                         InterNotes News Gateway

                             Beta Release

                           General Information


Last updated:  December 22, 1994

Table of Contents:

	1. What is the Gateway?
	2. System Requirements
	3. How do I get and install it?
	4. Beta program information
	5. How to report problems and suggestions
	6. List of known problems and limitations

=======================================================================
SECTION 1:  What is the InterNotes News Gateway?

InterNotes News Gateway is software that provides Notes users 
access to USENET newsgroups.  By using the InterNotes News Gateway 
software, users can subscribe to newsgroups, read articles, post 
articles, and post electronic mail replies to articles.  The InterNotes 
News Gateway software runs on the Notes Server, not on the Notes Client itself.

This program was developed by the InterNotes team at Iris Associates, 
Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lotus Development Corporation. Please
refer to Section 4 for important information regarding use and support
of this Beta software.

=======================================================================
SECTION 2: System Requirements

The InterNotes News Gateway software runs on a Notes Server computer, 
which is then referred to as the News Gateway computer.  Before installing 
the InterNotes News Gateway software, you must meet the following network, 
hardware and software requirements.

NETWORK REQUIREMENTS

You must have the following network connectivity to use the InterNotes 
News Gateway software.  Note that you can exchange newsgroup articles with 
either a remote (Internet-based) or a local NNTP USENET News Server.

For remote connections:
     *    A direct Internet connection using TCP/IP   
     *    A USENET News Server with which to exchange news articles  
    
For local connections:
     *    A direct LAN connection using TCP/IP  
     *    A USENET News Server with which to exchange news articles

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

The News Gateway computer must meet the following hardware requirements:

     *    An Intel 80486 or greater microprocessor
     *    A 33 Mhz or higher processor clock speed is recommended
     *    A minimum of 16MB of random access memory (32MB recommended)
     *    1 Gigabyte disk drive is recommended to support the large 
          amounts of disk space that newsgroups can use
     *    A network adapter 

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

 The News Gateway computer must meet the following software requirements:

  For a Microsoft Windows NT Server:

    *    Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server Version 3.1 or
          Microsoft Windows NT 3.1
    *    Notes Server for Windows NT Version 3.2 or higher

  For an OS/2 Server:

    *    IBM OS/2 Version 2.x
    *    Notes Server for OS/2 Version 3.2 or higher
    *    IBM TCP/IP Version 2.0 for OS/2 2.0 or higher
        
SUPPORTED CLIENTS

The InterNotes News Gateway software supports all the Notes clients, Version 3.1 or higher.

=======================================================================
SECTION 3. How Do I Get and Install it?
	
The Beta release of the gateway is available from the Iris Associates
FTP server (ftp.notes.net).  The distribution is located in the \pub\news 
subdirectory. Please log in as anonymous and use your e-mail address
as the password. You can also use a WWW browser to download the software
and get more information and news about InterNotes. The URL is:

http://www.notes.net/

The distribution consists of four files as follows:

  COPYWRT.TXT   	The Lotus Beta license agreement (Read it!)

  README.TXT    	This general information file

  INEWS2BN.EXE	The self extracting release for Windows NT Servers

  INEWS2BI.EXE	The self extracting release for OS/2 Servers
                		
To install the software, download the appropriate executable into a
temporary directory and run it from a DOS prompt (The copyright and 
readme files are also in the self-extracting file.) This will extract
the gateway program and support files.  Run your Notes client software
and open the InterNotes News Gateway (INNEWDOC.NSF) online book from the 
temporary directory.  We suggest that you print the book and read it
completely before proceeding with the gateway installation.  A complete
description of installation and configuration procedures is contained 
in Chapters 2 and 3 of the online manual.

=======================================================================
SECTION 4. Beta Program Information

This beta software is being distributed as widely as possible to
encourage the use of Lotus Notes and USENET News during the beta 
period.  Please read the Lotus license agreement to understand the 
terms and conditions for use of this software.  We want you to
use it and test it, but not sell or profit from it. 

We encourage you to send us your comments and suggestions
as well as any problems you may encounter.  If you are an experienced
Notes administrator, you will notice that we have left the design of
forms and views unlocked so that you can change them to your
needs.  Our objective with this release was to develop a base product that
others could utilize for customization.  We encourage you to experiment 
with and try different views, macros or forms.  

We intend to distribute updates to this Beta as often as necessary. The
latest version will be on the ftp.notes.net server and we will update
our WWW pages (http://www.notes.net/) to reflect any updates.

For this beta distribution on the Internet, we are supporting users by
e-mail only (see Section 5: How to Report Problems and Suggestions).
PLEASE do not call Lotus Customer support or Iris Associates because we 
will respond *only* to e-mail.

