.\" $Id: xdeview.1,v 1.6 2001/06/04 16:26:56 fp Exp $ "
.TH XDEVIEW 1 "June 1996"
.SH NAME
xdeview \- a powerful decoder for binary files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B "xdeview [Xt options] [-- options] [\fIfile(s)\fP]"
.br
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I XDeview
is a smart decoder for attachments that you have received in encoded
form via electronic mail or from the usenet. It is similar to the
standard 
.BR uudecode (1)
command, yet with more comfort and flexibility.
.I XDeview
supports the
.I uuencoding, xxencoding, Base64
and
.I BinHex
encoding methods, and is able to handle split-files (which have been sent
in multiple parts) as well as multiple files at once, thus greatly simplifying
the decoding process. Usually, you will not have to manually edit files to
prepare them for decoding.
.PP
If you don't really need a graphical frontend for these kinds of jobs,
have a look at
.BR uudeview (1)
and
.BR uuenview (1).
.PP
After invoking the program, it will scan all the given files for encoded
data. If any of them were directories, they will be recursively dived into.
You don't need to give files on the command line; you can also select
files later from within the program. After completing the initial scan,
you will be presented with a list of files that seem like they can be
decoded properly. You can then pick files individually for decoding.
.SH OPTIONS
There's no real need to set options on the command line; they can also
be set from within the program. Note that options must be preceded by
a double-hyphen '--', otherwise they might be mistaken for display
options.
.TP
.B -d
Sets the program into desperate mode. It will then offer you to decode
incomplete files. This is useful if you are missing the last part of a
50-parts posting, but in most cases the desperately-decoded files will
simply be corrupt and unusable. The degree of usefulness of an incomplete
file depends on the file type.
.TP
.B -f
Uses fast mode for file scanning. The program assumes that each input file
holds at most one part, which is usually true for files in a news spool
directory. This option
.B breaks decoding
of input files with multiple articles. Also, certain sanity checks are
disabled, probably causing erroneous files to be presented for decoding.
Sometimes you'll get error messages when decoding, sometimes you'll
just receive invalid files. Don't use
.B -f
if you can't live with these problems.
.TP
.B -o
Gives the OK to overwrite files already there on decoding. The default is
to prompt the user whether to overwrite, rename or skip the file.
.TP
.B -v
Disables verbosity. Normally, the program prints some status messages
while reading the input files, which can be very helpful if something
should go wrong. Use if these messages disturb you.
.TP
.B -p path
Sets the path where decoded files shall be written to. This must be a valid
pathname, or you'll get errors when trying to decode anything. Defaults to
the current working directory.
.TP
.B -b
This changes
.I xdeview's
policy of finding a part number on a subject line and may only be needed
in some rare cases when part numbers are found in () parentheses as well
as in [] brackets, for example in a series of multi-part postings.
By default,
.I xdeview
uses the numbers found in () parentheses first. But if this number
indicates the file's number in the series and the part number is
given in [] brackets, use this parameters to make the program read
the other number first. This does not affect decoding of files with
only one or neither type of brackets.
If you prefer, you can also use the option as
.B -b[]
.TP
.B -s
Read "minus smartness". This option turns off automatic part number
detection from the subject line. Try this option if
.I xdeview
fails to parse the subject line correctly and makes errors at guessing
part numbers, resulting in incorrect ordering of the parts. With this
option, parts are always put together sequentially (so the parts must
be correctly ordered in the input file).
.B Note:
The correct part number found in proper
.I MIME
files is still evaluated.
.TP
.B -t
Use plaintext messages. Usually, XDeview only presents encoded data
for decoding. With this option set, text parts from
.I MIME
messages and non-encoded messages are also offered. Plaintext messages
frequently don't have an associated filename, so they're assigned a
unique name from a sequential four-digit number.
.SH MAIN MENU
The main window of
.I xdeview
is composed of six main elements. At the top is the 
.I Menu Bar.
Centered is the
.I File List,
which lists all the files that have been detected in the encoded data
and are ready for decoding. Left of the File List is the
.I Status List,
which describes the status of each file. Usually, this list will show
"OK" for all files, as display of erroneous files is normally suppressed.
