I searched the ifcico (2.8e-tx7.4 at the moment) source to find out,
how to adress the files that are requested.
First ifcico tries to match the name of the requested file with the
magic-Files. This works case sensitive, so if someone requests
"files" and I created an executable "FILES", this won't be found.
If no magic is found, ifcico searches in the pubdir. This search is
case insensitive and accepts pathnames with slashes (not backslash).
I consulted FTS-0006 abount WaZOO filerequests and this tells me that
the requested filenames shouldn't include a path. Besides this we
have the problem with long filenames when a dos system tries to
request a file.
What are the alternatives?
First we can create a new directory (pubdir), which holds hundreds of
symbolic links with 8+3 chars which point to the real files. This
works without problems but this isn't very clearly arranged and keeps
many inodes.
So my idea is to have one simple map with the shortname on the left
and the real name with relative path on the right column like this:
ifmai28f.tgz unix/fido/ifmail/ifmail-2.8f.tar.gz
if28f77p.tgz unix/fido/ifmail/ifmail-2.8f_to_2.8f-tx7.7.tgz
fidopnte.gz linux/fido/FidoPnt-en.txt.gz
This file could be indexed with gdbm like the nodelist and the
sendmail aliases file and if someone requests ifmai28f.tgz ifcico fill
find the entry in this file and sends
unix/fido/ifmail/ifmail-2.8f.tar.gz as ifmai28f.tgz.
What do you think about this idea? It is FTS-6 complient, doesn't
cause any problems with DOS mailers (8+3) on the other side and should
be much easier to maintain than than a directory full of hundreds of
symlinks....
Would it be possible to implement something like this (I haven't any
time, because I'm writing my master thesis at the moment and I didn't
work with gdbm till now...).
Oh, I forgot a point: If the requested filename isn't found in the
database, ifcico should search like now, because people using mailers
which support paths and long filenames would like the actual
situation. The extention above is only an additional feature...
Ciao
Roland
-- * Internet: roland@spinnaker.rhein.de * Fido: 2:2450/42 *