING
Similar to an article window, the POST window contains a user article which
will be posted to USENET. This article can be a new creation or can be a
reply to an existing article.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1. GROUP Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The GROUP window contains an up-to-date list of all USENET news groups
supported by the selected NNTP server. You can select multiple news groups
from this window for subscription.
Select one of the following for more information:
o Toolbar
o Refresh
o Subscribe
o Search
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.2. SUBSCRIPTION Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The subscription windows contains a list of all USENET groups to which you are
currently subscribed. You can double click on any group in the list to display
its subject list.
The subject window is divided into 3 fields as follows:
Subscription
Shows the news group names to which you have subscriptions
Unread
Displays the number of article which you have not read.
Total
Shows the total number of news articles available from LA Times. Note that
if you have the "Show previously viewed subjects" configuration option
disabled, then this field will have the same value as the "Unread" field.
Select one of the following for more information:
o Toolbar
o Refresh
o Unsubscribe
o Read
o Marking and Unmarking
o Arranging
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.3. SUBJECT Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The subject window contains a list of subject headers for a selected group. You
will see that there are several columns displayed. You can arrange, add or
delete any fields you choose. Below is a brief fescription of each of the
fields that is available:
Keyword (*)
This field is only visible if you have keyword searching enabled. It will
contain an indicator character if the subject record contains any of the
keywords you have previously specified, otherwise it will be blank.
Check
This field is blank for any article which has not been seen. If you have
the "Show previously view subjects" option enabled, a check mark in this
field will indicate that this subject has already been seen. If you have
the "Show killed subjects" configuration option enabled, killed subjects
will also be shown and marked with a "K" indicator in this field. This
field is always visible.
Author
The author field contains the name or email address of the creator of this
subject article.
Lines
This field displays the number of lines contained in the articles text, if
is it available.
Message-ID
This field contains the USENET Message-ID for this subject.
Number
This field lists the message number for this article. This unique number
is provided by your NNTP server and is used to identify this subject.
message.
Re:
The Re: field contains a check mark if this article is a reply to some
previous article. Articles without a check mark in this field typically
indicate the start of a new news thread. This field may also contain the
"happy face" character if you have the "Inform about replies to your
postings" option enabled in the general configuration notebook page. This
character indicates that this subject is a possible reply to a posting you
recently sent. The "Re:" field is automatically displayed with the subject
field.
Subject
The subject field contains the subject title of the article.
You can change the sort order of the subject window, by using the sort
configuration option.
Select one of the following for more information:
o Toolbar
o Read
o Posting
o Search
o Mark
o UnMark
o Kill
o Uudecode
o Searching Articles for Text
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.4. ARTICLE Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Article windows contain the text of an article you are currently reading. LA
Times supports reading up to 8 articles simultaneously.
Select one of the following for more information:
o Toolbar
o File
o Edit
o View
o Search
o Posting
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.5. EMAIL Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The EMAIL window is similar to the article window. It contains a reply message
which can be sent via SMTP e-mail to the author of an article. This feature of
LA Times requires the installation of the SENDMAIL program, which is part of
IBM TCP/IP.
Select one of the following for more information:
o Toolbar
o Edit
o EMail
o Search
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.6. POSTING Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The POSTING window is similar to the article window. It contains a reply
message which can be sent to a USENET news groups.
Select one of the following for more information:
o Toolbar
o Edit
o Posting
o Search
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.7. New News group Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you have selected the "Notify of new news group creation" option in the
general configuration notebook page, LA Times may display a dialog box on your
OS/2 desktop to tell you that your server now has access to some new news
groups. You can select any or all of the displayed groups and subscribe to
them, or if you choose not to subscribe, simple leave the groups unselected and
press the "OK" button.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. LA Times Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times uses a CUA compliant notebook control for all of its configuration.
When you first start LA Times, this notebook will be the first window you see.
The notebook contains several pages for configuration information. These are
listed below:
User
Contains the configuration for the user. This includes such information as
the your user name and email address, and your organization.
