1 NEWS
 NEWS is a VMS bulletin board program. It allows users to read all items
 posted on the board, post reply to existing items, and create new items on
 the board. NEWS conforms to the Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages
 (RFC1036).

 Unlike person-to-person mail, all items posted into NEWS are readable by
 ALL users on the system, so the items in NEWS are intended for general
 view. On this system NEWS is linked into the ACSNET news network, so that
 this node receives news from the acsnet, usenet and arpanet networks. This
 node also sends all locally generated news to neighbouring ACSNET sites. 

 News is invoked by the command "$ NEWS".

 Commands to NEWS are listed below: some of these commands are NEWS
 Management commands, and may only be executed by a nominated "News Manager"
 account. 

2 NEWS_Structure

 NEWS items are classified into NEWSGROUPS. All items with a similar
 subject matter are normally contained in a single newsgroup. Newsgroups
 are normally addressed by their full name. 

 Each news item within a newsgroup has a TITLE and a SEQUENCE number. A
 directory of a newsgroup displays these titles and sequence numbers -
 the sequence number is used to read a particular item. 

 News allows you to SELECT newsgroups for viewing, READ items, REPLY to
 items, POST new news items, EXTRACT items into a local file, REGISTER
 yourself into newsgroups, and FORWARD items to other users (via VMS MAIL).

2 Logical_Names
 There are seven logical names which users may define to alter the
 behaviour of news:

 NEWS_INI      This can be defined as a file name which contains a set
               of DEFINE/KEY commands to change the default key binding
               of news. e.g.
               $ DEFINE NEWS_INI news_keypad.defs

 NEWS_TPUEDIT  TPU is used as the default editor by NEWS. The system
               manager has set the default version of TPU, but you can
               override this by defining NEWS_TPUEDIT as a valid TPU
               command string: e.g.
               $ DEFINE NEWS_TPUEDIT "TPU/NOJOU/SEC=MYSECTION"

 NEWS_TPUVIEW  The "READ/EDIT" command invokes the TPU editor in
               READONLY mode. The default version of TPU used in this
               command can be overidden by defining NEWS_TPUVIEW as a
               valid TPU command: e.g.
               $ DEFINE NEWS_TPUEDIT "TPU/NOJOU/READ/SEC=MYSECTION"

 NEWS_EDIT     The default editor used to generate new postings, and to
               edit forwarded mail is TPU. You can invoke any other
               editor by defining NEWS_EDIT as the name of a valid DCL
               command procedure which is SPAWNed by NEWS: e.g.
               $ DEFINE NEWS_EDIT "@dev:[dir]my_editor_procedure.com"

               and NEWS will then SPAWN the command:

               $ @dev:[dir]my_editor_procedure.com filename

               The subtopic "Examples" shows an example NEWS_EDIT
               command procedure. If NEWS_EDIT is defined then 
               NEWS_TPUEDIT is ignored.

 NEWS_VIEW     The default read-only editor used is TPU (the READ/EDIT
               command). You can invoke any other editor by defining
               NEWS_VIEW as a valid DCL command procedure which is
               SPAWNed by NEWS: e.g.
               $ DEFINE NEWS_VIEW "@dev:[dir]my_proc_read_only.com"

               and NEWS will then spawn the command:

               $ @dev:[dir]my_proc_read_only.com filename

               The subtopic "Examples" shows an example NEWS_EDIT
               command procedure. The NEWS_VIEW command procedure is
               similar, with an appropriate "/READ_ONLY" added to the
               editor command line. If NEWS_VIEW is defined then the
               value of NEWS_TPUVIEW is ignored.

 NEWS_DEFAULT_DIRECTORY
               NEWS will normally remember the last newsgroup directory
               setting across invocations of the program (i.e. If you
               had executed DIR/NEW before exiting NEWS, then when you
               next run NEWS, the initial newsgroup directory state will
               be restored to DIR/NEW. It is possible to specify a
               constant initial directory state by defining this
               logical name as one of the strings:

                 ALL  NEW  REGISTER  SINCE  SINCE=vms_date

 NEWS_POST_CC  This logical name directs NEWS to generate MAIL carbon-
               copies of NEWS postings. The logical name value is
               interpreted by NEWS as the name of a CC control file.
               This file consists of lines of the form:

                 newsgroup   address

               The newsgroup name starts in column 1, and may be the
               name of a single newsgroup, or may specify a set of
               newsgroups by including the wildcard match character
               ('*').

               The address is the address to receive a carbon copy
               of the posting. It is separated from the newsgroup
               name by at least 1 space character. The address may be
               a decnet or internet-format address.

               The interpretation of the file is such that any postings
               you make into any of the specified newsgroups will also
               generate mail to the matching addresses.

3 Example
  $ !
  $ ! Example command procedure to invoke an editor for NEWS
  $ !
  $ ! Inputs:
  $ !
  $ !   P1 = file name.
  $ !
  $ ! Note that this procedure is run in the context of a subprocess.
  $ ! LOGIN.COM is not executed. However, all process logical names
  $ ! and DCL global symbols are copied.
  $ !
  $ ! The default directory is the same as the parent process
  $ !
  $ ! Note that this will only be invoked if the user has placed in
  $ ! LOGIN.COM (or similar)
  $ !   $ DEFINE NEWS_EDIT "@dev:[dir]NEWSEDIT_EXAMPLE.COM"
  $ !           
  $ DEFINE /USER SYS$INPUT 'F$TRNLNM("SYS$OUTPUT")'
  $ IF P1 .EQS. "" THEN EXIT
  $ EDIT/EDT 'P1'
  $ EXIT
2 Invoking_News
 News has a DCL interface similar to that of VMS MAIL, in that the
 command NEWS will invoke an interactive session of NEWS, or you can
 specify parameters to the NEWS command in order to execute a single 
 command, then return to DCL.

 NEWS also has a single optional qualifier, /NOSCREEN, which, if specified,
 invokes news in line mode. If not specified screen mode is assumed.

