


     NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555))))		 XXXXEEEENNNNIIIIXXXX 3333....0000 ((((2222 MMMMaaaarrrrcccchhhh 1111999999992222))))	       NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555))))



     NNNNAAAAMMMMEEEE
	  news - USENET network news articles and batches

     DDDDEEEESSSSCCCCRRRRIIIIPPPPTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN
	  There	are two	formats	of news	articles: AAAA and	BBBB....  AAAA format
	  is obsolete, but looks like this:

	       AAAA_a_r_t_i_c_l_e-_I_D
	       _n_e_w_s_g_r_o_u_p_s
	       _p_a_t_h
	       _d_a_t_e
	       _t_i_t_l_e
	       _B_o_d_y _o_f _a_r_t_i_c_l_e

	  A BBBB format _a_r_t_i_c_l_e consists of a series of header lines
	  (collectively	referred to as the message _h_e_a_d_e_r), followed
	  by an	empty line, followed by	the body.  A header line must
	  begin	with a word (consisting	of alphanumerics and dashes),
	  a colon, and at least	one space, in that order.  This	is a
	  specialisation of RFC	822 format.  Continued headers are as
	  per RFC 822.	Unrecognized headers are ignored.  News	is
	  stored in the	same format transmitted, see ``Standard	for
	  the Interchange of USENET Messages'' (RFC 1036 nee 850) and
	  ``Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages''
	  (RFC 822, but	note amendments	in RFC 1123) for a full
	  description.	The following headers are among	those
	  recognized:

	       FFFFrrrroooommmm:::: _u_s_e_r@@@@_h_o_s_t._d_o_m_a_i_n[._d_o_m_a_i_n ...] (((( _F_u_l_l _N_a_m_e))))
	       NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss:::: _n_e_w_s	_g_r_o_u_p_s
	       MMMMeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeee----IIIIDDDD:::: <<<<_U_n_i_q_u_e _R_F_C_8_2_2 _m_e_s_s_a_g_e-_i_d>>>>
	       SSSSuuuubbbbjjjjeeeecccctttt::::	_d_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_v_e _t_i_t_l_e
	       DDDDaaaatttteeee:::: _d_a_t_e _p_o_s_t_e_d
	       EEEExxxxppppiiiirrrreeeessss::::	_e_x_p_i_r_a_t_i_o_n _d_a_t_e
	       RRRReeeeppppllllyyyy----TTTToooo:::: _a_d_d_r_e_s_s _f_o_r _m_a_i_l _r_e_p_l_i_e_s
	       RRRReeeeffffeeeerrrreeeennnncccceeeessss:::: _M_e_s_s_a_g_e-_I_D _o_f _a_r_t_i_c_l_e _t_h_i_s _i_s _a _f_o_l_l_o_w-_u_p
	       _t_o.
	       CCCCoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll::::	_t_e_x_t _o_f	_a _c_o_n_t_r_o_l _m_e_s_s_a_g_e

	  A _n_e_w_s _b_a_t_c_h consists	of zero	or more	articles, each
	  preceded by a	line of	the form

	       ####!!!! rrrrnnnneeeewwwwssss	_b_y_t_e-_c_o_u_n_t

	  where	_b_y_t_e-_c_o_u_n_t is the number of bytes in the following
	  article, where each newline is counted as a single byte,
	  even if it is	stored as a CR-LF or some other
	  representation.  Spaces are significant: one before and one
	  after	rrrrnnnneeeewwwwssss.	News batches are usually transmitted
	  _c_o_m_p_r_e_s_sed.

	  Various peculiar optional encapsulations of news batches



     Page 1					      (printed 6/4/94)






     NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555))))		 XXXXEEEENNNNIIIIXXXX 3333....0000 ((((2222 MMMMaaaarrrrcccchhhh 1111999999992222))))	       NNNNEEEEWWWWSSSS((((5555))))



	  exist	which consist of doing something to the	(probably
	  compressed) batch, then prepending a ####!!!! _g_o_o line to the
	  output, where	_g_o_o reflects the form of encapsulation;	known
	  values of _g_o_o	include	ccccuuuunnnnbbbbaaaattttcccchhhh (the null encapsulation), and
	  cccc7777uuuunnnnbbbbaaaattttcccchhhh (encode the	batch using only seven bits per
	  character).

