[news.software.b] Newsclip used for selective archive or expire ?

root@asterix.drev.dnd.ca (SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR) (03/16/90)

Background: We are using Cnews and nn.

1) Can Newsclip be used with nn ?
2) Can Newsclip be used to selectively archive articles ?
3) Can Newsclip be used to selectively expire articles ?

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brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) (03/17/90)

In article <1990Mar16.154724.6671@asterix.drev.dnd.ca> root@asterix.drev.dnd.ca (SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR) writes:
>Background: We are using Cnews and nn.
>
>1) Can Newsclip be used with nn ?

Unfortunately not in the interactive mode.  Well, you could use it, but
the whole point of NN is to give you that menu instantly when you enter
a group.  Taking 10 seconds or more to filter the whole group would defeat
the whole point.   You could have it filter after you select, once NN
presents the articles to you, but that would not be ideal.

To integrate filtering and an instant menu, you need something a lot
fancier.  It's a tough problem -- and one that can't be solved at all if
you want to filter on the text of the article instead of the header.

With the new version of nn that uses a .newsrc, newsclip can pre-filter
that .newsrc so that bad articles are gone before you read.

To do this properly (in any reader) it would be nice for the reader to
understand the concept of filtering, so that it doesn't present you with
articles the filter hasn't got a chance to scan yet.

This is the way to run for the groups that are high in volume and not super
time sensative.  Have the filter pick articles for you from the cron, have
the reader then show them to you.

>2) Can Newsclip be used to selectively archive articles ?
>3) Can Newsclip be used to selectively expire articles ?

Newsclip uses the software tools approach.  It can't do these directly,
but it is designed to take lists of filenames and spit out filtered lists.

So you can pipe the history file through sed into newsclip, and get out
a list of files to archive or expire based on any characteristic of the
article you like -- including expire times.
-- 
Brad Templeton, ClariNet Communications Corp. -- Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473