****************************** * L-Soft international, Inc. * ****************************** ***************************** * List Owner's Manual * * for * * LISTSERV(R), version 1.8c * ***************************** August 18, 1997 Revision 2 r970818-001 The reference number of this document is 9708-UD-02. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Companies, names and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted. L-Soft international, Inc. does not endorse or approve the use of any of the product names or trademarks appearing in this document. Permission is granted to copy this document, at no charge and in its entirety, provided that the copies are not used for commercial advantage, that the source is cited and that the present copyright notice is included in all copies, so that the recipients of such copies are equally bound to abide by the present conditions. Prior written permission is required for any commercial use of this document, in whole or in part, and for any partial reproduction of the contents of this document exceeding 50 lines of up to 80 characters, or equivalent. The title page, table of contents and index, if any, are not considered to be part of the document for the purposes of this copyright notice, and can be freely removed if present. The purpose of this copyright is to protect your right to make free copies of this manual for your friends and colleagues, to prevent publishers from using it for commercial advantage, and to prevent ill-meaning people from altering the meaning of the document by changing or removing a few paragraphs. Copyright (c) 1996-1997, L-Soft international, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. LISTSERV is a registered trademark licensed to L-Soft international, Inc. L-SOFT and LMail are trademarks of L-Soft international. LSMTP is a trademark of L-Soft international, Inc. EASE and CataList are service marks of L-Soft international, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of X/Open Company Limited. AIX and IBM are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Alpha AXP, Ultrix and VMS are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. OSF/1 is a registered trademark of Open Software Foundation, Inc. Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows, Windows NT and Windows 95 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. HP is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. Sun is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. IRIX is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. PMDF is a registered trademark of Innosoft International. All other trademarks, both marked and not marked, are the property of their respective owners. All of L-Soft's manuals for LISTSERV are available in ascii-text format via LISTSERV and in popular word-processing formats via ftp.lsoft.com. They are also available on the World Wide Web at the following URL: URL: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/index.html L-Soft invites comment on its manuals. Please feel free to send your comments via e-mail to MANUALS@LSOFT.COM. Reference Number 9708-UD-02 ========================================================================= ********************* * Table of Contents * ********************* Preface: LISTSERV Command Syntax Conventions 1. About Mailing Lists and LISTSERV(R) 2. Starting a Mailing List--The Basics 2.1. Avoid duplication of effort 2.2. What skills do I need to start and maintain a LISTSERV mailing list? 2.3. Creating a mailing list Where can it be done, and Who can do it? 2.3.1 Naming Conventions 2.4. List Header Keywords and what they do 2.5. Sending commands to LISTSERV 2.6. Retrieving and editing the list some considerations 2.7. Defining list owners 2.8. List passwords are now obsolete 2.9. Storing the list on the host machine 2.10. Fixing mistakes 2.11. A sample list header file 2.12. Security options 2.12.1. First line of defense: The VALIDATE= keyword 2.12.2. Controlling subscription requests 2.12.3. Controlling the service area of your list 2.12.4. Controlling who may review the list of subscribers 2.12.5. Controlling who may access the notebook files 2.12.6. Controlling who may post mail to the list 2.12.7. The OK confirmation mechanism 2.12.8. Personal passwords 2.12.9. Restricting subscriber privileges 2.12.10. Restricting the number of postings per user to the list per day 2.13 How to set up lists for specific purposes 2.13.1. Edited lists 2.13.2. Moderated lists 2.13.3. Semi-moderated lists 2.13.4. Self-moderated lists 2.13.5. Auto-responders 2.13.6. Announce-only lists 2.13.7. Peered lists 2.13.8. "Super-lists" and "sub-lists" 2.13.9. "Cloning" lists 3. Advertising Your Public Mailing Lists 3.1. List of Lists maintained by LISTSERV 3.2. Adding HTML to a list header for the CataList 3.2.1. Update latency 3.2.2. Inserting a pointer to another list 3.2.3. Restrictions on the placement of equal signs 3.3. Defining search categories in a list header for the CataList 3.3.1. Examples of category settings 3.4. The INFO command and how to implement it 3.5. The NEW-LIST project at North Dakota State 3.6. The Internet Network Information Center (INTERNIC) 3.7. The Global List Exchange (GLX) and why you should mention it 3.8. How NOT to advertise a mailing list 4. Managing Subscriptions 4.1. How to add and delete subscribers to/from a list 4.1.1. X.400 and X.500 addressing--Special problems 4.1.2. Adding users whose address and real name exceed 80 characters 4.2. Finding users who do not appear in the list 4.3. Converting mailing lists to LISTSERV from other systems 4.4. Using the QUIET option with commands 4.5. Dealing with bounced mail 4.5.1. What is a bounce, and what can typically cause one? 4.5.2. What to do about several types of bounces 4.5.3. Redistribution lists and why they may cause you migraines 4.6. Delivery error handling features 4.6.1. Auto-Delete considerations for holidays 4.6.2. Automatic address probing 4.7. Subscription confirmation 4.8. Subscription renewal 4.9. The SERVE command 4.10. "Peering" Large Lists 4.10.1 Moving users from one (peer) server to another 4.10.1 Special commands for peered lists only 5. Setting Subscription Options For Subscribers 5.1. How to review current subscription options with QUERY 5.2. How to set personal subscription options for subscribers 5.3. Options that may be set 5.3.1. Mail/NOMail 5.3.2. DIGest/NODIGest 5.3.3. MIME/NOMIME 5.3.4. INDex/NOINDex 5.3.5. ACK/NOACK/MSGack/NONE 5.3.6. Options for mail headers of incoming postings 5.3.7. CONCEAL/NOCONCEAL 5.3.8. REPro/NOREPro 5.3.9. TOPICS 5.3.10. POST/NOPOST 5.3.11. EDITOR/NOEDITOR 5.3.12. REVIEW/NOREVIEW 5.3.13. RENEW/NORENEW 5.4. Setting original default options with the Default-Options= keyword 6. Moderating and Editing Lists 6.1. List charters, welcome files, and administrative updates 6.2. The role of the list owner as moderator 6.3. The role of the list owner as editor 6.4. Setting up an edited list 6.5. Submitting subscriber contributions to an edited list 6.6. Message approval with Send= Editor,Hold 6.7. Using list topics 6.8. The listname WELCOME and listname FAREWELL files 6.8.1. Creating and storing listname WELCOME and FAREWELL files 6.8.2. Using the listname WELCOME file as a moderation tool 6.8.3. Using the listname FAREWELL file as a feedback tool 6.8.4. The alternative to using WELCOME and FAREWELL files 6.9. Social conventions (netiquette) 6.10. Spamming: what it is, and what to do about it 6.11. Appropriate use policies: considerations 7. Overview of List Archives 7.1. What is the list archive? 7.2. Setting up and managing archive notebooks 7.2.1. Indexing available archive notebooks 7.2.2. Deleting existing archive notebooks 7.3. Database Functions Overview 7.3.1. LISTSERV Command Job Language Interpreter 7.3.2. A basic database session (VM servers only) 7.3.3. A basic database session (non-VM servers running 1.8c or later only) 7.3.4. Narrowing the search 7.4. Where to find more information on Database Functions 8. Overview of File Archives 8.1. What is the file archive? 8.2. Starting a file archive for your list 8.3. Filelist maintenance (VM systems only) 8.3.1 Retrieving the filelist 8.3.2 Adding file descriptors to the filelist 8.3.3. File Access Codes (FAC) for user access 8.3.4 Deleting file descriptors from the filelist 8.3.5. Storing the filelist 8.4. The listname.CATALOG system on non-VM systems (new for 1.8c) 8.4.1. Updating the sub-catalog 8.4.2. Indexing the sub-catalog 8.5. Storing files on the host machine 8.6. Deleting files from the host machine 8.7. Automatic File Distribution (AFD) and File Update Information (FUI) 8.8. File "Packages" 8.9. Where to find more information on File Archives 9. Customizing LISTSERV's Default Mail Templates 9.1. What LISTSERV uses mail templates for 9.2. The DEFAULT.MAILTPL file and how to get a copy 9.3. Mail template format and embedded formatting commands 9.4. Creating a .MAILTPL file for a list 9.4.1. The INFO template form 9.4.2. Other useful template forms 9.4.3. Tips for using templates 9.5. Storing the .MAILTPL file on the host machine 9.6. Other template files: DIGEST-H and INDEX-H 9.7. Using the DAYSEQ(n) function 9.7.1. Rotating bottom banner 9.7.2. Rotating FAQ via the PROBE1 template and "Renewal= xx-Daily" 10. Gatewaying to USENET 10.1. Why would I want to? 10.2. How to go about it 10.3. Special considerations and problems with gatewaying 11. Solving Problems 11.1. Helping subscribers figure out the answers 11.2. Loop-checking can cause occasional problems with quoted replies 11.3. User can't unsubscribe and/or change personal options 11.4. Firewalls 11.5. What to do if LISTSERV wont store your list 11.6. If I can't find the answer, where do I turn? Appendix A: System Reference Library for LISTSERV version 1.8b Appendix B: List Keyword Alphabetical Reference for LISTSERV version 1.8b Appendix C: Sample Boilerplate Files Appendix D: Related Documentation and Support Appendix E: Acknowledgments L-Soft international, Inc. List Owner's Manual for LISTSERV(R), version 1.8c April 18, 1997 Revision 2 r970818-001 Copyright (c) 1996-1997, L-Soft international, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide The reference number of this document is 9708-UD-02. ************************************************ * Preface: LISTSERV Command Syntax Conventions * ************************************************ Generally, parameters used in this document can consist of 1 to 8 characters from the following set: A-Z 0-9 $#@+-_: Deviations from this include: fformat Netdata, Card, Disk, Punch, LPunch, UUencode, XXencode, VMSdump, MIME/text, MIME/Appl, Mail full_name first_name [middle_initial] surname (not your e-mail address) listname name of an existing list node BITNET nodeid or Internet hostname of a BITNET machine which has taken care of supplying an ':internet' tag in its BITEARN NODES entry; or the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of an Internet host. pw a password containing characters from the set: A-Z 0-9 $#@_- ?!|% userid Any valid RFC822 network address not longer than 80 characters; if omitted, the 'hostname' part defaults to that of the command originator Other deviations from the standard set will be noted along with the affected commands. Also please note the following conventions for representing variable or optional parameters: < > Angle brackets always indicate required parameter names that must be replaced by appropriate data when sending commands to LISTSERV [ ] Square brackets enclose optional parameters which, if used, must be replaced by appropriate data when sending commands to LISTSERV *************************************** * 1. About Mailing Lists and LISTSERV * *************************************** LISTSERV is a system that allows you to create, manage and control electronic "mailing lists" on a corporate network or on the Internet. Since its inception in 1986 for IBM mainframes on the BITNET academic network, LISTSERV has been continually improved and expanded to become the predominant system in use today. LISTSERV is now available for VM, VMS(TM), unix(R), Windows NT(TM), and Windows 95(TM). Versions for the Apple Macintosh and MPE (HP 3000) are in development. Consider for a moment what the users of your electronic mail system actually use electronic mail for. Do they discuss problems and issues that face your organization, down to the departmental level? In an academic setting, do your faculty and students communicate via electronic mail? As with "real world" distribution lists, electronic mailing lists can make it possible for people to confer in a painless manner via the written word. The electronic mail software simply replaces the copying machine, with its associated costs, delays and frustrations. In fact, electronic mail lists are easier to use than most modern copiers, and a lot less likely to jam at just the worst possible moment. Because electronic mail is delivered in a matter of seconds, or occasionally minutes, electronic mailing lists can do a lot more than supplement the traditional paper distribution lists. In some cases, an electronic mailing list can replace a conference call. Even when a conference call is more suitable, the electronic mailing list can prove a powerful tool for the distribution of papers, figures and other material needed in preparation for the conference call. And, when the call is over, it can be used to distribute a summary of the discussion and the decisions that were made. What before might have been an exchange of views between two or three people can now become an ongoing conference on the issue or problem at hand. Announcement lists and even refereed electronic journals can be made available to your audience, which can be as small as a few people or as large as the entire Internet community. If you need a further overview, please see Appendix D, Related Documents and Support, for information on how to get one. ***************************************** * 2. Starting a Mailing List The Basics * ***************************************** 2.1. Avoid duplication of effort ================================ Before you start your list, it pays to do a careful search in several places to find out if you are duplicating an already-existing list, or if the name you are considering is already in use for a list on a differing subject. The first place to check is the "CataList" service maintained by LISTSERV itself. This service lists all public lists running on LISTSERV servers worldwide. Point your Web browser of choice at the URL http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html to access CataList. If you don't have a web browser, you can alternately send the command LIST GLOBAL search_string in the body of mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET (or to LISTSERV at any host site). You will receive a mail message in return containing a list of all lists known to LISTSERV where either the name of the list or the short list description contains your search string. For instance, LIST GLOBAL IBM would result in the following being returned to you: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from the LISTSERV lists known to LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 Aug 1996 12:50 (search string: IBM) Copyright 1996 L-Soft international, Inc. L-Soft international, Inc. owns the copyright to this compilation of Internet mailing lists (the "Compilation") and hereby grants you the right to copy the enclosed information for the sole purpose of identifying, locating and subscribing to mailing lists of interest. Any other usages of the Compilation, including, without limitation, identifying, locating and subscribing to mailing lists of interest. Any other usages of the Compilation, including, without limitation, solicitation, tele-marketing, "spamming", "mail-bombing" and "spoofing" are strictly prohibited. *********************************************************************** * To subscribe, send mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET with the following * * command in the text (not the subject) of your message: * * * * SUBSCRIBE listname * * * * Replace 'listname' with the name in the first column of the table. * *********************************************************************** Network-wide ID Full address and list description --------------- --------------------------------- 9370-L 9370-L@NIC.SURFNET.NL IBM 9370 and VM/IS specific topics list ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 2.1. Sample output of LIST GLOBAL IBM (63 more lists were deleted for brevity) You might want to make your search more specific, as this particular search locates every list that has IBM somewhere in its title. For instance, if you wanted to start a list on some aspect of the IBM 370, you might do better to search for IBM 370. Alternative searches you can do include: - Check the archive on LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU, where the NEW-LIST project at North Dakota State University stores list announcements back to 1989. The NEW-LIST archive contains information about LISTSERV lists as well as about lists running on other types of servers. This information is accessible either via LISTSERV database searches or on the web at http://listserv.nodak.edu/archives/new-list/ - Get a copy of the Interest Groups List of Lists maintained by SRI on its server at sri.com. Note that this is a 500KB (or larger) file. ftp sri.com user: anonymous password: your_user_id cd netinfo get interest-groups - Check the Usenet newsgroups news.announce.newusers and news.lists , if they are available to you via your local news feed. - Use one of the World Wide Web search engines such as Alta Vista or Yahoo! to search for matches to the name you want to use. 2.2. What skills do I need to start and maintain a LISTSERV mailing list? ========================================================================= You should already be familiar with your mailing system and text editor. Otherwise, there are no special skills required. It is the goal of this manual to give you what you need to know about LISTSERV user commands, privileged LISTSERV owner commands, and how to read and interpret RFC822 Internet-style mail headers. LISTSERV itself is designed to operate in an identical manner no matter which operating system it is running under. Thus the fact that LISTSERV is running under VM, VMS, some flavor of Unix, or Windows NT should not be a concern to the list owner, who may not even know which version of LISTSERV his lists are running on. Additionally, we have made an attempt to give you a basic "list owner's course" in anticipation of some of the issues you may encounter in the course of moderating a list. 2.3. Creating a mailing list--Where can it be done, and Who can do it? ====================================================================== If you are looking for a site to host a list, consider the following: - First, find out if your computing center maintains a LISTSERV host. - If not, you might consider a commercial LISTSERV site. There are a number of such sites, including L-Soft's own EASE(SM) service. You can get more information on EASE(SM) by pointing a WWW browser at http://www.lsoft.com/ease-head.html Please note also that many sites (predominantly, but not necessarily limited to, those in .EDU domains) will not host commercial or potentially-controversial lists because of internal policies regarding appropriate use of their computing facilities. In such a case, your only option may be to seek a commercial LISTSERV site. Physically creating the list is the task of the LISTSERV maintainer (sometimes referred to as the "LISTSERV postmaster") at a given LISTSERV host site.( Specific procedures for requesting a list startup vary from institution to institution. It is usually best to contact the computing center at the site for more information. Because most list owners do not have the appropriate permissions to create lists, instructions on how to physically create lists are not included in this manual. If you are a LISTSERV maintainer, you can find these instructions in the Installation Guide that came with the software, or in the Site Manager's Operations Manual for LISTSERV. 2.3.1 Naming Conventions ------------------------ When choosing a name for a list, there are a few conventions and restrictions that you should keep in mind. The "-L" convention ------------------- The "-L" convention isn't required, but it can help people to realize that the mail is coming from a mailing list rather than from a real person. The people we are referring to here are people who run Internet mail systems, who may see a great deal of mail coming from a single host and begin to wonder why. If it comes from a userid that ends in a "-L", they will be more likely to recognize it as list mail. Reserved characters ------------------- Generally you want to avoid "special" characters such as the ones above the number keys on your keyboard. For example, don't use: ! which can be confused for "bang-path" addressing, e.g., UUCP @ which is a reserved character # which can cause problems with some mail software which uses it for addressing % another addressing character that could cause problems & is sometimes reserved by non-unix systems. However, please note that use of this character in the name of a list or in a sendmail alias for a list will cause LISTSERV on unix to choke. Note that it is possible under unix to create a list with a "&" character in the name quite easily, and it is also possible to create a sendmail alias with a "&" character in the alias. That does not mean it will work. * is, of course, the wildcard character. () Parenthesis are generally reserved and can't be used in file names. / The slash character is reserved and can't be used in file names. . Although on some systems it is physically possible to create lists with a dot character in the name, in general LISTSERV will not accept this nomenclature. The only place a dot can or should be used is before the word "LIST" in the PUT command; e.g., PUT MYLIST-L.LIST is equivalent to PUT MYLIST-L LIST. " Double-quote characters are not allowed. It is best if you avoid the use of special characters altogether and stick exclusively to the letters A-Z, numbers 0-9, and the characters _-+#$ when naming lists. Note that the "_" (underscore) character may cause problems with some non-compliant receiving systems. Also note that the space character (ASCII 0x20) is illegal in a list name, and L-Soft recommends that, although apostrophes (aka "single-quotes", ASCII 0x27) are valid in an RFC822 username, they not be used in list names since some mail programs may not accept them. (Also note that prior to 1.8d, not all LISTSERV commands will work for lists whose names contain an apostrophe.) If you have any question about the validity of a particular name, you can of course refer to RFC822 for the Internet standards for e-mail addressing. Maximum length of the list name ------------------------------- The length of the list name (that is, the name of the list file and thus the "official" name of the list) is restricted as follows: VM: 8 characters Non-VM: unlimited (starting with 1.8c) If you need a longer list name for a list running on a VM server, you should use the List-ID= keyword (see Appendix B). PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY that L-Soft recommends using names of 32 characters or less whenever possible as they provide for correct alignment of the results returned by certain commands. Very long (program generated) list names are likely to conflict with mail system limits and L-Soft recommends other solutions to the problem of dynamically generated lists. As a rule, list names in excess of 70 characters are likely to result in mail delivery problems. Make it easy on your users -------------------------- While you can (within limits) name a LISTSERV mailing list just about anything you want, you will probably want to follow a couple of simple guidelines: 1. Keep the name simple. 2. Keep the name as short as possible without causing confusion. No doubt you could name a list MY-LIST-FOR-MATH-STUDIES, but who wants to type that? Conversely, MLFMS-L wouldn't mean much to Joe Random User. Somewhere in the middle is a reasonable compromise, e.g., MATH-STUDIES (or even just MATH-S). 2.4. List Header Keywords and what they do ========================================== How a LISTSERV mailing list performs its tasks is defined by its header keywords. There are several different categories of keywords, each of which is discussed below in general terms. A complete alphabetical listing of list header keywords, including default settings and all options available, is provided in Appendix B. Access Control Keywords. These keywords designate the level of "openness" for a list. They determine who can post to the list, who can review the list of subscribers, and whether or not the list is open to general subscription. Distribution Keywords. This group has to do with how LISTSERV distributes postings to subscribers, including whether or not acknowledgments are sent back to posters, how many postings may go through the list daily, whether or not the list is available in digest form and whether it is available to USENET through a gateway. These keywords also determine whether or not list topics are enabled, and how LISTSERV will configure outgoing postings for replies. Error Handling Keywords. Included under this group are the keywords controlling automatic deletion, loop-checking, and to whom error messages are sent for disposition when received by LISTSERV. List Maintenance and Moderation Keywords. A fairly large group of keywords having to do with how the list is operated, including definitions for the list owner, list editor, and the list archive notebook; whether or not (and who) to notify when users subscribe and sign off; how often subscriptions must be renewed, and so forth. These are perhaps the most basic keywords that can be set for a given list, and one of them ("Owner=") must be set for a list to operate. Security Keywords. These keywords control who can "see" the list (that is, whether or not the list appears in the List of Lists for a given user, based on the user's host site), whether or not the list is protected by a password, and the level of security necessary for changes to the list itself. The "Exit=" keyword is also contained in this group. Subscription Keywords. These control whether or not the list is open to general subscriptions, whether or not a mailing path confirmation is required, and what user options are set by default upon subscription. Other Keywords. These control other aspects of list management that are not generally changed from their defaults, and which do not fit readily into the categories listed above. 2.5. Sending commands to LISTSERV ================================= In the following sections, you will see numerous references to "sending commands to LISTSERV". All LISTSERV commands are sent to the server by email. This means that you must create a new mail message using whatever command this requires for your mail client (click on "New message" or its equivalent for most mail clients) addressed to the LISTSERV address. Let's say for the sake of argument that the list you want to subscribe to (or are currently subscribed to) is running on a server called LISTSERV.MYCORP.COM. So in order to send a command to that server, you would create a new message and address it to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.MYCORP.COM , and place the command(s) in the body (not the subject) of the message. 2.6. Retrieving and editing the list some considerations ======================================================== Once your list has been created by the LISTSERV maintainer, you can have a copy of the list sent to you for editing purposes. Simply issue the command GET listname (HEADER to LISTSERV. This will cause the server to mail you a copy of the list header only (without the subscriber list). Note that you can retrieve the entire list, subscribers and all, by omitting the (HEADER switch. However, L-Soft strongly discourages getting the entire list at any time. This is because you do not need the entire list file if all you want to do is to change list header keyword settings. Also, since LISTSERV has well-documented commands available to manage user subscriptions, you should never attempt to hand-edit a list file in order to add or delete subscribers. Therefore there should normally be no reason to issue the GET listname command without the (HEADER switch. The GET command automatically locks the list so that no changes can be made to the operating copy on the server until you do one of two things: * Issue the UNLOCK listname command (if you decide no changes are needed) * Send the list back to the server with the PUT command. Leaving the list locked also prevents new subscribers from signing up. It is therefore not advisable to leave the list locked for long periods of time. This necessitates remembering to issue the UNLOCK command if you decide not to make any changes. It is possible to request that LISTSERV not lock the list when it is sent to you. This is accomplished by adding the (NOLOCK switch to the GET command. You can use (NOLOCK and (HEADER together as in the following example: GET listname (HEADER NOLOCK (Note that the "(" switch character is used only once.) CAUTION: It is not advisable to use the (NOLOCK switch in at least two cases: * Don't use the (NOLOCK switch if you are not the sole owner of the list. This prevents conflicting GETs and PUTs by different list owners. For instance, Owner(A) GETs the list without locking it. Owner(B) then also GETs the list. The owners make differing changes to the list header. Owner(B) PUTs his changes back first. Owner(A) then PUTs his changes back, erasing every change Owner(B) made. If Owner(A) had not used the (NOLOCK switch, Owner(B) would not have been able to GET a copy of the list until Owner(A) either unlocked the list or PUT his copy back. (Owner(B) could also unlock the list himself, but it would be advisable to ask Owner(A) if he was finished editing the list header before doing so.) * Don't use the (NOLOCK switch if you get the entire list rather than just the header. You will erase all subscriptions for users who subscribed between the time you GET the list and PUT the list back. It is easier to deal with questions as to why they got the "listname has been locked since time by list-owner" message than to explain why they got a subscription confirmation and now aren't getting list mail. Another caution: If you GET the header with the (HEADER switch, do not add new subscribers "on the fly" to the bottom of the header. If you do, your subsequent PUT will replace the entire list online with what you have sent, canceling the subscriptions of every user on the list (except for the ones you added to the header). Note carefully that LISTSERV will parse a signature file as if it were new subscribers; you should therefore turn off your signature file whenever you PUT your list header. LISTSERV maintainers should note one further caution: It is considered extremely inadvisable to "hand-edit" subscriber lists, as columns at the far right of each subscriber's entry contain list control codes corresponding to the subscriber's personal option settings. The only case in which it might be appropriate to "hand-edit" would be to delete a user entirely, and then only if all attempts to delete the user via the DELETE command fail. For instance, X.400 or X.500 addresses can cause DELETE to fail because of their use of the "/" character. You can use wildcards to delete these subscriptions. You can also enclose the address in double quotes: DELETE XYZ-L "/ADMD=ABC/PRMD=DEF/...../@X400.SOMEHOST.COM" Finally, note that depending on your list configuration, you may have to use a password or respond to a confirmation request in order to GET your list header. The syntax for using a password with the GET command is GET listname (options PW=password For instance, GET MYLIST-L (HEADER NOLOCK PW=MYPASSWORD See the sections below regarding list passwords, personal passwords, and the "OK" command confirmation feature. 2.7. Defining list owners ========================= List owners should be persons who will undertake the responsibility of managing the list in all of its aspects. A list owner may be a moderator; a list owner may be called upon to determine why a user cant unsubscribe from the list, or to handle delivery errors, or to fix other problems that may arise. The primary list owner (the first owner defined) has special responsibilities as well. This owner is considered the Editor and the primary Moderator for lists that have Send= Editor but do not have Editor= or Moderator= defined. This owner receives all error messages when Errors-To= is set to Owner. In short, the primary list owner is generally the person who is ultimately responsible for the workings of the list. Secondary list owners fall into two categories: Quiet and non-Quiet. - Non-Quiet list owners receive mail sent to the listname-request address, and will receive error messages if Errors-To= Owners. - Quiet list owners will never receive delivery errors or other administrative mail from LISTSERV. Here is a sample list header excerpt for a list with all three types of list owners defined: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Owner= NATHAN@LSOFT.COM (Nathan Brindle) * Owner= nathan@linus.dc.lsoft.com * Owner= Quiet: * Owner= ncbnet@linus.dc.lsoft.com,cheng@linus.dc.lsoft.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 2.2. Example: How to define list owners in the list header file. Note that all list owners defined after the * Owner= Quiet: line will be quiet list owners. You can define multiple owners on a single line by separating them with a comma. Note that if you put Quiet: on a line with list owner userids, you must place a comma after Quiet:, e.g. * Owner= Quiet:,ncbnet@linus.dc.lsoft.com,cheng@linus.dc.lsoft.com There must always be at least one non-quiet list owner. Otherwise LISTSERV sends all error messages and other administrative mail to the LISTSERV maintainer by default. 2.8. List passwords are now obsolete ==================================== When creating the list, a random password is assigned for security if the LISTSERV maintainer does not define one explicitly. In 1.8c it is no longer necessary to use the list password for anything; it is simply another line of defense, and you can substitute a personal password in any command that calls for a list password. See section 2.12.8, below, to learn how to create a personal password. 2.9. Storing the list on the host machine ========================================= When you are ready to store your list back on the host, include the list file in a mail message to LISTSERV. Ensure that the PW=XXXXXXXX command is in the first line of the mail body. Change XXXXXXXX to the password you have previously defined with the PW= list header keyword. Then send the message. If LISTSERV has trouble processing the edited list file, it will return a discrepancy report to you with each error noted. If the errors are categorized as "warnings only," LISTSERV will go ahead and store the list. However, if any one error is categorized as a serious error, the list will not be stored and the old version will be retained. Caution: If you are using a mailer such as Pine or Microsoft Mail that allows "attachments" to mail, do not "attach" the list file to your mail message. It must be in plain text with the PUT line at the top. LISTSERV will not translate encoded attachments. 2.10. Fixing mistakes ==================== LISTSERV always backs up the current list file before it stores a new copy. Should you discover that you have made a mistake (for instance, you have deleted all users by storing a header and adding users "on the fly"), it is possible to retrieve the previous copy of the list by issuing a GET listname (OLD command to the host server. You must then add the PUT listname LIST PW=XXXXXXXX command to the top of the file and store it. 2.11. A sample list header file =============================== Once the LISTSERV maintainer has notified you that the basic list has been created, you can send a GET command to the server to make any modifications necessary. For instance, GET MYLIST PW=MYPASSWD (HEADER might cause LISTSERV to send you the following list header file: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PUT MYLIST.LIST PW=XXXXXXXX * The Descriptive Title of My List * * Owner= NATHAN@LSOFT.COM (Nathan Brindle) * Notebook= Yes,A,Monthly,Public * Errors-To= Owner * Subscription= Open,Confirm * Ack= Yes Confidential= No Notify= No * Files= No Mail-Via= Distribute Validate= No * Reply-to= List,Respect Review= Public Send= Public * Stats= Normal,Private X-Tags= Yes * Default-Options= NoFiles,NoRepro * * This list installed on 96/11/02, running under L-Soft's LISTSERV-TCP/IP * version 1.8c for Windows NT. * * Comment lines... * ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 2.3. A sample list header file for a list called MYLIST. Below, we've now edited the list header and it is ready to be included in a mail message and sent back to LISTSERV. Note that the PUT command has been modified to include the password assigned by the LISTSERV maintainer, and note also the PW= keyword in the body of the list header which will define a new password. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PUT MYLIST.LIST PW=MYPASSWD * The Descriptive Title of My List * * Owner= NATHAN@LSOFT.COM (Nathan Brindle) * Owner= Quiet: * Owner= nathan@linus.dc.lsoft.com * Owner= ncbnet@linus.dc.lsoft.com * Notebook= Yes,A,Monthly,Public * AutoDelete= Yes,Full-Auto * Errors-To= ncbnet@linus.dc.lsoft.com * Subscription= Open,Confirm * Ack= Yes Confidential= No Notify= No * Files= No Mail-Via= Distribute Validate= No * Reply-to= List,Respect Review= Public Send= Public * Stats= Normal,Private X-Tags= Yes * Default-Options= NoFiles,NoRepro * PW=NEWPASSWD * * This list installed on 96/11/02, running under L-Soft's LISTSERV-TCP/IP * version 1.8c for Windows NT. * * Comment lines... * ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 2.4. The edited list header file ready to be sent back to the server. 2.12. Security Options ====================== LISTSERV's security options are wide ranging, from almost no protection (easiest to administer your list, but also most open to hacker attacks) to total protection requiring validation of each and every command sent to LISTSERV for your list. It is also possible to limit access to various aspects of your list, such as who can subscribe, who can review the list of subscribers, and who can access the list archives. You can hide your list from the LIST command, either at the global level or from all requests, including those from users on LISTSERVs local machine, or from a definable range in between. 2.12.1. First line of defense: The VALIDATE= keyword ---------------------------------------------------- The VALIDATE= keyword controls the level of command validation desired for your list. The default, VALIDATE= NO, requires password validation only for storing the list on the server. This is often sufficient for general needs. However, when a list is set this way, LISTSERV does not validate commands it receives for the list, under the assumption that the mail it receives is genuinely coming from a list owner. This level of validation does not protect the list from commands issued by hackers who have forged mail in the name of the list owner. The next level is VALIDATE= YES. At this level, LISTSERV requires a password for all of its protected commands. This password can be either the list password or the senders personal password as defined by the PW ADD command. The commands protected by this level are those that affect subscriptions or the operation of the list, e.g., DELETE or ADD. Users will also have to validate most commands that affect their subscriptions, but generally can do so using the OK mechanism rather than defining a personal password. Note that some user commands will be forwarded to the list owner for validation rather than accepting password validation from the user. The next level is VALIDATE= YES,CONFIRM. At this level, LISTSERV will require validation with the OK mechanism (see below) by default, but will still accept passwords where appropriate. While the less-secure passwords are still accepted, this is considered a good compromise between list security and list owner and user convenience. The next level is VALIDATE= YES,CONFIRM,NOPW. At this level, LISTSERV will no longer accept passwords as validation for protected commands. The logic is that because of the way the OK mechanism is implemented, passwords are not as safe as magic cookies. This is the recommended setting for lists that must be kept secure. Two other levels are VALIDATE= ALL,CONFIRM and VALIDATE= ALL,CONFIRM,NOPW. These levels require OK validation for all commands that cause a change in state except for the PUT command. If NOPW is not specified, passwords are accepted where appropriate. With these levels, commands that do not cause a change in state (e.g., QUERY) do not require validation. Note that LISTSERV requests coming from the local system via CP MSG or CP SMSG on VM systems or via LCMD on VMS or Unix systems never require validation, as they cannot be forged. See Appendix B for more information on the VALIDATE= keyword. 2.12.2. Controlling subscription requests ----------------------------------------- You can control subscription requests by use of the SUBSCRIPTION= keyword. By default, this keyword is set to SUBSCRIPTION= BY OWNER, meaning that all subscription requests will be forwarded to the list owner for disposition. You can also refuse all subscription requests by setting SUBSCRIPTION= CLOSED. To code a list for open subscriptions without list owner intervention, you set SUBSCRIPTION= OPEN. If you would like to add protection against forged subscription requests or bad return mailing paths, code SUBSCRIPTION= OPEN,CONFIRM. The latter will cause a subscription confirmation request to be sent to the prospective subscriber, which he or she must respond to using the OK confirmation mechanism. In order to restrict subscriptions to persons in a specific service area, see the next section. 2.12.3. Controlling the service area of your list ------------------------------------------------- It may be desirable to restrict access to your list to people in a small area. For instance, you probably would not want a list for students in a class section at a university to be advertised or accessible by people all over the world. However, without setting certain keywords appropriately, such a list will be visible to a LIST GLOBAL command. If you wish to simply hide your list from a LIST command, but still allow people to subscribe to it if they know it is there, use the keyword CONFIDENTIAL= YES. Note that users subscribed to the list as well as the list owner(s) will be able to see the list if they issue a LIST command. If you wish to hide your list from and refuse subscription requests from users outside the local area, you define two keywords: * SERVICE= bitnode1,bitnode2,some.host.edu * CONFIDENTIAL= SERVICE SERVICE= can also be set to SERVICE= LOCAL, meaning it will use either LISTSERVs global definition of which machines are LOCAL, or the machines defined by the list keyword LOCAL=. If you wish to set SERVICE to LOCAL, you should check with your LISTSERV maintainer to find out which nodes are considered local. If the global definition is not suitable, you can override it by defining the LOCAL= keyword: * LOCAL= bitnode1,bitnode2,some.host.edu,another.host.com * SERVICE= LOCAL * CONFIDENTIAL= SERVICE If there are many subdomains within your primary domain, you may wish to use the wildcard when defining the LOCAL or SERVICE keywords. For instance: * SERVICE= HOST.COM,*.HOST.COM defines the service area as HOST.COM and all subdomains ending in .HOST.COM. 2.12.4 Controlling who may review the list of subscribers --------------------------------------------------------- For whatever reason, you may wish to restrict the ability to review the subscriber list either to subscribers or to list owners. This is done by setting the REVIEW= keyword appropriately. To allow anyone, including non-subscribers, to review the list, set REVIEW= PUBLIC. To restrict reviews of the list to subscribers only, set REVIEW= PRIVATE. This is the default. To restrict reviews of the list to list owners only, set REVIEW= OWNERS. You can also restrict reviews to users within the lists service area by setting REVIEW= SERVICE , and defining the SERVICE= keyword appropriately (see the preceding section). 2.12.5 Controlling who may access the notebook files ---------------------------------------------------- Restricting access to the lists notebook archive files is similar to controlling who may review the list. It is accomplished by setting the fourth parameter of the NOTEBOOK= keyword to an appropriate value. For instance, * NOTEBOOK= Yes,A,Monthly,Public defines a monthly notebook on LISTSERVs A disk that is accessible by anyone. Change Public to Private if you wish only subscribers to be able to access the notebooks. The same access-levels are available for this keyword as for REVIEW=. (See Appendix B for a discussion of access-levels.) Note: It is not advised to change the location (second) parameter of the Notebook= keyword without prior approval from the LISTSERV maintainer. Setting this parameter to an illegal value will generate errors that will cause LISTSERV to place your list on hold until the error is corrected. If enabled, notebook archives are private by default. 2.12.6 Controlling who may post mail to the list ------------------------------------------------ The Send= list header keyword is the basic control for who may post mail to the list. If the list allows non-subscribers to post, set Send= Public. For a list that does not allow non-subscribers to post, set Send= Private. For a list where all posts should be forwarded to a moderator/editor, there are two settings: - Send= Editor forwards all postings to the list editor (see the Editor= and Moderator= keywords). This setting allows the editor to make changes before forwarding the message back to the list. Note that your mail program must be capable of inserting Resent- header lines in your forwarded mailif it is not capable of this, all such posts forwarded to the list will appear to be coming from the editor. Check with your system administrator if you are not sure whether or not your mail program inserts the Resent- headers. - Send= Editor,Hold forwards a copy of the posting to the editor but differs from Send= Editor in that LISTSERV holds the posting for a period of time (usually 7 days) until the editor confirms the message with the OK mechanism (see below). Unconfirmed messages simply expire and are flushed by LISTSERV, so there is no need to formally disapprove a posting. This method of message confirmation is well-suited to lists where it is not often necessary to modify the text of a posting, and also is an excellent workaround if the editors mail program does not generate Resent- headers in forwarded mail. Below is a sample of the editor-header for a list set to Send= Editor,Hold: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "L-Soft list server at PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (1.8b)" Subject: ACCESS-L: approval required (701AC4) To: Nathan Brindle This message was originally submitted by joe@unix1.foo.bar.com to the ACCESS-L list at PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM. You can approve it using the "OK" mechanism, ignore it, or repost an edited copy. The message will expire automatically and you do not need to do anything if you just want to discard it. Please refer to the list owner's guide if you are not familiar with the "OK" mechanism; these instructions are being kept purposefully short for your convenience in processing large numbers of messages. ------------------------ Original message (26 lines)--------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 2.5 The editor-header for a list set to Send= Editor,Hold A final method (called self-moderation) exists for lists where subscribers should be allowed to post freely, but non-subscriber posts should always be sent to an editor for approval. To enable self-moderation, set Send= Editor Editor= userid@host,(listname) Ensure that listname is in parenthesis. Note that self-moderation will catch all posts from non-subscribersincluding posts from subscribers who are posting from a different address. For instance, if the subscriber originally signed up as joe@foo.com but is posting from joe@unix1.foo.com, LISTSERV will treat his mail as non-subscriber mail. Self-moderation may require some slight changes in individual user subscriptions in order for it to work seamlessly. 