Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 14:59:24 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Autoshare poll

Did you already close the poll?   I didn't get a chance to vote.  :/


<< start of forwarded material >>


Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 23:01:38 +0100
From: poll at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk
Subject: Autoshare poll
To: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Precedence: bulk

Hello, voter!

Your subject field does not reflect any particular topic. Please
resend your message with a proper topic in the subject field and
a key word as the first word in the body.

Current topics are:

list size
=========
Place the text above in the subject of your message. In the body, state the
maximum size of AutoShare list you run - to the nearest hundred (in figures,
without punctuation or spaces - e.g. 200 or 500 or 5000).

Configuration
=============
Place the text above in the subject of your message. In the body, put 'Admin',
'AppleScript' or 'STR#'.


The poll message is found below.

---
Sorry. The subject (Autoshare poll) is not active.
---

Your original message is found below.

---
Received: from camelot.lmms.lmco.com (129.197.20.7) by frutiger.staffs.ac.uk
 with ESMTP (Eudora Internet Mail Server 2.0a7); Fri, 22 Aug 1997 22:45:55
 +0100
Received: from [129.197.20.7] by camelot.lmms.lmco.com with
 ESMTP (Eudora Internet Mail Server 1.1.2); Fri, 22 Aug 1997 14:40:38 -0700
X-Sender: admin at camelot.lmms.lmco dot com
Message-Id: <l03010d03b023b7be9c1b at [129.197.20 dot 7]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 14:40:35 -0700
To: poll at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Autoshare poll

Admin: choose this one, if you most often use the AutoShare Admin


Bill Catambay....................... mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com
Lockheed Martin, EIS................ ph:408.742.1000

Software Developer, Electronics Manufacturing
http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON

Webmaster, Map Maker
http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central
http://www.catambay.com/morgana


---

This message has been returned to you by AutoShare, an AIMS utility.

<< end of forwarded material >>


Bill Catambay....................... mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com
Lockheed Martin, EIS................ ph:408.742.1000

Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker
http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON
http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central
http://www.catambay.com/morgana



Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 16:43:27 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Auto-reply to wrong sender

At 14:37 -0700 22/8/1997, Camelot Postmaster wrote:

>At 1:17 AM -0700 on 8/19/97, Michael Ross wrote:
>
>> >
>> >The only way for AutoShare to detect a Eudora redirect is to search the RFC
>> >From field body for the string "(by way of " and if found use the RFC From.
>> >How does that strike you? This solution btw requires absolutely no extra
>> >typing in any docs or redirected mails. And no extra configuration.
>>
>> Sounds great! (If it's not too kludgy for you...)
>>
>
>Guess that means I should stop deleting the "(by way of..." text when I
>redirect then.   ;)

When redirecting to auto-response accounts like Michael does it, yes. It
does not affect when approving list contributions for announcement or
moderated lists. I have sent him a test version to see if it works.



Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 16:56:30 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Autoshare poll

At 14:59 -0700 22/8/1997, Camelot Postmaster wrote:

>Did you already close the poll?   I didn't get a chance to vote.  :/

>Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 23:01:38 +0100
>From: poll at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk
>Subject: Autoshare poll
>To: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
>MIME-version: 1.0
>Precedence: bulk
>
>Hello, voter!
>
>Your subject field does not reflect any particular topic. Please
>resend your message with a proper topic in the subject field and
>a key word as the first word in the body.

The subject field should be the word Configuration.



Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 00:53:51 +0100
From: james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk (James Berriman)
Subject: configuration poll update

Here's the result of our poll so far!

--- begin forwarded text

The poll status is found below.

---
You have received the poll status 4 times

Admin                  8  ****************************************
AppleScript            2  **********
STR#                   1  *****

3 selections          11 votes, the top selection got 8 votes
---

--- end forwarded text

( :-])  James



Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 00:59:42 +0100
From: james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk (James Berriman)
Subject: Re: Autoshare poll

At 10:59 pm 22/8/97, Camelot Postmaster wrote:
>Did you already close the poll?   I didn't get a chance to vote.  :/

Bill said:

>Subject: Autoshare poll

The instructions said:

>Configuration
>=============
>Place the text above in the subject of your message. In the body, put 'Admin',
>'AppleScript' or 'STR#'.

Perhaps it wasn't clear that "the text above" refers to the string
"Configuration" ;-)

I've been reading 'Tog on interface' lately and learning that there's
nothing like user testing to show up the shortcomings of your lovingly
crafted instructions!

Yes, you can still vote. Pile in there, people!

Incidentally, the "list size" poll is still active. Please tell us how big
yours is!

( :-])  James



Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 14:22:01 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Eudora question...

First of all, I apologize if this is the wrong list for Eudora questions.
If there is a separate list for Eudora, please inform.

I'm having a problem with Eudora Light 3.1 on my mac, and it existed with
3.0 as well.   Everytime I use the Extra Settings plug-in to activate the
Attributions settings, the subject line gets truncated on all of my
outgoing messages.  Does anyone know what causes this?  I don't seem to
have this problem on my other computer, but cannot see any difference
between the two.  I'm also unable to get the Forward options set the way I
want.  Is there a more efficient and useful plug-in to use?  If so, where
can I get it?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 16:20:03 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Eudora question...

At 14:22 -0700 25/8/1997, Camelot Postmaster wrote:

>First of all, I apologize if this is the wrong list for Eudora questions.
>If there is a separate list for Eudora, please inform.

Strangely enough, I don't think there is, but there's a newsgroup:

	comp.mail.eudora.mac

There are also some web sites, e.g.

<http://www.amherst.edu/~atstarr/eudora/> by Andrew Starr
<http://www.amherst.edu/~atstarr/eudora/faq.html> by Hank Zimmerman



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 08:21:05 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Question about Archives...

Hello,

I currently have my archive files setup for HTML, but I have not been able
to figure out how to have the table of contents inserted automatically into
the .html file.  Currently, two files are created: one with the actual
posts, and the other with the table of contents (with hyperlinks and all).
I don't understand why they are separate in the first place.  What I've
been doing is manually splicing them together. There has to be an easier
more automated way, yes?

