The Best Internet Programs/BESTINTERNET.bin/internet/qnews/readme.txt

Text File | 1995-05-15 | 7.9 KB | 222 lines

Flash: Due to an accident resulting in the loss of
approximately 15,000 lines of source-code for the
QNews newsreader, QNews has been temporarily
withdrawn from Beta testing.

QNews v0.9b4 Beta has been re-released as QNews
v0.9a5 Alpha. Version 0.9a5 is functionally
identical to v0.9b4.

The missing sources are currently being replaced,
and QNews should be re-released into Beta testing
shortly.

However, at the present time, I am unable to accept
or respond to bug reports encountered while using
QNews v0.9a5 or prior versions.

Although there are about half-a-dozen known bugs
in QNews v0.9a5, the major ones you should be
aware of are:

- QNews will not work with Netcom Netcruiser v1.60
  (fixed but not yet included in v0.9a5).

- If an error occurs while mailing a message, the
  "Mail" button doesn't get re-enabled under certain
  circumstances. This means that you won't be able
  to resend the message unless you copy and paste
  the message contents to a new mail message.

- Users of v0.9b3 of QNews will encounter GPFs
  when attempting to use the Saved Messages
  folder. To correct this problem, delete the
  file C:\WINDOWS\QNEWS.INI, and reconfigure
  QNews. Appologies for the inconvenience.
  This problem will not occur if you have not
  used v0.9b3 of QNews.

- There are still a small number of outstanding
  GPFs (crashes) that occur under various isolated
  circumsances in QNews v0.9a5.

  Please make sure that you are not working on
  anything critical while using QNews v0.9a5,
  as GPFs caused by QNews may cause you to
  lose whatever you are working on in other
  programs.

Thanks for your patience and understanding in
this matter.


Best regards,

Robin Davies.
[e-mail]





QNews(TM) -- All the News in No Time At All. (TM)

Copyright (c) 1995, Robin Davies. All Rights Reserved.

QNews is a Winsock-compliant online newsreader that runs under
Microsoft Windows.

Among other features, it includes:

o    Multi-threaded execution. Messages can be read, or posted while
    newsgroups and messages counts continue to update in the background.

o    Archiving of messages to message folders.

o    A full featured state-of-the-art Windows user interface including,
    print, print preview, mutli-column printing, button bars, and full
    context-sensitive help.

o    Simple intuitive uploading and downloading of binary files to
    newsgroups.

o    Graphical display of threaded messages, allowing the user to quickly
    determine which messages were posted in response to which other messages.

o    Speed! QNews has been specifically designed to maximize actual and
    perceived efficiency over SL/IP and PPP lines.

o   Support for both XOVER and XHDR news server commands in order to
    maximize efficiency.

o    Unlimited message sizes. QNews correctly handles messages larger
    than 27k bytes.

o    Only unread message headers are downloaded unless the users specifies
    that previously read messages should be displayed.


System Requirements

QNews supports TCP/IP, PPP and SLIP connections to the Internet through
the Winsock software interface. Winsock is a standard interface to TCP/IP
network connections that most TCP/IP, SL/IP and PPP systems running under
Windows provide. OS/2 Warp and Windows '95 both provide built-in SL/IP or
PPP support.

If in doubt, search for the file WINSOCK.DLL; if it is present, then you
will most-likely be able to use QNews. Please note that QNews does not
include Winsock DLLs: Winsock services are usually provided by Internet
service  providers, network vendors or as third party add-ons for Windows.
If you currently have access to the Internet, but do not have a valid set
of Winsock DLLs, you may want to investigate Peter Tattam's shareware
Trumpet Winsock implementation.

QNews uses the Internet standard NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol)
interface to read news from an USENET News host system. QNews, therefore
requires that you have access to an Internet host system running NNTP
server software.

QNews also provides the optional capability to send mail messages in
response to News messages. To use this capability, you must have access
to an Internet host system providing SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
services.

QNews requires that a properly configuredset of Winsock DLLs be present on
the system. The Winsock DLLs must support version 1.1 or later of the Winsock
Applications Programming Interface specifications.  QNews should operate
correctly on the following operating systems: Microsoft Window version 3.1
or 3.11; Microsoft Windows for Workgroups version 3.11; Microsoft Windows/NT
version 3.1 or 3.5; IBM OS/2 version 2.1 or Mach (as a Windows application).




  INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING QNews

You may place QNews anywhere on your hard drive as long as all files
in this distribution are placed in the same directory. The following
instructions assume that the files have been placed in the directory
C:\QNEWS

To install QNews as an icon in the Windows Program Manager, follow these
instructions.

(1) Activate the Windows Program Manager.

(2) Activate the window containing the program group in which you
    want to install the QNews icon. (Click on the "Main"
    program group window, for example).

(3) Choose the menu item File/New...

(4) In the New Program Object dialog, select Program Item, and
    press the OK button.

(5) In the Program Item Properties dialog, enter "QNews" in the
    Description field. (For this field and all others, ommit the
    enclosing quotes). In the Command Line field, enter
    "C:\QNEWS\QNEWS.EXE". If you have placed the QNews files in
    another a directory other than C:\QNEWS, modify this line
    accordingly. The working directory and shortcut key fields may
    be left blank. The Run Minimized checkbox should be unchecked.
    Press the OK button.

If you have followed the instructions correctly, you should see
a new icon in the currently active program group entitled
"QNews". From now on you can double-click on this icon to
start QNews.

QNews will automatically create a QNEWS.INI file in your Windows
directory the first time it is run.

To configure QNews, run the program. QNews will display the Configuration
dialog box, if it has not been previously configured. Enter the requested
information in the dialog box. If you are uncertain of the internet addresses
of your News and Mail servers, contact your service provider for further
information.

Once you have filled in all the appropriate fields in the Configuration
dialog box, press the OK button. QNews will automatically connect to the
selected News server and build a list of available newsgroups. This make
take a little time, but only has to be done once.

Once QNews has been properly configured, it will automatically connect
to the selected News server whenever it is launched.

Detailed documentation and configuration instructions are provided
in the on-line help files. Press the F1 key while QNews is running to
access the on-line help, or press the Help button in the Configuration
dialog for specific help on fields in the Configuration dialog box.


  TERMS OF LICENSE

QNews is provided as Shareware. The registration fee is US$10.00.
When not registered, this version of QNews includes a Nag
Screen (a mildly annoying dialog which is displayed every time
the program is run) but is otherwise fully functional.

Complete terms of license are accessible on the opening screen of the
program.

This version of QNews is a beta release. The author requests that this
version not be redistributed until a final release is available.

Please see the on-line help files for important license information.

To purchase a licenses to use QNews see the section entitled
"Order Form" in the on-line help file.