Path: utzoo!utstat!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!gvlv2!gvlf1-c!markw
From: markw@gvlf1-c.gvl.unisys.com (Mark H. Weber)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Newsgroups and Distribution
Message-ID: <960@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM>
Date: 24 Sep 90 20:11:33 GMT
Sender: news@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM
Reply-To: markw@GVL.Unisys.Com (Mark H. Weber)
Organization: Unisys Defense Systems, Great Valley Labs, Paoli, Pa
Lines: 58
References:

After extensive investigation, I think I understand how the "Distribution: "
header is supposed to work in conjuction with the "Newsgroups: " header,
but I'd like someone to double check me.

In order for a news article to be received by a system, or sent to 
the next system, there must be a matching entry in the "sys" file for
for both the "Newsgroups: " and "Distribution: " headers. An empty or
missing "Distribution: " header matches "world" in the sys file. 

So far so good?


In Bnews, the Newgroups and Distributions are combined in the same field,
so that a site which wants a full mainstream news feed would have a sys
file entry something like this (I'm in Pennsylvania, USA):

mysite:comp,sci,rec,talk,news,soc,misc,world,na,usa,pa::

In Cnews this field can be separated into separate Newsgroups and
Distributions by use of a slash:

mysite:comp,sci,rec,talk,news,soc,misc/world,na,usa,pa::

  or

mysite:comp,sci,rec,talk,news,soc,misc/all::

Am I still on the right track?


Where this starts to get weird (and I become less self-assured) is when 
you get into the alternate and regional newsgroup hierarchies such as
"vmsnet", "ba", "ca" or (in my case) "pa". Many articles which are posted
to these groups have the hierarchy name in both the Newsgroup and
Distribution header. Therefore:

  1) I assume that in Bnews, the same field  in the sys file is scanned 
     twice for both headers, so that a single occurrence of the name 
     ("pa" for example) matches both headers and allows these articles
     to be propagated.
     
  2) I further assume that Cnews works the same way as #1 above if the
     field in the sys file has not been separated.
     
  3) And finally, I assume that at Cnews sites where the fields have been
     separated, the separate fields are scanned uniquely, and in order
     for messages in the "pa" newsgroups which have been posted with "pa"
     in both headers to be propagated, there must be a "pa" entry in both 
     fields, or a "pa" in the Newsgroups part, and an "all" in the 
     Distributions part of the field (or vice-versa). 

Is this correct?


-- 
  Mark H. Weber                   | Internet: markw@GVL.Unisys.COM  
  Unisys - Great Valley Labs      |     UUCP: ...!uunet!cbmvax!gvlv2!markw
  Paoli, PA  USA  (215) 648-7111  |           ...!psuvax1!burdvax!gvlv2!markw