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Path: xanth!cs.odu.edu!Amiga-Request From: Amiga-Request@cs.odu.edu (Amiga Sources/Binaries Moderator) Newsgroups: comp.sources.amiga Subject: v90i059: uucp 1.03D - unix compatible uucp/mail/news system, Part15/16 Message-ID: <11298@xanth.cs.odu.edu> Date: 4 Feb 90 02:43:55 GMT Sender: tadguy@cs.odu.edu Reply-To: overload!dillon (Matt Dillon) Lines: 1350 Approved: tadguy@cs.odu.edu (Tad Guy) X-Mail-Submissions-To: Amiga@cs.odu.edu Submitted-by: overload!dillon (Matt Dillon) Posting-number: Volume 90, Issue 059 Archive-name: unix/uucp-1.03d/part15 #!/bin/sh # This is a shell archive. Remove anything before this line, then unpack # it by saving it into a file and typing "sh file". To overwrite existing # files, type "sh file -c". You can also feed this as standard input via # unshar, or by typing "sh <file", e.g.. If this archive is complete, you # will see the following message at the end: # "End of archive 15 (of 16)." # Contents: man/Standards.aa # Wrapped by tadguy@xanth on Sat Feb 3 20:51:25 1990 PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb ; export PATH if test -f 'man/Standards.aa' -a "${1}" != "-c" ; then echo shar: Will not clobber existing file \"'man/Standards.aa'\" else echo shar: Extracting \"'man/Standards.aa'\" $48305 characters$ sed "s/^X//" >'man/Standards.aa' <<'END_OF_FILE' X X Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages X X Mark R. Horton X X X X X 1. Introduction Introduction Introduction Introduction X X This document defines the standard format for interchange X of Network News articles among USENET sites. It describes X the format for articles themselves, and gives partial X standards for transmission of news. The news transmission X is not entirely standardized in order to give a good deal X of flexibility to the individual hosts to choose X transmission hardware and software, whether to batch news, X and so on. X X There are five sections to this document. Section two X section defines the format. Section three defines the X valid control messages. Section four specifies some valid X transmission methods. Section five describes the overall X news propagation algorithm. X X X 2. Article Format Article Format Article Format Article Format X X The primary consideration in choosing an article format is X that it fit in with existing tools as well as possible. X Existing tools include both implementations of mail and X news. (The notesfiles system from the University of __________ X Illinois is considered a news implementation.) A standard X format for mail messages has existed for many years on the X ARPANET, and this format meets most of the needs of X USENET. Since the ARPANET format is extensible, X extensions to meet the additional needs of USENET are X easily made within the ARPANET standard. Therefore, the X rule is adopted that all USENET news articles must be X formatted as valid ARPANET mail messages, according to the X ARPANET standard RFC 822. This standard is more X restrictive than the ARPANET standard, placing additional X requirements on each article and forbidding use of certain X ARPANET features. However, it should always be possible X to use a tool expecting an ARPANET message to process a X news article. In any situation where this standard X conflicts with the ARPANET standard, RFC 822 should be X considered correct and this standard in error. X X An example message is included to illustrate the fields. X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X - 2 - X X X X Relay-Version: version B 2.10 2/13/83; site cbosgd.UUCP X Posting-Version: version B 2.10 2/13/83; site eagle.UUCP X Path: cbosgd!mhuxj!mhuxt!eagle!jerry X From: jerry@eagle.uucp (Jerry Schwarz) X Newsgroups: net.general X Subject: Usenet Etiquette -- Please Read X Message-ID: <642@eagle.UUCP> X Date: Friday, 19-Nov-82 16:14:55 EST X Followup-To: net.news X Expires: Saturday, 1-Jan-83 00:00:00 EST X Date-Received: Friday, 19-Nov-82 16:59:30 EST X Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill X X The body of the article comes here, after a blank line. X X Here is an example of a message in the old format (before X the existence of this standard). It is recommended that X implementations also accept articles in this format to X ease upward conversion. X X From: cbosgd!mhuxj!mhuxt!eagle!jerry (Jerry Schwarz) X Newsgroups: net.general X Title: Usenet Etiquette -- Please Read X Article-I.D.: eagle.642 X Posted: Fri Nov 19 16:14:55 1982 X Received: Fri Nov 19 16:59:30 1982 X Expires: Mon Jan 1 00:00:00 1990 X X The body of the article comes here, after a blank line. X X Some news systems transmit news in the ``A'' format, which X looks like this: X X Aeagle.642 X net.general X cbosgd!mhuxj!mhuxt!eagle!jerry X Fri Nov 19 16:14:55 1982 X Usenet Etiquette - Please Read X The body of the article comes here, with no blank line. X X An article consists of several header lines, followed by a X blank line, followed by the body of the message. The X header lines consist of a keyword, a colon, a blank, and X some additional information. This is a subset of the X ARPANET standard, simplified to allow simpler software to X handle it. The ``from'' line may optionally include a X full name, in the format above, or use the ARPANET angle X bracket syntax. To keep the implementations simple, other X formats (for example, with part of the machine address X after the close parenthesis) are not allowed. The ARPANET X convention of continuation header lines (beginning with a X X X X X X X X X X X X - 3 - X X X X blank or tab) is allowed. X X Certain headers are required, certain headers are X optional. Any unrecognized headers are allowed, and will X be passed through unchanged. The required headers are X Relay-Version, Posting-Version, From, Date, Newsgroups, X