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NewsWerthy (C) 1994, 1995 William Werth
Version 2.00
I. INTRODUCTION TO NEWSWERTHY 2
1. WHAT IS NEWSWERTHY? 2
2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 4
3. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR 4
4. REGISTERING NEWSWERTHY 4
5. DISCLAIMER 5
6. THANKS AND KUDOS 6
II. QUICK START PROCEDURE 6
III. USING NEWSWERTHY 7
1. SETTING UP THE HOST (BBS) FOR SOUP PACKETS 8
2. DOWNLOADING THE MAIL PACKET FROM THE HOST (BBS) 10
3. UPLOADING A REPLY PACKET TO THE HOST (BBS) 10
4. READING THE MESSAGES IN THE MAIL PACKET 10
5. SEARCHING MESSAGES IN THE MAIL PACKET 12
6. REPLYING TO A MESSAGE 13
7. POSTING A NEW MESSAGE TO A NEWSGROUP 15
8. SENDING AN EMAIL MESSAGE 15
9. REVIEWING & MODIFYING REPLIES OR STORED MESSAGES 15
10. SAVING MESSAGES 16
11. PRINTING MESSAGES 17
12. UQWK COMMANDS 17
13. USING THE KEYBOARD 17
14. USING THE MOUSE 19
15. CONFIGURATION 20
DIRECTORIES & UTILITIES 20
MESSAGE OPTIONS 21
DATA-BASING OPTIONS 22
PRINTER OPTIONS 23
COLORS SETUP 24
16. VIEWING A FILE 24
17. ABOUT NEWSWERTHY 24
IV. EXAMPLE USES OF NEWSWERTHY 25
1. SEVERAL PACKETS, ONE REPLY PACKET 25
2. WITH PGP 26
3. WITH LAPTOPS 26
4. WITH TAGLINE MANAGERS 26
5. WITH MULTIPLE USERS 27
5. READING THE DATA-BASE WITH THE NUMBER KEYPAD 27
V. GLOSSARY 28
VI. INDEX 30
1
I. INTRODUCTION TO NEWSWERTHY
___________________________________________________________
This section is an introduction to NewsWerthy and
registration requirements.
1. WHAT IS NEWSWERTHY?
___________________________________________________________
NewsWerthy is an off-line message reader for the SOUP
format. This is the format generated by uqwk, when used with
the +L parameter (but not the only way to make a SOUP
packet).
NewsWerthy can be used as a packet reader, or as a data-
basing reader. With NewsWerthy you can read one packet, or
messages from several packets at a time. Your position in
the packet and which messages have been read are saved, so
you can return to where you left off, and continue reading
messages. If you want to keep any messages, they can be
saved to folders. In data-basing mode you have several
options as to how messages are expired, otherwise in packet
mode they are deleted when a new packet is opened.
NewsWerthy has a user interface with familiar pull down
menus and context sensitive help that can be accessed easily
with the keyboard or mouse. It has all the features you'll
need to read, reply and save messages for later reference.
It has several options for reading mail, depending on your
preferences. You can easily read all messages, or just a few
by using its search capabilities.
Features:
* A data-base of all your messages or just the current
packets messages can be read.
* Shell to DOS anywhere (yes anywhere with Ctrl-S).
* An address book for email addresses with an alias for each
entry.
* Edit messages using your favorite editor.
* Print all or part of a message.
* Replies to a message in a newsgroup can be sent by email
or to the newsgroup.
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* Replies can be re-sent if auto-saved.
* Messages can be forwarded using email.
* Automatically appends a signature file to your replies.
* Save messages to a folder using a pick list of names up to
80 characters long (no DOS filename limit).
* Append or overwrite all or part of a message to a text
file.
* Delete unwanted messages.
* Search for a message using any combination of 1) Key words
in the message text 2) Subject 3) From.
* Uses "smart searching" (remembers what you last searched
for in a newsgroup).
* All setup is integrated into the program, including color
selection. No need to use a text editor on the
configuration file.
* Configurable to your message reading style.
* Context sensitive help is displayed when F1 is pressed.
* Pull down menus, with a hint line on the bottom of the
screen, for the usage of each menu item.
* Supports monochrome, B/W and color monitors.
* Quoted text in messages is color highlighted.
* Marks read, saved or killed messages.
* Sort messages on date, author, subject or no sort.
* Remembers what newsgroup and what message you were last
reading, to easily pick up where you left off reading.
* RFC-822, RFC-1036 & SOUP compliant.
* Will optionally word wrap the displayed message.
* Sorts mailing lists into their own separate "news" group.
* Files can be attached to replies using UUEncode, XXEncode
or Base64.
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* Attached files in a message, in any of the above three
formats can be saved to a text file.
* Different setups can be used for each user (see section IV
of manual).
2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
___________________________________________________________
An IBM PC or compatible with DOS 3.0 or higher. The monitor
can be monochrome, hercules or color. A hard drive with
several megabytes free.
3. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
___________________________________________________________
If you have any questions, comments or need technical
support, feel free to contact me in one of the following
ways:
1) By email at billw@eskimo.com
2) I monitor the usenet newsgroup alt.usenet.offline-reader.
3) By mail at the address listed for registration.
4) In person at (206) 258-1755, evenings 5pm to 10pm Pacific
time and weekends.
4. REGISTERING NEWSWERTHY
____________________________________________________________
Why register? Registering removes the opening unregistered
message. The helpful (for new users) but somewhat annoying
"Are you sure you want to edit the message selected?"
message, plus several others are also disabled. Registered
users who provide an email address will receive notice of
any significant updates.
There is also a 30 day evaluation period on the data-basing
feature. After 30 days and 15 uses you will be asked to
register. After 60 days and 30 uses, you will only be able
to read new packets in the packet mode.
Registered users will be able to use the protected mode
version of NewsWerthy. It is the same as the shareware
version, except that it requires a '286 or better CPU and
uses virtual memory. This allows very large messages and
4
newsgroups to be read, since it is not limited to
conventional memory.
Also if you find this program useful, you will surely want
to see more features added. This can only happen if I
receive your support. Many hours of work have gone into
making this program, so send in the registration form and
you will receive a registration number. Your registration
will also be good on future updates.
