SuperNZB – Decoder Window

SuperNZB’s Decoder window can be opened from the File Menu.

Files posted to newsgroups must be chopped up and then encoded from binary data into plain text. The job of the Decoder is to glue files back together and then decode them back into their original form.

When SuperNZB has downloaded all the parts for one of the files in the list on the Queue window, it gives the filename to the Decoder. The Decoder will first take all of the file’s constituent part files in the Parts folder and write them into one large file – this does not take very long. Then it will begin to decode that large, temporary file into the finished file, which takes longer. When that is done, the Decoder will remove all of the part files.

If you like, you can stop the Decoder and let your computer use all of its power to do the downloading. Then you could disconnect from the internet, start the Decoder and let it finish its work. If you click the Stop button while the Decoder is in the middle of the file, it will finish the file and then stop.

The Decoder doesn’t slow down the downloading process very much. It is processor-intensive, while downloading is input/output intensive. So usually, letting it run while the Downloader works is not a problem.

You can also create more Decoders if you like via the Commands menu. Watch the messages at the bottom of the Queue window to see how many files are waiting to be decoded. If your system can download faster than it can decode, then you can reduce the number of server connections, and increase the number of Decoders, or vice versa.

If your server does not have all the parts for a file, SuperNZB will not automatically combine and decode it. If you can’t find the remaining parts on another server, and you have PAR files, then you can tell SuperNZB to combine and decode the file. Even though the resulting file will be missing data, if you have enough PARs, SuperNZB will be able to restore the file. To do this,

  1. Stop the program if it is downloading.
  2. Click the incomplete file on the Queue window to select it.
  3. Go onto the Commands menu and then to “Force File Decode”.
  4. (This command was added in v3.2.1)
  5. SuperNZB will put the file onto the stack for the Decoder.
  6. The Decoder will then decode the file.
  7. If you have more than one incomplete file, you can use the “Force File Decode” again without waiting for the first file to be completed.