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1994-03-17
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My News Reader (Shareware MSDOS program)
This program might be of interest to those users who ,
like me , have a unix account with usenet-news access and
who use nn or similar programs to read those news.
The fuss of configurating and installing various news-packages
on my PC and the unix site (though most are exelent pieces of
software engeneering) always prevented me from installing them.
So I wrote my own No-Fuss NewsReader.
The normal procedure when reading usenet-news would be
to go to a terminal, start nn and read the news.
But often one does not have the time or is not focused
enough for that task.
So one would log in, go to one's favorite groups, select all unread
articles and save each group to a textfile with the
SHIFT-S option.
Then the user would compress and copy all files
to a floppydisk and read them at home...or he would dial up
his or her account and download all the files via zmodem.
In any way the user would be stuck with a unintelligible
textfile with hundreds of articles thrown together.
Now - since the header of an article is (or should be)
normed in certain ways...
(like Xref: ,Path:, From:, Subject: etc)...
for example:
Xref: math.fu-berlin.de sci.crypt:19666 alt.privacy:12119 alt.security.pgp:9051
Newsgroups: sci.crypt,alt.privacy,alt.security.pgp
Path: math.fu-berlin.de!zib-berlin.de!netmbx.de!Germany.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uknet!comlab.ox.ac.uk!pcl
From: pcl@foo.oucs.ox.ac.uk (Paul C Leyland)
Subject: Announcing pgptalk
Message-ID: <PCL.94Feb12140955@foo.oucs.ox.ac.uk>
Date: 12 Feb 1994 14:09:55 GMT
Lines: 30
...I wrote a program that analyses those headers and the following
information and produces a listing of all subjects.
One then can scroll through this listing and mark the articles one
would like to read or simply have the program pick out all subjects
with a selected keyword in it. This can be done by mouse or by
keyboard. The marked messages can then be read individually.
The header and the message are displayed in different colors to
make reading more easy. (Subject: is highlighted etc.)
The program even automatically saves the current state if the user wants
to read the rest of the marked messages at a later time and chooses
to quit in the middle of one session.
Here is a listing with all functions. This helpscreen can be also
selected by pressing the F1 button in the SCANNING MESSAGE-HEADLINES
screen.
WHEN SCANNING MESSAGE-HEADLINES
Arrow UP/Down decrease/increase message # by 1
Page UP/DOWN decrease/increase message # by 13
SPACE mark/unmark message for later reading
any replies will be marked/unmarked, too
Pos1/End jump to first/last article
+/- mark/unmark all messages
F FIND Text and mark message
S SAVE single message
RETURN read the highlighted (red) message
Ctrl RETURN read marked messages
ESC EXIT program when scanning messages
MOUSE
Left button mark message
Right button unmark message
any replies will be marked/unmarked, too
WHEN READING A SINGLE MESSAGE
ESC EXIT to message scan screen when reading a message
any other key read next page of article
WHEN READING MARKED MESSAGES
ESC EXIT EXIT to message scan screen
N Skip to next marked message
any other key read next page of article
The maximum ammount of subjects the program can handle is something over
770. If a textfile has more messages the file has to be split and
viewed individually. (770 subjects are roundabout 1.4 MB worth of text!)
First the textfile, like any textfile, has to be converted from UNIX into
DOS format. I normally would zip the files in my account, transfer them
onto floppy and decompress them at home. Then I would either use
unix2dos on them or simply use TYPE to convert them. Unix uses just
a return at the end of the line whereas DOS needs a return-newline.
(I do not know why, but zipping or lharc'ing generally does the job
without the use of unix2dos or type...but better be safe)
Example :
The unix-textfile is named news.txt.
unix2dos (either on your unix account or at home)
unix2dos news.txt >dosnews.txt (under UNIX)
unix2dos news.txt (at home)
news.txt is now in DOS format.
...or
type
type news.txt >dosnews.txt
dosnews.txt is now in DOS format.
Now the program can be started by typing
mynr and the name of the textfile at the dos-prompt.
mynr <textfile>
...and we now are in the message-scan screen. At the top there is
some shareware information and then there is a list of subjects.
Subjects that are colored yellow are >first posts<. Any messages
following in gray are replies to that post.
In the middle of the screen is a red bar. It serves the purpose
of marking the current message. If RETURN is pressed, the
message gets read out to you.
If >s< is pressed, the message under the red bar is saved to
a textfile. (you have to give a name for the file first)
If SPACE is pressed, the current message is marked magenta for
later viewing. The red bar then scrolls to the next message.
With Ctrl RETURN all marked messages can be viewed.
With pressing >f< one can mark all messages containing a
certain keyword (you get asked for it).
>+< and >-< select or deselect all messages...
ESC quits the program.
In the shareware versions all functions can be used but only the
first 50 messages can be viewed to encourage registration. If
you decide to register, the fully functional program and all
future updates are send to you via e-mail.
(since you have access to the usenet, it is safe to assume that
you have an e-mail adress.)
Later versions will have unlimited (only by memory) amount of
subjects, user-defined colors, printer supp. and much more.
There is a file called testnews.txt for testing the program on.
use : mynr testnews.txt
The FIDO groups used a different header at my site - so try
mynr with the -fido option.
mynr <textfile> -fido
-NOTE-
The newsheaders have to stick to the normed design since
my program can only work if it finds the keywords it is
looking for at the right position.
I have tested it on several accounts and it worked fine...
...but I can not be held responsible for any damage this program
may inflict on you or your system...
Soo...if the program messes up, write a mail to niesp@inf.fu-berlin.de.