tin(5) related files

Other Alias

rtin

DESCRIPTION

This man page describes the various (config) files and their formats used by the tin(1) newsreader. All files are expected to have unix style ('\n' aka LF) line endings.

FILES

$MAILCAPS
~/.mailcap
/etc/mailcap
/usr/etc/mailcap
/usr/local/etc/mailcap
/etc/mail/mailcap

mailcap(5) files as defined in RFC1524. The mailcap files are read by tin(1) to determine how to display non-text messages at the local site. Any line that starts with "#" is a comment. Blank lines are ignored. Otherwise, each line defines a single mailcap entry for a single content type. Long lines may be continued by ending them with a backslash character, "\".

Each individual mailcap entry consists of a content-type specification, a command to execute, and (possibly) a set of optional "flag" values.

The "type" field is simply any legal content type name. It is the string that will be matched against the ''Content-Type:'' header to decide if this is the mailcap entry that matches the current message. Additionally, the type field may specify a subtype or a wildcard to match all subtypes.

The "command" field is any UNIX command and is used to specify the interpreter for the given type of message. It will be passed to the shell via the system(3) facility.

Semicolons and backslashes within the command or any flag field must be quoted with backslashes. If the field contains "%s", those two characters will be replaced by the name of a file that contains the body of the message. If it contains "%t", those two characters will be replaced by the content-type field, including the subtype, if any. If it contains "%{" followed by a parameter name and a closing "}", then all those characters will be replaced by the value of the named parameter, if any, from the ''Content-Type:'' header. Finally, if the field contains "\%", those two characters will be replaced by a single "%" character.

Besides the type and command field the following "flags" are defined:

compose
The "compose" field may be used to specify a program that can be used to compose a new body or body part in the given format. Its intended use is to support mail composing agents that support the composition of multiple types of mail using external composing agents. As with the view-command, the semantics of program execution are operating system dependent. The result of the composing program may be data that is not yet suitable for mail transport - that is, a Content-Transfer-Encoding may need to be applied to the data.
composetyped
The "composetyped" field is similar to the "compose" field, but is to be used when the composing program needs to specify the ''Content-Type:'' header field to be applied to the composed data. The "compose" field is simpler, and is preferred for use with existing (non-mail-oriented) programs for composing data in a given format. The "composetyped" field is necessary when the Content-Type information must include auxiliary parameters, and the composition program must then know enough about mail formats to produce output that includes the mail type information.
edit
The "edit" field may be used to specify a program that can be used to edit a body or body part in the given format. In many cases, it may be identical in content to the "compose" field, and shares the operating-system dependent semantics for program execution.
print
The "print" field may be used to specify a program that can be used to print a message or body part in the given format. As with the view-command, the semantics of program execution are operating system dependent.
test
The "test" field may be used to test some external condition (e.g., the machine architecture, or the window system in use) to determine whether or not the mailcap line applies. It specifies a program to be run to test some condition. The semantics of execution and of the value returned by the test program are operating system dependent. If the test fails, a subsequent mailcap entry should be sought. Multiple test fields are not permitted - since a test can call a program, it can already be arbitrarily complex.
needsterminal
The "needsterminal" field indicates that the view-command must be run on an interactive terminal. This is needed to inform window-oriented user agents that an interactive terminal is needed. (The decision is not left exclusively to the view-command because in some circumstances it may not be possible for such programs to tell whether or not they are on interactive terminals.) The needsterminal command should be assumed to apply to the compose and edit commands, too, if they exist. Note that this is NOT a test - it is a requirement for the environment in which the program will be executed, and should typically cause the creation of a terminal window when not executed on either a real terminal or a terminal window.
copiousoutput
The "copiousoutput" field indicates that the output from the view-command will be an extended stream of output, and is to be interpreted as advice to the UA (User Agent mail-reading program) that the output should be either paged or made scroll-able. Note that it is probably a mistake if needsterminal and copiousoutput are both specified.
description
The "description" field simply provides a textual description, optionally quoted, that describes the type of data, to be used optionally by mail readers that wish to describe the data before offering to display it.
textualnewlines
The "textualnewlines" field, if set to any non-zero value, indicates that this type of data is line-oriented and that, if encoded in base64, all newlines should be converted to canonical form (CRLF) before encoding, and will be in that form after decoding. In general, this field is needed only if there is line-oriented data of some type other than text/* or non-line- oriented data that is a subtype of text.
x11-bitmap
The "x11-bitmap" field names a file, in X11 bitmap (xbm) format, which points to an appropriate icon to be used to visually denote the presence of this kind of data.
nametemplate
The "nametemplate" field gives a filename format, in which %s will be replaced by a short unique string to give the name of the temporary file to be passed to the viewing command. This is only expected to be relevant in environments where filename extensions are meaningful, e.g., one could specify that a GIF file being passed to a gif viewer should have a name ending in ".gif" by using "nametemplate=%s.gif"

tin(1) currently only respects the "test", "description", "nametemplate" and partly the "needsterminal" flags, all other flags are internally ignored. It also can't handle the "%F" and "%n" expansions yet.

Example:
# mailcap file example

image/*;\
xv -8 -geometry +0 '%s';\
description=%{name} %t-Image;\
test=test "$DISPLAY" != "";\
nametemplate=%s.IMAGE message/rfc822;\
${PAGER:-"more"} '%s';\
edit=${EDITOR:-"vi"} '%s';\
compose=${EDITOR:-"vi"} '%s';\
print=a2ps '%s';\
needsterminal

/etc/news/server

default NNTP-server to read news from if not reading from the local spool. '-g server', $NNTPSERVER have higher priority (in that order), the default server given at compile time has lower priority.

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.cancelsecret

secret to be used for cancel-locks if tin(1) is build with support for it. An empty secret file disables the cancel-lock creation in that case. This file should be readable only for the user.

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.mime.types
/etc/mime.types
/etc/tin/mime.types

mime type / filename extension pairs

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.newsauth

"nntpserver password [user]" pairs for NNTP servers that require authorization. If the password contains a space or a tab it must be enclosed in double quotes ("). Usernames must not be enclosed in double quotes and thus can't contain spaces or tabs. Any line that starts with "#" is a comment. Blank lines are ignored. This file should be readable only for the user as it contains the user's uncrypted password for reading news!
nntpserver
full qualified domain name of the news server.
password
user's uncrypted password for reading news.
user
username on the news server if it differs from the local login. This field is optional.
Example:
# sample .newsauth file
news.example.org secret
news.example.net arcane guest
news.example.com "top secret" [email protected]

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.newsrc

"newsgroupflag [article[,article | -article]...]" lines.
newsgroup
the name of the newsgroup.
flag
a flag indicating if the group is subscribed ':' or not '!'.
article
range of already read articles from that group; numbers separated by commas with sequential numbers collapsed with hyphens.
Example:
# sample .newsrc file
news.software.b! 1-666,669
news.software.nntp: 1-13245,13247,13249
news.software.readers: 1-19567,19571-19597

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/$NNTPSERVER${NNTPPORT:+:$NNTPPORT}/.oldnewsrc

backup of ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.newsrc

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.signature
${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.Sig

signature

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.sigfixed

fixed part of a randomly generated signature

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/.inputhistory

history of last used strings

${TIN_INDEX_MAILDIR:-${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin}/.mail/

mailgroups index files

${TIN_INDEX_NEWSDIR:-${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin}/.news${NNTPSERVER:+-$NNTPSERVER}/

newsgroups index files

${TIN_INDEX_SAVEDIR:-${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin}/.save/

saved newsgroups index files

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/active.mail

active file ("mail_group_name maxnum minnum mailspool" quadruples) of user's mailgroups (requires tin(1) to be build with mh-mail-handling support).
mail_group_name
must be the pathname of the mailbox relative to field #4 with / changed to .
maxnum
just put a large number here, something higher than the highest message in the mailbox
minnum
put 0 here
mailspool
path of mail spool directory. This must be the full pathname to the root of the mail folder area.
Example:
Mail.inbox 12345 00000 /home/foo
Mail.outbox 23456 00000 /home/foo

This allows access to the 'inbox' and 'outbox' folders of user foo. They are accessed via /home/foo/Mail/inbox and /home/foo/Mail/outbox

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/active.save

active file of user's saved newsgroups, used by tin -R.

