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1997-04-23
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Installation guidelines for FreeNews
====================================
(file last updated Thu 24th April 1997 to cope with FreeNews 1.14).
NOTE
----
FreeNews version 1.14 is a RELEASE version of the Freenet NNTP news fetcher.
It replaces 1.13 as the release version, and all older versions are withdrawn.
However, no NNTP news system can ever be perfect, as news is propagated from
machine to machine across the internet. If you want any guarantees that all of
the relevant news is downloaded, then sorry, but none will be forthcoming.
I have (and many alpha and beta testers have too) tested FreeNews quite
considerably over the last few months, and although far from being complete
(I'm already working on version 1.20, with version 2.00 in the planning stage),
it is certainly as usable as KA9Q, and from release 1.03 is the same speed
or faster than any news fetcher on the Acorn platform (see below).
Features of this release
------------------------
* FreeNews can be configured to fetch the current DATE from the
server, rather than using the system clock.
This means that news fetching should now be more reliable, and
removes the need for a "fudge factor" parameter, as the news
fetcher will always be in sync with the server.
* Optionally, if the previous feature is enabled, FreeNews can set the
local system clock based on the GMT time returned by the server. I've
not tested this outside the UK, but it works with GMT and BST times,
so I don't anticipate any problems...
NOTE that this feature will correct the UTC (GMT) clock on your machine.
It means that you should follow Acorn guidelines here, viz:
o The System time should always be set in GMT,
o The *Configure TimeZone should define your current time zone
offset from GMT (or be set by a Territory module)
o If you're in Daylight Savings Time, this should be set by
*Configure DST, *Configure BST (or territory equivalent), or by
selecting the flag on !Alarm's "Set time" window.
In particular, note that FreeNews will not move you into Summer Time
if you've not done this, as it cannot tell if it should! (The response
from the server is always in GMT, whatever season it is called in!)
(And, in 1.13):
* Download headers-only.
If a group is defined to be "headers-only" (a status of 2 in
!FreeNews.Data.AllGroups) then only the new message headers will
be downloaded in that group. If you're using Messenger you'll
be able to "Fetch Body", and FreeNews will fetch the whole article
next time it connects.
* Auto-Configuration.
FreeNews is no longer shipped with a Config file. This means that
any preferences you setup are not overridden when new versions are
released. If the file does not exist, FreeNews will create one
using sensible values for all parameters.
* "No Stack for Trap handler".
These messages should no longer occur.
* "412 Not in a Newsgroup".
These messages should no longer occur.
* Auto-registration.
The first time you use a version of FreeNews > 1.13, you will be
prompted for your name and email address. This information will
automatically be emailed to me to put you on the FreeNews mailing list.
You can stop this occurring by clicking "Cancel" when then dialog box
appears.
Known Bugs
----------
* Date/Time not being updated. Currently, this doesn't occur if you're
posting new news to the server. Connect again when you're not posting, and
this will work.
* "Try another server". This is not a bug in FreeNews per se; rather a problem
with the interaction with FreeNews and Acornet. The problem does not occur
when using a manually-configured freenet stack, or the Acorn stack, for
example with ANT's InetSuite.
The problem appears the *second* time that FreeNews is used in a session.
The simple way round it is to RMReInit the InetDB module.
Version 1.12 introduced a kludge fix to this in the !Run file; simply
quitting and restarting FreeNews will allow you to try again.
A later release of FreeNews will solve this problem (and the following) by
changing to Stewart Brodie's multitasking DNS resolver.
* "I've clicked on 'Transfer News' and FreeNews has hung"
Actually, it is working very hard! Ok, what is actually happenning is that
FreeNews is attempting to resolve the address of the NNTP server. After
sending the request to the nameserver, FreeNews cannot multitask until
the response arrives. If things take too long, press ALT-Break on RISC OS 3
(apologies to RO2 users... are there any left?) to force FreeNews to quit,
and try again later.
* Very occasionally, the lower two lines in the status window are not updated,
even though transfer is actually happenning. If anyone can get a lead on this,
please let me know.
* "nager:Sprites22". This is an Acorn bug caused by problems surrounding the
Drawfile module and the toolbox. Make sure that you have the latest versions
of both these modules in System:modules, and THAT YOU REPLACE ALL OLDER VERSIONS
that may be in various subdirectories on your machine. Most people report
that they are surprised how many copies of Drawfile they have!
