Hello all
 
I've recently found out how to search the Bee-L Listserver for past
messages,  so I thought I would provide some examples in case anyone
else wanted to do the same.  All the information is contained in a
file called Listserv Memo.  This is makes the subject so
unnecessarily difficult that it didn't actually explain to me how to
perform a search.  Instead I found that there is an entire list
devoted to Listserv searches,  which I suppose shows that they're not
simple,  and by looking through their logs I found some of the
answers.  The following examples must be typed as shown,  not
forgetting the hyphens at the end of some of the lines (this tells the
Listserv that the following line is a continuation of the line on
which the hyphen appears).
 
Suppose you wanted a list of all messages (and a copy of them)  that
include the word 'Thatcherism'.  Send the following to the Bee-L
Listserv (<[log in to unmask]>).
 
//SEARCH JOB ECHO=NO
DATABASE SEARCH DD=RULES
//Rules DD   *
SEARCH THATCHERISM IN BEE-L -
  SINCE 01-OCT-91
INDEX
PRINT
 
The 5th line is optional (but if you don't use it you must remove the
hyphen on the previous line).
 
If you want to search for all messages since 1 Oct 1991 posted by a
particular sender -
 
//SEARCH JOB ECHO=NO
DATABASE SEARCH DD=RULES
//Rules DD   *
SEARCH * IN BEE-L -
 WHERE SENDER CONTAINS (john.major) -
 SINCE 01-OCT-91
INDEX
PRINT
 
In order to retrieve messages by sender it is necessary to be
accurate when specifying the name.  The best way to do this is to
send a single line message to <[log in to unmask]> containing
the line GET BEE-L LIST.  This will return a list of the names
and addresses of all the list subscribers (apart from 2 who wish to
remain anon.). I have found that using the address from the left
margin as far as the '@' sign will do the trick.  Make sure to use
the SaMe CaSe.  So it might be 'john.major',  or if Tony Blair has a
CompuServ address then '106123.1234' for example.
 
So far this has worked fine for me.
 
You could of course combine the 2 previous searches and find all
posts by John Major which contain the text  'Thatcherism'
 
//SEARCH JOB ECHO=NO
DATABASE SEARCH DD=RULES
//Rules DD   *
SEARCH THATCHERISM IN BEE-L -
 WHERE SENDER CONTAINS (john.major) -
 SINCE 01-OCT-91
INDEX
PRINT
 
If you want to search for posts that contain a particular word or
words in the title -
 
 //SEARCH JOB ECHO=NO
DATABASE SEARCH DD=RULES
//Rules DD   *
SEARCH * IN BEE-L -
 WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS (CASH FOR QUESTIONS) -
 SINCE 01-OCT-91
INDEX
PRINT
 
One last point,  as far as I can make out,  the Listserver will not
respond with more than 2000 lines.  So a number of requests would
have to be made to obtain the full posts of some senders or about
certain subjects.
 
The easiest way to do this would be to split up the requests by date,
instead of the SINCE line in the examples one could use -
 
FROM 14 july TO oct 87.
 
The following date/time examples are valid.
 
SINCE 86
UNTIL 23-JUN-87
SINCE today 11:30
 
I hope that these examples are a bit easier to deal with than the
Listserv Memo.  I think the same person must have written the
operating instructions for my video recorder.
 
Best wishes
 
Joe