[leafnode-list] Re: Should touch_newsgroup touch the first or last article in the group?

[Matthias Andree]

Adam Funk <adam00f at ducksburg.com> writes:

> It seems to me that it would make more sense to change the line
>
>     my $lines = $server->article() #fetch current/first article
>
> to 
>
>     my $lines = $server->article($last)
>
> so that touch_newsgroup always fetches the last article from the
> group.  Is this wrong?

I haven't looked at the code. Assuming it works as you think it does and
$last contains the highest article number as returned by the GROUP
command, it depends on the purpose:

- if you want to keep the group subscribed, you shouldn't need any
  script with recent versions.

- if you want to keep a particular article (thread in leafnode-2) from
  expiring, read it. This means: Using $last marks a *recent* article
  interesting to keep it from expiry. Using the first marks an *old*
  article interesting and prevents its expiry. If that article is part
  of a longish thread stored by leafnode-2, well, the whole thread is
  kept. So reading the last article in the group seems more appropriate
  to me.

Besides that, a STAT command should suffice, so you don't need to
swallow all of the article, which can be large.

-- 
Matthias Andree