NewsBin Pro 3.3

Release History

NewsBin Pro 3.3 Build 2387 Fixes/Enhancements 12/07/00

  1. Fixed problem with spooler files growing to be extremely large.

  2. Fixed problem with bytes missing off the end of some large multipart posts

  3. Added logic to handle poorly managed servers more reliably.

  4. Added logic to handle news server farms that are not synchronized.

Known Bugs in 3.3 (Non-critical bugs that we chose to live with for now)

  1. Datarate Gauge will freeze if you download more than 4GB in one session.

  2. Large multi-part files may be missing bytes if you are pushing your machine very hard (for example, Windows 95/98/ME with 64MB or less of RAM running on a high speed internet connection and other applications running simultaneously).

  3. Post Limiter only applies to headers coming off the server, not saved headers.

  4. DirectPC does not support a particular method of obtaining news that we now use in 3.3.  Either download a beta prior to B18 or send email to tech_support@newsbin.com to see if a patched 3.3 is available.  If there is enough demand, we will put out a patch.

NewsBin Pro 3.3B18 Build 2316 Fixes/Enhancements 11/18/00

  1. Fixed problem with Automode processing multi-part posts.

  2. Fixed problem when processing news servers that are implemented as server farms that are out of sync with each other.

  3. Fixed problem with excessive 423 errors showing up in the status screen.  We now perform "Lie Detection" to determine if a server says it has a specific post but really doesn't.

  4. Added ability to change time/date format displayed in NewsBin by using the formats specified in the Windows Control Panel, "Regional Settings" configuration.

  5. Included modified, transparent icon for NBPro.

  6. Added warning message box that appears if your filter configuration filenames are not defined.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B17 Build 2302 Fixes/Enhancements 11/12/00

  1. Fixed the crazy memory utilization and hopefully the strange shutdown errors after NewsBin runs for a long time.

  2. Fixed bug where identical subjects for single part posts get lumped together as one header in the Post List.

  3. Fixed bug where we were releasing a connection to the news server when work is finished.

  4. Fixed post function.  You can post a file by putting it in your download directory and selecting the group(s) you want to post to.  Interface is still clunky but it works.

  5. Added switch to select high quality or low quality thumbnails.  Setting effects overall download performance.  NewsBin downloads faster if low quality thumbnails are selected.

  6. Added switch to disable showing incomplete posts (Yellow box with an "I" in it).

  7. Do not prompt to clear the download list when you hit stop if there is nothing to clear.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B16 Build 2272 Fixes/Enhancements 10/27/00

  1. Fixed with NewsBin not closing files if there was a write error.  Resulted in tons of open file handles if an error occured.

  2. Writing file description file (descrip.ion) was broken if "Subject" was not checked.

  3. Lowered the quality of the thumbnails to cut down memory utilization and decrease cpu utilization.

  4. Changed the severity of "423" errors from a news server to not retry and just move on.

  5. Display values in the KB range to 1 decimal point, the MB range to 2 decimal points, and GB range to 3 decimal points.

 

News Bin Pro Build 2235 Fixes/Enhancements 10/18/00

 

  1. Fixed problem with download counters wrapping at 4GB.

  2. Datarate gauge problem finally put to bed - some people were still seeing problems with the gauge freezing in B14.

  3. Fixed problem with SOCKS 5 authentication

  4. Ability to disable the MOTD.

  5. Miscellaneous reliability improvements.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B14 Build 2134 Fixes/Enhancements 9/19/00

Fixes:

  1. Fixed problem with datarate gauge either freezing or being stuck at zero.

  2. Fixed bytes downloaded counters.  Would freeze when datarate gauge froze.

  3. Fixed problem downloading new headers.  The file containing saved headers was getting corrupted and new headers were not being downloaded.

  4. Fixed problem with maximum post age setting.  NewsBin should not download or save any headers earlier than the max post age (set under the "Options" screen.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B13 Build 2078 Fixes/Enhancements 9/9/00

  1. Fixed problems when .ini file was not located in the NewsBin directory.

  2. Added configurable retries on download failures.  Setting is in the "Options" screen labeled "Maximum Download Attempts".

  3. Min and Max file size filters are now working correctly.  There was a problem with them when posts started as incomplete and then became complete.

