amiga-request@ab20.larc.nasa.gov (Amiga Sources/Binaries Moderator) (03/14/91)
Submitted-by: eyal@echo.canberra.edu.au (Eyal Lebedinsky)
Posting-number: Volume 91, Issue 051
Archive-name: news/vn-res-1.1-2/part05
#!/bin/sh
# This is a shell archive. Remove anything before this line, then unpack
# it by saving it into a file and typing "sh file". To overwrite existing
# files, type "sh file -c". You can also feed this as standard input via
# unshar, or by typing "sh <file", e.g.. If this archive is complete, you
# will see the following message at the end:
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# Contents: vn.doc vn.man
# Wrapped by tadguy@ab20 on Wed Mar 13 19:10:11 1991
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb ; export PATH
if test -f 'vn.doc' -a "${1}" != "-c" ; then
echo shar: Will not clobber existing file \"'vn.doc'\"
else
echo shar: Extracting \"'vn.doc'\" \(25235 characters\)
sed "s/^X//" >'vn.doc' <<'END_OF_FILE'
XVN 1 6/1/88
X
XNAME
X vn - visual news reader
X
XSYNOPSIS
X vn [options]
X
XDESCRIPTION
X
XVn is a news reader which uses the same \.newsrc file as readnews
X(1), but displays and interacts differently. It is aimed at
Xallowing you to rapidly scan a large number of newsgroups, looking for
Xsomething you want to read. The major premise is that you will
Xbe interested in a small number of articles, but will be interested in
Xkeeping tabs on a large number of newsgroups which may contain
Xsomething interesting from time to time. It also has the ability to
Xunpackage digests.
X
XAs with other readers, options may be given on the command line, in
Xwhich case they will supersede those given in the \.newsrc file.
X
XOPTIONS
X
XVn supports the -n, -x and -t options of readnews (specify
Xnewsgroup, read all articles, and specify title). In addition, there
Xsome other options: -U, -S, -%, -w, -t and some options beginning
Xwith +. The "+" options are not recognized within the \.newsrc file,
Xonly on the command line, and are intended for use in
Xenvironments with multiple NNTP installations. If you are not using
Xan NNTP version, or only have one news installation accessible from a
Xgiven machine, they are probably of little use.
X
XThe -w (writer or author) option which works like -t, but is a search
Xstring to apply to the "From" header line rather than the subject. In
Xthe -n, -t and -w options, a leading "!" on the string is taken to
Xmean negation. The rest of the string is a regular expression for
Xthe -w and -t options.
X
XFor example:
X
X-n net.dogs -w !fred -t [Bb]eagle
X
XSelects articles in net.dogs about beagles written by somebody
Xother than fred. Multiple -w -t options are treated as follows:
X
X If the article satisfies any of the negations, you won't
X see it, regardless of the non-negated options.
X
X Multiple -w options are logically "or'ed", as are multiple -t's.
X
X If both -w and -t are present, the article is seen only if it
X satisfies at least one of the -w's and at least one of the -t's,
X i.e. the results of the logical "or's" of the -t's and of the
X -w's are logically "anded" together.
X
XThe -n options allow the "all" convention, replacing ".all" by
X".*" before using the regular expression calls. -n options are
Xprocessed in the order given so that subsequent, more specific,
X-n's may partially undo the effect of previous "alls". Note that the -n
Xoption treatment is slightly different than the readnews treatment
Xwhich says that "foo" implies "foo.all". Vn accepts this
Xincompatibility to allow you an easier way of saying JUST "foo"
Xwithout any of its subgroups.
X
XThe -S option is useful in conjunction with command line -n
Xoptions. It is really not useful in the \.newsrc file, but existed
Xbefore the "+" options were added. For command line -n options, the
X"!" unsubscriptions in \.newsrc are also ignored. This allows
Xyou to override all subscription information by command line
Xspecification. -S will modify this behavior. If you use an -S
Xoption on the command line, the "!" unsubscriptions will still be
Xused.
X
XThe -% option initially gives you the results of a "%" command, rather
Xthan the page for the first newsgroup (see below). This allows
Xyou to see what newsgroups are available before viewing any.
X
XThe -U option says that when your \.newsrc file is updated via
Xanswering "yes" to the update query on exit or using control-W,
Xnewsgroups marked with "!" are to be updated too. Normally, these
Xgroups are left alone, i.e. updated only to the number that was
Xalready in your \.newsrc, or the lowest article number still around.
X You may get flooded should you decide to resubscribe. If you don't
Xlike this treatment, use -U. Then, control-W and "yes" to the update
Xon exit will update your unsubscribed newsgroups to the most recent
Xarticle.
X
XThe "+" options mainly deal with NNTP. If you are not using an NNTP
Xversion (will be printed in the version message on startup, version
Xwill either be "res" or "nntp"), the +l, +m and +t options are not
Xrecognized.
X
XThe +n option must be followed by a filename, and directly
Xspecifies the \.newsrc file in a manner similar to the NEWSRC
Xvariable, which it will override if defined.
X
XThe +m option must be followed by a machine name, and specifies the
Xmachine to talk the news installation on. This will normally
Xdefault to some site-determined machine, and may also be set via
Xthe VNMACHINE variable. The option overrides the variable, if defined.
XNote that this is useful only if you have multiple news
XINSTALLATIONS accessible from your machine, ie. different spooling
Xareas with possibly different sets of articles and different newsgroups
Xbased on which machine you communicate with to obtain the news. A
Xmajority of sites will not have this situation, so if you find the
Xexplanation confusing, ignore it.
X
XThe +l option makes an NNTP version behave in a non-NNTP fashion,
Xie. it directly reads the articles and newsgroup
Xinformation, rather than communicating with NNTP. An empty string for
XVNMACHINE corresponds to this.
X
XThe +t option must be followed by a filename, and will cause a trace
Xof the interaction with the NNTP server to be collected into it.
