This file is http://www.tiac.net/innoval/releasen.txt. It may be obtained
with a web browser or by selecting Release Information within the beta of
the Post Road Mailer.

********************************************
********************************************
**  Note: If you downloaded prnr101e.zip  **
**  please replace it with prnr101f.zip   **
********************************************
********************************************

                     POST ROAD NEWS READER BETA

Most Current Release is 1.01F BETA (prnr101f.zip)
Most Current Notes are March 1, 1996 (below)
=================================================

ANYONE may now "preview" the BETA release of the Post Road News Reader in a
limited demonstration mode.  Post Road Mailer customers, and customers who
have placed a pre-release order for the Post Road News Reader, have full
BETA level function and are invited to recommend changes in the program.
Others, who wish only to preview the BETA version, are limited to viewing
articles from five pre-determined news groups.

The Post Road Mailer, and the Pre-Release BETA offer for the Post Road News
Reader, are available from InnoVal.  Please see our web page or telephone 
for details and to obtain demonstrations.

   http://www.aescon.com/innoval

   (914) 835-3838

The Post Road Mailer is also available from Egghead Software, Indelible 
Blue, Software House International, and several other resellers. Telephone
numbers are listed below.

Notes for March 1, 1996
=======================

********************************************
********************************************
**  Note: If you downloaded prnr101e.zip  **
**  please replace it with prnr101f.zip   **
********************************************
********************************************

Several improvements are included in Release 1.01F.

o The menus have been revised with new wording and some changes in
  structure.

o Catch-up functionality has been added.  You can catch-up selected groups
  or catch-up on all subscribed groups.  A dialog appears asking you if you
  want to catch-up on headers only, or headers and articles.  You can also
  set a limit to retrieve only the last x number of articles or headers from
  each group.

o You can lauch multiple metanews connections for updating groups in the
  background.  When launched in this way, each instance of metanews will
  open a separate socket, hence speeding up downloads.  Sockets are released
  immediately upon completion.

o Improvements have been made to reduce priority loading the CPU during
  certain functions so that other running applications are not affected.

o Marking of read/unread has been improved to include upwards, downwards, 
  all or current.

o Multiple news groups may now be selected in the news groups window for 
  most operations.

o Emulation of the XOVER extended news server command has been added for
  news servers that do not support the command.  The method is similar to
  the method used by Agent for Windows.  When an exteneded command error is
  returned the user is advised to set an alternate method.  Because some
  news servers do not return an appropriate error message, the user may set
  the emulation mode manually.  The emulation mode should work with all news
  servers.  It is slower than use of the XOVER command.  This situation only
  affects a fraction of a percentage of our users.

o You can freely mark articles for downloading while other articles are 
  being downloaded. And you can read articles while others are downloading 
  or switch to other OS/2 tasks.

o Several other enhancements requested by customers are also incorporated
  into the new release.


Notes for February 2, 1996
==========================

The planned improvements detailed in the notes for January 27, 1996, shown 
below have been implemented. This includes online mode features that can be
customized in the settings notebook as well as some offline and metanews 
enhancements. Please review the settings notebook pages and the changes in 
the menu pulldowns.

The Break button is always enabled. This is useful for breaking a 
connection with hung news servers and TCP/IP sockets that remain open due to
dropped dial SLIP and PPP connections. You can also interrupt a large 
download with the Break button. Usually this restores full operation as soon
as you retrieve an article or refresh the article tree. Reconnection after
Break is automatic if the news server is operating.

Marked articles now stay marked if you change news groups or close the news 
reader. You can now great meta-groups to retrieve marked articles with 
metanews.

The Re: prefix of subjects is removed in the subject view even if the fuzzy
method setting is zero so that it performs the same as with other news 
readers. We are still looking for ways to improve performance of fuzzy 
methods. If performance is too slow we recommend that you keep the fuzzy 
method setting at zero so that the fuzzy method algorithm is bypassed.

