FS:DIRECTORY-LIST & IP-TCP/FTP

[snicoud@atc.boeing.com (Stephen L. Nicoud)]

When I try to read my unix mail inbox "/usr/spool/mail/snicoud" I
sometimes have to wait five or more minutes while my Symbolics waits for
a directory listing of our Ultrix host's /usr/spool/mail directory,
which is very large.

So, I think I've traced it down to a call to FS:DIRECTORY-LIST which is
passed "bcsaic:/usr/spool/mail/snicoud.zmail" (the .zmail file being the
renamed file for my inbox).  The Ultrix host has FTP as its only FILE
service.  Well my Symbolics (7.2 ip-tcp 67.8 (eco 3)) asks Ultrix for
listing of "/usr/spool/mail".  Why should it do that?  Why not the whole
spec:  "/usr/spool/mail/snicoud.zmail"?  Is this a bug in IP-TCP or is
this a bug at all?

Has anyone else noticed this behavior?

Ideas, suggestions?

Steve
--
Stephen L. Nicoud  <snicoud@atc.boeing.com>  uw-beaver!bcsaic!snicoud
Boeing Advanced Technology Center for Computer Sciences