Subject, Message-ID, Path. The optional headers are X Followup-To, Date-Received, Expires, Reply-To, Sender, X References, Control, Distribution, Organization. X X 2.1 Required Headers Required Headers Required Headers Required Headers X X 2.1.1 Relay-Version This header line shows the version _____________ X of the program responsible for the transmission of this X article over the immediate link, that is, the program that X is relaying the article from the next site. For example, X suppose site A sends an article to site B, and site B X forwards the article to site C. The message being X transmitted from A to B would have a Relay-Version header X identifying the program running on A, and the message X transmitted from B to C would identify the program running X on B. This header can be used to interpret older headers X in an upward compatible way. Relay-Version must always be X the first in a message; thus, all articles meeting this X standard will begin with an upper case ``R''. No other X restrictions are placed on the order of header lines. X X The line contains two fields, separated by semicolons. X The fields are the version and the full domain name of the X site. The version should identify the system program used X (e.g., ``B'') as well as a version number and version X date. For example, the header line might contain X X Relay-Version: version B 2.10 2/13/83; site cbosgd.UUCP X X This header should not be passed on to additional sites. X A relay program, when passing an article on, should X include only its own Relay-Version, not the Relay-Version X of some other site. (For upward compatibility with older X software, if a Relay-Version is found in a header which is X not the first line, it should be assumed to be moved by an X older version of news and deleted.) X X 2.1.2 Posting-Version This header identifies the _______________ X software responsible for entering this message into the X network. It has the same format as Relay-Version. It X will normally identify the same site as the Message-ID, X unless the posting site is serving as a gateway for a X message that already contains a message ID generated by X mail. (While it is permissible for a gateway to use an X externally generated message ID, the message ID should be X X X X X X X X X X X X - 4 - X X X X checked to ensure it conforms to this standard and to RFC X 822.) X X 2.1.3 From The From line contains the electronic mailing ____ X address of the person who sent the message, in the ARPA X internet syntax. It may optionally also contain the full X name of the person, in parentheses, after the electronic X address. The electronic address is the same as the entity X responsible for originating the article, unless the Sender X header is present, in which case the From header might not X be verified. Note that in all site and domain names, X upper and lower case are considered the same, thus X mark@cbosgd.UUCP, mark@cbosgd.uucp, and mark@CBosgD.UUcp X are all equivalent. User names may or may not be case X sensitive, for example, Billy@cbosgd.UUCP might be X different from BillY@cbosgd.UUCP. Programs should avoid X changing the case of electronic addresses when forwarding X news or mail. X X RFC 822 specifies that all text in parentheses is to be X interpreted as a comment. It is common in ARPANET mail to X place the full name of the user in a comment at the end of X the From line. This standard specifies a more rigid X syntax. The full name is not considered a comment, but an X optional part of the header line. Either the full name is X omitted, or it appears in parentheses after the electronic X address of the person posting the article, or it appears X before an electronic address enclosed in angle brackets. X Thus, the three permissible forms are: X X From: mark@cbosgd.UUCP X From: mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) X From: Mark Horton <mark@cbosgd.UUCP> X X Full names may contain any printing ASCII characters from X space through tilde, with the exceptions that they may not X contain parentheses ``('' or ``)'', or angle brackets X ``<'' or ``>''. Additional restrictions may be placed on X full names by the mail standard, in particular, the X characters comma ``,'', colon ``:'', and semicolon ``;'' X are inadvisable in full names. X X 2.1.4 Date The Date line (formerly ``Posted'') is the ____ X date, in a format that must be acceptable both to the X ARPANET and to the getdate routine, that the article was X originally posted to the network. This date remains X unchanged as the article is propagated throughout the X network. One format that is acceptable to both is X X Weekday, DD-Mon-YY HH:MM:SS TIMEZONE X X X X X X X X X X X X X - 5 - X X X X Several examples of valid dates appear in the sample X article above. Note in particular that ctime format: X X Wdy Mon DD HH:MM:SS YYYY X X is not acceptable because it is not a valid ARPANET date. ___ X However, since older software still generates this format, X news implementations are encouraged to accept this format X and translate it into an acceptable format. X X The contents of the TIMEZONE field is currently subject to X revision. Eventually, we hope to accept all possible X worldwide time zone abbreviations, including the usual X American zones (PST, PDT, MST, MDT, CST, CDT, EST, EDT), X the other North American zones (Bering through X Newfoundland), European zones, Australian zones, and so X on. Lacking a complete list at present (and unsure if an X unambiguous list exists), authors of software are X encouraged to keep this code flexible, and in particular X not to assume that time zone names are exactly three X letters long. Implementations are free to edit this X field, keeping the time the same, but changing the time X zone (with an appropriate adjustment to the local time X shown) to a known time zone. X X 2.1.5 