/etc/tin/attributes
${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/attributes

The group attributes files may be used to override some global settings from ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc on a per group basis. Order is important as last match counts; this allows one to refine attributes for narrowed scopes. Note that the scope=<grouplist> line has to be specified before the attributes are specified for that list and each attribute can only be set once per scope section. All attributes are set to a reasonable default so you only have to specify the attribute that you want to change. All toggle attributes are set by specifying ON/OFF. Otherwise, they function exactly as their global equivalents. The following group attributes are available:
scope
This changes the list of groups to which the attributes that follow will be applied. See the section NEWSGROUP LISTS & WILDCARDS in tin(1) for the types of pattern that can be used here.
add_posted_to_filter
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
advertising
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
alternative_handling
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
ask_for_metamail
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
auto_cc_bcc
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
auto_list_thread
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
auto_save
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
auto_select
Automatically perform the GroupMarkUnselArtRead ('X') command after entering the group.
batch_save
Can be used to override the global setting in tinrc on a per group basis. For more information read section AUTOMATIC MAILING AND SAVING NEW NEWS in tin(1).
date_format
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
delete_tmp_files
If this is set to ON, then saved article files that have been post-processed will be automatically deleted, otherwise the user will be asked whether to delete the post-processed files. Automatic processing of marked articles using GroupAutoSave ('S') will suppress prompting.
editor_format
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
extquote_handling
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
fcc
Mailbox to save sent mails. The format of the mailbox is controlled via the tinrc mailbox_format variable.
followup_to
Set ''Followup-To:'' header to the specified group(s).
from
Identical to the tinrc variable mail_address
group_catchup_on_exit
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
group_format
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
mail_8bit_header
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
mail_mime_encoding
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
maildir
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
mailing_list
Used when a group is a mailing list. All responses to the group will be directed to this email address instead
mark_ignore_tags
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
mark_saved_read
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
mime_forward
Determines whether usenet articles are forwarded as attachment or inline. When set to OFF, the forwarded article will be included in the body of the mail, while setting this variable to ON will cause the article to be attached as a separate MIME part. Enabling mime_forward is particularly useful for articles consisting of multiple MIME parts such as PGP/MIME signed messages or being encoded in a different character set than your local one. It is also useful if the receiver should be able to operate on the entire forwarded article (i.e., view or save it without your comments). On the other hand, if you want to forward only some parts of the article or to insert 'inline' annotations, you might want to disable this option. Currently mime_forward is forced if the article to be attached is a multipart MIME article, this may change in a future version. Please note that for this option to have effect, the tinrc variable interactive_mailer has to be set to 0 (which is the default).
mime_types_to_save
A comma separated list of MIME major/minor Content-Types that will be saved when using the view/save and save/autosave features. A single * can be used to wildcard the major and/or minor type and a ! as the first character in an entry will negate it, eg: image/*,!image/bmp,!text/html. Default is */*
news_headers_to_display
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
news_headers_to_not_display
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
news_quote_format
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
organization
This can be used to set the article header field ''Organization:''. It overrides the setting (if any) of organization in /etc/tin/tin.defaults and $ORGANIZATION (or $NEWSORG on Apollo DomainOS). Note that some news servers might still overwrite the ''Organization:'' header.
pos_first_unread
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
post_8bit_header
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
post_mime_encoding
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
post_process_type
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
post_process_view
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
print_header
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
process_only_unread
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
prompt_followupto
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
quote_chars
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
savedir
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
savefile
show_author
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
show_info
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
show_only_unread_arts
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
show_signatures
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
sigdashes
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
sigfile
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
signature_repost
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
sort_article_type
Identical to the tinrc variable sort_article_type
sort_threads_type
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
start_editor_offset
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
tex2iso_conv
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
thread_articles
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
thread_catchup_on_exit
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
thread_format
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
thread_perc
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
trim_article_body
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
verbatim_handling
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
wrap_on_next_unread
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
x_body
A piece of text that will be added at the start of a message body. If this string starts with a / or ~ then it is assumed to be the name of a file containing the text to insert.
x_comment_to
Insert ''X-Comment-To:'' header, this is only useful in FIDO groups.
x_headers
A string including header-name and the contents of the header that will be automatically added when posting. If the string starts with a / or ~ then it is assumed to be the name of a file containing the header and its content to be inserted. If the string starts with a ! then what follows is assumed to be the path to a program to be executed to generate the header and its content.
quick_kill_scope
A comma-separated list of newsgroup patterns (wildmat-style) to which groups the filter rule added by QuickFilterKill will be applied. If unset the default from the tinrc variable default_filter_kill_global will be used.
quick_kill_expire
Identical to the tinrc variable default_filter_kill_expire
quick_kill_case
Identical to the tinrc variable default_filter_kill_case
quick_kill_header
Identical to the tinrc variable default_filter_kill_header
quick_select_scope
A comma-separated list of newsgroup patterns (wildmat-style) to which groups the filter rule added by QuickFilterSelect will be applied. If unset the default from the tinrc variable default_filter_select_global will be used.
quick_select_expire
Identical to the tinrc variable default_filter_select_expire
quick_select_case
Identical to the tinrc variable default_filter_select_case
quick_select_header
Identical to the tinrc variable default_filter_select_header
ispell
Path and options for ispell(1)-like spell-checker, e.g. "aspell --mode=email --dont-backup check"
mm_network_charset
Identical to the tinrc variable of the same name
undeclared_charset
Assume (broken) articles without MIME charset declaration have this charset - default is US-ASCII. This attribute works only on systems with working iconv(3), others might have to compile tin(1) with --disable-mime-strict-charset.

