lwall@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Larry Wall) (05/07/85)
I've just posted the new release of rn (version 4.3) to mod.sources.
As soon as it works its way over to genrad, you should see it. It now
comes in nine, count 'em, nine kits weighing in at about half a Meg total.
This is primarily a cleanup release, but there are some new features.
The biggie is macros and keymaps. See appendix.
Thank you all for your encouragement and ideas (even the ones I haven't
done yet). This is truly a net-wide project.
Larry Wall
{allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,sdcsvax}!sdcrdcf!lwall
NEW FEATURES WITH RN 4.3
New commands
TAB (pager) scan for end of quoted text.
&& (anywhere) set or display macros.
Q (art level) exit this newsgroup but stay on it.
x (ng level) exit rn without changing .newsrc.
New switch
-=TERM-switch apply switch if terminal is TERM.
New environment variables
RNMACRO name of your macro and keymap file, if any.
SUBJLINE controls format of = article listing.
New % interpolations.
%I inclusion indicator (-F argument).
%m current mode of rn (newsgroup, pager, etc.)
%z length of current article.
%"prompt" prompt for input from keyboard.
%`command` same as shell backquotes.
^char now produces control-char.
Macros and Keymaps
You may now define macros of any reasonable length and map those
macros onto your keyboard in any way. You can completely remap the
keyboard if you wish. Macros may contain % interpolations.
Global RNINIT file
You can now set pseudo-environment variables on a system-wide basis
in the file %X/INIT. You don't have to recompile rn when you want
to try something different.
Pnews
Can append your .signature if you like.
Now knows how to mail to moderators.
Runs somewhat faster now when invoked with -h.
Will use %x/distributions if it exists.
Doesn't ask for Distribution on local newsgroups.
Doesn't ask for editor if EDITOR or VISUAL is set.
Terminal handling
-L switch uses erase-to-end-of-line to leave info on screen as long
as possible.
rn -c will not flush typeahead in your login script now.
In multi-character commands, \ now quotes the next character.
Support for non-line-buffered machines. Certain V7 machines will
appreciate the speedup.
Configure
Lets the poor people without job control do shell escapes.
Now remembers your old answers and uses them for defaults.
Searches much more widely for libraries.
Looks for Mcc or cc -M if it needs to.
Finds pg if it needs to. (Note, pg users: you can use macros to
reverse the sense of CR and SP in rn now.)
Figures out where manual pages go.
Figures out where mail is spooled.
Looks for ioctl.h, if any.
Determines if you have a builtin echo that works differently than
/bin/echo.
Asks if your mail takes Internet addresses.
Works reasonably on more systems, such as "Pyramids".
Miscellaneous
Commands may be typed directly to a help menu or subject list without
having to type 'q' first.
- command on first displayed article of a newsgroup takes you out to
the previous newsgroup. (Someday it will take you to the
previous article in the previous newsgroup.)
You can now easily get into a newsgroup with a KILL file and no
unread articles.
The catchup command at the top level now asks for confirmation.
Interpretation routines now check for output buffer overflow.
The pager no longer get hung up on non-initial ^L.
The negative unread articles bug was fixed.
Numerous small bug fixes.
Things which DIDN'T make it into this release, but I'll be working on soon:
Generalized article set manipulation
Interface to subject listing.
Recursive newsgroup visitation.
Virtual article abstract type to allow the following:
Personalized header munging via % subs.
Undigestification.
Personal archive perusal.
Mail handling.
Remotely stored news.
Parent command (waiting for ARTFILE interface and recursive newsgroups).