XPrimarily useful for somebody installing the program. "USER
XINTERFACE" When vn is invoked, there will be a pause (with an
Xexplanatory "reading" message and a series of newsgroup names)
Xwhile vn reads the news. The newsgroups listed are ones articles
Xare actually being found in. The length of the pause depends on how
Xmuch news there is. If there is a lot, it may take a long time to get
Xthrough the reading phase. If this is the first time you are using vn,
Xor if you are starting with an empty \.newsrc file, this may take a
Xvery long time; there is a lot of news out there.
X
XOnce the reading phase is over, interaction is rapid. If vn is
Xbackgrounded, it suppresses the "reading" output, so that it will
Xnot halt on tty output until it is ready to begin showing articles.
X
XVn may show you a list of newsgroups which were not mentioned in the
X\.newsrc file. Records for these newsgroups will be added to
Xyour \.newsrc file, whether they were scanned for articles or not. The
Xfirst time vn is used, the list may be quite long and scroll off
Xthe screen. Thereafter, there should only be a list when new
Xnewsgroups are created. This display serves to let you know of their
Xexistence, or of something happening to your \.newsrc file.
X
XThe basic display is a "page" which shows a newsgroup and a list of
Xtitles, number of lines, and authors for new articles. Articles
Xwhich have been updated in the \.newsrc file are flagged with an
Xunderscore preceding the article number. You also have the ability
Xto "mark" articles for the duration of a session; this is shown with an
Xasterisk. (Columns 1 and 2 are reserved for asterisk and
Xunderscore respectively. In normal usage they will be blank, so that
Xthe casual user will probably be unaware of their use until marking and
Xupdating are invoked.)
X
XThere is a help menu to go with this page. You may read articles,
Xsave them, or send them to the printer, either by cursor position,
Xthe whole page, or in specified sets. Sets are specified either as a
Xset of article numbers, a regular expression to match the subject
X/ author / number of lines data on, or an asterisk to indicate the
Xchoice of a set of previously marked articles. Any of these methods
Xalso accept a leading "!" to indicate negation.
X
XWhen you read articles only a couple of the dozen or so header
Xlines are shown. There is an option to allow you to see all the
Xheader lines when you read articles. The command controlling this
Xtoggles between the two states.
X
XA similar toggle is used to support ROT13 encryption.
X
XVn is capable of manipulating digests. The "d" command unpacks a
Xdigest and presents you with a page showing the unpacked
Xarticles. These can then be accessed the same way as articles on
Xnormal newsgroup pages. When you leave the digest page(s), you
Xreenter the normal flow of newsgroups. Digests can also be read as
Xnormal articles, of course.
X
XThe order of page presentation is determined by order of the group
Xlines in the \.newsrc file. Newsgroups which are not mentioned in
X\.newsrc will be added, as mentioned previously, at then end of
Xthe file. Lines corresponding to non-existent newsgroups will be
Xdeleted. You will probably want to run vn once, then edit your
X\.newsrc file to the desired order of presentation.
X
XUpdating the data for \.newsrc is under user control. If you do no
X"W", "w", "^w", "o" or "O" commands, no updating takes place, and
Xyou'll see the articles again the next time you read news. If you quit
Xwithout updating, you will be prompted to make sure you this is
Xreally what you want to do.
X
XNote that "updating what you've seen" to vn means that you've seen
Xthe page presentation, not that you've read the article. This is
Xconsistent with the overall assumption that you don't want to read
Xmost of what you are presented with.
X
XBreaks result in a "really quit?" query, so you can recover from
Xnoisy lines and prompts for commands you didn't really mean. If
Xyou answer no, you are simply jumped back to the page. Breaks while in
Xthe midst of scrolling out an article you are reading jump you to the
Xend of the article to stop the output.
X
XCommands are single character (no return key required), except that
Xthey may be preceded with numeric characters, which may have some
Xeffect on their actions. Commands which require further input cause
Xprompts for the information, this input being terminated by return.
XFor prompted input, the erase and kill keys work.
X
XCommand Menu For Page:
X
X[...] = effect of optional number preceding command
Xpipes are specified by filenames beginning with |
Xarticles specified as a list of numbers, title search string, or
X* to specify marked articles. ! may be used to negate any
X
X q - quit
X k - (or up arrow) move up [number of lines]
X j - (or down arrow) move down [number of lines]
X <back sp> - (or left arrow) previous page [number of pages]
X <return> - (or right arrow) next page [number of pages]
X > - next newsgroup [number of newsgroups]
X < - previous newsgroup [number of newsgroups]
X d - unpack digest
X H - top of page
X L - bottom of page
X G - bottom of page (alternate L)
X M - middle of page
X d - unpack digest
X r - read article [number of articles]
X <space> - read article (alternate 'r')
X R - read all articles on page
X control-r - specify articles to read
X s - save or pipe article [number of articles]
X S - save or pipe all articles on page
X control-s - specify articles to save
X control-t - specify articles to save (alternate ctl-s)
X p - print article [number of articles]
X P - print all article on page
X control-p - specify articles to print
X w - update \.newsrc status to cursor
X W - update \.newsrc status for whole newsgroup
X control-w - update \.newsrc status for all pages displayed
X o - recover original \.newsrc status for newsgroup
X O - recover all original \.newsrc status
X # - display count of groups and pages - shown and total
X % - list newsgroups with new article, updated counts
X n - specify newsgroup to display and/or resubscribe to
X u - unsubscribe from group
X x - mark/unmark article [number of articles]
X * - mark/unmark article [number of articles]
X X - erase marks on articles
X control-x - specify articles to mark
X h - toggle flag for display of headers when reading
X z - toggle ROT13 mode for reading
X <formfeed> - redraw screen
X ! - escape to UNIX to execute a command
X " - show vn version
X ? - show this help menu
X
XWhen you read articles there is another help menu for advancing
Xthrough the articles, replying, posting followups, and saving the
Xarticles. Breaks may be used to stop the output of an article if you
Xdecide that you didn't really want to read it. You can jump from the
Xreading portion back to either page you came from or the NEXT page.
X
XFor replying and posting followups, you will be placed in an editor to
X create the reply or article. The article will be included in
Xthe file you are editing, marked with "> "'s for excerpting in your
Xreply or followup. After exiting the editor you are prompted
Xto make sure you still want to post or reply.
