annotate discussion.roff @ 155:75f20c925999

Fixed macro typo; and added typo fix found by Boris.
author markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
date Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:11:09 +0200
parents 63e885fb48ba
children 0cce17978f0a
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1 .H0 "Discussion
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2 .P
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3 This main chapter discusses the practical work done in the mmh project.
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4 It is structured along the goals to achieve.
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5 The concrete work done
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6 is described in the examples of how the general goals were achieved.
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7 The discussion compares the current version of mmh with the state of
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8 nmh just before the mmh project started, i.e. Fall 2011.
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9 Current changes of nmh will be mentioned only as side notes.
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10 .\" XXX where do I discuss the parallel development of nmh?
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14 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------
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15 .H1 "Streamlining
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17 .P
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18 MH had been considered an all-in-one system for mail handling.
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19 The community around nmh has a similar understanding.
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20 In fundamental difference, mmh shall be a MUA only.
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21 I believe that the development of all-in-one mail systems is obsolete.
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22 Today, email is too complex to be fully covered by single projects.
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23 Such a project won't be able to excel in all aspects.
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24 Instead, the aspects of email should be covered my multiple projects,
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25 which then can be combined to form a complete system.
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26 Excellent implementations for the various aspects of email exist already.
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27 Just to name three examples: Postfix is a specialized MTA,
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28 Procmail is a specialized MDA, and Fetchmail is a specialized MRA.
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29 I believe that it is best to use such specialized tools instead of
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30 providing the same function again as a side-component in the project.
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31 .P
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32 Doing something well, requires to focus on a small set of specific aspects.
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33 Under the assumption that focused development produces better results
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34 in the particular area, specialized projects will be superior
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35 in their field of focus.
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36 Hence, all-in-one mail system projects \(en no matter if monolithic
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37 or modular \(en will never be the best choice in any of the fields.
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38 Even in providing the best consistent all-in-one system they are likely
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39 to be beaten by projects that focus only on integrating existing mail
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40 components to a homogeneous system.
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41 .P
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42 The limiting resource in Free Software community development
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43 is usually man power.
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44 If the development power is spread over a large development area,
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45 it becomes even more difficult to compete with the specialists in the
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46 various fields.
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47 The concrete situation for MH-based mail systems is even tougher,
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48 given the small and aged community, including both developers and users,
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49 it has.
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50 .P
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51 In consequence, I believe that the available development resources
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52 should focus on the point where MH is most unique.
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53 This is clearly the user interface \(en the MUA.
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54 Peripheral parts should be removed to streamline mmh for the MUA task.
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56
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57 .H2 "Mail Transfer Facilities
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58 .Id mail-transfer-facilities
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59 .P
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60 In contrast to nmh, which also provides mail submission and mail retrieval
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61 agents, mmh is a MUA only.
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62 This general difference initiated the development of mmh.
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63 Removing the mail transfer facilities had been the first work task
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64 in the mmh project.
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65 .P
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66 Focusing on one mail agent role only is motivated by Eric Allman's
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67 experience with Sendmail.
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68 He identified limiting Sendmail the MTA task had be one reason for
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69 its success:
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70 .[ [
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71 costales sendmail
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72 .], p. xviii]
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73 .QS
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74 Second, I limited myself to the routing function \(en
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75 I wouldn't write user agents or delivery back-ends.
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76 This was a departure of the dominant through of the time,
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77 in which routing logic, local delivery, and often the network code
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78 were incorporated directly into the user agents.
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79 .QE
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80 .P
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81 In mmh, the Mail Submission Agent (MSA) is called
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82 \fIMessage Transfer Service\fP (MTS).
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83 This facility, implemented by the
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84 .Pn post
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85 command, established network connections and spoke SMTP to submit
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86 messages for relay to the outside world.
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87 The changes in email demanded changes in this part of nmh too.
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88 Encryption and authentication for network connections
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89 needed to be supported, hence TLS and SASL were introduced into nmh.
