NAME

       distrib.pats - Default values for the Distribution: header

DESCRIPTION

       The file pathetc/distrib.pats is used by nnrpd to determine the default value of the
       Distribution: header.  Blank lines and lines beginning with a number sign ("#") are
       ignored.  All other lines consist of three fields separated by a colon:

           <weight>:<pattern>:<value>

       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).

       The second field is either the name of a newsgroup or a uwildmat(3)-style pattern to
       specify a set of newsgroups.

       The third field is the value that should be used for the Distribution: header of a posted
       article, if this line was picked as the best match and no Distribution: header was
       supplied by the user.  It can be an empty string, specifying that no Distribution: header
       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.

       When a post is received by nnrpd that does not already contain a Distribution: header,
       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 value of the
       Distribution: header.  If no lines match, or if the matching line has an empty string for
       its third field, no header will be added.  In case a distribution is added by nnrpd, make
       sure it is not rejected by the newsfeeds "ME" entry.

       A list of recommended distributions can be specified and described in distributions(5).

HISTORY

       Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews.  Converted to POD by Russ
       Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>.

       $Id: distrib.pats.pod 9767 2014-12-07 21:13:43Z iulius $

SEE ALSO

       distributions(5), inn.conf(5), newsfeeds(5), nnrpd(8), uwildmat(3).