If there is going to be a separate (post 1.8d?) version of LISTSERV to
provide Year 2000 Compliance for VM, please consider this a formal
request for an important control mechanism to be included in that
version (or be made available for use with that version as nearly
contemporaneously with that version as possible). This is relevant to a
VM release because part of what is being controlled, and the primary
motivation for requesting the control (CJLI database search jobs),
exists only in the VM version.

As I understand it, in LISTSERV for VM the access-level specified as the
fourth word in the value of the Notebook= keyword controls all of the
following types of access:

1. Who can retrieve the list archive notebooks with the "GET" command

2. Who can retrieve specific messages from the list archive notebooks
   with the "GETPOST" command

3. Who can retrieve specific messages from the list archive notebooks
   by sending an (edited) index back to the listname-SEARCH-REQUEST
   address

4. Who can search/retrieve the list archive notebooks with CJLI database
   search jobs

5. Who can search the list archive notebooks with the new "SEARCH"
   command

Independent of having the single control for who has access to the list
archives, I would like the list owner to have the facility to disable
any of the above types of access without disabling them all. For
example, the list owner could disable CJLI database search jobs while
still permitting the use of the new "SEARCH" and "GETPOST" commands, or
he could disable all searching while still permitting subscribers to
"GET" list archive notebooks.

One way to accomplish this would be to continue to use the access-level
currently specified as the fourth word in the value of the Notebook=
keyword to control WHO has access and add a new facility for specifying
WHICH of the access methods are available.

Another way to accomplish this would be to have a separate access-level
specified for each of the access methods.

This has become necessary in order to allow people with "Index
Subscriptions" to retrieve messages in which they are interested without
allowing general searching of the archives - particularly searching by
CJLI database search jobs which (we believe) can be very resource
intensive.

If providing this on a per-list basis is not possible (for example,
because you want to make the minimal changes necessary for Year 2000
Compliance), then please give serious consideration to at least
providing a site-wide control mechanism by which the LISTSERV maintainer
can independently turn on or off each of the five types of access listed
above.

Please let me know if I need to send this to some other address or
submit it in some other way to have it recorded as a formal request.

Thank you for your consideration.

/David Rosenberg