---
name: "overview.fmt"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "inn"
version: "1:1.7.2q-52"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/overview.fmt"
---

# overview.fmt(5)

format of news overview database

## NAME

overview.fmt - format of news overview database

## DESCRIPTION

The file */etc/news/overview.fmt* specifies the organization of the news overview database. Blank lines and lines beginning with a number sign (\`\`#'') are ignored. The order of lines in this file is important; it determines the order in which the fields will appear in the database.

Most lines will consist of an article header name, optionally followed by a colon. A trailing set of lines can have the word \`\`full'' appear after the colon; this indicates that the header should appear as well as its value.

If this file is changed, it is usually necessary to rebuild the existing overview database using [*expireover*(8)](/expireover/8.md) after removing all existing overview files.

The default file, show below, is compatible with Geoff Collyer's \`\`nov'' package:

```
Subject:
From:
Date:
Message-ID:
References:
Bytes:
Lines:
##  Some newsreaders get better performance if Xref is present
#Xref:full
```

## HISTORY

Written by Rich $alz \<rsalz@uunet.uu.net\> for InterNetNews. Intended to be compatible with the *nov* package written by Geoff Collyer \<geoff@world.std.com\>. This is revision 1.6, dated 1996/09/06.