Eric B. wrote:
> Thanks for the info.  That's somewhat what I figured, which is why I filled 
> in the files with some header comments, thinking that might be enough to 
> "trick" ASSP into thinking that there was content.
>   

No problem.  This has been a gotcha for many people - which is why I
wrote that article and why it's listed in the FAQ.

> This begs the question if this isn't problematic then.  I can forsee someone 
> commenting out a line(s) in a file without realizing that there is no useful 
> body left, and finding themselves with errors/problems because of empty 
> files.
>
> Would it not be simpler to put a check in the code to validate if the file 
> is blank, and if so, to completely ignore it?
>   

There are multiple ways the file could be considered "blank".  Maybe
someday it would be a good idea to make ASSP entirely dummy-proof, after
all the functionality is settled and/or we have more developers
maintaining the code.  Either way though, administrators should have an
understanding of how Regular Expressions work, and how things can go
wrong when they are used improperly.  It's all a part of the learning curve.

> Besides, what I further can't figure out is what the difference would be 
> between an empty config file and a blank value in the actual parameter 
> itself.  For instance, if
> contentOnlyRE:=
> or
> contentOnlyRE:= file:someFile.txt which is empty
>
> Both return the same value - nothing.

That's only how you perceive it as the user - but thats not how ASSP's
Perl code is interpreting the data.  If the field is blank, then ASSP
considers the function disabled. If there is something in the field,
then ASSP considers the function enabled - whether it be a Regular
Expression or a reference to a file.

To then guess whether or not Regular Expressions listed in a file have
been appropriately crafted would require additional logic checking.


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