ARCHIVED: In trn, how do I navigate in Usenet?

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This document contains a detailed list of commands available at several levels within trn. Those commands most useful for basic navigation are listed first. To find out what commands are available at most trn screens, press h or ?. For more information about trn, at the Unix prompt, enter:

  man trn

When you start trn versions 4 and above, you will enter the newsgroup selector. The following commands are available from this screen:

a-z or 0-9
Select/deselect the newsgroup by its letter or number. Many of the alpha letters are omitted for the following commands.
Spacebar
Perform the default command (usually > or Z ).
Shift-z or Enter
Add the selected groups to the end of your newsrc.
.
Toggle the current group's selection.
k or ,
Mark the current group as undesirable for subscribing.
-
Set a range, as in d - f. Repeats the last marking action.
@
Toggle the selection of all visible groups.
Shift-e
Toggle exclusion of non-selected groups from the selection list.
n or ] Move down to the next group.
p or [
Move up to the previous group.
< or > Go to previous/next page.
^ or $ Go to first/last page.
/pattern
Scan all newsgroups for a name matching the pattern.
&
Start the option selector or set command-line switches.
&&
View or set macro definitions.
!cad Escape to a subshell.
h or ? Go to help screen.
Shift-q Quit the selector.
q Quit trn.

When you start an earlier version of trn, or when you press Shift-q from the newsgroup selector in versions 4 and later, you will enter a browsing interface. From this interface, the following commands are available.

Basic commands

y Read this newsgroup now.
Space
Do this newsgroup, executing the default command listed within [].
+ Enter the newsgroup index.
Shift-u
Enter newsgroup with the option to read unread articles.
u
Unsubscribe from the newsgroup.
c
Catch up (mark all articles as read).
n
Move to the next newsgroup with unread articles.
Shift-n Go to the next newsgroup.
p
Go to the previous newsgroup with unread news.
Shift-p Go to the previous newsgroup.
q Quit trn.
g name Go to named newsgroup.

Other commands

.command
Read this newsgroup, executing command as first command.
=
Start this newsgroup, but list subjects before reading articles.
t
Toggle the newsgroup between threaded and unthreaded reading.
Shift-a
Abandon read/unread changes to this newsgroup since you started trn.
-
Go to the previously displayed newsgroup.
1 Go to the first newsgroup.
^
Go to the first newsgroup with unread news.
$ Go to the last newsgroup.
/pattern
Search forward for newsgroup matching pattern.
?pattern
Search backward for newsgroup matching pattern.
List unsubscribed newsgroups containing pattern.
m name
Move named newsgroup elsewhere.
o pattern
Only display newsgroups matching pattern.
Shift-o pattern
Like o, but skip empty groups.
a pattern
Like o, but also scans for unsubscribed newsgroups.
Shift-l List current .newsrc.
&
Print current command-line switch settings.
& switch {switch}
Set {unset} more command-line switches.
&&
Print current macro definitions.
&& def Define a new macro.
command Shell escape.
x
Quit, restoring .newsrc to its state at startup of trn.
Ctrl-k
Edit the global KILL file. Use commands like /pattern/j to suppress pattern in every newsgroup.
v
Print version and the address for reporting bugs.

In all versions, the following commands will allow you to move around after entering a newsgroup index:

Basic commands

a-z or 0-9
Select/deselect the indicated item by its letter or number. Many of the alpha letters are omitted for the following commands.
Space
Perform the default command (usually > or Z).
Enter
Start reading. Selects the current item if nothing is selected.
Shift-zor Tab
Start reading. If nothing is selected, read all unread articles.
.
Toggle the current item's selection.
nor ]
Move down to the next item (try down-arrow also).
por [
Move up to the previous item (try up-arrow also).
<or >
Go to previous/next page (try left-/right-arrow also).
^or $ Go to first/last page.
Shift-u
Switch between selecting unread/read articles.
Shift-x
Mark all unselected articles as read and start reading.
Shift-d
Mark unselected articles on the current page as read. Start reading if articles were selected, else go to next page.
q
Quit the selector and the group.

Other commands

*
Same as . except that it affects all items with the same subject.
#
Read the current item only, temporarily ignoring all other selections.
kor ,
Mark the current item as killed.
mor \ Unmark the current item.
-
Set a range, as in d - f. Repeats the last marking action.
@
Toggle the selection of all visible items.
Shift-m
Mark the current item's article(s) as to-return and kill the item.
Shift-y
Yank back and select articles marked to return via M.
Shift-e
Toggle exclusion of non-selected items from the selection list.
Shift-s
Set what the selector displays: threads, subjects, or articles. If the group is unthreaded, choosing threads will thread it.
=
Toggle between the article and thread/subject selector.
Shift-o
Set the selector's order. A separate default is kept for the article and subject/thread selector.
Shift-r
Reverse the current sort order.
Shift-l
Switch the display between a short style without authors and a medium or long style with authors.
Shift-j
Junk all selected articles (mark them as read).
c
Catch up -- marks all articles as read without chasing xrefs.
Shift-a
Add current subject to memorized commands (selection or killing).
Shift-t
Add current thread to memorized commands (selection or killing).
Ctrl-k
Edit local KILL file (the one for this newsgroup).
Shift-n
Leave this group as-is and go on to the next one.
Shift-p
Leave this group as-is and go on to the previous one.
:command
Perform a command on all the selected articles.
::command
Perform a command on all non-selected articles.
:.command
Perform a command on the current thread or its selected articles.
::.command
Perform a command on the unselected articles in the current thread.
/pattern/modifiers
Scan all articles for a subject containing pattern. (Append f to scan the from line, h to scan whole headers, a to scan entire articles, c to make it case-sensitive,r to scan read articles (assumed when you are selecting read articles to set unread.)
&
View or set command line switches.
&&
View or set macro definitions.
Escor +
Leave the selector but stay in the group (at last visited article).
Shift-q
Quit group and return to newsgroup selection prompt for this group.

