NewsBin: Automated NNTP Downloader and Decoder for 95 and NT If you have any suggestions for improvements or bug reports - please drop me a line at the email address in the about window Introduction: Are you tired of having to manually download newsgroup binaries? Well Newsbin is for you. Newsbin the unattended and automatic newsgroup downloader and decoder short circuits the whole process by combining a downloader, grouper and decoder into one package. Newsbin has many features: - Shareware - test is as much as you want if you like it then you pay the $10.00. - Tested on Win95 and Windows NT over SLIP and Ethernet - Uses the internet compatible WINVN file format for storing newsgroup information. It is possible to copy your winvn newsrc file into the newsbin directory and use it. - Unattended downloads - connect and let it download your groups while you do something more interesting. - Isn't a resource hog. It is a good Windows multitasker meaning that you can still use your machine for other things while the downloads take place. - No temporary files are made on your machine. You just need enough disk space for the binarys you download. - Groups news records together then automatically downloads and decodes - Keeps track of the last time it downloaded and won't download records it has already seen. - Automatic and manual mode. Allows users on slow links to pick and choose which files to download and allows user on high speed links to download everything. - Allows you to download a complete list of newsgroups that your server supplies. - Supports multiple servers - it will download from a list of servers found in the INI file. When it finishes with one server, it will go on to the next one in the list. - Supports up to 50 newsgroups (could easily be more if necessary) - Knows the SOCKS protocol, can get through firewalls even if your protocol stack can't. Simply add the socks server to the INI file. use the INI file that follows as a model. - You get all this in a program that is under 100K New for Rev 1.62 - 1.62 is basically a bug fix. It fixes the more then 10 record bug that was reported by several users. - It fixes the crash problem on Win95. Win95 has a serious bug in the shutdown command. This command is used to perform a quick shutdown of a socket. Under NT it works great, under 95 it often blows up the kernel in the of the VXD's like VTDI or IFSMGR. I blew it when I released 1.61 with this command enabled. I had been experimenting with NT and forgot to remove it. - NewsBin still has those minor INI deletion bugs. Since I wanted 1.62 to be a fix for critical errors I chose to put off fixing them until the next major release. New for Rev 1.61 Rev 1.61 has been completely revamped. It now downloads on the fly using threads which are handed all the information they need to perform a download. While the download takes place, the header records are still downloaded. This mechanism was suggested by a user. It maximizes the use of modem bandwidth. - Files are downloaded as they are recognized instead of after all of the headers are downloaded. - As many as 9 simultaneous files can be downloaded. Threads are selectable from the front panel. I don't recommend using more then 4 or 5 threads unless you have a special application. - Flushing of records is a thing of the past. When a thread determines that a records isn't part of a file or that the file already exists, it simply dumps the socket and the thread and starts processing the next record. This greatly reduces the bandwidth usage. - can be paused by setting the threads to zero. Once the current downloads are complete the program will simply wait until you turn the threads up again. - subject fields are cached in a file for a week. This reduces the unwanted downloads that can occur if you delete a file in the download directory but later re-download the header records for it. Installation: Installation couldn't be simpler. Create a directory for Newsbin then copy the ZIP file into the directory. pkunzip the file using the command: pkunzip -d NB3216.ZIP What this will do is place these three files into the subdirectory. 1) newsbin.exe - the executable 2) newsbin.ini - the configurations file 3) newsbin.txt - this file It will create a subdirectory called "download" under the current directory. The download directory is where the program places the binaries that are downloaded from the Net. You now need to add Newsbin to one of your program groups. You need to edit the "newsbin.ini" file to customize it for your installations. A sample INI file follows: ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; Socks server - lets you get through a firewall of it is equiped with ; a socks daemon - socks requires a server to connect to and a ; userid may also be needed ; Uncomment by removing the semi-colons ; ; Uncomment to activate ; [SOCKSSERVER] ;SOCKS=SOCKS ; This is optional for most socks installations. but, don't leave it ; blank ;USERID=YOURUSERID ;PASSWD=YOURSOCKSPASSWD ; ; The news groups that you wish to check for binary files ; Notice the group and group numbers. The numbers must start ; at zero and be contiguous. ; ; The first number to the right is the last record that has been ; received from the news server. They are used to prevent the ; download of records that have already been received ; Zero it out if you wish to redownload the entire group ; ; The second number is either 1 or 0 ; 1 means the group is active ; 0 means the gorup in inactive ; [GROUPS] GROUPSFILE=.\NEWSRC SERVERFILE=.\SERVERS ; ; These are changed from the front panel of NEWSBIN. it is unneccessary ; to change them here. Of course you can if you wish ; 1 means active ; 0 mean inactive ; [MODE] ; Download automatically or not AUTO=1 ;Download List of all groups or not GROUP=0 ;Detail High Detail or not DETAIL=1 ; Autostart mode - start without requiring a click on the start menu AUTOSTART=0 ; Download Path DOWNLOADPATH=.\DOWNLOAD ; UPLOAD Path UPLOADPATH=.\UPLOAD ; Filename for the groups listing file GROUPFILENAME=groups.txt ; ; ; Uploading will be activated later - depending upon demand of course ; and only for registered users. ; [UPLOAD] ; Who to post this stuff to POSTAGENT=news1 ; Maximum size in bytes of records to post ; Some systems are limited to 64K FRAGSIZE=32000 ; Not Used yet but required duh! LINES=1100 ; Groups to Post to GROUPS=alt.binaries.pictures.erotica,alt.sex.pictures ; ; These are changable on the non-shareware version ; of this software ; PATH=dufus@newsbin.com SUBJECT=NewsBin Auto Poster AGENT=NewsBin News Robot by CNM - minorc@mediasoft.net Unregistered Shareware AUTHOR=RegisterNewsBin@10dollars.com ORGANIZATION=NewsBin NNTPPOSTINGHOST=dufus@newsbin.com NEWSREADER=NewsBin Robot Poster (CNM) Unregistered Shareware ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Once you do this you're pretty much done. Use: To use Newsbin you simply double click the icon. The Controls: 1) The start button starts it 2) The stop button terminates it. 3) The groups button toggles groups download. With it on Newsbin will download a complete list of newsgroups that the server supports - keep it off if you're on a slow link. The listing is huge. 4) The Auto mode button toggles between automatic, unattended download and manual download. Automatic is just what it sounds like. In Manual mode Newsbin downloads all of the headers for a group and asks you whether to download a file or not. This works best on slow links. 5) The detail button is for the geeks out there (and me). It allows you to see the details of the NNTP transfers as they take place. 6) The Menu's allow you to add and delete servers and groups. Begging: I've spent a lot of time writing and debugging this program. If you like it please send me a check for $10.00 The address is: My Name is Conrad Minor NewsBin RT1. Box 73B Paeonian Springs Va, 22129 Make sure you include a mailing address and email address if possible. That way I can notify you of upgrades and such. What you get for paying me is: 1) Peace of Mind 2) A personalized copy of Newsbin that has you name in the about screen. 3) No begging window 4) First notification when I release the next version of Newsbin 5) One free upgrade of Newsbin from the version you registered to the next one. 6) Email tech support for Newsbin Bugs: 1) Subject lines that aren't reasonably standard are probably misinterpreted Improvements: 1) Should be able to use the group list to update the list of groups in the INI file 2) In manual mode, should be able to select from a list of suspected files instead of doing it one at a time. 3) Get the automatic upload working - close to done but I want to know how much people might want it. 4) Find some meaningful use for multithreading - currently 2 threads seem plenty - done