Newsgroups The Newsgroups line specifies which __________ X newsgroup or newsgroups the article belongs in. Multiple X newsgroups may be specified, separated by a comma. X Newsgroups specified must all be the names of existing X newsgroups, as no new newsgroups will be created by simply X posting to them. X X Wildcards (e.g., the word ``all'') are never allowed in a X Newsgroups line. For example, a newsgroup ``net.all'' is X illegal, although a newsgroup name ``net.sport.football'' X is permitted. X X If an article is received with a Newsgroups line listing X some valid newsgroups and some invalid newsgroups, a site X should not remove invalid newsgroups from the list. X Instead, the invalid newsgroups should be ignored. For X example, suppose site A subscribes to the classes X ``btl.all'' and ``net.all'', and exchanges news articles X with site B, which subscribes to ``net.all'' but not X ``btl.all''. Suppose A receives an article with X ``Newsgroups: net.micro,btl.general''. This article is X passed on to B because B receives net.micro, but B does X not receive btl.general. A must leave the Newsgroup line X unchanged. If it were to remove ``btl.general'', the X edited header could eventually reenter the ``btl.all'' X class, resulting in an article that is not shown to users X X X X X X X X X X X X - 6 - X X X X subscribing to ``btl.general''. Also, followups from X outside ``btl.all'' would not be shown to such users. X X 2.1.6 Subject The Subject line (formerly ``Title'') _______ X tells what the article is about. It should be suggestive X enough of the contents of the article to enable a reader X to make a decision whether to read the article based on X the subject alone. If the article is submitted in X response to another article (e.g., is a ``followup'') the X default subject should begin with the four characters X ``Re: '' and the References line is required. (The user X might wish to edit the subject of the followup, but the X default should begin with ``Re: ''.) X X 2.1.7 Message-ID The Message-ID line gives the article a __________ X unique identifier. The same message ID may not be reused X during the lifetime of any article with the same message X ID. (It is recommended that no message ID be reused for X at least two years.) Message ID's have the syntax X X "<" "string not containing blank or >" ">" X X In order to conform to RFC 822, the Message-ID must have X the format X X "<" "unique" "@" "full domain name" ">" X X where ``full domain name'' is the full name of the host at X which the article entered the network, including a domain X that host is in, and unique is any string of printing X ASCII characters, not including "<", ">", or "@". For X example, the "unique" part could be an integer X representing a sequence number for articles submitted to X the network, or a short string derived from the date and X time the article was created. For example, valid message X ID for an article submitted from site ucbvax in domain X Berkeley.ARPA would be "<4123@ucbvax.Berkeley.ARPA>". X Programmers are urged not to make assumptions about the X content of message ID fields from other hosts, but to X treat them as unknown character strings. It is not safe, X for example, to assume that a message ID will be under 14 X characters, nor that it is unique in the first 14 X characters. X X The angle brackets are considered part of the message ID. X Thus, in references to the message ID, such as the X ihave/sendme and cancel control messages, the angle X brackets are included. White space characters (e.g., X blank and tab) are not allowed in a message ID. All X characters between the angle brackets must be printing X ASCII characters. X X X X X X X X X X X X - 7 - X X X X 2.1.8 Path This line shows the path the article took to ____ X reach the current system. When a system forwards the X message, it should add its own name to the list of systems X in the Path line. The names may be separated by any X punctuation character or characters, thus X ``cbosgd!mhuxj!mhuxt'', ``cbosgd, mhuxj, mhuxt'', and X ``@cbosgd.uucp,@mhuxj.uucp,@mhuxt.uucp'' and even X ``teklabs, zehntel, sri-unix@cca!decvax'' are valid X entries. (The latter path indicates a message that passed X through decvax, cca, sri-unix, zehntel, and teklabs, in X that order.) Additional names should be added from the X left, for example, the most recently added name in the X third example was ``teklabs''. Letters, digits, periods X and hyphens are considered part of site names; other X punctuation, including blanks, are considered separators. X X Normally, the rightmost name will be the name of the X originating system. However, it is also permissible to X include an extra entry on the right, which is the name of X the sender. This is for upward compatibility with older X system. X X The Path line is not used for replies, and should not be X taken as a mailing address. It is intended to show the X route the message travelled to reach the local site. X There are several uses for this information. One is to X monitor USENET routing for performance reasons. Another X is to establish a path to reach new sites. Perhaps the X most important is to cut down on redundant USENET traffic X by failing to forward a message to a site that is known to X have already received it. In particular, when site A X sends an article to site B, the Path line includes ``A'', X so that site B will not immediately send the article back X to site A. The site name each site uses to identify X itself should be the same as the name by which its X neighbors know it, in order to make this optimization X possible. X X A site adds its own name to the front of a path when it X receives a message from another site. Thus, if a message X with path A!X!Y!Z is passed from site A to site B, B will X add its own name to the path when