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Archive-name: medicine/chronic-fatigue-syndrome/cfs-network-help Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 1995/02/18 CFS NET-HELP file February 18, 1995 compiled by Roger Burns <CFS-NEWS@LIST.NIH.GOV> ================== = Introduction = ================== This file was written for CFS networkers to be a help reference about LISTSERV and Internet. For the most basic help about LISTSERV, it may only be necessary to read the first section. The sections below are as follows: - A. Common LISTSERV commands - B. Lists of interest, and nodename aliases - C. SEARCHing and selecting old messages - D. USENET newsgroups - E. CFS information on file: the Albany & SJUVM File Servers - F. Further information about health resources and LISTSERV - G. Full service Internet facilities: gopher, ftp, telnet and www For a fuller presentation of CFS-oriented electronic resources, get and read the CFS Resource File "CFS-RES TXT" available from the file servers as described below. ================================= = A. Common LISTSERV commands = ================================= LISTSERV is an automated procedure that does administrative work to maintain lists. It relieves the list-owner from a great many time- consuming chores. Messages to be posted to a list for all to read should be sent directly to the list address, e.g., CFS-L@LIST.NIH.GOV however, requests for administrative changes to your list subscription, or to retrieve files of archived messages, etc., must be sent to the LISTSERV address (which in this example would be LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV) in the form of commands that LISTSERV understands. Sometimes people will accidentally send a LISTSERV command to a list address where it is distributed to all subscribers; the person will then often get complaints from subscribers about how too many accidental and unnecessary messages are clogging up the network. So, address your mail to LISTSERV carefully! Messages that are replies *and* which quote an earlier message including the original mail headers will usually be rejected by Listserv if they include a Sender: line which points to the address of the list you are posting to. To ensure that your message gets posted, be sure to delete Sender: lines in any quoted text in your message. In this guide, commands that LISTSERV will accept are initially shown with the minimum acceptable abbreviation in capital letters. _____________________________________________ ** LIST commands: SUBscribe, QUERY or SET options To subscribe to a list, e-mail a command in the following format to LISTSERV: SUBscribe <listname> <your_first_name> <your_first_name> Example: SUB CFS-L John Doze You may later unsubscribe by sending the command: UNSUB <listname> The QUERY and SET commands are useful for viewing and setting your list options. Send QUERY <listname> to see whether your options have been set for REPRO (will send you copies of messages you post, so you are certain that they've been distributed to the list), NOMAIL (to temporarily suspend list mail to you -- handy if you'll be out of town and don't want list messages piling up at your address), DIGests (to have all messages sent to you once per day/week/month, depending on how the list is set up, so that you won't get every message individually), INDex (to get a list of messages sent once per day/week/month but not the actual messages themselves; messages of interest can be retrieved using the GET command described below to retrieve a message log, or by using the special techniques described in Section C below), MAIL (to cancel a NOMAIL, DIGESTS or INDEX setting), CONCEAL (to insure that your name on the subscription list is not viewable by the public -- see the REView command described below), SHORT (to make message mail-headers briefer -- less extraneous information to page through), and others. To change settings for your subscription, use the command SET <listname> <option>: SET <listname> REPro or NOREPro NOMail or DIGests or INDex or Mail SHORT or FULL [and other alternatives] CONCEAL or NOCONCEAL [there are additional options; see help files LISTSERV REFCARD and LISTSERV MEMO described below in the section on "Files with more information"] ___________________________________________________________ ** FILE commands The REView, INDex and GET commands enable you to retrieve useful information about a list, or about topics related to the list's subject matter. Also, the AFD and FUI commands can help keep