 Examples:
   $ NEWS/NOSCREEN

     call news in line mode in an interactive session

   $ NEWS

     call news in screen mode in an interactive session
                                                            
   $ NEWS POST/NEWSG=net.animal/SUBJECT="Frogs" frog.txt

     Post the file "frog.txt" into news, into newsgroup "net.animal",
     with the title "Frogs", then return to DCL.

2 Keypad
 By default, the keypad is configured:

 +--------+--------+--------+    +--------+--------+--------+--------+
 |  find  | insert | remove |    |  pf1   |  pf2   |  pf3   |  pf4   |
 |        |        |        |    |        |        |        |SKIP/NEW|
 | SEARCH |REGISTER|DEREGIST|    |        |  HELP  | SKIP   |SGROUP  |
 +--------+--------+--------+    +--------+--------+--------+--------+
 | select |  prev  |  next  |    |   7    |   8    |   9    |   -    |
 |        |        |        |    |        |        |        |        |
 | SELECT |  UP 18 |DOWN 18 |    |  PRINT |EXTRACT |EXTR/ALL|EXTR/APP|
 +--------+--------+--------+    +--------+--------+--------+--------+
                                 |   4    |   5    |   6    |   ,    |
                                 |        |        |        |        |
                                 |   DIR  |DIR/NEW |DIR/REG |DIR/ALL |
                                 +--------+--------+--------+--------+
                                 |   1    |   2    |   3    | enter  |
                                 |        |        |        |        |
                                 |  READ  |READ/HEA|READ/NEX| SELECT |
                                 +--------+--------+--------+        |
                                 |   0             |   .    |        |
                                 |                 |READ/NEW|        |
                                 |    READ/NEW     |/FOLLOW |        |
                                 +-----------------+--------+--------+

 These defaults may be altered in two ways:

  o Using the DEFINE/KEY command to bind a news command to a key.

  o Defining the logical name "NEWS_INI" to a file containing a
    sequence of DEFINE/KEY lines (which will be executed on startup
    of NEWS).

2 ADD
 ADD is a NEWS MANAGEMENT Command.

 Format:

  ADD Filename

 ADD is used to automatically load items into the news database. This
 command is normally used to load network news batches onto the local
 node (locally generated news is POSTed into NEWS).

 If the node is defined as a news routing node, this command also
 generates the batch files to send to the adjacent NEWS nodes.

 The file format for the add command is a batch format. Each file
 contains a number of news items, separated by the either one of the
 two valid seperator sequences:
  "#! rnews <size>"

  "<ff>
   From: ... "

3 Parameters

Filename

 This parameter is the file name containing the news batch to add to NEWS.
 The filename specified may be either a single filename, or may  contain 
 wildcards (which are expanded, and all files so specified are added).

 Lists of filenames are not supported in this version of NEWS.

3 Qualifiers

/DELETE

 This qualifier directs NEWS to delete the input file after the contents
 have been added to NEWS. Default is /NODELETE.

/CREGRP

 The default action of the ADD command is to only accept items into
 newsgroups which already exist on the system, rejecting all other
 newsgroups. This qualifier directs NEWS to automatically create
 any new newsgroups which are specified in the item headers which
 do not already exist on the local system. Default is /NOCREGRP.

/RETRY

 When a network feed news item is rejected by the local node an attempt
 is made to place the item into the "junk" newsgroup. This rejection may
 take place for a number of reasons, but the primary one is that the
 NEWS.SYS file has rejected this item. You may wish to make changes to
 the SYS file and retry adding the item. Normally such an attempt would
 be rejected, as the Path: name now contains the local node name, and
 this is regarded as a loop in the news. /RETRY directs the ADD command
 to ignore the Path: line when checking the news item for addition into
 the local node.

2 CANCEL

 Cancel allows the user to delete a news item from the NEWS system. The
 actions of this command are to remove the local copy of the news item,
 and also generate the necessary commands to propagate the deletion of
 the news item throughout the news network.
 
 CANCEL will only operate on items which have been posted by the same
 user as the user issuing the cancel command.

 This restriction is lifted slightly for the local NEWS Manager, who
 can cancel ANY item posted from the local node.

 There are no parameters to this command - CANCEL deletes the current
 news item. The user is prompted for confirmation before the command
 is executed.

2 CLEAR

 In this version of NEWS there is a single CLEAR option: CLEAR MARK.

3 Parameters

MARK

 Format:
 
  CLEAR MARK

  CLEAR MARK tag

 CLEAR MARK removes all marks of the specified tag from the mark list. If
 no tag value is specified then ALL marks are cleared. Otherwise only the
 specified tag value is cleared. The wildcard character ('*') can be used
 in the tag field to clear a set of related tags. 

2 CREATE

 CREATE is a NEWS MANAGEMENT Command.

 Format:

  CREATE Newsgroup

 Create is used to create new newsgroups on the local node.

3 Parameters

Newsgroup

 This parameter is the name of the newsgroup to create. If the newsgroup
 does not exist on the local node, then the user is prompted to confirm
 that the newsgroup should be created.

 This parameter can also contain a comma seperated list of newsgroup
 names to create.

3 Qualifiers

/HOLD

 Format:

  CREATE Newsgroup/HOLD=n

 This qualifier specifies the retention period (in days) of the Newsgroup.
 This retention period is defined as the period over which no new items
 were posted to the newsgroup, after which the newsgroup is automatically
 deleted. If not specified, the system default value is used.

 If the value "/HOLD=*" is used, the newsgroup will NOT be automatically
 deleted.

/ITEMHOLD

 Format:

  CREATE Newsgroup/ITEMHOLD=n

 This qualifier specifies the default retention period (in days) of the
 items within this newsgroup. All news items will remain on the system
 for the specified period, after which they will be automatically deleted.

 If the value "/ITEMHOLD=*" is used, NO items within the newsgroup will 
 be automatically deleted.

/MODERATOR

 Format

  Create Newsgroup/MODERATOR[=address]

 This qualifier creates a moderated newsgroup. No user may post news items
 directly into a moderated newsgroup (unless the user is the actual
 moderator of the newsgroup). Any items posted into such newsgroups are
 redirected into the mail systems, and are mailed directly to the
 moderator.

