Software Update: NNTPGrab 0.6.0

The final release of NNTPGrab version 0.6 was released on Sunday. With this program files from usenet can be downloaded. NNTPGrab can of course handle nzb files, is able to automatically process par2 files and can consult multiple usenet servers at the same time. The software is released under an open source license and is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. In version 0.6, support for plugins has been added, among other things, which makes it easier to add new functionality in the future. Furthermore, a lot has changed under the hood, which should make the program more stable and efficient. Below is what has changed in this release:

Performance improvements:
In this version, a large part of the program has been rewritten so that the total performance is significantly improved compared to the 0.5 series. As a result, the program works more reliably. For example, it is now possible to pause the download queue immediately and configuration changes are implemented faster. The decoder has also been completely rewritten so that decoding files from now on will also be a lot faster than before.

Automatic file deletion:
It is now also possible to automatically delete files after a PAR2 repair and extraction. An option must first be activated in the configuration for this. This is done to prevent people from suddenly wondering where their downloaded files have gone.

Bandwidth limitation:
Another new feature in the program is the ability to apply bandwidth throttling. In the configuration of the program you can specify how much bandwidth the program may use. This is useful if you need to share an internet connection with others or if you want to keep enough bandwidth free for other internet activities.

Plug-in support:
A plugin architecture has been developed to make it easier to add functionality to the program in the future. This also makes it easier for third parties to make extensions to the program themselves.

One of the new plugins is the antisleep plugin created by chrashoverraid. This plugin ensures that under Windows environments the computer will not fall asleep during the download.

Another plugin is the logger. This will automatically collect logging while the program is running. If one encounters problems in the program, this logging is useful for the developers to investigate the problems further.

A plugin called NetworkManager has also been introduced for Linux environments. As the name suggests, this plugin provides integration with NetworkManager. If the network connection is lost, this plugin will automatically cause the download queue to be paused and then resumed.

JSON-RPC link and integrated web interface:
The JSON-RPC plugin is also a plugin introduced in this version. This plugin ensures that the program can be operated via a JSON-RPC interface. The NNTPGrab Server now also uses this interface for all communication.

Thanks to this plugin, an integrated web interface has also been introduced. This web interface was developed by Flex1986 and can be accessed at http://localhost:5423 (where localhost is the IP address or DNS name of the machine the web interface is running on and 5423 is the port specified in the NNTPGrab configuration). If prompted for a username and password, admin/admin can be used. This web interface is still under development, so some features are still missing. The intention is that in the next major release of NNTPGrab all features will be implemented in the web interface. Help with the further development of this web interface is of course welcome.

Improved interface under Windows and Mac OS X environments (NNTPGrab Server):
In this version of NNTPGrab a new graphical interface of the NNTPGrab Server has been added. This interface is made in Qt and has the advantage that the program looks much better under Windows and Mac OS X environments than before (more native). The intention is that in NNTPGrab 0.7 the regular graphical interface will also be rewritten in Qt.

The list of changes (relative to 0.5.91/0.6 Beta 2) is as follows:

• Added support to delete PAR2 files automatically after a PAR2 restore action
• Added preview of the integrated web interface (created by Flex1986)
• If an attempt was made to download files under Mac OS X, the program could crash. Fixed
• Added support for downloading through a proxy server under Windows environments
• Close all open connections immediately as soon as there is nothing left to download
• Prevent plugins that need to be loaded from loading multiple times
• Make sure the auto_import plugin is only built under environments with GLib 2.16.0 or higher
• The PHP module is no longer built by default as it has been replaced by the integrated web interface
• Adding files through the NNTPGrab Server did not work properly. Fixed
• Various fixes implemented in the JSON-RPC plugin
• While deleting files, the message ‘cannot commit – no transaction is active’ could occur. Fixed