INDEX users receives an index version of the Digest plus info on how to "order" messages from LISTSERV. See Blues-L example appended (note: the info on ordering message is customized to your list address). It is done by sending SET LISTNAME INDEX or SET LISTNAME INDEX FOR user@host To get back to regular individual mail it is SET LISTNAME NOINDEX It is an alternative for those who read their list via a news echo or those who don't want to be bothered with the individual MAIL traffic. And also for those tiny freenet mailboxes that can't handle either the messages (number limitation) or the DIGEST (size limitation). Some of my users also use it instead of NOMAIL to keep track of the list while they are away ... INDEX is sent once a day like the DIGEST. I added myself to my list with a slightly different address and set it to INDEX. So I can reorder message without having to use an index job to find the message number. And I keep indexes for the past week and more. -- Eric Paul-Hus , BLUES-L ----------- Example of a daily INDEX --------------- Subject: BLUES-L Index - 12 Dec 1996 to 13 Dec 1996 Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 00:00:04 -0500 From: Automatic digest processor <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: Recipients of BLUES-L indexes <[log in to unmask]> Index Date Size Poster and subject ----- ---- ---- ------------------ 20590 12/13 29 From: Dan Gross <[log in to unmask]> Subject: eRIC's BLUES DATE: Dec 13 [... snipped messages in between ...] 20704 12/13 19 From: Jason Fristedt <[log in to unmask]> Subject: class content The sizes shown are the number of lines in the messages, not counting mail headers. For your convenience, this message has been specially formatted to make it easier to order the messages you are interested in. Just forward this message back to [log in to unmask] (or LISTSERV@BROWNVM) and fill in the line starting with "Print" (if there is not enough space, you can add more lines as long as you type "Print" on each new line). Make sure to use the forward command of your mail program, not the normal reply function. There is a lot more the LISTSERV database functions can do for you - for instance, you can select all the messages with a particular subject in a single command rather than retyping all the index numbers. For more information, send an INFO DATABASE command to LISTSERV (you could add it before the line that says "Database search" the next time you order messages from the LISTSERV archive). Another method which could be more convenient, depending on the mail program you are using, is to reply to this message while including the original text, just like when you are replying to a normal message and want to quote what your correspondent said. Before sending the message, delete the lines corresponding to the items you are not interested in, and make sure your reply is being sent to "[log in to unmask]", NOT to "[log in to unmask]". Note that this may not work with all mail programs; the first method is more reliable. // JOB Database search DD=Orders //Orders DD * Select * in BLUES-L.20590-20704 Print <type the numbers of the messages you want here> /* // EOJ