it receives the message X from A, e.g., B!A!X!Y!Z. If B then passes the message on X to C, the message sent to C will contain the path X B!A!X!Y!Z, and when C receives it, C will change it to X C!B!A!X!Y!Z. X X Special upward compatibility note: Since the From, Sender, X and Reply-To lines are in internet format, and since many X USENET sites do not yet have mailers capable of X understanding internet format, it would break the reply X X X X X X X X X X X X - 8 - X X X X capability to completely sever the connection between the X Path header and the reply function. Thus, sites are X required to continue to keep the Path line in a working X reply format as much as possible, until January 1, 1984. X It is recognized that the path is not always a valid reply X string in older implementations, and no requirement to fix X this problem is placed on implementations. However, the X existing convention of placing the site name and an ``!'' X at the front of the path, and of starting the path with X the site name, an ``!'', and the user name, should be X maintained at least until 1984. X X 2.2 Optional Headers Optional Headers Optional Headers Optional Headers X X 2.2.1 Reply-To This line has the same format as From. ________ X If present, mailed replies to the author should be sent to X the name given here. Otherwise, replies are mailed to the X name on the From line. (This does not prevent additional X copies from being sent to recipients named by the replier, X or on To or Cc lines.) The full name may be optionally X given, in parentheses, as in the From line. X X 2.2.2 Sender This field is present only if the submitter ______ X manually enters a From line. It is intended to record the X entity responsible for submitting the article to the X network, and should be verified by the software at the X submitting site. X X For example, if John Smith is visiting CCA and wishes to X post an article to the network, using friend Sarah Jones X account, the message might read X X From: smith@ucbvax.uucp (John Smith) X Sender: jones@cca.arpa (Sarah Jones) X X If a gateway program enters a mail message into the X network at site sri-unix, the lines might read X X From: John.Doe@CMU-CS-A.ARPA X Sender: network@sri-unix.ARPA X X The primary purpose of this field is to be able to track X down articles to determine how they were entered into the X network. The full name may be optionally given, in X parentheses, as in the From line. X X 2.2.3 Followup-To This line has the same format as ___________ X Newsgroups. If present, follow-up articles are to be X posted to the newsgroup(s) listed here. If this line is X not present, followups are posted to the newsgroup(s) X listed in the Newsgroups line, except that followups to X X X X X X X X X X X X - 9 - X X X X ``net.general'' should instead go to ``net.followup''. X X 2.2.4 Date-Received This line (formerly ``Received'') is _____________ X in a legal USENET date format. It records the date and X time that the article was first received on the local X system. If this line is present in an article being X transmitted from one host to another, the receiving host X should ignore it and replace it with the current date. X Since this field is intended for local use only, no site X is required to support it. However, no site should pass X this field on to another site unchanged. X X 2.2.5 Expires This line, if present, is in a legal _______ X USENET date format. It specifies a suggested expiration X date for the article. If not present, the local default X expiration date is used. X X This field is intended to be used to clean up articles X with a limited usefulness, or to keep important articles X around for longer than usual. For example, a message X announcing an upcoming seminar could have an expiration X date the day after the seminar, since the message is not X useful after the seminar is over. Since local sites have X local policies for expiration of news (depending on X available disk space, for instance), users are discouraged X from providing expiration dates for articles unless there X is a natural expiration date associated with the topic. X System software should almost never provide a default X Expires line. Leave it out and allow local policies to be X used unless there is a good reason not to. X X 2.2.6 References This field lists the message ID's of __________ X any articles prompting the submission of this article. It X is required for all follow-up articles, and forbidden when X a new subject is raised. Implementations should provide a X follow-up command, which allows a user to post a follow-up X article. This command should generate a Subject line X which is the same as the original article, except that if X the original subject does not begin with ``Re: '' or ``re: X '', the four characters ``Re: '' are inserted before the X subject. If there is no References line on the original X header, the References line should contain the message ID X of the original article (including the angle brackets). X If the original article does have a References line, the X followup article should have a References line containing X the text of the original References line, a blank, and the X message ID of the original article. X X The purpose of the References header is to allow articles X to be grouped into conversations by the user interface X program. This allows conversations within a newsgroup to X X X X X X X X X X X X - 10 - X X X X be kept together, and potentially users might shut off X entire conversations without unsubscribing to a newsgroup. X User interfaces may not make use of this header, but all X automatically generated followups should generate the X References line for the benefit of systems that do use it, X and manually generated followups (e.g. typed in well after X the original article has been printed