General
Contains the general configuration of LA Times features
Fields
Configures the subject fields to be displayed in subject windows
Color
Contains the color configuration for LA Times
Fonts
Contains the font configuration for LA Times
Sorting
Configures the sorting technique used for sorting subjects
Toolbars
Enables or disables individual toolbars
Keywords
Configures subject window keyword searching feature
Signature
Permits you to edit your optional signature file.
Kill File
Permits editing of the kill file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1. User Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The user page of the configuration notebook contains the following fields:
E-Mail Address
Enter your full internet e-mail address, i.e. jonesr@server.mail.com. This
string is inserted in the "From:" field of all articles and follow-ups you
post to USENET.
Full Name
Enter your first and last name in this field. This will be included with
all articles and follow-ups you post to USENET.
Organization
You can optionally enter an organization string in this field.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2. General Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The General configuration notebook page contains items which affect the general
operation of LA Times. These are listed below:
Inform about new group creation
If selected, LA Times will tell you about any new USENET groups which have
been created since the last use of the program
Skip read articles with Next/Previous Article options
If set, the program will skip articles which you have already seen when you
are performing Next and Previous article operations. If unchecked the
Next/Previous operations will go to the next or previous article regardless
of the "seen" state of the article.
Keep posting log file
If checked, a log file (LTPOST.LOG) gets appended with a copy of every
article or follow-up posted to USENET.
Keep e-mail log file
If checked, a log file (LTEMAIL.LOG) gets appended with a copy of every
e-mail message issued by the program.
CC: yourself for all e-mail sent
If checked, a copy of any e-mail you send will also be sent to your
specified e-mail address.
Beep on new news
If checked, the program will beep each time the auto-refresh feature
detects new news messages.
Show previously viewed subjects
If selected, LA Times will display all of the previously viewed subjects in
the subject list windows. Note that this will only applies to subjects
viewed from the present time onward. If this button was selected and is
now being unselected, any subjects which you have previously viewed will be
permanently removed from the subject window.
Show killed subjects
If selected, LA Times will display all killed articles in subject list
windows. Note that this will only apply to killed subjects from the
present time onward. If this button was selected and is now being
unselected, any subjects which you have previously killed will be
permanently removed from the subject window.
Show headers with articles
If this option is checked, any articles you display will also have the
associated article header information included.
Ignore message spoilers
Some articles contain special characters known as "spoilers". These are
used when you wish to hide some information from the reader and give him
the choice of viewing it. If this option is checked, you will
automatically be shown and text hidden by a spoiler. If unchecked, LA
Times will notify you of the spoiler and give you the option of viewing the
remainder of the text.
Inform about replies to your postings"
If checked, you will be notified of the number of replies to messages that
you have posted.
AutoRefresh
You can set the time in minutes for a refresh of the news lists to occur.
If non-zero, the program will query the server for new information after
the specified time period has lapsed. Setting the refresh time to zero
will disable the auto refresh feature.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.3. Sort Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The sorting configuration notebook page permits you to the set the method used
to sort and display subject headers. There are currently four options as
follows:
Ascending Number
Subjects are sorted by ascending article number
Descending Number
Subjects are sorted by descending article number
Author
Subjects are sorted alphabetically by author name
Subject
Subjects are sorted alphabetically by subject
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4. Signature Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This configuration notebook page will permit you to edit your signature. The
signature gets appended to all e-mail, and articles you issue with LA Times.
The signature is completely optional. If you choose not to use a signature
then leave this page blank.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.5. Kill File Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This notebook page will permit you to remove entries from your kill file.
You can select the "kill" entry you wish to remove and by pressing the <Delete>
button you can re-enable reception of messages previously killed by the
selected entry.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.6. Color Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This notebook page permits you to drag foreground and background color
selections from the system color palette to color chips shown in this window.
Each of the basic windows can have its background and text colors changed.
To change the foreground color, you must drag the color selection while holding
down the <CTRL> key, as specified in the OS/2 user documentation.
The colors selected will not take effect until the next time a window is
created. For the group and subscription windows, this will be the next time
you run the program.
