What a mess--I can't imagine anything less intuitive
the root directory (apaprently) is the virtual directory you are in (i.e. if you are in a directory you defined in the directories pane in the web server dialog box)
the "virtual" parameter which (it appears) lets you explicitly refer to a defined directory in apache is (again apparently--because there is no way to find out except by experimentation) nonexistent in SPML
when you refer to a file outside the folder you are in, you can get to it and have it disppayed according to the rules implied in paragaph 1
But guess what? even though the server finds the file and dispalys it along with a link, the link (FILEHREF) is wrong.
There are 3 possible causes for this
1) there is a "correct" way to do it which is , again, circuitous and torturous and requires still more special "workarounds" . I probably should have put perfloogie.spml in the 3rd sirectory down from the location of redirect.spml except if the root directory is not located in the same folder as telefinder in which case blahdee blah blah blah.
2) there is NO way to do this--the stuff is meant to be used only in a narrow, very circumscribed way--which certainly does not qualify it for "the bomb" status
3) you never tested this to see if it worked, or, if you did, you did so under such limited condirions that there was minimal probablility that it would be useful in the outside world.
Why not just let people put a URL in there--in the #dir_list command--period--what is the problem with that? Is that too difficult a thing to ask of a web server, that it understand URL's??? List the files in the directory given by a URL. Duh--that would be too easy. Probably too hard to write code that recognizes a URL and then sends you to that--Probably has never been done.
Why am I upset? Because all this is a big waste of time, that's why. I only have (if I am lucky) 20-25 years left to live--I would like to accomplish something during that period of time--this perpetual backsliding does not contribute to that rather limited ambition.