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90 This added complexity to nmh without improving it in its core functions.
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91 Also, keeping up with recent developments in the field of
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92 mail transfer requires development power and specialists.
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93 In mmh this whole facility was simply cut off.
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94 .Ci f6aa95b724fd8c791164abe7ee5468bf5c34f226
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95 .Ci fecd5d34f65597a4dfa16aeabea7d74b191532c3
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96 .Ci 156d35f6425bea4c1ed3c4c79783dc613379c65b
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97 Instead, mmh depends on an external MSA.
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98 The only outgoing interface available to mmh is the
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99 .Pn sendmail
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100 command, which almost any MSA provides.
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101 If not, a wrapper program can be written.
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102 It must read the message from the standard input, extract the
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103 recipient addresses from the message header, and hand the message
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104 over to the MSA.
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105 For example, a wrapper script for qmail would be:
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106 .VS
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107 #!/bin/sh
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108 exec qmail-inject # ignore command line arguments
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109 VE
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110 The requirement to parse the recipient addresses out of the message header
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111 is likely to be removed in the future.
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112 Then mmh would give the recipient addresses as command line arguments.
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113 This appears to be the better interface.
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114 .\" XXX implement it
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115 .P
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116 To retrieve mail, the
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117 .Pn inc
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118 command acted as Mail Retrieval Agent (MRA).
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119 It established network connections
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120 and spoke POP3 to retrieve mail from remote servers.
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121 As with mail submission, the network connections required encryption and
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122 authentication, thus TLS and SASL were added.
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123 Support for message retrieval through IMAP will become necessary
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124 to be added soon, too, and likewise for any other changes in mail transfer.
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125 Not so for mmh because it has dropped the support for retrieving mail
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126 from remote locations.
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127 .Ci ab7b48411962d26439f92f35ed084d3d6275459c
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128 Instead, it depends on an external tool to cover this task.
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129 In mmh exist two paths for messages to enter mmh's mail storage:
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130 (1) Mail can be incorporated with
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131 .Pn inc
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132 from the system maildrop, or (2) with
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133 .Pn rcvstore
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134 by reading them, one at a time, from the standard input.
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135 .P
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136 With the removal of the MSA and MRA, mmh converted from an all-in-one
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137 mail system to being a MUA only.
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138 Now, of course, mmh depends on third-party software.
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139 An external MSA is required to transfer mail to the outside world;
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140 an external MRA is required to retrieve mail from remote machines.
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141 There exist excellent implementations of such software,
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142 which do this specific task likely better than the internal
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143 versions had done it.
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144 Also, the best suiting programs can be freely chosen.
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145 .P
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146 As it had already been possible to use an external MSA or MRA,
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147 why not keep the internal version for convenience?
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148 The question whether there is sense in having a fall-back pager in all
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149 the command line tools, for the cases when
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150 .Pn more
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151 or
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152 .Pn less
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153 aren't available, appears to be ridiculous.
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154 Of course, MSAs and MRAs are more complex than text pagers
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155 and not necessarily available but still the concept of orthogonal
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156 design holds: ``Write programs that do one thing and do it well.''
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157 .[
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158 mcilroy unix phil
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159 p. 53
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160 .]
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161 .[
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162 mcilroy bstj foreword
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163 .]
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164 Here, this part of the Unix philosophy was applied not only
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165 to the programs but to the project itself.
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166 In other words:
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167 ``Develop projects that focus on one thing and do it well.''
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168 Projects grown complex should be split for the same reasons programs grown
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169 complex should be split.
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170 If it is conceptionally more elegant to have the MSA and MRA as
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171 separate projects then they should be separated.
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172 This is the case here, in my opinion.
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173 The RFCs propose this separation by clearly distinguishing the different
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174 mail handling tasks.
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175 .[
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176 rfc 821
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177 .]