Note: Depending on your display hardware, some colors in some windows will be
displayed incorrectly. You may have to select different colors. (This
problem seems to be caused by certain graphical controls in OS/2).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.7. Font Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This notebook page permits you to edit the font for each of the basic windows.
You can select the basic window for the font change using the radio buttons
shown at the left. The rectangle at the right will show you the font which is
currently selected.
By default all fonts are initially set to 10 point proportional system font.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.8. Subject Field Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This notebook page permits you to change the order and content of the subject
window in LA Times. On this page you will see two list boxes.
The left list box shows the fields that are currently available for addition to
the subject window. If you double click on any of these field names, they will
be transferred to the right list box at its currently highlighted position.
The right list box displays the order of the fields which will be shown in a
subject window. If you double-click on any of the field names, those fields
will be transferred back to the left list box and removed from all subject
windows.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.9. Subject Window Keyword Searching ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This notebook page supports the subject window keyword searching abilities of
LA Times. It contains a checkbox to enable or disable keyword searching and an
editable list of strings that you wish to search for.
Keywords can be single words or strings of words and should be placed one
string per line. There is no limit on the number of keyword strings you may
have in this list. (See caution below)
Once keyword searching is enabled, the "Keyword" or "*" field will
automatically be added to all subject windows. If this field contains a
"Keyword" character this indicates that this subject entry contains one or more
of your specified keywords.
Note: All subject fields are searched during a keyword search, so your keyword
list may include user names or e-mail addresses as well as subject text
CAUTION:
Enabling keyword searching reduces the performance of Subject Windows. The more
keywords your list contains, the longer it will take to search. Using the
power of OS/2, searching is performed on a separate thread of execution, so you
may see a delay in the appearance of the keyword indicator characters after a
subject window has been displayed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.10. Toolbar Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This notebook page enables or disables toolbars for all windows in LA Times.
You can individually select or deselect the display of toolbars for each
window, by setting the radio buttons on this screen as desired.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Appendicies ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This section list all the miscellaneous information not described anywhere else
in this document.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.1. Appendix A - Server connection errors ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This appendix will describe the errors you may encounter while trying to
connect to an NNTP news server.
Server Undefined
This error occurs when the server name is incorrect. Check that you have
specified the name correctly in the server configuration dialog. Re-run the
program with the "-s" command line option.
Network Socket Unavailable
This error occurs when there is no network socket available for use. If
this error occurs, try rebooting since the problem is probably a hung
TCP/IP process.
Server Connection Timed Out
This error occurs when the connection to the specified server could not be
made. Check the address/server name specified in the server configuration
dialog. Re-run the program with the "-s" command line option. This error
can also occur if the server returns an incorrect response during the
connection. If this error persists, please contact the author.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.2. Appendix B - Directory Structure and Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Below is the directory structure used by LA Times and the typical contents of
each directory:
latimes\
laimes.exe
latimes.inf
latimes.hlp
latimes.kil
latimes.mac
latimes.key
nntpsvr.dat
\nntpsvr
0.msg
1.msg
.
.
.
n.msg
\log
ltpost.log
ltemail.log
\bin
The main directory will contain a file caller "nntpsvr".dat where "nntpsvr" is
typically the first 8 characters of your NNTP server's Internet name. In
addition to this there will be a sub directory of the same name.
You will have an nntpsvr.dat and matching directory for each news server that
you connect to.
Each "nntpsvr" directory contains a .MSG file for each subscription you have
from that server. These files are readable text, but editing them can cause
some serious side-effects. If you accidentally remove one or more of these
files, LA Times will rebuild it; however, the program will loose track of which
messages you have read or not read.
The "log" directory contains files which are produced by LA Times for data
logging purposes. If you have the program configured to save a copy of your
outgoing postings and e-mail, LTPOST.LOG and LTEMAIL.LOG will contain copies of
that information. These files can be removed anytime and should be examined
periodically, since they will grow without bound each time you send information
across the network.
The "bin" directory is the location where any received binary files are stored.
