Information about the 4D Tech Mailing List <4D_Tech@lists.4Dinug.org>,
4D Biz Mailing List <4D_Biz@lists.4Dinug.org>, and
4D Pub Mailing List <4D_Pub@lists.4Dinug.org>
===========================================================================

                           4D Mailing List FAQ


   TABLE OF CONTENTS

      * What is the 4D iNUG and the 4D Mailing List?
      * 4D Mailing List FAQ Distribution
      * 4D iNUG Volunteers and Benefactors
      * Normal (Individual Messages) vs Digest
      * Overview of Important Email Addresses
      * Subscribing
      * Unsubscribing
      * Using a Local Redistribution List
      * Changing Your Subscribed Email Address
      * Posting Messages
      * *** 4D Mailing List Rules -- REQUIRED READING!!! ***
      * Reasons for Bounced Email
      * Reasons to be Automatically Unsubscribed
      * Why am I getting duplicate email?
      * Why am I NOT getting any email?
      * 4D iNUG Web Server
      * Third Party 4D iNUG Message Archives and Utilities
      * Copyright Policies
      * Feedback

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   What is the 4D iNUG and the 4D Mailing List?

   The 4th Dimension Internet Users Group (4D iNUG) provides an Internet
   forum for users and developers of the 4th Dimension RAD / RDBMS
   (relational and Web database environment for Macintosh and Windows) to
   exchange ideas and techniques, discuss problems and solutions, swap code
   fragments, announce 4D jobs and products, and basically help each other
   out.

   The 4D iNUG sponsors three mailing lists. The first two lists are also
   referred to collectively as the 4D Mailing List.

      * The 4D Tech Mailing List is the primary vehicle for communication
        and support among 4D netizens worldwide. This list is specifically
        for technical discussions about the 4D environment, as well as
        announcements for 4D-related jobs, products, services, and events.

      * The 4D Biz Mailing List covers mostly non-technical discussions of
        interest to the 4D developer community such as licensing issues,
        running a business, the bidding process, documentation, and
        copyrights. Technical discussions that are off-topic or have become
        off-topic on the 4D Tech Mailing List can also be further discussed
        on this list.

      * The 4D Pub Mailing List is an informal forum for 4D netizens to
        hang out with each other, chit chat, plan / announce IRL (in real
        life) get-togethers with fellow 4D netizens, and just have fun!

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   4D Mailing List FAQ Distribution

   The latest version of the 4D Mailing List FAQ which applies to all
   4D iNUG-sponsored mailing lists is available:

      * Via the Web at:
        http://www.pdm-inc.com/iNUG/faq.htm

      * Via email to requests@lists.4Dinug.org with the command
        "info 4D_Tech" in the SUBJECT of the message (leave the BODY of the
        message blank).

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   4D iNUG Volunteers and Benefactors

   Pacific Data Management handles all administration for the 4D iNUG-
   sponsored mailing lists. PDM takes care of all network and
   server-specific issues with LetterRip Pro mailing list software.

   If you have any questions or comments regarding the 4D iNUG mailing
   lists, please send them directly to Dan Wasserman at iNUG@pdm-inc.com.

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

   Normal (Individual Messages) vs Digest

   4D iNUG maintains two "subscriber" versions for each of its mailing
   lists:

     1. "Normal" version -- subscribers receive the individual messages as
        they are posted.

     2. "Digest" version -- subscribers receive the individual messages
        periodically each day in batches (generated at 8PM / 9PM / 10PM US
        Pacific time for the 4D Tech Mailing List / 4D Biz Mailing List /
        4D Pub Mailing List respectively, and when the digest grows to at
        least 30K in size).

   Note: The 4D Tech Mailing List is generally heavy in volume at times
   (approximately 60+ messages/day), so I would recommend at least
   subscribing to the 4D Tech Digest version at first.