 The moderator address is held in the file NEWS_MANAGER:MAILPATHS. If no 
 address is specified, the default addressing mechanism (as described in 
 the MAILPATHS file) is used. If a specific address is used, the address
 is stored in the MAILPATHS file.

 The moderator address should be specified in the internet format
 (user@node.site.domain) - NOT Decnet format (the translation from internet
 addresses to the equivalent Decent addresses is handled internally by
 NEWS).

/LOCAL

 Newsgroups are defined by default to be Network newsgroups - A network
 newsgroup is created in response to a network-wide "newgroup" control
 message, and is deleted in response to a network-wide "rmgroup" or
 "checkgroups" message.

 Newsgroups which are local to a site, or local to a domain within the 
 wider network are created with the "/LOCAL" qualifier. This ensures
 that the newsgroup will not be deleted by the network control messages.

2 DEFINE

 This command must be used with the qualifier /KEY to define a key
 equivalence string.

3 Qualifiers

/KEY

 Associates an equivalence string and a set of attributes with a key on
 the terminal keyboard. The /KEY qualifier is required.

 Format:
   DEFINE/KEY key-name equivalence-string

4 Parameters

key-name

 Specifies the name of the key that you are defining. The following
 table gives the key names in column one. The remaining three
 columns indicate the key designations on the keyboards for the three
 different types of terminals that allow key definitions. All
 definable keys on VT52 terminals are located on the numeric keypad.
 On VT100-type terminals you can define the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys
 as well as all the keys on the numeric keypad. There are three types
 of keys that can be defined on terminals with LK201 keyboards: (1)
 keys on the numeric keypad, (2) keys on the editing keypad, and (3)
 keys on the function key row across the top of the terminal. (Note
 that you cannot define function keys F1 through F5.)

   Key-name             LK201          VT100-type     VT52

   PF1                  PF1            PF1            [blue]
   PF2                  PF2            PF2            [red]
   PF3                  PF3            PF3            [gray]
   PF4                  PF4            PF4            - -
   KP0,KP1,...,KP9      0,1,...,9      0,1,...,9      0,1,...,9
   PERIOD               .              .              .
   COMMA                ,              ,              n/a
   MINUS                -              -              n/a
   ENTER                Enter          ENTER          ENTER
   LEFT                 |<--|          |<--|          |<--|
   RIGHT                |-->|          |-->|          |-->|
   E1                   Find            - -            - -
   E2                   Insert Here     - -            - -
   E3                   Remove          - -            - -
   E4                   Select          - -            - -
   E5                   Prev Screen     - -            - -
   E6                   Next Screen     - -            - -
   HELP                 Help            - -            - -
   DO                   Do              - -            - -
   F6,F7,...,F20        F6,F7,...,F20   - -            - -

 Some defineable keys are enabled for definition all the time.
 Others, including KP0 through KP9, PERIOD, COMMA, and MINUS, need to
 be enabled for definition purposes. You must issue either the SET
 TERMINAL/APPLICATION or SET TERMINAL/NONUMERIC command before using
 these keys.

 The LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys and the F6 through F14 function keys
 are reserved for command line editing.  You must issue the SET
 TERMINAL/NOLINE_EDITING command before defining these keys.

equivalence-string

 Specifies the string which is to be processed when you press the
 key. If the string contains any spaces, enclose the equivalence
 string in quotation marks.             

4 Qualifiers

/ECHO
 /ECHO
 /NOECHO

 Determines whether or not the equivalence string is displayed on
 your screen after the key has been pressed. The default is /ECHO.
 You cannot use /NOECHO with the /NOTERMINATE qualifier.

/ERASE
 /ERASE
 /NOERASE

 Determines whether or not the current line is erased before the key
 translation is inserted. The default is /NOERASE.

/IF_STATE
 /IF_STATE=(state-name,...)
 /NOIF_STATE

 Specifies a list of one or more states, one of which must be in
 effect for the key definition to be in effect.  If you omit the
 /IF_STATE qualifier or use /NOIF_STATE, the current state is used.
 The state name is an alphanumeric string.  States are established
 with the /SET_STATE qualifier or the SET KEY command. If you
 specify only one state name, you can omit the parentheses.  By
 including several state names, you can define a key to have the same
 function in all the specified states.

/LOCK_STATE
 /LOCK_STATE
 /NOLOCK_STATE

 Specifies that the state set by the /SET_STATE qualifier remain in
 effect until explicitly changed.  If you use the /NOLOCK_STATE
 qualifier, the state set by /SET_STATE is in effect only for the
 next definable key that you press or for the next read terminating
 character that you type.

 The default is /NOLOCK_STATE. The /LOCK_STATE qualifier can only be
 specified with the /SET_STATE qualifier.

/LOG
 /LOG
 /NOLOG

 Controls whether the system displays a message indicating that the
 key definition has been successfully created. The default is /LOG.

/SET_STATE
 /SET_STATE=state-name
 /NOSET_STATE

 Causes the specified state-name to be set when the key is pressed.
 The state name can be any alphanumeric string.

 If you omit the SET_STATE qualifier or use /NOSET_STATE, the current
 state that was locked remains in effect. If you have not included
 this qualifier with a key definition, you can use the SET KEY
 command to change the current state.

/TERMINATE
 /TERMINATE
 /NOTERMINATE

 Specifies whether or not the current equivalence string is to be
 terminated (that is, processed) when the key is pressed. The
 default is /NOTERMINATE, which allows you to press other keys before
 the equivalence string is processed. Pressing RETURN has the same
 effect as using /TERMINATE.

 The /NOTERMINATE qualifier allows you to create key defintions that
 insert text into command lines, after prompts, or into other text
 that you are typing.

2 DELETE

 DELETE is a NEWS MANAGER Command.

 Format

  Delete Items

  DELETE Newsgroups

 Delete is used to delete newsgroups or news items. The command accepts
 a list of newsgroups to delete, or a list of newsitems.

 The actions of delete are determined by the current screen context.
 If the screen is currently displaying the newsgroup directory, then
 the delete command is used to delete newsgroups. If the item directory
 is displayed, then the command refers to news items.