X
XFor followups, your article is appended to "author_copy" for future
Xreference. (See CCFILE in the section on ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES).
X
XHeader lines for the mailer / news poster are present in the file
Xyou are editing to allow you to modify them. Remember to leave a
Xblank line between the header lines and your text. It may be
XOK if you don't, but why tempt fate.
X
XThe editor is determined by your EDITOR or VNEDITOR variable, as for
Xpostnews. (See the section on ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES). If EDITOR is not
Xset, you get vi.
X
XReading menu:
X
X n - next article, if any
X q - quit reading articles, if any more to read
X Q - quit reading, and turn to next page of articles
X r - rewind article to beginning
X <return> - next line
X / - search for a pattern in the article
X m - send mail to author of article
X f - post followup to article
X s - save article in a file
X p - send article to the printer
X ? - see this help menu
X z - toggle rotation flag
X h - toggle header suppression flag
X
X anything else to continue normal reading
X
XWhen articles are saved from anywhere, a few special conventions apply.
X
XIf the name begins with "|", you are specifying a pipe to feed the
Xarticle(s) to, rather than a file. No other interpretation is done in
Xthis case.
X
XIf you specify a name not beginning with "/", the article will be
Xsaved with reference to your original directory, or with reference to
Xthe VNSAVE variable (see below).
X
XIf you embed a "%d" in the name, that will be replaced with the article
Xnumber, or the first number in a list of articles.
X
XIf you prepend "w:" to the name, you can force an overwrite instead
X of an append. The colon prefix may be used to open the file
Xwith any mode you please, actually. If you really WANT a colon in the
Xname, specify "a:" ahead of it. The colon prefix is stripped
Xoff before any other filename interpretation.
X
XBoth the VNSAVE variable and the save name may use a leading "~" to
Xindicate the user's home or "~name" for another user's home. It is
Xassumed that a slash will separate the tilde expression from the rest
Xof VNSAVE, or the rest of the file name if there are further
Xdirectories.
X
XWhen you are prompted for a savefile name, the last non-pipe name you
Xused is presented, so you may use your erase/kill keys to edit it.
X
XOld search strings / pattern match strings are also presented for
Xedit in the same manner.
X
XIf you don't like the choice of command keys, you may change them
X(default choices - basic control in article reader is ala more of
Xcourse, the "j" and "k" on the page presentation are vi convention,
X other page commands are somewhat readnews compatible). If you
Xhave a file named \.vnkey in your home directory this file will be read
Xin order to obtain keystroke translation. The format is simple:
X
XEach line begins with R or P indicating translation for the reader
Xinteraction, or the page interaction (r and p accepted also).
XFollowing the R or P is a character, followed by an "=", followed
Xby another character. The character on the left hand side of the
Xequals sign is what you wish to input, and the character on the right
Xhand side of the equals sign is what you wish to translate it
Xto. No embedded spaces are allowed. Lines not beginning with the
Xproper characters are simply ignored, as are characters
Xfollowing the translated character. Eg:
X
X Pd=j
X Pu=k
X
Xuses "u" and "d" instead of "j" and "k" on the page layout (presumably,
Xyou are also going to translate something else to "u" and "d" for the
Xunsubscribe and digest commands). If you translate keys, it is
Xup to you to see that all commands can still be reached, and that
Xformer command keys which are no longer used are mapped to something
Xmeaningless. In particular, you are going to have difficulties if you
Xmake it impossible to input "q". The help menus will show the "new"
Xkeys, and bad mappings should show up as multiple definitions for the
Xsame key, or alternate mappings not showing up on the help menu.
X
XMapping the "=" key via "==" works. Any keys not mentioned in the
Xfile are translated to themselves.
X
XControl keys are given as DECIMAL numbers with no backslashes or
Xanything. The decimal number is the ASCII code for the character, eg:
X
X P24=12
X P12=?
X
Xuses "control-x" for the "control-l (formfeed)" refresh key, and
Xmaps the control-l to a "?". BTW, mapping all undefined keys to "?"
Xwill mean that you automatically get the help display for any illegal
Xkey, should you wish for such a thing. The LAST one mapped will
Xdetermine what key is given in the "? for help" lines, and the help
Xdisplay itself. Remembering that control-A through control-Z
Xare ASCII codes 1 through 26 and delete = 127 may keep you from having
Xto consult an ASCII table. Remember also that some controls, such as
Xcontrol- C, Z, S or Q may be caught by the operating system for
Xsignal generation or terminal control, and are thus unavailable.
X
XBecause of arrow keys and the ability to prefix commands with counts,
Xnumeric characters and the escape key may not be used for page
Xcommands. Attempts to use them will simply do nothing.
X
XControl keys are not available for the reader, except for newline,
Xbackspace, and tab. The reason controls are filtered here has to do
Xwith nasty problems involving terminal mode switches on some systems,
Xspecifically a UTS frontend early versions were being used on.
X
XIn either interaction, "return" and "linefeed" are mapped to the
X"newline" character at a level below the translation. If you don't
Xknow the ASCII for the "newline" char, it is recommended that you
Xmap both ASCII 10 and 13 if you wish to map "return" to something.
X
XFILES
X
X/usr/tmp/* One temporary file created by tmpnam (3),
Xand immediately unlinked, remains open in update mode for duration of
Xsession. Disk space freed by system close of file descriptor at
Xexit. Can be large, as this file contains the "page" displays.
XTemporary files also created by tmpnam (3) for mailing replies,
Xposting followups and creating digest "articles".
X
X(login directory)/\.newsrc news status file. Updated following session.
XSee NEWSRC environment variable.
X
X(login directory)/author_copy A copy of all articles posted using the
Xfollowup command will be appended to this file in /bin/mail
Xformat. See CCFILE environment variable.
X
X(login directory)/.vnkey Keystroke mapping file for changing
Xcommand characters.
X
X(login directory)/*.vnXXXXXX One temporary file created by tmpnam (3)
Xwhile updating the \.newsrc file. If the update fails, you are
Xinformed, and this file may be used to recover the last update.
XUnlinked following successful update.
X
X(spool directory)/* spooling directories containing articles.
X
X/usr/lib/news/active active newsgroup list.