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

   Overview of Important Email Addresses

   The following addresses are used to manage and operate these lists:

     1. requests@lists.4Dinug.org with the command "info 4D_Tech" in the
        SUBJECT of the message -- for obtaining this FAQ

     2. 4D_Tech-on@lists.4Dinug.org, 4D_Biz-on@lists.4Dinug.org and
        4D_Pub-on@lists.4Dinug.org -- for subscribing to the normal version
        of these lists

     3. 4D_Tech-digest@lists.4Dinug.org, 4D_Biz-digest@lists.4Dinug.org and
        4D_Pub-digest@lists.4Dinug.org -- for subscribing to the digest
        version of these lists

     4. 4D_Tech-off@lists.4Dinug.org, 4D_Biz-off@lists.4Dinug.org and
        4D_Pub-off@lists.4Dinug.org -- for unsubscribing from these lists

     5. iNUG@pdm-inc.com -- for contacting the list admin with your
        comments, questions, and problems regarding the mailing lists.

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

   Subscribing

   Email your subscribe request to one of the following subscribe accounts
   for automated processing by the LetterRip list server. Leave the body of
   the message blank.

   The LetterRip mailing list server will automatically extract the email
   address and name contained in your FROM mail header (or the REPLY-TO if
   one exists) when processing your subscribe request. If you must use a
   REPLY-TO mail header, make sure that you configure it to include BOTH
   your name and address, e.g., FirstName LastName , or
   else the LetterRip list server will only be able to extract your email
   address.

      * To subscribe to the 4D Tech Mailing List  -OR-  to switch from the
        4D Tech Digest (if already a digest subscriber) to the 4D Tech
        Mailing List, send email:

             To: 4D_Tech-on@lists.4Dinug.org

      * To subscribe to the 4D Tech Digest  -OR-  to switch from the
        4D Tech Mailing List (if already a list subscriber) to the 4D Tech
        Digest, send email:

             To: 4D_Tech-digest@lists.4Dinug.org

      * To subscribe to the 4D Biz Mailing List  -OR-  to switch from the
        4D Biz Digest (if already a digest subscriber) to the 4D Biz
        Mailing List, send email:

             To: 4D_Biz-on@lists.4Dinug.org

      * To subscribe to the 4D Biz Digest  -OR-  to switch from the 4D Biz
        Mailing List (if already a list subscriber) to the 4D Biz Digest,
        send email:

             To: 4D_Biz-digest@lists.4Dinug.org

      * To subscribe to the 4D Pub Mailing List  -OR-  to switch from the
        4D Pub Digest (if already a digest subscriber) to the 4D Pub
        Mailing List, send email:

             To: 4D_Pub-on@lists.4Dinug.org

      * To subscribe to the 4D Pub Digest  -OR-  to switch from the 4D Pub
        Mailing List (if already a list subscriber) to the 4D Pub Digest,
        send email:

             To: 4D_Pub-digest@lists.4Dinug.org

   NOTE: The LetterRip list server only allows you to be subscribed to
   EITHER the normal version of the list OR the digest version using the
   subscribe addresses for each list; NOT BOTH. If you wish to be
   subscribed to BOTH versions of the same list, please subscribe to one of
   the versions (normal or digest) and then contact iNUG@pdm-inc.com to
   be manually subscribed to the remaining version (digest or normal).

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   Unsubscribing

   Email your unsubscribe request to one of the following unsubscribe
   accounts for automated processing by the LetterRip list server. Leave
   the body of the message blank.

   If you are subscribed to BOTH versions (normal and digest) of the same
   list, the first unsubscribe request will remove you from the normal
   version of the list and the subsequent unsubscribe command will remove
   you from the digest version of the list.

      * To unsubscribe from EITHER the 4D Tech Mailing List OR the 4D Tech
        Digest, send email:

             To: 4D_Tech-off@lists.4Dinug.org

      * To unsubscribe from EITHER the 4D Biz Mailing List OR the 4D Biz
        Digest, send email:

             To: 4D_Biz-off@lists.4Dinug.org

      * To unsubscribe from EITHER the 4D Pub Mailing List OR the 4D Pub
        Digest, send email:

             To: 4D_Pub-off@lists.4Dinug.org

   The list server is very particular about the address in your FROM mail
   header (or the REPLY-TO) matching the address you originally subscribed
   under EXACTLY in order to process your unsubscribe request
   automatically. For example, kalena@kalena.com and karen_sabog@kalena.com
   which both point to the same account are considered two different
   addresses by the list server. However, thanks to LetterRip's fuzzy
   domain logic, someone subscribed as kalena@ALOHA.kalena.com can still
   complete the unsubscribe process if just the subdomain part of their
   email address has changed to, e.g., kalena@HAWAII.kalena.com.

