NewsBin Pro 3.3 Groups/Server Window

The Groups/Server Window can be dragged anywhere on the NewsBin screen or it can be detached entirely.  The Alt-2 keystroke will hide or show the window.  The tabs at the bottom of the window allow you to switch between displaying the list of news groups you have selected or your list of news servers.

The "Groups" tab on the Group/Server window displays a list of news groups that you have selected from the "Groups" menu. Clicking on the column header (shown here with the "Groups (4)" heading) will sort your groups in alphabetical order.  Clicking once will sort in descending order, a second click will change to ascending order.  You can also click and drag groups into whichever order you need.  NewsBin processes the groups in the same order as they are shown in this window.

The checkmark to the left of the group name can be turned on or off by single-clicking in the box.  Groups with the checkmark on will be processed when in Automatic Download mode and will be used by NewsBin's post function.  Turning the checkmark off tells NewsBin to bypass the group in Automatic Download mode and to not post to the group when using the Post option.

To process a group, you can either double-click on a group, hit the CTRL-G key sequence, or right-click on the group and select "Process Group".  When Automatic Download is enabled, NewsBin will download the headers and begin to download the binaries automatically.  When Automatic Download is disabled, NewsBin will just download the headers and show them in the "Post List" window.

You can process multiple groups in order by selecting a number of groups using SHIFT-Click to select a range or CTRL-Click to select non-contiguous groups and then perform the "Process Group" function through the CTRL-G keystroke or the right-click menu.  NewsBin will then process all selected groups, in the same order listed, and display all the headers of all the groups in the "Post List" window.  If you are in Automatic Download mode, NewsBin will also download all binary attachments to the headers in these groups.

Processing a group using the above procedures overrides the state of the checkbox.  The checkbox is adhered to only in Automatic Mode when the "Go" button is pressed.

The right-click menu on the Groups window allows you to perform the following functions:

Process Group:  This is the same as double-clicking on the group name or hitting the Ctrl-G key sequence.  It tells NewsBin to download the headers of the selected group(s) and, if you are in Automatic Mode, to download all binary attachments associated with the headers.

Purge Records (Catch Up):  Under normal operation, NewsBin only downloads records starting with the last one that was previously downloaded.  This option clears NewsBin's memory of previously downloaded records.  When this option is selected, the next time you process the group(s) NewsBin will use the setting "First Time Records", which is set on the Options screen, to determine how many records from the group to download.

Disable Groups:  This is the same as clicking in the checkbox to the left of the group to remove the checkmark.  A disabled group will be passed by in Automatic Mode and will not be used if you are using NewsBin's Post function.

Enable Groups:  This is the same as clicking in the checkbox to the left of the group to set the checkmark.  An enabled group will be processed by in Automatic Mode and will be used if you are using NewsBin's Post function.

Group Options:  Takes you to the "Add Groups" dialog box.  This is the same as clicking on the "Groups" button.

Delete Group:  Removes the selected group(s).  The group is only removed from the Groups window, not from the master groups list which is displayed on the Add Groups screeen.  Highlighting the group(s) and hitting the "Delete" key has the same effect.

Close Menu:  Simply closes the right-click menu.  The Escape key does the same thing.

The "Servers" tab on the Groups/Servers Window displays a list of the news servers you have configured from the Server Config screen accessable from the "Server" button on the toolbar.  The order in which the servers appear in this window sets the order that NewsBin uses for its processing.  Selecting or de-selecting the checkbox to the left of the news server name tells NewsBin whether to use or ignore the server during processing.

When processing a group or groups, NewsBin contacts each server in turn, downloading all the headers.  This way, if a server early in the list is missing anything, one of the later servers may be able to fill it in.  This is especially effective for multi-part posts where each server may not have all the parts.

You can change the order of the servers by clicking and dragging the servers into the order you want.

The right-click menu has the following options:

Server Options:  Takes you to the Server Config screen.  This is the same as clicking the "Server" button on the toolbar.

Delete Server:  Removes the server from the list.  This also removes the selected server(s) from the Server Config screen.  Clicking the Delete key will delete all selected groups as well.

Close Menu:  Closes the right-click menu.

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