The registration form can be printed by pressing P at the
opening screen.
NewsWerthy is released as shareware. You are encouraged to
make copies and distribute them for others to use. The only
restriction is that the copies are in their complete and
unmodified form. A list of all the files is in the
README.TXT file.
To continue using NewsWerthy past the evaluation period,
send $25 US to the address below:
William Werth
4404 Terrace Dr. #4
Everett, Wa 98203
If you don't use the registration form, be sure and include
your email address and the name to register NewsWerthy
under, so I can send you a registration code number. If
you'd like me to send your registration code by snail mail,
include your mailing address.
5. DISCLAIMER
___________________________________________________________
This program has been thoroughly tested but due to the
complex nature of today's hardware, the author, William
Werth, makes no warranty of any kind, express or implied,
including without limitation, any warranties of
merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.
William Werth will not be liable for any damages, whether
direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from
failure of this program to operate in the manner desired by
the user. William Werth shall not be liable for any damage
to data or property which may be caused directly or
indirectly by the use of this program.
5
6. THANKS AND KUDOS
___________________________________________________________
I want to thank my beta testers for making NewsWerthy what
it is.
Arnie, who named NewsWerthy.
Also my girlfriend Juanita, who showed great patience while
I worked many hours on NewsWerthy.
Rachel Polanskis, who gave me the motivation to add
attaching files.
II. QUICK START PROCEDURE
___________________________________________________________
Be sure to read the README.TXT file for installation
instructions. Once you've installed NewsWerthy you'll want
to run NWERTHY.EXE.
NewsWerthy is easy to use and takes a minimum of set-up. You
can always hit the F1 key to get help, or wing it, since you
will be warned of any non-recoverable actions. Most commands
are executed with a single key press indicated by the
highlighted letter in the menu or on the status line. On
start up it will go straight to the configuration dialog if
no previous set-up exists, otherwise Alt-c will get you to
the configuration menu. If you are unsure of any
directories, you can press Ctrl-S to shell to DOS. You will
probably be able to use most of the defaults, but will need
to set up the following:
1. Download Directory - Enter the drive and directory where
the mail packet is located. A filename like ESKIMO.ZIP
or ESKIMO*.ZIP can be included too. Including the
filename in the registered version causes the file
dialog to be skipped, and instead goes directly to
unzipping the mail packet.
2. Upload Directory - Press Tab to move to this field. Enter
the drive and directory where your communication
program expects to find files to upload. The reply
packet will be placed here and will be named similar to
the mail packet, except the extension will be .REP. I
named my mail packet ESKIMO.ZIP which then translates
to ESKIMO.REP for the reply packet.
6
Or instead, include the full pathname of the reply
packet to always create the same name for the reply
packet, no matter what the name of the mail packet.
3. Work Directory - Press Tab to move to this field. Make
this a subdirectory of where NWERTHY.EXE is stored.
Something like C:\NWERTHY\ESKIMO will work fine. While
reading messages, files in this directory are read, so
be sure to put this one on the hard drive. Don't use a
ram drive, if you want NewsWerthy to remember your last
session.
3. Folders Directory - Press Tab to move to this field. Make
this a subdirectory of where NWERTHY.EXE is stored.
Something like C:\NWERTHY\FOLDERS
4. Text Editor - Press Tab to move to this field. The editor
is only needed if you plan to edit files or reply to
messages. Enter the drive and directory where your
editor can be found. Select an editor that can handle
lines longer than 80 characters. Also error handling
works best if the editor returns an error level other
than 0 on failure. DOS Edit is a good editor to start
out with. No matter what editor you chose, make sure
you always save as a text (ASCII) file.
Press Enter after any changes are made to save them or
Cancel to ignore them.
If you already have a SOUP packet, press F3 to unpack it.
Select Yes when prompted to read it, and use the normal
cursor keys, plus the space bar to view the messages.
The manual can be printed by entering from the DOS prompt:
COPY NWERTHY.DOC PRN (press return)
The manual is formatted for 51 lines per page with a top
margin of .4 inches. The margins are 1.25 inches for 60
characters per line. This should make it printable to single
or continuous sheets with no changes needed.
III. USING NEWSWERTHY
___________________________________________________________
NewsWerthy contains plenty of on-line, context sensitive
help (press F1) and is so easy to use you'll probably never
need to read most of this. But if you are new to off-line
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mail reading, get stuck or just like reading manuals then
here is what you'll need to know.
1. SETTING UP THE HOST (BBS) FOR SOUP PACKETS
___________________________________________________________
NewsWerthy is designed to work with the SOUP format, which
generally means using uqwk. Uqwk generates an AREAS file and
.MSG files containing the messages from the newsgroups
you're subscribed to, plus your email.
First verify uqwk is available on your BBS. Don't enter uqwk
to test this, instead enter man uqwk, and while you're at it
you might want to at least read the first paragraph or two.
If uqwk is not available, contact your system operator on
how to generate SOUP packets.
To automate using uqwk you'll want to use something like the
following script on your host system. This script file is
included in the distribution, but here is a copy for your
reference. All lines that start with #, except the first are
optional.
#!/bin/sh
# Usage: soup [ upload ]
# Process reply packet if requested
if [ $# -gt 0 ]
then
if [ $1 = "upload" ]
then
echo start your upload of yourbbs.rep now!
rz
unzip -U yourbbs.rep
uqwk -m -n +L -RREPLIES
rm yourbbs.rep
fi
fi
# Check for an existing packet
if [ -f "yourbbs.zip" ]
then
echo Warning - found an unsent yourbbs.zip file!
sz -u yourbbs.zip
fi
# Copy your newsgroups file to a backup directory as a
# precaution
cp .newsrc backup
8
# Collect your unread mail and news in SOUP format
# change -B8000 to -B0 for no limit on packet size
uqwk +m +n -z +L -B8000
# Zip it up, and delete files if successful
zip -m yourbbs AREAS *.MSG
# Download it to your PC
sz -u yourbbs.zip
The above file (soup) must be first transferred to your BBS
using the UNIX upload command rz at the UNIX prompt.