In all versions, the following commands are available as you are paging through an article:

Basic commands

Space Display the next page.
b Back up one page.
q
Quit the pager, go to end of article. Leave article read or unread.
n
Scan forward for next unread article.
por Shift-por Ctrl-p
Same as nor Shift-nor Ctrl-n, only going backwards.

Other commands

x
Display the next page decrypted (rot13).
d Display half a page more.
Enter Display one more line.
Ctrl-ror vor Ctrl-x
Restart the current article (v=verbose header, Ctrl-x=rot13).
Ctrl-e
Display the last page of the article.
Ctrl-lor Shift-x Refresh the screen (X=rot13).
_ Shift-c
Switch characterset conversion.
t
Display the entire article tree and all its subjects.
g pattern
Go to (search forward within article for) pattern.
Shift-g
Search again for current pattern within article.
Ctrl-g
Search for next line beginning with "Subject:".
Tab
Search for next line beginning with a different character.
j
Junk this article (mark it read). Goes to end of article.
Shift-n Go to next article.
Ctrl-n
Scan forward for next unread article with same title.
-
Go to previously displayed article.
<or >
Browse the previous/next selected thread. If no threads are selected, all threads that had unread news upon entry to the group are considered selected for browsing. Entering an empty group browses all threads.
[or ]
Go to article's parent/child (try left-/right-arrow also).
(or )
Go to article's previous/next sibling (try up-/down-arrow also).
{or } Go to tree's root/leaf.

In all versions, the following article selection commands are available at the prompt at the end of an article:

Basic commands

nor Space
Find next unread article (follows discussion-tree in threaded groups).
por Shift-por Ctrl-p
Same as nor Shift-nor Ctrl-n, only going backwards.
for Shift-f
Submit a followup article (Shift-f= include this article).
ror Shift-r
Reply through email (Shift-r=include this article).
Ctrl-f
Forward article through email.
s ... Save to file or pipe via sh.
wor Shift-w
Like s and Shift-s but save without the header.
Shift-c
Cancel this article, if yours.
c
Catch up (mark all articles as read).
b Back up one page.
m Mark article as still unread.
k
Kill current subject (mark articles as read).
+
Start the selector in whatever mode it was last in.
Shift-u
Unread some news; prompts for thread, subthread, all, or select.
u
Unsubscribe from this newsgroup.
q Quit this newsgroup for now.

Other commands

Shift-n Go to next article.
Ctrl-n
Scan forward for next unread article with same subject in date order.
_ Shift-nor _ Shift-p
Go to the next/previous article numerically.
-
Go to previously displayed article.
<or >
Browse the previous/next selected thread. If no threads are selected, all threads that had unread news upon entry to the group are considered selected for browsing. Entering an empty group browses all threads.
[or ]
Go to article's parent/child (try left-/right-arrow also).
(or )
Go to article's previous/next sibling (try up-/down-arrow also).
{or } Go to tree's root/leaf.
t
Display the entire article tree and all its subjects.
number
Go to specified article. (Where number is the actual number of an article.)
:command
Perform a command on all the selected articles.
::command
Perform a command on all non-selected articles.
/pattern/modifiers
Scan forward for article containing pattern in the subject line. (Use ?pattern? to scan backwards; append f to scan from lines, h to scan whole headers, a to scan entire articles, r to scan read articles, c to make case-sensitive, t to scan from the top of the group.)
e dir{|command}
Extract to directory using /bin/sh, uudecode, unship, or command.
Shift-s ... Save via preferred shell.
| ... Same as s|...
Ctrl-ror v Restart article (v=verbose).
Ctrl-x Restart article, rot13 mode.
_ Shift-c
Switch characterset conversion.
Ctrl-e
Display the last page of the article.
Ctrl-l
Refresh the screen. You can get back to the pager with this.
Shift-x Refresh screen in rot13 mode.
^
Go to first unread article. Disables subject search mode.
$
Go to end of newsgroup. Disables subject search mode.
# Print last article number.
&
Print current values of command-line switches.
& switch {switch} Set or unset more switches.
&&
Print current macro definitions.
&& def Define a new macro.
j
Junk this article (mark it read). Stays at end of article.
Shift-m
Mark article as read but to-return on group exit or Y command.
Shift-y
Yank back articles marked as to-return via the M command.
,
Mark current article and its replies as read.
Shift-j
Junk entire thread (mark all subjects as read in this thread).
Shift-a
Add current subject to memorized commands (selection or killing).
Shift-t
Add current (sub)thread to memorized commands (selection or killing).
Shift-k
Mark current subject as read, and save command in KILL file.
Ctrl-k
Edit local KILL file (the one for this newsgroup).
=
List subjects of unread articles.
_ a Start the article selector.
_ s Start the subject selector.
_ t Start the thread selector.
_ Shift-t
Start the thread selector if threaded, else the subject selector.
Shift-q
Quit newsgroup, staying at current newsgroup.

This is document abxg in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 09:02:56.