   If you are having difficulty in unsubscribing or no longer have access
   to unsubscribe from your old or defunct email account, you need to email
   iNUG@pdm-inc.com with all the possible variations of your email
   address to look for so that it can be manually removed.

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   Using a Local Redistribution List

   If you are interested in using a local redistribution list (aka mail
   exploder) such as 4d-gurus@your_company.com, then have the list owner
   submit a subscribe request from the redistribution list account. If you
   need assistance in subscribing or unsubscribing a local redistribution
   list, then email iNUG@pdm-inc.com along with the name of the list
   owner to manually process your request.

   If you are RECEIVING messages via a local redistribution list AND you
   wish to POST a message, you have the following options:

      * Subscribe your individual email address instead (or temporarily
        subscribe and then unsubscribe after posting to avoid duplicate
        messages).

      * Use the Reply-To mail header with the address of your local
        redistribution list so that your post will be accepted.

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

   Changing Your Subscribed Email Address

   To switch email addresses, send two email messages:

     1. one message from your NEW account to subscribe
     2. another message from your OLD account to unsubscribe

   Please see the sections above on subscribing and unsubscribing for
   further details.

   DO NOT ask me to modify your email address manually. It is to your
   benefit to go through the subscribe process so that you can unsubscribe
   successfully in the future via the unsubscribe request accounts for
   automated processing.

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

   Posting Messages

   Once you have received confirmation of your subscription, send email as
   follows to ONLY ONE of the appropriate lists. DO NOT CROSSPOST YOUR
   MESSAGES!!!

      * To: 4D Tech Mailing List <4D_Tech@lists.4Dinug.org>
        Subject: Insert_Brief_Meaningful_Subject_Here

      * To: 4D Biz Mailing List <4D_Biz@lists.4Dinug.org>
        Subject: Insert_Brief_Meaningful_Subject_Here

      * To: 4D Pub Mailing List <4D_Pub@lists.4Dinug.org>
        Subject: Insert_Brief_Meaningful_Subject_Here

   Your email address MUST MATCH a subscriber on either the list or digest
   version EXACTLY in order to successfully POST a message. For example,
   kalena@kalena.com and karen_sabog@kalena.com which both point to the
   same account are considered two different addresses by the list server.
   If you are receiving messages via a mail exploder such as
   4d-gurus@your_company.com, see the section "Using a Local Redistribution
   List" for posting options.

   NOTE: Particularly for digest subscribers, please remember to edit the
   SUBJECT line for your replies with the pertinent subject thread so that
   replies are NOT, e.g., "Re: 4D Tech Digest"; otherwise, your message
   will not be processed.

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

   *** 4D Mailing List Rules -- REQUIRED READING!!! ***

      * Under no circumstance should you ever asperse the character of
        another member of this list. This applies toward other 
        developers, employees of ACI or any of it's customers that may 
        participate in these forums. Injurious direct or indirect 
        attacks between list participants will not be tolerated.

      * This is *NOT* an anonymous list. Your REAL FULL NAME should be
        displayed along with your email address in the FROM mail header of
        your posts (preferably) or at least signed in the body of the
        message. If you are using proprietary software (e.g., AOL) which
        does not have this feature or have a mail admin who is unable to
        configure your mail server (e.g., Lotus Notes) with your name
        attached to your email address, then sign your real name in the
        body of the message.

      * Newly subscribed members may NOT participate or start topics 
        which may be controversial. The degree to which each member may 
        contribute to a controversial topic is relative to their 
        historic standing within the community and iNUG forums. Only 
        members who have established themselves as part of this 
        technical community through their past questions or answers will 
        have earned a greater degree of free expression.

      * Please reserve the use of the REPLY-TO mail header ONLY if your
        address is DIFFERENT from that displayed in the FROM mail header.
        Also, the REPLY-TO mail header is generated AS IS (in some email
        clients), so you will need to manually enter BOTH your real name
        and address when configuring this field in your email preferences,
        e.g.,

