INTERNET-DRAFT B. Hernacki Expires: Jan 15, 1998 Netscape Communications, Inc. <draft-hernacki-nntplist-02.txt> Jul 15, 1997 NNTP LIST Additions 1. Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working docu- ments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.'' To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the ``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet- Drafts Shadow Directories on ds.internic.net (US East Coast), nic.nordu.net (Europe), ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast), or munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim). 2. Abstract This document describes a set of enhancements to the Network News Tran- sport Protocol [NNTP-977] that allows extended server specific informa- tion to be obtained by the client. These enhancements will be made as new arguments to the existing LIST verb described in the NNTP protocol [NNTP-977]. The availability of the extensions described here will be advertised by the server using the extension negotiation-mechanism described in the new NNTP protocol specification currently being developed [NNTP-NEW]. Hernacki [Page 1]
INTERNET-DRAFT Jul 15, 1997 3. Introduction The LIST MOTD command is sent from the client to obtain a "message of the day". The server returns a body of text to the client, which the client may then display in a manner it deems appropriate. The LIST SUBSCRIPTIONS command is sent from the client to obtain a list of default newsgroups specific to that server. This command is to be used in place of hard-coding client software to look for specific default newsgroups when first connecting to the server. The LIST PRETTYNAMES command is sent from the client to obtain a list of RFC1036 compliant [NNTP-1036] newsgroup names and the corresponding prettyname. A prettyname is simply a localized "more readable" name which does not have the naming restrictions RFC1036 defines. The client may then use these names to provide an easier to read interface to the newsgroups while still maintaining 1036-compliant names for compatible transport with other servers. The LIST XACTIVE command is sent from the client to obtian a list of newsgroups, their article number range and any associated flags. This extended command is intended to work like LIST (ACTIVE) in [NNTP-977] but to allow a wider range of flags to be associated with each newsgroup without breaking client which rely on LIST ACTIVE's current behavior. 3.1. Use of NNTP Extension Mechanism The NNTP extension mechanism described in [NNTP-NEW] allows a server to describe its capabilities. The following extensions are used to describe the capabilities described in this document. 3.2. LISTMOTD Extension The LISTMOTD extension indicates the server supports the LIST MOTD com- mand. 3.3. LISTSUBSCR Extension The LISTSUBSCR extension indicates the server supports the LIST SUB- SCRIPTIONS command. 3.4. LISTPNAMES Extension The LISTPNAMES extension indicates the server supports the LIST PRET- TYNAMES command. Hernacki [Page 2]
INTERNET-DRAFT Jul 15, 1997 3.5. The XACTIVE extensions indicates the server supports the LIST XAC- TIVE command. 4. Command Descriptions 4.1. LIST MOTD command LIST MOTD Returns a message of the day relevant to that server. This information is intended to provide notification and communication between the news administrator and the news user. The data returned may be multi-line and may contain whatever data the administrator wishes to enter. The data will be terminated by the character sequence "CRLF.CRLF". It is up to the client to decide when and how to display this informa- tion to the user. No timestamp/last-modified is provided. The client may want to keep some state if it wishes to show the message only upon modification. 4.2. Responses The server will return either a success code (215), followed by the multi-line text, terminated by the sequence "CRLF.CRLF" or indicate that no motd is available (503). 215 message of the day follows 503 no message of the day available 4.3. Example C: LIST MOTD S: 215 message of the day follows S: Attention All Users, S: S: This server will be down for scheduled upgrades on May 11th. It should be S: back up by 8 am May 12th. Any questions should be emailed to news@xxx.xxx. S: . 4.4. LIST SUBSCRIPTIONS command LIST SUBSCRIPTIONS Returns a list of default newsgroups to which users of that server may want to subscribe. This is provided as a better alternative to the prac- tice of hard-coding default newsgroup lists into client software. The data returned is one group per line, terminated by the character Hernacki [Page 3]
INTERNET-DRAFT Jul 15, 1997 sequence "CRLF.CRLF". 4.5. Responses The server will return either a success code (215), followed by the multi-line text, terminated by the character sequence "CRLF.CRLF" or indicate that no subscription list is available (503). 215 default newsgroups 503 no default newsgroups available 4.6. Example C: LIST SUBSCRIPTIONS S: 215 default newsgroups S: local.newusers S: local.faqs S: local.importantnews S: . 4.7. LIST PRETTYNAMES command LIST PRETTYNAMES [wildmat] Returns a list of mappings between RFC1036 compliant newsgroup names and more readable synonyms, called prettynames. These mappings are intended to allow a client interface to provide more readable group names to users, which may be localized names. Data is returned one group per line. Each line consists of the newsgroup name, a tab, the prettyname and a linefeed ("LF"). The list is terminated by the character sequence "CRLF.CRLF". If a group matches the pattern but does not have a pret- tyname, nothing is returned for that group. The prettyname may contain any character except a linefeed ("LF"). If localized names require more than 8 bits per character, the strings may be encoded as a MIME2 encoded string [MIME-2]. These prettynames may not be used for anything except display purposes. Prettynames must not be recognized as valid groupnames by NNTP commands requiring newsgroup names. Not all groups available on the server must have a prettyname available. If no prettyname is listed for a group which is available on the server, the client should use the RFC1036 newsgroup name for display. If no wildmat pattern is supplied then all prettynames are listed. If a wild- mat pattern is supplied, then only those groups matching the pattern are listed. Hernacki [Page 4]
INTERNET-DRAFT Jul 15, 1997 4.8. Responses The server will return either a success code (215), followed by the multi-line text, terminated by the character sequence "CRLF.CRLF" or indicate that no prettynames are available (503). 215 prettynames for newsgroups 503 no prettynames for newsgroups available 4.9. Example C: LIST PRETTYNAMES local.* S: 215 prettynames for newsgroups S: local.newusers Basic New User Information S: local.faqs Frequently Asked Questions S: local.importantnews Important News S: . 4.10. The LIST XACTIVE command LIST XACTIVE [wildmat] Returns a list of valid newsgroups mathcing the specified pattern (or all if no pattern is specified) and associated information like LIST in [NNTP-977] except that the last column (fourth) can contain an arbitrary set of flags (multiple single character flags). The [NNTP-977] verions only allows 'y' or 'n' for this field though many implementations send and accept other characters. Clients sending LIST XACTIVE must silently ignore any flags they do not recognize. The following flags are currently defined. y : postable newsgroup n : non-postable newsgroup m : moderated newsgroup 4.11. Responses The server will return either a success code (215), followed by the multi-line text, terminated by the character sequence "CRLF.CRLF". 215 list of newsgroups follows 5. Security Considerations These commands do not introduce any new security considerations. LIST PRETTYNAMES should be considered equivalent (in security considerations) to LIST NEWSGROUPS for any access control purposes. Hernacki [Page 5]
INTERNET-DRAFT Jul 15, 1997 6. Bibliography [NNTP-977] Network News Transfer Protocol. B. Kantor, Phil Lapsley, Request for Comment (RFC) 977, February 1986. [NNTP-1036] Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages. M. Horton, R. Adams, Request for Comment (RFC) 1036, December 1987. [NNTP-NEW] Network News Transfer Protocol. S. Barber INTERNET DRAFT, Sep- tember 1996. [MIME-2] Moore, K., MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text, RFC 1522, University of Tennessee, September 1993. 7. Author's Address Brian Hernacki Netscape Communications, Inc. 501 E. Middlefield Road Mountain View, CA 94043 USA Phone: +1 415-937-6738 Email: bhern@netscape.com This Internet Draft expires Jan 15, 1998. Hernacki [Page 6]