diff --git a/bin/gatherstats.pl b/bin/gatherstats.pl
index 60043d1..d360541 100755
--- a/bin/gatherstats.pl
+++ b/bin/gatherstats.pl
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 #
 # It is part of the NewsStats package.
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2010-2013 Thomas Hochstein <thh@thh.name>
+# Copyright (c) 2010-2013, 2025 Thomas Hochstein <thh@thh.name>
 #
 # It can be redistributed and/or modified under the same terms under
 # which Perl itself is published.
@@ -108,6 +108,8 @@ if ($Conf{'TLH'}) {
 
 ### init database
 my $DBHandle = InitDB(\%Conf,1);
+my $DBRaw    = sprintf('%s.%s',$Conf{'DBDatabase'},$Conf{'DBTableRaw'});
+my $DBGrps   = sprintf('%s.%s',$Conf{'DBDatabase'},$Conf{'DBTableGrps'});
 
 ### get data for each month
 &Bleat(1,'Test mode. Database is not updated.') if $OptTest;
@@ -115,90 +117,104 @@ foreach my $Month (&ListMonth($Period)) {
 
   print "---------- $Month ----------\n" if $OptDebug;
 
+  ### GroupStats
   if ($OptStatsType eq 'all' or $OptStatsType eq 'groups') {
-    # read list of newsgroups from --checkgroups
-    # into a hash
-    my %ValidGroups = %{ReadGroupList(sprintf('%s-%s',$OptCheckgroupsFile,$Month))}
-      if $OptCheckgroupsFile;
-
-    ### ----------------------------------------------
-    ### get groups data (number of postings per group)
-    # get groups data from raw table for given month
-    my $DBQuery = $DBHandle->prepare(sprintf("SELECT newsgroups FROM %s.%s ".
-                                             "WHERE day LIKE ? AND NOT disregard",
-                                             $Conf{'DBDatabase'},
-                                             $Conf{'DBTableRaw'}));
-    $DBQuery->execute($Month.'-%')
-      or &Bleat(2,sprintf("Can't get groups data for %s from %s.%s: ".
-                          "$DBI::errstr\n",$Month,
-                          $Conf{'DBDatabase'},$Conf{'DBTableRaw'}));
-
-    # count postings per group
-    my %Postings;
-    while (($_) = $DBQuery->fetchrow_array) {
-      # get list of newsgroups and hierarchies from Newsgroups:
-      my %Newsgroups = ListNewsgroups($_,$TLH,
-                                      $OptCheckgroupsFile ? \%ValidGroups : '');
-      # count each newsgroup and hierarchy once
-      foreach (sort keys %Newsgroups) {
-        $Postings{$_}++;
-      };
-    };
-
-    # add valid but empty groups if --checkgroups is set
-    if (%ValidGroups) {
-      foreach (sort keys %ValidGroups) {
-        if (!defined($Postings{$_})) {
-          # add current newsgroup as empty group
-          $Postings{$_} = 0;
-          warn (sprintf("ADDED: %s as empty group\n",$_));
-          # add empty hierarchies for current newsgroup as needed
-          foreach (ParseHierarchies($_)) {
-            my $Hierarchy = $_ . '.ALL';
-            if (!defined($Postings{$Hierarchy})) {
-              $Postings{$Hierarchy} = 0;
-              warn (sprintf("ADDED: %s as empty group\n",$Hierarchy));
-            };
-          };
-        }
-      };
-    };
-
-    # delete old data for that month
-    if (!$OptTest) {
-      $DBQuery = $DBHandle->do(sprintf("DELETE FROM %s.%s WHERE month = ?",
-                                       $Conf{'DBDatabase'},$Conf{'DBTableGrps'}),
-                                       undef,$Month)
-        or &Bleat(2,sprintf("Can't delete old groups data for %s from %s.%s: ".
-                            "$DBI::errstr\n",$Month,
-                            $Conf{'DBDatabase'},$Conf{'DBTableGrps'}));
-    };
-
-    print "----- GroupStats -----\n" if $OptDebug;
-    foreach my $Newsgroup (sort keys %Postings) {
-      print "$Newsgroup => $Postings{$Newsgroup}\n" if $OptDebug;
-      if (!$OptTest) {
-        # write to database
-        $DBQuery = $DBHandle->prepare(sprintf("INSERT INTO %s.%s ".
-                                              "(month,newsgroup,postings) ".
-                                              "VALUES (?, ?, ?)",
-                                              $Conf{'DBDatabase'},
-                                              $Conf{'DBTableGrps'}));
-        $DBQuery->execute($Month, $Newsgroup, $Postings{$Newsgroup})
-          or &Bleat(2,sprintf("Can't write groups data for %s/%s to %s.%s: ".
-                              "$DBI::errstr\n",$Month,$Newsgroup,
-                              $Conf{'DBDatabase'},$Conf{'DBTableGrps'}));
-        $DBQuery->finish;
-      };
-    };
-  } else {
-    # other types of information go here - later on
+    &GroupStats($DBHandle,$DBRaw,$DBGrps,$Month,$TLH,$OptCheckgroupsFile,$OptTest,$OptDebug);
   };
 };
 
