The Online World Part 15

Original message follows:

Received: from NDSUVM1 by NDSUVM1.BITNET (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 3308; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:25 CST Received: from pat.uio.no by VM1.NoDak.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:23 CST Received: from ulrik.uio.no by pat.uio.no with local-SMTP (PP) id [email protected]>; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:24 +0100 Received: by ulrik.uio.no ; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:18 +0100 Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:18 +0100 From: [email protected] Message-Id: [email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: test

index kidlink

The first part of the bounced message is usually of no interest.

Hidden in the second part you'll find the following interesting line:

554 No such local user: PISTSERV

Ah, a typo!

If your original message was long, you're likely to be pleased by having the complete text returned in the third part of the bounced message. Now, you may get away with a quick cut and paste, before resending it to the corrected address.

The text and codes used in bounced messages vary depending on what type of mailbox system you're using, and the type of system that is bouncing your mail.

Above, [email protected] returned the full text of my bounced mail. Some systems just send the beginning of your original text, while others (in particular some X.400 systems) send nothing but a note telling you the reason for the bounce.

| Note: When you fail to understand why a message is being | | bounced, contact your local postmaster for help. Send him | | a copy of the complete text of the bounced message up to | | and including the line "Subject:" at the bottom. | | You do not have to send him the text of your original | | message! |

Replying to an Internet message ------------------------------- On the Internet, electronic messages have a common structure that is common across the network. On some systems, you can reply by using a reply command. If this feature is not available, use the sender's address as given in the mail header.

The bounced message contained two mail headers: the header of my original message (in part three), and the header of the bounced message (in part one).

The 'good' reply address is laid out in the 'From:' header.

Thus, this message contains the following two 'good' addresses:

From: Network Mailer From: [email protected]

The Network Mailer located the second address line above in my original message, and used this address when sending the bounced message. (Note: there is no point in sending a message back to [email protected] since this is the address of an automatic mail handling program. Write to [email protected] to talk to a "real person" at this computer center.) The exact order of a message's header may vary from system to system, but it will always contain the vital 'From:' line.

| Note: Exercise caution when replying to a message sent by | | a mailing list. If you wish to respond to the author only, | | make sure that the only address you're replying to is that | | person's. Don't send it to the entire list! |

Directories of services and subscribers --------------------------------------- There is no complete global directory of available electronic addresses. On many systems, however, you can search lists of local users.

| Normally, you'd be better off by calling the recipient for | | his or her email address. |

Sometimes, the information given you by the recipient is not enough.

Maybe the address needs an extension for the message to be routed through gateways to the destination.

Another typical problem is that the syntax of the address is wrong. Perhaps you made a mistake, when you wrote it down (KIDCAFE became KIDSCAFE).

The return address in the received messages' mailer headers may be wrong. It may use a syntax that is illegal on you email system, or it may suggest a routing that is unknown to your system. When trying to send mail to this address, the Mailer-Daemon complains: "This is a non-existent address."

Again, the first person to contact for help is your local postmaster. On most Internet hosts this is simple. If you have a mailbox on the ULRIK computer at the University of Oslo, send a request for help to [email protected] . If you are on COLNET in Buenos Aires, send to [email protected] .

POSTMASTER is also the address to turn to on BITNET. Users of FidoNet or RelayNet, should write to SYSOP.

It may not be that simple to locate the postmaster on UUCP.

The postmaster ID may exist on some systems, but often he's just a name or a user code.

You can get the email address of known Internet systems by sending a message to [email protected] . In the subject of the message, write the command WHOIS host-machine-name. Do not write anything in the text (will be ignored). You will get a report of the desired mailbox computer, and the address of the local postmaster. Example:

To: [email protected] Subject: WHOIS AERO.ORG Text:

Sometimes, you just don't know the name of a recipient's mailbox computer. When this is the case, start at the "top of the pyramid."

Say your desired recipient lives in Germany. The ISO country code for Germany is DE (see appendix 6). Send the message

To: [email protected] Subject: WHOIS DOMAIN DE Text:

This will give you the email addresses of the main postmasters for this country. Most postmasters are willing to help, but please note that most of them are very busy people. It may take days before they get around to respond to your inquiry.

There are over 100 other "whois-servers" in more than 15 countries. The systems whois.nic.ad.jp and whois.ripe.net cover j.a.pan and Europe. The rest of them provide information about local users. (A list is available via anonymous FTP from sipb.mit.edu in the file /pub/whois/whois-servers.list . Chapter 12 has information about how to get this list by email).

If your recipient is on UUCP, try [email protected] . To locate the postmaster of the mailbox system "amanpt1", use the following format (write nothing in the text):

To: [email protected] Subject: amanpt1 Text:

BITNET provides information about connected systems through many sources. Scandinavian users use [email protected] in Finland.

Try a LISTSERV on a host closer to where you live. For example, North American users may use [email protected], which is a host in North Dakota. j.a.panese users should write to the host [email protected]

When retrieving for BITNET host information mail, your search will have to be done in two steps. Here, your commands are NOT to be entered on the Subject line. Enter all commands in the TEXT field (text on the Subject line will be ignored). Example:

You want information about the BITNET computer FINHUTC (called a "node in the network"). Your first message should have the following text:

// job echo=no database search dd=rules //rules dd *

search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC index

LISTSERV sends you the following report:

> search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC --> Database BITEARN, 1 hit.

> index Ref# Conn Nodeid Site name ---- ---- ------ --------- 0910 85/11 FINHUTC Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

Send a new search message to the LISTSERV containing the same commands as above. Add one line in which you ask for database record number 0910 (given in the column Ref#).

Like this:

// job echo=no database search dd=rules //rules dd *

search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC index print 0910

LISTSERV will return a report with a lot of information.

Here is part of it:

Node: FINHUTC Country: FI Internet: FINHUTC.hut.fi Net: EARN Nodedesc: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland P_hsalmine: Harri Salminen;[email protected];+358 0 4514318 P_pautio: Petri Autio;[email protected];+358 0 4514318 P_vvoutila: Vuokko Voutilainen;[email protected];+358 0 4514342 Routtab: RSCS (NETSERV,[email protected])

For more information about searching BITNET databases, send this message to your favorite LISTSERV, or use the address below:

To: [email protected] Subject: nothing TEXT: GET LISTDB MEMO

X.400 systems are developing an address directory according to CCITT standard X.500. The plan is to connect several directories.

The developers hope that routing of X.400 messages may eventually be done automatically without the user needing to know the ident.i.ty of the recipient's mailbox computer.

X.500 will certainly help X.400 users. The problem is that most email is still carried by other types of systems, and that X.500 has no concern for mail transported through "foreign systems."

Dialcom ------- is a commercial, global online service, which have many nodes in Africa and Latin America. To send mail from Dialcom to the Internet you must use commercial gateway-services like DASnet (see appendix 1).

To send mail from one Dialcom system to another, use the syntax 6007:EWP002. This address points to mailbox EWP002 on system number 6007.

To send mail from Internet to Dialcom user YNP079 on system 10001, use the following address when sending through DASnet:

[email protected]

Note: Only registered users with DASnet can use this method.

FidoNet ------- Users of this global network can send and receive mail to/from the Internet. For example, a FidoNet user may use the following method to send to my Internet address: