'\" '\" Copyright (c) 2000 by Ajuba Solutions. '\" All rights reserved. '\" '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: nntp.n,v 1.6 2002/01/18 20:51:16 andreas_kupries Exp $ '\" '\" The definitions below are for supplemental macros used in Tcl/Tk '\" manual entries. '\" '\" .AP type name in/out ?indent? '\" Start paragraph describing an argument to a library procedure. '\" type is type of argument (int, etc.), in/out is either "in", "out", '\" or "in/out" to describe whether procedure reads or modifies arg, '\" and indent is equivalent to second arg of .IP (shouldn't ever be '\" needed; use .AS below instead) '\" '\" .AS ?type? ?name? '\" Give maximum sizes of arguments for setting tab stops. Type and '\" name are examples of largest possible arguments that will be passed '\" to .AP later. If args are omitted, default tab stops are used. '\" '\" .BS '\" Start box enclosure. From here until next .BE, everything will be '\" enclosed in one large box. '\" '\" .BE '\" End of box enclosure. '\" '\" .CS '\" Begin code excerpt. '\" '\" .CE '\" End code excerpt. '\" '\" .VS ?version? ?br? '\" Begin vertical sidebar, for use in marking newly-changed parts '\" of man pages. The first argument is ignored and used for recording '\" the version when the .VS was added, so that the sidebars can be '\" found and removed when they reach a certain age. If another argument '\" is present, then a line break is forced before starting the sidebar. '\" '\" .VE '\" End of vertical sidebar. '\" '\" .DS '\" Begin an indented unfilled display. '\" '\" .DE '\" End of indented unfilled display. '\" '\" .SO '\" Start of list of standard options for a Tk widget. The '\" options follow on successive lines, in four columns separated '\" by tabs. '\" '\" .SE '\" End of list of standard options for a Tk widget. '\" '\" .OP cmdName dbName dbClass '\" Start of description of a specific option. cmdName gives the '\" option's name as specified in the class command, dbName gives '\" the option's name in the option database, and dbClass gives '\" the option's class in the option database. '\" '\" .UL arg1 arg2 '\" Print arg1 underlined, then print arg2 normally. '\" '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: man.macros,v 1.1 2000/03/06 21:34:53 ericm Exp $ '\" '\" # Set up traps and other miscellaneous stuff for Tcl/Tk man pages. .if t .wh -1.3i ^B .nr ^l \n(.l .ad b '\" # Start an argument description .de AP .ie !"\\$4"" .TP \\$4 .el \{\ . ie !"\\$2"" .TP \\n()Cu . el .TP 15 .\} .ta \\n()Au \\n()Bu .ie !"\\$3"" \{\ \&\\$1 \\fI\\$2\\fP (\\$3) .\".b .\} .el \{\ .br .ie !"\\$2"" \{\ \&\\$1 \\fI\\$2\\fP .\} .el \{\ \&\\fI\\$1\\fP .\} .\} .. '\" # define tabbing values for .AP .de AS .nr )A 10n .if !"\\$1"" .nr )A \\w'\\$1'u+3n .nr )B \\n()Au+15n .\" .if !"\\$2"" .nr )B \\w'\\$2'u+\\n()Au+3n .nr )C \\n()Bu+\\w'(in/out)'u+2n .. .AS Tcl_Interp Tcl_CreateInterp in/out '\" # BS - start boxed text '\" # ^y = starting y location '\" # ^b = 1 .de BS .br .mk ^y .nr ^b 1u .if n .nf .if n .ti 0 .if n \l'\\n(.lu\(ul' .if n .fi .. '\" # BE - end boxed text (draw box now) .de BE .nf .ti 0 .mk ^t .ie n \l'\\n(^lu\(ul' .el \{\ .\" Draw four-sided box normally, but don't draw top of .\" box if the box started on an earlier page. .ie !\\n(^b-1 \{\ \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\l'\\n(^lu+3n\(ul'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul' .\} .el \}\ \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul' .\} .\} .fi .br .nr ^b 0 .. '\" # VS - start vertical sidebar '\" # ^Y = starting y location '\" # ^v = 1 (for troff; for nroff this doesn't matter) .de VS .if !"\\$2"" .br .mk ^Y .ie n 'mc \s12\(br\s0 .el .nr ^v 1u .. '\" # VE - end of vertical sidebar .de VE .ie n 'mc .el \{\ .ev 2 .nf .ti 0 .mk ^t \h'|\\n(^lu+3n'\L'|\\n(^Yu-1v\(bv'\v'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^Yu'\h'-|\\n(^lu+3n' .sp -1 .fi .ev .\} .nr ^v 0 .. '\" # Special macro to handle page bottom: finish off current '\" # box/sidebar if in box/sidebar mode, then invoked standard '\" # page bottom macro. .de ^B .ev 2 'ti 0 'nf .mk ^t .if \\n(^b \{\ .\" Draw three-sided box if this is the box's first page, .\" draw two sides but no top otherwise. .ie !\\n(^b-1 \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\l'\\n(^lu+3n\(ul'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\h'|0u'\c .el \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\h'|0u'\c .\} .if \\n(^v \{\ .nr ^x \\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^Yu \kx\h'-\\nxu'\h'|\\n(^lu+3n'\ky\L'-\\n(^xu'\v'\\n(^xu'\h'|0u'\c .\} .bp 'fi .ev .if \\n(^b \{\ .mk ^y .nr ^b 2 .\} .if \\n(^v \{\ .mk ^Y .