EEP(1)

NAME
EEP! v1.8 -- Easy Editor Program for .newsrc files

SYNOPSIS
eep [-p][-v]

DESCRIPTION
Eep is a user-friendly full-screen editor designed to modify the .newsrc file associated with the rn or trn news readers. It is NOT intended to be used while the .newsrc is currently open, i.e. by shelling out. It may also work with nn but will currently not work if you read news via NNTP.

EEP starts by building a list of newsgroups taken from the /usr/lib/news/active file, which is supplied with the `B' or `C' news software. This will be merged with descriptions taken from /usr/lib/news/newsgroups and /usr/lib/news/newslocal.

EEP will then read the .newsrc file from the $HOME directory of the user, and will display the list with a '+' sign marking subscribed newsgroups. (If $DOTDIR is defined, this will be used instead of $HOME).

Curses is used to draw a list of the newsgroups, which may be navigated using arrow keys as well as commands similar to the vi editor. Newsgroups which are currently subscribed to will be prefixed with a ``+'' character, while those not subscribed to will have a SPACE. If the newsgroup is invalid in same way, e.g. it is bogus (not known in the active file) it will be marked with a ``?''. Pressing the 'i' key will show further information about the highlighted newsgroup, including its position in the file, low and high message numbers, and whether it is active, inactive or moderated. Other commands allow the user to subscribe or unsubscribe to newsgroups, delete them from their .newsrc or catch up (mark all messages as read).

If articles exist in the highlighted newsgroup, the `v' command may be used to view a list of headers, allowing users to browse through the messages (but not the message text.)

After certain commands, the cursor will automatically advance to the next or previous newsgroup, depending upon the direction of travel, as indicated with the most recent up or down movement.

COMMANDS

Here is a summary of commands available (upper and lower case letters are treated the same.) Note that some commands have more than one character to activate them, to offer variety of choice.

Movement
   ^n         )    Move pointer down one line
   SPACE      )
   j          )
   Down_Arrow )
   ^p         )    Move pointer up one line
   BACKSPACE  )
   k          )
   Up_Arrow   )
   ^d         )    Move pointer down one page
   ^f         )
   ^u         )    Move pointer up one page
   ^b         )
   t          )    Move to top of file
   ^          )
   b          )    Move to bottom of file
   $          )
   Left_Arrow )    Less newsgroup and more description shown
   <          )
   Right_Arrow)    More newsgroup and less description shown
   >          )
   :          )    Select newsgroup by number

Searching

There are two styles of searching, vi and emacs.

vi style searching will occur in the direction of the last cursor movement (default downwards.) Searching for a null string will repeat the last search, which is identical to the 'n' command.

emacs style searching will go forwards or backwards, depending upon the command. Terminate the search with ESCAPE, and use backspace to erase the last character in the search string. Pressing ^S or ^R again will repeat the last search.
   /          )    Search for string of text, vi style
   n          )    Search again
   ^S         )    Incremental search, EMACS style (ESC to stop)

   ^R         )    Reverse search, EMACS style

Subscription
   s          )    Subscribe to current newsgroup
   +          )
   u          )    Unsubscribe to current newsgroup
   -          )
   d          )    Toggle delete flag on current newsgroup

Sorting
   a          )    Toggle: Alphabetise the list or back to .newsrc order
   o          )    Organize with subscribed groups at top

Other
   ?          )    Display help screen
   h          )
   F1         )
   p          )    Change type of pointer
   c          )    Catch up (mark all messages as read)
   .          )    Toggle mark.  This is used to select
                   groups to be moved with the (m) Move
                   command.
   m          )    Move marked groups to current position.
   i          )    Show more information on newsgroup
   r          )    Redraw screen
   ^L         )
   v          )    View list of messages in newsgroup
   =          )
   ENTER      )

Exit
   q          )    Quit without saving changes
   ESC        )
   ^C         )
   DEL        )
   x          )    Exit and save changes

Alphabetic list of commands:
^B	Move up a screenful
^C	Quit without saving
^D	Move down a screenful
^F	Move down a screenful
^H   	Move cursor up one line (backspace)
^J	View list of articles in newsgroup (ENTER key)
^L	Redraw screen
^N	Move cursor down one line
^P	Move cursor up one line
^R      Reverse search, EMACS-style
^S      Incremental search, EMACS-style (stop with ESCAPE)
^U	Move up a screenful
ESC	Quit without saving (also ^[)
SPACE	Move cursor down one line
^	Goto top of file
$	Goto bottom of file
=	View list of articles in newsgroup
/	Search for text
:	Jump to newsgroup by number
+	Subscribe
-	Unsubscribe
<       Slide view to left (also left arrow key)
>       Slide view to right (also right arrow key)
?	Help
F1	Help (function key dependent)
a	Alphabetize (sort) toggle
b	Goto bottom of file
c	Catch up messages
d	Delete newsgroup
h	Help
i	Information on newsgroup
j	Move downwards one line
k	Move upwards one line
m	Move a set of marked newsgroups to cursor
n	Search for next occurence
o       Organize with subscribed groups over others
p	Toggle pointer type
q	Quit without making changes
r	Redraw screen
s	Subscribe
t	Goto top of file
u	Unsubscribe
v	View list of articles in newsgroup
x	Exit and save changes

Options are:

-p  Change the pointer used from scroll bar to simple arrow. This is faster at low modem speeds when moving through the file. -v Verbose mode will tell you more about EEP during startup.

AUTHOR
Paul Gillingwater, Actrix Information Exchange <paul@actrix.gen.nz>

WARNINGS
Your existing .newsrc will be renamed to .oldnewsrc, deleting any existing file of that name. This will occur only when you exit with the ``x'' command. Until then, eep's working file is .newsrc.eep.

New newsgroups will not automatically be notified. Newsgroups which are not present in your .newsrc file, but are found in the active file, will be sorted to the bottom of the list.

When moving a set of newsgroups with the mark and move commands, the set will not necessarily stay in the same relative order.

Bogus newsgroups (those not found in the active file, but present in your .newsrc) will be (optionally) deleted. Deleting newsgroups is pointless, because if they're in the active file, then they will automatically be added in next time you run eep.

When subscribing or marking the first or last newsgroups, and the direction of movement would not move the cursor, the line is not updated as it should be.

FILES
$HOME/.newsrc file to be modified
$HOME/.oldnewsrc backup of previous .newsrc
$HOME/.newsrc.eep temporary working file
$HOME/.rnlock lock file used with rn
/usr/lib/news/newsgroups } names and descriptions
/usr/lib/news/newslocal } of newsgroups
/usr/lib/news/active active newsgroups file

BUG REPORTS TO
Paul Gillingwater <paul@actrix.co.at>

COPYRIGHTS
© Copyright 1991-1993 by Paul Gillingwater