[NNTP] Article Numbers Becoming Invalid (RFC 3977)

Julien ÉLIE julien at trigofacile.com
Thu Jan 14 14:35:26 PST 2010


Hi Russ,

> Oh!  Okay.  Then I think you've convinced me your wording is the best,
> since we're reusing an existing term.

I have since found out something better because my wording was unclear when
the current article number is valid and the newsgroup empty (after GROUP
was sent):

   If the current article number is already lower or equal to the lowest
   existing article number (if any) in the newsgroup, a 422 response MUST
   be returned.

LAST defines the notion of "previous article":

   If the currently selected newsgroup is valid, the current article
   number MUST be set to the previous article in that newsgroup (that
   is, the highest existing article number less 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.


So the new suggested wording is:

   If the currently selected newsgroup is invalid, a 412 response MUST
   be returned.  If the currently selected newsgroup is valid but the
   current article number is invalid, a 420 response MUST be returned.
   If the current article number is valid and there is no previous article
   in the currently selected newsgroup, a 422 response MUST be returned.
   In all three cases, the currently selected newsgroup and current article
   number MUST NOT be altered.


We take everything into account, and in the right order for 412/420/422.
(Just suggested as an erratum.)

-- 
Julien ÉLIE

« Un dictionnaire est comme une montre ; il vaut mieux en avoir un
  que pas du tout, mais le meilleur n'est jamais tout à fait exact. »
  (Georges-Bernard Shaw) 



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