2.12.7. The OK confirmation mechanism ------------------------------------- Depending on the setting of the Validate= list header keyword, certain LISTSERV commands have always required a password for execution. However, with a recognition that mail can be forged (spoofed) by just about anyone on the Internet today, L-Soft introduced a magic cookie method of command validation that is considered much more secure than passwords. In essence, the "magic cookie" method requires that the sender of the command must confirm his command via a reply containing only the text "OK". (This is actually simplistic; see below.) If mail is spoofed from the list owner's user id, the command confirmation request will always be sent to the list owner's user id, thus preventing the spoofer from confirming the command. Moreover, the "cookie" itself (a six-digit hexidecimal number) is registered to the "From:" user id of the original command. The general method of replying to a command confirmation request is as follows: - REPLY to the command confirmation request with the text "ok" in the body of the reply. (Non-case-sensitive) LISTSERV reads the "cookie" from the subject line and if it corresponds to a held job, the job is released and processed. If this does not work, it is possible that the Subject: line was corrupted in transit and you may need to try the following: - SEND a new message to LISTSERV with the text "ok xxxxxx" (where xxxxxx is the command confirmation number from the original confirmation request) in the body of the reply. It is also possible to confirm multiple command confirmation requests with a single message (for instance, if you have Send= Editor,Hold and have a number of requests to be responded to). This eliminates multiple Message approved mails from LISTSERV. However, make sure that you send the confirmations in a new mail message rather than replying to one of them. Also note that the confirmations must come from the user id that originated the command. You cannot send a command from one account and then approve it from another. 2.12.8 Personal Passwords ------------------------- The passwords recognized by LISTSERV for various operations (assuming that the NOPW parameter is not used with the Validate= keyword) are of two distinct types: - List Passwords. Beginning with 1.8c, list passwords are obsolete (we are mentioning them here only because users upgrading from earlier versions will be aware of their existence). You should define and use a personal password for all protected operations. - Personal Passwords. LISTSERV can store a personal password in its signup files corresponding to your userid. This password not only can be used in place of the list password for list maintenance operations, but also protects your FUI (file update information) and AFD (automatic file distribution) subscriptions and must be used to store your archive files, if any, on the server. To add a personal password, send mail to LISTSERV with the command PW ADD newpassword in the body of the message. LISTSERV will request a confirmation via the OK mechanism (see above) before it adds the password. If you want to remove your password altogether, send the command PW RESET This command will also require confirmation. And finally, if you simply want to change your personal password, send the command PW CHANGE newpassword [PW=oldpassword] If you do not include the old password in the command (e.g., youve forgotten it), LISTSERV will request an OK confirmation. Otherwise, it will act on the command without need for further confirmation (unless, of course, the oldpassword provided is incorrect). 2.12.9 Restricting subscriber privileges ---------------------------------------- Another security issue involves protecting the list from people who refuse to play by the rules. LISTSERV includes several different levels of privilege restriction for these users, some of which are available for use by list owners without the intervention of the LISTSERV maintainer. 1. The REVIEW personal option setting. By issuing a SET listname REVIEW FOR userid@host command to LISTSERV, you can moderate postings at the individual subscriber level. Postings from subscribers set to REVIEW are passed on to the Editor(s) or Moderator(s) of the list, or, if neither of these keywords are defined for your list, the postings are passed on to the primary list owner. At this point, the person who receives the postings can determine whether or not to approve them. Note that the subscriber always receives notification that his or her posting has been forwarded to a moderator for approval. This is to avoid the impression that the subscribers posting has been lost before reaching LISTSERV. 2. The NOPOST personal option setting. By issuing a SET listname NOPOST FOR userid@host command to LISTSERV, you can prevent a subscriber from posting to the list entirely. LISTSERV will reject postings from these subscribers and will not pass them on to a moderator. As with the REVIEW setting, note that the subscriber always receives notification that his or her posting has been rejected. 3. The FILTER= list header keyword. You can filter individual users (no wildcards) from subscribing and/or posting to your list by adding them to the Filter= list header keyword. For instance, if you have a list called MACTALK-L and you want to discourage redistribution lists from using the same name as your list, you can add * Filter= Also,MACTALK-L@* See Appendix B for more information on the Filter= syntax. 2.12.10. Restricting the number of postings per user to the list per day ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beginning with 1.8c, you can control the maximum number of postings per day per subscriber on a list-by-list basis by setting the new (optional) second parameter of the "Daily-Threshold=" list header keyword. The default is to have no such daily limit per user. If set, when the per-subscriber threshold is reached, the subscriber is told that his message cannot be processed because he has reached the limit for today, and that he should repost his message at a later time. The counter for this limit resets to zero at midnight for all lists. This limit is waived for the list owner(s) and any list editors/moderators. If you want to set this limit, note that an overall daily threshold must be set for the list in the first parameter of the keyword. If no "Daily-Threshold=" keyword is already present in your list header, the default is "Daily-Threshold= 50". Thus, to leave the default value in force and to add a daily limit of 5 postings per day per user, you would code: * Daily-Threshold= 50,5 For more information see Appendix B. 2.13. How to set up lists for specific purposes =============================================== 2.13.1. Edited lists -------------------- An edited list is one which requires a human editor to approve messages sent to the list. Some list software and most USENET newsgroups refer to this as "moderation", but to avoid confusion between two types of moderated LISTSERV lists, the present example will be referred to as an "edited" list. Examples of edited lists range from referreed electronic journals to lists where the list owner simply wishes to exercise control over which postings are allowed to go to the list. To set up a basic edited list, simply add * Send= Editor * Editor= someuser@somehost.com to the basic list header. Note that the primary Editor= specification (that is, the first editor defined by an Editor= keyword for the list) must be a human person who will be able to act on postings sent to him or her for approval. You may not use an access-level specification (such as "Owner") when defining the primary editor for a list. Please note that L-Soft recommends setting "Send= Editor,Confirm" so as to add a level of security against malicious users forging mail from an "Editor=" address to get around your moderation settings, or against badly-configured "vacation" programs that simply reflect the message back to the list in a manner that makes it appear that the mail is coming from the editor’s address. The "Confirm" option causes LISTSERV to request an "OK" confirmation from an editor when it receives mail claiming to be from that editor. You can define multiple editors, but only the first editor will receive postings for approval. Anyone defined as an editor may post directly to the list without further intervention. Multiple editors can be defined on separate Editor= lines or can be grouped several on a line, e.g., * Editor= someuser@somehost.com,anotheruser@anotherhost.com * Editor= yetanotheruser@his.host.com To approve postings with the above configuration, the editor simply forwards (or "resends", or "bounces"--the terminology is unclear between various mail programs) the posting back to the list address after making any desired changes to the content. This should be done with a mail program that supports "Resent-" fields; if "Resent-" fields are not found by LISTSERV in the headers of the approved posting, the posting will appear as coming from the editor's address rather than from the original poster. If you do not need to physically edit the content of your users' posts (for instance, to remove anything considered "off-topic" or to remove included mail headers and so forth), you can code * Send= Editor,Hold The "Hold" parameter causes LISTSERV to send you a copy of the posting along with a "command confirmation request". To approve the posting, you simply reply to the confirmation request with "ok". For security purposes, you can code * Send= Editor,Confirm which will cause LISTSERV to request a command confirmation ("ok") from the editor sending the approved posting back to the list. This makes it impossible for an outside user to "spoof" mail from an Editor address. Naturally, you can also code * Send= Editor,Hold,Confirm 2.13.2. Moderated lists ----------------------- A moderated list is similar to an edited list, but for LISTSERV's purposes it refers to a list that uses the Moderator= list header keyword to "load-share" posting approvals among several editors. It is set up similarly to an edited list, as follows: * Send= Editor,Confirm * Editor= someuser@somehost.com * Moderator= someuser@somehost.com,anotheruser@anotherhost.com * Moderator= yetanotheruser@his.host.com This list will "load-share" the approval process between the three moderators, who will each receive one-third of the postings for approval. Note that a primary editor should still be defined. If it is desired to have one editor handle more than a single share of the approvals, you simply define the editor more than once in Moderator=. For instance, * Send= Editor,Confirm * Editor= someuser@somehost.com * Moderator= someuser@somehost.com,anotheruser@anotherhost.com * Moderator= someuser@somehost.com,yetanotheruser@his.host.com would cause every other posting to be forwarded to someuser@somehost.com for approval. Beginning with 1.8c, if the parameter "All" is coded at the beginning of the list of moderators, LISTSERV will send copies of all postings to all moderators, any of whom may approve the message. An example of this would be * Moderator= All,kent@net.police.net,joe@bar.edu Please note that something like * Moderator= kent@net.police.net,All,joe@bar.edu,alex@reges.com is not valid. "All" must appear at the beginning of the list of moderators. Assuming "Send= Editor, Hold", once a message is approved by one of the moderators, any other moderator attempting to approve the same message will be told that an identical message has already been posted to the list. If "Send= Editor" (e.g., without "Hold"), please note that if a notation is appended or prepended to the edited post, or if the body of the post itself is edited (that is to say, if the body of the approved message is changed), duplicates are possible. Thus it is important that the moderators of any list set up this way pay close attention to whether or not the posting has already been approved by another moderator. Note carefully that this means if the "All" parameter is used in "Moderator=" with "Send= Editor" (that is, without the "Hold" parameter), again a separate synchronization method will have to be used to prevent duplicates, as two moderators are unlikely to make exactly the same edits to the message. Even if LISTSERV were able to identify the two submissions as being the same message, it would not know which to choose over the other. The "Hold" and "Confirm" options for "Send=" can also be used with these examples, if desired. L-Soft recommends that "Confirm" be used by default. 2.13.3. Semi-moderated lists ---------------------------- "Semi-moderation" was developed some years ago after a great debate on whether or not an "urgent" message should be allowed to be posted to an edited list without having to go through the approval process. Although this option is still available, it can be misused by anyone who knows about it, and is therefore not generally recommended for use. However, should this feature be deemed necessary, it is activated by setting * Send= Editor,Semi-Moderated Then anyone needing to send an "urgent" message to the list simply types "Urgent:" in the subject line of their mail, followed by the subject of the message. Messages that do not have the "Urgent:" subject are forwarded to the list editor for approval as usual. 2.13.4. Self-moderated lists ---------------------------- So-called "self-moderated" lists were invented in 1993 or 1994 when the current epidemic of spamming was beginning to get cranked up and before the "spam filter" was developed by L-Soft. With the spam filter in operation, self-moderation is not as much of an issue anymore, but some lists still run this way. Self-moderation takes advantage of the ability to make an access-level a secondary list editor, and is implemented as follows: * Send= Editor,Confirm * Editor= someone@someplace.com,(listname) (The "Hold" and "Confirm" parameters for "Send=" may naturally be used if required. L-Soft recommends that "Confirm" be used by default.) Usually, one of the list owners is the primary editor (here "someone@someplace.com") and the specification of (listname) makes all of the subscribers of the listname list editors, and thus eligible to send messages directly to the list without editor intervention. Postings from non-subscribers (e.g., spammers) are deflected to the primary owner for his or her disposition. There is one caveat to this kind of list. If a user subscribes to the list, and later his mail address changes (for instance, the hostname changes slightly but mail sent to the old address is automatically forwarded to the new address), any postings from him to the list from the new address will be forwarded to the editor because the new address is not subscribed to the list. Thus there is a certain amount of list- owner overhead on this kind of list in keeping track of users whose addresses have changed and modifying the subscriber list to reflect those changes. 2.13.5. Auto-responders ----------------------- An "auto-responder" is a type of list that simply responds with a set message whenever it receives mail from someone. This kind of list can be useful for things like service messages or upgrade availability, or even to simply send back a standardized message to a user who has sent mail to a "support" address. A simple auto-responder header might look like this: * Auto-responder for service messages * Owner= someone@someplace.com * Send= Public Notebook= No Subscription= Closed In other words, it can be very simple, since you probably don't want notebook archives for this kind of auto-responder, you don't want people to subscribe to the list as it isn't really a mailing list, and so forth. To make the auto-response message for this list, you'd then create a listname.MAILTPL file (see chapter 10 for details) that includes a POSTACK1 template, like the following: >>> POSTACK1 Service Message for &MYNAMES &MYNAMES will be down Sunday from 0200 EST until 0500 EST for backups and upgrades. For more information contact LSTMAINT@&MYHOST. This particular template would inform the user that LISTSERV would be down (&MYNAMES translates to LISTSERV@NODE where NODE is the value of NODE= in the system configuration file) and to send questions to LSTMAINT@ the local host. In order to change the service message, it would be necessary only to change the POSTACK1 template. 2.13.6. Announce-only lists --------------------------- An "announce-only" list would be used to distribute a newsletter or other timely information where responses to the list are neither expected nor desired. A typical announce-only list header might look like this: * The FOO Product Announcment List * * Owner= foo@myhost.com * Owner= Quiet: * Owner= anotheruser@myhost.com * Owner= yetanotheruser@myhost.com * Editor= foo@myhost.com * Editor= anotheruser@myhost.com * Editor= yetanotheruser@myhost.com * Notebook= No * Errors-To= Owner * Subscription= Open,Confirm * Validate= No * Review= Owners * Send= Editor,Confirm * Reply-To= foo@myhost.com,Ignore * Sender= None This list is set up so that generally any response to postings will go back to foo@myhost.com, which might be a special account set up specifically to handle such things, or a mail alias pointing to another account. The newsletter can be posted by foo, or anotheruser, or yetanotheruser, all of whom are editors, but the likelihood is that it would be posted from the foo userid so that the From: line would read "From: foo@myhost.com". 2.13.7. Peered lists -------------------- Please consult your LISTSERV maintainer before peering lists. Occasionally the need to split a very large list may arise. This was more common when LISTSERV ran only on BITNET, whereas the TCP/IP version of LISTSERV is not limited by BITNET constraints. However, because of the fact that subscribers may be scattered all over the world, in rare cases it can make sense to split (or "peer") a list and share the mail load among two or more LISTSERV servers. Peering also makes it possible to have list archives located in more than one place; for example, a list might be peered between a European host and a North American host, making it possible for subscribers on each continent to retrieve archives from the nearer host. Although there is no problem about peering to another L-Soft LISTSERV list, linking to a non-L-Soft mailing list manager is not supported and can and will cause serious problems (including mailing loops) for which L-Soft international, Inc. could not be held responsible. After the link operation has been completed, it is recommended that you define "Peers=" keywords on lists you just linked. For lists running on LISTSERV for VM, this makes it possible to EXPLODE them for better network efficiency. (Because peering is not widely used today, it is unlikely that the EXPLODE command will be ported to other platforms.) Moving users from one (peer) server to another: You should be aware of the fact that a MOVE operation is not just an ADD to the new server and a DELete to the current one. This would effectively transfer the person from the old server to the new one but his distribution options would be lost in the process. Besides, you should make sure that the user does not lose any mail in the process. The proper course of action to be taken when people are moved from one list to the other is the following: 1. Send mail to the list telling people that a new peer server is being linked to the list, and that some subscribers will be moved to it. 2a. If the prerequisites for using the MOVE command are met, you should use either individual MOVE commands (in the case that there are very few users to move) or a batch-MOVE command with associated DDname (see the LISTJOB MEMO guide for more information on commands-jobs) to move the users. You may want to use the QUIET option to suppress notification if there are a lot of users to move. Warning: the MOVE command should not be used to move peer list servers. See the MOVE command description for more details. If you cannot use the MOVE command, you should try one of the following two methods: 2b. For each user to be moved, issue the following commands in the following order: * Query listname FOR userid@host (old server), write down the options. * QUIET ADD listname userid@host full_name * QUIET SET listname options FOR userid@host * Wait until you get confirmation for the two previous commands * QUIET DELete listname userid@host (old server) 2c. If there are a lot of users to move, the following method is preferred: * GET listname (old server) * GET listname (new server) * If you are using VM XEDIT: Receive both files and use the XEDIT "PUT" and "GET" commands to move users from one list to the other. You must preserve the contents of columns 81-100 across the move. * If you are using another text editor: Make sure that the editor you are using does not "imbed" control codes such as line breaks, tabs or word-wrapping characters into the text when you edit it. Use the cut and paste controls to copy lines in their entirety. You must preserve the contents of columns 81-100 across the move. Imbedded control codes and/or word wrap will generate errors when the list is stored back on the server. * Store the two lists back on their respective servers. Special commands for peered lists only ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ADDHere listname userid@host The ADDHERE command is strictly identical to ADD, with the exception that the placement of the user is not checked against the list of peer servers, i.e. the specified user is added to the local list without any further verification. (By comparison, the ADD command causes LISTSERV to check automatically to see if there is no better-suited peer list for the specified user.) EXPLODE listname [VM only] The EXPLODE command provides a means whereby a list can be automatically analyzed by LISTSERV to optimize the placement of its recipients over the various peer servers hosting the list. It requires a "Peers=" keyword to be defined in the list header (see Appendix B). Non-BITNET userids will be exploded according to the network address of the corresponding gateway (as per the SERVICE NAMES file), or ignored if the gateway could not be identified. LISTSERV will create a commands-job file containing the necessary MOVE command to transfer all the users which were found to be (possibly) mis-allocated to the peer server which is nearest to them. This file will then be sent to you so that you can review it before sending it back to the server for execution. MOVE listname userid@host newhost DD=ddname listid@newhost [VM only] The MOVE command allows list owners to easily move users from one peer server to another. It will move the complete user entry from the source server to the destination one, including full name as it appears in the specified list and all list distribution options. The MOVE operation will be done in such a way that no mail can possibly be lost by the target while the MOVE operation is in progress (duplicate mail might be received for a short duration, however). Notification will be sent to the target user unless the QUIET option was used. If the source and destination list names are identical, only the destination node ('newhost') needs be specified. Otherwise, the full network address ('listid@newhost') must be specified. The MOVE command requires both source and destination lists to have the same password. Since each server will have to send a password to the other to validate the (special) ADD/DELETE commands it is sending to the other, it has potentially a way to trap the password specified by the server, thus thwarting any attempt at inventing a protocol to allow use of this command on lists which have a different password. Besides, no MOVE operation will be accepted on lists which do not have a password at all, because for technical reasons it would allow unauthorized users to easily add someone to a list (since there would be no password validation). The MOVE command is the proper way to effect a move operation. You should not use any other command/set of commands unless you cannot use MOVE. THE MOVE COMMAND SHOULD NOT BE USED TO MOVE DISTRIBUTION LISTS!!! Since a MOVE is basically an ADD + DELETE, with the latter being done only AFTER the ADD is completed, moving a distribution list address with the MOVE command can cause a duplicate link to be defined for a short period of time. This could result in a transient mailing loop, which could become permanent if the size of the looping mailfiles is less than the size of the inter-servers "DELETE" command jobfile, and the RSCS priority of the latter has been altered. 2.13.8. "Super-lists" and "sub-lists" ------------------------------------- Please note that the LISTSERV maintainer must create the super-list. In LISTSERV 1.8c it is possible to define a "super-list" (as in opposite of sub-list), that is, a "container" list that includes all the subscribers in a predefined set of sub-lists. This can be done recursively to any depth. Only the LISTSERV maintainer can create a super-list, for security reasons. Concretely, the "Sub-lists=" keyword is protected from owner tampering in the same fashion as "Notebook=". The value is a comma separated list of all the sub-lists, which must all be on the same (local) machine. For instance: * Sub-lists= MYLIST-L,MYOTHERLIST-L The default value for this keyword is null, e.g., to have no sublists. Please note that the super-list and all of its sublists must reside on the same LISTSERV server. The only difference between a normal list and a super-list is what happens when you post to it. With the super-list, the membership of all the sub-lists is added (recursively) and duplicates are suppressed. Other than that, the super-list is a normal list with its own archives, access control, etc. You can even subscribe to it, and this is actually an important aspect of the operation of super-lists. If you are subscribed to the super-list itself, the subscription options used to deliver super-messages to you are taken from your subscription to the super-list, just like with any other list. All combinations are allowed, and in particular NOMAIL is allowed, meaning you don't want to get messages posted to the super-list. When you are subscribed to multiple sub-lists, on the other hand, things work differently: NOMAIL subscriptions are ignored. You will get the super-message if you have an active (not NOMAIL) subscription to at least one sub-list. The idea is that the super-message must be equivalent to posting to all the sub-lists, without the duplicates. Since all it takes to get a message posted to all the sub-lists is a single non-NOMAIL subscription, this is how the super-list works. The only way not to get the super-messages is to subscribe to the super-list directly and set yourself to NOMAIL. The DIGEST and INDEX options are ignored and internally converted to MAIL. The first reason is that, since in most cases the user will be on multiple sub-lists (otherwise you don't need a super-list in the first place), the only safe method to set subscription options for super- messages is by subscribing to the super-list so that there is no ambiguity. The second reason is that, in most cases, super-lists will be used for out of band administrative messages rather than for large volume discussions, so it is actually preferable to have the message sent directly. The third reason is that the super-list and sub-lists may not necessarily offer the same options (DIGEST and INDEX). In particular it is expected that many super-lists will not have archives. If you want a DIGEST or INDEX for the super-messages, you must subscribe to the super-list directly. Topics, if defined, are evaluated on a per-list basis. That is, for every sub-list (and for the super-list), LISTSERV determines whether the topic of the message is one that you want to see. If not, it acts as if you were not subscribed to this particular list. Roughly speaking, this works very well if all the sub-lists have the same set of topics (or a well-defined set of common topics), and doesn't work well at all if every list has its own set of topics. 2.13.9. "Cloning" lists ----------------------- Some sites may have a need for many lists that are essentially identical. For instance, a series of class section lists for a university department may have the same owner, allow the same class of users to subscribe, and so forth. LISTSERV makes it possible to maintain large collections of lists by "including" keywords from an external file. For instance, consider a mathematics course with ten sections. Each section should have its own list (for instance, called M101-001, M101- 002, and so forth), but the lists will otherwise be identical. The LISTSERV maintainer simply creates a text file (in this case called M101 KEYWORDS) containing the keyword definitions that will be shared by the lists, as follows: PUT M101 KEYWORDS PW=createpw * Owner= mathwhiz@someuni.edu (Professor J. Random User) * Owner= Quiet: * Owner= gradasst@someuni.edu (Joe Doakes, Graduate Assistant) * Notebook= Yes,/home/listserv/archives/m101,Monthly,Private * Auto-Delete= No * Errors-To= gradasst@someuni.edu * Subscription= Closed * Notify= Yes Confidential= Yes Validate= Yes,Confirm,NoPW * Reply-to= List,Ignore Review= Owners Send= Private * Default-Options= Repro Next, the LISTSERV maintainer stores this file in the usual way, by first making a filelist or catalog entry for it (as outlined in chapter 8) and then storing it with a PUT operation. Generally the GET and PUT FACs for this file should specify that the list owner(s) should be able to retrieve and store it. The file must be stored in LISTSERV’s A directory (the same directory that contains the *.LIST files). Note that it is also possible to create this file directly in LISTSERV’s A directory with a text editor; if you do so, make sure that you do not include the PUT command shown above. You should still make the filelist or catalog entry for the file so that the list owners can retrieve and store it. Next, the LISTSERV maintainer creates and stores a skeleton list header for each of the section lists. The first section list (M101-001) is illustrated below: PUT M101-001 LIST PW=createpw * Math 101 Section 001 Mailing List * .IK M101 The .IK command tells LISTSERV that whenever it uses this list, it should read the keyword definitions from the file M101 KEYWORDS (note carefully that the syntax is ".IK M101", not ".IK M101 KEYWORDS"). Now, whenever the professor in charge of the class wants to make a change to all of the M101 lists (for instance, he has a new graduate assistant), he simply GETs the file M101 KEYWORDS, makes the changes, and PUTs the file back, instead of having to GET separate headers for each list and make the changes to all of them individually. In order to see the complete list header, send a REVIEW listname command. The response to a GET will be only the skeleton header with the .IK command. ******************************************** * 3. Advertising Your Public Mailing Lists * ******************************************** 3.1. Lists of Lists maintained by LISTSERV ========================================== LISTSERV automatically produces a List of Lists that may be reviewed by users anywhere on the Internet in one of two ways: - L-Soft's CataList service at http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html - The LISTS GLOBAL searchtext command. This list of lists is made up of one-line entries containing the short listname and the descriptive title of the list (up to about 60 characters in length). A sample of the List of Lists format was shown in Chapter 2. Note that it is possible to code a descriptive title in your list header that is more than 40 columns long, but the List of Lists will include only the first 40 columns of that title. It is therefore important from this respect to be sure that the descriptive title of your list is succinct and to the point. 3.2. Adding HTML to a list header for the CataList L-Soft's CataList service (http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html) allows users to search the global list of public LISTSERV lists via the World Wide Web. Adding an HTML description to a list is easy, and can do a lot to enhance the appearance of a list in the database. All you have to do is update your list header and add the text of your choice. Here is an example: * The coffee lovers' list * * Review= Public Subscription= Open Send= Public * Notify= Yes Reply-to= List,Respect * Notebook= Yes,L,Monthly,Public * * Owner= claudia@espresso.xyz.it (Claudia Serafino) * * * COFFEE-LOVERS is an open list for, well, coffee lovers! Our * motto is: "Instant -- just say no!" * That's pretty much our whole charter, although there are a * few other * rules that you may want to read before joining. For * instance, we don't allow flame wars about decaf: if you like it, * well, it's your body after all. * *

The list is maintained by * Claudia * Serafino (that's me!) and you will find all sorts of * useful info about coffee on my home page. * * In other words, you just insert your HTML text in the list header and bracket it with and tags (these tags tell the web interface where the HTML text begins and ends -- they are not actually sent to the web browser). There are three simple rules that you must follow when inserting your HTML data: 1. The and tags must appear on a separate line, as shown in the example above. You cannot have anything else on that line and, in particular, you cannot mix keyword definitions with HTML data. 2. The HTML data you are providing is embedded into the document shown by the web interface when users query your list. Because you are given some space between two horizontal rules on an existing page, rather than a whole new page. you should not include tags that affect the whole document, like for instance . 3. While this procedure is compatible with all versions of LISTSERV, there are a few restrictions on the placement of equal signs within your HTML text with versions that do not have any specific support for the <HTML> and </HTML> markers. In practice, you can ignore this rule unless you get an error message while storing your list. When reformatting your list header description for HTML, bear in mind that the text will not always be viewed using a web browser. It is best to keep the formatting as clear as possible and minimize the usage of HTML tags, since there are still many people without WWW access. For instance, do not hesitate to use white space between paragraphs for clarity. 3.2.1. Update latency --------------------- Barring network outages, a list header update takes a maximum of 24h to be reflected in the distributed LISTS database. Database updates are usually scheduled to be broadcast at night, so the changes take place overnight. Once the LISTS database has been updated, it can take a maximum of 24h for the frozen copy of the database used by the web interface to be updated. In most cases, both the LISTS database and its frozen copy on the web server will be updated overnight. However, if the site hosting your lists is several time zones west of the site hosting the web server, and if that server only updates itself once a day, you may have to wait two days for your update to be reflected. 3.2.2. Inserting a pointer to another list ------------------------------------------ Sometimes it may be useful to link a number of related lists together so that the viewer can quickly examine all the lists without having to go back to the search screen and retyping the names you are providing. You can do this using the special HTML sequence: <!--#listref listname@hostname--> This sequence is internally translated to an <a> tag with a URL that will bring up information about the list you indicated. You must then provide a suitable caption and a closing </a> tag. Example: Don't forget to take a look at <!--#listref COFFEE-L@COFFEE.ORG--> the coffee list!</a> 3.2.3. Restrictions on the placement of equal signs --------------------------------------------------- While all versions of LISTSERV are supported, servers which have no specific support for the <HTML> and </HTML> tags will process your HTML data as an ordinary list header line and attempt to determine whether it contains a list header keyword or descriptive text. The exact algorithms vary from one version to another, but in general the parser looks for a single word followed by an equal sign. With HTML text, it is possible (if unlikely) to generate such patterns. Here is an example: * * Sample list with problem pattern * * <HTML> * For more information on the list, just check <a * href="http://www.xyz.edu/mypage.html">my home page.</a> * </HTML> * In that case, you can just reorder the HTML data so that the equal sign does not appear in this position. Alternatively, if the equal sign was meant to be actually displayed as an equal sign (as opposed to being part of some HTML tag), you can use the HTML escape sequence = instead. 3.3. Defining search categories in a list header for the CataList ================================================================= Note: The complete list of search categories may not yet be available when LISTSERV 1.8c is released. Note also that during the "pilot" phase of categories implementation, all categories will be "open", and you can define search categories for your list as long as the categories you define are in compliance with the rules for defining categories. When the "production" phase begins, only categories defined below as "open" will be open, and if a list is created or modified without a "Categories=" keyword, LISTSERV will issue a warning (but will go ahead and store the list without it). Another feature of the CataList service discussed in the preceding chapter is the ability to search for lists based on topic categories. For instance, a user might be looking for lists that discuss various aspects of opera. The same user might want to search not just for lists that discuss opera in general, but great operatic tenors in particular. In order to implement search categories for your list, you use the new "Categories=" list header keyword, in conjunction with the list of categories that can be found at the CataList site. The URL for the category list is http://www.lsoft.com/listcat.html. If you do not have a web browser, you can issue the command GET LISTCAT FILE to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET or any LISTSERV server running version 1.8c or higher to have a list of categories mailed to you. A typical category listing is in two parts. The first part is the category title itself (this is what you code in the "Categories=" keyword). The second part is an optional description of what the category covers. For instance: Category:SubCategory:MinorCategory Description of this category There are two types of categories that you need to be aware of. Open Categories: These categories have a description indicating that they are open and can be added to. Taking our example of great operatic tenors above, you might see the following category listed: Arts:Music:Opera:Singers Operatic Singers (Open) You notice that there are further subcategories like Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Te_Kanawa_Kiri Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Caruso_Enrico and so forth, but (gasp!) no category for your favorite tenor, Luciano Pavarotti! And your list is PAVAROTTI-L. Not to worry, however. Because the category of "Singers" is open, you can simply code: * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Pavarotti_Luciano and LISTSERV will accept the new subcategory "Pavarotti_Luciano". Note that when you create a new category, it will not show up until the central categories list has been updated. Note also that there are two "root level" open categories, Misc and Local. The Misc category is world-searchable. If, however, you code a Local category, it will only be searchable from the search engine running on the server hosting your list. Closed Categories: These are categories that cannot be added to. In other words, if you see a category like: Computers:Internet:Mailing_List_Managers:LISTSERV:Manuals:List_Owners_Man ual List Owner's Manual for LISTSERV whose description does not indicate that it is open, then you cannot add new categories after the last term. If you try to create a new subcategory under a closed category, you will receive an error message when you PUT your list header, and your updated header will not be stored. 3.3.1. Examples of category settings ------------------------------------ Categories are defined by the new "Categories=" list header keyword. Each category string's subcategories are internally delimited with colon (":") characters. Each separate category string is separated from the others with commas. If your "Categories=" keyword setting gets too long to fit on one line, simply define multiple "Categories=" keywords. Note that spaces are not allowed in categories; therefore * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Luciano Pavarotti is not legal, but * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Luciano_Pavarotti is. A simple category setting would be: * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers and if someone searched on that category, they would find our list. But we saw above that we can create a new category if we are running a list dedicated to Luciano Pavarotti. So instead, we might code * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Pavarotti_Luciano If, however, we're running a list for the Three Tenors, we might want to code: * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Pavarotti_Luciano * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Domingo_Placido * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Carreras_Jose Or even: * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Singers:Three_Tenors depending on our preference. If you code a sub-category that does not exist in a "closed" upper-level category, LISTSERV will respond with an error message that will list the legal sub-categories that you can use. 3.4. The INFO <listname> command and how to implement it ======================================================== Chapter 9, Customizing LISTSERV's Default Mail Templates, includes details on how to include an informative paragraph in the information mail template file for your list. When a user sends the command INFO listname to your server, LISTSERV responds with either: - The default response, which simply sends a copy of the list header to the user; or - The customized paragraph included in the listname.MAILTPL file. If listname.MAILTPL does not exist, the default response is sent. Also note that the user may send the INFO listname command to any L-Soft LISTSERV host (including the Global List Exchange discussed below), which will forward the request to the appropriate server. 3.5. The NEW-LIST project at North Dakota State =============================================== The NEW-LIST project was started in 1989 to promote mailing lists via a mailing list. NEW-LIST@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU distributes announcements of new and changed mailing lists to over 9500 subscribers every day. The NEW-LIST administration asks only that your list be well-tested and ready for new subscriptions before you send your announcement to them. You also want to make sure that your announcement is as correct and comprehensive as possible, as news on the Internet spreads quickly and a mistake in a NEW-LIST announcement may cause problems for both you and other users months later. For more information on the NEW-LIST project and what you need to use it, you can either: - Point a World Wide Web browser at the URL ftp://listserv.nodak.edu/public/NEW-LIST/NEW-LIST.README - Send the command INDEX NEW-LIST PACKAGE to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU and retrieve the files with the GET command. (The NEW-LIST Project also published a hard-copy version of their archive in 1992 with a newer edition in 1993 under the title Internet: Mailing Lists [ISBN 0-133-27941-3], edited by Edward T. L. Hardie and Vivian Neou.) 3.6. The Internet Network Information Center (INTERNIC) ======================================================= Unlike many other lookup services on the Internet, the INTERNIC is not necessarily free. Its three distinct sections are run by General Atomics, Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI), and AT&T. You can register your list with the INTERNIC, but be forewarned. A "basic" listing is free, while an "extended" listing is not. (On the other hand, anyone with net access can search the INTERNIC databases for free.) For more information, point a WWW client at the INTERNIC web site at http://www.internic.net . 3.7. The Global List Exchange (GLX) and why you should mention it ================================================================= The Global List Exchange, or GLX, is a central clearinghouse for LISTSERV subscriptions and List of List requests. For instance, If a user knows the name of a list but not the name of the host server, GLX simplifies the process by giving the user a single address where all subscription requests for lists running on L-Soft's LISTSERV can be sent. By adding the GLX address in all advertisements for your list, you help other list owners as well as yourself by making it simple for users to subscribe to any list. Additionally, if for some reason a user is unable to contact your server directly, the GLX gives him an alternate subscription method. The GLX address is LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET. 3.8. How NOT to advertise a mailing list ======================================== It is generally considered a breach of netiquette to invade the privacy of other lists with a broadcast announcement that your list is up and running. The only time when this might be acceptable is when your list addresses a concern of people already subscribed to another list. If you feel it necessary to post an announcement on someone else's list, it is good manners to first send private mail to the owner of that list and ask his or her permission to do so. (The same policy applies to USENET newsgroups, though it may be more difficult to find out who the moderator is.) It is certainly a breach of netiquette (and many networks' appropriate use policies) to blindly post multiple copies of your announcements to multiple lists. This kind of behavior is termed a "spam", something about which you may read more in Chapter 6, Moderating and Editing Lists. This kind of announcement is guaranteed to reap a good deal of bad will and may well result in the revocation of your network privileges. ***************************** * 4. Managing Subscriptions * ***************************** 4.1. How to add and delete subscribers to/from a list ===================================================== A list owner may add and delete subscribers manually. The command syntax is: ADD listname netaddress full_name DELete listname netaddress In a perfect world, subscribers would understand intuitively how to subscribe and unsubscribe from mailing lists. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Depending on an individual's style of list management, a list owner may choose to add or delete subscribers to the list manually, or send the potential subscriber instructions on how it is done. (See Appendix C for sample "boilerplate" instruction files that can be modified to suit local purposes.) And for lists coded Subscription= By Owner or Subscription= Closed, it is of course necessary to use the ADD command to subscribe a user. If the list is set to confirm mailing paths for new subscriptions (Subscription= Open,Confirm), it is probably wisest to use the latter option, since if a subscriber is added manually to a list, the confirmation process is bypassed. Note that full_name should contain at least two discrete words, but it is also possible to add users without knowing the value for full_name. Simply use an asterisk ("*") character. Note that if the user is already subscribed to another list on the same host, LISTSERV will pick up the value for full_name from its signup files. Examples are: RIGHT: ADD GOV-L vice-president@whitehouse.gov Al Gore RIGHT: ADD GOV-L vice-president@whitehouse.gov * WRONG: ADD GOV-L vice-president@whitehouse.gov Al WRONG: ADD GOV-L vice-president@whitehouse.gov Al-Gore When adding users, ADD will also accept a full RFC822 address that you can cut and paste from the "From:" line of a message. Be sure that you remove the "From:" part of the line. For example, the "From:" line From: Al Gore <vice-president@whitehouse.gov> becomes an ADD command as follows: ADD GOV-L Al Gore <vice-president@whitehouse.gov> 4.1.1 X.400 and X.500 addressing--Special Problems -------------------------------------------------- X.400 and X.500 addressing schemes can cause problems for the list owner who is trying to delete one. These addressing schemes use the "/" character to separate address elements, but to LISTSERV, "/" is a special character and you would not be able to delete one of these addresses by simply cutting and pasting it into a DELETE command. For instance, you might have an address like: /G=Joe/S=Randomuser/OU=403402ABD/O=SOME.CORP/@LANGATE.SOME.HOST.COM In order to delete this address, there are two issues. 1. The address may wrap to the next line once you add the DELETE listname command, and LISTSERV will not accept it. 2. The address contains characters that LISTSERV will reject as illegal (the "/" character). To get around both of these issues, the wildcard character ("*") can be used. You may not need the entire address in order to delete it, so you might just use DELETE MYLIST *G=JOE*S=RANDOMUSER*@LANGATE.SOME.HOST.COM which solves both the line wrap problem and the illegal character problem at the same time. 4.1.2. Adding users whose address and real name exceed 80 characters -------------------------------------------------------------------- This problem happens particularly with the X.400 and X.500 addressing schemes, but can happen as well with any system which allows users to have a very long "local part" (i.e., the part to the left of the "@") in their userid, or with users on systems that just have very long names, such as some of the hosts in the .US domain generally have. For instance, you might try to send the following ADD to LISTSERV: QUIET ADD MYLIST someone.with.a.real.long.userid.that.wraps@hishost.com His Name "His Name" wraps to the next line. If you send this to LISTSERV, LISTSERV treats the two lines as separate commands even though you did not hit RETURN after the user's address, and it responds: > QUIET ADD MYLIST someone.with.a.real.long.userid.that.wraps@hishost.com Please specify the FULL name of someone.with.a.real.long.userid.that.wraps@hishost.com, as in "ADD MYLIST JOE@XYZ.EDU Joe H. Smith". > His Name Unknown command - "HIS". Try HELP. To avoid this problem, set up your ADD command as follows: // QUIET ADD MYLIST someone.with.a.real.long.userid.that.wraps@hishost.com , His Name Without going into a lot of detail, the "//<space>" at the beginning of the command causes LISTSERV to look for a comma at the end of the first line and, if if finds the comma, to add anything following the comma on the second line to the end of the first line. Be sure to put a space before the comma at the end of the first line, as LISTSERV will not add the space for you. 4.2. Finding users who do not appear in the list ================================================ Sometimes the list owner will get a message from a subscriber who says, in essence, "I keep trying to (unsubscribe/change to digest/etc.) and LISTSERV says I'm not subscribed. Can you help?" This requires some detective work. There are a couple of strategies for figuring out what is wrong. List owners should first use the powerful SCAN command to search for a pattern anywhere in the subscriber list. The syntax is: SCAN listname search-text For instance, "SCAN TEST-L Nathan" might return: > scan test-l Nathan Nathan Brindle <nbrindle@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU> Somebody Else <nathan@LSOFT.COM> Jonathan Smith <jsmith@FOO.BAR.COM> SCAN: 3 matches. Note that SCAN is not case-sensitive. "Nathan", "NATHAN", and "nathan" all return the same results. Searches with SCAN should start out simple and become more complex as needed. For instance, if there are only three people in the list with the string "NATHAN" as part of their subscription record, it will be unlikely that you will need to make the search any more complex. If you are looking for "SMITH", however, it may be necessary to further qualify your search string, say to look for "JOE SMITH". Another reason it is important to begin with a simple search string is that your user may not be subscribed under the exact address the error is returning to you. For instance, say you don't have the user's id, but you have a host name. You can search for all occurrences of the host name, but note that the search: SCAN TEST-L MAIL.FOO.BAR.COM will not find the user jsmith@foo.bar.com. If you run the following search: SCAN TEST-L BAR.COM however, you will find Mr. Smith's subscription. Another possibility is that the subscriber may be using more than one address to work with his subscription. For instance, say the user's complaint to you came from JOE@SUN6.SOMEUNI.EDU. Looking at the list, you find a subscription for JOE@SUN8.SOMEUNI.EDU. LISTSERV has no way to know that JOE@SUN6 is the same person as JOE@SUN8, even though Joe and you know they are. The solution to Joe's problem above is for you to delete his SUN8 subscription and add his SUN6 address. Then Joe needs to be sure that he uses SUN6 in the future, if not for reading mail, then at least for managing his own subscription. Another strategy would be to submit a wildcard QUERY to the list. The drawback to this method is that it might require multiple tries to find the subscription, depending on the complexity of the wildcard query. Note also that not only can this sort of problem arise from a subscriber using more than one workstation to read mail, but it can also arise when a particular site changes its domain configuration, forwards mail from the old addressing scheme to the new addressing scheme, and doesn't inform its users of the change. In these cases, users often don't realize there is a problem until they try to unsubscribe or change personal options, because the change has been transparent to them. 4.3. Converting mailing lists to LISTSERV from other systems ============================================================ Note that these instructions will also work for bulk-adding users to existing LISTSERV lists. If you are moving a list from a non-LISTSERV site, you can quickly and easily convert the existing subscriber list to the LISTSERV format by following these instructions: 1. Have the LISTSERV maintainer at your new site create the new list header and install it on the machine. 2. Create an add job as follows: QUIET ADD listname DD=X IMPORT //X DD * internet-address1 internet-address2 /* where "listname" is the name of the new list, and "internet-address1", "internet-address2" and other users are the internet addresses from the original list that you want to add to the new list. Optionally, you can add the user's "real name" field, e.g., QUIET ADD listname DD=X IMPORT //X DD * internet-address1 full_name internet-address2 full_name /* You should remove any lines from the original list that do not actually identify subscriber addresses. If you are converting to LISTSERV from ListProc, note that LISTSERV will not convert ListProc user options to their LISTSERV equivalents; you must take a line like user1@somehost.com POSTPONE NEWLIST NO user's name and reduce it at least to user1@somehost.com user's name Otherwise, the ListProc options will become part of the full_name field. 3. Send the job to LISTSERV. The IMPORT option speeds up the operation of adding many subscribers "in bulk" at one time by causing LISTSERV to omit success messages and to relax syntax checking. 4.4. Using the QUIET option with commands ========================================= Prepending the command word "QUIET" before any LISTSERV command that you issue on behalf of a subscriber causes LISTSERV to suppress any notification to the subscriber of the changes you have made. This is particularly helpful when deleting subscribers whose accounts have expired and when setting subscribers with full mailboxes to NOMAIL, as it will help avoid another error message from the host when the notification message bounces. It is also helpful when adding subscriptions to the list that should not receive any welcome mail, such as redistribution lists and USENET newsgroups. Examples of the usage of QUIET include: QUIET ADD EXCEL-L comp.spreadsheets.excel@netnews.somenode.edu QUIET DELETE EXCEL-L Bouncemeister@somenode.edu 4.5. Dealing with bounced mail ============================== 4.5.1. What is a bounce, and what can typically cause one? ---------------------------------------------------------- A bounce is simply an undeliverable e-mail message. The term "bounce" is used to describe it because normally the system that discovers the delivery error "bounces" a copy of the message back to you with some sort of delivery error message. Sometimes these messages are easy to decipher -- "No such user at foo.bar.com" -- but uncomfortably often they are not that easy. Certain systems, as noted above, kindly format error notifications in a format that LISTSERV can understand, and if your list is configured for auto-deletion, these bounces will be the least of your worries -- in fact, they will not be worrisome at all. 4.5.2. What to do about several types of bounces ------------------------------------------------ Here are a few of the typical mail errors you will have to deal with as a list owner: 1. no such user at host Most of the time, this is authoritative and indicates that the user's access has been curtailed for some reason (graduation, no longer employed, etc.). A quiet delete (syntax: "QUIET DELETE listname userid@host") is in order unless you have reason to believe that the message is not authoritative. Variations on this message include "Recipient unknown" and "Ambiguous address: userid". The latter doesn't really mean the user doesn't exist, but it's almost as bad, and many list owners choose to classify it as "no such user". 2. no such host This is sometimes authoritative and sometimes not. If a host goes down or a gateway fails, often this message is returned by an intermediate host or gateway. If the user is bouncing a great deal of mail from a high-volume list, it is probably best to set the user to NOMAIL (syntax: "SET listname NOMAIL FOR userid@host") rather than to summarily delete him. This way, the error messages stop, the user is sent an automatic message telling him his personal options have been changed by the list owner, and the user doesn't have to go through the subscription process again if the problem has been solved in the interim. The problem is that some hosts go down on a regular basis and this error makes it impossible to tell if the host in question is gone forever or gone until the local sysadmin reboots his machine. After a while, you will begin to recognize the transient hosts and may elect to ignore them. If you choose to set the user to NOMAIL, you should send a message to the user just in case the system has come back up, and you should keep some sort of record of the users you've set this way so you can follow up later with another message. 3. no MX or A records for host Similar to "no such host". Comes from a different lookup system, and generally means the same thing. 4. Transient failure: cannot deliver for n days A host is experiencing periodic failures, and the gateway or intermediate host has not been able to deliver the message for n days. Usually the host will attempt redelivery. Usually there is nothing wrong with the user address, so it is a list owner decision as to whether it is worth waiting out the transient failure or going ahead and setting the user to NOMAIL. Unfortunately, by the time you get this message, the failure is n days in the past, the "transient failure" is very probably over, and you are likely to receive further error messages for n more days until the intermediate host's queue is exhausted. 5. mailbox full Self explanatory. This usually happens on systems with tiny user mailbox space, but it can happen on any system if a user subscribes to too many lists or goes on an extended vacation without setting lists to NOMAIL. The best solution is to set the user to NOMAIL yourself. Variations on this message include VMS's "file extend failed writing to [disk.user]MAIL.MAI". 6. unknown mailer error x This is a favorite Unix sendmail configuration bounce. NOMAIL or DELETE, according to your preference. Since it is a configuration problem, it is usually transient. One system sent the following under an "unknown mailer error 1" heading: binmail: /usr/spool/mail/userid: too big to accept new messages. It's size is 205735 bytes which is 935 bytes over quota. mail: cannot open dead.letter 554 <userid@node>... unknown mailer error 1 This is apparently a "mailbox full" error, as "userid's" mail spool is "over quota". It is also possible that it means your message would put the user over quota by 935 bytes. Either way, there isn't enough space in the user's mailbox to store your message (in this case, it was a daily digest). Note that "unknown mailer error x" does not always mean the user's mailbox is full -- what it always means is that sendmail cannot identify the cause of the error. 7. Bounced, but sent successfully This error comes from cc:Mail systems and is extremely misleading. It claims that the mail bounced to one address, but was sent successfully to another. While talking to smtp.ccabc.com: >> DATA << 554 I/O error to mailbox 554 MILLERT@smtp.ccabc.com... Service unavailable ----- Recipients of this delivery ----- Bounced, cannot deliver: MILLERT@smtp.ccabc.com Sent successfully: <MILLERT@ABC.COM> What this generally means (assuming that the mail hasn't gone through a redistribution list or a mirror site) is that you have a user MILLERT@ABC.COM on your list, and the server accepted the mail for that address successfully. However, that address actually maps to a different internal address (in this case MILLERT@smtp.ccabc.com) and for whatever reason, the server can't forward the mail on. This is the equivalent of a "user unknown" error for MILLERT@ABC.COM. A particularly annoying error you may have to deal with comes from Banyan networks and is of the form: LLONG@StarShip@Dora: Mailbox full Obviously this is not a properly-configured address (at least, not as far as LISTSERV is concerned), and if you SCAN or QUERY the list for it, you will get a negative response. If, however, you SCAN the list for LLONG, you may find a user such as: > scan test-l LLONG Bill Smith <LLONG%StarShip%Dora@BOONDOCK.TERTIUS.COM> SCAN: 1 match. This user can now be set to NOMAIL and the errors will stop after the Banyan host has emptied its queue. If you do not find the user on the first SCAN, try using another part of the address as your search text. Note that a user may have his mail forwarded from the account that is actually subscribed to an account on another machine where he reads his mail. If the second machine is bouncing the mail, it may not be immediately apparent from the bounce messages that the mail is actually being forwarded. It is important to check for variants of the userid in the bounce message as it may be related to the userid that is actually subscribed to the list. Note that there are many forms of error messages. Many mail systems do not conform to Internet "standards" (some of them even return non-English error messages!) and LISTSERV's auto-deletion feature will not always catch their bounces. 4.5.3. Redistribution and forwarding ------------------------------------ Perhaps the worst type of bounce is one that comes from a user who is "hiding" behind an account that redistributes mail (a "redistribution list"), or a user whose Internet address has changed slightly but who is still subscribed to your list under his original address. Redistribution lists typically (but not always) take some form of your list's name (such as "xxxxx-L-REDIST@foo.bar.com"), and thus their subscriptions tend to be easy to find. What is difficult is that you have no way of knowing which users (or how many users) are hidden behind this interface, nor any way of knowing what their userids are. Forwarded accounts generally fall into one of two categories -- those where the user has forwarded his own mail from one account to another rather than changing his subscription, and those where the user's system name has changed and the old address is still valid but is forwarding mail to the new address without the user being aware of it. Let's say that suddenly you are bombarded with delivery errors for someuser@baz.net. Your immediate reaction is to set this person to NOMAIL or (in some cases) to delete him/her altogether. You therefore send set xxxxx-L nomail for someuser@baz.net to LISTSERV. LISTSERV responds: "No subscription for someuser@baz.net in list XXXXX-L." In a best-case scenario, you can query the list for *@*.baz.net and find either a user like someuser@glork.baz.net (the address has changed and the local sysadmins didn't inform the user) or a redistribution-list account like xxxxx-L@baz.net. These are easily-fixed redistribution bounces. In the first case, you delete the user and let him or her resubscribe. In the second case, you can try sending a message to owner-xxxxx-l@baz.net with a cc: to postmaster@baz.net and inform them of the problem. If it persists, you could send a further message informing them that you are suspending the redistribution list's subscription until such time as they tell you the problem on their end is fixed, and simply set xxxxx-l@baz.net to NOMAIL. The worst-case scenario is as follows: baz.net may be bouncing the mail to you, but there may not be a single subscription for baz.net in your list. Here's where you have to do some careful sleuthing. First, run a wildcard query such as QUERY xxxxx-l FOR *@*baz* or QUERY xxxxx-l FOR *baz*@*. The former will find users at baz.com, for instance, where baz.net is a synonym for baz.com. The latter query may seem somewhat strange, but it's possible that the mail is being routed through a gateway and the actual subscription is for xxxxx-l%baz.net@cunyvm.cuny.edu or something of that sort. 4.6. Delivery error handling features ===================================== A new feature for 1.8c, automatic address probing, is documented in 4.6.2. LISTSERV supports several levels of automatic deletion based on error messages passed back to it in LMail format by certain remote systems. While auto-delete will not solve all of your bouncing mail problems, it has the potential to take care of most "permanent" errors (including "no such user" and "no such host"). However, note that auto-delete ignores "temporary" errors such as "host unreachable for 3 days", "system error", "disk quota exceeded", and so forth, such that users whose accounts generate "temporary" errors are not summarily deleted from the list. By default, lists running under LISTSERV 1.8b and higher generate a report which lets the list owner know what userids are causing problems, rather than deleting users at the first error LISTSERV understands. If the Delay() and Max() parameters are set to non-zero values for a list coded "Auto-Delete= Yes", LISTSERV will not take immediate action on mail delivery errors. You will receive an "auto-deletion monitoring report" daily to show you which subscribers are bouncing mail, what the error is, when it started, when the last error arrived, and how many errors have been received for the subscriber in total. By default, LISTSERV will wait 4 days (or for a maximum of 100 error messages per individual user) before deleting a subscriber. If you code "Delay(0)", LISTSERV will not wait to take action, but will delete the subscriber at the first error LISTSERV understands. By default, lists with "Validate= All" are set "Auto-Delete= No", while all other lists are set "Auto-Delete= Yes,Semi-Auto,Delay(4),Max(100)". Implementation of the "Auto-Delete=" keyword is discussed in detail in Appendix B, List Keyword Alphabetical Reference, under "Error Handling Keywords." 4.6.1. Auto-Delete considerations for holidays ---------------------------------------------- Making a big increase to the DELAY threshold to provide more leniency during a holiday may not be a good idea. While it will indeed disable the monitor for the duration of the holiday, switching back to the normal threshold when you return will cause the monitor to delete all the users that had been bouncing during the holidays. In general, you should avoid making temporary changes to the DELAY threshold, because it takes the monitor a while to adapt to the new settings. The best way to relax the rules during a long holiday is to leave the DELAY threshold unchanged but switch the monitor to passive mode ("Auto-Delete= Yes,Manual"). Noone will be deleted over the holidays, but the monitor's cycle will not be perturbed. When you return, you should wait about a week before switching back to automatic mode. This is because, after a long holiday such as Christmas, it usually takes about 2 working days for system administrators to solve all problems. In some cases, the problems will have caused bounces to remain undelivered. So, by fixing the problems, the system administrators may actually send a flood of new bounces corresponding to problems that have now been solved. Unfortunately, since the monitor only receives NON-delivery reports, it has no way to know that these problems have in fact been solved. As a rule of thumb, you will note that your daily delivery error reports are much longer than usual over the vacation. When you return, you should wait until they are back to their normal size before switching back to automatic mode. 4.6.2. Automatic address probing -------------------------------- (Please note that this feature is disabled in LISTSERV Lite.) "Renewal= ...,Probe" activates a new bounce processing feature, whereby the users are probed at subscription renewal time using the PROBE1 mail template. The "Probe" option makes subscription renewal passive rather than reactive; no "CONFIRM listname" response is needed from the user. In fact, the desired response from the user is to discard the message and do nothing, so even a certified idiot can manage. LISTSERV also probes addresses that return mail delivery errors, and the probe messages have a special signature in the return address that allows LISTSERV to uniquely identify any bouncing address, without having to understand the bounce itself. If the probe bounces, LISTSERV first sends the PROBE2 template with a copy of the bounce, to show the user (if the account actually works in spite of the bounce) what garbage his mail system is sending people. LISTSERV then schedules a new probe for the next day, or deletes the user immediately, depending on the auto-delete policy. Every failure triggers a new daily probe until the user gets deleted or the problem gets fixed. The user can also save his subscription manually by sending a CONFIRM listname command (this is explained in PROBE2). This doesn't solve the underlying problem, so eventually the user should get tired of confirming in an emergency and notify his system administrators that the system is generating bounces saying (for instance) "Your message was registered at the MORONICUS mail gateway. Press F1 for more information" that cause the problem in the first place. When used together with "Auto-Delete= ...,Full-Auto", the probe option deletes all delivery errors that LISTSERV can't understand. This means THE LIST OWNER NEVER EVER HAS TO SEE A SINGLE BOUNCE! Hurray! :-) The list, however, is kept clean because bad addresses are always detected. In fact, the biggest risk is that the users of the MORONICUS mail gateway will be deleted even though they do get their mail. Note that errors bounced by non-compliant mail hosts to the wrong address will still show up in your error queue. Since the bounce goes to the wrong address, LISTSERV never sees it and cannot probe it. However, the author saw an error queue of 1300 errors/day shrink to under 50 errors/day by applying the ",Probe" parameter to seven high-volume lists, which in his opinion was much more acceptable. 4.7. Subscription confirmation ============================== For lists coded "Subscription= Open", you can require confirmation on all new subscription requests, thus ensuring that LISTSERV has a clear mailing path back to the subscriber. In the past, a user could send a subscription for an open subscription list to LISTSERV, which upon acceptance would immediately start sending the user list mail. If the user was located behind a "broken" or one-way gateway, this produced immediate bounced mail until the list owner noticed and deleted the subscription. Note that requiring confirmation at the time of subscription does not guarantee that the clear mailing path will continue to exist permanently. "Subscription= Open,Confirm" causes LISTSERV to send a Command Confirmation Request to the potential subscriber before actually adding the user to the list. The subscriber is requested to reply to the request by sending a validation "cookie" back to LISTSERV (this "cookie" being the hexidecimal number pulled from the subject line). The Command Confirmation Request, while straightforward, has the potential to cause confusion if users do not read carefully the instructions that make up the request. LISTSERV expects confirmation codes to be sent in a specific way because some mail gateways add lines to the header of the message that LISTSERV doesn't understand. If a user forwards the request back to LISTSERV, or creates a new mail message to send the 'cookie' back, it usually will not work correctly. The sequence should thus be as follows: 1. SEND the subscription request to LISTSERV. 2. REPLY to the confirmation request ('ok') 3. SEND the confirmation code (if necessary) ('ok 23CBD8', for example) 4. Send mail to the list owner (not the list) if the subscription request fails after step 3. Note that if a list owner adds a user manually, the confirmation process is bypassed. 4.8. Subscription renewal ========================= You can code subscription renewal into your lists. This is one method to keep lists "pruned down" and avoid having large lists that are actually distributing mail to only a fraction of the users. For instance, you may have a number of subscriptions set to NOMAIL for one reason or another. NOMAIL user(a) may have forgotten that he has a subscription; user(b) may have set NOMAIL instead of unsubscribing; user(c) may no longer exist because she graduated or no longer works for the service provider; you may have set user(d) to NOMAIL because of recurrent mail delivery errors. Requiring a periodic confirmation of subscriptions is therefore a reasonable course of action for large, non-private lists. Subscription renewal is disabled by default. If you do not want subscription renewal, or if you wish to turn it off, simply do not include a "Renewal=" keyword in your list header. To add subscription renewal, you add the following keyword to the header of your list: * Renewal= interval or * Renewal= interval,Delay(number) or * Renewal= interval,Delay(number),Probe where interval is a period of time such as Weekly, Yearly, 6-monthly, or something similar, and Delay(number) is an integer corresponding to how many days LISTSERV will wait for the renewal confirmation to arrive. (See "Renewal=" in Appendix B for more information on renewal and delay periods; see chapter 4.6.2., above, for more information on the "Probe" parameter.) Note that you can have multiple interval parameters; again, see the entry for "Renewal=" in Appendix B for details. The confirmation request mailing asks the subscriber to send the command CONFIRM listname back to LISTSERV. If the subscriber does not do so within a certain length of time, LISTSERV automatically deletes the subscription. The default delay time is 7 days. If you wish to use the default delay time, it is not necessary to code ",Delay(7)" into your Renewal parameters. Note: You may wish to increase the delay time to accommodate users whose subscriptions expire over holidays (such as the Christmas/New Year's week) in order to avoid accidental deletions. Also, be aware that confused subscribers can and will send the CONFIRM command back to the list, rather than to LISTSERV. LISTSERV's default filter will catch these commands and forward them to the userid(s) defined by the "Errors-To=" keyword. It is possible to waive subscription renewal for certain users (such as list owners, editors, redistribution lists, etc.). In order to do this, simply issue the command [QUIET] SET listname NORENEW FOR net-address to LISTSERV. It is most advisable to do this in the case of redistribution lists, as they broadcast the renewal notice to their users, who a) cannot renew the subscription and b) become very confused when they see the notice, often sending "what does this mean?" mail to the list. You can also issue the CONFIRM command for a subscriber: [QUIET] CONFIRM listname FOR net-address Note that "active" users of the list (that is, people who post regularly to the list) will never be required to renew their subscriptions, nor (if subscription "probing" is enabled) will they ever be sent the passive subscription probe. LISTSERV presumes that such users have valid addresses and does not require a renewal confirmation from them. 4.9. The SERVE command ====================== If a user sends more than 50 consecutive invalid commands to LISTSERV, LISTSERV automatically serves that user off so that further commands from that user will be ignored. Should a user become served off in this fashion, it is possible for the list owner or any other user to issue a SERVE net-address command to restore that user's access. As with all other LISTSERV commands, the SERVE command is sent to LISTSERV. Please note that the number of invalid commands allowed before the user is served off has been increased to 50 in 1.8c from 20 in 1.8b. While served off, the user will be unable to set personal options and will be unable to subscribe or unsubscribe to lists on that server. Note that a user will likely be served off of one particular LISTSERV site but not others, and also that the user may not even realize that he has been served off (in spite of the fact that LISTSERV sends notification to the user to that effect). Note that the SERVE command will not restore service to users who have been manually served off by the LISTSERV maintainer. 4.10. "Peering" large lists =========================== This function is not available in LISTSERV Lite. Occasionally the need to split a very large list may arise. This was more common when LISTSERV ran only on BITNET, whereas the TCP-IP version of LISTSERV is not limited by BITNET constraints. However, because of the fact that subscribers may be scattered all over the world, in rare cases it can make sense to split (or "peer") a list and share the mail load among 2 or more LISTSERV servers. Peering also makes it possible to have list archives located in more than one place; for example, a list might be peered between a European host and a North American host, making it possible for subscribers on each continent to retrieve archives from the nearer host. You should ALWAYS contact the LISTSERV maintainer before deciding to link your list to another LISTSERV. Although there is no problem about linking to another L-Soft LISTSERV list, linking to a non-L-Soft mailing list manager is not supported and will cause serious problems (including mailing loops) for which L-Soft international, Inc. could not be held responsible. After the link operation has been completed, it is recommended that you define "Peers=" keywords on lists you just linked. For lists running on LISTSERV for VM, this makes it possible to EXPLODE them for better network efficiency. (Because peering is not widely used today, it is unlikely that the EXPLODE command will be ported to other platforms.) 4.10.1 Moving users from one (peer) server to another: ------------------------------------------------------ You should be aware of the fact that a MOVE operation is not just an ADD to the new server and a DELete to the current one. This would effectively transfer the person from the old server to the new one but his distribution options would be lost in the process. Besides, you should make sure that the user does not lose any mail in the process. The proper course of action to be taken when people are moved from one list to the other is the following: 1. Send mail to the list telling people that a new peer server is being linked to the list, and that some subscribers will be moved to it. 2a. If the prerequisites for using the MOVE command are met, you should use either individual MOVE commands (in the case that there are very few users to move) or a batch-MOVE command with associated DDname (see the LISTJOB MEMO guide for more information on commands-jobs) to move the users. You may want to use the QUIET option to suppress notification if there are a lot of users to move. Warning: the MOVE command should not be used to move peer list servers. See the MOVE command description for more details. If you cannot use the MOVE command, you should try one of the following two methods: 2b. For each user to be moved, issue the following commands in the following order: - Query listname FOR userid@host (old server), write down the options. - QUIET ADD listname userid@host full_name - QUIET SET listname options FOR userid@host - Wait until you get confirmation for the two previous commands - QUIET DELete listname userid@host (old server) 2c. If there are a lot of users to move, the following method is preferred: - GET listname (old server) - GET listname (new server) - If you are using VM XEDIT: Receive both files and use the XEDIT "PUT" and "GET" commands to move users from one list to the other. You must preserve the contents of columns 81-100 across the move. - If you are using another text editor: Make sure that the editor you are using does not "imbed" control codes such as line breaks, tabs or word-wrapping characters into the text when you edit it. (For instance, if you are using Notepad in Microsoft Windows, ensure that "Word Wrap" is turned off.) Use the cut and paste controls to copy lines in their entirety. You must preserve the contents of columns 81-100 across the move. Imbedded control codes and/or word wrap will generate errors when the list is stored back on the server. - Store the two lists back on their respective servers. 4.10.1 Special commands for peered lists only --------------------------------------------- *************************************************************** * ADDHere listname userid@host <full_name> <PW=list_password> * *************************************************************** The ADDHERE command is strictly identical to ADD, with the exception that the placement of the user is not checked against the list of peer servers, i.e. the specified user is added to the local list without any further verification. (By comparison, the ADD command causes LISTSERV to check automatically to see if there is no better-suited peer list for the specified user.) ****************************************** * EXPLODE listname <F=fformat> [VM only] * ****************************************** The EXPLODE command provides a means whereby a list can be automatically analyzed by LISTSERV to optimize the placement of its recipients over the various peer servers hosting the list. It requires a "Peers=" keyword to be defined in the list header (see Appendix B). Non-BITNET userids will be exploded according to the network address of the corresponding gateway (as per the SERVICE NAMES file), or ignored if the gateway could not be identified. LISTSERV will create a commands-job file containing the necessary MOVE command to transfer all the users which were found to be (possibly) mis-allocated to the peer server which is nearest to them. This file will then be sent to you so that you can review it before sending it back to the server for execution. ************************************************************* * MOVE listname userid@host <TO> newhost <PW=list_password> * * DD=ddname listid@newhost [VM only] * ************************************************************* The MOVE command allows list owners to easily move users from one peer server to another. It will move the complete user entry from the source server to the destination one, including full name as it appears in the specified list and all list distribution options. The MOVE operation will be done in such a way that no mail can possibly be lost by the target while the MOVE operation is in progress (duplicate mail might be received for a short duration, however). Notification will be sent to the target user unless the QUIET option was used. If the source and destination list names are identical, only the destination node ('newhost') needs be specified. Otherwise, the full network address ('listid@newhost') must be specified. The MOVE command requires both source and destination lists to have the same password. Since each server will have to send a password to the other to validate the (special) ADD/DELETE commands it is sending to the other, it has potentially a way to trap the password specified by the server, thus thwarting any attempt at inventing a protocol to allow use of this command on lists which have a different password. Besides, no MOVE operation will be accepted on lists which do not have a password at all, because for technical reasons it would allow unauthorized users to easily add someone to a list (since there would be no password validation). The MOVE command is the proper way to effect a move operation. You should not use any other command/set of commands unless you cannot use MOVE. THE MOVE COMMAND SHOULD NOT BE USED TO MOVE DISTRIBUTION LISTS!!! Since a MOVE is basically an ADD + DELETE, with the latter being done only AFTER the ADD is completed, moving a distribution list address with the MOVE command can cause a duplicate link to be defined for a short period of time. This could result in a transient mailing loop, which could become permanent if the size of the looping mailfiles is less than the size of the inter-servers "DELETE" command jobfile, and the RSCS priority of the latter has been altered. *************************************************** * 5. Setting Subscription Options For Subscribers * *************************************************** 5.1. How to review current subscription options with QUERY ========================================================== The syntax is similar to the subscriber's method of reviewing his options, except that the list owner must specify for whom the options are being checked. Query listname FOR userid@host Note that it is possible to use wildcards in the subscriber address. For instance, Q LSTOWN-L FOR J*@UBVM* will return option listings for subscribers such as JIMJ@UBVM, JOHN@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU, etc. This can be handy if you are searching the list for someone whose subscription address differs from the address you are given in an error report (see the examples, above, in "Dealing with bounced mail"). Using the WITH qualifier, you can also query a list for users who have a specific option set. For instance, you might want to know which users are set to NOMAIL. Send the command Q listname WITH NOMAIL FOR *@* and LISTSERV will return a list of those users. It is also possible to query a list for multiple options: Q listname with DIGEST CONCEAL FOR *@* will return a list of those subscribers who have set their subscription to DIGEST and also to CONCEAL. Version 1.8c adds the ability to query users by the list topics they are subscribed to. For instance: Q listname WITH TOPICS: ADMIN FORUM FOR *@* shows all members subscribed to both the ADMIN and FORUM topics. Q listname WITH TOPICS: -ADMIN FOR *@* shows all members who are not subscribed to the ADMIN topic. Q listname WITH TOPICS: ADMIN -TEST FOR *@* shows all members who are subscribed to the ADMIN topic but not to the TEST topic. 5.2. How to set personal subscription options for subscribers ============================================================= Again, the syntax is similar to the subscriber's method. [QUIET] SET listname option FOR userid@host 5.3. Options that may be set ============================ 5.3.1. Mail/NOMail ------------------ Setting this option to Mail indicates that the subscriber will receive mail from the list. NOMail is the complementary command that stops mail but leaves the user subscribed to the list. (NOMail is often a good compromise for users who are leaving the office for vacation or on extended business trips, and who don't want a full mailbox on their return.) The format of the messages received is controlled by the DIGEST/INDEX/NODIGEST/NOINDEX options (see below). 5.3.2. DIGest/NODIGest ---------------------- Causes the subscriber to receive one posting per digest cycle (typically daily) rather than individual messages as they are processed by LISTSERV. In version 1.8b and later, the MAIL/NOMAIL option has been isolated from DIGEST/INDEX. The MAIL/NOMAIL option controls whether messages should be delivered, and the DIGEST/INDEX/NODIGEST/NOINDEX option controls the format in which messages should be delivered. Thus, switching to NOMAIL and back to MAIL now preserves the digest/index/normal delivery setting. To provide as much compatibility with the old syntax as possible, the four options operate as follows: - DIGEST: enable digest delivery mode (which negates INDEX), enable mail delivery. No change from version 1.8a. - INDEX: enable index delivery mode (which negates DIGEST), enable mail delivery. No change from version 1.8a. - NOMAIL: disable mail delivery. No change from version 1.8a. - MAIL: restore mail delivery, without altering the digest/index/normal delivery setting (new behavior). For compatibility with 1.8a, if mail delivery was already active, the MAIL option negates INDEX/DIGEST. Thus, a user going from NOMAIL to MAIL will keep his previous delivery options, whereas a user going from DIGEST or INDEX to MAIL will in fact deactivate index/digest mode. To revert from digest/index subscription mode to normal delivery, you can use either the MAIL option as before, or the NODIGEST/NOINDEX option. The NODIGEST and NOINDEX options were actually present in versions 1.7f and 1.8a, as synonyms for the MAIL option. In other words, you can update your instructions to indicate that the DIGEST/INDEX options are negated by the NODIGEST/NOINDEX options, even if you are still running an older version of the software. Note that in extreme cases, subscribers using the DIGEST option may receive more than one digest per cycle if the digest limit is reached before the end of the cycle. 5.3.3. MIME/NOMIME ------------------ Toggles MIME functions on and off. Currently this is only useful if the user has a mail client that supports MIME digests. Note that users who send their SUBSCRIBE command using a MIME-compliant agent will have this option set automatically unless "Default-Options= NOMIME" is specified for the list. In future versions, this toggle may control other MIME functions. 5.3.4. INDex/NOINDex -------------------- Causes the subscriber to receive one posting per digest cycle containing only an index of subject topics for all messages during that cycle. See the section on DIGEST (above) for further information. 5.3.5. ACK/NOACK/MSGack ----------------------- These three command words control the level of acknowledgment the subscriber receives when posting to the list. ACK causes LISTSERV to send a short confirmation message to the subscriber when the post has been received and distributed. NOACK disables the confirmation feature for the subscriber (although BITNET subscribers will receive a short interactive message on their terminal). For BITNET subscribers, MSGack provides the same information as ACK via interactive messages. 5.3.6. Options for mail headers of incoming postings ---------------------------------------------------- By specifying one of the following command words, the subscriber can control the amount of mail header information prepended to list mail. The syntax is SET listname headertype, where headertype is one of the following: FULLhdr "Full" mail headers (default) (formerly FULLBSMTP) SHORThdr Short headers (formerly SHORTBSMTP) IETFhdr Internet-style headers DUALhdr Dual headers, useful with PC or Mac mail programs FULL822 "Full" RFC822 mail headers SHORT822 Short RFC822 mail headers SUBJecthdr "Full" RFC822 mail headers (like the default), except that LISTSERV adds the list's default subject tag to the subject line of mail coming from the list. To turn this off, simply set another mail header option. Note: do not use FULL822 or SHORT822 unless debugging specific problems or unless directed by L-Soft. Use of these options can seriously slow performance as they force LISTSERV to generate a separate "envelope" for each user so set. FULL822 and SHORT822 are obsolete but remain available for compatibility with certain older BITNET mailers still in use. Quite a few non-technical users are relying on non-RFC822 user interfaces for reading their mail. Quite often these user interfaces are user-friendly, quality implementations of a proprietary mail protocol which the users are proficient with, but which happens not to lend itself to bidirectional mapping to RFC822. The users may have a good reason for using this particular program, and they complain that it is not always clear what list the postings come from, or who posted them. Other users have very primitive mail programs which do not preserve the original RFC822 header and may not even have a "message subject" concept. The user knows which list the message came from, but not who posted it, making private replies impossible. The DUALHDR (minimum abbreviation: DUAL) header option is provided to help solve this problem. Dual headers are regular short (SHORThdr) headers followed by a second header inside the message body. This second header shows what list the message is coming from ('Sender:'), the name and address of the person who posted it ('Poster:'), the poster's organization, if present, and the message subject. The date is not shown because even the most primitive mail programs appear to supply a usable message date. The new SUBJECTHDR (minimum abbreviation: SUBJ) header option is provided for users who want to see a "tag" in the subject line of their incoming list mail that indicates where the mail is coming from (e.g., to activate a filter in their mail program to drop the message into a specified notebook). Note that if you have SHORT headers (or any other header option) set, setting your option to SUBJecthdr will automatically change you to FULLHdr, as subject tags require full headers. Also, subject tags are not generated for messages sent without a RFC822 "Subject:" header. Generally, users will be well-served by the FULL header option, which is the default. 5.3.7. CONCEAL/NOCONCEAL ------------------------ Occasionally, a subscriber may not want his presence to be known to someone else making a casual REView of the list. Subscribers may choose to "hide" their subscription from the REView command by using the CONCEAL command. Conversely, a subscriber may choose to remove this restriction by issuing the NOCONCEAL command. Note that the list owner can always obtain a list of all subscribers, both concealed and unconcealed, by issuing the GET listname (NOLock) command, or by issuing a QUERY listname WITH CONCEAL FOR *@* command. 5.3.8. REPro/NOREPro -------------------- This option controls whether or not the subscriber will get a copy of his or her own posts back from the list after they are processed. Generally, if a subscriber's mail program is configured to file copies of the subscriber's outgoing mail, or if the subscriber has one of the acknowledgment options (ACK/MSGack) enabled, this option should be set to NOREPro. If, on the other hand, the subscriber is set to NOACK and doesn't keep a copy of outgoing mail, this option should probably be set to REPro. 