There is a tiny bit of confusion in the context of typical usage, with
your choice of terminology.  The word "maintainer" generally is used
only for reference to the site administrator, not in reference to a list
owner.  When you write 'list maintainer' we can't always determine which
role you mean - sites are maintained, lists are owned.

When the user is dealing with password issues on their own, the DEL
function rarely comes into play.  If one cannot remember the password,
an ADD command is issued - which ignores any existing password and, upon
confirmation, implements the new one.  I can't say for sure, but you
might be able to omit DEL from your form. 

>>> [log in to unmask] 1/29/2007 7:34:58 AM >>>
Yes, this is for the list maintainer role.  Just what I needed --
thanks Nathan.

I see that if I want to change a user's password, assuming one already
exists, by simply sending a DEL command and an ADD command in the same
email command message, like this:

PWC DEL userid@host pw=XXXXXX
PWC ADD userid@host newpassword pw=XXXXXX

Since I'm going to build this into a form, I also see that I can use
the same two commands in the email for the case where the user has no
prior password. It appears that LISTSERV gracefully parses the commands
in order. On DEL, it simply reports back that there is no password. On
ADD, it adds the password. This is convenient in creating the form,
since I merely hard-code in the two commands, and drop in the password
via a variable.

Steve