annotate ch03.roff @ 94:13bdd6917156

front: Again rearranged the content on the front page.
author markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
date Sat, 16 Jun 2012 09:26:57 +0200
parents 093ccf39a45e
children edac7e46a9f2
Ignore whitespace changes - Everywhere: Within whitespace: At end of lines:
rev   line source
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1 .H0 "Discussion
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
2 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
3 This main chapter discusses the practical work done in the mmh project.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
4 It is structured along the goals to achieve. The concrete work done
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
5 is described in the examples of how the general goals were achieved.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
6 The discussion compares the current version of mmh with the state of
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
7 nmh just before the mmh project started, i.e. Fall 2011.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
8 Current changes of nmh will be mentioned only as side notes.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
9 .\" XXX where do I discuss the parallel development of nmh?
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
10
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
11
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
12
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
13 .H1 "Stream-lining
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
14
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
15 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
16 MH had been considered an all-in-one system for mail handling.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
17 The community around nmh has a similar understanding.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
18 In fundamental difference, mmh shall be a MUA only.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
19 I believe that the development of all-in-one mail systems is obsolete.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
20 Today, email is too complex to be fully covered by single projects.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
21 Such a project won't be able to excel in all aspects.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
22 Instead, the aspects of email should be covered my multiple projects,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
23 which then can be combined to form a complete system.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
24 Excellent implementations for the various aspects of email exist already.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
25 Just to name three examples: Postfix is a specialized MTA,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
26 Procmail is a specialized MDA, and Fetchmail is a specialized MRA.
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
27 I believe that it is best to use such specialized tools instead of
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
28 providing the same function again as a side-component in the project.
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
29 .P
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
30 Doing something well, requires to focus on a small set of specific aspects.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
31 Under the assumption that focused development produces better results
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
32 in the particular area, specialized projects will likely be superior
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
33 in their field of focus.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
34 Hence, all-in-one mail system projects \(en no matter if monolithic
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
35 or modular \(en will never be the best choice in any of the fields.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
36 Even in providing the best consistent all-in-one system they are likely
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
37 to be beaten by projects that focus only on integrating existing mail
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
38 components to a homogeneous system.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
39 .P
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
40 The limiting resource in Free Software community development
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
41 is usually man power.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
42 If the development power is spread over a large development area,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
43 it becomes even more difficult to compete with the specialists in the
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
44 various fields.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
45 The concrete situation for MH-based mail systems is even tougher,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
46 given the small and aged community, including both developers and users,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
47 it has.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
48 .P
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
49 In consequence, I believe that the available development resources
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
50 should be focused on the point where MH is most unique.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
51 This is clearly the user interface \(en the MUA.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
52 Peripheral parts should be removed to stream-line mmh for the MUA task.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
53
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
54
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
55 .H2 "Removal of the Mail Transfer Facilities
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
56 .P
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
57 In contrast to nmh, which also provides mail submission and mail retrieval
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
58 agents, mmh is a MUA only.
66
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
59 This general difference in the view on the character of nmh
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
60 initiated the development of mmh.
66
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
61 Removing the mail transfer facilities had been the first work task
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
62 in the mmh project.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
63 .P
66
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
64 The MSA is called \fIMessage Transfer Service\fP (MTS) in nmh.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
65 The facility established network connections and spoke SMTP to submit
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
66 messages for relay to the outside world.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
67 This part was implemented by the
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
68 .Pn post
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
69 command.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
70 The changes in emailing in the last years
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
71 demanded changes in this part of nmh too.
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
72 Encryption and authentication for network connections
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
73 needed to be supported, hence TLS and SASL were introduced into nmh.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
74 This added complexity to nmh without improving it in its core functions.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
75 Also, keeping up with recent developments in the field of
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
76 mail transfer requires development power and specialists.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
77 In mmh this whole facility was simply cut off.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
78 .Ci f6aa95b724fd8c791164abe7ee5468bf5c34f226
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
79 .Ci fecd5d34f65597a4dfa16aeabea7d74b191532c3
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
80 .Ci 156d35f6425bea4c1ed3c4c79783dc613379c65b
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
81 Instead, mmh depends on an external MSA.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
82 The only outgoing interface available to mmh is the
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
83 .Pn sendmail
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
84 command, which almost any MSA provides.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
85 If not, a wrapper program can be written.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
86 It must read the message from the standard input, extract the
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
87 recipient addresses from the message header, and hand the message
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
88 over to the MSA.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
89 For example, a wrapper script for qmail would be:
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
90 .VS
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
91 #!/bin/sh
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
92 # ignore command line arguments
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
93 exec qmail-inject
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
94 VE
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
95 The requirement to parse the recipient addresses out of the message header
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
96 is likely to be removed in the future.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
97 Then mmh would give the recipient addresses as command line arguments.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
98 This is clearly the better interface, but mmh does not provide it yet.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
99 .\" XXX implement it
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
100 .P
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
101 To retrieve mail, the
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
102 .Pn inc
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
103 command established network connections
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
104 and spoke POP3 to retrieve mail from remote servers.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
105 As with mail submission, the network connections required encryption and
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
106 authentication, thus TLS and SASL were added.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
107 Support for message retrieval through IMAP will become necessary
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
108 to be added soon, too, and so on for any changes in mail transfer.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
109 Mmh has dropped the support for retrieving mail from remote locations.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
110 .Ci ab7b48411962d26439f92f35ed084d3d6275459c
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
111 Instead, it depends on an external tool to cover this task.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
112 In mmh there exist two paths for messages to enter mmh's mail storage:
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
113 (1) Mail can be incorporate with
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
114 .Pn inc
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
115 from the system maildrop, or (2) with
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
116 .Pn rcvstore
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
117 by reading them, one at a time, from the standard input.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
118 .P
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
119 With the removal of the MSA and MRA, mmh converted from an all-in-one
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
120 mail system to being a MUA only.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
121 Following the Unix philosophy, it now focuses on one job and
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
122 tries to do that one well.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
123 Not only the programs follow that tenet but also the project itself does so.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
124 Now, of course, mmh depends on third-party software.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
125 An external MSA is required to transfer mail to the outside world;
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
126 an external MRA is required to retrieve mail from remote machines.
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
127 There exist excellent implementations of such software,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
128 which do this specific task likely better than the internal
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
129 versions had done it.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
130 Also, the best suiting programs can be freely chosen.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
131 .P
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
132 As it had already been possible to use an external MSA or MRA,
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
133 why not keep the internal version for convenience?
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
134 The question whether there is sense in having a fall-back pager in all
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
135 the command line tools, for the cases when
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
136 .Pn more
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
137 or
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
138 .Pn less
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
139 aren't available, appears to be ridiculous.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
140 Now, an MSA or MRA is more complex than a text pager
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
141 and not necessarily available but still the concept of orthogonal
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
142 design holds: ``Write programs that do one thing and do it well.''
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
143 .[
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
144 mcilroy unix phil
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
145 p. 53
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
146 .]
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
147 .[
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
148 mcilroy bstj foreword
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
149 .]
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
150 Here, this part of the Unix philosophy was applied not only
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
151 to the programs but to the project itself.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
152 In other words:
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
153 ``Develop projects that focus on one thing and do it well.''
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
154 Projects grown complex should be split for the same reasons programs grown
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
155 complex should be split.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
156 If it is conceptionally more elegant to have the MSA and MRA
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
157 separate projects then they should be separated.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
158 This is the case here, in my opinion.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
159 The RFCs propose this separation by clearly distinguishing the different
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
160 mail handling tasks.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
161 .[
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
162 rfc 821
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
163 .]
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
164 The small interfaces between the mail agents support the separation.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
165 .P
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
166 In the beginning, email had been small and simple.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
167 (\c
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
168 .Pn /bin/mail
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
169 had once covered anything there was to email and still had been small
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
170 and simple.)
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
171 Then the essential complexity of email increased.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
172 (Essential complexity is the complexity defined by the problem itself.\0
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
173 .[[
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
174 brooks no silver bullet
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
175 .]])
