---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mailing lists on this system are implemented using the MAILSERV facility of PMDF. This file lists the commands available with MAILSERV. To send one or more commands to MAILSERV, send a message to list-name-request@vsm.com.au where 'list-name' is the name of the mailing list you are interested in. The MAILSERV commands are specified in the body of the mail message; the message's Subject line will be ignored. It is recommended that the last command in the message be END (this instructs MAILSERV to ignore any signature file which might get appended to your message). To get a listing of the available lists on this system, use the MAILSERV command: LISTS. The rest of this file is some documentation on the MAILSERV commands. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PMDF MAILSERV V5.0 HELP The PMDF MAILSERV facility is a mail server available to all sites running PMDF. This file briefly describes the commands this mailserver implements. Currently the following commands are available: DIRECTORY - Sends a list of the file or files that match a given file specification. This command is basically the same as the SEND command below, except that it sends a list of the files that match rather than the contents of the file. For example, the command DIRECTORY [*...]*.PAS will produce a listing of all files with a .PAS extension (i.e. Pascal source files) available from the server. DIRECTORY/LIST - Sends a list of a specified subset of mailing lists this server provides access to. This command takes a single parameter that specifies a pattern to match the names of the mailing lists against. The pattern can contain wildcards. For example, the command DIRECTORY/LIST *A* will list the names of all lists containing the letter A. ENCODING - Establishes an encoding to be applied to files before they are sent. Encoding makes it possible to send binary files via mail. The single parameter specifies the encoding to use. Available encodings include MIME-compliant BASE64 and QUOTED_PRINTABLE, as well as UUENCODE and HEXADECIMAL. The manager of the mail server can establish default encodings to apply to certain types of files. This command will override such specifications if they have been made. END - Terminates MAILSERV processing; subsequent message contents are ignored. This command is useful when signatures are automatically appended to messages that will cause errors if MAILSERV sees them. EXIT - Same as END FINISH - Same as END HELP - Sends a help file (usually this file). This command takes no parameters. INDEX - Sends an index of all files currently available on the MAILSERVer. This command takes no parameters. INFO - Sends a help file. This command is the same as HELP and takes no parameters. LISTS - Sends a file containing a list of the mailing lists maintained by this server. The file normally includes an explanation of what each list is for. This command takes no parameters. MAXIMUM - Specifies the maximum amount of material that can be sent in a single message. The mail server will automatically send files in multiple messages. The format of these fragments is MIME-compliant. Maximum sizes can be specified in blocks, bytes, or lines. For example: MAXIMUM BLOCKS 10 MAXIMUM BYTES 64000 MAXIMUM LINES 256 A block is normally 512 bytes. Restrictions on total bytes and total lines can be active simultaneously. MODE - Specifies the mode used to read files subsequently processed by the SEND command. The mode can be TEXT, BLOCK, RECORD, or RECORD-ATTRIBUTE. TEXT mode is used to sent plain text files. BLOCK mode processes files without regard to their record structure, and is useful for transferring files with no interpretation of their contents. RECORD mode reads the file as a series of records and concatenates them to form the output. RECORD-ATTRIBUTE reads the file as a series of records and if the records attributes are appropriate it appends a specified terminator sequence to each record. For example, the command MODE "RECORD-ATTRIBUTE/\N" specifies RECORD-ATTRIBUTE mode with a line feed appends to each record. QUIT - Same as END SEND - Sends the requested file or files. You can specify a directory, filename, and file type when using the SEND command. Wildcards may be used to request multiple files. Some examples of valid send commands are (given that the files exist): SEND HELP.TXT SEND [RUSH]GEDDY.LEE SEND [DOC.V2.AFTER]TURN.THE_PAGE SEND [STUFF]*.FOR The SEND command takes two optional qualifiers, /ENCODING and /MODE. These qualifiers perform the same functions as the ENCODING and MODE commands, except that they only act on the command they are used with: SEND/MODE=BLOCK/ENCODING=UUENCODE [TEST]TEST.EXE SEND/LIST - sends the list of addressees on the requested mailing list. The name of the mailing list must be specified. Some examples of valid SEND/LIST commands are (given that the lists exist): SEND/LIST MAILSERV-L SEND/LIST PLAGUE_L (this is a real list!) STOP - Same as END SUBSCRIBE - subscribe to the specified mailing list. You specify the name of the mailing list. Some examples of valid SUBSCRIBE commands are (given that the lists exist): SUBSCRIBE MAILSERV-L SUBSCRIBE ALIFESON-L An optional second parameter, the address to subscribe, may be specified with these commands. UNSUBSCRIBE - unsubscribe to the specified mailing list. You specify the name of the mailing list. Some examples of value UNSUBSCRIBE commands are (given that the lists exist): UNSUBSCRIBE BOINK-L UNSUBSCRIBE POLICY-L An optional second parameter, the address to unsubscribe, may be specified with these commands.