Example:
# include extra headers
# assume ISO-8859-1 as charset if no charset is declared
scope=*
x_headers=~/.tin/headers
undeclared_charset=ISO-8859-1
# in *sources* set post process type to shar only
scope=*sources*
post_process_type=1
# in *binaries* turn on full post processing,
# remove tmp files and set Followup-To: poster
scope=*binaries*
post_process_type=2
delete_tmp_files=ON
followup_to=poster
# in fido.* newsgroups change quote_chars
# and add X-Comment-To: line
scope=fido.*
quote_chars=%s>_
x_comment_to=ON
# in *.test newsgroups, don't append signature
# and preset Subject
scope=*.test
sigfile=--none
x_headers=Subject: test - ignore - no reply
# assume ISO-2022-JP-2 as charset
scope=fj.*,japan.*
undeclared_charset=ISO-2022-JP-2

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/filter

The filter file is used to assign scores to certain articles. Based on the score an article can be filtered out (hidden) or marked hot. Empty lines or lines beginning with a '#' are ignored.
comment
Every entry (rule) in the filter file might get a comment. Multiple lines are allowed (but only for comments yet). Every line must start with the "comment=" keyword. Comments must appear first in the rule. Comment lines placed within a rule will be moved to the begin of the next rule. This might be changed in the future. Don't use '#' to mark comments as those lines are ignored and your comments will get lost on the next write of the file.
group
A comma-separated list of newsgroup patterns (wildmat-style) to which groups the filter rule will be applied. This line is mandatory!
case
0=case-sensitive, 1=case-insensitive
score
Score value of the rule; can also be one of the magic words "kill" or "hot".
subj
Match against ''Subject:''
from
Match against ''From:''. tin(1) converts the contents of the ''From:'' header to an old style e-mail address, e.g. ''[email protected] (John Doe)'' instead of ''John Doe <[email protected]>'', before trying to match the patterns in the filter rule.
msgid
Match against ''Message-ID:'' and full ''References:''
msgid_last
Match against ''Message-ID:'' and last ''References:'' entry only
msgid_only
Match against ''Message-ID:''
refs_only
Match against ''References:''
lines
Match against ''Lines:'', <num matches less than, >num matches more than.
gnksa Match against ''From:'' address parser return codes.
xref
Match against ''Xref:'' line. Before any matching is done the line is turned into the same format ''Newsgroups:'' has that is it is turned into a comma separated newsgroup list with all other information (i.e. the article counter) removed.
time
time_t value when rule expires

Example:
comment=mark all articles about tin, rtin,
comment=tind, ktin or cdtin as hot
group=*
case=1
score=hot
subj=\b(cd|[rk]?)?tin(d|pre)?[-.0-9]*\b

/etc/tin/keymap${${LC_ALL:-${LC_CTYPE:-${LC_MESSAGES:-$LANG}}}:+.${LC_ALL:-${LC_CTYPE:-${LC_MESSAGES:-$LANG}}}}

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/keymap${${LC_ALL:-${LC_CTYPE:-${LC_MESSAGES:-$LANG}}}:+.${LC_ALL:-${LC_CTYPE:-${LC_MESSAGES:-$LANG}}}}

Keymap-file, containing "keyname value [value]" pairs separated by spaces or tabs. Below is a list of all rebindable keynames and their defaults. If a keyname is bound to NULL it is unassigned.


ShellEscape                    !
SetRange                       #
LastPage                       $
ToggleColor                    &
LastViewed                     -
SearchRepeat                   \
SearchSubjF                    /
SearchSubjB                    ?
SearchAuthB                    A
SearchBody                     B
CatchupNextUnread              C
EditFilter                     E
ToggleHelpDisplay              H
ToggleInverseVideo             I
LookupMessage                  L
OptionMenu                     M
Postponed                      O    ^O
QuitTin                        Q
BugReport                      R
DisplayPostHist                W
MarkThrUnread                  Z
FirstPage                      ^
SearchAuthF                    a
Catchup                        c
Help                           h
ToggleInfoLastLine             i
Down                           j    ^N
Up                             k    ^P
Print                          o
Quit                           q
Version                        v
Post                           w
MarkArtUnread                  z
QuickFilterSelect              [
QuickFilterKill                ]
Pipe                           |
ScrollUp                       <
ScrollDown                     >
PageUp                         b    ^B   ^U
PageDown                       ^D   ^F   SPACE
RedrawScr                      ^L
Postponed                      ^O
MenuFilterSelect               ^A
MenuFilterKill                 ^K
MarkFeedRead                   ^X
MarkFeedUnread                 ^W

AttachSelect ^J ^M AttachPipe p AttachSave s AttachTag t AttachUntag U AttachTagPattern = AttachToggleTagged @
ConfigToggleAttrib TAB ConfigSelect ^J ^M ConfigLastPage G ConfigNoSave Q ConfigScopeMenu S ConfigFirstPage g ConfigResetAttrib r
FeedTag T FeedArt a FeedHot h FeedPat p FeedRepost r FeedSupersede s FeedThd t
FilterEdit e FilterSave s
GroupNextUnreadArtOrGrp TAB GroupReadBasenote ^J ^M GroupSelThd * GroupDoAutoSel + GroupToggleThdSel . GroupSelThdIfUnreadSelected ; GroupSelPattern = GroupReverseSel @ GroupCancel D GroupToggleGetartLimit G GroupMarkThdRead K GroupNextUnreadArt N GroupPrevUnreadArt P GroupAutoSave S GroupTagParts T GroupUntag U GroupMarkUnselArtRead X GroupToggleSubjDisplay d GroupGoto g GroupListThd l GroupMail m GroupNextGroup n GroupPrevGroup p GroupToggleReadUnread r GroupSave s GroupTag t GroupToggleThreading u GroupRepost x GroupUndoSel ~
HelpLastPage G HelpFirstPage g
PageReplyQuoteHeaders ^E PagePGPCheckArticle ^G PageToggleRaw ^H PageNextUnread TAB PageNextThd ^J ^M PageToggleTabs ^T PageFollowupQuoteHeaders ^W PageToggleTex2iso " PageToggleAllHeaders * PageToggleRot % PageToggleUue ( PageReveal ) PageSkipIncludedText : PageTopThd < PageBotThd > PageCancel D PageFollowup F PageLastPage G PageKillThd K PageNextUnreadArt N PagePrevUnreadArt P PageReply R PageAutoSave S PageGroupSel T PageViewUrl U PageViewAttach V PageToggleHighlight _ PageEditArticle e PageFollowupQuote f PageFirstPage g PageListThd l PageMail m PageNextArt n PagePrevArt p PageReplyQuote r PageSave s PageTag t PageGotoParent u PageRepost x
PgpEncSign b PgpEncrypt e PgpIncludekey i PgpSign s
PostAbort a PostContinue c PostCancel d PostEdit e PostPGP g PostIspell i PostIgnore i PostMail m PostPostpone o PostPost p y PostSupersede s PostSend s y
PostponeOverride Y PostponeAll A
PromptYes y Y PromptNo n N
SaveAppendFile a SaveOverwriteFile o
PProcNone n PProcShar s PProcYes y
SelectEnterNextUnreadGrp TAB n SelectReadGrp ^J ^M SelectResetNewsrc ^R SelectSortActive . SelectNextUnreadGrp N SelectSubscribePat S SelectUnsubscribePat U SelectQuitNoWrite X SelectSyncWithActive Y SelectToggleDescriptions d SelectGoto g SelectMoveGrp m SelectToggleReadDisplay r SelectSubscribe s SelectUnsubscribe u SelectYankActive y SelectMarkGrpUnread z Z
ScopeSelect ^J ^M ScopeEditAttributesFile E ScopeAdd a ScopeDelete d ScopeMove m ScopeRename r
ThreadReadNextArtOrThread TAB ThreadReadArt ^J ^M ThreadSelArt * ThreadToggleArtSel . ThreadReverseSel @ ThreadCancel D ThreadMarkArtRead K ThreadAutoSave S ThreadUntag U ThreadToggleSubjDisplay d ThreadMail m ThreadSave s ThreadTag t ThreadUndoSel ~
UrlSelect ^J ^M

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/mailgroups

This file provides short descriptions of each mailgroup. (requires tin(1) to be build with mh-mail-handling support). Each line consist of two tab-separated fields "mailgroupname one-line description".
mailgroupname
is the name of the newsgroup
description
is a short single-line description of the group

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/newsrctable

"nntpserver newsrc [shortname [...]]" pairs to use with the ''-g'' command-line switch.
nntpserver
full qualified domain name of the news server.
newsrc
related newsrc.
shortname
nickname(s) for the nntpserver.
Example:
# sample newsrctable file
news.tin.org .newsrc-tin.org tinorg
news.example.org /tmp/nrc-ex example ex

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/posted

posting history

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/Mail/posted

Copy of all posted articles in mbox(5) format. The filename can be changed by setting posted_articles_file.