Now you'll need to make the script executable and also make
the backup directory. To do this, enter the following at the
UNIX command prompt:
chmod u+x soup
mkdir backup
You may also want to change all "yourbbs" entries to the
name of your BBS.
If you have any problems getting the above to work, what
follows is further explanation of the script to help in
locating the trouble. If a particular command works
differently on your system, check the manual, for example
"man zip". All lines starting in #, except the first are
comments.
Here are the commands used for replies:
rz - Starts the upload of the YOURBBS.REP using the zmodem
protocol. If your communication package doesn't support
zmodem, change this to something like rx.
unzip -U yourbbs.rep - The -U switch forces the files in the
archive to be uncompressed to uppercase, this may the
default, but is included just to be sure.
uqwk -m -n +L -RREPLIES - The +L indicates SOUP format, the
-R contains the name of the file which points to the
messages files (R0.MSG, etc.). The -m and -n ensure no mail
or news is lost.
rm yourbbs.rep - Deletes the reply packet.
Here are the commands used for collecting news and mail:
uqwk +m +n -z +L -B8000 - The +m and +n, indicate include
mail and news. The -z is there just in case someone has set
9
the environment variable for Zipnews format on your host (-z
turns it off).
zip -m yourbbs AREAS *.MSG - The -m deletes the AREAS and
*.MSG files once successfully compressed into the packet.
sz -u yourbbs.zip - The -u unlinks (deletes) the packet once
successfully sent.
2. DOWNLOADING THE MAIL PACKET FROM THE HOST (BBS)
___________________________________________________________
Log onto your BBS and go to a UNIX command prompt. Then run
the above SOUP UNIX script from the command line like so:
soup download
If your communications program has auto zmodem disabled you
will need to start zmodem manually. The commands from the
script can also be entered one at a time to get the same
effect (skip the if then lines).
3. UPLOADING A REPLY PACKET TO THE HOST (BBS)
___________________________________________________________
Log onto your BBS and go to a UNIX command prompt. Then run
the above UNIX script from the command line like so:
soup upload
If for some reason you encounter an error and your news is
lost before you get a chance to read it, simply enter the
following at the UNIX command prompt, to restore your news:
cp backup\.newsrc .
Then repeat the download process. Although this restores the
news pointers, any email that was collected, will be lost.
4. READING THE MESSAGES IN THE MAIL PACKET
___________________________________________________________
After hitting a random function key (if unregistered), you
have two ways to get started. You can use either the menus
at the top or the function keys at the bottom of the screen.
Besides the initial setup or odd command, the function keys
will be almost all you'll ever need.
To prepare a packet for reading, select New Packet (F3).
Select the packet using the dialog and press Enter to
uncompress your mail and generate the necessary indexes.
10
Next, to read your news and mail, select Read News (F4).
Pressing the space bar will allow you to read your mail
sequentially from start to finish. If you read most
messages, you may want to select the "Esc to Index" option
from the Message Options dialog under the setup menu.
Otherwise use the "Standard" option and read the section on
USING THE KEYBOARD to select and read those you're
interested in.
If you press the space bar to read a newsgroup, only unread
messages are shown. To see read, plus killed messages, press
the Enter key to read a newsgroup.
NewsWerthy automatically puts mail from mailing lists into
separate "news" groups. It does this by reading the message
headers To:, Cc:, Sender: and Originator lines. This may not
work 100% consistently, because mailing lists aren't 100%
consistent. To help NewsWerthy be much more accurate in
separating your personal mail, be sure to enter your email
address in the Reply-To picklist (the Cc: line is checked
from this). To make the mailing lists more accurate, add
it's email address to the address book and check the mailing
list box. Your email is also put into a group called "all",
if you prefer to read it all together.
One way to limit the messages you read is to generate kill
files by selecting Kill while reading the message. This
brings up a dialog that lets you choose between killing all
messages that match that subject or all messages from that
author. Wildcards can be used and are explained in the on-
line help. Kill files can only be used if you reading
messages in the data-basing mode.
The message list defaults to a sort on the subject. This can
be changed temporarily to sorting on the date, author or no
sort as an aid in finding a message. A sort on none will
display the messages in the order they were saved to the
file, with the newest first. To change the sort, select Sort
Messages from the status line of the messages list.
Messages are flagged read after you view them. This is
indicated by "READ" in the upper right of the message and an
asterisk at the beginning of each message list entry. Read
messages will be skipped if you're using the space bar,
otherwise use the Enter key to read messages marked with an
asterisk. The - and + keys can be used to go to a read
message. To mark all messages as read or unread in a
newsgroup, select the appropriate command from the
Newsgroups list (the first list displayed after selecting
Read Mail).
11
If you come across a message that looks like gibberish, try
pressing Alt-R, to ROT-13, the message. Hitting ALT-R twice
restores a message back to its original state.
If error messages occur while reading messages, the index or
book mark files may have become corrupt or deleted. Select
Restore Indexes from the News Incoming menu to generate new
indexes (*.IDX) and book marks (*.BKM) from the message
(*.MSG) files. You'll need to enter the filename of the
packet if not present in the input line that appears. The
name and extension is all that is required.
5. SEARCHING MESSAGES IN THE MAIL PACKET
___________________________________________________________
You can select the messages you read by selecting Find from
the message list. This brings up a dialog that lets you
search messages three ways. A search can find any matches in
the text, subject or author of the message. These can be
used separately or in combination, with the messages that
match appearing in a message list. More than one phrase can
be entered on an input line, by separating them with
semicolons (;). All searches are case insensitive (matches
either upper or lower case).
When you use the find dialog, you may notice that some of
the input fields are already filled in. This is what I call
"smart searching". If you usually search a newsgroup for the
same text, NewsWerthy will remember this, and fill in the
field for you. In order for this to work, you need to do two
things: 1) Add the search string to the appropriate picklist
(open the picklist by pressing the down arrow key, then
press "Alt-A" to add it). 2) Select the search string from
the picklist and press Enter to start your search. If there
is no previous search string for the newsgroup, NewsWerthy
will fill in the fields with whatever was used last.
