[Pan-users] Re: message body

[Duncan]

Cad Master <address@hidden> posted
address@hidden, excerpted below, on  Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:05:29
+0200:

> I just reinstalled my system and have a problem :o(
> 
> How can I download all message headers and bodies for all subscribed
> groups? I use slow connection so I want to read articles offline! Is
> there any chance to do this in pan2?

> Debian linux, pan 0.119

There's no direct way to do what you want at the moment (AFAIK).  
However, there are a couple of solutions you may find workable.

1.  Here, I use download to cache, setting pan up to run while I'm at 
work or whatever.  Or just set up your nest session to download at the 
end of your previous session, when you'd normally just close pan until 
next time.  Then when I go back to pan, it's all done and stuff is cached 
locally, so no waiting.  (Here, I'm on broadband, and talking binaries, 
but the same technique could be applied to text messages on slow 
connections.)

The one issue you might run into with the cache strategy is that of too 
small a default cache, depending on just how many of those < 100 line 
messages you intend on downloading.  I certainly run into it with 
binaries, as the default cache is 10 MB, but that might be fine for your 
uses on text-only.  Anyway, it's possible to change the cache size, but 
you must edit the config file directly to do so, as the pan GUI doesn't 
have that setting.  pan's settings are stored by default in ~/.pan2/.  
The cache size setting is in preferences.xml.  With pan closed, open the 
file in your favorite text editor and search for "cache-size-megs", then 
edit the corresponding value as desired.  Save it, and it should take 
effect the next time you start pan. =8^)  For binaries, I have my cache 
set to > 12 gig, and it works fine, so you should have no problem with 
anything reasonable you might set for text messages.

2.  Install and configure leafnode or another news server locally, point 
pan at it, and have it do the downloading, so pan doesn't have to.

> How can I filter messages by number of lines (I don't want download
> messages biger than 100 lines)?

You can score by number of lines and set ignored if >100, but 
unfortunately, all pan currently does with that info is decide whether to 
display the message or not.  It can't auto-download high-scored messages, 
or auto-delete ignored messages, as used to be possible with old pan.  
However, the ability is much requested and will be returning later (but 
not in the form of the rules we had before, which Charles thought was too 
complicated), after the next stable release, which will be 1.0.  There's 
a lot of people wanting the feature, however, so it shouldn't be too far 
away.

Of course, since you can't auto-download anyway, it's just as easy to 
score > 100 lines as ignored, ensure pan isn't displaying ignored, then 
select-all and download to cache or whatever, as above.

By the way, you may wish to grab a newer version.  pan's up to 0.128 now, 
with a number of bugs fixed since your 0.119.  Of course, if you have to 
download it over the slow connection...  Anyway, check the web page for a 
link to the debs, if you can download them somehow.

> Sorry, English is not my native language?

You do quite well, really.  Certainly better than I'd do trying to write 
anything other than English. =8^)

Hopefully this isn't over 100 lines. =8^(

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman