NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) CCCC NNNNeeeewwwwssss ((((8888 JJJJuuuunnnneeee 1111999988889999)))) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) NNNNAAAAMMMMEEEE news - USENET network news articles, batches, related files DDDDEEEESSSSCCCCRRRRIIIIPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN There are two formats of news articles: AAAA and BBBB.... AAAA format is obsolete, but looks like this: AAAA_a_r_t_i_c_l_e-_I_D _n_e_w_s_g_r_o_u_p_s _p_a_t_h _d_a_t_e _t_i_t_l_e _B_o_d_y _o_f _a_r_t_i_c_l_e A BBBB format _a_r_t_i_c_l_e consists of a series of headers and then the body. A header line is defined (approximately) as a line at the start of the article or immediately following a header line with a capital letter as the first character and a colon immediately following the first word, of alphanumerics and dashes, on the line (a specialisation of RFC 822 format). Continued headers are as per RFC 822. Unrecognized headers are ignored. News is stored in the same format transmitted, see ``Standard for the Interchange of USENET Messages'' (RFC 1036 nee 850) for a full description. The following headers are among those recognized: FFFFrrrroooommmm:::: _u_s_e_r@@@@_h_o_s_t._d_o_m_a_i_n[._d_o_m_a_i_n ...] (((( _F_u_l_l _N_a_m_e)))) NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss:::: _n_e_w_s _g_r_o_u_p_s MMMMeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeee----IIIIDDDD:::: <<<<_U_n_i_q_u_e _R_F_C_8_2_2 _m_e_s_s_a_g_e-_i_d>>>> SSSSuuuubbbbjjjjeeeecccctttt:::: _d_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_v_e _t_i_t_l_e DDDDaaaatttteeee:::: _d_a_t_e _p_o_s_t_e_d EEEExxxxppppiiiirrrreeeessss:::: _e_x_p_i_r_a_t_i_o_n _d_a_t_e RRRReeeeppppllllyyyy----TTTToooo:::: _a_d_d_r_e_s_s _f_o_r _m_a_i_l _r_e_p_l_i_e_s RRRReeeeffffeeeerrrreeeennnncccceeeessss:::: _M_e_s_s_a_g_e-_I_D _o_f _a_r_t_i_c_l_e _t_h_i_s _i_s _a _f_o_l_l_o_w-_u_p _t_o. CCCCoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll:::: _t_e_x_t _o_f _a _c_o_n_t_r_o_l _m_e_s_s_a_g_e Here is an example of an article: PPPPaaaatttthhhh:::: aaaatttttttt!!!!eeeeaaaagggglllleeee!!!!jjjjeeeerrrrrrrryyyy FFFFrrrroooommmm:::: jjjjeeeerrrrrrrryyyy@@@@eeeeaaaagggglllleeee....uuuuuuuuccccpppp ((((JJJJeeeerrrrrrrryyyy SSSScccchhhhwwwwaaaarrrrzzzz)))) NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss:::: nnnneeeewwwwssss....aaaannnnnnnnoooouuuunnnncccceeee SSSSuuuubbbbjjjjeeeecccctttt:::: UUUUsssseeeennnneeeetttt EEEEttttiiiiqqqquuuueeeetttttttteeee -------- PPPPlllleeeeaaaasssseeee RRRReeeeaaaadddd MMMMeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeee----IIIIDDDD:::: <<<<666644442222@@@@eeeeaaaagggglllleeee....UUUUUUUUCCCCPPPP>>>> DDDDaaaatttteeee:::: FFFFrrrriiiiddddaaaayyyy,,,, 11119999 NNNNoooovvvv 88882222 11116666::::11114444::::55555555 EEEESSSSTTTT FFFFoooolllllllloooowwwwuuuupppp----TTTToooo:::: nnnneeeewwwwssss....mmmmiiiisssscccc EEEExxxxppppiiiirrrreeeessss:::: SSSSaaaattttuuuurrrrddddaaaayyyy,,,, 1111 JJJJaaaannnn 88883333 00000000::::00000000::::00000000 EEEESSSSTTTT OOOOrrrrggggaaaannnniiiizzzzaaaattttiiiioooonnnn:::: BBBBeeeellllllll LLLLaaaabbbbssss,,,, MMMMuuuurrrrrrrraaaayyyy HHHHiiiillllllll TTTThhhheeee bbbbooooddddyyyy ooooffff tttthhhheeee aaaarrrrttttiiiicccclllleeee ccccoooommmmeeeessss hhhheeeerrrreeee,,,, aaaafffftttteeeerrrr aaaa bbbbllllaaaannnnkkkk lllliiiinnnneeee.... Page 1 (printed 6/29/89) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) CCCC NNNNeeeewwwwssss ((((8888 JJJJuuuunnnneeee 