Distribution Lists

Your Con-nect administrator can add distribution lists which you can use to speed up your correspondence. To save time if you frequently send mail to the same group of users, you can also create your own distribution lists by assigning a name to each list of users.

If you enter the name of a distribution list as the addressee for a mail item, the item is sent automatically to each member of that list.

This document covers the following topics:


Adding a Distribution List

Issue the following command sequence from any point in Con-nect:

ADD Distribution

As a result, the "Add Distribution List" screen appears.

 11:25 AM            * * *  C O N - N E C T  3  * * *               26.Feb.2002
 Cabinet LS                  Add Distribution List                      Tuesday
                                                                               
          Folder Work___________ File _______________                          
                                                                               
       List Name ____________                                                  
                                                                               
     Description ____________________________________________________________  
                 ____________________________________________________________  
                 ____________________________________________________________  
                 ____________________________________________________________  
                                                                               
   Address level 9                                                             
                                                                               
     Private use _  or Security Read 7  Modify 7  Copy 7  Print 7              
                                                                               
     Add Members _                                                             
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
Complete the information above and press ENTER to add                          
   Command /                                                              /    
Enter-PF1---PF2---PF3---PF4---PF5---PF6---PF7---PF8---PF9---PF10--PF11--PF12---
      Help  Menu  Quit  In    Send  Foldr Docs  Note  Cal   Flip  Last  Home   

In addition to the information which you enter in every "Add" screen (see The "Add" Screens), specify the following distribution list definition criteria in the "Add Distribution List" screen.

List Name

A name that is unique among distribution lists and does not exceed 12 characters.

If you specify this name as addressee in the "Send" screen, your mail is automatically sent to all members of the distribution list.

Caution:
You cannot modify the name of a distribution list, once it has been added.

Address Level

The address level establishes limitations for the send function. Your own address level is automatically entered in this field. You can define another address level for your distribution list. You cannot enter an address level higher than your own address level (i.e. you cannot send anything to users who have an address level higher than your own address level).

The administrator can specify that a public, shared or standalone cabinet is not allowed to send or receive mail. In this case, you cannot add a distribution list (the appropriate message will be displayed).

Add Members

To add members to the distribution list, you mark this field with any character.

After you have completed your specifications, press ENTER to display the "Add Members to Distribution List" screen showing the name of the distribution list and its description.

 11:04 AM            * * *  C O N - N E C T  3  * * *               25.Jul.2002
 Cabinet LS            Add Members to Distribution List                Thursday
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
       List name Marketing     is a member of   0 other lists                  
                                                                               
     Description Members of the local marketing team                  
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
 Current members 0          0 are lists                                        
                                                                               
       Member ID ____________________                                          
       Mail type O (Original, Copy, Blindcopy, Private)                        
                                                                               
 Display members by ID _ or only users by last name _                          
                 only with active mail status message _                        
                                                                               
Fill in members and press ENTER to add                                         
   Command /                                                              /    
Enter-PF1---PF2---PF3---PF4---PF5---PF6---PF7---PF8---PF9---PF10--PF11--PF12---
      Help  Menu  Quit  In    Send  Foldr Docs  Note  Cal   Flip  Last  Home   

Enter the following information in the "Add Members to Distribution List" screen:

Member ID

The user IDs or last names of the Con-nect users that you want to add to the distribution list. The users must be separated by a blank.

For example, if you enter a last name and more than one Con-nect user has that last name, a window appears which lists all users with that last name. You must then mark the required user with any character and press ENTER.

You can also enter the last name followed by the first name - separated by a comma.

You can alternatively enter a bulletin board, a cabinet, another distribution list, an external mail node (e.g. a TELEX node) or a nickname.

You can enter an asterisk (*) in the "Member ID" line to display the addressee selection window (you can also enter characters followed by an asterisk (*) to display a list of all addressees beginning with the specified characters). You can mark the names you wish to add to the list with any character. Pressing ENTER displays the next page of the window. You issue the QUIT command to close the window and to return to the "Add Members to Distribution List" screen.

Mail type

The type of mail which the members you enter in the "Member ID" line are to receive:

O Original
C Copy
B Blindcopy
P Private mail

By default each member receives an original of a mail item. If you want particular members to receive copies or blindcopies of a mail item, enter C or B respectively in this field.

Press ENTER to add the members to the distribution list.

As a result, the blank "Member ID" line re-appears and you can add further members to the distribution list.

With each member added, the number after "Current members" increases. If you include another distribution list as a member, this is indicated in the "are lists" notation. The name of the last added member is shown to the right of the "Member ID" line.

If you specify a name or user ID which does not exist, a message indicating that the member was not added is displayed.

Display members

Optional - you can mark one of the following fields with any character:

  • by ID
    Displays all members of the distribution list sorted by member ID.

  • only users by last name
    Displays only the users that have been added to the distribution list, sorted by last name. Other members such as bulletin boards are not shown.

When you have marked one of the above fields, you can also mark the following field:

  • only with active mail status message
    Displays only those members of the distribution list who have activated a mail status message.

If the members are displayed (either sorted by member ID or last name) and you want to add more members to the list, you must issue the QUIT command to return to the "Add Members to Distribution List" screen.

When you have added all the members to the distribution list, issue any command to quit the function.

Managing Your Distribution Lists

Issue the following command sequence from any point in Con-nect to display a list of all available distribution lists:

DISPLAY Distribution

As a result, the "Display Distribution Lists by Name" screen appears.