X
X
X"ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
X
XFor all variables which do not begin with "VN", vn will accept an
Xoverride by setting a variable VN<name> which will be preferred. For
Xinstance setting VNEDITOR allows you to use a special editor for vn
Xwithout affecting use of that variable by your shell, setting VNPS1
Xtakes care of your normal UNIX prompt having multiple lines, or
Xsetting VNNEWSRC allows you to use vn without disturbing your
X\.newsrc for other readers.
X
XVNSAVE Used as a directory to place saved
Xarticles in. If it does not begin with "/", it will be taken with
Xrespect to the users home directory. If it ends with "/%s", a
Xseparate directory will be created for each newsgroup.
X
XPS1 Used to present prompt string for command on unix escape.
XDefaults to "$ "
X
XEDITOR Editor used for mailing replies and posting followups. Defaults
Xto vi.
X
XPOSTER Posting program for followups. Defaults to "inews -h".
X
XMAILER Used when mailing replies. Defaults to "sendmail -t".
X
XPRINTER Program used with the print commands for sending articles to
X the printer. Defaults to "lpr".
X
XNEWSRC If set, can be used to override the choice of \.newsrc as the
Xname for the status file. Name will still be used relative to
Xthe login directory, unless it begins with "/".
X
XCCFILE If set, overrides the choice of "author_copy" as the
Xname of the file to CC all articles posted with the followup
Xcommand. Name will still be used relative to the login directory,
Xunless it begins with
X"/".
X
XVNKEY If set, overrides the choice of ".vnkey" as the name of the file
Xto map keys from. Name will still be used relative to the login
Xdirectory, unless it begins with "/".
X
XVNMACHINE Applies only to NNTP versions - sets the machine to talk
Xto. See discussion of options, above.
X
XDIAGNOSTICS User error messages. Self explanatory.
X
XAUTHOR Bob McQueer.
X
XSignificant enhancement / bugfixes / suggestions from:
X
XLawrie Brown, John G Dobnick, Greg Earle, Rodney Goke, Andy
XMarrinson, Jay Maynard, Marius Olafsson, George Pavel, Dave
XTallman, Larry Tepper, Karl Williamson, Mark Wittenberg, Andrew
XWorsley
X
XAnd undoubtedly some others who have been forgotten. My apologies.
XBUGS Note that readnews will rearrange the order of \.newsrc. If
Xyou interleave use of it with vn, order selection gets hosed.
X
XIf you've really taken advantage of the ability of readnews to skip
Xarticles in the middle of the spooling numbers, be warned that vn
Xdoesn't have it, and will assume you've read the articles in the
Xmiddle.
X
XIf the \.newsrc file indicates that you've read articles in a newsgroup
Xwith a higher number than the current spooling number for that
Xnewsgroup, vn will show you up to 60 old articles. This is
Xintended for recovery in cases where article spooling has been reset,
Xor to avoid missing articles because you just changed machines and
Xdidn't bother to edit your \.newsrc file. Rather than miss stuff,
Xyou'll see some old stuff again. During the reading phase, a
Xwarning message is printed that this is happening.
X
XSometimes a "break" during reading an article will not only halt the
Xarticle but suppress the prompt. A command character will work anyway.
X
XIf a prompt to be displayed on the dialogue line contains
Xnon-printing sequences, stuff on the line may not get erased when you
Xare prompted, because vn thinks the string is long enough to overprint
Xits current contents. This usually comes up when you have escape
Xsequences in your UNIX prompt, and do a "!" command. The "overprint"
Xcheck is made to save a clear-line sequence (kludged in by
Xoverprinting to the end with blanks if the terminal doesn't have one -
Xannoying at 1200 baud).
X
XOutput during the reading phase which was suppressed by backgrounding
Xvn does not get started by foregrounding it again without doing a
Xcontrol-z and a second foreground (it doesn't figure out its
Xbackground / foreground status on each output - only on startup
Xand while handling the SIGTSTP signal). Actually, this results in
Xa method for having vn do its reading phase silently in the foreground
Xwithout redirecting output, should such a thing be desired.
X
XVery many -w or -t options cause SLOW reading phases. It is
Xrecommended that these be used only when reading a few specific
Xgroups.
X
XDigest extraction will split a single article into several if it
Xcontains embedded ---- lines, the normal separator between articles in
Xdigests. They will all have identical titles. Digest
Xextraction may not work with human built digests which don't use the
Xexpected syntax for joining articles. Mod.computers.ibm-pc and
Xmod.computers.mac were used as models for the feature.
X
XThe data given by the % command represents the difference between
Xthe last article number you've updated to in a newsgroup and the
Xhigh article number. This may be significantly greater than the number
Xof actual articles for a newsgroup you haven't been reading, and
Xfor newsgroups that have had a lot of articles filtered out of them
Xusing the -w and -t options. The numbers given for menu selection in
Xthe % command are the order numbers from the \.newsrc, and have
Xgaps for unsubscribed newsgroups.
X
XThe key mapping capability doesn't handle function keys. Because of
Xthe use of controls as commands, terminals whose arrow keys echo
Xsomething other than a sequence beginning with escape can't use arrow
Xkeys. For these terminals, a warning message is printed during the
Xreading phase.
END_OF_FILE
if test 25235 -ne `wc -c <'vn.doc'`; then
echo shar: \"'vn.doc'\" unpacked with wrong size!
fi
# end of 'vn.doc'
fi
if test -f 'vn.man' -a "${1}" != "-c" ; then
echo shar: Will not clobber existing file \"'vn.man'\"
else
echo shar: Extracting \"'vn.man'\" \(24964 characters\)
sed "s/^X//" >'vn.man' <<'END_OF_FILE'
X.TH VN 1 6/1/88
X.UC
X.SH NAME
Xvn - visual news reader
X.SH SYNOPSIS
X.I vn [options]
X.SH DESCRIPTION
X.I Vn
Xis a news reader which uses the same
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile as
X.I readnews
X(1), but displays and interacts differently. It is aimed at allowing
Xyou to rapidly scan a large number of newsgroups, looking for something
Xyou want to read. The major premise is that you will be interested in a
Xsmall number of articles, but will be interested in keeping tabs on a large
Xnumber of newsgroups which may contain something interesting from time to time.
