usefor-article-12 November 2003

4.1.  Syntax of News Articles

   The overall syntax of a news article is:

      article           = 1*( header CRLF ) separator body
      header            = other-header
      other-header      = header-name ":" 1*SP other-content
      header-name       = 1*name-character *( "-" 1*name-character )
      name-character    = ALPHA / DIGIT
      other-content     = <the content of a header defined by some
                 other standard>
      separator         = CRLF
      body              = *( *998text CRLF )

   However, the rule given above for header is incomplete. Further
   alternatives will be added incrementally as the various Netnews
   headers are introduced in this standard (or in future extensions),
   using the "=/" notation defined in [RFC 2234].  For example, a
   typical Usenet-header would be defined as follows:

      header            =/ Usenet-header
      Usenet-header     = "Usenet" ":" SP Usenet-content
                   *( ";" ( Usenet-parameter /
                            extension-parameter ) )
      Usenet-content    = <syntax specific to that Usenet-header>
      Usenet-parameter  = <a parameter specific to that Usenet-header>



   where the Usenet-parameter, which MUST always be of the same
   syntactic form as a parameter, is only provided for certain headers,
   and even the extension-parameter is omitted in some cases (see
   4.2.2).  Observe that "Usenet" is (and MUST be) of the syntactic form
   of a header-name.

      extension-parameter
              = <a parameter not defined by this standard>
      x-attribute     = "x-" attribute

   An article consists of some headers followed by a body. An empty line
   separates the two. A header begins with a header-name identifying it,
   and can be continued onto subsequent lines as described in section
   4.2.3.  The body is largely unstructured text significant only to the
   poster and the readers.

        NOTE: Terminology here follows the current custom in the news
        community, rather than the [RFC 2822] convention of referring to
        what is here called a "header" as a "header-field" or "field".

   Note that the separator line MUST be truly empty, not just a line
   containing white space. Further empty lines following it are part of
   the body, as are empty lines at the end of the article.

        NOTE: The syntax above defines the canonical form of a news
        article as a sequence of lines each terminated by CRLF. This
        does not prevent serving or relaying agents from storing or
        handling the article in other formats (e.g. using a single LF in
        place of CRLF) so long as the overall effects achieved are as
        defined by this standard when operating on the canonical form.

--- ../usefor-article-11/Syntax_of_News_Articles.out          June 2003
+++ ../usefor-article-12/Syntax_of_News_Articles.out          November 2003
@@ -28,21 +28,20 @@
 
 
    where the Usenet-parameter, which MUST always be of the same
-   syntactic form as a parameter, is not provided in all headers, and
-   even the extension-parameter is omitted in some cases (see 4.2.2).
-   Observe that "Usenet" is (and MUST be) of the syntactic form of a
-   header-name.
+   syntactic form as a parameter, is only provided for certain headers,
+   and even the extension-parameter is omitted in some cases (see
+   4.2.2).  Observe that "Usenet" is (and MUST be) of the syntactic form
+   of a header-name.
 
       extension-parameter
               = <a parameter not defined by this standard>
       x-attribute     = "x-" attribute
 
    An article consists of some headers followed by a body. An empty line
-   separates the two. The headers contain structured information about
-   the article and its transmission. A header begins with a header-name
-   identifying it, and can be continued onto subsequent lines as
-   described in section 4.2.3.  The body is largely unstructured text
-   significant only to the poster and the readers.
+   separates the two. A header begins with a header-name identifying it,
+   and can be continued onto subsequent lines as described in section
+   4.2.3.  The body is largely unstructured text significant only to the
+   poster and the readers.
 
         NOTE: Terminology here follows the current custom in the news
         community, rather than the [RFC 2822] convention of referring to
@@ -54,8 +53,8 @@
 
         NOTE: The syntax above defines the canonical form of a news
         article as a sequence of lines each terminated by CRLF. This
-        does not prevent serving agents or transport agents from storing
-        or handling the article in other formats (e.g. using a single LF
-        in place of CRLF) so long as the overall effects achieved are as
+        does not prevent serving or relaying agents from storing or
+        handling the article in other formats (e.g. using a single LF in
+        place of CRLF) so long as the overall effects achieved are as
         defined by this standard when operating on the canonical form.