NAME

Net::NNTP - NNTP Client class

SYNOPSIS

use Net::NNTP;

$nntp = Net::NNTP->new("some.host.name");
$nntp->quit;

DESCRIPTION

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

CONSTRUCTOR

new ( [ HOST [, OPTIONS ]])

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 the news is used.

OPTIONS are passed in a hash like fasion, using key and value pairs. Possible options are:

Timeout - Maximum time, in seconds, to wait for a response from the NNTP server (default: 120)

Debug - Enable the printing of debugging information to STDERR

METHODS

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, falure will be returned as undef or an empty list.

article ( [ MSGID|MSGNUM ] )

Retreive the header, a blank line, then the body (text) of the specified article.

If no arguments are passed then the current aricle 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.

body ( [ MSGID|MSGNUM ] )

Retreive 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.

head ( [ MSGID|MSGNUM ] )

Retreive the header of the specified article.

Takes the same arguments as article

Returns a reference to an array containing the header of the article.

nntpstat ( [ MSGID|MSGNUM ] )

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".

group ( [ GROUP ] )

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.

ihave ( MSGID [, MESSAGE])

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 Net::Cmd

MESSAGE can be either an array of lines or a reference to an array.

last ()

Set the "current article pointer" to the previous article in the current newsgroup.

Returns the message-id of the article.

date ()

Returns the date on the remote server. This date will be in a UNIX time format (seconds since 1970)

postok ()

postok will return true if the servers initial response indicated that it will allow posting.

authinfo ( USER, PASS )

list ()

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 which contains the first article number in the group, the last article number in the group and any informations flags about the group.

newgroups ( SINCE [, DISTRIBUTIONS ])

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.

newnews ( SINCE [, GROUPS [, 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.

next ()

Set the "current article pointer" to the next article in the current newsgroup.

Returns the message-id of the article.

post ( [ MESSAGE ] )

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 Net::Cmd

MESSAGE can be either an array of lines or a reference to an array.

slave ()

Tell the remote server that I am not a user client, but probably another news server.

quit ()

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.

newsgroups ( [ PATTERN ] )

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.

distributions ()

Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are all the possible distribution names and the values are the distribution descriptions.

subscriptions ()

Returns a reference to a list which contains a list of groups which are reccomended for a new user to subscribe to.

overview_fmt ()

Returns a reference to an array which contain the names of the fields returnd by xover.

active_times ()

Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are the group names and each value is a reference to an array containg the time the groups was created and an identifier, possibly an Email address, of the creator.

active ( [ PATTERN ] )

Similar to list but only active groups that match the pattern are returned. PATTERN can be a group pattern.

xgtitle ( 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.

xhdr ( HEADER, MESSAGE-RANGE )

Obtain the header field HEADER for all the messages specified.

Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are the message numbers and each value contains the header for that message.

xover ( MESSAGE-RANGE )

Returns a reference to a hash where the keys are the message numbers and each value is a reference to an array which contains the overview fields for that message. The names of these fields can be obtained by calling overview_fmt.

xpath ( MESSAGE-ID )

Returns the path name to the file on the server which contains the specified message.

xpat ( HEADER, PATTERN, MESSAGE-RANGE)

The result is the same as xhdr except the is will be restricted to headers that match PATTERN

DEFINITION

MESSAGE-RANGE

MESSAGE-RANGE is either a single message-id, a single mesage number, or two message numbers.

If MESSAGE-RANGE is 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.

SEE ALSO

Net::Cmd

AUTHOR

Graham Barr <Graham.Barr@tiuk.ti.com>

REVISION

$Revision: 2.0 $

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 1995 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.