Net::NNTP - NNTP Client class use Net::NNTP; $nntp = Net::NNTP->new("some.host.name"); $nntp->quit; Net::NNTP is a class implementing a simple NNTP client in Perl as described in RFC977. Net::NNTP inherits its communication methods from Net::Cmd This is the constructor for a new Net::NNTP object. HOST is the name of the remote host to which a NNTP connection is required. If not given two environment variables are checked, first NNTPSERVER then NEWSHOST, then Net::Config is checked, and if a host is not found then news is used. OPTIONS are passed in a hash like fashion, using key and value pairs. Possible options are: Timeout - Maximum time, in seconds, to wait for a response from the NNTP server, a value of zero will cause all IO operations to block. (default: 120) Debug - Enable the printing of debugging information to STDERR Unless otherwise stated all methods return either a true or false value, with true meaning that the operation was a success. When a method states that it returns a value, failure will be returned as undef or an empty list. Retrieve the header, a blank line, then the body (text) of the specified article. If no arguments are passed then the current article in the current newsgroup is returned. MSGNUM is a numeric id of an article in the current newsgroup, and will change the current article pointer. MSGID is the message id of an article as shown in that article's header. It is anticipated that the client will obtain the MSGID from a list provided by the newnews command, from references contained within another article, or from the message-id provided in the response to some other commands. Returns a reference to an array containing the article. Retrieve the body (text) of the specified article. Takes the same arguments as article Returns a reference to an array containing the body of the article. Retrieve the header of the specified article. Takes the same arguments as article Returns a reference to an array containing the header of the article. The nntpstat command is similar to the article command except that no text is returned. When selecting by message number within a group, the nntpstat command serves to set the "current article pointer" without sending text. Using the nntpstat 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". Returns the message-id of the "current article". Set and/or get the current group. If GROUP is not given then information is returned on the current group. In a scalar context it returns the group name. In an array context the return value is a list containing, the number of articles in the group, the number of the first article, the number of the last article and the group name. The ihave command informs the server that the client has an article whose id is MSGID. If the server desires a copy of that article, and MESSAGE has been given the it will be sent. Returns true if the server desires the article and MESSAGE was successfully sent,if specified. If MESSAGE is not specified then the message must be sent using the datasend and dataend methods from the Net::Cmd manpage MESSAGE can be either an array of lines or a reference to an array. Set the "current article pointer" to the previous article in the current newsgroup. Returns the message-id of the article. Returns the date on the remote server. This date will be in a UNIX time format (seconds since 1970) postok will return true if the servers initial response indicated that it will allow posting. Obtain information about all the active newsgroups. The results is a reference to a hash where the key is a group name and each value is a reference to an array. The elements in this array are:- the first article number in the group, the last article number in the group and any information flags about the group. SINCE is a time value and DISTRIBUTIONS is either a distribution pattern or a reference to a list of distribution patterns. The result is the same as list, but the groups return will be limited to those created after SINCE and, if specified, in one of the distribution areas in DISTRIBUTIONS. SINCE is a time value. GROUPS is either a group pattern or a reference to a list of group patterns. DISTRIBUTIONS is either a distribution pattern or a reference to a list of distribution patterns. Returns a reference to a list which contains the message-ids of all news posted after SINCE, that are in a groups which matched GROUPS and a distribution which matches DISTRIBUTIONS. Set the "current article pointer" to the next article in the current newsgroup. Returns the message-id of the article. Post a new article to the news server. If MESSAGE is specified and posting is allowed then the message will be sent. If MESSAGE is not specified then the message must be sent using the datasend and dataend methods from the Net::Cmd manpage MESSAGE can be either an array of lines or a reference to an array. Tell the remote server that I am not a user client, but probably another news server. Quit the remote server and close the socket connection.

Extension methods
These methods use commands that are not part of the RFC977 documentation. Some servers may not support all of them. Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are all the group names which match PATTERN, or all of the groups if no pattern is specified, and each value contains the description text for the group. Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are all the possible distribution names and the values are the distribution descriptions. Returns a reference to a list which contains a list of groups which are recommended for a new user to subscribe to. Returns a reference to an array which contain the names of the fields returned by xover. Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are the group names and each value is a reference to an array containing the time the groups was created and an identifier, possibly an Email address, of the creator. Similar to list but only active groups that match the pattern are returned. PATTERN can be a group pattern. Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are all the group names which match PATTERN and each value is the description text for the group. Obtain the header field HEADER for all the messages specified. The return value will be a reference to a hash where the keys are the message numbers and each value contains the text of the requested header for that message. The return value will be a reference to a hash where the keys are the message numbers and each value contains a reference to an array which contains the overview fields for that message. The names of the fields can be obtained by calling overview_fmt. Returns the path name to the file on the server which contains the specified message. The result is the same as xhdr except the is will be restricted to headers where the text of the header matches PATTERN The XROVER command returns reference information for the article(s) specified. Returns a reference to a HASH where the keys are the message numbers and the values are the References: lines from the articles The following NNTP command are unsupported by the package, and there are no plans to do so. AUTHINFO GENERIC XTHREAD XSEARCH XINDEX MESSAGE-SPEC is either a single message-id, a single message number, or a reference to a list of two message numbers. If MESSAGE-SPEC is a reference to a list of two message numbers and the second number in a range is less than or equal to the first then the range represents all messages in the group after the first message number. NOTE For compatibility reasons only with earlier versions of Net::NNTP a message spec can be passed as a list of two numbers, this is depreciated and a reference to the list should now be passed The NNTP protocol uses the WILDMAT format for patterns. The WILDMAT format was first developed by Rich Salz based on the format used in the UNIX "find" command to articulate file names. It was developed to provide a uniform mechanism for matching patterns in the same manner that the UNIX shell matches filenames. Patterns are implicitly anchored at the beginning and end of each string when testing for a match. There are five pattern matching operations other than a strict one-to-one match between the pattern and the source to be checked for a match. The first is an asterisk * to match any sequence of zero or more characters. The second is a question mark ? to match any single character. The third specifies a specific set of characters. The set is specified as a list of characters, or as a range of characters where the beginning and end of the range are separated by a minus (or dash) character, or as any combination of lists and ranges. The dash can also be included in the set as a character it if is the beginning or end of the set. This set is enclosed in square brackets. The close square bracket ] may be used in a set if it is the first character in the set. The fourth operation is the same as the logical not of the third operation and is specified the same way as the third with the addition of a caret character ^ at the beginning of the test string just inside the open square bracket. The final operation uses the backslash character to invalidate the special meaning of the a open square bracket [, the asterisk, backslash or the question mark. Two backslashes in sequence will result in the evaluation of the backslash as a character with no special meaning. matches any single character other than a close square bracket or a minus sign/dash. matches any string that ends with the string "bdc" including the string "bdc" (without quotes). matches any single printable alphanumeric ASCII character. matches any four character string which begins with a and ends with d. the Net::Cmd manpage Graham Barr <gbarr@ti.com> Copyright (c) 1995-1997 Graham Barr. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.