XRN(1) X UCB(3 July 1991) XRN(1)
NAME
xrn - an X-based interface to the USENET news system that uses the NNTP
remote news server
SYNOPSIS
xrn is an X-based interface to the USENET news system that uses the NNTP
remote news protocol for accessing newsgroups and articles on an NNTP
server, thus allowing users to read news from personal workstations by
accessing a central news repository. This manual page applies to version
6.17.
DESCRIPTION
xrn [+/-authorFullName] [-breakLength len] [-cancelCount number] [+/-cc]
[+/-ccForward] [-confirm list] [-deadLetters file] [-defaultLines count]
[+/-displayLineCount] [-distribution dist] [+/-dumpCore] [-editorCommand
command] [-includeCommand command] [-iconGeometry +X+Y] [+/-
includeHeader] [+/-extraMailHeaders] [-includePrefix "prefix text"] [+/-
includeSep] [+/-info] [+/-killFiles] [-leaveHeaders list] [-lineLength
len] [-lockFile file] [-minLines number] [-mailer mailer] [-maxLines
number] [-newsrcFile file] [-nntpServer name] [-organization org] [+/-
pageArticles] [-printCommand command] [-replyTo name] [-rescanTime time]
[+/-resetSave] [-saveDir directory] [-saveNewsrcFile file] [-saveString
string] [-signatureFile file] [-stripHeaders list] [-saveMode mode] [-
savePostings file] [+/-sortedSubjects] [+/-subjectRead] [-topLines
number] [-tmpDir directory] [+/-typeAhead] [+/-updateNewsrc] [+/-
useGadgets] [+/-verboseKill] [-addButtonList list] [-ngButtonList list]
[-artButtonList list] [-artSpecButtonList list] [-allButtonList list] [-
addBindings bindings] [-ngBindings bindings] [-artBindings bindings] [-
allBindings bindings]
Along with the standard toolkit options, including display, geometry,
xrm, and iconic.
BASIC OPERATION
Don't let the size of this manual page alarm you. xrn is easy to learn
on-line without reading the documentation. This manual page describes
many features that may be obvious to the casual observer, along with a
large section on customization (such as choosing colors and fonts). It
also describes how to use scroll bars, buttons, and select text; if you
have used an X toolkit application before, the section titled "BUTTONS,
SCROLL BARS, and SELECTION" can be skipped.
xrn uses the `.newsrc' file to determine what groups need to be read. If
the `.newsrc' file does not exist, it is created, and the user is
subscribed to the news group `news.announce.newusers'.
xrn has four modes of operation: Add, Newsgroup, All, and Article modes.
Add mode will be entered on startup if there are any groups that the news
system knows about that are not in the `.newsrc' file (i.e., new groups).
In Add mode, the user is given a list of new groups. Groups can then be
subscribed to and placed in the `.newsrc' file at the first position, the
last position, or after a group already in the `.newsrc' file. When Add
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mode is exited, any remaining groups are added unsubscribed, so the user
is not asked about them the next time xrn is started. On exit from Add
mode, or on startup if there are no new groups, Newsgroup mode is
entered. Newsgroup mode displays the subscribed to groups that have
unread articles and the range of available articles. The basic functions
available in this mode allow the user to read a group, mark all articles
in a group as read, unsubscribe from a group, move the cursor around the
newsgroup window, change the order of the list of newsgroups, re-visit
the most recently visited group, and quit xrn. In addition, the user can
subscribe to a group and specify its position in the `.newsrc' file,
query the news server for new articles and groups, and go to groups that
are either not subscribed to or currently have no unread articles (i.e.,
groups not displayed on the screen). From Newsgroup mode the user can go
into All mode. In All mode the user is presented with a sorted list of
all known groups and their subscription status (subscribed or
unsubscribed) and can change their status or location in the `.newsrc'
file. On exiting All mode the user is placed back in Newsgroup mode. In
order to read the articles in a particular group, the user goes from
Newsgroup mode to Article mode. In Article mode the user can sequence
through the articles in the group forward or backward, mark a group of
articles as read or unread, mark all articles in the current group as
read, unsubscribe to the current group, return to the last article
visited, search forward or backward for an article subject (either for
the exact subject or for a regular expression in the subject), locally
kill all articles with a particular subject, and quit (saving all
changes) or exit (leaving all articles marked unread). In addition, the
user can save the current article in a file, post an article to the
group, post a followup to the current article, mail a reply to the author
of an article, forward an article to another user via mail, and return to
Newsgroup mode.
NEWS SYSTEM
The news system is a set of bulletins, discussion groups, program
sources, and other bits of information distributed around the world under
the name `USENET'. The information is generally called `news' and is
broken up into `newsgroups'. Each newsgroup deals with a subject or set
of subjects. The subjects for newsgroups are varied: from discussions
about particular versions of UNIX to movie reviews, from information on
the X window system to commentary on current social and political issues.