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178 The small interfaces between the mail agents support the separation.
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179 .P
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180 In the beginning, email had been small and simple.
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181 At that time,
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182 .Pn /bin/mail
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183 had covered anything there was to email and still had been small
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184 and simple.
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185 Later, the essential complexity of email increased.
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186 (Essential complexity is the complexity defined by the problem itself.\0
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187 .[[
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188 brooks no silver bullet
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189 .]])
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190 Email systems reacted to this change: They grew.
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191 RFCs started to introduce the concept of mail agents to separate the
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192 various tasks because they became more extensive and new tasks appeared.
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193 As the mail systems grew even more, parts were split off.
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194 In nmh, for instance, the POP server, which was included in the original
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195 MH, was removed.
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196 Now is the time to go one step further and split the MSA and MRA off, too.
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197 Not only does this decrease the code size of the project,
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198 but, more important, it unburdens mmh of the whole field of
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199 message transfer with all its implications for the project.
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200 There is no more need to concern with changes in network transfer.
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201 This independence is received by depending on an external program
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202 that covers the field.
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203 Today, this is a reasonable exchange.
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204 .P
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205 Functionality can be added in three different ways:
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206 .BU
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207 Implementing the function originally in the project.
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208 .BU
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209 Depending on a library that provides the function.
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210 .BU
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211 Depending on a program that provides the function.
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212 .P
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213 Whereas adding the function originally to the project increases the
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214 code size most and requires most maintenance and development work,
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215 it makes the project most independent of other software.
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216 Using libraries or external programs require less maintenance work
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217 but introduces dependencies on external software.
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218 Programs have the smallest interfaces and provide the best separation
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219 but possibly limit the information exchange.
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220 External libraries are stronger connected than external programs,
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221 thus information can be exchanged more flexible.
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222 Adding code to a project increases maintenance work.
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223 .\" XXX ref
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224 Implementing complex functions originally in the project adds
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225 a lot of code.
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226 This should be avoided if possible.
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227 Hence, the dependencies only change in kind, not in their existence.
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228 In mmh, library dependencies on
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229 .Pn libsasl2
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230 and
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231 .Pn libcrypto /\c
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232 .Pn libssl
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233 were treated against program dependencies on an MSA and an MRA.
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234 This also meant treating build-time dependencies against run-time
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235 dependencies.
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236 Besides program dependencies providing the stronger separation
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237 and being more flexible, they also allowed
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238 over 6\|000 lines of code to be removed from mmh.
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239 This made mmh's code base about 12\|% smaller.
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240 Reducing the project's code size by such an amount without actually
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241 losing functionality is a convincing argument.
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242 Actually, as external MSAs and MRAs are likely superior to the
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243 project's internal versions, the common user even gains functionality.
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244 .P
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245 Users of MH should not have problems to set up an external MSA and MRA.
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246 Also, the popular MSAs and MRAs have large communities and a lot
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247 of documentation available.
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248 Choices for MSAs range from full-featured MTAs like
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249 .I Postfix
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250 over mid-size MTAs like
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251 .I masqmail
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252 and
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253 .I dma
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254 to small forwarders like
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255 .I ssmtp
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256 and
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257 .I nullmailer .
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258 Choices for MRAs include
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259 .I fetchmail ,
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260 .I getmail ,
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261 .I mpop
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262 and
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263 .I fdm .
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264
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265
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266 .H2 "Non-MUA Tools
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267 .P
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268 One goal of mmh is to remove the tools that are not part of the MUA's task.
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269 Further more, any tools that don't improve the MUA's job significantly
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270 should be removed.
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271 Loosely related and rarely used tools distract from the lean appearance.
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272 They require maintenance work without adding much to the core task.
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273 By removing these tools, the project shall become more streamlined
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274 and focused.
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275 In mmh the following tools are not available anymore:
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276 .BU
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277 .Pn conflict
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278 was removed
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279 .Ci 8b235097cbd11d728c07b966cf131aa7133ce5a9
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280 because it is a mail system maintenance tool that is not MUA-related.