\} .. '\" # DS - begin display .de DS .RS .nf .sp .. '\" # DE - end display .de DE .fi .RE .sp .. '\" # SO - start of list of standard options .de SO .SH "STANDARD OPTIONS" .LP .nf .ta 4c 8c 12c .ft B .. '\" # SE - end of list of standard options .de SE .fi .ft R .LP See the \\fBoptions\\fR manual entry for details on the standard options. .. '\" # OP - start of full description for a single option .de OP .LP .nf .ta 4c Command-Line Name: \\fB\\$1\\fR Database Name: \\fB\\$2\\fR Database Class: \\fB\\$3\\fR .fi .IP .. '\" # CS - begin code excerpt .de CS .RS .nf .ta .25i .5i .75i 1i .. '\" # CE - end code excerpt .de CE .fi .RE .. .de UL \\$1\l'|0\(ul'\\$2 .. .TH nntp n 0.2 nntp "Tcl NNTP Client Library" .BS '\" Note: do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below! .SH NAME nntp \- Tcl client for the NNTP protocol .SH SYNOPSIS \fBpackage require Tcl 8.2\fR .sp \fBpackage require nntp ?0.2?\fR .sp \fB::nntp::nntp\fR \fR?\fIhost\fR? \fR?\fIport\fR? \fR?\fInntpName\fR? .sp .BE .SH DESCRIPTION .PP The \fBnntp\fR package provides a simple Tcl-only client library for the NNTP protocol. It works by opening the standard NNTP socket on the server, and then providing a Tcl API to access the NNTP protocol commands. All server errors are returned as Tcl errors (thrown) which must be caught with the Tcl \fBcatch\fR command. The \fB::nntp::nntp\fR command creates a new nntp object with an associated Tcl command whose name is returned by the \fB::nntp::nntp\fR command (\fBnntpName\fR). This command may be used to access the various NNTP protocol commands. Some of the commands supported by this package are not part of the nntp rfc (rfc 977) and will not be available (or implemented) on all nntp servers. The commands have the following general form: .CS \fBnntpName\fR \fIoption \fR?\fIarg arg ...\fR? .CE \fIOption\fR and the \fIarg\fRs determine the exact behavior of the command. .SH COMMANDS .TP \fB::nntp::nntp\fR \fR?\fIhost\fR? \fR?\fIport\fR? \fR?\fInntpName\fR? Open a socket connection to a NNTP server. The command returns the name of the global command that can be used to access the nntp connection subsequently. The default port number is \fB119\fR and the default server is \fBnews\fR which can be overridden with the environment variables NNTPPORT and NNTPHOST respectively. .TP \fBnntpName article\fR \fR?\fImsgid\fR?\fR Query the server for article \fImsgid\fR from the current group. The article is returned as a valid tcl list which contains the headers, followed by a blank line, and then followed by the body of the article. Each element in the list is one line of the article. .TP \fBnntpName authinfo\fR \fR?\fIuser\fR?\fR \fR?\fIpass\fR?\fR Send authentication information (username and password) to the server. .TP \fBnntpName body\fR \fR?\fImsgid\fR?\fR Query the server for the body of the article \fImsgid\fR from the current group. The body of the article is returned as a valid tcl list. Each element in the list is one line of the body of the article. .TP \fBnntpName date\fR Query the server for the servers current date. The date is returned in the format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS .TP \fBnntpName group\fR \fR?\fIgroup\fR?\fR Optionally set the current group, and retrieve information about the currently selected group. Returns the estimated number of articles in the group followed by the number of the first article in the group, followed by the last article in the group, followed by the name of the group. .TP \fBnntpName head\fR \fR?\fImsgid\fR?\fR Query the server for the headers of the article \fImsgid\fR from the current group. The headers of the article are returned as a valid tcl list. Each element in the list is one line of the headers of the article. .TP \fBnntpName help\fR Retrieves a list of the commands that are supported by the news server that is currently attached to. .TP \fBnntpName last\fR Sets the current article pointer to point to the previous message (if there is one) and returns the msgid of that message. .TP \fBnntpName list\fR Returns a tcl list of valid newsgroups and associated information. Each newsgroup is returned as an element in the tcl list with the following format: .sp group last first p .sp where is the name of the newsgroup, is the number of the last known article currently in that newsgroup, is the number of the first article currently in the newsgroup, and

is either 'y' or 'n' indicating whether posting to this newsgroup is allowed ('y') or prohibited ('n'). .sp The and fields will always be numeric. They may have leading zeros. If the field evaluates to less than the field, there are no articles currently on file in the newsgroup. .TP \fBnntpName listgroup\fR \fI?\fIgroup\fR?\fR Query the server for a list of all the messages (message numbers) in the group specified by the argument \fIgroup\fR or by the current group if the \fIgroup\fR argument was not passed. .TP \fBnntpName mode_reader\fR Query the server for its nntp 'MODE READER' response string. .TP \fBnntpName newgroups\fR \fIsince\fR Query the server for a list of all the new newsgroups created since the time specified by the argument \fIsince\fR. The argument \fIsince\fR can be any time string that is understood by \fBclock scan\fR. The tcl list of newsgroups is returned in a similar form to the list of groups returned by the \fBnntpName list\fR command. Each element of the list has the form: .sp group last first p .sp where is the name of the newsgroup, is the number of the last known article currently in that newsgroup, is the number of the first article currently in the newsgroup, and

