Rnews
reads messages typically queued by a UUCP newsfeed and
sends them to the local InterNetNews server (either ``localhost'', or the
value defined by the variable
nnrpdposthost
in the file
inn.conf ).
The message is read from the specified input file, or standard input
if no input is named.
When sent over UUCP, Usenet articles are typically joined in a single
batch to reduce the UUCP overhead.
Batches can also be compressed, to reduce the communication time.
If a message does not start with a number sign (``#'') and an exclamation
point, then the entire input is taken as a single news article.
If it does start with with those two characters, then the first line is
read and interpreted as a batch command.
If the command is ``#! rnews nnn'' where
nnn
is a number, then the next
nnn
bytes (starting with the next line) are read as a news article.
If the command is ``#! cunbatch'' then the rest of input is fed to the
compress (1)
program with the ``-d'' flag to uncompress it, and
the output of this pipe is read as
rnews 's
input.
This is for historical compatibility there is no program named
cunbatch .
A compressed batch will start with a ``#! cunbatch'' line, then contain a
series of articles separated by ``#! rnews nnn'' lines.
If
<RNEWSPROGS in config.data>
is ``DO''
and the command is any other word, then
rnews
will try to execute a program with that name in the directory
<pathbin\ in\ inn.conf>/bin/rnews.libexec .
The batch will be fed into the program's standard input, and the
standard output will be read back as input into
rnews .
If
<RNEWS_SAVE_BAD in config.data>
is ``DO''
and
rnews
detects any problems with an article such as a missing header, or
an unintelligible reply from the server, it will save a copy of the article
in the
<pathincoming in inn.conf>/bad
directory.