Messages can be searched on the text portion of the message.
As an example, if you enter "10 speed;15 speed" (don't enter
quotes) then any message with either the phrase "10 speed"
or "15 speed" in it or in the subject will appear in the
Matches in message list. When you read the messages, the
line where the match occurred will be highlighted (only the
first match is highlighted).
Messages can be searched on the message Subject or From
line. Messages that match anywhere in these lines will
appear in the Matches in message list. If a message doesn't
contain a From line, the To or Newsgroups line will be
searched instead.
12
Text in a single message can be searched by pressing "X" for
Text search, from the message viewing screen. This operates
similar to the Find command. The line that contains a match
is highlighted in the center of the screen. This is useful
for finding something in the middle of a long message such
as a FAQ. Additional occurrences of the search phrase can be
found by hitting the "+" key.
6. REPLYING TO A MESSAGE
___________________________________________________________
While reading a message, select Reply, which will bring up a
dialog. Select Mail to send a private message, News to reply
in the newsgroup, Forward to send the message by email to a
friend or Mailing List (if an email message) to send a
message to a mailing list (the email address in the To:
line). Select Re-send Mail only from the auto-saved.replies
folder to add that message to the reply packet. The default
is to quote the message for all of the above, but Don't
Quote can be selected to start from scratch. To send a new
message use Post New Msg from the message list, or Send News
or Send Mail from the Mail Outgoing menu, not the Don't
Quote option.
When a message is forwarded, a dialog lets you indicate who
you want to send it to. A few extra header lines are added
to indicate who the message was originally from. It is then
quoted and loaded into your editor. This gives you a chance
to delete a portion or add a note for the recipient.
Read RFC1036 for detailed information on the message
headers, otherwise read on. Only the Newsgroups and Subject
are required, and should be entered in the Message Reply
Options dialog as follows:
To - This is the email address of the recipient of the email
message. An alias from the address book can be entered here.
An entry from the address book can be selected by pressing
the down arrow key.
Each alias in the address book must be unique and not
contain an "@" character, but can contain spaces. The email
address is substituted for the alias when the message is
sent. Multiple email addresses and/or aliases can be entered
on the email address line. The only limits being that not
more than 255 characters can be entered and it can't expand
to more than 1023 characters. Separate each address/alias
with a single comma and a space (, ).
13
Cc - This is used to send a Carbon Copy to 1 or more email
recipients. The easiest way to send email to group of people
is as follows: Define an alias in the address book that
expands to all the email addresses in the group. Then enter
just the alias on this line.
Bcc - Virtually the same as Cc, except that this line may
not appear in the header of each of the recipients messages.
Newsgroups - The Newsgroup is filled in for you
automatically. To post to a different newsgroup, select one
from the pick list by pressing the down arrow key or enter
it in. To cross-post the message to several newsgroups,
separate each with a comma (,) and no spaces. Replying to a
cross-posted message will maintain the original distribution
unless you edit this line.
Subject - NewsWerthy will add Re: to the current subject for
you.
Followup-To - This is used to indicate a different newsgroup
for replies to be sent to.
Keywords - A few well selected keywords identifying the
message can be entered.
Summary - A brief summary of the message.
Reply-To - To indicate an email address to send replies to.
Organization - To indicate the organization you belong to.
Extra Header - To add any headers lines not listed above.
You'll need to enter the name of the header ending with a
colon (:), a space, and the contents of the header line.
When adding a non-standard header line, start it with X-.
To attach a file to your message select Attach File (Alt-F).
Then select which encoding method you want to use.
UUEncoding is probably the most universal format, but
XXEncoding is more likely to make it to the recipient of the
message un-altered. Choose Base64 if the recipient of the
message uses a reader that supports MIME. Large files will
be split into multiple messages of 850 lines each or about
38k. There is a limit of 99 messages per attached file
(about a 4 meg file). I don't recommend adding a signature
to your message when using this option. NewsWerthy handles
this fine, but other decoders may not be able to re-create
the file, unless it is removed.
14
The editor you've entered in the Directories Setup is used
to enter the message. Save the file as a text (ASCII) file
and exit from your editor once you're done. Signatures can
automatically be appended to your messages. Simply use your
editor to enter into a file the text you want appended to
the end of each reply. Name this file NWERTHY.SIG and store
it in the work directory.
When you're finished reading your messages, any replies
you've entered are compressed and stored in the Upload
Directory. If you've selected Auto-Save Reply the message is
also stored in the auto-saved.replies folder.
7. POSTING A NEW MESSAGE TO A NEWSGROUP
___________________________________________________________
Posting a new message is nearly the same as replying to a
message. The main differences are as follows:
To post a message to a newsgroup, select Post New Msg from
the messages list. You'll need to enter a subject. Choose a
descriptive topic, something like Help me, isn't likely to
generate a lot of interest.
You can also post a new message to a newsgroup by selecting
Send News from the Mail Outgoing menu.
8. SENDING AN EMAIL MESSAGE
___________________________________________________________
To enter an email message, select Send Mail (F7) from the
menu screen, enter an email address to send the message to
(or pick one from the picklist) and proceed the same as for
Post New Msg.
9. REVIEWING & MODIFYING REPLIES OR STORED MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________
Select Review Replies (F8) from the menu screen to read your
replies. Select Read Stored (F6) from the menu screen to
read messages saved to folders.
While at the message list or message viewing screen, a
message can be deleted or edited. A reply can also be edited
by pressing R (Reply). When editing a reply, be careful what
changes you make to the message header. A temporary file
with an odd name ending in something like .AAA is created to
15
edit the message. Select save and exit from your editor when
done.
Once you delete a message, its gone forever, so make backups
if you can't afford to make mistakes.
Replying to a reply, allows you to change any of the headers
using the same dialog that you originally created it with.
There are some restrictions though. The To line will be
truncated to 255 characters, but can be re-entered, if this
happens. The Extra Header line will only be automatically
added to the dialog if it is present in the picklist. If you
have added any header lines by manually editing the message,
they will be lost.
10. SAVING MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________
Selecting Save while viewing a message brings up a dialog.