1111999988889999)))) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) A _n_e_w_s _b_a_t_c_h consists of zero or more articles, each preceded by a line of the form ####!!!! rrrrnnnneeeewwwwssss _b_y_t_e-_c_o_u_n_t where _b_y_t_e-_c_o_u_n_t is the number of bytes in the following article, where each newline is counted as a single byte, even if it is stored as a CR-LF or some other representation. Spaces are significant: one before and one after rrrrnnnneeeewwwwssss. News batches are usually transmitted _c_o_m_p_r_e_s_sed. Various peculiar optional encapsulations of news batches exist which consist of doing something to the (probably compressed) batch, then prepending a ####!!!! _g_o_o line to the output, where _g_o_o reflects the form of encapsulation; known values of _g_o_o include ccccuuuunnnnbbbbaaaattttcccchhhh (the null encapsulation), and cccc7777uuuunnnnbbbbaaaattttcccchhhh (encode the batch using only seven bits per character). The _s_y_s file line has four fields, each separated by colons: _s_y_s_t_e_m- _n_a_m_e////_e_x_c_l_u_s_i_o_n_1,,,,_e_x_c_l_u_s_i_o_n_2...::::_s_u_b_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n_s////_d_i_s_t_r_i_b_u_t_i_o_n_s::::_f_l_a_g_s::::_t_r_a_n_s_m_i_s_s_i_o_n _c_o_m_m_a_n_d A #### as the first character in a line denotes a comment. Blank lines are ignored. A logical line may be continued to the next physical line by putting a \\\\ at the end of the line. Of the _s_y_s fields, only the _s_y_s_t_e_m-_n_a_m_e need be present. If a field and all the fields after it are omitted, the colon immediately before that field and all the colons after it may be omitted too. The optional subfields (_e_x_c_l_u_s_i_o_ns and _d_i_s_t_r_i_b_u_t_i_o_n_s) and their leading slashes may be omitted. The _s_y_s_t_e_m _n_a_m_e is the name of the system being sent to, and is checked against site names in PPPPaaaatttthhhh:::: headers to avoid sending an article back to a site that has seen it. The special name MMMMEEEE stands for the name of the machine news is running on, as determined by some operating-system dependent means such as _h_o_s_t_n_a_m_e(2) or _u_n_a_m_e(2). The _e_x_c_l_u_s_i_o_ns are also checked against the PPPPaaaatttthhhh:::: header and articles are not sent to _s_y_s_t_e_m _n_a_m_e if they have visited any of the _e_x_c_l_u_s_i_o_n_s. The _s_u_b_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n_s is the list of newsgroups to be transmitted to the _s_y_s_t_e_m (or received if _s_y_s_t_e_m is the current site); they are matched against the NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss:::: header of each article and any matching articles are transmitted: aaaallllllll matches any single word, stopping at Page 2 (printed 6/29/89) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) CCCC NNNNeeeewwwwssss ((((8888 JJJJuuuunnnneeee 1111999988889999)))) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) periods and commas; ccccoooommmmpppp also implies ccccoooommmmpppp....aaaallllllll, recursively; !!!!ttttaaaallllkkkk _m_i_s_m_a_t_c_h_e_s all the ttttaaaallllkkkk groups; order is unimportant; ccccoooommmmpppp,,,,ccccoooommmmpppp....ssssyyyyssss....ssssuuuunnnn,,,,!!!!ccccoooommmmpppp....ssssyyyyssss matches all the ccccoooommmmpppp groups, _e_x_c_e_p_t the ccccoooommmmpppp....ssssyyyyssss groups _b_u_t _i_n_c_l_u_d_i_n_g ccccoooommmmpppp....ssssyyyyssss....ssssuuuunnnn. The _d_i_s_t_r_i_b_u_t_i_o_n_s are matched similarly with the DDDDiiiissssttttrrrriiiibbbbuuuuttttiiiioooonnnn:::: header, but