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
176 Email systems reacted to this change: They grew.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
177 RFCs started to introduce mail agents and separated the various tasks
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
178 because the existing tasks became more extensive and new tasks appeared.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
179 Again, email systems grew, or they split parts off.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
180 In nmh, for instance, the POP server, which the original MH had included,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
181 was removed.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
182 Now is the time to go one step further and remove the MSA and MRA, too.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
183 Not only does this decrease the code size of the project,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
184 but, more important, it unburdens mmh of the whole field of
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
185 message transfer with all its implications for the project.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
186 There's no more need to concern with changes in network transfer.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
187 This independence is received by depending on an external program
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
188 that covers the field.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
189 Today, this is a reasonable exchange.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
190 .P
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
191 Function can be added in three different ways:
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
192 .BU
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
193 Implementing the function originally in the project.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
194 .BU
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
195 Depending on a library that provides the function.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
196 .BU
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
197 Depending on a program that provides the function.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
198 .P
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
199 Whereas adding the function originally to the project increases the
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
200 code size most and requires most maintenance and development work,
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
201 it makes the project most independent of other software.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
202 Using libraries or external programs require less maintenance work
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
203 but introduces dependencies on external software.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
204 Programs have the smallest interfaces and provide the best separation
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
205 but possibly limit the information exchange.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
206 External libraries are stronger connected than external programs,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
207 thus information can be exchanged more flexible.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
208 Adding code to a project increases maintenance work.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
209 .\" XXX ref
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
210 Implementing complex functions originally in the project will add
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
211 a lot of code.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
212 This should be avoided if possible.
66
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
213 Hence, the dependencies only change in kind, not in their existence.
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
214 In mmh, library dependencies on
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
215 .Pn libsasl2
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
216 and
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
217 .Pn libcrypto /\c
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
218 .Pn libssl
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
219 were treated against program dependencies on an MSA and an MRA.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
220 This also meant treating build-time dependencies against run-time
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
221 dependencies.
66
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
222 Besides program dependencies providing the stronger separation
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
223 and being more flexible, they also allowed
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
224 over 6\|000 lines of code to be removed from mmh.
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
225 This made mmh's code base about 12\|% smaller.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
226 Reducing the project's code size by such an amount without actually
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
227 losing functionality is a convincing argument.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
228 Actually, as external MSAs and MRAs are likely superior to the
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
229 project's internal versions, the common user even gains functionality.
66
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
230 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
231 Users of MH should not have problems to set up an external MSA and MRA.
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
232 Also, the popular MSAs and MRAs have large communities and a lot
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
233 of documentation available.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
234 Choices for MSAs range from full-featured MTAs like
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
235 .I Postfix
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
236 over mid-size MTAs like
60
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
237 .I masqmail
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
238 and
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
239 .I dma
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
240 to small forwarders like
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
241 .I ssmtp
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
242 and
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
243 .I nullmailer .
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
244 Choices for MRAs include
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
245 .I fetchmail ,
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
246 .I getmail ,
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
247 .I mpop
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
248 and
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
249 .I fdm .
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
250
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
251
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
252 .H2 "Removal of non-MUA Tools
6a92e0208de0 Wrote about the removal of the mail transfer facilities.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 58
diff changeset
253 .P
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
254 One goal of mmh is to remove the tools that are not part of the MUA's task.
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
255 Further more, any tools that don't improve the MUA's job significantly
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
256 should be removed.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
257 Loosely related and rarely used tools distract from the lean appearance.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
258 They require maintenance work without adding much to the core task.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
259 On removing these tools, the project shall become more stream-lined
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
260 and focused.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
261 In mmh the following tools are not available anymore:
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
262 .BU
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
263 .Pn conflict
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
264 was removed
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
265 .Ci 8b235097cbd11d728c07b966cf131aa7133ce5a9
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
266 because it is a mail system maintenance tool that is not MUA-related.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
267 It even checked
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
268 .Fn /etc/passwd
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
269 and
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
270 .Fn /etc/group
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
271 for consistency, which is completely unrelated to email.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
272 A tool like
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
273 .Pn conflict
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
274 is surely useful, but it should not be shipped with mmh.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
275 .\" XXX historic reasons?
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
276 .BU
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
277 .Pn rcvtty
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
278 was removed
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
279 .Ci 14767c94b3827be7c867196467ed7aea5f6f49b0
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
280 because its use case of writing to the user's terminal
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
281 on receiving of mail is obsolete.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
282 If users like to be informed of new mail, the shell's
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
283 .Ev MAILPATH
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
284 variable or graphical notifications are technically more appealing.
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
285 Writing directly to a terminals is hardly ever wanted today.
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
286 If though one wants to have it this way, the standard tool
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
287 .Pn write
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
288 can be used in a way similar to:
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
289 .VS
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
290 scan -file - | write `id -un`
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
291 VE
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
292 .BU
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
293 .Pn viamail
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
294 was removed
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
295 .Ci eda72d6a7a7c20ff123043fb7f19c509ea01f932
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
296 when the new attachment system was activated, because
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
297 .Pn forw
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
298 could then cover the task itself.
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
299 The program
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
300 .Pn sendfiles
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
301 was rewritten as a shell script wrapper around
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
302 .Pn forw .
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
303 .Ci 0e82199cf3c991a173e0ac8aa776efdb3ded61e6
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
304 .BU
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
305 .Pn msgchk
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
306 was removed
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
307 .Ci bb9360ead7eb7a3fedcce2eeedfc660014e41dbe ,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
308 because it lost its use case when POP support was removed.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
309 A call to
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
310 .Pn msgchk
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
311 provided hardly more information than:
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
312 .VS
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
313 ls -l /var/mail/meillo
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
314 VE
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
315 It did distinguished between old and new mail, but
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
316 this detail information and can be retrieved with
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
317 .Pn stat (1),
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
318 too.
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
319 A very small shell script could be written to output the information
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
320 in a similar way, if truly necessary.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
321 As mmh's
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
322 .Pn inc
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
323 only incorporates mail from the user's local maildrop,
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
324 and thus no data transfers over slow networks are involved,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
325 there's hardly any need to check for new mail before incorporating it.
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
326 .BU
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
327 .Pn msh
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
328 was removed
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
329 .Ci 916690191222433a6923a4be54b0d8f6ac01bd02
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
330 because the tool was in conflict with the philosophy of MH.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
331 It provided an interactive shell to access the features of MH,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
332 but it wasn't just a shell, tailored to the needs of mail handling.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
333 Instead it was one large program that had several MH tools built in.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
334 This conflicts with the major feature of MH of being a tool chest.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
335 .Pn msh 's
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
336 main use case had been accessing Bulletin Boards, which have seized to
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
337 be popular.
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
338 .P
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
339 Removing
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
340 .Pn msh ,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
341 together with the truly archaic code relicts
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
342 .Pn vmh
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
343 and
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
344 .Pn wmh ,
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
345 saved more than 7\|000 lines of C code \(en
66
4c9f4d05d90e Rework and extension of text from yesterday.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 63
diff changeset
346 about 15\|% of the project's original source code amount.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
347 .P
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
348 Having less code (with equal readability, of course)
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
349 for the same functionality is an advantage.
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
350 Less code means less bugs and less maintenance work.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
351 As
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
352 .Pn rcvtty
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
353 and
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
354 .Pn msgchk
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
355 are assumed to be rarely used and can be implemented in different ways,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
356 why should one keep them?
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
357 Removing them stream-lines mmh.
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
358 .Pn viamail 's
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
359 use case is now partly obsolete and partly covered by
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
360 .Pn forw ,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
361 hence there's no reason to still maintain it.
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
362 .Pn conflict
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
363 is not related to the mail client, and
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
364 .Pn msh
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
365 conflicts with the basic concept of MH.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
366 Theses two tools might still be useful, but they should not be part of mmh.
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
367 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
368 Finally, there's
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
369 .Pn slocal .
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
370 .Pn slocal
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
371 is an MDA and thus not directly MUA-related.
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
372 It should be removed, because including it is a violation
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
373 of the idea that mmh is a MUA only.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
374 It should become a separate project.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
375 However,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
376 .Pn slocal
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
377 provides rule-based processing of messages, like filing them into
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
378 different folders, which is otherwise not available in mmh.
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
379 Although
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
380 .Pn slocal
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
381 does neither pull in dependencies nor does it include a separate
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
382 technical area (cf. Sec. XXX),
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
383 still it accounts for about 1\|000 lines of code that need to be maintained.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
384 As
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
385 .Pn slocal
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
386 is almost self-standing, it should be split off into a separate project.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
387 This would cut the strong connection between the MUA mmh and the MDA
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
388 .Pn slocal .
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
389 For anyone not using MH,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
390 .Pn slocal
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
391 would become yet another independent MDA, like
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
392 .I procmail .
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
393 The need to install a complete MH system to have
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
394 .Pn slocal
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
395 would be gone.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
396 Likewise, mmh users could decide to use
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
397 .I procmail
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
398 without having a second, unused MDA,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
399 .Pn slocal ,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
400 installed.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
401 That's conceptionally the best solution.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
402 Yet,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
403 .Pn slocal
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
404 is not split off.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
405 I feel unsure with removing it from mmh.
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
406 Hence, I defer the decision over
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
407 .Pn slocal .
