greenber@timeinc.UUCP (Ross M. Greenberg) (08/21/85)
One of the sites that we feed has recently given us a VERY
lengthy exclusion list for our sys file. Before I break
something, could one of you news.gurus let me know if
there is a limit as to how long (in bytes, or in newgroup count)
a sys entry is allowed to be?
(The list is long enough to cause vi to barf on a 'Line too Long'
error message).
Thanks.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross M. Greenberg @ Time Inc, New York
--------->{vax135 | ihnp4}!timeinc!greenber<---------
I highly doubt that Time Inc. would make me their spokesperson.
---
"You must never run from something immortal. It attracts their attention."
-- The Last Unicorngreenber@timeinc.UUCP (Ross M. Greenberg) (08/22/85)
(For reasons too obscure and embarrassing to mention, the following
article may not have gotten out. If it has, please excuse the repost!)
One of the sites that we feed has recently given us a VERY
lengthy exclusion list for our sys file. Before I break
something, could one of you news.gurus let me know if
there is a limit as to how long (in bytes, or in newgroup count)
a sys entry is allowed to be?
(The list is long enough to cause vi to barf on a 'Line too Long'
error message).
Thanks.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross M. Greenberg @ Time Inc, New York
--------->{vax135 | ihnp4}!timeinc!greenber<---------
I highly doubt that Time Inc. would make me their spokesperson.
---
"You must never run from something immortal. It attracts their attention."
-- The Last Unicornspaf@gatech.CSNET (Gene Spafford) (08/28/85)
If the exclusion list is that long you should consider replacing it
by an "inclusion" list -- it will probably be shorter. Just go down
the list of active newsgroups and strike out the ones in the
exclusion list. Then build your line accordingly.
As an example, suppose site "xx" wants to exclude all the newsgroups
EXCEPT net.foo, net.bar, net.foo.baz, and net.woebegon. The resulting
sysfile line should look something like:
xx:net,!net.all,net.foo,net.bar,net.woebegon,mod,fa,usa,na,to.xx:B:
(If anybody doesn't understand why this is so, send mail explaining
what you don't understand and I'll try to explain).
--
Gene "4 months and counting" Spafford
The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf%GATech.CSNet @ CSNet-Relay.ARPA
uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,hplabs,ihnp4,linus,seismo,ulysses}!gatech!spafgreenber@timeinc.UUCP (Ross M. Greenberg) (08/28/85)
> >As an example, suppose site "xx" wants to exclude all the newsgroups >EXCEPT net.foo, net.bar, net.foo.baz, and net.woebegon. The resulting >sysfile line should look something like: >xx:net,!net.all,net.foo,net.bar,net.woebegon,mod,fa,usa,na,to.xx:B: > This doesn't address the reason why the "client" site wanted an exclusion list: They wanted to see ALL new groups as they come (and go). Also, ends up that they basically want about half of thegroups. So , in either case, they break the sys file! Being a uucp SA is so much fun..... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Ross M. Greenberg @ Time Inc, New York --------->{vax135 | ihnp4}!timeinc!greenber<--------- I highly doubt that Time Inc. would make me their spokesperson. --- "You must never run from something immortal. It attracts their attention." -- The Last Unicorn
glc@akgua.UUCP (G.L. Cleveland [Lindsay]) (08/29/85)
>From: greenber@timeinc.UUCP (Ross M. Greenberg) >is there a limit as to how long (in bytes, or in newgroup count) >a sys entry is allowed to be? > >(The list is long enough to cause vi to barf on a 'Line too Long' >error message). The limit for the length of a line in your "sys" file is defined by the value of LBUFLEN in the defs.h file. I have mine set to 3000, but then it also affects the maximum length of the "reply" path in vnews/readnews, which is why I have it so big. In order to massage such large lines with "vi", I merely edit a second file (called ex.sys) which has the lines broken at commas: nextsite:all,!net.foo,!net.bar, !net.grep,!net.dead, !net.allgone,!to,all, to.nextsite:U:/usr/lib/news/qnews /usr/spool/news/nextsite %s After making any changes, you then run the following little command called "join.sys": # Used to join continuation lines in "ex.sys" and output to "sys" sed -e '/^#/d' -e '/,$/!s/$/~/' ex.sys | tr -d '\12' | tr '~' '\12' >sys It removes the comment lines (starting with a '#'), and removes the new-line character after each comma. >From: spaf@gatech.CSNET (Gene Spafford) >If the exclusion list is that long you should consider replacing it >by an "inclusion" list -- it will probably be shorter. Just go down >the list of active newsgroups and strike out the ones in the >exclusion list. Then build your line accordingly. I rarely disagree with anything Spaf says, but there are a few disadvantages to using an "inclusion" rather than an "exclusion" list. 1. When a new newsgroup is created, the downstream site rarely knows about it until one of its users complains to the netnews administrator "Why don't we get it??!!" 2. Administrator then has to contact the feeding site and ask for the newsgroup to be included in the list. 3. Upstream administrator is on vacation for two weeks. News feed is delayed. Local user is The Boss. You are in trouble! With an "exclusion" list, the downstream site is automatically supplied with newly-created groups. If any of them are not wanted, they can be turned off at the feeding site whenever it is convenient to do so. Cheers, Lindsay Lindsay Cleveland (akgua!glc) (404) 447-3909 Cornet 583-3909 AT&T Technologies/Bell Laboratories ... Atlanta, Ga
mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) (09/01/85)
All you have to do is split the sys file entry into separate lines
using \<newline> at the end of each line to be continued, as in the
following:
micropro:net,mpro,fa,mod,na,usa,ba,ca,to::
dixie:mpro,na,usa,ba,ca,net.announce,net.books,net.columbia,net.cooks,\
net.games,\
net.invest,net.kids,net.micro,net.music,net.space,net.singles,net.sport,\
net.women,to.dixie:F:/usr/spool/batch/dixie
Note that I'm using 2.10.3 net news.
--
Mojo
... Morris Jones, MicroPro Product Development
{dual,ptsfa,hplabs}!well!micropro!kepler!mojo