nn Beginner Help

     NAME
          nn - efficient net news interface (No News is good news)

     SYNOPSIS
          nn [ options ] [ newsgroup  |  +folder  |  file ]...
          nn -g [ -r ]
          nn -a0 [ newsgroup ]...

     DESCRIPTION
          Net news is a world-wide information exchange service
          covering numerous topics in science and every day life.
          Topics are organized in news groups, and these groups are
          open for everybody to post articles on a subject related to
          the topic of the group.

          Nn is a `point-and-shoot' net news interface program, or a
          news reader for short (not to be confused with the human
          news reader).  When you use nn, you can decide which of the
          many news groups you are interested in, and you can
          unsubscribe to those which don't interest you.  nn will let
          you read the new (and old) articles in each of the groups
          you subscribe to using a menu based article selection prior
          to reading the articles in the news group.

          When a news group is entered, nn will locate all the
          presently unread articles in the group, and extract their
          sender, subject, and other relevant information.  This
          information is then rearranged, sorted, and marked in
          various ways to give it a pleasant format when it is
          presented on the screen.

          This will be done very quickly, because nn uses its own
          database to maintain all the necessary information on a
          directly accessible form (this database is built and
          maintained by the nnmaster(8) program).

          When the article menu appears on the screen, nn will be in a
          mode called selection mode.  In this mode, the articles
          which seems to be interesting can be selected by single
          keystrokes (using the keys a-z and 0-9).  When all the
          interesting articles among the ones presently displayed have
          been selected, the space bar is hit, which causes nn to
          enter reading mode.

          In reading mode, each of the selected articles will be
          presented.  You use the space bar to go on to the next page
          of the current article, or to the next article.  Of course,
          there are all sorts of commands to scroll text up and down,
          skip to the next article, responding to an article, decrypt
          an article, and so on.

          When all the selected articles in the current group have
          been read, the last hit on the space bar will cause nn will
          continue to the next group with unread articles, and enter
          selection mode on that group.

     FREQUENTLY USED OPTIONS
          nn accepts a lot of command line options, but here only the
          frequently used options are described.  Options can also be
          set permanently by including appropriate variable settings
          in the init file described later.  All options are described
          in the section on Command Line Options towards the end of
          this manual.

          The frequently used command line options are:

          -a0  Catch up on unread articles and groups.  See the
               section "Catch up" below.

          -g   Prompt for the name of a news group or folder to be
               entered (with completion).

          -r   Used with -g to repeatedly prompt for groups to enter.

          -lN  Print only the first N lines of the first page of each
               article before prompting to continue.  This is useful
               on slow terminals and modem lines to be able to see the
               first few lines of longer articles.

          -sWORD
               Collect only articles which contain the string WORD in
               their subject (case is ignored).  This is normally
               combined with the -x and -m options to find all
               articles on a specific subject.

          -s/regexp
               Collect only articles whose subject matches the regular
               expression regexp.  This is normally combined with the
               -x and -m options to find all articles on a specific
               subject.

          -nWORD or -n/regexp
               Same as -s except that it matches on the sender's name
               instead of the article's subject.  This is normally
               combined with the -x and -m options to find all
               articles from a specific author.  It cannot be mixed
               with the -s option!

          -i   Normally searches with -n and -s are case independent.
               Using this option, the case becomes significant.

          -m   Merge all articles into one `meta group' instead of
               showing them one group at a time.  This is normally
               used together with the -x and -s options to get all the
               articles on a specific subject presented on a single
               menu (when you don't care about which group they belong
               to).  When -m is used, no articles will be marked as
               read.

          -x[N]
               Present (or scan) all (or the last N) unread as well as
               read articles.  When this option is used, nn will never
               mark unread articles as read (i.e. .newsrc is not
               updated).

          -X   Read/scan unsubscribed groups also.  Most useful when
               looking for a specific subject in all groups, e.g.
                  nn -mxX -sSubject all

          news.group  or  file  or  +folder
               If none of these arguments are given, all subscribed
               news groups will be used.  Otherwise, only the
               specified news groups and/or files will be collected
               and presented.  In specifying a news groups, the
               following `meta notation' can be used:
               If the news group ends with a `.' (or `.all'), all
               subgroups of the news group will be collected, e.g.
                    comp.sources.
               If a news group starts with a `.' (or `all.'), all the
               matching subgroups will be collected, e.g.
                    .sources.unix
               The argument `all' identifies all (subscribed) news
               groups.

     COMMAND INPUT
          In general, nn commands consist of one or two key-strokes,
          and nn reacts instantly to the commands you give it; you
          don't have to enter return after each command (except where
          explicitly stated).

          Some commands have more serious effects than others, and
          therefore nn requests you to confirm the command.  You
          confirm by hitting the the y key, and reject by hitting the
          n key.  Some `trivial' requests may also be confirmed simply
          by hitting space. For example, to confirm the creation of a
          save file, just hit space, but if one or more directories
          also have to be created, you must enter y.

          Many commands will require that you enter a line of text,
          e.g. a file name or a shell command.  If you enter space as
          the first character on a line, the line will be filled with
          a default value (if one is defined).  For example, the
          default value for a file name is the last file name you have
          entered, and the default shell command is your previous
          shell command.  You can edit this default value as well as a
          directly typed text, using the following editing commands.
          The erase, kill, and interrupt keys are the keys defined by
          the current tty settings.  On systems without job control,
          the suspend key will be control-Z while it is the current
          suspend character on system with job control.

          erase
               Delete the last character on the line.

          delete-word   (normally ^W)
               Delete the last word or component of the input.

          kill
               Delete all characters on the line.

          interrupt  and  control-G
               Cancel the command which needs the input.

          suspend
               Suspend nn if supported by the system.  Otherwise,
               spawn an interactive shell.

          return
               Terminate the line, and continue with the command.

          Related variables:  erase-key, flow-control, flush-
          typeahead, help-key, kill-key, word-key.

     BASIC COMMANDS
          There are numerous commands in nn, and most of them can be
          invoked by a single keystroke.  The descriptions in this
          manual are based on the standard bindings of the commands to
          the keys, but it is possible to customize these using the
          map command described later.  For each of the keystroke
          commands described in this manual, the corresponding command
          name will also be shown in curly braces, e.g. {command}.

          The following commands work in both selection mode and in
          reading mode.  The notation ^X means `control X':

          ?    {help}
               Help.  Gives a one page overview of the commands
               available in the current mode.

          ^L   {redraw}
               Redraw screen.

          ^R   {redraw}
               Redraw screen (Same as ^L).

          ^P   {message}
               Repeat the last message shown on the message line.  The
               command can be repeated to successively show previous
               messages (the maximum number of saved messages is
               controlled via the message-history variable.)

          !    {shell}
               Shell escape.  The user is prompted for a command which
               is executed by your favorite shell (see the shell
               variable).  Shell escapes are described in detail later
               on.

          Q    {quit}
               Quit nn.  When you use this command, you neither lose
               unread articles in the current group nor the selections
               you might have made (unless the articles are expired in
               the meantime of course).

          V    {version}
               Print release and version information.

          :command  {command}
               Execute the command by name.  This form can be used to
               invoke any of nn's commands, also those which cannot be
               bound to a key (such as :coredump), or those which are
               not bound to a key by default (such as post and
               unshar).

          Related and basic variables:  backup, backup-suffix,
          confirm-auto-quit, expert, mail, message-history, new-
          group-action, newsrc, quick-count.

     SELECTION MODE
          In selection mode, the screen is divided into four parts:
          the header line showing the name of the news group and the
          number of articles, the menu lines which show the collected
          articles - one article per line, the prompt line where you
          enter commands, and the message line where nn prints various
          messages to you.

          Each menu line begins with an article id which is a unique
          letter (or digit if your screen can show more than 26 menu
          lines).  To select an articles for reading, you simply enter
          the corresponding id, and the menu line will be high-lighted
          to indicate that the article is selected.  When you have
          selected all the interesting articles on the present menu,
          you simply hit space.

          If there are more articles collected for the current group
          than could be presented on one screenful of text, you will
          be presented with the next portion of articles to select
          from.  When you have had the opportunity to select among all
          the articles in the group, hitting space will enter reading
          mode.

          If no articles have been selected in the current group,
          hitting space will enter selection mode on the next news
          group, or exit nn if the current group was the last news
          group with unread articles. It is thus possible to go
          through ALL unread articles (without reading any of them)
          just by hitting space a few times.

          The articles will be presented on the menu using one of the
          following layouts:
9
          0:   x Name.........  Subject.............. +123

          1:   x Name.........   123  Subject..............

          2:   x 123  Subject...................................

          3:   x Subject...........................................

          4:   x    Subject........................................

          Here x is the letter or digit that must be entered to select
          the article, Name is the real name of the sender (or the
          mail address if the real name cannot be found), Subject is
          the contents of the "Subject:" line in the article, and 123
          is the number of lines in the article.

          Layout 0 and 1 are just two ways to present the same
          information, while layout 2 and 3 are intended for groups
          whose articles have very long subject lines, e.g.
          comp.sources.

          Layout 4 is a hybrid between layout 1 and 3.  It will
          normally use layout 1, but it will use layout 3 (with a
          little indentation) for menu lines where the subject is
          longer than the space available with layout 1.

          Layout 1 is the default layout, and an alternative menu line
          layout is selected using the -L option or by setting the
          layout variable.  Once nn is started the layout can be
          changed at any time using the " key {layout}.

          The Name is limited to 16 characters, and to make maximum
          use of this space, nn will perform a series of
          simplifications on the name, e.g. changing first names into
          initials, removing domain names from mail addresses (if the
          real name is not found) etc.  It does a good job, but some
          people on the net put weird things into the From:  field (or
          actually into their password file) which result in nn
          producing quite cryptic, and sometimes funny "names".

          One a usual 80 column terminal, the Subject is limited to
          about 60 characters (75 in layout 3) and is thus only an
          longer.  To get as much out of this space, Re: prefixes (in
          various forms) are recognized and replaced by a single `>'
          character (see the re-layout variable).

          Since articles are sorted according to the subject, two or
          more adjacent articles may share the same subject (ignoring
          any `>'s).  In this case, only the first article will show
          the subject of the article; the rest will only show the `>'
          character in the subject field (or a `-' if there is no `>'
          at the beginning of the line).  A typical menu will thus
          only show each subject once, saving a lot of time in
          scanning the news articles.

          If consolidated menus (see section below) are enabled,
          adjacent articles sharing the same subject will be shown
          with a single line on the menu corresponding to the first of
          the articles.  The number of articles with the same subject
          will be shown as a braketed number in front of the subject,
          e.g. with layout 1:
               x Name.........   123  [4] Subject..............
          For further information see the section on consolidated
          menus below.

          Related variables:  collapse-subject, columns, confirm-
          entry, confirm-entry-limit, entry-report-limit, fsort, kill,
          layout, limit, lines, long-menu, re-layout, repeat, slow-
          mode, sort, sort-mode, split, subject-match-limit, subject-
          match-offset, subject-match-parts.

     ARTICLE ATTRIBUTES
          While nn is running and between invocations, nn associates
          an attribute with each article on your system.  These
          attributes are used to differentiate between read and unread
          articles, selected articles, articles marked for later
          treatment, etc.  Depending on how nn is configured, these
          attributes can be saved between invocations of nn, or some
          of them may only be used while nn is running.

          The attribute is shown on the menu using either a single
          character following the article id or by high-lighting the
          menu line, depending on the attribute and the capabilities
          of the terminal.  You can also change the attributes to your
          own taste (see the attributes variable).

          The attribute of an article can be changed explicitly using
          the selection mode commands described below, or it will
          change automatically for example when you have read or saved
          a selected article.  If a command may change any article
          attributes, it will be noted in the description of the
          command.  The following descriptions of the attributes will
          only mention the most important commands that may set (or


          The following attributes may be associated with an article:

          read Menu attribute "." - indicates that the article has
               been read or saved.  When you leave the group, these
               articles will be marked permanently read, and are not
               presented the next time you enter the group.

          seen Menu attribute "," - indicates that the article is
               unread, but that it has been presented on a menu.
               Depending on how nn is configured, these articles will
               automatically be marked read when you leave the group,
               they may remain seen, or they may just be unread the
               next time you enter the group (see the auto-junk-seen,
               confirm-junk-seen, and retain-seen-status variables).

9 Only the commands continue (space) and read-skip (X)

               will mark unread articles on the current (or all) menu
               pages as seen when they are used.  Other commands that
               scroll through the menu pages or enter reading mode
               will let unread articles remain unread.

          unread
               Menu attribute " " - indicates an unread article.
               These articles were unread when you entered the group,
               and they may remain unread when you leave the group,
               unless they have been marked seen by the command that
               you used to leave the group or enter reading mode.

          selected
               Menu line high-lighted (or menu attribute "*") -
               indicates that you have selected the article.  If you
               leave the group, the selected articles will remain
               selected the next time you enter the group.  When you
               have read a selected article, the attribute will
               automatically change to read.

          auto-selected
               These articles have the same appearance as selected
               articles on the menu, and the only difference is that
               these articles have been selected automatically via the
               auto-selection facility rather than manually by you.
               Very few commands differentiate between these
               attributes and if they do, it is explicitly stated in
               this manual.  The main difference is that these
               articles are only marked as unread when you leave the
               group (supposing they will also be auto-selected the
               next the group is entered).  This simplifies the
               house-keeping between invocations of nn.

          leave
               Menu attribute "+" - indicates that the article is

               when you have read all selected articles in a group.
               However, if you do not select them then immediately,
               they are stored as the leave-next attribute described
               below.

          leave-next
               Menu attribute "=" - indicates that the article is
               marked for later treatment by the leave-next (L)
               command.  This is a permanent attribute, which will
               remain on the article until you either read the
               article, change the attribute, or it is expired.  So
               assinging this attribute to an article will effectively
               keep it unread until you do something.  If the variable
               select-leave-next is set, nn will ask whether these
               articles should be selected on entry to a group (but
               naturally, doing so will change the leave-next
               attribute to select).

          cancelled
               Menu attribute "#" - indicates that the article has
               been cancelled.  This is mainly useful when tidying a
               folder; it is set by the cancel (C) command, and can be
               cleared by any command that change attributes, e.g. you
               can select and deselect the article.

          killed
               Menu attribute "!" - indicates that the article has
               been killed (e.g.  by the K {kill-select} command).
               Killed articles are immediately removed from the menu,
               so you should not normally see articles with this
               attribute.  If you do, report it as a bug!

          The attributes are saved in two files: .newsrc (read
          articles) and .nn/select (other attributes).  Plain unread
          articles are saved by not occurring in either of these
          files.  Both files are described in more detail later on.

          Related variables:  attributes, auto-junk-seen, confirm-
          junk-seen, retain-seen-status, select-leave-next.

     SELECTION MODE COMMANDS
          The primary purpose of the selection mode is of course to
          select the articles to be read, but numerous other commands
          may also be performed in this mode: saving of articles in
          files, replying and following up on articles,
          mailing/forwarding articles, shell escapes etc.

          As described above, the selected articles are marked either
          by showing the corresponding menu line in standout mode
          (reverse video), or if the terminal does not have this



          Most commands which are used to select articles will work as
          toggle commands.  If the article is not already selected,
          the selectedattribute on the article(s), independent on the
          previous attribute.  Otherwise, the article(s) will be
          deselected and marked unread.  Consequently, any article can
          be marked unread simply be selecting and deselecting it.

          During selection, the cursor will normally be placed on the
          article following the last article whose attribute was
          changed (initially the first article).  The article pointed
          out by the cursor is called the current article, and the
          following commands work relative to the current article and
          cursor position.

          abc...z 01..9  {article N}
               The article with the given identification letter or
               digit is selected or deselected.  The following article
               becomes the current article.  If the variable auto-
               select-subject is set, all articles with the same
               subject as the given article are selected.

