Author Topic: Select group from which to download  (Read 2268 times)

Offline d4f0rc3

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Select group from which to download
« on: February 05, 2012, 04:48:05 pm »
Often there a cross-posts that have been uploaded to more then one group. All those groups are mentioned in the nzb file.

So my question/request is, is it possible to add an option to the search dialogue that when you add a post to your download queue (where you are given the option to add it paused and change the folder/release name) you also get a dropdown menue where you can select the group you want to download from?
The reason is that some groups have a low retention due to the huge amount of data they recieve every day thus making old releases incomplete or missing at all in that specific group. By selecting another group you may circumvent the issue of missing or incomplete files due to better completion/retention in that other group.

I hope you get my point. I'm looking forward to comments or even the addition of that feature.

Offline Hecks

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Re: Select group from which to download
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2012, 05:58:23 pm »
Downloading isn't by group, but by Message ID (defined as 'segments' in the NZB) - these are independent of group listings & retention by necessity, since group message numbers are specific to each server.  This is why NZBs can be shared between users on different servers.  Cross-posted articles should always have the same Message ID. The groups lists in NZBs are really just for info (and in fact, not all indexers list all the cross-posted groups).

The only time it's necessary is when some (mis-configured) server requires Alt.Binz to issue the select group command before grabbing articles via message IDs - a useless step otherwise.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2012, 06:07:53 pm by Hecks »

Offline d4f0rc3

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Re: Select group from which to download
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2012, 02:11:45 pm »
I don't get it, so the retention is a big bogus when the hoster tells me that one group only has 300 days and another has 900 days?

Offline Hecks

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Re: Select group from which to download
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2012, 08:04:12 pm »
Marketing schmarketing!

Different NSPs mean different things by group retention, some don't include headers, some do - so in some cases the headers won't be available, but the articles can still be grabbed via msg ID (i.e. by using a valid NZB). In principle, I guess no msg ID should be deleted while some group has a reference to it (however these are counted), but in practice the purging policies can vary a lot. Best thing to do is to ask your provider - like with the example, what happens to an article which is cross-posted to both a group with '300 days' retention and another with '900 days' at the 301 days mark ... if it is purged, how can the second group be said to have '900 days retention' in any meaningful sense?

Or ask user Jesus here, who is the official expert in all such things. :D
« Last Edit: February 09, 2012, 08:12:14 pm by Hecks »