sqr-users Mailing List Hints and Guidelines
Nathan Stratton Treadway, Ray Ontko & Co.
(nathanst@ontko.com)
$Revision: 1.23 $ $Date: 2006/07/27 16:28:24 $
This document gathers in one location information about the sqr-users
mail list. It includes instructions for changing your subscription
settings (including unsubscribing), as well are guidelines for using
the list.
______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
1. Changes Since Previous Version
2. Introduction
2.1 sqr-users Mailing List
2.2 sqr-users Hints and Guidelines Document
2.3 Related Mailing Lists
3. Interacting with the list server
3.1 Subscribing to the list
3.2 Unsubscribing from the list
3.3 When your email address changes
3.4 Digests
3.5 Obtaining your password
3.6 Problems
4. Posting to the sqr-users List
4.1 General Guidelines
4.2 Posting a Message
4.3 Replying to a Message
5. Job Announcements
______________________________________________________________________
1. Changes Since Previous Version
Changes since the version dated 2005/08/19:
o Added note about spam filtering and sender verification systems
blocking subscription confirmation messages.
2. Introduction
2.1. sqr-users Mailing List
The sqr-users mailing list was created to enable discussion related to
the SQR database language from Hyperion
(and to other products in the SQR product suite).
Note: SQR used to be published by SQRIBE Technologies, which was
merged into Brio Technology on August 3, 1999. Brio Technology changed
its name to Brio Software in October 2001. On October 16, 2003,
Hyperion acquired Brio Software.
SQR and related applications have also been called "Brio.Report" and
"Brio Reports".
The mailing list is provided as a service of Ray Ontko & Co.
A searchable archive of past postings to the
mailing list is available from the SQR Users Group web site
.
2.2. sqr-users Hints and Guidelines Document
This document gives various hints and guidelines about the sqr-users
mailing list. It will be posted approximately monthly to the mailing
list so that new users can see it (and existing users can find it
easily).
An HTML version of the document is always available at
http://www.sqrug.org/sqr-users/sqr-users-hints.html.
If you have comments or suggestions about this document, please
contact me directly at the address listed in the title section.
This document is Copyright (C) 1999-2004 by Ray Ontko & Co. It may be
freely copied and distributed provided it is not modified in any way
and it retains the original copyright notice.
2.3. Related Mailing Lists
Here are some mailing lists that cover topics relating to SQR in some
way.
sqr-jobs : SQR Jobs
This list may be used for posting SQR-related resumes,
recruitments, job announcements, project announcments, help-
wanted, work-wanted ads, etc. To join, follow the link above,
or send any message to "sqr-jobs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com".
peoplesoft-fans :
PeopleSoft Fans
Moderated list covering technical and functional aspects of
PeopleSoft. To join, follow the link above, or send any message
to "peoplesoft-fans-subscribe@yahoogroups.com".
psusers : PeopleSoft Users
For questions related to any aspect of PeopleSoft (including
PeopleSoft-specific SQR issues). This list has merged with the
Peoplesoft Fans mailing list and is no longer active, but the
message achive can still be found at the link above.
HyperionSQR : Hyperion-
SQR
List for discussion of SQR, SQR Developer (formerly called
Brio.Report and Report Builder), and SQR iServer. To join,
follow the link above, or send any message to "HyperionSQR-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com".
rm-users : Report-
Mart Users
List for discussion of Brio Portal (previously called
ReportMart). To join, follow the link above, or send a message
containing the word "subscribe" in the body to "rm-users-
request@sqrug.org".
brioportalusersgroup : Brio Portal Users Group list
List for discussion of Brio Portal. To join, follow the link
above, or send any message to "brioportalusersgroup-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com".
brio-l : OpenITx Brio
List
List for technical and functional discussion of all Brio
products (but most messages are currently about Brio
Intelligence). To join, follow the link above.
briousers : Brio.Enter-
prise Users
List for discussion of the Brio.Enterprise (now called
Intelligence) product. To join, follow the link above, or send
any message to "briousers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com".
briolist : Brio List
List for discussion of Brio Intelligence. To join, follow the
link above, or send any message to "briolist-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com".
3. Interacting with the list server
The sqr-users mailing list is hosted using the Mailman list server
package. All of the Mailman functions described below are accessed
from the sqr-users List Info page,
"http://www.sqrug.org/mailman/listinfo/sqr-users".