5.3.9. TOPICS ------------- If list topics are enabled, this option allows the subscriber to specify which topics he or she will receive. The syntax of a SET TOPICS statement is significantly different from that of the other options. See Chapter 6, Section 7, for more information on this syntax. Topics are not available in LISTSERV Lite. 5.3.10. POST/NOPOST ------------------- This option may be set only by list owners or the LISTSERV maintainer. It is not available in LISTSERV Lite. A subscriber set to NOPOST may not post to the list. NOPOST gives the individual list owner the ability to serve out abusive or obnoxious posters without having to add such users to the list's "Filter=" setting. Subscribers set to NOPOST will still receive list mail -- they just won't be able to post mail to the list. The list owner or LISTSERV maintainer may issue the SET listname POST FOR userid@host command to reverse a previously-set NOPOST. Note for peered lists: NOPOST must be set globally or a user can bypass the setting by simply posting to another peer. Thus you must add the user manually to the other peers and then set the user to NOMAIL as well as NOPOST on the peers. Setting NOPOST for a user cancels any previous EDITOR or REVIEW setting for that user. 5.3.11. EDITOR/NOEDITOR ----------------------- This option may be set only by list owners or the LISTSERV maintainer, and is effective only on moderated lists. It is not available in LISTSERV Lite. A subscriber set to EDITOR on an edited/moderated list may post directly to the list without a moderator's intervention. It is virtually identical to adding the subscriber's address to the "Editor=" keyword, but easier to manage. The only difference between the EDITOR option and the "Editor=" keyword, other than not being visible in the list header, is that the "Editor=" keyword also defines a (seldom used) access level class which can then be used in keywords such as "Review=". Thus, one could have a list with "Review= Editor", indicating that only the users listed in the "Editor=" keyword are allowed to review the list. The EDITOR option does not confer this privilege. Note that the EDITOR option is only meaningful on moderated lists. The list owner or LISTSERV maintainer may issue the SET listname NOEDITOR FOR userid@host command to reverse a previously-set EDITOR. Setting EDITOR for a user cancels any previous NOPOST or REVIEW setting for that user. 5.3.12. REVIEW/NOREVIEW ----------------------- This option may be set only by list owners or the LISTSERV maintainer. It is not available in LISTSERV Lite. When a subscriber is set to REVIEW, all postings from that subscriber are forwarded to the list editor or list owner for approval. Approval for these postings is always via the OK mechanism -- there is no need to forward the posting to the list, simply reply to the approval confirmation with "OK". Note that if a list is unmoderated, it is still possible to direct REVIEW postings to a specific person by adding an "Editor=" or "Moderator=" keyword to the list header. The list owner or LISTSERV maintainer may issue the SET listname NOREVIEW FOR userid@host command to reverse a previously-set REVIEW. Setting REVIEW for a user cancels any previous NOPOST or EDITOR setting for that user. 5.3.13. RENEW/NORENEW --------------------- This option may be set only by list owners or the LISTSERV maintainer. Enables or disables subscription renewal confirmation on an individual subscriber basis. Setting a subscription to NORENEW is particularly useful for exempting list owners, redistribution lists, and other subscriptions which should not or must not receive the confirmation request message from the renewal process. The list owner or LISTSERV maintainer may issue the SET listname RENEW FOR userid@host command to reverse a previously-set NORENEW. 5.4. Setting original default options with the Default-Options= keyword ======================================================================= The list owner may specify original defaults for many subscriber options by using the "Default-Options=" keyword. This keyword takes regular SET options as its parameters. Examples include: * Default-Options= DIGEST,NOREPRO,NOACK * Default-Options= REPRO,NONE You may have more than one "Default-Options=" line in your header, as needed. Note that any default topics are set with the "Default-Topics=" keyword. See Appendix B for details on this keyword. *********************************** * 6. Moderating and Editing Lists * *********************************** Please note that much of this chapter is subjective, based on personal experiences during several years of list ownership, and may not necessarily match your own philosophy of "the way things ought to be." The following sections are offered as one way to run a list, and the author does not mean to assert that the one way offered -- his way -- is the only way. As we seem to say so often, "your mileage may vary." 6.1. List charters, welcome files, and administrative updates ============================================================= One of the most important things you can do as a list owner is make it clear from the outset what policies are in place and will be enforced if it becomes necessary. Due to a potential for controversy, for instance, some lists may require a formal "list charter" by which all subscribers must agree to abide before they are allowed to subscribe. Other lists may be able to get by with a simple welcome file (see below) that spells out basic netiquette, polices on "flaming" and commercial posts, and anything else that seems appropriate (such as how to get in touch with the list owner in an emergency, where the list archives are located, etc.). It is particularly important on open subscription lists that you make a concerted effort to remind your subscribers on a regular basis of the policies you have set for your list, as well as any other information they need in order to make best use of your list. If you have a great deal of subscriber turnover, it may be necessary to do this every few weeks. You may decide to put together a quarterly or semi-yearly post for more stable lists. Ensure that the subject line is indicative of what the administrative posting is so that there is no question as to whether or not you posted it (even if subscribers don't read it). 6.2. The role of the list owner as moderator ============================================ By default, the list owner becomes a moderator of sorts, even if the list in question is neither edited nor officially moderated. This means that, as a list owner, you must be prepared to maintain order if it becomes necessary. At the same time, you must moderate yourself so that you do not alienate users and cause your list and/or host institution to suffer as a result. Thankfully, mailing lists have generally enjoyed relative peace and quiet over the years in comparison to newsgroups, but mailing lists have unique problems of their own. Lists dedicated to controversial subjects are more likely to become arenas for "flame wars" between subscribers with hard-held and differing opinions than those dedicated to the discussion of popular software packages, but this does not mean that the latter are immune any more than it means that the former are constantly plagued by flames. The example set by you as list owner and as a participating subscriber to the list is perhaps the most important factor in whether or not your list becomes a site known for strife and controversy. In other words, if you appear not to care about whether or not discussion is on topic and/or civilized, no one else will, either. Yet if you become a policeman -- the other end of the spectrum -- no one will want to subscribe or participate for fear of your wrath. Either way, your list is unlikely to last very long. The middle ground is, as in most things, the place to be when administering a list. Some call this "firm but fair," letting things go pretty much as they will but stepping in with a wry or gently chiding remark from time to time when exchanges get heated. And they will! Software discussion lists are particularly bad about this when new subscribers ask "frequently-asked questions" (FAQs) and veteran subscribers respond in exasperated fashion with "RTFM!" (Read The Fine Manual) and similar nasty retorts. Good list owner practice at this point is likely to be a good-natured reminder from you that flames belong in private mail, pointing out that new subscribers have no way of knowing that the particular questions they ask have been asked (and answered!) n random times before. Finally, if your mailing list has an international audience, you will need to be careful to account for language problems and cultural differences. You will need to decide which languages are allowed or not allowed on the list; this should be mentioned shortly in the list abstract or welcome message. In most cases, the official language will be English. As your list grows, some subscribers may object to this decision, arguing that people who have trouble expressing themselves in English should be allowed to use their own language, with the understanding that many people will be unable to understand what they are saying. As the list owner, it will be your call. Usually, the best compromise is to start a separate list for discussions in the new language. However, you must be careful in wording your decision. In multi-lingual cultures, it is usually considered a courtesy to use the other person's language. It is certainly considered rude for people to demand that everyone else should speak their language. Thus, if your native language is English, you will be in a delicate position. To avoid a flame war, you will want to make sure that your decision does not come out as a unilateral demand. Politely suggesting a separate list, and tolerating an occasional non-English posting when the poster genuinely cannot speak English, is often the best course of action. Another possible source of flame wars is unintended rudeness. It is easy to forget that non native speakers are making an effort every time they post something to the list. People will make mistakes, sometimes appearing rude when they did not mean to, simply because they used the wrong word. Another cause of apparent rudeness is cultural difference. Things which are perfectly normal in one culture can be insulting in another. For instance, ad hominem attacks are perfectly acceptable in some countries. Conversely, referring to other people by their first name ("As Peter said in his last message, ...") can be downright insulting in some cultures, where anything short of the full title is at best condescending. But, of course, in other countries the use of the full title is considered sarcastic... There is no middle ground here, because there are too many conflicting cultures and too many languages. The only way to successful cross-cultural communication is through the tolerance of other people's cultural habits, in return for their tolerance of yours. 6.3. The role of the list owner as editor ========================================= Edited lists are generally used for the purpose of "full moderation" or for refereed electronic journals or the like, for which random postings from subscribers and/or non-subscribers may not be welcome for general distribution. This places the list owner and any editors in the position of being full-time monitors of what is and is not allowed to go through to the list. A word of warning to potential list editors: Rules on the Internet are not set in stone. Some people will insist on their right to post without what they will term "censorship" by the list editor. Some will become upset to the point of threatening to report you to your local computing center administrators for abridging their freedom of speech, or (in the U.S.) even threatening to sue your institution and you personally for an abridgment of their First Amendment rights. It is therefore vitally important to you that you keep a "paper trail" of such complaints in the event that threats become reality and you are asked about them. This common practice in the business world should be common practice in list ownership as well. Freedom of speech and copyright issues on the Internet have not yet been tested in the courts as of this writing. These are both areas in which list editors and list owners in general must tread carefully. Always document any problems you may have in these areas. 6.4. Setting up an edited list ============================== Note that L-Soft currently recommends that edited lists be coded with the ",Confirm" parameter to the "Send=" keyword, in other words: * Send= Editor,Confirm or * Send= Editor,Hold,Confirm This will help prevent malicious users from forging mail from an editor address in order to get around your moderation settings, by telling LISTSERV to require an "OK" confirmation whenever it receives a posting from an editor address. The "OK" request goes to the editor address, so the forger is stymied. Note also that some vacation programs and broken mailers have recently been "reflecting" mail back to lists in such a way that the mail appears to be coming from the editor's address (and the mail therefore gets through). Setting the ",Confirm" option will stop this phenomenon as well. Please note that the "Moderator=" keyword and moderation "load-sharing" are not available in LISTSERV Lite. Should you decide that an edited list is the way to go for your particular situation, you need only add the following lines to your list header file: * Send= Editor * Editor= userid@some.host.edu where "userid@some.host.edu" should be replaced with the network address of the person who will be handling submissions to your list. There can be multiple editors as well (and multiple Editor= lines, if desirable), and they do not have to be list owners: * Send= Editor * Editor= alex@reges.org,joe@foo.bar.edu * Editor= tony@tiger.com Normally, LISTSERV forwards submissions only to the first editor defined by the "Editor=" keyword. In the case above, all submissions would go to the primary list owner. NOTE CAREFULLY that the first editor CANNOT be an access-level; e.g., you cannot use the notation "Editor= Owner" to define the first editor. LISTSERV requires that the primary editor of a list must be the e-mail address of a real person. Note also that this does not apply to second and subsequent editors. For instance, in order to allow subscribers to post directly but have non-subscriber posts sent to an editor for approval, you can code something like: * Send= Editor * Editor= alex@reges.org,(MYLIST-L) On a high-volume list, LISTSERV allows you to share the editing load via the "Moderator=" keyword. By default, this keyword is set to the same value as the first editor defined by "Editor=". When you define more network addresses with the "Moderator=" keyword, LISTSERV sends submissions to each moderator in sequence. The difference between the "Editor=" and "Moderator=" keywords lies in the fact that while any editor can post directly to the list, only moderators receive the forwarded submissions from non-editors. Here is an example of a list with both Editor= and Moderator= keywords defined: * Send= Editor * Editor= joe@foo.bar.edu,tony@tiger.com,kent@net.police.net * Moderator= kent@net.police.net,joe@foo.bar.edu This list will "load-share" the editing duties between Kent and Joe. Tony is able to post directly to the list, but will not receive forwarded subscriber posts for editing. Note that whereas an Editor is not required to be a Moderator, a Moderator should always be listed as an Editor. LISTSERV currently compares the contents of the "Editor=" and "Moderator=" keywords and consolidates the two sets of parameters if necessary, but coding lists this way is not considered good practice and the "compare/consolidate" feature may be removed in a future upgrade. Beginning with 1.8c, if the parameter "All" is coded before any moderator addresses, LISTSERV will send copies of all postings to all moderators, any of whom may approve the message. An example of this would be * Moderator= All,kent@net.police.net,joe@foo.bar.edu Assuming "Send= Editor, Hold", once a message is approved by one of the moderators, any other moderator attempting to approve the same message will be told that an identical message has already been posted to the list. If "Send= Editor" (e.g., without "Hold"), please note that if a note is appended or prepended to the edited post, or if the body of the post itself is edited (that is to say, if the body of the approved message is changed), duplicates are possible. Thus it is important that the moderators of any list set up this way pay close attention to whether or not the posting has already been approved by another moderator. 6.5. Submitting subscriber contributions to an edited list ========================================================== By default, LISTSERV forwards subscriber contributions to the Moderator/Editor with the following paragraph prepended to the message body: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was originally submitted by JOE@FOO.BAR.COM to the ACCESS-L list at PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM. If you simply forward it back to the list, using a mail command that generates "Resent-" fields (ask your local user support or consult the documentation of your mail program if in doubt), it will be distributed and the explanations you are now reading will be removed automatically. If on the other hand you edit the contributions you receive into a digest, you will have to remove this paragraph manually. Finally, you should be able to contact the author of this message by using the normal "reply" function of your mail program. -------------- Message requiring your approval (25 lines) ---------------- [message body] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 6.1. The "editor-header" prepended by default to subscriber contributions forwarded to the list moderator. If you leave this paragraph prepended to the message, LISTSERV will strip it off when it processes the message and to all intents and purposes the message will appear to have come directly from the original sender. Warning: If your mail program or client does not generate "Resent-" fields, the forwarded postings will appear to be coming from you rather than from the original sender.See Section 6.6 for an alternative if your mail program does not generate these fields. When you are ready to edit and/or submit the contribution to the list, simply use the "Forward" function of your mail client. You can make any changes you feel are appropriate to the message body, but be sure to read sections 6.2 and 6.3 above before deciding to do so. 6.6. Message Approval with Send= Editor,Hold ============================================ LISTSERV includes an optional mechanism allowing you to simply "ok" messages which are then posted with all the correct headers. This option is targeted mainly at list moderators who just approve/reject messages, as opposed to people who actually edit the content of messages. The option is also a good choice if you have a mail client that does not insert "Resent-" header lines into forwarded mail. To activate this feature, code your list "Send= Editor,Hold" and be sure that you have defined at least one editor who will be in charge of approving the messages. This defaults to the primary list owner if no other editor is defined. A copy of the message on "hold" is sent to the editor with minimal instructions (in order to avoid adding a long message before the text needing approval each time). To approve a message forwarded to you with "Send= Editor,Hold", simply reply to the approval request and type "OK" as the body of your reply. LISTSERV will normally pick up the confirmation request number from the subject line. If there is a problem, LISTSERV may ask you to resend the approval confirmation along with the number. For instance, OK 6A943C If the message has been in the spool longer than the time-out period (LISTSERV holds these jobs for a minimum of 7 days), you will receive notification that the confirmation number does not match any queued job. If you do not want the message to be forwarded on to the list, you need not do anything. The message will expire automatically at the end of the time-out period and will be deleted from the queue. If the message has been in the spool longer than the time-out period (LISTSERV holds these jobs for a minimum of 7 days), you will receive notification that the confirmation number does not match any queued job. If you need to increase the time-out period, you can set a value for the "Confirm-Delay=" list header keyword that is greater than 168h, but please read the section on "Confirm-Delay=" in Appendix B before doing so. 6.7. Using list topics ====================== List topics are not available in LISTSERV Lite. List topics provide powerful "sub-list" capabilities to a list. When properly set up and used, topics give subscribers the ability to receive list postings in a selective manner, based on the beginning of the "Subject:" line of the mail header. It is important to note the following points about topics: - Topics are best employed on moderated lists. This makes it possible to review the "Subject:" header line to make sure that it conforms to one or more of the topics defined for the list before you forward the post to the list. Not only does this help catch simple errors (such as misspellings of the topic), but it also allows the moderator to add a topic into the subject line if one is not already there. - If you employ topics on unmoderated lists, your subscribers must be well-educated in their use. Otherwise, there is no point in using them. Messages that do not conform to a specified topic are lumped into the reserved topic "Other" and are distributed only to subscribers who have explicitly defined "Other" as a topic they wish to receive. Therefore some subscribers will receive the message and some won't, and it is problematic as to whether the message will actually reach the entire audience for which it is intended. The basic keyword syntax for defining list topics in the list header file is: * Topics= topic1,topic2,...topic11 And the basic syntax used to set topics for users once they have been defined is: SET listname TOPICS: xxx yyy zzz for userid@host where xxx, yyy, and zzz can be: - A list of all the topics the subscriber wishes to receive. In that case these topics replace any other topics the subscriber may have subscribed to before. For instance, after 'SET XYZ-L TOPICS: NEWS BENCH', the subscriber will receive news and benchmarks, and nothing else. - Updates to the list of topics the subscriber currently receives. A plus sign indicates a topic that should be added, a minus sign requests the removal of a topic. For instance, "SET XYZ-L TOPICS: +NEWS -BENCH" adds news and removes benchmarks. If a topic name is given without a + or - sign, + is assumed: "SET XYZ-L TOPICS: +NEWS BENCH" adds news and benchmarks. The first topic name must have the plus sign to show that this is an addition, and not a replacement. - A combination of the above, mostly useful to enable all but a few topics: "SET XYZ-L TOPICS: ALL -MEETINGS". The colon after the keyword TOPICS: is optional, and TOPICS= is also accepted. The subscriber should not forget to include the special OTHER topic if you want to receive general discussions which were not labeled properly. On the other hand, if the subscriber only wants to receive properly labeled messages it should not be included. ALL does include OTHER. Finally, it is important to note that topics are active only when the subscriber's subscription is set to MAIL. Digests are indexes always contain all the postings that were made, because the same digest is prepared and sent to all the subscribers. With the "Default-Topics=" keyword, you can also set default topics for users that will be effective as soon as they subscribe to the list. For instance, * Default-Topics= NEWS,BENCH,OTHER would set the new user to receive topics NEWS, BENCHmarks, and any messages that are incorrectly labeled. See Appendix B for more information on setting up and using list topics. 6.8. The <listname> WELCOME and <listname> FAREWELL files ========================================================= When a user subscribes and signs off of a list, LISTSERV looks for list owner-supplied files called listname.WELCOME and listname.FAREWELL, respectively. If found, it sends the user a copy of the appropriate file in addition to its own administrative message. The WELCOME and FAREWELL files allow the list owner to send a more personal message to the user that can help set the tone for how the list is used. The WELCOME file may contain information about the list charter and netiquette rules, or be simply a message welcoming the user to the list. The FAREWELL file can be used to gather feedback about how the list is serving users. 6.8.1. Creating and storing the listname WELCOME and FAREWELL files ------------------------------------------------------------------- The procedure differs slightly on VM systems, but the following will work for unix, VMS and Windows systems: 1. Create the file. If you place a "Subject:" line at the top of the document, i.e., as the first line, LISTSERV will pick that line up and use it as the RFC822 "Subject:" header line. Otherwise, LISTSERV places a generic subject line in the mail message. 2. Be sure that you have defined a "personal password" to LISTSERV with the PW ADD command before you PUT the welcome file. If you have done this but can't remember the password, send LISTSERV a PW RESET command. You will then be able to add a new password with the PW ADD command. 3. Send the file to LISTSERV with a PUT listname WELCOME PW=XXXXXXXX command at the top of the file, just as if you were putting the list itself. Replace XXXXXXXX with your personal password. The variation for VM systems is that the LISTSERV maintainer will have to create a fileid for the file before you can PUT it on the server. Contact the LISTSERV maintainer before trying to store your WELCOME and/or FAREWELL files. Here is the format of a very simple WELCOME file. (Note that the FAREWELL file is created and stored in an identical manner.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PUT SONGTALK WELCOME PW=XXXXXXXX Subject: Welcome to Songtalk! Welcome to Songtalk, the list for Songwriters talking about their work. Your list owner is Susan Lowell (susan@lsoft.com). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 6.2. Sample WELCOME file. 6.8.2. Using the listname WELCOME file as a moderation tool ----------------------------------------------------------- The WELCOME file should contain information geared toward orienting the new subscriber to several areas. The outline of a suggested WELCOME file follows: 1. The revision date for the WELCOME file. 2. A heading including the short and long names of the list, along with the name and network address of the primary list owner (or the list owner who handles subscription issues/problems). 3. Any warnings about the list that you want people to see immediately. These might include - a notice regarding the volume of mail subscribers can expect from the list - any newsgroups that echo the list - ftp sites for the list - where to send LISTSERV commands - where to find more in-depth information about the list (if you do a quarterly administrative posting or have a FAQ, where can it be found?) 4. A short abstract of what the list is all about. This might be a duplicate of the description you send to NEW-LIST. 5. The author includes the following paragraph at this point: Users new to the use of L-Soft's LISTSERV are encouraged to read the online files LISTSERV REFCARD and LISTSERV GENINTRO, which can be obtained by sending the following commands in the body of a mail message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET: INFO REFCARD INFO GENINTRO 6. Any guidelines for use of the list, including the list charter if you have one. 7. Information about the notebook archives and how to retrieve them. 8. Other list-specific information that might be important to new users. Naturally, list owners should write WELCOME files based on their own experience of what is needed. A WELCOME file should not be static -- review it once in a while to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of new subscribers. 6.8.3. Using the listname FAREWELL file as a feedback tool ---------------------------------------------------------- The following FAREWELL file is used on ACCESS-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM, and is intended as a tool to get feedback from users. ACCESS-L's list owner typically receives 3-5 responses to this message each week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Your ACCESS-L Signoff Request I'm sorry to see that you're leaving ACCESS-L. If there is anything you believe ACCESS-L should have offered but didn't, or there are any other suggestions you may have for the list, please feel free to write directly to me. Sincerely, Nathan Brindle <nathan@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu> ACCESS-L List Owner ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 6.3. FAREWELL file used as a feedback tool. 6.8.4. The alternative to using WELCOME and FAREWELL files ---------------------------------------------------------- It is possible to modify LISTSERV's default mail template so that only one message is sent to users when they subscribe and unsubscribe, rather than an administrative message from LISTSERV and a WELCOME or FAREWELL file from the list owner. See Chapter 9 for the details on modifying the default mail templates. However, it is likely that the average list owner will prefer to use the WELCOME and FAREWELL files over changing the more-complicated templates. Thus both avenues are provided, and may be used depending on the list owner's level of comfort. 6.9. Social conventions (netiquette) ==================================== Like so many other things, network users tend to expend a great deal of virtual gunpowder about the subject of etiquette on the network (otherwise known as netiquette). Part of the culture of the network is built on the fact that an individual user can put forward any face he or she cares to present. Thus over time, the network has evolved various sets of rules that attempt to govern conduct. To avoid taking up a great deal of space arguing the merits of differing systems of netiquette, the following general pointers that should be accepted by most users are offered for the convenience of the list owner. Recognize and Accept Cultural and Linguistic Differences The Internet is international, and while English is generally accepted as the common language of the network, list owners and list subscribers cannot afford to take the position that everyone on the Internet understands English well. In a medium that is invariably connected to language, special understanding is required to deal with questions or statements from people for whom English is not the primary tongue. Often today (at least in the US) a person's first sustained interaction with others on an international basis is via the Internet. It is imperative that this interaction be on the highest level of cordiality and respect from the outset in order for all concerned to benefit. Additionally, care should be taken when using local idiom and slang. A common word or phrase used by Americans in everyday speech, for instance, might be taken as profanity or insult by those in other English-speaking countries, and may not be understood at all by non-native speakers of English. When a list has a high international readership, it is probably best to avoid non-standard English so as to provide the clearest and least-objectionable exchange of ideas. Private Mail Should Dictate Private Responses If someone on a mailing list has sent a private message to you (i.e., not to the list at large) and you have lost that person's address but want to respond, do not post private mail to the list. The REVIEW command will give you a copy of the list membership that you can search for the person's address. If this approach does not work, contact the local postmaster or the list owner for help. Flaming is (Usually) Inappropriate Flames (insults) belong in private mail, if they belong in mail at all. Discussions will often result in disagreements. Rebuttals to another person's opinions or beliefs should always be made in a rational, logical and mature manner, whether they are made publicly or privately. What is a flame can range from the obvious (ranting and raving, abusive comments, etc.) to the not-so-obvious (comments about how many "newbies" seem to be on the list these days, "RTFM!" exhortations, etc.). Foul Language Subscribers should refrain from abusive or derogatory language that might be considered questionable by even the most liberal and open-minded of networkers. If you wouldn't say it in front of your mother, don't say it in electronic mail. Unsolicited Advertising and Chain Letters Most of these are contrary to appropriate use policies governing the use of the poster's Internet access provider. Not only that, they are annoying and (in the case of chain letters) often illegal. See Section 6.10 on the subject of "spamming" for more details. Other Disruptive or Abusive Behavior Self-explanatory. It is rarely possible to catalog all forms of anti-social network behavior. Be sure that you as a list owner cover as many bases as you think necessary when promulgating a code of netiquette for your list. Then -- be sure to adhere to it yourself. 6.10. Spamming: what it is, and what to do about it =================================================== "Spamming" is a network term invented to describe the act of cross-posting the same message to as many newsgroups and/or mailing lists as possible, whether or not the message is germane to the stated topic of the newsgroups or mailing lists that are being targeted. A "spam" is defined therefore as either (1) a specific act of spamming, such as the so-called "Green Card Spam", or (2) the message that actually comes to your list as a result of someone initiating a specific act of spamming ("The message you just saw was a spam, and it should be ignored"). Spams are fairly easy to recognize at a quick glance; they often have "To:" fields directed to large numbers of lists, usually in alphabetical order. If a spam gets through to your list, it will probably engender sarcastic replies (often with the spam quoted in its entirety) -- and if your list is coded "Reply-To= List", they will likely come back to the list. It is therefore imperative that you make subscribers aware that when a spam occurs: - The person responsible for the spam is probably not subscribed to the list, and any response back to the list will not reach that person. - An appropriate response to a spam is to forward a single copy of the spam to the person in charge of the site from which the spam originated ("POSTMASTER", "ROOT", etc.) pointing out that the spammer is probably violating his site's appropriate use policies. - It is inappropriate to attempt to flood the spammer's mailbox with network mail in response. This is probably in violation of your network's appropriate use policies, and it just wastes bandwidth. Perhaps the best policy an individual subscriber can adopt toward spammers is simply to ignore them and allow list owners and newsgroup moderators to take care of the problem. If this does not work and subscribers send their complaints to the list anyway, it might be a good idea to moderate the list for a few days until the furor dies down. LISTSERV attempts to detect "spams" using a variety of proprietary methods. When LISTSERV decides that a message is a spam, it locks out the user for 48 hours, worldwide in the case of backbone servers.( While locked the user is still able to use LISTSERV normally and to post to mailing lists, but all messages will be forwarded to the list owners for human verification. The user is informed that this has happened but is not informed of which lists caught the message and which didn't, denying him any idea how successful he has been. L-Soft will not document how LISTSERV decides a message is a spam because the point has been reached where a number of authors are writing and selling books detailing how to avoid such precautions. If L-Soft were to document its methods, the next editions of these books would simply include updated instructions on how to bypass them. 6.11. Appropriate use policies: considerations ============================================== As a list owner, it is important that you take into consideration any appropriate use policies that might apply to your list. For instance, if your list is hosted by an educational site that has a policy restricting mail with commercial content from being sent out by its users, your list will technically be in violation of that policy if it distributes mail from users advertising commercial services. You would be well advised to request a copy of the appropriate use policy (if any) from your host site and make sure that your subscribers are aware of it by including pertinent sections in your WELCOME file and/or your administrative postings. Host sites are not the only entities that might have appropriate use policies. The network your host is a part of may have such policies as well. ******************************** * 7. Overview of List Archives * ******************************** 7.1. What is the list archive? ============================== The list archive consists of all of the notebook logs for your list. (If your list is coded "Notebook= No", then it does not have a list archive, of course.) Users can find out what notebook logs are available for a specific list by sending the command INDex listname to the appropriate LISTSERV host. 7.2. Setting up and managing archive notebooks ============================================== If your list is coded "Notebook= No", you should consult your LISTSERV maintainer before changing the keyword to create list archive notebooks. The LISTSERV maintainer will have to tell you where the notebook should be kept (the second parameter in the "Notebook=" keyword). Also note that depending on local policies, you may or may not be allowed to archive your list, or keep more than a few months' or weeks' worth of archives available at a given time. 7.2.2 Indexing available archive notebooks ------------------------------------------ To find out what archive notebooks are available for your list, simply send the INDex listname command to LISTSERV. 7.2.3. Deleting existing archive notebooks ------------------------------------------ To delete an existing archive notebook, simply execute a PUT operation for the notebook in question without sending any other text along with the PUT command line. For instance: PUT MYLIST LOG9607 PW=mypersonalpw without any other additional text would delete MYLIST LOG9607 from the server. Note that extra carriage return and/or line feed characters following the PUT command are considered text to be stored on the server, and you will end up with a very short file consisting of cr/lf combinations corresponding to the number of times you hit RETURN after the PUT command. The best way to avoid this is to type the PUT command without a following RETURN and send the mail. 7.3. Database Functions Overview ================================ In this section, we will detail the basics of a LISTSERV command job and show you a sample database query session. Please note that it is not the purpose of this manual to provide the user with a detailed database function reference. See Section 7.4 for more information. For information on the new database functions available in 1.8c, please see section 7.3.3, below. For non-VM servers running 1.8c, you can skip sections 7.3.1 and 7.3.2 entirely. Database search functions are not available in LISTSERV Lite. 7.3.1. LISTSERV Command Job Language Interpreter ------------------------------------------------ The LISTSERV database command syntax used to access database functions is English-like in structure. This syntax is called LISTSERV Command Job Language Interpreter, or CJLI for short. Database commands are sent to LISTSERV in CJLI "batch jobs". When accessing the database in "batch" mode, you must construct a CJLI job which you must then submit to the appropriate server for execution. This means that you must know in advance what you want to do exactly. If you are not familiar with CJLI, you can use the following "job skeleton" to build up your database search job: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- // JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules //Rules DD * command 1 command 2 ... /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 7.1. Sample database job skeleton This CJLI job is sent in e-mail to the appropriate LISTSERV host. You will then receive by return e-mail a "DATABASE OUTPUT" file containing the results of your search. This file might look like this: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Select * in TEST-L --> Database TEST-L, 4 hits. > Index Item # Date Time Recs Subject ------ ---- ---- ---- ------- 000001 95/10/18 13:09 12 This is a test looking for upcasing 000002 95/08/24 09:18 9 000003 95/10/18 13:09 8 Test - please acknowledge receipt 000004 95/10/18 13:09 7 Does Reply-To=Both work correctly? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 7.2. Sample DATABASE OUTPUT: Each of the commands in the original job is echoed in the output file (unless specifically disabled). If you realize that the items you were interested in are number 1 and 3, you will have to submit a new job to ask for a copy of them. The new job must include the "Select" command, as LISTSERV does not cache CJLI commands in the expectation that you will send another command job. 7.3.2. A basic database session (VM servers only) ------------------------------------------------- (See 7.3.3 for non-VM servers) Let's say that you are looking for messages in the LSTOWN-L mailing list that pertain to the list header keyword "Digest=". You set up a very simple CJLI job as follows and mail it to LISTSERV@SEARN.SUNET.SE: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- // JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules //Rules DD * Search 'Digest=' in LSTOWN-L Index /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 7.3. Sample CJLI database search job for VM servers Figure 7.3, when sent to LISTSERV, says: "Look for the string 'Digest=' in all of the archives you have for list LSTOWN-L. Then, send me back an index of all messages in the archives that include that string." LISTSERV at SEARN obligingly searches the LSTOWN-L archives, finds the following, and sends it back to you in an e-mail message: > Search 'Digest=' in LSTOWN-L --> Database LSTOWN-L, 37 hits. > Index Item # Date Time Recs Subject ------ ---- ---- ---- ------- 001215 93/01/06 21:58 50 New feature in 1.7f - automatic digests 001339 93/01/18 02:46 110 New features for 1.7f - "Filter=" and list keyword+ 001375 93/01/28 10:02 19 Initial reports from 1.7f beta tests? 001401 93/02/08 16:39 58 Re: List of LISTSERV header keywords? 001616 93/03/18 13:42 70 DIGEST boilerplate announcement/reference 001727 93/04/04 15:22 916 Changes from release 1.7e to 1.7f .... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Figure 7.4. Part of the LISTSERV response to the CJLI job in Figure 7.3. The next step is to send a CJLI job to request the specific message(s) you are interested in. Let's say that you are interested in changes from one version of LISTSERV to another, and you therefore would like to see messages 1215, 1339, and 1727. You set up the following CJLI framework: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- // JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules //Rules DD * Search 'Digest=' in LSTOWN-L Print 1215 1339 1727 /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 7.5. CJLI job instructing LISTSERV to send specific messages to the requestor. This example says: "Look for the string 'Digest=' in all of the archives you have for list LSTOWN-L. Then, send me back message numbers 1215, 1339 and 1727." LISTSERV will repeat the search from Figure 7.3 and will package the three messages you have requested into a return mail message and send it back to you. 7.3.3. A basic database session (non-VM servers running 1.8c or later only) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- We'll take a similar situation as described in 7.3.2 and apply it to the non-VM servers. To search for the term "Digest=" in the EASE-HOME list on HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM, you would make a new mail message and simply type: Search 'Digest=' in EASE-HOME No CJLI is necessary (in fact, it should not be used). LISTSERV would respond to you with the following: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Search 'Digest=' in EASE-HOME -> 10 matches. Item # Date Time Recs Subject ------ ---- ---- ---- ------- 000058 96/01/26 14:44 41 What happened 000059 96/01/26 18:14 38 Re: What happened 000066 96/02/02 22:51 31 Digest Problem 000074 96/02/03 15:01 75 Re: Digest Problem 000075 96/02/03 18:52 49 Re: Digest Problem 000076 96/02/03 16:27 52 Re: Digest Problem 000112 96/02/13 23:37 29 not receiving mail 000126 96/02/25 20:20 63 error/bounce msg posted to list How? 000172 96/03/13 09:11 12 Digest Mailing Time 000483 96/06/22 17:36 34 Header Info To order a copy of these postings, send the following command: GETPOST EASE-HOME 58-59 66 74-76 112 126 172 483 >>> Item #58 (26 Jan 1996 14:44) - What happened I never touched the Limits= command or the notebook= All I did was try and add: Digest= Yes,Daily ^^^^^^^ I have tryed this several times with the same reply message: >>> Item #59 (26 Jan 1996 18:14) - Re: What happened > I never touched the Limits= command or the notebook= All I did was >try and add: Digest= Yes,Daily ^^^^^^^ (remainder deleted) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 7.6. Sample SEARCH output from non-VM servers Note that LISTSERV includes excerpts from the indexed postings showing the context of the search term(s). We've deleted all but the first 2 in the example above to save space. You would then use the new GETPOST command to order the specific posts you wanted to read. For instance, we want to read posts numbered 66, 74 through 76, and 126. We would make another new message (or reply to the response from LISTSERV) and type in the body: GETPOST 66 74-76 126 LISTSERV would then respond with the desired postings. For the non-VM servers, GETPOST is analogous to the old database command "PRINT". There is no corresponding command for the old database command INDEX, since the response to a SEARCH command includes the index of matching postings. 7.3.4. Narrowing the search --------------------------- (Works on both the VM and non-VM servers) It is possible to add further parameters to your search in order to narrow it. You can limit a search by date with a "since. . . " predicate. Likewise, you can limit by sender and/or by the subject line with a "where . . ." predicate. For instance: Search 'Digest=' in LSTOWN-L since 94/01/01 Search 'Digest=' in LSTOWN-L where sender contains 'Thomas' Search * in LSTOWN-L where sender is ERIC@SEARN Search * in LSTOWN-L since 94/01/01 where subject contains 'Digest' are all valid search commands that will (hopefully) dramatically reduce the number of index or print entries returned to you. 7.4. Where to find more information on Database Functions ========================================================= You can get more detailed information on database functions and the database command syntax by requesting the file LISTDB MEMO from LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET or from any other VM LISTSERV host. You can send either a "GET LISTDB MEMO" command or an "INFO DATABASE" command to retrieve the file. There is also more information on the new 1.8c database functions in the General User's Guide to LISTSERV 1.8c, available on L-Soft's WWW site. ******************************** * 8. Overview of File Archives * ******************************** There are three file server systems currently in use by LISTSERV: - The VM (mainframe) version of LISTSERV continues to support the "traditional" file server system. While it is very powerful, this file server system dates back to 1986 and suffers from a few annoying limitations. In addition, it is written in a non portable language. This will be replaced with the "new" file server system, currently under development. - The non-VM versions of LISTSERV 1.8c introduce a new file server system which includes most of the functionality of the "traditional" file system. Most end user commands will continue to work as before. However, there is no guarantee that the internal data files manipulated by the file server functions will remain as before. Note that SITE.CATALOG files from versions 1.8a and 1.8b are still supported and will not need to be changed in order to work with 1.8c. - The workstation and PC versions of LISTSERV 1.8a and 1.8b support a "temporary" file server system, to provide an interim solution while the new system is being developed. This temporary system only supports a subset of the functions of the traditional system. This system is no longer supported by L-Soft as it has been superseded by the new non-VM file server referenced above. In general, the three systems are compatible, with the understanding that the temporary system does not include all the possible options. However, the mechanism for registering files (defining them to the file server system) is different. Since the first two systems will eventually be replaced by the third system, rather than providing an exhaustive chapter detailing all filelist aspects from the management side, we have provided only a basic overview of the two systems currently in the field with 1.8c, with pointers to where further information may be obtained. 