For information on what newsgroups are available, answers to commonly
asked questions, and newsgroup ediquette, read the articles in the
newsgroup `news.announce.newsusers'. Users who are new to the USENET are
strongly encouraged to become familiar with the contents of the articles
in `news.announce.newusers' before posting any messages.
NEWS SERVER
In order to run xrn, you must have access to an NNTP news server. If you
do not have access to such a server and would like to set one up, see the
"USENET Software: History and Sources" posting in news.announce.newusers
for information about where to get the appropriate software. Either the
file `/usr/local/lib/rn/server' (this filename may be configured
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differently at some sites) must contain the name of the server machine,
the environment variable NNTPSERVER must be set to the name of the server
machine, the nntpServer X resource must be set to the name of the server
machine, or the `-nntpServer' flag must be specified on the command line
(with the order of precedence being command line, X resource, environment
variable, file). The name can be either the actual host name of the NNTP
server (i.e. shambhala.berkeley.edu) or the internet number (i.e.
128.32.132.54). If someone else has installed xrn at your site, then it
is probably already configured to use the correct news server and you
don't have to worry about it.
SCREEN LAYOUT
The screen displayed by xrn consists of seven sections: a title bar, two
scrollable text windows, two information bars, and two button boxes. The
title bar displays the current version of the program. The top text
window displays information based on the mode. In Add mode, the window
displays all groups that are not currently in the `.newsrc' file, one per
line. In Newsgroup mode, the window displays the groups containing
unread articles. Each group is represented by a line of the form:
Unread news in <group name> <num> article(s) + <old> old
<group name> is the name of the group, <num> is the number of unread
articles, and <old> is the number of read articles that are still
available (i.e. have not been expired) on the news server. If "List old"
is toggled on, then the word "Unread" will not appear on the lines of
newsgroups with no unread articles, and furthermore, the words "news in"
will not appear on the lines of newsgroups with no available articles at
all.
In Article mode, the window displays a list of subjects for the articles
in the current group, with each subject line being represented by a line
of the form:
[+u][SP] <num> <subject of the article> [<lines>] <author>
where <num> is the article number, <lines> is the number of lines in the
article (when available), and <author> is the author of the article. A
`+' in the first position means that the article has been read, a `u' in
the first position means that the article has been marked as unread, a
'S' in the second position means that the article has been saved to a
file, and a 'P' in the second position means that the article has been
printed.
The top information bar displays information about the mode, the buttons
in the top button box, and error messages. The top button box has
buttons that are specific to the mode and apply to the information in the
top text window. The bottom text window displays articles in Article
mode and a list of all known groups and their subscription status in All
mode. The bottom information bar displays information about the mode,
the buttons in the bottom button box, and error messages. The bottom
button box has buttons that are specific to the mode and apply to the
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information in the bottom text window.
BUTTONS, SCROLL BARS, AND SELECTION
All button and text selection commands are done with the left mouse
button. Single-line text selection is accomplished by clicking the left
mouse button on the desired line. Multiple-line selection is
accomplished by clicking the left mouse button on the first line, holding
the button down, dragging the mouse to the last line, and releasing the
mouse button. Multiple-line selection can also be accomplished by left-
clicking on the first line, and right-clicking on the last line.
Selected lines appear in reverse video (the foreground and background
colors are switched).
The text windows are scrolled with the scroll bar on the left side of the
window. Clicking the left mouse button in the scroll bar will scroll the
text down some fraction of a page; clicking the right mouse button in the
scroll bar similarly scrolls up. Clicking the middle mouse button will
scroll over larger areas: clicking at the top of the scroll bar will
scroll to the top of the text, clicking in the middle will scroll to the
middle of the text, and clicking at the bottom will scroll to the bottom
of the text. For those who like using the keyboard, hitting control-V
while the mouse cursor is in a scrollable text window will cause the
window to scroll down one page, meta-V will scroll up one page.
Hitting the space bar (while the mouse cursor is in the top button box)
will do the right thing; scroll the article text window when appropriate,
go to the next article at the end of the current article, go to newsgroup
mode when done with all articles in the current group, and go to the next
group when in newsgroup mode.
Clicking the middle button on a newsgroup in Newsgroup mode causes xrn to
enter Article mode in that newsgroup. Clicking the middle button on an
article in Article mode causes that article to be displayed.
MODES
The next few sections describe the individual modes in xrn. Each button
in the various modes is described with the label for the button and the
name of the button. The name of the button can be used in X resources,
in the button lists, and in the bindings tables.
ADD MODE
Add mode is entered when new groups have been detected (groups that the
news system knows about but are not in the `.newsrc' file).
quit (addQuit)
Add remaining groups in the list to `.newsrc' as unsubscribed; go
to group mode.
add first (addFirst)
Add the current group(s) to the beginning of the `.newsrc' file and
mark as subscribed. The current group is the selected group(s), or
the group on the line containing the cursor.