             REPLY-TO: Karen Sabog 

      * Please make sure that your email date and time are GLOBALLY-CORRECT
        so that your messages will display, sort, and thread in
        chronological order no matter what time zone your fellow
        subscribers retrieve mail in. SEND YOURSELF A TEST MESSAGE and
        check if the DATE mail header in your messages is appending the
        appropriate GMT or UTC offset, e.g., "-0700" or "PDT" for Pacific
        Daylight Savings Time. Remember to FIRST set the time zone and
        daylight savings settings, THEN set/recheck the date and time
        (ESPECIALLY if you have just changed either the time zone and/or
        daylight savings settings). Mac users can adjust this via the Date
        & Time and/or Map control panels; Windows users can edit the
        Date/Time control panel, TZ environment variable, or time zone
        setting in some email packages. Please verify your date/time
        settings periodically especially when daylight savings goes in and
        out of effect, when you install system software, or if you zap your
        Mac's PRAM. Search the Web for client software that can synchronize
        to an NTP (network time protocol) server such as time.nist.gov.
        Related time zone links include:

        http://www.time.gov
        http://www.worldtimezone.com
        http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/tzones.html
        http://www.bsdi.com/date

      * Please make the SUBJECT line of your email concise and descriptive,
        e.g., "4D WhizBang Product 4.0 Shipping" rather than just stating
        "New Product" or something emotional like "I'm going nuts!"

      * When posting a reply to a message, only include the RELEVANT TEXT
        needed for your answer to make sense. Do not forward the entire
        original message. Remove any extraneous mail headers (e.g.,
        X-Sender, Received, Mime-Version, Content-Type, Precedence), the
        original author's signature, and the 4D iNUG footer which is
        automatically appended to every message.

      * Digest subscribers should reply to individual messages in the
        digest as separate posts rather than a batch of replies in one
        post.

      * If replying to an individual message in the digest version, please
        edit the SUBJECT line of your email to reflect the message you are
        actually replying to (preceded by "Re: ") so that the thread can be
        followed.

      * When composing email (this includes your mail headers and
        signatures), please make sure that you are using only the 7-bit
        US-ASCII character set. The US-ASCII character set means just
        character codes 0-127 (decimal), i.e., no characters like bullets,
        curly quotes, em and en dashes, non-breaking spaces, and characters
        with diacritical marks. This will ensure that all recipients on
        this international mailing list will see your message as intended
        rather than having some of the mailers spewing out strange
        character sequences. Eudora users can do this by disabling
        quoted-printable encoding. Also, mail systems not capable of
        receiving 8-bit characters will cause messages to bounce back to
        the list admin.

      * Keep each line of your message to about 70 characters per line (use
        a monospace font with hard returns) to avoid splitting into two
        lines on some mailers and also to avoid splitting if used in a
        reply. This is especially a good idea if creating any tables so
        that the columns line up.

      * Please keep your signature short -- the end portion of your email
        where you might contribute your name, phone number, address, ASCII
        art, favorite quote, philosophy, etc. Short here means 5 to 6 lines
        max including white space! Indicate your Web site if you have one
        for more information. Anyone with a long signature risks being
        automatically unsubscribed. This is a mailing list; not your
        personal vehicle for self-promotion.

      * DO NOT send auto-reply messages like those used when you are away
        on vacation or out of the office. I suggest that you temporarily
        unsubscribe from the list, then resubscribe upon your return.

      * DO NOT send HTML-formatted messages or styled (aka enriched) text
        messages. Make sure to send your messages in PLAIN TEXT. If the
        LetterRip mail server is unable to obtain plain-text copy from 
        your message, it will not be posted to the list.

      * This is an International English-speaking mailing list. Please post
        your messages in ENGLISH or provide an ENGLISH TRANSLATION.

      * DO NOT crosspost your messages to more than one 4D iNUG mailing
        list.

      * DO NOT send test messages to the list. You should contact
        iNUG@pdm-inc.com for assistance or send a message to the list you
        are subscribed to with the email command "help" (without the
        quotes) in the subject line so that you will receive an auto
        response from the list server instead of adding noise to the list.

      * Any off-topic posts should be prefaced with "[OFF]" or "[OFF
        TOPIC]" in the SUBJECT line. These posts should be kept to a
        minimum.

      * All messages, especially those with differing views and opinions,
        should be written in a constructive manner that is conducive for
        discussion. NO FLAMES!!!

      * Practice NETIQUETTE...mentioned again to reinforce this important
        point.

