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``Eileen Stone`` #2@2910.TerraNET
Mon Oct 20 13:25:43 1997
"FILEnet Newsgroups for Dummies FAQ"
FAQ version 0.13
Written by Eileen Stone of the MultiVersal Dreams BBS, 2@172.FILEnet
Revised October 20, 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
===========================================================================
I. Files needed to run the Project.
II. Altering the network files to connect you to the newsgroup node.
1. Create Group 99 in your BBSLIST.0 file.
2. Create/Alter BBSLIST.99 file.
3. Create/Alter CONNECT.99 file.
4. CALLOUT.NET entry format.
5. Force Analysis of your FILEnet Network connection.
III. Configuring the PPP Project files for your system's set up.
1. News server in NET.INI must be defined.
2. [NEWS] subsection must be uncommented.
3. NEWSHOST line must also be uncommented and filled out.
IV. Setting up and using the NEWS.RC file.
1. Creating NEWS.RC file.
2. How to get the current list of newsgroups in a file named NEWSRC.
3. Put newsgroups you want in NEWS.RC in the following format:
"THE NEWS.RC FORMAT DIAGRAM."
4. How to spool a newsgroup instead of making it a sub.
5. Subscribe to newsgroup via //Boardedit, with usage advise.
6. Add @32767 to your N*.NET files for the newsgroups you want.
7. Force a call to @32767 to download the NEWSRC file and newsgroups.
V. Removing a newsgroup.
1. Remove the sub from //boardedit if you recieved it that way.
2. Remove the newsgroup line from NEWS.RC.
VI. Mod to allow the "/" in callout net to parse as hours, not days.
1. Explanation of mod, and mod code.
2. Proper use of the mod.
==========================================================================
I. Firstly, are you set up with the latest files, version 1.4 or better?
A good place to look is at http://www.owt.com/users/quixotic/ppp-WWIV.
The four files you need are:
pppp4j14.zip, -- The newest basic file.
ppp15b26.zip, -- The latest upgrade.
klospppw.zip, -- Use this if you run a multitasker. Use version 1.43
exp097.zip, -- The module for exporting to mail or newsgroups,
or the EXP module distributed with the project.
It is also recommended that you get Quixotic Quest's FAQ, and the latest
version of this FAQ. Quixotic's FAQ goes into much more detail in sections
I-II than this one does. This FAQ only covers those subjects as they
relate to problems a reader might have with his newsgroup connection.
II. Second, make sure you are connected to the newsgroup node:
Altering the FILEnet Network files in the drive:\bbs\net\FILE* dir.
(1)
Check to see if there is a group 99 in the bottom of the BBSLIST.0 file.
If there is not, add it to the file, in the same manner as the others
are listed.
(2)
Creat a BBSLIST.99 file, if you need one, and check to see if there is
a node @32767, in the BBSLIST.99 file, like this:
@32767 *999-PPP-NEWS #00300 !$ [-1] "Internet Newsgroups and Mail"
(3)
Your CONNECT.99 file, which you may have to create, should look like this:
@your node 32767
@32767 your node
(4)
In your CALLOUT.NET; besides your other connects (and after them), you
should have a line that looks like this:
@32767 &
NOTE: It is VERY important that you don't have the semi-colon ( ; ) used
for compression on this line. You cannot connect to the newsgroups if
you have this character included.
(5)
Force a network analysis using the command Network3 .x Y from the DOS
prompt in the main BBS directory. Where x is one less than the network
number for FILEnet as shown in INIT. Check the feedback from FILEnet.
If all is OK, you should have one system routing through @32767. If you
have zero, make sure you edited the above files properly. If you have
more than one, then make sure that @32767 is not listed in any of the
other BBSLIST.x or CONNECT.x files. (Node @32767 is a fictional node, used
to trick the software to download newsgroups and Internet mail. If more
than one system routes through #32767, you will lose all network traffic
attempting to use that path.)
III. Altering the PPP Software configuration files.
(1)
You must set up your NEWS server, defining it NET.INI, found in the main
bbs directory.
(2)
At the bottom of the same file, there should be a subsection called: [NEWS].
Make sure that is not commented out by having a semi-colon (;) in front
of this line.
(3)
Make sure the NEWSHOST line is uncommented as well. Put in the name of
your news server for your ISP on this line. The numerical address seems
to work better than the alphanumeric version.
IV. Then, once you are connected to the newsgroup node:
(1)
Create a new file called NEWS.RC in the FILEnet Net directory. You will
list your newsgroups in this file, one to a line. For the proper format,
see Section IV-3.
(2)
If you also want a list of all current newsgroups, put at the very top
of the file NEWS.RC "newsrc" (no quotes), and it will download the current
list for you. It will make a file called NEWSRC with one newsgroup listed
per line, for all the 18000 plus newsgroups, (or however many there are
listed at your local host).
Previous to Beta 52, this will *NOT* update automatically for now. If you
wanted a new list before this version, you deleted or renamed the newsrc
file, and did this step again. See section IV-7 for how Beta 52 changed
this situation, and how the auto-update functions.
HINT: If you want users to be able to request newsgroups, make the NEWSRC
file available as a bulletin or as a file for downloading.
(3)
In the NEWS.RC file put in (as a sample) some low-volume newsgroups, I used
alt.bbs.WWIV (pretty much devoted to PPP coversations, now).