only when sending articles; _d_i_s_t_r_i_b_u_t_i_o_n_s do not affect receipt of articles. If no _d_i_s_t_r_i_b_u_t_i_o_n_s are supplied, the _s_u_b_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n_s will be matched against DDDDiiiissssttttrrrriiiibbbbuuuuttttiiiioooonnnn:::: instead. The _f_l_a_g_s are a set of letters describing how the article should be transmitted. Valid flags include ffff (interpret _t_r_a_n_s_m_i_s_s_i_o_n _c_o_m_m_a_n_d as a file name and write the name and size in bytes of each article on the end of it), FFFF (like ffff but omit the size), IIII (like FFFF but write Message-ID:s instead of filenames), nnnn (like FFFF but write a Message-ID: after each filename), LLLL_n (only send articles generated within _n hops of here; 0 is the default value for _n), mmmm (transmit only moderated groups), uuuu (transmit only unmoderated groups). There are other obsolete ones. The _t_r_a_n_s_m_i_s_s_i_o_n _c_o_m_m_a_n_d is executed by the shell with the article to be transmitted as the standard input. The default is `uux - -z -r _s_y_s_n_a_m_e!rnews' for a command; the PATH searched includes /usr/lib/newsbin/relay, so that the commands described in _n_e_w_s_m_a_i_l(8) are available as alternatives to _u_u_x. If one of the _f_l_a_g_s has caused this field to be taken as a filename, the default is /usr/spool/news/out.going/_s_y_s_n_a_m_e/togo; if a filename is given but it does not start with `/', it is assumed to be relative to the /usr/spool/news/out.going directory. Some examples: #### lllliiiinnnneeee iiiinnnnddddiiiiccccaaaattttiiiinnnngggg wwwwhhhhaaaatttt wwwweeee aaaarrrreeee wwwwiiiilllllllliiiinnnngggg ttttoooo rrrreeeecccceeeeiiiivvvveeee;;;; nnnnooootttteeee llllooooccccaaaallll ggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss oooonnnn eeeennnndddd MMMMEEEE::::ccccoooommmmpppp,,,,nnnneeeewwwwssss,,,,sssscccciiii,,,,rrrreeeecccc,,,,mmmmiiiisssscccc,,,,ssssoooocccc,,,,ttttaaaallllkkkk,,,,ttttoooo,,,,ccccaaaannnn,,,,oooonnnntttt,,,,ttttoooorrrr,,,,uuuutttt #### ssssaaaammmmpppplllleeee iiiinnnnssssiiiiggggnnnniiiiffffiiiiccccaaaannnntttt ffffeeeeeeeedddd nnnnooootttt uuuussssiiiinnnngggg bbbbaaaattttcccchhhhiiiinnnngggg hhhhuuuueeeeyyyy::::nnnneeeewwwwssss....ccccoooonnnnffffiiiigggg,,,,ttttoooo....hhhhuuuueeeeyyyy////aaaallllllll::::::::uuuuuuuuxxxx ---- ----rrrr ----ggggdddd hhhhuuuueeeeyyyy!!!!rrrrnnnneeeewwwwssss #### ssssaaaammmmpppplllleeee mmmmaaaajjjjoooorrrr bbbbaaaattttcccchhhheeeedddd ffffeeeeeeeedddd,,,, iiiinnnncccclllluuuuddddiiiinnnngggg ((((uuuunnnnnnnneeeecccceeeessssssssaaaarrrryyyy)))) eeeexxxxpppplllliiiicccciiiitttt ffffiiiilllleeee nnnnaaaammmmeeee ddddeeeewwwweeeeyyyy::::ccccoooommmmpppp,,,,nnnneeeewwwwssss,,,,sssscccciiii,,,,rrrreeeecccc,,,,mmmmiiiisssscccc,,,,ssssoooocccc,,,,ttttaaaallllkkkk,,,,ttttoooo....ddddeeeewwwweeeeyyyy,,,,ccccaaaannnn,,,,oooonnnntttt,,,,ttttoooorrrr,,,,uuuutttt////aaaallllllll::::ffff::::ddddeeeewwwweeeeyyyy////ttttooooggggoooo #### ssssaaaammmmpppplllleeee lllloooonnnngggg----hhhhaaaauuuullll ffffeeeeeeeedddd;;;; nnnnooootttteeee nnnnoooo llllooooccccaaaallll ggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss ddddoooonnnnaaaalllldddd::::ccccoooommmmpppp,,,,nnnneeeewwwwssss,,,,sssscccciiii,,,,rrrreeeecccc,,,,mmmmiiiisssscccc,,,,ssssoooocccc,,,,ttttaaaallllkkkk,,,,ttttoooo....ddddoooonnnnaaaalllldddd////aaaallllllll::::ffff:::: #### ssssaaaammmmpppplllleeee llllooooccccaaaallll----ppppoooossssttttiiiinnnnggggssss----oooonnnnllllyyyy