Net::NNTP(3p) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Net::NNTP(3p) #

Net::NNTP(3p) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Net::NNTP(3p)

NNAAMMEE #

 Net::NNTP - NNTP Client class

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS #

     use Net::NNTP;

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

     # start with SSL, e.g. nntps
     $nntp = Net::NNTP->new("some.host.name", SSL => 1);

     # start with plain and upgrade to SSL
     $nntp = Net::NNTP->new("some.host.name");
     $nntp->starttls;

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN #

 "Net::NNTP" is a class implementing a simple NNTP client in Perl as
 described in RFC977 and RFC4642. With IO::Socket::SSL installed it also
 provides support for implicit and explicit TLS encryption, i.e. NNTPS or

NNTP+STARTTLS. #

 The Net::NNTP class is a subclass of Net::Cmd and (depending on
 avaibility) of IO::Socket::IP, IO::Socket::INET6 or IO::Socket::INET.

CCllaassss MMeetthhooddss “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 then it may be passed as the “Host” option described below. If no host is passed then 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:

     HHoosstt - NNTP host to connect to. It may be a single scalar, as defined
     for the "PeerAddr" option in IO::Socket::INET, or a reference to an
     array with hosts to try in turn. The "host" method will return the
     value which was used to connect to the host.

     PPoorrtt - port to connect to.  Default - 119 for plain NNTP and 563 for
     immediate SSL (nntps).

     SSSSLL - If the connection should be done from start with SSL, contrary
     to later upgrade with "starttls".  You can use SSL arguments as
     documented in IO::Socket::SSL, but it will usually use the right
     arguments already.

     TTiimmeeoouutt - 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)

     DDeebbuugg - Enable the printing of debugging information to STDERR

     RReeaaddeerr - If the remote server is INN then initially the connection
     will be to innd, by default "Net::NNTP" will issue a "MODE READER"
     command so that the remote server becomes nnrpd. If the "Reader"
     option is given with a value of zero, then this command will not be
     sent and the connection will be left talking to innd.

     LLooccaallAAddddrr and LLooccaallPPoorrtt - These parameters are passed directly to
     IO::Socket to allow binding the socket to a specific local address
     and port.

     DDoommaaiinn - This parameter is passed directly to IO::Socket and makes it
     possible to enforce IPv4 connections even if IO::Socket::IP is used
     as super class. Alternatively FFaammiillyy can be used.

OObbjjeecctt MMeetthhooddss Unless otherwise stated all methods return either a _t_r_u_e or _f_a_l_s_e value, with _t_r_u_e meaning that the operation was a success. When a method states that it returns a value, failure will be returned as _u_n_d_e_f or an empty list.

 "Net::NNTP" inherits from "Net::Cmd" so methods defined in "Net::Cmd" may
 be used to send commands to the remote NNTP server in addition to the
 methods documented here.

 "host()"
     Returns the value used by the constructor, and passed to
     IO::Socket::INET, to connect to the host.

 "starttls()"
     Upgrade existing plain connection to SSL. Any arguments necessary for
     SSL must be given in "new" already.

 "article([{$msgid|$msgnum}[, $fh]])"
     Retrieve the header, a blank line, then the body (text) of the
     specified article.

     If $fh is specified then it is expected to be a valid filehandle and
     the result will be printed to it, on success a true value will be
     returned. If $fh is not specified then the return value, on success,
     will be a reference to an array containing the article requested,
     each entry in the array will contain one line of the article.

     If no arguments are passed then the current article in the currently
     selected newsgroup is fetched.

     $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.

     If there is an error then "undef" will be returned.

 "body([{$msgid|$msgnum}[, [$fh]])"
     Like "article" but only fetches the body of the article.

 "head([{$msgid|$msgnum}[, [$fh]])"
     Like "article" but only fetches the headers for the article.

 "articlefh([{$msgid|$msgnum}])"
 "bodyfh([{$msgid|$msgnum}])"
 "headfh([{$msgid|$msgnum}])"
     These are similar to aarrttiiccllee(()), bbooddyy(()) and hheeaadd(()), but rather than
     returning the requested data directly, they return a tied filehandle
     from which to read 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 nnoott 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.

 "help()"
     Request help text (a short summary of commands that are understood by
     this implementation) from the server. Returns the text or undef upon
     failure.

 "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 then it will be sent.

     Returns _t_r_u_e 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
     and must be encoded by the caller to octets of whatever encoding is
     required, e.g. by using the Encode module's "encode()" function.

 "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 _t_r_u_e if the servers initial response indicated
     that it will allow posting.

