Using OE5 in the MP3 Groups

(This section of the FAQ will soon be headed to the Archives)

Speed and space issues
OE5 has some performance problems with the MP3 newsgroups, mainly because there are so many headers.  This post contains tips on how to speed up the process.

Use Agent instead of OE5
Agent is a newsreader that works well with the MP3 newsgroups.  There is a limited-functionality freeware version and a fairly inexpensive full version.  For more information, click here: 

Use synchronization
If you're like me, you connect to the internet, run OE5, and click on the newsgroup to download new headers.  When dealing with thousands of headers, however, this is the quickest way to make OE5 unusable.  For some reason, the Folders folder gets extremely large -- sometimes on the order of a gigabyte -- and OE5 can take hours to process a simple request (using 100% CPU the whole time).  Fortunately, this file bloat doesn't occur when using synchronization.

To configure the synchronization settings for a specific newsgroup:

1. In the Folders pane, right-click on the newsgroup and select Synchronization Settings.
2. Select Headers Only.
3. To download the headers, select "Tools | Synchronize All" from the menu bar.

Don't use Mark All
Once a user finishes reviewing new headers in the newsgroup, it's typical to mark all the messages as having been read.  The simplest way to do this is to use OE5's Mark All option.  Unfortunately, Mark All is unnecessarily slow, and in extreme cases it can take ludicrous amounts of time (e.g., hours) to complete.  A much quicker alternative is to select all of the unread messages (using CTRL-A) and then use Mark Read.

Delete old messages
OE5 works much faster if we reduce the number of headers.  Even if a message has been marked as read, the header is still maintained and subsequently slows down processing.  Through "Tools | Options | Maintenance", OE5 allows us to automatically delete old messages after a certain number of days.  This value, however, applies globally and may cause problems with the non-MP3 newsgroups.  Fortunately OE5 allows the user to delete messages manually, as follows (warning: Do not use this option if you want to access previously read messages):

1. In the Folders pane, right-click on the newsgroup and select Properties.  The Properties dialog will appear.
2. Select the Local File tab.
3. Select Delete.  When prompted, select Yes.
4. Select Compact.

Delete message bodies of large posts
Once a message body is downloaded, it remains in the newsgroup folder.  Normally this is not a problem, but the MP3 messages are large and can use a lot of disk space.  In "Tools | Options | Maintenance", OE5 allows us to automatically delete the message bodies for all newsgroups.  To remove the message bodies for a single newsgroup, perform these steps:

1. In the Folders pane, right-click on the newsgroup and select Properties.  The Properties dialog will appear.
2. Select the Local File tab.
3. Select Remove Messages.  When prompted, select Yes.
   

Delete MP3 posts from the Sent Items folder
By default, OE5 places a copy of all posts into the Sent Items folder.  When posting MP3's, these can quickly add up to a large amount of disk space.  It's a good idea to perform periodic cleanup of this folder.  Also pay attention to the Deleted Items folder.  It can get quite large as well.

Periodically compact the Folders folder
Despite all these precautions, the Folders folder can still get large.  Use "Tools | Options | Maintenance | Clean Up Now | Compact" to shrink it back down to size.  For the other folders, it's a good idea to set the auto-compact feature with "Tools | Options | Maintenance | Compact messages when...".

Splitting large posts into smaller segments
Large newsgroup posts such as MP3s typically need to be broken into smaller pieces called "segments" (see the MP3 FAQ).  OE5 allows the user to set the maximum segment size for each news account.

To set the segment size, perform the following steps:

1. In the Folders pane, right-click on the account and select Properties.  The properties dialog will appear.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Posting section, enable the "Break apart messages larger than XXX KB" option.
4. Per the  MP3 FAQ , set the size value to something between 300KB and 500KB.

Optionally, step 1 may be replaced with:

1. Select "Tools | Accounts".  The Internet Accounts dialog will appear.
2. Select the News tab.
3. Select the desired account.
4. Select Properties.  The properties dialog will appear.

Filtering binaries from the non-binary groups
One of the more annoying actions in the MP3 newsgroups is when someone posts one or more binary files in the discussion and/or request groups.  Message rules can be used to automatically delete large posts that are in non-binary groups.  The following example is for the discussion group and can be modified to apply to the requests group.