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/postponed.articles

Pool of postponed articles. This file is in mbox(5) format.

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/$NNTPSERVER${NNTPPORT:+:$NNTPPORT}/newsgroups

This file a copy of the servers newsgroups file which provides short descriptions of each newsgroup. It is automatically updated on startup except when using the ''-X''or ''-q'' command-line option and an old copy exists. Each line consist of two tab-separated fields "group.name                    one-line description".
group.name
is the name of the newsgroup
one-line description
is a short single-line description of the group

${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/$NNTPSERVER${NNTPPORT:+:$NNTPPORT}/serverrc

File to store $NNTPSERVER and $NNTPPORT related data via a list of "variable=value" pairs. Currently there are only two variables, both are not meant to be changed by the user.
version
Internal version number.
last_newnews
Internal timestamp used by tin(1) to keep track of new newsgroups on the server.

/etc/tin/tinrc
${TIN_HOMEDIR:-$HOME}/.tin/tinrc

At startup, tin(1) reads in the configuration file. This contains a list of "variable=value" pairs that can be used to configure the way tin(1) works. If it exists, the global configuration file, ${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/tinrc is read first. After that, the user's own configuration file ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc is read. The global file is useful for distributing system-wide defaults to new users who have no private tinrc yet (see also /etc/tin/tin.defaults).
abbreviate_groupname
If ON abbreviate long newsgroup names at group selection level and article level (if necessary) like this: news.software.readers -> n.software.readers -> n.s.readers -> n.s.r. Default is OFF.
add_posted_to_filter
If ON add posted articles which start a new thread to filter for highlighting follow-ups. Default is ON.
advertising
Turn ON advertising in header (''User-Agent:''). Default is ON.
alternative_handling
If ON strip multipart/alternative messages automatically. Default is ON.
art_marked_deleted
The character used to show that an article was deleted. Default is 'D'.
art_marked_inrange
The character used to show that an article is in a range. Default is '#'.
art_marked_return
The character used to show that an article will return as an unread article when the group is next entered. Default is '-'.
art_marked_selected
The character used to show that an article/thread is auto-selected (hot). Default is '*'.
art_marked_recent
The character used to show that an article/thread is recent (not older than X days). See also recent_time. Default is 'o'.
art_marked_unread
The character used to show that an article has not been read. Default is '+'.
art_marked_read
The character used to show that an article was read. Default is ' '.
art_marked_killed
The character used to show that an article was killed. Default is 'K'. kill_level must be set accordingly.
art_marked_read_selected
The character used to show that an article was hot before it was read. Default is ':'. kill_level must be set accordingly.
Ask before using MIME viewer (ask_for_metamail)
If ON tin(1) will ask before using a MIME viewer (metamail_prog) to display MIME messages. This only occurs if a MIME viewer is set. Default is OFF.
auto_cc_bcc
Automatically put your name in the ''Cc:'' and/or ''Bcc:'' field when mailing an article. Default is No.
auto_list_thread
If ON automatically list thread when entering it using right arrow key. Default is ON.
auto_reconnect
Reconnect to server automatically. Default is OFF.
auto_save
If ON articles/threads with ''Archive-name:'' in header will be automatically saved with the Archive-name & part/patch no and post processed if post_process_type is set to something other than 'No'. Default is OFF.
batch_save
If set ON articles/threads will be saved in batch mode when save ''-S'' or mail ''-M, -N'' is specified on the command line. Default is ON.
beginner_level
If set ON a mini menu of the most useful commands will be displayed at the bottom of the screen for each level. Also a short posting etiquette will be displayed after composing an article. Default is ON.
cache_overview_files
If ON, create local copies of NNTP overview files. This can be used to considerably speed up accessing large groups when using a slow connection. Default is OFF.
catchup_read_groups
If set ON the user is asked when quitting if all groups read during the current session should be marked read. Default is OFF.
col_back
Standard background color
col_extquote
Color of quoted text from external sources
col_from
Color of sender (From:)
col_head
Color of header-lines
col_help
Color of help pages
col_invers_bg
Color of background for inverse text
col_invers_fg
Color of foreground for inverse text
col_markdash
Color of words emphasized like _this_. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
col_markslash
Color of words emphasized like /this/. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
col_markstar
Color of words emphasized like *this*. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
col_markstroke
Color of words emphasized like -this-. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
col_minihelp
Color of mini help menu
col_newsheaders
Color of actual news header fields
col_normal
Standard foreground color
col_quote
Color of quoted lines
col_quote2
Color of twice quoted lines
col_quote3
Color of >=3 times quoted lines
col_response
Color of response counter. This is the text that says "Response x of y" in the article viewer.
col_signature
Color of signatures
col_urls
Color of urls highlight
col_verbatim
Color of verbatim blocks
col_subject
Color of article subject
col_text
Color of text-lines
col_title
Color of help/mail sign
confirm_choice
tin(1) can ask for manual confirmation to protect the user. Available choices: commands: Ask for confirmation before executing certain dangerous commands (e.g., Catchup ('c')). Commands that this affects are marked in this manual with '[after confirmation]'.

quit: You'll be asked to confirm that you wish to exit tin(1) when you use the Quit ('q') command.

select: Ask for confirmation before marking all not selected (with GroupMarkUnselArtRead ('X') command) articles as read. Default is commands & quit.

