On Tue, 18 Jul 89 17:00:00 CDT Chad Adams said:
>If I send a GET NETINFO INDEX to LISTSERV@BITNIC I get:
>* File "NETINFO INDEX" is not yet available.
>
>but if I say GET NETINFO INDEX NETINFO I get:
>* File "NETINFO INDEX" has been sent to you in Netdata format.
>
>strange or what...
 
   Well, I think I have been there and probably a few other folks too.
One way for this to happen is if you make a VERY generic file definition in
a FILELIST like:
> *        *          ALL OWN .       .     0 ........ ........
 
   When looking for your NETINFO INDEX LISTSERV searches the FILELISTs in
some order until it finds a match.  Sure enough * * matches NETINFO INDEX
so this must be the right FILELIST right?  Well, maybe not.  But it satisfies
the search so LISTSERV stops looking and says the file is not there yet.
 
   When you give the FILELIST name then LISTSERV doesn't have to
search.  I make each filelist "owner" decide on some unique portion of
the file name (ie.  * assm* or ROOTS * or whatever) so users won't get
some strange answers to a query or GET command.
 
   This really hasn't been TOO bad once I figured out that I couldn't
be arbitrary with generic IDs.  ;-)  I suppose doing a complete search to
find the best fit would mean a fair increase in resources and still might
come up with ambiguous data.  What if two filelists matched in a generic
way but neither had the right file?   ;-)
 
   Of course, your mileage may vary.
 
      Marty