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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84 chuqui version 1.7 9/23/84; site nsc.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!ihnp4!nsc!chuqui
From: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Cheshire Chuqui)
Newsgroups: net.news.b
Subject: Re: expire takes 73 minutes of cpu?!?!?
Message-ID: <1884@nsc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Nov-84 00:55:11 EST
Article-I.D.: nsc.1884
Posted: Tue Nov 20 00:55:11 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Nov-84 00:56:09 EST
References: <1828@nsc.UUCP> <> <1859@nsc.UUCP> <>
Reply-To: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Cheshire Chuqui)
Organization: The Bistro
Lines: 37
Summary: 

In article <3114@utah-cs.UUCP> lepreau@utah-cs.UUCP (Jay Lepreau) writes:
>Chuq claims that the use of "expire -e N" negates the value of putting
>the expiration date in the history file.  Huh??  I'm no expert on the
>news software, but that makes no sense to me.  The object is to avoid
>opening every news article to find the poster-specified expiration
>date.  Putting that date in the history file doesn't change one bit the
>algorithm for determining the actual expiration date.
>

here is the situation. Assume we put the expiration date in the history
file. When a message comes in, we add the DFLTEXP value (say 14 days) to
the time received to get the expiration time (november 1 becomes november
15 for expiration). If you then run expire with the -e option to expire
something at, say, 10 days, that article should really expire november 11.
the expiration time becomes useless because the system would still have to
read the file and add the -e expiration time to it to find out if it should
be expired.

A better alternative is to make sure the date in the history file is the
date received (in an easily usable format), add a flag if there is an 
Expires: header line (or better yet, do away with it completely), and base
expiration on the date in the history time + DFLTEXP or the -e value,
opening up the article only to get Expires: lines. Come to think of it,
that shouldn't be too much trouble to implement. Me and my copious free
time.....

chuq


-- 
From the Department of Bistromatics:                   Chuq Von Rospach
{cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui  nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA

  This plane is equipped with 4 emergency exits, at the front and back of
  the plane and two above the wings. Please note that the plane will be
  travelling at an average altitude of 31,000 feet, so any use of these
  exits in an emergency situation will most likely be futile.