| Title | Created | Resolved | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Maintenance: Microsoft Exchange | Friday, June 21, 2013 - 10:00pm | Friday, June 21, 2013 - 11:59pm | VIEW |
| Service Maintenance: UCB Files | Friday, June 21, 2013 - 10:00pm | Friday, June 21, 2013 - 11:59pm | VIEW |
ListProc - FAQ
Frequently asked questions about ListProc, CU-Boulder's list processing service.
Note: Throughout the FAQ and help documentation anything presented as an italicized word means you should substitute word with your particular information for the command. For example, in this command: subscribe listname first lastname you would substitute listname with the real name of the list you want to join and substitute first lastname with your first name and last name. Do not actually italicize any commands you send to ListProc.
General FAQ
All changes to lists and list subscriptions are managed by sending commands via e-mail to ListProc at listproc@lists.colorado.edu.
See these Common List Commands for command descriptions and usage instructions.
For all error e-mails received from ListProc, be sure to read the description of the error in the e-mail. That should help you determine which of the common problems described within this FAQ you are encountering.
Throughout this FAQ, anything presented as an italicized word means you should substitute the word with your particular information. For example, in this command:
subscribe listname first lastname
you would substitute listname with the real name of the list you want to join and substitute first lastname with your first name and last name. Important: Do not actually italicize any commands you sent to ListProc.
Creating a New List
This problem usually results from hidden carriage returns, usually on the line following the last address, but sometimes on the very first line. You can try two things to get rid of hidden characters:
1) Try completely clearing the field before entering any information.
2) Place the cursor before the first entry and backspace several times, then put the cursor at the end and hit delete several times.
Subscriber FAQ
Read the error message you get back from ListProc to determine which of the following common problems you are experiencing:
- "unknown command" error
This error probably resulted from a misspelled command, e.g., "suscribe" instead of "subscribe." - "unknown list-name" error
This error probably resulted from an incorrectly typed list name. Make sure the spelling of the name is correct and that you do not include any spaces. Also, be sure to include dashes or hyphens when appropriate. Look carefully at the list name to determine exactly how it is spelled and how you typed it. - HTML encoding for e-mail is on
Always turn off HTML encoding for all messages to ListProc. In other words, send the message in plain text. To do this in:- CULink: In the new message window, the button second from the right toggles between HTML and plain text. If you are already using plain text, the button will say "HTML text." If you are using HTML, the button will say "Plain text." When you click on the "Plain text" button, you will be asked to confirm your decision to remove all HTML effects. Click "OK" to switch to plain text for this message only.
- Windows Live Mail (formerly Hotmail, MSN): When composing a new mail message, there will be a link to switch between plain text and HTML below the "Subject" line. The link will display "HTML" if you are already in plain text and "Plain text" if you are in HTML. Click "Plain text" to switch for this message.
- Yahoo! Mail: Go into the Options menu, find and navigate to General Preferences, and then finally to the category "Composing E-mails" where you can select "Compose messages as plain text."
- Yahoo! Mail Beta: When composing a new message, there will be a link to the right of the Subject field which will allow you to switch between plain text and HTML.
- Other Mail Clients: OIT can provide assistance with any IT Service Center supported e-mail clients. Call the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu for assistance.
- See the FAQ "Why can't I subscribe to a list?" to determine if you are encountering one of the same common problems as with subscriptions.
- If ListProc responded with a "You are not subscribed to list" error
This is usually caused by a discrepancy with your e-mail rewrite. Your rewrite is the address that appears on the "From:" line on e-mails you send out. A list will not process a command from you unless the address from which you send the command matches the address you supplied when you subscribed to the list. For example, if you subscribed to the list four years ago when your rewrite was Ralphie.Buffalo@colorado.edu, but now your rewrite is Chip.Buffalo@colorado.edu, ListProc will not find you in its subscriber list. Call the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu for assistance in such cases.
This could be one of two issues:
- You were automatically removed for an e-mail quota violation
Clean up some space on your e-mail to get under your quota, then re-subscribe to the list. See the CULink FAQ for more information on quota violations. - The list owner removed your subscription
To contact list owners, send an e-mail to listname-request@lists.colorado.edu. You can ask the list owner why you were removed and/or request re-subscription.