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
408 In the meanwhile
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
409 .Pn slocal
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
410 does not hurt because it is unrelated to the rest of mmh.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
411
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
412
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
413 .H2 "\fLshow\fP and \fPmhshow\fP
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
414 .P
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
415 Since the very beginning \(en already in the first concept paper \(en
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
416 .Pn show
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
417 had been MH's message display program.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
418 .Pn show
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
419 mapped message numbers and sequences to files and invoked
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
420 .Pn mhl
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
421 to have the files formatted.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
422 With MIME, this approach wasn't sufficient anymore.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
423 MIME messages can consist of multiple parts, some of which aren't
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
424 directly displayable, further more text content might be encoded in
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
425 foreign charsets.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
426 .Pn show 's
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
427 understanding of messages and
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
428 .Pn mhl 's
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
429 display capabilities couldn't cope with the task any longer.
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
430 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
431 Instead of extending these tools, additional tools were written from
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
432 scratch and added to the MH tool chest.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
433 Doing so is encouraged by the tool chest approach.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
434 Modular design is a great advantage for extending a system,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
435 as new tools can be added without interfering with existing ones.
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
436 First, the new MIME features were added in form of the single program
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
437 .Pn mhn .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
438 The command
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
439 .Cl "mhn -show 42
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
440 would show the MIME message numbered 42.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
441 With the 1.0 release of nmh in February 1999, Richard Coleman finished
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
442 the split of
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
443 .Pn mhn
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
444 into a set of specialized tools, which together covered the
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
445 multiple aspects of MIME.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
446 One of them was
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
447 .Pn mhshow ,
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
448 which replaced
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
449 .Cl "mhn -show" .
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
450 It was capable of displaying MIME messages appropriately.
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
451 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
452 From then on, two message display tools were part of nmh,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
453 .Pn show
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
454 and
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
455 .Pn mhshow .
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
456 To ease the life of users,
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
457 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
458 was extended to automatically hand the job over to
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
459 .Pn mhshow
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
460 if displaying the message would be beyond
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
461 .Pn show 's
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
462 abilities.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
463 In consequence, the user would simply invoke
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
464 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
465 (possibly through
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
466 .Pn next
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
467 or
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
468 .Pn prev )
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
469 and get the message printed with either
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
470 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
471 or
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
472 .Pn mhshow ,
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
473 whatever was more appropriate.
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
474 .P
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
475 Having two similar tools for essentially the same task is redundant.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
476 Usually,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
477 users wouldn't distinguish between
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
478 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
479 and
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
480 .Pn mhshow
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
481 in their daily mail reading.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
482 Having two separate display programs was therefore mainly unnecessary
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
483 from a user's point of view.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
484 Besides, the development of both programs needed to be in sync,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
485 to ensure that the programs behaved in a similar way,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
486 because they were used like a single tool.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
487 Different behavior would have surprised the user.
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
488 .P
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
489 Today, non-MIME messages are rather seen to be a special case of
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
490 MIME messages, although it's the other way round.
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
491 As
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
492 .Pn mhshow
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
493 had already be able to display non-MIME messages, it appeared natural
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
494 to drop
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
495 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
496 in favor of using
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
497 .Pn mhshow
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
498 exclusively.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
499 .Ci 4c1efddfd499300c7e74263e57d8aa137e84c853
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
500 Removing
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
501 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
502 is no loss in function, because functionally
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
503 .Pn mhshow
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
504 covers it completely.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
505 The old behavior of
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
506 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
507 can still be emulated with the simple command line:
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
508 .VS
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
509 mhl `mhpath c`
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
510 VE
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
511 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
512 For convenience,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
513 .Pn mhshow
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
514 was renamed to
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
515 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
516 after
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
517 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
518 was gone.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
519 It is clear that such a rename may confuse future developers when
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
520 trying to understand the history.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
521 Nevertheless, I consider the convenience on the user's side,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
522 to call
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
523 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
524 when they want a message to be displayed, to outweigh the inconvenience
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
525 on the developer's side when understanding the project history.
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
526 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
527 To prepare for the transition,
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
528 .Pn mhshow
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
529 was reworked to behave more like
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
530 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
531 first.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
532 (cf. Sec. XXX)
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
533 Once the tools behaved more alike, the replacing appeared to be
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
534 even more natural.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
535 Today, mmh's new
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
536 .Pn show
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
537 became the one single message display program again, with the difference
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
538 that today it handles MIME messages as well as non-MIME messages.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
539 The outcome of the transition is one program less to maintain,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
540 no second display program for users to deal with,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
541 and less system complexity.
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
542 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
543 Still, removing the old
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
544 .Pn show
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
545 hurts in one regard: It had been such a simple program.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
546 Its lean elegance is missing to the new
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
547 .Pn show .
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
548 But there is no chance;
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
549 supporting MIME demands for higher essential complexity.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
550
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
551
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
552 .H2 "Removal of Configure Options
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
553 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
554 Customization is a double-edged sword.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
555 It allows better suiting setups, but not for free.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
556 There is the cost of code complexity to be able to customize.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
557 There is the cost of less tested setups, because there are
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
558 more possible setups and especially corner-cases.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
559 And, there is the cost of choice itself.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
560 The code complexity directly affects the developers.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
561 Less tested code affects both, users and developers.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
562 The problem of choice affects the users, for once by having to
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
563 choose, but also by complexer interfaces that require more documentation.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
564 Whenever options add little advantages, they should be considered for
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
565 removal.
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
566 I have reduced the number of project-specific configure options from
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
567 fifteen to three.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
568
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
569 .U3 "Mail Transfer Facilities
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
570 .P
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
571 With the removal of the mail transfer facilities five configure
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
572 options vanished:
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
573 .P
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
574 The switches
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
575 .Sw --with-tls
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
576 and
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
577 .Sw --with-cyrus-sasl
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
578 had activated the support for transfer encryption and authentication.
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
579 This is not needed anymore.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
580 .Ci fecd5d34f65597a4dfa16aeabea7d74b191532c3
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
581 .Ci 156d35f6425bea4c1ed3c4c79783dc613379c65b
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
582 .P
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
583 The configure switch
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
584 .Sw --enable-pop
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
585 activated the message retrieval facility.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
586 The code area that would be conditionally compiled in for TLS and SASL
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
587 support had been small.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
588 The conditionally compiled code area for POP support had been much larger.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
589 Whereas the code base changes would only slightly change on toggling
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
590 TLS or SASL support, it changed much on toggling POP support.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
591 The changes in the code base could hardly be overviewed.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
592 By having POP support togglable a second code base had been created,
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
593 one that needed to be tested.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
594 This situation is basically similar for the conditional TLS and SASL
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
595 code, but there the changes are minor and can yet be overviewed.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
596 Still, conditional compilation of a code base creates variations
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
597 of the original program.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
598 More variations require more testing and maintenance work.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
599 .P
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
600 Two other options only specified default configuration values:
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
601 .Sw --with-mts=[smtp|sendmail]
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
602 defined the default transport service.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
603 In mmh this fixed to
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
604 .Ar sendmail .
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
605 .Ci f6aa95b724fd8c791164abe7ee5468bf5c34f226
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
606 With
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
607 .Sw --with-smtpservers=[server1...]
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
608 default SMTP servers for the
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
609 .Ar smtp
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
610 transport service could be specified.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
611 .Ci 128545e06224233b7e91fc4c83f8830252fe16c9
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
612 Both of them became irrelevant.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
613
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
614 .U3 "Backup Prefix
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
615 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
616 The backup prefix is the string that was prepended to message
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
617 filenames to tag them as deleted.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
618 By default it had been the comma character `\f(CW,\fP'.
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
619 In July 2000, Kimmo Suominen introduced
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
620 the configure option
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
621 .Sw --with-hash-backup
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
622 to change the default to the hash symbol `\f(CW#\fP'.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
623 The choice was probably personal preference, because first, the
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
624 option was named
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
625 .Sw --with-backup-prefix.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
626 and had the prefix symbol as argument.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
627 Because giving the hash symbol as argument caused to many problems
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
628 for configure,
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
629 the option was limited to use the hash symbol as the default prefix.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
630 This makes me believe, that the choice for the hash was personal preference.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
631 Being it related or not, words that start with the hash symbol
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
632 introduce a comment in the Unix shell.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
633 Thus, the command line
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
634 .Cl "rm #13 #15
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
635 calls
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
636 .Pn rm
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
637 without arguments because the first hash symbol starts the comment
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
638 that reaches until the end of the line.
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
639 To delete the backup files,
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
640 .Cl "rm ./#13 ./#15"
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
641 needs to be used.
