Re: LYNX-DEV News:*

[Klaus Weide]

On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Foteos Macrides wrote:

> Jason Everett <address@hidden> wrote:
> >I was playing with the news part of lynx and when I access the URL "news:";
> >it comes up with this page:
> >File that you are currently viewing
> >
> >   Linkname: Newsgroups
> >        URL: news:*
> >
> >It has an html list of item, none that point to an actual news group
> >however.  I have been trying to find this file or what it is accessing.
> >Any help?  Thanks!
> 
>       The default path for news URLs is '*', which means a linked
> list of newsgroups available from your nntp server, obtained by a
> LIST NEWSGROUPS nntp command to it.  If your list does not correspond
> to your nntp server's news groups, that's surprising, because it's
> what your server reported to Lynx.  Note that the list may not be
> complete, because your server may report only groups which it handles
> directly, or may put bounds on the length of it's reply.  If there
> is a "news.group" you know your server carries, and you want a linked
> listing of currently available articles in that group, make the URL
> 
>       news:news.group
> 
> Also read "Supported URLs" in the Lynx online 'h'elp.

For most if not all nntp servers, the reply to a LIST NEWSGROUPS command
ist just the contents of a file 'newsgroups' on the server.  That file can
be totally out of sync with the newsgroups that are really available at
that server.  For example it could be the default list of thousands of
worldwide newsgroups when the server carries only a few.

Lynx could use a different command, for example LIST or LIST ACTIVE, to
get a list of groups that are more likely to be available.  But the
response to the alternative LIST commands doesn't contain the description
text for the groups.

Everybody with access to a nntp server and a telnet command which allows
to specify a port can test what the server returns:

  telnet your.news.server 119
  help
  
etc.

     Klaus
   
 

;
; To UNSUBSCRIBE:  Send a mail message to address@hidden
;                  with "unsubscribe lynx-dev" (without the
;                  quotation marks) on a line by itself.
;