[NNTP] Article Numbers Becoming Invalid (RFC 3977)

[Julien ÉLIE]

Hi Russ,

> Oh, yes, that's the bit that I was missing.  Good point.  How about:
>
>    If there are no articles available with an article number lower than
>    the current article number, a 422 response MUST be returned.

That's nice.  However, is it enough precise regarding the case where
the current article number is the first article?
"lower than" may mean (abusively -- or translated into other languages)
"lower than or equal to".


> Ideally, we would have defined available somewhere as "retrievable by
> ARTICLE."  I suppose I'm introducing the term "available" and your wording
> above is introducing the term "lowest existing article number" and it
> depends on which one seems clearer.
>
> I think the thing that was giving me pause about your proposed wording was
> that it sounds a little like "lowest existing article number" might mean
> something different than "number of the lowest existing article."

The fact is that "lowest existing article number" (and the "next article")
already exists :)

See NEXT:

6.1.4.2.  Description

   If the currently selected newsgroup is valid, the current article
   number MUST be set to the next article in that newsgroup (that is,
   the lowest existing article number greater than the current article
   number).  If successful, a response indicating the new current
   article number and the message-id of that article MUST be returned.
   No article text is sent in response to this command.


And of course, LAST defines the "highest existing article number"
(and the "previous article").

-- 
Julien ÉLIE

« Il vaut mieux un tapis persan volé qu'un tapis volant percé ! » (Astérix)