On 11/11/2004 1:27 PM, Ben Parker wrote:
>
> I find the other suggested format works equally well also:
>
>>quiet add test Henry Brown <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Henry Brown <[log in to unmask]> has been added to the TEST list. No
> notification has been sent.

You are missing the point. People are used to software which recognizes both
[log in to unmask] and <[log in to unmask]> as valid email addresses, and
they either do not notice the <> delimiters in the example on the ACTMRG1
page, or they do not realize that the delimiters are required. LISTSERV's
failure to properly parse the input and recognize a valid email address,
regardless of its position relative to the name, leads to unexpected
consequences.

The current behavior violates the Principle of Least Astonishment. In other
words, it is broken and should be fixed. Personally, I would prefer that the
web page require the same format that is currently documented as the *ONLY*
format supported by the 'add' command, because I believe that would simplify
support issues, however, if you want to support multiple formats, you should
improve the syntax checker to ensure that it recognizes a valid email address,
with or without <> delimiters, regardless of its position relative to the
subscriber's name.

--
Paul Russell
Senior Systems Administrator
OIT Messaging Services Team
University of Notre Dame