A new program is included which is experimental right now. It is called
peekaboo.exe. This program can be selected as a method for online operation.
It can also be invoked from the News groups pulldown on the menu bar or it 
can be initiated as a standalone task with an icon or from the command line.
The syntax is peekaboo newsgroup. For example: peekaboo comp.os.os2.misc
Peekaboo simply lets you view any article in a news group quickly. You can 
move forward, backward, to the first article and to the last article. There 
is no tracking of read and unread articles, killing,  automatic binaries 
decoding, etc.  You can however compose replies and email, save articles, 
and take advantage of drag and drop. You can start multiple instances of 
peekaboo from the desktop.

  

Notes for January 27, 1996
===========================

Planned improvements for upcoming releases to the Post Road News Reader
will include:

  Online functions
  Offline enhancements and bug fixes
  Metanews improvements

Online Functions
================

We plan to add a settings page for online functionality.  The options on
this settings page will be activated by a mode setting.  In other words,
activating online mode will enable the selected options.  The mode setting
will be remembered from the prior session.  Here are the options we are
planning to implement.  We are open to and and all suggestions:

1. Hold the news server connection.  This will be the default setting for
   online mode.  If selected, the server connection will be held
   indefinately until the program is closed, the online mode is deselected
   or the break button is clicked.

2. Selecting a news group will do one of the following.  The first option
   will be the default for offline mode.

   a. Automatically get new headers prior to loading the article tree.

   b. Automatically syncronize headers to the server prior to loading the
      article tree.

   c. Ignore headers and don't create an article tree.  The first unread or
      new article will be loaded into the article text window.

3. Bring up the first unread/new article.  This will be the default for
   online mode.  This option is forced if 2c above is selected.

4. Bypass the send queue such that the OK button in the compose window
   automatically sends articles and email to appropriate servers.  This will
   be the default for online mode.

5. Do not save articles to disk.  This would be the default for online mode.
   If this option is not selected, article will be saved to disk for those
   who want to reread them offline.  You will, of course, have the option of
   filing articles to folders and saving them as files.  One exception:  if
   automatic resolution of binary files has been selected, the decoded
   binary file will be saved to disk in the reserved directory for the
   Transported File Container.


Offline Enhancements and Bug Fixes
==================================

1. The marked-for-download status of articles in article trees will be
   retained if the application is closed so that article can be downloaded
   later when reconnected to a news server.  These marked articles can also
   be retrieved with the Metanews extension.

2. The break button will remain enabled (not be grayed out).  Currently it
   is only active during data transfer between the client application and
   the news server.  The break button is useful for recycling a connection
   when a news server is hung or a dial-up line connection fails and the
   TCP/IP socket remains open.

3. For subject and reference views, when only one article exists for a
   subject or reference that article will be shown in the tree rather than a
   pseudo-parent entry.  In other word, a single child entry becomes its own
   parent.  This seems to be the consesus point of view from our customers.

4. When doing a new (catch-up) retrieval of headers, entries for articles
   that have been pruned on the host will be removed unless the article has
   been downloaded.  This differs from the syncronized retrieval headers in
   which all references to pruned articles are removed unless the article is
   locked.

5. We will be adding logic to "hunt" for file names during MIME decoding of
   binary files when the name can not be properly determined from the MIME
   headers and boundary entries.  File names are often carried in the
   subject.  This only applies to the Transported File Container.
   Incidentally, this new logic will apply to the Post Road Mailer, as well.


Metanews Improvements
=====================

1. We will add the ability to invoke Metanews to retrieve articles marked
   for downloading from within the main application article tree.

2. We are considering adding an optional parameter to limit article
   retrieval to only articles after a certain date.  Please remember that
   dates are often inaccurate.

3. A problem exists that prevented one from running multiple instances of
   Metanews.  This will be fixed.

We are open to any and all ideas. Please send suggestions to 
postsvc@ibm.net. Please help us out by indicating the words news reader in 
the subject. It helps us sort out the thousands of notes we are receiving.

We have not set a target date for these enhancements. The online 
enhancements may follow the other enhancements by one release. Expect 
something, however, within the next week to two weeks.

Enhancements to the Post Road Mailer BETA release and the Post Road News 
Reader BETA release are parallel efforts. Much of the work done for the News
Reader is applicable to the next release (1.05C) of the Post Road Mailer 
which is expected to be ready before Febraury 2, 1996.


Notes for January 25, 1996
==========================

1. The most significant improvement in 1.01C is the ability to download
   headers and/or articles in batch or background mode as a separate 
   OS/2 task. See the section below on the Metanews Extension.