From here you can copy or move the files to other locations on your system.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.3. Appendix C - Kill file format ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The kill file, LATIMES.KIL, is a standard text file containing all of the
information on killed articles. This file may be edited using any editor. The
format of all lines is as follows:
<TYPE>Γûá<RANGE>Γûá<KILL TEXT>
The "Γûá" character can be entered by holding the <ALT> key and typing "254" from
the numeric keypad.
<TYPE>
This is a single character "A" for killed author or "S" for killed subject.
<RANGE>
Contains the range or scope of the kill. "A" for all news groups or a news
group name for a specific group.
<KILL TEXT>
Text pattern that if matched causes a kill. This can be a message subject
or an author name.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Selecting groups for subscription ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can use the mouse click to select or deselect news groups. Multiple groups
selections are also possible. Then by choosing the "Subscribe" menu option,
you can subscribe to the groups you have selected.
Once selected, the new subscriptions will appear in the subscription window,
and LA Times will begin loading information about the new subscriptions.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Searching the Group Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times provides for searching of the USENET group list. When the search
option is selected, a search string dialog will be displayed. Enter the string
you wish to search for, then press OK.
If the search string is found, the matching item will be displayed.
Note: search strings can be a substring.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Refreshing the Available Groups ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times has provision to re-create the list of available news groups from your
NNTP server. Selecting the Refresh option will delete your server .GRP file
and force the server to re transmit the list.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Refreshing the Subscription Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can refresh the subscription window anytime by selecting this option. It
will query the NNTP server for up-to-date information regarding unread articles
in this group.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Unsubscribing to USENET groups ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This menu options will remove the currently selected subscriptions from your
subscription window.
You can choose one or more subscription groups and then select the unsubscribe
operation to remove all selected groups from your subscription list.
CAUTION:
If you wish to resume viewing this group at a later time you will have to re
subscribe.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Reading USENET groups ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you select this option, a subject window will be displayed for the currently
selected group.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Subcription Marking and Unmarking ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Occasionally you may want to mark or unmark all subjects without having to open
a subject window and perform a marking operation. LA Times permits you to
perform a "Mark All" or "Unmark All" subjects for a subscription group directly
from the subscription windows.
To do this simply select the desired group(s) and then choose the desired
marking operation.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Arranging subscriptions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you have a preference for subscription order, you can arrange your
subscriptions within the subscription window by selecting the arrange
operations. These options will take the currently select group and move it up
or down one line within the subscription window.
Because LA Times uses the multi-threading capabilities of OS/2, the order of
your list is not necessarily the order that your subscriptions are updated. LA
Times updates more than one group at a time so groups with fewer subjects may
be displayed before groups with many subjects.
Although this may be a bit confusing at first, it insures the absolute quickest
performance possible.
Note: This operation does not currently support multiple selections. If you
have selected more than one subscription group, only the first
highlighted group will be moved. The other will remain selected but
will not be moved.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Reading articles ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This option will create an article window for the currently selected subject
header. It has the same effect as double-clicking on a subject header.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Posting from the Subject Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you select the posting option, you can post a new message to USENET. By
default the news groups field of the new posting will contain the group you are
reading, and the subject field will contain the subject from the currently
selected item.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Searching the Subject Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can search for strings within the subject window by using this option. You
are prompted for a search string, and a case insensitive search of each message
entry is performed. Note that all fields of each entry are searched.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Marking Subject Entries ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The marking options permit you to mark article(s) as "seen" - i.e. place a
check mark beside them. There are 3 basic marking functions as listed below:
Mark Current
Marks the currently selected subject header(s) as "seen". It also marks
these articles in all other groups to which you currently subscribe. You
can select multiple subjects for marking by holding the CTRL key and
clicking the left mouse button.
Mark Thread
Marks all items in the same subject as the currently highlighted item.
Mark All
Marks all articles in the current group.
Note: The Mark Current operation supports multiple selections and will mark
all highlighted subject entries ad "seen".
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Unmarking Subject Entries ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The unmarking options permit you to unmark article(s) that have been previously
marked. There are 3 basic unmarking functions as listed below:
Unmark Current
Unmarks the currently selected subject header(s). This operation will also
unmark the selected subject(s) in all other groups to which you subscribe.
