Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!looking!brad
From: brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: group at a time interface and NNTP etc.
Message-ID: <3602@looking.on.ca>
Date: 8 Jul 89 05:29:36 GMT
Organization: Looking Glass Software, Waterloo Ont.
Lines: 19
Class: information, original

I think an interface that works a group at a time, showing a menu of
subjects and letting the user pick (not like =) is a good idea.  I've been
wishing something did this for a long time.

Even Compuserve got their act together and made an interface like that
about a year ago.  It's very powerful -- you can take a full month's worth
of articles in a busy group and read what you want on a low speed terminal
in a fairly short time.

But to do that with our current news systems we need:
	a) An independent directory of article header info so that we don't
	   have to wait to read all the headers in the group before starting.
	b) An NNTP modification that lets the nntp reader request such a
	   list of header information for a group when the group starts,
	   and gets it quickly.

Those doing new database formats and NNTP work should keep this in mind.
-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd.  --  Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473