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
642 Using the hash as backup prefix can be seen as a precaution agains
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
643 data loss.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
644 .P
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
645 I removed the configure option but added the profile entry
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
646 .Pe backup-prefix ,
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
647 which allows to specify an arbitrary string as backup prefix.
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
648 .Ci 6c40d481d661d532dd527eaf34cebb6d3f8ed086
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
649 Profile entries are the common method to change mmh's behavior.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
650 This change did not remove the choice but moved it to a location where
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
651 it suited better.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
652 .P
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
653 Eventually, however, the new trash folder concept
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
654 .Cf "Sec. XXX
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
655 obsoleted the concept of the backup prefix completely.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
656 .Ci 8edc5aaf86f9f77124664f6801bc6c6cdf258173
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
657 (Well, there still are corner-cases to remove until the backup
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
658 prefix can be laid to rest, eventually.)
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
659 .\" FIXME: Do this work in the code!
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
660
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
661 .U3 "Editor and Pager
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
662 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
663 The two configure options
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
664 .CW --with-editor=EDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
665 .CW --with-pager=PAGER
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
666 were used to specify the default editor and pager at configure time.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
667 Doing so at configure time made sense in the Eighties,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
668 when the set of available editors and pagers varied much across
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
669 different systems.
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
670 Today, the situation is more homogeneous.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
671 The programs
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
672 .Pn vi
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
673 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
674 .Pn more
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
675 can be expected to be available on every Unix system,
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
676 as they are specified by POSIX since two decades.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
677 (The specifications for
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
678 .Pn vi
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
679 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
680 .Pn more
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
681 appeared in
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
682 .[
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
683 posix 1987
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
684 .]
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
685 and,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
686 .[
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
687 posix 1992
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
688 .]
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
689 respectively.)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
690 As a first step, these two tools were hard-coded as defaults.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
691 .Ci 5d43a99db70c12a673028c7758c20cbe3e13ef5f
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
692 Not changed were the
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
693 .Pe editor
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
694 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
695 .Pe moreproc
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
696 profile entries, which allowed the user to override the system defaults.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
697 Later, the concept was reworked to respect the standard environment
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
698 variables
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
699 .Ev VISUAL
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
700 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
701 .Ev PAGER
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
702 if they are set.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
703 Today, mmh determines the editor to use in the following order,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
704 taking the first available and non-empty item:
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
705 .IP (1)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
706 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
707 .Ev MMHEDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
708 .IP (2)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
709 Profile entry
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
710 .Pe Editor
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
711 .IP (3)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
712 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
713 .Ev VISUAL
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
714 .IP (4)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
715 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
716 .Ev EDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
717 .IP (5)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
718 Command
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
719 .Pn vi .
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
720 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
721 .Ci f85f4b7ae62e3d05a945dcd46ead51f0a2a89a9b
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
722 .P
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
723 The pager to use is determined in a similar order,
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
724 also taking the first available and non-empty item:
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
725 .IP (1)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
726 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
727 .Ev MMHPAGER
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
728 .IP (2)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
729 Profile entry
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
730 .Pe Pager
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
731 (replaces
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
732 .Pe moreproc )
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
733 .IP (3)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
734 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
735 .Ev PAGER
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
736 .IP (4)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
737 Command
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
738 .Pn more .
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
739 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
740 .Ci 0c4214ea2aec6497d0d67b436bbee9bc1d225f1e
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
741 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
742 By respecting the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
743 .Ev VISUAL /\c
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
744 .Ev EDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
745 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
746 .Ev PAGER
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
747 environment variables,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
748 the new behavior confirms better to the common style on Unix systems.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
749 Additionally, the new approach is more uniform and clearer to users.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
750
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
751 .U3 "Locale
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
752 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
753 The configure option
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
754 .Sw --disable-locale
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
755 was removed because POSIX provides locale support and there's
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
756 hardly any need to disable locale support.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
757 .Ci ccf4f175ef4c4e7522f9510a4a1149c15d810dd9
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
758
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
759 .U3 "ndbm
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
760 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
761 .Pn slocal
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
762 used to depend on
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
763 .I ndbm ,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
764 a database library.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
765 The database is used to store the `\fLMessage-ID\fP's of all
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
766 messages delivered.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
767 This enables
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
768 .Pn slocal
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
769 to suppress delivering the same message to the same user twice.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
770 (This features was enabled by the
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
771 .Sw -suppressdup
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
772 switch.)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
773 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
774 A variety of version of the database library exist.
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
775 .[
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
776 wolter unix incompat notes dbm
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
777 .]
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
778 Complicated autoconf code was needed to detect them correctly.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
779 Further more, the configure switches
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
780 .Sw --with-ndbm=ARG
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
781 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
782 .Sw --with-ndbmheader=ARG
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
783 were added to help with difficult setups that would
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
784 not be detected automatically or correctly.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
785 .P
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
786 By removing the suppress duplicates feature of
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
787 .Pn slocal ,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
788 the dependency on
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
789 .I ndbm
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
790 vanished and 120 lines of complex autoconf code could be saved.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
791 .Ci ecd6d6a20cb7a1507e3a20d6c4cb3a1cf14c6bbf
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
792 The change removed functionality too, but that is minor to the
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
793 improvement by dropping the dependency and the complex autoconf code.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
794
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
795 .U3 "mh-e Support
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
796 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
797 The configure option
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
798 .Sw --disable-mhe
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
799 was removed when the mh-e support was reworked.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
800 Mh-e is the Emacs front-end to MH.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
801 It requires MH to provide minor additional functions.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
802 The
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
803 .Sw --disable-mhe
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
804 configure option could switch these extensions off.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
805 After removing the support for old versions of mh-e,
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
806 only the
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
807 .Sw -build
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
808 switches of
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
809 .Pn forw
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
810 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
811 .Pn repl
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
812 are left to be mh-e extensions.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
813 They are now always built in because they add little code and complexity.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
814 In consequence, the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
815 .Sw --disable-mhe
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
816 configure option was removed
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
817 .Ci a7ce7b4a580d77b6c2c4d980812beb589aa4c643
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
818 Removing the option removed a second code setup that would have
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
819 needed to be tested.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
820 This change was first done in nmh and thereafter merged into mmh.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
821 .P
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
822 The interface changes in mmh require mh-e to be adjusted in order
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
823 to be able to use mmh as back-end.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
824 This will require minor changes to mh-e, but removing the
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
825 .Sw -build
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
826 switches would require more rework.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
827
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
828 .U3 "Masquerading
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
829 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
830 The configure option
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
831 .Sw --enable-masquerade
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
832 could take up to three arguments:
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
833 `draft_from', `mmailid', and `username_extension'.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
834 They activated different types of address masquerading.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
835 All of them were implemented in the SMTP-speaking
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
836 .Pn post
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
837 command, which provided an MSA.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
838 Address masquerading is an MTA's task and mmh does not cover
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
839 this field anymore.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
840 Hence, true masquerading needs to be implemented in the external MTA.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
841 .P
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
842 The
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
843 .I mmailid
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
844 masquerading type is the oldest one of the three and the only one
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
845 available in the original MH.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
846 It provided a
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
847 .I username
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
848 to
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
849 .I fakeusername
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
850 mapping, based on the password file's GECOS field.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
851 The man page
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
852 .Mp mh-tailor(5)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
853 described the use case as being the following:
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
854 .QP
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
855 This is useful if you want the messages you send to always
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
856 appear to come from the name of an MTA alias rather than your
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
857 actual account name. For instance, many organizations set up
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
858 `First.Last' sendmail aliases for all users. If this is
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
859 the case, the GECOS field for each user should look like:
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
860 ``First [Middle] Last <First.Last>''
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
861 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
862 As mmh sends outgoing mail via the local MTA only,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
863 the best location to do such global rewrites is there.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
864 Besides, the MTA is conceptionally the right location because it
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
865 does the reverse mapping for incoming mail (aliasing), too.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
866 Further more, masquerading set up there is readily available for all
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
867 mail software on the system.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
868 Hence, mmailid masquerading was removed.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
869 .Ci 0836c8000ccb34b59410ef1c15b1b7feac70ce5f
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
870 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
871 The
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
872 .I username_extension
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
873 masquerading type did not replace the username but would append a suffix,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
874 specified by the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
875 .Ev USERNAME_EXTENSION
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
876 environment variable, to it.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
877 This provided support for the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
878 .I user-extension
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
879 feature of qmail and the similar
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
880 .I "plussed user
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
881 processing of sendmail.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
882 The decision to remove this username_extension masquerading was
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
883 motivated by the fact that
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
884 .Pn spost
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
885 hadn't supported it already.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
886 .Ci 2abae0bfd0ad5bf898461e50aa4b466d641f23d9
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
887 Username extensions are possible in mmh, but less convenient to use.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
888 .\" XXX format file %(getenv USERNAME_EXTENSION)
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
889 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
890 The
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
891 .I draft_from
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
892 masquerading type instructed
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
893 .Pn post
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
894 to use the value of the
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
895 .Hd From
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
896 header field as SMTP envelope sender.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
897 Sender addresses could be replaced completely.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
898 .Ci b14ea6073f77b4359aaf3fddd0e105989db9
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
899 Mmh offers a kind of masquerading similar in effect, but
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
900 with technical differences.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
901 As mmh does not transfer messages itself, the local MTA has final control
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
902 over the sender's address. Any masquerading mmh introduces may be reverted
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
903 by the MTA.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
904 In times of pedantic spam checking, an MTA will take care to use
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
905 sensible envelope sender addresses to keep its own reputation up.