You can select multiple subjects for marking by holding the CTRL key and
clicking the left mouse button.
Unmark Thread
Unmarks all items in the same subject as the currently highlighted item.
Unmark All
Unmarks all articles in the current group.
Note: The Unmark Current operation supports multiple selections and will mark
all highlighted subject entries as "unread".
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Killing Author and Subject Entries ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The LA Times kill feature will give you the ability to ignore selected subjects
and authors. The article kill can span the current news group or all news
groups to which you subscribe.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Receiving UUENCODED binary information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times supports automatic UUDECODing of binary data sent via USENET news.
This information is typically in the form of single or multi-part news articles
containing character-coded binary information.
To UUDECODE binary information, you must select the subjects making up the
binary in the correct order. For multi-part articles this requires that you
select part 1 then hold the <CTRL> key while selecting part 2, part 3, etc. It
is very important that you select multi-part articles in the correct order or
the binary file will be constructed in the wrong order and will fail as a
result.
Note: Typically multi-part uuencoded articles also include a "Part 0" message
describing the resulting binary file. You do not need to select this
file for correct operation.
Once you have the desired subject(s) selected, choose the "Uudecode" operation
to create the binary file. Once you do this you will see a minimized window in
your LA Times client window area to indicate that the UUDECODE operation is
taking place. You can double-click on the icon to display the window.
In this UUDECODE window you will see the article numbers of all articles you
selected to download. A highlight bar indicates which article is currently
being processed. There is also a "Cancel" button in this window which will
terminate the UUDECODing operation.
When the UUDECODE operation is complete, the UUDECODE window will disappear and
you will have the binary placed in the "\bin" sub directory of you main LA
Times directory. From here you can move the binary to any location you choose.
Note: You can perform many binary file downloads at a time. There is no need
to wait until one transfer operation is complete before starting another
- even in another news group. Be aware, though, that each download does
require both network and CPU time so you can degrade the overall
performance of LA Times if you perform more than 4 or 5 downloads
simultaneously. If you are trying to read open a subject or article
window while download you may notice brief pauses in operation. This is
due to the fact that the program must wait for a server connection to
become free before continuing.
CAUTION:
The only limitation on UUDECODing binaries is that all of the source articles
for a given binary must reside in the same news group.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Searching Articles for Text ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LA Times offers powerful capabilities for searching articles for text strings,
permitting you to quickly scan all of the articles in a given group for a
string of up to 255 characters. This string can include and characters in the
OS/2 character set including special symbols and numerics.
When you invoke the article search feature, you will be prompted with a dialog
box, requesting that you enter a string of text. You can also set the
searching limits by selecting to search entire articles, just the headers or
just the article text body. Finally you have the option to make your search
case sensitive.
Once you have the search parameters set as desired, press the "Search" button
to begin the search. The search can be cancelled at any time by pressing the
cancel button.
The search results are displayed in the bottom window in the form of message
number/subjects of articles which include the search string. You can
double-click on any of these to display the associated article.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> File options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Using the file menu, you can save the article to a file, or append it to an
existing file. Additionally, you can print an article to a selected printer in
your system.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Edit options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Using the edit menu, you copy, cut or paste article information.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> View options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The view menu option give you the capability to do the following:
o Copy/Cut/Paste information using the OS/2 Clipboard
o ROT13 selected text or the entire article
o Display article header information
o Go to the next article
o Go to the previous article.
o Go to the next article with the same subject
o Go to the previous article with the same subject
o Go to the next article in the current thread
o Go to the previous article in the current thread
The last 2 items in the list use the threading provisions within NNTP news.
Each news message has a message ID field and if an article references some
previous article(s), it will also have a "references" field.
LA Times can use these field to traverse a string or "Thread" of messages.
This technique is known as message threading, and LA Times is currently the
only PM-based news reader which supports it.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Insert options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The insert option is unique to LA Times. It permits you to insert special or
frequently used strings into your articles. By adding items to the LATIMES.MAC
file, you can add items to this list. This menu is useful for inserting items
such as acronyms or smileys :-) into you articles.