ffffeeeeeeeedddd ddddiiiirrrreeeecccctttt ttttoooo mmmmaaaajjjjoooorrrr ssssiiiitttteeee ((((ggggeeeettttssss tttthhhheeeemmmm oooouuuutttt ffffaaaasssstttt)))) ssssccccrrrrooooooooggggeeee::::ccccoooommmmpppp,,,,nnnneeeewwwwssss,,,,sssscccciiii,,,,rrrreeeecccc,,,,mmmmiiiisssscccc,,,,ssssoooocccc,,,,ttttaaaallllkkkk,,,,ttttoooo....ssssccccrrrrooooooooggggeeee////aaaallllllll::::LLLLffff:::: #### ssssaaaammmmpppplllleeee iiiihhhhaaaavvvveeee////sssseeeennnnddddmmmmeeee lllliiiinnnnkkkk #### SSSSeeeennnndddd iiiihhhhaaaavvvveeee tttteeeelllllllliiiinnnngggg lllloooouuuuiiiieeee wwwwhhhhaaaatttt wwwweeee hhhhaaaavvvveeee -------- bbbbaaaattttcccchhhheeeerrrr ttttuuuurrrrnnnnssss tttthhhheeee bbbbaaaattttcccchhhh iiiinnnnttttoooo aaaa #### ggggiiiiaaaannnntttt ccccoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll mmmmeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeee aaaannnndddd ppppoooossssttttssss iiiitttt ttttoooo """"ttttoooo....lllloooouuuuiiiieeee"""".... ((((####1111)))) Page 3 (printed 6/29/89) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) CCCC NNNNeeeewwwwssss ((((8888 JJJJuuuunnnneeee 1111999988889999)))) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) lllloooouuuuiiiieeee::::rrrreeeecccc....mmmmuuuussssiiiicccc....ssssyyyynnnntttthhhh////aaaallllllll,,,,!!!!sssseeeennnnddddmmmmeeee,,,,!!!!iiiihhhhaaaavvvveeee::::IIII::::lllloooouuuuiiiieeee....iiiihhhhaaaavvvveeee////ttttooooggggoooo #### SSSSeeeennnndddd sssseeeennnnddddmmmmeeee iiiinnnn rrrreeeessssppppoooonnnnsssseeee ttttoooo iiiihhhhaaaavvvveeee ffffrrrroooommmm lllloooouuuuiiiieeee -------- aaaaggggaaaaiiiinnnn,,,, ttttuuuurrrrnnnneeeedddd bbbbyyyy bbbbaaaattttcccchhhheeeerrrr #### iiiinnnnttttoooo ggggiiiiaaaannnntttt ccccoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll mmmmeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeee ppppoooosssstttteeeedddd ttttoooo """"ttttoooo....lllloooouuuuiiiieeee"""".... ((((####3333)))) lllloooouuuuiiiieeee----sssseeeennnndddd----iiiiddddssss::::ttttoooo....lllloooouuuuiiiieeee////iiiihhhhaaaavvvveeee::::IIII::::lllloooouuuuiiiieeee....sssseeeennnnddddmmmmeeee////ttttooooggggoooo #### TTTTrrrraaaannnnssssmmmmiiiitttt ssssaaaaiiiidddd ggggiiiiaaaannnntttt ccccoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll mmmmeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeeessss bbbbyyyy nnnnoooorrrrmmmmaaaallll bbbbaaaattttcccchhhhiiiinnnngggg.... ((((####2222,,,,####4444)))) lllloooouuuuiiiieeee----ccccttttllll::::ttttoooo....lllloooouuuuiiiieeee////aaaallllllll,,,,!!!!sssseeeennnnddddmmmmeeee,,,,!!!!iiiihhhhaaaavvvveeee::::ffff::::lllloooouuuuiiiieeee////ttttooooggggoooo #### SSSSeeeennnndddd aaaarrrrttttiiiicccclllleeeessss iiiinnnn rrrreeeessssppppoooonnnnsssseeee ttttoooo sssseeeennnnddddmmmmeeee mmmmeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeeessss ffffrrrroooommmm lllloooouuuuiiiieeee.... ((((####5555)))) lllloooouuuuiiiieeee----rrrreeeeaaaallll::::ttttoooo....lllloooouuuuiiiieeee////sssseeeennnnddddmmmmeeee::::ffff::::lllloooouuuuiiiieeee////ttttooooggggoooo #### AAAAccccttttuuuuaaaallllllllyyyy tttthhhheeee llllaaaasssstttt ttttwwwwoooo ccccoooouuuulllldddd bbbbeeee ccccoooommmmbbbbiiiinnnneeeedddd.... (The ``to._s_y_s_n_a_m_e'' groups are normal newsgroups used for testing individual news feeds.) Somewhere in the _s_y_s file, there must be a line for the host system. This line has no _f_l_a_g_s or _c_o_m_m_a_n_d_s. The _a_c_t_i_v_e file contains one line per locally-valid news