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add last (addLast)
Add the current group(s) to the end of the `.newsrc' file and mark
as subscribed.
add after group (addAfter)
Add the current group(s) after a group already in the `.newsrc'. A
dialog box is used to allow the user to enter the name of the group
to add the group after. The mouse cursor must be in the dialog box
for xrn to accept text (however, it does not have to be in the
type-in area). The dialog box has two options: abort and add. No
other buttons on the screen will work until the user has selected
an option in the dialog box. Hitting carriage return is the same
as clicking the add button (in all xrn dialog boxes hitting
carriage return is the same as clicking in the rightmost button of
the dialog box).
add unsubscribed (addUnsub)
Add the current group(s) to the end of the `.newsrc' file and mark
as unsubscribed.
NEWSGROUP MODE
Newsgroup mode informs the user of the groups with unread news and gives
the user control over which groups are visited. Clicking the middle
button on a newsgroup entry will enter that newsgroup.
quit (ngQuit)
quit xrn.
read group (ngRead)
Read the articles in the current group. The current group is
either the first one selected (if one or more are selected) or the
one on the line containing the cursor. If all groups have been
read, the user can still access groups by using the goto newsgroup
command. Hitting the space bar with the cursor in the top button
box will call this function.
next (ngNext)
Move the cursor to the next group, leaving the articles in the
current group untouched.
prev (ngPrev)
Move the cursor to the previous group, leaving the articles in the
current group untouched.
catch up (ngCatchUp)
Mark all articles in the current group as read.
subscribe (ngSubscribe)
Subscribe to a group. A dialog box is used to allow the user to
enter the name of the group. The dialog box has the following
options: abort, prev group (subscribe to the previous group
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visited), first (put group in the beginning of the `.newsrc' file),
last (put group in the end of the `.newsrc' file), and current
position (put group at the position of the cursor). This command
can also be used to change the position of a subscribed group.
Hitting carriage return after typing in the name is the same as
clicking the current position button.
unsubscribe (ngUnsub)
Unsubscribe from the current group.
goto newsgroup (ngGoto)
Go to a group that is not currently displayed. The first unread
article is displayed. If all articles in the group have been read,
the last article in the group is displayed. The name specified can
be a substring of the group name or a regular expression.
all groups (ngAllGroups)
Display all of the groups that exist, their subscription status,
and a set of buttons for changing the status.
rescan (ngRescan)
Query the server for any new groups or articles.
prev group (ngPrevGroup)
Re-visit the previous group visited.
list old (ngListOld)
List all of the groups subscribed to, independent of if they have
any unread articles.
select groups (ngSelect)
Records the groups currently selected. If no groups are selected,
nothing is recorded.
move (ngMove)
Moves the groups previously selected with the select groups command
to the current cursor position. If the cursor is currently inside
the groups to be moved, no groups are moved. If any other button
is invoked after select groups and before move, the selection is
lost, and no groups are moved.
exit (ngExit)
Quit xrn, leaving the `.newsrc' file unchanged since the last
`rescan' operation or `checkpoint'. If `updateNewsrc' is on, then
the `.newsrc' file is kept up to date with the last time Article
mode was exited.
checkpoint (ngCheckPoint)
Update the `.newsrc' file. xrn normally updates the `.newsrc' file
on `rescan' and `quit' in Newsgroup mode. This allows you to update
the `.newsrc' file without exiting xrn or reconnecting to the
server (see also 'artCheckPoint').
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gripe (ngGripe)
Send a gripe (bug, bug fix, complaint, feature request, etc.) to
the authors of the program.
post (ngPost)
Post an article to a newsgroup. See "post" under Article mode for
more information.
ALL MODE
All mode allows the user to change both the subscription status and the
`.newsrc' file position of any available group. All operations can apply
to multiple groups. Thus, the user should never have to use a text
editor on the `.newsrc' file. Hitting the space bar will scroll the
bottom text window.
quit (allQuit)
Update the `.newsrc' file and return to group mode.
subscribe (allSub)
Subscribe to the current group, leaving it at its current position
in the `.newsrc' file.
subscribe first (allFirst)
Subscribe to the current group and add it to the beginning of the
`.newsrc' file.
subscribe last (allLast)
Subscribe to the current group and add it to the end of the
`.newsrc' file.
subscribe after group (allAfter)
Subscribe to the current group and add it after a particular group
(for which the user is prompted with a dialog box) in the `.newsrc'
file.
unsubscribe (allUnsub)
Unsubscribe the current group.
goto group (allGoto)
Go to the current newsgroup.
select groups (allSelect)
move (allMove)
Same as the "select groups" and "move" buttons in Newsgroup mode.
toggle order (allToggle)
Toggle the order of the newsgroups in the window between `.newsrc'
order and alphabetical order.
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scroll forward (allScroll)
Scroll the all groups window forward a page.
scroll backward (allScrollBack)
Scroll the all groups window backwards a page.
ARTICLE MODE
Article mode is used for reading and manipulating articles in a single
group. When a group is entered, the list of article subjects displayed
contains those from the first unread article to the last available
article. Previous articles can be obtained by using the prev or subject
previous commands. Hitting the space bar in Article mode will ``do the
right thing''; it will scroll an article if there is more of the article
to see and call the next unread function if there is no more of the
article to see. Clicking the middle button on an article entry will
display that article.
quit (artQuit)
Update the `.newsrc' file and return to group mode.
next unread (artNextUnread)
Display the selected article if it is unread; otherwise, display
the first unread article AFTER the cursor position. If no unread
articles exist, xrn exits from Article mode and returns to
Newsgroup mode (or to All mode, if Article mode was entered from
All mode).
next (artNext)
Display the selected article, if any; otherwise, display the next
article in the current group. Exit from Article mode after the
last article has been reached.
prev (artPrev)
Display the selected article, if any; otherwise, display the
previous article in the current group.
last (artLast)
Display the last article accessed before the currently displayed
one. This command only keeps track of one previously accessed
article, so invoking it repeatedly simply toggles the display
between two articles.
next newsgroup (artNextGroup)
Go directly to the next newsgroup with unread news, bypassing
Newsgroup or All mode.
catch up (artCatchUp)
Mark all articles in the current group as read; return to Newsgroup
mode. Articles marked as unread by 'mark unread' will not be
marked as read. It a particular article is selected, catch up from
the beginning of the group to the selected article.
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fed up (artFedUp)
Mark all articles in the current group as read; go to the next
newsgroup.
goto article (artGotoArticle)
Go to the specified article number (for which the user will be
prompted with a dialog box).
mark read (artMarkRead)
Mark an article (or group of articles) as read. This command marks
either the selected article(s) or the article the cursor is on, and
leaves the cursor at its current position.
mark unread (artMarkUnread)
Mark an article (or group of articles) as unread. This command
marks either the selected article(s) or the article the cursor is
on, and leaves the cursor at its current position. When an article
is marked as unread, a 'u' is placed in the far left column next to
the article's number. The next, prev, subject next, and subject
prev buttons will all display this article if they come across it,
but the next unread button will not. The only way to mark an
article as read once it has been marked with a 'u' is to use the
mark read function.
unsubscribe (artUnsub)
Unsubscribe from the current group; exit from Article mode.
subject next (artSubNext)
Find and display the next article with the same subject as the
current article (stripping the '[rR][eE]:' garbage). If there are
no more articles with the current subject and there are more unread
articles, the first unread article is selected. If there are no
more articles with the current subject and there are no more unread
articles, Article mode is exited.
subject prev (artSubPrev)
Find and display the previous article with the same subject as the
current article.
list old (artListOld)
List all articles available in the group, even those that have been
read. Note that this button does not toggle (clicking this button
twice will not put you back to where you were).
session kill (artKillSession)
Mark all articles with the current subject as read, for this
session only.
local kill (artKillLocal)
Mark all articles with the current subject as read for this group,
for this and all future sessions.
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global kill (artKillGlobal)
Mark all articles with the current subject as read for all groups,
for this and all future sessions.
author kill (artKillAuthor)
Mark all articles by the current author as read for this session
only.
subject search (artSubSearch)
Begin a regular expression subject search. When this button is
invoked, a window pops up querying the user for a regular
expression (of the form used in ed), and a direction in which to
search. If a regular expression is not typed in, the last regular
expression is used, and the search direction is the one specified
in the dialog box (this can be used to switch the direction of the
search without retyping the expression).
continue (artContinue)
Continue the last regular expression search by searching for the
same regular expression in the same direction.
scroll forward (artScroll)
Scroll the article text forward a page.
scroll backward (artScrollBack)
Scroll the article text backward a page.
post (artPost)
Post an article to the current group. A scrollable, editable text
window will appear with a header and the user's `~/.signature' file
included. An appropriate header will be generated with a number of
blank header fields that if left blank will be deleted from the
posting. The editor defaults to the standard X toolkit editor
(similar to emacs(1)), Another editor can be specified using the
-editorCommand command line option or by setting the same X
resource (see the section on command line arguments). The mouse
buttons can be used to select text in this window (which can then
be placed in a file, for example).
There are five buttons at the bottom of the editor window: abort to
abort the article (or message, if a mail message is being written
rather than an article, send to post/send it, save to save it in a
file, include file to include a file (for which the user is
prompted with a dialog box) at the current cursor location, and
include article to include the text of the current article at the
current cursor location. The include article button is omitted if
there is no current article (e.g. if the user is sending a "Gripe"
or if "post" was selected from Newsgroup mode). Only one article
or message window can be active at a time.
