The manual is very explicit on this point - the   .LIST files must not be edited directly.  To make changes, you GET the list file and work on that version, then PUT the changed file back to the list server.

>>> [log in to unmask] 03/13/01 12:38PM >>>
Can I edit these using vi before I move them from UNIX to NT?  I have some
lists that are going somewhere else and will need to have the pathway for
Notebook changed.
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 10:26 AM
Subject: Re: Where does the Header actually live?


> On Tue, 13 Mar 2001 10:20:11 EST, "Margaret J. Brandt"
<[log in to unmask]>  said:
>
> > I keep being asked by folks where the headers are stored in Unix and
> > NT server versions of LISTSERV 1.8d.  I've always understood that
> > the header was not stored in one place.  Am I wrong?
>
> If you mean the actual list definitions, those (at least on Unix) live
> in ~listserv/home/your-list.list  (where ~listserv is the Listserv
userid's
> home directory, and your-list is the listname.
>
> If you mean the e-mail headers for an outbound message, this gets a BIT
> more interesting.  Sendmail usually stores a message in 2 parts, usually
> referred to as a 'df' and 'qf' file.  The 'df' file contains the message
> body, while the 'qf' file has all the RFC822 headers, plus the RFC821 SMTP
> recipient list and other control information (such as the message
priority,
> the time the message was enqueued, and so on).
>
> If I've not answered the question, please feel free to re-ask with more
> details...
>
> --
>                                 Valdis Kletnieks
>                                 Operating Systems Analyst
>                                 Virginia Tech
>