* RISC OS 3.60 USERS: You have an older version of some of the toolbox modules
in ROM than FreeNews needs. If they are in use, FreeNews is unable to replace
them with the new versions. If problems (such as "nager:Sprites22") persist,
try *Unplugging the version in ROM.
* Auto-start/quit currently have problems occasionally, specifically when
there is a problem with the initial connection to the server. My advice is
not to use these options at the moment unless you absolutely need to.
* If you've selected messages to download based on their article-ids, and
FreeNews fails to connect at the first attempt because of "400 Server busy"
the "FetchMe" file is emptied.
* Version 1.00 of FreeNews calculated the cps figure strangely, so it
understated the speed it now obtains. It (unlike KA9Q and SLIPdial) calculates
speed from the very start of the fetch until <now>. FreeNews 1.01 and above
now calculates using a much smaller timespan to average over (8 seconds).
The cps figures shown are the newer version with the old method in brackets
for reference.
NB actual speed has not changed between 1.00 and 1.01, just the method of
calculating it.
If you are unfortunate enough to come across any other bugs, or you have any
comments or requests for inclusion in future versions, please email details
to freenews@roundel.demon.co.uk. Thanks.
Distribution files
------------------
!FreeNews
!Boot - Filer boot file.
!Help - This file!
!Run - App. startup file. You may need to edit Wimpslot.
please let me know if you do.
!RunImage - Application executable.
!Sprites - Wimp icons.
!Sprites22 - High resolution wimp icons.
Acknowledge - Acknowlegements.
Advanced - Instructions for "Advanced Configuration".
Data - Directory containing files needed at runtime.
AllGroups - list of groups to fetch all new news from.
FetchMe - List of Message IDs to fetch completely.
FetchMeT - "Template" empty FetchMe file.
History - List of message ids that have been fetched.
NewGroups - FreeNews puts any New Groups found in here.
NewIDs - Message ids of news to be fetched this run.
(maintained by FreeNews. Do not edit).
PostIndex - List of filenames containing messages to post.
*~ - Previous version (backup) of file *.
History - History of bug fixes, releases, and fixes awaiting
implementation.
Messages - Wimp Messages
Res - Acorn Toolbox application resource file (UK).
If anyone wants a decompiled version so that they
can translate it to another language, please let me know
as I'd be very glad to help.
!Syslog (app) - Stewart Brodie's system log utility. The version that
I supply may not be the latest, but it will work with
FreeNews. You should find the latest version at
ftp://cslib.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/Acorn/freenet/s.n.brodie
Any significant actions that FreeNews does get logged
in the system_log file in this directory.
If you have problems, changing the value of the
SyslogD_Debug parameter in the !Run file will cause
more information to be logged to the syslog.
In FreeNews_Support:
--------------------
(FreeNews_Support is *not* required if you have RISC OS 3.70 - the system ROM
contains newer versions!)
!SysMerge (app) - Acorn-written utility to upgrade your !System
!System (app) - FreeNews has been written using the new Acorn C
toolbox. This directory contains the toolbox modules.
Use this, in association witgh !SysMerge to update
your !System.
Setting up
----------
I've tried to make this as simple as possible, but one or two things need to be
done before you can successfully use FreeNews.
Installation:
* Copy !FreeNews to the same directory as your other internet utilities.
Specifically, !NewsBase and !NewsDir need to be seen before FreeNews
will run.
Newsbase:
* Enter the Newsbase Setup "Transport setup" window. Choose
"freenews" as the "default news route".
* Ensure that the line "Source transport" in the transport control
window is set to "freenews", even if you are using KA9Q for mail.
If this is not done, new group information will not be added to
NewsBase. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Graham Allan was looking into a fix
to NewsBase for this and may well have fixed it, but I haven't
tested it.
* (for Newsbase 0.55 onwards, ensure that for the freenews transport,
mail checking is inactive, news checking is active.
* Save all changes here.
FreeNews:
* ONLY DO THIS IF YOU'RE ALREADY GETTING NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE.
IF NEWSBASE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT A GROUP, YOU SHOULD ADD GROUPS TO
NEWSBASE, AND FREENEWS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE UPDATED.
Edit the file !FreeNews.Data.AllGroups. This should contain the groups
that you wish to subscribe to, one per line. The use of "*" at the
end of a name is valid for wildcard purposes.
Note that the format of the file is <name><TAB><fetchmode>.