Bill


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 08:23:57 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Question about Auto-confirmations...

I'd like to setup my mailing list such that when a subscription is sent,
the listserver automatically require a confirmation, and not subscribe the
person until the confirmation is received.  Is this possible with
Autoshare?  If so, is it documented?  If so, where?   :)

Thanks!

BTW, have you guys considered announcing your poll to the MacWay list.
This would also be a good way to spread the word about Autoshare.  It
really is one of the best freeware products available for the Mac.

Bill

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 11:09:23 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Automating subscriptions from CGI

One more question... I'm trying to automate the subscription process using
CGI scripts and our UNIX mail server, but no matter what I put in the
header, I cannot get Autoshare to send the response to the proper e-mail
address.  It performs the command on the proper e-mail address, but sends
the response to nobody@<unix-server>.  I've put in Reply-To:, From:,
Sender:, and X-Sender:.  Is there some other tag I can use to get Autoshare
to respond back to the designated e-mail?

Bill

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 21:03:27 +0100
From: james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk (James Berriman)
Subject: Re: Question about Archives...

At 4:21 pm 26/8/97, Camelot Postmaster wrote:
>Hello,
>
>I currently have my archive files setup for HTML, but I have not been able
>to figure out how to have the table of contents inserted automatically into
>the .html file.  Currently, two files are created: one with the actual
>posts, and the other with the table of contents (with hyperlinks and all).
>I don't understand why they are separate in the first place.  What I've
>been doing is manually splicing them together. There has to be an easier
>more automated way, yes?
>
>Bill

Those are your email archives, which are automatically 'spliced' together
(it's a bit more complicated than that) when you send a 'get' command to
AutoShare. It sounds like you have made your email archive folder
accessible via the web.

Web and email archives are actually stored separately. Your Web archives
should appear fully formed in the relevant directory (as specified in your
list settings).

( :-])  James



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 21:03:33 +0100
From: james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk (James Berriman)
Subject: Re: Question about Auto-confirmations...

Bill said:

>I'd like to setup my mailing list such that when a subscription is sent,
>the listserver automatically require a confirmation, and not subscribe the
>person until the confirmation is received.  Is this possible with
>Autoshare?  If so, is it documented?  If so, where?   :)
>
>Thanks!

Fire up the admin.
Choose lists... from the configuration menu.
Double click on a list name.
Turn on balloon help and place your cursor over the 'mail-back:' item for
an explanation.

While you're at it, you could set up a Web path for your web archives too.

For more on mail-back confirmation, go here:
<http://www.dnai.com/~meh/autoshare/addendum/index.html#mailback>.


( :-])  James



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 21:32:27 +0100
From: james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk (James Berriman)
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 7:09 pm 26/8/97, Camelot Postmaster wrote:
>One more question... I'm trying to automate the subscription process using
>CGI scripts and our UNIX mail server, but no matter what I put in the
>header, I cannot get Autoshare to send the response to the proper e-mail
>address.  It performs the command on the proper e-mail address, but sends
>the response to nobody@<unix-server>.  I've put in Reply-To:, From:,
>Sender:, and X-Sender:.  Is there some other tag I can use to get Autoshare
>to respond back to the designated e-mail?

Are you using a remote admin message or creating a subscribe message from
the user's address?

Sounds like you're doing the former and AutoShare is replying to the
envelope sender (which is your CGI masquerading as nobody@unix-server). Not
sure how you would go about setting the envelope address with a unix CGI.
Anyone?

Provided you have AutoShare set to use the rfc-from, then creating a
straightforward subscribe message with the user's From: address ought to
work.

It occurs to me that this could cause problems when the subscriber alias
feature is turned on. In other words, many list subscribers whose
subscriber alias is nobody@unix-server.

Mikael, what do you think?

( :-])  James



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 14:49:42 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: AutoShare 1.4b7

Hello all

AutoShare 1.4b7 is available from

	<ftp://ftp.dnai.com/users/m/meh/AutoShare/Beta/>

The big deal this time is the completed support for the default/override
values of boolean (on/off) types of list-specific settings in AppleScript
and the Admin. While it may not look like much, it took lots and lots of
work and as such requires solid beta testing! From the Addendum:

"Many lists frequently share the same settings, which conveniently may be
configured on the general level (a list-specific setting defaults to a
general setting), whereas truly list-specific settings may be configured on
a list level (a list-specific setting overrides a general setting)."

Little things:
-a few betas back, a bug snug in making reviews in particular take a
   good while to process; has been fixed
-the web form issue with the additional initial blank space is fixed
-did the "by way of" check for redirecting to an auto-response account
-if a poll service has been configured with pre-defined key strings
   and you have already voted, it is no longer a requirement to enter
   a valid key string in order to get the poll data
-various new general speed improvements have been implemented
-a dynamic server clock count has been added to the Admin

Rotating banners? Simply put your banner text files in a folder and replace
your regular header and/or footer file with a Finder alias to the folder.
AutoShare will then randomly select the banner(s) each time a list
contribution or a digest are processed.

--
Mikael Hansen <mailto:meh at dnai.com> <http://www.dnai dot com/~meh/autoshare/>



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 15:41:35 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Re: Question about Archives...

At 9:03 PM +0100 on 8/26/97, James Berriman wrote:


> At 4:21 pm 26/8/97, Camelot Postmaster wrote:
> >Hello,
> >
> >I currently have my archive files setup for HTML, but I have not been able
> >to figure out how to have the table of contents inserted automatically into
> >the .html file.  Currently, two files are created: one with the actual
> >posts, and the other with the table of contents (with hyperlinks and all).
> >I don't understand why they are separate in the first place.  What I've
> >been doing is manually splicing them together. There has to be an easier
> >more automated way, yes?
> >
> >Bill
>
> Those are your email archives, which are automatically 'spliced' together
> (it's a bit more complicated than that) when you send a 'get' command to
> AutoShare. It sounds like you have made your email archive folder
> accessible via the web.
>

That is correct... I made the archive folder web accessible.