          .    {select}
               Select or deselect the current article and move the
               cursor to the next article.

          ,    {line+1}
               Move the cursor to the next article.  You can use the
               down arrow as well.

          /    {line-1}
               Move cursor to previous article.  You can use the up
               arrow as well.

          *    {select-subject}
               Select or deselect all articles with same subject as
               current article.  This will work across several menu
               pages if necessary.

          -x   {select-range}
               Select or deselect the range of articles between the
               current article and the article specified by x.  For
               example you can select all articles from e to k by
               simply typing e-k.

          The following commands may change the attributes on all
          articles on the current menu page, or on all articles on all
          menu pages.

          @    {select-invert}


               find command to select all articles.)

          ~    {unselect-all}
               Deselect all auto-selected articles in the group (this
               works across all menu pages).  If the command is
               executed twice, the selected articles will also be
               deselected.

          +    {select-auto}
               Perform auto-selections in the group (see the section
               on "auto kill/select" below).

          =    {find}
               Prompts for a regular expression, and selects all
               articles on the menu (all pages) which matches the
               regular expression.  Depending on the variable select-
               on-sender matching is performed against the subject
               (default) or the sender of the articles.  An empty
               answer (= return) will reuse the previous expression.
               Example:  The command = . return will select all
               articles in the group.

          J    {junk-articles}
               This is a very versatile command which can be used to
               perform all sorts of attribute changes, either on
               individual articles, all articles on the current menu
               page, all articles with a specific attribute, or all
               available articles.  To access all the functions of
               this command, the J key may have to be hit up to four
               times, to loop through different one-line menus.  The
               full functionality of the junk-articles command is
               described in a separate section below.

          L    {leave-next}
               This is a specialized version of the generic J {junk-
               articles} command to set the leave-next attribute on a
               subset of the articles on the menu.  It is also
               described further below.

          The following commands move between the pages belonging to
          the same news group when there are more articles than will
          fit on a single page.  These commands will not change any
          article attributes.

          >    {page+1}
               Goto next menu page.

          <    {page-1}
               Goto previous menu page, or to last menu page if on
               first menu page.



          ^    {page=1}
               Goto first menu page.

          The following commands are used to enter reading mode for
          the selected articles, and to move between news groups (in
          selection mode).  They may change article attributes if
          noted below.

          space     {continue}
               Continue to next menu page, or if on last menu page,
               read the selected articles.  If no articles have been
               selected, continue to the next news group.  The unread
               articles on the current menu page will automatically be
               marked seen.

          return    {continue-no-mark}
               Identical to the continue command, except that the
               unread articles on the current menu page will remain
               unread.  (The newline key has the same effect).

          Z    {read-return}
               Enter reading mode immediately with the currently
               selected articles.  When all articles have been read,
               return to selection mode in the current group.  It will
               mark selected articles read as they are read, but
               unread articles are not normally changed (can be
               controlled with the variable marked-by-read-return.)

          X    {read-skip}
               Mark all unmarked articles seen on all menu pages (or
               the pages defined by the marked-by-read-skip variable),
               and enter reading mode immediately with the currently
               selected articles.  As the selected articles are read,
               they are marked read.  When all selected articles have
               been read, nn will enter selection mode in the next
               news group.  When no articles are selected, it goes
               directly to the next group.  This can be used to skip
               all the articles in a large news group without having
               to go through all the menu pages.

          If you don't want to read the current group now, but want to
          keep it for later, you can use the following commands which
          will only mark seen and read articles as read.  Currently
          selected articles will still be selected the next time you
          enter the group.  None of these commands will change any
          attributes themselves (by default).

          N    {next-group}
               Go forward to the next group in the presentation



          P    {previous}
               Go back to the previous group.  This command will enter
               selection mode on the last active group (two P commands
               in sequence will bring you to the current group).  If
               there are still some unread articles in the group, only
               those articles will be shown.  Otherwise, all the
               articles which were unread when nn was invoked will be
               shown marked with the read attribute (which can be
               changed as usual).

          As described in the "Article Attributes" section, the read
          and seen articles will normally be marked read when you
          leave the group, and these articles are not shown the next
          time you enter the group.

          In all releases prior to release 6.4, it was impossible to
          have individual articles in a group marked unread when you
          left a group, and the default behaviour of release 6.4 will
          closely match the traditional behaviour.  This means that
          the seen and read articles are treated alike for most
          practical purposes with the default variable settings.

          If you don't like nn to silently mark the seen articles
          read, you can set the variable confirm-junk-seen to get nn
          to prompt you for confirmation before doing this, or you can
          unset the variable auto-junk-seen to simply keep the seen
          articles for the next time you enter the group.  You then
          have to use the J {junk-articles} to mark articles read.

          Using return {continue-no-mark} will also allow you to keep
          articles unread rather than marking them seen when scrolling
          through the menu pages and entering reading mode.  If this
          is your preferred reading style, you can remap space to this
          command.

          Related variables:  auto-junk-seen, auto-preview-mode,
          auto-select-subject, case-fold-search, confirm-auto-quit,
          confirm-entry, confirm-junk-seen, marked-by-next-group,
          marked-by-read-return, marked-by-read-skip, retain-seen-
          status, select-on-sender.

     CONSOLIDATED MENUS
          Normally, nn will use one menu line for each article, so if
          there are many articles with identical subjects, each menu
          page will only contain a few different subjects.  To have
          each subject occur only once on the menu, nn can operate
          with consolidated menus by setting the variable
          consolidated-menu.




          An open subject is a subject which is shown in the
          traditional way with one menu line for each article with the
          given subject.  In other words, when consolidated menus are
          not used, all subjects are open (by default).

          A closed subject is a multi-article subject which is
          presented by a single menu line.  This line will be the
          normal menu line for the first (oldest) article with the
          subject, but with the subject field annotated with a
          bracketed number showing the number of articles with that
          subject, e.g.
9               a Kim F. Storm     12  [4] Future plans for nn
               b.Kim F. Storm     43  [3] More plans for nn
9          In this example, there are four unread articles with subject
          `a' of which the first is posted by me and has 12 lines.
          The rest of the articles are hidden, and will only be shown
          on request.  The `.'  marker on subject `b' shows that all
          three articles within that subject have been read (or seen).

          To select (or deselect) ALL the articles within a closed
          subject, simply select the article shown on the menu; this
          will automatically select (or deselect) the rest (see auto-
          select-closed).  When all the unread articles within a
          closed subject are selected, the menu line will be high-
          lighted.

          If you want to view the individual articles in a subject
          (maybe to select individual articles), you can open the
          subject with the commands:

          (x   Open subject x on menu.

          ((   Open current subject.

          When you have completed viewing the opened subject, you can
          close it again using the commands:

          )x   Close subject x on menu (x is any article with the
               subject).

          ))   Close current subject.

          In the basic layout of the menu line for a closed subject as
          shown above, ALL articles in the closed subject are supposed
          to be either:

          unread
               The menu line is not high-lighted.




          read/seen
               There is a `.' (read attribute) following the article
               id.

          If neither of these cases apply, i.e. there is a mixture of
          unread, selected, and seen/read articles, the bracketed
          number will have one of the following formats:

          [U:T]
               There are U unread articles of T total (U<T).

          [S/T]
               There are S selected articles of T total (S<U=T).

          [S/U:T]
               There are S selected of U unread of T total (S<UNotice:  Consolidated menus only work with the `subject' and
          `lexical' sorting methods.

          Variables related to consolidated menus are:  auto-select-
          closed, consolidated-menu, counter-delim-left, counter-
          delim-right, counter-padding, save-closed-mode.

     THE JUNK-ARTICLES AND LEAVE-NEXT COMMANDS
          The J {junk-articles} command is a very flexible command
          which can perform all sorts of attribute changes, either on
          individual articles, all articles on the current menu page,
          all articles with a specific attribute, or all available
          articles.

          To access all the functions of this command, the J key may
          have to be hit up to four times, to loop through different
          one-line menus:

          Mark Read
               This submenu allows you to mark articles read.

          Unmark
               This submenu allows you to mark articles unread.

          Select
               This submenu allows you to select articles based on
               their attribute.



          The L {leave-next} command is an extension of the J command
          with a fifth menu:

          Leave
               This menu allows you to mark articles for later
               handling with the leave-next attribute which will keep
               the article unread until you explicitly change the
               attribute (e.g. by reading it) or it is expired.

          For each of these submenus, nn will list the most plausible
          choices you may use, but all of the following answers can be
          used at all submenus.  When you have entered a choice, nn
          will afterward ask whether the change should be made to all
          menu pages or only the current page.

          J    Show next submenu.

          L    Change attribute on all leave articles.

          N    Change attribute on all leave-next articles.

          R    Change attribute on all read articles.

          S    Change attribute on all seen articles.

          U    Change attribute on all unmarked (i.e. unread)
               articles.

          A    Change attribute on all articles no matter their
               current attribute.

          *    Change attribute on all selected articles on the
               current page.

          +    Change attribute on all selected articles on all pages.

          a-z0-9
               Change attribute on one or more specific articles on
               the current page.  You end the list of articles by a
               space or by using one of the other choices described
               above.

          Change attribute on current article.

          , /  Move the current article down or up the menu without
               changing any attributes.

     READING MODE COMMANDS
          In reading mode, the selected articles are presented one



          normally marked read when you go to the next article, while
          going back to the menu, quitting nn, etc. will retain the
          attribute on the current article.

          When you are on the last page of the last article, hit space
          to enter selection mode on the next group (or the current
          group if reading mode was entered using the Z command).

          To read an article, the following text scrolling commands
          are available:

          space     {continue}
               Scroll one page forward or continue with the next
               article or group as described above.

          backspace / delete  {page-1}
               Go one page backwards in article.

          d    {page+1/2}
               Scroll one half page forward.

          u    {page-1/2}
               Go one half page backwards.

          return    {line+1}
               Scroll one line forward in the article.

          tab  {skip-lines}
               Skip over lines starting with the same character as the
               last line on the current page.  This is useful to skip
               over included text or to the next file in a shell
               archive.

          ^    {page=1}
               Move to the first page (excluding the header) of the
               article.

          $    {page=$}
               Move to the last page of the article.

          gN   {line=@}
               Move to line N in the article.

          /regexp   {find}
               Search forward for text matching the regular expression
               regexp in the article.  If a matching text is found, it
               will be high-lighted.

          .    {find-next}



               Show the header of the article, and continue from the
               top of the article.

          H    {full-digest}
               If the current article is extracted from a digest, show
               the entire digest article including its header.
               Another H command will return to the current
               subarticle.

          D    {rot13}
               Turn rot13 (caesar) decryption on and off for the
               current article, and redraw current page.  If the
               article is saved while it is decrypted on the screen,
               it will be saved in decrypted form as well!

          c    {compress}
               Turn compression on and off for the current article and
               redraw current page.  With compression turned on,
               multiple spaces and tabs are shown as a single space.
               This makes it much easier to read right justified text
               which separate words with several spaces.  (See also
               the compress variable)

          The following commands are used to move among the selected
          articles.

          n    {next-article}
               Move to next selected article.  This command skips the
               rest of the current article, marks it read, and jumps
               directly to the first page of the next selected article
               (or to the next group if it was the last selected
               article).

          l    {leave-article}
               Mark the current article with the leave attribute and
               continue with the next selected article.  When all the
               selected articles in the current group have been read,
               these left over articles can be automatically selected
               and shown once more, or the treatment can be postponed
               to the next time you enter the group.
                 This is particularly useful if you see an article
               which you may want to respond to unless one the
               following articles is already saying what you intended
               to say.

          L    {leave-next}
               Mark the current article with the leave-next attribute
               and continue with the next selected article.




          k    {next-subject}
               Kill subject.  Skips rest of current article, and all
               following articles with the same subject.  The skipped
               articles are marked read.  To kill a subject
               permanently use the K command.

          *    {select-subject}
               Show next article with same subject (even if it is not
               selected).  This command will select all following
               articles with the same subject as the current article
               (similar to the `*' command in selection mode).  This
               can be used to select only the first article on a
               subject in selection mode, and then select all follow-
               ups in reading mode if you find the article
               interesting.

          a    {advance-article}
               Goto the following article on the menu even if it is
               not selected.  This command skips the rest of the
               current article and jumps directly to the first page of
               the next article (it will not skip to the next group if
               it is the last article).  The attribute on the current
               article will be restored, except for the unread
               attribute which will be changed to seen.

          b    {back-article}
               Goto the article before current article on the menu
               even if it is not selected.  This is similar to the a
               command, except for the direction.

          The following commands perform an immediate return from
          reading mode to selection mode in the current group or skip
          to the next group.

          =    {goto-menu}
               Return to selection mode in the current group (think of
               = as the "icon" of the selection menu).  The articles
               read so far will be marked read.

          N    {next-group}
               Skip the rest of the selected and unread articles in
               the current group and go directly to the next group.
               Only the read (and seen) articles in the current group
               are marked as read.

          X    {read-skip}
               Mark all articles in the current group as read and go
               directly to the next group.  (You will be asked to
               confirm this command.)




     PREVIEWING ARTICLES IN SELECTION MODE
          In selection mode, it is possible to read a specific article
          on the menu without entering reading mode for all the
          selected articles on the menu.  Using the commands described
          below will enter reading mode for one article only, and then
          return to the menu mode immediately after (depending on the
          setting of the preview-continuation variable).

          If there are more than 5 free lines at the bottom of the
          menu screen, nn will use that space to show the article (a
          minimal preview window can be permanently allocated with the
          window variable).  Otherwise, the screen will be cleared to
          show the article.

          After previewing an article, it will be marked read (if the
          preview-mark-read variable is set), and the following
          article will become the current article.

          %x   {preview}
               Preview article x.

          %%   {preview}
               Preview the current article.

          When the article is being shown, the following reading mode
          commands are very useful:

          =    {goto-menu}
               Skip the rest of the current article, and return to
               menu mode.

          n    {next-article}
               Skip the rest of the current article, and preview the
               next article.

          l    {leave-article}
               Mark the article as selected (!) on the menu for
               handling later on.  Then skip the rest of the current
               article, and preview the next article.

          %y   {preview}
               Preview article y .

          If the variable auto-preview-mode is set, just hitting the
          article id in menu mode will enter preview mode on the
          specified article.

          Related variables:  auto-preview-mode, min-window, preview-



          The following commands are used to save articles in files,
          unpack archives, decode binaries, etc.  It is possible to
          use the commands in both reading mode to save the current
          article and in selection mode to save one or more articles
          on the menu.

          The saved articles will be appended to the specified file(s)
          followed by an empty line each.  Both files and directories
          will be created as needed.  When an article has been saved
          in a file, a message reporting the number of lines saved
          will be shown if the save-report variable is set (default
          on).

          S    {save-full}
               Save articles including the full article header.

          O    {save-short}
               Save articles with a short header containing only the
               name of the sender, the subject, and the posting date
               of the article.

          W    {save-body}
               Write article without a header.

          :print    {print}
               Print article.  Instead of a file name, this command
               will prompt for the print command to which the current
               article will be piped.  The default print command is
               specified at compile time, but it can be changed by
               setting the printer variable.  The output will be
               identical to that of the O command.

          :patch    {patch}
               Send articles through patch(1) (or the program defined
               in the patch-command variable).  Instead of a file
               name, you will be prompted for the name of a directory
               in which you want the patch command to be executed.  nn
               will then pipe the body of the article through the
               patch command.
                 The output from the patch process will be shown on
               the screen and also appended to a file named
               Patch.Result in the patch directory.

          :unshar   {unshar}
               Unshar articles.  You will be prompted for the name of
               a directory in which you want nn to unshar the
               articles.  nn will then pipe the proper parts of the
               article body into a Bourne Shell whose working
               directory will be set to the specified directory.



               finished.
                 The output is also appended to a file named
               Unshar.Result in the unshar directory.
                 The file specified in unshar-header-file (default
               "Unshar.Headers") in the unshar directory will contain
               the header and initial text (before the shar data) from
               the article.  You can use the `G' {goto-group} command
               to look at the Unshar.Headers file.

