Newsbin

Main Manual (Page 4)

  1. Managing Headers
    1. The Post List
      1. Icons
    2. Load Spool
    3. Start Button
      1. Recycle Servers
    4. Download Latest
    5. Download All Headers
    6. Stop Button
    7. Delete Spool (Was Purge)
    8. Reset Download Counts
    9. Clear List
    10. Other Settings that affect Header handling
  2. Finding what you want
    1. Lockout Poster
    2. Filter Profiles
      1. Subject Filters Tab
      2. File Filters Tab
      3. Settings Tab
    3. Filters Bar
      1. Find
      2. Show Filenames ONLY
      3. Show Incomplete Posts
      4. Show Only New Posts
      5. Apply Filter Profile
      6. Ignore Filters
    4. Searching spool files
  3. Getting Files and Using the Download Queue
    1. Manual Download Methods
      1. Read Post Body
      2. Queue File
      3. Force Download
      4. Combine Posts
      5. Download Incompletes
      6. Download Chunks Only
      7. Download Visible Posts
      8. Download All Posts from Poster
      9. Adjusting parts in the Post Properties
    2. Automatic Download Methods
    3. Managing the Queue
      1. Arranging the Queue
      2. Saving/Loading the Queue
    4. Actual Downloading
      1. Progress Bars and Thumbnails
      2. Pause
      3. Chunks
    5. Other Settings that affect File Downloads
  4. Handling Completed Files
    1. Downloaded Files tab
      1. File Management
      2. Combining Files
    2. Secure Delete
  5. Posting
  6. Dealing with failures
    1. Failed Files Tab
    2. Status Tab
  7. Adjusting the Interface
    1. Resize Columns
    2. Move Panes
    3. Choosing What to Display
  8. The Program Itself
    1. Uninstall
    2. Move
  9. Technical Support
  10. FAQ
  11. Interface Walkthrough
  12. Glossary

Handling Completed Files

Once you've downloaded the files, you're generally off to use them for your own purposes, but NewsBin doesn't stop there! NewsBin can also do some operations on completed files.
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Handling Completed Files > Downloaded Files tab

The Downloaded Files tab contains a list of the last 1000 files that have been downloaded since NewsBin was last started.

The number to the right of the Download List label indicates the number of files actually downloaded, not including files that may have been purged from the list when the list of displayed filenames grew over the limit for the window.

Clicking on each column does not perform a column sort as it does with the Post List and Download List tabs.

The Columns in the Downloaded Files Tab are different than the one in the Post List. It contains the following:
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Handling Completed Files > Downloaded Files tab > File Management

Right clicking on any file in the Download Files List will bring up a menu containing the following File Management commands:

View File, also performed by hitting Ctrl+M, simply pressing the Enter key, or even double clicking on the file, will launch your installed file viewer to view the file. For images, your web browser is launched by default unless you have installed a third-party picture viewer. For movies, MP3 or other music files, either Microsoft's Media Player or RealAudio Play would be launched. NewsBin uses the "File Associations" as configured in Windows to determine what application to launch. You can modify these settings by going under "My Computer" and selecting "View", then "Folder Options", and then "File Types". This configuration can be tricky so you may want to consult documentation on the Windows operating system for further details.

Delete File(s), or, if you prefer, the Delete key, securely deletes the file from the disk. Naturally, it asks for confirmation before deletion.

Rename File allows you to rename the file on disk.
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Handling Completed Files > Downloaded Files tab > Combining Files

This is mainly used for recombining Master Splitter files.

To combine files, right click on the Downloaded Files List, and select Combine Files. This will bring up the Master Splitter Re-Assembly window where you can control the process. To add files to the list, click the Browse Button and choose the files you are wish to combine. Once you have all the files you want in the list, you can rearrange them by dragging them to new positions in the list. If you added a file you did not intend to, it can be removed again using the Delete Button. When everything is in order, click the Reassemble Button to create the combined file.
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Handling Completed Files > Secure Delete

Even if the file is no longer in the Failed Files List, or even if it never was, NewsBin can still perform it's Secure Delete function by using the File > Secure Delete command and choosing the file you wish to delete. This will fill the file with garbage first and then delete it, preventing it from being restored easily.