8.1. What is the file archive? ============================== The file archive consists of all files other than notebook logs that have been stored on the LISTSERV host for your list. Users can find out what files are available for a specific list by sending the command INDex listname to the appropriate LISTSERV host. 8.2. Starting a file archive for your list ========================================== On VM Systems ONLY With the traditional system (running on the VM servers), the LISTSERV maintainer creates files called "xxxx FILELIST", which contain definitions for all the files belonging to a particular archive. These FILELIST files must be created by the LISTSERV maintainer at the site before they can be edited by the list owner. On Workstation and PC Systems With the new cataloging system introduced in 1.8c, the LISTSERV maintainer creates a definition for your listname.CATALOG in a system-global file called SITE.CATALOG. The list owner then follows the instructions in chapter 8.4, below, to register files and store them on the server. Please note carefully that the instructions in chapter 8.3 and the instructions in chapter 8.4 are not interchangeable. If you are not sure which system your list is running on, you can send the command RELEASE to the server to find out. 8.3. Filelist maintenance (VM systems only) =========================================== If your list is running on LISTSERV under unix, Windows, or VMS, please skip this section as it does not pertain in any way to your implementation of LISTSERV. Maintaining the filelist for your archive is not difficult. It requires only that you have a working knowledge of VM XEDIT (or your local system's editor) and understand how to send files via e-mail. 8.3.1 Retrieving the filelist ----------------------------- To retrieve your filelist in an editable format, send the command GET listname FILELIST PW=XXXXXXXX (CTL to the LISTSERV host where the filelist is stored. The (CTL switch causes LISTSERV to lock the filelist until you store it again or explicitly unlock it with an UNLOCK listname FILELIST command. (If you don't want to lock the filelist, use (CTL NOLOCK instead.) If your mail account is not located on the same host as LISTSERV, you will need to provide your personal password (same as your password for getting and putting your lists). A filelist retrieved with the (CTL option does not look like the filelist you get with an INDEX command. A sample (CTL option filelist appears below: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Files associated with MYLIST and available to subscribers: * rec last - change * filename filetype GET PUT -fm lrecl nrecs date time Remarks * -------- -------- --- --- --- ----- ----- -------- -------- -------- MYLIST POLICY ALL OWN V 79 45 94/03/16 12:04:23 Mission Statement MYLIST BOOKLIST ALL OWN V 79 177 94/04/19 16:24:57 Books of interest MYLIST QUARTER ALL OWN V 73 113 95/03/11 08:57:04 Quarterly posting * Listowner's files (not public) MYLIST FAREWELL OWN OWN V 78 9 95/03/11 08:53:41 Goodbye memo MYLIST WELCOME OWN OWN V 73 105 95/03/11 09:14:38 Hello memo ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 8.1. Sample filelist retrieved with (CTL option. Note that the filelist does not include the comment lines you would normally see at the top of an INDEX filelist; nor does it include any notebook archives. LISTSERV creates these lines dynamically at the time the INDEX command is received from a user. If the filelist you have retrieved has any of this kind of material in it, either a) you have not retrieved the filelist correctly, or b) you or someone else has stored the filelist previously with this material included. If you did a GET with (CTL, you should be able to remove these extraneous lines by simply deleting them. If you do an INDEX of your archive and it has (for instance) two sets of comment lines or duplicate notebook archive listings, then you should GET the filelist with (CTL and edit out the offending lines. While the extra lines will not affect the operation of the file server, they are a source of potential confusion for your users. 8.3.2 Adding file descriptors to the filelist ============================================= "Adding a file to a filelist" is not exactly accurate terminology, although it is a widely-used phrase. Adding files to file archives is a two-step process: First, add a file descriptor to the appropriate filelist and store the filelist on the server. Second, store the file itself on the server. To add a file descriptor, start a line with a space and then type in your file's name, access codes, five dots (periods) and a short description, each separated by a space. For example: MYLIST FAQ ALL OWN . . . . . Frequently-Asked Questions for MYLIST Note that the line must begin with a space. Also, you must place five dots separated by spaces between the PUT file access code (here it is OWN) and the short description. These dots are place holders for the record format (recfm), longest record length (lrecl), number of records (nrecs), and the date and time of the last update. If these dots are not present, LISTSERV will return an error message when you try to store the filelist. You will note that the line you have just added does not look like the other lines in the filelist. Ignore the "pretty" formatting. LISTSERV will reformat the information for you. After adding the line, your filelist should look like this: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Files associated with MYLIST and available to subscribers: * rec last - change * filename filetype GET PUT -fm lrecl nrecs date time Remarks * -------- -------- --- --- --- ----- ----- -------- -------- -------- MYLIST POLICY ALL OWN V 79 45 94/03/16 12:04:23 Mission Statement MYLIST BOOKLIST ALL OWN V 79 177 94/04/19 16:24:57 Books of interest MYLIST QUARTER ALL OWN V 73 113 95/03/11 08:57:04 Quarterly posting MYLIST FAQ ALL OWN . . . . . Frequently-Asked Questions for MYLIST * Listowner's files (not public) MYLIST FAREWELL OWN OWN V 78 9 95/03/11 08:53:41 Goodbye memo MYLIST WELCOME OWN OWN V 73 105 95/03/11 09:14:38 Hello memo ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 8.2. Adding a file descriptor to the filelist Note that you can add comment lines to the filelist by placing an asterisk in the left-most column instead of a space. Comment lines can act as indexes, descriptions, or pointers to other resources. Once you are finished adding file descriptors, save the filelist to disk. 8.3.3. File Access Codes (FAC) for user access ---------------------------------------------- FACs define which users have access to files in the file archive. The FAC for GET indicates who may retrieve the files, and the FAC for PUT indicates who may store the files on the server. (Note that some special FACs exist for "superusers" such as the LISTSERV maintainer(s) and the LISTSERV Master Coordinator, who may GET and PUT any file regardless of its GET/PUT permissions.) The basic FAC codes that are always available for the VM server are: ALL universal access. PRV only members of the associated mailing list have access. OWN only the owners of the associated mailing list have access. (The FAC codes PRV and OWN work only on the VM filelist system. They do not work on the non-VM catalog system. See section 8.4 if you are configuring the non-VM systems.) (Note that this assumes the name of the filelist is identical to the name of the associated mailing list -- for instance, MYLIST@FOO.BAR.EDU would have a MYLIST LIST file and a MYLIST FILELIST file. Ask your LISTSERV maintainer for assistance if this is not the case or if you need special FACs added for special user access to files.) 8.3.4 Deleting file descriptors from the filelist ------------------------------------------------- Before you delete file descriptors from the filelist, you should delete the files themselves from LISTSERV's archive disk. See section 8.6, below, for instructions. If this step is not followed, LISTSERV may not be able to find the file you want to delete after you edit the filelist and store it. 8.3.5. Storing the filelist --------------------------- 1. Create a mail message to LISTSERV at the appropriate host. (Sending a filelist to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET will not work. The filelist must be sent to the host it resides on.) 2. Include the filelist file as plain text in the body of the mail message. Do not attach it with MIME or another encoding scheme, as LISTSERV does not translate encoded messages. 3. Make sure that your mail client does not automatically add a signature file to the bottom of your mail. If it does, your signature file will be treated as part of the filelist and will be stored along with it. 4. At the top of the filelist, add a single line as follows: PUT filename FILELIST PW=XXXXXXXX where XXXXXXXX is your personal password for LISTSERV on that host. Note that this is similar to the PUT command used when storing the list file. 5. Send the filelist to LISTSERV. Once LISTSERV acknowledges the receipt and storage of the filelist, you can send the files that correspond to the file descriptors in your filelist. See section 8.5, below, for instructions. 8.4. The listname.CATALOG system on non-VM systems (new for 1.8c) ================================================================= NOTE: If your list is running LISTSERV 1.8b, please refer to the List Owner's Manual for LISTSERV 1.8b for information regarding the file server. The information below is specific to 1.8c and will not work on pre-1.8c servers. Please note that list-level file catalogs are not available in LISTSERV LITE; you must register files in the SITE.CATALOG file per the instructions in the installation guide. LISTSERV version 1.8c introduces a new file archive registration system similar to (but differing in important respects from) the old VM FILELIST system. This new system is available on the VMS, unix, and Windows ports only. VM sites will continue to use the old FILELIST system indefinitely as it still offers more functionality than the new system. This "sub-catalog" enhancement allows the LISTSERV administrator to delegate file management authority in a controlled and secure manner. Multiple list owners can be given the authority to maintain their own sub-catalog in a predefined directory. From a list owner's point of view, the procedure works as follows: 1. Ask the LISTSERV administrator to create the sub-catalog for your list. You will need to provide the e-mail addresses of the person(s) who will be in charge of managing it ("catalog owners"). 2. The catalog owners use the GET and PUT commands to update their catalog and register new files in their directory. Each file has the usual GET and PUT file access codes, allowing the catalog owners to further delegate the management of individual files to third parties ("file owners"). 3. The file owners manage the files in question using the GET and PUT commands. Authorized users can retrieve the files using the GET command. If your list is being migrated from VM to one of the non-VM versions of LISTSERV, please note that it is not necessary to create entries in your sub-catalog for WELCOME, FAREWELL and MAILTPL files. If entries for these files are not created, they simply do not appear in the output of an INDEX command. However, if desired, you can force them to appear by defining them in your sub-catalog. 8.4.1. Updating the sub-catalog ------------------------------- Once the sub-catalog is created, the catalog owner(s) can register new files using the following procedure (in this example, it will be assumed that the sub-catalog is called MY.CATALOG): 1. Send a GET MY.CATALOG command to LISTSERV (or, if the catalog is brand new, start from an empty file). 2. Register new file(s) in the catalog (see below). 3. Use the PUT MY.CATALOG PW=XXXXX command to store the updated catalog. Alternatively, if the catalog owner has an account on the LISTSERV host system and write access to the directory associated with the sub-catalog, the file can be edited directly. Note however that, in that case, the LISTSERV-ISP quota system will be inoperative as it has no control over disk accesses which do not go through LISTSERV itself. The format of sub-catalogs is similar to that of SITE.CATALOG: MY.FILE my.file ALL JOE@XYZ.COM (1) (2) (3) (4) Notes: (1) This defines the name of the file as seen by LISTSERV users. That is, the command to retrieve the file will be GET MY.FILE. (2) This defines the name of the actual disk file where the contents of MY.FILE will be stored. Normally, you should specify the same as (1), or just an equal sign (LISTSERV will then substitute the name you provided for (1)). However, in some cases you may want to make a particular file available under multiple names. This can be done by registering multiple files (ie multiple values for (1)), and using the same (2) value every time. (3) This file access code determines who can order the file through a GET command. The following file access codes are available: ALL universal access. PRIVATE(xxx) only members of the xxx list have access. OWNER(xxx) only the owners of the xxx list have access. SERVICE(xxx) only users in the service area of the xxx list have access. NOTEBOOK(xxx) same access as the archives of the xxx list. user@host the user in question is granted access. Except for ALL, which must occur on its own, multiple file access code entries can be specified, separated by a comma with no intervening space. For instance: MY.FILE C:\FILES\XYZ\MY.FILE JOE@XYZ.EDU,JACK@XYZ.EDU,PRIVATE(XYZ-L) CTL defines a file that Joe, Jack and the subscribers of the XYZ-L list can order via the GET command, but that only the LISTSERV administrator can update. (4) This file access code determines who can update the file with the PUT command. See note (3), above, for more information on FAC codes. Note: (2) defaults to the value of (1), and (3) and (4) default to the GET and PUT access codes of the sub-catalog itself, respectively. So, in most cases a sub-catalog entry will be as simple as: MY.FILE Additionally, comment lines (starting with an asterisk) or blank lines can be interspersed with file definitions. These comments will be echoed when the sub-catalog is indexed (see below), in sequence with the file definitions. For instance, your catalog could read: * * Files for the XYZ sub-project * XYZ.AGENDA XYZ.BUDGET XYZ.PROPOSAL-1 XYZ.PROPOSAL-2 8.4.2. Indexing the sub-catalog ------------------------------- If MY.CATALOG is defined as: MY.CATALOG /home/lists/xyz/my.catalog xxx JOE@XYZ.COM then any user who matches the 'xxx' file access code is authorized to issue an INDEX MY command to get a formatted version of the catalog. For compatibility with older versions of LISTSERV, GET MY.FILELIST will produce the same results. If there is a mailing list called MY, a list of the archive files will be appended automatically. 8.5. Storing files on the host machine ====================================== To store a file on any LISTSERV host, first ensure that it has been registered with an entry in a filelist or the site catalog. Then follow these instructions: 1. Be sure that you have defined a "personal password" to LISTSERV with the PW ADD command before you PUT the new or edited file. If you have done this but can't remember the password, send a PW RESET command to LISTSERV, then a new PW ADD command. 2. Edit your file and save it. Add a single line at the top of the file as follows: PUT filename.extension PW=XXXXXXXX (This line will not appear to people who GET the file from LISTSERV.) Replace XXXXXXXX with your personal password. 3. Be sure that the file has been registered with an entry in a filelist or the site catalog. 4. Send the mail message to LISTSERV. 8.6. Deleting files from the host machine ========================================= To delete a registered file on any LISTSERV host: 1. Be sure that you have defined a "personal password" to LISTSERV with the PW ADD command before you PUT the delete job. If you have done this but can't remember the password, send a PW RESET command to LISTSERV, then a new PW ADD command. 2. Create a new mail message addressed to LISTSERV. Add a single line at the top of the message as follows: PUT filename.extension PW=XXXXXXXX (Replace XXXXXXXX with your personal password.) 3. Send the mail message to LISTSERV. 4. LISTSERV will tell you that the file has been successfully deleted. 5. For VM Systems ONLY: GET the listname FILELIST for your list and delete the line for the file you've just deleted. PUT the listname FILELIST back on the server. 6. For Workstation and PC Systems ONLY: Get the listname.CATALOG for your list and delete the line for the file you've just deleted. PUT the listname.CATALOG back on the server. Note that #5 and #6 are not necessary when you are deleting notebook archives. LISTSERV generates the notebook archives index "on the fly" when needed. 8.7. Automatic File Distribution (AFD) and File Update Information (FUI) ======================================================================== If your list is running on LISTSERV under unix, Windows, or VMS, please skip the rest of this section as it does not currently pertain in any way to your implementation of LISTSERV. AFD and FUI have not yet been ported to the workstation and PC environments. However, this feature is supported on VM and will be supported in the near future on the other platforms. These two features are similar in their command syntax, but do different things. AFD provides a method whereby users may subscribe to specific files, which will be sent to them any time the files are updated. For instance, if you have a FAQ file that is updated monthly, a user could send an AFD subscription to that FAQ file and LISTSERV would send it to the user every time you updated and stored the FAQ. FUI, on the other hand, is a method whereby a user subscribes to a file but receives only a notification that the file has been updated. The user can then GET the file at his own discretion. AFD and FUI can be password-protected to protect users from network hackers who might forge mail from the user subscribing him to large or frequently-updated files. If a password is not provided in an AFD or FUI ADD command, LISTSERV warns the user that it would be a good idea to password protect the subscription. 8.8. File "Packages" ==================== If your list is running on LISTSERV under unix, Windows, or VMS, please skip the rest of this section as it does not currently pertain in any way to your implementation of LISTSERV. This feature has not yet been ported to the workstation and PC environments. However, this feature is supported on VM and will be supported in the near future on the other platforms. You can define a group of files as a "package" that can be retrieved by users with a single GET command. First, ensure that all the files in the package are defined in the appropriate filelist and stored on the server as detailed above. Next, create a file descriptor in the filelist for a file called filename $PACKAGE , where filename is the name you have chosen for the group of files. Be sure that the filetype is $PACKAGE, with a $ sign, and store your filelist. Now create a file called filename $PACKAGE that looks like this: * MYLIST $PACKAGE * Packing list for MYLIST PACKAGE * * You can make other comments here, such as * the contact email address. * * filename filetype filelist *======================= MYLIST $PACKAGE MYLIST INTEREST FILE MYLIST NETIQUET FILE MYLIST ANOTHER FILE MYLIST Note that anything that is not the name of a file in the package must be commented out with an asterisk in the leftmost column of the line. It is possible to create a package file without any comment lines at all, but this is not preferable in practice. Often users will get the package file itself just to see what is in it. You should include a reference to the package file itself so that the user will get a copy of the "packing list" to check against the files he receives from LISTSERV. The final step is to send the package file to LISTSERV like any other file. Now users can do one of two things: 1. They may get the entire package of files sent to them by sending LISTSERV the command GET filename PACKAGE (without the $ sign); or 2. They may request that LISTSERV send only the package file itself by sending LISTSERV the command GET filename $PACKAGE (with the $ sign). Packages may be subscribed to with the AFD and FUI commands. 8.9. Where to find more information on File Archives ====================================================\ Guides that refer to File Archive setup and maintenance for VM systems only are referenced in Appendix D, Related Documentation and Support. LISTSERV maintainers can also find more information in the Site Manager's Operations Manual for LISTSERV 1.8c. **************************************************** * 9. Customizing LISTSERV's Default Mail Templates * **************************************************** 9.1. What LISTSERV uses mail templates for ========================================== Mail templates are used to generate some of the mail LISTSERV sends to users in response to commands it receives. Among these are the "You are now subscribed . . ." message, the message sent to users when LISTSERV cannot find a subscription for them in a specified list, and others. Note that certain administrative mail (for instance, the response to the STATS and RELEASE commands) is hard-coded into LISTSERV and cannot be changed. Mail templates are files that contain one or more mail template forms. 9.2. The DEFAULT.MAILTPL file and how to get a copy =================================================== LISTSERV stores its default mail template forms in a file called DEFAULT.MAILTPL, which can be requested by list owners from LISTSERV with the GET command, just like any other file. 9.3. Mail template format and embedded formatting commands Each individual template form starts with a form name and subject line, such as: >>> EXAMPLE1 This is the subject line The template form starts with the line containing the form name and subject, and ends with the next line starting with '>>>', or at the end of the file. The subject line may contain substitutions (such as "&LISTNAME: &WHOM requested to join"). Ensure that there is a blank space between '>>>' and the name of the form, or LISTSERV will not recognize the form. Also note that the names of the templates must be typed in UPPER CASE. The template form contains text and, optionally, formatting/editing commands, which start with a period in column 1. All other lines are treated as normal text: sequences starting with an & sign are substituted, then lines are joined together to form a paragraph, which is finally formatted like with any non-WYSIWYG text processor. You can suspend formatting with .FO OFF and resume it with .FO ON; when formatting is suspended, LISTSERV no longer joins lines to form a paragraph, but simply writes one line of text to the message for each line read from the template. This makes it possible to include tables or a text-mode logo, but can create seriously imbalanced text if substitutions are used. For instance, a typical &WHOM substitution can range from a dozen characters to 60 or more, even though it only takes up 5 characters on your screen when you enter it. The following substitutions are always available: &DATE Long-style date (29 Jul 1993) &TIME hh:mm:ss &WEEKDAY Three-letter day of the week, in English &MYNAMES The substitution you will use most of the time when you need to refer to LISTSERV. For Internet-only or BITNET-only servers, this will display LISTSERV's only e-mail address. For servers with both Internet and BITNET connectivity, it will say "LISTSERV@hostname (or LISTSERV@nodeid.BITNET)". &MYSELF LISTSERV's address, in the form LISTSERV@XYZ.EDU or, if no Internet hostname is available, LISTSERV@XYZVM1.BITNET. &MYNODE LISTSERV's BITNET nodeid, without the '.BITNET', or its Internet hostname if no NJE address is available. &MYHOST LISTSERV's Internet hostname or, if none is available, its NJE address (with '.BITNET'). &MBX(addr) Looks up the specified address in LISTSERV's signup file and displays "name <addr>" if a name is available, or just the original address otherwise. This is typically used to give the name of the command originator or target, along with his e-mail address: &MBX(&WHOM) or &MBX(&INVOKER). &RELEASE LISTSERV's release number (e.g., "1.8c"). &OSTYPE The operating system under which LISTSERV is running, e.g., VM/VMS/unix/Windows. &OSNAME The full operating system name including the version number, e.g., "VM/ESA 1.2.3", "Windows NT 3.51", "Linux 1.2.13", "SunOS 5.4", etc. &HARDWARE The type of machine LISTSERV is running on, e.g., "Pentium (32M)". The following substitutions are also available for templates related to mailing lists: &LISTNAME Either the short or long name of the list based on the value of "List-Address=" and/or its system default. By default the long ("List-ID=") name is used if present. &TITLE Title of the list, or empty string. &KWD(kwd) Value of the specified keyword for the list. You do not need to specify the name of the list - it is implicit. You need not put quotes around the keyword names either, although quotes will be accepted if present. Optionally, you can specify a second numeric argument to extract just one of the terms of a list header keyword; for instance, if the list header contains "Notebook= Yes,L1,Monthly, Private", &KWD(NOTEBOOK,4) has the value "Private". A third argument, also optional, specifies the default value for the keyword in case it was not initialized. It is meant to be used for conditional formatting in the default templates and list owners should not worry about it. &LITE (New for 1.8c) Has the value 1 when running the new LISTSERV Lite product, and 0 otherwise. This variable can be used to write generic templates that account for the differences between the two products. &ISODATE (New for 1.8c) Returns today's date in ISO format, i.e., yyyy-mm-dd. &DAYSEQ(n) (New for 1.8c) Used to create FAQ template forms with rotating topics. May also be used to create bottom banners with rotating text (e.g., for lists with multiple commercial sponsors who get "ad space" in the banner on a rotating basis). In addition, many template forms have their own specific substitutions, meaningful only in their specific context. For instance, a message informing a user that he was added to a mailing list may have an &INVOKER substitution for the address of the person who issued the ADD command. This is not meaningful for a template informing a user that he must confirm his subscription to a list within 10 days, so it is not generally available. If you attempt to use a substitution which is not available, the template processor writes an error message to the mail message it is generating, but sends it anyway, in the hope that the recipient will be able to figure out the meaning of the message in spite of the error. If you need to include a sentence with an ampersand character, you will have to double it to bypass the substitution process, as in "XYZ &&co." Starting with 1.8c, the mail template processor supports HTML-like variable closure, in addition to the traditional LISTSERV closure (both methods are supported concurrently; there is no need to select one over the other). For example: Traditional: For more information, please send mail to &EMAIL or call &PHONE. HTML: For more information, please send mail to &EMAIL; or call &PHONE;. Previously, HTML writers who used HTML closure conventions would not get the expected results. This change makes it easier for webmasters to get the desired results the first time. Any line starting with a period in column 1 is processed as a formatting command. Note that neither substitutions nor formatting commands are case sensitive. Here is a list of the formatting commands list owners may need to use: .* Comment: anything on this line is simply ignored. This is useful for recording changes to template files when there are multiple owners. Just add a comment line with the date and your initials every time you make a change, for the benefit of the other owners. .FO OFF Turns off formatting: one template line = one line in the final message. You can resume formatting with .FO ON. .CE text Centers the text you specify (just the text you typed on the same line as the .CE command). This can be useful to highlight the syntax of a command. .RE OWNERS Adds a 'Reply-To:' field pointing to the list owners in the header of the generated message. Use this command when you think users are likely to want to reply with a question. You can also use .RE POSTMASTER to direct replies to the LISTSERV administrator, if this is more appropriate. .CC OFF Removes all "cc:" message recipients, if any. You can also add message recipients by specifying a series of e-mail addresses after the .CC statement, as in .CC JOE@XYZ.EDU. PC mail users should note that in this context "cc:" is a RFC822 term that stands for "carbon copy". RFC822 messages may have "cc:" recipients in addition to their "primary" recipients. There is no real technical difference between the two, the "cc:" indicator just denotes a message that is being sent for your information. Some administrative messages sent to list owners are copied to the user for their information, and vice-versa; this behavior can be disabled by adding a .CC OFF statement to the template. .TO Replaces the default recipients of a message with the value specified. For instance, if you use the ADDREQ1 template form to send new subscribers a questionnaire, application form or similar material, you will need to add a '.TO &WHOM' instruction to your modified template form, as by default the user will not receive a copy. .QQ Cancels the message. LISTSERV stops reading the template form and does not send anything. This is useful if you want to completely remove a particular message; note however that this can be confusing with certain commands, as LISTSERV may say "Notification is being sent to the list owners" when in fact nothing will be sent because of the .QQ command in the template form. A number of more advanced commands are available to list owners with more sophisticated needs and some programming experience. If you encounter one of these commands in a template, you will probably want to leave it alone. .IM name Imbeds (inserts) another template form at this point in the message. This is used to avoid duplicating large pieces of text which are mostly identical, such as the template forms for "you have been added to list X by Y" and "your subscription to list X has been accepted". .DD ddname Copies the contents of the specified DD into the message. This is meaningful only if a DD has been set up by LISTSERV for this purpose. As a rule of thumb, you should either leave these statements unchanged or remove them. .BB cond Begin conditional block. The boolean expression following the keyword is evaluated and, if false, all the text between the .BB and .EB delimiters is skipped. Conditional blocks nest to an arbitrary depth. The expression evaluator is recursive but not very sophisticated; the restriction you are most likely to encounter is that all sub-expressions have to be enclosed in parentheses if you are using boolean operators. That is, ".BB &X = 3" is valid but ".BB &X = 3 and &Y = 4" is not. String literals do not require quoting unless they contain blanks, but quotes are accepted if supplied. Comparison operators are = <> ^= IN and NOT IN (the last two look for a word in a blank-separated list of options, such as a keyword value). These operators are not case-sensitive; == and ^== are available when case must be respected. Boolean operators are AND and OR. .SE var text Defines or redefines a substitution variable. This is convenient for storing temporary (text) expression results which need to be used several times. Even standard variables such as &LISTNAME can be redefined - at your own risk. You must enclose the text expression in single quotes if you want leading or trailing blanks. .TY text Types one line of text on the LISTSERV console log. This can be useful to the LISTSERV maintainer for debugging, and also to record information in the console log. 9.4. Creating and editing a <listname>.MAILTPL file for a list ============================================================== Please note that list-level mail templates are not available in LISTSERV Lite. Make a copy of DEFAULT.MAILTPL on your local machine and name it listname.MAILTPL.( Keep the original DEFAULT.MAILTPL around in case you make a mistake and need to start over. At this point, you could theoretically store the listname.MAILTPL back on the LISTSERV host. However, without making any changes that would be somewhat pointless. At the very least you should edit the INFO template form before storing the template. Note also that you need only store the sections of the template that you have changed. For instance, if you edit the INFO template form but leave the rest of the template untouched, you can delete the rest of the template and store the INFO section alone as listname.MAILTPL. The benefit to this approach is that any administrative changes to the rest of the default template are automatically applicable to your list as soon as they are made, rather than requiring that you edit your mail template individually to reflect such changes. L-Soft recommends that this approach be followed as the default. 9.4.1. The INFO template form ----------------------------- The first section of DEFAULT.MAILTPL is called the INFO template form, and it is LISTSERV's response to the command INFO listname. By default, it contains the following: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> INFO Information about the &LISTNAME list There is no information file for the &LISTNAME list. Here is a copy of the list "header", which usually contains a short description of the purpose of the list, although its main purpose is to define various list configuration options, also called "keywords". If you have any question about the &LISTNAME list, write to the list owners at the generic address: .ce &LISTNAME-Request@&MYHOST .dd &LISTHDR ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Figure 9.1. The default contents of the INFO template form of DEFAULT.MAILTPL. Note the replaceable parameters &LISTNAME and &MYHOST. Don't change &MYHOST; LISTSERV replaces it with the correct value for the name of the host site. &LISTNAME automatically inserts the name of the list. It's probably best to use &LISTNAME to refer to the list throughout the document rather than to replace it with something like "MYLIST-L". This ensures that the template form will be consistent with the default and will be simpler to debug should a problem arise. Also, in the event the name of the list changes, it will be unnecessary to edit the template form (although it would have to be renamed to match the new name of the list, of course). Should it be desirable to replace the default INFO template form with information about the list, it is probably best to remove the .dd &LISTHDR line. This line instructs LISTSERV to read in the header of the list and add it to the response in lieu of any other data about the list. Many list owners add descriptive comment lines to their list headers, thus this default. Here is a minimally-edited sample INFO template form for a list called MONKEYS: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> INFO Information about the &LISTNAME list &LISTNAME is an open, unmoderated discussion list featuring monkeys. Things such as how to care for a pet monkey, monkey diseases, monkey lore, endangered species of monkeys, and monkey psychology are likely to be discussed. The list is NOT intended for discussion of Darwinism and/or theories of evolution. If you have any question about the &LISTNAME list, write to the list owners at the generic address: .ce &LISTNAME-Request@&MYHOST ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 9.2. Sample edited INFO template form. 9.4.2. Other useful template forms ---------------------------------- Version 1.8b introduced many new configurable message template forms, and, in particular, two new types of message templates for "linear" and optional messages. Several more template forms were added in version 1.8c. Traditionally, message templates have contained the text of "long" administrative messages, such as messages informing subscribers that they have been removed from a mailing list. These notices were sent unconditionally, as a separate message. The template processor now supports "linear" messages, which are sent as a normal command reply and allow the list owner to modify the replies from selected commands, and "optional" messages, which are only sent if a template for this action has been specifically provided by the list owner. In a linear message, most special instructions are ignored. This is because the contents of the template form are just a few lines out of a larger message that is being prepared by LISTSERV to contain the reply to the user's command(s). For instance, you do not have any control over the "Reply-To:" field of the message, because the message in question is shared with other commands and, in fact, may not be a mail message at all but an interactive message to the user's terminal, a GUI request, etc. Generally speaking, with a linear message you are providing the TEXT of the reply to be shown to the user, but you do not have any control over the methods used for delivering this information. Here is a list of all of the template forms (other than INFO, described above) available in DEFAULT.MAILTPL, in the order in which they appear and with a short description for each. Linear and optional template forms are noted where applicable. - MOVE1: Usually active only for peered lists. This message is sent to the subscriber when the list owner or LISTSERV maintainer changes which peer the subscriber receives his or her mail from. - SIGNOFF1: a notification to the list owner that someone has unsubscribed from the list. Whether or not the list owner receives this notification is controlled by the "Notify=" list header keyword. - SIGNOFF2: this message is sent to any user who attempts to unsubscribe from a list to which he or she is not subscribed under the userid from which the unsubscribe command has been sent. For instance, joe@unix1.somehost.com may be subscribed to list MYLIST-L. If his Pine client is set so that his mail comes from his root domain (e.g., joe@somehost.com), he will get this message if he tries to unsubscribe from MYLIST-L. - DELETE1: the message sent when a list owner or the LISTSERV maintainer deletes a user from a list. You can suppress the sending of this message by prepending "QUIET" to your "DELETE" command. - AUTODEL1: this is the message that is sent to users who are deleted by the delivery error monitor. You can customize it to fit your needs, or suppress it for your list by simply redefining it in the 'listname.MAILTPL' and using the .QQ instruction: >>> AUTODEL1 This message is not wanted for our list .QQ Note that L-Soft does not generally recommend suppressing this message, as it may indicate a serious problem for the deleted subscriber. - ADD1: the message sent when a list owner or a LISTSERV maintainer manually adds a subscriber to a list. - ADD2: the message sent to the list owner(s) when someone subscribes to their list. As with SIGNOFF1, whether or not the list owner(s) receive this message is controlled by the "Notify=" list header keyword. - ADDREQ1: this message is sent to the list owner when a user requests to join a list with "Subscription= By owner". Only the list owner is sent a copy of the ADDREQ1 message. If you use this template form to send new subscribers a questionnaire, application form or similar material, you will need to add a '.TO &WHOM' instruction to your modified template form, as by default the user does not receive a copy. - SETINFO: the message sent to the subscriber when the list owner or LISTSERV maintainer changes their personal subscription options. Can be suppressed by the invoker with the use of the "QUIET" command modifier. - ADDMOD2: the message sent to the subscriber when the list owner or LISTSERV maintainer changes the subscriber's "real name" field in the SIGNUP database. - ADDPW1: the message sent to the user when a LISTSERV maintainer adds a personal password for that user. List owners should not change this template form. - ADDPW2: an informational message sent to the LISTSERV maintainer when a user adds or changes his password, but only if an LSV$PW exit has been enabled to do so. Most installations will never use this template form, but it should not be deleted from DEFAULT.MAILTPL in any case. List owners should not change this template form. - ADDPW3: an information message sent to the LISTSERV maintainer when a user tries to add or change his password, but only if an LSV$PW exit has been enabled to do so. Most installations will never use this template form, but it should not be deleted from DEFAULT.MAILTPL in any case. List owners should not change this template form. - DELPW: the message sent to the user when a LISTSERV maintainer deletes that user's personal password. List owners should not change this template form. - RENEW1: this message is sent to subscribers whose subscriptions are due for renewal (see the Renewal= list header keyword for more information). - RENEW2: this message is sent to subscribers who did not renew their subscriptions within the grace period after being notified that their subscription was due for renewal. - SIGNUP1: the basic "Your subscription request has been accepted" message. - $SIGNUP: a template form included with SIGNUP1 and ADD1 (assuming that SIGNUP1 and ADD1 template forms include an ".im $SIGNUP" line, which by default they do) which gives the subscriber a basic outline of how to use the list, how various options are set, and where to get more information on using LISTSERV. You can use this template form in lieu of a WELCOME file for your list if you don't want two messages to go to the user at subscription time. - SUB_CLOSED (linear): this is the message that is sent to a subscriber attempting to join a list with "Subscription= Closed". The default is "Sorry, the &LISTNAME list is closed. Contact the list owner (&OWNER) for more information." - SUB_OWNER (linear): this message is sent to a subscriber attempting to join a list with "Subscription= By owner". The default is "Your request to join the &LISTNAME list has been forwarded to the list owner for approval. If you have any question about the list, you can reach the list owner at &OWNER." Because this is a linear template form (see above), it is not the best place to put long questionnaires, application forms, terms and conditions, or other material that the subscriber should be required to review prior to joining the list. See the "Tips" section below. - POST_EDITOR (linear): this is the message LISTSERV sends to people attempting to post to the list, if it is moderated. The default is "Your &MESSAGE has been submitted to the moderator of the &LISTNAME list: &MBX(&MODERATOR)." - REQACK1: this message is sent automatically in reply to any message sent to the xxx-request address. The message acknowledges receipt, explains the difference between the LISTSERV and xxx-request addresses, and contains instructions for joining and leaving the list. To suppress this message for your list, simply redefine it in the 'listname.MAILTPL' and use the .QQ instruction: >>> REQACK1 This message is not wanted for our list .QQ - CONFIRM1: The template form sent whenever an "OK" confirmation is required. - WWW_INDEX: this template form is used by sites which have implemented LISTSERV's WWW archive interface. It includes the HTML code for the main archive access screen. You probably should leave this alone unless you know exactly what you are doing. - PROBE1: this template form is sent as part of LISTSERV's new bounce processing feature if this feature is activated for your list. The desired response from the user is to discard the message and do nothing. See chapter 4.6.2 for details on the "Probe" option. - PROBE2: If the mail containing the PROBE1 message bounces, this template form is sent along with a copy of the bouncing mail. See chapter 4.6.2 for details on the "Probe" option. Several template forms for the WWW archive interface follow PROBE1. L-Soft does not recommend that list owners modify these templates. Please contact your LISTSERV maintainer for details. The following are template forms that can be defined, but which are not present in DEFAULT.MAILTPL. - TOP_BANNER, BOTTOM_BANNER (optional): when these template forms are present, their contents are automatically inserted at the top (respectively bottom) of each and every message posted to the list. Typically, the top banner would be used for a copyright or short legal warning which absolutely has to be seen by each and every reader. The bottom banner could contain instructions for signing off the list, a disclaimer, an acknowledgement of a sponsor's contribution, a "tip of the week", etc. WARNING Documented Restriction: The use in banners of substitutions which do not yield a constant result (e.g., &TIME) will defeat the duplicate mail detection part of LISTSERV's loop-checking heuristics in any case where a subscriber is forwarding all mail back to the list. L-Soft advises that such substitutions never be used in a TOP_BANNER or BOTTOM_BANNER. For digests, note that the BOTTOM_BANNER is printed only once, at the top of the digest, directly following the table of contents. This avoids having the banner repeat after every message in the digest. The default behavior can be overridden if preferred by adding the "BOTTOM_BANNER" parameter to the Digest= list header keyword. - POSTACK1 (optional): when present, this message is sent in reply to any message posted to the list. This is very useful for creating "infobots", or just for returning a standard acknowledgement to contributors. The &SUBJECT variable contains the subject of the original message, and naturally the usual substitutions (&LISTNAME, &DATE, &TIME) are available. 