tin(1) A Usenet newsreader tin(1)
tin, rtin - A Usenet newsreader
tin [[-h|-H|-V] | [[[-a] [-dlnq|-Q] [-ArzxX]] [[-R|-S] -s News-dir]
[-cuvZ] [-N|-M address] [-o|-w]] [-D debug_level] [-G article_limit]
[-f newsrc_file] [-g server] [-m Mail_dir] [-p port] [-I
index_dir] [newsgroup[,...]]]
tin is a full-screen easy to use Usenet newsreader. It can read news
locally (e.g., /var/spool/news) or remotely (rtin or tin -r option) via
a NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) server. It will automatically
utilize NOV newsoverview(5) style index files if available locally or
via the NNTP [X]OVER command (RFC2980).
tin has four separate levels of operation: Selection level, Group
level, Thread level and Article level. Use the Help ('h') command to
view a list of the commands available at a particular level.
On startup tin will show a list of the newsgroups found in ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc. An arrow '->' or highlighted bar will point to
the first newsgroup. Move to a group by using the terminal arrow keys
(terminal dependent) or Down2 ('j') and Up2 ('k'). Use PgUp/PgDn (ter-
minal dependent) or PageUp2 ('^U') (CTRL-U) and PageDown ('^D') (CTRL-
D) to page up/down. Enter a newsgroup by pressing '<CR>'.
The GroupNextUnreadArtOrGrp ('<TAB>') key enters the next newsgroup
with unread articles.
Interactive mode:
0 Successful program execution.
1 Usage, syntax, configuration file or network error.
Batch mode (''-Z''):
0 No unread news
1 Usage, syntax, configuration file or network error.
2 Unread news
-a Toggle ANSI color (default is off).
-A Force authentication on initial connect.
-c Create/update index files for every group in ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc or file specified by the ''-f'' option
and mark all articles as read.
-d Don't load newsgroup descriptions (interactive mode).
-D debug-level
Enter debug-level (1 = NNTP, 2 = all, 3 = newsrc, 4 = mem-
ory allocation).
-f file Use the specified file of subscribed to newsgroups in place
of ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc.
-g server Use the server and newsrc specified in ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/newsrctable.
-G article-limit
Limit the number of articles/group to retrieve from the
server.
-h Help listing all command-line options.
-H Brief introduction to tin that is also shown the first time
it is started.
-I dir Directory in which to store newsgroup index files. Default
is ${TIN_INDEX_NEWSDIR-"${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.tin"}/.news. This option has no effect if
tin retrieves its index files via NNTP and
cache_overview_files is turned off.
-l Get number of articles per group from the ${TIN_LIB-
DIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE-active} file. If reading
via NNTP this is done with the LIST command (RFC977). This
might result in incorrect article counts but is usually
faster than the default which is to read the ${TIN_LIB-
DIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE-active} file (either
directly or via LIST) and then check the article count via
NNTP GROUP command (RFC977) ''-ln''.
-m dir Mailbox directory to use. Default is ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/Mail.
-M user Mail unread articles to specified user for later reading.
For more information read section "AUTOMATIC MAILING AND
SAVING NEW NEWS".
-n Only load groups from the ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIB-
DIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE-active} file that are subscribed to
in the user's ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc. This allows a
noticeable speedup when connecting via a slow line, but tin
can not tell which groups are moderated. See also ''-l''.
-N Mail unread articles to yourself for later reading. For
more information read section "AUTOMATIC MAILING AND SAVING
NEW NEWS".
-o Quick post all postponed articles and exit. In order for
this to be really quick, it should be used with ''-n'' if
possible.
-p port Port to use if reading via NNTP (default is 119). This also
overrides the environment variable $NNTPPORT if set.
-q Don't check for new newsgroups.
-Q Quick start. Start tin as quickly as possible. Currently
this is equivalent to ''-nqd''.
-r Read news remotely from the default NNTP server specified
in the environment variable $NNTPSERVER or contained in the
file /etc/nntpserver.
-R Read news saved by the ''-S'' option.
-s dir Save/read articles to/in directory. Default is ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/News.
-S Save unread articles for later reading by the ''-R''
option. For more information read section "AUTOMATIC MAIL-
ING AND SAVING NEW NEWS".
-u Create/update index files for every group in ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc or file specified by the ''-f''
option. This option is disabled if tin retrieves its index
files via a NNTP server and cache_overview_files is turned
off.
-v Verbose mode for ''-c'', ''-M'', ''-N'', ''-S'', ''-u'' and
''-Z'' options.
-V Print version and date information.
-w Quick mode to post an article and then exit. In order for
this to be really quick, it should be used with ''-n'' if
possible.
-x No posting mode. You cannot post articles if you use this
option.
-X No overwrite mode. ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc and files
in ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin will not be overwritten but
may be created if they don't exist.
-z Only start tin if there is any new/unread news. If there is
news tin will position cursor at first group with unread
news. Useful for putting in login file.
-Z Check if there is any new/unread news and exit with appro-
priate status. If ''-v'' option is specified the number of
unread articles in each group is printed. An exit code 0
indicates no news, 1 that an error occurred and 2 that
new/unread news exists. Useful for writing scripts.
tin can also dynamically change its options by the OptionMenu ('M')
command. Any changes are written to ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc.
For more information see section "GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU AND TINRC CONFIG-
URABLE VARIABLES" and tin(5).
A list of groups can be specified after the other command-line options.
This can be useful if you wish to yank in or subscribe to a hand-picked
subset of the active newsgroups. See the section "NEWSGROUP LISTS &
WILDCARDS" for the types of pattern that tin understands.
If you specify a single group-name, or a wildcard that matches a single
group, then you will automatically enter that group. Otherwise the nor-
mal group selection screen will appear, but with all the matching
groups present too, as though you had yanked just those groups in.
Once you use SelectYankActive ('y') to yank in all active groups, or
SelectToggleReadDisplay ('r') to toggle the read/unread status, then
the command-line groups will be gone. You can use SelectSyncWithActive
('Y') to reread the ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE-active}
file and get them back.
NB: With the ''-n'' flag, only unsubscribed groups in the ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc file (or the newsrc-file given by the ''-f'' com-
mand-line switch or via ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/newsrctable) can be
matched.
NEWS ADMINISTRATION
Maintaining Netnews on large networks of machines can be a pretty time
consuming job as I discovered when I was given the job of maintaining
our news system and news users.
A user starting tin for the first time can be automatically subscribed
to a list of newsgroups that are deemed appropriate by the news admin-
istrator. The subscriptions file should be created in your news lib
directory (i.e., ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/subscriptions) and should
have file permissions set to 0644. If you read news via NNTP, then your
news server must support the LIST SUBSCRIPTIONS command. It is part of
the Common NNTP Extensions (RFC2980) and all modern servers should
understand it.
SCREEN FORMAT
tin has four separate levels of operation: Selection level, Group
level, Thread level and Article level.
At the Selection level the title displays (the name of the newsserver
and) the number of subscribed groups (containing new unread articles).
The newsgroups are displayed in the middle of the screen with the num-
ber of unread articles displayed on the same line in front.
->M 1 2 comp.security.announce Announcements from the CERT abou
M 2 1 news.admin.announce Announcements for news adminstra
3 22 news.software.misc News-related software other than
4 1475 news.software.nntp The Network News Transfer Protoc
X 5 124 news.software.readers Discussion of software used to r
There may also be a character prefixing the line. An explanation fol-
lows:
u This group is unsubscribed. To see only your subscribed
groups use the SelectToggleReadDisplay ('r') or SelectYankAc-
tive ('y') toggle keys.
M This is a moderated group. Any posts you make will have to be
approved by the group administrator before it will be made
public. tin will ask for confirmation before you post to a
moderated group.
N This is a new newsgroup which has been created since you last
used tin. New newsgroups are not subscribed to by default
(However, see the $AUTOSUBSCRIBE / $AUTOUNSUBSCRIBE environ-
ment variables). Subscribe to it in the normal way if you
wish the group to continue to appear in your Selection Menu.
Simply ignore new newsgroups and they will be gone the next
time you start tin. You will have to yank in all the groups
to find them in a later session.
D This group no longer exists. If you no longer wish to see
this group then unsubscribe from it in the normal way. This
flag will only appear if you have set strip_bogus to "ask" in
the Options Menu.
X You may no longer make posts to this group. Often a group
will be superseded by a more appropriately named one.
= This group has been renamed and you may no longer post to it.
If you do, then you will receive an error from your
newsserver telling you the correct group to post to.
At the Group level the title contains the name of the group, the number
of conversation threads, the threading method, the limit of articles to
get, the total number of articles, the number of hot articles, the num-
ber of recent articles and the number of killed articles. I.e.:
alt.sources (5B -50/23+ 0* 3o 0K).
The characters after the numbers are depending to the configuration and
if your are in show_only_unread_arts mode or not. Some numbers could be
missing if the specific option is not enabled. It might also contain an
'M', 'X' or '=' (see above; doesn't work with the ''-n'' command-line
switch!) if the group is moderated, set to no posting or postings to it
get redirected.
If a thread has unread articles in it it's marked with a
art_marked_unread in front of the total number of articles in the
thread. If there are recent articles within the thread it might be
marked with art_marked_recent in front of the total number of articles
in the thread - this is controlled by the recent_time option. If a
thread has hot articles in it (see also section "FILTERING ARTICLES")
it's marked with art_marked_selected in front of the total number of
articles in the thread. The number of lines of the first (unread) arti-
cle in the thread might also be shown right before the subject - this
is controlled by the show_info option.
de.admin.net-abuse.announce (11B 13+ 1* 1o 0K) M
-> 1 + 3 108 bincancels in de.talk.sex Christopher Lueg <l
2 + 69 EMP/ECP gecancelt. xynx. BI= 10 Henning Weede <hwee
3 o 93 EMP gecancelt. SouthBeach/Palms Henning Weede <hwee
4 * 368 <1997-11-12> Fremdcancel-FAQ Thomas Roessler <ro
At the Thread level the screen usually (depends on the threading method
used) looks like this:
-> 1 [ 7] What is this funny tree in the thr Robert F. Simmig
2 [ 12] +-> Sephan Wagner <s
3 [ 230] | `->Tin thread-level (was: What is Bob Johnson <bob
4 [ 22] `->tin threading menu Brian Richardson
At the Article level the page header has the following format:
Sun, 28 Dec 1997 21:21:01 de.admin.news.groups Thread 20 of 86
Lines 50 Re: EINSPRUCH zu RESULT:de.comm.mobil.ALL RespNo 47 of 59
Urs Janssen <urs [AT] akk.org> at Arbeitskreis Kultur und Kommunikati
article-body
COMMON MOVING KEYS
This table shows the common keys used for moving around all levels
within tin.
ANSI/vt100 Other Terminals
Beg. of list/article Home FirstPage (^)
End of list/article End LastPage ($)
Page Up PgUp PageUp2 (^U), PageUp (^B)
or PageUp3 (b)
Page Down PgDn PageDown (^D), PageDown2 (^F)
or PageDown3 (<SPACE>)
Line Up Up arrow Up2 (k) or Up (^P)
Line Down Down arrow Down2 (j) or Down (^N)
COMMON EDITING COMMANDS
An emacs style editing package allows the easy editing of input
strings. An history list allows the easy reuse of previously entered
strings. In addition to the cursor keys, the following commands are
available when editing a string:
^A, ^E move to beginning or end of line, respectively.
^F, ^B non-destructive move forward or back one location, respec-
tively.
^D delete the character currently under the cursor, or send EOF
if no characters in the buffer.