Be warned that it will not ask for confirmation once the file has been selected.

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Posting

NewsBin is not a tool designed to post files, but rather to download them. Instead we recommend using a tool called PowerPost, which is available from http://www.cosmicwolf.com/. In spite of that, NewsBin does support some primitive posting capabilities, mostly for the purposes of posting repost requests and other short messages.

To post a text message, click on the Post Button, and perform the following steps:

  • Fill in a subject for the post in the Subject field.
  • Fill in a valid looking email address in the From field. This doesn't have to be a real email address and we don't recommend putting in a real email address to keep from getting harvested by spammers but you need to have something@something.else for the post to work.
  • Select the group to which you want to post in the Group dropdown box. NewsBin does not allow cross-posting to multiple groups. Only subscribed newsgroups will show in the dropdown box.
  • Select the news server to use from the Server dropdown box. The servers listed will be ones that are enabled in the Servers Tab.
  • In the Posting Text, type whatever text you want to appear in the body of the post.
  • Click the Post Files button and the text will be posted.
  • Click the Close button before posting if you want to cancel.
  • Click the Cancel Posting button during the post if you want to bail on the post.
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Dealing with failures

As with anything in life, things can go wrong with your file downloads. In this section, you will see how to find out what happened, and what, if anything, you can do about it.
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Dealing with failures > Failed Files Tab

The Failed Files Tab contains a list of all posts selected for download that failed. The number to the right of the Failed Files label indicates the number of posts that filed to download.

The not only the columns in the Failed Files Tab are the same as the ones on the Post List Tab and behave identically, but the list itself also shares its behavior with the Post List including the ability to re-queue files for another try. The Failed Files List can not however, be filtered in any way.
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Dealing with failures > Status Tab

The Status Messages Tab displays informational and error messages while NewsBin is running.

Upon startup, this tab reports on the loading of the Post ID Cache, the Signature Cache, and processing of spooled records. At this time, NewsBin purges old spooled records.

While NewsBin is running, this screen shows activity to the news server and to each group. If errors occur, this screen will tell you what happened.
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Adjusting the Interface

If you don't like the way NewsBin looks, there are a few things which you can try.
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Adjusting the Interface > Resize Columns

In each tab, there are columns at the top of the list. Each of these can be resized by clicking on the divider between columns, and dragging it left or right.

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Adjusting the Interface > Move Panes

Each pane on the screen can be moved by clicking on it's title bar, and dragging it anywhere else on screen. If it's near the edge of the screen, or another pane, it will dock there. If you drag it away from anything else, it will become a floating pane, hovering over the location you chose.
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Adjusting the Interface > Choosing What to Display

Most parts of the NewsBin interface can be toggled on or off. To see what all the options are, look at the Interface Walkthrough.

For a quick way to turn a certain pane off, simply click on the small x in it's corner.
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The Program Itself

This section contains information on maintaining the NewsBin program itself.

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The Program Itself > Uninstall

NewsBin does not install files all over your system and is very easy to uninstall. An uninstaller is available through Windows by going to the Windows Control Panel and selecting "Add/Remove Programs".

If you want to save any files you downloaded with NewsBin, be sure to move them out of the "Downloads" folder created under the directory where NewsBin was originally installed, unless you changed the download folder setting in NewsBin.

To manually uninstall NewsBin, just delete the folder where NewsBin was installed and delete the shortcut icon from your desktop.
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The Program Itself > Move

Since NewsBin is such a tidy program, all that is required to move NewsBin is to move it's entire directory to a new location. Once there, run NewsBin again, and load up your existing .nbi file again.
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Copyright 2003 DJI Interprises