D.A.N.G Publications / How-To's



Mail List Template


Level: Intermediate
Target: Administrator
Server Compatiblity: 6.5 Series, 6.0 Series, 5.0 Series
Updated: 01/19/2004




Supplement Files:
maillist.ntf (180 KB)



The mail template is a database template which IBM/Lotus included in the R5 domino server series. The file can be downloaded from this webpage. The template is not included with the Domino server product install anymore.
NOTE: Use of the template is at your own risk. This site can not be liable for how you implement this template within your domino environment.

How do I get this application?
This template was supplied by IBM when an R5 server was installed.

What does it do?
The mail list is used in conjunction with a mail in database document. A e-mail would then be receive to this database and a specified time it would be forward to all the e-mail addresses (or subscriptions) listed in the database. The e-mail delivered to the subscriber will look like a normal e-mail -- it does not have the similarities of an e-mail forwarded by an user.

What is inside the database?
The template is not complicated as it consists of two (2) forms, five (5) views, and one (1) agent.

Form - Memo: This form is used so you will be able to read what is the email which was sent to this database.
Form - Subscription: This form is used to records the e-mail address of an interested user.
View - Memos: Shows all the e-mails within the application.
View - Subscriptions: Show all the subscriptions within the application.
View - To Be Processed: Shows all the new e-mails which have not been processed by the agent.
Agent - Process New E-Mail: This agent uses the previously described elements to process a document and forward the e-mail to the subscription. The processed document will not been shown within the "To Be Processed" view. The agent also has functionality based on the subject containing the word "Subscribe" or "Unsubscribe". The "Subscribe" on a newly accepted will then be created into a suscription document based on the from e-mail address. The new subscriber will receive an e-mail notifing them of the new subscription. The "Unsubscribe" on a newly accepted e-mail will try to find a match based on the sender from address. Upon a match the subscription will be removed and an e-mail will notifed the old subscriber of the removal of the subscription.

The template document is as follows. Here is the text from the "About Database" document:
About Mailing List

Welcome to the Notes Mailing List database. This database has been developed in order to allow Notes administrators to setup an Internet style mailing list. An Internet mailing list is commonly used by users of the Internet to exchange information in a collaborative fashion. When a new mail message is received into the database, it's forwarded to all of the subscribed members of the list. The database can also be exported to the internet via the Domino server and can used as an archive for searching and browsing.

Here is the text from the "Using database" document:
Using Mailing List

This database is used to host internet styled mailing list. The following steps must be taken to setup the mailing list:
  • Create a Notes database based on the maillist.ntf template with the title of the mailing list on the server which is to host the list.
  • Create a mailin database entry in the public name and address book, referencing the new database and host server.
  • Enable the scheduled agent "Process New Mail" to run on the hosting server.

The mailing list database via the "Process New Mail" is able to process commands which are sent to the list database and forward any messages which are not commands, to all of the subscribed users. Users send the "Process New Mail" agent commands by sending email to the database, with the command in the Subject field, and the body of the message blank. The following commands are supported:
  • Subscribe - Add a user to the mailing list, the sender there after be sent a copy of every message received by the mailing list (no including commands) via email.
  • Unsubscribe - Remove a user from the mailing list, the sender will no longer receive messages from the list

Does it work on R6?
YES - My server has had this application survive the upgarde to R6 and R6.0.5.

My take:
While the database is very basic, I think it is a very good solution by IBM. I wish they did not remove this advance template from the R6 distribution, but it is their loss. I feel the solution is still viable and I am preserving it via this website. I have played around with different design takes on this solution, but I have always gravitated back to this original simple design. This template is only meant for administrators and I feel the administrator should have some development skill to understand the code of the script. The agent code is document as well.

Many people would just make a person entry in the domino directory. Then enter a forward email address. This logic does cost the equivalent of an end-user license technically. [Each person in the directory equates to an end-user license.] I don't agree with this approach because you can not track the e-mails received. If the forward e-mail address is one of those free e-mail accounts (like HotMail), it will have a limit size. In this case the e-mails would be lost and the domino server could get some dead messages. For this reason I urge people to use this template.

The application does not take in consideration what will happen if a message return back to the mail list. This potient flaw has a potential of redistributing that error document. But since it is for an administrative to use, I believe IBM is assuming the administrator is knowledgeable and knows how to counter this event.