3 Parameters

Items

 The items are specified as a list of item numbers, seperated by commas.

 A range of items can be specified by seperating the start and end
 numbers by a minus.

 All items can be specified by a '*'.

 For example, to delete items 3 through to 10, 20 and 22 to 25 the
 command is:

  DELETE 3-10,20,22-25

Newsgroups

 The newsgroups are specified as a list of names, seperated by commas.
 The '*' wildcard may also be used to specify a set of newsgroups.

 The newsgroup name is interpreted as the prefix of a family of
 related newsgroups, so that, for example, the command:

   DELETE alt.obscure

 will delete the newsgroup "alt.obscure", and also all newsgroups
 matching the pattern "alt.obscure.*"

 The user is asked for confirmation for each newsgroup to delete.

3 Qualifiers

/IDENTIFIER
 /IDENTIFIER=message-id

 This qualifier deletes the newsitem with the specified message
 identifier. If no identifier is given, NEWS will prompt for the
 identifier string. Note that the identifier value includes the
 '<' and '>' characters.

2 DEREGISTER

 Removes your registration from a newsgroup. The newsgroup may either
 be specified as a parameter to the command, or, if not specified, the
 current newsgroup is deregistered.

3 Parameters

Newsgroup-name

 This parameter is used unless /ALL is specified. The parameter value
 is the newsgroup to remove from the registered list. If not specified, 
 the current newsgroup is deregistered.

3 Qualifiers

/ALL

 This qualifier removes all newsgroups from the registered list.

2 DIRECTORY

 In line mode, this command, by default lists all the news items in the
 currently selected newsgroup, on a page by page basis, displaying the
 item number, creation date and item title. The listing normally
 commences 2 items before the current news item (the last newsitem read).

 This may be modified by one of the command qualifiers as listed.

3 Qualifiers

/ALL

 In screen mode this command resets the newsgroup directory to display
 all newsgroups. This resets the actions of DIR/NEW or DIR/REG.

/NEW

 In screen mode this command sets the newsgroup directory screen to
 only display those newsgroups in which you are registered, and there
 are unread newsitems within those newsgroups. This is reset by the
 command DIR/ALL

 In line mode these newsgroups are listed page by page.

/REGISTER

 In screen mode this command sets the newsgroup directory screen to
 only display those newsgroups in which you are registered. This is
 reset by the command DIR/ALL

 In line mode these newsgroups are listed page by page.

/RESET

 This clears the internal memory copy of the NEWS database, and
 reads a new copy of the database from the master index files into
 memory.

/SINCE
 /SINCE=date

 This displays all newsgroups which have had new items posted into the
 newsgroup since the date specified. The date value of the qualifier
 is in standard VMS date-time format. If no value is given for this
 qualifier, "TODAY" is assumed.
     
2 DOWN

 Format

  DOWN

  DOWN Number

 In screen mode this moves the cursor down one line. The command has an
 optional numeric parameter, the number of lines to move down.

3 Parameters

Number

  This parameter specifies the number of lines to move down. If
  omitted, the default is 1 line

2 EXIT

 EXIT from NEWS. Ctrl-Z is also interpreted as EXIT.

 EXIT implies that the context will be written to the NEWS context file:
 (SYS$LOGIN:NEWS_GROUPS.REGISTER).

2 EXTRACT

 EXTRACT copies the current news item into an output file.

3 Parameters

Filename

 This specifies the name of the file to contain the extracted news
 item text.

3 Qualifiers

/ALL

 This qualifier modifies the EXTRACT command to copy ALL of the items
 in the current selected newsgroup onto the file.

/APPEND

 This qualifier modifies the EXTRACT command to APPEND the output to
 the nominated file, rather than the default action of creating a new
 version of the output file.

2 FOLLOWUP

 FOLLOWUP is used to post a reply to a news item back into NEWS.
 If your system is configured into a news network, this reply item will
 also be distributed through the network.

 NEWS will fill in all defaulting news headers, and will prompt for
 all header items which are non-defaulting (the subject line and the
 newsgroups to post the item into).

 If the newsgroups for the posting are moderated, the posting is
 automatically re-directed as mail to the moderator address (as defined
 in the MAILPATHS file).

 The editor is invoked to form the reply, with the edit buffer pre-
 loaded with the text of the original item.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

3 Qualifiers

/HEADERS
 /NOHEADERS - Default

 Followup will normally prompt for the subject of the posting, and a
 list of newsgroups to post the item into.

 The /HEADERS qualifier will force prompting for optional components
 of the item header. These fields are:

 Summary      - A one line summary of the posting

 Reply-To     - Mail address for REPLYing to the item (used if replies 
                are to be sent to an address different from the poster 
                of the news)

 Distribution - a list of keywords designed to limit the distribution
                of a news item to a subject of the network. These
                keywords are site specific, but commonly include the
                keywords "local" (do not forward to the net) and
                "world" (forward as far as possible through the net).

 Followup-To  - The list of newsgroups where followup postings are to
                be sent. This is used to move a discussion to another
                newsgroup.

 Keywords     - A few relevant, pithy keywords which should indicate
                to other readers if the item is of interest.

/SELF

 A copy of the NEWS posting will be mail as VMS MAIL to yourself.

2 FORWARD

 Invokes VMS MAIL, to send a copy of the current news item to another
 user (or yourself if so inclined).

 FORWARD and MAIL are synonmyns.

3 Qualifiers

/TO
 /TO=user
 /TO=(user,user)

 Specifies the VMS Mail address of the users to receive the mail. This
 may be a user name, or a list of names, and may also include a
 distribution list file specification.

 If not specified, the user is prompted for the /TO value.

/SUBJECT
 /SUBJECT=text string

 Specifies the subject of the message for the heading.

 If not specified, the user is prompted for the /SUBJECT value.

/EDIT
 /EDIT  - Default
 /NOEDIT

 Invokes the editor the item text before mailing the item.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

/SELF

 Sends a copy of the message back to yourself.