XIt also has the ability to unpackage digests.
X.sp
XAs with other readers,
Xoptions may be given on the command line, in which case they will
Xsupersede those given in the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile.
X.SH OPTIONS
X.I Vn
Xsupports the -n, -x and -t options of
X.I readnews
X(specify newsgroup, read all articles, and specify title).
XIn addition, there some other options: -U, -S, -%, -w, -t and some options
Xbeginning with +. The "+" options are not recognized within the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile, only on the command line, and are intended for use in environments
Xwith multiple NNTP installations. If you are not using an NNTP version,
Xor only have one news installation accessible from a given machine, they
Xare probably of little use.
X.sp
XThe -w (writer
Xor author) option which works like -t, but is a search string to
Xapply to the "From" header line rather than the subject. In the -n, -t
Xand -w options, a leading "!" on the string is taken to mean negation.
XThe rest of the string is a regular expression for the -w and -t options.
X.sp
XFor example:
X.sp
X-n net.dogs -w !fred -t [Bb]eagle
X.sp
XSelects articles in net.dogs about beagles written by somebody other
Xthan fred. Multiple -w -t options are treated as follows:
X.in +5
X.sp
XIf the article satisfies any of the negations, you won't see it,
Xregardless of the non-negated options.
X.sp
XMultiple -w options are logically "or'ed", as are multiple -t's.
X.sp
XIf both -w and -t are present, the article is seen only if it satisfies
Xat least one of the -w's and at least one of the -t's, i.e. the results of the
Xlogical "or's" of the -t's and of the -w's are logically "anded" together.
X.sp
X.in -5
XThe -n options allow the "all" convention, replacing ".all" by
X".*" before using the regular expression calls. -n options are processed
Xin the order given so that subsequent, more specific, -n's may partially
Xundo the effect of previous "alls". Note that the -n option
Xtreatment is slightly different than the
X.I readnews
Xtreatment which says that "foo" implies "foo.all".
X.I Vn
Xaccepts this incompatibility to allow you an easier way of saying JUST "foo"
Xwithout any of its subgroups.
X.sp
XThe -S option is useful in conjunction with command line -n options. It is
Xreally not useful in the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile, but existed before the "+" options were added.
XFor command line -n options, the "!" unsubscriptions in
X.B \.newsrc
Xare also ignored. This allows you to override all subscription information
Xby command line specification. -S will modify this behavior.
XIf you use an -S option on the command line,
Xthe "!" unsubscriptions will still be used.
X.sp
XThe -% option initially gives you the results of a "%"
Xcommand, rather than the page for the first newsgroup (see below).
XThis allows you to see what newsgroups are available before viewing any.
X.sp
XThe -U option says that when your
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile is updated via answering "yes" to the update query on
Xexit or using control-W, newsgroups marked with "!" are to be updated too.
XNormally, these groups are left alone, i.e. updated only to the number that
Xwas already in your
X.B \.newsrc,
Xor the lowest article number still around.
XYou may get flooded should you decide to resubscribe.
XIf you don't like this treatment, use -U. Then, control-W and "yes" to
Xthe update on exit will update your unsubscribed newsgroups to the most
Xrecent article.
X.sp
XThe "+" options mainly deal with NNTP. If you are not using
Xan NNTP version (will be printed in the version message on startup,
Xversion will either be "res" or "nntp"), the +l, +m and +t options
Xare not recognized.
X.sp
XThe +n option must be followed by a filename, and directly specifies the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile in a manner similar to the NEWSRC variable, which it will override
Xif defined.
X.sp
XThe +m option must be followed by a machine name, and specifies the
Xmachine to talk the news installation on. This will normally default
Xto some site-determined machine, and may also be set via the VNMACHINE
Xvariable. The option overrides the variable, if defined. Note that
Xthis is useful only if you have multiple news INSTALLATIONS accessible
Xfrom your machine, ie. different spooling areas with possibly different
Xsets of articles and different newsgroups based on which machine you
Xcommunicate with to obtain the news. A majority of sites will not
Xhave this situation, so if you find the explanation confusing, ignore it.
X.sp
XThe +l option makes an NNTP version behave in a non-NNTP fashion, ie.
Xit directly reads the articles and newsgroup information, rather than
Xcommunicating with NNTP. An empty string for VNMACHINE corresponds to
Xthis.
X.sp
XThe +t option must be followed by a filename, and will cause a trace
Xof the interaction with the NNTP server to be collected into it.
XPrimarily useful for somebody installing the program.
X.SH "USER INTERFACE"
XWhen
X.I vn
Xis invoked,
Xthere will be a pause (with an explanatory "reading" message and
Xa series of newsgroup names) while
X.I vn
Xreads the news. The newsgroups listed
Xare ones articles are actually being found in.
XThe length of the pause depends
Xon how much news there is. If there is a lot,
Xit may take a long time to get through the reading phase.
XIf this is the first time you are using
X.I vn,
Xor if you are starting with an empty
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile,
Xthis may take a
X.I very
Xlong time;
Xthere is a
X.I lot
Xof news out there.
X.sp
XOnce the reading phase is over, interaction is rapid.
XIf
X.I vn
Xis backgrounded, it suppresses the "reading" output, so
Xthat it will not halt on tty output until it is ready to begin showing
Xarticles.
X.sp
X.I Vn
Xmay show you a list of newsgroups which were not mentioned in the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile. Records for these newsgroups will be added
Xto your
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile, whether
Xthey were scanned for articles or not. The first time
X.I vn
Xis used, the list may be quite long and scroll off the screen.
XThereafter, there should only be a list when new newsgroups are
Xcreated. This display serves to let you know of their existence,
Xor of something happening to your
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile.
X.sp
XThe basic display is a "page" which shows a newsgroup and a list of
Xtitles, number of
Xlines, and authors for new articles.
XArticles which have been updated in the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile are flagged with an underscore preceding the article number.
XYou also have the ability to "mark" articles for the duration of a session;
Xthis is
Xshown with an asterisk.