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
906 Nonetheless, the MUA can set the
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
907 .Hd From
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
908 header field and thereby propose
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
909 a sender address to the MTA.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
910 The MTA may then decide to take that one or generate the canonical sender
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
911 address for use as envelope sender address.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
912 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
913 In mmh, the MTA will always extract the recipient and sender from the
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
914 message header (\c
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
915 .Pn sendmail 's
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
916 .Sw -t
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
917 switch).
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
918 The
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
919 .Hd From
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
920 header field of the draft may be set arbitrary by the user.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
921 If it is missing, the canonical sender address will be generated by the MTA.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
922
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
923 .U3 "Remaining Options
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
924 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
925 Two configure options remain in mmh.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
926 One is the locking method to use:
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
927 .Sw --with-locking=[dot|fcntl|flock|lockf] .
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
928 The idea of removing all methods except the portable dot locking
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
929 and having that one as the default is appealing, but this change
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
930 requires deeper technical investigation into the topic.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
931 The other option,
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
932 .Sw --enable-debug ,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
933 compiles the programs with debugging symbols and does not strip them.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
934 This option is likely to stay.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
935
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
936
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
937
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
938
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
939 .H2 "Removal of Switches
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
940 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
941 The command line switches of MH tools follow the X Window style.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
942 They are words, introduced by a single dash.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
943 For example:
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
944 .Cl "-truncate" .
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
945 Every program in mmh has two generic switches:
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
946 .Sw -help ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
947 to print a short message on how to use the program, and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
948 .Sw -Version ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
949 to tell what version of mmh the program belongs to.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
950 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
951 Switches change the behavior of programs.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
952 Programs that do one thing in one way require no switches.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
953 In most cases, doing something in exactly one way is too limiting.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
954 If it is basically the same task to accomplish, but it should be done
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
955 in various ways, switches are a good approach to alter the behavior
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
956 of a program.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
957 Changing the behavior of programs provides flexibility and customization
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
958 to users, but in the same way it complicates the code, documentation and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
959 usage of the program.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
960 Therefore, the number of switches should be kept small.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
961 A small set of well-chosen switches does no harm.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
962 But usually, the number of switches increases over time.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
963 Already in 1985, Rose and Romine have identified this as a major
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
964 problem of MH:
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
965 .[ [
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
966 rose romine real work
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
967 .], p. 12]
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
968 .sp
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
969 .QP
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
970 A complaint often heard about systems which undergo substantial development
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
971 by many people over a number of years, is that more and more options are
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
972 introduced which add little to the functionality but greatly increase the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
973 amount of information a user needs to know in order to get useful work done.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
974 This is usually referred to as creeping featurism.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
975 .QP
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
976 Unfortunately MH, having undergone six years of off-and-on development by
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
977 ten or so well-meaning programmers (the present authors included),
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
978 suffers mightily from this.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
979 .sp
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
980 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
981 Adding new switches only reluctantly is one part of the counter-action,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
982 the other is removing hardly used switches.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
983 Now that there are lots of switches already implemented,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
984 removing some of them is more important.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
985 Removing existing functionality is always difficult because it
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
986 breaks programs that use these functions.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
987 Also, for every obsolete feature, there'll always be someone who still
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
988 uses it and thus opposes its removal.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
989 This puts the developer into the position,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
990 where sensible improvements to style are regarded as destructive acts.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
991 Yet, living with the featurism is far worse, in my eyes.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
992 Future needs will demand adding new features,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
993 worsening the situation more and more.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
994 Rose and Romine added in a footnote,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
995 ``[...]
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
996 .Pn send
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
997 will no doubt acquire an endless number of switches in the years to come.''
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
998 Although clearly humorous, the comment displays the nature of
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
999 the problem.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1000 Though refusing to add any new switches would encounter the problem
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1001 at its root, it is not practical.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1002 But removing obsolete switches is an effective approach to deal with the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1003 problem.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1004 Working on an experimental branch,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1005 eased this work because I had not to offend users.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1006 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1007 Rose and Romine counted 24 visible and 9 more hidden switches for
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1008 .Pn send .
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1009 At the beginning of mmh, it were 32 visible and 12 hidden ones.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1010 At the time of writing, mmh's
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1011 .Pn send
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1012 has 7 visible switches and 1 hidden switch.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1013 (In each of the examples, the two generic help and version switches
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1014 are included.)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1015 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1016 Figure XXX
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1017 .\" XXX Ref
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1018 displays the number of switches for each of the tools that was not
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1019 removed from or newly added to mmh.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1020 Both, visible and hidden switches, were counted, but
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1021 not the generic help and version switches.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1022 Whereas in the beginning of the project, the average tool had 11 switches,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1023 now it has no more than 5 \(en only half as many.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1024 If the `no' switches and similar inverse variant are folded onto
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1025 their counter-parts, the numbers are 8 in pre-mmh to 4 now.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1026 The total number of functional switches in mmh dropped from 465
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1027 to 234.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1028
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1029 .KS
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1030 .in 1c
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1031 .so input/switches.grap
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1032 .KE
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1033
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1034 .P
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1035 A part of the switches vanished after functions were removed.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1036 This was the case for network mail transfer, for instance.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1037 Sometimes the work flow was the other way:
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1038 The trying to reduce the number of switches suggested the removal of
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1039 functions.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1040
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1041 .U3 "Draft Folder Facility
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1042 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1043 A change early in the project was the completely transition from
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1044 the single draft message to the draft folder facility.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1045 The draft folder facility was introduced in the mid-Eighties.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1046 (Rose and Romine called it a ``relatively new feature''
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1047 .[
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1048 rose romine real work
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1049 .]
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1050 in 1985.)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1051 Since then, the facility had existed but had remained deactive by default.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1052 The default activation and the related rework of the tools made it
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1053 possible to remove the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1054 .Sw -[no]draftfolder ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1055 and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1056 .Sw -draftmessage
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1057 switches from
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1058 .Pn comp ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1059 .Pn repl ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1060 .Pn forw ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1061 .Pn dist ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1062 .Pn whatnow ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1063 and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1064 .Pn send .
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1065 The only flexibility removed is having multiple draft folders
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1066 within one profile.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1067 I consider this only a theoretical setup.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1068 In the same go, the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1069 .Sw -draft
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1070 switch of
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1071 .Pn anno ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1072 .Pn refile ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1073 and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1074 .Pn send
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1075 was removed.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1076 The special-casing of `the' draft message became irrelevant after
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1077 the rework of the draft system.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1078 (See Sec. XXX.)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1079
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1080 .U3 "Inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1081 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1082 .Pn anno
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1083 had the switches
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1084 .Sw -[no]inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1085 to either annotate the message inplace and thus preserve hard links,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1086 or annotate a copy to replace the original message, breaking hard links.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1087 Following the assumption that linked messages are the same message,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1088 and annotating it should not break the link, the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1089 .Sw -[no]inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1090 switches were removed and the previous default
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1091 .Sw -inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1092 was made the only behavior.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1093 The
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1094 .Sw -[no]inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1095 switches of
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1096 .Pn repl ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1097 .Pn forw ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1098 and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1099 .Pn dist
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1100 could be removed, too, as they were simply passed through to
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1101 .Pn anno .
