Name                : Newsparrot
Version              : 4.01
Filename            : newsparrot.zip
FileDate             : 02/06/00
Status               : Shareware
Submitted By:     : Author
Installation Type  : None
Company/Author  : Jim Hyland / Newsparrot
E-Mail                : jhlyand@nettaxi.com
Homepage          : http://www.newsparrot.co.uk
File Location       : http://www.newsparrot.co.uk/newsparrot.zip


Contents:
1. What it does
2. Simple Tutorial
3. Advanced features

 What it does
==============

NewsParrot is a tool to help you quickly access newsgroups using Open / Public news servers. There are several regularly? updated Internet sites available that contain lists of  open news servers most of which should be working. Experience proves that only about 1/3 will work by the time you access them. Newsparrot is able to scan and import the server addresses from these web sites , allowing you to maintain the current list of 121 servers provided. 
(Experienced news hunters can manually add their server address's)

The locating (use of search engines / links etc..) and use of these sites is upon your own undertaking....
 
A search conducted on just 7 current webspages (Located via my links page)provided 338 open news server addresses.
When the list was searched using newsgroup alt.test as a bench-mark, 121 servers were found to be responsive with-in a 30 second time-out.  
See Example "Searchresult1.html" (Shows servers that had the alt.test newsgroup) 
The example is acutal output from Newsparrot (Conducted 28/11/99 2330hrs GMT. Approx duration of search = 10mins) and is provided with the zip.

The Option to remove Unresponsive servers is available, and timeout duration can be set.

On defining a newsgroup(s) you want to access (from the 75,000 that ca be downloaded) Newsparrot will search your list of servers for it.

Example "Searchresult2.html" shows the results of a search on the list of responsive servers found above, using 3 standard newsgroups. (Approx. search duration = 5 mins / Time-out=10 secs)
All of the servers connected - the output is a list of all the servers which had at least one of the groups available.

On selecting a newsgroup from the list found, Newsparrot will instruct your default newsreader to connect direct to the newsgroup on the server, and begin importing the headers. There is no need to wait for any other newsgroups to load.

The 3 steps in the tutorial below outline a simple search. 

Once you understand the action and interaction between each element you can then begin to use the more advanced features provided, details of which are listed further below.
   
	
                              TUTORIAL
                             ==========

* Establish an Internet connection prior to following any of the next steps

1. Create the server list: ( The list of servers that newsparrot will search)

  a. Goto the pull down menu `Project` and  select the `Find servers` tab
  b. Select one of the pre-supplied web addresses.
  c. Click on the `Search` button on the bottom of the window.
  d. Repeat with any other addresses.

Newsparrot will connect, search, and import a list of current news servers from the webpage(s).
	
2. Define the newsgroup that newsparrot will search for.
	 
  a. Goto the `Project` menu and select `Define search` 
  b. Enter words or text that the newsgroup title should contain in the space provided
      - you can enter separate words  e.g. `music` and `mp3`.
  c. Click on the `Search` button at the end of the space. 

 Newsparrot will now search its supplied list of over 75,000 newsgroups for newsgroups  containing the defined words / text  and produce a list of matches. 

  d. Select one of the newsgroups found and click on the `>>` symbol which will put it into             the `Newsgroup search list`. 

3. Search the open news servers for the newsgroup you have selected

   a. Goto `Project`, and select `Search servers'
   b. Click `Start`.

Newsparrot will now connect to all the servers in your server list and search them for the newsgroup you have chosen. As newsparrot progresses it displays the servers speed, a count of how many articles it holds in the newsgroup and whether it accepts non-member postings.

  c. Highlight a newsgroup from the results - e.g. one with the most articles / on the fastest      server.
  d. Click on the `Goto Selection` button at the bottom of the window.
 
Newsparrot will now open your default newsreader (e.g. Outlook Express) and instruct it to connect to the selected server, open the newsgroup and begin downloading the article headers contained within.
If you wish to read a particular article, select it and your news reader will download it from the connected server. 
Subscribing to this newsgroup will allow subsequent direct access to it.


                                 ADVANCED FEATURES
                               =====================

There are a number of features and concepts that are used to enhance the above procedure, some of which should be used with caution.

1. Searching servers with multiple newsgroups.

This is very similar in operation to above, the only difference being is that when you define the newsgroup to search for, you also select other groups, either from the same word search or from others.  This list is saved when exiting newsparrot for convenience. 

2. Using threads

Newsparrot has been programmed using threads, which allows it to connect to a number of servers simultaneously,  allowing excellent connection speeds. The no of threads used can be specified from the search server window. This feature can, however,  be very memory intensive if the thread number is set too high. A recommended value is between 15-25.
If you are lucky enough to have a high spec system then experiment!
     
3. Server list maintenance

The server list is the pivotal point of the whole process - and therefore it is necessary to keep it updated. There are two methods of achieving this:-
 
  a. Regularly - say every other week or so - connect to the websites containing open news server listings, and Newsparrot will import, compare and add any new servers found to your current list. (It is also a good idea to periodically search for new sites that may provide lists of open news servers, and add them to your pre-supplied list)

  b.When you do a search on the servers there will inevitably be servers that do not connect. This could be for many reasons, such as the server being busy, congestion on the net, the  server changing names, closing down, going private etc. Newsparrot will display either the error code - which means it connected but there is an error or state "Not connected" - this most often means it "timed-out"
A time-out is when a server has not connected within a specified time limit.e.g Within 10 seconds. If a server takes more than 60 seconds to connect then generally there is something wrong - i.e. it does not exist anymore!
Newsparrot gives you the ability to specify a time-out duration, which when set high can be used to determine poor / dead servers, very useful for identifying dead servers. And this is where Newsparrot`s  "Delete Unresponsive Servers" button comes in. Just click on it and it will remove the timed-out servers from your server list - which then needs to be saved
.WARNING- only use this facility with caution and a high time-out.
It is advised during normal use to keep the time-out low - say 10 seconds - so that Newsparrot does not waste time on slow servers.

2. Newsgroup maintenance

In the Define newsgroups window of Newsparrot there is a button "Update newsgroup list", and this is exactly what it does. This is achieved by connecting to your list of open news servers and retrieving all the new newsgroups recently added to them.
On clicking the button it brings up a window, from where you can specify the number of days to go back. Be aware that although collecting the data does not take too long, incorporating and organising them into the very large newsgroup can take a long time, even with the best Java code there is!). 

If you have mastered all the above and believe that you can provide constructive feedback, humanly possible suggestions or comments, please e-mail me - they would be greatly appreciated.

newsparrot@hotmail.com

Rgds,
         Newsparrot








  