date_format
Format string used for date representation. A description of the different format options can be found at strftime(3). tin(1) uses strftime(3) when available and supports most format options in his fallback code. Default is "%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S".
default_art_search
default_author_search
default_config_search
The last article/author/config option that was searched for.
default_filter_days
Default is 28.
default_filter_kill_case
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter case. ON = filter case sensitive, OFF = ignore case. Default is OFF.
default_filter_kill_expire
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter expire. ON = limit to default_filter_days, OFF = don't ever expire. Default is OFF.
default_filter_kill_global
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter global. ON=apply to all groups, OFF=apply to current group. Default is ON.
default_filter_kill_header
Default for quick (1 key) kill filter header.
0     ''Subject:'' (case sensitive)
1     ''Subject:'' (ignore case)
2     ''From:'' (case sensitive)
3     ''From:'' (ignore case)
4     ''Message-ID:'' & full ''References:'' line
5     ''Message-ID:'' & last ''References:'' entry only
6     ''Message-ID:'' entry only
7     ''Lines:''
default_filter_select_case
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter case. ON=filter case sensitive, OFF=ignore case. Default is OFF.
default_filter_select_expire
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter expire. ON = limit to default_filter_days, OFF = don't ever expire. Default is OFF.
default_filter_select_global
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter global. ON=apply to all groups, OFF=apply to current group. Default is ON.
default_filter_select_header
Default for quick (1 key) auto-selection filter header.
0     ''Subject:'' (case sensitive)
1     ''Subject:'' (ignore case)
2     ''From:'' (case sensitive)
3     ''From:'' (ignore case)
4     ''Message-ID:'' & full ''References:'' line
5     ''Message-ID:'' & last ''References:'' entry only
6     ''Message-ID:'' entry only
7     ''Lines:''
default_goto_group
default_group_search
default_mail_address
default_move_group
default_pattern
default_pipe_command
default_post_newsgroups
default_post_subject
default_range_group
default_range_select
default_range_thread
default_repost_group
default_save_file
default_save_mode
default_select_pattern
default_shell_command
default_subject_search
draw_arrow
Allows groups/articles to be selected by an arrow '->' if set ON or by an highlighted bar if set OFF. Default is OFF.
editor_format
The format string used to create the editor start command with parameters. Default is '%E +%N %F' with %E=Editor, %N=Linenumber and %F=Filename (e.g., /bin/vi +7 .article).
extquote_handling
If ON quotes from external sources will be detected. Default is OFF.
extquote_regex
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching lines are shown in col_extquote. If extquote_regex is blank, then tin uses a built-in default.
force_screen_redraw
Specifies whether a screen redraw should always be done after certain external commands. Default is OFF.
getart_limit
If getart_limit is > 0 not more than getart_limit articles/group are fetched from the server. If getart_limit is < 0 tin(1) will start fetching articles from your first unread minus absolute value of getart_limit. Default is 0, which means no limit.
goto_next_unread
Which keys tin should accept to jump to the next unread article. Possible is any combination of PageDown and PageNextUnread. When PageDown is set tin jumps to the next article at the end of the current one. When PageNextUnread is set tin jumps immediately to the next article when PageNextUnread ('<TAB>') is pressed. Default is PageNextUnread.
group_catchup_on_exit
If ON catchup group when leaving with the left arrow key. Default is ON.
group_format
The format string used for the Group level. Default is "%n %m %R %L  %s  %F". The following substitutions are supported:
%D    date
%F    from, name and/or address
%I    initials
%L    line count
%M    message-id
%R    number of responses in thread
%S    score
%m    article marks
%n    current thread number
%s    subject
%%    %
hide_uue
If set to 'No' then raw uuencoded data is displayed. If set to 'Yes' then sections of uuencoded data will be shown with a single tag line showing the size and filename (much the same as a MIME attachment). If set to 'Hide all' then any line that looks like uuencoded data will be folded into a tag line. This is useful when uuencoded data is split across more than one article but can also lead to false positives. This setting can also be toggled in the article viewer. Default is 'No'.
inews_prog
Path, name and options of external inews(1). If you are reading via NNTP the default value is "--internal" (use built-in NNTP inews), else it is "inews -h". The article is passed to inews_prog on STDIN via '< article'.
info_in_last_line
If ON, show current group description or article subject in the last line (not in the pager and global menu) - ToggleInfoLastLine ('i') toggles setting. This facility is useful as the full width of the screen is available to display long subjects. Default is OFF.
interactive_mailer
If greater than 0 your mailreader will be invoked earlier for reply so you can use more of its features (e.g. MIME, pgp, ...). 1 means include headers, 2 means don't include headers (old use_mailreader_i=ON option). 0 turns off usage. This option has to suit mailer_format. Default is 0.
inverse_okay
If ON use inverse video for page headers and URL highlighting. Default is ON.
keep_dead_articles
If ON keep all failed postings in ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/dead.articles besides keeping the last failed posting in ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/dead.article. Default is ON.
kill_level
This option controls the processing and display of articles that are killed. There are 3 options, default is 0 (Kill only unread arts).
0
Kill only unread arts is the 'traditional' behavior of tin(1). Only unread articles are killed once only by marking them read. As filtering only happens on unread articles with kill_level set to 0, art_marked_killed and art_marked_read_selected are only shown once. When you reenter the group the mark will be gone.
1
Kill all arts & show with K will process all articles in the group and therefore there is a processing overhead when using this option. Killed articles are threaded as normal but they will be marked with art_marked_killed.
2
Kill all arts and never show will process all articles in the group and therefore there is a processing overhead when using this option. Killed articles simply does not get displayed at all.
mail_8bit_header
Allows 8bit characters unencoded in the header of mail message. Default is OFF. Turning it ON is effective only if mail_mime_encoding is also set to 8bit. Leaving it OFF is safe for most users and compliant to Internet Mail Standard (RFC5322 and RFC2047). Default is OFF.
mail_address
User's mail address (and full name), if not username@host. This is used when creating articles, sending mail and when pgp(1) signing.
mail_mime_encoding
MIME encoding of the body in mail message, if necessary (8bit, base64, quoted-printable, 7bit). Default is quoted-printable.
mail_quote_format
Format of quote line when replying (via mail) to an article (%A=Address, %D=Date, %F=Fullname+Address, %G=Groupname, %M=Message-ID, %N=Fullname, %C=Firstname, %I=Initials). Default is "In article %M you wrote:"
mailbox_format
Select one of the following mailbox-formats: MBOXO (default, except on SCO), MBOXRD or MMDF (default on SCO). See mbox(5) and RFC4155 for more details on MBOXO and MBOXRD and mmdf(5) for more details about MMDF.
maildir
The directory where articles/threads are to be saved in mbox(5) format. This feature is mainly for use with the elm(1) mail program. It allows the user to save articles/threads/groups simply by giving '=' as the filename to save to. Default is ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/Mail.
mailer_format
The format string used to create the mailer command with parameters that is used for mailing articles to other people. Default is '%M "%T" < %F' (e.g., /bin/mail "iain" < .article). The flexible format allows other mailers with different command line parameters to be used such as
sendmail -oem -t < %F
elm -s "%S" "%T" < "%F"
claws-mail --compose "mailto:%T?subject=%S&insert=%F"
interactive_mailer must be set adequate. The following substitutions are supported:
%F              filename
%M              default_mailer
%S              subject-field
%T              to-filed
%U              username
%%              %
mark_saved_read
If ON mark articles that are saved as read. Default is ON.
mark_ignore_tags
When this is ON, the GroupMarkThdRead ('K'), ThreadMarkArtRead ('K'), MarkThdUnread ('Z') at Group level and MarkArtUnread ('z') at Thread level functions mark just the current article or thread, ignoring other tagged, (un)read articles. When OFF, the same function presents a menu with choices of the current thread or article, all tagged, unread articles, or nothing.
metamail_prog
Path, name and options of external metamail(1) program used to view non-textual parts of articles. To use the built-in viewer, set to --internal. This is the default value when metamail(1) is not installed. Leave it blank if you don't want any automatic viewing of non-textual attachments. The 'V' command can always be used to manually view any attachments. See also ask_for_metamail.
mm_charset
Charset supported locally, which is also used for MIME header (charset parameter and charset name in header encoding) in mail and news postings. If MIME_STRICT_CHARSET is defined at compile time, text in charset other than the value of this parameter is considered not displayable and represented as '?'. Otherwise, all character sets are regarded as compatible with the display. If it's not set, the value of the environment variable $MM_CHARSET is used. US-ASCII or compile-time default is used in case neither of them is defined. If your system supports iconv(3), this option is disabled and you should use mm_network_charset instead.
mm_network_charset
Charset used for posting and MIME headers; replaces mm_charset. Conversion between mm_network_charset and local charset (determined via nl_langinfo(3)) is done via iconv(3), if this function is not available on your system this option is disabled and you have to use mm_charset instead. mm_network_charset is limited to one of the following charsets: US-ASCII, ISO-8859-{1,2,3,4,5,7,9,10,13,14,15,16}, KOI8-{R,U,RU} EUC-{CN,JP,KR,TW}, ISO-2022-{CN,CN-EXT,JP,JP-1,JP-2}, Big5, UTF-8 Not all values might work on your system, see iconv_open(3) for more details. If it's not set, the value of the environment variable $MM_CHARSET is used. US-ASCII or compile-time default is used in case neither of them is defined.
mono_markdash
Character attribute of words emphasized like _this_. It depends on your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
mono_markslash
Character attribute of words emphasized like /this/. It depends on your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
mono_markstar
Character attribute of words emphasized like *this*. It depends on your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
mono_markstroke
Character attribute of words emphasized like -this-. It depends on your terminal which attributes are usable. See also word_h_display_marks and word_highlight.
newnews
