Strn (Scan TRN) is now available for public beta testing. See below for FTP sites. Strn is based on trn (version 3.4.1 by Wayne Davison), and contains all of the trn commands and features. It adds many new capabilities to trn, such as a newsgroup browser, virtual newsgroups, scoring/rating of articles, and easy configuration menus. Strn has been developed and tested over the past year with the help of more than 50 alpha testers. The beta release is intended to make the current version more widely available, test out some of the new concepts (such as index-moderation using virtual newsgroups), and gather suggestions for improvement. Strn is still under development, although most of its planned features are implemented. Future versions of strn will mainly improve the documentation, scoring ease-of-use, and configurability of the program. Version 1.0 release is expected in a finite amount of time. Outline of major strn features: * The "scan mode" interface o A consistent full-screen interface for the four scan modes. . Implements many common commands such as movement, shell escapes, and searching. . Common code allows quick development of new scan modes. o Uses arrow keys for movement (trn-style 'n' and 'p' are also allowed). o X windows mouse selection (when strn is run under "xterm"). * Group scan mode o Full-screen interface for newsgroup selection. o Can replace the trn newsgroup selector for most purposes. o Easy subscription/unsubscription to newsgroups. o User-definable and sharable topic hierarchies. . Example: one could have an "IBM PC" topic containing the groups in comp.sys.ibm.pc.*, comp.os.msdos.*, comp.os.os2, and comp.os.ms-windows.* o Topic hierarchies can be easily shared: . Locally, by adding a link to another user's topics. . Remotely, by sending the topic files to other users. . Via Internet using Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). * Virtual scan mode o Supports "virtual groups" consisting of articles from any newsgroup. o Supports an easy-to-use "hotlist" of selected articles. o Merged groups, such as rec.arts.sf.* (all articles in those groups) o Virtual group files can be mailed to other users, and (with some setup) automatically added to a user's virtual group files. o Posted virtual group files can be used directly, allowing easy "index-moderated" newsgroups. o Virtual newsgroups can be shared via Internet and URLs. * Article scan mode o Subject-based "threading" available. . All articles with the same subject can be displayed as one line. o Summaries and keywords can be displayed. o Articles can be marked and read as a group. o Displays articles in either arrival or score order. (See below for more information on scoring.) * Scoring o Articles are assigned a score by scoring rules consisting of: . Header matching: either exact text or regular expressions. . (optional) NewsClip programs. o Scoring allows high scoring (interesting) articles to be presented before non-scored (ordinary) or negative-scoring (uninteresting) ones. For instance, in sci.space, one could give higher scores to postings from NASA or JPL, and easily read only those articles. o Articles are graded on a continuous scale, rather than a binary keep/junk distinction. (Articles scoring below a threshold value can be junked automatically.) o Scoring is *fast*, typically limited by I/O times to fetch article headers. o Scoring rules can be entered with an easy-to-use menu. o Scoring can be done from a shell script run by cron/at. o Scores are saved to a file so they don't need to be recalculated. * Online help (help scan mode) o Typing 'H' at almost any prompt enters help scan mode. o Help scan mode presents menus of documentation, containing: . The complete trn manual, broken into sections. . Full strn documentation. . Introductory USENET documents (such as "What is USENET?"). o Help files can be easily edited by the local administrator. * Online configuration o Easy menu-based configuration of almost all strn options. o Accessible from the newsgroup selector or group scan mode. o