INTERNET-DRAFT Charles H. Lindsey
Usenet Format Working Group University of Manchester
April 2001
7. Control Messages The following sections document the control messages. "Message" is used herein as a synonym for "article" unless context indicates otherwise. Group control messages are the sub-class of control messages that request some update to the configuration of the groups known to a serving agent, namely "newgroup". "rmgroup", "mvgroup" and "checkgroups", plus any others created by extensions to this standard. All of the group control messages MUST have an Approved header (6.14). Moreover, in those hierarchies where appropriate administrative agencies exist (see 1.1), group control messages Ought Not to be issued except as authorized by those agencies. [They SHOULD also use one of the authentication mechanisms which we may define when we get a Round Tuit.] The Newsgroups header of each control message MUST include the newsgroup-name(s) for the group(s) affected (i.e. groups to be created, modified or removed, or containing articles to be canceled). This is to ensure that the message progagates to all sites which receive (or would receive) that group(s). It MAY include other newsgroup-names so as to improve propagation (but this practice should be regarded as exceptional rather than normal). The descriptions below are generally phrased in terms suggesting mandatory actions, but any or all of these MAY be subject to local administrative restrictions, and MAY be denied or referred to an administrator for approval (either as a class or on a case-by-case basis). Analogously, where the description below specifies that a message or portion thereof is to be ignored, this action MAY include reporting it to an administrator. Relaying Agents MUST propagate even control messages that they do not understand. In the following sections, each type of control message is defined syntactically by defining its verb, its arguments, and possibly its body. 7.1. The 'newgroup' Control Message 7.1.1. The Body of the 'newgroup' Control Message 7.1.2. Application/news-groupinfo 7.1.3. Initial Articles 7.1.4. Example 7.2. The 'rmgroup' Control Message 7.2.1. Example 7.3. The 'mvgroup' Control Message 7.3.1. Single group 7.3.2. Multiple Groups 7.3.3. Examples 7.4. The 'checkgroups' Control Message 7.4.1. Application/news-checkgroups 7.5. Cancel 7.6. Ihave, sendme 7.7. Obsolete control messages.[Previous Up to Table of Contents Next]
See also previous draft (03): 7. Control Messages
See also previous draft (02): 6.6. Control Messages
See also previous draft (son-of-1036): 7__Control_Messages
See also previous draft (rfc-1036): RFC1036_3__Control_Messages