^H, <DEL> delete character left of the cursor.
^K delete from cursor to end of line.
^P, ^N move through history, previous and next, respectively.
^L, ^R redraw the current line.
<CR> places line on history list if non-blank, appends newline and
returns to the caller.
<ESC> aborts the present editing operation.
GLOBAL COMMANDS
The following commands are available at all 4 menu levels and always
have the same effect.
ShellEscape '!'
Shell escape. ShellEscape by itself will launch a shell,
ShellEscape <command> will run an external <command>. This
facility may have been disabled by the System Administrator.
ToggleColor '&'
Toggle use of ANSI color.
RedrawScr '^L'
Redraw the current screen.
Postponed '^O'
Reload postponed article. If your system blocks the Postponed
key you must quote it by pressing '^V' (CTRL-V) first. The
postpone-menu offers the following actions: PromptYes ('y') =
reload and spawn editor; PostponeOverride ('Y') = post arti-
cle (without spawning editor); PostponeAll ('A') = post all
postponed articles (without spawning editor); PromptNo ('n')
= skip this article; Quit ('q') = quit postponed menu. Cur-
rently there is no 'simple' way to delete a postponed article
from the postponed-file, you have to use the following com-
mand sequence instead: reload it with Postponed, enter editor
with PromptYes, quit editor, discard posting with Quit
('^O''y''q'). See also ''-o'' command-line switch.
Help 'h' Help screen of commands available on the current menu. You
can use SearchSubjF ('/'), SearchSubjB ('?') and SearchRepeat
('\') to search on this screen. Quit ('q') returns to the
menu.
ToggleHelpDisplay 'H'
Toggle the display of help mini menu at the bottom of the
screen.
Postponed2 'O'
Reload postponed article. See also ''-o'' command-line
switch.
DisplayPostHist 'W'
List articles posted by user. The date posted, the newsgroup
and the subject are listed. You can use SearchSubjF ('/'),
SearchSubjB ('?') and SearchRepeat ('\') to search on this
screen. Quit ('q') returns to the menu.
Version 'v'
Print tin version information.
NEWSGROUP SELECTION COMMANDS
4 Select group 4.
SelectResetNewsrc '^R'
Reset ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc file. This will destroy
all records of which articles have been read, so use this
carefully.
SetRange '#'
Choose a range of articles to be affected by the next com-
mand. See the section "RANGES" for more information.
SelectSortActive '.'
Sort the list of newsgroups.
SearchRepeat '\'
Repeat the previous search.
SearchSubjF '/'
Search for a group by name and description (if displayed).
SearchSubjB '?'
Backward search through the group names and descriptions.
SelectReadGrp '^J', SelectReadGrp2 '<CR>'
Read current group.
SelectEnterNextUnreadGrp '<TAB>', SelectEnterNextUnreadGrp2 'n'
Enter next group with unread news. Will wrap around to the
beginning of the group selection list looking for unread
groups.
SelectCatchup 'c'
Make current group as all read [after confirmation] and move
to the next group in the group selection list.
SelectCatchupNextUnread 'C'
Mark current group as all read [after confirmation] and enter
the next unread group in the group selection list.
SelectToggleDescriptions 'd'
Toggle display to show just the group name or the group name
and the group descriptions.
SelectGoto 'g'
Choose a new group by name. This command can be used to
access any group, even those not currently yanked in.
ToggleInfoLastLine 'i'
Toggle the display of the description of the current news-
group in the last line. This will not be available if tin was
started with the ''-d'' option.
ToggleInverseVideo 'I'
Toggle inverse video.
SelectMoveGrp 'm'
Move the current group within the group selection list. By
entering '1' the group will become the first displayed group
in the list, by entering '8' the eighth group in the list
etc. By entering '$' the group will be the last group dis-
played.
OptionMenu 'M'
User configurable options menu (for more information see sec-
tion "GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES").
SelectNextUnreadGrp 'N'
Positions the cursor on the next group with unread articles
in it.
Quit 'q' Quit tin - ask the user to confirm if confirm_choice is set
accordingly.
QuitTin 'Q'
Quit tin - don't ask the user to confirm.
SelectToggleReadDisplay 'r'
Toggle display of all subscribed to groups and just those
groups containing unread articles. Command has no effect if
groups were specified on the command-line when tin was
started.
SelectBugReport 'R'
Mail a bug report or comment to <tin-bugs [AT] tin.org>. This is
the best way of getting bugs fixed and features
added/changed.
SelectSubscribe 's'
Subscribe to current group.
SelectSubscribePat 'S'
Subscribe to groups matching user specified pattern. See the
section "NEWSGROUP LISTS & WILDCARDS" for the types of pat-
tern that tin understands.
SelectUnsubscribe 'u'
Unsubscribe to current group. This can be used to remove
bogus groups. See strip_bogus in the "GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU
AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES" section.
SelectUnsubscribePat 'U'
Unsubscribe to groups matching user specified pattern. See
the section "NEWSGROUP LISTS & WILDCARDS" for the types of
pattern that tin understands.
Post 'w' Post an article to current group. If posting fails for some
reason, you'll get the chance to PostEdit ('e') the article
again, PostPostpone ('o') it for later processing (see also
''-o'' command-line switch) or discard it via Quit ('q').
SelectQuitNoWrite 'X'
Quit tin without saving any changes to the configuration.
SelectYankActive 'y'
Yanks in all groups. Toggles the displayed groups between all
the groups in the ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVE-
FILE-active} file and just those that are subscribed to in
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc.
SelectSyncWithActive 'Y'
Reread the ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVE-
FILE-active} file to see if any new news has arrived since
starting tin.
SelectMarkGrpUnread 'z', SelectMarkGrpUnread2 'Z'
Mark all articles in the current group as unread.
GROUP INDEX COMMANDS
4 Select article 4.
GroupAutoSel '^A'
Auto select article(s) using a menu. Read the section "FIL-
TERING ARTICLES" for more information.
GroupKill '^K'
Kill article(s) using a menu. Read the section "FILTERING
ARTICLES" for more information.
SetRange '#'
Choose a range of articles to be affected by the next com-
mand. See the section "RANGES" for more information.
LastViewed '-'
Re-enter the last message that was viewed.
SearchRepeat '\'
Repeat the previous search
SearchSubjF '/'
Search forward for specified subject.
SearchSubjB '?'
Search backward for specified subject.
GroupSelThd '*'
Select current thread for later processing.
GroupDoAutoSel '+'
Selects all threads in current group. It is a shortcut for
calling GroupSelPattern with a pattern of ''*''.
GroupToggleThdSel '.'
Toggle selection of current thread. If at least one unread
article, (but not every unread article) in the current thread
is selected, then all unread articles become selected.
GroupSelThdIfUnreadSelected ';'
For each thread in current group, if it at least one unread
article is selected, all unread articles become selected.
This is useful for auto-selection on author where reader
wants to see entire thread.
GroupSelPattern '='
Prompts for a pattern with which to match on. All threads
whose subjects match the pattern will be marked selected. A
pattern of ''*'' will match all subjects. Entering just
'<CR>' will re-use the last pattern that was entered.
GroupReverseSel '@'
Reverse all selections on all articles.
GroupUndoSel '~'
Undo all selections on all articles. It clears the toggle
effect of GroupMarkUnselArtRead ('X') command. Thus after
first doing a GroupMarkUnselArtRead, one can then do GroupUn-
doSel to reset articles. Thus, one can iteratively whittle
down uninteresting threads.
Pipe '|' Pipe current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles into command.
See the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
GroupQuickAutoSel '['
Auto select article(s) with a single key [after confirma-
tion]. The defaults used for selection are based upon the
following four tinrc config variables: default_fil-
ter_select_case, default_filter_select_expire,
default_filter_select_global and default_fil-
ter_select_header. Read the section "GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU AND
TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES" for a full explanation of these
variables and "FILTERING ARTICLES" for more information on
filtering.
GroupQuickKill ']'
Kill article(s) with a single key [after confirmation]. The
defaults used for killing are based upon the following four
tinrc config variables: default_filter_kill_case,
default_filter_kill_expire, default_filter_kill_global and
default_filter_kill_header. Read the section "GLOBAL OPTIONS
MENU AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES" for a full explanation
of these variables and "FILTERING ARTICLES" for more informa-
tion on filtering.
GroupReadBasenote '^J', GroupReadBasenote2 '<CR>'
Read current article.
GroupNextUnreadArtOrGrp '<TAB>'
View next unread article or group.
SearchAuthF 'a'
Author forward search. This searches for articles with a spe-
cific ''From:'' line.
SearchAuthB 'A'
Author backward search. Otherwise, see SearchAuthF ('a')
above.
SearchBody 'B'
Search the body of all articles in group (can be slow). You
can abort the search using Quit ('q').
GroupCatchup 'c'
Mark all articles as read [after confirmation] then return to
the group selection list. Move cursor to next group.
GroupCatchupNextUnread 'C'
Mark all articles as read [after confirmation] and enter the
next group with unread news.
GroupToggleSubjDisplay 'd'
Cycle the display of the author through all the possible
options for the tinrc variable show_author.
GroupEditFilter 'E'
Edit the filter file and reload it afterwards.
GroupGoto 'g'
Choose a new group by name. This command can be used to
access any group, even those not currently yanked in.
GroupToggleGetartLimit 'G'
Toggle article/group limit.
ToggleInfoLastLine 'i'
Display the subject of the first article in the current
thread in the last line.
ToggleInverseVideo 'I'
Toggle inverse video.
GroupMarkThdRead 'K'
Mark article/thread as read and move onto the next unread
article/thread.
GroupListThd 'l'
Open the thread under the current cursor position.
LookupMessage 'L'
Look up article by ''Message-ID:''.
GroupMail 'm'
Mail current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles to someone. See
the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
OptionMenu 'M'
User configurable options menu (for more information see sec-
tion "GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES").
GroupNextGroup 'n'
Go to next group.
GroupNextUnreadArt 'N'
Go to next unread article.
Print 'o' Send current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles to printer. See
the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
GroupPrevGroup 'p'
Go to previous group.
GroupPrevUnreadArt 'P'
Go to previous unread article.
Quit 'q' Return to previous level.
QuitTin 'Q'
Quit tin - don't ask the user to confirm.
GroupToggleReadUnread 'r'
Toggle the display between all articles and unread articles.
GroupBugReport 'R'
Mail a bug report or comment to <tin-bugs [AT] tin.org>. This is
the best way of getting bugs fixed and features
added/changed.
GroupSave 's'
Save current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles. See the sec-
tion "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING ARTICLES"
for more information.
GroupAutoSave 'S'
Save marked articles automatically without further prompting.
GroupTag 't'
Toggle tag-status of current article / thread for GroupMail
('m') / Pipe ('|') / Print ('o') / GroupSave ('s') / GroupRe-
post ('x').
GroupTagParts 'T'
Automatically tag in order all the parts of the current
multi-part message.
GroupToggleThreading 'u'
Cycle the threading mode through no threading, threading by
subject, threading by references, threading on both subject
and references, group multipart articles into a thread
(''Subject:'' based).
GroupUntag 'U'
Untag all articles that were tagged.
Post 'w' Post an article to current group. If posting fails for some
reason, you'll get the chance to edit the article again via
PostEdit ('e'), postpone it via PostPostpone ('o') for later
processing (see also ''-o'' command-line switch) or discard
it via Quit ('q').
GroupRepost 'x'
Repost an already posted article / thread / auto-selected
(hot) articles / articles matching pattern / tagged articles
to another newsgroup(s). Useful for reposting from global to
local newsgroups. Do not use this to cross-post your own
articles.
