ietf-nntp HDR

[Russ Allbery]

Andrew Gierth <andrew at erlenstar.demon.co.uk> writes:

> So do we (using Lines as an example)

>  a) require that "HDR Lines" return only actual Lines headers from the
>     article, which implies that it could return 503 if the server only
>     has actual linecounts available

>  b) define "HDR Lines" as returning either the actual linecount or the
>     Lines: header at the server's whim

>  c) define "HDR Lines" as referring to the actual Lines header, and provide
>     an alternative way of specifying the "lines" and "bytes" overview
>     fields (e.g. "HDR :Lines" - ':' is not valid in a header name, or
>     alternatively require "HDR Lines:" to get the real header)

> I would go for something like (c), because existing practice isn't an
> issue for HDR, and the "XHDR Lines" behaviour is both a) very useful
> and b) a nasty wart.

There is a fourth option which we should consider, namely

  d) define HDR Lines and HDR Bytes to be special exceptions that return
     the overview information rather than article headers, thereby making
     the actual Lines: and Bytes: headers in the articles, if any, not
     retrievable by HDR.

-- 
Russ Allbery (rra at stanford.edu)             <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>