In addition to the strings you specify in LATIMES.MAC, there are also a number
of fixed insertion you can make. These include, your name, email address and
organization. You can also insert a spoiler character or page break.
You can add or change items in the list by using a text editor to edit the
LATIMES.MAC file. Insert on item per line.
Note: OS/2 does not permit scrollable menus so the number of strings your list
contains is limited by the height of your screen.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Posting from the Article Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you select the posting option, you can post a follow-up article or email
follow-up to the author of the article you are reading.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Edit options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Using the edit menu, you copy, cut or paste email information.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> EMail options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Using the email option you can enter or modify the address information for the
e-mail, and you can send the current message to the address you have specified.
If you have previously created a signature file, this will automatically be
appended to the end of the EMail message.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Searching for Text ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can search for strings within the edit window by using this option. You
are prompted for a search string, and a case insensitive search of the edit
window is performed. The "Find Next" option will reposition you to the next
matching search string in the window.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Edit options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Using the edit menu, you copy, cut or paste posting article information.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Posting options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are several posting option available. A description of these is shown
below:
Posting Info...
This option will display a dialog box permitting editing and entry of
posting information, including the new group(s) and subject of the posting
or follow-up.
Send Posting
This selection posts your article to the server using the NNTP news
protocol.
Send post as e-mail
This option permits you to post your article to a news server which
supports posting via email. You must specify the news group and e-mail
address which is typically in the form: "comp-os-os2-apps@my.server.com".
This option is useful for servers which do not support direct posting, but
do support email.
Send binary file
This option displays a files dialog in which you can select a binary file
to post. Once selected, you are placed back into the posting window to
create a "Part 0" article to describe the binary you are sending. LA Times
automatically UUENCODEs and breaks the binary up into multiple parts as
required and posts each with the subject you specified plus a "(Part x of
n)" designation. Currently, you cannot post binaries using the e-mail
process described above.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> New groups available ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog will display a list containing all new news groups which have been
created since LA Times last checked. You can select any groups in this list
for subscriptions. Pressing the OK button without any selections will permit
you to ignore the new groups.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Printing Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog will display a list of available printers on your system (network
printers are also shown). You can select one of these printers to have your
output sent to a specific device.
The job properties button will let you configure the output device in a
specific way.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Main Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The main toolbar has the following operations:
Open the configuration notebook
Toggle display of the server group window
Toggle display of the subscription window
Create a new article for posting
Display context sensitive help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Group Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The group toolbar has the following operations:
Refresh the server group file and window
Subscribe to all selected groups
Set the search text and find the first instance
Search for next matching string
Display context sensitive help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Subscription Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The subscription toolbar has the following operations:
Refresh the subscription window
Open and read the subject window for this subscription group
Unsubscribe to the selected groups
Mark all subjects for the selected groups
Unmark all subjects for the selected groups
Arrange selected group up one line in the list
Arrange selected group down one line in the list
Display context sensitive help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Subject Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The subject toolbar has the following operations:
Open and read the article associated with the selected subject
Create a new article for posting
Set the search text and find the first instance
Search for next matching string
Mark the selected subjects
Mark all articles with the same subject
Mark all subjects
Unmark the selected subjects
Unmark all articles with the same subject
Unmark all subjects for the selected groups
Start UUDECODE to produce a binary file from the selected
subjects
Display context sensitive help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Article Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The article toolbar has the following operations:
Save the article to disk
Append the article to an existing file
Print the article
Cut selected text
Copy selected text
Paste text from the clipboard
Display article address information
Step to next article
Step to next article with the same subject
Step to previous article
Step to previous article with the same subject
Create a follow-up article for posting
Create follow-up e-mail message
Display context sensitive help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Posting Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The posting toolbar has the following operations:
Cut selected text
Copy selected text
Paste text from the clipboard
Display posting address information
Post the new article to the news server
Post a binary file
Display context sensitive help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> E-Mail Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The e-mail toolbar has the following operations:
Cut selected text
Copy selected text
Paste text from the clipboard
Display e-mail address information
Send the e-mail message
Display context sensitive help