On the right is a bunch of short-cut buttons with the most heavily-used
functions. At the bottom of the window is the 
.I Save Path
entry field, and the status bar. Each of these items will be described
individually in the following text.
.SH MENU BAR
.TP
.B File Menu
.RS
.TP
.B Load ...
Loads encoded files. These files are then scanned for encoded data and
files; these files are added to the File List. You can also select
directories, which are then recursively descended into
.TP
.B Encode
Encode file(s), storing the encoded data on disk, sending them via
email, or posting them to newsgroups. See below.
.TP
.B Helpers
Xdeview reads information from your .mailcap and .mime.types to perform
the appropriate default action when you hit the "Execute" button. In
this dialogue, you can configure the locations of these files.
.TP
.B Save Setup
Saves all current options, the input and output file paths etc. into
the .xdeviewrc file in your home directory. This file is automatically
read upon startup, so the saved settings will be set by default in
future sessions. The resource file is actually a Tcl script which you
can edit with any editor.
.TP
.B Quit
Exits the program.
.RE
.TP
.B Options
Set various options that modify the behaviour of the program. Note that
most options only catch for files read afterwards.
.RS
.TP
.B Fast Scanning
Sets fast scanning mode. The program will then assume that all input
files contain at most one encoded part (as it is true with files from
a news spool). The scanning engine will be sped up because it does not
have to read each input file completely but stops scanning after
encoded data has been found.
.PP
The decoder has to disable some safety options in fast mode, so
certain problems with the file will only be detected when finally
decoding the file.
.TP
.B Automatic Overwrite
When decoding a file which is already present in the target
directory, the user will be asked whether the file shall be
overwritten. By enabling this option, target files will be
overwritten without asking.
.TP
.B Desperate Mode
Usually, you will only be presented files to which all parts have
been found. Enabling Desperate Mode, you'll also get to see the other
files as well, with an appropriate description of the problem in the
Status List.
In desperate mode, the decoder will also try to detect short Base64 files
outside of MIME messages. This is normally disabled, because these 
desperate tries to find Base64 encoding may cause misdetection of
encoded data, again resulting in invalid files.
.TP
.B Verbose Mode
Opens a separate text box to which additional messages will be written
while scanning the input files. These messages are extremely helpful
for finding out what went wrong if files cannot be decoded properly.
.TP
.B Alternate Bracket Policy
Changes the heuristics by which the decoder tries to extract a part
number from the subject line. The algorithm usually gives numbers
in braces () higher priority than numbers in brackets []. If both
kinds of brackets are present, and their use is conflicting
(for example if both the part number and a series number are given),
then you may have to explicitly select the bracket policy. If this
option is false (default), then the "part number" is taken from the
braces (), otherwise from the brackets [].
.TP
.B Dumb Mode
Disables automatic part number detection by parsing the subject line.
Use if
.I xdeview
fails to pick up the correct part numbers. Note that with the option
set, the parts must be correctly ordered in the input files. Also,
missing parts will not be detected this way.
.TP
.B Handle Text Files
Usually, XDeview only presents encoded data
for decoding. With this option set, text parts from
.I MIME
messages and non-encoded messages are also offered. Plaintext messages
frequently don't have an associated filename, so they're assigned a
unique name from a sequential four-digit number.
.TP
.B Auto Info
Opens up the information window whenever you click on a file in the
File List.
.TP
.B Remove Input Files
With this option set, input files are removed if any file was
successfully decoded from them. Use with care! UUDeview only checks if
any data was decoded from an input file, but does not care about any
other contents of that input file, or whether a file also held an
incomplete attachment.
.TP
.B MIME Compliance
Be more strict when reading MIME input files.
.RE
.TP
.B Actions
.RS
.TP
.B Decode
Decode the selected file(s).
.TP
.B Rename
Rename the selected file(s), for example if the filename conflicts
with existing files, or if the name doesn't meet system limitations.
.TP
.B Decode All
Decode all files currently visible in the File List.
.TP
.B Info
Displays available info on the currently selected file (if more than
one file is selected, only info for the first will be displayed).
This is the zeroeth part of a file, if available, or the header
of the first part up to the beginning of encoded data.
