Table 266: NNTP Base Commands
Command
Code
|
Command
|
Parameters
|
Description
|
ARTICLE
|
Retrieve
Article
|
Message ID or
server article number.
|
Tells the server to send the
client a particular Usenet article. The article to be retrieved may
be specified either using its absolute, universal message ID, or its
locally-assigned article number.
When the command is issued with an article number, this causes the server's
internal message pointer to be set to the specified article. If the
message pointer is already set to a particular article, the ARTICLE
command can be issued without an article number and the current message
will be retrieved.
|
HEAD
|
Retrieve
Article Headers
|
Message
ID or server article number.
|
Same as the
ARTICLE command, but retrieves only the article's headers.
|
BODY
|
Retrieve
Article Body
|
Message ID or
server article number.
|
Same as the ARTICLE command,
but returns only the body of the article.
|
STAT
|
Retrieve
Article Statistics
|
Server
article number
|
Conceptually
the same as the ARTICLE command, but does not return any message
text, only the message ID of the article. This command is usually used
for the purpose of setting the server's internal message pointer, so
STAT is normally invoked only with an article number (and not
a message ID).
|
GROUP
|
Select Newsgroup
|
Newsgroup name
|
Tells the server the name of
the newsgroup that the client wants to access. Assuming the group specified
exists, the server returns to the client the numbers of the first and
last articles currently in the group, along with an estimate of the
number of messages in the group. The server's internal article pointer
is also set to the first message in the group.
|
HELP
|
Get
Help Information
|
None
|
Prompts the
server to send the client help information, which usually takes the
form of a list of valid commands that the server supports.
|
IHAVE
|
Offer Article
To Server
|
Message ID
|
Used by the client in an NNTP
session to tell the server that it has a new article that the server
may want. The server will check the message ID provided and respond
to the client indicating whether or not it wants the client to send
the article.
|
LAST
|
Go
To Last Message
|
None
|
Tells the server
to set its current article pointer to the last message in the newsgroup.
|
LIST
|
List Newsgroups
|
None
|
Asks the server to send a list
of the newsgroups that it supports, along with the first and last article
number in each group. The command as described in RFC 977 is simple,
supporting no parameters and causing the full list of newsgroups to
be sent to the client. NNTP
command extensions significantly expand
the syntax of this command.
|
NEWGROUPS
|
List
New Newsgroups
|
Date
and time, and optional distribution specification
|
Prompts the
server to send a list of new newsgroups created since the date and time
specified. The client may also restrict the command to return only new
newsgroups within a particular regional distribution.
|
NEWNEWS
|
List New
News Articles
|
Date and time,
and optional distribution specification
|
Requests a list from the server
of all new articles that have arrived since a particular date and time.
Like the NEWGROUPS command, this may be restricted in distribution.
The server responds with a list of message IDs of new articles.
|
NEXT
|
Go
To Next Message
|
None
|
Advances the
server's current article pointer to the next message in the newsgroup.
|
POST
|
Post Article
|
None
|
Tells the server that the client
would like to post a new article. The server responds with either a
positive or negative acknowledgment. Assuming that posting is allowed,
the client then sends the full text of the message to the server, which
stores it and begins the process of propagating it to other servers.
|
QUIT
|
End
Session
|
None
|
Terminates
the NNTP session. To be polite, the client should issue
this command prior to closing the TCP connection.
|
SLAVE
|
Set Slave
Status
|
None
|
This command is intended for
use in special configurations where one NNTP server acts as a subsidiary
to others. It is not often used in practice.
|