NAME

       distrib.pats - default values for Usenet Distribution header

DESCRIPTION

       The file /etc/news/distrib.pats is used to determine the default value of the Distribution
       header.  It consists of a series of lines; 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 heighest weight is used.  This  should  be  an  arbitrary  number
       greater  than  zero.   Unlike  other  INN  files,  the  order of lines in this file is not
       important.

       The second field is the name of the newsgroup or a wildmat(3)-style pattern to  specify  a
       set of newsgroups.  Multiple patterns are not allowed.

       The third field is the value that should be used if this line is picked as the best match.
       It can be an empty string.

       Programs such as inews(1)  that  process  a  user's  posting  should  consult  this  file,
       typically  by  using  the DDxxx routines, documented in libinn(3).  The intent is that all
       newsgroups to which an article is posted be used to index into this file,  and  the  value
       with  the  highest  weight should be used as the value of the Distribution header, if none
       was specified.

HISTORY

       Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews.  This is revision  1.7,  dated
       1996/09/06.

SEE ALSO

       inews(1), libinn(3).

                                                                                  DISTRIB.PATS(5)