How to
Subscribe to dBASE Newsgroups
by Jean-Pierre Martel, Editor of The dBASE Developers Bulletin

INSIDE Netscape Navigator, in the menu, choose the item File|Subscribe….

Under the All tab, click on the pushbutton Add Server: you will get a first dialog box. If the radio button News Server (NNTP) is chosen, click the pushbutton Continue…. You will get a second dialog box called Newsgroup Server Properties.

In that dialog box, in the Server entryfield, you must write `news.dbase.com`. Click the OK pushbutton. In the treeview (see below), expand the branch news.dbase, then news.dbase.public and subscribe to any forum by clicking beside its name, in the Subscribe column at right.

From M$ Outlook Express

From the menu, choose Tools|Accounts…

In the dialog box Internet accounts, under the News tab, push the Add pushbutton, then choose News…, and then answer the questions asked by the Internet connection Wizard . The most important one is about the name of the news server: write `news.dbase.com.`

Then the Wizard will ask you the type of connection: the radiobutton Connection using a LAN network should be selected by default: if not, choose it. Then push the Close pushbutton.

The Outlook Express will ask you if you want to download the NewsGroups from the news server you just added. Of course, answer yes. The software will then display all the NGs available from news.dbase.com. In the central pane, click on each of the ones you would like to subscribe, then push the Subscribe pushbutton (or just double-click on each of the NG name you would like to subscribe to).

From Gravity

From the Server menu, choose Add|Remove or do Ctrl-Shift-S. In the Servers dialog box, push the Add pushbutton: you will get the dialog box illustrated below. The name of your Mail server should be entered by default. Enter the other informations as indicated below. The Reply address for posts should be a fake address to avoid spam: for example `yourname at myserver dot com` when your real e-mail address is `myname@myserver.com`. When this is done, push the OK pushbutton.

You will then be back at the Servers dialog box with `news.dbase.com` highlighted. Push the Open pushbutton. You will get the dialog box below. For each of the NGs you would like to subscribe to, click on its name in the upper pane and click the Add pushbutton (or simply double click on the name). The chosen NG will appear in the lower pane. There is always a small white gap after the eighth NG displayed in the upper pane. This suggests that there is just eight NGs available. This is not the case, so use the scrollbar to see the other ones. When you are through this, push the OK pushbutton. That’s all.

From Agent/Free Agent

Since I do not have this newsreader, the following text is the fusion of two messages published in dBASE newsgroups (from Rachel E. Holmen and Gary White, both members of TeamB).

Agent, nor Free Agent, does not have the capability to use multiple servers. In order to keep the ability to connect to your other server(s), create a new directory in which to store the new server info. Make a copy of your `FAgent.ini` file and place it in the newly created directory. Create a shortcut to `FAgent.exe` and set the `Startup` directory to your newly created directory. Then start FAgent and Select Options from the main menu, then General Prefs, and System. In the News Server entryfield, type:`news.dBase.com`.

You’ll have separate shortcuts for the different servers and can run separate instances of FAgent for each.

Back to Peter Rorlick’s text