2. Several bugs reported in the news groups and to our technical support
   team have been fixed.  This includes the ability to use addresses from
   the Post Road Mailer address book.

3. Mode settings that you may want to change frequently have been moved to a
   "Mode" menu bar item.  Some other pull-down and pop-up menus have been
   changed based on feedback from customers.

4. A tool bar is now included in both the articles tree window and 
   the article text window.

5. The scan list function now includes "and/or" logic as many requested.

6. A preliminary help file has been added. Please note that instructions for
   the Metanews Extension are not included but are provided below.

7. Fuzzy subject views work faster and subjects are shown alphabetically.

8. With regard to the reference thread view, we have found several instances
   of replies that appear on a server prior to the original note. In one 
   case, the parent article appeared three days after several replies. This 
   situation reconciles the parent/child relationship correctly after the 
   fact.


Known Problems:

1. We are not totally happy with the subject view tree. We are considering 
   eliminating parents in the collapsed view if there is only a single 
   child. We would appreciate your thoughts on this.

2. In some cases, with multiple part UUencoded files and MIME files,
   information in the headers of a binary file is incorrect with respect to
   the number of parts.  This is not due to any error in the Post Road News
   Reader.  For instance, you may find binaries listed as 1 of 6, 2 of 6
   etc.  even though there are only five parts and the five parts represent
   the "entire" file.  We will be adding logic to allow you to assume that
   the file is complete and allow you to decode it.  This will be in the
   next release.

3. Sometimes the "break" button is accidentally grayed-out even though you
   are connected to the news server.  In those instances, when the server is
   "hung," you can still break the connection from the File pull-down menu 
   and then resume normal operation. This bug will be fixed in the next
   release.

4. In some instance the name of a binary file does not appear in the
   Transported File Container. This only occurs with some MIME files and 
   does not occur with UUencoded files. We are adding logic to hunt for 
   names when they are not properly reflected in the MIME header records. 
   This will be included in the next beta release.


Note:  Occasionally, a binary file will be corrupted on a news server and
can not be properly decoded regardless of the news reader being used.  There
is little that can done about these "bad" files.  However, if you have an
example of a binary file that you know is good and is not handled properly
by the Post Road News Reader, please let technical support know right way at
postsvc@ibm.net.  This will give us a chance to capture the file from a news
server before it is pruned.  Please don't send the actual files.  We receive
thousands of emails each week and multiple copies of large binary files are
very difficult to handle.  Send notes to postsvc@ibm.net.



                  Post Road News Reader Metanews Extension
                  ----------------------------------------

The Metanews extension to the Post Road News Reader enables you to retrieve
news headers and articles in a batch or background mode as collections of
news groups.  These collections are called metagroups.  You can be using the
news reader for retrieving, reading, and posting replies while, at the same
time, retrieving headers and articles from multiple news groups with
Metanews.  There is, however, no requirement that the news reader be
running.  Metanews retrieval can also be used, unattended, as a scheduled
process during off-hours.

Before you can run Metanews you must define one or more metagroups.  A
metagroup consists of one or more news groups along with criteria for
determining if certain articles should be downloaded along with the header
information.  You can, if you wish, download all articles along with
headers or just headers.


Creating Metagroups
===================

You can only build metagroups using news groups that the news reader is
aware of.  Therefore, before you can use the Metanews facility you must use
the Post Road News Reader to obtain a list of all news groups or 
you must subscribe to some news groups.

1. Start Metanews.  You can do so from within the news reader by selecting
   News-groups and Metagroups or you can run the program independently.  You
   can create a separate icon on the desktop or in a folder or you can start
   the program from an OS/2 command prompt.  The syntax is "metanews.exe"

2. To define a metagroup select Edit and Create from the menu bar.

   a. Enter a name for the metagroup.  Example:  Sports

   b. Click on News Groups to obtain a list of news groups from which to
      select items for the metagroup.  You may opt to see the full list, the
      subscribed list, the previewed list, or the new list.  Double click on
      each group you want in the metagroup to load it into the news groups
      listbox.

   c. Select one of the following three options:

            Download only headers

            Download all headers and articles

            Search for articles after headers are downloaded

   d. If you selected the third option, to search for articles, you need to
      enter search strings.  You may enter up to three strings.  Each string
      is "or'd" with the other strings.  Within each string you can include
      ampersands for "and'ing" strings.  For instance:

            String 1:   post & road
            String 2:   prm
            String 3:   prnr

      Keep in mind that all headers are downloaded and only articles that
      meet the search criteria are downloaded.  Hence if you see some other
      articles that you want to subsequently download, you may do so, either
      interactively while online, or by marking them for a subsequent
      download when you are connected to the Internet.