 "authinfo($user, $pass)"
     Authenticates to the server (using the original AUTHINFO USER /
     AUTHINFO PASS form, defined in RFC2980) using the supplied username
     and password.  Please note that the password is sent in clear text to
     the server.  This command should not be used with valuable passwords
     unless the connection to the server is somehow protected.

 "authinfo_simple($user, $pass)"
     Authenticates to the server (using the proposed NNTP V2 AUTHINFO
     SIMPLE form, defined and deprecated in RFC2980) using the supplied
     username and password.  As with "authinfo" the password is sent in
     clear text.

 "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. The elements in this array are:- the last
     article number in the group, the first article number in the group
     and any information 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
     and must be encoded by the caller to octets of whatever encoding is
     required, e.g. by using the Encode module's "encode()" function.

     The message, either sent via "datasend" or as the $message parameter,
     must be in the format as described by RFC822 and must contain From:,
     Newsgroups: and Subject: headers.

 "postfh()"
     Post a new article to the news server using a tied filehandle.  If
     posting is allowed, this method will return a tied filehandle that
     you can pprriinntt(()) the contents of the article to be posted.  You must
     explicitly cclloossee(()) the filehandle when you are finished posting the
     article, and the return value from the cclloossee(()) call will indicate
     whether the message was successfully posted.

 "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.

 "can_inet6()"
     Returns whether we can use IPv6.

 "can_ssl()"
     Returns whether we can use SSL.

EExxtteennssiioonn MMeetthhooddss 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.

 "distribution_patterns()"
     Returns a reference to an array where each element, itself an array
     reference, consists of the three fields of a line of the distrib.pats
     list maintained by some NNTP servers, namely: a weight, a wildmat and
     a value which the client may use to construct a Distribution header.

 "subscriptions()"
     Returns a reference to a list which contains a list of groups which
     are recommended for a new user to subscribe to.

 "overview_fmt()"
     Returns a reference to an array which contain the names of the fields
     returned 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 containing 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_spec)"
     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.

 "xover($message_spec)"
     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".

 "xpath($message_id)"
     Returns the path name to the file on the server which contains the
     specified message.

 "xpat($header, $pattern, $message_spec)"
     The result is the same as "xhdr" except the is will be restricted to
     headers where the text of the header matches $pattern

 "xrover($message_spec)"
     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

 "listgroup([$group])"
     Returns a reference to a list of all the active messages in $group,
     or the current group if $group is not specified.

 "reader()"
     Tell the server that you are a reader and not another server.

     This is required by some servers. For example if you are connecting
     to an INN server and you have transfer permission your connection
     will be connected to the transfer daemon, not the NNTP daemon.
     Issuing this command will cause the transfer daemon to hand over
     control to the NNTP daemon.

     Some servers do not understand this command, but issuing it and
     ignoring the response is harmless.

UUnnssuuppppoorrtteedd The following NNTP command are unsupported by the package, and there are no plans to do so.

AUTHINFO GENERIC #

XTHREAD #

XSEARCH #

XINDEX #

DDeeffiinniittiioonnss $message_spec $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.

     NNOOTTEE For compatibility reasons only with earlier versions of
     Net::NNTP a message spec can be passed as a list of two numbers, this
     is deprecated and a reference to the list should now be passed

 $pattern
     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 an 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.

     Examples
     "[^]-]"
         matches any single character other than a close square bracket or
         a minus sign/dash.

     *bdc
         matches any string that ends with the string "bdc" including the
         string "bdc" (without quotes).

     "[0-9a-zA-Z]"
         matches any single printable alphanumeric ASCII character.

     "a??d"
         matches any four character string which begins with a and ends
         with d.

EEXXPPOORRTTSS #

 _N_o_n_e.

KKNNOOWWNN BBUUGGSS #

 See <https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Status=Active&Queue=libnet>.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO #

 Net::Cmd, IO::Socket::SSL.

AAUUTTHHOORR #

 Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com <mailto:gbarr@pobox.com>>.

 Steve Hay <shay@cpan.org <mailto:shay@cpan.org>> is now maintaining
 libnet as of version 1.22_02.

CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT #

 Copyright (C) 1995-1997 Graham Barr.  All rights reserved.

 Copyright (C) 2013-2016, 2020 Steve Hay.  All rights reserved.

LLIICCEENNCCEE #

 This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 under the same terms as Perl itself, i.e. under the terms of either the
 GNU General Public License or the Artistic License, as specified in the
 _L_I_C_E_N_C_E file.

VVEERRSSIIOONN #

 Version 3.14

DDAATTEE #

 23 Dec 2020

HHIISSTTOORRYY #

 See the _C_h_a_n_g_e_s file.

perl v5.36.3 2023-02-15 Net::NNTP(3p)