  11:47 AM            * * *  C O N - N E C T  3  * * *               26.Feb.2002
  Cabinet LS           Display Distribution Lists by Name                Tuesday
                                                              Members      In   
  Cmd List Name    Cab Description                       You Total  Lists  Lists
  --- ------------ --- --------------------------------- --- ------ ------ -----
  __  Marketing        Members of the local marketing te     12     1      1    
  __  Team13           Members of research team for adva  *  9      0      0    
  __  SPANTRANS     *  Spanish Translation Team      (S)     4      0      0    
  __  TRANSPORT        All members nation-wide       (S)  *  25     0      0    
                                                                                
      
     
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
 Cmds are 1 or 2 characters from the list below (FLIP for PF-keys)              
    Command /                                                              /    
  Copy     Display  Erase    File     Modify   Print    Top                     
                                                                                

The lists are arranged alphabetically. Your own lists are displayed first, followed by those created by the Con-nect administrator. The columns display the following information:

List Name

The name you enter in the "Addressee(s)" line when sending mail to the members of this list.

Cab

An asterisk (*) indicates that the list is for a shared cabinet at system level. You cannot add or modify members of such a list.

When your administrator adds a shared cabinet to your environment, Con-nect automatically creates a distribution list for this cabinet. Thus, you can send mail to all members of the shared cabinet. There is one exception: you cannot send mail to members who are located on a remote Con-nect node (see Working With Other Cabinets). The distribution list for the shared cabinet is updated each time, a member is added to or erased from the shared cabinet.

Description

The first 32 characters of the description of the list. Lists which have been created by the Con-nect administrator are marked with (S); you can use these distribution lists, but cannot erase, file or modify them.

You

An asterisk indicates that you are a member of the list.

Members Total

The total number of members, including bulletin boards, distribution lists, etc.

Members Lists

The number of distribution lists among the members.

In Lists

The number of distribution lists of which this list is itself a member.

Commands for Distribution Lists

The command prompting line of the "Display Distribution Lists by Name" screen shows all the commands which apply to distribution lists. The commands are described in the section Commands. The following exceptions apply when working with distribution lists:

COPY

The following exceptions apply when you COPY a distribution list:

  • Members at external mail nodes are not copied. This is indicated by an appropriate message.

  • If a member of a distribution list is also a distribution list, that member is not copied.

DISPLAY

When you DISPLAY a specific distribution list, the "Display Distribution List" screen contains several fields which you can mark to display or add members. It also shows the date and time when the distribution list was created and last modified.

 11:10 AM            * * *  C O N - N E C T  3  * * *               25.Jul.2002
 Cabinet LS              Display Distribution List                     Thursday
                                                                               
          Folder Work            File                                          
       List name Marketing     is a member of   0 other lists                  
     Description Members of the local marketing team                           
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
 Current members 3          0 are lists                                        
   Address level 9                                                             
     Private use    or Security Read 9  Modify 9  Copy 9  Print 9              
                                                                               
         Created 25.Jul.2002    11:04 AM by Long,Sonia           LS            
        Modified 25.Jul.2002    11:10 AM by Long,Sonia           LS            
                                                                               
 Display members by ID _ or only users by last name _                          
                 only with active mail status message _                        
     Add members _                                                             
                                                                               
Enter a command, press a PF-key, or enter * to display commands                
   Command /                                                              /    
 Copy     Erase    File     Flip     Modify   Print                            
                                                                               

To print the members of the distribution list, enter PRINT in the command line.

To display the members of the distribution list, you can mark one of the following "Display members" fields with any character:

  • by ID
    Displays all members of the distribution list sorted by member ID.

  • only users by last name
    Displays only the users that have been added to the distribution list, sorted by last name. Other members such as bulletin boards are not shown.

When you have marked one of the above fields, you can also mark the following field:

  • only with active mail status message
    Displays only those members of the distribution list who have activated a mail status message.

As a result, the corresponding "Members of Distribution List Name" screen appears. For example:

 11:13 AM            * * *  C O N - N E C T  3  * * *               25.Jul.2002
 Cabinet LS         Members of Distribution List MARKETING             Thursday
                    All Members by ID with MSM                                 
 Cmd Member Name          Member ID                  Type     Mail  Date Added 
 --- -------------------- -------------------------- -------- ----- -----------
 __  Eshberry,John        ESH                        User       O   25.Jul.2002
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
Cmds are 1 or 2 characters from the list below (FLIP for PF-keys)              
   Command /                                                              /    
 Display  Erase    Top                                                         
                                                                               

The list is sorted alphabetically according to the member ID or last name. You can specify, for example, "POSITION k*" in the command line to scroll the screen so that the member ID or last name beginning with the specified character is displayed at the top of the screen.

There is one exception: bulletin boards are not sorted according to the member ID. They are sorted according to the ID of the cabinet (SYSCNTB) in which they are internally stored. Thus, to position the list to all bulletin boards, you can specify "POSITION syscntb" in the command line.

When you mark a user with DI, the user address is shown. When a mail status message has been activated, it is shown first.

Tip:
When you display the members of the distribution list, you can mark a member with ER to erase the member from the list.

ERASE

When you mark a specific distribution list in the "Display Distribution Lists by Name" screen with ER, the whole list is erased from Con-nect. It is not placed in the Wastebasket.

To remove members from a distribution list, the following steps are necessary:

DISPLAY a specific distribution list.

Mark the "Display members" field with any character to access the "Members of Distribution List Name screen.

Mark the member(s) you wish to remove from the list with ER and press ENTER.