by the machine) X should be encouraged to include them as well. X X 2.2.7 Control If an article contains a Control line, the _______ X article is a control message. Control messages are used X for communication among USENET host machines, not to be X read by users. Control messages are distributed by the X same newsgroup mechanism as ordinary messages. The body X of the Control header line is the message to the host. X X For upward compatibility, messages that match the X newsgroup pattern ``all.all.ctl'' should also be X interpreted as control messages. If no Control: header is X present on such messages, the subject is used as the X control message. However, messages on newsgroups matching X this pattern do not conform to this standard. X X 2.2.8 Distribution This line is used to alter the ____________ X distribution scope of the message. It has the same format X as the Newsgroups line. User subscriptions are still X controlled by Newsgroups, but the message is sent to all X systems subscribing to the newsgroups on the Distribution X line instead of the Newsgroups line. Thus, a car for sale X in New Jersey might have headers including X X Newsgroups: net.auto,net.wanted X Distribution: nj.all X X so that it would only go to persons subscribing to X net.auto or net.wanted within New Jersey. The intent of X this header is to further restrict the distribution of a X newsgroup, not to increase it. A local newsgroup, such as X nj.crazy-eddie, will probably not be propagated by sites X outside New Jersey that do not show such a newsgroup as X valid. Wildcards in newsgroup names in the Distribution X line are allowed. Followup articles should default to the X same Distribution line as the original article, but the X user can change it to a more limited one, or escalate the X distribution if it was originally restricted and a more X widely distributed reply is appropriate. X X 2.2.9 Organization The text of this line is a short ____________ X phrase describing the organization to which the sender X belongs, or to which the machine belongs. The intent of X this line is to help identify the person posting the X X X X X X X X X X X X - 11 - X X X X message, since site names are often cryptic enough to make X it hard to recognize the organization by the electronic X address. X X X 3. Control Messages Control Messages Control Messages Control Messages X X This section lists the control messages currently defined. X The body of the Control header is the control message. X Messages are a sequence of zero or more words, separated X by white space (blanks or tabs). The first word is the X name of the control message, remaining words are X parameters to the message. The remainder of the header X and the body of the message are also potential parameters; X for example, the From line might suggest an address to X which a response is to be mailed. X X Implementors and administrators may choose to allow X control messages to be automatically carried out, or to X queue them for manual processing. However, manually X processed messages should be dealt with promptly. X X 3.1 Cancel Cancel Cancel Cancel X X cancel <message ID> X X If an article with the given message ID is present on the X local system, the article is cancelled. This mechanism X allows a user to cancel an article after the article has X been distributed over the network. X X Only the author of the article or the local super user is X allowed to use this message. The verified sender of a X message is the Sender line, or if no Sender line is X present, the From line. The verified sender of the cancel X message must be the same as either the Sender or From X field of the original message. A verified sender in the X cancel message is allowed to match an unverified From in X the original message. X X 3.2 Ihave/Sendme Ihave/Sendme Ihave/Sendme Ihave/Sendme X X ihave <message ID list> <remotesys> X sendme <message ID list> <remotesys> X X This message is part of the ``ihave/sendme'' protocol, X which allows one site (say ``A'') to tell another site X (``B'') that a particular message has been received on A. X Suppose that site A receives article ``ucbvax.1234'', and X wishes to transmit the article to site B. A sends the X control message ``ihave ucbvax.1234 A'' to site B (by X X X X X X X X X X X X - 12 - X X X X posting it to newsgroup ``to.B''). B responds with the X control message ``sendme ucbvax.1234 B'' (on newsgroup X to.A) if it has not already received the article. Upon X receiving the Sendme message, A sends the article to B. X X This protocol can be used to cut down on redundant traffic X between sites. It is optional and should be used only if X the particular situation makes it worthwhile. Frequently, X the outcome is that, since most original messages are X short, and since there is a high overhead to start sending X a new message with UUCP, it costs as much to send the X Ihave as it would cost to send the article itself. X X One possible solution to this overhead problem is to batch X requests. Several message ID's may be announced or X requested in one message. If no message ID's are listed X in the control message, the body of the message should be X scanned for message ID's, one per line. X X 3.3 Newgroup Newgroup Newgroup Newgroup X X newgroup <groupname> X X This control message creates a new newsgroup with the name X given. Since no articles may be posted or forwarded until X a newsgroup is created, this message is required before a X newsgroup can be used. The body of the message is X expected to be a short paragraph describing the intended X use of the newsgroup. X X 3.4 Rmgroup Rmgroup Rmgroup Rmgroup X X rmgroup <groupname> X X This message removes a newsgroup with the given name. X Since the newsgroup is removed from every site on the X network, this command should be used carefully