In this format:
THE NEWS.RC FORMAT DIAGRAM
+ CASE SENSITIVE NEWSGROUP NAME(a)
| + ---------------- LOWEST ARTICLE # READ(b)
| | + ------------------------------------ ALL NUMERIC SUBTYPE(c)
V V V
alt.bbs.WWIV 0 1001
Parts of the NEWS.RC format diagram.
a. Name.
Newsgroup Names are usally lower case. Check NEWSRC for _exact_ syntax.
Without the EXACT newsgroup name, you cannot connect to the group.
b. Article number.
Once you have a current newsrc file, you can see the highest article number
listed at the server. If you wish to sample the group, put in a number
that is perhaps 50 below this number. If you put in 0, it will grab in the
latest x articles, where x is the maximum messages defined in Boardedit.
c. Subtypes.
Before PPP 1.5 beta-25, the subtypes could only be numeric, but the
project can now accept alphanumeric subtypes standard to WWIV. If you are
using numerical subtypes with an easily guessed scheme, CHANGE THEM NOW!
There have been instances of boards hacking spam through legitimately
posting boards, and better safe... Be sure to delete your old N*.net
files, and add @32767 to the new alpha n*.net files, because WWIV will not
do that for you automatically. If you are changing your subtypes, also be
sure to change the subtypes in your news.rc file, as that needs to coincide
with your new n*.net file. I don't know why, but the alpha characters in
the subtypes in news.rc MUST be in ALL-CAPS, if not the messages bounce as
unknown/unwanted. Maybe it's because most ISP's are UNIX boxes, and they
run on a case sensitive operating system, or maybe it's a quirk of the
current PPP program, but the result is that (in my experience) subtypes
with letters in them MUST be all *capital* letters.
(4)
If you make the Subtype number 0, as well. The articles will concatenate
as one file in the SPOOL directory. This is useful for binary newsgroups.
This can also be used as another way to test a newsgroup before exposing
your readers to it. (Testing for volume, content, etc.)
(5)
In Boardedit subscribe to the newsgroup, using the subtype you determined
above, and making _yourself_ host. (Recommended: say no to listing the sub
in the subs.lst, and say no for autorequests. Since each member of FILEnet
connected to the Internet can better get newsgroups for themselves, there
is generally no benefit for gating them around. Possible exceptions to
this rule of thumb include gating to local systems on other networks, to
Non-Internet connected FILEnet nodes, and in cases where a node's news
server is censoring newsgroups.) Make a unique filename as usual.
NOTE: It also works to make @32767 to be the host of the newsgroup. Using
this method eliminates the N*.NET files, and allows you to Net-Val for
*your* users if, for instance it's a moderated newsgroup and you don't want
just any moron to post on it. If you use this method, skip to part IV-7.
(6)
In DOS, or whatever, edit the N*.NET file in your Filenet directory, (or
N####.NET where #### is the Subtype for the group) and add at the top
32767. Save the file. You have manually added the ficticious newsgroup
node as a subscriber.
(7)
Force a connect to @32767, it will download the current newsrc file if you
asked it to do so, as per section IV-2, and will give some posts from the
newsgroups you defined. They will be the latest available messages, so
you'll probably have to wait a while to get any more posts.
It will delete the newsrc top line, and change the middle numbers of each
of the other lines to the number of the highest article. It will update
this number every time you connect. Anytime you want to check for new
messages, just force a callout, or if you're lucky, you can set it up to
check automatically every hour or so.
[NEW!!] Starting with Beta 52, and perfected in Beta 53, the program will
now automatically download a copy of the newest newsrc list at the first of
every month, and then download daily updates of the changes that might show
up in between the monthly events.
V. How to Remove newsgroups.
(1)
Remove the newsgroup subboard as usual in Boardedit. If you had the
newsgroup set to spool, only the next step is neccessary.
(2)
Then remove the line in NEWS.RC that has that newsgroup defined.
Failure to do this part may cause an error, as there is no subtype of
the number you first defined, and the subtype is not 0. See section
III-3 for details of the results if you change the subtype to 0.
VI. FILEnet mod for CALLOUT.NET
(1)
Since newsgroups are fairly active on the Internet, and most providers
don't increase your costs with a high number of calls, you might want to
have your board call out every few hours to pick up the latest messages
and/or network packets. To do this, you'll need to make a mod to your
source code. For WWIV 4.23 through 4.24a (and perhaps beyond), you need
to change one line in NETSUP.C, void attempt_callout(void):
if ((ok) && (i2!=-1)) {
if (ncn[i2].bytes_waiting==0L)
if (con[i].call_anyway) {
l1=(l-ncn[i2].lastcontact+60*3)/SECONDS_PER_HOUR; /* change */
if (((unsigned char)l1 < con[i].call_anyway) ||
((con[i].options & options_sendback)==0))
if (!net_only)
ok=0;
(2)
To activate this "call anyway" feature, you need to add the / parameter to
CALLOUT.NET. Make your @32767 entry look like:
@32767 & /3
to force a callout roughly every three hours. (Note without the mod, this
means force a callout every three days). You might want to make the same
change to your other FILEnet Internet connects as well, to speed up the
normal network packets as well.
==========================================================================
Hope this helps, and I will update this file as the situation requires,
and repost it as needed. I can autopost it monthly, and if there are any
problems or suggestions, please email me.
Newsgroup FAQ maintainer: Eileen Stone, #2 @172.FILEnet