MAP02: LISTSERV FILE SERVER COMMANDS "Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius" -- Benjamin Disraeli Remember when you subscribed to the Roadmap list? You sent an e-mail letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU which said SUBSCRIBE ROADMAP YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME in the body of your letter. Well, the SUBSCRIBE command SUBSCRIBE listname < full name > is just one of dozens of LISTSERV commands that you can use by sending an e-mail letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU (or to any other LISTSERV address) with a command in the body of your letter! First off, what is a LISTSERV? Well, a LISTSERV is a mailing list program designed to copy and distribute electronic mail to everyone subscribed to a particular mailing list. We will talk much more about LISTSERVs and LISTSERV commands next week, but LISTSERVs work on a concept called "mail explosion." A single piece of e-mail is sent to a central address (the LISTSERV's address), and the LISTSERV then "explodes" the letter by duplicating that single letter and sending one copy of that letter to every single person subscribed to a particular mailing list (1). This "mail explosion" concept is what allows me to communicate with all of you with just a single e-mail letter sent to a central address. What we are going to talk about today, however, is the LISTSERV file server. In an effort to keep this group's mail volume to a minimum, I've placed many of the "optional" workshop files on the University of Alabama's LISTSERV file server. What is a LISTSERV file server? Well, besides distributing letters, LISTSERVs can also serve as a "library" of files -- files that YOU can retrieve using nothing but a simple e-mail letter sent to the LISTSERV's address with a few simple commands in the body of that letter. When you subscribed to the Roadmap list, you mailed an e-mail letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU with this command in the body of your letter: SUBSCRIBE list-name < full name > To get files from the University of Alabama's LISTSERV file server, you are going to send another letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU with a NEW command in the body of your letter: GET filename filetype F=format Now that may look a little intimidating, but you are about to see that the GET command is as easy to use as the SUBSCRIBE command. Let's break the GET command down into its individual parts: GET tells the LISTSERV that you want it to send a file to you. filename filetype tells the LISTSERV the name of the file that want it to get (for example: COPY NOTICE, ROADMAP 94-00001, RFC 1462, etc.). F=format tells the LISTSERV how you want the file sent to you. For what we are doing, lets use F=MAIL (that way the LISTSERV will e-mail the files to you). Now suppose I tell you that there is a file on the LISTSERV file server at the University of Alabama called COPY NOTICE. What do you have to do to retrieve this file? Well ... 1) Address an e-mail letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU (remember, you are about to send a command, and all commands must be sent to the LISTSERV address). 2) In the body of your letter type GET COPY NOTICE F=MAIL How about if I told you there was a file on the LISTSERV file server at the University of Alabama called RFC 1462? Well, again you would send an e-mail letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU, but this time the body of the letter would say GET RFC 1462 F=MAIL Think you can handle this? I hope so ... because this is your first homework assignment (eeeeek!). There are three files on the LISTSERV file server at the University of Alabama (LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU). Those files are: filename filetype description COPY NOTICE The Copyright notice for the entire Roadmap workshop, along with the workshop's acknowledgments. NET INTRO My own special explanation of what the Internet is and how it works RFC 1462 The OFFICIAL "What is the Internet" RFC/FYI by Krol and Hoffman (this is kind of advanced stuff). What I want you to do is use the GET command to get at least one of these files (you can get more than one if you want). What do I want you to do with the file after you get it? READ IT!! (As I said yesterday, PLEASE do not send the files back to me -- my mailer can not handle the volume of your responses). That's your homework. Have a GREAT weekend!! IMPORTANT NOTE: You must write a *NEW* letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU for your GET commands to work. Replying to this letter will *NOT* work! ----- What if the GET doesn't work? First, realize that it may take several hours for the LISTSERV to process your request and send the file back to you (hence the "patience" quote at the opening of today's lesson). 25,000 requests, even at one second per request, is going to take a LONG time to process! If, after an incredible amount of time has passed, you have not heard back from the LISTSERV, double check that you used the correct address: LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU (that's "you-ay-won-vee-em"). Second, make sure the GET command is in the BODY of your letter. Finally, make sure that you have included all of the parts of the GET command (GET filename filetype f=format). If, after all of this, the command still does not work, talk with your local Internet service provider (do NOT write to me). Chances are, the problem is that your mail program is putting the wrong return address onto your letters. This is a local problem, and your local Internet service provider should be able to give you some suggestions. (Again, do NOT write to me!) Have fun :) SOURCES: (1) LISTSERV User Guide, EARN Association, July 21, 1993 PATRICK DOUGLAS CRISPEN THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS LETTER DO NOT PCRISPE1@UA1VM.UA.EDU NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF THE THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA - TUSCALOOSA ROADMAP: COPYRIGHT PATRICK CRISPEN 1994. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.