  4. Min file size filter on the back-end now works.  This is necessary when spammers mis-represent the size of the file in the headers.  If the filter is caught on the back end, the header gets labeled as "S" for spam.

  5. New headers now have a bold box and stored headers have a regular box.

  6. Incomplete posts no longer remain when you switch groups.

NewsBin Pro 3.3B12 Build 2075 Fixes/Enhancements 8/31/00

  1. Re-worked thumbnail generation to give better quality when thumbnails are enlarged.

  2. Show incomplete posts (new box with an "I" in it).

  3. Full resume features are well tested.

  4. Download errors only retry 5 times now before moving on.  Used to try forever.

  5. Post feature was broken, now fixed.

  6. TCP Timeout settings weren't being saved.

  7. File Download counters froze during long runs.

  8. Some shortcut keys were not hooked up.

  9. Cleaned up right-click menus.

  10. Removed extraneous binary data that was getting into the log file.

  11. Hooked up "Apply" button on all screens containing it.

  12. Other miscellaneous GUI and functional changes.

  13. Removed "RAR Finder" button - not implemented yet, will wait for 3.4.

NewsBin Pro 3.3B11 Build 1939 Fixes/Enhancements 7/8/00

  1. The spooler was not very reliable in B10, this is fixed in B11

  2. Recycle Servers was broken in B10

  3. Skip Group was broken, now fixed

  4. Checking and then un-checking groups in the "Add Group" screen was getting out of sync with the "Group" window.

  5. Found and fixed a memory leak that has been with through most of the beta releases.

  6. Regular expression parsing in the "Find" box waits for completed expression instead of giving errors while typing the expression

  7. Tested and re-tested saving filters.  Seems to be working now

  8. Fixed problem with extra entries in the post list appearing on restart

  9. Selecting the online help no longer pops up a scary virus warning message

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B10 Build 1911 Fixes/Enhancements 6/24/00

  1. Fixed the mime filename detector. Was truncating the last character.
  2. Distinguish a Terminate from a real network failure.
  3. Fixed problem using news server usernames with commas in them (i.e. compuserve).
  4. Fixed problem with Group names containing dashes breaking the spooler
  5. Make a reduction thread counts always terminate the last visible thumbnail.
  6. Fixed problem with the wrong connection getting killed sometimes.
  7. Fixed multi-server delete (multi-select in server window).
  8. Added ability to sort the Groups List.
  9. Sort ignores "RE" now so related articles are grouped together better.
  10. Reduced memory footprint
  11. Re-wrote multiserver support to be more robust when handling poorly maintained servers..
  12. Remember current download list and active downloads when NewsBin is shut down while running.
  13. Switched to a text based configuration file (.ini) from binary.  This will give us more flexibility to grow in the future.  Upon conversion, your .nfg file will automatically be renamed to *.nfg.old.
  14. Hook up use of the Enter key for selection of post.
  15. Allow forced authentication

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B9 Build 1880 Fixes/Enhancements 5/8/00

 

  1. Preserves the "Download List" between runs in Auto Mode

  2. Remembers articles selected for download when exiting in Manual Mode

  3. Enter Key now performs default action in each window.  For example, hitting enter on a file in the Downloaded Files list will invoke the viewer

  4. Downloaded Files list no longer scrolls as filenames are added to the list (we had many complaints about this one)

  5. Improved filename detection in mime encoded headers

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B8 Build 1848 Fixes/Enhancements 4/11/00

  1. When using multiple servers, if a group did not exist on all the servers, NewsBin would quit.

  2. In Auto Mode, the indicator for processing groups did not get set to idle after completion

  3. Initial setup for NewsBin (no existing configuration file) was setting the "First Time Records" to 0 and the server name was defaulting to a specific news server.

