group names starting with digits

group names starting with digits

[Uwe Geuder]

Our company internal newsgroup names start with numbers, like

   1.foo.bar
   2.more.stuff

Emacs 20.3's standard gnus (Gnus v5.5; nntp 5.0; nnvirtual 1.1; nnmh
1.0; nndraft 1.0) gets completely confused about this. nntp.el
interprets the group names as NNTP response codes, doesn't wait long
enough for the last responses and finally parses completely wrong
group status info. 

This was mentioned earlier on this list:

> From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> 
> Date: 08 Sep 1997 13:07:38 +0200 
>
> jdc@math.jhu.edu (Dan Christensen) writes:
>
>>   Is there some reason that a group named 110.615 or 12345 should
>> be visible even when it has no ticked or unread messages?

> Groups with all-numerical names are poison.  


Having had a look at nntp.el I'd say it's in fact bad enough if the
group name starts with a digit.

Has anybody made a fix for that? It shouldn't be too difficult, but 
after 7 years without programming elisp I might not get it right on 
the first attempt... There seem to numerous places that need a change.

Yes, I've checked pgnus-0.82 and the problematic code is still 
unmodified.

Regards,

Uwe

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Re: group names starting with digits

[Stainless Steel Rat]

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* "Uwe Geuder" <uwe_geuder@hotmail.com>  on Sun, 18 Apr 1999
| Our company internal newsgroup names start with numbers, like
|    1.foo.bar
|    2.more.stuff

AFAIK, these names are illegal.  Newfroup name parts start with alphabetic
characers.  Ie, foo1.bar and more2.stuff are legal, but foo.1 is not.
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-- 
Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>    \ Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an
Minion of Nathan - Nathan says Hi! \ unknown glowing substance which fell to
PGP Key: at a key server near you!  \ Earth, presumably from outer space.

Re: group names starting with digits

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

"Uwe Geuder" <uwe_geuder@hotmail.com> writes:

> Having had a look at nntp.el I'd say it's in fact bad enough if the
> group name starts with a digit.

[...]

> Yes, I've checked pgnus-0.82 and the problematic code is still 
> unmodified.

What code is problematic?  Point, and I'll fix.  :-)

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: group names starting with digits

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net> writes:

> AFAIK, these names are illegal.  Newfroup name parts start with alphabetic
> characers.  Ie, foo1.bar and more2.stuff are legal, but foo.1 is not.

It's not invalid to have group names that start with numbers (I
think), but it's highly, highly discouraged to have group that have
components that are numeric-only, like something.42.other and the
like.  But Gnus should grok them, I think.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: group names starting with digits

[Stainless Steel Rat]

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* Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>  on Sun, 18 Apr 1999
| It's not invalid to have group names that start with numbers (I
| think), but it's highly, highly discouraged to have group that have
| components that are numeric-only, like something.42.other and the
| like.  But Gnus should grok them, I think.

alt.2600

The problem is storage.  Most news servers (like INN) use an heirarchy of
directories for groups and numbered files for individual articles.  If a
group has a numerical name part, the server will get confused, treating
what should be a directory as an article.  You can lose entire heirarchies
that way.

Numerics should be avoided in group names, just on general principle.
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-- 
Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>    \ If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get
Minion of Nathan - Nathan says Hi! \ away immediately. Seek shelter and cover
PGP Key: at a key server near you!  \ head.