No Autopar Tab?

[DaveXVI]

Is the Autopar tab permanently gone? That was really the only part of autopar I used in V5. I always kept automatic decoding turned off, and I always manually deleted all the par files from the par list so it wouldn't automatically download any par files (hence my periodic requests to have a switch for that), but I really liked having the tab to tell me the status of completed downloads. Then I could decode the ones I wanted all at once, send them to different directories, etc. Very handy.

Do we really have to right click on each individual download to see its status now?

[Quade]

I think most people just let autopar do it's business and unrar the files. I will say that something that's still missing is a column that tells you when it's been repaired or is complete.

The autopar tab isn't coming back though. The goal is to make the information available in the download list. You can sort of assume that if it's sitting there and it looks done that it's waiting for you to unrar it.

[DaveXVI]

I can't let it decode automatically because I decode to external drives that usually are not connected when I'm downloading. And I don't like letting it try to download extra pars to fix files automatically, because my ISP has a download quota, and I want to decide myself whether a file is worth fixing.

A column in the download list would be fine with me. But you need it to say more than complete or incomplete --- you need it to say X of Y blocks downloaded, like in the old autopar tab.

A lot of posts are really complete when Autopar doesn't know it --- a lot of posters include nfo and sfv files in the blocks required, some morons even include their whole par set. So if I can look and see it's a four-disc movie, and all four discs are missing exactly two blocks each, I can probably assume it's really done. But if it just says incomplete, I have no clue whether something is really wrong.

[Quade]

6 might just not be for you. You want uncompacted post lists and you want to disable autopar. These are two features of 6.0 so, you want a 6 that acts like 5.59, which probably isn't going to happen. I understand you don't want to change how you download but, I'm not planning on screwing up 6 to make it work like 5.59 so, there we are.

[DaveXVI]

Actually I don't want uncompacted post lists. The way V6 does it works for me. In the other thread, I was more playing Devil's Advocate against people who said "you are crazy to want this" to another fellow, rather than for something I want.

As for autopar, I understand that I'm in the minority, but I don't think I've asked you to ruin your program. All I've asked for is a switch to keep it from downloading stuff I don't want downloaded --- which is not in V5, so it seems to me much less V5-ish than the switch that turns off the RAM cache --- and a slight modification to a column you said you were going to put in anyway, that would make it more informative. Yes it would take a bit more screen width, but the fields are all adjustable anyway, so at worst we would have to make our progress bar or filename field a little narrower if we wanted to see the X of Y blocks.

I've only used it for a few hours, but there are already a lot of things I like about V6. Loading groups is definitely snappier, and I really like that all the panes can be made essentially full screen with a mouse click. I didn't understand that before, and that makes working from the download list much more palatable than when I thought it would just be a few lines scrunched down at the bottom. If you didn't know it, the help file for V6 is way behind your progress (which is perfectly understandable for a beta), still talking about the autopar tab and so forth, so we have to discover stuff for ourselves, and your public beta has only been out for a day or two.

But I do think that Newsbin is essentially a power user tool, and therefore in my opinion it's a mistake to not at least have options in the nbi file that let us work our way. Not every conceivable bell and whistle, but just a way to turn on or off what you already provide. The kind of people who want everything decided for them are the kind of people who are going to use Hotfile rather than usenet anyway.

[barkbarkwoof]

i used to be able to unrar to a different directory like right to a flash drive, now it seems like all the files must be downloaded to the same directory to use autopar. Am I correct? The old tab offered much more flexibility and was one of my favorite features in the program.

[Quade]

Don't know what version you're using but, in B11+ you can assign unrar folders to each set before they finish downloading. It'll then unrar to that folder.

You can do it from the right click menu or the par status window.

[barkbarkwoof]

I downloaded the beta to my laptop and hated it because of the par change so I didn't put it on my tower. I'll have to check the version. I don't know what you mean by a par window in the new version it seems like it's all one line in the download area. I right clicked on that but the option to change the path puts both the work files and the final file in the same directory. I like to keep the media files into certain directories or a flash drive and have all the work files stay in Newsbin Download. Maybe it's fixed. I couldn't quickly find the link when I was looking to update the other day. I usually don't use the laptop for downloading but that's why I'm still on 5.59 on this machine.

Looking back at the changes page it looks like the feature was added. Thanks for the replay I'll beta it on the laptop.

[bluefish2010]

Hello Quade. Thank you fort all you do to make Newsbin a superb program -- the v6 enhancements only make it even better.

I also want to let you know that I really liked and used the v5 AutoPar tab... I i wish you could put it back, but I understand , as I read in your post, that its is your program and therefore your decision if you think it is best not to include it. That said, I like lots about V6 so I will keep using it however you decide Newsbin works best.

One simple feature in the old AutoPar tab that I recommend/request that you add is the ability to delete the files and pars for an incomplete download from within Newsbin. Maybe you could re-add this option to the right-click menu in list of Downloads", in AutoPar section, next to "Run Quick Par", "UnRar/Join Files" and "Sample file". That way one can quickly delete the incomplete rar and par files from the filesystem before removing an incomplete download the from the Downloads list.

Just a suggestion from a satisfied Newsbin V6 user. Thanks again for all your improvements.

[Quade]

I could probably re-add delete. Don't think it's going to make 6.0 though.

[bluefish2010]

I could probably re-add delete. Don't think it's going to make 6.0 though.

Ok. Thank you for taking it into consideration. Using V6 has been great so far.

[barkbarkwoof]

One thing I still miss is the tab used to have a display for the Unrar location. There's plenty of room on a widescreen to fit it in if you can stick it in.