usefor-article-03 February 2000

7.1.3.  Initial Articles

   Some subparts of a "newgroup" or "mvgroup" control message MAY
   contain an initial set of articles to be posted to the affected
   newsgroup(s) as soon as it has been created. These parts are
   identified by having the Content-Type "application/news-
   transmission", possibly with the parameter "usage=inject".  The body
   of each such part should be a complete proto-article, ready for
   posting. This feature is intended for the posting of charters,
   initial FAQs and the like to the newly formed group(s).

   The Newsgroups header of the proto-article MUST include the
   newsgroup-name of the newly created group (or one of them, if more
   than one). It MAY include other newsgroup-names. If the proto-article
   includes a Message-ID header, the message indentifier in it MUST be
   different from that of any existing article and from that of the
   control message as a whole, though it MAY be derived from it by
   appending "$p=<n>", where <n> is an integer part number (see also
   6.13.2.1), immediately after its id-left-side (i.e.  before the "@").
   Alternatively such a message identifier MAY be derived by the
   injecting agent when the proto-article is posted. The proto-article
   SHOULD include the header "Distribution: local".

   The proto-article SHOULD be injected at the serving agent that
   processes the control message AFTER the newsgroup(s) in question has
   been created. It MUST NOT be injected if the newsgroup is not, in
   fact, created (for whatever reason). It MUST NOT be submitted to any
   relaying agent for transmission beyond the server(s) upon which the
   newsgroup creation has just been effected (in other words, it is to
   be treated as having a "Distribution: local" header, whether such a
   header is actually present or not).

        NOTE: The "$p=<n>" convention, if applied uniformly, should
        ensure that initial articles relayed beyond the local server in
        contravention of the above prohibition will not propagate in
        competition with similar copies injected at other local servers.
        NOTE: It is not precluded that the proto-article is itself a
        control message or other type of special article, to be
        activated only upon creation of the new newsgroup. However,
        except as might arise from that possibility, any
        "application/news-transmission" within some nested "multipart/*"
        structure within the proto-article is not to be activated.
[Observe the possibility for initial Named articles (whatever they may
turn out to be) here.]