---
name: "newsdb"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "cnews"
version: "cr.g7-31"
release: "Debian 3.0 (Woody)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/newsdb"
---

# newsdb(5)

USENET network news database: article tree, history, active, active.times

## NAME

newsdb - USENET network news database: article tree, history, active, active.times

## DESCRIPTION

Each news article is stored in a separate file with one or more links, each a numeric name in a directory under **/var/spool/news** corresponding to a newsgroup the article is (cross-)posted to. For example, an article posted to **comp.unix.wizards** might be stored in **/var/spool/news/comp/unix/wizards/4867**.

The file **/var/lib/news/active** defines the locally-valid news groups and contains one line per group. Each line consists of four blank-separated fields: newsgroup name, highest local article number assigned, lowest local article number in use (approximately), and a flag. Both article-number fields are at least five digits wide. (Some older news software may expect exactly five digits.) The current flag values are **y** (a normal unmoderated group), **n** (like **y** but local postings disallowed), **m** (a normal moderated group), **x** (a locally-disabled group, no articles will be filed here), and **=** (followed by the real group under which to file articles in this group; articles are treated exactly as if their **Newsgroups:** header specified the real group instead of the original one; highest and lowest fields are ignored).

The file **/var/lib/news/active.times** is an extension of the *active* file that records the arrival of new newsgroups by time and creator. When a new newsgroup is created, the group name, time of group creation (as seconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00, GMT), and mail address of the creator are appended as a single line. The file must always be sorted in increasing order of the creation-time field. The news software only appends to the file, which normally suffices to ensure this. An initial *active.times* for already existing newsgroups, with all times equal to the time of its creation and all creators \`\`unknown'', can be built using *act.to.times* (see *newsmaint*(8CN)). *Active.times* provides a quick way for newsreaders to tell when new groups have arrived, without weird heuristics and expensive schemes like storing old lists of newsgroups and comparing them to the *active* file.

The file **/var/lib/news/history** contains one line for each article received. Each line consists of three tab-separated fields: a *Message-ID:*, a complex middle field, and the list of links to this article. The links are separated by blanks and are given as pathnames relative to */var/spool/news*, except that all the \`/'s except the last one (between the last component of the newsgroup name and the numeric article name) are replaced by \`.'s. If an article has been expired or cancelled without being seen first, the list of links and the tab before it are omitted.

The middle *history* field potentially has several subfields separated by tilde (~). Currently only three are defined: the arrival date, the expiry date, and an optional article size in bytes. The arrival date is a *time\_t* (see [*time*(2)](/time/2.md); in Unix a *time\_t* is a count of seconds since the GMT beginning of 1970) expressed as a decimal integer. The expiry date is another decimal *time\_t*, or the contents of the **Expires:** header from the message, or \`-' indicating that there was no explicit expiry date given.

There are also index files to permit rapid *history* lookup by message-id, typically called **/var/lib/news/history.dir** and **/var/lib/news/history.pag**.

Also usually present now are *overview* files, one per newsgroup; see [*newsoverview*(5)](/newsoverview/5.md) for more detail on them.

## EXAMPLES

A trivial *active* file.

```
control 0000600006 600004 y
junk 0000000076 00074 y
comp.org.usrgroup 0000000006 00004 y
talk.bizarre 0000296123 292136 n
comp.sys.sun 0000050175 50173 m
list.sun-spots 0000000076 00076 =comp.sys.sun
comp.os.vms 0000000000 00000 x
```

A trivial *history* file.

```
<3451@hcr.UUCP>	581905588~-	comp.text/1317 comp.sources.wanted/4200
<9383@alice.UUCP>	611934511~-
```

## FILES

```
/var/spool/news/news/group/1234
/var/lib/news/active
/var/lib/news/active.times
/var/lib/news/history
/var/lib/news/history.dir
/var/lib/news/history.pag
```

## SEE ALSO

[dbz(1)](/dbz/1.md), readnews(1CN), rn(1), dbz(3Z), getabsdate(3), [news(5)](/news/5.md), [newsoverview(5)](/newsoverview/5.md), [newssys(5)](/newssys/5.md), expire(8CN), newshist(8CN), newsmaint(8CN), relaynews(8CN), *newsinvaders*(9.1)

## HISTORY

*Active.times* invented by Mark Moraes and Geoff Collyer as part of the C News project.

## BUGS

Reader implementors are warned that the various files mentioned here—the *active* file, the *history* file, the article tree itself, and the overview files—in general are not updated perfectly simultaneously. Nor are they necessarily updated in a predictable order.