$Id: FAQ,v 1.3 1999/04/14 15:15:09 js Exp $


Frequently-Asked Questions about uqwk:
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> uqwk creates files called control.dat, messages.dat, and *.ndx.  How
> do I make a QWK packet from those files?

First, you really shouldn't use QWK mode -- see below.  Trust me, you
won't want to.

Then again, if you really must for some reason: a QWK packet is just a
ZIP archive of these files.  So a command like "zip bbs.qwk control.dat
messages.dat *.ndx" will create the QWK packet.  If you don't have zip
on your Unix system, contact your system administrator, or download
those files and ZIP them on your PC.
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> My site gets news from a news server.  Can uqwk run in such an
> environment?

Yes.  Compile the NNTP version of uqwk: see README.
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> uqwk doesn't appear to do anything?

The default behavior is just that.  To get uqwk to collect your news,
you have to explicitly ask it with the +n switch, and to get it to
collect your mail, you have to set the "+m" switch.  See the man page
for details.
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> I tell uqwk to collect my news, but all I get is a bunch of empty
> *.ndx files.  What's wrong?

You may need the NNTP version of uqwk.  See the README on how to compile
the NNTP version.  If that fails, your site may be running non-standard
news software.  Contact your news administrator for help.
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> Our site's mail is not in /var/spool/mail.  Can anything be done?
> Our site's news is not in /var/spool/news.  Can anything be done?
> Our site's active file is not in /usr/lib/news.  Can anything be done?

You can define your site dependencies by creating a config file
containing the site dependencies.  Copy config-generic.h to
config-<mysite>.h, edit config-<mysite>.h to your liking, and make sure
Makefile contains "CONFIG=mysite".
Furthermore, uqwk has runtime switches to control all these things and
many more.  See the man page for details.
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> When I use uqwk to post a follow-up, it gets posted to the wrong
> newsgroup.  What can I do?

Be sure you have the latest version (2.0 at this writing).  Also, see
the BUGS section in the man page.
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> Is there any way to have uqwk create the packet files somewhere
> besides my home directory?

Yes.  Use the -H switch to specify where you want the files to be
created.  Since uqwk will also look in this directory for the .newsrc
file, you'll probably also have to use the -N switch to tell uqwk where
to find your .newsrc.
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> How do I get uqwk to process a QWK reply packet?

Hrmpf.  Once again, don't do that.  Really; see below why not.

Anyway, if you must: a QWK reply packet, usually named something.REP,
is simply a ZIP archive of something.MSG.  Unzip the archive, and feed
something.MSG to uqwk thusly: uqwk -m -n -Rsomething.MSG
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> How do I get uqwk to process an HDPF (SOUP) reply packet?

Unzip the reply packet.  Be sure to use the -U switch of unzip or else
the file names will be mapped to lower case and uqwk won't find them.
Then feed the REPLIES file to uqwk thusly:  uqwk -m -n +L -RREPLIES
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> How do I get uqwk to process a ZipNews reply packet?

Unzip the reply packet.  Then tell uqwk which *directory* the reply
files are in.  For example, if they are in your current directory,
invoke uqwk thusly:  uqwk -m -n +z -R.
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> I have the registered ZipNews reader, but uqwk refuses to process
> reply packets.  Why?

Be sure to specify "packer : uqwk" in your ZipNews Reader configuration
file.
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> Where can I get the latest version of uqwk?

See <http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Ejs/warez/>.
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> Where can I FTP reader programs?

You might want to check <news:alt.usenet.offline-reader>, and its
FAQ.  A few candidates (remember, avoid QWK readers like the plague):

MacSOUP (Mac OS):	<http://www.inx.de/~stk/macsoup.html>
Yarn (DOS, OS/2):	<ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/os2/offline/yarn-055.zip>
Helldiver Packet Viewer (DOS):
			<ftp://halcyon.com/pub/incoming/hpv101b.zip>
ZipNews reader (DOS):	<ftp://ftp.gte.com/pub/zipnews/znr092w.zip>
Usenet Offline Reader (WINDOS):
			<ftp://ftp.gte.com/pub/unor/unor0030.zip>

Note that these links may be outdated; an archie- or websearch might
be worthwile.
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> How can I get uqwk to work with my Waffle (Unix version) mailbox?

Try changing the ^A's in the mailbox file to newlines:

        tr '\001' '\012' <waffle-mailbox >tmp-mailbox
        uqwk +m -ftmp-mailbox
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> I've made score files, but with no noticable effects.  Now what?

Check to see if scoring support was compiled in:

	uqwk -p

uqwk should identify itself as a scoring version.  Also, verify that
the score files are located in the proper directory.  If all is as it
should be, and it still doesn't work, try something *very* simple.

For example, put a line "-666 Newsgroups: ," in your "global" file.
Maek sure the "global" file is in the proper location (usually in the
subdir ".uqwk" of your home directory).
No run uqwk in "read only" mode (so you won't lose stuff):

	uqwk +r +n

uqwk should start reporting "+(global scoring)", and for all your
subscribed groups it will report "mm kept, nn killed".  If not, check
the man page carefully.
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> I've configured uqwk to use the QWK format, but it keeps nagging me,
> telling me I shouldn't.  Why?

The QWK format imposes certain restrictions on messages that are
irreconcilable with basic Usenet (and even mail, but less urgently
there) requirements.  Consequently, when using QWK, articles get
severely damaged, and you'll be causing damage to the newsgroups you
post to -- and you'll be aggravating a lot of people.

So, just don't do that; getting another newsreader that can handle SOUP
packets is by far preferrable to messing up things with QWK-damaged
contributions.

Either that, or put on your best asbestos suit.  You'll need it to cope
with the flames you're bound to provoke.
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> I get error and warning messages when I try to process reply packets.
> What's all this, then?

uqwk can be set up to do basic sanity checking on articles before they
are posted to Usenet; if they will be posted to Usenet, they should be
valid Usenet articles.

Much problems have been caused (and are still being caused) by software
(and people inadvertently messing up things they shouldn't be able to).
This can have all kinds of unwanted effects; uqwk is helping you to
prevent these bad things from happening.

If you really insist on posting messages that violate the requirements
for Usenet messages, you can. you can tell uqwk to post failing messages
anyway.  The man page explains how to acomplish this.
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