PMDF System Manager's Guide

The NOTES channel processes e-mail messages converting them to DEC NOTES notes which are stored in a NOTES file. An options file can be used to control some of the characteristics of this conversion process. If an option file is used it must have the name notes_local_option and it must be located in the PMDF table directory, i.e., PMDF_TABLE:notes_local_option. on OpenVMS. NOTES channel option files are in the same format used by other PMDF option files. See, for example, Section 28.4.1.5. The available options are:

NOTEFILE_conference (string, < 252 characters)

Normally the name of the NOTES file is derived from the name of the conference in an obvious way: the device specification NOTES$LIBRARY: is prepended and the file extension .notes is appended. In some cases NOTES files can be located elsewhere. The NOTEFILE_conference option provides a way to specify the name of a NOTES file for the conference conference. If it is specified it gives the full file specification; if it is not specified the defaults described above will be used instead.

PREFIXES (list of space-separated strings)

The PREFIXES option provides a default for cases where no specific PREFIXES_conference option is provided. If not specified this option's value defaults to "Re: FWD:".

PREFIXES_conference (list of space-separated strings)

When subject grouping is enabled (see the discussion of SUBJECT_GROUPING_conference options below) subject lines are compressed prior to being stored in subject files. Specifically, leading and trailing spaces are removed, multiple embedded spaces are converted into a single space, and leading prefixes often used in replies are removed. However, the specific leading prefixes used tends to be dependent on language and conference conventions. The PREFIXES_conference options provide the means to specify what prefix strings should be removed on a per-conference basis. Prefix strings should be listed separated by single spaces. Case is ignored; entries can be specified in any case. If no PREFIXES_conference option is specified the PREFIXES option is used as a default.

RETAIN_FAILURES (0 or 1)

The RETAIN_FAILURES option provides a default for cases where no specific RETAIN_FAILURES_conference option is provided. This option is provided mostly for debugging and is usualy set to the default value of 0.

RETAIN_FAILURES_conference (0 or 1)

When a delivery failure of some kind occurs on the NOTES channel the normal action is to abort the delivery and return the message to its sender. This default action can be disabled on a per-conference basis with the RETAIN_FAILURES_conference option. When this option is set to 1 all delivery failures will be retained in the channel queue. This is primarily used for debugging; it is useful to have messages retained in the queue until delivery quirks have been worked out. The default value of the RETAIN_FAILURES_conference settings is obtained from the RETAIN_FAILURES option.

RETENTION_TIME (OpenVMS delta time)

The RETENTION_TIME option provides a default for cases where no specific RETENTION_TIME_conference option is provided. This option is normally set to whatever default a majority of conferences require. The time should be specified as an OpenVMS delta time string in the usual format (i.e., DD HH:MM:SS; e.g., RETENTION_TIME_GRIPES=30 00:00:00). The default value for this option is 30 days, RETENTION_TIME=30 00:00:00.

RETENTION_TIME_conference (OpenVMS delta time)

Entries in the subject grouping databases are only retained for a limited amount of time. This option provides a way of specifying how long to retain subject headers for the conference conference. The time should be specified as an OpenVMS delta time string in the usual format (i.e., DD HH:MM:SS; e.g., RETENTION_TIME_GRIPES=30 00:00:00). This option has no effect if subject grouping is disabled. If this option is not specified the default established by the RETENTION_TIME option will be used instead.

SET_PERSONAL_NAME (0-2)

The SET_PERSONAL_NAME option provides a default for cases where no specific SET_PERSONAL_NAME_conference option is provided. This option is normally set to whatever default a majority of conferences requires. The default value for this option is 1.

SET_PERSONAL_NAME_conference (0-2)

Each note that is posted contains a personal name field. This is normally the name of the person posting the note. When the NOTES channel posts a note it usually sets the personal name field to the address that's most appropriate for replies to go to. This address is given in a format that would be acceptable to VMS MAIL; that is, it has an IN% prefix and so forth. In some cases, however, such a setting can be inappropriate. For example, some mailing lists can unconditionally appear to originate from a single user. In this case such a conversion is probably inappropriate. The SET_PERSONAL_NAME_conference option controls this behavior for the conference conference. A value of 1 causes the conversion to take place. A value of 2 causes addresses specifically for replies to be ignored; the address of the actual message author will be used instead. A value of 0 blocks the conversion. If no option is specified the default is taken from the SET_PERSONAL_NAME option.

SUBJECT_GROUPING (-1 or 0 or 1)

The SUBJECT_GROUPING option provides a default for cases where no specific SUBJECT_GROUPING_conference option is provided. This option is normally set to whatever default a majority of conferences require. The default value for this option is 1.

SUBJECT_GROUPING_conference (-1 or 0 or 1)

The NOTES channel attempts to group messages with common subjects into a group of notes (specifically, an initial entry followed by one or more followup postings). This task is accomplished by building a database containing all the subject lines for recent messages and the corresponding note number. (A NOTES-SUBJECT mapping table can be used for even more control over the subject database entries; see Section 28.9.3.) A separate database is built for each conference; the names of the databases are controlled with the SUBJECTFILE_conference options. All this activity consumes resources and can in fact be inappropriate for some sorts of conferences. For example, the Risks-Digest conference is customarily grouped into messages containing multiple postings called digests; the names given to these digests are always unique and it would be a waste of time to try and group them in DEC NOTES. The SUBJECT_GROUPING_conference option controls whether or not any attempt is made to group the messages sent to the conference conference. A value of 1 requests grouping. A value of 0 disables grouping. A value of -1 requests that the RETENTION_TIME_conference option (or failing that, the RETENTION_TIME option) be used to control grouping; messages received with the RETENTION_TIME setting will be collected in one group, but after RETENTION_TIME, a new group will be started. If this option is not specified the channel will obey the more general setting of the SUBJECT_GROUPING option.

SUBJECTFILE_conference (string, < 252 characters)

Normally the databases of subjects associated with each active conference conference have names of the form PMDF_TABLE: conference.subjects</code> . This default can be overridden with an appropriate SUBJECTFILE_conference option. If this option is used, be sure to specify a complete path to the database.

USERNAME_conference (string, < 252 characters)

Each posting to a DEC NOTES conference is associated with a specific OpenVMS username. When the NOTES channel posts notes to a conference it normally uses the username it runs under; this is normally SYSTEM. In some cases, however, it can be useful to post notes under a different username. The USERNAME_conference option establishes a username to use for postings to the conference conference. This option must be set on a per-conference basis; the default if no option is given is to use the username the NOTES channel is running under (again, this is normally SYSTEM).