3. There are also some global options that you can set for Metanews.  These
   options are found in the File menu.

   a. You can set a maximum number of lines for articles that are to be
      downloaded in order to avoid downloading long postings or binary
      files.  A reasonable setting might be 200 lines.

   b. You can set the maximum number of articles to be downloaded from any
      news group in order to avoid runaway situations.  A possible number
      for maximum number of articles might be 500.

   c. You can specify if you want a complete download of headers from the
      news group (synchronized) or if you want only new headers (update
      only).  Please note that during a synchronized retrieval, any locked
      articles remain intact on your system even if they have been pruned
      from the server.  Also keep in mind that the "kill" function remains
      active and so some articles may not appear in the news reader,
      following a metagroup update, if you have certain subject strings or
      authors in your kill file.


Invoking Metanews to Retrieve Headers and Articles
==================================================

1. You can start Metanews without parameters and retrieve groups from the
   File-pull down menu.  You can select a specific metagroup or select
   to retrieve all metagroups.

2. You can also start Metanews, with arguments, from a command prompt, from
   within a CMD file, or as a desktop or folder object (icon).  The syntax
   is:

                 metanews invoke groupname [-q]

   Metanews is the name of the executable program.  The word "invoke"
   followed by a group name is required.  The quit option (-q) tells
   metanews to close upon completion.  If the -q option is omitted, the
   metanews program remains active and shows the downloading log in a
   window.  Note that if you plan to run Metanews from within a CMD file or
   REXX program, you should use the -q option unless you are retrieving only
   one metagroup.


Sample REXX program for executing metanews
==========================================

/* Sample program to retrieve metagroups */

/* This simple REXX program is designed to work with the Post
   Road News Reader to retrieve news headers and articles for
   defined metagroups.
*/

/*---------------------------------------------------------------
 Load the REXX Utility Library. This is required for the syssleep
 function.
*/

If RxFuncQuery('SysLoadFuncs') then do
  If RxFuncAdd('SysLoadFuncs', 'RexxUtil', 'SysLoadFuncs') then do
     say "Error: Couldn't load RexxUtil library"
     exit
  end
  call SysLoadFuncs
end


/*---------------------------------------------------------------
 Loop every 60 seconds until 6:00 AM then fall out of loop.
*/

do forever
  if time('H') = 6 then leave
  call syssleep 60
end /* do */

/*---------------------------------------------------------------
 Dial into a service provider and call metanews three times, once
 for each of the metagroups. Note that the -q option is required.
 Use your own dialer and use an appropriate amount of sleep time to
 allow for a complete connection.
*/

address cmd 'start dialer usinet userid password'
call syssleep 30
address cmd 'metanews.exe invoke os2 -q'
address cmd 'metanews.exe invoke sports -q'
address cmd 'metanews.exe invoke travel -q'
say 'DONE - News groups updated.'
exit

/* End of Program */
Notes for January 15, 1996
==========================

Changes in 1.01B include:

  The mark-for-download bug has been corrected.  Articles can be marked
  individually or using standard OS/2 multiple marking techniques including
  swipe marking.  You can continue to mark articles for downloading while
  other articles are being downloaded.  Any articles that have already been
  downloaded may be viewed while other articles are downloading.

  Binary files (articles with attachments or articles that are binary
  files), either Uuencoded files or MIME files, may be viewed or handled as
  soon as they are downloaded, even while other articles or files are being
  downloaded.

  A number of hot keys have been added.  They are shown in the pull down
  menus. What else?

  New article headers are differentiated by color after updating a list of
  articles.

  You can now set a threshold of the maximum number of headers to be
  downloaded before you get a warning.  If the number of headers will exceed
  the threshold, you have an option to split the news group into a smaller
  piece.  This is important for large groups such as "advocacy."