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281 It even checked
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282 .Fn /etc/passwd
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283 and
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284 .Fn /etc/group
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285 for consistency, which is completely unrelated to email.
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286 A tool like
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287 .Pn conflict
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288 is surely useful, but it should not be shipped with mmh.
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289 .\" XXX historic reasons?
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290 .BU
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291 .Pn rcvtty
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292 was removed
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293 .Ci 14767c94b3827be7c867196467ed7aea5f6f49b0
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294 because its use case of writing to the user's terminal
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295 on receiving of mail is obsolete.
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296 If users like to be informed of new mail, the shell's
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297 .Ev MAILPATH
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298 variable or graphical notifications are technically more appealing.
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299 Writing directly to terminals is hardly ever wanted today.
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300 If though one wants to have it this way, the standard tool
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301 .Pn write
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302 can be used in a way similar to:
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303 .VS
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304 scan -file - | write `id -un`
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305 VE
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306 .BU
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307 .Pn viamail
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308 was removed
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309 .Ci eda72d6a7a7c20ff123043fb7f19c509ea01f932
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310 when the new attachment system was activated, because
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311 .Pn forw
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312 could then cover the task itself.
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313 The program
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314 .Pn sendfiles
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315 was rewritten as a shell script wrapper around
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316 .Pn forw .
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317 .Ci 0e82199cf3c991a173e0ac8aa776efdb3ded61e6
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318 .BU
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319 .Pn msgchk
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320 was removed
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321 .Ci bb9360ead7eb7a3fedcce2eeedfc660014e41dbe ,
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322 because it lost its use case when POP support was removed.
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323 A call to
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324 .Pn msgchk
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325 provided hardly more information than:
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326 .VS
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327 ls -l /var/mail/meillo
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328 VE
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329 It did distinguish between old and new mail, but
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330 this detail information can be retrieved with
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331 .Pn stat (1),
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332 too.
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333 A small shell script could be written to print the information
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334 in a similar way, if truly necessary.
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335 As mmh's
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336 .Pn inc
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337 only incorporates mail from the user's local maildrop,
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338 and thus no data transfers over slow networks are involved,
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339 there's hardly any need to check for new mail before incorporating it.
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340 .BU
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341 .Pn msh
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342 was removed
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343 .Ci 916690191222433a6923a4be54b0d8f6ac01bd02
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344 because the tool was in conflict with the philosophy of MH.
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345 It provided an interactive shell to access the features of MH,
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346 but it wasn't just a shell, tailored to the needs of mail handling.
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347 Instead it was one large program that had several MH tools built in.
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348 This conflicts with the major feature of MH of being a tool chest.
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349 .Pn msh 's
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350 main use case had been accessing Bulletin Boards, which have seized to
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351 be popular.
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352 .P
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353 Removing
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354 .Pn msh ,
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355 together with the truly archaic code relicts
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356 .Pn vmh
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357 and
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358 .Pn wmh ,
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359 saved more than 7\|000 lines of C code \(en
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360 about 15\|% of the project's original source code amount.
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361 Having less code \(en with equal readability, of course \(en
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362 for the same functionality is an advantage.
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363 Less code means less bugs and less maintenance work.
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364 As
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365 .Pn rcvtty
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366 and
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367 .Pn msgchk
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368 are assumed to be rarely used and can be implemented in different ways,
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369 why should one keep them?
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370 Removing them streamlines mmh.
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371 .Pn viamail 's
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372 use case is now partly obsolete and partly covered by
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373 .Pn forw ,
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374 hence there's no reason to still maintain it.
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375 .Pn conflict
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376 is not related to the mail client, and
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377 .Pn msh
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378 conflicts with the basic concept of MH.
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379 Theses two tools might still be useful, but they should not be part of mmh.