9.4.3. Tips for using templates ------------------------------- - Many list owners require prospective subscribers to fill in a little questionnaire before being added to the list, or to explicitly state that they have read the list charter and agree to follow all rules or be removed from the list. The most convenient method, for both list owner and subscriber, is to have the SUBSCRIBE command return a copy of the questionnaire (or list charter, etc), and not forward the request to the owner. The user answers the questions and returns them directly to the list owner, who then adds the subscriber manually. Naturally, it is more convenient for the user if this information arrives in a separate message, with a 'Reply-To:' field pointing to the list owner's address. Thus, you should not use the SUB_OWNER template form for this purpose, because it is a linear template and does not give you any control over the 'Reply-To:' field. The SUB_OWNER template form could be modified to read "A copy of the list charter is being sent to you, please read it carefully and follow the instructions to confirm your acceptance of our terms and conditions." The list charter would then be sent separately, through the ADDREQ1 template form. You would use the .RE OWNERS command to instruct LISTSERV to point the 'Reply-To:' field to the list owners, and .TO &WHOM to change the destination from list owner to subscriber. If you want to receive a copy of the message, you can use .TO &WHOM cc: xxx@yyy. - When writing template forms, it is a good idea to use substitutions (&XXXX) for information which may change in the future. In particular, it is not uncommon for lists to have to be moved from one host to another, and this will be a lot easier if the template forms use substitutions for the list address and list host. The &LISTADDR substitution translates the full address of the list (XYZ-L@XYZ.COM), whereas &LISTNAME is just the name (XYZ-L). For references to the server and host, use &MYHOST for the Internet hostname, &MYSELF for the server address (normally LISTSERV@&MYHOST), and &OWNER for the xxx-request mailbox address. These substitutions are "universal" and can be used in all template forms. For instance, if you decide to make a bottom banner with instructions for leaving the list, the text could read: "To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF &LISTNAME command to &MYSELF or, if you experience difficulties, write to &OWNER." 9.5. Storing the <listname>.MAILTPL file on the host machine ------------------------------------------------------------ The procedure differs slightly on VM systems, but the following will work for unix, VMS and Windows systems: 1. Get a copy of DEFAULT.MAILTPL and edit it. 2. Be sure that you have defined a "personal password" to LISTSERV with the PW ADD command before you PUT the template file. If you have done this but can't remember the password, send a PW RESET command to LISTSERV, then a new PW ADD command. 3. Send the file to LISTSERV with a PUT listname MAILTPL PW=XXXXXXXX command at the top of the file, just as if you were storing the list itself. Replace XXXXXXXX with your personal password. The variation for VM systems is that the LISTSERV maintainer will have to create a fileid for the file before you can PUT it on the server. Contact the LISTSERV maintainer before trying to store your template file. 9.6. Other template files: DIGEST-H and INDEX-H ----------------------------------------------- Two other template files that are available pertain to the automatic digestification feature. You may create and store files called listname DIGEST-H and listname INDEX-H. These files define custom digest headers and custom index headers, respectively. The DIGEST-H and INDEX-H files are plain text files, like the WELCOME and FAREWELL files, and the instructions for storing them on the server are identical. Note that, as with the WELCOME and FAREWELL files, you cannot use the template formatting commands and replaceable parameters discussed above. A typical DIGEST-H or INDEX-H file for a list called MYLIST might contain: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The MYLIST list is sponsored by ABig Corporation. See http://www.abig.com for information on ABig Corporation's products. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 9.3. Typical contents of a DIGEST-H or INDEX-H file. The contents of DIGEST-H and INDEX-H are appended to the digest or index, respectively, immediately following the list of topics. For instance, ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 11:52:41 -0500 From: Automatic digest processor <LISTSERV@MYHOST.COM> Reply-To: My test list <MYLIST@MYHOST.COM> To: Recipients of MYLIST digests <MYLIST@MYHOST.COM> Subject: MYLIST Digest - 10 Jun 1996 to 11 Jun 1996 There is one message totalling 10 lines in this issue. Topics in this issue: 1. Testing 125...3 sir! The MYLIST list is sponsored by ABig Corporation. See http://www.abig.com for information on ABig Corporation's products. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 9.4. Sample DIGEST output for a list with a DIGEST-H file. The INDEX-H output would be similar, following the list of postings. (Note that you can't add a digest or index "footer" because anything after the end of the digest text is supposed to be discarded.) 9.7. Using the DAYSEQ(n) function ================================= A very powerful function introduced in 1.8c is the DAYSEQ(n) function. This function allows the list owner to code template forms (such as the PROBE1 or BOTTOM_BANNER templates) that change or "rotate" automatically. The DAYSEQ(n) function is invoked in a .BB - .EB conditional block, and n corresponds to the number of days in the rotation period, i.e., to the number of variations that you want to make to the text of the message. &DAYSEQ(n) returns a number from 1 to n which increases by 1 every day, with no special regard for weekends. That is, if the rotation period is to last for a week, you code DAYSEQ(7). If the rotation period is 15 days, you code DAYSEQ(15). Two examples follow: 9.7.1. Rotating bottom banner ----------------------------- To create a rotating bottom banner, follow this example. A list has three commercial sponsors, each of whom are provided with an advertisement every three days. (Note that this doesn't take weekends into account; in this example, if company A is featured in the banner on Monday, it will be featured again on Thursday and then again on Sunday. However, in the following week it will be featured on Wednesday, Saturday, and Tuesday, so it will actually get rather good coverage.) Our BOTTOM_BANNER template form would look like this: >>> BOTTOM_BANNER .BB &DAYSEQ(3) = 1 Today's copy of the &LISTNAME newsletter has been brought to you by Company A. .EB .BB &DAYSEQ(3) = 2 Today's copy of the &LISTNAME newsletter has been brought to you by Company B. .EB .BB &DAYSEQ(3) = 3 Today's copy of the &LISTNAME newsletter has been brought to you by Company C. .EB (Naturally you can feel free to be more florid with your prose :) If a company needs to get a higher percentage of "air" time than another, you can simply assign it more than one of the possible n values of &DAYSEQ(n). For instance, if you have two companies but one should get twice as many days of "air" time, you might code something like this: >>> BOTTOM_BANNER .BB (&DAYSEQ(3) = 1) OR (&DAYSEQ(3) = 3) Today's copy of the &LISTNAME newsletter has been brought to you by Company A. .EB .BB &DAYSEQ(3) = 2 Today's copy of the &LISTNAME newsletter has been brought to you by Company B. .EB This would cause Company A's message to appear on days 1 and 3 of the rotation period and Company B's message to appear on day 2 only. 9.7.2. Rotating FAQ via the PROBE1 template and "Renewal= xx-Daily" ------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1.8c, you can now code subscription renewal with daily granularity (however, please note that it is and remains inadvisable to use renewal intervals of less than a week). If you further code subscription probing into the "Renewal=" keyword with the ",Probe" parameter, you open up the possibility of turning the standard PROBE1 template form into a periodic FAQ. Here's how: We'll assume to start that you will code "Renewal= 15-Daily,Probe" in your list header. (You can experiment with other numbers, but since we have two messages and will be using &DAYSEQ(2), we need an odd renewal period.) We'll also assume that you want to send two versions of your FAQ each month; the first, a complete FAQ document, and the second, an abbreviated "reminder" version that just contains information about how to sign off, how to post to the list, and so forth. The basic algorithm is therefore: When &DAYSEQ(2) = 1, send the full FAQ. When &DAYSEQ(2) = 2, as it will 15 days later, send the abbreviated FAQ. Your PROBE1 template form would thus look like this: >>> PROBE1 Periodic FAQ posting for &LISTNAME &WEEKDAY, &DATE &TIME .BB &DAYSEQ(2) = 1 This is the complete FAQ for &LISTNAME. Please read it and keep a copy for future reference. A FAQ document for &LISTNAME is distributed every 15 days, the full FAQ alternating with a shorter "reminder" FAQ. <body of the full FAQ document> .EB .BB &DAYSEQ(2) = 2 This is the abbreviated FAQ for &LISTNAME. Please read it and keep a copy for future reference. A FAQ document for &LISTNAME is distributed every 15 days, the full FAQ alternating with a shorter "reminder" FAQ. <body of the abbreviated FAQ document> .EB ******************************** * 10. Gatewaying to Newsgroups * ******************************** 10.1. Why would I want to? ========================== There are a number of reasons why it might be reasonable to gateway a list. Some users may not be able to reach your LISTSERV host (or vice-versa) via e-mail, but have a good USENET connection. Others may have limited mailbox space and prefer to use a news reader. Still others may have no experience with mailing lists at all before they encounter USENET. In any case, if you are looking for a wider audience for a list, gatewaying it to a newsgroup may be a logical step. 10.2. How to go about it ======================== If you are contemplating gatewaying a list, get the document NETGATE POLICY from LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU. This document was written by Jim McIntosh of American University (jim@american.edu), and outlines the procedures you will need to follow in order to gateway a LISTSERV list to USENET. NETGATE POLICY is also available via anonymous ftp to american.edu (cd netnews). You can also get a package of related files by sending a GET NETGATE PACKAGE command to LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU. 10.3 Special considerations and problems with gatewaying ======================================================== Well-behaved newsgroup gateways will identify themselves as the source of postings. This makes it possible for NetNews postings to come to the list if you have coded your list Send= Private (or "Send= Editor" and "Editor= userid@host,(listname)" -- in any case, any configuration that prevents non-subscribers from posting to the list), since the USENET gateway is subscribed to your list. Misconfigured gateways may not include this information, causing gatewayed mail to bounce. If your list is coded for automatic subscription renewal with the "Renewal=" keyword, the subscription for a news gateway should always be exempted from the subscription renewal process (SET xxxxx@yyyyy NORENEW). This will keep LISTSERV from sending the renewal message through the gateway and confusing users who are not subscribed to your list. Spamming (see Chapter 6.9) was originally created on USENET, and is much more prevalent there than on mailing lists because it is easier to do. If you gateway to NetNews, be forewarned that you will be opening your list up to spamming via that source. If the topic of your list is particularly controversial, you may want to think twice before gatewaying. Flame wars are much more common on USENET than on mailing lists (although this position could be argued from both sides on certain mailing lists). If you are considering gatewaying to an existing newsgroup, take some time to read the postings there before making a final decision. Above all, poll your subscribers about the change before making a final decision. Some may have no objections -- others may have violent objections. Gatewaying a list can be a touchy subject, particularly if some of your subscribers are ex-USENET users. ************************ * 11. Solving Problems * ************************ 11.1. Helping subscribers figure out the answers ================================================ As the saying goes: "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for life." The analogy can and should be extended to all Internet users, not the least of whom are your own subscribers. Depending on your own preferences, some requests from subscribers for operations that they can perform for themselves can be fulfilled by you as the list owner, or by the subscribers with some coaching from you. While it is a negative approach, the list owner can never assume that the subscriber reads or saves the materials sent to him at the time of subscription. Thus you will have to deal on a regular basis with users who ask how to unsubscribe, or how to get archive files, or how to set their subscription to DIGEST or NOMAIL. Often these requests for help are posted directly to the list. The proactive approach to this problem is to do one or both of two things: - Respond to the list with the answer so that all can benefit - Respond privately to the subscriber with the answer if it has been posted repeatedly If a user asks a question about a topic that has been discussed previously, you might suggest in a tactful way that the answer can be found in the archives. If your host server supports the LISTSERV database functions, you might even include a sample DATABASE JOB that the user can "clip and send" to LISTSERV. Often it is tempting to simply "get things over with" and take care of the user's request in many cases -- the user wants to be set to NOMAIL because he's going on vacation, the user wants off the list, etc. -- but while this solves the short-term problem, it doesn't teach the user anything. Naturally it takes more time to be a coach than it does to be the all-powerful list administrator, but the goodwill you can create by being proactive rather than reactive outweighs the convenience of simply sending the command yourself. You will find that many subscribers appreciate the fact that someone takes the time to explain the complexities of LISTSERV to them. In order to cut down on the time it takes to respond in "coaching" situations, many list owners prepare "boilerplate" files with the answers to common questions that they can simply "cut and paste" into return mail. (Several such "boilerplate" files are included in Appendix C.) 11.2. Loop-checking can cause occasional problems with quoted replies ===================================================================== By default, LISTSERV's internal loop-checking routines look for anything in the body of a mail message that looks like a header line -- specifically anything that looks like a "To:", "Sender:", or "Reply-To:" header line. If it finds anything like this, LISTSERV intercepts the message and sends it to the list owner (or the person(s) designated by the "Errors-To=" keyword) as an error. Often a user who replies to list mail includes all or part of the message he is replying to as part of his reply ("quoting"). While this is a questionable practice to begin with, unfortunately a number of popular mail programs make it worse by including the quoted message in its entirety (including header lines) in the body of the reply. For instance, the following message ended up in the author's error mailbox: The enclosed message, found in the ACCESS-L mailbox and shown under the spool ID 6305 in the system log, has been identified as a possible delivery error notice for the following reason: "Sender:", "From:" or "Reply-To:" field pointing to the list has been found in mail body. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ Message in error (42 lines) -------------------------- Received: by access.mbnet.mb.ca id AA05697 (5.67b/IDA-1.4.4 for Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@peach.ease.lsoft.com>); Wed, 1 Mar 1995 10:26:29 -0600 Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 10:26:29 -0600 From: xxxxxx xxxxxxxxx <xxx@MBNET.MB.CA> Message-Id: <199503011626.AA05697@access.mbnet.mb.ca> To: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List Message-Id: <199503011626.AA05697@access.mbnet.mb.ca> To: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM> Subject: Re: Re: Foxpro listserv address X-Mailer: AIR Mail 3.X (SPRY, Inc.) <---- Begin Included Message ----> Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 01:17:36 -0500 From: xxxxxxx@xxx.com Sender: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@peach.ease.lsoft.com> Subject: Re: Foxpro listserv address To: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@peach.ease.lsoft.com> >BTW, I don't know why she is still on Foxpro, I thought they went out >into the desert?? <---- End Included Message ----> (subscriber's reply deleted) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 11.1. Sample error message with included headers. The problem with this reply was two-fold, from a list owner's standpoint. First (a netiquette issue), the sender didn't bother to remove unnecessary header lines from his reply. If properly formatted, however, this would not normally cause an error. Second, the mail software he was using didn't include ">" characters at the beginning of every line of the included message. Had it done so, the message would have passed through LISTSERV unhindered. One variation on this error is mail software that quotes messages by adding the ">" character followed by a space for esthetic reasons. For instance, using the above error as an example: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 01:17:36 -0500 > From: xxxxxxx@xxx.com > Sender: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@peach.ease.lsoft.com> > Subject: Re: Foxpro listserv address > To: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@peach.ease.lsoft.com> > BTW, I don't know why she is still on Foxpro, I thought they went out > into the desert?? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 11.2. A slightly different sample error message with included headers. This won't work either. Generally this is a client configuration problem and it can be fixed by setting the quoting character in the client's configuration file. On the other hand, the following quote would have worked: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 01:17:36 -0500 >From: xxxxxxx@xxx.com >Sender: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@peach.ease.lsoft.com> >Subject: Re: Foxpro listserv address >To: Microsoft Access Database Discussion List <ACCESS-L@peach.ease.lsoft.com> >BTW, I don't know why she is still on Foxpro, I thought they went out >into the desert?? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 11.3. A correctly-formatted message with included headers. The ultimate solution to the problem is to warn subscribers to limit their quoting to a minimum, and in any case to be sure to delete anything that looks like a header line in the body of their reply. 11.3. User can't unsubscribe and/or change personal options =========================================================== See Chapter 4, section 4.2 where this is discussed in detail. 11.4. Firewalls =============== Firewalls on the Internet are set up for essentially the same reason firewalls are designed into buildings and automobiles -- to keep dangerous things (in this case, hackers, viruses, and similar undesirable intruders) from getting in and wreaking havoc with sensitive data. Unfortunately, they don't always keep people from behind them from sending mail out, and this can cause problems when users from such sites attempt to subscribe to lists. If your list is set to confirm all subscriptions with the "magic cookie" method ("Subscription= Open,Confirm"), you will receive an error message any time a user from a firewalled site attempts to subscribe, since the "cookie" confirmation message will bounce off the firewall. If your list is not set to confirm subscriptions, the same user will be able to subscribe to your list but all mail sent to him will bounce. Some firewalls reportedly can recognize "friendly" LISTSERV mail and let it through, but because of security considerations, it is unlikely that this problem will ever completely go away. Thankfully it does not seem to be a major cause of mailing list errors. 11.5. What to do if LISTSERV won't store your list ================================================== LISTSERV expects list files to be delivered to it without any formatting characters (excluding, of course, the carriage return-line feed at the end of each line). This can cause a problem if you try to store the entire list (header and subscribers) using a mail client that inserts line-wrap characters into text longer than 80 columns. Specifically, one client that does this is Pine. There are a couple of ways to get around this problem. 1. Don't get the entire list if all you're going to do is edit the header. Use the GET listname (HEADER syntax to get the header only, and use ADD and DELETE commands to manipulate the subscriber list. This is the preferred method. 2. If you have to get the entire list, e.g., in order to delete a subscriber manually, use a client that does not wrap text (or turn off line wrap if possible). If you are on a unix system that has mailx installed, you can store a list from the command line with the command syntax mailx listserv@host < listfile Note that L-Soft does not recommend hand-editing the subscriber list; it is preferable to use wildcards to delete problem addresses, and using an editor to do this should always be the last resort. 3. If all else fails, you can use a public-domain utility called LB64 to convert the list file into a base-64 command JOB that LISTSERV will understand. This utility is generally available from the VM LISTSERV sites; send a GET LB64 C command to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET if you can't find it anywhere else. Note that this is an unsupported utility. You will need to compile it with a C compiler (not supplied). The utility is primarily for users on unix systems, although with two minor modifications it can also be used on 32-bit Windows systems. 11.6. If I can't find the answer, where do I turn? ================================================== Two LISTSERV lists exist for list owner and LISTSERV maintainer questions. LSTSRV-L is the LISTSERV give-and-take forum. Its primary mission is to provide assistance to LISTSERV maintainers, but it can also be of interest to list owners who desire a more in-depth knowledge of the workings of the system. To subscribe to LSTSRV-L, send your subscription request to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET. LSTOWN-L is the LISTSERV list owners' discussion list, where list owners can get assistance on list maintenance and other aspects of list ownership. To subscribe to LSTOWN-L, send your subscription request to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET. ********************************************************************* * Appendix A: System Reference Library for LISTSERV(R) version 1.8c * ********************************************************************* This document is available separately. It can be retrieved in plain text from any server running L-Soft's LISTSERV( with the command INFO REFCARD. Commands are listed in alphabetical order, with the minimum acceptable abbreviation in capital letters. Angle brackets are used to indicate optional parameters. All commands which return a file accept an optional 'F=fformat' keyword (without the quotes) that lets you select the format in which you want the file sent; the default format is normally appropriate in all cases. Some esoteric, historical or seldom-used commands and options have been omitted. List subscription commands (from most to least important) --------------------------------------------------------- SUBscribe listname <full_name> Subscribe to a list, or change your name if already subscribed listname ANONYMOUS Subscribe to a list anonymously SIGNOFF Remove yourself: listname - From the specified list * - From all lists on that server * (NETWIDE - From all lists in the network SET listname options Alter your subscription options: ACK/NOACK/MSGack -> Acknowledgements for postings CONCEAL/NOCONCEAL -> Hide yourself from REVIEW Files/NOFiles -> Toggle receipt of non-mail files from the list Mail/NOMail -> Toggle receipt of mail MIME/NOMIME -> Toggle MIME functions on/off. (currently only digests are MIME-enabled) DIGests/NODIGests -> Toggle digest mode on/off. INDex/NOINDex -> Toggle index mode on/off. REPro/NOREPro -> Copy of your own postings? TOPICS: ALL -> Select topics you are <+/->topicname subscribed to (add/remove one or replace entire list) Note: The Mail/NOMail toggle now determines whether or not LISTSERV sends mail to the subscriber, be it in the form of individual postings, digests, or indexes. The DIGest and INDex toggles determine whether or not the mail comes in the form of digests or indexes. When the users sends SET listname NODIGest or SET listname NOINDex, LISTSERV reverts the user to individual postings (formerly the behavior associated with SET listname Mail). If the user sends the NOMail command while set to DIGest or INDex, subsequently sending the Mail command will revert the user to DIGest or INDex, depending on which was originally set. Options for mail headers of incoming postings (choose one): FULLhdr or FULL822 -> "Full" mail headers IETFhdr -> Internet-style headers SHORThdr or SHORT822 -> Short (default) headers DUALhdr -> Dual headers, useful with PC or Mac mail programs SUBJecthdr -> "Full" mail headers (like the default) except that LISTSERV adds the list's default subject tag to the subject line of mail coming from the list. To turn this off, simply set another mail header option. Note: do not use FULL822 or SHORT822 unless debugging specific problems or unless directed by L-Soft. Use of these options can seriously slow performance as they force LISTSERV to generate a separate "envelope" for each user so set. FULL822 and SHORT822 are obsolete but remain available for compatibility with certain older BITNET mailers still in use. Further note regarding the SUBJecthdr option: note that if you have SHORT headers (or any other header option except FULL) set, setting your option to SUBJecthdr will automatically change you to FULLHdr, as subject tags require full headers. Also, subject tags are not generated for messages sent without an RFC822 "Subject:" header. CONFIRM listname1 <listname2 <...>> Confirm your subscription (when LISTSERV requests it) Other list-related commands --------------------------- INDex listname Sends a directory of available archive files for the list, if postings are archived Lists <option> Send a list of lists as follow: (no option) -> Local lists only, one line per list Detailed -> Local lists, full information returned in a file Global xyz -> Only those whose name or title contains 'xyz' SUMmary <host> -> Membership summary for all lists on specified host SUMmary ALL -> For all hosts (long output, send request via mail!) SUMmary TOTAL -> Just the total for all hosts ("Lists Global", which returns the entire list of lists, may no longer be issued by general users. Please use the "Lists Global xyz" format to search the list of lists, or use L-Soft's CataList(sm) service at http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html.) Query listname Query your subscription options for a particular list (use the SET command to change them) * -> Query all lists you are subscribed to on that server REGister full_name Tell your name to LISTSERV, so that you don't have to specify it on subsequent SUBSCRIBE's OFF Make LISTSERV forget your name REView listname <(options> Get information about a list BY sort_field -> Sort list in a certain order: Country by country of origin Name by name (last, then first) NODEid by hostname/nodeid Userid by userid BY (field1 field2) -> You can specify more than one sort field if enclosed in parentheses: BY (NODE NAME) Countries -> Synonym of BY COUNTRY LOCal -> Don't forward request to peers NOHeader -> Don't send list header Short -> Don't list subscribers Msg -> Send reply via interactive messages (BITNET users only) SCAN listname text Scan a list's membership for a name or address STats listname <(options> Get statistics about a list LOCal -> Don't forward to peers Informational commands ---------------------- Help Obtain a list of commands Info <topic> Order a LISTSERV manual, or get <listname> a list of available ones (if no topic was specified); or get information about a list Query File fn ft <filelist> <(options> Get date/time of last update of a file, and GET/PUT file access code FLags -> Get additional technical data (useful when reporting problems to experts) RELEASE Find out who maintains the server and the version of the software and network data files SHOW <function> Display information as follows: ALIAS node1 <node2 <...>> -> BITNET nodeid to Internet hostname mapping BITEARN (VM only) -> Statistics about the BITEARN NODES file DISTribute -> Statistics about DISTRIBUTE DPATHs host1 <host2 <...>> -> DISTRIBUTE path from that server to specified host(s) DPATHs * -> Full DISTRIBUTE path tree FIXes (VM only) -> List of fixes installed on the server (non-VM see LICENSE) HARDWare or HW -> Hardware information LICense -> License/capacity information and software build date LINKs node1 <node2 <...>> -> Network links at the BITNET node(s) in question NADs node1 <node2 <...>> -> Addresses LISTSERV recognizes as node administrators NETwork (VM only) -> Statistics about the NJE network NODEntry node1 <node2 <...>> -> BITEARN NODES entry for the specified node(s) NODEntry node1 /abc*/xyz -> Just the ':xyz.' tag and all tags whose name starts with 'abc' PATHs snode node1 <node2 <...>> -> BITNET path between 'snode' and the specified node(s) POINTs <ALL | list1 list2...> -> Graduated license point information for planning STATs -> Usage statistics (default option) VERSion -> Same as RELEASE command (no function) -> Same as SHOW STATS Commands related to file server functions ----------------------------------------- AFD Automatic File Distribution ADD fn ft <filelist <prolog>> Add file or generic entry to your AFD list DELete fn ft <filelist> Delete file(s) from your AFD list (wildcards are supported) List Displays your AFD list For node administrators: FOR user ADD/DEL/LIST etc Perform requested function on behalf of a user you have control over (wildcards are supported for DEL and LIST) FUI File Update Information: same syntax as AFD, except that FUI ADD accepts no 'prolog text' GET fn ft <filelist> <(options> Order the specified file or package PROLOGtext xxxx -> Specify a 'prolog text' to be inserted on top of the file GIVE fn ft <filelist> <TO> user Sends a file to someone else INDex <filelist> Same as GET xxxx FILELIST (default is LISTSERV FILELIST) PW function Define/change a "personal password" for protecting AFD/FUI subcriptions, authenticating PUT commands, and so on ADD firstpw -> Define a password for the first time CHange newpw <PW=oldpw> -> Change password RESET -> Reset (delete) password SENDme Same as GET Other (advanced) commands ------------------------- DATAbase function Access LISTSERV database: Search DD=ddname <ECHO=NO> -> Perform database search (see INFO DATABASE for more information on this) List -> Get a list of databases available from that server REFRESH dbname -> Refresh database index, if suitably privileged DBase Same as DATABASE DISTribute <type> <source> <dest> <options> Distribute a file or a mail message to a list of users (see INFO DIST for more details on the syntax) Type: MAIL -> Data is a mail message, and recipients are defined by '<dest>' FILE -> Data is not mail, recipients are defined by '<dest>' RFC822 -> Data is mail and recipients are defined by the RFC822 'To:'/'cc:' fields Source: DD=ddname -> Name of DDname holding the data to distribute (default: 'DD=DATA') Dest: <TO> user1 <user2 <...>> -> List of recipients <TO> DD=ddname -> One recipient per line Options for the general user: ACK=NOne/MAIL/MSG -> Acknowledgement level (default: ACK=NONE) CANON=YES -> 'TO' list in 'canonical' form (uid1 host1 uid2 host2...) DEBUG=YES -> Do not actually perform the distribution; returns debug path information INFORM=MAIL -> Send file delivery message to recipients via mail TRACE=YES -> Same as DEBUG=YES, but file is actually distributed Options requiring privileges: FROM=user -> File originator FROM=DD=ddname -> One line: 'address name' FOR user command Execute a command on behalf of another user (for node administrators) GETPost listname post_number <post_number...> (New for 1.8c) GETPost is used after receiving the output of a SEARch command to retrieve the postings you want from the SEARch output. For instance, if you want postings numbered 1730, 1731, 1732, and 1840 from the MYLIST list, send the command GETPost MYLIST 1730-1732 1840 GETPost is analogous to the VM database command PRINT. Search (New for 1.8c) For lists running on VM servers, see also below at DATABASE. The Search command syntax is similar to that of the SEARCH/SELECT commands in the "old" database functions. A very basic Search command for list MYLIST would look like this: Search search_string IN MYLIST You can also restrict your search by date, sender, or other criteria, e.g., Search search_string IN MYLIST SINCE 96/01/01 Search search_string IN MYLIST WHERE SENDER CONTAINS ERIC etc. See the General User's Manual for LISTSERV for more information on the specific syntax. Note that the new Search command does not require a CJLI job framework to operate; simply send the Search command in the body of an email message to the appropriate server. LISTSERV will respond with an index of the postings matching your criteria and instructions on how to use the GETPost command to retrieve the posts you want. SERVE user Restore service to a disabled user THANKs Check the server is alive UDD Access the User Directory Database (there are 18 functions and many sub-functions, so the syntax is not given here) File management commands (for file owners only) ----------------------------------------------- AFD/FUI Automatic File Distribution GET fn ft <filelist> Get a list of people subscribed to a file you own GET fn FILELIST <(options> Special options for filelists: CTL -> Return filelist in a format suitable for editing and storing back NOLock -> Don't lock filelist (use in conjunction with CTL) PUT fn ft <filelist <NODIST>> Update a file you own <CKDATE=NO> -> Accept request even if current version of the file is more recent than the version you sent <DATE=yymmddhhmmss> -> Set file date/time <PW=password> -> Supply your password for command authentication <RECFM=F <LRECL=nnn>> -> Select fixed-format file (not to be used for text files) <REPLY-TO=user> -> Send reply to another user <REPLY-TO=NONE> -> Don't send any reply <REPLY-VIA=MSG> -> Request reply via interactive messages, not mail <"parameters"> -> Special parameters passed to FAVE routine, if any Standard parameters supported for all files: TITLE=file title -> Change file "title" in filelist entry REFRESH filelist <(options> Refresh a filelist you own NOFLAG -> Don't flag files which have changed since last time as updated (for AFD/FUI) UNLOCK fn FILELIST Unlock filelist after a GET with the CTL option if you decide not to update it after all List management functions ------------------------- Commands that support the QUIET keyword are marked (*) ADD(*) listname user <full_name> Add a user to one of your lists, or update his name listname DD=ddname -> Add multiple users, one address/name pair per line ADDHere(*) Same as ADD, but never forwards the request to a possibly closer peer DELete(*) listname user <(options> Remove a user from one of your lists, or from all local lists if listname is '*' GLobal -> Forward request to all peers LOCal -> Don't try to forward request to closest peer if not found locally TEST -> Do not actually perform any deletion (useful to test wildcard patterns) EXPLODE listname <(options> Examine list and suggest better placement of recipients, returning a ready-to-submit MOVE job BESTpeers n -> Suggest the N best possible peers to add Detailed -> More detailed analysis FOR node -> Perform analysis as though local node were 'nodeid' PREFer node -> Preferred peer in case of tie (equidistant peers) SERVice -> Check service areas are respected With(node1 <node2 <...>>>) -> Perform analysis as though specified nodes ran a peer WITHOut(node1 <node2 <...>>>) -> Opposite effect FREE listname <(options> Release a held list GLobal -> Forward request to all peers GET listname <(options> Get a copy of a list in a form suitable for editing and storing list and lock it GLobal -> Forward request to all peers HEADer -> Send just the header; on the way back, only the header will be updated NOLock -> Do not lock the list OLD -> Recover the "old" copy of the list (before the last PUT) HOLD listname <(options> Hold a list, preventing new postings from being processed until a FREE command is sent GLobal -> Forward request to all peers MOVE(*) listname user <TO> node Move a subscriber to another peer listname DD=ddname -> Move several subscribers to various peers PUT listname LIST Update a list from the file returned by a GET command Query listname <WITH options> FOR user Query the subscription options of another user (wildcards are supported) * <WITH options> FOR user Searches all the lists you own SET(*) listname options <FOR user> Alter the subscription options * of another user or set of users (when using wildcards) Additional options for list owners: NORENEW/RENEW -> Waive subscription confirmation for this user NOPOST/POST -> Prevent user from posting to list EDITor/NOEDITor -> User may post without going through moderator REView/NOREView -> Postings from user go to list owner or moderator even if user is allowed to post STats listname (RESET Resets statistics for the list UNLOCK listname Unlock a list after a GET, if you decide not to update it after all Syntax of parameters filelist - = 1 to 8 characters from the following set: A-Z 0-9 $#@+-_: fformat - = Netdata, Card, Disk, Punch, LPunch, UUencode, XXencode, VMSdump, MIME/text, MIME/Appl, Mail fn = (filename) same syntax as 'filelist' ft - = (VM "filetype" or VMS/unix/DOS "extension") same syntax as 'filelist' full_name = firstname <middle_initial> surname (*not* your e-mail address); sometimes referred to as "your real name" host- = Internet hostname listname = name of an existing list node = BITNET nodeid or Internet hostname of a BITNET machine which has taken care of supplying a ':internet.' tag in its BITEARN NODES entry pw - = 1 to 8 characters from the set: A-Z 0-9 $#@_-?!|% user = Any valid RFC822 network address not longer than 80 characters; if omitted, the 'hostname' part defaults to that of the command originator ******************************************************************* * Appendix B: List Keyword Alphabetical Reference for LISTSERV(R) * * version 1.8c * ******************************************************************* This document is available separately as reference number 9708-UD-01. It can be retrieved in plain text from any server running L-Soft's LISTSERV(R) with the command INFO KEYwords. ******************* * The List Header * ******************* The list header contains configuration information for the list. To edit it, use the GET listname (HEADER command, edit the header, and send it back to LISTSERV with the PUT listname PW=XXXXXXXX command. For more details on this procedure, consult the List Owner's Manual for LISTSERV, version 1.8c (L-Soft document reference number 9612-UD-02). Each line of the header must begin with an asterisk ("*"). The first line of the header must contain the list title, which must fit on a single line and not exceed 40-50 characters. Succeeding lines hold list control keywords and their values. Any words in the list header followed by the "=" character are assumed to be keywords. Following the list of keywords, you may add a few lines containing a brief description of the purpose of the list. These lines must also begin with an asterisk ("*"). This document is a description of the list control keywords that appear in the header of each list. Whenever default values are supplied for the keywords, they are listed first in the description. Words in italics are "generic parameters" which define a set of possible values for a keyword operand, as described below: ********************** * Generic parameters * ********************** Generic parameters <net-address> Describes an Internet address, such as JACK@XYZ.COM. <access-level> Controls which category of users has access to the information or service to which this parameter applies. <access-level> can be either: Public Everybody has access to the information. Postmaster Only the postmaster (i.e. LISTSERV operations staff) has access to the information. A1,A2,... with Ai being either: Private Only users subscribed to the list have access to the information. (<listname>) Only the subscribers of the named list have access to the information. Owner Only the list owner can access the information. Owner(<list>) Only the owner of the named list can access the information. Service Only people in the service area of the list can see the information. Service(<list>) Only subscribers of the named list's service area can see the information. <destination> Indicates the destination of a piece of mail, message or reply. List The reply message is sent to the list. Sender The reply message is sent to the sender of the original piece of mail. Both The reply message is sent both to the list and to the original sender. None No reply message is sent at all. "address" The reply message is sent to the specified network address if enclosed in double quotes <interval> Is a time interval that indicates how frequently an operation is to be renewed. Note that depending on the operation being performed, some of the options may not be available. For example, "Notebook= Yes,A,Daily" is not available. Yearly } Monthly } Weekly } Self-explanatory Daily } Hourly } Single The operation is to be done only a single time. <peer> Is the node-id or network address of a peer list. If the name of the peer list is the same as the name of the local list (which will usually be the case), only the node name needs be given. If the list names are different, the full list network address must be given, e.g. "REXX-L@UIUCVMD". <area> Is a means whereby a node or list of nodes can be identified. An area can be either: * The name of a network, e.g. EARN, BITNET * The name of a country, e.g. Germany, Canada * 'Local', in which case it is equated to the value of the "Local=" keyword (q.q.v.). * A node name, e.g. SEARN * A simple wildcard nodename pattern such as FR*, *11, *ESA*, D*ESA*, etc. <mon-address> Is a means whereby 'list monitors' can be identified (the term 'list monitor' refers to a human person who monitors the activity of a list). A 'mon-address' can be: * A single network address, e.g. INFO@TCSVM * 'Postmaster', which indicates the "main" postmaster * 'Postmasters', which indicates ALL the postmasters, main and alternate * 'Owner', which indicates the "main" list owner (the first to be listed in the "Owner=" keyword) * 'Owners', which indicates ALL list owners Some keywords can take more than one parameter. Where multiple parameters are accepted, they will be separated by a logical OR sign (|). Unless specified otherwise, commas have "higher priority" than OR signs, that is to say, "Public|Private, Open|Closed" means "(Public|Private), (Open|Closed)", not "Public|(Private,Open)|Closed". Keywords fit into several different classifications. These classifications, and the associated keywords, are as follows: Access Control Keywords ======================= Files= Determines whether non-mail files may be distributed by the list Filter= Gives list owners control over problem users and/or gateways Review= Restricts who may review the list of subscribers Send= Restricts who may send postings to the list Stats= Determines whether or not list statistics are available, and to whom Distribution Keywords ===================== Ack= Controls the level of acknowledgement messages to those posting messages Daily-Threshold= Limits the total number of messages that will be processed by the list per day before the list is held Digest= Controls the automatic digestification option Internet-Via= Determines through which gateway Internet mail will be sent Mail-Via= Determines how LISTSERV distributes list mail Newsgroups= Defines USENET newsgroups linked to the list NJE-Via= Determines through which gateway NJE mail will be sent Prime= Controls whether or not mail will be processed during "prime time" Reply-To= Sets a default for the "Reply-To:" field in the header of list mail Sender= Defines the value LISTSERV places in the "Sender:" header field of list mail Sub-Lists= Defines sub-lists of a "container" or "super-" list Topics= Defines up to 11 sub-topics for a list Error Handling Keywords ======================= Auto-Delete= Sets parameters for the auto-deletion feature Errors-to= Determines the network address to whom mail delivery errors are directed Loopcheck= Defines the type of mailing loop checking performed by LISTSERV Safe= Determines which built-in address filter is used by LISTSERV List Maintenance and Moderation Keywords ======================================== Editor= Defines an editor or editors for moderated lists Editor-Header= Controls if an explanatory mail header is added to list messages forwarded to the list editor (if one is defined) List-Address= Determines how the list address is announced in message headers List-ID= Defines a long <listname> alias for the list Moderator= Defines the editors on moderated lists who will receive postings for approval. New-List= Sets forwarding when a list is moved to a different LISTSERV host Notebook= Controls the notebook archive for a list Notebook-Header= Determines the type of header information included in the notebook archive Notify= Defines whether or not (or to whom) subscription notification is sent Owner= Defines the owner (or owners) of the list Peers= Defines peers for the list Renewal= Controls whether or not subscription renewal is implemented, and how Sizelim= Controls the maximum size of any single message posted to the list Subject-Tag= Controls the "subject tag" text field for messages coming from the list X-Tags= Controls whether "X-to:" and "X-cc:" tags are included in list mail headers Security Keywords ================= Confidential= Determines whether or not an entry for the list appears in the List of Lists Exit= Defines a list "exit" which modifies the default behavior of LISTSERV Local= Defines which nodes are considered "local" for this list PW= Sets a password used for validation of list maintenance commands Service= Defines an area or areas outside which subscription requests are not accepted Validate= Determines whether or not list commands must be validated with a password or the "OK" mechanism Subscription Keywords ===================== Confirm-Delay= Defines a default number of hours LISTSERV holds jobs requiring confirmation Default-Options= Defines what options should be set by default for new subscribers Default-Topics= Defines what topics should be set by default for new subscribers Subscription= Defines how new subscriptions are handled, and if confirmation is required Other Keywords ============== Categories= Defines search categories for the CataList service Indent= Defines the minimum number of columns allowed for list addresses in a REVIEW Language= Defines the language in which information mail and messages are sent Limits= Defines certain limits (no. of subscribers, etc.) for a list (ISP scope option only) Long-Lines= Controls whether long-lines support is enabled Translate= Controls how LISTSERV handles control characters in list mail ************************************** * Keywords Disabled in LISTSERV Lite * ************************************** LISTSERV Lite is LISTSERV running with a special license activation key (LAK) which is both free and perpetual, but is limited in its scope. With LISTSERV Lite, you can run up to 10 mailing lists as long as you do not derive a profit from this activity. Note also that LISTSERV Lite does not have all of the functionality of a full version--a list of the keywords and functions disabled in LISTSERV Lite follows this paragraph. For more information on the exact terms and conditions under which you may run LISTSERV Lite, please see L-Soft's World Wide Web site or contact L-Soft's sales department. LISTSERV Classic Keywords disabled in LISTSERV Lite =================================================== Confirm-Delay Default-Topics Editor-Header Exit Files Indent Internet-Via Language List-Address List-ID Local Long-Lines Loopcheck Mail-Via Moderator New-List Newsgroups NJE-Via Peers Prime Renewal Sender Service Sizelim Stats Sub-Lists Topics X-Tags Note: the fact that the keyword is disabled only means that the default value cannot be