> Web and email archives are actually stored separately. Your Web archives
> should appear fully formed in the relevant directory (as specified in your
> list settings).
>

Are you referring to the entry for "Web path" for the specific mailing
list?  That is currently blank, and I cannot find the fully formed archives
anywhere.  There is a folder called "Web Entry" in the Auto folder, but it
is empty.  Because Web path is blank, does that indicate that no web pages
have been created, or is there some default location that I can find them
at?

Bill

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 15:47:01 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 11:09 -0700 26/8/1997, Camelot Postmaster wrote:

>It performs the command on the proper e-mail address, but sends
>the response to nobody@<unix-server>.

I am assuming that you have your server configured to pick up subscriber
addresses from the envelope? Is that so?

It can't be a regular subscription request, as the address is the same
because it is picked up from the same location, most likely the envelope.
Unless of course your envelope address configured as nobody@<unix-server>.

But it can't be remote administration by e-mail either. Unless of course
your envelope address configured as nobody@<unix-server>.

All of the above is void if the Unix server or the CGI fiddles with the
envelope or the RFC headers. These things happen fairly often, which
doesn't make it any better though ;-)

The thing to do is to inspect the file in the Filed mail folder first. And
then inspect the file in the Incoming Mail folder. Doing this always tells
a lot about what is going on. And quickly. Furthermore for comparison, you
can inspect a file based on a mail sent directly from you with no CGI or
anything involved.

If the Unix server or the CGI indeed changes the subscriber address before
it gets to AutoShare, then I recommend that you talk with your Unix
administrator.



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 15:47:28 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 9:32 PM +0100 on 8/26/97, James Berriman wrote:


> At 7:09 pm 26/8/97, Camelot Postmaster wrote:
> >One more question... I'm trying to automate the subscription process using
> >CGI scripts and our UNIX mail server, but no matter what I put in the
> >header, I cannot get Autoshare to send the response to the proper e-mail
> >address.  It performs the command on the proper e-mail address, but sends
> >the response to nobody@<unix-server>.  I've put in Reply-To:, From:,
> >Sender:, and X-Sender:.  Is there some other tag I can use to get Autoshare
> >to respond back to the designated e-mail?
>
> Are you using a remote admin message or creating a subscribe message from
> the user's address?
>

I'm creating a subscribe message from the user's address.


> Provided you have AutoShare set to use the rfc-from, then creating a
> straightforward subscribe message with the user's From: address ought to
> work.
>
> It occurs to me that this could cause problems when the subscriber alias
> feature is turned on. In other words, many list subscribers whose
> subscriber alias is nobody@unix-server.
>

I have selected rfc-from option, and I do have subscriber aliases turned
on.  I have the CGI CC: the list command to another e-mail account so I can
see what Autoshare is seeing.  The From:, Reply-To:, Sender:, X-Sender: are
all set to the user's e-mail address, and I see no references to
nobody@unix-server at all in the header.  Yet, examining EIMS debug window,
Autoshare is replying to nobody@unix-server after receiving the list
command.  I cannot figure out where it is getting it.

Befuddled and confused,
Bill

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 16:12:25 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Question about Archives...

At 15:41 -0700 26/8/1997, Camelot Postmaster wrote:
>At 9:03 PM +0100 on 8/26/97, James Berriman wrote:

>> Web and email archives are actually stored separately. Your Web archives
>> should appear fully formed in the relevant directory (as specified in your
>> list settings).
>>
>
>Are you referring to the entry for "Web path" for the specific mailing
>list?  That is currently blank, and I cannot find the fully formed archives
>anywhere.  There is a folder called "Web Entry" in the Auto folder, but it
>is empty.  Because Web path is blank, does that indicate that no web pages
>have been created, or is there some default location that I can find them
>at?

Halfway quoting James from another context:

Fire up the admin.
Choose lists... from the configuration menu.
Double click on a list name.
Turn on balloon help and place your cursor over the 'Web Path:' item for
an explanation.

Future fully automatically spliced together web archives will become
available at the location of the path.

For more on web archives, go here:

  <http://www.dnai.com/~meh/autoshare/addendum/index.html#webarchives>



Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 23:01:30 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

>I have selected rfc-from option, and I do have subscriber aliases turned
>on.  I have the CGI CC: the list command to another e-mail account so I can
>see what Autoshare is seeing.  The From:, Reply-To:, Sender:, X-Sender: are
>all set to the user's e-mail address, and I see no references to
>nobody@unix-server at all in the header.  Yet, examining EIMS debug window,
>Autoshare is replying to nobody@unix-server after receiving the list
>command.  I cannot figure out where it is getting it.

It's coming from the envelope From_ address.  I see the same thing in
some tests I've been running.  If I turn on the use-RFC-from setting
in AutoShare, the correct address gets subscribed.  But I am not seeing
any reply message to that address.  I have to investigate further (I'm
not at my AutoShare Macintosh right now), but it appears to me that perhaps
AutoShare is using the From: address to put on the subscriber list, but
using the From_ address to send back the reply.  The lines below illustrate
this.  Although the To: address is set correctly (junkyard at primate.wisc dot edu
is the address I tried to subscribe with my CGI script), note the Received:
header, in particularly the "for..." line -- nobody at glis.primate.wisc dot edu
is who the CGI runs as.

