OPTIONS

Trn has a nice set of options to allow you to tailor the interaction to
your liking.  (You might like to know that the author swears by "-x6ms +e
-mu -S -XX -N -B -p".)  These options may be set on the command line, via
the TRNINIT environment variable, via a file pointed to by the TRNINIT
variable, or from within trn via the & command.  Options may generally be
unset by typing "+switch".

Most of these options can also (and more easily) be set using the Option
Selector.  The corresponding items from the Option Selector are listed
next to the options below.

You can set and change options from within trn with the "&" command
followed by the option.  For example, to enable debug output during a trn
session, use "&-D".

Options include:

     -a  (Background Threading)
          causes trn to always thread the unread articles on
          entry to a group.  Without this option trn may enter a
          group in a partially-threaded state and process the
          unthreaded articles in the background.  The down side
          of this is that the tree display may not be complete
          when it is first displayed and you may start out at an
          odd position in the first thread's article tree.

     -A  (Auto Arrow Macros)
          tells trn to attempt to create some default macros
          that will map your arrow keys to useful trn functions
          (this is the default).  Use +A to turn this behavior
          off.

     -b  (Read Breadth First)
          will force trn to read each thread in a breadth-first
          order, rather than depth-first.

     -B  (Background Spinner)
          will turn on a spinner that twirls when trn is doing
          background article-processing.  A gizmo for those
          interested in what's going on behind the scenes.

     -c   checks for news without reading news.  If a list of
          newsgroups is given on the command line, only those
          newsgroups will be checked; otherwise all
          subscribed-to newsgroups are checked.  Whenever the -c
          switch is specified, a non-zero exit status from trn
          means that there is unread news in one of the checked
          newsgroups.  The -c switch does not disable the
          printing of newsgroups with unread news; this is
          controlled by the -s switch.  (The -c switch is not
          meaningful when given via the & command.)

     -C<number>  (Checkpoint Newsrc Frequency)
          tells trn how often to checkpoint the .newsrc, in
          articles read.  Actually, this number says when to
          start thinking about doing a checkpoint if the
          situation is right.  If a reasonable check-pointing
          situation doesn't arise within 10 more articles, the
          .newsrc is check-pointed willy-nilly.

     -d<directory name>  (Save Dir)
          sets your private news directory to something other
          than ~/News.  The directory name will be globbed (via
          csh) if necessary (and if possible).  The value of
          SAVEDIR (where articles are saved) is initially set to
          this directory, but is often manipulated via the -/
          option or by manipulating SAVEDIR directly (perhaps
          via the memorized commands (the KILL file) for a
          group.  Any KILL files (see the K command in the
          Article Selection section) also reside in this
          directory and its subdirectories, by default.  In
          addition, shell escapes leave you in this directory.

     -D<flags>
          enables debugging output.  See common.h for the full
          list of flag values.  Most commonly useful is -D16,
          which produces an NNTP protocol trace.  Using no flag
          enables general debug output.  Shut off debug output
          with +D.  Using any debug output requires that trn be
          compiled with debug support.  Warning: normally trn
          attempts to restore your .newsrc when an unexpected
          signal or internal error occurs.  This is disabled
          when any debugging flags are set.

     -e   causes each page within an article to be started at
          the top of the screen, not just the first page.  (It
          is similar to the -c switch of more(1).)  You never
          have to read scrolling text with this switch.  This is
          helpful especially at certain baud rates because you
          can start reading the top of the next page without
          waiting for the whole page to be printed.  It works
          nicely in conjunction with the -m switch, especially
          if you use half-intensity for your highlight mode.
          See also the -L switch.

     -E<name>=<val>
          sets the environment variable <name> to the value
          specified.  Within trn, "&-ESAVENAME=%t" is similar to
          "setenv SAVENAME '%t'" in csh, or "SAVENAME='%t';
          export SAVENAME" in sh.  Any environment variables set
          with -E will be inherited by subprocesses of trn.

     -f  (Novice Delays)
          will make trn avoid various sleep calls and the prompt
          after the processing of the memorized commands that
          are intended to allow you time to read a message
          before the screen clears.  This allows the advanced
          user to cruise along a little faster at the expense of
          readability.  The -t (terse) option turns on -f by
          default, but you can override this by specifying +f
          after the -t option.