1. Select "Tools | Message Rules | News".  The Message Rules dialog will appear, with the News Rules tab selected.
2. Click  New.  The New News Rule dialog will appear.
3. In section 1, select the check-box for the following conditions:
   • Where the message is on the specified newsgroup
   • Where the number of lines in the message is more than lines
4. In section 2 select the check-box for the following actions:
   • Delete it
   • Stop processing more rules
5. In section 3, click on specified.  The Select Newsgroup dialog will appear.  Select alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d and click OK.  You will be returned to the New News Rule dialog, and specified will be replaced with alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d.
6. In section 3, click on lines.   The Set Lines dialog will appear.  This value determines the size, in lines, of what we consider a binary file to be.  You may set it to whatever value that suits your taste -- a value of 1000 works well.  Once the value is set, click OK to return to the New News Rule dialog box, where lines will be replaced with 1000 lines (or the value you chose).
7. In section 4, enter the name of this rule (e.g., Binaries in MP3 Discussion Group).
8. Click OK to return to the Message Rules dialog.  The new rule will be listed and its check-box will be selected.  The rule is now in effect.

When the rule is correctly set up, the Rule Description will look like:

Apply this rule after the message arrives
where the message is on alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d newsgroup
  and Where the number of lines in the message is more than 1000 lines
Delete it
  and Stop processing more rules

See filtering non-binaries from binary groups for additional filtering information.

Canceling a post
Select the message you wish to cancel -- it must be one that you posted.  From the main menu bar, choose "Message | Cancel Message".

Privacy issues
OE5 allows you to configure your personal information for each news account, as follows:

1. In the Folders pane, right-click on the account and select Properties.
2. Select the General tab.

Line count
If you haven't configured OE5 to split large posts into smaller segments, click here.

Each newsgroup post has a "total lines" value.  When splitting a large post into segments most newsreaders set this value to the size of the segment (e.g., 5,000 lines), but OE5 sets it to the size of the entire post (e.g., 75,000 lines).  This large number makes absolutely no difference in the size of the individual segments or their download times.

0-file
0-files are convenient and are recommended by the MP3 FAQ.  They allow you to post explanatory text without forcing anyone to download the associated binary attachment.  OE5 does not support 0-files ([0/x]).  You may include explanatory text with the post, but the user must still download the binary file in order to read the text.  The current workaround is to manually create the 0-file with a duplicate subject line and a [0/x] suffix, then post it separately.

Filtering non-binaries from binary groups
As with the problem of binaries in non-binary groups, requests and other non-binary posts can significantly clutter up the binary groups.  In OE5, views can be configured to hide small posts that are in the binary groups.

1. Select "View|Current View|Define Views".  The Define Views dialog will appear.
2. Click  New.  The New View dialog will appear.
3. In section 1, select the check-box for the following conditions:
   • Where the message has been read
   • Where the number of lines in the message is more than lines
4. In section 2, click on lines.   The Set Lines dialog will appear.  This value determines the size, in lines, of what we consider a non-binary file to be.  You may set it to whatever value that suits your taste -- a value of 100 works well.  Once the value is set, click OK to return to the New View dialog box, where lines will be replaced with 100 lines (or the value you chose).
5. In section 2, click on Show/Hide.  The Show/Hide Messages dialog will appear.  Select Show messages and click OK.  You will be returned to the New View dialog, and Show/Hide will be replaced with Show.
6. In section 3, enter the name of this view (e.g., Non-binaries in binary groups).
7. Click OK to return to the Define Views dialog.  The new view will be listed.
8. For a specific newsgroup, the view may be applied in a variety of ways.  The simplest is to select the newsgroup and then select the view from "View|Current View".

When the view is correctly set up, the View Description will look like:

Where the number of lines in the message is more than 100 lines
    and Where the message has not been read
Show the message

 You can, of course, add other attributes to the view -- this is just a minimal set.

Filling in Missing Segments with Outlook
First, find the missing segment on another server.  A free news server would be a good place to look.  Copy the segments you already have to a separate folder, then copy any missing segments you find to that same folder.  Then assemble the binary in this new folder. (contributed by Eowyn)

Do you have any other tips for posting with Outlook Express?
As a matter of fact, we have another OE5 user who has contributed a concise set of instructions for using OE5 in the MP3 groups.  Click here for further information.

Originally written by Capt. Chad
Added to the Tips Section November 1999 with permission.