by a X responsible administrator. X X 3.5 Sendsys Sendsys Sendsys Sendsys X X sendsys (no arguments) X X The ``sys'' file, listing all neighbors and which X newsgroups are sent to each neighbor, will be mailed to X the author of the control message (Reply-to, if present, X otherwise From). This information is considered public X information, and it is a requirement of membership in X USENET that this information be provided on request, X either automatically in response to this control message, X or manually, by mailing the requested information to the X X X X X X X X X X X X - 13 - X X X X author of the message. This information is used to keep X the map of USENET up to date, and to determine where X netnews is sent. X X The format of the file mailed back to the author should be X the same as that of the ``sys'' file. This format has one X line per neighboring site (plus one line for the local X site), containing four colon separated fields. The first X field has the site name of the neighbor, the second field X has a newsgroup pattern describing the newsgroups sent to X the neighbor. The third and fourth fields are not defined X by this standard. A sample response: X X From cbosgd!mark Sun Mar 27 20:39:37 1983 X Subject: response to your sendsys request X To: mark@cbosgd.UUCP X X Responding-System: cbosgd.UUCP X cbosgd:osg,cb,btl,bell,net,fa,to,test X ucbvax:net,fa,to.ucbvax:L: X cbosg:net,fa,bell,btl,cb,osg,to.cbosg:F:/usr/spool/outnews/cbosg X cbosgb:osg,to.cbosgb:F:/usr/spool/outnews/cbosgb X sescent:net,fa,bell,btl,cb,to.sescent:F:/usr/spool/outnews/sescent X npois:net,fa,bell,btl,ug,to.npois:F:/usr/spool/outnews/npois X mhuxi:net,fa,bell,btl,ug,to.mhuxi:F:/usr/spool/outnews/mhuxi X X 3.6 Senduuname Senduuname Senduuname Senduuname X X senduuname (no arguments) X X The ``uuname'' program is run, and the output is mailed to X the author of the control message (Reply-to, if present, X otherwise From). This program lists all uucp neighbors of X the local site. This information is used to make maps of X the UUCP network. The sys file is not the same as the ___ X UUCP L.sys file. The L.sys file should never be _____ X transmitted to another party without the consent of the X sites whose passwords are listed therein. X X It is optional for a site to provide this information. X Some reply should be made to the author of the control X message, so that a transmission error won't be blamed. It X is also permissible for a site to run the uuname program X (or in some other way determine the uucp neighbors) and X edit the output, either automatically or manually, before X mailing the reply back to the author. The file should X contain one site per line, beginning with the uucp site X name. Additional information may be included, separated X from the site name by a blank or tab. The phone number or X password for the site should NOT be included, as the reply X is considered to be in the public domain. (The uuname X X X X X X X X X X X X - 14 - X X X X program will send only the site name and not the entire X contents of the L.sys file, thus, phone numbers and X passwords are not transmitted.) X X The purpose of this message is to generate and maintain X UUCP mail routing maps. Thus, connections over which mail X can be sent using the site!user syntax should be included, X regardless of whether the link is actually a UUCP link at X the physical level. If a mail router should use it, it X should be included. Since all information sent in X response to this message is optional, sites are free to X edit the list, deleting secret or private links they do X not wish to publicise. X X 3.7 Version Version Version Version X X version (no arguments) X X The name and version of the software running on the local X system is to be mailed back to the author of the article X (Reply-to if present, otherwise From). X X X 4. Transmission Methods Transmission Methods Transmission Methods Transmission Methods X X USENET is not a physical network, but rather a logical X network resting on top of several existing physical X networks. These networks include, but are not limited to, X UUCP, the ARPANET, an Ethernet, the BLICN network, an NSC X Hyperchannel, and a Berknet. What is important is that X two neighboring systems on USENET have some method to get X a new article, in the format listed here, from one system X to the other, and once on the receiving system, processed X by the netnews software on that system. (On UNIX systems, X this usually means the ``rnews'' program being run with X the article on the standard input.) X X It is not a requirement that USENET sites have mail X systems capable of understanding the ARPA Internet mail X syntax, but it is strongly recommended. Since From, X Reply-To, and Sender lines use the Internet syntax, X replies will be difficult or impossible without an X internet mailer. A site without an internet mailer can X attempt to use the Path header line for replies, but this X field is not guaranteed to be a working path for replies. X In any event, any site generating or forwarding news X messages must have an internet address that allows them to X receive mail from sites with internet mailers, and they X must include their internet address on their From line. X X X X X X X X X X X X X X - 15 - X X X X 4.1 Remote Execution Remote Execution Remote Execution Remote Execution X X Some networks permit direct remote command execution. On X these networks, news may be forwarded by spooling the X rnews command with the article on the standard input. For X example, if the remote system is called ``remote'', news X would be sent over a UUCP link with the command ``uux - X remote!rnews'', and on a Berknet, ``net -mremote rnews''. X It is important that the article be sent via a reliable X mechansim, normally involving the possibility of spooling, X