GroupMarkUnselArtRead 'X'
Mark all unread articles that have not been selected as read,
redraw screen to reflect changes and put index at the first
thread to begin reading. Pressing GroupMarkUnselArtRead
('X') again will toggle back to the way it was before. See
GroupUndoSel ('~') command for clearing the toggle effect,
leaving the group will also clear the toggle effect and make
the changes permanent.
GroupMarkArtUnread 'z'
Mark current article as unread.
GroupMarkThdUnread 'Z'
Mark current thread as unread.
THREAD LISTING COMMANDS
4 Select article 4 within thread.
SetRange '#'
Choose a range of articles to be affected by the next com-
mand. See the section "RANGES" for more information.
LastViewed '-'
Re-enter the last message that was viewed.
SearchRepeat '\'
Repeat the previous search.
SearchSubjF '/'
Search forward for a specified subject.
SearchSubjB '?'
Search backwards for a specified subject.
ThreadSelArt '*'
Select the current thread for later processing.
ThreadToggleArtSel '.'
Toggle selection of current article.
ThreadReverseSel '@'
Reverse article selections.
ThreadUndoSel '~'
Undo all selections on current thread.
Pipe '|' Pipe current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles into command.
See the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
ThreadReadArt '^J', ThreadReadArt2 '<CR>'
Read current article within thread.
ThreadReadNextArtOrThread '<TAB>'
View next unread article within thread.
SearchAuthF 'a'
Author forward search. This searches for articles with a spe-
cific ''From:'' line. The search will wrap over into the next
thread if nothing is found in the current one.
SearchAuthB 'A'
Author backward search. Otherwise, see SearchAuthF ('a')
above.
SearchBody 'B'
Search the body of all articles in group (can be slow). You
can abort the search using Quit ('q').
ThreadCatchup 'c'
Mark thread as read [after confirmation] and return to the
group index page. Move cursor to next thread.
ThreadCatchupNextUnread 'C'
Mark thread as read [after confirmation] and enter the next
thread containing unread news.
ThreadToggleSubjDisplay 'd'
Cycle the display of the author through all the possible
options for the tinrc variable show_author.
ToggleInfoLastLine 'i'
Display the subject of the current article in the last line.
ToggleInverseVideo 'I'
Toggle inverse video.
ThreadMarkArtRead 'K'
Mark article as read and move onto the next unread article.
LookupMessage 'L'
Look up article by ''Message-ID:''.
ThreadMail 'm'
Mail current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles to someone. See
the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
Quit 'q' Return to previous level.
QuitTin 'Q'
Quit tin - don't ask the user to confirm.
ThreadBugReport 'R'
Mail a bug report or comment to <tin-bugs [AT] tin.org>. This is
the best way of getting bugs fixed and features
added/changed.
ThreadSave 's'
Save current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles. See the sec-
tion "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING ARTICLES"
for more information.
ThreadAutoSave 'S'
Save marked articles automatically without further prompting.
ThreadTag 't'
Toggle tag status of current article for mailing, piping,
printing, saving or reposting.
ThreadUntag 'U'
Untag all tagged threads.
Post 'w' Post an article to current group. If posting fails for some
reason, you'll get the chance to edit the article again via
PostEdit ('e'), postpone it for later processing via Post-
Postpone ('o') (see also ''-o'' command-line switch) or dis-
card it via Quit ('q').
ThreadMarkArtUnread 'z'
Mark current article in thread as unread.
ThreadMarkThdUnread 'Z'
Mark all articles in thread as unread.
ARTICLE VIEWER COMMANDS
0 Read the first (base) article in this thread.
4 Read response 4 in this thread.
PageAutoSel '^A'
Auto select article(s) using a menu. Read the section "FIL-
TERING ARTICLES" for more information.
PageReplyQuoteHeaders '^E'
Reply through mail to the author of the current article with
a copy of the article with all headers included.
PagePGPCheckArticle '^G'
Perform pgp(1) operations on article.
PageToggleHeaders '^H'
Toggles the display mode (raw including all headers vs.
cooked)
PageAutoKill '^K'
Kill article(s) using a menu. Read the section "FILTERING
ARTICLES" for more information.
PageToggleTabs '^T'
Toggle the TAB width between 4 and 8 characters.
PageFollowupQuoteHeaders '^W'
Post a followup to the current article with a copy of the
article with all headers included.
PageToggleTex2iso '"'
Toggle TeX to ISO decoding for current article. The default
behavior is taken from the tex2iso_conv variable in the tinrc
file.
PageToggleRot '%'
Toggle ROT-13 decoding for this article.
PageToggleUue '('
Toggle the display of uuencoded sections. The default behav-
ior is taken from the hide_uue variable in the tinrc file.
PageReveal ')'
The formfeed character (^L) is often used to hide 'spoilers'
that the reader may not initially wish to see when viewing an
article. Any text after a formfeed is not displayed. This
key-press acts like a reveal key and turns the hidden text
back on. Scrolling down will also reveal the text, scrolling
up will hide it again.
LastViewed '-'
Re-enter the last message that was viewed.
SearchRepeat '\'
Repeat the previous search.
SearchSubjF '/'
Forward search the text of this article.
SearchSubjB '?'
Backward search the text of this article.
PageSkipIncludedText ':'
Skip to the end of the quoted text in this article.
PageTopThd '<'
Goto the first article in the current thread.
PageBotThd '>'
Goto the last article in the current thread.
PageToggleHighlight '_'
Toggle word highlighting on/off.
Pipe '|' Pipe current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles into command.
See the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
PageQuickAutoSel '['
Auto select article(s) with a single key. The defaults used
for selection are set based upon the following four tinrc
config variables: default_filter_select_case, default_fil-
ter_select_expire, default_filter_select_global and
default_filter_select_header Read the section "GLOBAL OPTIONS
MENU AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES" for a full explanation
of these variables and "FILTERING ARTICLES" for more informa-
tion on filtering.
PageQuickKill ']'
Kill article(s) with a single key. The defaults used for
killing are based upon the following four tinrc config vari-
ables: default_filter_kill_case, default_filter_kill_expire,
default_filter_kill_global and default_filter_kill_header.
Read the section "GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE
VARIABLES" for a full explanation of these variables and
"FILTERING ARTICLES" for more information on filtering.
PageNextThd '^J', PageNextThd2 '<CR>'
Goto next base article.
PageNextUnread '<TAB>'
Goto next unread article. If the tinrc variable
tab_goto_next_unread is set to OFF, then this key will first
page through the current article.
SearchAuthF 'a'
Author forward search.
SearchAuthB 'A'
Author backward search.
SearchBody 'B'
Search the body of all articles in group (can be slow). You
can abort the search using Quit ('q').
PageCatchup 'c'
Mark the current thread as read [after confirmation] and
return to the previous menu. Move cursor to next item.
PageCatchupNextUnread 'C'
Mark the rest of the current thread as read [after confirma-
tion] and enter the next thread with unread articles.
PageCancel 'D'
Cancel (delete) or supersede (overwrite) the current article.
It must have been posted by the same user. The cancel message
can be seen in the newsgroup 'control' or 'control.cancel'.
PageEditArticle 'e'
Edit the current article. This is restricted to mailgroups
and saved news.
PageEditFilter 'E'
Edit the filter file and reload it afterwards.
PageFollowupQuote 'f'
Post a followup to the current article with a copy of the
article included.
PageFollowup 'F'
Post a followup to the current article without including a
copy of the article.
PageFirstPage 'g'
Goto the start of the article.
PageLastPage 'G'
Goto the end of the article.
ToggleInfoLastLine 'i'
Display the subject of the current article in the last line.
ToggleInverseVideo 'I'
Toggle inverse video.
Up2 'k' Mark article as read and move on to next unread article.
Behaves identically to PageNextUnreadArt ('N').
PageKillThd 'K'
Mark rest of thread as read and move onto the next unread
thread.
PageListThd 'l'
Show the thread menu that the current article is a part of.
LookupMessage 'L'
Look up article by ''Message-ID:''.
PageMail 'm'
Mail current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles to someone. See
the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
OptionMenu 'M'
User configurable options menu (for more information see sec-
tion "GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES").
PageNextArt 'n'
Go to the next article.
PageNextUnreadArt 'N'
Go to the next unread article.
Print 'o' Send current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles to printer. See
the section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING
ARTICLES" for more information.
PagePrevArt 'p'
Go to the previous article.
PagePrevUnreadArt 'P'
Go to the previous unread article.
Quit 'q' Return to the previous level.
QuitTin 'Q'
Quit tin - don't ask the user to confirm.
PageReplyQuote 'r'
Reply through mail to the author of the current article with
a copy of the article included.
PageReply 'R'
Reply through mail to the author of the current article with-
out including the original article.
PageSave 's'
Save current article / thread / auto-selected (hot) articles
/ articles matching pattern / tagged articles. See the
section "MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING ARTI-
CLES" for more information.
PageAutoSave 'S'
Save marked articles automatically without further prompting.
PageTag 't'
Toggle tag status of current article for mailing, piping,
printing, saving or reposting.
PageGroupSel 'T'
Return to group selection level.
PageGotoParent 'u'
Goto parent article.
PageViewUrl 'U'
Browse URLs in article. All URLs will be prompted in turn and
opened using the url_handler. '<ESC>' or no input will skip
the URL.
PageViewAttach 'V'
View or save multimedia attachments.
Post 'w' Post an article to the current group. If posting fails for
some reason, you'll get the chance to edit the article again
via PostEdit ('e'), postpone it for later processing via
PostPostpone ('o') (see also ''-o'' command-line switch) or
discard it via Quit ('q').
PageRepost 'x'
Repost an already posted article / thread / auto-selected
(hot) articles / articles matching pattern / tagged articles
to another newsgroup(s). Useful for reposting from global to
local newsgroups. Do not use this to crosspost your own arti-
cles.
PageMarkArtUnread 'z'
Mark article as unread.
PageMarkThdUnread 'Z'
Mark the current thread as unread.
GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU AND TINRC CONFIGURABLE VARIABLES
At startup, tin reads in the configuration files (see also tin(5)).
They contain a list of variables that can be used to configure the way
tin works. If it exists, the global configuration file, ${TIN_LIB-
DIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/tinrc is read. After that, the user's own configuration
file is read from ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc. The global file is
useful for distributing system-wide defaults to new users who have no
private tinrc yet.
The variables are user configurable by editing ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc directly. Most of them can also be set in the
GLOBAL OPTIONS MENU which is accessed by pressing OptionMenu ('M') at
all levels. It allows the user to customize the behavior of tin. The
options are saved to the file ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc when
you exit tin so don't edit the file directly whilst tin is running.
In the options menu use the cursor keys in the usual way to move
around. Use ConfigSelect ('^J') or ConfigSelect2 ('<CR>') to 'open' the
option you wish to change. You will need to enter a new value or use
'<SPACE>' to toggle the available options. ConfigSelect will save the
new value, '<ESC>' will abort without saving changes.
As with the other menus, RedrawScr ('^L') will redraw the screen. You
can use SearchSubjF ('/'), SearchSubjB ('?') and SearchRepeat ('\') to
search for a specific option. Use Quit ('q') to exit the option menu
and keep your changes. Use QuitTin ('Q') to exit without keeping your
changes.
Here is a full list of all the available variables. The name in braces
is the name of the corresponding setting in ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc.
Add posted articles to filter (add_posted_to_filter)
If ON add posted articles which start a new thread to filter for
highlighting follow-ups. Default is ON.