/HEADERS

 By default the news item headers are stripped off the item text before
 it is mailed. This qualifier loads the item header lines into the mail
 buffer as well as the body of the text.

2 HELP

 This command types out this help file. The command can be used with
 parameters to specify the command on which you want the help displayed.

2 KILL

 The KILL facility allows the user to filter out all messages of a
 particular class - the READ/NEW command will mark such filtered items as
 having been read without displaying the text of the item to the user,
 and search forward for the next unread item. 

 The KILL filter works on three attributes for a match: the newsgroup
 name, the subject line and the sender's address. Of these attributes only
 one of the subject line and sender need be specified. Thus it is possible
 to filter all postings by a particular sender in all newsgroups, or
 filter a conversation stream from a particular newsgroup, or filter all
 postings from a particular sender within a specified conversation stream. 

 The KILL command adds entries to the kill filter list. Removing kill
 filters must be done manually by editing these kill entries: they are
 stored in the file SYS$LOGIN:NEWS_GROUPS.REGISTER in the following
 format: 

  news context entries
  MARKLIST
  mark entries
  KILLLIST
  newsgroup S:subject F:from line

 To remove an entry, delete the relevant line from this file using an
 editor. 

 The KILL command has two qualifiers: /SUBJECT and /FROM. The /SUBJECT
 qualifier directs NEWS to add the current item's subject line to the kill
 filter set, and the /FROM directs NEWS to add the current item's From:
 line to the kill filter set. The command will then prompt for the set of
 newsgroups to which this filter will be applied. The default value is the
 current newsgroup but more newsgroups may be specified using wildcard
 notation ('*') or a list of newsgroups. 

3 Qualifiers

/FROM

 Add the current item's From: address to the kill filter set. 

/SUBJECT
                     
 Add the current item's Subject line to the kill filter set. 

2 MAIL

 Invokes VMS MAIL, to send a copy of the current news item to another
 user (or yourself if so inclined).

 FORWARD and MAIL are synonmyns.

3 Qualifiers

/TO
 /TO=user
 /TO=(user,user)

 Specifies the VMS Mail address of the users to receive the mail. This
 may be a user name, or a list of names, and may also include a
 distribution list file specification.

 If not specified, the user is prompted for the /TO value.

/SUBJECT
 /SUBJECT=text string

 Specifies the subject of the message for the heading.

 If not specified, the user is prompted for the /SUBJECT value.

/EDIT
 /EDIT  - Default
 /NOEDIT

 Invokes the editor to allow the item text to be edited before mailing.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

/SELF

 Sends a copy of the message back to yourself.

/HEADERS

 By default the news item headers are stripped off the item text before
 it is mailed. This qualifier loads the item header lines into the mail
 buffer as well as the body of the text.

2 MARK

 Format:

  MARK

  MARK tag

 MARK places a mark against the current newsitem. This item can be selected
 at a later stage by the READ/MARK or SELECT/MARK commands. 

 If no tag value is specified then the default tag, "mark" is used. Any tag
 value may be specified - tag values are words (no space characters) of any
 (well, less than 80) length. 

2 NEWSGROUPS

 In screen mode this pops the display stack back to the newsgroup
 directory screen.

2 NOSCREEN

 Turns off screen mode and enters line command mode.

2 POST

 POST is used to post news items into the local NEWS database. If your
 system is configured into a news network, this item will also be
 distributed through the network.

 NEWS will fill in all defaulting news headers, and will prompt for
 all header items which are non-defaulting (the subject line and the
 newsgroups to post the item into).

 If the newsgroups for the posting are moderated, the posting is
 automatically re-directed as mail to the moderator address.

 Format:

  POST
  POST Filename

3 Parameters

Filename

 The name of the file containing the text of the item to post. If no
 filename is given, the editor is invoked with an empty file.

3 Qualifiers

/EDIT
 /EDIT - Default
 /NOEDIT

 Invokes the editor to edit the post file. If no post filename is
 specified, the editor call is forced, otherwise the edit call can be
 disabled by the /NOEDIT qualifier.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

/HEADERS
 /NOHEADERS - Default

 Post will normally prompt for the subject of the posting, and a list
 of newsgroups to post the item into.

 The /HEADERS qualifier will force prompting for optional components
 of the item header. These fields are:

 Summary      - A one line summary of the posting

 Reply-To     - Mail address for REPLYing to the item (used if replies 
                are to be sent to an address different from the poster 
                of the news)

 Distribution - a list of keywords designed to limit the distribution
                of a news item to a subject of the network. These
                keywords are site specific, but commonly include the
                keywords "local" (do not forward to the net) and
                "world" (forward as far as possible through the net).

 Followup-To - The list of newsgroups where followup postings are to
               be sent. This is used to move a discussion to another
               newsgroup.

 Keywords     - A few relevant, pithy keywords which should indicate
                to other readers if the item is of interest.

/NEWSGROUPS
 /NEWSGROUPS=newsgroup-list

 This qualifier specifies the list of newsgroups to receive the
 posting. If this qualifier value is not specified, the user is
 prompted for the newsgroups.

/SUBJECT
 /SUBJECT=text string

 The subject line, or title of the posting. If this qualifier is omitted,
 the user is prompted for a subject.

/SELF

 A copy of the NEWS posting will be mail as VMS MAIL to yourself.

/CONTROL

 The Subject: header is duplicated as the Control: header line. This
 is a NEWS MANAGER qualifier.

2 PRINT

 Print appends the current news item to a print file, for spooling at
 the end of the NEWS job. As more items are Printed, they are appended 
 to this print file.

 At the end of the news run the user is prompted for the name of the
 queue to spool the output, and the output is directed to that queue.

3 Qualifiers

/ALL

 This qualifier modifies the PRINT command to copy ALL of the items in
 the current selected newsgroup onto the file. If the newsgroup
 contains a large number of items this could seriously affect your
 disk quota (as well as the possibility of printer meltdown).

2 QUIT

 QUIT exits from NEWS without updating the user's NEWS context file. Thus,
 no changes are made to the set of unread items nor are any changes made
 to the set of marked items and fill filters. This is a more controlled
 quit than Ctrl-C ot Ctrl-Y. 