.TP
.B Execute
Runs an external program with the currently selected file. A program
is selected by first looking at the
.I Content-Type
of the message, if available, then by checking the file's extension.
The appropriate information is read from your
.B .mailcap
and
.B .mime.types
files (although the handling of information in .mailcap files is
currently incomplete). If no matching type is found, a dialog box
pops up where you can enter any command.
.TP
.B List Text File
This is for the rare cases when a text file has been sent through
the net in encoded form. Use this action only when you know the
file in question is in fact a text file, otherwise you'll get a
load of trash on the screen.
.RE
.TP
.B Help
.RS
.TP
.B About
A short message from the Author.
.TP
.B License
Displays the license under which xdeview is distributed, the
.B GPL.
Read it, or you'll hear from my lawyers. 
.SH FILE LIST
The File List is a list box displaying all the files that have been
picked up while scanning the encoded data. These files are ready for
decoding, previewing or anything. The list can be scrolled using the
scrollbar on the right of the list.
.PP
Individual files can be selected simply by clicking on them. Multiple
files can be selected by holding down the
.I CTRL
key and clicking on the individual files.
.SH STATUS LIST
The Status Lists notes the corresponding status for each file in the
.I File List,
Usually, you'll just see "OK" here; otherwise, an error message is
shown describing why the file cannot be decoded properly. There are
the following states:
.TP
.B OK
All parts of the file have been found, and the encoded data looks
correct on first sight. There are certain problems that might only
appear when decoding the file, but usually everything is fine.
.TP
.B Incomplete
This file is missing one or more parts. If you decode this file, the
output data will be corrupt and usually unusable.
.TP
.B No Begin
The file doesn't have a beginning. The decoded file will be most
certainly corrupt and unusable.
.TP
.B No End
No end was found on the file. This usually means that one or more
parts at the end are missing. The degree of usefulness of a decoded
file depends on the file type.
.TP
.B Error
A previous attempt to decode the file has failed.
.SH SHORT-CUT BUTTONS
The buttons on the right side of the window are short-cuts for the
menu items. Read the discussion of the Main Menu items above for an
explanation.
.SH SAVE PATH
This is the path where decoded files will be written to.
.SH STATUS
A short message what the program is currently doing or what it expects
you to do.
.SH ENCODING MENU
When encoding files ("Encode" from the "File" menu), a large dialog
box opens where you can set various options for the file. If you
selected multiple files for encoding, a status line at the top
displays the number of files left. The dialog itself stays open
until all files have been handled.
.TP
.B Filename
The current file to encode. You cannot edit this field.
.TP
.B Send As
The file name by which the file will be sent. Defaults to the filename
stripped of all directory information.
.TP
.B Use Subject
When mailing or posting, this text will be used as subject. The 
filename and part numbers are added automatically, so you can
choose to leave this line empty.
.TP
.B Lines per File
Sets the number of encoded lines per part. Bigger files will be
automatically split into multiple parts. Use if you are posting files
to a newsgroup, or if the recipient's system cannot handle large
files. A good splitting size is 1000 lines. "0" lines means not to
split.
.TP
.B ... Encoding
Selects the encoding method to use. If you wonder which one's the
best, you might find a clue in my article "Introduction to Decoding".
.TP
.B File In (Path)
Sets a directory where to encode the file to. The encoding will go to
files with the same base name as the original file, but with
extensions of .001, .002 (depending on the number of necessary parts
as enforced by the "Lines per File" setting).
.TP
.B Email To
Give a comma-separated list of email addresses. This option might be
disabled if your system does not allow sending of emails.
.TP
.B Post To
Here you can enter a comma-separated list of newsgroups to which the
file should be posted. This option might be disabled if your system
does not support posting news.
.TP
.B NNTP Server
This field only appears on some systems, in the case that a news host
is needed, but none was configured at compile-time. If this field does
appear, you must enter a valid host name here in order for posting to
work. If you don't want to post the file anyway, don't worry about it.
.TP
.B OK
Performs the selected action(s) on this file and skips to the next one.
.TP
.B OK to All
Uses these settings for each file in question (does not prompt you for
the other files), thus sending all files at once.
