            Archive Name:  BINGRAB2B.ZIP
     Archive Description:  News Group Binaries Grabber
Operating System/Version:  OS/2
          Program Source:  REXX
                Replaces:  bingrab.zip & bingrab1b.zip

               Your name:  Timothy Millea
      Your email address:  cyberlord@cyber-wizard.com

      Proposed directory
           for placement:  pub/os2/apps/internet/news/util

/*------------------------------------------------------------------
 * REXX - OS/2 -- BINGRAB ver 0.2b
 * bingrab.cmd : binaries grabber
 *
 * Current version can be found at http://nfinity.com/~tmillea
 *
 * Grabs uudecoded Jpeg and Gif files (multiple and single part)
 * from newsgroups then decodes them into binaries. A small modification
 * can be made to allow it to decode other binaries as well such as Zip
 * and EXE.
 * Requires rxsock.dll and uudeview.exe to function. I have included
 * them, but STRONGLY URGE you to go get the complete file from
 * FTP somewhere. They will have documentation on how to set them up.
 * The .rc files contain group info to track what groups to grab
 * and also keep track of messages already downloaded.
 * As to the multiple parts - It has it's limitations. You can adjust the
 * minimum size of messages to download to a smaller value to maybe
 * get the final part of a post, but you are also grabbing a bunch
 * of time consuming garbage in the proccess. I have it set to 500.
 * This is mainly because I don't want a bunch of small pictures in my 
 * directory or to spend time downloading files that are not pictures
 * like .html files or text files. I have found that multiple part posts are 
 * missing pieces anyway. The few complete ones that get missed are
 * probably not worth the extra coding it would take to go look for them.
 * Also another important consideration is the number of group names
 * in the BINGROUP.RC file. For each group name listed, a seperate call to
 * BINGRAB.CMD is called and a seperate server connection. This could 
 * lead to a slow machine or even errors. I recommend limiting it to less 
 * than 15, I have it set to 10. You can always create multiple .rc files
 * that contain 10 - 15 names and run them at different times.
 * I have included two utility programs. GROUPS.CMD will get a list of
 * available BINARY groups from the server. This list then can be cut
 * and pasted into the .rc files for BINGRAB.CMD. MOVE.CMD will move all
 * jpg and gif files to a directory named the first characture of the file
 * name. It will then delete any jpg or gif files left in the directory. This 
 * should eliminate any duplicate named files. At this time I have no way
 * to determine if there are duplicate pictures with different names.
 * My experience has been that there are not to many.
 * I hope you like the program. It is EMAILware, so drop me a line if you
 * use it and let me know how you like it and what enhancements you 
 * would like to see. I do not guarantee any further versions, but if any
 * major bugs exist I will release an upgrade.
 * 
 * Thanks, CyberLord. CyberLord@Cyber-Wizard.Com
 *------------------------------------------------------------------*/

Revision history
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

0.1b:

1)Added code to say: ERROR: RC file on command line not found in bingrab directory.
as it was saying 0 and then exiting.
Thanks to Tom at Dynamic Information Systems for this tit bit.

2)Added a FAQ to the zip file. It's not really big yet. :)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

0.2b:

1)Implemented a routine to check for duplicate subject lines so BinGrab will ignore that 
message. The subject lines are stored in a file call 'duplicates'. I had to wrestle with
file sharing a bit before this worked properly. :)

2)Re-arranged the code a little and turned some of the inline code to function calls.
Makes for easier understanding to what the program is doing without getting to deep into
the subroutines. I will tidy up a little more as time permits.

3)Added a user exit function. Hit the 'Q' key during processing and after it finishes downloading
the message it will decode the uue file and exit.