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380 .P
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381 Finally, there's
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382 .Pn slocal .
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383 .Pn slocal
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384 is an MDA and thus not directly MUA-related.
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385 It should be removed from mmh, because including it conflicts with
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386 the idea that mmh is a MUA only.
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387 .Pn slocal
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388 should rather become a separate project.
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389 However,
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390 .Pn slocal
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391 provides rule-based processing of messages, like filing them into
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392 different folders, which is otherwise not available in mmh.
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393 Although
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394 .Pn slocal
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395 does neither pull in dependencies nor does it include a separate
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396 technical area (cf. Sec.
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397 .Cf mail-transfer-facilities ),
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398 still,
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399 it accounts for about 1\|000 lines of code that need to be maintained.
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400 As
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401 .Pn slocal
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402 is almost self-standing, it should be split off into a separate project.
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403 This would cut the strong connection between the MUA mmh and the MDA
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404 .Pn slocal .
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405 For anyone not using MH,
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406 .Pn slocal
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407 would become yet another independent MDA, like
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408 .I procmail .
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409 Then
87
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
410 .Pn slocal
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
411 could be installed without the complete MH system.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
412 Likewise, mmh users could decide to use
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
413 .I procmail
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
414 without having a second, unused MDA,
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
415 .Pn slocal ,
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
416 installed.
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
417 That appears to be conceptionally the best solution.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
418 Yet,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
419 .Pn slocal
87
7d5b180de542 All kinds of rework plus new refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 85
diff changeset
420 is not split off.
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
421 I defer the decision over
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
422 .Pn slocal
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
423 in need for deeper investigation.
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
424 In the meanwhile, it remains part of mmh.
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
425 That does not hurt because
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
426 .Pn slocal
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
427 is unrelated to the rest of the project.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
428
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
429
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
430
134
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
431 .H2 "Displaying Messages
155
75f20c925999 Fixed macro typo; and added typo fix found by Boris.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 154
diff changeset
432 .Id mhshow
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
433 .P
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
434 Since the very beginning, already in the first concept paper,
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
435 .Pn show
62
24aabbfe5794 Minor rework of larger text areas.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 60
diff changeset
436 had been MH's message display program.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
437 .Pn show
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
438 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
439 .Pn mhl
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
440 to have the files formatted.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
441 With MIME, this approach wasn't sufficient anymore.
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
442 MIME messages can consist of multiple parts. Some parts are not
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
443 directly displayable and text content might be encoded in
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
444 foreign charsets.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
445 .Pn show 's
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
446 understanding of messages and
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
447 .Pn mhl 's
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
448 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
449 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
450 Instead of extending these tools, additional tools were written from
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
451 scratch and added to the MH tool chest.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
452 Doing so is encouraged by the tool chest approach.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
453 Modular design is a great advantage for extending a system,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
454 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
455 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
456 .Pn mhn .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
457 The command
82
ff4537327162 Mayor rework: Replaced .DS with .VS, a better verbatim environment.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 78
diff changeset
458 .Cl "mhn -show 42
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
459 would show the MIME message numbered 42.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
460 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
461 the split of
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
462 .Pn mhn
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
463 into a set of specialized tools, which together covered the
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
464 multiple aspects of MIME.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
465 One of them was
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
466 .Pn mhshow ,
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
467 which replaced
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
468 .Cl "mhn -show" .
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
469 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
470 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
471 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
472 .Pn show
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
473 and
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
474 .Pn mhshow .
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
475 To ease the life of users,
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
476 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
477 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
478 .Pn mhshow
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
479 if displaying the message would be beyond
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
480 .Pn show 's
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
481 abilities.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
482 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
483 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
484 (possibly through
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
485 .Pn next
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
486 or
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
487 .Pn prev )
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
488 and get the message printed with either
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
489 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
490 or
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
491 .Pn mhshow ,
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
492 whatever was more appropriate.
