There have been a number of important changes in how YA-NewsWatcher works with filter files. Please read the following carefully before running the new version of YA-NW.
If you have previously used YA-NW 2.0.4 or later, and have therefore already converted you old filters file, you can skip the rest of this document. Just be sure to read the "YA-NW Revision History" document to see how date and lines filters are handled starting with YA-NW 2.0.4. Otherwise, read on...
Your old NewsWatcher Filters file used by YA-NW and VA-NW will no longer work. You need to run the Filter Converter (version 1.0.2) application to make new filter files. This application is found in its own archive at YA-NW's home ftp site:
Previously there was just one filter file that contained local, regional, and global filters that were applied to all user group windows. This has changed beginning with YA-NW 2.0.4. You can now define filters that will
apply only to a specific user group window. You can also optionally keep a single filters file that will apply to user group windows that don't have their own filters file (including any Search groups windows).
All the filter files are kept in a new folder named:
YA-NewsWatcher Settings
which is located in the same folder as the active NewsWatcher Prefs file. The prefs file may be located in the Preferences folder in your System folder, or it may be elsewhere on your disk.
Step by step instructions on converting filters.
1) Decide what you want to do. You should choose to create a default filters file that can be used by any group window that doesn't have its own set of filters. These filters will be used by windows created by the Search command. Any filters created from a message window to filter your own posts and their replies will also be added to this collection of filters.
You can also create additional filter files that are specific to a user group window, and which will be used in place of any filters in the default set described in the above paragraph.
2) Find your existing NewsWatcher prefs file. Create a new folder in this directory. Name the directory:
YA-NewsWatcher Settings
3) Find the old filter file(s) you want to convert. Drag them one by one onto the Filter Converter application. You will get a file dialog for saving the converted file. If you want to make a converted filters file for use with a particular user group file, use the exact same name as the user group file, and save the file to the YA-NewsWatcher Settings folder you just created. For example, if your user group file is called My Sub, then name the converted filter My Sub. Repeat this process for each user group file you want to have its own filters file. If you use a newsrc file, name the converted filter file:
newsrc
To create the default filters file, to be used by any group list window that doesn't have its own filters file, perform the conversion as sdecribed above and name the new file:
YA-NewsWatcher Filters
Again, this and all the other new filter files should be saved in the YA-NewsWatcher Settings folder.
• • • • • •
Change #2:
In previous versions of YA-NW, you were free to choose any color you wished to assign to a filter, and any single character as a marker. Sorting by hilight color would then sort based on the hue of the hilight color. A given filter could also be specified as acting to kill, keep, or hilight
any articles it matched.
Starting with YA-NW 2.0b4 all this changes. Now all filters act to apply a Finder-like label to matching articles. There are a total of 34 possible labels. The last two, (unlabeled) and (killed) are used respectively to specify that matching articles should be kept unlabeled or killed. The remaining 32 labels are used to tag articles of interest. The label color and text for all 32 such labels can be edited in the Filter Options portion of the Preferences dialog. They can also be dragged to reorder the labels. When sorting articles in subject windows by label, the topmost label in the list of 34 is given the highest ranking, with the lowest rank going to (unlabeled) and (killed) at the bottom of the list. Any of the 34 labels can be chosen as the default for newly created filters.
For more information on changes and features in this and older versions of YA-NW, please read the YA-NW Revision History and YA-NW Readme files.