  4. In Auto Mode, if the "Stop" button was hit, the green box with a down arrow in it would still be displayed.

  5. Wording of some error messages in the "Status Messages" window was modified to be more descriptive and less alarming.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B7 Build 1833 Fixes/Enhancements 3/28/00

  1. Show download progress bars when thumbnails are turned off.

  2. Fix bug with multipart spool.

  3. Changed "SPOOLER" directory back to "SPOOL" directory.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B6 Build 1826 Fixes/Enhancements 3/12/00

  1. Fix automatic download problems.

  2. Add global bytes downloaded counter.

  3. Add more descriptive error messages in the status messages window.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.3B4 Build 1808 Fixes/Enhancements 2/28/00

  1. Add capability to resume interrupted downloads for multipart binaries.

  2. Add feature to save headers from news groups for subsequent runs.

  3. Show incomplete posts when the "Show Filtered Posts" selection is checked.

  4. Fixed bug decoding multiple files posted  in the same article.

  5. Re-organized the screen slightly to gain more usable space.  Header download progress bar is now in the status bar.  Subject search is now labeled as "Find".  "Automatic DL" and "Show Rejects" options are now called "Automatic Download" and "Show Filtered Posts".

  6. Removed the "Clear" button.  The "Stop" button now stops all downloads in progress.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.22 Fixes/Enhancements 1/18/00

  1. Fixed crash problem on high speed internet connections.

  2. Fixed crash on exit problem when program is exited while actively downloading.

  3. Modify "Subject Filter" field on main screen to bypass all other filters

  4. Fixed problem in the server screen where a newly entered server was not showing up until you exited the screen.

  5. The "Force Download" option really forces a download now.  We were not bypassing some of the file filters when we should have.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.21 Fixes/Enhancements 1/5/00

  1. Fixed Y2K cosmetic problem with dates listed as dd/mm/100 instead of dd/mm/00.

  2. Fixed occasional crash problem if "Clear" button was used during file and header download on a high speed connection.

  3. Fixed crash if "Esc" key was pressed during group download on Groups screen.

  4. Modified "Clear" button to clear the download list and the post list and stop any header download that was still occurring.

  5. NOTE:  There have been reports of instability in NewsBin if an anti-virus program is running in the background with the "Check Files Being Downloaded" feature enabled. 

 

NewsBin Pro 3.2B11 through B15/Version 3.2 Final Fixes/Enhancements 12/30/99

  1. Implemented "Force Download" option from the right-click menu to bypass duplicate detection mechanism when needed.

  2. Removed hidden queue for files to be downloaded.  What you see is what you get now.

  3. Added support for RFC1522 encoded subject fields - Mime encoded fields weren't being decoded out so many multiparts were being missed.

  4. Overall reliability and performance improvements.

 

NewsBin Pro 3.2B4 through B10 Fixes/Enhancements 11/09/99

  1. FINALLY really fixed crash on exit problems for Windows 95/98.

  2. Fixed cosmetic problems with datarate gauge.

  3. Fixed problem with nag screens building on top of each other if left unattended.

  4. Fixed high-speed reliability problems (cable modem users).

  5. No longer dumps connection on failed header downloads, just moves on.

  6. Modified how progress bar for downloading headers works.

  7. Fixed "Stop" button when in Auto Mode

  8. Fixed bug introduced in B7 when manipulating locked out posters and crash on exit problems.

  9. Now saves thumbnails to disk

  10. Fixed crash problems when receiving corrupted headers.

  11. Fixed status bar datarate and bytes downloading freeze over 4Gigs

  12. Added capability to multi-select and disable/enable groups.

  13. Delete from lockout poster list was causing a crash.

 

Newsbin Pro 3.2B3 Fixes/Enhancements 10/11/99

  1. Fixed crash on exit while downloading files.
  2. Fixed crash when deleting articles from download list.
  3. General stability improvements
  4. Indication of current group being processed.
  5. Feedback when registration key is entered correctly or incorrectly.
  6. More work on Post feature (still experimental but it works).

 

Newsbin Pro 3.2B2 Fixes/Enhancements 10/03/99

  1. Fixed Auto Startup feature that broke with 3.1B1
  2. Fixed problem showing all posts in download screen.
  3. Minor GUI changes.
  4. Modified "Add Servers" screen to be more intuitive and to add multiple servers without re-entering the screen each time.
  5. General stability improvements.