2 READ

 This command reads the next item from the current selected news group,
 and displays the item on the screen page-by-page (similar to the output
 from the TYPE/PAGE DCL command).

 The actions of READ can be modified by giving a Newsitem number, which
 will display that item.

3 Parameters

Newsitem

 This parameter to read may be either the number of a news item, a "."
 (to re-read the last read item from the start), or "*" to read the
 last item in the group.

3 Qualifiers

/HEADER

 Normally NEWS will suppress the display of all network routing
 headers. This qualifier produces a full display of the item contents
 including mail header lines.

/NEW

 This command will display the next Unread news item from the set of
 registered newsgroups. This may cause an implicit Select of a different
 newsgroup to obtain the next unread item.

/EDIT

 This qualifier will use an editor in read-only mode to view the
 newsitem. This is useful when it is required to scroll up and down
 through the item text, or extract a part of the text into a file.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

/TPU

 This qualifier is equivalent to the /EDIT qualifier.

 This qualifier will use an editor in read-only mode to view the
 newsitem. This is useful when it is required to scroll up and down
 through the item text, or extract a part of the text into a file.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

/NEXT

 When reading a news item this command causes the remainder of the text
 display to be skipped, and the next item to be displayed.

/LAST

 When reading a news item this command causes the remainder of the text
 display to be skipped, and the previous item to be displayed.

/BACK

 This qualifier is equivalent to the /LAST qualifier.

 When reading a news item this command causes the remainder of the text
 display to be skipped, and the previous item to be displayed.

/PARENT

 NEWS items may reference a previous item that has been posted. In such
 a case the text of the item commonly begins with the line:
  "In article {<identifier>}, {user address} writes:"

 When a news item references previous items, the header includes the
 identifier of the parent item. READ/PARENT will display the parent
 item referenced by the current item.

/IDENTIFIER

 All NEWS items are identified by a unique message identification string.
 (This identifier can be displayed using the READ/HEADER command, and
 noting the "Message-Id: ..." line).

 An item to be displayed can be selected by providing the identifier
 of the item. e.g.:
               
  READ/IDENTIFIER=<243@csc.anu.oz>

/ROT13

 Some news items are posted using a basic encryption method (rot13).
 This qualifier uses the decryption algorithm to display the message
 contents.

/MARK 

 This command displays the text of the NEXT newsitem marked with the
 specified tag value. If no tag value is specified then the next item
 marked with any tag is used. 

/FOLLOWUP

 This command scans the current newsgroup for the next newsitem with a
 subject field which matches that of the current newsitem subject (within
 the current newsgroup). 

 In this way the responses (if any) to the current newsitem can be viewed. 

/PREV

 NEWS maintains a history of the last 10 items read. READ/PREV pops the
 most recent item index off this history stack and displays the item.
 Repeated calls to READ/PREV will continue to pop the stack until the
 history stack is emptied.

2 REFRESH

 In screen mode this command repaints the screen. This command is (by
 default) bound to the Ctrl-W key.

2 REGISTER

 Adds newsgroups into the user's register file. Registering into a
 newsgroup implies that NEWS will automatically keep track of which items
 in the newsgroup have been read, and the user can view only unread news
 items (with the READ/NEW command).

 Format:
  REGISTER Newsgroup-name
  REGISTER

3 Parameters

Newsgroup-name

 This specifies the name of the newsgroup to register. If the parameter
 is not specified, the current newsgroup is added to the register file.

3 Qualifiers

/ALL

 This qualifier will register the user for ALL newsgroups on the
 system. On a system with a high quantity of network news this must be
 considered a brave act!

/NEW

 This qualifier will register the user for all newsgroups created on
 the system since the last time a REGISTER/ALL or REGISTER/NEW command
 was given. Thus the user is automatically registered into all recent
 newsgroups, and can then elect to deregister from some of those
 newsgroups.

/PRIORITY
 /PRIORITY=number

 This qualifier assigns a read priority to the newsgroup. This is
 particularly useful if you are registered in a number of newsgroups,
 and would like to view new items (using READ/NEW) in a particular
 order of newsgroups. The value is a number (between 1 and 255),
 increasing with priority.

 For example, if you have new items in net.animals and soc.chinese
 and the priority of soc.chinese is greater then net.animals, new
 items in soc.chinese will be displayed first when using READ/NEW).

2 REPLY

 REPLY posts a MAIL reply directly to the sender of a news item. This
 is used to respond directly to the poster of an item without the item
 appearing on the net.

 News will pre-load the edit buffer with the text of the item to which
 to reply is being sent, then invoke the editor. (The default editor
 is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user definable - see the
 subtopic Logical_names).

 On a normal exit from the editor the item is posted via VMS Mail to the
 sender (The sender's address is mapped into the equivalent VMS Mail
 address by site specific address transformation rules).

3 Qualifiers

/HEADERS

 By default the news item headers are stripped off the item text before
 it is mailed. This qualifier loads the item header lines into the mail
 buffer as well as the body of the text.

/SUBJECT

 /SUBJECT=text string

 This specifies the subject header of the mail reply. If not specified,
 NEWS will prompt for a Subject: field.

/SELF
 /NOSELF [default]

 This is a mail qualifier which will forward a copy of the outgoing mail
 item back to the sender.

2 SEARCH

 This command directs NEWS to locate a newsitem which contains a
 specified text string. The next item which contains the text string is
 displayed on the screen. Repeated calls to SEARCH (without specifying a
 text string) will locate successive occurrences in other news items that
 are in the specified newsgroups.

 Format:

  SEARCH [target]

 This operation make tie up your terminal for long periods, particularly
 if you have specified "*" as the newsgroup to search. To interrupt the
 search, press any key - the normal command prompt will appear at the
 base of the screen.

3 Parameters

Target

 This parameter specifies the search string target. If not specified the
 previous target string is used.