3.1. Subscribing to the list
To subscribe to the mailing list, enter your e-mail address in the box
at the top of the "Subscribing to sqr-users" section on the sqr-users
List Info page, then choose a password to assign to your subscription
and enter it in both "Password" boxes. This password is used to allow
you to securely make changes to your subscription over the web. This
password will be e-mailed back to you at varous times, so you should
not use the same password as you are using elsewhere.
Once you have filled in the password, click the "Subscribe" button.
You should soon receive an e-mail message from the list server
requesting confirmation of your subscription request. Once you have
replied to this message and your subscription has been processed, you
will receive a "welcome" message giving you more information on the
list server, and as well as a reminder of the subscription password
you chose.
Many sites are now implementing spam filtering and/or sender
verification systems, which can prevent your confirmation message from
getting delivered to you. You may need check for a message from "sqr-
users-request[-AT-]sqrug.org" caught in the filter, or add that
address to your list of authorized senders, in order to complete the
confirmation process.
3.2. Unsubscribing from the list
To unsubscribe from the list, go to the sqr-users List Info page,
enter your e-mail address in the "sqr-users Subscribers" section near
the bottom of the page, and click the "Unsubscribe or edit options"
button. You will then see the "member options" page; fill in your
password at the top of the page and click "Log in". (If you have
forgotton your password, see the ``Obtaining your Password'' section,
below). This will take you to the "membership configuration" page.
In the middle of that page, there will be an "Unsubscribing from sqr-
users" section; simply turn on the "Yes, I really want to unsubscribe"
checkbox and click the "Unsubscribe" button. You should get a page
back saying that the removal was successful (as well as a confirmation
email message). The removal will take effect immediately; there is no
need to send in a confirmation e-mail message.
If you don't know your password, you can choose to unsubscribe using
e-mail confirmation. Instead of entering the password on the "member
options" page, just click the "Unsubscribe" button found just below
the "Log In" button. You will then see a page noting that a
confirmation e-mail has been sent; once you follow the confirmation
instructions in that e-mail your removal will be complete.
3.3. When your email address changes
If your e-mail address changes -- for example, if your company changes
names, or if your mail administrator changes the way your name is
spelled out or abbreviated -- you will need to update your
subscription to match your new address before you can post to the list
(see the ``Posting'' section, below).
To do this, simply log in to your "membership configuration" page (see
the directions for logging in to this page in the ``Unsubscribing''
section, above). At the top of that page you'll see a "Changing your
membership information" section. Fill out the text boxes and click
the "Change My Address and Name" button. You will be sent a
confirmation e-mail, and once you have responded to that e-mail your
subscription will be updated and you can begin posting from your new
address.
3.4. Digests
You can request to get your messages in digest form (one large message
containing all of the posts made each day). To do this, log in to
your "membership configuration" page (see the directions on doing this
in the ``Unsubscribing'' section, above). At the bottom of the page,
you will see a section titled "Your sqr-users Subscription Options".
Change the "Set Digest Mode" option (the second option in the list) to
"On" and click the "Submit My Changes" button at the bottom of the
page.
You actually have a choice of two different digest formats, "MIME" or
"Plain Text". The MIME format sends each individual list message as a
separate MIME attachment to the digest; the plain text format consists
of one large text message, with all of the individual messages run
together. Which format you will want to use depends on your mail-
reading software (and personal preference). If you are not sure which
format will work best, you can just leave the default setting of
"MIME" and see if the next morning's digest is easy to read in your
mail reader -- you can change to the other format at any time using
that same web page.
If you use digests, you should not just "reply" to the digest mailing.
Instead, be sure your message's subject header matches the subject in
the original posting to which you are replying, and that you don't
include a quoted copy of the entire digest in your post.
To restore normal distribution, simply follow the above instructions
choosing the "Off" setting for the Digest option.
3.5. Obtaining your password
You will not be able to change your subscription options without your
password. If you have forgotten your password, simply click the
"Email My Password to Me" button on the "member options" page and your
password will be emailed to you. You will also be e-mailed a copy of
your password at the beginning of each month, as part of a "mailing
list memberships reminder" message from the Mailman software.
3.6. Problems
If the above instructions do not work, please contact the list manager
at "sqr-users-manager@sqrug.org". (Do not send a message to the list
itself -- no one there can help you with your problem!) Please
include a description of what you were trying to do and what exactly
happened when you made the attempt.
