Chapter 12 - Managing STDA Exclusion Parameters

STDA exclusion parameters, known as exclusions, let you exclude StreetTalk names that match a supplied pattern from the database of an STDA master or satellite service. Once a StreetTalk pattern is excluded, any StreetTalk names that match the pattern are filtered from the STDA service database. Users accessing the database cannot see those names on the STDA screen.

Exclusions may have other parameters, known as exceptions, that apply directly to the patterns being excluded. Exceptions prevent specific patterns from being excluded from an STDA service database. For example, you might exclude all users in the United States, except for those living in the District of Columbia.

Each STDA service can filter its own database using exclusions and exceptions acting upon the exclusions.

Caution: Take care when setting up exclusions and exceptions. They should not be overly complex.

STDA satellite services apply exclusions to StreetTalk and the inclusion information they display. STDA master services apply them to information as they collect it.

A service's exclusions and exceptions must appear together in a single list. The list can be edited using one of the following methods:

	Running a Banyan management tool
	As a separate text file

You cannot edit the exclusion list of any STDA service other than the one you are currently viewing. This editing function is explained in "Editing an Exclusion List" later in this chapter.

Formatting Exclusion and Exception Parameters

Exclusions and exceptions use the same format:

class:pattern

STDA classes group the StreetTalk names of users, lists, and services into general categories so that they can either be displayed on an STDA screen for a user or filtered out of an STDA service's database.

The seven STDA classes used in exclusions and exceptions are:

	Files - File volume services
	Lists - STDA lists
	Nicks - STDA nicknames
	Other - Services other than print services or file volumes
	Print - Print services
	Users - User names
	All - All StreetTalk names that match the given pattern

ALL applies to the six other STDA classes.

Example Applying a Class:Pattern Format

The class:pattern format used in Lists:AdminList@*@WCTUS excludes all AdminLists in the WCTUS organization. The exception Lists:Adminlist@TechSupport@WCTUS prevents the AdminList of the TechSupport group of WCTUS from being excluded.

The pattern part of the exclusion format is a literal StreetTalk name, such as John Doe@Sales@WCTUS, or a name that contains one or more wildcard asterisks, such as *@Engineering@WCTUS.

STDA exclusions can also contain the following two literal patterns:

HASNUMBERS - StreetTalk name patterns that contain numbers in the item part of the name.

NOSPACES - StreetTalk name patterns without a space separator in the item part of the name.

Example Applying HASNUMBERS and NOSPACES

The exclusion Users:NoSpaces excludes all users on the network whose first and last names are not separated with a blank space. To keep the name TestUser@TestGroup@WCTUS in the database, use the exception Users:TestUser@TestGroup@WCTUS.

Exclusions and exceptions may contain the whole three-part StreetTalk pattern, item@group@organization. In addition, they can contain a two-part StreetTalk format, group@organization, or a one-part StreetTalk format, organization.

The wildcard pattern (*) applies to every possible pattern within a StreetTalk name section.

Example Using Wildcards

File:W* excludes every file volume name from the database whose organization name begins with W. It does not, however exclude the file service Walter@Wallace@Test, because a one-part exclusion matches only the organization section of the names.

Other:*@Chicago Sales@WCTUS excludes all services other than print services or file volumes for the Chicago Sales group of the WCTUS organization.

Rules for Exclusions and Exceptions

The rules for exclusions and exceptions are as follows:

	Before entering a set of exclusion parameters, enter the keyword EXCLUDE on a line by itself, in upper- or lower-case letters. Begin listing your exclusions on the next line, one exclusion per line, in upper- or lower-case letters.
	Before entering a set of exception parameters, enter the keyword EXCEPT on a line by itself, in upper- or lower-case letters. Begin listing your exceptions on the next line, one exception per line, in upper- or lower-case letters.
	Exclusions and exceptions may be placed in the list in any order.

Example Complex Exclusions List

The following list excludes:

	Nicknames containing numbers
	All services other than file or print services
	All lists in the Admin@WCTUS group (with the exception of DistributionList@Admin@WCTUS)
	All print services in the WCTBE organization

EXCLUDE
Nicks:HASNUMBERS
Other:*
Lists:*@Admin@WCTUS
EXCEPT
Lists:DistributionList@Admin@WCTUS
EXCLUDE
Print:WCTBE

One-part StreetTalk patterns (organization) in exceptions apply to one-part StreetTalk patterns in exclusions. For example, the exception Lists:WCTUS applies to the exclusion Lists:WC*.

Two-part StreetTalk patterns (group@organization) in exceptions apply to two-part StreetTalk patterns in exclusions. For example, the exception Users:ResearchGrp@WCTUS applies to the exclusion Users:*Res*@WCTUS.

