Glossary of Terms

Administration Hub (HUB) – A component of the LISTSERV Maestro program that allows the administrator to create user accounts, and assign and change settings for the entire application.

Boolean Field – A data field based upon a true or false statement.

Column – A vertical set of data, as in a table or spreadsheet.

Database Plugin – Is used to connect LISTSERV Maestro to a database and to allow the user to select recipient data from a database table in the Define Recipient wizard. The user selects the matching plugin for the database, then provides the connection data (like host name, port, user name, password, etc.). LISTSERV Maestro is then able to access that database to select the recipients.

Datasets – A collection of data organized into fields and pertaining to recipients. The fields making up a dataset can have different types of properties that determine the kind of data within them, such as text, numbers, menu selections, dates and so on. The data administrator designs the datasets within a recipient warehouse, defining each field and the type of data it holds. The recipient dataset also contains mailing lists created by the data administrator that use the recipient data for job definition. The data is shared across all mailing lists that are created within the dataset. Individual lists within the dataset are allowed to have additional fields of data that pertain just to those lists.

Email Merge – Placing variables that are extracted from a database into an email message template. This operation permits individual personalization of otherwise bulk email messages.

Filter – A means of sorting through recipients in the warehouse to select them based on certain operators.

Floating point number – Any number that has a decimal place.

Header – A special row of data that defines and labels the columns in a database file.

Hosted Lists – Hosted lists contain data from the dataset. They can also have their own data fields that are not shared among lists in the dataset, but belong exclusively to the list. Lists that do have their own fields will also have their own web subscription forms generated when the list is created. All the fields that appear in the dataset and in a particular list can be used as merged fields for messages sent to that list.

Hosted LISTSERV List – On some platforms, it is possible for LISTSERV Maestro to create traditional LISTSERV lists and store the subscription data for these lists such that they are accessible from the LISTSERV Maestro subscription pages. These types of lists are referred to as Hosted LISTSERV Lists or HLLs because their data is “hosted” within LISTSERV Maestro’s system database.

Hosted Recipient List – Lists that are controlled completely by LISTSERV Maestro.

In-clause – A part of the where-clause of a SQL statement, which allows the specification that a certain field or expression must have exactly one of several allowed values (with the allowed values usually given in form of a comma-separated list) for the where-condition to be true.

Lookup Table – A set of values that is used for the values in a selection menu. Lookup tables are shared across a recipient warehouse so multiple datasets can use them

Maestro User Interface (LUI) – A component of the LISTSERV Maestro program that allows users to create email jobs and tracking reports.

Multiple value – A parameter type that allows for one or more values to fill in the select statement.

Parameter – In LISTSERV Maestro, a parameter acts like a placeholder for a part of a SQL statement that will be inserted into the whole statement when the end user defines it.

Quote character – In a SQL statement: a character (usually the single quote) used to enclose string literals in order to set them off from the rest of the SQL statement.

In a text file (CSV-file) containing data: a character or symbol used to surround a separator character that is used in the actual data in a column so that the separator character is not confused with the character that appears in the data. For example, if a comma (,) is used as the separator character in a database file, then all the fields of data are separated by a comma. If the comma is also used within a field, then a quote character must surround the entire field. If the quote character is used in a field, then it must be used twice or “escaped.”

Recipients Warehouse – The repository for a group’s data including lookup tables, datasets, hosted lists, and recipient data.

Select Statement – A SQL statement in the form of a query that is issued to a database to retrieve data.

Single value – A parameter type that allows for the selection of only one value to fill in the select statement.

SQL – Abbreviation for Structured Query Language. SQL is a standardized query language for requesting information from a database.

SQL Statement – A statement written in SQL that is issued to a database to retrieve data or to create, insert, update, or delete data in the database.

String literal – A series of characters that are to be interpreted as literal text and not as an expression or name in the surrounding statement. Usually a string literal is set off from the text of the surrounding statement by enclosing it in a special quote character. Therefore, if the text of the string literal is supposed to contain the quote character itself, then this contained quote character must be escaped in an appropriate way.

Target Groups – Predefined recipient lists, complete with name and description, created by the data administrator. Target groups can simplify and streamline the use of data sources, including databases, uploaded text files, and email lists, to select recipients and recipient data to the point where end users do not need to know anything about how and where data is stored.

Where-clause – A part of a SQL statement that sets the condition that the data must satisfy for the statement to be executed on it. For example, in the case of a select statement, the condition that the data must fulfill to be included in the returned data.