Re: LYNX-DEV News:*

[Foteos Macrides]

Klaus Weide <address@hidden> wrote:
>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.

        If the LIST or LIST ACTIVE command were used, then in parsing
that reply an XGTITLE request could be issued for each group, but you
can't count on Xfoo commands being supported by all nntp servers (that
one probably is by now), and it would be a lot more overhead.  It would
be better to pester the sysadmin to arrange for the LIST NEWSGROUPS to
return valid information, rather than accepting that some hoaky procedure
for reading a file that isn't maintained such that it's contents contain
what would be a valid reply is OK. :)

                                Fote

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 Foteos Macrides            Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
 address@hidden         222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
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