Insert 'User-Agent:'-header (advertising)
Turn ON advertising in header (''User-Agent:''). Default is ON.
Skip multipart/alternative parts (alternative_handling)
If ON strip multipart/alternative messages automatically. Default
is ON.
Character to show deleted articles (art_marked_deleted)
The character used to show that an article was deleted. Default is
'D'.
Character to show inrange articles (art_marked_inrange)
The character used to show that an article is in a range. Default
is '#'.
Character to show returning arts (art_marked_return)
The character used to show that an article will return as an unread
article when the group is next entered. Default is '-'.
Character to show selected articles (art_marked_selected)
The character used to show that an article/thread is auto-selected
(hot). Default is '*'.
Character to show recent articles (art_marked_recent)
The character used to show that an article/thread is recent (not
older than X days). See also recent_time. Default is 'o'.
Character to show unread articles (art_marked_unread)
The character used to show that an article has not been read.
Default is '+'.
Character to show read articles (art_marked_read)
The character used to show that an article was read. Default is '
'.
Character to show read articles (art_marked_killed)
The character used to show that an article was killed. Default is
'K'. kill_level must be set accordingly.
Character to show read selected arts (art_marked_read_selected)
The character used to show that an article was hot before it was
read. Default is ':'. kill_level must be set accordingly.
Ask before using metamail_prog (ask_for_metamail)
If ON tin will ask before using metamail_prog to display MIME mes-
sages. This only occurs if metamail_prog is set. Default is OFF.
Send you a blind cc automatically (auto_bcc)
If ON automatically put your name in the ''Bcc:'' field when mail-
ing an article. Default is OFF.
Send you a cc automatically (auto_cc)
If ON automatically put your name in the ''Cc:'' field when mailing
an article. Default is OFF.
List thread using right arrow key (auto_list_thread)
If ON automatically list thread when entering it using right arrow
key. Default is ON.
Reconnect to server automatically (auto_reconnect)
Default is OFF.
Use Archive-name: header for save (auto_save)
If ON articles/threads with ''Archive-name:'' in header will be
automatically saved with the Archive-name & part/patch no and post
processed if post_process_type is set to something other than 'No'.
Default is OFF.
Save articles in batch mode (batch_save)
If set ON articles/threads will be saved in batch mode when save
''-S'' or mail ''-M, -N'' is specified on the command line. Default
is ON.
Show mini menu & posting etiquette (beginner_level)
If set ON a mini menu of the most useful commands will be displayed
at the bottom of the screen for each level. Also a short posting
etiquette will be displayed after composing an article. Default is
ON.
Cache NNTP overview files locally (cache_overview_files)
If ON, create local copies of NNTP overview files. This can be used
to considerably speed up accessing large groups when using a slow
connection. See also "INDEX FILES". Default is OFF.
Catchup read groups when quitting (catchup_read_groups)
If set ON the user is asked when quitting if all groups read during
the current session should be marked read. Default is OFF.
Standard background color (col_back)
Standard background color
Color of sender (From:) (col_from)
Color of sender (From:)
Color of article header lines (col_head)
Color of header-lines
Color of help text (col_help)
Color of help pages
Color for inverse text (background) (col_invers_bg)
Color of background for inverse text
Color for inverse text (foreground) (col_invers_fg)
Color of foreground for inverse text
Color of highlighting with _dash_ (col_markdash)
Color of words emphasized like _this_. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
Color of highlighting with /slash/ (col_markslash)
Color of words emphasized like /this/. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
Color of highlighting with *stars* (col_markstar)
Color of words emphasized like *this*. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
Color of highlighting with -stroke- (col_markstroke)
Color of words emphasized like -this-. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
Color of mini help menu (col_minihelp)
Color of mini help menu
Color of actual news header fields (col_newsheaders)
Color of actual news header fields
Standard foreground color (col_normal)
Standard foreground color
Color of quoted lines (col_quote)
Color of quoted lines
Color of twice quoted line (col_quote2)
Color of twice quoted lines
Color of =>3 times quoted line (col_quote3)
Color of >=3 times quoted lines
Color of response counter (col_response)
Color of response counter. This is the text that says "Response x
of y" in the article viewer.
Color of signatures (col_signature)
Color of signatures
Color of urls highlight (col_urls)
Color of urls highlight
Color of article subject lines (col_subject)
Color of article subject
Color of text lines (col_text)
Color of text-lines
Color of help/mail sign (col_title)
Color of help/mail sign
Which actions require confirmation (confirm_choice)
Ask for manual confirmation to protect the user.
+o commands Ask for confirmation before executing certain danger-
ous commands (e.g., GroupCatchup ('c')). Commands that this
affects are marked in this manual with '[after confirmation]'.
Default is commands & quit.
+o quit You'll be asked to confirm that you wish to exit tin when
you use the Quit ('q') command.
+o select Ask for confirmation before marking all not selected
(with GroupMarkUnselArtRead ('X') command) articles as read.
Format string for display of dates (date_format)
Format string tin uses for date representation. A description of
the different format options can be found at strftime(3). tin uses
strftime(3) when available and supports most format options in his
fallback code. Default is "%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S".
(default_art_search)
(default_author_search)
(default_config_search)
The last article/author/config option that was searched for.
Invocation of your editor (default_editor_format)
The format string used to create the editor start command with
parameters. Default is "%E +%N %F" (i.e., /bin/vi +7 .article).
(default_filter_days)
Default is 28.
(default_filter_kill_case)
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter case. ON = filter case sen-
sitive, OFF = ignore case. Default is OFF.
(default_filter_kill_expire)
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter expire. ON = limit to
default_filter_days, OFF = don't ever expire. Default is OFF.
(default_filter_kill_global)
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter global. ON=apply to all
groups, OFF=apply to current group. Default is ON.
(default_filter_kill_header)
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter header.
0,1 ''Subject:''
2,3 ''From:''
4 ''Message-ID:'' & full ''References:'' line
5 ''Message-ID:'' & last ''References:'' entry only
6 ''Message-ID:'' entry only
7 ''Lines:''
(default_filter_select_case)
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter case. ON=filter
case sensitive, OFF=ignore case. Default is OFF.
(default_filter_select_expire)
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter expire. ON = limit
to default_filter_days, OFF = don't ever expire. Default is OFF.
(default_filter_select_global)
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter global. ON=apply
to all groups OFF=apply to current group. Default is ON.
(default_filter_select_header)
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter header.
0,1 ''Subject:''
2,3 ''From:''
4 ''Message-ID:'' & full ''References:'' line
5 ''Message-ID:'' & last ''References:'' entry only
6 ''Message-ID:'' entry only
7 ''Lines:''
(default_goto_group)
(default_group_search)
(default_mail_address)
Mail directory (default_maildir)
The directory where articles/threads are to be saved in mbox(5)
format. This feature is mainly for use with the elm(1) mail pro-
gram. It allows the user to save articles/threads/groups simply by
giving '=' as the filename to save to. Default is ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/Mail.
Invocation of your mail command (default_mailer_format)
The format string used to create the mailer command with parameters
that is used for mailing articles to other people. Default is '%M
"%T" < %F' (e.g., /bin/mail "iain" < .article). The flexible format
allows other mailers with different command-line parameters to be
used such as 'elm -s "%S" "%T" < "%F"' (e.g., elm -s "subject"
"iain" < .article) or 'sendmail -oi -oem -t < %F' (e.g. sendmail
-oi -oem -t < .article).
(default_move_group)
(default_pattern)
(default_pipe_command)
(default_post_newsgroups)
(default_post_subject)
Printer program with options (default_printer)
The printer program with options that is to be used to print arti-
cles. The default is lpr(1) for BSD machines and lp(1) for SysV
machines. Printing from tin may have been disabled by the System
Administrator.
(default_range_group)
(default_range_select)
(default_range_thread)
(default_repost_group)
(default_save_file)
(default_save_mode)
Directory to save arts/threads in (default_savedir)
Directory where articles/threads are saved. Default is ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/News.
(default_select_pattern)
(default_shell_command)
Create signature from path/command (default_sigfile)
The path that specifies the signature file to use when posting,
following up to or replying to an article. If the path is a direc-
tory then the signature will be randomly generated from files that
are in the specified directory. If the path starts with a ! the
program the path points to will be executed to generate a signa-
ture. tin will pass the name of the current newsgroup as argument
to the program. --none will suppress any signature. Default is
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.Sig.
(default_subject_search)
Draw -> instead of highlighted bar (draw_arrow)
Allows groups/articles to be selected by an arrow '->' if set ON or
by an highlighted bar if set OFF. Default is OFF.
Force redraw after certain commands (force_screen_redraw)
Specifies whether a screen redraw should always be done after cer-
tain external commands. Default is OFF.
Number of articles to get (getart_limit)
If getart_limit is > 0 not more than getart_limit articles/group
are fetched from the server. If getart_limit is < 0 tin will start
fetching articles from your first unread minus absolute value of
getart_limit. Default is 0, which means no limit.
Catchup group using left key (group_catchup_on_exit)
If ON catchup group when leaving with the left arrow key. Default
is ON.
Max. length of group names shown (groupname_max_length)
Maximum length of the names of newsgroups to be displayed so that
more of the newsgroup description can be displayed. Default is 32.
Display uue data as an attachment (hide_uue)
If set to 'No' then raw uuencoded data is displayed. If set to
'Yes' then sections of uuencoded data will be shown with a single
tag line showing the size and filename (much the same as a MIME
attachment). If set to 'Hide all' then any line that looks like
uuencoded data will be folded into a tag line. This is useful when
uuencoded data is split across more than one article but can also
lead to false positives. This setting can also be toggled in the
article viewer. Default is 'No'.
External inews (inews_prog)
Path, name and options of external inews(1). If you are reading
via NNTP the default value is --internal (use built-in NNTP inews),
else it is "inews -h". The article is passed to inews_prog on STDIN
via '< article'.
(info_in_last_line)
If ON, show current group description or article subject in the
last line (not in the pager and global menu) - ToggleInfoLastLine
('i') toggles setting. This facility is useful as the full width of
the screen is available to display long subjects. Default is OFF.
Use interactive mail reader (interactive_mailer)
Interactive mailreader: if greater than 0 your mailreader will be
invoked earlier for reply so you can use more of its features (e.g.
MIME, pgp, ...). 1 means include headers, 2 means don't include
headers (old use_mailreader_i=ON option). 0 turns off usage. This
option has to suit default_mailer_format. Default is 0.
Use inverse video for page headers (inverse_okay)
If ON use inverse video for page headers and URL highlighting.
Default is ON.
Keep failed arts in ~/dead.articles (keep_dead_articles)
If ON keep all failed postings in ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/dead.arti-
cles besides keeping the last failed posting in ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/dead.article. Default is ON.
Filter which articles (kill_level)
This option controls the processing and display of articles that
are killed. There are 3 options:
0 Kill only unread arts is the 'traditional' behavior of tin.
Only unread articles are killed once only by marking them read.
As filtering only happens on unread articles with kill_level
set to 0, art_marked_killed and art_marked_read_selected are
only shown once. When you reenter the group the mark will be
gone.
1 Kill all arts & show with K will process all articles in the
group and therefore there is a processing overhead when using
this option. Killed articles are threaded as normal but they
will be marked with art_marked_killed.
2 Kill all arts and never show will process all articles in the
group and therefore there is a processing overhead when using
this option. Killed articles simply does not get displayed at
all.
Default is 0 (Kill only unread arts).