 The search is usually case-insensitive, but this may be reversed (made
 case sensitive) by specifying a mixed-case string (i.e. upper case only
 and lower case only target strings are case-insensitive). To specify a
 mixed-case string you must enclose the string in "" characters (e.g.
 SEARCH "String")
  
3 Qualifiers

/NEWSGROUPS

 By default the search is limited to the current newsgroup. This can be
 modified by specifying the newsgroups which should be searched. The
 wildcard character ('*') may be used to include a set of newsgroups.
 A number of newsgroups may be specified with the usual list notation.
 
 For example:

  SEARCH/NEWSGROUPS=(aus.*,anu.*) wombats

/EDIT

 This qualifier will use an editor in read-only mode to view the
 newsitem. This is useful when it is required to scroll up and down
 through the item text, or extract a part of the text into a file.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

/TPU

 This qualifier is equivalent to the /EDIT qualifier.

 This qualifier will use an editor in read-only mode to view the
 newsitem. This is useful when it is required to scroll up and down
 through the item text, or extract a part of the text into a file.

 The default editor is the TPU EDT emulator, but this is user
 definable (see the subtopic Logical_names).

/HEADER

 Normally NEWS will suppress the display of all network routing
 headers. This qualifier produces a full display of the item contents
 including mail header lines.

/DISPLAY
 /NODISPLAY

 Determines whether the item text will be displayed following the search.
 By default the text is displayed, but if /NODISPLAY is specified, the
 screen directory will be positioned on the item, but not displayed.

2 SCREEN

 This enters NEWS' screen display mode. In this mode there are three
 screen levels: the Newsgroup screen, where every newsgroup header is
 displayed, a Newsitem screen, displaying newsitem headers, and an Item
 text screen, displaying item contents.

 The current object is shown by a cursor on the left of the display. The
 cursor can be moved up and down by the arrow keys or the UP and DOWN
 commands (or Prev-Screen and Next-Screen commands on VT220 keyboards).

 This is the default mode for NEWS. The line mode can be selected by the
 command: NOSCREEN.

2 SELECT

 SELECT changes newsgroup context to the nominated newsgroup.The command
 normally takes one parameter, the name of the newsgroup to select.

 Example:
   SELECT test ... to select newsgroup test

3 Qualifiers

/NEW 

 This qualifier is used in place of a newsgroup to select the next
 registered newsgroup which contains unread news items. If the current
 newsgroup contains unread items, then no action is performed.

/MARK

 Format:

  SELECT/MARK

  SELECT/MARK=tag

 This command moves the current item pointer to the NEXT newsitem marked
 with the specified tag value. If no tag value is specified than the next
 item marked with any tag is used. 

2 SET

 SET is a NEWS MANAGER Command.

 SET modifies the retention period of newsgroups or of newsitems within
 newsgroups. Retention periods are set up by a hierarchy of defaults in
 NEWS.

 SET is also used to set (or reset) moderated newsgroups.

 For NEWSITEMS there is a default retention period of 30 days. This may
 be overridden by specifying a system wide item retention period. for
 items. e.g:
   
   SET NEWSGROUP */ITEMHOLD=14

 This system default may be overridden by specifying a default retention
 period for all items within a particular newsgroup. e.g:

   SET NEWSGROUP mod.computers.mac/ITEMHOLD=30

 This newsgroup default may be overridden by specifying a retention
 period for a particular item. e.g:

   SET ITEM 34/HOLD=90

 For NEWSGROUPS there is a default retention period of 60 days (i.e. the
 most recent posting to this newsgroup occurred 60 days previously, AND
 the newsgroup is currently empty). This may be overridden by specifying
 a system wide item retention period. e.g:

   SET NEWSGROUP */HOLD=30

 This may be overridden by specifying a retention period for a newsgroup.
 e.g:

   SET NEWSGROUP mod.computers.mac/HOLD=60

 There are two SET commands:

   SET NEWSGROUP newsgroup-name/qualifiers
   SET ITEM item-num/qualifiers

3 Parameters

NEWSGROUP newsgroup-name

 SET NEWSGROUP modifies the newsgroup  retention  attributes  of
 newsgroups or of the default news item retention period. The command
 format is:

   SET NEWSGROUP newsgroup-name/quals
 or
   SET NEWSGROUP */quals

 The first form requires the name of a newsgroup (or defaults to the
 current newsgroup in screen mode).

 The second form applies to the global defaults used in the system.

 The qualifiers accepted here are /ITEMHOLD, /HOLD, and in the case
 where a particular newsgroup is named, /MODERATOR

ITEM item-num

 SET ITEM modifies the newsgroup retention attributes of news items.

 The command format is:

   SET ITEM name/HOLD=val

 This requires the number of a newitem (or defaults to the current
 newsitem in screen mode).

3 Qualifiers

/HOLD

 Format:

   /HOLD=days

 This command qualifier defines the retention period for newsgroups or
 news items. The value of the qualifier is specified in days. If a 0
 value is given, this indicates that a higher level default value
 should be used. If a value of '*' is given, this indicates that the
 retention is PERMANENT (i.e. may only be deleted manually).

/ITEMHOLD

 Format:

   /ITEMHOLD=days

 This command qualifier defines the default retention period for news
 items within a newsgroup. The value of the qualifier is specified in
 days. If a 0 value is given, this indicates that a higher level
 default value should be used. If a value of '*' is given as the value
 for days, this indicates that the retention is PERMANENT.

/MODERATOR

 Format:

  /MODERATOR=address
  /NOMODERATOR

 This command is used with SET NEWSGROUP, and sets the newsgroup as a
 moderated newsgroup, or clears the moderator condition. The value
 of the /MODERATOR is an internet-style address of the moderator.
 This address is translated into VMS Mail format automatically.

 The /NOMODERATOR is used to clear the moderator condition.

 Moderated newsgroups can only accept posting from the moderator. All
 other users who attempt to post to this newsgroup are automatically
 routed into the mail system to send the item to the moderator.

/LOCAL

 Newsgroups are defined by default to be Network newsgroups - A network
 newsgroup is created in response to a network-wide "newgroup" control
 message, and is deleted in response to a network-wide "rmgroup" or
 "checkgroups" message.

 Newsgroups which are local to a site, or local to a domain within
 the wider network are created with the "/LOCAL" qualifier. This ensures
 that the newsgroup will not be deleted by the network control messages.