          :decode   {decode}
               Decode uuencoded articles into binary files.  You will
               be prompted for the name of a directory in which you
               want nn to place the decoded binary files (the file
               names are taken from the uuencoded data).
                 nn will combine several articles into single files as
               needed, and you can even decode unrelated packages
               (into the same directory) with one decode command.
                 To be able to decode a binary file which spans
               several articles, nn may have to ignore lines which
               fail the normal sanity checks on uuencoded data instead
               of treating them as transmission errors.  Consequently,
               it is strongly recommended to check the resulting
               decoded file using the checksum which is normally
               contained in the original article.  (Actually, you are
               also supposed to do this after decoding with a stand-
               alone uudecode program).
                 The header and initial information in the decoded
               articles are saved in the file specified in decode-
               header-file (default "Decode.Headers") in the same
               directory as the decoded files.
                 If decode-skip-prefix is non-null, :decode will
               attempt to ignore up to that many characters on each
               line to find the encoded data.  This is particularly
               useful in some binaries groups where files are both
               uuencoded and packed with shar; nn will ignore the
               prefix added to each line by shar, and thus be able to
               unshar, concatenate, and decode multi-part postings
               automatically.

          In reading mode, the following keys can also be used to
          invoke the save commands:

          s    Same as S.

          o    Same as O.

          w    Same as W.

          P    Same as :print.



          to specify a default save file in the init file, either in
          connection with the group presentation sequence or in a
          separate save-files section (see below).  If a default save
          file is specified for the group, nn will show this on the
          prompt line when it prompts for the file name.  You can edit
          this name as usual, but if you kill the entire name
          immediately, nn will replace the default name with the last
          file name you entered.  If you kill this as well, nn will
          leave you with a blank line.

          If the quick-save variable is set, nn will only prompt for a
          save file name when the current article is inside a folder;
          otherwise, the default save file defined in the init file
          will be used unconditionally.

          If the file (and directories in the path) does not exist, nn
          will ask whether the file (and the directories) should be
          created.

          If the file name contains an asterisk, e.g.
               part*.shar
          nn will save each of the articles in uniquely named files
          constructed by replacing the asterisk by numbers from the
          sequence 1, 2, 3, etc.  The format of the string that
          replaces the * can be changed with the save-counter
          variable, and the first number to use can be changed via
          save-counter-offset.

          In selection mode, nn will prompt you for the identifier of
          one or more articles you want to save.  When you don't want
          to save more articles, just hit space.  The saved articles
          will be marked read.

          If you enter an asterisk `*' when you are prompted for an
          article to save, nn will automatically save all the selected
          articles on the current menu page and mark them read.

          Likewise, if you enter a plus `+', nn will save all the
          selected articles on all menu pages and mark them read.

          This is very useful to unpack an entire package using the
          :unshar and :decode commands.  It can also be used in
          combination with the save selected articles feature to save
          a selection of articles in separate, successively numbered
          files.  But do not confuse these two concepts!  The S* and
          S+ commands can be used to save the selected articles in a
          single file as well as in separate files, and the save in
          separate files feature can be used also when saving
          individual articles, either in the selection mode, or in the



          header, any header lines in the body of the article will be
          escaped by a tilde (e.g. ~From: ...) to enable nn to split
          the folder into separate articles.  The escape string can be
          redefined via the embedded-header-escape variable.

          Articles can optionally be saved in MAIL or MMDF compatible
          format by setting the mail-format and mmdf-format variables.
          These variables only specify the format used when creating a
          new folder, while appending to an existing folder will be
          done in the format of the folder (unless folder-format-check
          is false).

          Related variables:  confirm-append, confirm-create, decode-
          header-file, decode-skip-prefix, default-save-file, folder-
          save-file, edit-patch-command, edit-print-command, edit-
          unshar-command, folder, folder-format-check, mail-format,
          mmdf-format, patch-command, printer, quick-save, save-
          counter, save-counter-offset, save-report, suggest-default-
          save, unshar-command, unshar-header-file.

     FOLDER MAINTENANCE
          When more than one article is saved in a folder, nn is able
          to split the folder, and each article in the folder can be
          treated like a separate article.

          This means that you can save, decode, reply, follow-up, etc.
          just as with the original article.

          You can also cancel (delete) individual articles in a folder
          using the normal C {cancel} command described later.  When
          you quit from the folder, you will then be given the option
          to remove the cancelled articles from the folder.

          The original folder is saved in a file named `BackupFolder~'
          in the .nn directory (see the backup-folder-path variable)
          by renaming or copying the old folder as appropriate.  When
          the folder has been compressed, the backup folder will be
          removed unless the variable keep-backup-folder is set.

          If all articles in a folder are cancelled, the folder will
          be removed or truncated to zero length (whatever is allowed
          by directory and file permissions).  In this case no backup
          folder is retained even when keep-backup-folder is set!

          If the variable trace-folder-packing is set, nn will show
          which articles are kept and which are removed as the folder
          is rewritten.

          Folders are rewritten in the format of the original folder,



          trace-folder-packing.

     FILE NAME EXPANSION
          When the save commands prompts for a file name, the
          following file name expansions are performed on the file
          name you enter:

          +folder
               The + is replaced by the contents of the folder
               variable (default value "~/News/") resulting in the
               name of a file in the folder directory.  Examples:
                    +emacs, +nn, +sources/shar/nn

          +    A single plus is replaced by the expansion of the file
               name contained in the default-save-file variable (or by
               folder-save-file when saving from a folder).

          ~/file
               The ~ is replaced by the contents of the environment
               variable HOME, i.e. the path name of your home
               directory.  Examples:
                    ~/News/emacs, ~/News/nn, ~/src/shar/nn

          ~user/file
               The ~user part is replaced by the user's home directory
               as defined in the /etc/passwd file.

          |command-line
               Instead of writing to a file, the articles are piped to
               the given shell (/bin/sh) command-line.  Each save or
               write command will create a separate pipe, but all
               articles saved or written in one command (in selection
               mode) are given as input to the same shell command.
               Example:
                    | pr | lp
               This will print the articles on the printer after they
               have been piped through pr.
                   It is possible to create separate pipes for each
               saved article by using a double pipe symbol in the
               beginning of the command, e.g.
                    || cd ~/src/nn ; patch

          The following symbols are expanded in a file name or
          command:

          $F   will be expanded to the name of the current group with
               the periods replaced by slashes, e.g. rec/music/synth.

          $G   will be expanded to the name of the current group.



               groups.

          $N   will be expanded to the (local) article number, e.g.
               1099.  In selection mode it is only allowed at the end
               of the file name!

          $(VAR)
               is replaced by the string value of the environment
               variable VAR.

          Using these symbols, a simple naming scheme for `default
          folder name' is +$G which will use the group name as folder
          name.  Another possibility is +$F/$N.

          As mentioned above, you can also instruct nn to save a
          series of files in separate, unique files.  All that is
          required is that the file name contains an asterisk, e.g.
               +src/hype/part*.shar
          This will cause each of the articles to be saved in
          separate, unique files named part1.shar, part2.shar, and so
          on, always choosing a part number that results in a unique
          file name (i.e. if part1.shar did already exist, the first
          article would be saved in part2.shar, the next in
          part3.shar, and so on).

          Related variables:  default-save-file, folder, folder-save-
          file, save-counter, save-counter-offset.

     FILE AND GROUP NAME COMPLETION
          When entering a file name or a news group name, a simple
          completion feature is available using the space, tab, and ?
          keys.

          Hitting space anywhere during input will complete the
          current component of the file name or group name with the
          first available possibility.

          If this possibility is not the one you want, keep on hitting
          space until it appears.

          When the right completion has appeared, you can just
          continue typing the file or group name, or you can hit tab
          to fix the current component, and get the first possibility
          for the next component, and then use space to go through the
          other possible completions.

          The ? key will produce a list of the possible completions of
          the current component.  If the list is too long for the
          available space on screen, the key can be repeated to get




          The default value for a file name is the last file name you
          have entered, so if you enter a space as the first character
          after the prompt, the last file name will be repeated (and
          you can edit it if you like).  In some cases, a string will
          already be written for you in the prompt line, and to get
          the default value in these cases, use the kill key.  This
          also means that if you neither want the initial value, nor
          the default value, you will have to hit the kill twice to
          get a clean prompt line.

          Related variables:  comp1-key, comp2-key, help-key,
          suggest-default-save.

     POSTING AND RESPONDING TO ARTICLES
          In both selection mode and reading mode you can post new
          articles, post follow-ups to articles, send replies to the
          author of an article, and you can send mail to another user
          with the option of including an article in the letter.  In
          reading mode, a response is made to the current article,
          while in selection mode you will be prompted for an article
          to respond to.

          The following commands are available (the lower-case
          equivalents are also available in reading mode):

          R    {reply}
               Reply through mail to the author of the article.  This
               is the preferred way to respond to an article unless
               you think your reply is of general interest.

          F    {follow}
               Follow-up with an article in the same newsgroup (unless
               an alternative group is specified in the article
               header).  The distribution of the follow-up is normally
               the same as the original article, but this can be
               modified via the follow-distribution variable.

          M    {mail}
               Mail a letter or forward an article to a single
               recipient.  In selection mode, you will be prompted for
               an article to include in your letter, and in reading
               mode you will be asked if the current article should be
               included in the letter.  You will then be prompted for
               the recipient of the letter (default recipient is
               yourself) and the subject of the letter (if an article
               is included, you may hit space to get the default
               subject which is the subject of the included article).
                 The header of the article is only included in the



          :post     {post}
               Post a new article to any newsgroup.  This command will
               prompt you for a comma-separated list of newsgroups to
               post to (you cannot enter a space because space is used
               for group name completion as described below).
                 If you enter ? {help-key} as the first key, nn will
               show you a list of all available news groups and their
               purpose.  While paging through this list, you can enter
               q to quit looking at the list.  You can also enter /
               followed by a regular expression (typically a single
               word) which will cause nn to show a (much shorter) list
               containing only the lines matching the regular
               expression.
                  Normally, you will be prompted for the distribution
               of the article with the default take from default-
               distribution, but this can be changed via the post-
               distribution variable.

          Generally, nn will construct a file with a suitable header,
          optionally include a copy of the article in the file with
          each non-empty line prefixed by a `>' character (except in
          mail mode), and invoke an editor of your choice (using the
          EDITOR environment variable) on this file, positioning you
          on the first line of the body of the article (if it knows
          the editor).

          When you have completed editing the message, it will compare
          it to the unedited file, and if they are identical (i.e. you
          did not make any changes to the file), or it is empty, the
          operation is cancelled.  Otherwise you will be prompted for
          an action to take on the constructed article (enter first
          letter followed by return, or just return to take the
          default action):
9               a)bort c)c e)dit h)old i)spell m)ail r)eedit s)end
          v)iew w)rite
               Action: (post article)
9          You now have the opportunity to perform one of the following
          actions:

            a    throw the response away (will ask for confirmation),
            c    mail a copy of a follow-up to the poster of the
            article,
            e    edit the file again,
            h    hold response for later completion,
            i    run an (interactive) spell-checker on the text,
            m    mail a (blind) copy to a specified recipient,
            n    same as abort (no don't post)
            p    post article (same as send)



     Page 28                                         (printed 1/19/95)
            w    append it to a file (before you send it).
            y    confirm default answer (e.g. yes post it)

          To complete an unfinished response saved by the h)old
          command, simply enter any response action, e.g. R {reply}.
          This will notice the unfinished response and ask you whether
          you want to complete it now.  Only one unfinished response
          can exist at a time.  Notice that the $A environment
          variable may no longer be valid as a path to the original
          article when the response is completed.

          Related variables:  append-signature-mail, append-
          signature-post, default-distribution, follow-distribution,
          post-distribution, edit-response-check, editor, include-
          art-id, include-full-header, included-mark, mail-header,
          mail-record, mail-script, mailer, mailer-pipe-input, news-
          header, news-record, news-script, orig-to-include-mask,
          pager, query-signature, record, response-check-pause,
          response-default-answer, save-counter, save-counter-offset,
          save-report, spell-checker.

     JUMPING TO OTHER GROUPS
          By default nn will present the news groups in a predefined
          sequence (see the section on Presentation Sequence later
          on).  To override this sequence and have a look at any other
          group the G {goto-group} command available in both selection
          and reading mode enables you to move freely between all the
          newsgroups.

          Furthermore, the G command enables you to open folders and
          other files, to read old articles you have read before, and
          to grep for a specific subject in a group.

          It is important to notice that normally the goto command is
          recursive, i.e. a new menu level is created when the
          specified group or folder is presented, and when it has been
          read, nn will continue the activity in the group that was
          presented before the goto command was executed.  However, if
          there are unread articles in the target group you can avoid
          entering a new menu level by using the j reply described
          below.  The current menu level (i.e. number of nested goto
          commands) will be shown in the prompt line as "<N>" (in
          reverse video).

          The goto command is very powerful, but unfortunately also a
          little bit tricky at first sight, because the facilities it
          provides depend on the context in which the command is used.




     Page 29                                         (printed 1/19/95)

          return
               An empty answer is equivalent to the current newsgroup.

          letter
               The answer is taken to be the name of a newsgroup.  If
               a news group with the given name does not exist, nn
               will treat the answer as a regular expression and
               locate the first group in the presentation sequence (or
               among all groups) whose name matches the expression.

          +
               The answer is taken to be the name of a folder.  If
               only `+' is entered, it is equivalent to the default
               save file for the current group.

          / or ./ or ~/
               The answer is taken to be the name of a file, either
               relative to the current directory, relative to your
               home directory, or an absolute path name for the file.

          %    In reading mode, this reply corresponds to reading the
               current article (and splitting it as a digest).  In
               selection mode, it will prompt for an article on the
               menu to read.

          @    This choice is equivalent to the archive file for the
               current group.  nnmaster maintains archive files with
               all old and current articles for the groups which have
               the auto-archive option set in the GROUPS file (see
               nnmaster(8)).

          = and number
               These answers are equivalent to the same answers
               described below applied to the current group (e.g. G
               return = and G = are equivalent).

          Specifying a folder, a file, or an article (with %) will
          cause nn to treat the file like a digest and split it into
          separate articles (not physically!)  which are then
          presented on a menu in the usual way, allowing you to read
          or save individual subarticles from the folder.

          When you enter a group name, nn will ask you how many
          articles in the group you want to see on the menu.  You can
          give the following answers:

          a number N



     Page 30                                         (printed 1/19/95)
               included on the same menu (without creating a new menu
               level).

          j    This answer can only be given if there are unread
               articles in the group.  It will instruct nn to jump
               directly to the specified group in the presentation
               sequence without creating a new menu level.

          u    This instructs nn to present the unread articles in the
               group (if there are any).  If you have already read the
               group (in the current invocation of nn), the u answer
               will instruct nn to present the articles that were
               unread when you entered nn.

          a    This instruct nn to present all articles in the group.

          sword or =word
               This instructs nn to search all articles in the groups,
               but only present the articles containing the word word
               in the subject.  Notice that case is ignored when
               searching for the word in the subject lines.

          nword
               Same as the s form except that it searched for articles
               where the sender name matches word.

          eword
               Same as the s form except that it Psearched for
               articles where either the subject or the sender name
               matches word.

          word = /regexp
               When the first character of the word specified with the
               s, n, and e forms is a slash `/', the rest of the input
               is interpreted as a regular expression to search for.
               Notice that regular expression matching is case
               insensitive when case-fold-search is set (default).

          return
               The meaning of an empty answer depends on the context:
               if there are unread articles in the specified group the
               unread articles will be presented, otherwise all
               articles in the group will be included in the menu.

          If you specified the current group, and the menu already
          contains all the available articles, nn will directly prompt
          for a word to search for in the subject of all articles (the
          prompt will be an equal sign.)