Three-part StreetTalk patterns (item@group@organization) in exceptions apply to three-part StreetTalk patterns in exclusions. For example, the exception Lists:AdminList@Admin@WCTUS applies to the exclusion Lists:*@Admin@WCTUS.

If a name begins with a blank character, put double quotation marks (") around the name.

Creating an Exclusion List

The most efficient approach to excluding names from the STDA database is to start at the organization level and end at the individual level.

Example Sample Exclusion List

EXCLUDE
all:WC*
EXCEPT
all:WCTUS
EXCLUDE
all:t*@WCTUS
EXCEPT
all:TechSupport@WCTUS
EXCLUDE
all:r*@TechSupport@WCTUS
EXCEPT
all:rachel wallace@TechSupport@WCTUS

In this simple example, the following StreetTalk names are excluded from the STDA database:

	All names from any organization whose name begins with WC, with the exception of names from the WCTUS organization.
	All names from any group whose name begins with T in the WCTUS organization, except for names from the TechSupport group of the WCTUS organization.
	All names in the TechSupport group that begin with R, with the exception of Rachel Wallace.

Guide for Creating an Exclusion List

Create your exclusion list using this procedure as a guide:

1. Think of one-part StreetTalk name patterns (organizations) to exclude from the service's database. List the organization exclusions first in the list along with the STDA class of items to be excluded from those organizations.

EXCLUDE
Users:WCTUS
Lists:WC*
All:WCTAR
All:Sample Profile@*@*
All:template@*@*

This list excludes:

- All users from the WCTUS organization

- All lists from all organizations whose names begin with WC

- Every StreetTalk name from the WCTAR organization

- All Sample Profiles and template profiles

2. Add one-part StreetTalk name patterns (organizations) to be excepted from the one-part exclusions. For example:

EXCEPT
Lists:WCTBE

3. Add two-part StreetTalk name patterns (group@organization) that you want to exclude and that were not excluded at step 1:

EXCLUDE
Users:FoodPrep@WCTDE
All:*Res*@WCTES
Other:*Mkt*@WCTAU

This list excludes:

- All users in the FoodPrep group in the WCTDE organization

- Items from groups whose names contain the letters RES in the WCTES organization

- All names of services other than file or print services in any group name containing the letters MKT in the WCTAU organization

Remember that the All class applies to names in the six other classes (Users, Files, Lists, Nicks, Other, and Print).

4. Enter the two-part StreetTalk name patterns (group names) that are exceptions to names excluded from the database at step 3:

EXCEPT
Users:Research@WCTES
Other:InternalMkt@WCTAU

5. Add the three-part StreetTalk name patterns (item@group@organization) that you want to exclude and were not yet excluded as a part of any previous group or organization exclusions:

EXCLUDE
Users:Hasnumbers
Users:Nospaces
Lists:Admin*@*@*

This list excludes:

- All user names containing numbers or without separating spaces

- Any list beginning with ADMIN

6. Add the exceptions to the exclusions of step 5:

EXCEPT
Users:Bob4Apples@Sales@WCTCA Users:MaryJane@TechSupport@WCTCA Lists:Administration@Board@WCTCA

Using Exceptions

When using exceptions, it is important to note that sweeping exceptions may cause unexpected results. When a name matches an exclusion parameter (class:pattern), it is compared against all of the exception parameters in the list. If the name matches at least one of the exceptions, it remains in the database, as in the following example.

EXCLUDE
Nicks:samplepro@TechSupport@WCTUS
EXCEPT
All:nospaces

The nickname samplepro@TechSupport@WCTUS stays in the database because the exception all:nospaces applies to samplepro@TechSupport@WCTUS.

Excluding whole groups and organizations from an STDA master service database is a convenient way to cut down on network traffic generated by that service.

Three-part exceptions (item@group@organization) do not apply to names that were filtered out because of two-part (group@organization) or one-part (organization) exclusions.

EXCLUDE
lists:Admin*@WCTUS
EXCEPT
lists:AdminList@AdminGrp@WCTUS

This exclusion list would not produce the desired result. AdminList@AdminGrp@WCTUS was already filtered out by the two-part exception Admin*@WCTUS. Similarly, two-part exceptions do not apply to names that were filtered out by one part exclusions.

If a name is excluded from the database, but the server that maintains the group to which the name belongs is not running, the exclusion does not take effect until the server is brought on line.

Editing an Exclusion List

The buffer in which an STDA exclusion list is edited in a Banyan management tool (StreetTalk Explorer, MSERVICE, or OPERATE) can contain no more than 6 kilobytes of information. The information in the buffer is compressed before being stored. The compressed version may not be longer than 3 kilobytes. When the list is compressed in the Banyan management tool, the cursor stops at the last character accepted by the program and a message appears on your screen.

