3.2. The GROUP command

3.2.1. GROUP

   GROUP ggg

The required parameter ggg is the name of the newsgroup to be selected (e.g. "net.news"). A list of valid newsgroups may be obtained from the LIST command.

The successful selection response will return the article numbers of the first and last articles in the group, and an estimate of the number of articles on file in the group. It is not necessary that the estimate be correct, although that is helpful; it must only be equal to or larger than the actual number of articles on file. (Some implementations will actually count the number of articles on file. Others will just subtract first article number from last to get an estimate.)

When a valid group is selected by means of this command, the internally maintained "current article pointer" is set to the first article in the group. If an invalid group is specified, the previously selected group and article remain selected. If an empty newsgroup is selected, the "current article pointer" is in an indeterminate state and should not be used.

Note that the name of the newsgroup is not case-dependent. It must otherwise match a newsgroup obtained from the LIST command or an error will result.

3.2.2. Responses

   211 n f l s group selected
           (n = estimated number of articles in group,
           f = first article number in the group,
           l = last article number in the group,
           s = name of the group.)
   411 no such news group