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1102 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1103 .Pn burst
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1104 also had
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1105 .Sw -[no]inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1106 switches, but they had different meaning, as written in nmh's
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1107 .Mp burst(1)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1108 man page:
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1109 .sp
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1110 .QP
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1111 If -noinplace is given, each digest is preserved, no table
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1112 of contents is produced, and the messages contained within
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1113 the digest are placed at the end of the folder. Other messages
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1114 are not tampered with in any way.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1115 .sp
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1116 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1117 With
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1118 .Sw -inplace ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1119 the digest had been replaced by the table of contents (i.e. the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1120 introduction text) and the bursted messages were placed right
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1121 after this message, renumbering all following messages.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1122 Also, any trailing text of the digest will be lost, though,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1123 in practice, it usually consists of an end-of-digest marker only.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1124 The decision to drop the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1125 .Sw -inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1126 behavior was supported by the complexity and possible data loss
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1127 it introduced.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1128 .Sw -noinplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1129 was the default behavior already and is the chosen behavior now.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1130
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1131 .U3 "mbox and MMDF
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1132 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1133 packf: file mbox mmdf
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1134 rcvpack: mbox mmdf
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1135
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1136
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1137 .ig
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1138
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1139 ap: width
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1140 dp: width
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1141 burst: [no]quiet
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1142 flist: [no]total
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1143 folder: [no]header
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1144
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1145 comp: file
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1146 dist: file(msh)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1147 forw: filter, [no]mime, [no]dashstuffing(mhl)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1148 repl: [no]format/filter width
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1149
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1150 mhmail: resent queued
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1151 inc: snoop, (pop)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1152 mhbuild: [no]check, [no]ebcdicsafe, [no]headers, [no]list, [no]realsize
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1153 [no]rfc934mode, [no]contentid (caching)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1154 mhlist: [no]check [no]headers [no]realsize (caching)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1155 mhstore: [no]check [no]verbose (caching)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1156
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1157 scan: [no]clear [no]header [no]reverse
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1158
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1159 mhl: [no]bell [no]clear [no]faceproc folder [no]moreproc length sleep
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1160 [no]dashstuffing(forw) digest list volume number issue number
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1161 mhshow: [no]check [no]pause [no]serialonly (caching) [no]moreproc
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1162 length width
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1163
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1164 prompter: erase kill [no]doteof
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1165
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1166 refile: [no]preserve [no]unlink [no]rmmproc
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1167
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1168 send: filter [no]format [no]forward [no]mime [no]msgid
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1169 [no]push split [no]unique (sasl) width snoop [no]dashstuffing
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1170 attach attachformat
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1171 whatnow: (noedit) attach
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1172
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1173 slocal: [no]suppressdups
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1174
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1175 sortm: subject
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1176
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1177 spost: [no]filter [no]format [no]remove [no]backup width [no]push idanno
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1178 [no]check(whom) whom(whom)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1179
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1180 whom: ???
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1181
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1182
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1183 (pop) host, port, user, [no]pack, proxy
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1184 (smtp) mail saml send soml client server user port
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1185 (sasl) sasl, saslmech
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1186 (tls)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1187 (caching) rcache wcache
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1188
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1189 noedit
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1190 nowhatnowproc
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1191
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1192
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1193 format -> form
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1194
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1195 version -> Version
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1196
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1197 ..
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1198
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1199 .ig
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1200
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1201 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1202 To ease typing, the switches can be abbreviated as much as the remaining
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1203 prefix remains unambiguous.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1204 If in our example no other switch would start with the letter `t', then
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1205 .Cl "-truncate" ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1206 .Cl "-trunc" ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1207 .Cl "-tr" ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1208 and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1209 .Cl "-t
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1210 would all be the same.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1211 As a result, switches can neither be grouped (as in
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1212 .Cl "ls -ltr" )
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1213 nor can switch arguments be appended directly to the switch (as in
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1214 .Cl "sendmail -q30m" ).
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1215 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1216 Many switches have negating counter-parts, which start with `no'.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1217 For example
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1218 .Cl "-notruncate
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1219 inverts the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1220 .Cl "-truncate
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1221 switch.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1222 They exist to undo the effect of default switches in the profile.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1223 If the user has chosen to change the default behavior of some tool
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1224 by adding a default switch to the profile,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1225 he can still undo this change in behavior by specifiying the inverse
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1226 switch on the command line.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1227 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1228 In the best case, all switches are unambiguous on the first character,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1229 or on the three-letter prefix for the `no' variants.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1230 Reducing switch prefix collisions, shortens the necessary prefix lenght
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1231 the user must type.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1232 Having less switches helps best.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1233
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1234 ..
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1235
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
1236 .H1 "Modernizing
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1237
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1238
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1239 .H2 "Removal of Code Relicts
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1240 .P
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1241 The code base of mmh originates from the late Seventies,
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1242 had been extensively
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1243 worked on in the mid Eighties, and had been partly reorganized and extended
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1244 in the Nineties. Relicts of all those times had gathered in the code base.
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1245 My goal was to remove any ancient code parts. One part of the task was
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1246 converting obsolete code constructs to standard constructs, the other part
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1247 was dropping obsolete functions.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1248 .P
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1249 As I'm not even thirty years old and have no more than seven years of
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1250 Unix experience, I needed to learn about the history in retrospective.
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1251 Older people likely have used those ancient constructs themselves
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1252 and have suffered from their incompatibilities and have longed for
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1253 standardization. Unfortunately, I have only read that others had done so.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1254 This put me in a much more difficult positions when working on the old
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1255 code. I needed to recherche what other would have known by heart from
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1256 experience. All my programming experience comes from a time past ANSI C
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1257 and past POSIX. Although I knew about the times before, I took the
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1258 current state implicitly for granted most of the time.
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1259 .P
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1260 Being aware of
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1261 these facts, I rather let people with more historic experience solve the
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1262 task of converting the ancient code constructs to standardized ones.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1263 Luckily, Lyndon Nerenberg focused on this task at the nmh project.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1264 He converted large parts of the code to POSIX constructs, removing
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1265 the conditionals compilation for now standardized features.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1266 I'm thankful for this task being solved. I only pulled the changes into
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1267 mmh.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1268 .P
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1269 The other task \(en dropping ancient functionality to remove old code \(en
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1270 I did myself, though. My position to strip mmh to the bare minimum of
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1271 frequently used features is much more revolutional than the nmh community
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1272 likes it. Without the need to justify my decisions, I was able to quickly
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1273 remove functionality I considered ancient.
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1274 The need to discuss my decisions with
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1275 peers likely would have slowed this process down. Of course, I researched
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1276 if a particular feature really should be dropped. Having not had any
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1277 contact to this feature within my computer life was a first indicator to
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1278 drop it, but I also asked others and searched the literature for modern
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1279 usage of the feature. If it appeared to be truly ancient, I dropped it.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1280 The reason for dropping is always part of the commit message in the
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1281 version control system. Thus, it is easy for others to check their
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1282 view on the topic with mine and possibly to argue for reinclusion.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1283
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1284 .U2 "MMDF maildrop support
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1285 .P
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1286 I did drop any support for the MMDF maildrop format. This type of format
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1287 is conceptionally similar to the mbox format, but uses four bytes with
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1288 value 1 (\fL^A^A^A^A\fP) as message delimiter,
18
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1289 instead of the string ``\fLFrom\ \fP''.
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1290 Due to the similarity and mbox being the de-facto standard maildrop
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1291 format on Unix, but also due to the larger influence of Sendmail than MMDF,
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1292 the MMDF maildrop format had vanished.
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
1293 .P
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1294 The simplifications within the code were only moderate. Switches could
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1295 be removed from tools like
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1296 .L packf ,
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1297 which generate packed mailboxes. Only one packed mailbox format remained:
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1298 mbox.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1299 The most important changes affect the equally named mail parsing routine in
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1300 .L sbr/m_getfld.c .
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1301 The direct MMDF code had been removed, but as now only one packed mailbox
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1302 format is left, code structure simplifications are likely possible.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1303 The reason why they are still outstanding is the heavily optimized code
18
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1304 of
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1305 .Fu m_getfld() .
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1306 Changes beyond a small local scope \(en
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1307 which restructuring in its core is \(en cause a high risk of damaging
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1308 the intricate workings of the optimized code. This problem is know
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1309 to the developers of nmh, too. They also avoid touching this minefield
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1310 if possible.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1311
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1312 .U2 "UUCP Bang Paths
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1313 .P
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1314 More questionably than the former topic is the removal of support for the
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1315 UUCP bang path address style. However, the user may translate the bang
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1316 paths on retrieval to Internet addresses and the other way on posting
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1317 messages. The former can be done my an MDA like procmail; the latter
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1318 by a sendmail wrapper. This would ensure that any address handling would
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1319 work as expected. However, it might just work well without any
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1320 such modifications, as mmh does not touch addresses much, in general.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1321 But I can't ensure as I have never used an environment with bang paths.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1322 Also, the behavior might break at any point in further development.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1323
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1324 .U2 "Hardcopy terminal support
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1325 .P
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1326 More of a funny anecdote is the remaining of a check for printing to a
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1327 hardcopy terminal until Spring 2012, when I finally removed it.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1328 I surely would be very happy to see such a terminal in action, maybe
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1329 actually being able to work on it, but I fear my chances are null.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1330 .P
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1331 The check only prevented a pager to be placed between the outputting
18
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1332 program (\c
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1333 .Pn mhl )
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1334 and the terminal. This could have been ensured with
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1335 the
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1336 .Sw -nomoreproc
18
db3567c9cc3f style: Added format macros for files, functions, switches, etc.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 17
diff changeset
1337 at the command line statically, too.