Use the following formula to determine how close the exclusion list is to the 3 kilobyte limit:

200 + (total number of characters in all patterns) + (4 x number of patterns)

One character is stored in one byte. Spaces count as characters if they are part of a StreetTalk name. Wildcard characters are counted. Note that the STDA class specifiers (Users, Lists, and so on) are not included in the total character count of the patterns.

For example:

EXCLUDE
users:sample profile@*@*
EXCEPT
users:sample profile@marketing@WCTUS01

This exclusion list would be stored in:

200 + (50) + (4 x 2) = 258 bytes

To Edit an Exclusions List

From StreetTalk Explorer:

1. If you know the STDA name, right-click the STDA service in the right pane and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

To locate the STDA service for a particular group, enter *@groupname@servers in the Browse field and press ENTER, and then click the Services icon. Right-click the STDA service in the right pane and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

2. Click the Exclusions tab.

3. Click the Exclusions list button and then click New.

4. Click an Exclusion Type, and then select a class from the Choose A Class drop-down list. Type an Exclusion Pattern, if desired.

5. Click OK to confirm the operation.

See Introduction to StreetTalk Explorer for a description of StreetTalk Explorer.

From the System Prompt:

1. Through MSERVICE or OPERATE, at the Configure STDA Service menu, select Edit Exclusions. The Edit STDA Exclusions screen appears.

For the first time only, the screen display is blank. After you create and process a list, the list appears on this screen whenever you access it.

2. Following the rules for creating and matching exclusions and exceptions, enter your exclusions list. Delete characters using the DEL or BACKSPACE keys. Press INS to insert characters between or among characters that were already entered.

3. Press F10 when you finish entering your exclusions list.

The list is processed for formatting errors and file length. For each format error, an error message appears and the cursor moves to the error' s location in the list. The program pauses until you correct the error.

If the list exceeds the size limit, an error message appears and the cursor moves to the location of the last line allowed.

If the program encounters no errors in your list, you return to the Configure STDA Service menu and receive a message that the list was processed. Press ESC to return to the Configure STDA Service menu.

If the STDA service is not currently running, you may see this error message:

STDA service did not get new configuration: service is not available.

If the service cannot receive notice that the exclusions list has changed, you may see this error message:

STDA service did not get new configuration: service is not responding.

Writing an Exclusion List to a File

If you want to use an established exclusion list on another STDA service, you can write the exclusion list to a file and then import the file into the configuration screens of the other service. This section shows how to write the exclusion list to a file. "To Replace an Exclusion List with a File," which follows, describes how to import the file into the configuration screens.

To Write the Contents of STDA Exclusions to a File

From StreetTalk Explorer:

1. If you know the STDA name, right-click the STDA service in the right pane and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

To locate the STDA service for a particular group, enter *@groupname@servers in the Browse field and press ENTER, and then click the Services icon. Right-click the STDA service in the right pane and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

2. Click the Exclusions tab.

3. Click Write to File.

4. Select the directory to save the file in the Save in field, and then enter a filename.

5. Click Apply or OK.

From the System Prompt:

1. At the Edit STDA Exclusions screen, press F2. The Write STDA Exclusions To a File screen appears.

2. Enter the name of the target file to which the contents of the Edit STDA Exclusions screen will be written.

If you do not specify a full pathname, the program assumes that the target file is in the current directory. If the file already exists, you are prompted to confirm overwriting it.

3. After the contents are written to the file, you receive confirmation and return to the Edit STDA Exclusions screen.

To Replace an Exclusion List with a File

1. If you know the STDA name, right-click the STDA service in the Right pane and select Properties from the context menu.

To locate the STDA service for a particular group, enter *@groupname@servers in the Browse field and press return, then click the services icon. Right-click the STDA service you want in the Right pane and select Properties from the context menu.

2 Click the Exclusions tab.

3. Click the Read from File button.

4. Select the directory from the Look in pull down menu, then select a file. Click Open.

The exclusions appear in the Exclusions window.

5. Click OK to confirm you choice.

From the System Prompt:

1. At the Edit STDA Exclusions screen, press F4. The Replace STDA Exclusions With A File screen appears.

2. Enter the name of the file at the displayed prompt. The program assumes that the file specified is in the current directory, unless you specify the full pathname of the file.

If the file or pathname is incorrect (the file does not exist), an error message appears and you can re-enter the name.

3. If the file or pathname is correct, the contents of the file overwrites the current list on the Edit STDA Exclusions screen. Press F10 to incorporate the new list. To cancel overwriting the current list, press ESC at the Replace STDA Exclusions screen.