4. Posting to the sqr-users List
In order to post to the mailing list, you must be subscribed to it
(see directions above). More specifically, in order for Mailman to
recognize that this message was sent by a subscriber, the return
address on your message much exactly match the addresss you used to
subscribe -- if you have more than one address you will need to be
sure that you are sending from the correct one. (See the ``When you
email address changes'' section, above, if your e-mail address has
changed since you subscribed.)
4.1. General Guidelines
For any message you send to the list, please:
o make sure your mail software is not requesting a "Return Receipt".
(If a "Return Receipt Requested" message is sent to the list,
several dozen receipt messages will be sent out to the mailing list
as other subscribers' mail systems repond....)
o do not send messages in HTML or other special formats. (These are
not usable by many subscribers, especially those who receive their
messages in digest format.) The list server will delete these
special attachments from your message and send you a warning
notice. Also, if you are trying to send (for example) SQR source
code files, make sure your mail-reader software is assigning proper
MIME types to your attachments or they may not be distributed.
o keep in mind that over 500 people will receive your message, and
that it will appear in the list archives. Try to keep your
messages on-topic and relatively short. Consider sending your
message directly to particular people if it won't interest many of
the list's subscribers.
o ignore abusive and inappropriate messages that get sent to the
list, rather than getting drawn into a debate. The very nature of
these messages will cause most subscribers to automatically
discredit them -- no "response" is necessary. To the contrary, any
response will only "add fuel to the fire," prolonging the
controversy and further interupting the normal conversation on the
list.
4.2. Posting a Message
Once you are subscribed, you can post to the list by sending a message
to "sqr-users@sqrug.org". Be sure your subject heading describes
your specific problem or question (i.e. don't just use "SQR
Question").
In the body of your message, please include the following information:
o SQR product name and version number (see notes below)
o Operating system name and version number
o Database name and version number
o Application name (i.e. PeopleSoft) and a version number, if any
Also, include a short code sample whenever possible. It's much easier
for other people to understand what you are trying to do when they can
see the actual code. (At the same time, be careful not to post
confidential or proprietary code, since the posting will be placed in
a public web archive.)
Note that your question should relate to SQR or other Brio Report
product in some way. Don't ask questions about PeopleSoft, for
example, unless you are having SQR-related issues. (For PeopleSoft-
specific questions, see other lists mentioned in the ``Related Mailing
Lists'' section.)
In 2001, PeopleSoft purchased from Brio the rights to the source code
for SQR and began releasing its own line of SQR. PeopleSoft's SQR
version numbering is different from Brio/Hyperion's, so it's very
important to mention whether you are using Hyperion's "SQR" or "SQR
for PeopleSoft". (This info is included automatically if you include
the full SQR version-id string as described below.)
To get the version-id string for your copy of SQR, you can run the
following program:
begin-program
show $sqr-ver
end-program
This will produce a line that looks something like this:
SQR/3.0.15/Intel/SCO Unix R3.2 V5.0/Oracle 7.2.2.3/Sep 25 1996
Include the full line of output in your message. Note that the oper-
ating system and database version numbers listed here are the ones
under which this copy of SQR was compiled, so you'll still need to
include this information for your own environment.
In a command-line environment (Unix, etc.), you can also get this
version-id string by saying
sqr -id
4.3. Replying to a Message
Messages sent out on the list have a Reply-To header pointing to the
list. This means that you should be able to simply use your mail
reader's "reply" function to send a reply to the list.
Generally, all answers to questions sent out on the list should be
public replies, so that other subscribers can benefit. In those cases
where a private reply is appropriate, be sure to over-ride the default
Reply-To address.
If your message is not actually a reply to the earlier message, please
do not use the "reply" function. Instead, address a new e-mail
message to the list as described in the previous section. (This is
because the list archives will incorrectly show the new message in the
original thread if you use "reply".)
You should quote enough lines from the original message that later
readers can understand your answer even if they missed the original
question. At the same time, you should remove any unnecessary lines
from the quote in order to make your message shorter and easier to
understand. (Remember that some people read the mailing list in
digest form, and the digests become much larger if unnecessary lines
are quoted.)
5. Job Announcements
Please do not post job announcements on the sqr-users list, but use
the sqr-jobs list instead. (See ``Related Mailing Lists'' for more
information on this list.) A large number of sqr-users subscribers do
not want to receive job announcements (for various reasons) and such
posts tend to cause a lot of disruption of the discussion on the list.