The default is to save to a SOUP format (binary mail)
folder. If the current newsgroup name matches one in the
newsgroup pick list, it is displayed, otherwise whatever was
entered previously is used. The default can be used or one
can be selected from the pick list.
If you'd rather append or overwrite all or part of the
message to a DOS text file, select Save to Text File. Use
the dialog to select or enter a DOS filename for saving.
Select the OK button to append or the Replace button to
overwrite the selected file. To save only a portion of a
message to a DOS text file, highlight it using Top (mark
top) and Bot (mark bottom), then save as described above.
You can press Alt-T from the message to go directly to Save
to File dialog.
If the message contains an attached file, it can be saved to
a file by selecting Save Attached File (Alt-A). The dialog
that then appears works the same as the one to save to a
text file. NewsWerthy supports the 3 most popular formats
for DOS PC's, which are UUEncode, XXEncode and Base64.
Base64 is part of MIME, and the only support for MIME found
in NewsWerthy. If the attached file spans multiple messages,
simply save them in order, appending them to the same file,
to recreate the binary file.
16
11. PRINTING MESSAGES
___________________________________________________________
Select print, to print the current message to your printer.
If your printer is off-line, you'll be prompted until you
either turn it on or select cancel. To print only a portion
of a message, highlight it using Mark Top and Bottom, then
select print.
If you want the last page printed to eject, select this
option from the Setup menu, in the Printer Options dialog.
12. UQWK COMMANDS
___________________________________________________________
Uqwk provides commands to unsubscribe, subscribe, catchup or
list newsgroups. A shell command can also be run, with the
output from standard output mailed back to you. Normally you
would enter an email message to uqwk.
To simplify sending commands to uqwk, select Uqwk Cmds from
the newsgroup list. Use this dialog as many times as you
like. Some other readers are limited to only one message to
uqwk. NewsWerthy avoids this limitation by saving your
commands and then entering them in one message, and placing
this at the end of the reply files.
The current newsgroup is saved one key away in the Uqwk
dialog. To unsubscribe to a newsgroup select Uqwk Cmds,
Press down arrow and press Enter twice. That's all there is
to it.
13. USING THE KEYBOARD
___________________________________________________________
The following keys can be used in dialog boxes.
Esc - Exit this screen and go back to the previous
screen (exits program when menu is displayed).
Cancels any changes made.
Enter, - Enters any changes made or chooses the selected
button, same as selecting a button with the
mouse.
Tab - Go to next option
Shift-Tab - Go to previous option.
17
Down arrow - Opens up a history or pick list if available.
Hot Key - Press the letter that is highlighted of the
item desired. If the cursor is presently in an
input box, press and hold the Alt key, then the
highlighted letter.
Supports some word star control key combinations one of
which is:
Ctrl-y - Delete line.
The following keys are used when viewing a message or list.
Esc, Del - Displays the message list if viewing a
message, or the newsgroup list if viewing
the messages list.
Enter - Go to next message unread message or
selects the message from a list.
Tab - Go to next subject.
- - Go back one message.
+ - Go forward one message (even if read).
<space>, Ins - Next page or next unread message if at end
of message.
Page Down - Next page, stops at the end of the message.
Page Up - Previous page, stops at the first line of
the message header if reading a message.
Ctrl-Page Down - Goes to the last line in the message or
list.
Ctrl-Page Up - Goes to the first line in the message.
header or list.
Home - Goes to the start of the message or the
first line displayed in a list (not
necessarily the first line in the list).
End - Goes to the end of the message or the last
line displayed in a list (not necessarily
the end of the list).
18
Arrows - Arrows scroll text up and down, right and
left.
Ctrl-arrows - Right and left arrows in combination with
the control key, goes to the end of the
line or the start of the line.
Note that by turning off the Num Lock on your keyboard,
messages can be read using only the keys on the keypad. The
Ins key is used to go to the next message instead of the
space bar, and the Del key instead of the Esc key using this
method.
Pick lists are used to save information on disk, such as
newsgroup names, email addresses, search phrases and such.
They can be accessed by selecting an input line, then
pressing the down arrow. If its a pick list (instead of a
history list), you'll see several commands on the hint line.
These are as follows:
Add - Press Alt-A to add an item to the pick list.
Duplicates aren't allowed.
Edit - Press Alt-E to Edit an item in the pick list.
Delete - Press Alt-D to delete an item from the pick list.
14. USING THE MOUSE
___________________________________________________________
I won't go into too much detail, but here is how to use the
mouse with NewsWerthy:
The message or a list can be scrolled by clicking on the up
or down arrow on the scroll bar to the right of the window.
Hold the mouse button down while pointing at the position
icon and slide it up or down to change position in the
window. Clicking above or below the position icon, scrolls
up or down a page at a time.
Windows can be closed by clicking on the close icon in the
upper left corner.
Buttons and other objects are selected by a single click on
them with the mouse pointer.
An item in a list may open a new window if double-clicked.
For example, in the message list, double-click on a subject
to read that message. Double-clicking has the same effect as
pressing the Enter key.
19
Pressing the right mouse button with the pointer in the
center portion of the window, has the same effect as
pressing the Esc key.
Double-clicking with the left mouse button on the message
text is the same as pressing the Enter key.
Clicking on any item in the status line (the bottom line)
has the same effect as pressing the hot key.
15. CONFIGURATION
___________________________________________________________
Should you need to verify or create directories, you can
press Ctrl-S for a Dos Shell.
Alt-c will get you to the configuration menu from the menu
screen.
The Directories & Utilities dialog contains the following:
1. Download Directory - Enter the drive and directory where
the mail packet is located. A filename like ESKIMO.ZIP
or ESKIMO*.ZIP can be included too. Including the
filename in the registered version causes the file
dialog to be skipped, and instead goes directly to
unzipping the mail packet.
2. Upload Directory - Press Tab to move to this field. Enter
the drive and directory where your communication
program expects to find files to upload. The reply
packet will be placed here and will be named similar to
the mail packet, except the extension will be .REP. I
named my mail packet ESKIMO.ZIP which then translates
to ESKIMO.REP for the reply packet.
