NEWSFLASH - USENET BINARY READER

Newsflash 2.2.0 is out with new features! Some of the new features include:

• Extension system - Write your own extensions with integrated UI code. For an example see extension_imdb.py
• Download sessions - Running downloads are saved and restored between application runs.

Versions marked with "b" are Beta releases and as such might contain some bugs or unfinished features. All versions come with integrated Python (currently 2.5.1).

Windows x86 binaries

05-07-08 00:15  newsflash_2.2.0.zip *
26-05-08 19:28  newsflash_2.2.0b4.zip
19-02-08 20:20  newsflash_2.1.0.zip
12-12-07 19:34  newsflash_2.0.0.zip

Linux x86 binaries

05-07-08 14:10  newsflash_2.2.0.tar.gz *
19-02-08 20:20  newsflash_2.1.0.tar.gz
12-12-07 17:38  newsflash_2.0.0.tar.gz

What is Usenet?
What are newsgroups?
What is NNTP?

Newsflash is usenet binary newsreader optimized for speed, simplicity, portability and efficient resource usage. It offers a lightweight, yet powerful and extremely fast and slick interface for powerusers who do not shy away from terminal based applications. Embedded Python engine will make sure you never run out of features.

Get the maximum value for your Usenet account! Performance is everything and Newsflash is all about performance! Newsflash handles volumes of data gracefully and provides you with maximum throughput. Every aspect of Newsflash has been designed from the performance point of view, yet not sacrificing reliability or robustness.

IMDb extension extension_imdb.py

Supported platforms

• Windows 2000 (not tested)
• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Linux

Feature list

• yEnc, uuencode and text downloads
• integrated help system
• external tools integration
• text, log and image viewers
• advanced console UI functionality
• function keys, home, end, page down/up etc
• color support, vertical scrolling, dynamic view layouts
• simultaneous TCP connections to multiple servers
• simultaneous TCP connections per server
• TCP connection cap
• TCP connection recovery
• TCP connection management, clone, kill, yield
• big task splitting to multiple TCP connections for speedup
• advanced task management, pause, resume, cancel, kill, boost
• view filters
  • PERL regex search
  • type/age/state/size filters
• broken post, text and binary post discovery
• catalog bookmarks
• background Python action/event scripts
  • allow application customization at specific events
  • automatic download verification/repair using QuickPar / par2
  • automatic download extract using WinRar / unrar
  • automatic mp3 playback with WinAmp / beep-media-player
• extension Python scripts
  • allow new features with UI to be implemented and added to the application
  • IMDb extension
  • mediamanager extension
• script management
• remove/edit/clean servers/groups/settings
• header purge
• header update options
• optional 64 bit article number mode
• optional crc16 data checking
• optional indexing by post author/date
• single file downloads
• multiple file (batch) downloads
• child process stdout/stderr redirect/buffering/viewing
• download sessions

INTEGRATED PYTHON

What is Python?
Newsflash embeds the Python scripting engine. Currently the Python version is 2.5.1. Embedded Python allows you to customize some features of the application. Currently background 'action' scripts are supported. These are scripts that define certain callback functions which are then invoked by the host application when matching events occur in the system. A good example of a scriptable and customisable action is a batch complete event. A script can for instance invoke a RAR tool for extracting files archieved with WinRAR.

The example script here defines a single hook function. This function plays a .wav file when a batch download has been completed.

def playsound(file):
    if os.name == 'posix':
        wav=None
        dsp=None
        try:
            wav=wave.open(file, 'r')
            (nc,sw,fr,nf,comptype, compname) = wav.getparams( )

            dsp=ossaudiodev.open('/dev/dsp', 'w')
            AFMT_S16_NE = ossaudiodev.AFMT_S16_LE
            dsp.setparameters(AFMT_S16_NE, nc, fr)
            dat=wav.readframes(nf)
            dsp.write(dat)
        finally:
            if wav != None:
                wav.close()
            if dsp !=None:
                dsp.close()
            raise
    elif os.name == 'nt':
        winsound.PlaySound(file, winsound.SND_FILENAME)


def newsflash_batch_complete(location):
    """ This is the batch complete hook function.This is called 
    whenever a batch download completes.The argument given 
    specifies the location of the batch files (i.e. the folder)
    on the filesystem. """
    if completeWav==True:
        file=where_am_i() + 'complete.wav'
        playsound(file)

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