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exit (artExit)
Exit article mode, marking all articles listed in the top window as
unread.
checkpoint (artCheckPoint)
Update the `.newsrc' file. xrn normally updates the `.newsrc' file
on `rescan' and `quit' in Newsgroup mode. This allows you to update
the `.newsrc' file without exiting xrn or reconnecting to the
server (see also 'ngCheckPoint').
gripe (artGripe)
Send a gripe (bug, bug fix, complaint, feature request, etc.) to
the authors of the program.
save (artSave)
Save the current article in a file, or use the current article as
standard input to a command. The save command will pop up a dialog
box for the filename. The dialog box has two buttons: abort and
save. If the filename begins with a `|', the article will be sent
to the command specified after the `|'. Otherwise, the article
will be appended to the file specified. If the name is relative
(does not begin with `/' or `~'), `~/News/' will be prepended to
it. If the name begins with a `+' the name is assumed to be an MH
mail folder and a `refile' command will be done on the article. If
no name is specified, it will be saved in `~/News/<groupname>',
where `<groupname>' is the name of the current group with the first
letter capitalized (following the rn(1) article saving
conventions). If -saveMode is set to `subdirs', then
`~/News/<groupname>/' will be used instead of `~/News/'. If
multiple articles are selected, all will be appended to the same
file; however, if the file name has a %d in it, the %d will be
replaced with the article number and each article will be saved in
a separate file.
reply (artReply)
Reply (by mail) to the author of the current article. See post for
a description of how to create and send a message.
forward (artForward)
Send the current article to another person via mail.
followup (artFollowup)
Post a followup article to the current article. See post for a
description of how to create and send an article.
cancel (artCancel)
Cancel the current article.
rot-13 (artRot13)
Decrypt a encrypted article. In the newsgroup `rec.humor',
occasionally articles are submitted that may offend certain people
or groups of people. In order to minimize the offense, these
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articles are posted in an encrypted form. This button will decrypt
them.
toggle header (artHeader)
Show the full text of an article, including the full header.
print article (artPrint)
Send the article to the printer (see the `printCommand' command
line option).
CUSTOMIZING XRN
Colors, fonts, and other xrn options can be specified on the command line
or using X resources. With the exception of the display name, all xrn
options can be specified using X resources. Options specified on the
command line take precedence over those specified using X resources.
COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS
Here are the current command line arguments (the X resources have the
same names and values as the command line arguments). Under VMS all
command line arguments are in lowercase.
+/-authorFullName
Display the full name of the author or the user/hostname of the
author.
-breakLength len
Break lines longer than `len' characters into multiple lines.
Default is 0 characters. If set to 0, line breaking is
disabled (see also 'lineLength').
-cancelCount number
The number of articles to search before popping up the cancel
button.
+/-cc Put 'Cc: user' in replies. (X resources class is "CC".)
+/-ccForward
Put 'Cc: user' in forwarded messages. (X resources class is
"CC".)
-confirm list
Turn on confirmation boxes for the buttons listed. These boxes
pop up to ask the user to verify the invocation of "dangerous"
actions (such as catch up and unsubscribe). The list of
buttons is a comma separated list of button names. The buttons
that can be confirmed: ngQuit, ngExit, ngCatchUp, artCatchUp,
ngUnsub, and artUnsub.
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-deadLetters file
The name of the file to save failed postings and messages.
Defaults to `~/dead.letters'.
+defaultLines count
Number of lines to scroll.
-display display
specification of the X display.
+/-displayLocalTime
Display the 'Date:' field of the article using the local time
zone (instead of GMT).
+distribution dist
Set the default distribution to `dist'.
+/-dumpCore
Dump core when a signal is detected. The X resources class for
the "dumpCore" X resource is "Debug".
-editorCommand command
Use an alternate editor for creating postings, followups,
forwards, gripes, and replies. `command' must be a string in
sprintf(3) format containing a `%s', which will be replaced by
the file name to be edited. The command will be executed using
the bourne shell (sh(1)). Examples are:
xterm -e vi %s
xterm -e microEmacs %s
emacsclient %s
The resulting command should handle all editing and windowing.
The article being followed up on, replied to or forwarded is
automatically included.
-includeCommand command
Use an alternate program for inserting current article text
when following up on, replying to or forwarding a message.
`command' must be a string in sprintf format that contains two
`%s's, which will be replaced by the include prefix and the
article file name (in that order). Examples are:
sed -e 's/^/%s /' %s
xmh-insert-reply -separator '%s' %s
The command provided should output to its standard output the
text to be included in the message, derived as desired from the
prefix and the contents of the article file. The command will
be executed using the bourne shell.
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-geometry WxH+X+Y
Specification of the xrn window size and location. The window
manager may choose to ignore this specification.
-iconic Start up xrn with the window iconified.
-iconGeometry +X+Y
Specification of the initial xrn icon location. The window
manager may choose to ignore this specification.