Use 8bit characters in mail headers (mail_8bit_header)
Allows 8bit characters unencoded in the header of mail message.
Default is OFF. Turning it ON is effective only if mail_mime_encod-
ing is also set to 8bit. Leaving it OFF is safe for most users and
compliant to Internet Mail Standard (RFC2822 and RFC2047). Default
is OFF.
Mail address (mail_address)
User's mail address (and full name), if not username@host. This is
used when creating articles, sending mail and when pgp(1) signing.
MIME encoding in mail messages (mail_mime_encoding)
MIME encoding of the body in mail message, if necessary (8bit,
base64, quoted-printable, 7bit) Default is 8bit and no encoding (or
charset conversion) is performed (i.e., local charset is used as it
is).
Quote line when mailing (mail_quote_format)
Format of quote line when replying (via mail) to an article
(%A=Address, %D=Date, %F=Fullname+Address, %G=Groupname, %M=Mes-
sage-ID, %N=Fullname, %C=Firstname, %I=Initials). Default is "In
article %M you wrote:"
Format of the mailbox (mailbox_format)
Select one of the following mailbox-formats: MBOXO (default, except
for SCO), MBOXRD or MMDF (default on SCO). See mbox(5) for more
details on MBOXO and MBOXRD and mmdf(5) for more details about
MMDF.
'Mark article read' ignores tags (mark_ignore_tags)
When this is ON, the iKeyGroupMarkThdRead, iKeyThreadMarkArtRead
functions ('K') mark just the current article or thread, ignoring
other tagged, unread articles. When OFF, the same function
presents a menu with choices of the current thread or article, all
tagged, unread articles, or nothing.
Mark saved articles/threads as read (mark_saved_read)
If ON mark articles that are saved as read. Default is ON.
Viewer program for MIME articles (metamail_prog)
Path, name and options of external metamail(1) program used to view
non-textual parts of articles. To use the built-in viewer, set to
--internal. This is the default value when metamail(1) is not
installed. Leave it blank if you don't want any automatic viewing
of non-textual attachments. The 'V' command can always be used to
manually view any attachments. See also ask_for_metamail.
MM_CHARSET (mm_charset)
Charset supported locally, which is also used for MIME header
(charset parameter and charset name in header encoding) in mail and
news postings. If MIME_STRICT_CHARSET is defined at compile time,
text in charset other than the value of this parameter is consid-
ered not displayable and represented as '?'. Otherwise, all charac-
ter sets are regarded as compatible with the display. If it's not
set, the value of the environment variable $MM_CHARSET is used. US-
ASCII or compile-time default is used in case neither of them is
defined. If your system supports iconv(3), this option is disabled
and you should use mm_network_charset instead.
MM_NETWORK_CHARSET (mm_network_charset)
Charset used for posting and MIME headers; replaces mm_charset.
Conversion between mm_network_charset and local charset (determined
via nl_langinfo(3)) is done via iconv(3), if this function is not
available on your system this option is disabled and you have to
use mm_charset instead. mm_network_charset is limited to one of the
following charsets:
US-ASCII, ISO-8859-{1,2,3,4,5,7,9,10,13,14,15,16}, KOI8-{R,U,RU}
EUC-{CN,JP,KR,TW}, ISO-2022-{CN,CN-EXT,JP,JP-1,JP-2}, Big5,
UTF-8
Not all values might work on your system, see iconv_open(3) for
more details. If it's not set, the value of the environment vari-
able $MM_CHARSET is used. US-ASCII or compile-time default is used
in case neither of them is defined.
Attribute of highlighting with _dash_ (mono_markdash)
Character attribute of words emphasized like _this_. It depends on
your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
Attribute of highlighting with /slash/ (mono_markslash)
Character attribute of words emphasized like /this/. It depends on
your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
Attribute of highlighting with *stars* (mono_markstar)
Character attribute of words emphasized like *this*. It depends on
your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
Attribute of highlighting with -stroke- (mono_markstroke)
Character attribute of words emphasized like -this-. It depends on
your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_dis-
play_marks and word_highlight.
(newnews)
These are internal timers used by tin to keep track of new news-
groups. Do not change them unless you understand what they are
for.
Display these header fields (or *) (news_headers_to_display)
Which news headers you wish to see. If you want to see _all_ the
headers, place an '*' as this value. This is the only way a wild-
card can be used. If you enter 'X-' as the value, you will see all
headers beginning with 'X-' (like X-Alan or X-Pape). You can list
more than one by delimiting with spaces. Not defining anything
turns off this option.
Do not display these header fields (news_headers_to_not_display)
Same as news_headers_to_display except it denotes the opposite. An
example of using both options might be if you thought X- headers
were A Good Thing(tm), but thought Alan and Pape were miscreants...
well then you would do something like this: news_headers_to_dis-
play=X- news_headers_to_not_display=X-Alan X-Pape. Not defining
anything turns off this option.
Quote line when following up (news_quote_format)
Format of quote line when posting/following up an article
(%A=Address, %D=Date, %F=Fullname+Address, %G=Groupname, %M=Mes-
sage-ID, %N=Fullname, %C=Firstname, %I=Initials). Default is "%F
wrote:".
Unicode normalization form (normalization_form)
The normalization form tin should use to normalize unicode input.
The possible values are:
0 None: no normalization
1 NFKC: Compatibility Decomposition, followed by Canonical Compo-
sition
2 NFKD: Compatibility Decomposition
3 NFC: Canonical Decomposition, followed by Canonical Composition
4 NFD: Canonical Decomposition
Some normalization modes are only available if they are supported by
the library tin uses to do the normalization. Default is NFKC.
PgDn goes to next unread article (pgdn_goto_next)
If ON the Page Down keys will go to the next unread article when
pressed at the end of a message. Default is ON.
Goto first unread article in group (pos_first_unread)
If ON put cursor at first unread article in group otherwise at last
article. Default is ON.
Use 8bit characters in news headers (post_8bit_header)
Allows 8bit characters unencoded in the header of a news article,
if set this also disables the generation of MIME-headers when they
are usualy required. Default is OFF. Only enacted if
post_mime_encoding is also set to 8bit. In a number of local hier-
archies where 8bit characters are used, using unencoded (raw) 8bit
characters in header is acceptable and sometimes even recommended
so that you need to check the convention adopted in the local hier-
archy of your interest to determine what to do with this and
post_mime_encoding.
MIME encoding in news messages (post_mime_encoding)
MIME encoding of the body in news message, if necessary. (8bit,
base64, quoted-printable, 7bit) Default is 8bit, which leads to no
encoding. base64 and quoted-printable are usually undesired on
usenet.
View post-processed files (post_process_view)
If ON, then tin will start an appropriate viewer program to display
any files that were post processed and uudecoded. The program is
determined using the mailcap file. Default is ON.
Post process saved articles (post_process_type)
This specifies whether to perform post processing on saved arti-
cles. The following values are allowed:
0 No (default), no post processing is done.
1 Shell archives, unpacking of multi-part shar(1) files only.
2 Yes, binary attachments and data will be decoded and saved.
Filename to be used for storing posted articles (posted_articles_file)
Keep posted articles in ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/Mail/posted_arti-
cles_file. If no filename is set then postings will not be saved.
Default is 'posted'.
Print all headers when printing (print_header)
If ON, then the full article header is sent to the printer. Other-
wise only the ''Subject:'' and ''From:'' fields are output. Default
is OFF.
Process only unread articles (process_only_unread)
If ON only save/print/pipe/mail unread articles (tagged articles
excepted). Default is OFF.
Show empty Followup-To in editor (prompt_followupto)
If ON show empty ''Followup-To:'' header when editing an article.
Default is OFF.
Characters used as quote-marks (quote_chars)
The character used in quoting included text to article followups
and mail replies. The '_' character represents a blank character
and is replaced with ' ' when read. Default is '>_'.
Quoting behavior (quote_style)
How articles should be quoted when following up or replying to
them. There are a number of things that can be done: empty lines
can be quoted, signatures can be quoted and quote_chars can be com-
pressed when quoting multiple times (for example, '> > >' will be
turned into '>>>'). The default is to compress quotes, and to quote
empty lines.
When you are viewing an article in raw mode ('^H'), and follow up
or reply to it, the signature will be quoted even if it would oth-
erwise not be.
Regex used to show quoted lines (quote_regex)
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles.
All matching lines are shown in col_quote. If quote_regex is blank,
then tin uses a built-in default.
Regex used to show twice quoted l. (quote_regex2)
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles.
All matching lines are shown in col_quote2. If quote_regex2 is
blank, then tin uses a built-in default.
Regex used to show >= 3 times q.l. (quote_regex3)
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles.
All matching lines are shown in col_quote3. If quote_regex3 is
blank, then tin uses a built-in default.
Article recentness time limit (recent_time)
If set to 0, this feature is deactivated, otherwise it means the
number of days. Default is 2.
Render BiDi (render_bidi)
If ON tin does the rendering of bi-directional text. If OFF tin
leaves the rendering of bi-directional text to the terminal.
Default is OFF.
Interval in seconds to reread active (reread_active_file_secs)
The news ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE-active} file
is reread at regular intervals to show if any new news has arrived.
Default is 1200. Setting this to 0 will disable this feature.
Score limit (kill) (score_limit_kill)
If the score of an article is below or equal this value the article
gets marked as killed.
Score limit (select) (score_limit_select)
If the score of an article is above or equal this value the article
gets marked as hot.
Default score to kill articles (score_kill)
Score of an article which should be killed, this must be <=
score_limit_kill.
Default score to select articles (score_select)
Score of an article which should be marked hot, this must be >=
score_limit_select.
Number of lines to scroll in pager (scroll_lines)
The number of lines that will be scrolled up/down in the article
pager when using cursor-up/down. The default is 1 (line-by-line).
Set to 0 to get traditional tin page-by-page scrolling. Set to -1
to get page-by-page scrolling where the top/bottom line is carried
over onto the next page. This setting supersedes
show_last_line_prev_page=ON. Set to -2 to get half-page scrolling.
This setting supersedes full_page_scroll=OFF.
In group menu, show author by (show_author)
Which information about the author should be shown. Default is 2,
authors full name.
0 None, only the ''Subject:'' line will be displayed.
1 Address, ''Subject:'' line & the address part of the ''From:''
line are displayed.
2 Full Name, ''Subject:'' line & the authors full name part of
the ''From:'' line are displayed (default).
3 Address and Name, ''Subject:'' line & all of the ''From:'' line
are displayed.
Show description of each newsgroup (show_description)
If ON show a short group description text after newsgroup name at
the group selection level. The ''-d'' command-line flag will over-
ride the setting and turn descriptions off. The text used is taken
from the ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/newsgroups file and if supported
(requires tin to be build with mh-mail-handling support) from
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/mailgroups for mailgroups. Default is
ON.
Show lines/score in listings (show_info)
Which information about the thread or article should be shown.
Default is 1, show only the line count.
0 None, no information will be displayed.
1 Lines, in article listing the line count of an article will be
displayed and in thread listing the line count of first
(unread) article will be displayed.
2 Score, in article listing the score of an article will be dis-
played and in thread listing the score of the thread will be
displayed - see also thread_score.
3 Lines & Score, display line count and score.
Show only unread articles (show_only_unread_arts)
If ON show only new/unread articles otherwise show all articles.
Default is ON.
Show only groups with unread arts (show_only_unread_groups)
If ON show only subscribed groups that contain unread articles.
Default is OFF.
Display signatures (show_signatures)
If OFF don't show signatures when displaying articles. Default is
ON.
