> Yikes! Everytime I put out a new FAQ, the last part of my Subject line
> is "... FAQ v2.5", and that version number changes every month! I do
> include a Version line in the auxiliary header, too. Should I stop
> doing this? The archive at rtfm seems to be handling it okay.
We can handle variable text in the Subject line, as long as we know
about it. When we get a submission that says "Banana Jr. FAQ V3.5",
we put it in our records as "Banana Jr. FAQ V*", so that any version
number will be handled correctly. If you then post with the subject
of "Banana Junior FAQ Version 4.2", though, it will cause a problem.
Similarly, a great many FAQs have their modification date in the subject
line. This is also not a problem - any date format is OK as long as it
is used consistently.
There is a tradeoff here, though. First of all, the subject lines that
we use in pattern-matching are (for the most part) what feeds the List
of Periodic Informational Posts. We want them to remain human-readable,
and too many wildcards lessen readability. Secondly, our software will
archive any post whose subject matches the wildcard. We don't want to
archive posts like "Banana Jr. FAQ - please send!" - so the wildcarding
needs to stay specific enough that only the intended FAQs are matched.
(Good choices of Subject lines help lessen the possibility that random
folks will post with the identical subject.)
If you look at a copy of the LoPIP, you will get an idea of what kinds
of wildcards other folks are using. (Available in news.lists, or
ftp//rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/periodic-postings/part1
through part9)
- Aliza R. Panitz, fairly sure she's speaking for
news-answers-request@mit.edu
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