.TP
.B Next
Does not encode the file and skips to the next one (sorry, there's no
button to skip backwards).
.TP
.B Cancel
Cancels encoding and returns to the main menu.
.SH SETUP FILE
If it exists, the file
.I .xdeviewrc
in your home directory will be executed in the Tcl interpreter during
program initialization. It must be a valid Tcl program, which you can
use to set certain options by default. For the Tcl-illaterate:
variables can be set using the following syntax:
.PD 0
.PP
.B set var_name value
.PP
.PD
The following variables (options) can be set (look at the text above
for an explanation of what they're doing)
.TP
.B OptionFast
If set to 1, use fast scanning mode.
.TP
.B OptionBracket
If set to 1, use the alternate bracket policy.
.TP
.B OptionOverwrite
If set to 1, assume it's Ok to overwrite files without asking.
.TP
.B OptionDesperate
If set to 1, switch into desperate mode.
.TP
.B OptionVerbose
If set to 1, print progress messages.
.TP
.B SaveFilePath
This is a string variable with the default Save Path, where you want
decoded files to go.
.TP
.B EncodeMaxLines
Maximum number of lines per file for encoding. "0" for unlimited.
.TP
.B EncodeEncoding
Default encoding to use. "0" for UUencoding, "1" for XXencoding and
"2" for Base64 encoding.
.TP
.B NNTPServer
The address of your NNTP server (only needed on some systems). Can
also be set (preferredly) in your environment variable
.I NNTPSERVER.
.SH RUNTIME MESSGAGES
If you have enabled verbose mode, progress messages will appear in an
own text window titled
.I Runtime Messages.
The messages generated during the scanning phase are extremely helpful
in tracing what the program does, and can be used to figure out the
reason why files cannot be decoded, if you understand them. This
section explains how to interpret them. Understanding this section is
not necessary to operate the program.
.PP
First, there are "Loading" messages, which begin with the string
"Loaded". Each line should feature the following items:
.TP
.B Source File
The first item is the source file from which a part was loaded. Many
parts can be detected within a single file.
.TP
.B Subject Line
The complete subject is reproduced in single quotes.
.TP
.B Identifier
The program derives a unique identification for this thread from the
subject line, for grouping articles that look like they belong to the
same file. The result of this algorithm is presented in braces.
.TP
.B Filename
If a filename was detected on the subject line or within the data (for
example, on a begin line, or as part of the Content-Type information).
.TP
.B Part Number
The part number derived from the subject line, or, in the case of
properly MIME-formatted messages, from the "part" information.
.TP
.B Begin/End
If a "begin" or "end" token was detected, it is printed here.
.TP
.B Encoding Type
If encoded data was detected within this part, either "UUdata",
"Base64", "XXdata" or "Binhex" is printed here.
.PP
More messages are printed after scanning has completed. A single line
will be printed for each group of articles. The contents of this line
are best understood by looking at an example. Here is one:
.PP
.B Found 'mailfile.gz' State 16 UUData Parts begin 1 2 3 4 5 end 6 OK
.PP
This indicates that the file
.I mailfile.gz
has been found. The file was uuencoded ("UUData") and consists of
6 parts. The "begin" token was found in the first part, and the
"end" token was found in the sixth part. Because it looks like
everything's there, this file is tagged as being "OK". The
.I State
is a set of bits, where the following values may be or'ed:
.TP
.B 1
Missing Part
.TP
.B 2
No Begin
.TP
.B 4
No End
.TP
.B 8
No encoded data found.
.TP
.B 16
File looks Ok
.TP
.B 32
An error occurred during decoding of the file.
.TP
.B 64
File was successfully decoded.
.SH NOTES
If you cannot execute
.I xdeview,
and it reports something like "command not found", but are sure that
the file itself can be found, check the reference to the main file
.I uuwish
at the top of the file.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR uudeview (1),
.BR uuenview (1),
.BR uudecode (1),
.BR uuencode (1),
.PD 0
.PP
The
.I uudeview
homepage on the Web, 
.PD 0
.PP
http://www.fpx.de/fp/Software/UUDeview/