If someone is set to DIGEST for a list the person is sent everything which
was posted to the list since the last DIGEST (here, midnight to midnight
at the host site).  That is everything posted *regardless* of the
date/time stamp contained *in* the posting.

So, a posting which the poster's system stamps as the 9th, is posted
to the list on the 12th, and is in the DIGEST of the 12th.

BUT, if you subseqently want to pull up everything posted to the list
on the 12th with
s * in listname from 00/mm/12 to 00/mm/12
you will not find that item, even though it WAS posted to and distributed
by the list on the 12th.

You will find it though with
s * in listname from 00/mm/9 to 00/mm/9

Why is LISTSERV going by the internal date/time stamp of the item
(even I know how to change that to anything I want, whenever I want)
rather than when the item was actually posted to and distributed by
the list?

The item (I have to pull the proper notebook log to edit out technically
offending material) has been hell to find as it has its own date of
the 9th (which I did not know) but was posted and distributed on the 12th
(which I did know, so naturally started looking there).  I can track the
stuff down but here I kinda feel betrayed.


For years I and coowners of my lists have been telling people that if
they miss a day's digest they can get the material with a search for the
date, like  s * in listname from yy/mm/15 to yy/mm/15

Now it seems we have been lying to them.  We all thought the dates LISTERV
used for that were the actual list posting/distribution dates, NOT the
quite possibly faked date/time internal to the postings.

Give me one good (I don't want to hear "it costs too much") reason
LISTSERV goes by the faked date/time in the posting rather than when
it was actually distributed to the list.

If you think I am hot about this you are right;  I have wasted a *lot*
of time tracking this item down, locating the log it is in, due to
the fact that LISTSERV keeps track of the stuff by the spurious internal
time/date rather than actual posting/distribution date/time.   Douglas

If I sent Eric a bill would he pay it? ;-)