X(Columns 1 and 2 are reserved for asterisk and
Xunderscore respectively.
XIn normal usage they will be blank, so that the casual user will probably
Xbe unaware of their use until marking and updating are invoked.)
X.sp
XThere is a help menu to go with this page.
XYou may read articles, save them, or send them to the printer, either by cursor
Xposition, the whole page, or in specified sets. Sets are specified either
Xas a set of article numbers, a regular expression to match the subject /
Xauthor / number of lines data on, or an asterisk to indicate the choice
Xof a set of previously marked articles. Any of these methods also
Xaccept a leading "!" to indicate negation.
X.sp
XWhen you read articles only a couple of the dozen or so
Xheader lines are
Xshown. There is an option to allow you to see all the
Xheader lines when you read articles. The command controlling this toggles
Xbetween the two states.
X.sp
XA similar toggle is used to support ROT13 encryption.
X.sp
X.I Vn
Xis capable of manipulating digests. The "d" command unpacks a digest
Xand presents you with a page showing the unpacked articles.
XThese can then
Xbe accessed the same way as articles on normal newsgroup pages.
XWhen you leave the digest page(s), you reenter the normal flow of newsgroups.
XDigests can also be read as normal articles, of course.
X.sp
XThe order of page presentation is determined by
Xorder of the group lines in the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile.
XNewsgroups which are not
Xmentioned in
X.B \.newsrc
Xwill be added, as mentioned previously, at then end of the file.
XLines corresponding to non-existent newsgroups will be deleted.
XYou will probably want to run
X.I vn
Xonce, then edit your
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile
Xto the desired order of presentation.
X.sp
XUpdating the data for
X.B \.newsrc
Xis under user control. If you do
Xno "W", "w", "^w", "o" or "O" commands, no updating takes place,
Xand you'll see the
Xarticles again the next time you read news.
XIf you quit without updating, you will be prompted to make sure you
Xthis is really what you
Xwant to do.
X.sp
XNote that "updating what you've seen" to
X.I vn
Xmeans that you've seen the page presentation, not that you've read the
Xarticle. This is consistent with the overall assumption that you don't
Xwant to read most of what you are presented with.
X.sp
XBreaks result in a "really quit?" query, so you can recover from noisy
Xlines and prompts for commands you didn't really mean. If you answer no,
Xyou are simply jumped back to the page. Breaks while in the midst of scrolling
Xout an article you are reading jump you to the end of the article to stop
Xthe output.
X.sp
XCommands are single character (no return key required), except that
Xthey may be preceded with numeric characters, which may have
Xsome effect on their actions. Commands which require further input
Xcause prompts for the information, this input being
Xterminated by return. For prompted input, the erase and kill keys
Xwork.
X.sp
X.ce 1
XCommand Menu For Page:
X.sp
X.nf
X[...] = effect of optional number preceding command
Xpipes are specified by filenames beginning with |
Xarticles specified as a list of numbers, title search string, or
X * to specify marked articles. ! may be used to negate any
X
X q - quit
X k - (or up arrow) move up [number of lines]
X j - (or down arrow) move down [number of lines]
X <back sp> - (or left arrow) previous page [number of pages]
X <return> - (or right arrow) next page [number of pages]
X > - next newsgroup [number of newsgroups]
X < - previous newsgroup [number of newsgroups]
X d - unpack digest
X H - top of page
X L - bottom of page
X G - bottom of page (alternate L)
X M - middle of page
X d - unpack digest
X r - read article [number of articles]
X <space> - read article (alternate 'r')
X R - read all articles on page
X control-r - specify articles to read
X s - save or pipe article [number of articles]
X S - save or pipe all articles on page
X control-s - specify articles to save
X control-t - specify articles to save (alternate ctl-s)
X p - print article [number of articles]
X P - print all article on page
X control-p - specify articles to print
X w - update \.newsrc status to cursor
X W - update \.newsrc status for whole newsgroup
X control-w - update \.newsrc status for all pages displayed
X o - recover original \.newsrc status for newsgroup
X O - recover all original \.newsrc status
X # - display count of groups and pages - shown and total
X % - list newsgroups with new article, updated counts
X n - specify newsgroup to display and/or resubscribe to
X u - unsubscribe from group
X x - mark/unmark article [number of articles]
X * - mark/unmark article [number of articles]
X X - erase marks on articles
X control-x - specify articles to mark
X h - toggle flag for display of headers when reading
X z - toggle ROT13 mode for reading
X<formfeed> - redraw screen
X ! - escape to UNIX to execute a command
X " - show vn version
X ? - show this help menu
X.fi
X.sp
XWhen you read articles there is another help menu for advancing through
Xthe articles, replying, posting followups, and saving the
Xarticles. Breaks may be used to
Xstop the output of an article if you decide that you didn't really
Xwant to read it. You can jump from the reading portion back to either
Xpage you came from or the NEXT page.
X.sp
XFor replying and posting followups, you will be placed in an editor
Xto create the reply or article.
XThe article will be included in the file you are editing, marked with
X"> "'s for excerpting in your reply or followup. After exiting the
Xeditor you are prompted to make sure you still want to post or reply.
X.sp
XFor followups, your article is appended to "author_copy" for future
Xreference.
X(See CCFILE in the section on ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES).
X.sp
XHeader lines for the mailer / news poster are present in the file
Xyou are editing to allow you to modify them. Remember to leave a blank
Xline between the header lines and your text. It may be OK if you
Xdon't, but why tempt fate.
X.sp
XThe editor is determined by your EDITOR or VNEDITOR variable, as for
X.I postnews.
X(See the section on ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES).
XIf EDITOR is not set, you get
X.I vi.
X.sp
X.ce 1
XReading menu:
X.sp
X.nf
X n - next article, if any
X q - quit reading articles, if any more to read
X Q - quit reading, and turn to next page of articles
X r - rewind article to beginning
X <return> - next line
X / - search for a pattern in the article
X m - send mail to author of article
X f - post followup to article
X s - save article in a file
X p - send article to the printer
X ? - see this help menu
X z - toggle rotation flag
X h - toggle header suppression flag
X
X anything else to continue normal reading
X.fi
X.sp
XWhen articles are saved from anywhere, a few special conventions apply.