These are internal timers used by tin(1) to keep track of new newsgroups. Do not change them unless you understand what they are for.
news_headers_to_display
Which news headers you wish to see. If you want to see _all_ the headers, place an '*' as this value. This is the only way a wildcard can be used. If you enter 'X-' as the value, you will see all headers beginning with 'X-' (like X-Alan or X-Pape). You can list more than one by delimiting with spaces. Not defining anything turns off this option.
news_headers_to_not_display
Same as news_headers_to_display except it denotes the opposite. An example of using both options might be if you thought 'X-' headers were A Good Thing(tm), but thought Alan and Pape were miscreants... well then you would do something like this: news_headers_to_display=X- news_headers_to_not_display=X-Alan X-Pape Not defining anything turns off this option.
news_quote_format
Format of quote line when posting/following up an article (%A=Address, %D=Date, %F=Fullname+Address, %G=Groupname, %M=Message-ID, %N=Fullname, %C=Firstname, %I=Initials). Default is "%F wrote:".
nntp_read_timeout_secs
Time in seconds to wait for a response from the server. Default is 120.
normalization_form
The normalization form which should be used to normalize unicode input. The possible values are:
0
None: no normalization
1
NFKC: Compatibility Decomposition, followed by Canonical Composition
2
NFKD: Compatibility Decomposition
3
NFC: Canonical Decomposition, followed by Canonical Composition
4
NFD: Canonical Decomposition
Some normalization modes are only available if they are supported by the library tin(1) uses to do the normalization. NFC should be used if possible.
pos_first_unread
If ON put cursor at first unread article in group otherwise at last article. Default is ON.
post_8bit_header
Allows 8bit characters unencoded in the header of a news article, if set this also disables the generation of MIME-headers when they are usually required. Default is OFF. Only enacted if post_mime_encoding is also set to 8bit. In a number of local hierarchies where 8bit characters are used, using unencoded (raw) 8bit characters in header is acceptable and sometimes even recommended so that you need to check the convention adopted in the local hierarchy of your interest to determine what to do with this and post_mime_encoding.
post_mime_encoding
MIME encoding of the body in news message, if necessary. (8bit, base64, quoted-printable, 7bit). Default is 8bit, which leads to no encoding. base64 and quoted-printable are usually undesired on usenet.
post_process_view
If ON, then tin(1) will start an appropriate viewer program to display any files that were post processed and uudecoded. The program is determined using the mailcap(5) file. Default is ON.
post_process_type
This specifies whether to perform post processing on saved articles. Because the shell archive may contain commands you may not want to be executed, be careful when extracting shell archives. The following values are allowed:
0
No (default), no post processing is done.
1
Shell archives, unpacking of multi-part shar(1) files only. Because the shell archive may contain commands you may not want to be executed, be careful with this option.
2
Yes, binary attachments and data will be decoded and saved.
posted_articles_file
Keep posted articles in ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/Mail/posted_articles_file. If no filename is set then postings will not be saved. Default is 'posted'.
print_header
If ON, then the full article header is sent to the printer. Otherwise only the ''Subject:'' and ''From:'' fields are output. Default is OFF.
printer
The printer program with options that is to be used to print articles. The default is lpr(1) for BSD machines and lp(1) for SysV machines. Printing from tin(1) may have been disabled by the System Administrator.
process_only_unread
If ON only save/print/pipe/mail unread articles (tagged articles excepted). Default is OFF.
prompt_followupto
If ON show empty ''Followup-To:'' header when editing an article. Default is OFF.
quote_chars
The character used in quoting included text to article followups and mail replies. The '_' character represents a blank character and is replaced with ' ' when read. Default is '>_'.
quote_style
This bit coded integer value controls how articles are to be quoted when following up or replying to them. Any of the following options can be combined by adding all relevant values. Default is 5, which means that quote characters are compressed and empty lines are quoted.
1
Compress quotes Compress quote characters together when quoting multiple times (for example, '> > >' will be turned into '>>>'). This option is on by default.
2
Quote Signatures This option is off by default. Signatures are always quoted regardless of this option when you are viewing an article in raw mode PageToggleRaw ('^H') and followup or reply to it. Signatures are never quoted regardless of this option when show_signatures is off.
4
Quote empty lines This option is on by default.
quote_regex
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching lines are shown in col_quote. If quote_regex is blank, then tin(1) uses a built-in default.
quote_regex2
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching lines are shown in col_quote2. If quote_regex2 is blank, then tin(1) uses a built-in default.
quote_regex3
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching lines are shown in col_quote3. If quote_regex3 is blank, then tin(1) uses a built-in default.
recent_time
If set to 0, this feature is deactivated, otherwise it means the number of days. Default is 2.
render_bidi
If ON tin does the rendering of bi-directional text. If OFF tin leaves the rendering of bi-directional text to the terminal. Default is OFF.
reread_active_file_secs
The news ${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}"/"${TIN_ACTIVEFILE:-active} file is reread at regular intervals to show if any new news has arrived. Default is 1200. Setting this to 0 will disable this feature.
savedir
Directory where articles/threads are saved. Default is ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/News.
score_limit_kill
If the score of an article is below or equal this value the article gets marked as killed.
score_limit_select
If the score of an article is above or equal this value the article gets marked as hot.
score_kill
Score of an article which should be killed, this must be <= score_limit_kill.
score_select
Score of an article which should be marked hot, this must be >= score_limit_select.
scroll_lines
The number of lines that will be scrolled up/down in the article pager when using cursor-up/down. The default is 1 (line-by-line). Set to 0 to get traditional tin page-by-page scrolling. Set to -1 to get page-by-page scrolling where the top/bottom line is carried over onto the next page. This setting supersedes show_last_line_prev_page=ON. Set to -2 to get half-page scrolling. This setting supersedes full_page_scroll=OFF.
select_format
The format string used for the Selection level. Default is "%f %n %U  %G  %d". The following substitutions are supported:
%G    group name
%U    unread count
%d    description
%f    group flag
%n    current group number
%%    %
sort_function
Function used for sorting articles. Default is 0.
0
Use qsort(3) for sorting.
1
Use heapsort(3) for sorting. This might be faster in large groups with long threads (somewhat presorted data).
show_author
Which information about the author should be shown. Default is 2, authors full name.
0
None, only the ''Subject:'' line will be displayed.
1
Address, ''Subject:'' line & the address part of the ''From:'' line are displayed.
2
Full Name, ''Subject:'' line & the authors full name part of the ''From:'' line are displayed (default).
3
Address and Name, ''Subject:'' line & all of the ''From:'' line are displayed.
show_description
If ON show a short group description text after newsgroup name at the group selection level. The ''-d'' command-line flag will override the setting and turn descriptions off. The text used is taken from the ${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/newsgroups file and if supported (requires tin(1) to be build with mh-mail-handling support) from ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.tin/mailgroups for mailgroups. Default is ON.
show_info
Which information about the thread or article should be shown. Default is 1, show only the line count.
0
None, no information will be displayed.
1
Lines, in article listing the line count of an article will be displayed and in thread listing the line count of first (unread) article will be displayed.
2
Score, in article listing the score of an article will be displayed and in thread listing the score of the thread will be displayed - see also thread_score.
3
Lines & Score, display line count and score.
show_only_unread_arts
If ON show only new/unread articles otherwise show all articles. Default is ON.
show_only_unread_groups
If ON show only subscribed groups that contain unread articles. Default is OFF.
show_signatures
If OFF don't show signatures when displaying articles. Default is ON.
sigdashes
If ON prepend the signature with sigdashes. Default is ON.
sigfile
The path that specifies the signature file to use when posting, following up to or replying to an article. If the path is a directory then the signature will be randomly generated from files that are in the specified directory. If the path starts with a ! the program the path points to will be executed to generate a signature. tin(1) will pass the name of the current newsgroup as argument to the program. --none will suppress any signature. Default is ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.Sig.
signature_repost
If ON add signature to reposted articles. Default is ON.
slashes_regex
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching words are shown in col_markslash or mono_markslash. If slashes_regex is blank, then tin(1) uses a built-in default.
sort_article_type
This specifies how articles should be sorted. Sort by ascending Date (6) is the default. The following sort types are allowed:
0
Nothing, don't sort articles.
1
Subject: (descending), sort articles by ''Subject:'' field descending.
2
Subject: (ascending), sort articles by ''Subject:'' field ascending.
3
From: (descending), sort articles by ''From:'' field descending.
4
From: (ascending), sort articles by ''From:'' field ascending.
5
Date: (descending), sort articles by ''Date:'' field descending.
6
Date: (ascending), sort articles by ''Date:'' field ascending (default).
7
Score (descending), sort articles by filtering score descending.
8
Score (ascending), sort articles by filtering score ascending.
9
Lines: (descending), sort articles by ''Lines:'' field descending.
10
Lines: (ascending), sort articles by ''Lines:'' field ascending.
sort_threads_type
This specifies how threads will be sorted. Sort by descending Score (1) is the default. The following sort types are allowed:
0
Nothing, don't sort threads.
1
Score (descending), sort threads by filtering score descending (default).
2
Score (ascending), sort threads by filtering score ascending.
3
Last posting date (descending), sort threads by date of last posting descending.
4
Last posting date (ascending), sort threads by date of last posting ascending.
spamtrap_warning_addresses
Set this option to a list of comma-separated strings to be warned if you are replying to an article by mail where the e-mail address contains one of these strings. The matching is case-insensitive. Example:

