Information about Electronic Submissions for EuroCrypt 2000

Last update: September 14, 1999

See the Call for Papers for general submission guidelines.

Deadline: November 3, 1999, 17:00 MET (11:00 EST).

Download Early, Download Often!

The electronic submissions system is routinely updated. We encourage you to read this document well in advance of the deadline, to familiarize yourself with the basics of the submission process. Before submitting, we encourage you to reload this document, so you will have the most up-to-date instructions. Also, when you register with the server, you will be put on a mailing list that will be used for last minute information.

Contents

Support for Attachments I have modified our submissions server to allow for email attachments. You may now attach your postscript file instead of inserting it in the main body of your message.

Microsoft Word Guidance: An attempt to help out those using Microsoft Word is made here. This discussion may be of help to other Windows XX users. 

Introduction

This is a working document describing the electronic submission procedure for Eurocrypt 2000. All electronic submissions must be sent via electronic mail (no ftp); they must be in printable PostScript form and arrive by November 3, 1999, 17:00 MET (11:00 EST). This is the same as the hardcopy deadline. The server will begin operation on October 4, 1999.

Questions about the submission process may be sent to joe@research.nj.nec.com.

The electronic submission of papers is made possible by some experimental software being developed by Sam Rebelsky (samr@cs.dartmouth.edu) and SIGACT's Electronic Publishing Board. A variant of this server has been used successfully for several conferences already (FOCS, STOC, CRYPTO, Eurocrypt, etc). However, because of the experimental nature of the software, because email can be at times unreliable, and because "good" postscript files can fail to print on "good" postscript printers, the program committee cannot assume responsiblity for technical problems, although we will do our best to make sure that no such problems occur. For this reason we request that you submit your paper as early as possible.

In addition, please keep in mind the following:

Formatting the Paper

To submit your paper electronically, you must convert your paper into PostScript, conforming to the Document Structuring Conventions (DSC) using A4 sized pages. Pages should appear in ascending order. You should use standard postscript fonts (not every printer has, for example, Transylvania-Gothic-Bold).

Letter format is not allowed!

It does not suffice that your text fit on the appropriate area: If your PostScript file specifies letter format (you can usually check this yourself by looking at the header of the file) it cause difficulties for many European printers. It is also important that your file conform to the document structuring conventions, or your paper may not be processed correctly.

If you use dvips, the appropriate command is 

dvips -t a4
If you use another mechanism for generating PostScript, please contact your technical support people.

The submissions server has a test print feature for testing papers for printability. We strongly recommend using it, especially if you have not used this software before or are using a new document preparation package. However, the submissions server can not detect papers that are legal postscript but violate the DSC conventions or specify the wrong paper size.

Anonymity

Your submission should have no identifying information. It is therefore crucial that when you register you paper, you include proper contact information. The contact: field should have a valid email address. In the notes: field you should include, on one line, your telephone number and address.

Does my postscript file conform to the document structuring conventions?

Our experience is that most, but not all postscript files produced today conform to the document structuring conventions (DSC). DSC files have header information specifying such information as the number of pages, the ordering of the pages and the paper size (and many other optional comments as well). Here is an example of the beginning of such a header: 
%!PS-Adobe-2.0
%%Creator: dvipsk 5.58f Copyright 1986, 1994 Radical Eye Software
%%Title: coloring.dvi
%%Pages: 15
%%PageOrder: Ascend
%%BoundingBox: 0 0 612 792
%%DocumentPaperSizes: a4
%%EndComments
%DVIPSCommandLine: /usr/local/bin/dvips coloring.dvi -o coloring.ps -t
%+ a4
...
Pages begin with a line of the form 
%%Page:...
If your paper looks like this, you are probably in good shape. To be sure, contact your systems support person. A fuller description of these conventions is given in the PostScript Language Reference Manual (second edition), Appendix G.

If your postscript file is not DSC compliant, do NOT attempt to manually make it compliant by inserting lines from the example! Ask your systems support person for help. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to help you ourselves. 

Basic Procedure

The electronic submission procedure involves sending commands via email to a server at
euro2k@sigact.acm.org.

All commands must be placed in the subject line of the message. A detailed description of these commands can be found in section on Server Commands.

Please note:

The basic procedure to submit your paper by email involves two steps:
  1. REGISTER your paper with the server by sending a "register" command and waiting to receive an acknowledgement from the server that contains a key to use to refer to your submission later on. (It is a good idea to register your paper a few days before you submit it, so that you will have plenty of time for the acknowledgement to reach you and to make sure that you are included in the list of people to be notified of any last moment problems.)
  2. SUBMIT your paper by sending to the server a "submit <key>" command, including the postscript version of your paper in the message body; the server in response does a quick check for postscript errors, and sends you an acknowledgement with the results of this check.
Please be patient and wait at least several hours for the acknowledgement of your last request before repeating any action with the server (or before sending mail to joe@research.nj.nec.com). Network delays can be significant at times. Email is rather reliable and will try delivery for up to 5 days before giving up. This is yet another good reason why you should not wait until the last minute for registering and submitting. 

