[NNTP] LISTGROUP

Mark Crispin mrc at CAC.Washington.EDU
Mon Apr 25 09:23:24 PDT 2005


On Mon, 25 Apr 2005, Clive D.W. Feather wrote:
> * Still undecided what to do if:
>  - the range is inverted (e.g. 5-1).

I'll argue, weakly, that 5-1 should be the same as 1-5.  However, this 
isn't as important in NNTP as it is in IMAP, since you don't have a "*" 
article number in NNTP.

I will, however, argue that if 5-1 is not the same as 1-5, then it should 
be a protocol syntax error and *not* equivalent to 5 or an empty range.

I understand that some servers treat 5-1 as equivalent to 5.  That 
behavior should *NOT* be required of future implementations.  We can 
declare it to be a syntax error without breaking those servers; since if 
it is a syntax error then it's the client's responsibility not to send it. 
The server's behavior then falls under the category of GIGO (garbage in, 
garbage out) and thus acceptable.

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.



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