On Wed, 5 Jun 1996 12:34:08 EST LISTSERV Administrator <[log in to unmask]> said: >>This is because the contents of the template are just a few lines out >>of a larger message that is being prepared by LISTSERV to contain the >>reply to the user's command(s) > >Not true... with SUB_OWNER, that's the only message that's sent back to >the user. Not true. With SUB_OWNER, this is the text of the reply to the SUBSCRIBE command, which is inserted in the job reply after the '> sub blah blah' line. Other commands in the job will then be processed, and so forth. This is NOT a separate message like for instance the welcome message, but part of a larger message that LISTSERV prepares itself to contain the reply to the commands being issued. >> . . Generally speaking, with a linear message you are providing the >>TEXT of the reply to be shown to the user, but you do not have any >>control over the methods used for delivering this information." > >This begs the question... why? Because you're providing the TEXT OF THE REPLY TO ONE PARTICULAR COMMAND (or part of this text), not a whole e-mail message. You don't control what the "From:", "Reply-To" and "Subject:" say, or whether the reply will be sent by e-mail, by TELL, over a web interface, etc. >I guess I don't understand why these were selected to be "linear"... It's actually very simple. When LISTSERV needs a character string to echo to the user as the reply to his command, and people want it customized, you automatically get a linear template. When originally LISTSERV sent a whole, totally separate message, you get a regular template where you have full control. Eric