SBNews: News Robot Utility

(C) Scott M Baker

Note: This program is still in the early beta stages. It hasn't been very extensively tested and it's very possible that you may experience trouble. Please report any problems to me at smbaker@primenet.com.

I variously refer to this program under the names "NewsBot" and "SBNews" throughout the document. You can for the most part consider them to be the same. Eventually, I plan on including extra utilities in this package, "SBNews" will be the name of the full package and "NewsBot" will be the name of the News Robot utility within the package.

Table of Contents

Purpose:

The purpose of this program is to automatically download and uudecode files from newsgroups via a winsock connection. If you've found this program, then you probably know what this means, so I won't go into detail. Newsbot will attempt to piece together multi-part files.

If you're new to binary newsgroups, then here are a few G-rated newsgroups that you might wish to try: 

alt.binaries.pictures.astro

alt.binaries.pictures.animals

alt.binaries.pictures.cartoons

alt.binaries.pictures.fractals

There are a wealth of adult-oriented newsgroups, but I'm not going to list them in this document.

I have included a sample file, SAMPLE_G.TXT, which includes a listing of binary newsgroups. There are no descriptions, but you can probably find out from the newsgroup name what subject matter the newsgroup deals with.

Requirements:

Distribution:

Features:

Files Included:

Installing and Using the Program:

Here are some very quick notes on installing and using Newsbot:

Installation:

  1. Unzip the distribution archive into the directory of your choice.

Running:

  1. Run NEWSBOT.EXE -- this can be done in various ways - from the Win-95 command prompt, the Windows Explorer (and/or file manager), the Windows Run Program command, etc.
  2. On your first session, you'll be prompted for a "News Host Name". This is the name of your news host, and should be given to you by your ISP (internet service provider).
  3. On your first session, you'll be prompted for a "download path". This is the path where you want the files you download to be placed.
  4. Once NewsBot is loaded, you'll want to add some newsgroups. This is done with the "Add" button. You'll need to know the names of the groups you want; you might want to consult SAMPLE_G.TXT for some sample newsgroup names.
  5. Press the "CONNECT" button to start everything. All else should be mostly automatic from here on. Feel free to tinker around with the menu items

Command Line Parameters

Jpeg Viewer

SBNews has a built in Jpeg viewer for viewing JPEG files offline. The JPEG viewer can be operated in several ways:

  1. By double-clicking on a [RECEIVED] entry in Newsbot's log window
  2. By single-clicking on one of the preview pictures on the right hand side of Newsbot's main window.
  3. By using the FILE:VIEW JPEG option from Newsbot's pulldown menu.

Once loaded, the JPEG viewer window will display the JPG file selected and include a listing of filenames and directories on the left-hand side of the window. This listing is provided to let you easilly select other files to view. Double clicking on a directory in the directory list will change to that directory and double clicking on a filename in the file list will display that file. The CHDIR and VIEW buttons perform the same functions, respectively.

The "<" and ">" buttons will view the immediately previous and next files in the currently selected directory. You may use these to rapidly view a list of files that were downloaded overnight for example. The ">" button will activate a slideshow of the current directory. Each file will be displayed, there will be a slight delay, and the next file will be displayed.

The FILE menu of the viewer has several options:

The SlideShow menu has a few options as well:

Configuration

Host Name:

The host name is the name of the nntp host which NewsBot will connect to. If you don't already know this, then you may wish to contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or check an existing news program on your system for the name.

Download Path:

The base path where downloaded files will be placed. If you enable any of the download path expansion (see misc. preferences), then files may be downloaded into sub-directories of this base path.

Miscellanious Preferences:

Miscellanious preference options are located under the Configure menu under the heading Preferences.

Lockout Poster List

The lockout poster list is a listing of email names of people from whom you DO NOT wish to receive news articles from. The customary way to add new posters is to notice an image you don't like in the JPEG Preview and click the Lockout Poster option under the Current or Previous menus.

Authentication:

The authentication options are used for news servers which require a user name and password to access the newsgroups. If your news server does not require a name and password, then you should leave this option alone. Authentication is located under the Configure menu.

Acceptable File Masks

Newsbot allows you to specify which types of files will be downloaded. Specifying "*.*" will enable any file to be downloaded, and this is the default. For example, if you only wanted to receive images, then you may wish to remove *.* and add in *.gif and *.jpg. If you only wanted archives, add in *.zip. etc.

Dupe Checking

Two different types of dupe checking are supported. They may be used independantly, or you can use both of them at the same time if you wish. By default, the dupe checkers maintain a list of approximately the most recent 2048 messages received.

Both of the two above mentioned dupe checkers have some options that control their behaviour:

Statistical Options

There are a variety of options listed under the statistics menu item. Most of these simply return information that SBNews has collected while processing newsgroups.

Unfinished Stuff

This program is still largely unfinished. There's lots of "bells-and-whistles" that I'm planning on adding in the future. So don't dispair if a few features that you'd like are missing. Important things I'm hoping to add are:

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following people for their help, support, or contributions to SBNews/Newsbot:

Registration

SBNews/Newsbot is a shareware program and as such, you are only granted the right to operate it for a limited time to evaluate it's performance. Continued usage requires registration in the amount of $15.00.

The registration policy is as follows:

  1. Mail $15 (a personal check made out to "Scott M. Baker" is fine) to my US-Mail address. Include your EMAIL address with the check.
  2. I will generate a registration code that corresponds to the email you included. I will email this registration code back to you at the address you provided.
  3. Load up newsbot and select Register from the menu. Enter your email and the code I provided. The program will now be registered.
  4. Your registration is good forever, and will be supported under ALL FUTURE VERSIONS of this program.

Registration entitles you to use of the program (and all future upgrades) for as long as you wish. The 15-second shareware delay while loading will be removed. In addition, if I add additional utility programs to the SBNews package, your registration will entitle you to usage of them as well.

Please do consider registering this shareware if you continue to use it. The programming is very involved and time consuming, and it really gives me a lot more incentive to add new features if I receive compensation for my work.

Contacting Me

US-Mail: 

Scott M. Baker

2241 W Labriego

Tucson, Az 85741

My Bulletin board: 

The Not-Yet-Named BBS

(520) 544-4655 (USR Dual 14.4k)

(520) 797-8573 (USR Sportster 28.8k)

Email: 

smbaker@primenet.com

My Homepage: 

http://www.primenet.com/~smbaker

Revision History