     Page 31                                         (printed 1/19/95)
          There are three commands in the goto family:

          G    {goto-group}
               This is the general goto command described above.

          B    {back-group}
               Backup one or more groups.  You can hit this key one or
               more times to go back in the groups already presented
               (including those without new articles); when you have
               found the group you are looking for, hit space to enter
               it.

          A    {advance-group}
               Advance one or more groups.  This command is similar to
               the B command, but operates in the opposite direction.

          N    {next-group}
               When used within an A or B command, it skips forward to
               the next group in the sequence with unread articles or
               which has previously been visited.

          P    {previous}
               When used within an A or B command, it skips backwards
               to the preceding group in the sequence with unread
               articles or which has previously been visited.

          Once you have entered an A or Bcommand, you can freely mix
          the A, B, P, and N commands to find the group you want, and
          you can also use the G command to be prompted for a group
          name.

          To show the use of the goto command some typical examples on
          its use are given below:

          Present the unread articles in the dk.general group

9 G dk.general return u


          Jump directly to the gnu.emacs group and continue from there

9 G gnu.emacs return j


          Include the last 10 READ articles in the current group menu

9 G 10 return


          Find all articles in rec.music.misc on the subject Floyd

9 G rec.music.misc return

               = floyd return



     Page 32                                         (printed 1/19/95)



          Related variables:  case-fold-search, default-save-file,
          folder-save-file

     AUTOMATIC KILL AND SELECTION
          When there is a subject or an author which you are either
          very interested in, or find completely uninteresting, you
          can easily instruct nn to auto-select or auto-kill articles
          with specific subjects or from specific authors.  These
          instructions are stored in a kill file, and the most common
          types of entries can be created using the following command:

          K    {kill-select}
               Create an entry in your personal kill file.  The
               contents of the entry is specified during a short
               dialog that is described in details below.  This
               command is available in both selection and reading
               mode.

          Entries in the kill file may apply to a single newsgroup or
          to all newsgroups.  Furthermore, entries may be permanent or
          they may be expired a given number of days after their
          entry.

          To increase performance, nn uses a compiled version of the
          kill file which is read in when nn is invoked.  The compiled
          kill file will automatically be updated if the normal kill
          file has been modified.

          The following dialog is used to build the kill file entry:

          AUTO (k)ill or (s)elect (CR => Kill subject 30 days)
               If you simply want nn to kill all articles with the
               subject of the current article (in reading mode) or a
               specific article (which nn will prompt for in selection
               mode), just hit return.  This will cause nn to create
               an entry in the kill file to kill the current (or
               specified) subject in the current group for a period of
               30 days (which should be enough for the discussion to
               die out).
9               You can control the default kill period, or change it
               into a "select" period via the default-kill-select
               variable.
9               If this "default behaviour" is not what you want, just



     Page 33                                         (printed 1/19/95)




               article (s or space), or on the name of the author (n).

          SELECT NAME:
               (Again SELECT may be substituted with KILL and SUBJECT
               may replace NAME).  You must now enter a name (or
               subject) to select (or kill).  In reading mode, you may
               just hit return (or %) to use the name (or subject) of
               the current article.  In selection mode, you can use
               the name (or subject) from an article on the menu by
               answering with % followed by the corresponding article
               identifier.
9               When the name or subject is taken from an article (the
               current or one from the menu), nn will only select or
               kill articles where the name or subject matches the
               original name or subject exactly including case.
9               If the first character typed at the prompt is a slash
               `/', the rest of the line is used as a regular
               expression which is used to match the name or subject
               (case insensitive).
9               Otherwise, nn will select or kill articles which
               contain the specified string anywhere in the name or
               subject (ignoring case).

          SELECT in (g)roup `dk.general' or in (a)ll groups  (g)
               You must now specify whether the selection or kill
               should apply to the current group only (g or space) or
               to all groups (a).

          Lifetime of entry in days (p)ermanent  (30)
               You can now specify the lifetime of the entry, either
               by entering a number specifying the number of days the
               entry should be active, or p to specify the entry as a
               permanent entry.  An empty reply is equivalent to 30
               days.

          CONFIRM SELECT ....
               Finally, you will be asked to confirm the entry, and
               you should especially note the presence or absence of
               the word exact which specify whether an exact match
               applies for the entry.

          Related variables:  default-kill-select, kill.
9


     Page 34                                         (printed 1/19/95)






          string]...

          Permanent entries have no expire time (in which case the
          colon is omitted as well!).  Otherwise, the expire time
          defines the time (as a time_t value) when the entry should
          be expired.

          The group name field can have three forms:

          news.group.name
               If it is the name of a single news group (e.g.
               comp.unix), the entry applies to that group only.

          /regular expression
               If it starts with a slash `/' followed by a regular
               expression (e.g. /^news\..*), the entry applies to all
               groups whose name are matched by the regular
               expression.

          empty
               An empty group field will apply the entry to all
               groups.

          The flags field consists of a list of characters which
          identifies the type of entry, and the interpretation of each
          string field.  When used, the flag characters must be used
          in the order in which they are described below:

          ~    (optional)
               When this flag is present on any of the entries for a
               specific group, it causes all entires which are not
               auto-selected to be killed.  This is a simple way to
               say: I'm interested in this and that, but nothing else.

          +    or ! (optional)
               Specify an auto-select + or an auto-kill ! entry,
               respectively.  If neither are used, the article is
               neither selected nor killed which is useful in
               combination with the `~' flag.

          > (optional)
               When used with a subject (flag s), the kill entry only



     Page 35                                         (printed 1/19/95)






               ups) in the tex group, add this to your kill file:
                    comp.text.tex:!s</:^HELP

          n or s or a (mandatory)
               Specify whether the corresponding string applies to the
               name n or to the subject s of an article.  If flag a is
               used, the corresponding string is ignored (but must be
               present), and the entry applies to articles with a
               non-empty References: line.

          / (optional)
               Specifies that the corresponding string is a regular
               expression which the sender or subject is matched
               against.  If not specified, a simple string match is
               performed using the given string.

          = (optional)
               Specifies that the match against the name or subject is
               case sensitive.  Furthermore, when regular expression
               matching is not used, the name or subject must be of
               the same length of the string to match.  Otherwise, the
               match will be case insensitive, and a string may occur
               anywhere in the name or subject to match.

          | or & (mandatory if multiple strings)
               If more than one string is specified, the set of flags
               corresponding to each string must be separated by
               either an or operator `|' or an and operator `&'.  The
               and operator has a higher precedence than the or
               operator, e.g.  a complex match expression a|b&c|d will
               succeed if either of a, b&c, or d matches.

          The string field in the entry is the name, subject or
          regular expression that will be matched against the name or
          subject of each article in the group (or all groups).
          Colons and backslashes must be escaped with a backslash in
          the string.

          Example 1:  Auto-select articles from `Tom Collins' (exact)
          on subject `News' in all groups:
9              :+n=&s:Tom Collins:News
9


     Page 36                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)
          make the more advanced entries with more than one string,
          you will have to edit the kill file manually.  To recompile
          the file, you can use the :compile command.  When you invoke
          nn, it will also recompile the kill file if the compiled
          version is out of dat.

     SHELL ESCAPES
          The ! commands available in selection and reading mode are
          identical in operation (with one exception).  When you enter
          the shell escape command, you will be prompted for a shell
          command.  This command will be fed to the shell specified in
          the shell variable (default loaded from the SHELL
          environment variable or /bin/sh) after the following
          substitutions have been performed on the command:

          File name expansion
               The earlier described file name expansions will be
               performed on all arguments.

          $G   will be substituted with the name of the current news
               group.

          $L   will be substituted with the last component of the name
               of the current news group.

          $F   will be substituted with the name of the current news
               group with the periods replaced by slashes.

          $N   will be substituted with the (local) article number
               (only defined in reading mode).

          $A   is replaced by the full path name of the file
               containing the current article (only defined in reading
               mode).

          %    Same as $A.

          $(VAR)
               is replaced by the string value of the environment
               variable VAR.
9


     Page 37                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)

          U    {unsub}
               Unsubscribe to the current group.  You will not see
               this group any more unless you explicitly request it.
               If the variable unsubscribe-mark-read is set, all
               articles in the group will be marked read when you
               unsubscribe.
                 If the variable keep-unsubscribed is not set, the
               group will be removed from .newsrc.  If you are not
               subscribing to the group, you will be given the
               possibility to resubscribe to the group!  This may be
               used in connection with the G command to resubscribe a
               group.

          C    {cancel}
               Cancel (delete) an article in the current group or
               folder.  Cancelling articles in a folder will cause the
               folder to be rewritten when it is closed.  In selection
               mode, you will be prompted for the identifier of the
               article to cancel.  Normal users can only cancel their
               own articles.  See also the section on folder
               maintenance.

          Y    {overview}
               Provide an overview of the groups with unread articles.

          "    {layout}
               Change menu layout in selection mode.  The menu will be
               redrawn using the next layout (cycling through ..., 2,
               3, 4, 0, 1, ...)

          Most of the commands in nn are bound to a key and can be
          activated by a single keystroke.  However, there are a few
          commands that cannot be bound to a key directly.

          As shown in the keystroke command descriptions, all commands
          have a name, and it is possible to activate a command by
          name with the extended command key (:).  Hitting this key
          will prompt you for the name of a command (and parameters).
          For example, an alternative to hitting the R key to reply to
          an article is to enter the extended command :reply followed



     Page 38                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)

               operation to the nnadmin(1M) program.

          :bug Prepare and send a bug report to the nn-bugs mailing
               address.

          :cd [ directory ]
               Change current working directory.  If the directory
               argument is not provided, nn will prompt for it.

          :clear
               Clear the screen (without redraw).  This may be useful
               at the beginning of the init file (possibly guarded by
               "on program nn"), or in some macros.

          :compile
               Recompile the kill file.  This is not necessary under
               normal operation since nn automatically compiles the
               file on start-up if it has changed, but it can be used
               if you modify the kill file while nn is suspended.

          :coredump
               Abort with a core dump.  For debugging purposes only.

          :define macro
               Define macro number macro as described in the Macro
               Definition section below.  If macro is omitted, the
               next free macro number will be chosen.

          :dump table
               Same as the :show command described below.

          :help [ subject ]
               Provide online help on the specified subject.  If you
               omit the subject, a list of the available topics will
               be given.

          :load [ file ]
               Load the specified file.  If the file argument is
               omitted, the init file is reloaded.  The sequence part
               (if present) is ignored.



     Page 39                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)

               a normal folder with the program name in the `From'
               field and the section title in the `subject' field.
               All the normal commands related to a folder works for
               the online manual as well, e.g. you can save and print
               sections of the manual.

          :map arguments
               This is the command used for binding commands to the
               keys.  It is fully described in the Key Mapping section
               below.

          :mkdir [ directory ]
               Create the directory (and the directories in its path).
               It will prompt for at directory name if the argument is
               omitted.

          :motd
               Show the message of the day (maintained by the news
               administrator in the file "motd" in the lib directory.
               This file is automatically displayed on start-up
               whenever it changes if the motd variable is set.

          :pwd Print path name of current working directory on message
               line.

          :q   Has no effect besides redrawing the screen if
               necessary.  If an extended command (one which is
               prefixed by a :) produces any output requirering the
               screen to be redrawn, the screen will not be redrawn
               immediately if the variable delay-redraw is set (useful
               on slow terminals).  Instead another : prompt is shown
               to allow you to enter a new extended command
               immediately.  It is sufficient to hit return to redraw
               the screen, but it has been my experience that entering
               q return in this situation happens quite often, so it
               was made a no-op.

          :q!  Quit nn without updating the .newsrc file.

          :Q   Quit nn.  This is equivalent to the normal Q command.



     Page 40                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)


          :sh  Suspend nn, or if that is not possible, spawn an
               interactive shell.

          :show groups mode
               Show the total number or the number of unread articles
               in the current group, depending on mode: all (list the
               number of unread articles in all groups including
               groups which you have unsubscribed to), total (list the
               total number of articles in all existing groups),
               sequence (list unread groups in presentation sequence
               order), subscr (list all subscribed groups), unsub
               (list unsubscribed groups only).  Any other mode
               results in a listing of the number of unread articles
               in all subscribed groups including those you have
               suppressed with the `!'  symbol in the group
               presentation sequence.  To get just the currently
               unread groups in the presentation sequence, use the `Y'
               {overview} command.

          :show kill
               Show the kill entries that applies to the current group
               and to all groups.

          :show rc [ group ]
               Show the .newsrc and select file entries for the
               current or the specified group.

          :show map [ mode ]
               Show the key bindings in the current or specified mode.

          :sort [ mode ]
               Reorder the articles on the menu according to mode or
               if omitted to the default sort-mode.  The following
               sorting modes are available:
               arrival: list articles by local article number which
               will be the same as the order in which they arrived on
               the system (unless groups are merged),
               subject: articles with identical subjects are grouped
               and ordered after age of the oldest article in the



     Page 41                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)

               unread articles when nn was invoked.  Otherwise, the
               argument specifies the number of unread articles.

          :unset variable
               Set a boolean variable to false or clear an integer
               variable.

          :x   Quit nn and mark all articles in the current group as
               read!

          Related variables:  backup, bug-report-address, delay-
          redraw, keep-unsubscribed, unsubscribe-mark-read, mail,
          pager, sort-mode.

     CATCH UP
          If you have not read news for some time, there are probably
          more news than you can cope with.  Using the option -a0 nn
          will put you into catch-up mode.

          The first question you will get is whether to catch up
          interactively or automatically.  If you instruct nn to catch
          up automatically, it will simply mark all articles in all
          groups as read, thus bringing you completely up-to-date.

          If you choose the interactive mode, nn will locate all
          groups with unread articles, and for each group it will
          prompt you for an action to take on the group.  An action is
          selected using a single letter followed by return.  The
          following actions are available:

          y    Mark all articles as read in current group.

          n    Do not update group (this is the default action if you
               just hit return).

          r    Enter reading mode to read the group.

          U    Unsubscribe to the group.

          ?    Give a list of actions.



     Page 42                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)

          - Through set or local commands executed from entry macros.
          - Through the :set extended command when you run nn.

          There are four types of variables:
          - Boolean variables
          - Integer variables
          - String variables
          - Key variables

          Boolean variables control a specific function in nn, e.g.
          whether the current time is shown in the prompt line.  A
          boolean variable is set to true with the command
               set variable
          and it is set to false with either of the following
          (equivalent) commands:
               unset variable
               set novariable

          You can also toggle the value of a boolean variable using
          the command:
               toggle variable

          For example:
               set time
               unset time
               set notime
               toggle time

          Integer variables control an amount e.g. the size of the
          preview window, or the maximum number of articles to read in
          each group.  They are set with the following command:
               set variable value
          In some cases, not setting an integer value has a special
          meaning, for example, not having a minimal preview window or
          reading all articles in the groups no matter how many there
          are.  The special meaning can be re-established by the
          following command:
               unset variable
          For example:
               set window 7



     Page 43                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)

          can be used:
9               set included-mark  \ \#\   # blank-#-blank
9          To include a backslash in the string, it must be duplicated
          `\\'.  A backslash may also be used to include the following
          special characters in the string: \a=alarm, \b=backspace,
          \e=escape, \f=form-feed, \n=new-line, \r=return, \t=tab.

          Key variables control the keys used to control special
          functions during user input such as line editing and
          completion.  They are set using the command
               set variable key-name

          A variable can be locked which makes further modification of
          the variable impossible:
               lock variable
          This can be used in the setup init file which is loaded
          unconditionally to enforce local conventions or
          restrictions.  For example, to fix the included-mark
          variable to the string ">", the following commands can be
          placed in the setup file:
               set included-mark >
               lock included-mark

          The current variable settings can be shown with the :set
          command:

          :set (without arguments)
               This will give a listing of the variables which have
               been set in either the init file or interactively.

