

                           FORMING YOUR OWN 
                      NEWSGROUP AND MAILING LIST

                            Paul A. Fishwick
                Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences
                         University of Florida
                          Bldg. CSE, Room 301
                         Gainesville, FL 32611
                       fishwick@fish.cis.ufl.edu
                            (October 1988)

The following files are being used frequently to ship the simulation
digest (comp.simulation) to both the USENET community and non-USENETTERS
(via a side mail distribution list). Please let me know if you have
suggestions on how I might improve this document.

These files will help you to form your own newsgroup and mailing list.
Put all of these files in one directory and name the directory anything
you want --- you might want to name it by the type of news group that
you are forming. NOTE: To form a mailing list requires no special
prerequisites; however, to form a news group you must first collect
votes -- please check the three distribution files beginning with the
prefix 'standards'. These files have information on both setting up
mailing lists and setting up news groups.

Look at each file and determine what needs to be modified. The shell
scripts, 'store' and 'post' will require a small amount of editing for 
your particular installation.

Here is a description of all files that are required:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FILE                           DESCRIPTION
----                           ----------- 
distribution                   A file containing an electronic address on
                               each line. This is the distribution file for
                               a mailing list -- if you are operating a
                               news group then the 'distribution' file
                               will contain all people who do not have
                               access to a USENET feed (and cannot therefore
                               receive news). YOU MUST CREATE THIS FILE.

header1                        The header that will be used for everyone
                               who gets news (i.e. on USENET).     

header2                        The header that will be used for everyone
                               on your separate mailing list (distribution).

header3                        A header containing the moderator's name
                               and the method (if you have FTP capability)
                               by which a person can obtain archives of
                               your digest.

separator1                     A long string of dashes which signifies the
                               start of the digest material.

separator2                     A short string of dashes that is placed in
                               between each digest entry.

issuenum                       Keeps track of the most recent issue number.

volume                         Keeps track of the most recent volume number.

topic                          Keeps track of the most recent topic number
                               (so that a table of contents can be built).

contents.header                Specifies the header text for the table of 
                               contents.

trailer                        Specifies the trailer text for the complete
                               digest issue.

last.issue                     The most recent issue that was shipped.

store                          The shell script used to store digest entries.
                               To use store, get into mail and issue the mail
                               command: "pi X store" where X is the number
                               of the mail message that you wish to have
                               stored in your digest. X may be omitted if
                               you are storing the 'current' message.

post                           The shell script to automatically format the
                               digest and send it off to both the mailing
                               list distribution addresses and USENET. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of notes on the shell scripts 'store' and 'post':

When you enter "pi store" or "pi X store" to store a mail message in your
digest, you will be asked to enter a string of text. This string of text
will be kept and placed in the final table of contents when you 'post'
the digest to your readers. Make sure to enter C/R followed by  ^D to end
your *one* line table of contents entry. You will then be placed back
at the mail prompt. NOTE: If, when asked for a message, you type an
asterisk instead of a line of text then there will be no table of
contents entry created for that message --- this is very useful if you
want to group a series of related messages together under one topic header.

When you enter "post" in your usual shell, you will be notified of 2
events: the completion of the USENET shipment, and the completion of
the mailing list distribution.

-paul fishwick
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Prof. Paul A. Fishwick.... INTERNET: fishwick@bikini.cis.ufl.edu       |
| Dept. of Computer Science. UUCP: gatech!uflorida!fishwick              |
| Univ. of Florida.......... PHONE: (904)-335-8036                       |
| Bldg. CSE, Room 301....... FAX is available                            |
| Gainesville, FL 32611.....                                             |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