X.sp
XIf the name begins with "|", you are specifying
Xa pipe to feed the article(s) to, rather than a file. No other interpretation
Xis done in this case.
X.sp
XIf you specify a name not beginning with "/", the article will be saved
Xwith reference to your original directory, or with reference to the VNSAVE
Xvariable (see below).
X.sp
XIf you embed a "%d" in the name, that
Xwill be replaced with the article number, or the first number in a list
Xof articles.
X.sp
XIf you prepend "w:" to the
Xname, you can force an overwrite instead of an append. The colon prefix
Xmay be used to open the file with any mode you please, actually. If you
Xreally WANT a colon in the name, specify "a:" ahead of it. The colon
Xprefix is stripped off before any other filename interpretation.
X.sp
XBoth the VNSAVE variable and the save name may use a leading "~" to
Xindicate the user's home or "~name" for another user's home. It is assumed
Xthat a slash will separate the tilde expression from the rest of VNSAVE, or
Xthe rest of the file name if there are further directories.
X.sp
XWhen you are prompted for a savefile name, the last non-pipe
Xname you used
Xis presented, so you may use your erase/kill keys to edit it.
X.sp
XOld search strings / pattern match strings are also presented for edit in the
Xsame manner.
X.sp
XIf you don't like the choice of command keys, you
Xmay change them (default choices - basic control in article
Xreader is ala
X.I more
Xof course, the "j" and "k" on the page presentation are
X.I vi
Xconvention, other page commands are somewhat
X.I readnews
Xcompatible).
XIf you have a file named
X.B \.vnkey
Xin your home directory this file will be read in order to obtain keystroke
Xtranslation. The format is simple:
X.sp
XEach line begins with R or P indicating translation for the reader interaction,
Xor the page interaction (r and p accepted also). Following the R or P is
Xa character, followed by an "=", followed by another character. The character
Xon the left hand side of the equals sign is what you wish to input, and the
Xcharacter on the right hand side of the equals sign is what you wish to
Xtranslate it to. No embedded spaces are allowed.
XLines not beginning with the proper characters are simply
Xignored, as are characters following the translated character. Eg:
X.sp
X.in +5
XPd=j
X.br
XPu=k
X.in -5
X.sp
Xuses "u" and "d" instead of "j" and "k" on the page layout (presumably,
Xyou are also going to translate something else to "u" and "d" for the
Xunsubscribe and digest commands). If you translate keys, it is up to you
Xto see that all commands can still be reached, and that former command keys
Xwhich are no longer used are mapped to something meaningless. In particular,
Xyou are going to have difficulties if you make it impossible to input "q". The
Xhelp menus will show the "new" keys, and bad mappings should show up as
Xmultiple definitions for the same key, or alternate mappings not showing
Xup on the help menu.
X.sp
XMapping the "=" key via "==" works. Any keys not mentioned in the file
Xare translated to themselves.
X.sp
XControl keys are given as DECIMAL numbers with no backslashes or anything.
XThe decimal number is the ASCII code for the character, eg:
X.sp
X.in +5
XP24=12
X.br
XP12=?
X.in -5
Xuses "control-x" for the "control-l (formfeed)" refresh key, and maps the
Xcontrol-l to a "?". BTW, mapping all undefined keys to "?" will mean that you
Xautomatically get the help display for any illegal key, should you wish for
Xsuch a thing. The LAST one mapped will determine what key is given in
Xthe "? for help" lines, and the help display itself.
XRemembering that control-A through
Xcontrol-Z are ASCII codes 1 through 26 and delete = 127 may keep you from
Xhaving to consult an ASCII table. Remember also that some controls, such
Xas control- C, Z, S or Q may be caught by the operating system for signal
Xgeneration or terminal control, and are thus unavailable.
X.sp
XBecause of arrow keys and the ability to prefix commands with counts,
Xnumeric characters and the escape key may not be used for page commands.
XAttempts to use them will simply do nothing.
X.sp
XControl keys are not available for the reader, except for newline,
Xbackspace, and tab. The reason controls are filtered here has to do
Xwith nasty problems involving terminal mode switches on some systems,
Xspecifically a UTS frontend early versions were being used on.
X.sp
XIn either interaction, "return" and "linefeed" are mapped to the "newline"
Xcharacter at a level below the translation. If you don't know the
XASCII for the "newline" char, it is recommended that you map both
XASCII 10 and 13 if you wish to map "return" to something.
X.SH FILES
X.TP 24
X/usr/tmp/*
XOne temporary file created by
X.I tmpnam
X(3), and immediately unlinked,
Xremains open in update mode for duration of session.
XDisk space freed by system close of file descriptor at exit.
XCan be large, as this file contains the "page" displays.
XTemporary files also created by
X.I tmpnam
X(3) for mailing replies, posting followups and creating digest "articles".
X.TP 24
X(login directory)/\.newsrc
Xnews status file. Updated following session. See NEWSRC environment variable.
X.TP 24
X(login directory)/author_copy
XA copy of all articles posted using the followup command will be appended
Xto this file in /bin/mail format. See CCFILE environment variable.
X.TP 24
X(login directory)/.vnkey
XKeystroke mapping file for changing command characters.
X.TP 24
X(login directory)/*.vnXXXXXX
XOne temporary file created by
X.I tmpnam
X(3) while updating the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile. If the update fails, you are informed,
Xand this file
Xmay be used to recover the last update. Unlinked following successful update.
X.TP 24
X(spool directory)/*
Xspooling directories containing articles.
X.TP 24
X/usr/lib/news/active
Xactive newsgroup list.
X.SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
XFor all variables which do not begin with "VN",
X.I vn
Xwill accept an override
Xby setting a variable VN<name> which will be preferred. For instance
Xsetting VNEDITOR allows you to use a special editor for
X.I vn
Xwithout affecting
Xuse of that variable by your shell, setting VNPS1 takes care of your
Xnormal UNIX prompt having multiple lines, or setting VNNEWSRC allows you to
Xuse
X.I vn
Xwithout disturbing your
X.B \.newsrc
Xfor other readers.
