1. A Mac thats not too slow.
2. 4mb free RAM.
3. Open Transport.
4. About 1MB of disk space.
5. An Internet connection.
6. A screen set to 800x600 minimum.
7. An already accessible news server.
1. Unstuff the distribution file - but you did that or you wouldn't be reading this!
2. Read this document thoroughly please.
3. Check that you did step 2.
4. Included in the distribution are the documentation files and one or more support files. Please do NOT delete or move these.
To be able to use NewsFinder successfully you need to understand the basic principles of how it works.
Every Usenet message carries header information that shows all news servers it has passed through from the originating server to your news server. NewsFinder uses this information to build a list of news servers. Once this list is built, NewsFinder attempts to access these servers one by one, and, if access is granted, checks if your chosen groups are carried by them.
In order to build the list of servers, NewsFinder needs to know the name of your currently accessible news server ( eg: news.someisp.com ), and one or more newsgroups to access for message header information ( eg: alt.test, carried by most news servers ).
Once this information is supplied, NewsFinder can be instructed to "Find Servers".
Once you have a list of servers, you can check them for accessibility by providing one or more of your favourite newsgroups' names, and instructing NewsFinder to "Check Groups".
At the end of this you are shown a list of open servers ( if any ), and their message counts for your favourite groups. You may use this information to access these servers using your normal news reader.
Please note the following:
- These processes are NOT quick - a good search of 500-1000 news servers can take an hour or two. Some servers are inevitably down, and MOST will not allow you access. But hopefully you are rewarded in the end!
- In many cases open news servers are open by accident! Access can be, and often is, removed very suddenly when the server administrator wakes up to what is going on. Therefore you are strongly advised to use open servers sparingly, and not to hit them heavily or for long periods - doing so will only close them down sooner.
- NewsFinder, when searching messages headers for server names, can place quite a load on your normal news server. You are therefore advised to use NewsFinder not too frequently.
1. Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
2. Start NewsFinder.
3. Enter your normal news server's address in the "Root News Server" field. If you don't know what this is then you maybe shouldn't be running NewsFinder.
4. Enter a valid newsgroup name to use for the server name search in the "Newsgroups to Analyse" field, and press the adjacent "Add" button to add it to the list. Repeat this step if required. A good newsgroup to use is "alt.test", if you cannot think of any other one.
5. To be safe, press the "Save Prefs" button to save the information entered thus far.
6. You are now ready to start finding names. To do so, press the "Find Servers" button and go make coffee, go to the beach, or whatever.
7. While all this searching is going on a running commentary and some progress bars are displayed to amuse you ( if you don't live near the beach ).
8. Once this cycle has run NewsFinder will hopefully have found a number of news server names which are displayed in the unnamed listbox on the right.
9. You may now prepare to search for open servers. To do so enter a valid newsgroup name to use for testing in the "Newsgroups to Check" field, and press the adjacent "Add" button to add it to the list. Repeat this step if required. A good newsgroup to use is "alt.test", if you cannot think of any other one. Alternatively, enter the names of your favourite groups.
10. Press the "Check Groups" button to start the checking process. NewsFinder will then cycle through the list of servers and attempt to connect to them. If the connect is successful, NewsFinder will try to see if the server carries the groups you have supplied, and whether you can access them.
11. This all takes time. Again - coffee, beach, or whatever.
12. At the end of this you will be shown a window displaying a list of any open servers found and a list of the message counts found on these servers for your chosen newsgroups. You may save this information at this point. Sample output ( edited to protect the innocent ):
-------------------------------------
Open Servers
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news.ongonet.ch
news.isp.za
-------------------------------------
Group Analysis
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news.isp.za
alt.binaries.pictures.hamsters 1082
alt.binaries.pictures.piggies 451
alt.binaries.norty.boys 143
-------------------------------------
13. Use this information in your normal news reader to access the messages.
Last updated on 13-01-2000