+/-includeHeader
Include or do not include the original header in included
articles. The default is to not include the header.
+/-extraMailHeaders
When replying via mail to a posting, include or do not include
an "X-Newsgroups:" line with the newsgroups list from the
posting and a "In-reply-to:" line with its message ID.
-includePrefix prefix text
Change the standard prefix for each line of included text from
the default, "|> ", to the given text string.
+/-includeSep
Include or do not include the prefix text ("|> ") in front of
included articles. The default is to include the prefix text
("|> ").
+/-info Display all informative messages in the message pane. Defaults
to display all information in the message pane.
+/-killFiles
Turn the use of kill files on/off. The default is on. See
rn(1) for documentation about how kill files work (however, see
the BUGS section below for a description of the limitations in
xrn's kill file handling).
-leaveHeaders list
The header fields to leave in the article; a comma separated
case-insensitive list of field names (i.e.,
subject,from,organization). This option takes precedence over
`stripHeaders'. If the word `all' is specified instead of a
list of fields, then all headers will be retained (This can be
used in user X resources to override a resource specified in
the global xrn application defaults, or on the command line to
override a resource specified in either the application
defaults or the user X resources.).
-lineLength len
Length of lines that are broken. Default is 0 characters. If
set to 0, line breaking is disabled (see also 'breakLength').
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-lockFile file
Set the XRN lock file name to `file'. Defaults to
`~/.xrnlock'.
-mailer mailer
The command to use for mailing replies. This command must take
all of it's input from stardard input (xrn will not build a
command line). The default is `/usr/lib/sendmail -oi -t'.
Under VMS, the default is `MAIL'.
-minLines number
The minimum number of lines above the cursor in the subject
line display. If negative, the subject line display scrolls
only at the bottom and only one line at a time.
-maxLines number
The maximum number of lines above the cursor in the subject
line display. If negative, the subject line scrolls only at
the bottom and only one line at a time.
-newsrcFile file
The newsrc file to use. Defaults to `~/.newsrc'. If a file
with a name of the form `<newsrcFile>-<nntpServer>' is found,
it will be used.
-nntpServer hostname
The NNTP server to use (name or internet number).
-organization organization
Set the organization name in postings and followups. You can
also set the environment variable ORGANIZATION (NEWSORG on
Apollo) to set the default organization name.
+/-pageArticles
Space bar with either scroll the current article or go to the
next article.
-pointerBackground color
Set the background color of the mouse cursor. The default
color is whatever the default background color is for xrn.
-pointerForeground color
Set the foreground color of the mouse cursor. The default
color is whatever the default foreground color is for xrn.
-printCommand command
Set the command used for printing articles. The article is
sent to the command via standard input. Defaults to `enscript
-g'.
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-replyTo name
Set the Reply-To field for articles and mail messages.
-rescanTime time
Amount of idle time (in seconds) before checking for new
articles.
+/-resetSave
Reset the string in the 'save' dialog box upon entering each
newsgroup.
-saveDir dir
The article saving directory. Defaults to `~/News' when
-saveMode specifies `onedir', or `~/News/newsgroup' when
-saveMode specifies `subdirs'.
-saveMode mode
The mode for saving articles; a comma separated list of
options. The options can be `mailbox' or `normal', `headers'
or `noheaders', and `onedir' or `subdirs'. The default is
`normal,headers,onedir'.
-saveNewsrcFile file
The saved `.newsrc' filename. Before the `.newsrc' file is
modified on startup, it is saved in a backup file. Defaults to
`~/.oldnewsrc'.
-savePostings file
The name of the file in which to save postings and messages
(via the `save' button in the composition window). Defaults to
`~/Articles'.
-saveString string
Use 'string' as the default in the 'save' dialog box.
-signatureFile file
The signature file to use. Defaults to `~/.signature'.
+/-sortedSubjects
Display the subject lines in the subject window sorted by
subject.
+/-subjectRead
When using the space bar to scroll, when an article is
finished, the space-bar scrolling invokes subject next instead
of next unread.
-stripHeaders list
The header fields to strip from the article; a comma separated
case-insensitive list of field names (i.e., keywords,message-
id). If the word `none' is specified instead of a list of
fields, then no headers will be stripped (This can be used in
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XRN(1) X UCB(3 July 1991) XRN(1)
user X resources to override a resource specified in the global
xrn application defaults, or on the command line to override a
resource specified in either the application defaults or the
user X resources.).
-tmpDir directory
The directory to use for the temporary storage of articles
fetched from the server. If this option and the corresponding
X resource do not exist, xrn will look for the environment
variable TMPDIR. The default is `/tmp'.
-topLines number
The number of lines to be used for the top text window (where
the unread groups and article subjects are listed).
+/-typeAhead
Allow/disallow typeahead. Defaults to allow typeahead.
+/-updateNewsrc
Update the newsrc file when leaving Article mode.