you updated about important files that are revised from time to time (these commands are described in Section D below). The command REView <listname> will retrieve descriptive information about a list, including its definition, the identity and address of the list-owner, and a list of current subscribers. The command INDex <listname> will show all files on the LISTSERV relating to the named list. Usually these will only be archives of the list's old messages. Sometimes the list-owner will have other files of interest there. A few lists do not save previous messages. The command GET <filename1> <filename2> will retrieve files saved on the LISTSERV. Every file has a two-word name. Most often, files of a list's archived messages will be grouped by month and will have filenames in the form of <listname> LOG<2-digit-year><2-digit-month>. For example, the January 1993 archive for CFS-L would have the file-name CFS-L LOG9301 . Some lists, however, are grouped by week or by message; some may not have standard filenames in any case. To be certain, you can use the INDEX command described above to see what the bona fide filenames are. CFS information files are available from the St. John's Listserv at LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU and from the Albany Listserv at LISTSERV@ALBNYDH2.BITNET . For a discussion of those files and some advanced LISTSERV file commands, see section "D." below. ___________________________________________________________ ** Other helpful commands The command Lists will show a description of all lists based at that LISTSERV. The command Lists Global will generate a listing of all LISTSERV lists everywhere! Be careful -- the file is over 3500 lines long! To get only a selection of listnames where the name or description contains the characters "xyz", send the command Lists Global /xyz . The command SHOW ALIAS <BITNET nodename> will show the Internet alternative name for a nodename on BITNET. This may be useful if you need an alternative means to reach a LISTSERV address. See the section below on "BITNET and Internet nodename aliases". The command THANKs will generate a message which says "YOU're welcome!". This may be used to check whether all the network connections are in place between you and the LISTSERV and to be sure that the LISTSERV is up and operating. =============================================== = B. Lists of interest, and nodename aliases = =============================================== Note the following network lists that may be of interest. In each case, the Internet node where the sponsoring Listserv is located is shown, and underneath in parentheses the BITNET nodename is shown. (Always send subscription commands to the LISTSERV address. Study Section A above carefully before using the addresses below.) CFS-L @ LIST.NIH.GOV Chronic Fatigue Syndrome general discussion. (NIHLIST) Gatewayed to newsgroups alt.med.cfs. CFS-NEWS @ LIST.NIH.GOV CFS Electronic Newsletter. (NIHLIST) Gatewayed to bit.listserv.cfs.newsletter. CATHAR-M @ SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU Catharsis magazine of personal health, (SJUVM) intellect and creativity for the CFS community CFS-WIRE @ SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU CFS Newswire service to exchange news articles (SJUVM) between CFS support group newsletters CFIDS-L @ AMERICAN.EDU CFS/CFIDS/ME political action discussion. (AUVM) Gatewayed to alt.health.cfids-action. CFS-FILE @ SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU Notices of additions and changes to CFS file (SJUVM) base at SJUVM CFS-D%ALBNYDH2@ALBANY.EDU Notices of additions and changes to CFS file (ALBNYDH2) base at ALBNYDH2 (the Internet address of the Listserv is Listserv%albnydh2@albany.edu) CFS-MED @ LIST.NIH.GOV Chronic Fatigue Syndrome medical discussion (NIHLIST) immune (not on LISTSERV) Immune system discussion. To subscribe, send a message to immune-request@weber.ucsd.edu. To post messages send to immune@weber.ucsd.edu FIBROM-L @ VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU Fibromyalgia / Fibrositis discussion (UIUCVMD) Gatewayed to alt.med.fibromyalgia. Gulf War Syndrome News on Gulf War syndrome. To join, send a request to GWVM@delphi.com. Toxicology Update Newsletter of interest to those with multiple chemical sensitivities (a.k.a. environmental illness). To subscribe send the command SUBSCRIBE TOXUPS YourFirstName YourLastName to samcfadd@access.digex.net. WITSENDO @ DARTCMS1.DARTMOUTH.EDU Endometriosis discussion (DARTCMS1) EPD @ white.cis.pitt.edu Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization treatment discussion. (Send SUBSCRIBE in the Subject: line to epd@white.cis.pitt.edu.) LymeNet-L Lyme Disease electronic newsletter available through a non-standard listserv; send the command Subscribe Lymenet-l <your> <name> to listserv@lehigh.edu YEAST-L @ PSUHMC.HMC.PSU.EDU Yeast problems and yeast-free recipes. (PSUHMC) PNI @ ccat.sas.upenn.edu PNI professional discussion (psychoneuro- immunology; send SUBSCRIBE PNI to LSTSRV@ccat.sas.upenn.edu) HOLISTIC @ SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU Holistic discussion (SIUCVMB) HERB @ VM3090.EGE.EDU.TR Medicinal and Aromatic Plants discussion (TREARN) VEGLIFE @ VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU Vegetarian discussion (VTVM1) WMN-HLTH @ U.WASHINGTON.EDU Women's Health discussion AMALGAM @ VM.GMD.DE Dental AMALGAM and MERCURY Poisoning (DEARN) HELP-NET @ VM.TEMPLE.EDU Bitnet / Internet Help Resource (TEMPLEVM) LISTSERV machines reside on BITNET nodes. They can be reached via e-mail directly by other BITNET nodes. Other nodes that are on Internet but not BITNET can send mail to a LISTSERV usually by simply adding .BITNET to the end of the BITNET nodename. There will be some Internet nodes, however, for which this may not work. In these cases mail should be sent to the Internet alias for the BITNET node. (A few BITNET nodes, however, have no Internet aliases.) As described in the previous section on common LISTSERV commands, the Internet alias for a BITNET node can be found by sending the command SHOW ALIAS <Bitnet nodename> to any LISTSERV. Below are shown aliases for some BITNET nodes. Since the BITNET node for SIUCVMB has no Internet alias, the .BITNET suffix is shown in the list below. Bitnet Internet Bitnet Internet ALBNYDH2 ALBNYDH2.BITNET NIHLIST LIST.NIH.GOV AUVM AMERICAN.EDU SIUCVMB SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU BITNIC BITNIC.CREN.NET SJUVM SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU DARTCMS1 DARTCMS1.DARTMOUTH.EDU TEMPLEVM VM.TEMPLE.EDU DEARN VM.GMD.DE TREARN VM3090.EGE.EDU.TR HEARN NIC.SURFNET.NL UBVM UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU INDYCMS INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU UIUCVMD VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU IRLEARN IRLEARN.UCD.IE UKACRL IB.RL.AC.UK NDSUVM1 VM1.NODAK.EDU VTVM1 VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU ============================================= = C. SEARCHing and selecting old messages = ============================================= You can have LISTSERV send you only selected messages of your choosing without having to retrieve whole files of monthly logs. All LISTSERV lists that have archived messages can have those messages searched and selected by using database commands. These commands must be submitted as a "batch job", however, not as the simpler one-line commands described above. Consider the following example where we want to search the CFS-L archive for all messages containing the character string "amalgam": // JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=A //A DD * SEARCH AMALGAM IN CFS-L INDEX PRINT /* If you send the text above to the LISTSERV where CFS-L is based (i.e., at nodename NIHLIST.BITNET or LIST.NIH.GOV) you will have sent to you a listing of all CFS-L messages that contain the word "amalgam" (regardless of whether any of the letters are upper or lower case in the messages). Please note that the NIH Listserv has a restriction on computing time that may block most search jobs from being completed UNLESS they are split into at least two separate jobs. A good way to do this is to add, at the end of your SEARCH command, a separate time interval restriction for each search job. For example, in your first job you might add FROM 1 AUG 92 TO 30 JUN 93 at the end of the SEARCH command (so that it might read SEARCH AMALGAM IN CFS-L FROM 1 AUG 92 TO 30 JUN 93 ), and similarly in the second search job add SINCE 1 JUL 93 . This will cover the entire archive, between the two separate jobs. In some cases you may need to break the job up into 3 batches by, e.g., by adding FROM 1 AUG 92 TO 30 OCT 93 to the first SEARCH command line, FROM 1 NOV 93 TO 30 MAR 94 to the second SEARCH command line, and SINCE 1 APR to the third. The "INDEX" command as shown above is unnecessary but it's useful to include it because sometimes a database search will exceed the maximum allowable output per job (2000 lines); the INDEX output will list all the items that had