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

   Reasons for Bounced Email

   Receiving bounced email messages is inevitable on the Internet and can
   happen for some of the following reasons: system or network down, name
   server timeout, mailbox full (some users DO have mail and/or disk
   quotas), mail loops, user unknown, host unknown, server configuration
   problems, too many hops, ISP running anti-spam software, etc. Sometimes
   the error messages may not adequately explain the problem, be diagnosed
   incorrectly, or even be obscure. The majority of these problems are
   temporary and in most cases you will probably just want to go ahead and
   delete these messages (at your discretion, of course!).

   As the admin for this high-traffic mailing list, I usually get hundreds
   of bounced messages almost every day since there is always some sort of
   burp occurring on the Internet or a server is down, even if only
   temporarily. I usually try to wait a few days to monitor if the problem
   resolves itself but may unsubscribe the offending email address sooner.

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

   Reasons to be Automatically Unsubscribed

   I will automatically unsubscribe users for the following reasons (not an
   exhaustive list):

      * Generating numerous bounced email

      * Including the full digest version in replies

      * Using auto-reply messages such as on vacation or out of the office

      * Not complying with the list rules and/or the list administrator's
        request(s)

      * Posting too many off-topic messages

      * Offensive and/or inappropriate language

      * Lengthy signature

      * Posting test messages to the list. You should contact
        iNUG@pdm-inc.com for assistance or send a message to the list you
        are subscribed to with the email command "help" (without the
        quotes) in the subject line so that you will receive an auto
        response from the list server instead of adding noise to the list.

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

   Why am I getting duplicate email?

   If you are subscribed to the list and your email address is also listed
   as a recipient in the TO, CC, or BCC fields for a particular message,
   then you may receive duplicate messages.

   You may also receive bounced email messages that appear to be duplicates
   as a result of posting a message to the list. Look at the mail headers
   first before becoming alarmed about getting any duplicates. In some
   instances, some of you were subscribed under more than one address.

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

   Why am I NOT getting any email?

   Here are the most common reasons:

      * Your email is bouncing; however, your address is still subscribed
        to the list. You can always try resubscribing to test if your are
        still subscribed to the list. The list server will not subscribe
        your address again if it is already in the subscriber database.

      * Your email address has been removed by the list admin.

      * The list server is down or unreachable. You can ping or perform a
        traceroute to lists.4Dinug.org to see if it is alive and/or send an
        email command such as "help" to requests@lists.4Dinug.org to test if
        the list server is processing messages. DO NOT SEND TEST MESSAGES
        TO THE LIST!!!

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

   4D iNUG Web Server

   The 4D iNUG Web Server contains information on 4D-related resources, user
   groups, vendors, and the 4D Mailing List FAQ. It is available at:

      * http://www.pdm-inc.com/iNUG/faq.htm

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

   Third Party 4D iNUG Message Archives and Utilities

   Netizens in the 4D and Internet communities have graciously archived the
   individual messages generated from the 4D Mailing List and created the
   following resources with features such as keyword searching and
   threading:

      * http://www.pdm-inc.com/mky.htm -- Monkeywerks -- Web-based search
        engine of the 4D Tech Mailing List and 4D Biz Mailing List
        maintained by Pacific Data Management, Inc.

      * http://www.intellexcorp.com/intellex/4DMessages/Index.html -- 4D
        Message Summary -- Threaded Web version of the 4D Tech Mailing List
        maintained by Randy Kaempen of Intellex Corporation.

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

   Copyright Policies

   All content generated by the 4D Tech Mailing List, 4D Biz Mailing List,
   and 4D Pub Mailing List (normal and digest versions) are subject to the
   following copyright policies:

     1. The original author retains copyright.

     2. Permission to redistribute must be granted. All approved resources
        are listed in the "Third Party 4D Message Archives" section of the
        4D Mailing List FAQ.

     3. Commercial redistribution "for profit" is prohibited.

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

   Feedback

   Please feel free to send me your feedback and suggestions regarding
   4D-related Internet resources available to the 4D community.

   Dan Wasserman 
   Forum Administrator
   4th Dimension Internet Users Group (4D iNUG)

             [---------------------------------------------------]
             [ Based on the 4D Mailing List FAQ by Karen R Sabog ]

                 Updated 20 December 2004 by iNUG@pdm-inc.com.
                 Copyright (c)2001-2005 by Pacific Data Management. 
                             All rights reserved.

                   http://www.pdm-inc.com/iNUG/faq.htm