ietf-nntp HDR

[Stan O. Barber]

"Clive D.W. Feather" wrote:
> 
> Nothing fatal, but I have some minor points with the HDR command.
> 
> * Do we really want the label extension to be PAT ?

No. It should be HDR. There are three of these types of errors in the document.
They will be fixed in 14.

> 
> * Is it supposed to have one argument or two ? The syntax says one, the
> text implies two.

There are two arguments: The header name and the article identifier. I will see
what needs to be done to clarify.


> 
> * The text "See RFC-1036 for a list of valid header lines" remains
> confusing. Are we saying:
>   - the header must be one listed explicitly in RFC 1036, or
>   - 1036 gives examples of headers you might want to use
> ?

Good question. The reference implementation does not care, so it would be
consistent with the latter  clause.


> 
> * Must the command work for any header, or can the server reject some
> headers on the grounds that it doesn't store them in its internal database ?
> If the latter:
> - we should say so and note that 503 will be used for unrecognised
>   headers;
> - are there any headers that must always be supported (e.g. Subject) ?

This is confusing to me. Which "internal database" are you talking about? Do you
mean Overview? Historically, HDR didn't depend on OVERVIEW (and in fact
preceeded OVERVIEW by many years).


> 
> * I don't get the fifth example. Do I have to select a group before using
> HDR with an article-ID ? If so, which group ? Any group, or must it be one
> that's mentioned in its Newsgroups line ? This isn't described anywhere in
> the main text. If the right group has to be selected, then I suggest we
> need an additional response (and example):
> 
>     413  Article not in this newsgroup
> 

This is a good question. The reference implementation does not require a
newsgroup be 
selected first. This example could be eliminated if folks don't want to see it
work in the manner suggested by the example.
-- 
Stan   | PGP Key ID: 55CB6421     | Opinions expressed are only mine.
Olan   | Phone: +1-713-793-0222   | Email: sob at academ.com
Barber | Fax:   +1-208-445-2972   | http://www.academ.com/~sob