Dennis Paulson wrote:
> It would be great if it was really easy to acquire "old
> business" from the archives by simple searches, which it isn't; if we had a
> search capability, in this case "migrant traps" could have sufficed. And,
>

I've got some good news. The list server for Tweeters does in fact
have a search capability. You can send a message to
"listproc at u.washington.edu" (i.e. where you sent your "subscribe"
command), containing a command of the following form:

search <archive> <what to search for>

I'll append the full command documentation to the end of this message. It
tells exactly how one specifies <archive> and <what to search for>. In
the mean time, here's an example of a search command I just tried:

search tweeters -all migrant & trap

This will tell me which archives contain the relevent messages. Once I
know which archives, I can send "get" commands to retrieve them. This
is what I got back:

Matches for pattern migrant & trap ...

--- Archive: tweeters (path: tweeters)

>>> File tweeters.log9405:
Subject: migrant traps
nirvana of Northwest migrant traps. What is? I've spent much of
the last 8 Springs and Falls looking for an elusive coastal migrant trap in
migrant traps. But nothing has proven reliable. What are other peoples'
Subject: Re: migrant traps
I think there are migrant traps aplenty, but what you're looking for are
accessible migrant traps.
Subject: Re: migrant traps
> nirvana of Northwest migrant traps. What is? I've spent much of
> the last 8 Springs and Falls looking for an elusive coastal migrant trap in
> migrant traps. But nothing has proven reliable. What are other peoples'
Subject: Re: migrant traps
Subject: migrant traps
Is this enough reason to call these places "migrant traps?" I don't think
Subject: Re: migrant traps
Subject: Re: migrant traps
Just a few thoughts on the migrant trap issue.
Subject: choice of migrant traps
no way PI could be called a migrant trap. Because its forest could=
Subject: choice of migrant traps (reposted)
Subject: choice of migrant traps
it or not--there's no way PI could be called a migrant trap. Because its
Subject: Re: migrant traps
posting on migrant traps? I deleted it originally, but now I've decided to
<<< End of matches in file tweeters.log9405

>>> File tweeters.log9409:
COLORED SPARROW. This and other east side migrant traps
SPARROW. This and other east side migrant traps should be
<<< End of matches in file tweeters.log9409

>>> File tweeters.log9501:
Subject: Migrant Traps in Washington
Why doesn't Washington have any good migrant traps? For years I have
wondered this question. A good migrant trap, it seems, usually involves
migrant traps in Washington. We have vast areas of desert scrub spotted
dependable migrant trap area anywhere in the state, save for shorebirds and
Subject: Re: Migrant Traps in Washington
Subject: Re: Migrant Traps in Washington
> Why doesn't Washington have any good migrant traps? For years I have
> wondered this question. A good migrant trap, it seems, usually involves
> migrant traps in Washington. We have vast areas of desert scrub spotted
> dependable migrant trap area anywhere in the state, save for shorebirds and
I moved to Eastern Washington I started looking for migrant traps. I think
qualify as a migrant trap? Three vireo species, five flycatcher species,
Subject: Re: Migrant Traps in Washington
Subject: Re: Migrant Traps in Washington
Subject: Re: Migrant Traps in Washington
Migrant Traps. Was there ever a summary of the spots mentioned or a hard
Subject: Re: migrant traps
Thanks for remembering that we discussed migrant traps before, Deborah.
search capability, in this case "migrant traps" could have sufficed. And,
Subject: Re: Migrant Traps Washington
<<< End of matches in file tweeters.log9501

================= and here's the full documentation ==========

the following is the output from the "help search" command:

Syntax: search <archive | path-to-archive>] [/password] [-all] <pattern>
Search all files of the specified archive (and all of its subarchives
if -all is specified) for lines that match the pattern. The pattern
can be an egrep(1)-style regular expression with support for the
following additional operators: '~', if leading the regular expression
it reverses its meaning; '|' and '&' separate multiple regular
expressions (logical OR and AND); '<' '>' group regular expressions
(we preserve the meaning of the parentheses from ed(1), and remove the
meaning of < and > from ed(1) since in the ListProcessor context they are
either the default, or inappropriate). These can be used literally by
escaping them with '\'. In addition, the following characters should
be defined in matched pairs: (), <>, []. The pattern may be enclosed
in single or double quotes.

Pattern matching is case insensitive.

Certain archives may be private, and in this case you have to
specify a password for accessing them. The slash is required.
Different archives may have different passwords.

The archiving system is hierarchical. Therefore subarchives
may have the same names; they can be distinguished by the path
(the branch in the hierarchy) to them. For example, the archives
unix and pub/unix are distinct. 'path-to-archive' is a UNIX style
path (such as pub/unix) -- i.e. a '/' is used to move through the
branches of the hierarchy. An 'index' request always reports paths
to archives for your convinience.

Examples:

search listproc -all "<oranges &~apples>|.*andarin[sz]?"
search ilp '\|.*\|.$'

Notes:
- . matches ANY character including newline, so to find all lines
that contain a newline only, one should use '^.$' instead of '^$'
- If you do not quote your pattern, it will include any blanks you
may have appended after it by mistake, and it will not include any
blanks that may start the regular expression.