spam,delete,remove

stars_regex
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching words are shown in col_markstar or mono_markstar. If stars_regex is blank, then tin(1) uses a built-in default.
start_editor_offset
Set ON if the editor used for posting, follow-ups and bug reports has the capability of starting and positioning the cursor at a specified line within a file. Default is ON.
strip_blanks
Strips the blanks from the end of each line therefore speeding up the display when reading on a slow terminal or via modem. Default is ON.
strip_bogus
Bogus groups are groups that are present in your ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.newsrc file that no longer exist on the news server. There are 3 options. 0 means do nothing & always keep bogus groups. 1 means bogus groups will be permanently removed. 2 means that bogus groups will appear on the Group Selection Menu, prefixed with a 'D'. This allows you to unsubscribe from them as and when you wish. Default is 0 (Always Keep).
strip_newsrc
If ON, then unsubscribed groups will be permanently removed from your ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.newsrc file. Default is OFF.
strokes_regex
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching words are shown in col_markstroke or mono_markstroke. If strokes_regex is blank, then tin(1) uses a built-in default.
tex2iso_conv
Decode German style TeX umlaut codes to ISO If ON, show "a as Umlaut-a, etc. Default is OFF. This behavior can also be toggled in the article viewer via PageToggleTex2iso ('"').
thread_articles
Defines which threading method to use. The choices are: 0) Don't thread, 1) Thread on Subject only 2) Thread on References only, 3) Thread on References then Subject (default) 4) Thread multipart articles on Subject. 5) Thread on Percentage Match of the Subjects It's also possible to set the threading type on a per group basis by setting the group attribute variable thread_articles to 0 - 5 in the file ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.tin/attributes.
thread_format
The format string used for the Thread level. Default is "%n %m  [%L]  %T  %F". The following substitutions are supported:
%D    date
%F    from, name and/or address
%I    initials
%L    line count
%M    message-id
%S    score
%T    thread tree
%m    article marks
%n    current article number
%%    %
thread_perc
Defines how close the subjects must match while threading by Percentage Match for threads to be considered part of a single thread. This value is in the range 0 to 100. The default is 75.
thread_catchup_on_exit
If ON catchup group/thread when leaving with the left arrow key. Default is ON.
thread_score
How the total score of a thread is computed. Default is 0, the maximum score in this thread.
0
Max, the maximum score in this thread.
1
Sum, the sum of all scores in this thread.
2
Average, the average score in this thread.
translit
If ON append //TRANSLIT to the first argument of iconv_open(3) to enable transliteration. This means that when a character cannot be represented in the target character set, it can be approximated through one or several similarly looking characters. On systems where this extension doesn't exist, this option is disabled. Default is OFF.
trim_article_body
Allows you to select how tin treats blank lines in article bodies. Default is 0. This option does not affect lines within verbatim blocks.
0
Don't trim article body, do nothing.
1
Skip leading blank lines.
2
Skip trailing blank lines.
3
Skip leading and trailing blank l., skip leading and trailing blank lines.
4
Compact multiple between text, replace multiple blank lines between textblocks with one blank line.
5
Compact multiple and skip leading, 4 + 1
6
Compact multiple and skip trailing, 4 + 2
7
Compact mltpl., skip lead. & trai., 4 + 3
underscores_regex
A regular expression that will be applied when reading articles. All matching words are shown in col_markdash or mono_markdash. If underscores_regex is blank, then tin(1) uses a built-in default.
unlink_article
If ON remove ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.article after posting. Default is ON.
url_handler
The program that will be run when launching URLs in the article viewer using PageViewUrl ('U'). The actual URL will be appended to this. Default is url_handler.pl %s.
url_highlight
Enable highlighting URLs in message body. Default is ON.
use_color
If enabled tin(1) uses ANSI-colors. Default is OFF.
use_keypad
Use scroll keys on keypad. Default is OFF.
use_mouse
Allows the mouse button support in a xterm(1x) to be enabled/disabled. Default is OFF.
use_slrnface
If enabled slrnface(1) will be used to interpret the ''X-Face:'' header. For this option to have any effect, tin(1) must be running in a xterm(1x) and slrnface(1) must be in your $PATH. Default is OFF.
utf8_graphics
If ON use UTF-8 characters for indicator ('->'), thread/attachment tree and ellipsis ('...'). Default is OFF.
verbatim_begin_regex
A regular expression that tin will use to find the begin of a verbatim block. Default is #v+
verbatim_end_regex
A regular expression that tin will use to find the end of a verbatim block. Default is #v-
verbatim_handling
If ON verbatim blocks will be detected. Default is ON
wildcard
Allows you to select how tin(1) matches strings. The default is 0 and uses the wildmat notation, which is how this has traditionally been handled. Setting this to 1 allows you to use perl(1) compatible regular expressions pcre(3). (see also perlre(1) and pcrepattern(3)). You will probably want to update your filter file if you use this regularly. NB: Newsgroup names will always be matched using the wildmat notation.
word_h_display_marks
Should the leading and ending stars, slashes, strokes and dashes also be displayed, even when they are highlighting marks?
0
no
1
yes, display mark
2
print a space instead
word_highlight
Enable word highlighting. See word_h_display_marks for the options available. If use_color is enabled the colors specified in col_markdash, col_markslash, col_markstar and col_markstroke are used for word highlighting else the character attributes specified in mono_markdash, mono_markslash, mono_markstar and mono_markstroke are used. Default is ON.
wrap_column
Sets the column at which a displayed article body should be wrapped. If this value is equal to 0, it defaults to the current screen width. If this value is greater than your current screen width the part off-screen is not displayed. Thus setting this option to a large value can be used to disable wrapping. If this value is negative the wrap margin is the current screen width plus the given value (as long as the result is still positive, otherwise it will fall back to the current screen width). Default is 0, wrapping at the current screen width.
wrap_on_next_unread
If enabled a search for the next unread article will wrap around all articles to find also previous unread articles. If disabled the search stops at the end of the thread list. Default is ON.
xpost_quote_format
Format is the same as for news_quote_format, this is used when answering to a crossposting to several groups with no ''Followup-To:'' set.