Prepend signature with '\n-- \n' (sigdashes)
If ON prepend the signature with sigdashes. Default is ON.
Add signature when reposting (signature_repost)
If ON add signature to reposted articles. Default is ON.
Regex used to highlight /slashes/ (slashes_regex)
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles.
All matching words are shown in col_markslash or mono_markslash. If
slashes_regex is blank, then tin uses a built-in default.
Sort articles by (sort_article_type)
This specifies how articles should be sorted. Sort by ascending
Date (6) is the default. The following sort types are allowed:
0 Nothing, don't sort articles.
1 Subject: (descending), sort articles by ''Subject:'' field
descending.
2 Subject: (ascending), sort articles by ''Subject:'' field
ascending.
3 From: (descending), sort articles by ''From:'' field descend-
ing.
4 From: (ascending), sort articles by ''From:'' field ascending.
5 Date: (descending), sort articles by ''Date:'' field descend-
ing.
6 Date: (ascending), sort articles by ''Date:'' field ascending
(default).
7 Score (descending), sort articles by filtering score descend-
ing.
8 Score (ascending), sort articles by filtering score ascending.
9 Lines: (descending), sort articles by ''Lines:'' field descend-
ing.
10 Lines: (ascending), sort articles by ''Lines:'' field ascend-
ing.
Sort threads by (sort_threads_type)
This specifies how threads will be sorted. Sort by descending Score
(1) is the default. The following sort types are allowed:
0 Nothing, don't sort threads.
1 Score (descending), sort threads by filtering score descending
(default).
2 Score (ascending), sort threads by filtering score ascending.
Spamtrap warning address parts (spamtrap_warning_addresses)
Set this option to a list of comma-separated strings to be warned
if you are replying to an article by mail where the e-mail address
contains one of these strings. The matching is case-insensitive.
Example:
spam,delete,remove
Space goes to next unread article (space_goto_next_unread)
<SPACE> normally acts as a Page Down key and has no effect at the
end of an article. If this option is turned ON the <SPACE> command
will go to the next unread article when the end of the article is
reached (rn-style pager). Default is OFF.
Regex used to highlight *stars* (stars_regex)
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles.
All matching words are shown in col_markstar or mono_markstar. If
stars_regex is blank, then tin uses a built-in default.
Start editor with line offset (start_editor_offset)
Set ON if the editor used for posting, follow-ups and bug reports
has the capability of starting and positioning the cursor at a
specified line within a file. Default is ON.
Strip blanks of end of lines (strip_blanks)
Strips the blanks from the end of each line therefore speeding up
the display when reading on a slow terminal or via modem. Default
is ON.
Remove bogus groups from newsrc (strip_bogus)
Bogus groups are groups that are present in your ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc file that no longer exist on the news server.
There are 3 options. 0 means do nothing & always keep bogus groups.
1 means bogus groups will be permanently removed. 2 means that
bogus groups will appear on the Group Selection Menu, prefixed with
a 'D'. This allows you to unsubscribe from them as and when you
wish. Default is 0 (Always Keep).
No unsubscribed groups in newsrc (strip_newsrc)
If ON, then unsubscribed groups will be permanently removed from
your ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc file. Default is OFF.
Regex used to highlight -strokes- (strokes_regex)
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles.
All matching words are shown in col_markstroke or mono_markstroke.
If strokes_regex is blank, then tin uses a built-in default.
Tab goes to next unread article (tab_goto_next_unread)
If enabled pressing PageNextUnread ('<TAB>') at the Article level
will go to the next unread article immediately instead of first
paging through the current one. Default is ON.
Wrap around threads on next unread (wrap_on_next_unread)
If enabled a search for the next unread article will wrap around
all articles to find also previous unread articles. If disabled the
search stops at the end of the thread list. Default is ON.
Display "a as Umlaut-a (tex2iso_conv)
If ON, show "a as Umlaut-a, etc. Default is OFF. This behavior can
also be toggled in the article viewer via PageToggleTex2iso ('"').
Thread articles by (thread_articles)
Defines which threading method to use. It's possible to set the
threading type on a per group basis by setting the group attribute
variable thread_arts to 0 - 4 in the file ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/attributes. (See also "GROUP ATTRIBUTES".) The
default is Both Subject and References. The choices are:
0 None, don't thread.
1 Subject, thread on ''Subject:'' only.
2 References, thread on ''References:'' only.
3 Both Subject and References, thread on ''References:'' then
''Subject:'' (default).
4 Multipart Subject, thread multipart articles on ''Subject:''.
Catchup thread by using left key (thread_catchup_on_exit)
If ON catchup group/thread when leaving with the left arrow key.
Default is ON.
Score of a thread (thread_score)
How the total score of a thread is computed. Default is 0, the max-
imum score in this thread.
0 Max, the maximum score in this thread.
1 Sum, the sum of all scores in this thread.
2 Average, the average score in this thread.
Transliteration (translit)
If ON append //TRANSLIT to the first argument of iconv_open(3) to
enable transliteration. This means that when a character cannot be
represented in the target character set, it can be approximated
through one or several similarly looking characters. On systems
where this extension doesn't exist, this option is disabled.
Default is OFF.
Regex used to highlight _underline_ (underscores_regex)
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles.
All matching words are shown in col_markdash or mono_markdash. If
underscores_regex is blank, then tin uses a built-in default.
Remove ~/.article after posting (unlink_article)
If ON remove ~/.article after posting. Default is ON.
Program that opens URL's (url_handler)
The program that will be run when launching URL's in the article
viewer using PageViewUrl ('U'). The actual URL will be appended to
this. Default is url_handler.sh %s.
URL highlighting in message body (url_highlight)
Enable highlighting URLs in message body. Default is ON.
Use ANSI color (use_color)
If enabled tin uses ANSI-colors. Default is OFF.
Use scroll keys on keypad (use_keypad)
Default is OFF.
Use mouse in xterm (use_mouse)
Allows the mouse key support in a xterm(1x) to be enabled/disabled.
Default is OFF.
Use slrnface to show ''X-Face:''s (use_slrnface)
If enabled tin uses slrnface(1) to interpret the ''X-Face:''
header. For this option to have any effect, tin must be running in
an xterm(1x) and slrnface(1) must be in your $PATH. Default is OFF.
Wildcard matching (wildcard)
Allows you to select how tin matches strings. The default is 0 and
uses the wildmat notation, which is how this has traditionally been
handled. Setting this to 1 allows you to use perl(1) compatible
regular expressions pcre(3) (see also perlre(1) and pcrepat-
tern(3)). You will probably want to update your filter file if you
use this regularly. NB: Newsgroup names will always be matched
using the wildmat notation.
What to display instead of mark (word_h_display_marks)
Should the leading and ending stars, slashes, strokes and dashes
also be displayed, even when they are highlighting marks?
0 no
1 yes, display mark
2 print a space instead
Word highlighting in message body (word_highlight)
Enable word highlighting. See word_h_display_marks for the options
available. If use_color is enabled the colors specified in
col_markdash, col_markslash, col_markstar and col_markstroke are
used for word highlighting else the character attributes specified
in mono_markdash, mono_markslash, mono_markstar and mono_markstroke
are used. Default is ON.
Page line wrap column (wrap_column)
Sets the column at which a displayed article body should be
wrapped. If this value is equal to 0, it defaults to the current
screen width. If this value is greater than your current screen
width the part off-screen is not displayed. Thus setting this
option to a large value can be used to disable wrapping. If this
value is negative the wrap margin is the current screen width plus
the given value (as long as the result is still positive, otherwise
it will fall back to the current screen width). Default is 0, wrap-
ping at the current screen width.
Quote line when cross-posting (xpost_quote_format)
Format is the same as for news_quote_format, this is used when
answering to a crossposting to several groups with no ''Fol-
lowup-To:'' set.
GROUP ATTRIBUTES
tin allows certain attributes to be set on a per group basis. If it
exists, the global attributes file, ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/attributes
is read. After that, the user's own attributes file
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/attributes is read. The global attributes
file is useful for distributing system-wide defaults to new users who
have no private attributes file yet. A later version will provide a
menu interface to set all the attributes. At present you will have to
edit the file with your editor.
Note that the scope=<grouplist> line has to be specified before the
attributes are specified for that list. All attributes are set to a
reasonable default so you only have to specify the attribute that you
want to change (e.g., savedir). All toggle attributes are set by speci-
fying ON/OFF. Otherwise, these function exactly the same as their
global equivalents. For more details see tin(5).
FILTERING ARTICLES
When there is a subject or an author which you are either very inter-
ested in, or find completely uninteresting, you can easily instruct tin
to auto-select or auto-kill articles that match rules that you specify.
This can be anything from the name of the author to the number of lines
in an article.
When tin starts up the user's kill-file ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/filter (see also tin(5)) is read. Each time a news-
group is entered the rules are applied and articles killed or selected
when they meet certain criteria.
The degree to which rules are applied depend on the kill_level tinrc
setting. By default killed articles will only be marked read. Adjust
kill_level for more aggressive processing. Articles that match an auto-
selection rule are marked with a ''*''.
Filtering rules can be manually entered into ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/filter (but don't do this whilst running tin else you
will lose your changes) or by using an on-screen menu within tin.
The filtering capabilities of tin have been significantly enhanced over
previous versions to include scoring and better pattern matching. It is
recommended that you read the file filtering in the tin documentation
directory.
The on-screen filtering menu is accessed by pressing '^K' at the Group
and Article levels. It allows the user to kill or select an article
that matches the current ''Subject:'' line, ''From:'' line or a string
entered by the user. The user entered string can be applied to the
''Subject:'' or ''From:'' lines of an article. The kill description can
be limited to the current newsgroup or it can apply to all newsgroups.
Once entered the user can abort the command and not save the kill
description, edit the kill file or save the kill description.
POSTING ARTICLES
tin allows posting of articles, follow-up to already posted articles
and replying direct through mail to the author of an article.
Use the Post ('w') command to post an article to a newsgroup. After
entering the post subject the default editor (i.e., vi(1)) or the edi-
tor specified by the $VISUAL or $EDITOR environment variable will be
started and the article can be entered. To crosspost articles simply
add a comma and the name of the newsgroup(s) to the end of the ''News-
groups:'' line at the beginning of the article. After saving and exit-
ing the editor you are asked if you wish to a)bort posting the article,
e)dit the article again or p)ost the article to the specified news-
group(s).
Use the DisplayPostHist ('W') command to display a history of the arti-
cles you have posted. The date the article was posted, which newsgroups
the article was posted to and the articles subject line are displayed.
Use the PageFollowupQuote ('f'), PageFollowup ('F') or PageFol-
lowupQuoteHeaders ('^W') command to post a follow-up article to an
already posted article. The PageFollowupQuote command will copy the
text of the original article into the editor. The PageFollowupQuote-
Headers command will copy the text and all headers of the original
article into the editor. The editing procedure is the same as when
posting an article with the Post ('w') command.
Use the PageReplyQuote ('r'), PageReply ('R') or PageReplyQuoteHeaders
('^E') command to reply direct through mail to the author of an already
posted article. The PageReplyQuote command will copy the text of the
original article into the editor. The PageReplyQuoteHeaders command
will copy the text and all headers of the original article into the
editor. The editing procedure is the same as when posting an article
with the Post ('w') command. After saving and exiting the editor you
are asked if you wish to abort sending the article via PostAbort ('a'),
edit the article again via PostEdit ('e') or send the article to the
author via PostSend ('s').