 

Newsbin Pro 3.2B1 Fixes/Enhancements 09/24/99

  1. Added functionality to remember where NewsBin  left off if your connection is lost.
  2. Increased max connections from 6 to 8.  (Careful, most News Servers have simultaneous connection limits now).
  3. Really fixed the file descriptions this time.
  4. Fixed Auto Shutdown feature that got broken in 3.1.
  5. Fixed problem with multiple select actions.
  6. Performance tweaks that allows NewsBin to eat a T3 with 4 threads (45Mbps)!  The fastest of any News Robot we have benchmarked.
  7. Message of the Day (MOTD) splash screen so you always know about the latest release and any bug reports.
  8. Modified the datarate gauge to automatically adjust between bps, Kbps, and Mbps.
  9. Added count down timer in the status bar showing time left to download queued binaries.

 

Newsbin Pro 3.1 Fixes/Enhancements 08/26/99

  1. Fixed problems with the delete file functionality.
  2. Now allows block moves of groups in the groups window
  3. Now can arrange server priority with click and drag functionality in servers window.
  4. Set total retries to 10 before moving on to another server or giving up.
  5. Fixed problem in writing to the descript.ion file (used with ACDSee)
  6. Fixed sporatic crash on startup (very inconsistent but seems to be fixed).
  7. General stability improvements.

 

Newsbin Pro 3.1b2 Fixes/Enhancements 08/19/99

  1. Decreased CPU utilization with same performance.
  2. Fixed installation routinge so it will over-write older versions of NewsBin
  3. Modified installation to create a shortcut on the desktop.
  4. Now supports Posting to usenet.
  5. Fixed problem downloading groups with a leading ".".
  6. Improved JPG rendering.
  7. Another New Icon (tell us if you like it or not!).

 

Newsbin Pro 3.1b Fixes/Enhancements 06/25/99

  1. NOTE: This version does a conversion on your current configuration file. Just in case you need to go back a version, please make a copy of any .nfg files (your configuration files) and use the copy if you go back to 3.01 for some reason.
  2. There is now an indicator on the bottom status bar for the signature cache and poster ID cache used for duplicate detection. If you want to force the download of a known duplicate file, you can toggle these either under the "Utilities" menu or by hitting "ctrl-t" for the sig file and "ctrl-b" for the post ID. You'll see feedback immediately on the status bar.
  3. There are now subject field accept and reject capabilities available under the new "SPAM Filters" button.  Re-evaluate your filters to make sure they still work as you expect.  We now follow Regular Expression Parsing rules.
  4. There are now accept and reject capabilities on filenames. This is also available under "SPAM Filters".
  5. We fixed a bug where duplicate filenames were written in the format opposite that which was selected from the "Options", "Switches", "Copy Style Rename" checkbox.
  6. We now support progressive JPG files!
  7. Fixed Low Disk Threshold indication.
  8. Fixed right-click delete option for groups and servers
  9. Added more informative text throughout GUI.
  10. New Icon (tell us if you like it or not!).

 

Newsbin Pro 3.02b Fixes/Enhancements 05/26/99

  1. Fixed a problem with typhoon news servers while downloading groups. 
  2. font color="#FFFFFF">Improved the thumbnail rendering to save memory.
  3. Fixed thumbnail re-draw if a screen gets dragged in front of it. 

 

Newsbin Pro 3.01 Fixes/Enhancements 05/21/99

  1. Fixed crash on startup caused by splash screen.
  2. Modified thumbnail rendering code to handle jpg images with large headers.  Thumbnails do not appear for progressive .jpg files yet.
  3. Added user feedback when Newsbin is done processing groups.

 

Newsbin Pro 3.0 Fixes/Enhancements from Beta 05/17/99

  1. Fixed memory leak (hopefully the last one)

  2. Found workaround for low disk threshold warning for Windows 95/98 machines.  Need to include full path including drive letter for download directory configuration under the "Options", "Configuration", "Download Path".  Windows NT does not have a problem.

  3. Allow you to delete a server from the Groups/Servers Window by highlighting the server and hitting the "Delete" key as well as from the right-click menu.

  4. Fixed crash on exit while downloading files.

  5. KNOWN BUG:  If you have windows configured to "Show window contents while dragging" (under Display properties, "Plus!" tab) and you resize the window on 95/98 while running on a high bandwidth connection (over 128Kbps), you run the risk of crashing the system.  This could just be a video card driver problem but be aware that some people have reported this.  Windows NT does not have this problem.  Maxmize and Minimize does not exhibit this problem either.