/etc/tin/tin.defaults

Yet another global configuration file with "variable=value" pairs. This one is for the more general options which usually can't be controlled via ${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/tinrc and/or ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.tin/tinrc like resetting (to override the built-in default) the newslibdir.
domainname
Sets a global domain name used in From lines
organization
Defines the name of your organization. $ORGANIZATION overrides any specified value.
newslibdir
Defines the default place for some configuration files, common values are /usr/lib/news, /var/lib/news, /usr/local/lib/news or /news/db. $TIN_LIBDIR overrides any specified value.
bugaddress
Defines the email address to which users can send bug reports using a built-in function. The default points to a developers mailing list located at tin.org. You might want to change this address to one of your local administration if you want to deal with your lusers problems on your own.
inewsdir
Defines the directory containing of the inews(1) executable
mm_charset
Default charset to be used in MIME's ''Content-Type:'' header. $MM_CHARSET overrides any specified value.
post_mime_encoding
Default encoding scheme used in MIME articles. 8bit might be the best value.
mail_mime_encoding
Default encoding scheme used in MIME letters. quoted-printable is a good choice here.
disable_gnksa_domain_check
Allow unregistered top level domains. As the list of valid TLDs is no longer actively maintained the default was changed to ON starting with tin(1) version 2.1.5
disable_sender
Don't generate a ''Sender:'' header. This has an effect only if inews_prog is set to --internal.
spooldir
Base of your newsspool (Bnews, Cnews and INN traditional spool style), common values are /var/spool/news, /usr/spool/news, /news/spool. $TIN_SPOOLDIR overrides any specified value.
overviewdir
Base of your NOV database newsoverview(5) (tradspool style; might be the same dir as spooldir), common values are /var/spool/overview, /usr/spool/overview, /news/overview. $TIN_NOVROOTDIR overrides any specified value.
overviewfile
Name of a single overview file, common values are .overview, over.view. $TIN_NOVFILENAME overrides any specified value.
overviewfmtfile
Full pathname of your newssystem's overview.fmt file; usually the overview.fmt file is in newslibdir, so you only have to change this setting if your configuration differs.
activefile
Full pathname of your newssystem's active file; usually the active file resides in newslibdir and is named active, so you only have to change this setting if your configuration differs. $TIN_ACTIVEFILE overrides any specified value.
activetimesfile
Full pathname of your newssystem's active.times file; usually the active.times file is newslibdir, so you only have to change this setting if your configuration differs.
newsgroupsfile
Full pathname of your newssystem's newsgroups file; usually the newsgroups file is in newslibdir, so you only have to change this setting if your configuration differs.
subscriptionsfile
Full pathname of your newssystem's subscriptions file; usually the subscriptions file is in newslibdir, so you only have to change this setting if your configuration differs.

/usr/local/share/locale/$LC_MESSAGES/LC_MESSAGES/tin.mo

translation into language specified in $LC_ALL, $LC_MESSAGES or $LANG

${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/${TIN_ACTIVEFILE:-active}

This file lists the newsgroups that the local site receives. Each newsgroup should be listed only once. Each line specifies one group; within each newsgroup, articles are assigned unique names, which are monotonically increasing numbers.

If an article is posted to newsgroups not mentioned in this file, those newsgroups are ignored. If no valid newsgroups are specified, the article is rejected.

Each line consists of four space-separated fields "name highmark lowmark flags".

name
is the name of the newsgroup
highmark
is the highest article number that has been used in that newsgroup
lowmark
is the lowest article number in the group; this number is not guaranteed to be accurate, and should only be taken to be a hint. Note that because of article cancellations, there may be gaps in the numbering sequence. If the lowest article number is greater than the highest article number, then there are no articles in the newsgroup.
flags
can be one of those
y
local postings are allowed
n
no local postings are allowed, only remote ones
m
the group is moderated and all postings must be approved
j
articles in this group are not kept, but only passed on
x
articles cannot be posted to this newsgroup
=foo.bar
articles are locally filed into the ''foo.bar'' group
tin(1)
only tries to read the file if you read directly from the local spool, if you read news via NNTP, tin(1) uses the LIST (RFC3977) or LIST COUNTS (RFC6048) command instead.

${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/active.times

This file provides a chronological record of when newsgroups are created. It is normally updated by the local news server (e.g. innd(8)) whenever a new group is created. Each line consist of three space-separated fields "name time creator".
name
is the name of the newsgroup
time
is the time when the group was created, expressed as the number of seconds since the Epoch.
creator
is the electronic mail address of the person who created the group.
tin(1)
only tries to read the file if you read directly from the local spool, if you read news via NNTP, tin(1) uses the NEWGROUPS (RFC3977) command instead.

${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/newsgroups

This file provides short descriptions of each newsgroup. It is normally updated by the local news server (e.g. innd(8)) whenever a new group is created. Each line consist of two tab-separated fields "group.name             one-line description".
group.name
is the name of the newsgroup
one-line description
is a short single-line description of the group
tin(1)
only tries to read the file if you read directly from the local spool, if you read news via NNTP, tin(1) uses the LIST NEWSGROUPS (RFC3977) command instead.

${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/organization

This file might hold a default organization to be used in the ''Organization:'' header. $ORGANIZATION has a higher priority if set.

${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/overview.fmt

This file specifies the organization of the news overview database (see also newsoverview(5)). The order of lines in this file is important; it determines the order in which the fields will appear in the database. See also overview.fmt(5). tin(1) only tries to read the file if you read directly from the local spool, if you read news via NNTP, tin(1) uses the LIST OVERVIEW.FMT (RFC3977) command instead.

${TIN_LIBDIR:-NEWSLIBDIR}/subscriptions

This file contains a list of newsgroups - one per line - which the client should subscribe to when the user has no ${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.newsrc for the news server. tin(1) only tries to read the file if you read directly from the local spool, if you read news via NNTP, tin(1) uses the LIST SUBSCRIPTIONS (RFC6048) command instead.