--- AFD - wildcards? (& something more) / Eugenio Gatto. - Torino,
    1995-12-28
 
"Can you use wildcards with AFD?" [Kevin J Sinclair, LSTOWN-L,
1995-12-26]
 
Yes, with AFD and FUI DELETE, not with ADD (and so says the manual). So,
not to the purpose of being "able to AFD sub to all the files of a
specific filelist.".
 
This can be done with a single command only if the filelist owner has
deemed useful to offer everything as a single package: a more flexible
solution for filelist structuring than a purely hyerarchical one
(nothing prevents a file from being included in different packages,
while storing it in different filelists could lead to inconsistencies).
 
Perhaps it is useful to remember that there is no direct relationship
between a LIST and a FILELIST. But a default filelist is always
associated with a list, to point (if they exist) to the list logs (but
who will ever subscribe AFD or FUI to logs?), and to host service files
for the list (WELCOME, FAREWELL, MAILTPL &c). So, it is quite natural to
catalog there other files that users may GET. Their availability (and
AFD/FUI-bility) is controlled by the GET file access control (ALL, PRV,
OWN being the most common values); filename and filetype may be anything
the filelist owner likes.
 
A minor issue about access control (found by experiment, but if
confirmed it could be added to documentation) is that the check is
performed only at AFD/FUI subscription time, and the file continues to
be available to its subscribers even if access is restricted afterwards
(e.g., an ALL file redefined PRV). Another asynchrony (and a quite
useful one) is that AFD/FUI subscription is not checked against file
existence after subscription: the file may be deleted from filelist (not
simply emptied), but if and when it reappears, it is sent/notified.