CUSTOMIZING THE ARTICLE QUOTE STRING
When posting a followup to an article or replying direct to the author
of an article via email the text of the article can be quoted. The
beginning of the quoted text can contain information about the quoted
article (e.g., Name and the Message-ID of the article). To allow for
different situations certain information from the article can be used
in the quoted string. The following variables are expanded if found in
the tinrc variables mail_quote_format, news_quote_format or
xpost_quote_format:
%A Address (Email)
%D Date
%F Full address (%N <%A>)
%G Groupname
%M Message-ID
%N Fullname of author
%C Firstname of author
%I Initials of author
e.g.,
mail_quote_format=On %D in %G you wrote:
news_quote_format=In %M, %F wrote:
would expand to:
On 21 Jul 1992 09:45:51 -0400 in alt.sources you wrote:
In <abcINN123 [AT] example.org>, Joe Bar <joe [AT] example.org> wrote:
The quoted text section of an article is marked by a preceding quote
string at the beginning of each quoted line. The default quote string
is set to '>_'. The default can be changed by setting the tinrc vari-
able quote_chars to ones own preference. (Note that '_' underline is
used to represent a space).
MAILING PIPING PRINTING REPOSTING AND SAVING ARTICLES
The command interface to GroupMail, PageMail, PostMail or ThreadMail
('m'), Pipe ('|'), Print ('o'), PageRepost or GroupRepost ('x') and
GroupSave, PageSave or ThreadSave ('s' and GroupAutoSave, PageAutoSave
or ThreadAutoSave 'S') articles is the same for ease of use.
Auto-saving with *AutoSave ('S') is a special case and operates only on
marked articles. They will processed without any further prompting
according to the default save parameters defined in tinrc or by any
attributes set for the current group.
Otherwise, the initial prompt will ask you to select which article,
thread, hot (auto-selected), regex pattern, tagged articles you wish to
mail, pipe etc.
Tagged articles must have already been tagged with a *Tag ('t') com-
mand. All tagged articles can be untagged by a *Untag ('U') untag com-
mand.
If a regex pattern is selected you are asked to enter a pattern (e.g.,
to match all articles subject lines containing 'net News' you enter
"net News"). Any articles that match the entered expression will be
mailed, piped etc. See also the wildcard tinrc variable for advanced
pattern matching options.
Various expansion characters are recognized when entering the directory
and file to save to. Environment variables (prefixed with '$') and user
home directories (prefixed by '~' or '~username') can be specified.
Environment variables can themselves contain other special characters.
To save articles to a mailbox enter '=<mailbox name>' when asked for
the save filename. If you enter just '=' then articles will be saved to
a mailbox with the name of the current newsgroup (eg, alt.sources).
See default_maildir.
To save in savedir/<news.group.name>/<filename> format enter '+<file-
name>'. Environment variables are allowed within a filename (e.g.,
$SOURCES/dir/filename). See default_savedir.
When saving articles you can specify whether the saved files should be
post processed. A default process type can be set via post_pro-
cess_type.
AUTOMATIC MAILING AND SAVING NEW NEWS
tin allows new/unread news articles to be mailed (''-M'' and ''-N''
option) or saved (''-S'' option) in batch mode for later reading. Use-
ful when going on holiday and you don't want to return and find that
expire has removed a whole load of unread articles. Best to run via
cron(1) everyday while away, after which you will be mailed a report of
which articles were mailed/saved from which newsgroups and the total
number of articles mailed/saved. Articles are saved in a private news
structure under your <savedir> directory (default is ${TIN_HOME-
DIR-"$HOME"}/News). Be careful of using this option if you read a lot
of groups because you could overflow your file system.
If you only want to save some of your groups use the batch_save tinrc
variable. Set to ON or OFF in tinrc to enable/disable saving of all
groups and then use the batch_save attribute to fine tune which groups
you want to have saved. For example, if you want to save most of your
groups, then set batch_save to ON in tinrc and selectively turn off the
ones you don't want using attributes.
tin -M iain -c -f newsrc.mail
(mail any unread articles in newsgroups specified
in file newsrc.mail to the local user iain and mark
them as read)
tin -S -c -f newsrc.save
(save any unread articles in newsgroups specified
in file newsrc.save and mark them as read)
tin -R (read any articles saved by tin -S)
RANGES
A range is simply a group of items marked using the SetRange ('#') key.
Certain tin commands will operate on a range if one exists rather than
just the current item. A range is an expression of the form
<min>-<max>, e.g. 10-15 will highlight items 10 through 15 on the cur-
rent screen. Other than absolute numeric positions, '.' can be used in
place of the current cursor position and '$' can be used to mean the
highest number available. Currently the only commands that understand
ranges are GroupMarkThdRead ('K'), GroupMarkArtUnread ('z') and Group-
MarkThdUnread ('Z').
NEWSGROUP LISTS & WILDCARDS
Several places in tin allow you to specify a list of newsgroups. These
include command-line groups, (un)subscribe groups, the AUTO[UN]SUB-
SCRIBE mechanism. The scope= attributes file tag and the filter file
group= tag also use the same syntax. tin interprets this variable simi-
larly to rn(1). It contains a list of patterns, separated by commas
and possibly prefixed with exclamation points. An exclamation point
negates the meaning of a match on this pattern, and can be used to can-
cel certain matches. Some examples:
alt.config news.*,!news.test
Matches alt.config and everything in the 'news' hierarchy except
news.test
See the explanation for the $AUTOSUBSCRIBE variables for further exam-
ples.
SIGNATURES
tin will recognize a signature in either ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.signa-
ture or ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.Sig. If ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.signa-
ture exists, then the signature will be pulled into the editor for mail
commands only. A signature in ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.signature will
not be pulled into the editor for posting commands since inews(1) will
append the signature itself.
A signature in ${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.Sig will be pulled into the edi-
tor for both posting and mailing commands.
The following is an example of a .Sig file:
NAMES Joe Bar <joe [AT] example.org>
SNAIL Musterweg 12, 99999 Notreal, Germany
tin also has the capability to generate random signatures on a per
newsgroup basis if so desired. The way to accomplish this is to specify
the default signature or the group attribute sigfile as a directory. If
for example the sigfile path is /usr/iain/.sigs and .sigs is a direc-
tory then tin will select a random signature from any file that is in
the directory .sigs (note: one signature per numbered file). A random
signature can also consist of a fixed part signature that can contain
your name, address etc. followed by the random sig. The fixed part of
the random sig is read from the file $HOME/.sigfixed.
TIPS AND TRICKS
tin can be pretty much be navigated by using the four cursor keys. The
left arrow key goes up a level, the right arrow key goes down a level,
the up arrow key goes up a line and the down arrow key goes down a
line.
The following newsgroups provide useful information concerning news
software:
--news.software.readers (info. about news user agents tin, rn, nn,
slrn etc.)
--news.software.nntp (info. about NNTP)
--news.answers (Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about many differ-
ent themes)
Many prompts within tin offer a default choice that the cursor is posi-
tioned on. By pressing '<CR>' the default value is taken. Most prompts
can be aborted by pressing '<ESC>'.
When tin is run in an xterm(1x) it will resize itself each time the
xterm(1x) is resized.
tin will reread the ${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE-active}
file at set intervals (reread_active_file_secs) to show any newly
arrived news.
If you find large number of new newsgroups cluttering up your screen,
pressing SelectToggleReadDisplay ('r') will make them go away.
XTERM BUTTONS
If the environment variable $TERM is set to xterm(1x), then button
pressing can be used to select groups and articles. In this discussion,
the buttons are assumed to be assigned conventionally (i.e., Button1 is
the left button).
In general (i.e., for the group, thread and article menus),
Button1 (left)
enters next (lower) level if you click on an article, other-
wise pages down.
Button2 (center)
returns to the previous (upper) level if you click on an
article, otherwise pages up.
Button3 (right)
positions on the article line under mouse cursor, or pages
down if you've clicked outside the list of articles.
In the group selection menu, if the mouse is pointing at a group then:
left button
moves to and selects the group pointed at, just like Selec-
tReadGrp2 ('<CR>').
center button
quits the program, just like Quit ('q').
right button
moves to the group pointed at.
In the article menu, if the mouse is pointing at an article (or thread)
then:
left button
reads the article pointed at, just like GroupReadBasenote2
('<CR>'), or the thread, just like GroupListThd ('l').
center button
exits the menu, catching up on the group if you have
group_catchup_on_exit set in your configuration, just like
Quit ('q').
right button
moves to the article (or thread) pointed at.
In the thread menu, if the mouse is pointing at an article then:
left button
reads article pointed at, just like ThreadReadArt2 ('<CR>').
center button
exits the menu, catching up on the thread if you have
thread_catchup_on_exit set in your configuration, just like
Quit ('q').
right button
moves to the article pointed at.
In other menus and areas button pressing reverts back to usual cut and
paste of xterm(1x), but after one click of any button.
INDEX FILES
If your news server supports NOV index files (see newsoverview(5), most
modern installations will) and you have a fast connection to your news
server then this section can be ignored.
If your news server doesn't support NOV index files or you have a very
slow connection to your news server then tin can cache the index for
each newsgroup if cache_overview_files is set to ON. Note that this
cache can use up large amounts of diskspace if you read a lot of groups
and/or high traffic groups.
Each user creates/updates his/her own index files that are stored in
${TIN_INDEX_NEWSDIR-"${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin"}/.news/. If you are
reading via NNTP then the news server name will be appended to keep the
indexes for different servers separate. If you are reading off the
local spool and local overview files already exist then turning on
caching will have no effect. Likewise unless you see significant delays
entering a group when reading via NNTP then turning on caching will
have little or no effect.
Entering a group the first time tends to be slow because the index file
must be built from scratch. To alleviate the slowness start tin to cre-
ate all index files for the groups you subscribe to with tin -u -v and
go for a coffee. Subsequent readings of a group will only need to do
incremental updating of the index file and will be much faster as only
new articles will need to be cached.
As indexing might take some time you may want to run tin form the sys-
tem batcher cron(1) with the ''-u'' option:
30 6 * * * /usr/local/bin/tin -u
If you are low on local disk space you should consider using
getart_limit to limit the size of cached indexes and also manually
purge cached data for groups you are not reading anymore with something
like:
find ${TIN_INDEX_NEWSDIR-"${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin"}/.news* \
-type f -name "[0-9]*.[0-9]" -atime +28 | xargs rm -f
For a detailed description see tin(5).
$MAILCAPS
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.mailcap
/etc/mailcap
/usr/etc/mailcap
/usr/local/etc/mailcap
/etc/mail/mailcap
/etc/nntpserver
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.cancelsecret
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.mime.types
/etc/mime.types
/etc/tin/mime.types
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsauth
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.newsrc
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/$NNTPSERVER${NNTPPORT+":$NNTPPORT"}/.old-
newsrc
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.signature
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.Sig
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.sigfixed
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/.inputhistory
${TIN_INDEX_MAILDIR-"${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin"}/.mail/
${TIN_INDEX_NEWSDIR-"${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin"}/.news/
${TIN_INDEX_SAVEDIR-"${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin"}/.save/
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/active.mail
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/active.save
/etc/tin/attributes
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/attributes
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/filter
/etc/tin/keymap${${LC_ALL-"${LC_CTYPE-"${LC_MES-
SAGES-"$LANG"}"}"}:+".${LC_ALL-"${LC_CTYPE-"${LC_MES-
SAGES-"$LANG"}"}"}"}
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/keymap${${LC_ALL-"${LC_CTYPE-"${LC_MES-
SAGES-"$LANG"}"}"}:+".${LC_ALL-"${LC_CTYPE-"${LC_MES-
SAGES-"$LANG"}"}"}"}
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/mailgroups
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/newsrctable
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/posted
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/Mail/posted
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/postponed.articles
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/$NNTPSERVER:${NNTPPORT+":$NNTP-
PORT"}/serverrc
/etc/tin/tinrc
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc
/etc/tin/tin.defaults
/usr/local/share/locale/${LC_MESSAGES}/LC_MESSAGES/tin.mo
${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE-active}
${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/active.times
${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/newsgroups
${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/organization
${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/overview.fmt
${TIN_LIBDIR-NEWSLIBDIR}/subscriptions
TINRC Define this variable if you want to specify command-line options
that tin should be started with to save typing them each time it
is started. The contents of the environment variable are added
to the front of the command-line options before it is parsed
therefore allowing an option specified on the command-line to
override the same option specified in the environment.