changed. For instance, loop checking is still present, you just cannot control the details of its operation. On the other hand, if the default value is that the function in question is disabled (as is the case with "Peers="), then the function is actually gone. See the entry for the keyword in question for more information on keyword defaults. For a full discussion of the differences between LISTSERV Classic and LISTSERV Lite, please see the Site Manager's Operations Manual or the LISTSERV Lite web page. *************************** * Access Control Keywords * *************************** ****************** * Files=Yes | No * ****************** (NJE only; obsolete in other versions) Indicates whether NJE files can be sent to the list or not. The default value is "No". "Files= No" may prevent some non-RFC822 mailer users from posting to lists. ***************************************************************** * Filter= Only | Also | Safe,<net-address1>,<net-address2>,.... * ***************************************************************** "Filter=" is checked when a user attempts to post or subscribe to a list (but not when the list owner issues an ADD command). The first word of this keyword is either "Only", "Also" or "Safe", and it is followed by a list of patterns such as 'X400MAIL@*' or '*@*.XYZ.EDU' (without the quotes). If "Also" is specified, your filter is used in addition to the standard LISTSERV filter; this is useful to register additional looping mailers, to prevent users behind broken gateways from subscribing until the problem is addressed, or to ban anonymous posters. LISTSERV has two built-in filters: a "minimal" one, which is used for safe lists, and a "safe" one which is used for lists running with "Safe= No". That is, the unsafe lists need a safe filter to avoid mailing loops; safe lists only need the minimal filter, but can be made even safer by selecting "Filter= Safe". This, however, prevents usernames such as 'root' from posting to the list, because they are included in the safe filter. If "Filter= Only" is used, the addresses you specify are the only ones which LISTSERV prevents from posting to the list. CAUTION: You should not use this option unless you also code "Safe= Yes", and even then you will want to ask your LISTSERV maintainer for permission. This option has been added mostly for LISTSERV maintainers with very specific problems to solve. The minimal filter is very small and you should never need to override it. Messages sent to the LISTSERV userid for execution are always checked with the minimal filter, as people with userids such as 'root' would otherwise not be allowed to subscribe to lists which were set up to allow them. Note that LISTSERV extracts as many e-mail addresses as it can from the userid being checked and runs them all through the filter. For instance if your list receives mail from 'searn.sunet.se!mailer@xyz.edu', LISTSERV will check 'searn.sunet.se!mailer@xyz.edu', 'mailer@searn.sunet.se' and 'mailer@searn' (via the 'internet.' tag). ************************** * Review= <access-level> * ************************** This keyword defines the categories of users who are allowed to review the Internet addresses and names of the persons subscribed to a list. Beginning with version 1.8c, the default value is "Review= Private". ********************************************************* * Send= access-level [,Semi-Moderated][,Hold][,Confirm] * ********************************************************* Defines the categories of users who can mail or send files to the list. Possibly puts the list under control of an editor. The default value is "Public". Other access-levels for use with Send= would include "Private", "Editor", "Owner", etc. (see the beginning of this document for the definition of an access-level). A literal Internet e-mail address may also be used in place of the access-level, e.g., Send=joe@foo.bar.com. Using a literal address is one way to ensure that only an authorized person can post to the list, for instance, if the list is an "announce-only" list rather than a discussion list. When the list is controlled by an editor (Send= Editor), any file or piece of mail sent to the list is forwarded to the editor, who is the only person (with the list owner) to be able to actually mail or send files to the list. The network address of the editor is defined by the "Editor=" keyword (see below under "List Maintenance and Moderation"). When the "Semi-Moderated" option is enabled (Send= Editor,Semi-Moderated), mail sent to the list will be treated in one of two different ways, depending on the contents of its "Subject:" field. If the subject starts with "Urgent:" (case-independent), the list is treated as a non-moderated one, which means that the message will be immediately distributed provided that the sender matches the access-level description. If the subject does not start with "Urgent:", the message is forwarded to the primary list editor (unless it came from someone defined as an editor). A "Subject:" field beginning with "Re: Urgent:" is treated identically, so that replies to urgent messages are by default considered urgent. Note that * Send= Public,Semi-Moderated is a contradiction. If Send= Public, no Editor is involved and anyone can post to the list, so Semi-Moderated is ignored. An example: * Send= Private,Semi-Moderated * Editor=NATHAN@LSOFT.COM ERIC@LSOFT.COM In this example, a message sent to the list would be: - Discarded, if the sender was not subscribed to the list, regardless of the subject - Processed, if the sender was subscribed and used the "Urgent:" subject - Forwarded to the moderator if the sender was subscribed but didn't use the "Urgent:" subject. Another example: * Send= Editor,Semi-Moderated * Editor=NATHAN@LSOFT.COM ERIC@LSOFT.COM In this example, a message sent to the list would be: - Processed, if the sender used the "Urgent:" subject - Forwarded to the moderator if the sender didn't use the "Urgent:" subject. Note that in the above example, messages don't get discarded if the sender isn't subscribed. When the "Hold" option is enabled (Send= Editor,Hold), the moderator(s) may approve postings using the "OK" mechanism rather than forwarding the posts back to the list. "Hold" is valid only with "Editor". When the "Confirm" option is enabled (e.g., Send=Editor,Confirm), all mail sent to the list, including mail sent by any editor/moderator, requires confirmation by the primary editor or a moderator (if "Moderator=" is defined). This is to prevent a user from forging mail to the list under an editor's or moderator's return address. The confirmation request is validated with the "OK" mechanism. It is also possible to set a list to * Send= Editor,Hold,Confirm This allows you to "OK" both subscriber submissions and editor/moderator approvals, as described above. Note that you may only specify one access-level in the "Send=" keyword. If you need to diversify the group of people who may send mail to the list, you should use "Send= Editor" (at minimum) and define the authorized sender(s) in one or more "Editor=" keywords. ************************************************* * Stats= Normal | None,<access-level> [VM only] * ************************************************* Indicates whether or not statistics are to be maintained for the list and if yes, which level of statistics is desired and who is able to retrieve the statistics reports. The default value is "Normal,Private". Normal statistics include number of mailings for each user on the list, and similar information for file distribution. ************************* * Distribution Keywords * ************************* ****************************** * Ack= Yes | Msg | No | None * ****************************** Defines the default value of the "ACK/NOACK" distribution option for the corresponding list, i.e. the value assigned to new users when they subscribe to the list. This value can be altered by subscribers ("SET" command), but not by users who are not signed on to the list. This means that this option will always be in effect when distributing mail from people who are not on the distribution list. The default is "Ack= No". Yes A short acknowledgment with statistical information on the mailing will be sent back to you. Msg Messages will be sent when your mail file is being processed. Statistical information will be sent via messages, but no acknowledgment mail will be sent. [BITNET only] No For Internet users, no acknowledgement will be sent. For BITNET users, a single interactive message will be sent as the message is processed. This is the default value. None No messages of any kind are sent when your mail file is processed. [same as No for non-BITNET] ******************************** * Daily-Threshold= nnn1[,nnn2] * ******************************** This keyword limits the number of postings that may be processed by the list in a calendar day (midnight to midnight, server time), and, with the addition of a (new) optional second parameter, limits the number of postings that may be accepted from any individual user per calendar day. The default is Daily-Threshold= 50. When the value of the first parameter is reached, the list is automatically placed on hold, and the list owner or LISTSERV maintainer must issue the FREE listname command. Note that it may or may not be advisable to increase this parameter for higher-volume lists -- individual list owners should study the issue carefully before increasing the daily threshold of their high-volume lists. When the value of the optional second parameter is reached by an individual user, the user is told that their posting will not be processed and that they should resend it later if they still want it to be posted. The list itself is not held in this situation. The default is to have no such limit, in which case the second parameter is not defined. Note that list owners and list editors are exempt from the individual daily limit. There is no command to reset the limit for an individual user, although the list owner may update the header to increase the value. ******************************************************************************* * Digest= No * * Yes,where | Same[,frequency][,when][,Size(maxsize)][,BOTTOM_BANNER] * ******************************************************************************* This keyword controls the automatic digestification function allowing subscribers who do not have the time to read large numbers of messages as they arrive to subscribe to a digestified or indexed version of the list. The list owner decides whether digests are available or not, the frequency at which they are issued and the day of week or time of day when the digest should be distributed. Digests are larger messages containing all the postings made by list subscribers over a certain period of time. Unlike real-world digests, LISTSERV digests are not edited; what you see is exactly what was posted to the list. The only difference is that you get all the messages for a given day, week or month in a single batch. This is mostly useful if you are just "listening in" to the list and prefer to read the postings at your leisure. Digests are kept separately from list archives and can be made available for mailing lists which do not archive postings (i.e. which run with "Notebook= No"). Indexes, on the other hand, only provide a few lines of information for each posting: date and time, number of lines, name and address of poster, subject. The actual text is not included. You select just the messages you are interested in, and order them from the server. This is useful for mailing lists where most messages really don't interest you at all, or as an alternative to SET NOMAIL: when you come back from vacations, you can quickly order the messages you are most interested in. Note that, since indexes are not useful without the ability to order a copy of the messages you do want to read, they are not made available unless the list is archived and digests are enabled. Users sign up for digestified rather than immediate delivery with 'SET listname DIGests', while indexes are selected with 'SET listname INDex'. These two new options are alternatives to MAIL and NOMAIL. When switching around between these delivery options, users will observe the following behavior (digests will be assumed to be daily for the sake of clarity): - When switching to NOMAIL: delivery stops immediately. The day's digest is not sent, as the user is assumed to desire immediate termination of traffic from the list. - When switching from any option to DIGEST or INDEX: mail delivery stops immediately, and the first index or digest may contain some items the user has already seen (if switching from MAIL to DIGEST/INDEX). This is because the digests and indexes are global to the list - they are the same for everyone, just like regular issues of newspapers. - When switching from DIGEST or INDEX to NODIGEST or NOINDEX, the current, unfinished digest or index is immediately mailed to the user. New messages are delivered normally, as they arrive. Thus, a "trick" to get a copy of the current digest is to switch to NODIGEST and then back to DIGEST. You can send both commands in the same mail message to make sure they are executed together. The list owner controls the availability and frequency of digests through the "Digest=" list header keyword, which defaults to "Digest= No" for lists without an archive and "Digest= Yes,Same,Daily" for archived lists. Again, it is not necessary for the list to be archived to keep a digest; LISTSERV just attempts to avoid having to store large amounts of digest data on its private area for lists which, lacking a "Notebook= Yes,xxx" keyword, do not specify any suitable directory for the digest data. Conversely, having daily as the default frequency keeps the additional cost in disk space to a minimum. The syntax of the keyword is "Digest= Yes,where,frequency,when,maxsize" when digests are enabled, or then "Digest= No". The second parameter is a disk or directory specification, just as with the "Notebook=" keyword, or "Same", which means that the digest must be stored on the same disk as the list archives. The third parameter is either "Daily" (the default), "Weekly" or "Monthly". The fourth parameter is optional and specifies when the digest is to be actually distributed. For daily digests, specify 'hh:ss' or just 'hh' in the usual 00-23 scale (24 is also accepted for midnight). For weekly digests, specify a weekday such as "Tuesday". For monthly digests, you may specify a number from 1 to 31 corresponding to the day of the month when the digest will be distributed, although this is not recommended. The purpose here is to make it possible for digests to be issued at mid-month rather than on the first of the month - if you code a number larger than 28, you may not get a digest every month. Finally, the last parameter is also optional. It takes the form "Size(number)" and specifies the maximum number of lines the digest is allowed to reach before a "special issue" is cut. (Note that your digests may run over the limit set in "Size(number)". This is because LISTSERV will never truncate a message in order to meet the digest size limit. Thus, if you've reached 950 lines of your 1000 line setting and the next message is 100 lines long, your digest will cut at 1050 lines.) Bear in mind that most unix systems do not accept messages larger than 100 kilobytes, so values larger than 1500 should be avoided. The default is to have virtually no limit - 10,000 lines. The list owner must take special care when disabling digests for a list, as LISTSERV does not presently have any facility which would allow it to alter subscription options automatically on the basis of changes to the list header. Subscribers who had opted for digests would continue not to receive mail as it arrives, but would not get the digests either. The best way to solve this problem is to announce the change long enough in advance, so that people can switch back before digests are suspended. The reason nothing has been done to remove this limitation is that it is not expected to be a frequent condition. Daily digests take up very little disk space and there is no reason to disable them for a typical list. The default behavior of a list with a BOTTOM_BANNER template defined in listname.MAILTPL is to suppress the banner throughout the digest and print it only once at the beginning, between the list of topics and the first message in the digest. This behavior can be disabled so that the banner is printed in its normal position at the end of each message in the digest by adding the BOTTOM_BANNER parameter to the Digest= keyword. Evaluators should note that this behavior is also standard on evaluation copies, with the difference that the evaluation kit banner cannot be turned off. L-Soft does not expect that this parameter will be much used, but it is included for the sake of completeness. Note that TOP_BANNERs are always included at the top of each message in the digest. Generally, TOP_BANNER contains copyright or other important information that should be included with each message, and therefore it is not suppressed. The second parameter of the "Digest=" keyword ("where") may only be changed by the LISTSERV maintainer, and the list creation password is required for the list PUT operation if this parameter is changed. A list owner is allowed to change "Digest= No" to "Digest= Yes,Same....", but any other specification for the digest file location will cause an error. A list owner is also allowed to change "Digest= Yes..." to "Digest= No" without the intervention of the LISTSERV maintainer. Note that if the list is not archived ("Notebook= No"), changing "Digest= No" to "Digest= Yes,Same" will cause the digest files to be written to LISTSERV's A disk (or equivalent specification on the workstation systems). Since the overhead for a typical digest is small, it is not expected that this will cause any problem for the LISTSERV maintainer. ******************************* * Internet-Via= <net-address> * ******************************* There is no default value. This parameter determines whether or not mail bound for Internet addresses is routed through a specific Internet gateway. ***************************************** * Mail-Via= Direct | DISTRIBUTE | DIST2 * ***************************************** The default value is Mail-Via= DISTRIBUTE. DIST2 is functionally equivalent to DISTRIBUTE, and is included for historical reasons. Mail-Via= Direct causes LISTSERV to ignore the DISTRIBUTE algorithm for subscribers on the local system, but mail to non-local subscribers will still go out on the DISTRIBUTE backbone. ***************************************************************** * Newsgroups= None | <usenet_newsgroup1>,<usenet_newsgroup2>... * ***************************************************************** This keyword defines the RFC822 "Newsgroups:" header for a list. This field may be required by certain news gatewaying software and should only be defined if the list is gatewayed to usenet and if the gatewaying software does require it. The default is Newsgroups= None. A typical setting for this keyword might be: * Newsgroups= bit.listserv.lstown-l ************************** * NJE-Via= <net-address> * ************************** There is no default value. This parameter determines whether or not mail bound for NJE addresses is routed through a specific gateway. **************************** * Prime= Yes | No | <when> * **************************** Determines whether or not mail for the list is processed during "prime time", a value that is determined by the LISTSERV maintainer and is kept in the system configuration file. The default is Prime= Yes. This can be most useful in controlling the load on the machine running LISTSERV. "Prime=" may also be set to an explicit time specification, e.g., * Prime= "MON-FRI: 09:00-17:00; SAT-SUN: -" Note that the time specification for Prime= must always be surrounded by double quotes (""). Otherwise LISTSERV will stop reading the specification at the first space (ASCII 32) it encounters. For example, the above example coded without quotes would be interpreted as Prime= MON-FRI: with the balance of the string ignored. LISTSERV will not issue an error if you omit the quotes. Please note that when you set a "prime time" either for a list or globally for the entire server ("PRIMETIME=" in the site configuration file), you are setting the time during which LISTSERV does <not> process postings. It is "prime time" for the machine when it should be doing other things, e.g., number crunching, daily backups, or any other function during which LISTSERV should not be using cycles. ********************************************************************** * Reply-To= List | Sender | Both | <netaddress>,[ Respect | Ignore ] * ********************************************************************** Indicates whether the "Reply-to:" tag supplied by the sender of the mail file is to be preserved or discarded (if present), and, if discarded or omitted, what should be placed in the new "Reply-to:" generated by the server. The default value is "List,Respect". Note that some mailing systems are unable to process a "Reply-To:" field with multiple addresses correctly and may therefore disregard the Reply-to= Both option and treat it as Reply-to= List. The parameters operate as follows: 1st position: List: Replies are directed to the list address. Sender: Replies are directed to the original sender. Both: Reply to both the original sender and to the list (see note regarding this above) <netaddress> Replies are directed to the specified internet address 2nd position: Respect: The original "Reply-to:" tag, if any, is kept. Note that this means that the Reply-To: address specified in the first position is ignored if a Reply-To: tag exists in the original posting. Ignore: The original "Reply-to:" tag, if any, is ignored and discarded, and the value in the first position is used instead. ********************************************************************* * Sender= LIST | NONE | "<list title> <net-address>",<ietf-address> * ********************************************************************* Used to define the value LISTSERV will place in the RFC822 "Sender:" field. The second parameter is optional, and is included to allow the specification of a second mailbox for use with IETF headers. The first value is used for non-IETF headers and is expected to contain the name and address of the list, or the keywords LIST or NONE. The second mailbox is used for IETF headers; if it is omitted, the generic "owner-listname" mailbox is substituted. Example: * Sender= "Test List <TEST@LISTSERV.X.EDU>",owner-test@listserv.x.edu Note that the first address must be contained in quotes. *************************************** * Sub-lists= <sublist1>,<sublist2>... * *************************************** This keyword is new in 1.8c and makes it possible to define a "super-list" (as in opposite of sub-list), that is, a "container" list that includes all the subscribers in a predefined set of sub-lists. This can be done recursively to any depth. Only the maintainer can create a super-list, for security reasons. Concretely, the "Sub-lists=" keyword is protected from owner tampering in the same fashion as "Notebook=". The value is a comma separated list of all the sub-lists, which must all be on the same (local) machine. For instance: * Sub-lists= MYLIST-L,MYOTHERLIST-L The default value for this keyword is null, e.g., to have no sublists. Please note that the super-list and all of its sublists must reside on the same LISTSERV server. The only difference between a normal list and a super-list is what happens when you post to it. With the super-list, the membership of all the sub-lists is added (recursively) and duplicates are suppressed. Other than that, the super-list is a normal list with its own archives, access control, etc. You can even subscribe to it, and this is actually an important aspect of the operation of super-lists. If you are subscribed to the super-list itself, the subscription options used to deliver super-messages to you are taken from your subscription to the super-list, just like with any other list. All combinations are allowed, and in particular NOMAIL is allowed, meaning you don't want to get messages posted to the super-list. When you are subscribed to multiple sub-lists, on the other hand, things work differently: 1. NOMAIL subscriptions are ignored. You will get the super-message if you have an active (not NOMAIL) subscription to at least one sub-list. The idea is that the super-message must be equivalent to posting to all the sub-lists, without the duplicates. Since all it takes to get a message posted to all the sub-lists is a single non-NOMAIL subscription, this is how the super-list works. The only way not to get the super-messages is to subscribe to the super-list directly and set yourself to NOMAIL. 2. The DIGEST and INDEX options are ignored and internally converted to MAIL. The first reason is that, since in most cases the user will be on multiple sub-lists (otherwise you don't need a super-list in the first place), the only safe method to set subscription options for super-messages is by subscribing to the super-list so that there is no ambiguity. The second reason is that, in most cases, super-lists will be used for out of band administrative messages rather than for large volume discussions, so it is actually preferable to have the message sent directly. The third reason is that the super-list and sub-lists may not necessarily offer the same options (DIGEST and INDEX). In particular it is expected that many super-lists will not have archives. If you want a DIGEST or INDEX for the super-messages, you must subscribe to the super-list directly. Topics, if defined, are evaluated on a per-list basis. That is, for every sub-list (and for the super-list), LISTSERV determines whether the topic of the message is one that you want to see. If not, it acts as if you were not subscribed to this particular list. Roughly speaking, this works very well if all the sub-lists have the same set of topics (or a well-defined set of common topics), and doesn't work well at all if every list has its own set of topics. ****************************************** * Topics= <topic1>,<topic2>,...<topic11> * ****************************************** List topics provide a way to run a mailing list (preferably moderated) where several sub-topics are being discussed in parallel but some subscribers are only interested in a subset of the topics. For instance, a working group might have general discussions, decisions, and messages related to meetings. People who cannot attend the meetings can then opt out of last calls for hotel reservations and discussions about seafood restaurants, whereas people who have no time to follow the discussions can elect to get just the decisions. At any rate, such a compartmented list requires a certain discipline in order to be successful, as the posters must label their messages to indicate which topic(s) they belong to. Through the Topics= keyword, the list owner can define up to 11 topics for the list. For instance, the list owner could code: * Topics= News,Benchmarks,Meetings,Beta-tests If necessary, you may use multiple Topics= lines in your header in order to fit all of your topics in. WARNING - YOU MUST NEVER REORDER THE TOPICS= KEYWORD(S) To save disk space, LISTSERV remembers which topics users have selected through their ordering in the "Topics=" keyword. That is, "News" is "topic number 1" for LISTSERV, "Benchmarks" is "topic number 2", and so on. This means you can change the name of a topic without requiring users to alter their subscriptions (for instance, you could decide that "Tests" is a better name than "Beta-tests" and just make the change). However, you must never change the order of the topics in the "Topics=" keyword. If you want to remove a topic, replace it with a comma. For instance, to remove the "Meetings" topic, you would change the keyword to: * Topics= News,Benchmarks,,Beta-tests This restriction might be removed in a future release. Topic names can contain any character except space, colon and comma; the use of double quotes or equal signs is discouraged, as they require special attention when coding list header keywords. In addition, topic names may not start with a plus or minus sign, and the words ALL, NONE, RE, OTHER and OTHERS are reserved. Posters label their messages through the subject field. LISTSERV first skips any possible sequence of 'Re:' keywords, and takes anything to the left of a colon as a list of topics, separated by commas. The posting is considered to belong to all the topics listed before the colon. If none of these topics is valid for the list, it is classified in a special, 12th topic, "Other". If some of the topics are valid but others are undefined, the invalid ones are ignored. At any rate the subject field is left unchanged. Here is an example: Subject: Benchmarks,News: Benchmarks for XYZ now available! Messages which should be read by everyone can be posted to the special topic "All". Topic names can be shortened to any unambiguous abbreviation. In our example, "Be" is ambiguous because it could be either "Beta-tests" or "Benchmarks", but "Bench" is acceptable. Subscribers select the topics they wish to receive with the SET command. The syntax is 'SET listname TOPICS: xxx' where 'xxx' can be: - A list of all the topics the user wishes to receive. In that case these topics replace any other topics the user may have subscribed to before. For instance, after 'SET XYZ-L TOPICS: NEWS BENCH', the user will receive news and benchmarks, and nothing else. - Updates to the list of topics the user currently receives. A plus sign indicates a topic that should be added, a minus sign requests the removal of a topic. For instance, 'SET XYZ-L TOPICS: +NEWS -BENCH' adds news and removes benchmarks. If a topic name is given without a + or - sign, + is assumed: 'SET XYZ-L TOPICS: +NEWS BENCH' adds news and benchmarks. The first topic name must have the plus sign to show that this is an addition, and not a replacement. - A combination of the above, mostly useful to enable all but a few topics: 'SET XYZ-L TOPICS: ALL -MEETINGS'. The colon after the keyword TOPICS: is optional, and TOPICS= is also accepted. Do not forget to include the special OTHER topic if you want to receive general discussions which were not labeled properly. On the other hand, if you only want to receive properly labeled messages you should not include it. ALL does include OTHER. Finally, it is important to note that topics are active only when your subscription is set to MAIL. Digests are indexes always contain all the postings that were made, because the same digest is prepared and sent to all the subscribers. (See also Default-Topics.) *************************** * Error Handling Keywords * *************************** ******************************************************************************** * Auto-Delete= No * * Yes,Semi-Auto | Full-Auto | Manual,Delay(<number>),Max(<number>)* ******************************************************************************** LISTSERV includes support for automatic deletion of users whose account has expired or whose system has permanently disconnected. When the delivery error is generated by LMail (any version), MX V3.2 or higher, PMDF V4.2 or higher, or LSMTP(TM) , which all implement the same delivery error format, LISTSERV may be able to automatically process the delivery error and take action based on the value of the "Auto-Delete=" list header keyword. The unix versions of LISTSERV also support sendmail's delivery error format. If the list has been coded "Auto-Delete= No", or if the delivery error is not in LMail format and LISTSERV cannot understand it, LISTSERV simply passes it to the list owner. Otherwise LISTSERV processes the message automatically. The algorithm may be refined in a future version, but at present the following steps are taken whenever the auto-deletion feature is enabled: When auto-deletion is set to "Full-Auto" or "Semi-Auto": - LISTSERV looks for "permanent" errors (no such user, no such host, and so on). If the failing recipients are subscribed to the list, LISTSERV removes them and notifies you. No action is required from the list owner. - If there are permanent errors for users LISTSERV could not find on the list (for instance because the account subscribed to the list is a totally different one which forwards mail to a dead account), or if there are only "temporary" errors (host unreachable for 3 days, system error, disk quota exceeded, and so on), LISTSERV passes the actual error message to the list owner for further disposition if running in semi-auto mode. If running in full-auto mode, the error messages themselves are discarded and the errors only show up as entries in the daily auto-deletion monitoring report. - When running in full-auto mode, LISTSERV never passes back a delivery error unless it took action on it. This means that certain errors may remain unsolved, as LISTSERV presently ignores temporary errors and some of them are virtually permanent (if the owner of the account has left but for some reason his account was not closed, his disk quota is bound to remain exceeded until someone takes action). Full-auto mode should be used only when the list owner positively does not have the time to handle the delivery errors LISTSERV sends every day. When auto-deletion is set to "Manual": - When running in manual mode, the auto-delete monitor informs the list owner of the error(s) and takes no further action on delivery errors. Some considerations for configuring the auto-delete monitor parameters: - Setting the Delay(number) option. The default is 4. This is the number of days that a subscriber's mail needs to bounce before he's automatically deleted. If "Delay(0)" is coded, LISTSERV won't wait. - Most delivery errors occur on weekends when systems are taken down for maintenance, system administrators are not around to reboot after crashes, and the like. Because of this, most delivery errors only last for 2-3 days and may not be "permanent" even if they seem to be at first. - The nature of delivery errors is such that LISTSERV has no way to establish that a problem has been fixed because it receives only negative acknowledgements when a message bounces. This taken together with the transient, "weekend" nature of most delivery errors indicates that it is not a good idea to set Delay() to a value close to 7. For instance, if Delay(7) and a subscriber's mail regularly bounces on the weekend, LISTSERV will wait until the next weekend to decide whether or not to delete him, at which point the subscriber will bounce mail again and start the process all over. The bottom line is that LISTSERV might as well have gone ahead and deleted the subscriber as soon as the first bounce occurred. - Setting the Max(number) option. To prevent auto-deletion monitoring from getting out of hand, subscribers are deleted after a specified number errors regardless of how many days it has been going on. The default is Max(100). This is so LISTSERV won't spend its life monitoring 50 bogus users x 100 messages = 5000 a day. Note that if Delay(0), the setting for Max() is ignored (in effect it is set to Max(1)). - When you take a vacation, note that it is best to switch auto-delete to MANUAL. Then do not restore to auto on the day you come back, because you will have a number of subscribers on file ready to be deleted. Wait DELAY+n days before changing back to Full-Auto or Semi-Auto, where n is an adjustment to account for the fact that people don't fix all problems right away at 09.00 on the day your vacation ends. n=2 is a reasonable choice. The default value is "Auto-Delete= No" for lists with "Validate= All" and "Auto-Delete= Yes,Semi-Auto,Delay(4),Max(100)" for other lists. ************************************************ * Errors-To= <mon-address1>,<mon-address2>,... * ************************************************ Defines the person or list of persons that are to receive rejection mail for the list. The default value is 'Owners'. ******************************************************************************* * Loopcheck= Full | None | Noorigin | Nobody | NoCRC | NoSpam | Spam-Delay(n) * ******************************************************************************* Determines the type of loop checking performed by LISTSERV to avoid perpetuating mail loops. The default is "Loopcheck= Full". Loop checking is configured on a list by list basis only. ALWAYS USE THIS KEYWORD WITH CAUTION! Misuse of this keyword can and will allow mailing loops onto your list! The various Loopcheck= parameters are defined as follows (you can code only one at a time): Full LISTSERV uses its full suite of loop checking heuristics to check incoming mail for loops. This is the default, and should not be changed without good reason. None All LISTSERV loop checking is disabled for this list. WARNING: "None" tells LISTSERV that, by definition, anything that reaches its reader is NOT a delivery error. It is never a good idea to use this parameter except in special cases where a bug is suspected in the loop checking heuristics. Generally this parameter should not be used without checking with L-Soft first, and only for the diagnosis of an existing problem. Noorigin Allows the list owner to disable the check for "known mailer origins" such as MAILER, POSTMASTER, ROOT, UUCP, et al. Mail whose 'From:' field is the address of the local mailer is still trapped, but wildcard checks on the mail origin are disabled. Nobody Allows the list owner to disable the check for identical text in the body of incoming mail only. LISTSERV relies only on the Subject: field of the mail message to determine whether or not mail is looping. This is a very dangerous option: it means that any mailer not using one of the "standard" subjects known to LISTSERV will cause a loop. NoCRC Allows the list owner to disable CRC (cyclical reduncancy check) check of incoming mail. CRC loop checking calculates a "checksum" based on the contents of the mail message and compares it to other incoming mail to spot duplicates. NoSpam Allows the list owner to disable the anti-spamming filters to incoming mail. Spam-Delay(n) Allows the list owner to modify the number of minutes LISTSERV holds mail from non-subscribers before releasing it to the list. The assumption is that, within n minutes, a spam alert may or may not arrive regarding non-subscriber mail. The list owner can disable this function for his list by coding "Loopcheck= Spam-Delay(0)", or can tune it to his preference by simply specifying the number of minutes for LISTSERV to hold the mail. The default is 10 minutes, or "Spam-Delay(10)". Please note carefully that L-Soft does not recommend changing Loopcheck= from its default of "Full" unless you are prepared to accept the very likely possibility of a mail loop occuring on your list; a situation for which L-Soft would not and could not be held responsible for. The only exception would be the "Loopcheck= NoSpam" (which might be necessary to keep adminstrative mail to multiple lists on a single host from triggering the anti-spamming filter) or "Loopcheck= Spam-Delay(n)" options, neither of which stops canonical mail loops per se. ****************** * Safe= Yes | No * ****************** The list header keyword, "Safe= Yes/No", controls the e-mail address LISTSERV places in the SMTP MAIL FROM: field, which is where well-behaved mailers will return delivery errors. With "Safe= No", these errors are sent to the list address as before, hopefully to be intercepted by the loop detector and passed on to the list owner. With "Safe= Yes", the error address is set to 'owner-listname', and delivery errors sent to that address are passed on to the list owner without the risk of creating a mailing loop. The default is "Safe= Yes". IMPORTANT: The use of "Safe= Yes" does not guarantee that all errors will go to the 'owner-listname' mailbox. Unfortunately, there are many non-compliant mailers which will continue to send the error back to the list (usually because it is listed in the 'Reply-To:' or 'Sender:' field). The use of the "Safe= Yes" option significantly decreases the potential for mailing loops, but not enough to actually code "Loopcheck= No", unless you are sure that all your subscribers have compliant mailers. ******************************************** * List Maintenance and Moderation Keywords * ******************************************** ********************************************* * Editor= <net-address1>,<net-address2>,... * ********************************************* Defines the list editor(s). When used in conjunction with the "Send=Editor" option, it causes all mail sent to the list to be automatically forwarded to the first person listed in the "Editor=" keyword, who will then send it back to the list at his discretion. The editors are the only persons (with the list owners) who are allowed to mail directly to the list. Note that ANY editor can send mail to the list while only the FIRST one will receive copies of mail sent to the list (but see also Moderator=). The file will be forwarded to the editor 'as is', without being included in a mail envelope. This method makes sure that the original "Resent-" tags (if any) and "To:" keyword are preserved. Note that the first editor must be a network address (e.g., someuser@foo.bar.com) and not an access-level. Subsequent editors may be access-levels. For instance, you can code * Editor= joe@baz.net,(MYLIST-L) which allows all subscribers from the MYLIST-L list to post without going through the editor, and diverts all non-subscriber mail to joe@baz.net for approval. IMPORTANT NOTE: The first editor MUST be a human person, not a file server, list server, mailer, or suchlike. Specifying a program's mailbox as the primary editor could result in a mailing loop for which L-Soft international, Inc., could not be held responsible. *************************** * Editor-Header= Yes | No * *************************** If an editor is defined (see Editor=), this keyword determines whether or not special header information is prepended to list messages forwarded to the editor. The default (for lists configured with an Editor) is "Editor-Header= Yes". ***************************************** * List-Address= <name_info>@<host_info> * ***************************************** This keyword determines how LISTSERV announces its list address in the header of messages delivered to the list: NJE vs. Internet address, short vs. long list name, etc. The default options (when neither "List-Address=" or LIST_ADDRESS are defined) are long list name and Internet address. A corresponding LIST_ADDRESS configuration option must be added to the LISTSERV configuration file. In 1.8b and earlier versions, the first token (name_info) can be either LISTNAME or LIST-ID. Do not attempt to specify the actual list name. Use LISTNAME if you want LISTSERV to use the "short" list name (always available), and LIST-ID if you would rather see the "long" list name ("List-ID=List header keywordsMaintenance and Moderation Keywords=" keyword). If there is no "long" name, the short name is substituted. 