diff -r 5a4a41cfc0a3 -r ed84c8bdd87b src/org/sonews/util/Purger.java
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/org/sonews/util/Purger.java	Sun Aug 29 17:28:58 2010 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+/*
+ *   SONEWS News Server
+ *   see AUTHORS for the list of contributors
+ *
+ *   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *   (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.sonews.util;
+
+import org.sonews.daemon.AbstractDaemon;
+import org.sonews.config.Config;
+import org.sonews.storage.Article;
+import org.sonews.storage.Headers;
+import java.util.Date;
+import java.util.List;
+import org.sonews.storage.Channel;
+import org.sonews.storage.Group;
+import org.sonews.storage.StorageBackendException;
+import org.sonews.storage.StorageManager;
+
+/**
+ * The purger is started in configurable intervals to search
+ * for messages that can be purged. A message must be deleted if its lifetime
+ * has exceeded, if it was marked as deleted or if the maximum number of
+ * articles in the database is reached.
+ * @author Christian Lins
+ * @since sonews/0.5.0
+ */
+public class Purger extends AbstractDaemon
+{
+
+  /**
+   * Loops through all messages and deletes them if their time
+   * has come.
+   */
+  @Override
+  public void run()
+  {
+    try
+    {
+      while(isRunning())
+      {
+        purgeDeleted();
+        purgeOutdated();
+
+        Thread.sleep(120000); // Sleep for two minutes
+      }
+    }
+    catch(StorageBackendException ex)
+    {
+      ex.printStackTrace();
+    }
+    catch(InterruptedException ex)
+    {
+      Log.get().warning("Purger interrupted: " + ex);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void purgeDeleted()
+    throws StorageBackendException
+  {
+    List<Channel> groups = StorageManager.current().getGroups();
+    for(Channel channel : groups)
+    {
+      if(!(channel instanceof Group))
+        continue;
+      
+      Group group = (Group)channel;
+      // Look for groups that are marked as deleted
+      if(group.isDeleted())
+      {
+        List<Long> ids = StorageManager.current().getArticleNumbers(group.getInternalID());
+        if(ids.size() == 0)
+        {
+          StorageManager.current().purgeGroup(group);
+          Log.get().info("Group " + group.getName() + " purged.");
+        }
+
+        for(int n = 0; n < ids.size() && n < 10; n++)
+        {
+          Article art = StorageManager.current().getArticle(ids.get(n), group.getInternalID());
+          StorageManager.current().delete(art.getMessageID());
+          Log.get().info("Article " + art.getMessageID() + " purged.");
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void purgeOutdated()
+    throws InterruptedException, StorageBackendException
+  {
+    long articleMaximum =
+      Config.inst().get("sonews.article.maxnum", Long.MAX_VALUE);
+    long lifetime =
+      Config.inst().get("sonews.article.lifetime", -1);
+
+    if(lifetime > 0 || articleMaximum < Stats.getInstance().getNumberOfNews())
+    {
+      Log.get().info("Purging old messages...");
+      String mid = StorageManager.current().getOldestArticle();
+      if (mid == null) // No articles in the database
+      {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      Article art = StorageManager.current().getArticle(mid);
+      long artDate = 0;
+      String dateStr = art.getHeader(Headers.DATE)[0];
+      try
+      {
+        artDate = Date.parse(dateStr) / 1000 / 60 / 60 / 24;
+      }
+      catch (IllegalArgumentException ex)
+      {
+        Log.get().warning("Could not parse date string: " + dateStr + " " + ex);
+      }
+
+      // Should we delete the message because of its age or because the
+      // article maximum was reached?
+      if (lifetime < 0 || artDate < (new Date().getTime() + lifetime))
+      {
+        StorageManager.current().delete(mid);
+        System.out.println("Deleted: " + mid);
+      }
+      else
+      {
+        Thread.sleep(1000 * 60); // Wait 60 seconds
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      Log.get().info("Lifetime purger is disabled");
+      Thread.sleep(1000 * 60 * 30); // Wait 30 minutes
+    }
+  }
+
+}