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1338
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1339 .U2 "Removed support for header fields
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1340 .P
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1341 The
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1342 .Hd Encrypted
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1343 header field had been introduced by RFC\^822, but already
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1344 marked legacy in RFC 2822. It was superseded by FIXME.
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1345 Mmh does no more support this header field.
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1346 .P
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1347 Native support for
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1348 .Hd Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1349 header fields had been removed, as well.
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1350 The feature is similar to the
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1351 .Hd X-Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1352 header field in its intent,
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1353 but takes a different approach to store the image.
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1354 Instead of encoding the image data directly into the header field,
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1355 the it contains the hostname and UDP port where the image
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1356 date could be retrieved.
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1357 Neither
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1358 .Hd X-Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1359 nor the here described
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1360 .Hd Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1361 system
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1362 \**
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1363 .FS
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1364 There is also a newer but different system, invented 2005,
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1365 using
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1366 .Hd Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1367 headers.
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1368 It is the successor of
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1369 .Hd X-Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1370 providing colored PNG images.
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1371 .FE
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1372 became well used in the large scale.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1373 It's still possible to use a Face systems,
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1374 although mmh does not provide support for any of the different systems
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1375 anymore. It's fairly easy to write a small shell script to
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1376 extract the embedded or fetch the external Face data and display the image.
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1377 Own
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1378 .Hd Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1379 header field can be added into the draft template files.
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1380 .P
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1381 .Hd Content-MD5
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1382 header fields were introduced by RFC\^1864. They provide only
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1383 a verification of data corruption during the transfer. By no means can
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1384 they ensure verbatim end-to-end delivery of the contents. This is clearly
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1385 stated in the RFC. The proper approach to provide verificationability
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1386 of content in an end-to-end relationship is the use of digital cryptography
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1387 (RFCs FIXME). On the other hand, transfer protocols should ensure the
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1388 integrity of the transmission. In combinations these two approaches
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1389 make the
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1390 .Hd Content-MD5
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1391 header field useless. In consequence, I removed
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1392 the support for it. By this removal, MD5 computation is not needed
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1393 anywhere in mmh. Hence, over 500 lines of code were removed by this one
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1394 change. Even if the
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1395 .Hd Content-MD5
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1396 header field is useful sometimes,
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
1397 I value its usefulness less than the improvement in maintainability, caused
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1398 by the removal.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1399
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1400 .U2 "Prompter's Control Keys
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1401 .P
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1402 The program
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1403 .Pn prompter
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1404 queries the user to fill in a message form. When used by
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1405 .Pn comp
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1406 as:
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1407 .VS
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1408 comp -editor prompter
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1409 VE
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1410 the resulting behavior is similar to
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1411 .Pn mailx .
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1412 Apparently,
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1413 .Pn prompter
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1414 hadn't been touched lately. Otherwise it's hardly explainable why it
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1415 still offered the switches
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1416 .Sw -erase
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1417 .Ar chr
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1418 and
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1419 .Sw -kill
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1420 .Ar chr
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1421 to name the characters for command line editing.
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1422 The times when this had been necessary are long time gone.
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1423 Today these things work out-of-the-box, and if not, are configured
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1424 with the standard tool
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1425 .Pn stty .
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1426
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1427 .U2 "Vfork and Retry Loops
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1428 .P
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1429 MH creates many processes, which is a consequence of the tool chest approach.
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1430 In earlier times
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1431 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1432 had been an expensive system call, as the process's whole image needed
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1433 to be duplicated. One common case is replacing the image with
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1434 .Fu exec()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1435 right after having forked the child process.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1436 To speed up this case, the
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1437 .Fu vfork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1438 system call was invented at Berkeley. It completely omits copying the
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1439 image. If the image gets replaced right afterwards then unnecessary
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1440 work is omited. On old systems this results in large speed ups.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1441 MH uses
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1442 .Fu vfork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1443 whenever possible.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1444 .P
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1445 Memory management units that support copy-on-write semantics make
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1446 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1447 almost as fast as
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1448 .Fu vfork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1449 in the cases when they can be exchanged.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1450 With
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1451 .Fu vfork()
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1452 being more error-prone and hardly faster, it's preferable to simply
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1453 use
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1454 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1455 instead.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1456 .P
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1457 Related to the costs of
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1458 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1459 is the probability of its success.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1460 Today on modern systems, the system call will succeed almost always.
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1461 In the Eighties on heavy loaded systems, as they were common at
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1462 universities, this had been different. Thus, many of the
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1463 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1464 calls were wrapped into loops to retry to fork several times in
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1465 short intervals, in case of previous failure.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1466 In mmh, the program aborts at once if the fork failed.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1467 The user can reexecute the command then. This is expected to be a
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1468 very rare case on modern systems, especially personal ones, which are
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1469 common today.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1470
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1471
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1472 .H2 "Attachments
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
1473 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1474 MIME
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1475
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1476
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1477 .H2 "Digital Cryptography
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
1478 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1479 Signing and encryption.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1480
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1481
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1482 .H2 "Good Defaults
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
1483 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1484 foo
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
1485
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
1486
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1487
14
55ec590cfa07 Wrote about the draft folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 12
diff changeset
1488
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1489 .H1 "Code style
16
81f703140554 Wrote about the trash folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 14
diff changeset
1490 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1491 foo
16
81f703140554 Wrote about the trash folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 14
diff changeset
1492
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
1493
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1494 .H2 "Standard Code
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1495 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1496 POSIX
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1497
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1498
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1499 .H2 "Separation
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1500
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1501 .U2 "MH Directory Split
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
1502 .P
19
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1503 In MH and nmh, a personal setup had consisted of two parts:
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1504 The MH profile, named
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1505 .Fn \&.mh_profile
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1506 and being located directly in the user's home directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1507 And the MH directory, where all his mail messages and also his personal
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1508 forms, scan formats, other configuration files are stored. The location
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1509 of this directory could be user-chosen. The default was to name it
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1510 .Fn Mail
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1511 and have it directly in the home directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1512 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1513 I've never liked the data storage and the configuration to be intermixed.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1514 They are different kinds of data. One part, are the messages,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1515 which are the data to operate on. The other part, are the personal
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1516 configuration files, which are able to change the behavior of the operations.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1517 The actual operations are defined in the profile, however.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1518 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1519 When storing data, one should try to group data by its type.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1520 There's sense in the Unix file system hierarchy, where configuration
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1521 file are stored separate (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1522 .Fn /etc )
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1523 to the programs (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1524 .Fn /bin
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1525 and
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1526 .Fn /usr/bin )
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1527 to their sources (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1528 .Fn /usr/src ).
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1529 Such separation eases the backup management, for instance.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1530 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1531 In mmh, I've reorganized the file locations.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1532 Still there are two places:
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1533 There's the mail storage directory, which, like in MH, contains all the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1534 messages, but, unlike in MH, nothing else.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1535 Its location still is user-chosen, with the default name
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1536 .Fn Mail ,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1537 in the user's home directory. This is much similar to the case in nmh.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1538 The configuration files, however, are grouped together in the new directory
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1539 .Fn \&.mmh
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1540 in the user's home directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1541 The user's profile now is a file, named
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1542 .Fn profile ,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1543 in this mmh directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1544 Consistently, the context file and all the personal forms, scan formats,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1545 and the like, are also there.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1546 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1547 The naming changed with the relocation.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1548 The directory where everything, except the profile, had been stored (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1549 .Fn $HOME/Mail ),
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1550 used to be called \fIMH directory\fP. Now, this directory is called the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1551 user's \fImail storage\fP. The name \fImmh directory\fP is now given to
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1552 the new directory
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1553 (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1554 .Fn $HOME/.mmh ),
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1555 containing all the personal configuration files.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1556 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1557 The separation of the files by type of content is logical and convenient.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1558 There are no functional differences as any possible setup known to me
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1559 can be implemented with both approaches, although likely a bit easier
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1560 with the new approach. The main goal of the change had been to provide
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1561 sensible storage locations for any type of personal mmh file.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1562 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1563 In order for one user to have multiple MH setups, he can use the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1564 environment variable
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1565 .Ev MH
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1566 the point to a different profile file.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1567 The MH directory (mail storage plus personal configuration files) is
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1568 defined by the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1569 .Pe Path
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1570 profile entry.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1571 The context file could be defined by the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1572 .Pe context
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1573 profile entry or by the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1574 .Ev MHCONTEXT
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1575 environment variable.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1576 The latter is useful to have a distinct context (e.g. current folders)
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1577 in each terminal window, for instance.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1578 In mmh, there are three environment variables now.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1579 .Ev MMH
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1580 may be used to change the location of the mmh directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1581 .Ev MMHP
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1582 and
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1583 .Ev MMHC
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1584 change the profile and context files, respectively.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1585 Besides providing a more consistent feel (which simply is the result
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1586 of being designed anew), the set of personal configuration files can
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1587 be chosen independently from the profile (including mail storage location)
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1588 and context, now. Being it relevant for practical use or not, it
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1589 de-facto is an improvement. However, the main achievement is the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
1590 split between mail storage and personal configuration files.