Useful Options

In addition to the two basic commands, the submissions server has a number of commands that are useful prior to and after submitting a paper.

Before submitting a paper, it is a good idea to test early in advance the printability of the postscript that your text formatter is generating. For this you can send a "test print" command to the server with the postscript file included in the message body. You will receive an acknowledgement containing the result of the test. (This is the same quick check for postscript errors performed when you submit your paper with the submit command.)

After you have submitted your paper, and any time before the deadline, you can revise your paper by sending a "revise <key>" command to the server. This will have the effect of replacing your previous copy at the server with the new one. You can also withdraw your paper by sending a "withdraw <key>" command.

At any time, you can ask the server for help by sending a "help" command, and you can ask the server for the current status of your paper in the database (i.e., registered, submitted, revised, withdrawn; not its reviewing status) by sending a "status <key>" command.

It is possible to practice submitting a paper before doing the real submission. First you send a "test register" command to the server and wait for it to acknowledge the test registration and provide you with a test-key; then you send a "submit <test-key>" command containing the test postscript file.

You must still use the register command after performing a test register and submit sequence. The register command will give a different key; do not use the key generated earlier by the test register command.

See the section on Server Commands for a detailed description of the commands available.
If for some reason you need some extra help with email submission, please send mail to joe@research.nj.nec.com . 

Server Commands

This section defines the commands that can be sent to the server via email. All commands must be sent to the address euro2k@sigact.acm.org. All commands must be placed in the subject line of the message. Many commands require additional information that must be placed in the body of the message. Please make sure that each time you send a new message to this address (i.e. without using the "reply" function).

Case is not significant in commands to the server. The commands available are: register, submit, revise, withdraw, status, test register, test print, help.

HELP

Request help on the electronic submission process. You will receive this document (or a variant) in response.

REGISTER

Inform the server that you plan to submit a paper electronically. This is only used for electronic submissions -- you do not need to register if you are submitting printed copies of your papers.

The body of a REGISTER message should take the form 

authors: list of authors separated by "and"
title: title of document
contact: e-mail address of contact author
notes: contact author telephone and fax number, address
The contents of the authors and contacts fields will be used in processing the documents, but will not be read by the program committee. The  "notes" field is used to include a phone and fax number and a standard mail address, for greater redundancy.

For example, 

% mail euro2k@sigact.acm.org
Subject: REGISTER

authors: Ronald L. Rivest and Adi Shamir and Leonard M. Adleman
title: The RSA cryptosystem resubmitted
contact: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
notes: 1-617-253-6098 * 1-617-253-9738 * 545 Tech Square, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
^D
Continuation lines for the "authors", "title" and "notes" fields, if needed, should start with a space.

The server will return a name to use to refer to your submission (called the filename or key in the sections below). 

From: euro2k@sigact.acm.org Thu Sep  8 19:18:41 1994
To: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
Subject: REGISTER

You should use the file name "ron.1234.ps" for submitting the
following paper:
  authors: Ronald L. Rivest and Adi Shamir and Leonard M. Adleman
  title: The RSA cryptosystem resubmitted
  contact: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
  notes: 545 Tech Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, 1-617-253-5949
  receipt:

TEST REGISTER

Like REGISTER, but the server returns a file name to use for testing (you can use this test file name with all the messages below). You may (but need not) specify the information on the paper (contact, title, etc.). If you know that you are going to submit a paper, we recommend simply using the REGISTER command.

SUBMIT filename

Submit a paper. The body of the message should be the PostScript(tm) file. The server will acknowledge the submission. The acknowledgement will include an MD5-generated receipt for the submission, as well as basic information on the file so that you can verify that it arrived "safely". The basic information includes sizes (in bytes), checksum, first and last ten lines of the file.

For example, 

% mail euro2k@sigact.acm.org
Subject: SUBMIT ron.1234.ps
insert postscript file into main body of message
You may alternatively attach your file.
^D

From: euro2k@sigact.acm.org Thu Sep  8 19:18:41 1994
To: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
Subject: Submission of ron.1234.ps received.

Your paper with key ron.1234.ps was received on Sep  8 19:27.
  It is 404918 bytes long.
  Its checksum is 23036.
  The receipt is: abcba4232hgada43232323

It does not seem to generate any PostScript(tm) errors.

The first ten lines of your file are:
...

The last ten lines of your file are:
...

REVISE filename

Revise a previously submitted paper. The body of the message should be the PostScript(tm) file. The server will confirm this revision with the contact person for the paper (as well as the sender of the SUBMIT message). The revision must be received before the submission deadline.

For example, 

% mail euro2k@sigact.acm.org
Subject: REVISE ron.1234.ps
insert postscript file into main body of message
You may alternatively attach your file.
^D

From: euro2k@sigact.acm.org Thu Sep  8 19:18:41 1994
To: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
Subject: Revised version of ron.1234.ps received.