rather than direct real-time remote execution. This is X because, if the remote system is down, a direct execution X command will fail, and the article will never be X delivered. If the article is spooled, it will eventually X be delivered when both systems are up. X X 4.2 Transfer by Mail Transfer by Mail Transfer by Mail Transfer by Mail X X On some systems, direct remote spooled execution is not X possible. However, most systems support electronic mail, X and a news article can be sent as mail. One approach is X to send a mail message which is identical to the news X message: the mail headers are the news headers, and the X mail body is the news body. By convention, this mail is X sent to the user ``newsmail'' on the remote machine. X X One problem with this method is that it may not be X possible to convince the mail system that the From line of X the message is valid, since the mail message was generated X by a program on a system different from the source of the X news article. Another problem is that error messages X caused by the mail transmission would be sent to the X originator of the news article, who has no control over X news transmission between two cooperating hosts and does X not know who to contact. Transmission error messages X should be directed to a responsible contact person on the X sending machine. X X A solution to this problem is to encapsulate the news X article into a mail message, such that the entire article X (headers and body) are part of the body of the mail X message. The convention here is that such mail is sent to X user ``rnews'' on the remote system. A mail message body X is generated by prepending the letter ``N'' to each line X of the news article, and then attaching whatever mail X headers are convenient to generate. The N's are attached X to prevent any special lines in the news article from X interfering with mail transmission, and to prevent any X extra lines inserted by the mailer (headers, blank lines, X etc.) from becoming part of the news article. A program X on the receiving machine receives mail to ``rnews'', X X X X X X X X X X X X - 16 - X X X X extracting the article itself and invoking the ``rnews'' X program. An example in this format might look like this: X X Date: Monday, 3-Jan-83 08:33:47 MST X From: news@cbosgd.UUCP X Subject: network news article X To: rnews@npois.UUCP X X NRelay-Version: B 2.10 2/13/83 cbosgd.UUCP X NPosting-Version: B 2.9 6/21/82 sask.UUCP X NPath: cbosgd!mhuxj!harpo!utah-cs!sask!derek X NFrom: derek@sask.UUCP (Derek Andrew) X NNewsgroups: net.test X NSubject: necessary test X NMessage-ID: <176@sask.UUCP> X NDate: Monday, 3-Jan-83 00:59:15 MST X N X NThis really is a test. If anyone out there more than 6 X Nhops away would kindly confirm this note I would X Nappreciate it. We suspect that our news postings X Nare not getting out into the world. X N X X X Using mail solves the spooling problem, since mail must X always be spooled if the destination host is down. X However, it adds more overhead to the transmission process X (to encapsulate and extract the article) and makes it X harder for software to give different priorities to news X and mail. X X 4.3 Batching Batching Batching Batching X X Since news articles are usually short, and since a large X number of messages are often sent between two sites in a X day, it may make sense to batch news articles. Several X articles can be combined into one large article, using X conventions agreed upon in advance by the two sites. One X such batching scheme is described here; its use is still X considered experimental. X X News articles are combined into a script, separated by a X header of the form: X X ##! rnews 1234 X X where 1234 is the length, in bytes, of the article. Each X such line is followed by an article containing the given X number of bytes. (The newline at the end of each line of X the article is counted as one byte, for purposes of this X count, even if it is stored as CRLF.) For example, a batch X X X X X X X X X X X X - 17 - X X X X of articles might look like this: X X #! rnews 374 X Relay-Version: version B 2.10 2/13/83; site cbosgd.UUCP X Posting-Version: version B 2.10 2/13/83; site eagle.UUCP X Path: cbosgd!mhuxj!mhuxt!eagle!jerry X From: jerry@eagle.uucp (Jerry Schwarz) X Newsgroups: net.general X Subject: Usenet Etiquette -- Please Read X Message-ID: <642@eagle.UUCP> X Date: Friday, 19-Nov-82 16:14:55 EST X X Here is an important message about USENET Etiquette. X #! rnews 378 X Relay-Version: version B 2.10 2/13/83; site cbosgd.UUCP X Posting-Version: version B 2.10 2/13/83; site eagle.UUCP X Path: cbosgd!mhuxj!mhuxt!eagle!jerry X From: jerry@eagle.uucp (Jerry Schwarz) X Newsgroups: net.followup X Subject: Notes on Etiquette article X Message-ID: <643@eagle.UUCP> X Date: Friday, 19-Nov-82 17:24:12 EST X X There was something I forgot to mention in the last message. X X Batched news is recognized because the first character in X the message is ``#''. The message is then passed to the X unbatcher for interpretation. X X X 5. The News Propagation Algorithm The News Propagation Algorithm The News Propagation Algorithm The News Propagation Algorithm X X This section describes the overall scheme of USENET and X the algorithm followed by sites in propagating news to the X entire network. Since all sites are affected by X incorrectly formatted articles and by propagation errors, X it is important for the method to be standardized. X X USENET is a directed graph. Each node in the graph is a X host computer, each arc in the graph is a transmission X path from one host to another host. Each arc is labelled X with a newsgroup pattern, specifying which newsgroup X classes are forwarded along that link. Most arcs are X bidirectional, that is, if site A sends a class of X newsgroups to site B, then site B usually