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Cleanfeed - Newsgroup Counters and Flags

Overview

Usenet is comprised of thousands of newsgroups so it's not surprising that Cleanfeed includes many parameters related to the newsgroups within a posting, (known as the distribution). Some are simple Scalar Variables, others are Arrays but the majority reside within a Hash.

Scalar Variables

The following table contains the name, type and a description of each scalar related to newsgroup distribution.
Scalar Description
sortgrps A comma seperated list of Newsgroups within the distribution, sorted in alphanumeric order.
grpcnt A count of the number of Newsgroups within the distribution.
fupcnt A count of the number of groups specified within the Followup-To header.
grpfupcnt A count of the unique groups specified within both the Newsgroups and Followup-To headers.

Arrays

The names and functions of each distribution related array.
Array Description
groups A list of all the groups contained within the Newsgroups header.
followups A list of all the groups contained within the Followup-To header. If no Followup-To header is specified, this list will have identical content to groups
grpfup A list of all the unique groups contained within both Newsgroups and Followup-To headers. This is useful in instances where Followup-To groups are considered a part of the distribution.

The "gr" Hash

The gr (short for group) hash identifies various characteristics about the distribution of the posting. In the following table, Type can be Flag or Counter. A Flag is either True or False whilst a Counter holds a positive integer. Due to Perl's True/False handling, a Counter can also be used as a Flag as any non-zero value will equate to True.

The Source column indicates which of the Arrays is used to populate the Flag or Counter.

Key Type Source Description
binary Flag @groups True if all the groups in the distribution match config{bin_allowed}. If this flag returns False and a message contains binary content, it will be rejected.
image Flag @groups True if all the groups in the distribution match config{bin_allowed} or config{image_allowed}. The distinction between this flag and binary is that binary groups allow any type of binary whilst image groups only allow images, such as jpeg, png and gif files.
bad_bin Counter @groups A count of groups that match the config{bad_bin} regular expression. Although a Counter, this is usually treated as a Flag to indicate if any of the groups in the distribution that match config{bin_allowed} are in fact non-binary groups.
html Flag @groups True if all groups in the distribution allow HTML content. These groups are identified in config{html_allowed}. In general terms, html content is unwelcome on Usenet, the exception being the microsoft hierarchy.
mime_html Flag @groups True if all groups in the distribution allow HTML content. These groups are identified in config{mime_html_allowed}. By default Cleanfeed doesn't allow MIME HTML in any groups.
poison Counter @groups Count the number of poison groups in the distribution. In general any count above zero is cause to reject the message. Poison groups are defined in config{poison_groups}.
reports Flag @groups Returns True if all the groups in the distribution match config{spam_report_groups}.
no_cancel Counter @groups Count the number of groups in the distribution where cancels are not permitted. These groups are defined in config{no_cancel_groups}.
test Counter @groups Count the number of test groups in the distribution. Test groups are defined in config{test_groups}.
alltest Flag @groups Return True if all the groups in the distribution match config{test_groups}. This is closely related to the test counter.
adult Counter @groups Count the number of groups in the distribution that are considered suitable for adult material. These groups are extracted from the config{adult_groups} and config{not_adult_groups} regular expressions.
alladult Flag @groups Return True if all the groups in the distribution are suitable for adult material. This is closely related to the adult counter.
faq Counter @groups FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) groups are given special consideration as they often contain frequently reposted material. Matching groups are specified in config{faq_groups}.
localhier Counter @grpfup The local hierarchy is used for matters relating to a specific news service (or server). It is usually not propagated beyond that service. This parameter maintains a count of all the local.* groups within a distribution.
mod Counter @groups In this context, mod is an abreviation of moderated. Moderated Newsgroups are granted special treatment as a human (or a bot) is required to authorize each submitted message prior to its being posted.
allmod Flag @groups Return True if all the groups in the distribution are moderatd. This is closely related to the mod counter.
alllocal Flag @grpfup Return True if all the groups in the distribution are in the local hierarchy. This is closely related to the localhier counter.