          :set all
               This will give a listing of all variables.  Modified
               variables will be marked with a `*' and local variables
               will be marked with a `>'.  A locked variable is marked
               with a `!'.

          :set /regexp
               This will give a listing of all variables whose name
               matches the given regular expression.



     Page 44                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)



9 :local variable [ value ]

9
          The following variables are available:

          also-full-digest    (boolean, default false)
               When a digest is split, the digest itself is not
               normally included on the menu, and as such the initial
               adminstrative information is not available.  Setting
               also-full-digest will cause the (unsplit) digest to be
               included on the menu.  These articles are marked with a
               @ at the beginning of the subject.

          also-subgroups (boolean, default true)
               When set, a group name in the presentation sequence
               will also cause all the subgroups of the group to be
               included, for example, comp.unix will also include
               comp.unix.questions, etc.  When also-subgroups is not
               set, subgroups are only included if the group name is
               followed by a `.' in which case the main group is not
               included, i.e.  `comp.unix' is not included when
               `comp.unix.' is specified in the presentation sequence,
               and vice-versa.  Following a group name by an asterisk
               `*', e.g. comp.unix*, will include the group as well as
               all subgroups independently of the setting of also-
               subgroups.

          append-signature-mail    (boolean, default false)
               When false, it is assumed that the .signature file is
               automatically appended to responses sent via E-mail.
               If true, .signature will be appended to the letter (see
               query-signature).

          append-signature-post    (boolean, default false)
               When false, it is assumed that the .signature file is
               automatically appended to posted articles.  If true,
               .signature will explicitly be appended to posted
               articles (see query-signature).




     Page 45                                         (printed 1/19/95)






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)



               Enables Auto Preview Mode.  In this mode, selecting an
               article on the menu using its article id (letter a-z)
               will enter preview mode on that article immediately.
               Furthermore, the `n' {next-article} command will
               preview the next article on the menu only if it has the
               same subject as the current article; otherwise, it will
               return to the menu with the cursor placed on the next
               article.  The continue command at the end of the
               article and the `=' {goto-menu} returns to the menu
               immediately as usual.

          auto-read-mode-limit N   (integer, default 0)
               When operating in auto reading mode, nn will auto-
               select all unread articles in the group, skip the
               article selection phase, and enter reading mode
               directly after entry to the group.
                 Auto reading mode is disabled when auto-read-mode-
               limit is zero; it is activated unconditionally if the
               value is negative, and conditionally if the value is
               greater than zero and the number of unread articles in
               the current group does not exceed the given value.

          auto-select-closed mode  (integer, default 1)
               Normally, selecting a closed subject (usually in
               consolidated menu mode) will select (or deselect) all
               unread articles with the given subject (or all articles
               if they are all read).  This behaviour can be changed
               via the value of this variable as follows:
               0: select only the first article with the subject (shown on menu).
               1: select only the unread articles with the subject.
               2: select all available articles with the subject.

          auto-select-subject (boolean, default false)
               When set, selecting an article from the menu using the
               article id (a-z), all articles on the menu with the
               same subject will automatically be selected as well.

          backup    (boolean, default true)



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     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)



               renamed to the backup folder name; otherwise the old
               folder is copied to the backup folder.

          backup-suffix suffix     (string, default ".bak")
               The suffix appended to file names to make the
               corresponding backup file name (see backup).

          bug-report-address address    (string, default nn-
               bugs@dkuug.dk)
               The mail address to which bug reports created with the
               :bug command are sent.

          case-fold-search         (boolean, default true)
               When set, string and regular expression matching will
               be case independent.  This is related to all commands
               matching on names or subjects, except in connection
               with auto-kill and auto-select where the individual
               kill file entries specifies this property.

          check-db-update-time H   (integer, default 12)
               When non-zero, nn will issue a warning if the database
               has not been updated in the last H hours.  The warning
               will tell you whether no news has arrived (feed
               broken?), or whether it is just nnmaster which has not
               updated the database (dead?).

          check-group-access  (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will perform a check on the readability of
               a group's readability before showing the menu for that
               group.  Normally, this is not necessary since all users
               traditionally have access to all news groups.  Setting
               (and locking) this variable may be used to limit access
               to a news group via the permissions and ownership of
               the group's spool directory (this will only work for
               non-NNTP sites).

          collapse-subject offset  (integer, default 25)
               When set (non-negative), subject lines which are too



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     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)



               default value when nn is prompting for a string, e.g. a
               file name.

          comp2-key key  (key, default tab)
               The key which ends the current completion and gives the
               first completion for the next component when nn is
               prompting for a string, e.g. a file name.

          compress       (boolean, default false)
               This variable controls whether text compression (see
               the compress command) is turned on or off when an
               article is shown.  The compression is still toggled for
               the current article with the compress command key.

          confirm-append      (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will ask for confirmation before appending
               an article to an existing file (see also confirm-
               create).

          confirm-auto-quit        (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will ask for confirmation before quitting
               after having read the last group.  If not confirmed, nn
               will recycle the presentation sequence looking for
               groups that were skipped with the `N' {next-group}
               command.  But it will not look for new articles arrived
               since the invocation of nn.

          confirm-create      (boolean, default true)
               When set, nn will ask for confirmation before creating
               a new file or directory when saving or unpacking an
               article (see also confirm-append).

          confirm-entry       (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will ask for confirmation before entering
               a group with more than confirm-entry-limit unread
               articles (on the first menu level).  It is useful on
               slow terminals if you don't want to wait until nn has
               drawn the first menu to be able to skip the group.



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               When set, nn will require confirmation before marking
               seen articles as read when auto-junk-seen is set.

          confirm-messages         (boolean, default false)
               In some cases, nn will sleep one second (or more) when
               it has shown a message to the user, e.g. in connection
               with macro debugging.  Setting confirm-messages will
               cause nn to wait for you to confirm all messages by
               hitting any key.  (It will show the symbol <> to
               indicate that it is awaiting confirmation.)

          consolidated-manual (boolean, default false)
               When set, the online manual will be presented with one
               menu line for each program in the nn package.

          consolidated-menu        (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will automatically close all multi-article
               subjects on entry to a group, so that each subject only
               occur once on the menu page.

          counter-delim-left  (string, default "[")
               The delimiter string output to the left of the article
               counter in a closed subject's menu line.

          counter-delim-right (string, default "] ")
               The delimiter string output to the right of the article
               counter in a closed subject's menu line.

          counter-padding pad      (integer, default 5)
               On a consolidated menu, the subjects may not be very
               well aligned because the added [...] counters have
               varying length.  To (partially) remedy this, all
               counters (and subjects without counters) are prefixed
               by up to pad spaces to get better alignment.
               Increasing it further may yield practially perfect
               alignment at the cost of less space for the subject
               itself.




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          cross-post          (boolean, default false)
               Normally, nn will only show cross-posted articles in
               the first subscribed group on the Newsgroups: line.
               When cross-post is set, nn will show cross-posted
               articles in all subscribed groups to which they are
               posted.

          data-bits bits (integer, default 7)
               When set to 7, nn will display characters with the 8th
               bit set using a meta-notation M-7bit-char.  If set to
               8, these characters are sent directly to the screen
               (unless monitor is set).
9               It also controls whether keyboard input is 7 or 8 bits,
               and thus whether key maps contain 127 or 255 entries.
               See the key mapping section for more details.

          date      (boolean, default true)
               If set nn will show the article posting date when
               articles are read.

          debug mask     (integer, default 0)
               Look in the source if you are going to use this.

          decode-header-file file  (string, default "Decode.Headers")
               The name of the file in which the header and initial
               text of articles decoded with the :decode command is
               saved.  Unless the file name starts with a `/', the
               file will be created in the same directory as the
               decoded files.  The information is not saved if this
               variable is not set.

          decode-skip-prefix N     (integer, default 2)
               When non-null, the :decode command will automatically
               skip upto N characters at the beginning of each line to
               find valid uuencoded data.  This allows nn to
               automatically decode (multi-part) postings which are
               both uuencoded and packed with shar.


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          default-distribution distr    (string, default "world")
          default-save-file file   (string, default +$F)
               The default save file used when saving articles in news
               groups where no save file has been specified in the
               init file (either in a save-files section or in the
               presentation sequence).  It can also be specified using
               the abbreviation "+" as the file name when prompted for
               a file name even in groups with their own save file.

          delay-redraw        (boolean, default false)
               Normally, nn will redraw the screen after extended
               commands (:cmd) that clear the screen.  When delay-
               redraw is set nn will prompt for another extended
               command instead of redrawing the screen (hit return to
               redraw).

          echo-prefix-key          (boolean, default true)
               When true, hitting a prefix key (see the section on key
               mapping below) will cause the prefix key to be echoed
               in the message line to indicate that another key is
               expected.

          edit-patch-command  (boolean, default true)
               When true, the :patch command will show the current
               patch-command and give you a chance to edit it before
               applying it to the articles.

          edit-print-command  (boolean, default true)
               When true, the print command will show the current
               printer command and give you a chance to edit it before
               printing the articles.  Otherwise the articles are just
               printed using the current printer command.

          edit-response-check (boolean, default true)
               When editing a response to an article, it normally does
               not have any meaning to send the initial file prepared
               by nn unaltered, since it is either empty or only
               contains included material.  When this variable is set,



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               exiting the editor without having changed the file will
               When saving an article to a file, header lines embedded
               in the body of the article are escaped using this
               string to make it possible for nn to split the folder
               correctly afterwards.  Header lines are not escaped if
               this variable is not set.

          enter-last-read-mode mode     (integer, default 1)
               Normally, nn will remember which group is active when
               you quit, and offer to jump directly to this group when
               you start nn the next time.  This variable is used to
               control this behaviour.  The following mode values are
               recognized:
               0: Ignore the remembered group (r.g.).
               1: Enter r.g. if the group is unread (with user confirmation)
               2: Enter r.g. or first unread group after it in the sequence (w/conf).
               3: Enter r.g. if the group is unread (no confirmation)
               4: Enter r.g. or first unread group after it in the sequence (no conf).

          entry-report-limit articles   (integer, default 300)
               Normally, nn will just move the cursor to the upper
               left corner of the screen while it is reading articles
               from the database on entry to a group.  For large
               groups this may take more than a fraction of a second,
               and nn can then report what it is doing.  If it must
               read more articles than the number specified by this
               variable, nn will report which group and how many
               articles it is reading.

          erase-key key  (key, default tty erase key)
               The key which erases the last input character when nn
               is prompting for a string, e.g. a file name.

          expert         (boolean, default false)
               If set nn will use slightly shorter prompts (e.g. not
               tell you that ? will give you help), and be a bit less
               verbose in a few other cases (e.g. not remind you that
               posted articles are not available instantly).



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          expired-message-delay pause   (integer, default 1)
               can do single character reads without disabling flow
               control.

          flush-typeahead     (boolean, default false)
               When true, nn will flush typeahead prior to reading
               commands from the keyboard.  It will not flush
               typeahead while reading parameters for a command, e.g.
               file names etc.

          folder directory    (string, default ~/News)
               The full pathname of the folder directory which will
               replace the + in folder names.  It will be initialized
               from the FOLDER environment variable if it is not set
               in the init file.

          folder-format-check (boolean, default true)
               When saving an article with a full or partial header in
               an existing folder, nn will check the format of the
               folder to be able to append the article in the proper
               format.  If this variable is not set, folders are
               assumed to be in the format specified via the mmdf-
               format and mail-format variables, and articles are
               saved in that format without checking.  Otherwise, the
               *-format variables are only used to determine the
               format for new folders.

          folder-save-file file    (string, default not set)
               The default save file used when saving articles from a
               folder.

          follow-distribution words     (string, default see below)
               This variable controls how the Distribution: header is
               constructed for a follow-up to an original article.
               Its value is a list of words selected from the
               following list:

9 [ [ always ] same ] [ ask ] [ default | distribution ]

9


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               This is interpreted in two steps:
               - First the default distribution is determined.  If
               the default-distribution without confirmation in either
               case.

          from-line-parsing strictness  (integer, default 2)
               Specifies how strict nn must parse a "From " line in a
               folder to recognize it as a mail format message
               separator line.  The following strictness values
               determine whether a line starting with "From " will be
               recognized as a separator line:
                    0: Always.
                    1: Line must have at least 8 fields.
                    2: Line must contain a valid date and time (ctime style).

          fsort          (boolean, default true)
               When set, folders are sorted alphabetically according
               to the subject (and age).  Otherwise, the articles in a
               folder will be presented in the sequence in which they
               were saved.

          guard-double-slash  (boolean, default false)
               Normally, when entering a file name, entering two
               slashes `//' in a row (or following a slash by a plus
               `/+') will cause nn to erase the entire line and
               replace it with the `/' (or `+').  On some systems, two
               slashes are used in network file names, and on those
               systems guard-double-slash can be set; that will cause
               nn to require three slashes in a row to clear the
               input.

          header-lines list   (string, no default)
               When set, it determines the list of header fields that
               are shown when an article is read instead of the normal
               one line header showing the author and subject.  See
               the full description in the section on Customized
               Article Headers below.




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          help-key key   (key, default ?)
               The key which ends the current completion and gives a
               line).  When this variable is set, the line will also
               include the article id of the referenced article: "In
               ...article... ... writes:".

          include-full-header (boolean, default false)
               When set, the mail (M) command will always include the
               full header of the original article.  If it is not set,
               it only includes the header when the article is
               forwarded without being edited.

          include-mark-blank-lines (boolean, default false)
               When set, the included-mark is placed on blank lines in
               included articles.  Otherwise, blank lines are left
               blank (to make it easy to delete whole paragraphs with
               `d}' in vi and `C-@ M-] C-W' in emacs).

          included-mark string     (string, default ">")
               This string is prefixed to all lines in the original
               article that are included in a reply or a follow-up.
               (Now you have the possibility to change it, but please
               don't.  Lines with a mixture of prefixes like
                  : orig-> <> } ] #- etc.
               are very difficult to comprehend.  Let's all use the
               standard folks!  (And hack inews if it is the 50% rule
               that bothers you.)

          inews shell-command (string, default "INEWS_PATH -h")
               The program which is invoked by nn to deliver an
               article to the news transport.  The program will be
               given a complete article including a header containing
               the newsgroups to which the article is to be posted.
               See also inews-pipe-input.  It is not used when
               cancelling an article!

          inews-pipe-input         (boolean, default true)
               When set, the article to be posted will be piped into



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               the inews program.  Otherwise, the file containing the
               article will be given as the first (and only) argument

          keep-backup-folder  (boolean, default false)
               When set, the backup folder (see backup-folder-path)
               created when removing deleted articles from a folder is
               not removed.  Notice that a backup folder is not
               created if all articles are removed from a folder!

          keep-unsubscribed        (boolean, default true)
               When set, unsubscribed groups are kept in .newsrc.  If
               not set, nn will automatically remove all unsubscribed
               from .newsrc if tidy-newsrc is set.  See also
               unsubscribe-mark-read.

          kill      (boolean, default true)
               If set, nn performs automatic kill and selection based
               on the kill file.

          kill-debug          (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will display a trace of the auto-
               kill/select process on entry to a group.  It is
               automatically turned off if `q' is entered as the
               answer to a "hit any key" prompt during the debug
               output.

          kill-key key   (key, default tty kill key)
               The key which deletes the current line when nn is
               prompting for a string, e.g. a file name.

          kill-reference-count N   (integer, default 0)
               When this variable is non-zero, all articles which have
               N or more references on the References: line
               (corresponding to the number of >>'s on the menu line)
               will be auto-killed if they are not auto-selected (or
               preserved) via an entry in the kill file.  It should
               probably not be used globally for all groups, but can
               be set on a per-group via the entry macros.