If you are upgrading from KA9Q, take your existing newsfeed file
(*News, e.g. demnews), copy it to AllGroups, and edit it to add the
<TAB>1.
<Fetchmode> is either "0" for "Don't fetch"
"1" for "Fetch everything new in this group"
"2" for "Fetch only the headers for new articles"
If you are upgrading from a very early version of FreeNews (0.98 and
before), you must edit this file to include the <TAB>1.
* Run !FreeNews, and open the preferences window. Note that Acorn's
interactive help is supported here.
* Enter at least one news server name. Ensure the server you wish to use
is selected by the radio button on the left.
The other lines are simply for your convenience in case the server
of your preference is down, it is easy to choose another server.
* Enter a date and time for fetching or click on "catch up".
* Accept/save these changes by clicking OK.
Using FreeNews
--------------
Once setup, FreeNews is simple to operate. Choose "Transfer News" from the iconbar
menu to start the process running. The text under the icon (if configured) will
change to indicate progress (or lack of!) For more information, clicking select
on the iconbar icon will open a status window. This status window can also be
opened by selecting the relevant entry on the iconbar menu, or automatically,
according to the preferences.
FreeNews will attempt to be clever if you drop your connection part-way through
a fetch. Next time you connect, only those articles that were not downloaded in
full previously will be fetched again. The exception is the "FetchMe" file.
Any articles that have been requested manually will be fetched again, as the
"FetchMe" file is only cleared down after a successful completion.
If FreeNews fails for any reason, it should show an error window before dying.
If you find it just removes itself from the icon bar, have a look in the
system_log file (held within !Syslog).
If you want to speed things up a little at the expense of debugging information,
Edit the !FreeNews.!Run file and change the parameter on the SyslogD_Debug line.
The lower the number (it goes to zero meaning next to no logging) the less
disk activity there will be. If you do find a fault, I'd like to see the relevant
bit of the syslog at level 5 or above (pref. level 7).
The values of SyslogD_Debug: (only applies to version 1.14:)
0: Errors and start/stop are logged.
1: As 0 + Warnings are logged
2: As 1 + Commands from FreeNews to the server are logged.
and Date/time setting variables are output.
3: As 2 + all responses from the server are logged (NB: This is *S-L-O-W*)
higher levels should only be used on request, as they will generate
masses of log information.
Compatability
-------------
FreeNews should be compatible with *any* standard TCP/IP stack. I've tested it
with Freenet version 0.20 and the ANT Internet suite at 1.15. Other beta testers
have used Acorn TCP/IP without problems. FreeNews will *not* work with KA9Q
(aka !TCPTP) or Termite Internet, as these are not standard stacks.
Error messages that may be displayed whilst running with ANT stack with Fresco
are a fault with the Acorn written code within the ANT stack. ANT are aware of
this.
The Future
----------
Just because FreeNews is now stable enough to be numbered above 1.00 does not
mean that this is it. FreeNews is still evolving. My plan of action for the
near future is as follows:
* The ability to edit the fetch status of groups.
* The facility of selecting from headers by THREAD rather than individually.
* The provision of auto-select and auto-kill functions that will automatically
download the body of articles that you've already expressed interest in, and
conversely to "kill" the headers of certain articles after download so you will
not be shown the header, and the body will not be downloaded.
* The facility to associate a cost with individual newsgroups so that high traffic
groups are only downloaded when telephone calls are cheap, and very low-traffic
or important groups are fetched regardless of the time.
Any Questions?
--------------
Or observations/requests? Why not ask other users by talking to the FreeNews
mailing list: Send mail to freenews-l@roundel.demon.co.uk.
Really stumped? Then please feel free to contact me by email at
freenews@roundel.demon.co.uk.
Licence
-------
FreeNews is © Copyright 1995-7 John Smith and Neil Clegg and is released as
freeware.
Permission is granted to use FreeNews on the understanding that this use
is entirely at your own risk. We accept no liability whatsoever for any
loss or damage arising from the use of FreeNews nor do we make any guarantee
that it is fit for any purpose. You may not distribute FreeNews
in any form without express permission, unless all files are present and
unchanged. No charges may be made (other than reasonable postage/packing costs)
for distribution.
PD Libraries and BB sysops should contact me to ensure that they have the latest
version.
Toolbox Modules
---------------
FreeNews may have been distributed with Acorn's Toolbox modules. These
modules are Copyright © Acorn Computers Ltd. You may not distribute them
unless you have a licence from Acorn to do so.