If you are having problems getting the proper news feed from your Internet
Service Provider, we are willing to make our News Server available during 
the beta period.  We offer this only to sites who are willing to give us 
regular and constructive feedback on the beta software.  If you want a 
news feed from us, please send a request to us by sending an e-mail message
to us indicating your system equipment, network environment and personnel
resources. We regret that we must limit this offer to those who have 
environments that offer the best testing environments.

Finally, we hope you enjoy using Notes as a USENET news manager.  We 
look forward to hearing from you!

	- The InterNotes Team

	  (internotes@iris.com)

======================================================================
SECTION 5:  How to Report Problems and Suggestions
	
As previously stated, we are supporting this beta software by e-mail only.
To help us process your comments, please use one of the following
subjects on your subject line:

     IN News: Support request
     IN News: Software Problem Report
     IN News: Enhancement Request
     IN News: General Comment

Before sending a problem report, please read Section 6: Known Problems
and Limitations. We will attempt to respond as quickly as possible. 
When sending support or problem reports, please include the following 
information:

  Your Name:

  Your organization:

  Your preferred e-mail address:

  Your phone number:
  
===============================================================                      
  InterNotes Product:  InterNotes News Gateway	
  Version:                        Beta (December 22, 1994)
  ===============================================================
  Notes Server Platform (WinNT or OS/2):	

  Notes Client Platform:		

  Problem is reproducible with these steps:  		

  Brief Description:		

  Expanded Description:		

              e-mail (only) to: internotes@iris.com
                        THANK YOU!!

=====================================================================
SECTION 6: Known Problems and Limitations

The following are known problems and limitations you should be aware of:

a.  Scheduling news exchange

Currently the News Gateway will only run on specific times scheduled
in the News Connection form.  Time ranges in the schedule field
will be ignored and only the first time will be used.  As a result, the repeat 
interval field will not be used.

b.  Post at once if Field

Currently the News Gateway will not follow the rules set in the Post at 
once field.  The only way to force sending of posts is to issue the tell 
innews send command at the server console or remote console.

c. Article truncation

Posted news articles will be truncated if there is a '.' on a blank
line followed by a Line Feed/Carriage Return sequence.  The workaround
is to place a space or a second period on the line. 

d. First news download

The documentation currently tells you to type TELL INNEWS TRANSFER to start the 
newsfeed right away.  This will only transfer news from the news server.  In order
to have the news properly distributed, you should allow the News Gateway to
perform the functions through the scheduled connection in the News Connection form.
This can be done by setting the next scheduled connection time to be right away.

e.  Unsubscribing to newsgroups

If you unsubscribe to a newsgroup, the News Gateway will still receive and deliver 
articles for those newsgroups.  In order to remedy this, you need to go into the  
hidden view "($NewsgroupsbyDatabase)" in the INCONFIG.NSF database 
and make it unhidden.  Then go to the view in the database and delete the 
subscription documents for the newsgroups that you no longer subscribe to.  
Remember to go back and hide the ($NewsgroupsbyDatabase) view when you are done.

f.  Date formats

We are only supporting standard date/time formats.  If a news article in Notes has a different date 
from that found on the actual article header,  it is because the article has a nonstandard date/time 
format (such as MM/DD/YY) which is not translated by the News Gateway.

g.  The Posting allowed field

This field in the News Server form in the InterNotes News Configuration 
database currently defaults to 'Yes'.  This may be incorrect because the News Gateway
does not correctly report the parameter from the News Server.

h.  Cross posting of replies 

When a Notes user creates a reply to a document, it does not appear in other databases
that subscribe to the same newsgroup until it is sent to the News Server and pulled back 
down during a news download. 

i.  Extraneous Messages during NNTP.DLL load

On the NT platform, you will see the following output when you start your first 
connection to the News Server:

12/22/94 10:01 AM  36:EB
12/22/94 10:01 AM  INNEWS: Beta Version 2b for Windows NT
12/22/94 10:01 AM  36:EC
12/22/94 10:01 AM  36:ED
12/22/94 10:01 AM  36:EE

Instead, the output should be:

12/22/94 10:01 AM  NNTP: InterNotes (R) Network News Transport Loading....
12/22/94 10:01 AM  NNTP: Beta Version 2b for Windows NT
12/22/94 10:01 AM  NNTP: (c) Copyright 1993-1994 Iris Associates
12/22/94 10:01 AM  NNTP: (c) Copyright 1994 Lotus Development Corporation
12/22/94 10:01 AM  NNTP: All Rights Reserved 

This is a known problem that will have no effect on the operation of the News Gateway.

j.  Installing the News Gateway Executables

The documentation currently states that the News Gateway executable should be put in the operating
system program directory. This is incorrect the executable should be put in the Notes program 
directory along with the DLL in order for it to load.

k.  INDefaultSubDir= should be INDefaultPath=

In order to set a subdirectory for News Gateway files, you need to set the parameter INDefaultPath=
in your NOTES.INI file not INDefaultSubDir=.  The documentation reflects a future change.