Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!cbatt!ihnp4!uniq!rjnoe
From: rjnoe@uniq.UUCP (Roger J. Noe)
Newsgroups: news.software.b,news.admin
Subject: Re: Bug in moderated groups handling?
Message-ID: <222@uniq.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 18-Dec-86 10:46:38 EST
Article-I.D.: uniq.222
Posted: Thu Dec 18 10:46:38 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 19-Dec-86 01:48:40 EST
References: <221@uniq.UUCP>
Organization: Uniq Digital Technologies, Batavia, IL
Lines: 61
Keywords: inews 2.11 mod.all unapproved
Summary: What's DONTFORWARD?
Xref: mnetor news.software.b:115 news.admin:78

In article <221@uniq.UUCP>, rjnoe@uniq.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) writes:
> As USENET administrator at this site I got some mail sent back from the local
> backbone that looks like it points to a 2.11 rnews bug in the way moderated
> newsgroups are handled. . . .
> 
> Here's what was in LIBDIR/log for this time . . .
> 
> Dec 16 17:18	ihnp4	received <1353@dual.UUCP> ng mod.politics subj 'Re: Reply to Rich Cowan' from paul@dual.UUCP (Baker)
> Dec 16 17:19	ihnp4	Article mailed to ihnp4!mod-politics
> 
> . . . . Here's LIBDIR/mailpaths:
> 
> backbone	ihnp4!%s
> internet	ihnp4!%s
> 
> Which also looks right, assuming ihnp4 has mail aliases for moderated groups

This was easier to track down than I thought it would be, mostly because it
happened a second time (but with a different group, mod.mac).  When our
rnews receives an article in a moderated group and no Approved: header line
included, it executes the code found around line 746 in inews.c (version
2.70, 11/21/86).  The first executable code after the block declarations
is enclosed in an #ifdef not mentioned by any of the installation notes:

#ifdef DONTFOWARD
		if(mode == PROC) {
			logerr("Unapproved article in moderated group %s",
				is_mod);
			if (localize("junk"))
				savehist(histline);
			goto writeout;
		}
#endif /* DONTFORWARD */

I don't know if the spelling DONTFOWARD in line 752 is intentional or not.
In any event, this code doesn't get included in our inews/rnews.  It looks
to me like it should.  Why was it #ifdef'd out in the first place?  Is there
something wrong with the code?  Without this, the code following it is
executed upon receipt/posting of an article in a moderated group if not
approved.  That code prints out a message to stderr, pulls the backbone
line from the LIBDIR/mailpaths file and mails the offending article to
the moderated newsgroup alias on the backbone.  This is obviously what
should happen for an article posted from the local site, not one received
from another site.  #defining DONTFORWARD wouldn't change this action,
would it?

I guess I have a few questions that beg to be answered:
	1. Why was DONTFORWARD used to exclude the above code?
	2. Why was DONTFORWARD left out of the 2.11 news installation
	   notes?  Is it just an oversight or should it not be used?
	3. Why is a site that apparently runs 2.11 news (ihnp4) sending
	   on unapproved articles in moderated newsgroups?
	4. Why does backbone site ihnp4 not have mail aliases for the
	   moderated groups?  Does this mean that I *do* have to maintain
	   a moderators list and have a line for every different moderator
	   in my LIBDIR/mailpaths file?
Thanks for the help.
	Roger Noe			ihnp4!uniq!rjnoe
	Uniq Digital Technologies	rjnoe@uniq.UUCP
	28 South Water Street		+1 312 879 1566
	Batavia, Illinois  60510	41:50:56 N.  88:18:35 W.