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.