2 SHOW

 SHOW displays the control information for newsgroups or for news items
 in the News database.

 This information includes the retention period, relevant deletion time,
 and the moderator address (if moderated).

 Format:

  SHOW NEWSGROUP newsgroup-name

  SHOW ITEM item-num

  SHOW MARK tag

  SHOW KILL

 Retention periods may be set on a system default basis, on a per
 newsgroup basis, or for specific items.

3 Parameters

NEWSGROUP newsgroup-name

 SHOW NEWSGROUP displays the newsgroup retention attributes of the
 newsgroup, and also the moderator address (if moderated).

 The newsgroup-name may be either a newsgroup name (to display the
 specific information for that newsgroup), or '*' (to display the
 system defaults for retention periods).

ITEM item-num

 SHOW ITEM displays the retention period for a specific news item.

MARK tag

 Format:

  SHOW MARK

  SHOW MARK tag

 SHOW MARK displays a listing of the set of marked newsitems. If no tag
 value is specified, then all mark tag values are displayed. If a tag is
 used then only those tag values which match using wildcard matching are
 displayed. 

KILL

 SHOW KILL displays the current kill filter set on the screen.

2 SKIM

 SKIM is a NEWS MANAGER Command.

 SKIM checks aspects of the news database for internal consistency, and
 also enforces news item and newsgroup expiry time limits.

 By default the command will check all news items, all newsgroups, all
 message identifiers and all item files in the news database, removing
 any inconsistencies found in the News database. By default all deleted
 items are NOT archived.

 Any of these functions can be stopped by use of the /NOxxx qualifier
 in the command line.

3 Qualifiers

/ITEMS
 /NOITEMS

 SKIM/ITEMS performs a pass over all current news items:

  1. Deletes items which are older than the pre-determined item life.

  2. Deletes any items which have no associated message identifier
     entry.

  3. Updates any inconsistencies in the newsgroup file concerning the
     number of items in each newsgroup.

 The /ARCH qualifier can be used in conjunction with this pass to archive
 any files that are to be deleted from the news database.

/NEWSGROUPS
 /NONEWSGROUPS

 SKIM/NEWSGROUPS performs the following operations:

  1. Checks the existence of all items in the newsgroup, and update
     newsgroup counts if inconsistent.

  2. Deletes any newsgroup which has had no new entries for a site
     determined period (Thus cancellation of dormant newsgroups is
     automatic with this command.

/FILES
 /NOFILES

 SKIM/FILES examines every .ITM file in the news database, purging all
 back versions of any file, and deleting any .ITM files which have no
 corresponding entry in the item database.

/ARCHIVE

 Format:
  /ARCHIVE=Filename

 This can be used in conjunction with /ITEMS to archive a copy of every
 item that is to be deleted from the News database. The items are stored
 in seperate versions of the specified file, so it will cause problems
 if a low version limit is imposed on this file.

2 SKIP

 SKIP will mark items as having been read by the user. If the current
 screen is the newsitem directory, then SKIP will mark the current
 newsitem as read - if the screen is the newsgroup directory then
 SKIP will mark ALL items in that newsgroup as read.

 The command takes one optional parameter, a newsgroup name, which can be
 used to mark as read ALL items in the nominated newsgroup.


3 Parameters

Newsgroup

 This qualifier changes context to the named newsgroup when recording
 items as skipped.

3 Qualifiers

/ALL

 This qualifier will mark ALL news items in ALL registered newsgroups
 as having been read by the user.

/POINTER

 This will mark all items (on an item screen) as being read, up to, and
 including, the current item.

/BEFORE
 /BEFORE=date

 This will mark all items as read which were created before the date
 specified. If the qualifier /ALL is used this will span all newsgroups.
 By default this will span the current newsgroup.

 The date format is the standard VMS date-time format. The default value
 of this qualifier is "TODAY"

/FOLLOWUP

 All newsitems in the current newsgroup with a subject field the same as
 the current newsitem will be marked as read. 

 This command is used to skip entire conversation streams: all newsitems
 with related subject fields will be marked as having been read. 

/NEWSGROUP

 This qualifier will mark ALL items in the current newsgroup as read.
 If the screen is displaying the newsgroup directory then /NEWSGROUP
 is the default action - if the screen is displaying the newsitem
 directory then /NONEWSGROUP is the default action, and only the
 current item will be marked

2 SPAWN

 Spawn a DCL level subprocess from NEWS (using LIB$SPAWN). LOGOUT
 from the subprocess returns to NEWS.

2 UNMARK

 Format:

  UNMARK

  UNMARK tag

 UNMARK clears the mark from the current news item. If a tag is specified
 with the command, then only those tag values will be cleared. If no tag is
 specified, then all tags will be removed from the item. The tag may be
 specified using wildcard characters. 

2 UNREAD

 This command marks the current item as UNREAD - The item will be remarked
 again as unread, and will be displayed at a later stage by the READ/NEW
 command (if the item is in a registered newsgroup). 

 This command is useful to mark items for re-reading at a later stage. 

2 UP

 Format

  UP

  UP Number

 In screen mode this moves the cursor up one line. The command has an
 optional numeric parameter, the number of lines to move up.

3 Parameters
    
Number

  This parameter specifies the number of lines to move up. If
  omitted, the default is 1 line

2 VERSION

 This command will display the version and creation date of the NEWS Software.

 This software is running at Version 5.2, created on 26-Apr-1988.

 Changes introduced in version 5.0 are:
  - Implementation of server node support using NNTP servers
  - Additional SKIP qualifiers
  - Additional DIRECTORY qualifiers

 Changes introduced in version 5.1 are:
  - UNREAD command
  - Support for MARKing of newsitems

 Changes introduced in version 5.2 are:
  - Remember newsgroup directory filter across invocations of NEWS
  - NEWS_DEFAULT_DIRECTORY and NEWS_POST_CC user logical names
  - POST/SELF and FOLLOWUP/SELF qualifiers
  - Support for the ihave/sendme protocols
  - /CONTROL qualifier to the POST command
