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Assumptions:

- Everything is sent in text format, and all commands have a

terminating newline.

- Line ends are UNIX.

- The astroda has an epsonnage rating of 94.5% +/- 0.5%.

- Lines beginning with "-->" represent messages sent from client to

server; lines beginning with "<--", server to client.

- If no commands are sent by the client to the server for a duration of

10 seconds, the server should close the connection.

- In general, nominal responses from the server are preceded by a '+'

(ASCII 43); error responses are preceded by a '-' (ASCII 45).

- Commands are not case-sensitive.

Generic:

<-- - can't execute query: <errstr> (MSG_SERVFAIL)

If, at any time, the server is unable to perform a needed SQL query,

it will send MSG_SERVFAIL, where <errstr> is an arbitrary text string

describing the error encountered, and close the connection.

--> NOOP (MSG_NOOP)

<-- + epson the whole astroda (MSG_ASTRODA)

NOOP serves as a no-operation, used in order to circumvent the

connection timeout.

<-- - USAGE: <command> <arguments> (MSG_USAGE)

If the server receives a command that has an invalid number of

arguments, the server should respond with MSG_USAGE.

<-- + Uh, okay. (MSG_NOCMD)

If an empty line is sent as a command, the server should respond with

MSG_NOCMD.

<-- - Unknown command "<command>". (MSG_INVALCMD)

If the server has received a command that it does not recognize, it

should respond with MSG_INVALCMD.

<-- + Here comes... (MSG_STARTDAT)

If the last command received by the server expects a response greater

than one line in length, the server should prefix the response with

MSG_STARTDAT.

<-- . (MSG_ENDDAT)

MSG_ENDDAT is used to end a block of data begun with MSG_STARTDAT that

has non-constant length. Such data is returned by ENUM queues and

DIGEST, among others.

Connection and Authentication:

--> connect()

By default, the IcculusNews daemon runs on port 263 of the

server. It expects no input to begin the connection process.

<-- + IcculusNews daemon <version> (MSG_VER)

<-- + <uid>, <qid> (MSG_UIDQID)

<-- - Authorization for "<username>" failed. (MSG_AUTHFAIL)

<-- - This account has been disabled. (MSG_ACCTLOCK)

<-- - Failed to set default queue: <errstr> (MSG_NODQUEUE)

<version> is an arbitrary text string describing the version of

the daemon. Once this string has been sent, the server expects a

MSG_AUTH in response. All other inputs will result in the sending of

MSG_NOTAUTH and the closing of the connection.

A properly-formatted MSG_AUTH will solicit one of four replies:

MSG_UIDQID, MSG_AUTHFAIL, MSG_ACCTLOCK, or MSG_NODQUEUE.

The <username> and <password> arguments to MSG_AUTH are

arbitrary text strings describing the username/password pair of a user

on the remote server. Alternately, the client can specify a '-' (ASCII

45) to authenticate as the anonymous user. If the MSG_AUTH does not

describe a valid user, the server should respond with MSG_AUTHFAIL. If

the user whose account is described is not authorized to log in, the

server should respond with MSG_ACCTLOCK. If the user's default queue

cannot be set, the server should respond with MSG_NODQUEUE, where

<errstr> is an arbitrary text string describing the error encountered.

If authentication has completed successfully, the server will

reply with MSG_UIDQID, where <uid> is an integer representing the

current user ID, and <qid> is an integer representing the current queue

ID.

Queue Information:

--> ENUM queues (MSG_ENUMQ)

<-- (MSG_STARTDAT)

<-- <qid> (MSG_QID)

<-- <queue name> (MSG_QNAME)

<-- ...

<-- (MSG_ENDDAT)

MSG_ENUMQ is a request for basic information on all queues on

the current server. The server should respond with a block of data

beginning with MSG_STARTDAT. This block of data should contain a

number of MSG_QID / MSG_QNAME pairs, each corresponding to the queue ID

and queue name of a single queue. The end of the data should be marked

with a MSG_ENDDAT.

User Information:

--> USERINFO (MSG_USERINFO)

<-- (MSG_UIDQID)

MSG_USERINFO is a request for information on the current user

and queue in use. The server should respond with a MSG_UIDQID, where

<uid> is the current user ID, and <qid> is the current queue ID.

Article Information:

--> DIGEST [<offset> | -] <n> (MSG_DIGEST)

<-- - no queue selected. (MSG_NOQUEUE)

<-- (MSG_STARTDAT)

<-- <aid> (MSG_AID)

<-- <title> (MSG_ATITLE)

<-- <ctime> (MSG_ACTIME)

<-- <uid> (MSG_AOWNERID)

<-- <uname> (MSG_AOWNERNM)

<-- <ip> (MSG_AOWNERIP)

<-- <approved> (MSG_AAPPROVE)

<-- <deleted> (MSG_ADELETED)

<-- ...

<-- (MSG_ENDDAT)

MSG_DIGEST is a request for information on a set of articles in

the currently-selected queue. <offset> is either an integer indicating

the upper bound on the article ID to be queried, such that all articles

returned have an article ID of less than <offset>, or a '-' (ASCII 45),

indicating no upper bound. <n> is an upper bound on the number of

articles for which information is wanted; if there are fewer than <n>

records matching the server's query, the block will end prematurely.

If the current queue is 0, the server should reply with

MSG_NOQUEUE. Otherwise, it should return a block of data. The block

of data should begin with MSG_STARTDAT, and then contain a number of

MSG_AID / MSG_ATITLE / MSG_ACTIME / MSG_AOWNERID / MSG_AOWNERNM /

MSG_AOWNERIP / MSG_AAPPROVE / MSG_ADELETED sets, where:

- MSG_AID is an integer describing the article's article ID;

- MSG_ATITLE is an arbitrary text string defining the title of the

article (titles do not have to be unique across articles);

- MSG_ACTIME is the time at which the article was created (in

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format);

- MSG_AOWNERID is the user ID of the creator of the article;

- MSG_AOWNERNM is the user name of the creator of the article (or the

system-wide anonymous username if UID 0);

- MSG_AOWNERIP is the dotted-quad IP of the computer from which the

article was submitted;

- MSG_AAPPROVE is a flag stating the article's approval status (1 if

the article has been approved, 0 otherwise);

- MSG_ADELETED is a flag stating the article's deletion status (1 if it

is marked to be deleted at the next purge, 0 otherwise).

The end of the block should be marked with MSG_ENDDAT.

Article Submission:

Article Editation:

Disconnection:

--> QUIT (MSG_QUIT)

<-- + kthxbye (MSG_BYE)

MSG_QUIT indicates that the client has requested to close the

connection. The server should comply and reply with a MSG_BYE before

calling close().