  Fonts now stick in the article window.

  Wordwrap now works in the compose window.

  You can now overlap (by resizing) the groups list, article headers, and
  article window.  You must enable this option from the Window menu bar
  item.  This was a good idea.  Thanks to all who suggested it. It makes it
  much easier to jump around.

  Error messages have been corrected for vacant news groups.

  You can now lock an article so it will not be pruned.  You can now, also,
  prune manually on demand.

  Non-traditional ftp and http ports are now supported for swipe marked
  references when they are included in the referenced text (URL).

  For the subject view, fuzzy matching works faster and the algorithm is
  bypassed when the setting is zero.  You can now, also, rearrange the order
  of columns in the detail view.  The process for rearranging columns is not
  clear (yet).  From the Window menu it em, select Adjust Detail Style.
  Then drag the column wording about to rearrange the order.  This will be
  improved in the next beta release.  Note that reference thread view, the
  author view, and the date view remain unchanged.

  The page-down and page-up keys now work in any window that has focus.

  The number of articles is now shown in the header for the article tree.
  We have also added a small tool bar to the article tree to help with
  marking.  In an upcoming release we will also show the number of articles
  for all subscribed groups in the group li st window.

  Rereading an article no longer marks it unread.  Oops!

We have a lot of other good ideas from you and we are exploring them.  Some
that come to mind include:

  A macro facility to that will refresh headers and/or articles for
  subscribed news groups on a periodic or demand basis on a separate
  execution thread.

  A truer "online" mode that would allow you to either pick articles (not
  having them downloaded and saved on disk) or allow you to blind-page from
  article to article without first getting a list of headers.

  A number-of-lines limitation setting for downloading to avoid full
  downloads of large articles until you have previewed some of the text.  In
  conjunction with this we would add an optional binary warning and trap to
  prevent downloading large unwanted binar y attachments.

I know we haven't addressed everything yet.  We focused on what seemed to be
post important from what you told us and what could accomplish quickly.
Please exercise this new release and let us know what your priorities are.
Please help us, though, by addre ssing your comments to postsvc@ibm.net
rather than innoval@ibm.net and include the word BETA in the subject.  We
are getting thousands of notes and sorting them out for the right people is
a major task.


Notes for January 10, 1996
==========================

 Obtaining file
 --------------
 
          ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/incoming/prnr101a.zip
   or     ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/demos/prnr101a.zip
   or     http://www.tiac.net/innoval/prnr101a.zip
 
 Please read the following document completely.  You must have a licensed
 copy of the Post Road Mailer installed to run this beta. You can obtain a 
 full function demonstration copy of the supported release of the Post Road
 Mailer (Release 1.03A) by downloading post103a.zip from Hobbes or the 
 InnoVal Code Center. See note at bottom of this file on how to obtain a
 licensed copy of the Post Road Mailer.
 
          ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/demos/post103a.zip
   or     http://www.tiac.net/innoval/post103a.zip
  
 
 Short Instructions
 ------------------

 (1) Shut down the Post Road Mailer (any edition or version).
 
 (2) Create a POSTNEWS directory. 
     
 (3) Unzip prnr101a.zip into the PostNews directory.
   
 (4) Create a desktop icon by dragging a program template to the desktop and
     editing in the name of the program {drive:\postnews\postnews.exe}
 
 (5) For this next step, you must be connected to the Internet.  Click on
     Help from the menu bar and then click on Release Information.  Download
     the file (URL = http://www.tiac.net/innoval/releasen.txt).  After the
     file has been downloaded, click on Transported Files.  You can drag the
     file to an editor or the WebExlorer to read it.  You can also create an
     association for any files with an extension of txt.
 
 (6) Send technical comments and questions to postsvc@ibm.net.  Please
     include the word BETA and the release number in the subject line.  Doing
     so will help the technical support group distribute the notes and help
     get responses out quicker.  Send only general correspondance to
     innoval@ibm.net.

 (7) Open the settings notebook for the application by clicking on File on
     the menu bar and then Settings. You must provide a settings for a news
     server, select a mail protocol for sending mail, and provide server
     information.

 (8) Please check all menu options early in your testing to determine their 
     meaning.