 

Beta 3.0P8 Fixes/Enhancements 05/10/99

  1. Fixed crash on startup, conflict with new splash screen with some machines and configurations.

 

Beta 3.0P7 Fixes/Enhancements 05/08/99

  1. Fixed problem encountered when downloading more than 62,000 newsgroups.   On 95/98 machines, Newsbin was hanging after 33,000 groups.

  2. Additions to the online help available at

  3. Fixed crash while doing a column sort during group downloads.

  4. Removed the word "Erotica" from built in filters on the group menu

  5. Re-vamped the Add Groups screen.

  6. Improved overall reliability.

 

Beta 3.0P6 Fixes/Enhancements 05/02/99

  1. Fixed reported lock-up problem.

  2. Implemented more registration capabilities.  We are not selling keys yet.

  3. Now allows multiple de-select of binaries for download from right-click menu.

 

Beta 3.0P5 Fixes/Enhancements 05/01/99

  1. Increased beta timeout to 5/15 (D'oh!  Taking too long to get this release out!!!)

  2. Implemented spam designator icon in download list.  It is a red box with an "S" in it.  If you have "Max Spammer" selected under "Options","Filters","Anti-Spam Settings", you will see it when the spam filter is exercised.

  3. Fixed bug with right-click menu for the first group listed in the Groups/Servers Window.

  4. Limited Status Screen Messages to indicate processing of a new group started and when there are errors.

  5. Fixed problem with status boxes in download list when spam was found.

  6. Began to implement registration capabilities so we can actually release this someday.  :-)

  7. Added significant content to the help file.   Still need to write the sections on using the "Options" button, Group Config Screen, and the Add Groups window.

  8. Fixed bug where "Save" button was not accessable when main screen did not have focus.

 

Beta 3.0P4 Fixes/Enhancements 04/30/99

  1. Fixed default screen size for initial NewsBin startup.  It used to cover the bottom task bar.

  2. Fixed bug where you cannot load newsgroups from first tagged server.

  3. Implemented limit checking when manually increasing the number of thumbnails over 6 or under 1 (from the options screen).  This used to crash NewsBin Pro.

  4. Fixed problem where if you close the thumbnail window, you cannot get it back.

  5. Fixed yet another memory leak.  Should be stable now.

  6. Implemented range limiter for downloading newsgroups as a workaround to a crash when you get over 33,000 groups on win95/98 machines.  The limit is set to 32,000 for now.  We will remove it when we fix the bug.

  7. Now queues up downloaded file in memory and doesn't write to disk until we are sure it is not a duplicate.

 

Beta 3.0P3 Fixes/Enhancements 04/23/99

  1. Fixed problem with getting an error when closing program.
  2. Fixed screen re-paint problem on failed connection error.
  3. Now saves positions of movable menu bars.
  4. Fixed the thread counter (thumbnails) sometimes gettting off by one.
  5. Implemented low-disk threshold warning.
  6. Added "Exclude" option for subject field filter.
  7. Verified that max spammer works
  8. Downloaded Files list was growing without limit.   Now capped at 500 files.  This was a problem with high speed connections causing all available RAM to be used just to store the list of downloaded files.
  9. Enabled the delete key to be used to delete filters under "Options", "Filters" and for "Lockout Posters".
  10. Added capability to specify max number of posts to backtrack in addition to number of days.
  11. Added NewsBin icon to system tray.  Gives NewsBin status by floating cursor over icon.

 

Beta 3.0P2 Fixes/Enhancements 04/16/99

  1. Sometimes crashed after long (> 10 hour) runs - memory leak.
  2. Stop button did not stop download of binaries (it only stopped download of headers).
  3. Default port under firewall settings was incorrect.
  4. If you created a new configuration, you lost your locked out posters.
  5. Implemented firewall support.
  6. Now displays warning dialog box when clicking "Go" button when in manual mode (Go button does nothing in manual mode).
  7. Added ability to filter for a specific file extension.
  8. Fixed toggle for file description mode.
  9. Removed creation of DSC directories (left over from 2.2x)

 

Beta 3.0P1  04/10/99

Initial Public Release