List Management Commands

for L-Soft's LISTSERV 1.8b
listmgr@aol.net
July 15, 1996

Table of Contents

Introduction

This document contains a list of LISTSERV management commands with short descriptions and examples. It is written for owners of lists running on LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM, a service of America Online, Inc.. LISTSERV.AOL.COM runs LISTSERV 1.8b on a HP-UX system. For detailed info on these commands, please refer to the List Owner's Manual.

Conventions Used In This Document

Go Back

Other Important Information

LISTSERV's password always comes last. If any of the commands require a password, append PW=your-lsv-password to the end of the command; e.g.,

All the LISTSERV commands should be sent to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM via email.
For example:

should be sent to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM.

listmgr@aol.net welcomes your comments, suggestions, and feedback. Enjoy!

Go Back

ADD listname user full_name
Add a user to your list, or update a user's name
Example:

JSMITH@AOL.COM is added to the list MYTEST-L. Or JSMITH@AOL.COM's name on MYTEST-L has been changed to John Smith. LISTSERV will notify JSMITH@AOL.COM about the add or change.

QUIET ADD listname user full_name
QUIET ADD is same as ADD except that the user will not be notified by LISTSERV when s/he is added to the list.
Example:

JSMITH@AOL.COM is added to the list MYTEST-L quietly. Or JSMITH@AOL.COM's name on MYTEST-L has been changed to John Smith quietly. LISTSERV will NOT notify JSMITH@AOL.COM about the add or change.

Go Back

DELete listname user
Remove a user from your list.
Example:

JSMITH@AOL.COM is deleted from the list MYTEST-L. LISTSERV will notify JSMITH@AOL.COM about the deletion.

Go Back

QUIET DELete listname user
QUIET DEL is same as DEL except that the user will not be notified by LISTSERV when s/he is deleted from the list.
Example:

JSMITH@AOL.COM is deleted from the list MYTEST-L quietly. LISTSERV will NOT notify JSMITH@AOL.COM about the deletion.

Go Back

FREE listname
Release a held list.
Example:

The list MYTEST-L is been released. All the MYTEST-L messages will be distributed to its subscribers.

Go Back

GET listname [(options]
Obtain a copy of a list. Options can be HEADER, NOLOCK, OLD. By default, LISTSERV locks the list when the "GET" command is processed successfully. LISTSERV will auto unlock the list when the "PUT" command is processed successfully.
Example:

LISTSERV sends the MYTEST-L (header and subscribers) to you and locks the list.

LISTSERV sends the MYTEST-L's header (not subscribers) to you and locks the list.

LISTSERV sends the MYTEST-L's header (not subscribers) to you and does not lock the list.

LISTSERV always stores two copies of the list. One is the current version, the other copy is one version before the current. With option "OLD", LISTSERV restores the old version of the list.

Go Back

GET listname filename
In addition to "GET" list, owners can customize list's WELCOME, FAREWELL, and MAILTPL files by using the "GET" and "PUT" commands.
Example:

Note: There is no default WELCOME or FAREWELL file so owners must create them first by "PUT listname WELCOME" or "PUT listname FAREWELL". Section 6 of the "List Owner's Manual" has detail on customizing the WELCOME and FAREWELL files.

To customize the MAILTPL file, first retrieve the DEFAULT MAILTPL by the "GET DEFAULT MAILTPL" command. After editing the DEFAULT MAILTPL, insert

line as the first line in DEFAULT MAILTPL. Email the template to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM. Section 9 of the "List Owner's Manual" has details on customizing the MAILTPL file.

Go Back

HOLD listname
Hold a list, preventing new postings from being processed.
Example:

The list MYTEST-L is been held. All the MYTEST-L messages will be queued and NOT distributed to its subscribers.

Go Back

PUT listname LIST
PUT an updated list or list header back to LISTSERV.
Example:

Putting updated MYTEST-L's header back to LISTSERV. Note, following the PUT line, is a complete list header (not just updated keywords).

Go Back

PUT listname filename
Like GET, PUT can be used to replace files; e.g., WELCOME, FAREWELL and MAILTPL.
Example:

PUT MYTEST-L WELCOME PW=XYZ
WELCOME to MYTEST-L list. This is John Smith's test list. This is not a
discussion list. To sign off the list, email to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
with the following message in text:

The above example replaces an old MYTEST WELCOME file with the one above.

Go Back

Query listname [WITH options] FOR user
Query the subscription options of another user. Wildcards are supported. Valid options are:

Examples:

returns a list of all the conceal subscribers on MYTEST-L list.

returns a list of all the conceal and receive no mail subscribers on MYTEST-L list.

returns a list of all the lists that JSMITH@AOL.COM subscribed on with the subscription options on it.

Go Back

SET listname options [FOR user]
Allows list owner to set subscription options for list subscribers. Valid options are:

For a description on each options, Section 5 ofList Owner's Manual has the detail.
Example:

This example sets option REPRO for subscriber JSMITH@AOL.COM.

Go Back

QUIET SET listname options [FOR user]
QUIET SET is same as the SET except LISTSERV will NOT notify the subscriber about the option change.
Example:

quietly sets REPRO options on list MYTEST-L for JSMITH@AOL.COM. LISTSERV will not notify JSMITH@AOL.COM about the change.

Go Back

UNLOCK listname
A list is locked by LISTSERV when owner uses the "GET" command to get the list or list header with no "NOLOCK" option. When a list is locked, all the list specific commands (i.e., SET, SUB, UNSUB, ADD, DEL) are queued for a later processing. This is the way to keep the list file in sync. The list will be auto unlocked when the "PUT" command is processed or the owner can issue the "UNLOCK" command to unlock the list if s/he doesn't want to put the updated version of the list/list header to the server.
Example:

LISTSERV unlocks list MYTEST-L so all the queued list related commands (SUB, UNSUB, ADD, DEL, SET) will be processed.

Go Back
© Copyright 1996 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Send comments to listmgr@aol.net.