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
493 .P
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
494 Having two similar tools for essentially the same task is redundant.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
495 Usually,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
496 users wouldn't distinguish between
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
497 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
498 and
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
499 .Pn mhshow
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
500 in their daily mail reading.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
501 Having two separate display programs was therefore mainly unnecessary
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
502 from a user's point of view.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
503 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
504 to ensure that the programs behaved in a similar way,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
505 because they were used like a single tool.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
506 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
507 .P
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
508 Today, non-MIME messages are rather seen to be a special case of
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
509 MIME messages, although it is the other way round.
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
510 As
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
511 .Pn mhshow
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
512 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
513 to drop
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
514 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
515 in favor of using
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
516 .Pn mhshow
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
517 exclusively.
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
518 .Ci 4c1efddfd499300c7e74263e57d8aa137e84c853
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
519 Removing
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
520 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
521 is no loss in function, because functionally
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
522 .Pn mhshow
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
523 covers it completely.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
524 The old behavior of
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
525 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
526 can still be emulated with the simple command line:
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
527 .VS
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
528 mhl `mhpath c`
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
529 VE
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
530 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
531 For convenience,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
532 .Pn mhshow
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
533 was renamed to
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
534 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
535 after
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
536 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
537 was gone.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
538 It is clear that such a rename may confuse future developers when
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
539 trying to understand the history.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
540 Nevertheless, I consider the convenience on the user's side,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
541 to call
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
542 .Pn show
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
543 when they want a message to be displayed, to outweigh the inconvenience
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
544 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
545 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
546 To prepare for the transition,
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
547 .Pn mhshow
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
548 was reworked to behave more like
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
549 .Pn show
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
550 first.
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
551 (cf. Sec.
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
552 .Cf mhshow )
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
553 Once the tools behaved more alike, the replacing appeared to be
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
554 even more natural.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
555 Today, mmh's new
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
556 .Pn show
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
557 became the one single message display program again, with the difference
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
558 that today it handles MIME messages as well as non-MIME messages.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
559 The outcome of the transition is one program less to maintain,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
560 no second display program for users to deal with,
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
561 and less system complexity.
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
562 .P
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
563 Still, removing the old
69
f80ced4e749b Wrote more about the show-mhshow merge.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 66
diff changeset
564 .Pn show
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
565 hurts in one regard: It had been such a simple program.
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
566 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
567 .Pn show .
88
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
568 But there is no chance;
30830e3b9e98 Further rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 87
diff changeset
569 supporting MIME demands for higher essential complexity.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
570
134
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
571 .ig
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
572 XXX
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
573 Consider including text on scan listings here
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
574
134
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
575 Scan listings shall not contain body content. Hence, removed this feature.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
576 Scan listings shall operator on message headers and non-message information
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
577 only. Displaying the beginning of the body complicates everything too much.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
578 That's no surprise, because it's something completely different. If you
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
579 want to examine the body, then use show(1)/mhshow(1).
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
580 Changed the default scan formats accordingly.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
581 .Ci 70b2643e0da8485174480c644ad9785c84f5bff4
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
582 ..
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
583
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
584
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
585
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
586
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
587 .H2 "Configure Options
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
588 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
589 Customization is a double-edged sword.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
590 It allows better suiting setups, but not for free.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
591 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
592 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
593 more possible setups and especially corner-cases.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
594 And, there is the cost of choice itself.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
595 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
596 Less tested code affects both, users and developers.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
597 The problem of choice affects the users, for once by having to
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
598 choose, but also by more complex interfaces that require more documentation.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
599 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
600 removal.