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          layout number  (integer, default 1)
               Set the menu layout.  The argument must be a number
               lines.

          long-menu      (boolean, default false)
               If set nn will not put an empty line after the header
               line and an empty line before the prompt line; this
               gives you two extra menu lines.

          macro-debug    (boolean, default false)
               If set nn will trace the execution of all macros.
               Prior to the execution of each command or operation in
               a macro, it will show the name of the command or the
               input string or key stroke at the bottom of the screen.

          mail file (string, default not set)
               file must be a full path name of a file.  If defined,
               nn will check for arrival of new mail every minute or
               so by looking at the specified file.

          mail-alias-expander program   (string, default not set)
               When set, aliases used in mail responses may be
               expanded by the specified program.  The program will be
               given the completed response in a file as its only
               argument, and the aliases should be expanded directly
               in this file (of course the program may use temporary
               files and other means to expand the aliases as long the
               the result is stored in the provided file).
               Notice: currently there are no alias expanders
               delivered with nn.
               Warning: Errors in the expansion process may lead to
               the response not being sent.

          mail-format    (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will save articles in a format that is
               compatible with normal mail folders.  Unless folder-
               format-check is false, it is only used to specify the
               format used when new folders are created.  This



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               variable is ignored if mmdf-format is set.

          mail-script file    (string, default not set)
               When set, nn will use the specified file instead of the
               standard aux script when executing the reply and mail
               commands.

          mailer shell-command     (string, default REC_MAIL)
               The program which is invoked by nn to deliver a message
               to the mail transport.  The program will be given a
               complete mail message including a header containing the
               recipient's address.  See also mailer-pipe-input.

          mailer-pipe-input        (boolean, default true)
               When set, the message to be sent will be piped into the
               mailer program.  Otherwise, the file containing the
               message will be given as the first (and only) argument
               to the mailer command.

          marked-by-next-group N   (integer, default 0)
               Specifies the amount of (unmarked) articles on the menu
               marked seen by the N {next-group} command in selection
               mode.  See marked-by-read-skip for possible values of
               N.

          marked-by-read-return N  (integer, default 0)
               Specifies the amount of (unmarked) articles on the menu
               marked seen by the Z {read-return} command in selection
               mode.  See marked-by-read-skip for possible values of
               N.

          marked-by-read-skip N    (integer, default 4)
               Specifies the amount of (unmarked) articles on the menu
               marked seen by the X {read-skip} command in selection
               mode.  The following values of N are recognized:
                    0:  No articles are marked seen
                    1:  Current page is marked seen
                    2:  Previous pages are marked seen



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                    3:  Previous and current pages are marked seen
                    4:  All pages are marked seen

          menu-spacing mode   (integer, default 0)
               When mode is a non-zero number as described below, nn
               will add blank lines between the lines on the menu to
               increase readability at the cost of presenting fewer
               articles on each page.  The following values of mode
               are recognized:
               0: Don't add blank lines between menu lines.
               1: Add a blank line between articles with different subjects.
               2: Add a blank line between all articles.

          merge-report-rate rate   (integer, default 1)
               When nn is invoked with the -m option (directly or via
               nngrap), a status report of the merging process is
               displayed and updated on the screen every rate seconds.
               The report contains the time used so far and an
               estimate of the time needed to complete the merge.

          message-history N   (integer, default 15)
               Specifies the maximum number, N, of older messages
               which can be recalled with the ^P {message} command.

          min-window size     (integer, default 7)
               When the window variable is not set, nn will clear the
               screen to preview an article if there are less than
               size unused lines at the bottom of the menu screen.

          mmdf-format    (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will save articles in MMDF format.  Unless
               folder-format-check is false, it is only used to
               specify the format used when new folders are created.

          monitor        (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will show all characters in the received
               messages using a "cat -v" like format.  Otherwise, only
               the printable characters are shown (default).




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          motd      (boolean, default true)
               When set, nn will display the message of the day on
               sequence as individual characters instead.  This way it
               is still possible to use for example the ESC key on a
               terminal with vt100 like arrow keys.  When nn is used
               via an rlogin connection, you may have to increase the
               timeout to get reliable recognition of multi-keys.

          new-group-action action  (integer, default 3)
               This variable controls how new groups are treated by
               nn.  It is an integer variable, and the following
               values can be used.  Some of these actions (marked with
               an *) will only work when keep-unsubscribed is set,
               since the presence of a group in .newsrc is the only
               way to recognize it as an old group:

9 0) Ignore groups which are not in .newsrc. This will

               obviously include new groups.

9 1*) Groups not in .newsrc are considered to be new,

               and are inserted at the beginning of the .newsrc file.

9 2*) Groups not in .newsrc are considered to be new,

               and are appended to the end of the .newsrc file.

9 3) New groups are recognized via a time-stamp saved in

               the file .nn/LAST and in the database, i.e. it is not
               dependent on the groups currently in .newsrc.  The new
               groups are automatically appended to .newsrc with
               subscription.  Old groups not present in .newsrc will
               be considered to be unsubscribed.

9 4) As 3, but the user is asked to confirm that the new

               group should be appended to .newsrc.  If rejected, the
               group will not be appended to .newsrc, and thus be
               regarded as unsubscribed.

9 5) As 4, except that the information is stored in a

               format compatible with the rn news reader (.rnlast).
               This needs to be tested!




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          new-style-read-prompt    (boolean, default true)
               When set, the reading mode prompt line includes the
               group name and the number of selected articles in the
               group.


          newsrc file         (string, default "~/.newsrc")
               Specifies the file used by nn to register which groups
               and articles have been read.  The default setting
               corresponds to the .newsrc file used by other news
               readers.  Notice that nn release 6.4 does allow
               individual articles to be marked unread, and some
               articles marked unread, and thus no longer messes up
               .newsrc for other news readers!

          nntp-cache-dir directory (string, default "~/.nn")
               When NNTP is used, nn needs to store articles
               temporarily on disk.  This variable specifies which
               directory nn will use to hold these files.  The default
               value may be changed during configuration.  This
               variable can only be set in the init file.

          nntp-cache-size size     (integer, default 10, maximum 10)
               Specifies the number of temporary files in the nntp
               cache.  The default and maximum values may be changed
               during configuration.

          nntp-debug     (boolean, default false)
               When set, a trace of the nntp related traffic is
               displayed in the message line on the screen.

          old [max-articles]  (integer, default not set)
               When old is set, nn will present (or scan) all (or the
               last max-articles) unread as well as read articles.
               While old is set, nn will never mark any unread
               articles as read.

          orig-to-include-mask N   (integer, default 3)



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               When replying to an article, nn will include some of
               the header lines which may be used to construct a
               proper mail address for the poster of the original
               article.  These addresses are placed on Orig-To: lines
               in the reply header and will automatically be removed
               This is the pager used by the :admin command (and
               nnadmin) when it executes certain commands, e.g.
               grepping in the Log file.

          patch-command shell-command   (string, default "patch -p0")
               This is the command which is invoked by the :patch
               command.

          post-distribution words  (string, default see below)
               This variable controls how the Distribution: header is
               constructed when posting an original article.  Its
               value is a list of words selected from the following
               list:

9 [ ask ] [ default | distribution ]

9               This is interpreted in two steps:
               - First the default distribution is determined.  If
               default is specified (or distribution is omitted), the
               value of default-distribution is used.  Otherwise, the
               specified distribution (any word) is used as the
               default.
               - Then if ask is specified, the user will be asked to
               confirm the default distribution or provide another
               distribution.
               The default value of post-distribution is ask default,
               i.e. use the default-distribution with confirmation
               from the user.

          preview-continuation cond     (integer, default 12)
               This variable determines on what terms the following
               article should be automatically shown when previewing
               an article, and the next-article command is used, or
               continue is used at the end of the article.  The



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               following values can be used:
               0 - never show the next article (return to the menu).
               1 - always show the next article (use 'q' to return to
               the menu).
               2 - show the next article if it has the same subject as
               the current article, else return to the menu.

          print-header-lines fields     (string, default "FDGS")
               Specifies the list of header fields that are output
               when an article is printed via the :print command and
               print-header-type is 1 (short header).  The fields
               specification is desctribed in the section on
               Customized Article Headers below.

          print-header-type N (integer, default 1)
               Specifies what kind of header is printed by the :print
               command, corresponding to the three save-* commands: 0
               prints only the article body (no header), 1 prints a
               short header, and 2 prints the full article header.

          printer shell-command    (string, default is system dep.)
               This is the default value for the print command.  It
               should include an option which prevents the spooler
               from echoing a job-id or similar to the terminal to
               avoid problems with screen handling (e.g. lp -s on
               System V).

          query-signature          (boolean, default ...)
               Will cause nn to require confirmation before appending
               the .signature file to out-going mail or news if the
               corresponding append-sig-... variable is set.

          quick-count    (boolean, default true)
               When set, calculating the total number of unread
               articles at start-up is done by simple subtracting the
               first unread article number from the total number of
               articles in each group.  This is very fast, and fairly
               accurate but it may be a bit too large.  If not set,



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               each line in .newsrc will be interpreted to count every
               unread article, thus giving a very accurate number.
               This variable is also used by nncheck.

          quick-save     (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will not prompt for a file name when an
                    4:  If any references use layout 0, else layout 1.

          re-layout-read N    (integer, default -1)
               When the header-lines variable is not set, or contains
               the "*" field specifier, a line similar to the menu
               line will be used as the header of the article in
               reading mode, including the sender's name and the
               article's subject.  When this variable is negative, the
               subject on this header line will be prefixed according
               to the re-layout variable.  Otherwise, it will define
               the format of the "Re:" prefix to be used instead of
               the re-layout used on the menu.

          read-return-next-page    (boolean, default false)
               When set, the Z {read-return} command will return to
               the next menu page rather than the current menu page.

          record file    (string, no default)
               Setting this pseudo variable will set both the mail-
               record and the news-record variables to the specified
               pathname.

          repeat         (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will not eliminate duplicated subject
               lines on menus (I cannot imagine why anyone should want
               that, but....)

          repeat-group-query  (boolean, default false)
               When set, invoking nn with the -g option will always
               repeat the query for a group to enter until you quit
               explicitly.  (Same as setting the -r option
               permanently).



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          report-cost         (boolean, default true)
               This variable is ignored unless nn is running with
               accounting enabled (see nnacct).  When set, nn will
               report the cost of the current session and the total on
               exit.

               Normally, seen articles will just be unread the next
               time the group is entered (unless they were marked read
               by auto-junk-seen).  If retain-seen-status is set, the
               seen attribute on the articles will survive to the next
               time the group is entered.  (This is not recommended
               because it may result in very large select files).

          retry-on-error times     (integer, default 0)
               When set, nn will try the specified number of times to
               open an article before reporting that the article does
               not exist any more.  This may be necessary in some
               network environments.

          save-closed-mode mode    (integer, default 13)
               When saving an article in selection mode (i.e. by
               selecting it from the menu), nn will simply save the
               specified article if the article's subject is open.
               When the selected menu entry is a closed subject, the
               save-closed-mode variable determines how many articles
               among the closed articles should be saved:
               0: save root article (the one on the menu) only
               1: save selected articles within subject
               2: save unread (excl selected) articles within subject
               3: save selected+unread articles within subject
               4: save all articles within subject
               If `10' is added to the above values, nn will not save
               the selected subject immediately; instead it will ask
               which articles to save using the above value as the
               default answer.

          save-counter format (string, default "%d")
               This is the printf-format which nn uses to create



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               substitution string for the trailing * in save file
               names.  You can set this to more complex formats if you
               like, but be sure that it will produce different
               strings for different numbers.  An alternative format
               which seems to be popular is ".%02d" .

               written is shown after saving an article.  Since
               messages are shown for a few seconds, this may slow
               down the saving of many articles (e.g. using the S*
               command).

          scroll-clear-page        (boolean, default true)
               Determines whether nn clears the screen before showing
               each new page of an article.

          scroll-last-lines N      (integer, default 0)
               Normally, nn will show each new page of an article from
               the top of the screen (with proper marking of the
               overlap).  When this variable is set to a negative
               value, nn will scroll the text of the new pages from
               the bottom of the screen instead.  If it is set to a
               positive value, nn will show pages from the top as
               usual, but switch to scrolling when there are less than
               the specified number of lines left in the article.

          select-leave-next        (boolean, default false)
               When set, you will be asked whether to select articles
               with the leave-next attribute on entry to a group with
               left over articles.

          select-on-sender         (boolean, default false)
               Specifies whether the find (=) command in article
               selection mode will match on the subject or the sender.

          shading-on code...  (control string, default not set)
               Specifies the escape code to be sent to the terminal to
               cause "shading" of the following output to the screen.
               This is used if the mark-overlap-shading is set, and by



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               the `+' attribute in the header-lines variable.

          shading-off code... (control string, default not set)
               Specifies the escape code to be sent to the terminal to
               turn off the shading defined by shading-on.  Shading
               will typically be done by changing the foreground
               pipes.  It also prevents the user from changing certain
               variables containing commands.

          show-purpose-mode N      (integer, default 1)
               Normally, nn will show the purpose of a group the first
               time it is read, provided a purpose is known.  Setting
               this variable, this behaviour can be changed as
               follows:
                    0:  Never show the purpose.
                    1:  Show the purpose for new groups only.
                    2:  Show the purpose for all groups.

          silent         (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn wont print the logo or "No News" if there
               are no unread articles.  Only useful to set in the init
               file or with the -Q option.

          slow-mode      (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will cut down on the screen output to give
               better response time at low speed.  Normally, nn will
               use standout mode (if possible) to mark selected
               articles on the menu, but when slow-mode is set, nn
               will just put an asterisk `*' next to the article
               identifier on selected articles.  Also when slow-mode
               is set nn will avoid redrawing the screen in the
               following cases:  After a goto-group command an empty
               menu is shown (hit space to make it appear), and after
               responding to an article, only the prompt line is shown
               (use ^L to redraw the screen).  To avoid redrawing the
               screen after an extended command, set the delay-redraw
               variable as well.
9


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          slow-speed speed    (integer, default 1200)
               If the terminal is running at this baud rate or lower,
               the on slow (see the section on init files) condition
               will be true, and the on fast will be false (and vice-
               versa).

          sort      (boolean, default true)
               in connection with the :sort command:
                    0 - arrival (ordered by article number)
                    1 - subject (subjects ordered after age of first
               article)
                    2 - lexical (subjects in lexicographical order)
                    3 - age (articles ordered after posting date only)
                    4 - sender (articles ordered after sender's name)

          spell-checker shell-command   (string, default not set)
               When set, responses can be checked for spelling
               mistakes via the (i)spell action.  The command to
               perform the spelling is given the file containing the
               full article including header as its only argument.  If
               the spell checker can fix spelling mistakes, it must
               apply the changes directly to this file.

          split          (boolean, default true)
               When set, digests will automatically and silently be
               split into sub-articles which are then handled
               transparently as normal articles.  Otherwise, digests
               are presented as one article (which you can split on
               demand with the G command).

          stop lines     (integer, default not set)
               When stop is set, nn will only show the first lines
               lines of the of each article before prompting you to
               continue.  This is useful on slow terminals and modem
               lines to be able to see the first few lines of longer
               articles (and skipping the rest with the n command).

          subject-match-limit length    (integer, default 256)



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               Subjects will be considered identical if their first
               length characters match.  Setting this uncritically to
               a low value may cause unexpected results!

          subject-match-offset offset   (integer, default 0)
               When set to a positive number, that many characters at
               the beginning of the subject will be ignored when
               manually will not have an immediate effect.  To reorder
               the menu, an explicit :sort command must be performed.
               These variables are mainly intended to be set using the
               :local command in on entry macros for source and binary
               groups (entry macros are evaluated before the menu is
               collected and sorted).

          suggest-default-save     (boolean, default true)
               When set, nn will present the default-save-file when
               prompting for a save file name in a group without a
               specific save file, or folder-save-file when saving
               from a folder.  When not set, no file name is
               presented, and to use the default save file, a single +
               must be specified.

          tidy-newsrc         (boolean, default false)
               When set, nn will automatically remove lines from
               .newsrc which represent groups not found in the active
               file or unsubscribed groups if keep-unsubscribed is not
               set.

          time      (boolean, default true)
               When set, nn will show the current time in the prompt
               line.  This is useful on systems without a sysline (1)
               utility.

          trace-folder-packing     (boolean, default true)
               When set, a trace of the retained and deleted messages
               is printed when a folder is rewritten.
9


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          trusted-escape-codes codes    (string, default none)
               When set to a list of one or more characters, nn will
               trust and output escape characters in an article if it
               is followed by one of the characters in the list.  For
               example, to switch to or from kanji mode, control codes
               like "esc $" and "esc ( J" may be present in the text.
               To allow these codes, use the following command:
9                    set trusted-escape-codes ($

9 You can also set it to all to pass all espace codes

               variable is not set.  Setting it to "Unshar.Result"
               will cause the headers and the results from the
               unpacking process to be merged in a meaningful way
               (unless mmdf-format is set).

          unsubscribe-mark-read    (boolean, default true)
               When set, unsubscribing to a group will automatically
               mark all current articles read; this is recommended to
               keep the size of .newsrc down.  Otherwise, unread
               articles in the unsubscribe groups are kept in .newsrc.
               If keep-unsubscribed is false, this variable has no
               effect.

          update-frequency         (integer, default 1)
               Specifies how many changes need to be done to the
               .newsrc or select files before they are written back to
               disk.  The default setting causes .newsrc to be updated
               every time a group has been read.

          use-path-in-from         (boolean, default false)
               When mail-format is set, saved articles will be
               preceded by a specially formatted "From " line:
                    From origin date
               Normally, the origin will be the name of the news group
               where the article appeared, but if use-path-in-from is
               set, the contents of the "Path:" header will be used as
               the origin.