17
b3c37947764e Several minor text improvements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 16
diff changeset
1591
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
1592
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1593 .H2 "Modularization
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1594 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1595 whatnowproc
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
1596 .P
49
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
1597 The \fIMH library\fP
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
1598 .Fn libmh.a
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
1599 collects a bunch of standard functions that many of the MH tools need,
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
1600 like reading the profile or context files.
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
1601 This doesn't hurt the separation.
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
1602
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1603
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1604 .H2 "Style
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1605 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1606 Code layout, goto, ...
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1607
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1608
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1609
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1610
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
1611 .H1 "Concept Exploitation/Homogeneity
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1612
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1613
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1614 .H2 "Draft Folder
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1615 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1616 Historically, MH provided exactly one draft message, named
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1617 .Fn draft
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1618 and
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1619 being located in the MH directory. When starting to compose another message
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1620 before the former one was sent, the user had been questioned whether to use,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1621 refile or replace the old draft. Working on multiple drafts at the same time
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1622 was impossible. One could only work on them in alteration by refiling the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1623 previous one to some directory and fetching some other one for reediting.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1624 This manual draft management needed to be done each time the user wanted
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1625 to switch between editing one draft to editing another.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1626 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1627 To allow true parallel editing of drafts, in a straight forward way, the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1628 draft folder facility exists. It had been introduced already in July 1984
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1629 by Marshall T. Rose. The facility was deactivated by default.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1630 Even in nmh, the draft folder facility remained deactivated by default.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1631 At least, Richard Coleman added the man page
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1632 .Mp mh-draft(5)
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1633 to document
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1634 the feature well.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1635 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1636 The only advantage of not using the draft folder facility is the static
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
1637 name of the draft file. This could be an issue for MH front-ends like mh-e.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1638 But as they likely want to provide working on multiple drafts in parallel,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1639 the issue is only concerning compatibility. The aim of nmh to stay compatible
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1640 prevented the default activation of the draft folder facility.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1641 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1642 On the other hand, a draft folder is the much more natural concept than
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1643 a draft message. MH's mail storage consists of folders and messages,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1644 the messages named with ascending numbers. A draft message breaks with this
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1645 concept by introducing a message in a file named
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1646 .Fn draft .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1647 This draft
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1648 message is special. It can not be simply listed with the available tools,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1649 but instead requires special switches. I.e. corner-cases were
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1650 introduced. A draft folder, in contrast, does not introduce such
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1651 corner-cases. The available tools can operate on the messages within that
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1652 folder like on any messages within any mail folders. The only difference
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1653 is the fact that the default folder for
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1654 .Pn send
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1655 is the draft folder,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1656 instead of the current folder, like for all other tools.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1657 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1658 The trivial part of the change was activating the draft folder facility
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1659 by default and setting a default name for this folder. Obviously, I chose
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1660 the name
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1661 .Fn +drafts .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1662 This made the
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1663 .Sw -draftfolder
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1664 and
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1665 .Sw -draftmessage
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1666 switches useless, and I could remove them.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1667 The more difficult but also the part that showed the real improvement,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1668 was updating the tools to the new concept.
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1669 .Sw -draft
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1670 switches could
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1671 be dropped, as operating on a draft message became indistinguishable to
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1672 operating on any other message for the tools.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1673 .Pn comp
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1674 still has its
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1675 .Sw -use
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1676 switch for switching between its two modes: (1) Compose a new
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1677 draft, possibly by taking some existing message as a form. (2) Modify
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1678 an existing draft. In either case, the behavior of
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1679 .Pn comp is
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1680 deterministic. There is no more need to query the user. I consider this
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1681 a major improvement. By making
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1682 .Pn send
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1683 simply operate on the current
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1684 message in the draft folder by default, with message and folder both
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1685 overridable by specifying them on the command line, it is now possible
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1686 to send a draft anywhere within the storage by simply specifying its folder
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1687 and name.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1688 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1689 All theses changes converted special cases to regular cases, thus
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1690 simplifying the tools and increasing the flexibility.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1691
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1692
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1693 .H2 "Trash Folder
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1694 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1695 Similar to the situation for drafts is the situation for removed messages.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1696 Historically, a message was deleted by renaming. A specific
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1697 \fIbackup prefix\fP, often comma (\c
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1698 .Fn , )
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1699 or hash (\c
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1700 .Fn # ),
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1701 being prepended to the file name. Thus, MH wouldn't recognize the file
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1702 as a message anymore, as only files whose name consists of digits only
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1703 are treated as messages. The removed messages remained as files in the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1704 same directory and needed some maintenance job to truly delete them after
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1705 some grace time. Usually, by running a command similar to
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1706 .VS
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1707 find /home/user/Mail -ctime +7 -name ',*' | xargs rm
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1708 VE
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1709 in a cron job. Within the grace time interval
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1710 the original message could be restored by stripping the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1711 the backup prefix from the file name. If however, the last message of
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1712 a folder is been removed \(en say message
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1713 .Fn 6
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1714 becomes file
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1715 .Fn ,6
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1716 \(en and a new message enters the same folder, thus the same
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1717 numbered being given again \(en in our case
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1718 .Fn 6
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1719 \(en, if that one
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1720 is removed too, then the backup of the former message gets overwritten.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1721 Thus, the ability to restore removed messages does not only depend on
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1722 the ``sweeping cron job'' but also on the removing of further messages.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1723 This is undesirable, because the real mechanism is hidden from the user
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1724 and the consequences of further removals are not always obvious.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1725 Further more, the backup files are scattered within the whole mail
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1726 storage, instead of being collected at one place.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1727 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1728 To improve the situation, the profile entry
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1729 .Pe rmmproc
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1730 (previously named
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1731 .Pe Delete-Prog )
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1732 was introduced, very early.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1733 It could be set to any command, which would care for the mail removal
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1734 instead of taking the default action, described above.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1735 Refiling the to-be-removed files to some garbage folder was a common
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1736 example. Nmh's man page
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1737 .Mp rmm(1)
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1738 proposes
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1739 .Cl "refile +d
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1740 to move messages to the garbage folder and
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1741 .Cl "rm `mhpath +d all`
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1742 the empty the garbage folder.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1743 Managing the message removal this way is a sane approach. It keeps
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1744 the removed messages in one place, makes it easy to remove the backup
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1745 files, and, most important, enables the user to use the tools of MH
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1746 itself to operate on the removed messages. One can
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1747 .Pn scan
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1748 them,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1749 .Pn show
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1750 them, and restore them with
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1751 .Pn refile .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1752 There's no more
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1753 need to use
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1754 .Pn mhpath
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1755 to switch over from MH tools to Unix tools \(en MH can do it all itself.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1756 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1757 This approach matches perfect with the concepts of MH, thus making
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1758 it powerful. Hence, I made it the default. And even more, I also
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1759 removed the old backup prefix approach, as it is clearly less powerful.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1760 Keeping unused alternative in the code is a bad choice as they likely
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1761 gather bugs, by not being constantly tested. Also, the increased code
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1762 size and more conditions crease the maintenance costs. By strictly
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1763 converting to the trash folder approach, I simplified the code base.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1764 .Pn rmm
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1765 calls
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1766 .Pn refile
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1767 internally to move the to-be-removed
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1768 message to the trash folder (\c
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1769 .Fn +trash
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1770 by default). Messages
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1771 there can be operated on like on any other message in the storage.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1772 The sweep clean, one can use
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1773 .Cl "rmm -unlink +trash a" ,
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1774 where the
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
1775 .Sw -unlink
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1776 switch causes the files to be truly unliked instead
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1777 of moved to the trash folder.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1778
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1779
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1780 .H2 "Path Notations
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1781 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1782 foo
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1783
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1784
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1785 .H2 "MIME Integration
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1786 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1787 user-visible access to whole messages and MIME parts are inherently
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1788 different
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1789
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1790
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1791 .H2 "Of One Cast
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1792 .P