     EEEEXXXXAAAAMMMMPPPPLLLLEEEESSSS
	  An article.

	       PPPPaaaatttthhhh:::: aaaatttttttt!!!!eeeeaaaagggglllleeee!!!!jjjjeeeerrrrrrrryyyy
	       FFFFrrrroooommmm:::: jjjjeeeerrrrrrrryyyy@@@@eeeeaaaagggglllleeee....uuuuuuuuccccpppp ((((JJJJeeeerrrrrrrryyyy SSSScccchhhhwwwwaaaarrrrzzzz))))
	       NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss:::: nnnneeeewwwwssss....aaaannnnnnnnoooouuuunnnncccceeee
	       SSSSuuuubbbbjjjjeeeecccctttt::::	UUUUsssseeeennnneeeetttt EEEEttttiiiiqqqquuuueeeetttttttteeee -------- PPPPlllleeeeaaaasssseeee RRRReeeeaaaadddd
	       MMMMeeeessssssssaaaaggggeeee----IIIIDDDD:::: <<<<666644442222@@@@eeeeaaaagggglllleeee....UUUUUUUUCCCCPPPP>>>>
	       DDDDaaaatttteeee:::: FFFFrrrriiiiddddaaaayyyy,,,, 11119999	NNNNoooovvvv 88882222 11116666::::11114444::::55555555	EEEESSSSTTTT
	       FFFFoooolllllllloooowwwwuuuupppp----TTTToooo:::: nnnneeeewwwwssss....mmmmiiiisssscccc
	       EEEExxxxppppiiiirrrreeeessss::::	SSSSaaaattttuuuurrrrddddaaaayyyy,,,, 1111 JJJJaaaannnn	88883333 00000000::::00000000::::00000000 EEEESSSSTTTT
	       OOOOrrrrggggaaaannnniiiizzzzaaaattttiiiioooonnnn:::: BBBBeeeellllllll LLLLaaaabbbbssss,,,,	MMMMuuuurrrrrrrraaaayyyy HHHHiiiillllllll
	       TTTThhhheeee bbbbooooddddyyyy	ooooffff tttthhhheeee aaaarrrrttttiiiicccclllleeee ccccoooommmmeeeessss hhhheeeerrrreeee,,,, aaaafffftttteeeerrrr aaaannnn eeeemmmmppppttttyyyy lllliiiinnnneeee....

     SSSSEEEEEEEE AAAALLLLSSSSOOOO
	  _c_h_e_c_k_n_e_w_s(1),	_c_o_m_p_r_e_s_s(1), _i_n_e_w_s(1), _n_n(1), _p_o_s_t_n_e_w_s(1),
	  _r_e_a_d_n_e_w_s(1), _r_n(1), _v_n_e_w_s(1),	_g_e_t_d_a_t_e(3), _g_e_t_a_b_s_d_a_t_e(3),
	  _n_e_w_s_c_t_l(5), _n_e_w_s_s_y_s(5), _e_x_p_i_r_e(8), _n_e_w_s_b_a_t_c_h(8),
	  _n_e_w_s_m_a_i_l(8), _r_e_l_a_y_n_e_w_s(8), _r_e_c_n_e_w_s(8), _r_n_e_w_s(8),
	  _s_e_n_d_n_e_w_s(8), _u_u_r_e_c(8), _n_e_w_s_i_n_v_a_d_e_r_s(9.1)
	  DARPA	RFCs 1036, 850,	822, 1123

     HHHHIIIISSSSTTTTOOOORRRRYYYY
	  Convoluted.

     BBBBUUUUGGGGSSSS
	  B format articles must not start with	AAAA, to distinguish them
	  from AAAA format; this is only a	problem	if moderators put
	  AAAApppppppprrrroooovvvveeeedddd:::: first.

	  Processing would be easier and potentially faster if
	  CCCCoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll:::: (if present)	and NNNNeeeewwwwssssggggrrrroooouuuuppppssss::::	were required to be
	  the first headers.

	  People insist	on making their	whacko local encapsulation
	  schemes (ccccuuuunnnnbbbbaaaattttcccchhhh, etc.) _r_n_e_w_s's problem.

	  One could argue that RFC 822 is less than an ideal base for
	  article format.  (On the other hand, at least	it's textual,
	  unlike ISO messages.)








     Page 2					      (printed 6/4/94)



