Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!world!geoff
From: geoff@world.std.com (Geoff Collyer)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: warning to all sinners in regard to current C News patches
Message-ID: <1991Mar27.200847.4890@world.std.com>
Date: 27 Mar 91 20:08:47 GMT
References: <1991Mar24.035259.20738@zoo.toronto.edu>
	<9ICP05C@methan.chemie.fu-berlin.de>
	<1991Mar24.220537.14059@zoo.toronto.edu>
	<1991Mar27.152155.27218@nmrdc1.nmrdc.nnmc.navy.mil>
Organization: Software Tool & Die Netnews Research Center
Lines: 64

LCDR Michael E. Dobson:
>Well I think I've got a problem with one of my leaf sites then.  The following
>date is unparsable according to Cnews patch 24Mar91:
>
>Mon Mar 25 20:40:20 1991 MET +0100
>
>According to RFC1036 2.1.2  Date
>
>this date "is not acceptable because it is not a valid RFC-822 date.  However,
>since older software still generates this format, news implementations are
>encouraged to accept this format and translate it into an acceptable format."

I think you are misreading RFC 1036.  A more complete quotation is:

2.1.2.  Date

    The "Date" line (formerly "Posted") is the date that the message was
    originally posted to the network.  Its format must be acceptable
    both in RFC-822 and to the getdate(3) routine that is provided with
    the Usenet software.  This date remains unchanged as the message is
    propagated throughout the network.  One format that is acceptable to
    both is:

                      Wdy, DD Mon YY HH:MM:SS TIMEZONE

    Several examples of valid dates appear in the sample message above.
    Note in particular that ctime(3) format:

                          Wdy Mon DD HH:MM:SS YYYY

    is not acceptable because it is not a valid RFC-822 date.  However,
    since older software still generates this format, news
    implementations are encouraged to accept this format and translate
    it into an acceptable format.

    There is no hope of having a complete list of timezones.  Universal
    Time (GMT), the North American timezones (PST, PDT, MST, MDT, CST,
    CDT, EST, EDT) and the +/-hhmm offset specifed in RFC-822 should be
    supported.  It is recommended that times in message headers be
    transmitted in GMT and displayed in the local time zone.

Note that the date format referred to in the phrase you quoted is Unix
ctime format, and note that the sample unparsable date you give is neither
and RFC 822 date nor a ctime.  It is not a ctime because of the presence
of the (redundant) time zone at the end.

>Am I correct in assuming that C-News will no longer tolerate this "sin"?  If
>so I will inform this site to correct his software which is probably a good
>idea in any event.

C inews now accepts a wide range of date formats in Date: headers
(all-numeric dates are *not* acceptable, but then they have always been
ambiguous:  what will 1/2/3 mean in the next century [ten years from
now]?  in Europe? the US? Canada?).  inews will rewrite the contents of
the Date: header into an RFC 822 date in GMT (UTC, UT, whatever).  C
relaynews now expects Date: header contents to be strict RFC 822 dates:
no redundant timezones, no all-numeric dates, no ctimes, no funny
invented-here formats.

(Expires: headers are currently still parsed by getdate.y and can be any
darn thing you like, just beware that what you write may not be what
getdate understands.  We hope to stop using getdate.y eventually.)
-- 
Geoff Collyer		world.std.com!geoff, uunet.uu.net!geoff