ietf-nntp Generic responses

[Clive D.W. Feather]

Stan O. Barber said:
> No, it did not. That's why it was not in there. I, for one, find it 
> confusing.

Let me start again.

We have 7 generic response codes:
    400   terminating immediately
    401   terminating soon
    403   feature not available (temporary)
    500   unknown command
    501   syntax error
    502   not authorized
    503   feature not available (permanent)

For each command in the specification, some of these are legitimate
responses and some are not. For example:

   GROUP              400, 401, and 501 are valid
   HDR                any are valid (I think)
   LIST               400, 401, and 501 are valid
   LIST EXTENSIONS    400, 401, 501, and 503 are valid

I think it would be useful for the description of each command to include
an indication of which generic responses could appear.

{Question 1} Does anyone disagree ?

If we agree, then the following possibilities come to mind:

(1) Include them mixed in with the other responses.

  9.1.1.1.1 Responses

          211 n l h ggg  Group successfully selected (...)
          400            Terminating immediately
          401            Terminating soon
          411            No such newsgroup
          501            Syntax error in parameters

(2) Include them, but separated out:

  9.1.1.1.1 Responses

          211 n l h ggg  Group successfully selected (...)
          411            No such newsgroup

      plus the following generic responses:

          400            Terminating immediately
          401            Terminating soon
          501            Syntax error in parameters

(3) List the valid generic responses as a summary:

  9.1.1.1.1 Responses

          211 n l h ggg  Group successfully selected (...)
          411            No such newsgroup

      plus generic responses 400, 401, 501

or, to use the format of my earlier proposal:

  9.1.1.1.1 Responses

          211 n l h ggg  Group successfully selected (...)
          411            No such newsgroup
          Generic: 400 401 501

{Question 2} Which of these three arrangements is best ?

-- 
Clive D.W. Feather  | Work:  <clive at demon.net>   | Tel:  +44 20 8371 1138
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