This could be one of several issues:
- The list is not configured to post messages from subscribers
Your message will be returned in this case. The e-mail will indicate that you are not a list owner and that only owners can post to the list. List owners have authority over this setting. To request a change in configuration, you can send a message to:
listname-request@lists.colorado.edu
This will e-mail the owner(s) of the list. Make sure to include the purpose of your request in the e-mail, which in this case is to request information about the list's configuration.
- The list is set to 'send-by-subscribers' mode and either you aren't subscribed or there is a rewrite discrepancy
Make sure you are subscribed to the list and that your outgoing address matches the one you subscribed to the list with. Refer to the "You are not subscribed to list" error section under the "Why can't I unsubscribe from a list?" FAQ.
- Your message contained illegal commands, words, or phrases
Do not use these terms on the subject line of the message:
test, vacation, out of office, ignore, please ignore, add me, remove me, delete me
ListProc rejects messages with these words in the subject line in order to prevent spamming people with list subscribers' vacation messages, commands, or test messages. This is a global ListProc setting and cannot be changed for any list.
When you want to postpone messages, set your mailmode to 'postpone' by e-mailing this command to ListProc:
set listname mail postpone
Replace listname with the real name of the list. Messages from the list will be postponed until you change your mailmode again. If you want to receive messages as they are sent, set your mailmode to 'ack' (acknowledge) with this command:
set listname mail ack
Refer to the FAQ "What are my options for receiving list messages?" for more mailmode options.
Mailmodes include:
- 'ack' - Receive messages as they are sent to the list, including messages you send to the list.
- 'noack' - Receive messages as they are sent to the list, not including messages you send to the list.
- 'digest' - Receive one e-mail per day which contains all messages of the day.
- 'digest-nomime' - Same as digest, but leaves out MIME encoding. Use this if digest mode produces garbled messages.
- 'postpone' - Postpone messages from the list until you change your mailmode.
To change your mailmode, send this command to ListProc:
set listname mail mailmode
Use the following command to receive your messages in digest mode (a compilation of the list's messages for the day into one e-mail per day):
set listname mail digest
If digest mode is producing garbled messages, send the command to leave out MIME encoding:
set listname mail digest-nomime
To get information about a particular list, use this command:
information listname
To get the names of all ListProc lists at CU-Boulder, use this command:
lists
To get the names of all lists with descriptions matching a specific keyword, use this command, replacing keyword with whatever you want to search for:
lists local keyword
Owner FAQ
This could be one of two issues:
- "You are not the owner of this list" error
This problem usually results from a discrepancy with your rewrite. The rewrite is the address that appears on the "From:" line on e-mails you send out. A list will not process a command from you unless the address from which you send the command matches the address you supplied when you became an owner of the list. To fix this problem, contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu and provide your correct owner address. - The current list owner did not properly add you as a list owner
Refer to the instructions in the "How can I change the ownership of a list" FAQ for help with adding or replacing owners.
This problem could result from one or more of the following:
- Incorrectly constructed add/delete command.
Command to add a subscriber:
Command to delete a subscriber:
Example of add command (all on one line):
Notes:
- To add a subscriber, you must include first and last name, whereas to delete a subscriber, you do not.
- Substitute password with your list's password and all descriptions with your particular list and subscriber information.
- You can specify the word 'quiet' before 'add' or 'delete' in the command, so the person won't be notified of the action.
- Setting the list up to allow people to subscribe/unsubscribe themselves greatly reduces problems with the add/delete commands.
- The use of illegal characters in the add command
Do not use any of these characters in the command: <>'s, [ ]'s, or ( )'s. - Using list-address instead of simply list-name in the command
Make sure when sending a command to a list to use the list-name, rather than the complete list address (i.e., omit "@lists.colorado.edu"). - Sending e-mails encoded in HTML
Make sure HTML encoding is turned off for all messages to ListProc. In other words, send list commands to ListProc in plain text. See the instructions for turning off HTML encoding in the "Why can't I subscribe to a list?" FAQ . - The command wraps to another line (or multiple lines)
ListProc can only process commands that are on one line unless you use '&' at the end of a line. The & tells ListProc to process the next line as part of the same command. Be careful not to use & between separate commands, as this can have disastrous results. When in doubt, contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu.