>From postmaster at snake dot net Tue Aug 26 16:46:50 1997
>Received: from snake.net (muriqui.primate.wisc.edu [144.92.43.105])
>        by glis.primate.wisc.edu (8.8.7/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA25000
>        for <nobody at glis.primate.wisc dot edu>; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 14:46:47
>-0700 (PDT)
>Message-Id: <199708262146.OAA25000 at glis.primate.wisc dot edu>
>To: junkyard at primate.wisc dot edu
>From: autoshare at snake dot net (AutoShare Processor)
>Errors-To: postmaster at snake dot net (AutoShare bounces)
>Precedence: bulk
>Subject: sub northern-league Paul DuBois
>Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 16:45:06 -0500
>X-List-Software: AutoShare 1.4b6 by Mikael Hansen
>Status: R


It would be better (from my point of view at least, if the address that
was subscribed was used for both the envelope recipient and the To: header
of the reply message.  I realize that Michael said this in a recent message:

>If the Unix server or the CGI indeed changes the subscriber address before
>it gets to AutoShare, then I recommend that you talk with your Unix
>administrator.

I'm not sure it's so simple.  For one thing, I *am* the admin.  The issue
for me is that it's easy to generate a From: address in the message I generate
for sending to AutoShare.  And it's easy to turn on use-RFC-from in AutoShare.
But that doesn't help if AutoShare doesn't use it consistently (at least, I
*think* it's not being used consistently).  Because of the inconsistency, I'd
have to make my CGI generate the envelope From_.  With sendmail this can
sometimes be done using -f user@host on the sendmail command line.  (You'll
them see something like this in the message:

>X-Authentication-Warning: glis.primate.wisc.edu: nobody set sender to
	junkyard at primate.wisc dot edu using -f

But some sendmails don't like to change the envelope From_ unless you're
root.  That means the CGI needs to be setuid - not a good idea.

I remain curious.  Does AutoShare in fact use the envelope From_ for
sending the reply back even if use-RFC-from is set?  If so, why?  (That is,
why use one address in the envelope recipient and another in the To: header?)

--
Paul DuBois
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 01:22:32 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 15:47 -0700 26/8/1997, Mikael Hansen wrote:

>It can't be a regular subscription request, as the address is the same
>because it is picked up from the same location, most likely the envelope.

I meant to say that when AutoShare is configured as RFC From, the
subscriber address is the same as the RFC To in the returned mail.

At 23:01 -0500 26/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:

>it appears to me that perhaps AutoShare is using the From: address to put
>on the subscriber list, but using the From_ address to send back the reply.

That is correct. When AutoShare is configured to RFC From rather than
envelope, the original envelope sender is also here the new envelope
recipient. This is consistency!

>It would be better (from my point of view at least, if the address that
>was subscribed was used for both the envelope recipient and the To: header
>of the reply message.

What about the point of view of the original mail having no RFC From? Which
is not a required RFC header, as far as I can remember.

Rest assured: using the original envelope sender as the returned envelope
recipient is the way to do it properly. If some Unix server or CGI is
incorrectly altering the original envelope sender (don't forget that it can
screw up the RFC From too), then this is the place to look into.



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 08:02:59 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 1:22 AM -0700 on 8/27/97, Mikael Hansen wrote:


> At 15:47 -0700 26/8/1997, Mikael Hansen wrote:
>
> >It can't be a regular subscription request, as the address is the same
> >because it is picked up from the same location, most likely the envelope.
>
> I meant to say that when AutoShare is configured as RFC From, the
> subscriber address is the same as the RFC To in the returned mail.
>

When you say the RFC To in the returned mail, do you mean the address that
the reply is being sent back to?  If so, it isn't happening, because the
address in the RFC From _is_ being subscribed, but it is _not_ the address
that Autoshare is sending back a reply to.

> At 23:01 -0500 26/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:
>
> >it appears to me that perhaps AutoShare is using the From: address to put
> >on the subscriber list, but using the From_ address to send back the reply.
>
> That is correct. When AutoShare is configured to RFC From rather than
> envelope, the original envelope sender is also here the new envelope
> recipient. This is consistency!
>

I didn't quite understand that 2nd sentence; hence, I don't see the
consistency.  If Autoshare is configured to RFC From rather than envelope,
wouldn't consistency mean that it uses the RFC From for all actions?
Currently it is using the RFC From for the subscription, but returning
replies to the envelope sender.  That seems like inconsistency to me.  And,
apparently, I am unable to change the envelope sender from my CGI (sendmail
is not implemented on our UNIX box, so that currently isn't even an option
for me).

> >It would be better (from my point of view at least), if the address that
> >was subscribed was used for both the envelope recipient and the To: header
> >of the reply message.
>
> What about the point of view of the original mail having no RFC From? Which
> is not a required RFC header, as far as I can remember.
>

If RFC From is selected, and it couldn't find an RFC From, I would have no
problem with it defaulting back to the envelope sender.  However, I do
think it should use the RFC From if it can find it (when the list is
configured to use RFC From).

> Rest assured: using the original envelope sender as the returned envelope
> recipient is the way to do it properly. If some Unix server or CGI is
> incorrectly altering the original envelope sender (don't forget that it can
> screw up the RFC From too), then this is the place to look into.
>

The problem is not that the CGI or Unix server is altering the envelope
sender... the problem is that I am unable to alter the envelope sender; and
Autoshare is using it to send back replies.  I need Autoshare to send the
reply to the same address which is being subscribed (aka, RFC From), not to
the envelope sender.  The envelope sender is always going to be the
"nobody" process which is running the CGI script. Mail to that account goes
into oblivion.


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 10:26:49 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

>>It would be better (from my point of view at least, if the address that
>>was subscribed was used for both the envelope recipient and the To: header
>>of the reply message.
>
>What about the point of view of the original mail having no RFC From? Which
>is not a required RFC header, as far as I can remember.

Good question. I have two different replies:

1) There is a problem then anyway when RFC-From is turned on.  What does
AutoShare use for the subscriber address then?  Drop the message? Send an
error message back to the envelope From?  Use the envelope From_ for the
subscriber address?

(or)

2) How often does mail like this arrive?  Whenever I see stuff like that, it's
usually from spammers or other junk mailers.  So I'm not sure that really
matters.

>Rest assured: using the original envelope sender as the returned envelope
>recipient is the way to do it properly. If some Unix server or CGI is
>incorrectly altering the original envelope sender (don't forget that it can
>screw up the RFC From too), then this is the place to look into.