+/-useGadgets
Use 'gadgets' rather than full widgets (MOTIF only).
+/-verboseKill
List subjects or just give a count when killing articles. The
default is on.
-ngButtonList list
-artButtonList list
-artSpecButtonList list
-addButtonList list
-allButtonList list
Use the given list of buttons for the particular mode in the
order given rather than all of the buttons for the mode in the
default order. The list is a comma separated list of button
names. The names of the buttons appear next after the button
label in the button descriptions above. For example, a list of
buttons for Newsgroup mode might be:
ngQuit,ngRead,ngCatchUp,ngRescan,ngSubscribe,ngPost
-ngBindings bindings
-allBindings bindings
-addBindings bindings
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-artBindings bindings
Use the given bindings for the key/mouse bindings for the
particular mode. The default key bindings are as close to the
rn key bindings as possible. See the X toolkit documentation
on `Translation Tables' for information on the format of
`bindings'. The actions defined in xrn are the same as the
button names. For example, a set of bindings for Newsgroup
mode might be:
xrn.ngBindings: \
<Key>Q: ngQuit() \n\
<Key>N: ngRead() \n\
<Key>P: ngPrev()
X RESOURCES
xrn takes a number of specifications for colors, fonts, border widths,
and other program options. The format for an xrn X resource is
xrn.x.y....z.a: value
where x.y....z specifies the path from the top level of xrn to a
particular item (think of xrn as a hierarchical collection of windows,
panes, and buttons, and x.y....z is a path from the top of the hierarchy
to a node in the hierarchy), a is the type of default (i.e., font,
border, foreground, background, borderWidth), and value is the value of
the default (i.e,. a color name or hex representation, a font name, a
numeric value). Specifying a default for a item at some point in the
hierarchy will set that default for all items from that point down in the
hierarchy. A higher level default can be overridden by specifying a
default at a lower level directly.
XRN widget hierarchy:
vpane (Paned)
titlebar (Label) (optional)
index (Text)
indexinfo (Label)
indexbuttons (Box)
buttonName (Command)
articleText (Text)
textinfo (Label)
textbuttons (Box)
buttonName (Command)
Composition (Shell)
vpane (Paned)
label (Label)
text (Text)
box (Box)
abort (Command)
send (Command)
save (Command)
includeArticle (Command)
includeFile (Command)
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XRN(1) X UCB(3 July 1991) XRN(1)
dialogs...
Examples of defaults are:
#
xrn.newsrcFile: ~/.newsrc
xrn.nntpServer: pasteur
xrn.organization: UC Berkeley XRN Design Team
xrn.replyTo: user@machine.domain
xrn.iconGeometry: +64+521
xrn.leaveHeaders: subject,from
xrn.includeHeader: off
xrn.signatureFile: ~/.signature
xrn.geometry: =750x770+10+10
xrn.deadLetters: ~/dead.letters
xrn.savePostings: ~/Articles
xrn.topLines: 9
xrn.saveMode: mailbox,headers,onedir
xrn.minLines: 3
xrn.maxLines: 6
xrn.tmpDir: /tmp
xrn.mailer: /usr/lib/sendmail -oi -t
#
xrn.Gripe.geometry: +50+50
#
xrn.ngButtonList: ngQuit,ngRead,ngCatchUp,ngRescan,ngSubscribe,ngPost
xrn.artButtonList: artQuit,artNextUnread,artCatchUp,artPost,artNextGroup
#
xrn.ngBindings: \
<Key>Q: ngQuit() \n\
<Key>N: ngRead() \n\
<Key>P: ngPrev()
#
xrn*background: plum
xrn*foreground: red
xrn*font: 9x15
xrn*border: LightGray
#
xrn*Text*Background: DarkSlateGray
xrn*Text*Foreground: yellow
xrn*ScrollBarMgr.thickness: 22
xrn*ScrollBar.background: DarkSlateGray
xrn*ScrollBar.foreground: yellow
xrn*ScrollBar.border: White
xrn*Label.background: cyan
xrn*Label.foreground: blue
xrn*Command.foreground: White
xrn*Command.background: coral
#
xrn*Box.ngQuit.foreground: Black
xrn*Box.ngQuit.background: red
#
xrn*dialog*font: 9x15
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XRN(1) X UCB(3 July 1991) XRN(1)
xrn*dialog*background: LimeGreen
xrn*dialog*foreground: CornflowerBlue
xrn*dialog*Label.foreground: NavyBlue
xrn*dialog*Command.foreground: Black
xrn*dialog*Command.background: yellow
xrn*dialog*Text.background: Wheat
xrn*dialog*Text.foreground: SteelBlue
xrn*dialog*borderWidth: 2
#
FILES
~/.newsrc description of the groups and the articles read in each
group
~/.oldnewsrc backup of ~/.newsrc (created at startup)
~/.signature signature for use when sending messages
~/News directory where articles are saved
~/Articles where `saved' postings and messages are stored
~/dead.letter where failed postings and messages are stored
~/.xrnlock lock file
/usr/local/lib/rn/server location of the news server hostname
(optional)
/usr/local/lib/news/hiddenhost location of the hiddenhost name
(optional)
/usr/local/lib/news/pathhost location of the path host name (optional)
/usr/local/lib/news/domain location of the domain name (optional)
/etc/uucpname location of the UUCP name for your host
(optional)
/usr/lib/sendmail default mailer
CHANGES list of changes from the previous version
TODO list of bugs and things to do
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
NNTPSERVER hostname of the news server
TMPDIR temporary directory
DOMAIN name of your internet domain (".Berkeley.EDU",
".orst.edu")
HIDDENHOST full domain-style name of the host that you want your return
path to be from ("decvax.dec.com", "Berkeley.EDU")
HIDDENPATH name of the host that you want put in the Path field of
messages.