 
SOME THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
----------------------------

The first (preview) beta release does not include a help file.  You will
need to explore some of the options on your own. We expect to have a help 
file in less than two weeks. If you have specific ideas for the help file 
send a note to postsvc@ibm.net to the attention of Bruce Borg.
 
Most UUencoded files and MIME files are automatically detected and decoded
without any need to manually mark text.  Identically named files will not
overlay existing files.
 
You can swipe-mark URL style FTP references in an email note or news article
and retrieve the referenced file without the need of another FTP tool.
Simply click on Features on the menu bar and then Download after you have
swipe-marked a reference.  If you are connected to the Internet, the file
will be retrieved immediately.  If you are not connected you will be able to
stack requests until later when you reconnect.  Due to widespread
availability of web sites, many people and organizations are starting to use
web sites for general file distribution.  We have, therefore, also included
file retrieval via HTTP protocol.  A pop up window is provided to allow you
to correct URL formatting errors, and if necessary, to enter an ID and
password for FTP.
 
All attached (transported) files are placed in a reserved directory and
assigned a unique name.  This is true for MIME files, UUencoded files, and
files retrieved with FTP and HTTP references.  A container control, the
Transported Files Container has been implemented to allow you to see a list
of files that have been received.  It lists a unique temporary file name,
the intended file name if known, the sender, subject, file size and the
date.
 
You can drag files from the Transported Files Container to many OS/2
applications, to folders, and to the desktop.  You can also invoke most
applications by establishing file extension associations and dragging the
file to the association.  Associations work with most Windows and DOS
applications as well as with OS/2 applications.  You can also use the right
mouse button for save-as, deleting, editing if text, or unzipping a file.
 
The Transported Files Container menu bar includes an option for defining and
executing a virus scan.  For example, you can stipulate that you want to run
the following IBM antivirus program (available from Hobbes)
 
   IBMAVSP D:\POSTROAD\MYID\TRANFILE -ALLFILES -NLOG
 
Other virus programs can be used.  You can invoke the virus scan from the
menu bar for a particular file or for all transported files.

All 1995 and Jan, 1996, licensed customers of the Post Road Mailer will
receive a free copy of this news reader when it is finally released. This is
being extended for one month, until January 31, 1996, due to the impact of
the severe weather on the East Coast of the United States.  This weather has
impacted our customers as well as our ability to deliver beta code and
product as quickly as we would have liked.
    
News Group Blocker:  An optional feature, designed for home use, to allow
you to block certain news groups, is not included with the first build.
This feature, that will be included in both the mailer and the news reader,
will enable you to create and maintain a password secured file of string
arguments that will preclude seeing certain news groups.  This is completely
optional and can be turned on and off with a password.
    
When viewing articles, you can toggle the view headers on and off with
Ctrl-H.
    
Please remember this is beta code and your input is very valuable to us.  As
bug reports and ideas are sent to us, we will compile a list of most items
for your information.  We will provide a special file which you can access
at any time by clicking on Help and selecting Product Information.  You can
also find out information about the latest release.  You must be connected
to the Internet to use this feature.  Please send all email to
postsvc@ibm.net with the word BETA and the release number in the subject
line.  For example BETA 101A.
    
If you wish to participate in this beta release we want to particularly
thank you for your help.  We believe that in working together we all benefit
together. 
 
Known Limitations
-----------------

Cross-posting exclusion/blocking (an option) has not been implemented in the
first beta build. This should be available in the next build.

Some problems remain with ISO Latin-1 as they do with the mailer.
 
To use the Post Road Mailer address book for sending mail you must have, at 
least, the beta version 1.05B of the Post Road Mailer.
   
If the program seems to hang for more than 30 seconds with a "checking
server" message, you can click on the Break button to reset the connection.
This should happen infrequently.

Obtaining a licensed copy of the Post Road Mailer
-------------------------------------------------

Indelible Blue  1-800-776-8284  &  http://www.indelible-blue.com
InnoVal (914)835-3838           &  http://www.aescon.com/innoval
Egghead Software 1-800-EGGHEAD
Software House International (908)764-9393

Indelible Blue offers next day and second day shipping. InnoVal offers
electronic shipping for credit card orders.


End of File