been found from the search, including what wasn't printed out because of the maximum limit. You can get those extra items by submitting another variation of the search command. If you use the command SEARCH AMALGAM IN CFS-L SINCE 13 NOV you will then be sent all messages that contain the word AMALGAM and had been sent on or after the 13th of November. You can also narrow your search by using the reserved word AND or broaden it by using the reserved word OR. E.g., entering SEARCH AMALGAM AND RESEARCH would yield only those messages which contained both of those words. A full description of how to use the LISTSERV database utility can be obtained by sending the "regular" LISTSERV command (i.e., not placed within a batch job) GET LISTDB MEMO to any LISTSERV. The one error in the LISTDB MEMO manual is that it says you must send database batch jobs to the address DATABASE@nodename whereas in fact you must send them to LISTSERV@nodename. ========================= = D. USENET newsgroups = ========================= Many people prefer the convenience of reading USENET newsgroups rather than receiving all messages from a mailing list distribution. Some mailing lists and newsgroups are linked. If you are looking for access to USENET, read the "CFS/ME Electronic Resources" guide which can be obtained by sending the command GET CFS-NET TXT as an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU. Newsgroups ---------- alt.med.cfs patient discussion, linked to CFS-L alt.med.fibromyalgia patient discussion, linked to FIBROM-L bit.listserv.cfs.newsletter CFS-NEWS electronic newsletter sci.med.immunology gen'l discussion on immunology misc.health.alternative alternative health alt.health.cfids-action political action issues for CFS news.announce.newusers info for those new to USENET news.newsusers.questions Q&A about USENET Discussions on other health issues can be found in the hierarchies of sci.med, misc.health, and alt.support. Discussions for biologists can be found in the bionet hierarchy. In early 1995 there will be a proposal to shift the alt.med.cfs group to the misc.health hierarchy, and also to create a separate misc.health group for a combined distribution of the CFS-NEWS electronic newsletter, the CFS Newswire (CFS-WIRE), and Catharsis magazine (CATHAR-M). ================================================================ = E. CFS information on file: the SJUVM & Albany File Servers = ================================================================ CFS information files are available on the St. John's University Listserv and on the New York State Department of Health LISTSERV in Albany, New York. The Albany Listserv is more developed at this time, but the SJUVM Listserv is slowly developing into a major source for CFS and other health and disability related files. To use the SJUVM Listserv, send commands to LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU. To get a list of current files available, send the command GET CFS-FILE FILELIST to this Listserv address. To retrieve specific files, note the filenames on the FILELIST and then send the command GET <filename1> <filename2> to the LISTSERV address (each file has a two-part name). To be notified of newly added files in the future, send the command SUB CFS-FILE YourFirstName YourLastName to the Listserv address. To use the Albany Listserv, send commands by e-mail to LISTSERV%ALBNYDH2@ALBANY.EDU (or via BITNET to LISTSERV@ALBYNDH2) and use commands similarly as above, i.e. send GET CFS-D FILELIST to this Listserv address. It is possible to be automatically notified when a certain file is updated, or even to be sent the updated file, by using certain LISTSERV file commands. To be notified of an update to a file of interest to you -- say, CFS-RES TXT -- you would send the command FUI ADD CFS-RES TXT to the LISTSERV address. (The file CFS-RES TXT resides at many places, including LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV.) Or to be sent the entire file, send the command AFD ADD CFS-RES TXT . For detailed information about automatic file commands, send the command GET LISTAFD MEMO to any LISTSERV address. It will be a good idea to establish a password at the LISTSERV where your files of interest reside, even though it is not necessary to do so to set FUI or AFD. A password will prevent network hackers from signing you up for file updates that you don't wish to receive. Send the command PW ADD XXXXXXXX (where XXXXXXXX is replaced with the password you've chosen -- be sure to write it down!). After a password