1.8c introduces the ability to specify the name of the list in the first token (i.e., you may now specify something like "List-Address= XYZ-L@XYZ.EDU"). The second token (host_info) can be either NJE, FQDN, or the fully qualified domain name of your choice. That is, you may type the actual hostname that you want LISTSERV to use, which may be useful if the machine on which LISTSERV is running is known under several hostnames. If you only want to override one of the two parts of the list address, you do not need to specify the other. For instance, if you only want to change the hostname, you can enter "List-Address= XYZ.EDU" in the list header and let the left-hand part default from the value of the system default in the LISTSERV configuation file. Similarly, "List-Address= List-ID" takes the right-hand part from the system default. To avoid bad surprises, LISTSERV will also accept a comma in lieu of @-sign in the list header, or a blank in the LISTSERV configuration file. Here are a few examples: - "List-Address= FQDN" announces the list under the Internet address for the LISTSERV host, if one is available (for BITNET-only sites this setting has no effect). - "List-Address= List-ID@FQDN" uses the long list name and the Internet hostname. - "List-Address= Listname@XYZ.EDU" uses the short list name and the hostname XYZ.EDU. - Starting with version 1.8c, "List-Address= XYZ-L@XYZ.EDU" is also valid. You no longer are restricted to specifying LISTNAME or LIST-ID for the left-hand (username) part. It is important to note that the only affect of the "List-Address=" keyword is to change the way the list identifies itself in list postings, command replies, etc. It does not instruct the mail system to create forwarding entries to support the new name, nor does it establish the specified name as an alias for the list (use "List-ID=" for this purpose). In general, you should not use this keyword without first consulting with the LISTSERV maintainer. ******************* * List-ID= <name> * ******************* On VM systems, this keyword allows the list owner to specify a long list ID in addition to the normal 8-character list name. This is particularly useful for peered or gatewayed lists that have names longer than 8 characters. On non-VM systems, if the normal list name is longer than 8 characters and the list is being migrated from a VM system, it may be a good idea to specify the first 8 characters of the list name in this keyword, at least temporarily. This way subscribers who were used to the old 8-character name can continue to use it on the new system. Non-VM systems may use this keyword for aliasing. Note however that List-ID= will not work properly on NT systems running with the SMTPL "listener" because the "listener" has no way to know that the list ID specified in this parameter is a valid local address. List-ID will work on NT systems running LSMTP. ********************************************** * Moderator= <netaddress1>,<netaddress2>.... * ********************************************** This keyword defines which editors of a moderated list receive postings for forwarding to the list. The default is the first editor as defined by the "Editor=" keyword. If multiple moderators are defined, the load is spread across them. Note that all editors may still post directly to the list, but only those editors defined by "Moderator=" will have messages from non-editors forwarded to them. Beginning with 1.8c, if the parameter "All" is coded before the list of moderator addresses, LISTSERV will send copies of all postings to all moderators, any of whom may approve the message. An example of this would be * Moderator= All,joe@somehost.com,jill@someplace.net Note that this could also be coded as: * Moderator= All,joe@somehost.com * Moderator= jill@someplace.net Assuming "Send= Editor, Hold", once a message is approved by one of the moderators, any other moderator attempting to approve the same message will be told that an identical message has already been posted to the list. If "Send= Editor" (e.g., without "Hold"), please note that if a note is appended or prepended to the edited post, or if the body of the post itself is edited (that is to say, if the body of the approved message is changed), duplicates are possible. Thus it is important that the moderators of any list set up this way pay close attention to whether or not the posting has already been approved by another moderator. ************************** * New-List= <netaddress> * ************************** When a list is moved to a different LISTSERV host, this keyword can be added to the list header left on the original host. This facilitates forwarding of administrative commands and postings from the original host to the new host. Users posting to the old address will also receive a short note in return listing the new address. Note that success in setting the "New-List=" keyword is dependent on whether or not you have deleted practically every other keyword other than "Owner=" from the list header. Since the use of "New-List=" is generally intended to be an automatic pointer to the new host and/or new list name, no other keywords should be defined. Keywords that would cause a problem will therefore generate fatal errors on a list PUT operation and the list header will not be updated. Further note that the old list's subscriber list cannot be modified once the "New-List=" parameter is defined. The appropriate sequence of operations is: 1. Create the new list 2. Move the subscribers to it 3. DELETE oldlistname *@* 4. Modify the header of the old list by deleting unneeded keywords and adding the "New-List=" keyword with its pointer to the new list. Should this sequence not be followed, note that by removing the "New-List=" keyword, the old list will be unlocked and the subscriber list can then be deleted if desired. ************************************************************* * Notebook= No * * Yes,<where>,<interval>|Separate,<access-level>) * ************************************************************* Indicates whether or not an automatic log of every piece of mail sent to the list is to be kept, and defines at which interval of time its file name must be changed and who is allowed to retrieve it from the server. The default values are "Notebook= No,A,Single,Private". <where> is the filemode of the minidisk (VM) or the disk and directory (non-VM) on which the notebook is to be kept. The default value of "A" is equivalent to LISTSERV's main working directory. On VM servers, this is LISTSERV's A disk; on VMS and Windows servers, this is LISTSERV's MAIN directory, and on Unix servers it is ~listserv/home (or whatever value has been used in the Makefile for LSVROOT/home). Naturally, you may change this value to any directory you wish, provided that a) the directory exists (for security reasons, LISTSERV will not make it for you) and b) LISTSERV has read- write access to that directory. <interval> Defines the filetype or extension of the "notebook" file for the list, as indicated below (the filename will always be the same as the list name): Single: A single file with the extension "NOTEBOOK" is created. Yearly: A new file is started each yearly, extension is "LOGyy" Monthly: The extension is "LOGyymm" Weekly: The extension is "LOGyymmw" (w in "A"-"E") Separate: A separate file is kept for each mailing (e.g. announcements, newsletters). The extension is "yy-nnnnn" (sequential counter). Note: Notebooks may be retrieved by means of the GET command. A list of all available notebooks can be obtained with a GET NOTEBOOK FILELIST command. If your 1.8c server has the WWW archive interface interface installed, please note that in order for archives to appear in the interface, the following requirements must be met: 1. Notebooks must be "Public" 2. The notebook interval cannot be "Single" or "Separate" 3. The LISTSERV maintainer must create an index directory for your list per the instructions in the Site Manager's Operations Manual. Note further that lists that meet the above three requirements will show up in the WWW archive interface even if the list is set "Confidential= Yes". See chapter 5.4.6 of the Site Manager's Operations Manual for details. The first two parameters of the "Notebook=" keyword may only be changed by the LISTSERV postmaster, and the list creation password is required for the list PUT operation if one or both of these parameters is changed. ********************************* * Notebook-Header= Short | Full * ********************************* Determines whether or not individual message in notebook archives are stored with full Internet header information or with "short" headers. The default is "Notebook-Header= Short". ************************************ * Notify= Yes | No | <mon-address> * ************************************ Defines whether the list owner (or the person indicated by "Notify= mon-address") is to receive notification of new subscriptions and deletions, etc. The default is "Yes". ******************************************************* * Owner= <net-address1> | <mon-address1>, * * [Quiet:,]<net-address2> | <mon-address2>,... * ******************************************************* Defines the person or list of persons who "own" the list. They are responsible for controlling access to the list and defining the list control keywords which are best suited to the purpose of the list. The default value for this keyword which should ALWAYS appear in the list header is the list of the userids of the postmasters. Any combination of explicit network addresses and complex access-levels is acceptable, for example: Owner= BIG@BLUE,(STAFF-L),Owner(MAIN-L) An interesting application is to create a STAFF-L list containing the userids of all the local LISTSERV staff members and set the "Owner=" keyword of all local lists to "Owner= (STAFF-L)". This way when there is a change in the local LISTSERV management it is not necessary to modify the headers of all the lists -- just modify the STAFF-L list. The use of the "Quiet:" parameter causes all subsequently-defined list owners to be excluded from receiving any delivery error messages or other administrative mail from LISTSERV. List owners may be defined on a single line or on multiple lines. See Chapter 2.7 of the List Owner's Manual for details. ****************************** * Peers= <peer1>,<peer2>,... * ****************************** Defines the (global) list of all the servers in the world that are peer-linked to the list, either directly or via one or more other peer servers. This information is used by the various list management commands to determine the "nearest" peer list to a given user. For example, when a SUBSCRIBE command is received from a user and it is determined that there is a better (nearer) peer list for him, the subscription request is automatically forwarded to the appropriate LISTSERV. Be sure to read the appropriate sections of the LISTSERV List Owner's Manual before peering any list. *************************************************************************** * Renewal= <interval1>,<interval2>...,<intervalx>,Delay(<number>)[,Probe] * *************************************************************************** This keyword controls whether or not subscribers are required to renew their subscriptions on a regular basis, and what the subscription period is. Multiple intervals can be set, each interval being one of several things: - Monthly, Yearly, Weekly, or a numeric variation such as 3-Monthly (meaning, quarterly). Note also that 1.8c introduces the ability to code "Renewal= xx-Daily", for instance, "Renewal= 15-Daily". While the use of intervals of less than a week is and remains inadvisable, FAQ templates with rotating topics may require the selection of a very precise renewal interval (for congruence purposes), which was not possible with "xx-Weekly" granularity. Please refer to chapter 9.9 of the list owner's manual or 10.9 of the site manager's manual for a discussion of rotating FAQ support. - An absolute date in the format yy/mm/dd (once on this specific day), or the format mm/dd (once yearly on this month/day). - The confirmation delay, in the format Delay(n), where (n)=the number of days between the time the subscriber is asked to confirm the subscription and the day the user is removed from the list. This default is Delay(7), or seven days. A typical Renewal= configuration might be: * Renewal= 6-Monthly,Delay(14) Conceivably Renewal= could also be set to something like: * Renewal= 6-Monthly,95/07/04,12/25,Delay(14) which would cause LISTSERV to send renewal requests once every six months on the anniversary date of the user's original subscription, a specific request on 4 July 1995, a request every year on Christmas Day. Note that this is provided ONLY as an example. L-Soft does not recommend using a renewal scheme of this sort. Note: When setting up Renewal= for the first time on an older, established list, you may find that a substantial number of subscribers are prompted for confirmation immediately even though you may have set Renewal= to a value that might not be expected to cause such behavior. This is because LISTSERV uses the last activity date (which may or may not be the same as the subscription anniversary date) for the purpose of subscription renewal. The last activity date may be one of the following: The subscription anniversary date; the last date the subscriber posted to the list; or the last date the subscriber changed personal options. Note also that if you code a specific date without specifying a year field (e.g., Renewal= 6/1), LISTSERV will immediately request a renewal from any subscriber whose last activity date is prior to that date in the current year. The "Probe" parameter, introduced in Version 1.8c (but disabled in LISTSERV Lite) activates a new bounce processing feature, whereby the users are "probed" regularly using the PROBE1 mail template. The desired response from the user is to discard the message and do nothing. If the probe bounces, LISTSERV first sends the PROBE2 template with a copy of the bounce (assuming that the address actually works regardless of the bounce), and then schedules a new probe for the next day or deletes the user immediately, depending on the list's "Auto-Delete=" policy. For more information see chapter 4.6. Subscription renewal is disabled by default. If you do not want subscription renewal, or if you wish to turn it off, simply do not include a "Renewal=" keyword in your list header. ********************* * Sizelim= <number> * ********************* If set, causes LISTSERV to reject all messages to the list which exceed the number of lines (including all Internet header lines) indicated. This can be helpful in discouraging subscribers from posting long screeds or uuencoded files to your lists. It can also be set higher than the LISTSERV default if desired; check with your LISTSERV maintainer before changing this upward. (Generally "Sizelim= 250" is large enough for long posts but short enough to discourage postings of uuencoded binaries, but of course, your mileage may vary.) ********************* * Subject-Tag= text * ********************* (New for 1.8c) LISTSERV now supports "subject tags", i.e., the ability to insert a predefined text tag into the subject line of mail coming from a list. For instance, your subscribers might want the subject lines of mail coming from your list to contain the name of your mailing list. Whereas the RFC822 subject line of a typical list posting without a "subject tag" would look like this: Subject: I think ID4 is a great movie, don't you? if you were to define * Subject-Tag= SCI-FI the subject would look like this for all users who are set to the new "SUBJheader" personal option: Subject: [SCI-FI] I think ID4 is a great movie, don't you? Note that this option may be toggled on and off by the user by use of the new "SET listname SUBJecthdr" option. It is turned off by default. The normal default for "Subject-Tag=" is the name of the list, e.g., SCIFI-L. If "List-Address=" is defined for your list, the default is either the name of the list or the list ID, whichever is listed in "List-Address=". A subject tag can be only a single word; in other words, you cannot define a sentence to be used as a subject tag. Note that if a user sends a message with a blank RFC822 "Subject:" header, LISTSERV will not create a "Subject:" header and place the subject tag into it. Subject tags will only work when posters define a subject for their message. ****************************** * X-Tags= Comment | Yes | No * ****************************** Indicates whether "X-To:" and "X-cc:" tags are to be included in the output mail files to list recipients of the original mail file (other than the list userid) or not, and how they should appear in the RFC822 header. Yes: This information must be provided in the form of "X-To:" and "X-cc:" tags in the RFC822 header (similar to the "To:" and "cc:" tags). This is the default. Comment: This information must be provided in the form of "Comment:" tags, i.e. "Comment: X-To:" and "Comment: X-cc:". No: This information must not appear at all in the mail header. ********************* * Security Keywords * ********************* ************************************ * Confidential= No | Yes | Service * ************************************ Indicates whether the list should be hidden from users or not. A confidential list will not appear on the "List" command output. "No" is the default value and indicates that the list is not confidential. "Service" indicates that the list is to be hidden from users who are not in the list's service area (see "Service=" keyword) but not from other users. "Yes" means that the list is unconditionally confidential. ******************** * Exit= <filename> * ******************** Background for non-technical users: an "exit" is a program supplied by the customer to modify the behavior of a product (such as LISTSERV) in ways that the supplier of the product could not anticipate, or could not afford to support via standard commands or options. The product checks for the presence of the "exit" program and calls it on a number of occasions, called "exit points". In some cases, the "exit" program supplies an answer ("return code") to the main program, which adjusts its behavior accordingly. For instance, LISTSERV may ask an exit program "Is it OK to add JOE@XYZ.EDU to the ABC-L list?", and the program will answer yes or no, and possibly send a message to the user explaining why his subscription was accepted or rejected. In other cases, the "exit point" call is purely informative: the exit program gets a chance to do something, such as sending an informational message to a user, but does not return any answer. Because this "exit" is a computer program, it must be prepared by a technical person and installed by the LISTSERV maintainer. Starting with version 1.8a, list "exits" are available to control the major events associated with list maintenance. This makes it easier to tailor the behavior of LISTSERV to local requirements that are too specific to be addressed through standard facilities. An exit is enabled by adding "Exit= filename" to the list header. For security reasons, all exits must be explicitly declared in the LIST_EXITS configuration variable (in the LISTSERV configuration file). This prevents list owners from causing the invocation of arbitrary executable files through the use of the "Exit=" keyword. This keyword is not generally usable by list owners without specific intervention by the LISTSERV maintainer, and thus is not otherwise documented here. ***************************** * Local= <node1>,<node2>... * ***************************** Defines the nodes which are to be considered as 'local nodes' for both service area checking. The local node is automatically considered as a 'local node' and does not have to appear in the list. Subscribers from any of the local nodes will receive separate pieces of mail with a single recipient in the "To:" field -- in other words, they will never receive a grouped piece of mail as non-local recipients would if there are more than one recipient in their node. Note that 'node' is a generic term that means "anything after the '@' sign in the network address". For instance, "SEARN" and "SEARN.SUNET.SE" are both valid node names. By default, this keyword takes its value from the LOCAL variable in LISTSERV's site configuration file. *********************** * PW= <list-password> * *********************** Defines the list password. When sending the list back to the server, the password is prefixed to the list file for validation (see the Validate command for more specifics). The PW= parameter is "invisible" once it is defined; that is, for security reasons, it does not appear either when the list is reviewed or when it is retrieved with a GET command by the list owner. Note that, begining with version 1.8c, a random password is generated for the list at list creation time if this keyword is not explicitly defined. List owners are encouraged to use personal passwords (defined with the PW ADD command, q.q.v.) in preference to list passwords for this reason. ******************************** * Service= <area1>,<area2>,... * ******************************** Defines the 'service area' outside of which subscription requests must not be accepted. When a SUBSCRIBE command is received, the "Peers=" keyword is checked first to see if there is a nearer peer list in the network. If it is the case, the command is forwarded to this nearer server. If not, the service area is checked to ensure that the recipient is acceptable; if it is not, the subscription request is denied. When the command is forwarded, the destination server might still deny access to the list if the subscriber is outside its own service area, if any. It is important to note that the service area check is made only after the "best placement" check. This allows several servers in the same country to share an identical service area, e.g. "Service= Germany", and still have users subscribed to the best possible server. The default value is "Service= *" (e.g., any host). *********************************** * Validate= No | Yes,Confirm,NoPW * *********************************** Under L-Soft's LISTSERV, lists are protected by a password which must be specified by the list owner when he sends an updated version of the list back to the server. When "Validate= Yes", password validation applies to ALL the commands that modify the contents of the list, e.g. SIGNOFF, SET, etc. This implies that users cannot use these commands since they do not know the list password. A notable exception is the SUBscribe command, which can still be used (if enabled) to get on the list; however, sending a second SUBscribe command for the same list (to correct a spelling error in your name) would result in the command being forwarded to the list owner and not immediately executed. This is to protect you from network hackers who might issue a command "from" your userid@node to change list settings, such as who has the ability to GET and PUT the list, review concealed subscribers, etc. The default is "No", but it is recommended that "serious" or "important" lists be changed to "Validate= Yes". This keyword was revised substantially in versions 1.7f and 1.8a. The "OK" command confirmation mechanism was introduced in version 1.7f, where it was used to implement the "Subscription= Open,Confirm" address verification mechanism. When a user tries to subscribe to a mailing list with that setting, he is mailed a confirmation request with a randomly generated confirmation key, also known as "magic cookie". The user replies to the message, types "OK" in the message body, and the command is confirmed. If for any reason the user's address cannot be replied to, the confirmation request is never received (or the "OK" message never arrives) and the user is not added. In versions 1.8x, this procedure is also used for authentication purposes. Since the confirmation codes are valid only for a single command, this provides better security than personal passwords, while simplifying book-keeping. As before, the security level of the mailing list is controlled through the "Validate=" keyword. The contents of this keyword, however, have changed from earlier versions (the old values are still accepted for compatibility reasons, but generate a warning with an explanatory message when you update the list header. This may change in subsequent versions, so it is advisable to use the new values). The following security settings are available: - "Validate= No" (formerly "Validate= Store only"): all commands except PUT are taken at face value with no validation. While users are not bothered with validation requests, the list is totally unprotected from attacks by hackers. For compatibility reasons, this is the default setting. - "Validate= Yes" (formerly "Validate= All commands"): "protected" commands, such as DELETE or ADD, require password validation. For list owner commands, both personal and list passwords are accepted. Some user commands may accept a personal password, while others will cause the request to be forwarded to the list owners for verification. Other "protected" commands include GET and UNSUB/SIGNOFF, but do not include SUB or SET. - "Validate= Yes,Confirm" (new level): protected commands are validated using the "OK" mechanism by default, although passwords are also accepted where appropriate. This is a good compromise between list security and list owner convenience. - "Validate= Yes,Confirm,NoPW" (new level): protected commands are validated using the "OK" mechanism. Passwords are not accepted, as they are not as safe as "cookies". This is the recommended setting for secure lists. - "Validate= All,Confirm" and "Validate= All,Confirm,NoPW" (new levels): all commands causing a change in state, except the PUT command (which is always password-validated), are validated using the "OK" mechanism, with or without a password alternative. "Protected" commands (see above) are included in the class of commands that cause a change of state. Non-"protected" commands that cause a change in state include SUB and SET. Informational commands such as QUERY, SHOW, INDEX and REVIEW do not require any validation. Requests coming from the local system via CP MSG or CP SMSG (on VM systems) or via LCMD (on VMS or Unix systems) never require validation, as they cannot be forged. The PUT command must always be validated with the list password, because there is presently no mechanism to suspend execution of a request to which a file is attached. If the list password is used only for that purpose, the exposure is minimal as PUT operations are not part of everyday list management routine. Note that PUT requests require no validation when submitted via SENDFILE from the machine on which LISTSERV is running, as the operating system then guarantees the authenticity of the transaction. For lists operating with "Validate= Yes" (without the "Confirm" option), LISTSERV may still use the "OK" mechanism in certain cases if it is deemed appropriate. LISTSERV's rationale is that the "Validate=" keyword describes the desired behavior for interaction with the list owner and people who can be expected to use the list on a regular basis. SIGNOFF requests and DELETE requests from registered node administrators on behalf of a user on their machine, for instance, may be validated using the "OK" mechanism even though that was not requested, because users and node administrators are not generally expected to have a password with which to validate such requests. ************************* * Subscription Keywords * ************************* *************************** * Confirm-Delay= <number> * *************************** This parameter is an integer representing the number of hours LISTSERV will hold subscription jobs requiring confirmation before flushing them from its queue. For instance, if Subscription= Open,Confirm and Confirm-Delay= 72, LISTSERV will accept a subscription request pending confirmation, send the "cookie" command confirmation request, and will wait 3 days (72 hours) for that confirmation to be received. If the period expires before the "cookie" is received, the subscription request is deleted and the subscriber must resubmit his or her request. The default setting is 48 hours (2 days). Many unreliable gateways have a turnaround time of several days, and this is another way to filter them: if the confirmation delay is long enough, they will never manage to subscribe and you will not have to put up with gateways that take a week to realize that the subscriber's account has expired and return a week's worth of delivery errors. On the other hand, if you do want to let these people in, you will have to increase the confirmation delay to a week or so (1 week=168 hours). In 1.8b and following, this keyword can also extend the period of time during which postings to a list coded "Send= Editor,Hold" are held before they are flushed. The default (and minimum) for holding such postings is 7 days (168 hours). Note that you can only increase this period with "Confirm-Delay=", not decrease it. Thus for a list with "Send= Editor,Hold" and "Confirm-Delay=48", the holding period would still be 7 days. But for a list coded "Send= Editor,Hold" and "Confirm-Delay=240", the holding period would be 10 days (240 hours). Please inform the LISTSERV maintainer before any significant increase to the value of "Confirm-Delay=", particularly if your list is coded "Send= Editor,Hold" or "Send= Editor,Hold,Confirm", as the increased delay could cause a problem with disk space availability. Note that if you increase "Confirm-Delay=" to extend the holding period for postings, you also are increasing the period during which LISTSERV will hold subscription jobs requiring confirmation. See also Subscription=. ******************************************** * Default-Options= <option1>,<option2>,... * ******************************************** A "Default-Options" keyword is available to define initial personal options for new subscribers. The syntax is the same as for the SET command, except that options are separated by commas in the usual fashion. Default-Options does not affect existing subscribers. A typical Default-Options setting might be: * Default-Options=Nofiles,Norepro,Msg ***************************************** * Default-Topics= <topic1>,<topic2>,... * ***************************************** A "Default-Topics=" list header keyword is available to define the initial topics for new subscribers. The syntax is the same as for the SET command, except that topic names are separated by commas in the usual fashion and that the first topic may not start with a + or - sign (there is nothing to add to, as this is a new subscription). This is similar to "Default-Options=" in that it does not affect existing subscribers. Users who signed up before topics were enabled on the list are automatically subscribed to all topics. ***************************************************** * Subscription= By owner | Closed | Open [,Confirm] * ***************************************************** This keyword defines whether or not new users are allowed to subscribe to the list, and if not, whether their subscription requests are to be forwarded to the list owner or not. Open: The users are allowed to subscribe to the list. By owner: The users are not allowed to subscribe, but their requests will be forwarded to the list owner. This is the default. Closed: The users are not allowed to subscribe, and their requests are not to be forwarded to the list owner. One problem plaguing some mailing lists is one-way or non-repliable addresses. Most of the time this is due to a small number of faulty gateways, which one can just ban from the list until their maintainers address the problem. But sometimes the very topic of the list is bound to attract a large number of people connected through such gateways, and the amount of domains to filter out becomes unmanageable. This is particularly problematic when the gateway keeps quiet for a few days, and suddenly returns hundreds of delivery errors with a promise to keep doing so every day for another 6 days. This problem can be avoided by probing the return address before accepting the subscription. If the address cannot be replied to, only one delivery error will be bounced to the list owner (perhaps for several days, but there will be a single undeliverable message). With a gateway that waits 3 days before sending its first delivery error, however, there can be hundreds of messages "in the pipe" if the subscription is accepted directly. This probing is activated by specifying "Subscription= Open,Confirm" in the list header. When a user attempts to subscribe to the list, he is mailed a confirmation request with a randomly generated "confirmation code". The procedure for confirming the subscription is simple - you just reply to the message, type "OK", and send. If the return address does not work, the request will never be confirmed and the user will not be subscribed. And since the user cannot guess the confirmation code he will be assigned, he cannot "cheat" by sending the confirmation along with his request. The subscription request also expires after a certain amount of time, as determined by the "Confirm-Delay=" keyword (the default is 48h). ****************** * Other Keywords * ****************** ****************************************************** * Categories= <category1>,<category2>,...<categoryn> * ****************************************************** Note: the full list of categories may not be available when version 1.8c is released. Sets search categories for this list (by default, none are defined) for the CataList service (see Chapter 3.3 of the List Owner's Manual for details). For instance, you might have a list on the topic of great opera tenors of the 20th century, and want anyone searching the CataList based on certain topics to find your list. You might therefore code: * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera,Arts:Music:Opera:Singers * Categories= Arts:Music:Opera:Pavarotti and so forth. ******************** * Indent= <number> * ******************** Determines the minimum number of columns allowed for list addresses in response to the REVIEW command. The default is Indent= 40. ********************* * Language= <idiom> * ********************* Defines the language in which information mail and messages are to be sent to subscribers of the list. The postmaster must have provided the required data file (called idiom.MAILTPL, where idiom is the name of the language specified by this keyword) to the server. The default language is "English", of course. L-Soft does not provide non-English templates. *************************** * Limits= Sub(number),... * *************************** This keyword is available only with the ISP add-on, and may only be added or changed by the LISTSERV Maintainer. Defines specific limits for a list. Currently only the number of subscribers can be limited, e.g., * Limits= Sub(100) This keyword may only be added or changed by the LISTSERV postmaster, and the list creation password is required for the list PUT operation when the keyword is added or changed. The list owner may execute a PUT operation with this keyword defined in the header as long as the values for the keyword are not changed. ************************ * Long-Lines= Yes | No * ************************ Enables or disables "long-lines" support. This keyword was added to maintain compatibility with LISTEARN and will be removed in a future version of LISTSERV. The default is "Long-Lines= Yes". It is unlikely that this keyword will need to be set for any list. *********************** * Translate= Yes | No * *********************** Determines whether LISTSERV keeps or removes control characters from files which it distributes. "Translate= Yes" removes control characters; "Translate= No" keeps them. The default setting is "Translate= Yes". *********************************** * Default Values for all keywords * *********************************** Ack= No Auto-Delete= No if "Validate= Yes", Yes,Semi-Auto,Delay(4),Max(100) otherwise Categories= <none> Confidential= No Confirm-Delay= 48 Daily-Threshold= 50 Default-Options= <none> Default-Topics= <none> Digest= Yes,Daily,Same if "Notebook= Yes", No otherwise Editor= <none> Editor-Header= Yes Errors-To= Owners Exit= <none> Files= No Filter= <built-in> Indent= 40 Internet-Via= <none> Language= English List-Address= <none> (per LIST_ADDRESS system default) List-ID= <none> Local= <none> Long-Lines= Yes Loopcheck= Full Mail-Via= DISTRIBUTE Moderator= <none> (defaults to first Editor if "Editor=" is defined)) New-List= <none> Newsgroups= <none> NJE-Via= <none> Notebook= No,A,Single,Private Notebook-Header= Short Notify= Yes Owner= (This is a mandatory parameter which must be filled with at least one person's network address in userid@node or userid@fqdn format) Peers= <none> Prime= Yes PW= (randomly generated at list creation time if not specifically defined) Renewal= <none> Reply-To= List,Respect Review= Private Safe= Yes Send= Public Sender= List Service= * Sizelim= <none> Stats= Normal,Private Sub-lists= <none> Subscription= By Owner Topics= <none> Translate= Yes Validate= No X-Tags= Yes **************************************** * Appendix C: Sample Boilerplate Files * **************************************** So-called "boilerplate" files are handy for list owners who find themselves answering the same questions over and over again. Usually these questions refer to basic LISTSERV usage. You can save yourself a lot of time by keeping files on-line such as the ones below to cut and paste into replies. Feel free to edit these to suit your own tastes (or compose your own!). (Be sure to insert the appropriate list names and LISTSERV hosts as required.) C.1. Subscription requests sent to the list =========================================== LISTSERV subscription requests need to be sent to the LISTSERV address rather than to the list itself. You do this by sending mail to LISTSERV@host with the command SUB listname Your Name as the body of the message. If you are unfamiliar with LISTSERV and its associated commands, I suggest that you add the commands INFO GENINTRO INFO REFCARD as additional lines of your message. LISTSERV will then send you a file containing a General Introduction to Revised LISTSERV that will give you some instruction on the service and a Quick Reference Card of the various commands. Thanks for your interest. If you have trouble subscribing with this method, please let me know and I will attempt to help. [if you have Subscription= Open,Confirm you might want to add the following:] Because LISTSERV verifies mailing paths for new subscribers (a process not implemented when the list administrator adds people manually), it is preferred that users subscribe themselves by the method outlined above. C.2. User is sending other commands to the list, or to the *-request address for the list ==================================================================== On Sun, 20 Mar 1994 22:44:25 -0800 (PST) you said: >"INFO REFCARD" You need to redirect LISTSERV commands like the above (minus the double quotes by the way :)), to <listserv@host>. The *-request type addresses are for reaching the person that run the list. [another version:] You've sent mail that appears intended for a mailing list to one of the addresses used to reach the list owner. That is, rather than sending your mail to listname@host you've sent the note to OWNER-listname@host or listname-REQUEST@host. Please re-send the appended note to the list address if you haven't done so already. ----------- original message follows: C.3. User isn't subscribed but complains that he's getting mail anyway ====================================================================== [Use this one after you have done an exhaustive search of the list and determined that the person simply isn't on the list. Typically the user is subscribed to a redistribution list and doesn't realize it.] Unfortunately I can't unsubscribe you from listname because you aren't subscribed to listname@host. I have run a check to see if you might be subscribed under a slightly different network address and have not found anything. There are a few possibilities you should look into. Are you getting a digest? Are you perhaps getting a redistributed copy of postings, possibly from a redistribution list? If you look at the mail headers, and there is an indication that you may be getting the postings from another source, you will have to ask the people that run the other source to remove you from their list. C.3. User unsubscribed successfully but is still getting list mail ================================================================== I've done a search of listname for a possible duplicate subscription for you and have not found anything. It's possible that the mail you are receiving was actually sent from listname before your unsubscribe request was processed. Depending on the routing, it could take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours for all such messages to get through the network, so please be patient. C.4. Quoted replies from user's mail client includes message headers in the mail body, causing them to be bounced to the list owner ======================================================================= [If you forward such messages to the list, or back to the sender, you can add the following at the beginning. I ran across this one in the CBAY-L mailing list archives, and edited it slightly.] This message was sent to me from LISTSERV instead of the list. The original message included the entire message being replied to, including the mail headers. These headers in the body pointed to the list itself. LISTSERV has mail-loop avoidance code and when it sees headers that it thinks it generated itself, it bounces the message to the list owner. If your mail client does this, please remember to delete such "included header lines" from the body of your list replies. ------original message------ C.5. Asking a postmaster for help on a bounced address you've set to NOMAIL, with a cc: to the bounced address ==================================================================== Postmaster(s), Can you shed any light on the following error message? Please let me know what you find as I have removed the e-mail address from the mailing list in question and would like to restore service as soon as is feasible. Thanks. Aside to user: Should this note reach you (meaning that the mail delivery problems have been resolved), you can re-enable your mail service by sending mail to listserv@host with the command, SET listname MAIL C.6. You get a delivery error that doesn't specify which user account is causing the bounce ======================================================================== Postmaster, I received the appended mail delivery report from your system and need help isolating the e-mail address that is causing the error. That is, there are multiple recipients from your system on the list but the delivery error doesn't explicitly mention any of the users on the list. I'm including a list of subscribers from your system. If any of them are no longer valid, or aren't usable address for some other reason, please let me know. ---- list of e-mail address on the indicated list follows: C.7. You've set a user to DIGEST because of bouncing mail and the user is asking why he is now getting the digest ========================================================================= I received a mail delivery error for your address and issued a SET listname DIGEST on your behalf to minimize the number of bounce messages. I also sent a copy of the error I received to your postmaster (or the postmaster of the mail gateway that generated the error), asking for help. And since such delivery problems are often transient, I CC'd a copy of that note to your address, and included instructions for turning your mail back on. Apparently I didn't hear anything from your postmaster, or he/she said not to turn your mail back on until the problem was resolved. If they had responded and said the problem was resolved, I would have set you back to MAIL.. The other possibility is that I received a mail message indicating that there was some temporary problem with your account. In that case, for example if you had exceeded your disk quota and couldn't receive any new mail, I would not have bothered your postmaster. I have a different form letter that I send when that happens. Again it explains what has occurred and includes instructions for re-enabling your mailing list subscription. But I only send that one to the address the list member. Either way, whatever was wrong has been corrected, and you'd probably like to start receiving mail again. So, here's how you can restore your mail service. If you have any problems doing so, please let me know and I'll help. But since I don't know which of the three mail service options you had chosen before, I can't do it for you without guessing. You can re-enable your mail service by sending mail to listserv@host with one of the following commands - SET listname MAIL - SET listname DIGEST (if you want digest-format mail) - SET listname INDEX (if you want digest-index-format mail) in the *body* of the mail message. Please note that these settings are mutually exclusive, you can't choose more than one. :) ************************************************* * Appendix D: Related Documentation and Support * ************************************************* D.1. Official L-Soft Documentation ================================== Subscribers to LISTSERV mailing lists will find answers to many of their questions in the User's Guide to LISTSERV Version 1.8c. This new manual has replaced the old "NSC93" document originally written for LISTSERV 1.8a. LISTSERV maintainers will be interested in the Site Manager’s Operations Manual for LISTSERV 1.8c. All of L-Soft's manuals for LISTSERV are available in ascii-text format via LISTSERV and in popular word-processing formats via ftp.lsoft.com. They are also available on the World Wide Web at the following URL: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/index.html L-Soft invites comment on its manuals. Please feel free to send your comments via e-mail to MANUALS@LSOFT.COM. D.2. User-Created Documentation =============================== LISTSERV began as a non-commercial product, with fairly-complete but terse documentation. Over time, list owners and LISTSERV maintainers found that it was necessary to amplify some of the documentation, and wrote their own manuals. Some of these manuals, while they may be dated, are still of value and are still available. D.2.1 LSVOWNER package available from UBVM ------------------------------------------ The LSVOWNER package contains some handy LISTSERV List Owner files created by Jim Gerland, gerland@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu. To have LISTSERV send you the files, send a GET LSVOWNER PACKAGE command to LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU. Here are the files currently (13 December 1996) available: LSVOWNER READY LSVOWNER ('Your List is Ready' blurb) LSVOWNER WELCOME LSVOWNER ('Welcome to this list' blurb) LSVOWNER TXT LSVOWNER (Generic List Owner Instructions) LSVOWNER NEW-LIST LSVOWNER (New List Announcement blurb) LSVOWNER GATEWAY LSVOWNER (USENET News Gateway blurb) LSVOWNER HEADERS LSVOWNER (List header instructins) LSVOWNER FIL-LIST LSVOWNER (FILELIST instructions) Jim adds: "You can subscribe to the package by sending an AFD ADD LSVOWNER PACKAGE command. You will then receive a new version of the filelist as updates are received by the server, with only the updated files being sent to you. You can also subscribe to File Update Information notices for the package by sending a FUI ADD LSVOWNER PACKAGE command." D.2.2. LISTSERV TIPS -------------------- LISTSERV TIPS is a document with the formal title "List Management Tips for LISTSERV Postmasters and List Owners". It was compiled in 1991 by Lisa Covi. LISTSERV TIPS can be retrieved from the LISTSERV hosts at SEARN and UBVM (among others) with the usual GET command. The basic document has never been updated and is very BITNET-oriented, but is still quite useful as a basic information source on running a list. To view LISTSERV TIPS on the World Wide Web, see Holly Stowe's LISTSERV FAQ at http://www.iupui.edu/it/lstsrv/listserv.html You can also go directly to LISTSERV TIPS at http://www.iupui.edu/it/lstsrv/listserv_tips.html D.2.3. FSV GUIDE ---------------- FSV GUIDE (formal title: "Setting Up the LISTSERV File Server -- A Beginner's Guide") is really aimed at LISTSERV maintainers, but it is a handy guide for list owners who have filelists on VM systems as well. Ben Chi (bec@albany.edu) is the author of this fine document about the VM LISTSERV file server system. You can get a copy from LISTSERV@ALBANY.EDU. D.2.4. NetNews Gatewaying (See also Chapter 10) ----------------------------------------------- The following files are available from LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU (and also by anonymous ftp to american.edu (cd netnews)) relating to the NetNews gatewaying service there. NETGATE POLICY Procedure for Establishing a Gateway NETGATE GATELIST List of Gatewayed LISTSERV Lists NETGATE MODLIST Similar to news.admin Post You can subscribe to the package by sending an AFD ADD NETGATE PACKAGE command. You will then receive a new version of the file as updates are received by the server, with only the updated files being sent to you. You can also subscribe to File Update Information notices for the package by sending a FUI ADD NETGATE PACKAGE command. ******************************* * Appendix E: Acknowledgments * ******************************* Acknowledgments Over the years, a number of people have written valuable documentation of the LISTSERV product. This documentation was constantly consulted by this writer in the course of producing L-Soft's official manuals. In no particular order, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Lisa Covi, Ben Chi, Jim Gerland, Marty Hoag, and (of course) Eric Thomas in producing the basis for this work. Thanks also go to John Harlan for helping me get my start in owning lists. I wouldn't be writing this today without his initial willingness to assist me. And I promised myself that I wouldn't forget to mention Pete Weiss. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Pete! Another invaluable source of information was list owner discussion lists. Heavy use was made of the archives from LSTOWN-L@SEARN in particular. Thanks to the subscribers there who probably know LISTSERV better than anyone alive, aside from Eric. Thanks also to Susan Lowell, Elena Nolen and Jim Jones of L-Soft for reading and making valuable comments on several drafts of the original release. --Nathan Brindle (nathan@lsoft.com) Acknowledgements for the 1.8c release Over a year has passed, and quite a number of people have been involved in helping debug the original manual (which eventually reached a third major revision not long ago) and feed me ideas for the 1.8c manual. I'm sorry to say that I've not kept a list of everyone involved, but suffice it to say that if you sent me a comment, it was read and often implemented. So, thanks to our customers and users for their most valuable input. Thanks also once again to people at L-Soft (Elena Hammond, Amy Farley, and of course Eric Thomas in particular) for their help during this process. Keep those cards and letters coming! (But please, no virtual bouquets...:) --Nathan Brindle (nathan@lsoft.com) Revisions: 961212-003 Initial Release of 1.8c List Owner's Manual. 970122-001 Added L-Lite CATALOG warning to 8.4. 970122-002 Added L-Lite MAILTPL warning to 9.4. 970122-003 Added L-Lite warnings to 4.10, 5.3.9, 5.3.10, 5.3.11, 5.3.12, 6.4, 6.7, and 7.3 for various functions and commands not available under LISTSERV Lite. 970209-001 Corrected syntax of REVIEW listname WITH TOPICS: in 5.1. 970209-002 Added example showing use of PW= in a GET command, in 2.6. 970209-003 Added a new error type to 4.5.2. 970209-004 Added a note to "Send=" in Appendix B to the effect that only one access-level is allowed with the keyword. 970227-001 Added "Keywords Disabled in LISTSERV Lite" blurb to Appendix B. 970227-002 Rewrote 2.6 so that it is now clear that you should always use the (HEADER switch for a GET. 970227-003 Clarified difference between "templates" and "template forms" in chapter 9. 970311-001 Changed reference from VM1.NODAK.EDU to LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU in 3.5. 970319-001 "Service=" default (in Appendix B) is "Service= *", not "Service= Local". 970319-002 Added note that super-lists and their associated sub-lists must reside on the same server ("Sub-lists=" in Appendix B). 970404-001 Added clarifying note to "Prime=" in Appendix B to the effect that "prime time" is time during which the server does NOT process mail. 970404-002 Added 2.3.1 "Naming Conventions". 970404-003 Revision 1 released. 970407-001 Added 2.13 "How to set up lists for specific purposes". 970604-001 Updated reproduction/copyright notice. 970718-001 Under Sizelim= in Appendix B, noted that the number of lines includes all Internet header lines. 970728-001 Added note to "List-ID=" in Appendix C about using List-ID= with NT servers running SMTPL. 970731-001 In 4.8 and in Appendix B (under "Renewal="), clarified that subscription renewal is disabled by default. 970811-001 In 6.6 and in Appendix B (under "Confirm-Delay="), explained how to increase the time-out period before LISTSERV deletes postings to moderated lists coded "Send= Editor,Hold" or "Send= Editor,Hold,Confirm". 970818-001 In Appendix B under "Errors-To=", the correct default is "Owners", not "Postmaster". 970820-001 Revision 2 released.