comparc@twwells.uucp (comp.archives) (04/05/89)
The comp.archives database server is a rather stupid set of shell
scripts to let you use e-mail to get information from the
comp.archive database. At this time, all that is available are the
archive site database, some informational messages, and some of the
software I use for comp.archives.
What you do is to send a message to
comp-archives-server@twwells.uucp
The subject of the message is ignored; all commands go in the body of
the message. The commands it recognizes are:
path path-to-you
You *must* include a path line somewhere in the message
because the shell script will e-mail the response to that
address. I run a smart mailer here with a complete set of
maps, so if you are in the maps and trust the route from here
to there, you can just put user@site for the path.
For example, if you want the server response to go to user foo
at address baz, and if baz is in the mail maps, your path line
would look like:
path foo@baz
If baz isn't in the maps, or if you know that mail to you that
relies on the maps is unreliable, you can make it something
like:
path well-known-site!site2!...!baz!foo
I am directly connected to uunet, so that is a good site to
start from. If you know a reliable route from my site, you can
include the whole path (excluding twwells) and the server will
follow that.
Avoid using paths that contain a percent sign (%); these tend
to be misinterpreted by many mailers.
send help
Send the latest version of this message.
send sitereg
Send a form you can fill out to register your archive. You
fill out the form and send it to
comp-archives-request@twwells.uucp
send format
Send a description of the comp.archives database entry format.
Warning, it's about 13K.
send index
Send an index of the comp.archives database. The index has
entries of the form:
<site name> -- <access> -- <title>
<keywords>
...
When requesting information about a site, use <site name> in
a "send site" command.
send db.perl.shar
There is a perl script to automatically extract the archive
info from the DB: postings. This will get you that perl
script.
send db.serv.shar
The server is a set of very simple shell scripts. If you are
curious, you can get them with this command. Warning: they
have no documentation; you get to figure them out yourself.
On the other hand, it's only about a hundred lines.
send site site-name
Send information about a specific site. You will receive both
the database entry and the informational posting that went
with it, if there was one.
quit
Cause any data after this line to be ignored. Useful if your
mailer appends a signature to your message.
This server is entirely automatic and does not try to resend failed
mail, nor do I pay any attention to failed mail. If you don't get a
reply after a reasonable time, or get a bad reply, send mail to
comp-archives-request@twwells.uucp
and tell me what the problem is. Server requests to this address will
be summarily ignored.
---
Bill
{ uunet | novavax } !twwells!bill
send comp.archives postings to twwells!comp-archives
send comp.archives related mail to twwells!comp-archives-requestcomparc@twwells.com (comp.archives) (01/08/90)
The comp.archives database server is a set of shell scripts to let you use
e-mail to get information from the comp.archive database. At this time, all
that is available are the archive site database, some informational messages,
and some archive related software.
What you do is to send a message to
comp-archives-server@twwells.com
The server reads the Subject: line and the body of the message to discover
what you want it to return to you. The commands it recognizes are:
path <your-address>
Normally, the server determines where to send the reply by examining
the mail headers. If there is a Reply-To: header, that header is
used. If not, the From: header is used. Life being as it is, the
headers may have been mangled in transit, making them unreliable for
replying. Or you may want the reply to go somewhere other than from
where you sent the message (and not have Reply-To: available to you).
If so, you can add a path command to your message. The reply will be
sent to the address in the path command. For example, if you are
desperate@broken.mailer.com, and you don't get anything back from the
server, you might try adding a command
path desperate@broken.mailer.com
in your request. Or, if you prefer, you can use a uucp route, as in:
path uunet!somewhere!mailer!desperate
help
send help
Send the latest version of this help message. If your message contains
no requests, the server will send you the help message anyway.
send sitereg
Send a form you can fill out to register your archive in the database.
You fill out the form and send it to:
comp-archives-request@twwells.com
send format
Send a description of the comp.archives database entry format.
index
send index
Send an index of the comp.archives database. The index has entries of
the form:
<site name> -- <access> -- <title>
<keywords>
...
When requesting information about a site, you use <site name> in a
"send site" command. The <access> field indicates how you can get to
the archive: words like uucp, ftp, mail, bbs, and fido. The keywords
are there to give you a clue as to what is in the archive.
send db.perl.shar
There is a perl script to automatically extract the archive info from
the DB: postings. This will get you that perl script.
send db.serv.shar
send decwrl.shar
send netlib.1.shar
send netlib.2.shar
I archive three servers. The first is the server I use for
comp.archives; it is a very simple set of shell scripts and has no
documentation. I also have the decwrl server and the netlib server.
send site site-name
Send information about a specific site. You will receive both the
database entry and the informational posting that went with it, if
there was one.
quit
Cause any data after this line to be ignored. Useful if your mailer
appends a signature to your message.
The server is entirely automatic and does not try to resend failed mail, nor
do I pay any attention to failed mail. If you don't get a reply after a
reasonable time, or get a bad reply, send mail to
comp-archives-request@twwells.com
and tell me what the problem is. Server requests to this address will be
summarily ignored.
---
Bill { uunet | novavax | ankh | sunvice } !twwells!bill
bill@twwells.com
send comp.archives postings to comp-archives@twwells.com
send comp.archives related mail to comp-archives-request@twwells.com
send comp.archives server requests to comp-archives-server@twwells.com