Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!uhccux!munnari.oz.au!otc!metro!basser!nuts!cc!sysnet
From: SYSNET@cc.nu.oz (David Morrison)
Newsgroups: news.software.anu-news
Subject: More problems with ADD FILE under 5.8A
Message-ID: <8731@cc.nu.oz>
Date: 4 Aug 89 23:01:19 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle
Lines: 70

I am using NEWS V5.8A, unpatched, as obtained by PSI_COPY from ANU.

I have just received a number of control messages (newgroup) which 
were completely ignored by NEWS.  (This is how I knew something was wrong - I 
had seen the groups appear on a Unix machine and wondered why they had not 
appeared here.)  Further investigation revealed that if a message has zero
lines in the body and is followed by a batching line (#! rnews xxx), then it
is completely ignored.  If it occurs at the end of a file, it is processed
correctly.  Other messages are also affected, but it is no real loss if a 
normal message with zero lines is ignored :-)

Here is an example of the messages.  They look all right to me.

>#! rnews 1234
>Path: nuts!basser!munnari.oz.au!murtoa.cs.mu.oz.au!uunet!daitc!dgis!generous
>From: generous@dgis.daitc.mil (Curtis Generous)
>Newsgroups: comp.mail.sendmail
>Subject: cancel <5@dgis.daitc.mil>
>Message-ID: <6@dgis.daitc.mil>
>Date: 28 Jul 89 00:24:42 GMT
>Control: cancel <5@dgis.daitc.mil>
>Organization: DTIC Special Projects Office (DTIC-SPO), Alexandria VA
>Lines: 0
>
>#! rnews 1234
>Path: nuts!basser!munnari.oz.au!kre
>From: kre@cs.mu.oz.au (Robert Elz)
>Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl.ctl
>Subject: newgroup comp.lang.apl
>Message-ID: <1786@munnari.oz.au>
>Date: 2 Aug 89 06:32:38 GMT
>Control: newgroup comp.lang.apl
>Distribution: aus
>Organization: Comp Sci, Melbourne Uni, Australia
>Lines: 0
>Approved: kre@cs.mu.oz.au
>
>#! rnews 1234
>Path: nuts!basser!munnari.oz.au!kre
>From: kre@cs.mu.oz.au (Robert Elz)
>Newsgroups: comp.lang.asm370.ctl
>Subject: newgroup comp.lang.asm370
>Message-ID: <1787@munnari.oz.au>
>Date: 2 Aug 89 06:32:43 GMT
>Control: newgroup comp.lang.asm370
>Distribution: aus
>Organization: Comp Sci, Melbourne Uni, Australia
>Lines: 0
>Approved: kre@cs.mu.oz.au
>
>#! rnews 1234
>Path: nuts!basser!munnari.oz.au!kre
>From: kre@cs.mu.oz.au (Robert Elz)
>Newsgroups: comp.lang.c.ctl
>Subject: newgroup comp.lang.c
>Message-ID: <1788@munnari.oz.au>
>Date: 2 Aug 89 06:32:49 GMT
>Control: newgroup comp.lang.c
>Distribution: aus
>Organization: Comp Sci, Melbourne Uni, Australia
>Lines: 0
>Approved: kre@cs.mu.oz.au
>

Tim Russell posted a patch on 8 July for which he could not remember the 
symptoms.  Could this be it?
--
David Morrison, Network Manager, Uni of Newcastle, Australia
Try sysnet@cc.nu.oz.au or sysnet@cc.nu.oz  (mail only)
or (VAX PSI) psi%newcastle.edu.au::sysnet or psi%0505249626002::sysnet