Dear fellow list owners,

I run a pretty active list for which Subscription= By_Owner.  Since
new subscribers are asked to mail me (via snail mail) before I add
them to the list, I recognized from the very beginning that it was
in my best interest to keep track of who was sending the SUBSCRIBE
command.  Sometimes people snail mail me the requested info but neglect
to include their e-mail address.  Even when they remember, sometimes
what they think is their e-mail address is slightly different from
how it appears when it gets to LISTSERV.  So I keep track.

When I created the list two and a half years ago, I was still using
a DOS environment on my personal PC, so I decided the easiest thing
to do was keep track of the subscribers in a text file in my VM
account.  As I received notification from LISTSERV that someone else
had sent the SUBSCRIBE command, I added that person's info, along
with the date and time of request, to the file.  It looks like this:

3/19/96 08:09 [log in to unmask] John Ueck
3/19/96 08:11 [log in to unmask] George S. Sonato
3/19/96 15:17 [log in to unmask] Richard Sanchez
3/19/96 15:50 [log in to unmask] Glenn Sarstrem
3/19/96 19:23 [log in to unmask] William Donalds
3/19/96 19:38 [log in to unmask] John Parrot
3/19/96 19:39 [log in to unmask] Doyle Putt
3/19/96 21:11 [log in to unmask] William Poitz
3/19/96 21:17 [log in to unmask] Gary Server
3/19/96 23:05 [log in to unmask] Edward Pygall

(Names/Addresses changed to protect the innocent.)

Then, as I received snail mail from new subscribers, I'd add them
to the list and again edit the file, tacking on the date and time
I added them.  Since not everyone chose to follow through with the
snail mail, the file looks like this:

3/19/96 08:09 [log in to unmask] John Ueck 3/27/96 20:01
3/19/96 08:11 [log in to unmask] George S. Sonato
3/19/96 15:17 [log in to unmask] Richard Sanchez
3/19/96 15:50 [log in to unmask] Glenn Sarstrem
3/19/96 19:23 [log in to unmask] William Donalds 3/27/96 19:41
3/19/96 19:38 [log in to unmask] John Parrot
3/19/96 19:39 [log in to unmask] Doyle Putt
3/19/96 21:11 [log in to unmask] William Poitz
3/19/96 21:17 [log in to unmask] Gary Server 3/27/96 19:38
3/19/96 23:05 [log in to unmask] Edward Pygall 3/24/96 09:52

The actual length of the file now numbers in the thousands of
lines, but I've transferred most of it to a text file on my PC.
I keep some portion of the bottom of it on VM so I can add on
to it on a regular basis.  All the additions to that file are
made manually, though I copy/paste the e-mail address so I don't
screw that up.

My questions:

Does anyone else keep track somehow of the subscribers to a
By_Owner list?  If so, how do you do it?  Can anyone think
of a way I might automate what I do so it's not so time-
intensive?  I'm computer literate, but not a programmer, so
making some fancy EXEC to append my text file with new
information properly formatted is beyond me.

Responses appreciated, either off-list or on-list if you
think others might be interested.

Thanks.

- Alex, list owner of POLICE-L      [log in to unmask]
....................................................................
Alex Rudd             [log in to unmask]               ARS KA2ZOO
Orange, CT P.D.       (Insert standard disclaimer here)