INTERNET-DRAFT                               Charles H. Lindsey
Usenet Format Working Group                  University of Manchester
                                             July 2001

7.1. The 'newgroup' Control Message

7.1.  The 'newgroup' Control Message
      newgroup-verb       = "newgroup"
      newgroup-arguments  = CFWS newsgroup-name [ CFWS newgroup-flag ]
      newgroup-flag       = "moderated"

   The "newgroup" control message requests that the specified group be
   created or changed. If the request is honoured, or if the group
   already exists on the serving agent, and if the newgroup-flag
   "moderated" is present, then the group MUST be marked as moderated,
   and vice versa. "Moderated" is the only such flag defined by this
   standard; other flags MAY be defined for use in cooperating subnets,
   but newgroup messages containing them MUST NOT be acted on outside of
   those subnets.

        NOTE: Specifically, some alternative flags such as "y" and "m",
        which are sent and recognised by some current software, are NOT
        part of this standard.  Moreover, some existing implementations
        treat any flag other than "moderated" as indicating an
        unmoderated newsgroup. Both of these usages are contrary to this
        standard.

   The message body comprises or includes a "application/news-groupinfo"
   (7.1.2) part containing machine- and human-readable information about
   the group.

   It is REQUIRED that the newsgroup-name conforms to all requirements
   set out in section 5.5.  This includes the restrictions as to the
   permitted characters, and the requirement that they be invariant
   under NFKC normalization. It is essential that those who issue
   newgroup messages are aware of their responsibility to enforce this
   requirement, since some of those conditions are hard to enforce
   mechanically.

   Additionally, the newsgroup-name Ought to conform to whatever
   policies have been established by the administrative agency, if any,
   for that hierarchy. Serving agents SHOULD, insofar as they are
   conveniently able to detect them, reject all newgroup messages not
   meeting those requirements.

   The newgroup command is also used to update the newsgroups-line or
   the moderation status of a group.

Diffs to previous draft

--- {draft-04}	Wed Jul 11 21:55:59 2001
+++ {draft-05}	Wed Jul 11 21:55:59 2001
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@
       newgroup-flag       = "moderated"
 
    The "newgroup" control message requests that the specified group be
-   created or changed. The newgroup-flag "moderated" is appended to mark
-   the group as moderated. The absence of this flag marks the group as
-   unmoderated. "Moderated" is the only such flag defined by this
+   created or changed. If the request is honoured, or if the group
+   already exists on the serving agent, and if the newgroup-flag
+   "moderated" is present, then the group MUST be marked as moderated,
+   and vice versa. "Moderated" is the only such flag defined by this
    standard; other flags MAY be defined for use in cooperating subnets,
    but newgroup messages containing them MUST NOT be acted on outside of
    those subnets.
@@ -22,12 +23,19 @@
    (7.1.2) part containing machine- and human-readable information about
    the group.
 
-   The newsgroup-name MUST conform to all requirements set out in
-   section 5.5, and it is the responsibility of the newgroup message
-   issuer to ensure this (since some of those requirements are hard to
-   enforce mechanically). Moreover, the newsgroup-name Ought to conform
-   to whatever policies have been established by the administrative
-   agency, if any, for that hierarchy.
+   It is REQUIRED that the newsgroup-name conforms to all requirements
+   set out in section 5.5.  This includes the restrictions as to the
+   permitted characters, and the requirement that they be invariant
+   under NFKC normalization. It is essential that those who issue
+   newgroup messages are aware of their responsibility to enforce this
+   requirement, since some of those conditions are hard to enforce
+   mechanically.
+
+   Additionally, the newsgroup-name Ought to conform to whatever
+   policies have been established by the administrative agency, if any,
+   for that hierarchy. Serving agents SHOULD, insofar as they are
+   conveniently able to detect them, reject all newgroup messages not
+   meeting those requirements.
 
    The newgroup command is also used to update the newsgroups-line or
    the moderation status of a group.