This problem could result from one or more of the following:
- Incorrectly constructed add/delete command for multiple subscribers
Command to add multiple subscribers:
Command to delete multiple subscribers:
Example of add multiple subscribers command:
Note: ListProc will only process up to 980 characters in each command, which can complicate adding/deleting many subscribers at once. Allowing people to subscribe/unsubscribe themselves greatly reduces the number of problems with managing subscriptions.
- Trouble with &'s
The ampersand (&) should be used when one command spans multiple lines. The & tells ListProc to process the next line as part of the same command. Without the &, ListProc may misinterpret your command. However, using & between separate commands can have disastrous results, so use this character carefully. When in doubt, contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu - Incorrect use of { }'s
When adding multiple subscribers, the add command requires French braces, { }, around each subscriber's address and first and last name, whereas the delete command does not need braces, since it only requires addresses and no names. - Problems with ListProc line wraps and command length limit
See the section regarding line wraps under the "Why can't I add or remove a list subscriber?" FAQ. The maximum number of characters for any command is 980 characters. - Bad spacing or illegal characters
Make sure there is only one space before and one space after '&' if using it in the command. Also, beware of illegal characters in the command such as: <>'s, [ ]'s, or ( )'s.
The ampersand (&) should be used when one command spans multiple lines. The & tells ListProc to process the next line as part of the same command. Without the &, ListProc may misinterpret your multi-line single command.
Caution! Using & between separate commands can have disastrous results, so use this character carefully. When in doubt, contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu.
Use this command:
recipients listname
There are several ways to remove subscribers:
- Contact OIT to remove all subscribers
Contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu. - Use the 'put' command to put a blank file in place of the subscriber list
Be careful with this command because anything after the 'put' command in the e-mail message will be put into the subscriber file, including your e-mail signature, etc., and can cause errors. Thus, make sure the e-mail is empty after this command:
put listname password file
In this case, we are focusing on the subscribers file, so the command would look like:
put listname password subscribers
- Use the 'edit' command to get a list of current subscribers, and manually edit the list as preferred. Then put the new list in place with the 'put' command
When using this method, be careful with the 'put' command; make sure to include all fields that ListProc expects for subscribers and nothing else at the bottom of your e-mail.
Get a list of current subscribers: edit listname password subscribers
Put an edited subscriber list in place: put listname password subscribers
Be sure to include the correct information for each subscriber, as follows:
For example:
ListProc offers many configuration options for your list. Below is a basic reference for those configuration options and their functions. All configuration options are set using a similar command construction:
config listname password option
Substitute option above with any of the following options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| send-by-subscribers | Only subscribers and owners can send to the list |
| send-by-all | Anyone can send to the list |
| send-by-owners | Only owners can send to the list; others can receive messages |
| open-subscriptions | Anyone can subscribe to the list |
| owner-subscriptions | Owners must approve subscription attempts |
| closed-subscriptions | Subscriptions are closed |
| unmoderated | List not moderated |
| moderated-no-edit | List is moderated, but owner can't edit messages |
| moderated-edit | Moderated and owner can edit messages before they go out |
| delivery-errors-to address | Send errors to address instead of list owners |
| remove-errors-to address | Remove address from list of error recipients |
Send this command to ListProc:
review listname
To replace an owner, you must add the new owner before removing the old one. When adding the new owner, be sure to set the e-mail address exactly as it appears in the owner's outgoing e-mail. If you have trouble removing someone, verify the address that ListProc has for the owner.
To add an owner to a list, use this command:
To remove an owner from the list, use this command:
Example of remove owner command:
Send the command 'help' to ListProc, which will reply with an extensive listing of available commands. For help with a particular command, send 'help command' to ListProc.
List archiving is not available through ListProc.