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
601 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
602 fifteen to three.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
603
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
604 .U3 "Mail Transfer Facilities
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
605 .P
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
606 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
607 options vanished:
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
608 .P
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
609 The switches
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
610 .Sw --with-tls
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
611 and
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
612 .Sw --with-cyrus-sasl
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
613 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
614 This is not needed anymore.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
615 .Ci fecd5d34f65597a4dfa16aeabea7d74b191532c3
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
616 .Ci 156d35f6425bea4c1ed3c4c79783dc613379c65b
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
617 .P
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
618 The configure switch
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
619 .Sw --enable-pop
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
620 activated the message retrieval facility.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
621 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
622 support had been small.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
623 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
624 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
625 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
626 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
627 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
628 one that needed to be tested.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
629 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
630 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
631 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
632 of the original program.
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
633 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
634 .P
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
635 Two other options only specified default configuration values:
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
636 .Sw --with-mts
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
637 defined the default transport service, either
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
638 .Ar smtp
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
639 or
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
640 .Ar sendmail .
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
641 In mmh this fixed to
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
642 .Ar sendmail .
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
643 .Ci f6aa95b724fd8c791164abe7ee5468bf5c34f226
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
644 With
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
645 .Sw --with-smtpservers
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
646 default SMTP servers for the
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
647 .Ar smtp
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
648 transport service could be specified.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
649 .Ci 128545e06224233b7e91fc4c83f8830252fe16c9
85
fb0d1b4c8fb1 Extended the text about mail transfer configure options.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 84
diff changeset
650 Both of them became irrelevant.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
651
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
652 .U3 "Backup Prefix
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
653 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
654 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
655 filenames to tag them as deleted.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
656 By default it had been the comma character `\f(CW,\fP'.
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
657 In July 2000, Kimmo Suominen introduced
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
658 the configure option
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
659 .Sw --with-hash-backup
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
660 to change the default to the hash symbol `\f(CW#\fP'.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
661 The choice was probably personal preference, because first, the
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
662 option was named
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
663 .Sw --with-backup-prefix.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
664 and had the prefix symbol as argument.
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
665 But giving the hash symbol as argument caused too many problems
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
666 for Autoconf,
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
667 thus the option was limited to use the hash symbol as the default prefix.
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
668 This supports the assumption, that the choice for the hash was
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
669 personal preference only.
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
670 Being related or not, words that start with the hash symbol
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
671 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
672 Thus, the command line
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
673 .Cl "rm #13 #15
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
674 calls
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
675 .Pn rm
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
676 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
677 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
678 To delete the backup files,
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
679 .Cl "rm ./#13 ./#15"
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
680 needs to be used.
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
681 Using the hash as backup prefix can be seen as a precaution against
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
682 data loss.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
683 .P
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
684 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
685 .Pe backup-prefix ,
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
686 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
687 .Ci 6c40d481d661d532dd527eaf34cebb6d3f8ed086
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
688 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
689 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
690 it suited better.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
691 .P
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
692 Eventually, however, the new trash folder concept
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
693 (cf. Sec.
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
694 .Cf trash-folder )
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
695 obsoleted the concept of the backup prefix completely.
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
696 .Ci 8edc5aaf86f9f77124664f6801bc6c6cdf258173
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
697 .Ci ca0b3e830b86700d9e5e31b1784de2bdcaf58fc5
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
698
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
699
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
700 .U3 "Editor and Pager
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
701 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
702 The two configure options
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
703 .CW --with-editor=EDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
704 .CW --with-pager=PAGER
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
705 were used to specify the default editor and pager at configure time.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
706 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
707 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
708 different systems.
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
709 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
710 The programs
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
711 .Pn vi
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
712 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
713 .Pn more
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
714 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
715 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
716 (The specifications for
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
717 .Pn vi
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
718 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
719 .Pn more
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
720 appeared in
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
721 .[
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
722 posix 1987
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
723 .]
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
724 and,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
725 .[
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
726 posix 1992
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
727 .]
