Pan binary files

[mick]

As a sample, four popular groups I frequent.

1) free.virginmedia.binaries.test
2) alt.binaries.pictures.rail
3) alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.complete_cd
4) alt.binaries.e-book.magazines

Number 1 contains a mixture of posts, text, photos, music etc.

Number 2 is nearly 100% .jpg photos, sometimes posts contain text with
photos sometimes just photos, post size varies quite considerably.

Number 3 are nearly all yenc .mp3 files with the odd few files of album
covers usually in .jpg format.

Number 4 nearly all .pdf files.

When perusing the different groups and clicking on a post I get
different quirky actions.

In Number 4 clicking on a post offers up the option of saving the file,
which is what I want.

In Number 3 clicking on a .mp3 post brings up the save option, clicking
on a .jpg opens the photo in the body pane, ok, I can live with that and
choose to save if I want to.

In Number 2 all posts open in the body pane displaying their attached
photos, nice.

In Number 1 I get a variety of this happening, some photo only posts
open in the body pane, others refuse and will only offer the save
function, refusing to open in the body pane.

File size has no bearing, so why the difference, especially in Number 1?

[DaveG]

Post by mick
File size has no bearing, so why the difference, especially in Number 1?

It seems to be a quirk of Pan which I've learned to live with. Non-image
files always bring up the file save dialogue, which I would expect. Some
image files open, some don't, possibly related to file size and/or
encoding type. If you right-click a jpg or other image files then click
"Read Article" then the image file will open in the body pane. It's
become second nature to me to right click and choose the action I want.

Pan doesn't do GIF anim either, it only displays the first frame.

Since this is a behaviour that doesn't really cause me much hassle I've
never worried too much about it. But it might be worth your while asking
about it on the Pan mailing list, especially if you can give specific
examples of where the behaviour is anomalous.

The original author has long left the scene, having lost interest in
Usenet in general. The new maintainer has pretty much re-written Pan but
has a "life" (lucky him!) so tends to make changes/updates/add features
in spurts of activity. There are a few very knowledgeable people hanging
out on the Pan mailing list who can help or at least guide you to
identifying what and where the problem is and maybe work around it, but
Pan is pretty much a one man show.

[mick]

Post by DaveG

Post by mick
File size has no bearing, so why the difference, especially in Number 1?

It seems to be a quirk of Pan which I've learned to live with.
Non-image files always bring up the file save dialogue, which I would
expect. Some image files open, some don't, possibly related to file
size and/or encoding type. If you right-click a jpg or other image
files then click "Read Article" then the image file will open in the
body pane. It's become second nature to me to right click and choose
the action I want.
Pan doesn't do GIF anim either, it only displays the first frame.
Since this is a behaviour that doesn't really cause me much hassle I've
never worried too much about it. But it might be worth your while
asking about it on the Pan mailing list, especially if you can give
specific examples of where the behaviour is anomalous.
The original author has long left the scene, having lost interest in
Usenet in general. The new maintainer has pretty much re-written Pan
but has a "life" (lucky him!) so tends to make changes/updates/add
features in spurts of activity. There are a few very knowledgeable
people hanging out on the Pan mailing list who can help or at least
guide you to identifying what and where the problem is and maybe work
around it, but Pan is pretty much a one man show.

I see, it is not just me then.
I did sort of come across one scenario, i,e, my posts to fvbt - blank
lines - would not open in the body pane (without clicking Read Article).
Then I came across another group where a similar post with more than one
attachment acted the same. So I assume multiple attachments in a single
post are to blame as when posting my test1 and test2 posts with single
attachment seem to prove.
But then Geoff's post - Police can't - would not open in the body pane and
there is only one attachment. So yes, a bit quirky and I work around it
like you. It's not a big issue and I have learned which groups I need to
apply a different strategy to.
Thanks for confirming.