X.TP 24
XVNSAVE
XUsed as a directory to place saved articles in. If it does not begin
Xwith "/", it will be taken with respect to the users home directory. If
Xit ends with "/%s", a separate directory will be created for each
Xnewsgroup.
X.TP 24
XPS1
XUsed to present prompt string for command on unix escape.
XDefaults to "$ "
X.TP 24
XEDITOR
XEditor used for mailing replies and posting followups.
XDefaults to
X.I vi.
X.TP 24
XPOSTER
XPosting program for followups. Defaults to "inews -h".
X.TP 24
XMAILER
XUsed when mailing replies. Defaults to "sendmail -t".
X.TP 24
XPRINTER
XProgram used with the print commands for sending articles to
Xthe printer. Defaults to "lpr".
X.TP 24
XNEWSRC
XIf set, can be used to override the choice of
X.B \.newsrc
Xas the
Xname for the status file. Name will still be used relative to
Xthe login directory, unless it begins with "/".
X.TP 24
XCCFILE
XIf set, overrides the choice of "author_copy" as the name of the
Xfile to CC all articles posted with the followup command. Name
Xwill still be used relative to the login directory, unless it begins
Xwith "/".
X.TP 24
XVNKEY
XIf set, overrides the choice of ".vnkey" as the name of the
Xfile to map keys from. Name
Xwill still be used relative to the login directory, unless it begins
Xwith "/".
X.TP 24
XVNMACHINE
XApplies only to NNTP versions - sets the machine to talk to. See discussion
Xof options, above.
X.SH DIAGNOSTICS
XUser error messages. Self explanatory.
X.SH AUTHOR
XBob McQueer.
X.sp
XSignificant enhancement / bugfixes / suggestions from:
X.sp
XLawrie Brown, John G Dobnick, Greg Earle, Rodney Goke, Andy Marrinson,
XJay Maynard, Marius Olafsson, George Pavel, Dave Tallman, Larry Tepper,
XKarl Williamson, Mark Wittenberg, Andrew Worsley
X.sp
XAnd undoubtedly some others who have been forgotten. My apologies.
X.SH BUGS
XNote that
X.I readnews
Xwill rearrange the order of
X.B \.newsrc.
XIf you
Xinterleave use of it with
X.I vn,
Xorder selection gets hosed.
X.sp
XIf you've really taken advantage of the ability of
X.I readnews
Xto skip
Xarticles in the middle of the spooling numbers, be warned that
X.I vn
Xdoesn't have it, and will
Xassume you've read the articles in the middle.
X.sp
XIf the
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile indicates that you've read articles in a newsgroup with a higher
Xnumber than the current spooling number for that newsgroup,
X.I vn
Xwill show you up to 60 old articles. This is intended for recovery in
Xcases where article spooling has been reset, or to avoid missing articles
Xbecause you just changed machines and didn't bother to edit your
X.B \.newsrc
Xfile. Rather than miss stuff, you'll see some old stuff again. During
Xthe reading phase, a warning message is printed that this is happening.
X.sp
XSometimes a "break" during reading an article will not only halt the
Xarticle but suppress the prompt. A command character will work anyway.
X.sp
XIf a prompt to be displayed on the dialogue line
Xcontains non-printing sequences, stuff on the
Xline may not get erased when you are prompted, because
X.I vn
Xthinks the string is long enough to overprint its current contents.
XThis usually comes up when you have escape sequences in your UNIX
Xprompt, and do a "!" command.
XThe "overprint" check is made to save a clear-line sequence (kludged in
Xby overprinting to the end with blanks if the terminal doesn't
Xhave one - annoying at 1200 baud).
X.sp
XOutput during the reading phase which was suppressed by backgrounding
X.I vn
Xdoes not get started by foregrounding it again without doing a
Xcontrol-z and a second foreground (it doesn't figure out its background /
Xforeground status on each output - only on startup and while handling
Xthe SIGTSTP signal). Actually, this results in a method for having
X.I vn
Xdo its reading phase silently in the foreground without redirecting
Xoutput, should such a thing be desired.
X.sp
XVery many -w or -t options cause SLOW reading phases. It is recommended
Xthat these be used only when reading a few specific groups.
X.sp
XDigest extraction will split a single article into several if it contains
Xembedded ---- lines, the normal separator between articles in digests.
XThey will all have identical titles.
XDigest extraction may not work with human built digests which don't
Xuse the expected syntax for joining articles. Mod.computers.ibm-pc
Xand mod.computers.mac were used as models for the feature.
X.sp
XThe data given by the % command represents the difference between the
Xlast article number you've updated to in a newsgroup and the high
Xarticle number. This may be significantly greater than the number of
Xactual articles for a newsgroup you haven't been reading, and for
Xnewsgroups that have had a lot of articles filtered out of them using
Xthe -w and -t options. The numbers given for menu selection in the
X % command are the order numbers from the
X .B \.newsrc,
Xand have gaps for
Xunsubscribed newsgroups.
X.sp
XThe key mapping capability doesn't handle function keys. Because of the
Xuse of controls as commands, terminals whose arrow keys echo something
Xother than a sequence beginning with escape can't use arrow keys. For
Xthese terminals, a warning message is printed during the reading phase.
END_OF_FILE
if test 24964 -ne `wc -c <'vn.man'`; then
echo shar: \"'vn.man'\" unpacked with wrong size!
fi
# end of 'vn.man'
fi
echo shar: End of archive 5 \(of 6\).
cp /dev/null ark5isdone
MISSING=""
for I in 1 2 3 4 5 6 ; do
if test ! -f ark${I}isdone ; then
MISSING="${MISSING} ${I}"
fi
done
if test "${MISSING}" = "" ; then
echo You have unpacked all 6 archives.
rm -f ark[1-9]isdone
else
echo You still need to unpack the following archives:
echo " " ${MISSING}
fi
## End of shell archive.
exit 0
--
Mail submissions (sources or binaries) to <amiga@uunet.uu.net>.
Mail comments to the moderator at <amiga-request@uunet.uu.net>.
Post requests for sources, and general discussion to comp.sys.amiga.misc.