sends the same X class of newsgroups to site A. This bidirectionality is X not, however, required. X X USENET is made up of many subnetworks. Each subnet has a X name, such as ``net'' or ``btl''. The special subnet X ``net'' is defined to be USENET, although the union of all X X X X X X X X X X X X - 18 - X X X X subnets may be a superset of USENET (because of sites that X get local newsgroup classes but do not get net.all). Each X subnet is a connected graph, that is, a path exists from X every node to every other node in the subnet. In X addition, the entire graph is (theoretically) connected. X (In practice, some political considerations have caused X some sites to be unable to post articles reaching the rest X of the network.) X X An article is posted on one machine to a list of X newsgroups. That machine accepts it locally, then X forwards it to all its neighbors that are interested in at X least one of the newsgroups of the message. (Site A deems X site B to be ``interested'' in a newsgroup if the X newsgroup matches the pattern on the arc from A to B. X This pattern is stored in a file on the A machine.) The X sites receiving the incoming article examine it to make X sure they really want the article, accept it locally, and X then in turn forward the article to all their interested _____ X neighbors. This process continues until the entire X network has seen the article. X X An important part of the algorithm is the prevention of X loops. The above process would cause a message to loop X along a cycle forever. In particular, when site A sends X an article to site B, site B will send it back to site A, X which will send it to site B, and so on. One solution to X this is the history mechanism. Each site keeps track of X all articles it has seen (by their message ID) and X whenever an article comes in that it has already seen, the X incoming article is discarded immediately. This solution X is sufficient to prevent loops, but additional X optimizations can be made to avoid sending articles to X sites that will simply throw them away. X X One optimization is that an article should never be sent X to a machine listed in the Path line of the header. When X a machine name is in the Path line, the message is known X to have passed through the machine. Another optimization X is that, if the article originated on site A, then site A X has already seen the article. (Origination can be X determined by the Posting-Version line.) X X Thus, if an article is posted to newsgroup ``net.misc'', X it will match the pattern ``net.all'' (where ``all'' is a X metasymbol that matches any string), and will be forwarded X to all sites that subscribe to net.all (as determined by X what their neighbors send them). These sites make up the X ``net'' subnetwork. An article posted to ``btl.general'' X will reach all sites receiving ``btl.all'', but will not X reach sites that do not get ``btl.all''. In effect, the X X X X X X X X X X X X - 19 - X X X X articles reaches the ``btl'' subnetwork. An article X posted to newsgroups ``net.micro,btl.general'' will reach X all sites subscribing to either of the two classes. X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X============ X XFrom schein Thu Jun 9 14:36:35 1988 remote from cbmvax XReceived: by cbmvax.UUCP (1.2/UUCP-Project/Commodore 12/21/87)) X id AA14116; Thu, 9 Jun 88 14:36:35 edt XDate: Thu, 9 Jun 88 14:36:35 edt XFrom: cbmvax!schein (Dan Schein CATS) XMessage-Id: <8806091836.AA14116@cbmvax.UUCP> XTo: heimat!sysop XSubject: How to UseNet X X X How to Use USENET Effectively X X X Matt Bishop X Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science X Mail Stop 230-5 X NASA Ames Research Center X X Moffett Field, CA 94035 X X X X 1. Introduction X X USENET is a worldwide bulletin board system in which X thousands of computers pass articles back and forth. Of necessi- X ty, customs have sprung up enabling very diverse people and X groups to communicate peaceably and effectively using USENET. X These customs are for the most part written, but are scattered X over several documents that can be difficult to find; in any X case, even if a new user can find all the documents, he most X likely will have neither the time nor the inclination to read X them all. This document is intended to collect all these conven- X tions into one place, thereby making it easy for new users to X learn about the world of USENET. (Old-timers, too, will benefit X from reading this.) X X You should read this document and understand it thoroughly X before you even think about posting anything. If you have ques- X tions, please ask your USENET administrator (who can usually be X reached by sending mail to usenet) or a more knowledgeable USENET X user. Believe me, you will save yourself a lot of grief. X X The mechanics of posting an article to USENET are explained END_OF_FILE if test 48305 -ne `wc -c <'man/Standards.aa'`; then echo shar: \"'man/Standards.aa'\" unpacked with wrong size! fi # end of 'man/Standards.aa' fi echo shar: End of archive 15 $of 16$. cp /dev/null ark15isdone MISSING="" for I in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ; do if test ! -f ark${I}isdone ; then MISSING="${MISSING} ${I}" fi done if test "${MISSING}" = "" ; then echo You have unpacked all 16 archives. rm -f ark[1-9]isdone ark[1-9][0-9]isdone else echo You still need to unpack the following archives: echo " " ${MISSING} fi ## End of shell archive. exit 0 -- Submissions to comp.sources.amiga and comp.binaries.amiga should be sent to: amiga@cs.odu.edu or amiga@xanth.cs.odu.edu ( obsolescent mailers may need this address ) or ...!uunet!xanth!amiga ( very obsolescent mailers need this address ) Comments, questions, and suggestions should be addressed to ``amiga-request'' (please only use ``amiga'' for actual submissions) at the above addresses.