Or instead, include the full pathname of the reply
packet to always create the same name for the reply
packet, no matter what the name of the mail packet.
3. Work Directory - Press Tab to move to this field. Make
this a subdirectory of where NWERTHY.EXE is stored.
Something like C:\NWERTHY\ESKIMO will work fine. While
reading messages, files in this directory are read, so
be sure to put this one on the hard drive. Don't use a
ram drive, if you want NewsWerthy to remember your last
session. This directory will be created if it doesn't
already exist.
20
3. Folders Directory - Press Tab to move to this field. Make
this a subdirectory of where NWERTHY.EXE is stored.
Something like C:\NWERTHY\FOLDERS
4. Text Editor - Press Tab to move to this field. The editor
is only needed if you plan to edit files or reply to
messages. Enter the drive and directory where your
editor can be found. Select an editor that can handle
lines longer than 80 characters. Also error handling
works best if the editor returns an error level other
than 0 on failure. No matter what editor you chose,
make sure you always save as a text (ASCII) file.
The Message Options dialog contains the following:
1. News Quote or Mail Quote Format - The first line of the
quoted text can contain information from the quoted
message's header, such as the name of the author or the
message Id. The newsgroup name can also be included.
The following variables can be used:
%A Address (Email)
%D Date
%F Full address
%G Groupname
%M Message Id
%N Name of author
Examples:
On %D in %G you wrote:
In %M, %F wrote:
The above would expand to:
On 26 Aug 1994 08:30:00 -0800 in alt.usenet.offline-
reader you wrote:
In <2megq8$452@agate.berkley.edu>, William Werth
(billw@eskimo.com) wrote:
Note: %M is not present in an email message
2. Quoting Characters(s) - When replying to a message, the
text of the message can be quoted. Up to two characters
can be added to the beginning of each quoted line. To
add a space use the underscore (_).
For example ">_" would add a ">" character and a space
at the start of each quoted line.
21
3. Word Wrap - Select this option to avoid having to scroll
horizontally, to read lines longer then 78 characters.
They will wrap around to the next line instead. This
also will expand tabs to 8 spaces instead of one space.
4. Quote with Initials - When replying to a message, the
text of the message can be quoted. In addition to the
two characters that can be added to the beginning of
each quoted line, the authors initials can be added.
5. Message Reading Style - There are two ways to read
messages. The first "Standard" displays a message, then
returns to the message list, where you can select the
next message to view. You'll probably prefer this if
you are reading only a few of the messages. The second
"Esc to Index" displays a message, then goes to the
next unread message. Esc must be pressed to see the
message list. You'll probably prefer this if you are
reading most of the messages.
6. Message Threading Style - Message subjects (along with
number of lines and the author) are displayed in a
selection list. There are two ways to sort the subject
and three ways to display it.
The first sorting method puts all subjects starting
with "Re:" with other messages starting with R (this is
the "Normal" sort). The second method ignores the
"Re:", and sorts on the text that follows, grouping
replies with the original message (this is the "Don't
sort on Re:" sort).
The second display method shows subjects without the
"Re:" (this is the "Don't display Re:" sort). The third
display method displays the subjects without the "Re:",
and one ">" appended in front of the subject for each
reference, in the References: line (this is the
"Indicate thread depth" sort). A maximum of ten ">"
will be added. This gives an indication of how long the
thread has been active. If it is an email message
instead of in a newsgroup, the subject with the "Re:"
will be displayed for this last option.
The Data-basing Options dialog contains the following:
1. Expiration Options - There are four different ways to
expire a message. When a new packet is opened, expired
messages are deleted. These options can be applied to
an individual newsgroup or from the Setup menu to apply
to all newsgroups.
22
Expire All Messages - This expires all messages in a
newsgroup. If selected from the Setup menu, this puts
NewsWerthy in packet mode (non-data-basing mode).
Expire Old Messages - This expires all messages older
than the "Expire Old Messages (Days)" amount.
Expire Read Messages - This expires all read messages.
Expire Killed Messages - This expires all messages
marked killed by matching entries in a kill file.
Save Read Messages - This saves read messages to the
folder named in "Save Read Messages to Folder" entry.
Saved messages are not deleted, and will not be saved,
if they have been previously saved.
2. Expire Old Messages (Days) - Any messages older than this
number of days will be expired if "Expire Old Messages"
is also selected.
3. Max. Messages in Newsgroup - When the number of messages
in a newsgroup exceeds this amount, the oldest messages
will be expired. New messages are then added, so the
actual number of messages in a newsgroup can exceed
this amount.
The above options are also displayed at the top of the
screen for the current newsgroup while reading messages. The
options takes affect if set in the individual newsgroup or
in the Setup menu for all newsgroups.
4. Save Read Messages to Folder - Select a folder from the
picklist, where you want all read messages to be saved.
The messages will only be saved if "Save Read Messages"
is also selected. The message is not saved until a new
packet is opened.
The Printer Options dialog contains the following:
1. Lines to print per page - This is the number of line to
print per page for long messages. A printer that prints
using continuous feed paper usually prints 66 lines per
page. Subtract the number of lines you want for the top
and bottom margin and enter that number for this
setting. If you prefer no page breaks, set this to 0.
2. Top Margin - The number of blank lines to print at the
top of every page.
23
3. Eject Last Page - Select this to have the last page of
the message ejected when printed.
The Colors Setup dialog - Colors can be easily changed using
the mouse, or through a combination of the tab and
arrow keys. Try changing only one color at a time and
then see its effect. Some changes effect only one
screen, but most change a similar type of object across
all screens. There is also usually more than one place
where a color can be changed in the Colors dialog. Of
course this is only an option if you have a color
monitor.
16. VIEWING A FILE
___________________________________________________________
To view a text file select View File (F5) from the File
Menu. Use the dialog to select a file. See USING THE
KEYBOARD for the keys to use (same as those for a list).