     -F<string>  (Cited Text String)
          sets the prefix string for the 'F' follow-up command
          to use in prefixing each line of the quoted article.
          For example, "-F<tab>" inserts a tab on the front of
          each line (which will cause long lines to wrap around,
          unfortunately), "-F>>>>" inserts ">>>>" on every line,
          and "-F" by itself causes nothing to be inserted, in
          case you want to reformat the text, for instance.  The
          initial default prefix is ">".

     -g<line>  (Line Num for Goto)
          tells trn which line of the screen you want
          searched-for strings to show up on when you search
          with the 'g' command within an article.  The lines are
          numbered starting with 1.  The initial default is
          "-g1", meaning the first line of the screen.  Setting
          the line to less than 1 or more than the number of
          lines on the screen will set it to the last line of
          the screen.

     -G  (Fuzzy Newsgroup Names)
          selects the "fuzzy" processing on the go command when
          you don't type in a valid group name.  With this
          option on trn will attempt to find the group you
          probably meant to type, but it can be a little slow
          about it, so it's not on by default.

     -h<string>  (Header Hiding)
          hides (disables the printing of) all header lines
          beginning with string.  For instance, -hx- will
          disable the printing of all "X-Foo:" headers.  Case is
          not significant.  The default for unrecognized headers
          can be set with the -hunrecognized option.
          Alternately you could use -h (no string) to disable
          all headers except the Subject line and then use +h to
          select only those lines you want to see.  You may wish
          to use the baud-rate switch modifier below to hide
          more lines at lower baud rates.

     -H<string>  (Header Magic)
          works just like -h except that instead of setting the
          hiding flag for a header line, it sets the magic flag
          for that header line.  Certain header lines have magic
          behavior that can be controlled this way.  At present,
          the following actions are caused by the flag for the
          particular line: the Date line prints the date in
          local time if the group is threaded; the From line
          will only print the commented portion of the user
          name; the Newsgroups line will only print when there
          are multiple newsgroups; the Subject line will be
          underlined and (when threaded) the keyword 'Subject:'
          is replaced by its subject number (e.g.  [1]); and the
          Expires line will always be suppressed if there is
          nothing on it.  In fact, all of these actions are the
          default, and you must use +H to undo them.

     -i=<number>  (Initial Article Lines)
          specifies how long (in lines) to consider the initial
          page of an article -- normally this is determined
          automatically depending on baud rate.  (Note that an
          entire article header will always be printed
          regardless of the specified initial page length.  If
          you are working at low baud rate and wish to reduce
          the size of the headers, you may hide certain header
          lines with the -h switch.)

     -I  (Append Unsubscribed Groups)
          tells trn to append all new, unsubscribed groups to
          the end of the .newsrc.

     -j  (Filter Control Characters)
          forces trn to leave control characters unmolested in
          messages.

     -J{<number>}  (Join Subject Lines)
          causes trn to join similar subjects into a common
          thread if they are the same up to the indicated number
          of characters (the default is 30).  You can turn this
          on and off for specific groups by putting the
          following lines into your kill file for the group(s):

          &-J30
          X&+J

     -k  (Ignore THRU on Select)
          tells trn to ignore the THRU line when processing
          selection searches (i.e. searches with a command por-
          tion that starts with a '+' or a '.') in the memorized
          commands (aka kill files).  This is turned on by
          default, so use +k if you want to turn it off.

     -K  (Auto-Grow Groups)
          is used to keep a trn from checking for new news while
          you're in the group.  Use this when your kill-file
          processing is so slow that you don't want the group
          to expand while you're reading.  If you only want
          specific groups to be affected, put these lines into
          your kill file for the group(s):

          &-K
          X&+K

     -l  (Erase Screen)
          disables the clearing of the screen at the beginning
          of each article, in case you have a bizarre terminal.

     -L  (Erase Each Line)
          tells trn to leave information on the screen as long
          as possible by not blanking the screen between pages,
          and by using clear to end-of-line.  (The more(1)
          program does this.)  This feature works only if you
          have the requisite termcap capabilities.  The switch
          has no effect unless the -e switch is set.

