INTRODUCTION
In addition to making many types of information available to students
and staff at the UIUC campus, the CCSO Nameserver fulfills an important
electronic mail routing function.  Because the Nameserver links the name
of each person on campus with a unique alias and e-mail address, there
are three possible ways of addressing mail to someone on the campus
network (UIUCnet): 1) using an alias, 2) using a name, or 3) using a
specific login and machine.  We will discuss each method separately
below.  But first, for the sake of an example, let me introduce you to
a fictitious friend of mine, Molly Modern.  The results of a Nameserver
query on Molly are shown below:

  % ph Molly Modern
  ----------------------------------------
             name: modern molly
     office_phone: 333-3333
   office_address: 194 DCL, MC 256
       department: computing services office
         email to: [email protected] ([email protected])
  ----------------------------------------

USING AN ALIAS
The best way to send mail is to use an alias-based address.  The address
to use is the first one in the "email to:" line--that is, the one that
ends in "@uiuc.edu".  The mail system will use the Nameserver to look
up the alias and then send the mail to the account that is specified in
the "email" field of the entry.  Thus, the best way to send mail to
Molly is to use the address:  "[email protected]".

There are three major advantages to this method; first, "[email protected]"
is easier to type and remember than "[email protected]"; second,
if Molly starts receiving her e-mail at a different account, you needn't
change the address you use for her; in other words, you can continue to
use "[email protected]"; third, since every person is guaranteed to have
a unique Nameserver alias, you can be absolutely sure that your mail
will be delivered to Molly (assuming the "email" field in Molly's ph
entry is filled in).

Note: Some ph client programs display the "email" field and the "alias"
field separately instead of combining them into the single pseudo-field
"email to:".  A query on Molly using such a client would produce results
that look like this:

     ----------------------------------------
            alias: m-modern
             name: modern molly
            email: [email protected]
     office_phone: 333-3333
   office_address: 194 DCL, MC 256
       department: computing services office
  ----------------------------------------

In the above example, Molly's alias-based address is not listed
explicitly.  It can be created by simply adding "@uiuc.edu" to the end
of the contents of the "alias" field, e.g., "[email protected]".  All
alias-based addresses at UIUC use the form: "[email protected]".

USING A NAME
If you do not know a person's alias or specific e-mail account, you
might try sending mail using the person's name.  This can be done by
putting a hyphen between the recipient's first and last name and adding
"@uiuc.edu" to the end.  For example, Molly might be reached by the
address "[email protected]".

The chief advantage to this method is convenience.  The only "computerese"
thing you need to remember is "@uiuc.edu".  There are a couple of major
limitations, however, which sometimes make this method impossible to
use.  First, the name you use must be listed in the "name" or "nickname"
field of the recipient's ph entry.  Nicknames won't work unless the
recipient has added them to his or her "nickname" field (see help on
"nickname"); thus, mail sent to "[email protected]" will not be
delivered unless "mol" appears in Molly's "nickname" field.  Second,
there may be more than one person at UIUC with a given name.  Mail sent
to "[email protected]" won't be delivered because there is more than
one John Smith in the Nameserver database, and the mail system won't
know which one you mean.

USING A SPECIFIC LOGIN AND MACHINE
The last way to send mail is to send it to a person's specific login
and machine.  You could, for example, send mail for Molly to
"[email protected]".

The advantage to this method is that it doesn't rely on the Nameserver.
In the unlikely event of a Nameserver outage, you might wish to use this
method.  Also, if the recipient has not registered his or her e-mail
address with the Nameserver, this is the only method that will work.
The Nameserver can only route mail to individuals who have entered their
current e-mail account in the "email" field of their ph entry.  Finally,
this is generally the only method available for sending e-mail to people
at other institutions.

There are two disadvantages to this method.  First, it requires you to
remember things like "mm1358", a decidedly unpleasant task.  Second, if
the recipient gets a new account, you will have to forget the old address
and learn the new one.  This happens frequently in the computer world.

There are two morals to this story: 1) under most circumstances, it's
a good a idea to use alias-based addresses to send e-mail to other people
on campus, and 2)in order for the Nameserver to successfully route mail,
every user should keep the "email" field in his or her ph entry up to
date (for information on how to do so, see help on "make", "edit",
"register", and "email").

WHAT ABOUT ERRORS?
The mail system reports errors in addresses the same way the Post Office
does, by returning the mail to you.  It is beyond the scope of this text
to explain all the errors you might encounter.  Below is a summary of
the types of errors you can expect with each method:

USING AN ALIAS
 -If you use an alias that doesn't exist, the mail will be
  returned with the message "No matches to Nameserver query".

 -If the recipient has no account registered in the "email"
  field of his or her ph entry, the returned mail will be
  marked "Email field not present in Nameserver entry".

USING A NAME
 -If you use a name that the Nameserver doesn't know, the
  mail will be returned with the message "No matches to
  Nameserver query".

 -If the recipient has no account registered in the "email"
  field of his or her ph entry, the returned mail will be
  marked "Email field not present in Nameserver entry".

 -If more than one person has the name you have given, the
  mail will be returned with the message "Multiple matches
  found for Nameserver query".  If twenty or less people
  have the name, you will be given a list of them.  You can
  find the person you were trying to reach in the list and
  use his or her alias-based or machine address instead.

USING A SPECIFIC LOGIN AND MACHINE
 -If the login doesn't exist, but the machine does, the
  message on the returned mail will be "User unknown".

 -If the machine doesn't exist, the message on the returned mail
  will be "Host unknown".

 -There are lots of other possibilities.

SEE ALSO: alias, aliases, nickname, introduction, register, email

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