GrabIt - GrabIt Search and NZB files

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This chapter contains three parts. First I will show you how to download using GrabIt Usenet Search, then Grabit Usenet Browser, and then I will explain how to download using NZB files. Both methods enable you to download files without having to download headers first.

GrabIt Usenet Search

GrabIt Search is a revolutionary search engine that was implemented in GrabIt 1.5.0. Just like the other super searches of, for example, Newsleecher, GrabIt Search makes it possible to search through many Usenet newsgroups at Usenet simultaneously without updating the groups manually. GrabIt Usenet Search isn't free. You have to buy a subscription to use it. You can try the search engine about 3 times per day for free, though.

The search engine is located under the GrabIt Usenet Search tab. Just enter any search string you want and click Search. It is important that you choose a search string that you know for certain is in the post header, otherwise the post you are looking for won’t be found. In this example we are going to download 'FTD Watchdog', so we fill in the search field and click the 'Search' button. Then a lot of groups will be searched and the results will be shown. We don't even have to download the headers of groups!

Downloading these results is very similar to the way we downloaded the headers before. Just select all the items you want to download and click the Grab button. This time, however, we have to choose between our default server and our payserver. After you have chosen one of these options, GrabIt will download these headers in the same way as explained in the chapter ‘Downloading headers and files’.

To buy a subscription for this service from Grabit, click on the button 'Account Information' and follow the instructions.

Grabit Usenet Browser

Grabit has another nice feature, the Usenet Browser. GrabIt Usenet Browser isn't free. You have to buy a subscription to use it. With this feature you can quickly see all headers of a certain group that are a couple of days old. Click on the 'Refresh group list' button first if there are no groups listed in the first dropdown box.

The example above will result in Grabit quickly displaying all headers of 'alt.binaries.boneless' that are 5 days old or less. Easy! After this, downloading files can be done in the same way that we did before.

To buy a subscription for this service from Grabit, click on the button 'Account Information' and follow the instructions.

NZB Files

NZB files are files that contain all the data about a post, so when such a file is imported, GrabIt knows exactly what to download and where the post can be found. If you don’t know exactly what NZB files are, I recommend you read the tutorial about NZB files first.

NZB files can be imported in the Batch tab. Just click the Article import button.

A screen pops up with options for our NZB.

First we can choose between a NZB or a BNS file (1).
Then we have to select the newsserver we want to download the post with (2).
Select the NZB files you want to import.
Finally two personal options. I checked them both.

Click Grab and GrabIt imports our NZB file(s). We see in our Batch tab a list of items that the NZB contains. GrabIt starts downloading automatically.

This was all about downloading with GrabIt. There is still one small feature left: posting short text messages into Usenet newsgroups.

To the next chapter: Posting short messages into Usenet newsgroups

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