The MyNews-Project: Step-7: Combinations of Servers

Until now we have accessed just other servers in the MyNews-Network.
Now it is time to access "normal" Usenet-servers.

You will NOT find the specific mynews.* newsgroups on your providers server. But all the other 82.4000 newsgroups (05.Oct.1999) might be there.

You can use MyNews just for downloading Usenet-Newsgroups.
If you are not interested in the mynews-groups or the MyNews-Network, then you can use MyNews for combining the Input from several (two or more) news-servers.

You can use the MyNews-Network to get additional messages which are not on your providers server. This requires a _combination_ of the MyNews-Network and the Usenet. You download the majority of messages from your provider, and just the missing rest from other MyNews-Members.

You can be a major source for Usenet-newsgroups in the MyNews-Network. You download nearly everything, check it and offer it to other MyNews-Members.

Downloading ONLY from the Usenet

If you have just one news-server (at your provider) available, then MyNews might not be the best choice for this purpose. You can also - or better - use your "normal newsreader". Perhaps the combination with the scheduler which does it all automatically is nice, but other tools are surely better.

If you have two or more news-servers (free servers, pay-servers, your providers server, my reference-servers, moderated groups servers) then MyNews can download messages from ALL of them - and combine them all for one news-reader. The advantage is that MyNews accesses all your available servers in one pass - and never downloads messages twice.

Defining multiple Usenet-Servers

You can easily use the "guided" function: Add server

You enter the name (or the IP-address) for the news-server.
The port is usually 119.
If you must login (use username and password) for the server, then you activate the "Authentication" Checkbox. In this case you enter also your Username and Password for this server.

If you want to download just special newsgroups (and not your standard-list of all your groups) from the Usenet, then activate the "Special groups"-option. Later you can define the names of these special groups.
An example: alt.mag.playboy is not (yet) available on the MyNews-network. And this is the only group you want to get from the Usenet. Then this is a "special group" for a special setup.

If all groups you want to see are already in your 'standard' setup, then dont activate the option.

The special group list

If you dont use "special groups" which you get only from these servers - and never activated the option "special groups", then you can leave this list empty. Simply click NEXT.
Else:
The groups window show the "special server columns". There you can select what group is downloaded from which server.

Manual Setup

If you want to modify all these settings manually (with a text-editor) or use extended setups, then you can do it. The servers info and the groups are stored in:
\mynews\jobs\multi1.ini    (Server#1)
\mynews\jobs\multi2.ini    (Server#2)
\mynews\jobs\multi3.ini    (Server#3) .... and so on.

Changing a setup

If you double click a server in the host window. This allows to change server settings. However active connection to servers are not always immediately used. You should terminate connections (sockets) before you expect such changes to have effect.

Starting a download from multiple servers

The "Usenet"-Menu in the MainWindow offers the functions for downloading:

Usenet - Get new headers

This accesses ALL usenet servers from the host list and downloads new headers. JUST the headers. NOT ONE message is downloaded!
Server #1 is first.

Usenet - Get marked bodies

This accesses ALL servers from the host list downloads all the manually marked messages. (You mark the messages for download in the XOVER-Window).

Stopping the download

All the downloads can be stopped with the "STOP"-button in the Main-Window. It is also possible to deactivate or skip single servers with the host window BEFORE you start a download. But the STOP button will aborted the entire download.

Combination of Usenet and MyNews

The "Usenet"-Functions for the Usenet access just the Usenet-servers. But if you want to access really ALL other mynews-servers with one click, then you need a combination of MyNews and Usenet.
The menu for accesing BOTH types of servers is "INPUT". All functions here are operating on all available servers (in the hostlist).

(A LOGIN must be done before - else there are no other MyNews-Servers visible).

WARNING - DONT ABUSE OTHER USENET-SERVERS !

If your local provider offers a good news-server, then you can download gigabytes of news per day (with a fast line). Normally your provider wont care. He offers the news-server especially for you. All this traffic is usually his local traffic and he does not pay for it.