     -m=<mode>  (Pager Line-Marking)
          enables the marking of the last line of the previous
          page printed, to help the user see where to continue
          reading.  This is most helpful when less than a full
          page is going to be displayed.  It may also be used in
          conjunction with the -e switch, in which case the page
          is erased, and the first line (which is the last line
          of the previous page) is highlighted.  If -m=s is
          specified, the standout mode will be used, but if -m=u
          is specified, underlining will be used.  If neither =s
          or =u is specified, standout is the default.  Use +m
          to disable highlighting.

     -M  (Default Savefile Type)
          forces mailbox format in creating new save files.
          Ordinarily you are asked which format you want.

     -N  (Default Savefile Type)
          forces normal (non-mailbox) format in creating new
          save files.  Ordinarily you are asked which format you
          want.

     -o   will act like old versions of trn and not junk cross-
          referenced articles when using thread commands to junk
          articles in the current group (such as the selector's
          'X' command).

     -O<mode>{<order>}  (News Selector Mode / News Selector Order)
          specifies the selector's mode and (optionally) the
          sort order.  The modes are 'a'rticle, 's'ubject, or
          't'hread.  The orders are 'd'ate, 's'ubject, 'a'uthor,
          article 'c'ount per group, 'n'umeric, subject-date
          'g'roups, or 'p'oints.  The order can be capitalized
          to reverse the indicated order.  For example, to
          choose the article selector in subject order specify
          "-Oas".

     -p{opt}  (Select My Postings)
          tells trn to auto-select your postings and their
          replies as it encounters them in the various groups
          you read.  The optional parameter is either a '.',
          'p', or '+' (it defaults to '.' if omitted) and
          affects what command trn should execute when it
          encounters your postings.  The default is to execute
          the command "T."  on each of your postings which tells
          trn to memorize the auto-selection of this article and
          all its replies.  Using -pp tells trn to use the same
          command, but start the selection with the parent
          article, so that you see any other replies to the same
          article.  Using -p+ tells trn to select the whole
          thread that contains your reply.

     -q  (Check for New Groups)
          bypasses the automatic check for new newsgroups when
          starting trn.

     -Q<set>  (Charset)
          defines the set of available charset conversions.
          This can be useful to restrict the available
          conversions to those your terminal can handle and/or
          to specify an alternate default.  The first element of
          this set is taken as default for each article.

     -r  (Restart At Last Group)
          causes trn to restart in the last newsgroup read
          during a previous session with trn.  It is equivalent
          to starting up normally and then getting to the
          newsgroup with a g command.

     -s  (Initial Group List)
          with no argument suppresses the initial listing of
          newsgroups with unread news, whether -c is specified
          or not.  Thus -c and -s can be used together to test
          "silently" the status of news from within your .login
          file.  If -s is followed by a number, the initial
          listing is suppressed after that many lines have been
          listed.  Presuming that you have your .newsrc sorted
          into order of interest, -s5 will tell you the 5 most
          interesting newsgroups that have unread news.  This is
          also a nice feature to use in your .login file, since
          it not only tells you whether there is unread news,
          but also how important the unread news is, without
          having to wade through the entire list of unread
          newsgroups.  If no -s switch is given -s5 is assumed,
          so just putting "rn -c" into your .login file is
          fine.

     -S<number>
          causes trn to enter subject search mode (^N)
          automatically whenever an unthreaded newsgroup is
          started up with <number> unread articles or more.
          Additionally, it causes any 'n' typed while in subject
          search mode to be interpreted as '^N' instead.  (To
          get back out of subject search mode, the best command
          is probably '^'.) If <number> is omitted, 3 is
          assumed.

     -t  (Terse Output)
          puts trn into terse mode.  This is more cryptic but
          useful for low baud rates.  (Note that your system
          administrator may have compiled trn with either
          verbose or terse messages only to save memory.)  You
          may wish to use the baud-rate switch modifier below to
          enable terse mode only at lower baud rates.

     -T  (Eat Type-Ahead)
          allows you to type ahead of trn.  Ordinarily trn will
          eat typeahead to prevent your autorepeating space bar
          from doing a very frustrating thing when you
          accidentally hold it down.  If you don't have a
          repeating space bar, or you are working at low baud
          rate, you can set this switch to prevent this
          behavior.  You may wish to use the baud-rate switch
          modifier below to disable typeahead only at lower baud
          rates.