The problem here is that the envelope sender isn't being *altered*, it's
that the sender is supplied by default (by sendmail) as the user that the
CGI runs as. So, for instance, if you run sendmail like this...

    /usr/lib/sendmail -t <<EOF
    To: autoshare at some dot host
    From: address-to-be-subscribed

    subscribe mylist My Name
    EOF

...then the envelope From_ is supplied by sendmail and won't match the
header From: -- you have to go out of your want to get sendmail to use a
different
envelope From_, and as I mentioned earlier, some sendmails don't like to do
that unless you're running as root.  Not a good idea for a CGI in general.


I do see your point, I think.  But I still don't agree with it.  I'm hesitant
to suggest that this be another configuration option (like you need more work,
right? :-)), but it's probably at least reasonable to suppose that the
behavior be documented. (I'll contribute a paragraph or two if you like.)
My reading of
the "Subscriber addresses" section of the addendum doesn't lead me to
expect the actual behavior that AutoShare exhibits.

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 09:28:16 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 01:22 -0700 27/8/1997, Mikael Hansen wrote:

>At 23:01 -0500 26/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:
>
>>it appears to me that perhaps AutoShare is using the From: address to put
>>on the subscriber list, but using the From_ address to send back the reply.
>
>That is correct. When AutoShare is configured to RFC From rather than
>envelope, the original envelope sender is also here the new envelope
>recipient.

Let me support the above statement with a test that you can run on the
Apple list server system (lots of good new stuff there these days!).

Let's say that you have two regular user mail accounts a@b and c at d dot  a@b
sends a mail to c@d, who redirects the mail to the Apple list server
address at majordomo at public.lists.apple dot com with the word lists in the
body. We know that a Eudora redirect keeps a@b as the RFC From and puts c@d
in the envelope. The question is then: which address do you think that the
Apple list server will send the returned mail to? The original envelope
sender or the RFC From From?



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 09:47:01 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 08:02 -0700 27/8/1997, Camelot Postmaster wrote:

>> I meant to say that when AutoShare is configured as RFC From, the
>> subscriber address is the same as the RFC To in the returned mail.
>
>When you say the RFC To in the returned mail, do you mean the address that
>the reply is being sent back to?

No. The envelope recipient is the address used for the SMTP transport.

>> That is correct. When AutoShare is configured to RFC From rather than
>> envelope, the original envelope sender is also here the new envelope
>> recipient. This is consistency!
>
>I didn't quite understand that 2nd sentence; hence, I don't see the
>consistency.

The consistency is that when it comes to auto-responses including list
server requests, the returned mail is always sent to the original envelope
sender.

>The problem is not that the CGI or Unix server is altering the envelope
>sender... the problem is that I am unable to alter the envelope sender; and
>Autoshare is using it to send back replies.  I need Autoshare to send the
>reply to the same address which is being subscribed (aka, RFC From), not to
>the envelope sender.  The envelope sender is always going to be the
>"nobody" process which is running the CGI script. Mail to that account goes
>into oblivion.

The key issue is that when a list server receives a list server request,
then the envelope sender must reflect the subscriber, so that the returned
mail is sent to the subscriber. The envelope sender should never have
become nobody@ prior to the list server processing, and list server
software complying with the rules just can't do anything about it. The
solution must be applied to where the problem is. I'm sorry.



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 10:05:48 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 10:26 -0500 27/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:

>Good question. I have two different replies:
>
>1) There is a problem then anyway when RFC-From is turned on.  What does
>AutoShare use for the subscriber address then?  Drop the message? Send an
>error message back to the envelope From?  Use the envelope From_ for the
>subscriber address?

The last choice.

>The problem here is that the envelope sender isn't being *altered*, it's
>that the sender is supplied by default (by sendmail) as the user that the
>CGI runs as.

Exactly, which is why this sendmail is the cause of it all.

>it's probably at least reasonable to suppose that the behavior be documented.

I'll put it in the addendum. Thanks for bringing it up!



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 12:39:32 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

>At 01:22 -0700 27/8/1997, Mikael Hansen wrote:
>
>>At 23:01 -0500 26/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:
>>
>>>it appears to me that perhaps AutoShare is using the From: address to put
>>>on the subscriber list, but using the From_ address to send back the reply.
>>
>>That is correct. When AutoShare is configured to RFC From rather than
>>envelope, the original envelope sender is also here the new envelope
>>recipient.
>
>Let me support the above statement with a test that you can run on the
>Apple list server system (lots of good new stuff there these days!).
>
>Let's say that you have two regular user mail accounts a@b and c at d dot  a@b
>sends a mail to c@d, who redirects the mail to the Apple list server
>address at majordomo at public.lists.apple dot com with the word lists in the
>body. We know that a Eudora redirect keeps a@b as the RFC From and puts c@d
>in the envelope. The question is then: which address do you think that the
>Apple list server will send the returned mail to? The original envelope
>sender or the RFC From From?

The RFC From.  And it does.

Or, if I send a "subscribe listname" from a@b to c@d and c@d redirects
the message to majordomo at public.lists.apple dot com, the address that gets
subscribed is a@b AND the "you've been subscribed" reply is sent to a@b.

If I try a similar thing with AutoShare, the address that gets subscribed
is a@b, BUT the "you've been subscribed" reply is sent to c@d.  Which is
certainly not what I'd want.

I must be missing something about what your saying, because this result
seems to contradict the point I'd expect you to be making...

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 10:55:45 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 12:39 -0500 27/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:

>>Let's say that you have two regular user mail accounts a@b and c at d dot  a@b
>>sends a mail to c@d, who redirects the mail to the Apple list server
>>address at majordomo at public.lists.apple dot com with the word lists in the
>>body. We know that a Eudora redirect keeps a@b as the RFC From and puts c@d
>>in the envelope. The question is then: which address do you think that the
>>Apple list server will send the returned mail to? The original envelope
>>sender or the RFC From From?
>
>The RFC From.  And it does.