Configuration changes are automatically saved for the next strn run. o Site-wide configuration Strn version 0.9.2 is available from the following FTP sites: (North America, Eastern US) ftp.uu.net /news/trn/strn ftp.digex.net /pub/news (North America, Southwest US) perseus.unm.edu /pub/strn (United Kingdom) src.doc.ic.ac.uk:computing/news/software/readers/trn/strn (Europe, Netherlands) ftp.twi.tudelft.nl /pub/news (South Africa) ftp.ee.und.ac.za /pub/news/strn Sample displays [edited to reduce number of lines]: Article scan mode: [authors not shown in this sample to protect the guilty :-]: ---------- cut ---------- sci.physics | 790 unread Fold +.... [ 18] ( 9) > Some physics questions +....> [ 14] ( 10) > The size of electrons, and Fanciful misc SAGA +.... [ 11] ( 4) > Massive Photons Tomorrow (was Scientists Plan...) +.... [ 8] ( 47) > NASA Coverup Keys: Moon Neutral Point calculation +...x [ 7] ( 8) > Gravitation & massless particles (was Re: Some physics qu +..+. [ 3] ( 5) > Question on Hawking radiation Summary: Why don't extremal black holes radiate? +.... [ 3] ( 10) > Background Radiation and Olber's Paradox +.... [ 1] ( 1) Covariant vs. Lie Derivative in Gen. Rel.? -TOP-(score (old>new) order, 100% scored) ---------- cut ---------- Group scan mode: [Here is the "top" level:] ---------- cut ---------- Top Level | Unread Newsgroups | Top Level file> Favorites virt Hotlist file Americast (USA Today) file USENET file Networks file Computers file Amiga! file Social file Games file Recreational file Science file Misc file Hierarchies list All groups in .newsrc -ALL- ---------- cut ---------- [After selecting the "USENET" entry the screen displays:] ---------- cut ---------- Level 2 | Unread Newsgroups | USENET +.... 31> news.software.readers +M... 4 news.announce.newgroups +.... 7 news.misc +.... 33 news.software.nn +.... 27 news.future +.... 139 alt.config +.... 201 alt.fan.warlord +.... 2259 control list foreign news -ALL- ---------- cut ---------- Virtual scan mode: ---------- cut ---------- Virtual 1 | unread+read | Hotlist -.... [ 33] >Newsreader authors: Would article replacement break your reader < -.... [ 18] FAQ use of replaces: -.... [ 6] >Using NNRP for something like "nngrab" -.... [ 6] rn KILL file FAQ -.... [ -1] Future USENET projections, statistical -.... [ -1] Need more best-of-usenet groups/subj scan -.... [ -1] More group-related intelligence for Pnews wanted. Help on help scan mode topic Introductory USENET documents topic Trn manual information help Strn Quickstart topic Introductory strn documentation topic Group scan mode topic Article scan mode topic Virtual scan mode (merged/virtual newsgroups) topic Scoring topic Digital signatures, cryptography, and USENET topic Misc (coding style, troubleshooting, quotes) topic Configuration (user and site-wide) topic Installation topic Version-related information help Credits -ALL- ---------- cut ---------- Configuration menus: ---------- cut ---------- Strn configuration menu: 0) Exit. 1) Group scan mode. 2) Article scan mode. 3) Virtual scan mode. 4) Scoring. 5) Miscellaneous. Enter your choice: 2 Article scan configuration menu: 0) Exit. 1) Change the displayed fields. (Author, threadcount, summary, etc...) 2) Change ordering and misc. flags. (score ordering, fold, follow, etc...) Enter your choice: 1 Article scan display: 0) Exit. 1) Article number (OFF) 2) Score (ON) 3) Number of articles with same subject (ON) 4) Author (ON) 5) Summary (OFF) 6) Keywords (OFF) An article will look like this: +.... [ 26] (17) John Q. Public Subject of the article Enter your choice: ---------- cut ---------- Authors: (See the strn credits for more information) STRN Clifford A. Adams TRN Wayne Davison RN Stan Barber (current maintainer) RN Larry Wall (original author of rn) --Cliff -- Clifford A. Adams caadams@access.digex.net | Author of "strn" (scan trn): 457 Ash St. NE Albuquerque, NM 87106 | Trn 3.4.1 plus virtual groups, scoring (articles sorted by score), newsgroup menus, online help, and more. See ftp.uu.net:/news/trn/strn/strn-0.9.2.tar.gz