     -u  (Compress Subjects)
          sets the unbroken-subject-line mode in the selector,
          which simply truncates subjects that are too long
          instead of dumping the middle portion prior to the
          last two words of the subject.

     -U   tells trn to not write the .newsrc file out after
          visiting each group.  While this is "unsafe" it can be
          faster if you have a really huge .newsrc.

     -v  (Verify Input)
          sets verification mode for commands.  When set, the
          command being executed is displayed to give some
          feedback that the key has actually been typed.  Useful
          when the system is heavily loaded and you give a
          command that takes a while to start up.

     -V   will output trn's version number and quit.

     -x{<number>}{<list>}  (Use Threads / Article Tree Lines /
                            Newsgroup Selector Display Styles)
          Enable the extended (threaded) features of trn beyond
          the rn compatibility mode (this may be the default on
          your system, use +x if you yearn for the good ol'
          days).  The <number> is the maximum number of
          article-tree lines (from 0 to 11) you want displayed
          in your header.  Use the <list> to choose which thread
          selector styles you like ('s'hort, 'm'edium, or
          'l'ong), and in what order they are selected with the
          'L' command.  For example, use -xms to start with the
          medium display mode and only switch between it and the
          short mode.  You can omit either or both of the
          parameters, in which case a default of -x6lms is
          assumed.

     -X{<number>}{<commands>}  (News Selector Commands)
          If you like using the selector, you'll probably want
          to use this option to make the selector command (+)
          the default when a newsgroup is started up with at
          least <number> unread articles.  (Your installer may
          have chosen to make -X0 the default on your system.)
          It is also used to select which commands you want to
          be the defaults while using the thread selector.  For
          example, -X2XD will make the thread selector the
          default command for entering a newsgroup with at least
          2 unread articles, and set the default command for the
          LAST page of the thread selector to be the X command
          and the default command for all other pages to be the
          D command.  Either or both parameters can be omitted,
          as well as the second default command (e.g.  -XX would
          change the default newsgroup entry to use the selector
          and the default command for the last page of the
          selector to be 'X').  The default is -X0Z> if just -X
          is specified.  To set the default selector commands
          without having '+' be the default entry into a
          newsgroup, specify a high number, like 9999.

     -z  (Default Refetch Time)
          sets the minimum number of minutes that must elapse
          before the active file is refetched to look for new
          articles.  A value of 0 or using +z turns this off.

     -Z  (Old Mthreads Database)
          is used to select what style of database you want trn
          to access.  Use -Zt for thread files, -Zo for overview
          files, and +Z for none.  The default is whatever your
          newsadmin compiled into trn, and can be -Zot to try to
          access either one.

     -/  (Save Dir / Auto Savename)
          sets SAVEDIR to "%p/%c" and SAVENAME to "%a", which
          means that by default articles are saved in a
          subdirectory of your private news directory
          corresponding to the name of the the current
          newsgroup, with the filename being the article
          number.  +/ sets SAVEDIR to "%p" and SAVENAME to
          "%^C", which by default saves articles directly to
          your private news directory, with the filename being
          the name of the current newsgroup, first letter
          capitalized.  (Either +/ or -/ may be default on your
          system, depending on the feelings of your news
          administrator when he, she or it installed trn.)  You
          may, of course, explicitly set SAVEDIR and SAVENAME to
          other values -- see discussion in the environment
          section.

Any switch may be selectively applied according to the current baud-rate.
Simply prefix the switch with +speed to apply the switch at that speed or
greater, and -speed to apply the switch at that speed or less.  Examples:
-1200-hposted suppresses the Posted line at 1200 baud or less; +9600-m
enables marking at 9600 baud or more.  You can apply the modifier
recursively to itself also: +300-1200-t sets terse mode from 300 to 1200
baud.

Similarly, switches may be selected based on terminal type:

          -=vt100+T      set +T on vt100
          -=tvi920-ETERM=mytvi     get a special termcap entry
          -=tvi920-ERNMACRO=%./.rnmac.tvi
                         set up special key-mappings
          +=paper-v      set verify mode if not hardcopy

Some switch arguments, such as environment variable values, may require
spaces in them.  Such spaces should be quoted via ", ', or \ in the
conventional fashion, even when passed via TRNINIT or the & command.