Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site cyb-eng.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!ut-sally!cyb-eng!howard
From: howard@cyb-eng.UUCP (Howard Johnson)
Newsgroups: net.news.b
Subject: Re: News bug -- a major black hole found
Message-ID: <640@cyb-eng.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Aug-85 18:04:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: cyb-eng.640
Posted: Mon Aug 12 18:04:31 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Aug-85 02:12:57 EDT
References: <3066@nsc.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Cyb Systems, Austin, TX
Lines: 27

> I think I've found a major problem with news, one that is causing some of
> our black holes out there. It is a very bizarre combination of events.

Bizarre, yes.  (But I won't cross-post to net.bizarre just yet. :-))

> What happens is this: Someone sends a control message, such as a cancel,
> without a text body. [...] ends up writing the EOF char before realizing
> it is EOF. [...]
> 
>     #! rnews 999
>     [control message header]
>     ^?#!rnews 9999
>     [next message header]

Fortunately, this doesn't seem to happen on the most widely-distributed
version of 2.10.2 (9/18/84 version, which I have).

> unfortunately, the rnews batcher doesn't seem to be able to handle this.
>     o make sure that when you store a control message, it ends with a
>     newline. [...]
> 
>     o modify the rnews unbatcher to do two things: LOG these error messages
>     and store ANY data that it can't deal with somewhere to be unpacked by
>     hand later. This will cause more work for an SA, but at least messages
>     won't get lost. 

The version of news I have does the first of these, but not the second.