A revised version of your Eurocrypt 2000 submission with key
  ron.1234.ps
was received on
  Thu Sep  8 19:43:33 EDT 1994

Please send electronic mail to joe@research.nj.nec.com if you
did not submit a revised version.

WITHDRAW filename

Withdraw a previously submitted paper. The server will confirm this withdrawal with the contact person for the paper.

For example, 

% mail euro2k@sigact.acm.org
Subject: WITHDRAW ron.1234.ps
^D


From: euro2k@sigact.acm.org Thu Sep  8 19:18:41 1994
To: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
Subject: ron.1234.ps withdrawn.

Your Eurocrypt 2000 submission with key
  ron.1234.ps
was withdrawn on
  Thu Sep  8 19:43:33 EDT 1994

Please send electronic mail to joe@research.nj.nec.com if you
did not withdraw your paper.

TESTPRINT

Test printing of the PostScript(tm) file contained in the body of the message. The server will return a message regarding the success or failure of the printing process. The server does not test for full compliance with the submission guidelines, such as length, page size, etc. Hence, a submission may pass this test and still be rejected without consideration of its merits.

We have also found that some PostScript(tm) successfully passes through the testing process, but is not printable. For example, FrameMaker(tm) generates PostScript(tm) that is only printable on a particular size of paper (if generated for letter, it will not print on A4, and vice versa). All papers must be generated for A4 paper.

Here is an example of the use of TESTPRINT 

% mail euro2k@sigact.acm.org
Subject: TESTPRINT
insert postscript file into main body of message
You may alternatively attach your file.
^D

From: euro2k@sigact.acm.org Thu Sep  8 19:18:41 1994
To: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
Subject: TESTPRINT

The file you sent failed with the following PostScript(tm) errors:
 ...

STATUS filename

Check on the status of an electronic submission. This status refers only to its existence and printability, not to it's status in the refereeing process.

For example, 

% mail euro2k@sigact.acm.org
Subject: STATUS ron.1234.ps
^D

From: euro2k@sigact.acm.org Thu Sep  8 19:18:41 1994
To: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
Subject: STATUS ron.1234.ps

Information on paper with
  key: ron.1234.ps
  authors: Ronald L. Rivest and Adi Shamir and Leonard M. Adleman
  title: The RSA cryptosystem resubmitted
  contact: ron@nostalgia.mit.edu
  notes: 545 Tech Square, Cambridge, MA 02139
  receipt: abcba4232hgada43232323

  It is 404918 bytes long.
  Its checksum is 23036.

It does not seem to generate any PostScript(tm) errors.

The first ten lines of your file are:
...

The last ten lines of your file are:
...

Using attachments

Many fancier mailers, both in the Unix and Windows worlds, allow you to attach files. The submission server was not designed to use attachments. However, we have cobbled together perl scripts, the mhn utility and a few yards of chicken wire to make a front end that will convert email with attachments into something more palatable for the server. To use attachments, simply attach a file instead of inserting it into the main body of the text. Leave the main text empty. Email without attachments should not be significantly altered by our front end, so you should be able to submit the way you did last year. However, be aware that many mailers that support attachments will also corrupt the main body of their messages in many fascinating ways you'd rather not know about. If you are getting strange results from your test print command, or have had problems in the past with corrupted mail messages, try using an attachment. 

So you want to use Microsoft Word?

The server, and most of the people it was created by and designed for, work in a Unix environment. Not surprisingly, those working in a Microsoft Windows environment have had more trouble interfacing with the server. The problems are twofold: obtaining a properly formatted PostScript file and sending it to the server.

First, many Windows-based programs do not seem to know how to output PostScript themselves, but allow you to do so indirectly by printing the file, and using the print options. Here is what I did to get reasonable output from Microsoft Word.

Once you have a good postscript file, you have to get it safely away from your Windows platform before it is corrupted. I recommend attaching your file. Previously, this was sure death for the submissions server, but an experimental front end makes this the method of choice. Many windows-type mailers will throw in spurious characters into the main body of their messages, apparently just to be obnoxious. Attachments don't seem to have this problem. My best advice is to do Test Prints well before the deadline with a preliminary version of your file and be prepared to mail in a paper copy if you can't get it to work.

(return to the table of contents)

(*) PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Unix is a registered trademark of AT&T. Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Word are registered trademarks of Microsoft.

Credits

The software used to manage electronic submission to Eurocrypt 2000 is a collection of perl scripts written by Sam Rebelsky (samr@cs.dartmouth.edu) and SIGACT's Electronic Publishing Board. The present instruction document was greatly based on the prototype help file which accompanies the system and on the respective document which was used for WDAG'97. We gratefully acknowledge all their help.

The SIGACT Electronic Publishing Board Committee Membership

The board maintains a WWW page and can be contacted via e-mail at epubs@hercule.csci.unt.edu.