TIN_HOMEDIR
Define this variable if you do not want the .tin directory in
$HOME/. E.g., if you want all tin's private files in /tmp/.tin
you would set $TIN_HOMEDIR to /tmp.
TIN_INDEX_NEWSDIR
Define this variable if you do not want the .news directory in
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/. E.g., if you want all tin's news
index files in /tmp/.news you would set $TIN_INDEX_NEWSDIR to
/tmp.
TIN_INDEX_MAILDIR
Define this variable if you do not want the .mail directory in
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/. E.g., if you want all tin's mail
index files in /tmp/.mail you would set $TIN_INDEX_MAILDIR to
/tmp.
TIN_INDEX_SAVEDIR
Define this variable if you do not want the .save directory in
${TIN_HOMEDIR-"$HOME"}/.tin/. E.g., if you want all tin's save
index files in /tmp/.save you would set $TIN_INDEX_SAVEDIR to
/tmp.
TIN_LIBDIR
Define this variable if you want to override the NEWSLIBDIR path
that was compiled into the tin binary, default is /usr/lib/news.
If tin is running in NNTP mode setting this variable has no
effect.
TIN_SPOOLDIR
Define this variable if you want to override the SPOOLDIR path
that was compiled into the tin binary, default is
/var/spool/news. If tin is running in NNTP mode setting this
variable has no effect.
TIN_NOVROOTDIR
Define this variable if you want to override the NOVROOTDIR path
that was compiled into the tin binary, default is SPOOLDIR (see
above). If tin is running in NNTP mode setting this variable has
no effect.
TIN_ACTIVEFILE
Define this variable if you want to override the NEWSLIB-
DIR/active path that was compiled into the tin binary. If tin is
running in NNTP mode setting this variable has no effect. If
$TIN_LIBDIR is set it is prepended to $TIN_ACTIVEFILE.
NNTPSERVER
The default NNTP server to remotely read news from. This vari-
able only needs to be set if the ''-r'' command-line option is
specified and the file /etc/nntpserver does not exist. The
''-g'' command line option overrides $NNTPSERVER.
NNTPPORT
The NNTP TCP-port to read news from. This variable only needs to
be set if the TCP-port is not 119 (the default). The ''-p''
command-line option overrides $NNTPPORT.
DISTRIBUTION
Set the article header field ''Distribution:'' to the contents
of the variable instead of the system default.
ISO2ASC
Set the ISO to ASCII charset decoding table character to use in
decoding an article text. Values can range from 0 to 6.
ORGANIZATION
Set the article header field ''Organization:'' to the contents
of the variable instead of the system default. If reading news
on an Apollo DomainOS machine the environment variable $NEWSORG
has to be used instead of $ORGANIZATION.
NEWSORG (DomainOS)
DomainOS specific, same as $ORGANIZATION on other OSs (see
above).
REPLYTO
Set the article header field ''Reply-To:'' to the return address
specified by the variable. This is useful if you wish to receive
replies at a different address.
NAME Overrides the full name given in the gecos-files in /etc/passwd,
see also mail_address.
REALNAME
Same as $NAME.
HOME Pathname of the user's home directory. See environ(5) for more
infos.
MAILER This variable has precedence over the default mailer that is
used in all mailing operations within tin. If reading news on
VMS use $TIN_MAILER instead.
TIN_MAILER (VMS)
VMS specific, same as $MAILER on other OSs (see above).
MAIL Full path to the users mailbox.
VISUAL This variable has precedence over the default editor (i.e.,
vi(1)) that is used in all editing operations within tin (e.g.,
posting, replying, follow-ups, ...). Evaluation order is
${VISUAL-"${EDITOR-vi}"}. See environ(5) for more infos.
EDITOR If $VISUAL is unset, then this variable is looked up for a
default editor. If $EDITOR and $VISUAL are both unset, tin will
uses the systems default editor (i.e. vi(1)) on UNIX-systems).
See environ(5) for more infos.
AUTOSUBSCRIBE
A new group is checked against the list of patterns; if it
matches, tin subscribes the user to the group without further
query. See the section "NEWSGROUP LISTS & WILDCARDS" for an
explanation of the valid syntax. For example, setting
AUTOSUBSCRIBE=comp.os.unix.*,talk.*,!talk.politics.*
will automatically subscribe the user to all new groups in the
comp.os.unix hierarchy, and all talk groups other than talk.pol-
itics groups (which will be queried for as usual). Of course
this does not work if tin is started with the ''-X'' command-
line switch.
AUTOUNSUBSCRIBE
Is handled like the $AUTOSUBSCRIBE variable, but groups matching
the list are unsubscribed from without further query. For exam-
ple, setting
AUTOUNSUBSCRIBE=alt.flame.*,u*,!uk.*
will automatically unsubscribe the user from all new alt.flame
groups and all groups starting with u (university groups) other
than UK groups (which will be queried for as usual).
TMPDIR A pathname of a directory made available for tin to create tem-
porary files.
MAILCAPS
This variable can be used to override the default path search
for mailcap files. See also tin(5).
NOMETAMAIL
Set this variable to disable the use of metamail(1) or a
replacement (e.g. metamutt).
MM_CHARSET
ISPELL Set this variable to point to ispell(1) or a replacement and its
cmd-line options.
PGPOPTS
Define any additional options that you wish to pass to your
pgp(1) or gpg(1) program.
PGPPATH
Override the name of the pgp(1) directory in $HOME that holds
your keys etc..
GNUPGHOME
Override the name of the gpg(1) directory in $HOME that holds
your keys etc..
LC_CTYPE
This variable determines the locale(5) category for character
handling functions. Usually it determines the character classes
for pattern matching character classification and case conver-
sion. Currently this is not true for tin (which temporary unsets
$LC_CTYPE right before any match is done to avoid confusion).
It's value should be of the form language[_territory][.code-
set][@modifier]. See environ(5) for more information.
LC_MESSAGES
Formats of informative and diagnostic messages and interactive
responses. It's value should be of the form language[_terri-
tory][.codeset][@modifier]. See locale(5) and environ(5) for
more information.
LC_TIME
Date and time formats. It's value should be of the form lan-
guage[_territory][.codeset][@modifier]. See locale(5) and envi-
ron(5) for more information.
LC_ALL This variable overrides the value of the $LANG variable and any
other $LC_ variable. It's value should be of the form lan-
guage[_territory][.codeset]. See locale(5) and environ(5) for
more information.
LANG This variable determines the locale(5) category for any category
not specifically selected with a variable starting with $LC_.
It's value should be of the form language[_territory][.codeset].
See environ(5) for more information.
COLUMNS
A decimal integer > 0 used to indicate the user's preferred
width in column positions for the terminal screen or window. If
this variable is unset or null, the implementation determines
the number of columns, appropriate for the terminal or window.
When $COLUMNS is set, any terminal-width information implied by
$TERM will be overridden. Users and portable applications should
not set $COLUMNS unless they wish to override the system selec-
tion and produce output unrelated to the terminal characteris-
tics.
LINES A decimal integer > 0 used to indicate the user's preferred num-
ber of lines on a page or the vertical screen or window size in
lines. A line in this case is a vertical measure large enough to
hold the tallest character in the character set being displayed.
If this variable is unset or null, the implementation determines
the number of lines, appropriate for the terminal or window.
When $LINES is set, any terminal-height information implied by
$TERM will be overridden. Users and portable applications should
not set $LINES unless they wish to override the system selec-
tion.
TERM The type of terminal in use. This is used when looking up term-
cap sequences. See environ(5) for more information.
tin does conform to the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std
1003.1-2001, Section 12, Utility Conventions (Utility Argument Syntax,
Utility Syntax Guidelines).
Regular expression support is provided by the PCRE library package
pcre(3), which is open source software, written by Philip Hazel, and
copyright by the University of Cambridge, England.
ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre/
CNews NNTPd, noffle(1) (<= V1.0-pre5) and NewsCache (<= V1.1.91) can't
handle simultaneous GROUP commands. If you run into trouble with any of
the mentioned servers define NUM_SIMULTANEOUS_GROUP_COMMAND to 1 in
active.c and recompile. See also the TODO-file which comes with the
source.
Before mailing a bug-report to <tin-bugs [AT] tin.org> please check if you
are using the latest (stable) release, and if not, please upgrade
first! Have a look a the doc/TODO file for known bugs. If you still
think you've found a bug, please use the *BugReport ('R') function and
write in English. Please do NOT enclose a core-file in your bugreport
until we request it.
tin is based on the tass(1) newsreader that was developed by Rich
Skrenta and posted to alt.sources in March 1991; its first version was
released on August 23rd 1991. tass(1) itself was heavily influenced by
notesfiles a public domain UNIX version of PLATO Notes, developed at
the University of Illinois by Ray Essick and Rob Kolstad in 1982. For a
version overview see <http://www.tin.org/history.html>;
Rich Skrenta
author of tass(1) v3.2 which this newsreader used as its base.
Bill Davidsen
author of envarg.c environment variable reading routine.
Mike Gleason
author of sigfile.c random signature generation routines.
Markus Kuhn <Markus.Kuhn [AT] cl.uk>
author of langinfo.c, charset.c and iso2asc.txt ISO-8859-1 docu-
mentation.
Arnold Robbins
author of strftime.c date formatting routine.
Rich Salz
author of wildmat.c pattern matching and parsdate.y date parsing
routines.
Dave Taylor
author of curses.c from the elm(1) mailreader.
Chris Thewalt
author of getline.c emacs(1) style editing routine.
Steven Madsen
for adding pgp(1) (Pretty Good Privacy) support.
Philip Hazel <ph10 [AT] cam.uk>
for pcre(3) (Perl-compatible regular expression library).
Patrick Powell <papowell [AT] astart.com>
for snprintf(3) and vsnprintf(3) fallbacks.
Andrew Greer
for originally porting tin to the VAX/VMS operating system.
Iain Lea <iain [AT] bricbrac.de>
Urs Janssen <urs [AT] tin.org>
cron(1) elm(1), emacs(1), gpg(1), inews(1), ispell(1), lp(1), lpr(1),
metamail(1), noffle(1), perl(1), perlre(1), pgp(1), rn(1), sendmail(1),
shar(1), slrnface(1), tass(1), unshar(1), uudecode(1), vi(1),
xterm(1x), iconv(3), iconv_open(3), nl_langinfo(3), pcre(3), pcrepat-
tern(3), snprintf(3), strftime(3), vsnprintf(3), wildmat(3), envi-
ron(5), locale(5), mbox(5), mmdf(5), newsoverview(5), tin(5), RFC977,
RFC1036, RFC1524, RFC2045, RFC2046, RFC2047, RFC2048, RFC2822, RFC2980
1.7.6 September 6th, 2004 tin(1)