is set, you must therafter always add PW=XXXXXXXX to the end of any FUI or AFD commands you use. ================================================================ = F. Further information about health resources and LISTSERV = ================================================================ A comprehensive guide to health information based on the Internet can be found in the Health Resources file maintained by Lee Hancock. The 1993 edition can be obtained by sending the command GET CFS MED-RES as an e-mail message to LISTSERV%ALBNYDH2@ALBANY.EDU. The current edition can be obtained by ftp from ftp.sura.net, directory /pub/nic/HealthResources with filenames in the form of medical.resources.xx-xx. It is also available via gopher from ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu, login kufacts, choose Departmental Inforamtion and then Medical Center Resources. Further detailed information about Listserv can be obtained by using the command GET <filename> and sending it to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET (see filenames below). LISTSERV REFCARD Commands reference card LISTSERV MEMO Gen'l Introduction to LISTSERV LISTSERV SITES A list of all LISTSERV sites LISTFILE MEMO File-server functions USING SERVERS Help in using LISTSERV, DATABASE, and NETSERV LISTDB MEMO Database functions LISTFAQ MEMO Frequently Asked Questions [could be subtitled How to Use Database to Answer Your Own Questions] ======================================================================= = G. Full service Internet facilities: gopher, ftp, telnet and www = ======================================================================= In addition to e-mail based facilities, some CFS resources are accessible by more advanced facilities available on many mainframes, and through full service Internet providers. ___________________________________________________________ ** gopher "Gopher" is a file-finding utility. The SJUVM Listserv at St. Johns University in New York can be accessed at gopher.stjohns.edu. It holds the CFS-FILE file base, and archives of the CFS-WIRE (Newswire) service and Catharsis magazine. ___________________________________________________________ ** ftp "ftp" stands for "file transfer protocol", and is a means of transfering files rapidly through Internet. A few CFS files are available via ftp at list.nih.gov in directory CFS-NEWS. The available files are: the monthly logs of the CFS-NEWS Electronic Newsletter (first see the file CFS-NEWS.INDEX); the CFS resource file CFS-RES.TXT; and this file. ___________________________________________________________ ** telnet "Telnet" refers to the remote login capability of Internet. The Project ENABLE BBS has just begun a telnet facility at enable.wvnet.edu, available for now from 9am-4:30pm Eastern Time (USA) on weekdays. The BBS hosts the Fidonet CFS "echo" (i.e. discussion group, listed as conference 101), and has many CFS files in its file area 23. The National Capital Free-Net (Ottawa) has a CFS section with discussion groups and info files. Telnet to freenet.carleton.ca and fill out and mail in the registration forms. When inside that system, enter the command "go cfseir" to get to the CFS section. ___________________________________________________________ ** www World Wide Web, or "www", is a facility which links many different Internet resources together on a related topic. A www "home page" for CFS is being developed at this time by Sandy Shaw <shaws@ott.hookup.net>. If your system doesn't have www but does have telnet, you can use www by telnetting into any of the following: fatty.law.cornell.edu; ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu; info.cern.ch; or www.njit.edu and login as "www". Then enter the following URL code: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/freenet/rootdir/menus/social.services/ cfseir/CFSEIR.HP.html (We've wrapped this around to a 2nd line because otherwise it won't fit in this file, but you must type the entire URL code as one long line.) Other www resources are: The CFS Village, developed by Jason Hellwege <GLECJH@latrobe.edu.au> accessible at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/Glenn/CFS.html Also, Molly Holzschlag's <mollyh@indirect.com> home page which contains pointers to her Catharsis magazine, the Pro-Health consumer service, and other resources, at http://www.indirect.com/user/mollyh/index.html -- end of document ------------------------------------------------- ===================== From: CFS-L@LIST.NIH.GOV =====================