Not in my case. I tested it before I wrote the above, and the original
sender (a@b) received the return mail!



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 13:00:54 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

>The key issue is that when a list server receives a list server request,
>then the envelope sender must reflect the subscriber, so that the returned
>mail is sent to the subscriber.

I don't understand what the point of allowing a use-RFC-from option is then?

- If the envelope From_ and the header From: are the same, then there is no
difference between use-RFC-From and not using it.  Doesn't matter where you
get the address to subscribe and to send the reply, since it's the same in
both cases.
- If the envelope From_ and the header From: are different, then the point
of allowing use-RFC-From seems to be to allow a different address from that
which is present in the envelope From_.  But in that case the envelope
sender does not reflect the subscriber, nor does AutoShare reply to the
subscriber.


Sorry to be so obstinate about this, but I don't know where this "must
reflect the subscriber" requirement comes from.  Some external standard
that AutoShare follows?  Your own preference?


Here's another reason not to use the envelope.  If I send a subscribe for a
third party, they get subscribed, but *I* get the "you're subscribed"
response which contains instructions about using AutoShare lists.  The
person who subscribed (which is the one that needs to know such stuff) gets
nothing.

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 13:09:25 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

>At 12:39 -0500 27/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:
>
>>>Let's say that you have two regular user mail accounts a@b and c at d dot  a@b
>>>sends a mail to c@d, who redirects the mail to the Apple list server
>>>address at majordomo at public.lists.apple dot com with the word lists in the
>>>body. We know that a Eudora redirect keeps a@b as the RFC From and puts c@d
>>>in the envelope. The question is then: which address do you think that the
>>>Apple list server will send the returned mail to? The original envelope
>>>sender or the RFC From From?
>>
>>The RFC From.  And it does.
>
>Not in my case. I tested it before I wrote the above, and the original
>sender (a@b) received the return mail!

Of course.  a@b is the RFC From.


If you try this with AutoShare, the reply goes (incorrectly) to c@d.

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 11:05:15 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 9:47 AM -0700 on 8/27/97, Mikael Hansen wrote:

>
> >The problem is not that the CGI or Unix server is altering the envelope
> >sender... the problem is that I am unable to alter the envelope sender; and
> >Autoshare is using it to send back replies.  I need Autoshare to send the
> >reply to the same address which is being subscribed (aka, RFC From), not to
> >the envelope sender.  The envelope sender is always going to be the
> >"nobody" process which is running the CGI script. Mail to that account goes
> >into oblivion.
>
> The key issue is that when a list server receives a list server request,
> then the envelope sender must reflect the subscriber, so that the returned
> mail is sent to the subscriber. The envelope sender should never have
> become nobody@ prior to the list server processing, and list server
> software complying with the rules just can't do anything about it. The
> solution must be applied to where the problem is. I'm sorry.
>
>

The CGI runs from its own process on the Unix server, and it is the Unix
server process which actually sends the mail to the listserver.  I have
absolutely no way of changing the envelope sender, and the
nobody@unix-server is the proper envelope sender for that process.  The
subscriber e-mail address is simply text typed into the web page which I am
feeding to the CGI.

I think the biggest misunderstanding is that you don't think that the
envelope sender should have become nobody@unix-server.  That's actually not
true.  When a Unix account sends out mail, it is in the form
<account>@<unix-server>, and in the case of a CGI running off a web server,
the standard is that the account is "nobody" (i.e., the web server is not
an interactive account).  It certainly cannot be the e-mail address typed
on the web page (because you can type anything into the web page).

I've seen the CGI source for other subscription pages, and none of them
attempt to change the envelope sender.  They use Unix Mail or SendMail, and
just reset the RFC From with the e-mail address entered on the web page.
The listserver then performs an automated confirmation on that address.

I don't mean to butt heads on this, it's just that I currently have no
options that will work for me.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 13:23:35 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

>The CGI runs from its own process on the Unix server, and it is the Unix
>server process which actually sends the mail to the listserver.  I have
>absolutely no way of changing the envelope sender, and the
>nobody@unix-server is the proper envelope sender for that process.  The
>subscriber e-mail address is simply text typed into the web page which I am
>feeding to the CGI.

You said before that sendmail doesn't run on the machine in question, so
I'm curious:  How does the server process send the mail to the list server?

>I think the biggest misunderstanding is that you don't think that the
>envelope sender should have become nobody@unix-server.  That's actually not
>true.  When a Unix account sends out mail, it is in the form
><account>@<unix-server>, and in the case of a CGI running off a web server,
>the standard is that the account is "nobody" (i.e., the web server is not
>an interactive account).  It certainly cannot be the e-mail address typed
>on the web page (because you can type anything into the web page).
>
>I've seen the CGI source for other subscription pages, and none of them
>attempt to change the envelope sender.  They use Unix Mail or SendMail, and
>just reset the RFC From with the e-mail address entered on the web page.
>The listserver then performs an automated confirmation on that address.

It's possible to open a TCP connection to port 25 and send across your own
envelope, in which case you can write whatever you want for the envelope.
But you're right, none of us do that.  We open a pipe to sendmail -t and
let it supply the envelope.  This is pretty much standard procedure for
generating mail resulting from Web page submissions on UNIX.

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 19:26:13 +0100
From: James Berriman <james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

I have a suggestion. When an address is subscribed via remote email
administration, how about sending a confirmation message to the
specified address?

This would be in addition to the normal confirmation message to the
envelope sender.

I suspect that the reason Bill was using a straight subscribe message in
the first place (rather than an email admin) was in an attempt to
generate a confirmation message to the subscriber.

Thinking about it, it would be nice if any form of email admin could
trigger some notification to the affected address.

( :-])  James

Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 13:32:39 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: "Clock" in new Admin

I guess I've probably already used up my quota of messages to this list
today :-), but here goes.

The Clock window restarts the time for the Admin from zero each time you
open the window.  Is it supposed to do this, or should it really be total
time running (as it shows for the server)?

