This file provides instructions and information for running the MailBounce Example, included in the standard MailBounce distribution. The example is for a list that is hosted on a Majordomo list server.

You will get the most out of this example if you have already skimmed the documentation and familiarized yourself with the program.

Before running the example, you should also familiarize yourself with the following files and their contents.

bounces.txt: Sample bounce file.

list.txt: Sample address list (also referred to as the "subscribers file").

MailBounce Preferences: Preferences (settings) file for the example.

Example.txt: This file.

Except for MailBounce_Diagnostics_Pro.txt and Soft_Bounce_History.txt (both of which are discussed below), the rest of the files are initially empty in the Macintosh distribution. Note that the "empty" files are not included with Windows and Unix distributions; on all platforms, they will be generated when you run the example. Once the example has been run, the files will contain the following information:

MailBounce_Diagnostics.txt: The entire contents of the screen display will be duplicated in this file on each run.

MailBounce_Server_File.txt: The Majordomo server commands will be written to this file.

MailBounce_BCC_File.txt: The address list for BCC line of the "form letter" will be placed in this file.

MailBounce_Summary.txt: A short sumary of MailBounce's actions will be written to this file.

MailBounce_Error_Log.txt: Any errors encountered during the run will be summarized here.

Running the example ...

Find the MailBounce application that is correct for your computer, and copy it into the "Example" folder/directory.
Launch (run) the application.
(Mac, Windows) When MailBounce has finished running, quit the application.
Examine the contents of the MailBounce_Diagnostics.txt file, and compare them to the contents of the server and BCC files, as well as the summary file and error log. The server file will contain the list of defunct addresses, formatted for Majordomo. (You can select a different list server in the Preferences file to see how the formatting changes.) You merely need to mail this file off to your list server to remove the defunct addresses from your mailing list.

Just for Comparison: MailBounce Pro

The MailBounce version that you are running in this example is the "Lite" version, which does not have all of the features of the "Pro" version. So that you can compare results, a set of sample "Pro" files (from a Macintosh run) is provided in the "Example" folder/directory, as well:

MailBounce_Diagnostics_Pro.txt: The "Pro" diagnostics file.

Soft_Bounce_History: Sample soft-bounce tracking file to go with the bounce file provided.

MailBounce_Ignored.txt: Sample MailBounce "Ignored" file.

Redirected_Addresses.txt: Redirected address as processed by MailBounce Pro.

Note the following differences in the "Pro" diagnostics file:

Soft bounces are recognized, tracked, and processed.
Redirected addresses are recognized and processed (i.e., the old addresses are unsubscribed and the new addresses are subscribed).
All soft bounces that exceed the "2 TIMES" threshold are automatically marked for deletion.
"Ignored" addresses are not unsubscribed.
Fuzzy matches are enabled in the address-matching section, which allows several more addresses to be identified.

Note:

These files are provided for illustration purposes only. The addresses shown have all been modified so that they do not represent current or past valid addresses; the address file is completely fabricated, for the purpose of illustration. The bounce file, however, contains genuine bounces, with the exception that the offending addresses have been modified.

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