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          use-selections      (boolean, default true)
               When set, nn uses the selections and other article
               attributes saved last time nn was used.  If not set, nn
               ignores the select file.

          visible-bell   (boolean, default true)
               When set, nn will flash the screen instead of "ringing
               the bell" if the visible bell (flash) capability is
               defined in the termcap/terminfo database.

          wrap-header-margin size  (integer, default 6)
               When set (non-negative), the customized header fields
               specified in header-lines will be split across several
               lines if they don't fit on one line.  When size is
               greater than zero, lines will be split at the first
               space occurring in the last size columns of the line.
               If not set (or negative), long header lines will be
               truncated if they don't fit on a single line.

     CUSTOMIZED ARTICLE HEADER PRESENTATION
          Normally, nn will just print a (high-lighted) single line
          header containing the author, subject, and date (optional)
          of the article when it is read.

          By setting the header-lines variable as described below, it
          is possible to get a more informative multi line header with
          optional high-lighting and underlining.

          The header-lines variable is set to a list of header line
          identifiers, and the customized headers will then contain
          exactly these header lines in the specified order.

          The same specifications are also used by the :print and
          save-short commands via the print-header-lines and save-
          header-lines variables.

          The following header line identifiers are recognized in the
          header-lines, print-header-lines, and save-header-lines



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          variables:

                  A    Approved:
                  a    Spool-File:(path of spool file containing the
                  article)
                  B    Distribution:
                  C    Control:
                  D    Date:
                  d    Date-Received:
                  F    From:
                  article)
                  W    Followup-To:
                  X    References:
                  x    Back-References:
                  Y    Summary:

          The 'G' and 'g' fields will include the local article number
          if it is known, e.g.
               Newsgroup: news.software.nn/754

          The following special symbols are recognized in the header-
          lines variable (and ignored otherwise):

          Preceding the identifier with an equal sign "=" or an
          underscore "_" will cause the header field contents to be
          high-lighted or underlined.

          A plus sign "+" will use the shading attribute defined by
          shading-on and shading-off to high-light the field contents.
          If no shading attribute is defined it will underline the
          field instead.

          Including an asterisk "*" in the list will produce the
          standard one line header at that point.

          Example:  The following setting of the header-lines variable
          will show the author (underlined), organization, posting
          date, and subject (high-lighted) when articles are read:



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               set header-lines _FOD=S

     COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
          Some of the command line options have already been
          described, but below we provide a complete list of the
          effect of each option by showing the equivalent set, unset,
          or toggle command.

          Besides the options described below, you can set any of nn's
          variables directly on the command line via an argument of
          in square brackets.

          -aN  {set limit N}
               Limit the maximum number of articles presented in each
               group to N. This is useful to get up-to-date quickly if
               you have not read news for a longer period.

          -a0  Mark all unread articles as read.  See the full
               explanation at the beginning of this manual.

          -B   {toggle backup}
               Do not [do] backup the rc file.

          -d   {toggle split}
               Do not [do] split digests into separate articles.

          -f   {toggle fsort}
               Do not [do] sort folders according to the subject
               (present the articles in a folder in the sequence in
               which they were saved).

          -g   Prompt for the name of a news group or folder to be
               entered

          -i   {toggle case-fold-search}
               Normally searches with -n and -s are case independent.
               Using this option, the case becomes significant.



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          -I   Do not read the init file.  This must be the first
               option!!  The global setup file is still read.

          -Ifile-list
               Specifies an alternate list of init files to be loaded
               instead of the standard global and private init files.
               The list is a comma-separated list of file names.
               Names which does not contain a `/' are looked for in
               the ~/.nn directory.  An empty element in the list is
               interpreted as the global init file.  The list of init
               files must not be separated from the -I option by

          -L[f]     {set layout f}
               Select alternative menu layout f (0 to 4).  If f is
               omitted, menu layout 3 is selected.

          -m   {no corresponding variable}
               Merge all articles into one `meta group' instead of
               showing them one group at a time.  When -m is used, no
               articles will be marked as read.

          -nWORD
               Collect only articles which contain the string WORD in
               the sender's name (case is ignored).  If WORD starts
               with a slash `/', the rest of the argument is used as a
               regular expression instead of a fixed string.

          -N   {no corresponding variable}
               Disable updating of the rc file.  This includes not
               recording that groups have been read or unsubscribed to
               (although nn will think so until you quit).

          -q   {toggle sort}
               Do not [do] sort the articles (q means quick, but it
               isn't any quicker in practice!)

          -Q   {toggle silent}
               Quiet mode - don't [do] print the logo or "No News"
               messages.



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          -r   {toggle repeat-group-query}
               Make -g repeat query for a group to enter.

          -sWORD
               Collect only articles which contain the string WORD in
               their subject (case is ignored).  If WORD starts with a
               slash `/', the rest of the argument is used as a
               regular expression instead of a fixed string.

          -S   {toggle repeat}
               Do not [do] eliminate duplicated subject lines on
               Present (or scan) all (or the last N) unread as well as
               read articles.  This will never mark unread articles as
               read.

          -X   {no corresponding variable}
               Read/scan unsubscribed groups also.  Most useful when
               looking for a specific subject in all groups, e.g.
                  nn -mxX -sSubject all

     MACRO DEFINITIONS
          Practically any combination of commands and key strokes can
          be defined as a macro which can be bound to a single key in
          menu and/or reading mode.

          The macro definition must specify a sequence of commands and
          key strokes as if they were typed directly from the
          keyboard.  For example, a string specifying a file name must
          follow a save command.  This manual does not give a complete
          specification of all the input required by the various
          commands; it is recommended to execute the desired command
          sequence from the keyboard prior to defining the macro to
          get the exact requirements of each command.

          Although it is possible to define temporary macros
          interactively using the :define command, macro definitions
          are normally placed in the init file.  Macros are numbered
          from 0 to 100, i.e. it is possible to define a total of 101



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          different macros (implicit macros defined with the map
          command uses internal numbers from 101 to 200).

          To define macro number M, the following construction is used
          (the line breaks are mandatory):
               define M
                    body
               end

          The body consists of a sequence of tokens separated by white
          space (blanks or newlines).  However, certain tokens
               All the extended commands which can be executed through
               the command command (normally bound to the : key) can
               also be executed in a macro.  An extended command
               starts with a colon (:) and continues to the end of the
               current line.  Example:
                    :show groups total

          Key Strokes
               A key stroke (which is normally mapped into a command
               depending on the current mode) is specified as a key
               name enclosed in single quotes.  Examples (A-key, left
               arrow key, RETURN key):
                    'A'  'left'  '^M'

          Shell Commands
               External commands can be invoked as part of a macro
               execution.  There are two forms of shell command
               invocations available depending on whether a command
               may produce output or require user input, or it is
               guaranteed to complete without input or output to the
               terminal.  The difference is that in the latter case,
               nn does not prepare the terminal to be used by another
               program.  When the command completes, the screen is not
               redrawn automatically; you should use the redraw
               command to do that.  The tho forms are:
9                    :!echo this command uses the terminal
                    :!!echo this command does not > /tmp/file


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          Strings
               Input to commands prompting for a string, e.g. a file
               name, can be specified in a macro as a double quoted
               string.  Example (save without prompting for a file
               name):
                    save-short "+$G"

          Conditionals
               Conditionals may occur anywhere in a macro; a
               conditional is evaluated when the macro is executed,
               and if the condition is false the rest of the current
               line is ignored.  The following conditionals are
               This conditional will be true (1) if the variable is an
               integer variable whose current value is the one
               specified, or (2) if the variable is a boolean variable
               which is either on or off.  Examples:
                    ?layout=3 :set layout 1
                    ?monitor=on  break
                    ?sort=off :sort age

          break
               Terminate macro execution completely.  This includes
               nested macros.  Example (stop if looking at a folder):
                    ?folder break

          return
               Terminate execution of current macro.  If the current
               macro is called from another macro, execution of that
               macro continues immediately.

          input
               Query the user for a key stroke or a string, for
               example a file name.  Example (prompt the user for a
               file name in the usual way):
                    save-short input

          yes  Confirm unconditionally if a command requires
               confirmation.  It is ignored if the command does not


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               require confirmation.  Example (confirm creation of new
               files):
                    save-short "+$G" yes

          no   Terminate execution of current macro if a command
               requires confirmation; otherwise ignore it.  If neither
               yes nor no is specified when a command requires
               confirmation, the user must answer the question as
               usual - if the user confirms the action execution
               continues normally; otherwise the execution of the
               current macro is terminated.  Example (do not create
               new files):
                    save-short "+$L/misc" no
                    prompt "" # so forget old prompt

          echo string
               Display the string in the prompt line for a short
               period.  Example:
                    ?show echo "Cannot be used in reading mode" break

          puts string-to-end-of-line
               The rest of the line is output directly to the terminal
               without interpretation.

          macro M
               Invoke macro number M.  The maximum macro nesting level
               is five (also catches macro loops).

          I use the following macro to quickly save all the selected
          files in a file whose name is entered as usual.  It also
          works in reading mode (saving just the current article).
               define 1
                    :unset save-report
                    save-short input yes
                    ?menu '+'
                    :set save-report
               end




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     KEY MAPPINGS
          The descriptions of the keys and commands provided in this
          manual reflects the default key mappings in nn.  However,
          you can easily change these mappings to match your personal
          demands, and it is also possible to remap keys depending on
          the terminal in use.  Permanent remapping of keys must be
          done through the init file, while temporary changes (for the
          duration of the current invocation of nn) can be made with
          the :map command.

          The binding and mapping of keys are controlled by four
          tables:

               multikey #0 to be the home key using the command:
9                    map #0 ^[ [ H

          The input key mapping table
               All characters that are read from the keyboard will be
               mapped through the input mapping table.  Consequently,
               you can globally remap one key to produce any other key
               value.  By default all keys are mapped into themselves.
9               An entry in the input key mapping table to map input-
               key into new-key is made with the command

9 map key input-key new-key


9 For example, to make your ESC key function as interrupt

               you can use the command
9                    map key ^[ ^G

          The selection mode key binding table
               This table defines for each key which command should be
               invoked when that key is pressed in selection mode,
               i.e. when the article menu is shown.  The command to
               bind a key to a command in selection mode is:

9 map menu key command



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               For example, to have the HOME key defined as multikey
               #0 above bound to the select command, the following
               command is used:
9                    map menu #0 select
9               To remap a key to select a specific article on the menu
               (which the `a' through `z' keys do by default), the
               command must be specified as `article N' where N is the
               entry number on the menu counted from zero (i.e. a=0,
               b=1, ..., z=25, 0=26, ..., 9=35).  For example, to map
               `J' to select article `j', the following command is
               used:
9                    map menu J article 9

          The reading mode key binding table
               This table defines for each key which command should be
               invoked when that key is pressed in reading mode, i.e.
               when the article text is shown.  The command to bind a
               key to a command in reading mode is:

9               When used, the prefix key itself does not activate a
               command, but instead it require another key to be
               entered and then execute the command bound to that key
               in the keymap which is bound to the prefix key.
                 For example, to let the key sequence "^X i" execute
               macro number 10 in both modes, the following commands
               can be used:
9                    make map ctl-x
                    map ctl-x i macro 10
                    map both ^X prefix ctl-x

          Mapping keys in both modes
               Using the pseudo-keymap `both', it is possible to map a
               key to a command in both selection and reading mode at
               once.  For example, to map the home key to macro number


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               5 in both modes, the following command can be used:
9                    map both #0 macro 5

          Aliasing
               A key can also be mapped directly to the command
               currently bound to another key.  Later remapping of the
               other key will not change the mapping of the `aliased'
               key.  This is done using the following command:

9 map keymap new-key as old-key


          Binding macros to keys
               A previously defined macro can be bound to a key using
               the command:

9 map keymap key macro macro-number


          Implicit macro definitions
               An implicit macro can also be defined directly in
               connection with the map command:

9 map keymap key (

                    body...
                    )

          Keys and character names are specified using the following
          notation:
          #0  through  #9
               These symbols represent the ten user-defined multikeys.

          If the variable data-bits is 7, key maps can specify binding
          of all keys in the range 0x00 to 0x7F, and the 8th bit will
          be stripped in all keyboard input.  If the variable data-
          bits is 8, the 8th bit is not cleared, and key maps are
          extended to allow binding of keys in the range 0xA0 to 0xFE
          (corresponding to the national characters defined by the ISO
          8859 character sets).  Binding commands to these keys can be
          done either by using their numeric value, or directly
          specifying the 8 bit character in the map command, e.g.



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               map menu 0xC8 macro 72
               map key e %

          To show the current contents of the four tables, the
          following versions of the :map command are available:

          :map Show the current mode's key bindings.

          :map menu
               Show the selection mode key bindings.

          :map show
               Show the reading mode key bindings.

          :map #
               Show the multikey definition table.

          :map key
               Show the input key mapping table.

     STANDARD KEY BINDINGS
          Below is a list of all the commands that can be bound to
          keys, either in selection mode, in reading mode, or both.
          For each command the default command key bindings in both
          modes are shown.  If the key is not bound in one of the
          modes, but it can be bound, the corresponding part will just
                  decode
                  find                 =                /
                  find-next            nix              .
                  follow               F                fF
                  full-digest          nix              H
                  goto-group           G                G
                  goto-menu            nix              = Z
                  help                 ?                ?
                  junk-articles        J                nix
                  kill-select          K                K
                  layout               "                nix
                  leave-article        nix              l



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                  leave-next           L                L
                  line+1               ,  down          return
                  line-1               /                nix
                  line=@               nix              g
                  macro M
                  mail                 M                m M
                  message              ^P               ^P
                  next-article         nix              n
                  next-group           N                N
                  next-subject         nix              k
                  nil
                  overview             Y                Y
                  page+1               >                nix
                  page+1/2             nix              d
                  page-1               <                delete
                  backspace
                  page-1/2             nix              u
                  page=0               nix              h
                  page=1               ^                ^
                  page=$               $                $
                  patch
                  post
                  preview              %                %
                  previous             P                p
                  print                                 P
                  quit                 Q                Q
                  skip-lines           nix              tab
                  unselect-all         ~                nix
                  unshar
                  unsub                U                U
                  version              V                V

          See the descriptions of the default bindings for a
          description of the commands.  The pseudo command nil is used
          to unbind a key.

