Sorry, It doesn't help. I want to deal with the case where the users does not know about (or has failed to issue) the SET NOMAIL command; and the list owner does not know that the users is leaving on vacation. In such a case I don't want the user to come home an find 50 messages from Listserv. Nor do I want everyone in the list getting an "I'm on vacation" message from Joe every time any message is sent to the list. --Mike >>> Rob Brenner <[log in to unmask]> 07/21/99 12:27pm >>> Hope this helps... http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8d/owner/owner.html#5.3.1 5. Setting Subscription Options For Subscribers 5.3. Options that may be set 5.3.1. Mail/NOMail Setting this option to Mail indicates that the subscriber will receive mail from the list. NOMail is the complementary command that stops mail but leaves the user subscribed to the list. (NOMail is often a good compromise for users who are leaving the office for vacation or on extended business trips, and who don't want a full mailbox on their return.) The format of the messages received is controlled by the DIGEST/INDEX/NODIGEST/NOINDEX options (see below). 5.3.2. DIGest/NODIGest Causes the subscriber to receive one posting per digest cycle (typically daily) rather than individual messages as they are processed by LISTSERV. In version 1.8b and later, the MAIL/NOMAIL option has been isolated from DIGEST/INDEX. The MAIL/NOMAIL option controls whether messages should be delivered, and the DIGEST/INDEX/NODIGEST/NOINDEX option controls the format in which messages should be delivered. Thus, switching to NOMAIL and back to MAIL now preserves the digest/index/normal delivery setting. To provide as much compatibility with the old syntax as possible, the four options operate as follows: DIGEST: enable digest delivery mode (which negates INDEX), enable mail delivery. No change from version 1.8a. INDEX: enable index delivery mode (which negates DIGEST), enable mail delivery. No change from version 1.8a. NOMAIL: disable mail delivery. No change from version 1.8a. MAIL: restore mail delivery, without altering the digest/index/normal delivery setting (new behavior). For compatibility with 1.8a, if mail delivery was already active, the MAIL option negates INDEX/DIGEST. Thus, a user going from NOMAIL to MAIL will keep his previous delivery options, whereas a user going from DIGEST or INDEX to MAIL will in fact deactivate index/digest mode. To revert from digest/index subscription mode to normal delivery, you can use either the MAIL option as before, or the NODIGEST/NOINDEX option. The NODIGEST and NOINDEX options were actually present in versions 1.7f and 1.8a, as synonyms for the MAIL option. In other words, you can update your instructions to indicate that the DIGEST/INDEX options are negated by the NODIGEST/NOINDEX options, even if you are still running an older version of the software. Note that in extreme cases, subscribers using the DIGEST option may receive more than one digest per cycle if the digest limit is reached before the end of the cycle. ---------------------------------- -- E-Mail scanned for viruses. -- ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- -- E-Mail scanned for viruses. -- ----------------------------------