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 11:34:08 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 10:55 -0700 27/8/1997, Mikael Hansen wrote:

>At 12:39 -0500 27/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:
>
>>>Let's say that you have two regular user mail accounts a@b and c at d dot  a@b
>>>sends a mail to c@d, who redirects the mail to the Apple list server
>>>address at majordomo at public.lists.apple dot com with the word lists in the
>>>body. We know that a Eudora redirect keeps a@b as the RFC From and puts c@d
>>>in the envelope. The question is then: which address do you think that the
>>>Apple list server will send the returned mail to? The original envelope
>>>sender or the RFC From From?
>>
>>The RFC From.  And it does.
>
>Not in my case. I tested it before I wrote the above, and the original
>sender (a@b) received the return mail!

Argh!!! The original part in question of course is the RFC From, so you are
right about what is being used as the envelope recipient in the case of
list server requests. So, 1.4b8 will update this for when configured as RFC
From.

Maybe I should start drinking coffee...



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 13:56:42 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

>>>The RFC From.  And it does.
>>
>>Not in my case. I tested it before I wrote the above, and the original
>>sender (a@b) received the return mail!
>
>Argh!!! The original part in question of course is the RFC From, so you are
>right about what is being used as the envelope recipient in the case of
>list server requests. So, 1.4b8 will update this for when configured as RFC
>From.
>
>Maybe I should start drinking coffee...

Works for me!

Do you consider "subscribe" a list server request? :-)

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 12:43:12 -0700
From: Camelot Postmaster <camelot.admin at lmco dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 1:23 PM -0500 on 8/27/97, Paul DuBois wrote:


> >The CGI runs from its own process on the Unix server, and it is the Unix
> >server process which actually sends the mail to the listserver.  I have
> >absolutely no way of changing the envelope sender, and the
> >nobody@unix-server is the proper envelope sender for that process.  The
> >subscriber e-mail address is simply text typed into the web page which I am
> >feeding to the CGI.
>
> You said before that sendmail doesn't run on the machine in question, so
> I'm curious:  How does the server process send the mail to the list server?
>

It uses the Unix "mail" command.


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bill Catambay..................... <mailto:bill.m.catambay at lmco dot com>  |
| Lockheed Martin, EIS.............. <phone:408.742.1000>               |
|                                                                       |
| Software Developer, Webmaster, Map Maker                              |
| http://nexus.lmms.lmco.com/DEMON                                      |
| http://www.catambay.com/pascal-central                                |
| http://www.catambay.com/morgana                                       |
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 19:25:08 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Automating subscriptions from CGI

At 19:26 +0100 27/8/1997, James Berriman wrote:

>I have a suggestion. When an address is subscribed via remote email
>administration, how about sending a confirmation message to the
>specified address?

Administrative commands are not aimed at informing the subscriber in
question. I'd be happy to add a process extender entry-point for this
though!



Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 19:12:46 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: "Clock" in new Admin

At 13:32 -0500 27/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:

>I guess I've probably already used up my quota of messages to this list
>today :-), but here goes.

Nah, there is no such thing as anyone's quota ;-) Good thing though,
because mine would have been used up a long time ago!

>The Clock window restarts the time for the Admin from zero each time you
>open the window.  Is it supposed to do this, or should it really be total
>time running (as it shows for the server)?

Intended to be the latter, but as you say it is the former. I'll look into
it. Thanks for pointing it out. For now, simply don't close the window (it
is a small window anyway), if you intend to re-open it later.



Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 13:14:21 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: AutoShare 1.4b8

Hello all

AutoShare 1.4b8 (the two server applications only, as the rest of the 1.4b7
archive file is fine) is available from

	<ftp://ftp.dnai.com/users/m/meh/AutoShare/Beta/>

1.4b8 includes two fixes:

-updates the address of the envelope recipient to that of the RFC To in
  list server requests, if AutoShare is configured to RFC From
-corrects the Reply-To header in list contributions, as b7 accidently
  puts garbage in this header

--
Mikael Hansen <mailto:meh at dnai.com> <http://www.dnai dot com/~meh/autoshare/>



Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 10:14:38 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: AutoShare 1.4b8

>1.4b8 includes two fixes:
>
>-updates the address of the envelope recipient to that of the RFC To in
>  list server requests, if AutoShare is configured to RFC From

Works wonderfully.  Thanks, Mikael!

>-corrects the Reply-To header in list contributions, as b7 accidently
>  puts garbage in this header

I assume your message was sent with b7, since its headers look like this: :-=
)

X-Sender: meh at pop.dnai dot com
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 13:14:21 -0700
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To: AutoShare-Talk at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk
=46rom: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: AutoShare 1.4b8
Status: R

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 10:08:56 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: AutoShare 1.4b8

At 10:14 -0500 29/8/1997, Paul DuBois wrote:

>I assume your message was sent with b7, since its headers look
>like this: :-)

Yes. I believe though that James has installed b8 at this time :-) :-)



Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 20:28:00 +0100
From: james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk (James Berriman)
Subject: A comedy of errors.

Time for a little light relief, folks. This one's too good not to share.
Proving that even I get it hopelessly wrong sometimes.

It's OK if you want to laugh at the listmom...

Mikael wrote:
>At 17:08 +0100 29/8/1997, James Berriman wrote:
>
>>>Any chance of installing b8 before the weekend? Garbage Reply-To.
>>
>>Done :-)
>
>Thanks! It looks though as if mail is not arriving at your EIMS and/or
>AutoShare. The web pages aren't updated, although I sent a list
>contribution more than half an hour ago.


Bad news, I'm afraid.

Here's what I was just about to send you:

Hi Mikael,

An hour and 27 minutes ago I sent a release command to AutoShare. AutoShare
thinks it's processed the message. I haven't received a response.

Meantime, there are 2 mailback and 2 filed mail messages waiting to be
processed. AutoShare doesn't respond to menu commands. It's just sitting
there counting by the seconds. Not a crash, just not doing anything. I
thought it might be a disk space problem, but there's 4M free on the disk.