     THE INIT FILES
          The init files are used to customize nn's behaviour to local



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          conventions and restrictions and to satisfy each user's
          personal taste.
          Normally, nn reads upto three init files on start-up if they
          exist (all init files are optional):

          $LIB/setup
               A system-wide file located in the library directory.
               This file is always loaded before any other init file
               (even when the -I option is specified).  It cannot
               contain a group presentation sequence.

          $LIB/init
               Another system-wide (global) init file located in the
               library directory.  This file may be ignored via the -I
               option.

          ~/.nn/init
               The private init file located in the user's .nn
               directory.  It is read after the global init file to
               allow the user to change the default setup.

          The init file is parsed one line at a time.  If a line ends
          with a backslash `\', the backslash is ignored, and the
          following line is appended to the current line.

          The init file may contain the following types of commands
               described earlier (except that the : prefix is
               omitted.)

9 Variables can also be locked via the lock command; this

               is typically done in the setup file to enforce local
               policies.

          Key mappings
               You can use all the versions of the map command in the
               init file.

          Macro Definitions
               You can define sequences of commands and key strokes


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               using the define...end construction, which can then be
               bound to single keys with the map command.

          Load terminal specific files
               You can load a terminal specific file using the

9 load file


9 The character @ in the file will be replaced by the

               terminal type defined in the TERM environment variable.
               nn silently ignores the load command if the file does
               not exist (so you don't have to have a specific init
               file for terminals which does not require remapping).
               If the file is not specified by an absolute pathname,
               it must reside in your ~/.nn directory.  Examples:
                    # load local customizations
                    load /usr/lib/nninit
                    # load personal terminal specific customizations
                    load init.@

          Switch to loading a different init
               You can skip the rest of the current init file and
               start loading a different init file with the following
               command:

9 chain file

9               If this occur in the private or global init file, the
               chained init file may contain a sequence part which
               will replace the private or global presentation
               sequence respectively.


9 exit [ status ]

                    Terminate nn with the specified exit status or 0
               if omitted.

          Change working directory of nn
               You can use the cd command to change the working
               directory whenever you enter nn.  Example:



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                    # Use folder directory as working directory inside nn
                    cd ~/News

          Command groups
               The init file can contain groups of commands which are
               executed under special conditions.  The command groups
               are described in the section on command groups below.

          One or more save-files sections
               A save-files section is used to assign default save
               files to specific groups:

9 save-files

                      group-name (pattern) file-name
                      ...
                    end
9               The group name (patterns) and save file names are
               specified in the same way as in the presentation
               sequence (see below).  Example:
                    save-files
                      news*  +news/$L
                      comp.sources*  /u/src/$L/
                    end

          The news group presentation sequence
               The last part of the init file may specify the sequence
               in which you want the news groups to be presented.
               This part starts with the command sequence and
               continues to the end of the init file.

          Both init files may contain a presentation sequence.  In
          this case, the global sequence is appended to the private
          word end.  The following command groups are conditionally
          executed during the parsing of the init file if the
          specified condition is true.  They may also have an optional
          else part which is executed if the condition is false:

9 on condition

                    commands


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               [ else
                    commands ]
               end

          The following conditional command groups may be used in the
          init file to be executed at start-up:

          on [ test ]
               The commands (init file syntax) in the group are
               executed only if the specified test is true.  A shell
               is spawned to execute the command "[ test ]", so all
               the options of the test(1) command is available.  For
               example, to unset the flow-control variable if the tty
               is a pseudo-tty, the following conditional can be used:
                    on [ -n "`tty | grep ttyp`" ]
                         unset flow-control
                    end

          on !shell command
               The command group is executed if the given shell
               command exits with 0 status (success).  Care should be
               taken that the command does not produce any output,
               e.g. by redirecting its output to /dev/null.  For
               example, to prevent people from reading news if load is
               above a specific level, the following conditional might
               be placed in the global setup file.
                    on !load-above 5
                         error load is too high, try again later.
                    end

          on `shell command` string...
               The command group is executed if the first output line
               from executing the specified shell command is listed
                    end

          on `` string...
               This is equivalent to the previous form except that
               instead of executing a shell command, the output from



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               the previous

          on $variable [ value ]
               If no value strings are specified, the command group is
               executed if the given variable is defined in the
               environment.  Otherwise, the command group is executed
               only if the value of the variable occur in the value
               list.  For example, if you want nn to look for mail in
               whatever $MAIL is set to - if it is set - you can use
               the following code:
                    on $MAIL
                         set mail $(MAIL)
                    end

          on slow
               The commands (init file syntax) in the group are
               executed only if the current terminal output speed is
               less than or equal to the baud rate set in the slow-
               speed variable.  This can be used to optimize the
               user-interface for slow terminals by setting suitable
               variables:

9 on slow

                         set confirm-entry
                         set slow-mode
                         set delay-redraw
                         unset visible-bell
                         set compress
                         unset header-lines
                         set stop 5
                         set window 10
                    end

          on fast
               nncheck, etc) in the program-name list.

          The following on command groups are really macros which may
          be executed during nn's normal processing, and as such they
          cannot have an else part.


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          on entry [ group list ]
               These commands (macro format!) are executed every time
               nn enters a news group.  If a group list is not
               specified, the commands are associated with all groups
               which don't have its own entry macro specified in the
               group sequence.  Otherwise, the entry macro will be
               associated with the groups in the list.  The group list
               is specified using the meta-notations described in the
               presentation sequence section.
9               All `:' commands at the beginning of the command group
               are executed before nn collects the articles in the
               group, so it is possible to set or unset variables like
               cross-post and auto-read-mode before any articles are
               collected and the menu is (not) shown.
                 The non-`:' commands, and `:' commands that follows a
               command of another type will be executed immediately
               after the first menu page is presented.  The execution
               of a `:' command can be postponed by using a double
               `::' as the command prefix.

9 on entry comp.sources* alt.sources

                         :set cross-post on   # set before collection
                         :local auto-read-mode on   # set before showing menu
                         ::unset cross-post   # set after collection
                    end

          on start-up
               These `:' commands (macro format!) are executed on
               start-up just before nn enters the first news group.
               However, postponed commands (i.e. non-`:' commands)
               will not be executed until the first group is shown (it
               works like an entry macro).

     GROUP PRESENTATION SEQUENCE
          News groups are normally presented in the sequence defined
          init file stops when the word sequence is encountered).

          You may use a full group name like "comp.unix.questions", or



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          just the name of a main group or subgroup, e.g. "comp" or
          "comp.unix".  However, if "comp" precedes
          "comp.unix.questions" in the list, this subgroup will be
          placed in the normal alphabetic sequence during the
          collection of all the "comp" groups.

          Groups which are not explicitly mentioned in any of the
          sequence files will be placed after the mentioned groups,
          unless `!!' is used and it has not been disabled (as
          described below).

          Each group name may be followed by a file or folder name
          (must start with either of `/' `~' or `+') which will
          specify the default save file for that group (and its
          subgroups).  A single `+' following the group name is an
          abbreviation for the last save file name used.  For example,
          the following two sequences are equivalent:
               group1 +file group2 +file group3 +file
               group1 +file group2 + group3 +

          When an article is saved, the default save name will be used
          as the initial contents of the file name prompt for further
          editing.  It therefore does not need to be be a complete
          file name (unless you use the quick save mode).

          Each group name may also be associated with a so-called
          entry action.  This is basically an (unnamed) macro which is
          invoked on entry to the group (following the same rules as
          the `on entry' command group related to :set and :unset
          commands).

          The entry action begins with a left parenthesis `(' and ends
          with a right parenthesis `)' on an otherwise empty line:
9               comp.sources. +src/$L/ (
                    :set cross-post


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          Notice that it is the current definition of the macro which
          is associated with the group, so if the macro is later
          redefined with the `:define' command, it will not have any
          effect on the entry action.

          Group names can be specified using the following notations:

          group.name
               Append the group (if it exists) to the presentation
               sequence list.  If also-subgroups is set (default), all
               subscribed subgroups of the group will be included as
               well (if there are any).  Examples: "comp",
               "comp.unix", "comp.unix.questions".  If the group does
               not exits (e.g.  "comp"), the subgroups will be
               included even when also-subgroups is not set, i.e.
               "comp" is equivalent to "comp.".

          group.name.
               Append the subgroups of the specified group to the
               presentation sequence.  The group itself (if it exists)
               is not included.  Examples: "comp.", "comp.unix.".

          Append the groups whose name ends with the specified name to the
               sequence.  Example: ".test".

          group.name*
               Append the group and its subgroups to the presentation
               sequence list (even when also-subgroups is not set).
               Example: "comp.unix*".

          The following meta notation can be used in a sequence file.
          The group.name can be specified using any of the forms
          described above:

          ! groups
               Completely ignore the group or groups specified unless
               they are already in the presentation sequence (i.e. has
               been explicitly mentioned earlier in the sequence).



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               still see new groups as they are created.

          !:X groups
               Ignore unsubscribed and new groups, i.e. if they are
               not currently present and subscribed in .newsrc.  This
               is useful to ignore a whole hierarchy except for a few
               groups which are explicitly mentioned in .newsrc.  New
               groups in the hierarchy are ignored unless `NEW' occurs
               earlier in the sequence.

          !:O groups
               Ignore old groups, i.e. unless they are new.  This is
               useful to ignore a whole hierarchy but still see new
               groups which are created in the hierarchy (it might
               become interesting some day).  Individual groups can
               still be included in the sequence if they are specified
               before the `!:O' entry.

          !:N groups
               Ignore new groups in the hierarchy.

          !!   Stop building the presentation sequence.  This
               eliminates all groups that are not already in the
               presentation sequence.

          NEW  This is a pseudo group name which matches all new
               groups; you could place this symbol early in your
               presentation sequence to see new groups `out of
               sequence' (to attract your attention to them).

          RC   This is a pseudo group name which matches all groups
               occurring in the .newsrc file.  It will cause the
               groups in .newsrc to be appended to the presentation
               sequence in the sequence in which they are listed in
               .newsrc.

          RC:number
               Similar to the RC entry, but limited to the first
               number lines of the .newsrc file.  Example: RC:10 (use


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          > group.name
               Place the group (and its subgroups) after all other
               groups that are and will be entered into the
               presentation sequence.

          @    Disable the `!!' command.  This can be included in the
               personal presentation sequence if the global sequence
               file contains a !! entry (see example 1 below).

          % .... %
               Starts and ends a region of the sequence where it is
               possible to include groups which has been eliminated
               earlier.  This may be useful to alter the sequence of
               some groups, e.g. to place comp.sources.bugs after all
               other source groups, the following sequence can be
               used:
9               ! comp.sources.bugs comp.sources* % comp.sources.bugs %

          Example 1: In a company where ordinary users only should
          read the local news groups, and ignore the rest (including
          new news groups which are otherwise always subscribed to
          initially), can use the following global presentation
          sequence:
9               general
               follow
               ! local.test
               local
               !!

9 The "expert" users in the company must put the @ command

          somewhere in their private sequence to avoid losing news
          groups which they have not explicitly mentioned in their
          init file.

          Example 2: This is the global sequence for systems with
          heavy news addicts who setup their own sequences anyway.
9               # all must read the general news first
               < general
9               # test is test, and junk is junk,
               # so it is placed at the very end






     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)



               news # news on news
               sci  # other serious groups
               rec  # not really that important (don't quote me)
               misc # well, it must be somewhere
9               # the groups that are not listed above goes here
9          Notice the use of comments in the sequence where they are
          allowed at the end of non-empty lines as well.

          Example 3: My own presentation sequence (in the init file)
          simply lists my favourite groups and the corresponding
          default save files:

9 sequence

               !:U alt*  # ignore unsubscribed alt groups
               news.software.nn +nn
               comp.sys.ti* +ti/$L
               NEW  # show new groups here
               news*
               rec.music.synth +synth/
               comp.emacs*,gnu.emacs +emacs/misc
               comp.risks +risks
               eunet.sources +src/unix/
               comp.sources* +src/$L/
9          The presentation sequence is not used when nn is called with
          one or more news group names on the command line; it is thus
          possible to read ignored groups (on explicit request)
          wihtout changing the init file.  (Of course, you can also
          use the G command to read ignored groups).

     MERGING NEWS GROUPS
          The third example above contains the following line:
9               comp.emacs*,gnu.emacs +emacs/misc
9          This is the syntax used to merge groups.  When two or more
          groups are merged, all new articles in these groups are
          presented together as if they were one group.  To merge
          groups, their names must be listed together in the sequence,
          and only separated by a single comma.  To merge the groups
          resulting from a single group pattern (e.g. comp.emacs*),
          the group pattern must be followed by a comma and a blank
          (e.g. comp.emacs*, ...).

          Merged groups are presented as the first group in the
          "list", and the word "MERGED" will be shown after the group



     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)



          only be noticeable with the G command, which will take the
          most recently used group among the merged groups as the
          current group.  So things like G = ... may not always work
          as expected.

     ENVIRONMENT
          The following environment variables are used by nn:

          EDITOR.  The editor invoked when editing replies, follow-
          ups, and composing mail.  nn knows about the following
          editors:  vi, ded, GNU emacs, and micro-emacs, and will try
          to position the cursor on the first line following the
          header, i.e. after the blank line which must not be deleted!
          If an article has been included, the cursor is placed on the
          first line of the included text (to allow you to delete
          sections easily).

          LOGNAME.  This is taken as the login name of the current
          user.  It is used by nn to return failed mail.  If it is not
          defined, nn will use the value of USER, or if that is not
          defined either, nn will use the call `who am i' to get this
          information.  If all attempts fail, the failed mail is
          dropped in the bit bucket.

          PAGER.  This is used as the initial value of the pager
          variable.

          SHELL.  This is the shell which is spawned if the system
          cannot suspend nn, and it will be used to execute the shell
          escapes.

          TERM.  The terminal type.

     FILES
          ~/.newsrc         The record of read articles.
          ~/.nn/select      The record of selected and seen articles.
          ~/.nn/init        Personal configuration and presentation
          sequence.
          ~/.nn/kill        The automatic kills and selections.
          ~/.nn/KILL.COMP   The compiled kill file.
          ~/.nn/LAST        The time stamp of the last news group we
          have seen.
          ~/.nn/NEXTG       Active group last time nn was quit.
          ~/.nn/.param      Parameter file for the aux script
          $lib/setup        System-wide setup - always read first.



     NN(1)            UNIX System V (Release 6.4.18)             NN(1)



          /usr/lib/terminfo/*Terminal data base [SysV].
          /usr/lib/nntp-serverName of remote nntp server.
9          The name $lib and $db are the directories used for the
          auxiliary files and the news data base respectively.  Their
          name and location is defined at compile time.  Common
          choices are /usr/local/lib/nn or /usr/lib/news/nn for $lib
          and /usr/spool/nn or /usr/spool/news/.nn for $db.

     SEE ALSO
          Other netnews documentation.
          nncheck(1), nngoback(1), nngrab(1), nngrep(1), nnpost(1),
          nntidy(1)
          nnadmin(1M), nnusage(1M), nnmaster(8), nnspew(8)

     AUTHOR
          Kim F. Storm, Texas Instruments A/S, Denmark
          E-mail: storm@texas.dk  (but see the addresses below)

          The NNTP support was designed and implemented by Rene
          Seindal, Institute of Datalogy, University of Copenhagen,
          Denmark.

          Bugs and fixes, suggestions, ideas, critique, etc. can be
          sent to the following address:
               nn-bugs@dkuug.dk

          The news.software.nn group is used for discussion on all
          subjects related to the nn news reader.  This includes, but
          is not limited to, questions, answers, ideas, hints,
          information from the development group, patches, etc.


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