is either 'y' or 'n' indicating whether posting to this newsgroup is allowed ('y') or prohibited ('n'). .TP \fBnntpName newnews\fR Query the server for a list of new articles posted to the current group in the last day. .TP \fBnntpName newnews\fR \fIsince\fR Query the server for a list of new articles posted to the current group since the time specified by the argument \fIsince\fR. The argument \fIsince\fR can be any time string that is understood by \fBclock scan\fR. .TP \fBnntpName newnews\fR \fIgroup\fR \fR?\fIsince\fR?\fR Query the server for a list of new articles posted to the group specified by the argument \fIgroup\fR since the time specified by the argument \fIsince\fR (or in the past day if no \fIsince\fR argument is passed. The argument \fIsince\fR can be any time string that is understood by \fBclock scan\fR. .TP \fBnntpName next\fR Sets the current article pointer to point to the next message (if there is one) and returns the msgid of that message. .TP \fBnntpName post\fR \fIarticle\fR Posts an article of the form specified in RFC 850 to the current news group. .TP \fBnntpName slave\fR Identifies a connection as being made from a slave nntp server. This might be used to indicate that the connection is serving multiple people and should be given priority. Actual use is entirely implementation dependent and may vary from server to server. .TP \fBnntpName stat\fR \fI?\fImsgid\fR?\fR The stat command is similar to the article command except that no text is returned. When selecting by message number within a group, the stat command serves to set the current article pointer without sending text. The returned acknowledgment response will contain the message-id, which may be of some value. Using the stat command to select by message-id is valid but of questionable value, since a selection by message-id does NOT alter the "current article pointer" .TP \fBnntpName quit\fR Gracefully close the connection after sending a NNTP QUIT command down the socket. .TP \fBnntpName xgtitle\fR \fI?\fIgroup_pattern\fR?\fR Returns a tcl list where each element is of the form: .sp newsgroup description .sp If a \fIgroup_pattern\fR is specified then only newsgroups that match the pattern will have their name and description returned. .TP \fBnntpName xhdr\fR \fIfield\fR \fI?\fIrange\fR?\fR Returns the specified header field value for the current message or for a list of messages from the current group. \fIfield\fR is the title of a field in the header such as from, subject, date, etc. If \fIrange\fR is not specified or is "" then the current message is queried. The command returns a list of elements where each element has the form of: .sp msgid value .sp Where msgid is the number of the message and value is the value set for the queried field. The \fIrange\fR argument can be in any of the following forms: .RS .TP \fB""\fR The current message is queried. .TP \fBmsgid1-msgid2\fR All messages between msgid1 and msgid2 (including msgid1 and msgid2) are queried. .TP \fBmsgid1 msgid2\fR All messages between msgid1 and msgid2 (including msgid1 and msgid2) are queried. .RE .TP \fBnntpName xover\fR \fI?\fIrange\fR?\fR Returns header information for the current message or for a range of messages from the current group. The information is returned in a tcl list where each element is of the form: .sp msgid subject from date idstring bodysize headersize xref .sp If \fIrange\fR is not specified or is "" then the current message is queried. The \fIrange\fR argument can be in any of the following forms: .RS .TP \fB""\fR The current message is queried. .TP \fBmsgid1-msgid2\fR All messages between msgid1 and msgid2 (including msgid1 and msgid2) are queried. .TP \fBmsgid1 msgid2\fR All messages between msgid1 and msgid2 (including msgid1 and msgid2) are queried. .RE .TP \fBnntpName xpat\fR \fIfield\fR \fIrange\fR \fI?\fIpattern_list\fR?\fR Returns the specified header field value for a specified message or for a list of messages from the current group where the messages match the pattern(s) given in the pattern_list. \fIfield\fR is the title of a field in the header such as from, subject, date, etc. The information is returned in a tcl list where each element is of the form: .sp msgid value .sp Where msgid is the number of the message and value is the value set for the queried field. The \fIrange\fR argument can be in any of the following forms: .RS .TP \fBmsgid\fR The message specified by msgid is queried. .TP \fBmsgid1-msgid2\fR All messages between msgid1 and msgid2 (including msgid1 and msgid2) are queried. .TP \fBmsgid1 msgid2\fR All messages between msgid1 and msgid2 (including msgid1 and msgid2) are queried. .RE .TP .SH KEYWORDS news, nntp, nntpclient