If you are not sure about the source of your news - perhaps your provider gave you a strange news-server address like "prov-custom.newssource.net", then your provider perhaps PAYS for the news you are downloading.

Before you start real mass downloading news from your provider - ASK HIM - or at least announce it to him. This is usual courtesy in the Usenet. Normally he will just smile (especially when you are connected with a slow modem). But if he has any concerns, then listen to him, please.

If you download larger quantities of news from a PAY-Provider - then read his CONDITIONS carefully. Some pay-providers have volume- or time-limits! Especially when you begin to run with a scheduler: BE CAREFUL. I'm not responsible for your account. Some pay-providers even forbid the usage of automatic newsreaders - others are more tolerant.

One of my ten news-providers is ENEWS.NEWSGUY.COM
They allow download up to 1000 MB/day (that's a lot) - and they allow that you run a robot to check for new messages automatically.
So I can recommend them (their despamming 'hippo' is great).

It is cheap to ask your news-provider. It is ugly to be "thrown out" because you abused a server. Especially the owners of super fast cable-modems or leased lines should be careful. There is a very special "netiquette" between news-admins. And downloading tons of news is a topic between news-admin.

If you access 'free' servers, then be careful, too.
It help neither you nor others if the gracious owner has to close his server - because you've overloaded it.

This is especially valid for MY free servers!
Dont use my free servers as your "standard"-servers. They are logged in to the MyNews-network. And when messages are available at other MyNews-hosts, then you can get messages from them. I cannot deliver the bandwidth for everybody.

Uncontrolled download from the Usenet routed to the MyNews-Net

Some Usenet-groups are also available in the MyNews-Network.
I feed actually seven Usenet-groups to the MyNews-network.

There is ONE DANGER:
If you download ten spam-messages from the Usenet to your local server - and leave them there - then all other MyNews-Members will get this spam from YOU !
I spend a lot of time to check the messages I download and offer in MyNews. So nearly everything I offer is "clean" and checked (censored) by myself.
If YOU now download from the same newsgroups, and dont care, then the group is spammed again in the MyNews-Network.

This is the main reason why 'automatic' download from the Usenet is not supported: You have to select the messages manually - and download them. Then you (and we others) can be pretty sure that just interesting messages are available in the MyNews-network.

Now you download twenty messages "just for fun - and for curiosity" from such a group. You are not sure if they are good or bad. MyNews does not offer yet a function to "hide" these messages until you've checked them. As soon as you download them they are available to all others.
Actually there is just one chance: BEFORE you download from the Usenet: switch off the server-part of your MyNews. This prevents other to access these "unknown" messages until you've checked them.

The function "Main-Window: Server - Stop Server" switches off the "serving part" of MyNews. You can now download - check (or delete - with SHIFT+D in the Xover-Window) messages and then use "Start server" again.

Feeding an entire newsgroup to the MyNews-network

If you are a real _fan_ of a specific newsgroup and download every available message - and if you want to share these messages with all others, then I recommend that you run a second MyNews on your computer. This is your "toy" - and invisible for all others.
You can use schedulers on it, download masses and clean them. When you have done a bunch, then you can move all these "Okayed" messages to your "regular" server.

There will be an own small 'tutorial' how to setup a second server and how to feed an entire group. This tutorial will be interesting for the 'fans' and for 'usenet-moderators' who want to offer a "second source" for their newsgroup.

Direct access to ONE specific server (Usenet or MyNews)

If you want to get headers or messages from one specific server, then you can do this with these functions in the host menu:

Download - Get now from
Download - Get all again
Download - Get marked bodies

The function "Usenet - Manual download" affers direct access to any news-server.
You can enter the name (or IP-Number) of a Usenet-server or the IP-NUMBER (not the name) of an active MyNews-host from the Host-list.

The next chapter will explain a little more about the download-setup.
You will see how to make the conditions 'more restrictive' or 'more tolerant'.
Then autoposting follows.