diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index 719ddfb323..ec7a69514b 100755
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -17216,3 +17216,10 @@ David  9 Sept 2004
         sample_trivial_validator.C
         validate_util.C,h
         validator.C
+
+David  9 Sept 2004
+    - added try_fopen() (from Jeff Cobb):
+        like fopen(), but on tells you whether it's recoverable or not
+
+    lib/
+        util.C,h
diff --git a/lib/util.C b/lib/util.C
index 5dd24a28a1..7075969310 100755
--- a/lib/util.C
+++ b/lib/util.C
@@ -765,3 +765,34 @@ int dir_hier_url(
     sprintf(result, "%s/%x/%s", root, sum, filename);
     return 0;
 }
+
+// try to open a file.
+// On failure:
+//   return ERR_FOPEN if the dir is there but not file
+//     (this is generally a nonrecoverable failure)
+//   return ERR_OPENDIR if dir is not there.
+//     (this is generally a recoverable error,
+//     like NFS mount failure, that may go away later)
+//
+int try_fopen(char* path, FILE*& f, char* mode) {
+    char* p;
+    DIR* d;
+    char dirpath[256];
+
+    f = fopen(path, mode);
+    if (!f) {
+        p = strrchr(path, '/');
+        if (p) {
+            strncpy(dirpath, path, (int)(p-path));
+        } else {
+            strcpy(dirpath, ".");
+        }
+        if ((d = opendir(dirpath)) == NULL) {
+            return ERR_OPENDIR;
+        } else {
+            closedir(d);
+            return ERR_FOPEN;
+        }
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/lib/util.h b/lib/util.h
index 1628e83839..87f534299e 100755
--- a/lib/util.h
+++ b/lib/util.h
@@ -127,4 +127,6 @@ extern int dir_hier_url(
     const char* filename, const char* root, int fanout, char* result
 );
 
+extern int try_fopen(char* path, FILE*& f, char* mode);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/sched/assimilator.C b/sched/assimilator.C
index 11cbced5a4..079883dc10 100644
--- a/sched/assimilator.C
+++ b/sched/assimilator.C
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@
 // Contributor(s):
 //
 
-// assimilator [ -noinsert ]
+// This is a framework for an assimilator.
+// You need to link with with an (application-specific) function
+// assimilate_handler()
+// in order to make a complete program.
 //
 
 #include <cstring>