17. ABOUT NEWSWERTHY
___________________________________________________________
The replies to messages you enter are stored in several
files ending with a .MSG extension. Replies to newsgroups
are in R0.MSG. Mail replies are in R1.MSG. UQWK commands are
in R2.MSG. Information for UQWK (or whatever you're using to
process the SOUP reply packet) about the above files is
stored in a REPLIES file. These are all zipped up
automatically and stored in the upload directory under a
file named the same as the SOUP packet, but ending in a .REP
extension. If you were to manually create this rep packet
you would enter: PKZIP YOURBBS.REP R?.MSG REPLIES at the DOS
prompt. If the reply packet already existed you would add
the -u switch to the above. Replies are deleted when a new
packet is uncompressed.
When an external program is run or the DOS shell is used,
all but a few kilobytes of the executable is saved
temporarily to either EMS, XMS or to disk, leaving more
memory for a DOS shell or an external program like PKZIP. To
make swapping more efficient (when there is no EMS or XMS
memory) be sure to have either TEMP or TMP defined in you
autoexec.bat file. These environmental variables are used
for the swap file, and also for any temporary files created
for editing a message.
You will notice some files in your work directory with the
extension .PL4, .PL5, .BKM, .DAT, .MSG and .IDX. Those
24
ending in .PL4 and .PL5 are used to keep track of the kill
files. Those ending in .BKM are used to keep track of which
messages have been read. Those ending in .IDX contain the
index information. Those ending in .DAT contain information
about the newsgroups in the AREAS file. Those ending in .MSG
are created by uqwk. Those ending with .PL and a number
contain the pick lists.
Once you've registered NewsWerthy, the file NWERTHY.KEY is
generated. Don't delete this, else you'll have to enter your
registration data again.
You will notice that NewsWerthy doesn't put any .BAK files
(backup files) in your work directory. This saves space and
time but the trade-off is that if a disk error should occur
while deleting or editing a message, the data could become
corrupt or lost in that file. If you have critical
information saved, I highly recommend that you make backups
before editing or deleting any messages.
The length of messages NewsWerthy can read is limited by the
amount of free conventional memory in the shareware version.
If a message is too long to fit in memory, you'll be given
the option to save it to a file.
IV. EXAMPLE USES OF NEWSWERTHY
___________________________________________________________
In this section, I'll give examples of specific applications
of using NewsWerthy. If you would like to contribute to this
section, send me email about how you use NewsWerthy.
1. SEVERAL PACKETS, ONE REPLY PACKET
___________________________________________________________
You may want to read several packets, generate replies, and
then upload a single reply packet. There are at least two
possible ways to do this:
1) If the news packets all have the same name, just reply no
when prompted to delete the reply packet, and you can keep
adding to it.
2) If the news packets have different names, you will need
to enter the full pathname of the reply packet for the
Upload Directory, in the Directories & Utilities setup
dialog. This will cause all replies to be added to this one
reply packet.
25
2. WITH PGP
___________________________________________________________
Their are several ways to use PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) with
NewsWerthy:
1) I've included a batch file donated by a NewsWerthy user
(it requires DOS 6.0 or better to run). I've called this
pgpshell.bat. You'll want to edit it to include the name of
your editor. In setup enter the pathname of this batch file
for the Text Editor. When a message is edited the batch file
will offer you a choice as to what you want done to the
message. Then it calls your editor and you enter your
message. And finally, the batch file executes the proper pgp
commands to perform the desired function. If your not using
PGS shell with PGP, you'll need to modify the batch file
further.
Last I checked, PGS was available in the security directory
of SimTel as pgs099g.zip.
2) Another option is to use AutoPGP. This is another shell
for PGP that allows you to add commands (directives) to your
replies and then modifies them according to those commands.
AutoPGP is available at SimTel in the off-line directory as
apgp212.zip. The next version of AutoPGP should be setup to
automatically configure itself for use with NewsWerthy.
3. WITH LAPTOPS
___________________________________________________________
Many laptops have what is called a grey scale display. This
looks similar to monochrome, but NewsWerthy will detect this
as a color display. To make NewsWerthy detect this as a
black & white display, for easier viewing, use DOS's mode
command.
There are two ways to do this. Either run the command "mode
bw80" just before running NewsWerthy, or put this command in
a batch file along with the command to start NewsWerthy, and
run the batch file.
4. WITH TAGLINE MANAGERS
___________________________________________________________
There are several of these available at Simtel ftp sites.
26
One which is easy to use is SigMX 3.30. It lets you pick
from a list of taglines to use, and you can change the
signature file by entering its filename. This is found in
the SimTel/msdos/offline directory as SMX330.ZIP. The error
checking for finding files it uses is poor, but other than
that it works good. Make sure you indicate the correct
location of the signature file. I don't recommend you use
the same signature file used with NewsWerthy (NWERTHY.SIG).
You'll want to make one that is formatted with shorter lines
since SigMX puts the sig on the left side and a tagline on
the right. You can copy SigMX's files into the same
directory as NewsWerthy if you like.
5. WITH MULTIPLE USERS
___________________________________________________________
This feature is currently only available in the protected
mode version.
NewsWerthy defaults to saving its setup information in a
configuration file named NWERTHY.CFG. To use other setups,
start NewsWerthy like so:
NWERTHY SETUP2.CFG
If you only want to make a few changes, copy the default
configuration file to the new file, then start NewsWerthy as
shown above, and make the changes.
To use NewsWerthy with multiple users, simply create a
configuration file for each, and then each user starts
NewsWerthy with the appropriate configuration file. Make
sure that each user has a different work directory in their
setup information.
This feature can be used whenever you need to have a
different setup, such as reading news from several BBS's
where you'll need a separate work directory for each.
5. READING THE DATA-BASE WITH THE NUMBER KEYPAD
___________________________________________________________
You can read and navigate through a packet with the number
pad almost exclusively. All the normal navigation keys are
there, plus I've assigned the function of the space bar to
the Ins key, the Del key acts like the Esc key, and the *
key is the same as All Read.
27
If you read a lot of messages, you may find this useful to
avoid strain on your hand.
The order of the newsgroups can be changed by pressing Shift
and the up or down arrow key.
If I only read a newsgroup occasionally, and don't want to
save any messages, I'll use the "Expire All Messages"
expiration option. When I'm done reading messages in the
group I'll press Del to exit from it.