 ### close handles
 $DBHandle->disconnect;
 
+################################# Subroutines ##################################
+
+sub GroupStats {
+### ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+### collect number of postings per group
+### IN : $DBHandle         : database handle
+###      $DBRaw            : database table for raw data (to read from)
+###      $DBGrps           : database table for groups data (to write to)
+###      $Month            : current month to do
+###      $TLH              : TLHs to collect
+###      $Checkgroupsfile  : filename template for checkgroups file
+###                          (expanded to $Checkgroupsfile-$Month)
+###      $Test             : test mode
+###      $Debug            : debug mode
+### OUT: (nothing)
+  my ($DBHandle,$DBRaw,$DBGrps,$Month,$TLH,$CheckgroupsFile,$Test,$Debug) = @_;
+
+  # read list of newsgroups from --checkgroups
+  # into a hash
+  my %ValidGroups = %{ReadGroupList(sprintf('%s-%s',$CheckgroupsFile,$Month))}
+    if $CheckgroupsFile;
+
+  ### ----------------------------------------------
+  ### get groups data (number of postings per group)
+  # get groups data from raw table for given month
+  my $DBQuery = $DBHandle->prepare(sprintf("SELECT newsgroups FROM %s ".
+                                           "WHERE day LIKE ? AND NOT disregard",
+                                           $DBRaw));
+  $DBQuery->execute($Month.'-%')
+    or &Bleat(2,sprintf("Can't get groups data for %s from %s: ".
+                        "$DBI::errstr\n",$Month,
+                        $DBRaw));
+
+  # count postings per group
+  my %Postings;
+  while (($_) = $DBQuery->fetchrow_array) {
+    # get list of newsgroups and hierarchies from Newsgroups:
+    my %Newsgroups = ListNewsgroups($_,$TLH,
+                                    $CheckgroupsFile ? \%ValidGroups : '');
+    # count each newsgroup and hierarchy once
+    foreach (sort keys %Newsgroups) {
+      $Postings{$_}++;
+    };
+  };
+
+  # add valid but empty groups if --checkgroups is set
+  if (%ValidGroups) {
+    foreach (sort keys %ValidGroups) {
+      if (!defined($Postings{$_})) {
+        # add current newsgroup as empty group
+        $Postings{$_} = 0;
+        warn (sprintf("ADDED: %s as empty group\n",$_));
+        # add empty hierarchies for current newsgroup as needed
+        foreach (ParseHierarchies($_)) {
+          my $Hierarchy = $_ . '.ALL';
+          if (!defined($Postings{$Hierarchy})) {
+            $Postings{$Hierarchy} = 0;
+            warn (sprintf("ADDED: %s as empty group\n",$Hierarchy));
+          };
+        };
+      }
+    };
+  };
+
+  # delete old data for that month
+  if (!$Test) {
+    $DBQuery = $DBHandle->do(sprintf("DELETE FROM %s WHERE month = ?",
+                                     $DBGrps), undef,$Month)
+      or &Bleat(2,sprintf("Can't delete old groups data for %s from %s: ".
+                          "$DBI::errstr\n",$Month,$DBGrps));
+  };
+
+  print "----- GroupStats -----\n" if $Debug;
+  foreach my $Newsgroup (sort keys %Postings) {
+    print "$Newsgroup => $Postings{$Newsgroup}\n" if $Debug;
+    if (!$Test) {
+      # write to database
+      $DBQuery = $DBHandle->prepare(sprintf("INSERT INTO %s ".
+                                            "(month,newsgroup,postings) ".
+                                            "VALUES (?, ?, ?)",$DBGrps));
+      $DBQuery->execute($Month, $Newsgroup, $Postings{$Newsgroup})
+        or &Bleat(2,sprintf("Can't write groups data for %s/%s to %s: ".
+                            "$DBI::errstr\n",$Month,$Newsgroup,$DBGrps));
+      $DBQuery->finish;
+    };
+  };
+};
+### ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 __END__
 
 ################################ Documentation #################################