group. Each line consists of four blank-separated fields: newsgroup name, highest local article number assigned, lowest local article number in use (approximately), and a flag. Both article-number fields are at least five digits wide. (Some older news software may expect exactly five digits.) The current flag values are yyyy (a normal unmoderated group), nnnn (like yyyy but local postings disallowed), mmmm (a normal moderated group), xxxx (a locally-disabled group, no articles will be filed here), and ==== (followed by the real group under which to file articles in this group; articles are treated exactly as if their NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss:::: header specified the real group instead of the original one; highest and lowest fields are ignored). An example: ccccoooommmmpppp....oooorrrrgggg....uuuussssrrrrggggrrrroooouuuupppp 0000000000000000000000000000000000006666 00000000000000004444 yyyy ttttaaaallllkkkk....bbbbiiiizzzzaaaarrrrrrrreeee 0000000000000000222299996666111122223333 222299992222111133336666 nnnn ccccoooommmmpppp....ssssyyyyssss....ssssuuuunnnn 0000000000000000000000000000111177775555 00000000111177773333 mmmm lllliiiisssstttt....ssssuuuunnnn----ssssppppoooottttssss 0000000000000000000000000000000077776666 00000000000077776666 ====ccccoooommmmpppp....ssssyyyyssss....ssssuuuunnnn ccccoooommmmpppp....oooossss....vvvvmmmmssss 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000 xxxx The _h_i_s_t_o_r_y file contains one line for each article received. Each line consists of three tab-separated fields: a _M_e_s_s_a_g_e-_I_D:, the arrival time as seconds since midnight, Jan 1, 1970 and the EEEExxxxppppiiiirrrreeeessss:::: value (a dash indicates there was none) separated by a tilde, and the list of links to this article. If an article has been expired or cancelled without being seen first, the list of links and the tab before it are omitted. An example: <<<<3333444455551111@@@@hhhhccccrrrr....UUUUUUUUCCCCPPPP>>>> 555588881111999900005555555588888888~~~~---- ccccoooommmmpppp....tttteeeexxxxtttt////1111333311117777 ccccoooommmmpppp....ssssoooouuuurrrrcccceeeessss....wwwwaaaannnntttteeeedddd////4444222200000000 <<<<9999333388883333@@@@aaaalllliiiicccceeee....UUUUUUUUCCCCPPPP>>>> 666611111111999933334444555511111111~~~~---- SSSSEEEEEEEE AAAALLLLSSSSOOOO _c_h_e_c_k_n_e_w_s(1), _c_o_m_p_r_e_s_s(1), _i_n_e_w_s(1), _p_o_s_t_n_e_w_s(1), _r_e_a_d_n_e_w_s(1), _r_n(1), _v_n_e_w_s(1), _g_e_t_d_a_t_e(3), _e_x_p_i_r_e(8), Page 4 (printed 6/29/89) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) CCCC NNNNeeeewwwwssss ((((8888 JJJJuuuunnnneeee 1111999988889999)))) NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555)))) _n_e_w_s_b_a_t_c_h(8), _n_e_w_s_m_a_i_l(8), _r_e_l_a_y_n_e_w_s(8), _r_e_c_n_e_w_s(8), _r_n_e_w_s(8), _s_e_n_d_n_e_w_s(8), _u_u_r_e_c(8), _n_e_w_s_i_n_v_a_d_e_r_s(9.1) ARPA Internet RFCs 1036 and 850 BBBBUUUUGGGGSSSS B format articles must not start with AAAA, to distinguish them from AAAA format, which is only a problem if moderators put AAAApppppppprrrroooovvvveeeedddd:::: first. CCCCoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll:::: and NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss:::: are not required to be the first headers, if present. People insist on making their whacko local encapsulation schemes (ccccuuuunnnnbbbbaaaattttcccchhhh, etc.) _r_n_e_w_s's problem. One could argue that RFC 822 is less than an ideal base for article format. Page 5 (printed 6/29/89)