If I want to save old messages, but don't read all the
messages in the newsgroup, I'll use the "Expire Old
Messages" expiration option. When I'm done reading messages
in the group I'll press * to exit from it, marking all
messages as read.
If I want to be sure to read all messages in a newsgroup,
but don't want to save them once read, I'll use the "Expire
Read Messages" expiration option. When I'm done reading
messages in the group I'll press Del to exit from it.
If I'm reading my personal mail, I'll use the "Save Read
Messages" expiration option. This way I'll save all messages
sent to me. If the is a junk letter to me, I'll delete it so
it won't be saved to a folder. If I want to save it in a
different folder, I'll save it after reading it, so it won't
be saved to the folder setup in the Data-basing Options
dialog.
V. GLOSSARY
___________________________________________________________
ASCII text file - A file made up of only ASCII text
characters that represent numbers, letters, spaces,
line feeds and the like. The file name will generally
end with the .TXT extension (but could be anything).
Base64 - Part of the MIME format. This is just one of many
formats it supports to transfer information without
using any 8-Bit characters.
Bulletin Board - Also known as a BBS. A PC running a program
that allows other computers to connect through the
phone line. Once connected, a person can access
messages, files, games, etc. This may also be referred
to as the host system.
28
Downloading - Copying a file from a Bulletin Board to your
PC.
Hot key - Normally this is either a highlighted letter or
the first letter of a selection that will cause that
option to be selected (hitting the return key is not
required).
MIME - This stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions. The only support for MIME in NewsWerthy is
attached files using Base64.
Off-line - No connection between your PC and a Bulletin
Board, the opposite of on-line.
Off-line mail reader - Allows reading of messages from a
Bulletin Board while not connected to the Bulletin
Board.
On-line - Your PC connected to a Bulletin Board via your
modem and communications software running on your PC.
Pathname - The drive, directory and filename of where a file
can be found.
PC - Personal Computer, typically an IBM compatible or other
popular type.
QWK format - An off-line mail format that is incompatible
with the SOUP format. This format contains CONTROL.DAT,
MESSAGES.DAT, *.IDX files, plus several other files.
NewsWerthy can't read messages in this format.
Shareware - Try before you buy software, generally you have
30 days to try it out before sending your money or
discontinue using your copy. You are encouraged to
share it with friends and associates, provided that
copies are distributed in their complete and unmodified
form, and no amount is charged for the program, except
to cover distribution costs.
Shell to DOS - A temporary exit to the DOS prompt to run a
program or a DOS command. Return to the previous
program by entering exit.
Uploading - Copying a file from your PC to a Bulletin Board.
29
VI. INDEX Finding text in message 12
+ Msg 11 Folders directory 7, 21
- Msg 11 Grey scale display 26
Address book 13 Help 6
Alias 13 Hot Key 18, 29
ASCII text file 28 Introduction 2
Attach File 14 Keyboard usage 17
Auto-Save Reply 15 Keys 17
Backup files 25 Kill 11
Base64 14, 28 Mail packet
Bot 16 creating 8
Bulletin board 28 download directory 6, 20
Colors 24 downloading 10
Configuration 20 Mailing lists 11
CONTROL.DAT 29 Mark as Read 11
Cross-post 14 Mark as Unread 11
Data-basing Options 22, 28 Mark Bottom 17
Delete Message 15 Mark Top 17
Directories Message
download 6, 20 attaching a file 14
folders 7, 21 deleting 15
upload 6, 20 editing 15
work 7, 20 finding text in 12, 13
Disclaimer 5 posting 15
DOS shell 29 printing 17
Download directory 6, 20 quote formats 21
Downloading a file 28 read flag 11
Downloading mail packet 10 reading 11, 18
Edit Message 15 replying 13
Editor 7, 21 saving 16
Email searching 12
reading 10 sorting 11
sending 15 Message Header
Entering an email message 15 Bcc(Blind Carbon Copy) 14
Environment variable Cc(Carbon Copy) 14
TEMP 24 Extra Header 14
TMP 24 Followup-To 14
Expiration Options 22 Keywords 14
Expire All Messages 23 Newsgroup 14
Expire Killed Messages 23 Organization 14
Expire Old Messages 23 Reply-To 14
Expire Read Messages 23 Subject 14
Save Read Messages 23 Summary 14
F1 key 6 To 13
Features 2 Message reading style 22
File extensions Message threading style 22
.BKM 25 MESSAGES.DAT 29
.DAT 25 MIME 29
.IDX 25 Mode command 26
.MSG 24 Mouse 19
.PL 25 right button 20
.REP 24
30 Multiple users 27
New Packet 10 Shareware 29
Newsgroup Shell to DOS 29
catchup 17 Signature file 15
listing 17 Smart searching 12
subscribing 17 Sort Messages 11
unsubscribing 17 SOUP script 8
NWERTHY.KEY 25 System Requirements 4
Offline 29 Tabs 22
Offline mail reader 29 Taglines 27
Online 29 Technical support 4
Packet mode 2, 23 TEMP 24
Pathname 29 TMP 24
Pc 29 Top 16
PGP 26 Upload directory 6, 20
Pick list 19, 25 Uploading a file 29
Posting to newsgroup 15 Uploading a reply packet 10
Print message 17 Uqwk 8
Printer Uqwk commands 17
eject page 24 UUEncoding 14
lines per page 23 View File (F5) 24
top margin 23 Word star control keys 18
Printing the manual 7 Word Wrap 22
Printing the registration Work directory 7, 20
form 5 XXEncoding 14
Quote formats 21
QWK format 29
Read News (F4) 11
Read Stored (F6) 15
Reading a message 18
Reading messages 11
errors 12
Reading style 22
Registering NewsWerthy 4
Replies
reviewing 15
Reply packet
creating 24
upload directory 6, 20
uploading 10
Reply to message 13
Restore Indexes 12
Review Replies (F8) 15
RFC1036 13
ROT-13 12
Save Attached File 16
Save message 16
Save to Text File 16
Search for text in messages
12
Send Mail (F7) 15
Set-up 6
multiple 27
31