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.IX Title "DISTRIB.PATS 5"
.TH DISTRIB.PATS 5 2024-02-12 "INN 2.7.2" "InterNetNews Documentation"
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.SH NAME
distrib.pats \- Default values for the Distribution header field
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
The file \fIpathetc\fR/distrib.pats is used by \fBnnrpd\fR to determine the
default body of the Distribution header field.  Blank lines and lines beginning
with a number sign (\f(CW\*(C`#\*(C'\fR) are ignored.  All other lines consist of three
fields separated by a colon:
.PP
.Vb 1
\&    <weight>:<pattern>:<value>
.Ve
.PP
The first field is the weight to assign to this match.  If a newsgroup
matches multiple lines, the line with the highest weight is used.  This
should be an arbitrary integer greater than zero.  The order of lines in
the file is only important if groups have equal weight (in which case, the
first matching line will be used).
.PP
The second field is either the name of a newsgroup or a \fIuwildmat\fR\-style
pattern to specify a set of newsgroups.
.PP
The third field is the body that should be used for the Distribution
header field of a posted article, if this line was picked as the best match and
no Distribution header field was supplied by the user.  It can be an empty
string, specifying that no Distribution header field should be added.  If it
is not empty, it is better to only use US-ASCII characters for that field;
otherwise, make sure it is encoded in UTF\-8.
.PP
When a post is received by \fBnnrpd\fR that does not already contain a
Distribution header field, each newsgroup to which an article is posted will be
checked against this file in turn, and the matching line with the highest
weight will be used as the body of the Distribution header field.  If no lines
match, or if the matching line has an empty string for its third field, no
header field will be added.  In case a distribution is added by \fBnnrpd\fR, make
sure it is not rejected by the \fInewsfeeds\fR \f(CW\*(C`ME\*(C'\fR entry.
.PP
A list of recommended distributions can be specified and described
in distributions(5).
.SH HISTORY
.IX Header "HISTORY"
Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews.  Converted to
POD by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
distributions(5), inn.conf(5), libinn_uwildmat(3), newsfeeds(5), nnrpd(8).