MT-NewsWatcher can decode and display images which are included in news articles right in the article window. When you open such an article, MT-NewsWatcher automatically identifies which parts of the article consist of encoded binary text, separates them out, and decodes them. If a NewsWatcher plugin is found that can present the data, then this is used to display the image, play the sound etc. This decoding takes place automatically even if there is more than one binary in the article, or if the binary is split into multiple parts.

NewsWatcher plugins are additional modules that can decode and display data. They must be located in the "NewsWatcher Plugins" folder to work. Plugins are provided for the display of GIF (including animated GIF), JPEG, BMP and PCX images.

When it encounters encoded binary data, MT-NewsWatcher looks for a file name, either in the begin line, or in MIME section headers. If a filename is found, it then uses the file extension to choose which plugin to use to decode and display the image. Each plugin specifies a list of file extensions that it knows about.

Inline Images

As example, here's an image posted to usenetmonster.com



Note that MT-NewsWatcher has replaced all the encoded text between the begin and end of the image, and replaced it with an image decoded by the JPEG plugin.

Images are shrunk down to fit within the width of the article window, and the window is resized if necessary to show as much of the image as possible. If you find that the article window continually resizes when viewing images, you can click the padlock icon in the lower left corner to lock the article window size.

Inline Movies and Sounds

As well as images, MT-NewsWatcher comes with plugins that can display movies and sounds using QuickTime. Most of these will be displayed progressively, allowing you to start playing the movie, or MP3, while it is being downloaded.



Bandwidth permitting, you can download multiple movies and MP3s at the same time. Since most movies and sounds are large, they are posted in multiple parts. MT-NW does the work of putting the parts together, though you will only get inline display when you open a binary for which all parts are present.

Inline binary files

If MT-NewsWatcher cannot find a plugin to decode a binary, it will use its built-in 'embedded file' view for that binary. In this case, the binary appears as a file icon in the body of the article:



MT-NewsWatcher obtains an icon for this file using the File extension mappings specified in Internet Config (or the Internet Control Panel).

You can drag this file to the Finder to get a copy of the binary, or double-click it to open it in its owning application.

Saving files to disk

Whether or not the binary can be display with a plugin, you can save the binary file to disk in the same ways. Any of the following ways are available:

• Click on the image or file icon, and drag it to the Finder. Dragging from an image will make a picture clipping in the finder. Dragging a file icon will make a copy of the file in the Finder.

• Double click the image or file icon. It will be copied to the folder you specify in the preferences for saving binaries (in the Viewing Binaries preferences panel), and opened in the owning application. This application is found using Internet Config mappings and the file extension.

• Control-click on the image or file icon. In the context menu that comes up, choose one of the Save or Load options.

· With the article window foremost, use the Save Binaries... item on the File menu. MT-NewsWatcher will prompt you to save each binary in the article.

Turning off inline images

If you are on a slow connection and don't wish to download data for binary attachments, then you can turn this feature off in the 'Viewing binaries' Preferences panel. Uncheck the box labelled "View images inline".

If you have viewing inline binaries turned off, and you fetch an article with a binary, then you'll see an icon in the article window:



You can click this icon to extract the binary for this article; it will get passed to the decode helper application, and saved in your downloaded binaries folder.

Mass Extracting Binaries

If you don't want to have to open individual articles to view or save binaries, then you can do this en masse from the subject window, by selecting the articles that you want to extract, and choosing the Extract Binaries item from the News menu.

Extracting binaries in this way bypasses MT-Newswatcher's internal decoding and viewing routines, and saves the raw article text out to a file which is then decoded by one of the helper applications that you specify. You can then use the resulting images, sounds etc all at one time.

This image show a subject window for a binaries group (in this case, a group containing MP3 binaries). In this group, most of the binaries are posted in multiple parts, because they are too large to be posted in one big article.



Extracting Binaries Manually

Sometimes NewsWatcher's heuristics for locating and ordering parts don't work, especially when the poster doesn't follow the conventions for naming the parts, or when replies get mixed in with a binary thread. In this case, you must use the subject window and extract binaries "manually". With this method, you must do a bit more work, but you have more control over the process.

First, select all the parts of the article in the subject window. Command-click the parts to select them. You must do this by hand. NewsWatcher doesn't find the parts for you in this case. If NewsWatcher's heuristics don't work, the parts are probably in different threads in the subject window, and you may need to expand threads to find them. After selecting the parts, use the Extract Binaries Manually command in the Special menu. NewsWatcher shows you the list of subjects you selected in a dialog. Use your mouse to reorder the parts if they aren't in the right order. Note that you can also resize the dialog if the subject lines are very long.



The numbers on the left-hand side are article numbers, which show the order in which the parts arrived on your news server. These are useful as an ordering hint.

When you are done rearranging, click the Extract button. NewsWatcher fetches the parts in the order you specified, writes them to your hard drive, and runs the helper program to expand the file.

Extracting binaries manually using a subject window is the only way to bypass NewsWatcher's heuristics to get total control over part selection and ordering. It is inevitable that NewsWatcher's heuristics will fail sometimes, given the lack of any formal standards for identifying parts. We have tried, however, to tune the heuristics so that they work most of the time with the major binary groups.