Now I discover it won't respond to a quit event from Script Editor. Can't
do a force quit in the usual way, because it's intercepted locally (I'm
logged in remotely). It gets more complex...

Aha! Finally. Took two files out of the AutoShare Temp folder and
immediately it quit gracefully.

One of the temp files was an old one from July, an incomplete auto response
with no resources. I don't think that is the problem (it's been there all
that time!).

The second was the response to my message.

Launched again and same problem. Your message sticks this time.

AutoShare b8 is getting as far as creating a file in the temp folder, then
stopping in its tracks. The files created seem OK.

Very odd...

Wait! What a fool. I changed the name of the EIMS folder on the desktop.
Being neat. Aargh!

AutoShare couldn't find the Incoming Mail folder.

But why didn't it put up an alert when I relaunched it? I'm used to
AutoShare complaining if a path is wrong.

Well,that _was_ exciting...

...and took just under three hours to sort out.


( :-])  James (feeling rather sheepish).

P.S. Mikael, how about putting in some more error checking for this one.
It's very easy to rename a folder without noticing the consequences!



Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 16:21:16 -0400
From: "John M. Reese" <john at infoback dot net>
Subject: Mikael, sorry to bother you with this...

Sorry to bother you with this...could you please direct me as to how I
can remove myself from the autoshare list?

Thank you very much.

Regards,

~John


Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 14:08:20 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: A comedy of errors.

At 20:28 +0100 29/8/1997, James Berriman wrote:

>P.S. Mikael, how about putting in some more error checking for this one.
>It's very easy to rename a folder without noticing the consequences!

It actually goes way back to when the temporary destination folder was
first introduced, at which time the check of the Incoming Mail folder path
seamlessly turned into a check of the AutoShare Temp folder...

While I would hate to deprive you of any more such fun, I'd better do
something about it for the sake of others ;-)



Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 14:22:23 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Mikael, sorry to bother you with this...

At 16:21 -0400 29/8/1997, John M. Reese wrote:

>Sorry to bother you with this...could you please direct me as to how I
>can remove myself from the autoshare list?

No bother.

The X-List-Unsubscribe and X-To-Unsubscribe headers in any given list
contribution describe how to unsubscribe. Other sources are your original
subscription confirmation, a list server help request and the web pages.
Several of these also describe how you can, say, switch to and from digests.

In short, you send a mail to the list server at
	autoshare at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk
with "unsubscribe autoshare-talk" in the body.

If you have any problems, please send a mail to the listmaster at
	listmaster at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk

Thank you for being with us :-)



Subject: Auto-reponse to "From" address?
From:  Roger_Booth at pubshop.demon.co dot uk
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 1997 14:08:49 +0100

*This message was sent using a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) FC Gateway*
Is there a away of configuring the auto-response requests to reply to the "From" address rather than the "reply-to". There seem to be so many users out there who have had no reason to set their reply-to address correctly until they come across an auto-res
ponse system!

Alternatively, is there an FAQ for all major email programs of how to set the reply-to address?

Hopefully

Roger Booth

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 1997 10:06:11 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Auto-reponse to "From" address?

At 14:08 +0100 30/8/1997, Roger_Booth at pubshop.demon.co dot uk wrote:

>Is there a away of configuring the auto-response requests to reply to
>the "From" address rather than the "reply-to". There seem to be so many
>users out there who have had no reason to set their reply-to address
>correctly until they come across an auto-res

While the RFC From and To (and optionally the RFC Reply-To) are updated in
standard AutoShare auto-response mails, AutoShare uses the original
envelope sender (not, say, the original RFC Reply-To) as the returned
envelope recipient, which determines where the mail is sent to. (It may be
added that if the RFC From contains the string "by way of", the new
envelope recipient is updated based on the new RFC To.)

While we are on the topic of standard auto-responses, would anyone like a
copy of the original mail sent to all addresses appearing in the body of
the same original mail?



Date: Sat, 30 Aug 1997 18:33:08 +0100
From: James Berriman <james at frutiger.staffs.ac dot uk>
Subject: Re: Auto-reponse to "From" address?

Mikael Hansen wrote:
> 

> While we are on the topic of standard auto-responses, would anyone like a
> copy of the original mail sent to all addresses appearing in the body of
> the same original mail?

Could you paraphrase that last question please? My head is swimming.
Perhaps an example would help.

( :-])  James

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 1997 12:43:38 -0500
From: Paul DuBois <paul at snake dot net>
Subject: Re: Auto-reponse to "From" address?

>Mikael Hansen wrote:
>>
>
>> While we are on the topic of standard auto-responses, would anyone like a
>> copy of the original mail sent to all addresses appearing in the body of
>> the same original mail?
>
>Could you paraphrase that last question please? My head is swimming.
>Perhaps an example would help.

I'll second that.  What does it mean?  Does "would anyone like a copy..."
mean "would anyone like AutoShare's behavior to be that a copy..."?

--
Paul DuBois
paul at snake dot net
Home Page: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/people/dubois
Software:  http://www.primate.wisc.edu/software



Date: Sat, 30 Aug 1997 11:28:39 -0700
From: Mikael Hansen <meh at dnai dot com>
Subject: Re: Auto-reponse to "From" address?

At 18:33 +0100 30/8/1997, James Berriman wrote:

>> While we are on the topic of standard auto-responses, would anyone like a
>> copy of the original mail sent to all addresses appearing in the body of
>> the same original mail?
>
>Could you paraphrase that last question please? My head is swimming.
>Perhaps an example would help.

Let's say that darla@beautyville sends a mail to the standard auto-response
service sales@funkyware with a reference in the body to people in various
departments of the company that she has already spoken with. Would this
sort of stuff be helpful in some contexts?

The more general perspective is intelligent processing of auto-response
bodies. Should various addresses and/or words prompt given actions? I am
looking for ideas of why and how this can be useful.