USER login name of the user.
HOME home directory of the user.
FULLNAME full name of the user, used for the From field of messages.
SEE ALSO
emacs(1), readnews(1), rn(1), sh(1) sprintf(3), vnews(1), X(1), nntpd(8)
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XRN(1) X UCB(3 July 1991) XRN(1)
COMMENTS
The name (xrn) is a bit of a misnomer. xrn is not an X interface to `rn'
(the terminal-based news reading program by Larry Wall), but is an X-
based news reader that has had part of the functionality of `rn' added
since a number of our users are (were?) `rn' users (all of the code is
new). Much of the `rn' funcionality that xrn currently has was not in
the original plan (KILL files, for example).
The user interface look and feel is modeled after that of `XMH' (by Terry
Weissman).
The `.newsrc' file is updated on executing the `quit' command in
Newsgroup mode, during every `rescan', and by `checkpoint'. If the
`updateNewsrc' option is set, the `.newsrc' file will be updated
everytime Article mode is exited.
xrn catches signals and X errors and will clean up on error exit (remove
temporary files, update the `.newsrc' file). The cleanup will be done
and then a death notifier box will be posted (if the signal is SIGHUP or
SIGINT, the death notifier will be skipped and the program will exit).
The "click to exit" button must be pressed in the death notifier box for
the program to exit.
XREFS are handled by xrn, however only articles that are actually read
(not marked as read by 'catchup' or 'mark as read') have their XREFS
chased and only groups that are currently subscribed to have XREFed
articles marked as read.
The default specifications for color and fonts can be confusing
(thousands of different X resources can be specified for xrn, no two
users' xrn displays need to be the same).
xrn uses the XHDR command of the Berkeley NNTP news server (XHDR is not
part of the protocol defined by RFC 977). xrn will detect the presence
of this command and complain if it does not exist.
Since the NNTP protocol does not define a unique response code for server
timeout, timeout recovery may not work if the format of the timeout error
message changes.
xrn assumes a `smart' or `lucky' mailer.
xrn notices that the `.newsrc' file has been updated by another program
while xrn is running and informs the user (and gives the user the option
to quit without updating the `.newsrc' or to continue on).
Article temporary files can be removed and xrn will recover.
xrn strips `<character>^H' from articles.
The v{f,s}printf implementation included with xrn is from Robert A.
Larson <blarson@skat.usc.edu>.
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XRN(1) X UCB(3 July 1991) XRN(1)
The strtok implementation included with xrn is from Henry Spencer
<henry@zoo.toronto.edu>.
PointerForeground is the resource name for the color of the cursor
(pointer). Some other programs use PointerColor/CursorColor.
BUGS
See TODO for a full list of bugs and things that need to be done.
Incomplete KILL file support: the THRU line is not updated, the only
actions supported are 'm', 'j', and 's', and matching is always done
against both the ``From:'' and ``Subject:'' lines of postings.
See config.h for a list of defines you may want to use based on problems
that may exist in your version of the X11 toolkit and widgets.
Report bugs and requests for features to `xrn@eros.berkeley.edu'
(...!ucbvax!eros!xrn).
Requests to be placed on the xrn users mailing list should be sent to
`xrn-users-request@eros.berkeley.edu' (...!ucbvax!eros!xrn-users-
request).
ORIGINAL AUTHORS
Ellen M Sentovich (UC Berkeley, ellen@ic.berkeley.edu,
...!ucbvax!ic!ellen)
Rick L Spickelmier (formerly UC Berkeley, now Objectivity, Inc.,
ricks@berkeley.edu, ...!ucbvax!ricks, ricks@objy.com)
Mike Yang <mikey@sgi.com> wrote the MOTIF interface.
Jonathan I. Kamens <jik@pit-manager.mit.edu> has done a massive amount of
bug fixing and feature adding.
See the FIXERS/CHANGES files for a listing of those who have really been
doing most of the work over the last year or so!
Page 22 10/89