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Empf�nger: [email protected], Nachricht Nr.: 1
Absender : [email protected] ,Fido-To:
Betreff  : mail-server: "send help"
Datum    : 01.10.1994, 12:37:35
Bezugs-ID: [email protected]
Groesse  : 9161
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                  Introduction to the mail server


A mail archiver server is a program that allows you to retrieve data
from a remote computer via electronic mail -- you send requests to the
server in an E-mail message, and it sends you one or more E-mail
messages in response.

The address you should use to send messages to this server is:

       [email protected]

If that address does not work from your site, you should ask someone
at your site for help figuring out what address to use to reach
server.


             How the mail server's files are organized


The files accessible via the mail server are arranged in directories,
stored in a UNIX directory structure.  Each UNIX directory has a name
and can contain files and/or sub-directories.  To refer to a file, you
specify a path to it by giving the directory it's in, followed by a
slash, followed by the file name.  Files in sub-directories are
referenced similarly, although you need to give the sub-directory
names as well as the top-level directory name.

For example, to refer to a file called "Gettysburg_Address" in a
directory called "Lincoln", you would use this file path:

       Lincoln/Gettysburg_Address

To refer to a file called "Lincoln_Douglas" in the "Debates"
subdirectory of the "Lincoln" directory, you would use:

       Lincoln/Debates/Lincoln_Douglas

Note that file names are case-sensitive.


                        Mail server commands


The mail server understand the following commands, which you should
place in the body of your mail message to the server (the subject of
your mail message will be ignored).  In these commands, a word
enclosed in <> represents a variable that you need to fill in; a word
enclosed in [] represents a variable that is optional.  The <> and []
shouldn't be included in the actual commands you send.

path <path>

       Specify a return mail path to use other than the mail path in
       the header of your message.  The new address is used for
       responses to any commands after the "path" command.  It is
       legal to have multple "path" commands to cause different
       responses to be sent to different addresses.

       The mail server's mailer is capable of understanding Internet
       addresses, UUCP addresses in the form "[email protected]" (if
       "site" is registered in the UUCP maps), and UUCP addresses in
       bang-path form.

       If you want replies to your request to be directed to the
       address from which you are sending it, and you think that your
       message might contain a valid reply address in its header,
       than don't use the "path" command to specify a path -- the
       server is smart enough to figure out the reply address.  If,
       however, you send a request to the server and do not get a
       response within a reasonable amount of time, then try sending
       another request with a "path" command in it to see if the
       server had trouble figuring out your reply address in the
       original request.

help

       Get this help.

index [filepath]

       Get an index of a directory.  If no file path is specified,
       you'll be sent an index of the mail server's top-level
       directory.

send <filepath>

       Get a particular file.  The file path you specify should be in
       the form described above.

       Some notes:

       * If the file path you specify is actually a directory or
         subdirectory, you will be sent a list of the files and
         subdirectories in the directory.

       * The special filename "-listing-" will retrieve a list of the
         files and subdirectories in a directory.  For example, to
         get a list of the files and directories in the "Lincoln"
         directory, you would use "send Lincoln/-listing-".

       * If the final component of a specified path is "*", i.e., if
         only "*" appears after the last slash in the file path, all
         files in the directory will be sent.

         No other wildcards or combinations of wildcards are allowed;
         only "*" to match every file in a directory is allowed.

       * Files whose names end in ".Z" are compressed, but will be
         uncompressed automatically before they are sent to you, so
         that the server does not try to send non-text data in
         E-mail.  Also, you can specify names of such files with or
         without the ".Z" extension.

       * The command "send <path>/index" is equivalent to "index
         <path>".

setdir <path>

       Set a directory for future send and index requests.  This
       allows you to issue several requests relative to a directory
       without retyping the directory each time.

       Some notes:

       * All send and index requests after this command will be
         relative to <path>, i.e. they will act as if you had written
         <path> before the file you specify in the send or index
         command.

       * This command is useful to save typing and to split up
         requests which would otherwise be longer than a line.

       * The directory will remain set until you use the setdir
         command again.  Note that setdir is not relative to previous
         setdir commands, so the second setdir command will set the
         directory without regard to the first setdir command.

       Examples:
         The commands:

               setdir usenet/news.answers/
               send usenet-faq/part1
               index x-faq
               setdir usenet-addresses/
               send smith

         Are equivalent to:

               send usenet/news.answers/usenet-faq/part1
               index usenet/news.answers/x-faq
               send usenet-addresses/smith

       * The special directory "usenet-addresses" can be accessed to
         search a large database of E-mail addresses of people who
         have posted to the Usenet.  For more information about it,
         send the command "send usenet-addresses/help".

size <number>

       Specify the maximum size, in bytes, of the mailed responses
       from the mail server.  Note that the mail server will subtract
       some from the value specified in order to leave room for mail
       headers.  The new size affects only mail messages sent after
       the "size" command was issued.

       If the response from the mail server is larger than the
       specified size, it will be broken up into multiple messages
       which will be mailed to you separately.

       If you don't want responses from the mail server to be broken
       up into multiple messages no matter how big they are, use
       "size 0".

       Note that a "size" command with an invalid number will be
       silently ignored, and that a specified size smaller than
       10000 (but other than 0) will be silently changed to
       10000 (i.e., 10000 is the minimum size).

       For example, you could use "size 100000" if you know that
       messages that are 100000 characters in length will reach you
       successfully.

       The default message size is 50000 bytes.

vote <vote>

       Cast a vote with the mail server's automatic voting software.
       To find out currently valid votes, send "vote help".

       Note that responses from the server to "vote" commands are
       always sent in a single message, even if there are multiple
       "vote" commands in your mail to the server.

group

       Start a "group" of commands whose output should be returned in
       a single mail message (or in one multi-part message, if the
       output is too large to fit in a single mail message), rather
       than being sent in separate mail messages.

endgroup

       End the current group.

       The server executes "endgroup" implicitly when it encounters a
       "path" command, a "size" command, a "vote" command, a "quit"
       command, or the end of your message.  If an "endgroup" is
       executed implicitly, it is executed *before* the command that
       caused it to be executed; for example, a "path" command that
       caused a group to end will cause the output of the grouped
       commands to be sent to the previous address, not to the new
       one.

quit

       Stop parsing your message at this point.


                               Notes


The mail server limits messages to 20 valid requests ("send", "index",
"help", or "vote" commands).  Anything after 20 valid requests in
a message is ignored.

Furthermore, if the mail server encounters 20 errors in a message, it
will ignore the remainder of the message.

In addition to these limits, the server also limits the number of mail
messages it will send to a particular address to approximately 25
messages in 24 hours.  If you exceed this limit, responses to your
requests may be delayed.

If you do not understand something in these instructions, or if you
need to talk to a real person about the mail server for some other
reason, please send mail to "[email protected]".
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