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
728 respectively.)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
729 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
730 .Ci 5d43a99db70c12a673028c7758c20cbe3e13ef5f
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
731 Not changed were the
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
732 .Pe editor
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
733 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
734 .Pe moreproc
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
735 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
736 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
737 variables
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
738 .Ev VISUAL
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
739 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
740 .Ev PAGER
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
741 if they are set.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
742 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
743 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
744 .IP (1)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
745 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
746 .Ev MMHEDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
747 .IP (2)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
748 Profile entry
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
749 .Pe Editor
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
750 .IP (3)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
751 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
752 .Ev VISUAL
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
753 .IP (4)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
754 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
755 .Ev EDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
756 .IP (5)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
757 Command
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
758 .Pn vi .
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
759 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
760 .Ci f85f4b7ae62e3d05a945dcd46ead51f0a2a89a9b
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
761 .P
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
762 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
763 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
764 .IP (1)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
765 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
766 .Ev MMHPAGER
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
767 .IP (2)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
768 Profile entry
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
769 .Pe Pager
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
770 (replaces
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
771 .Pe moreproc )
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
772 .IP (3)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
773 Environment variable
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
774 .Ev PAGER
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
775 .IP (4)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
776 Command
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
777 .Pn more .
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
778 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
779 .Ci 0c4214ea2aec6497d0d67b436bbee9bc1d225f1e
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
780 .P
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
781 By respecting the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
782 .Ev VISUAL /\c
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
783 .Ev EDITOR
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
784 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
785 .Ev PAGER
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
786 environment variables,
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
787 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
788 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
789
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
790
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
791 .U3 "ndbm
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
792 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
793 .Pn slocal
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
794 used to depend on
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
795 .I ndbm ,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
796 a database library.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
797 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
798 messages delivered.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
799 This enables
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
800 .Pn slocal
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
801 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
802 (This features was enabled by the
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
803 .Sw -suppressdup
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
804 switch.)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
805 .P
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
806 A variety of versions of the database library exist.
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
807 .[
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
808 wolter unix incompat notes dbm
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
809 .]
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
810 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
811 Further more, the configure switches
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
812 .Sw --with-ndbm=ARG
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
813 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
814 .Sw --with-ndbmheader=ARG
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
815 were added to help with difficult setups that would
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
816 not be detected automatically or correctly.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
817 .P
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
818 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
819 .Pn slocal ,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
820 the dependency on
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
821 .I ndbm
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
822 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
823 .Ci ecd6d6a20cb7a1507e3a20d6c4cb3a1cf14c6bbf
89
83bfb4dbf59f Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 88
diff changeset
824 The change removed functionality too, but that is minor to the
78
64f177ca2af1 Text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 76
diff changeset
825 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
826
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
827 .U3 "mh-e Support
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
828 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
829 The configure option
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
830 .Sw --disable-mhe
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
831 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
832 Mh-e is the Emacs front-end to MH.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
833 It requires MH to provide minor additional functions.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
834 The
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
835 .Sw --disable-mhe
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
836 configure option could switch these extensions off.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
837 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
838 only the
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
839 .Sw -build
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
840 switches of
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
841 .Pn forw
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
842 and
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
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diff changeset
843 .Pn repl
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
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parents: 74
diff changeset
844 are left to be mh-e extensions.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
845 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
846 In consequence, the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
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parents: 72
diff changeset
847 .Sw --disable-mhe
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
848 configure option was removed
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
849 .Ci a7ce7b4a580d77b6c2c4d980812beb589aa4c643
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
850 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
851 needed to be tested.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
852 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
853 .P
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
854 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
855 to be able to use mmh as back-end.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
856 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
857 .Sw -build
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
858 switches would require more rework.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
859
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
860 .U3 "Masquerading
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 The configure option
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
863 .Sw --enable-masquerade
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
864 could take up to three arguments:
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
865 `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
866 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
867 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
868 .Pn post
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
869 command, which provided an MSA.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
870 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
871 this field anymore.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
872 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
873 .P
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
874 The
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
875 .I mmailid
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
876 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
877 available in the original MH.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
878 It provided a
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
879 .I username
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
880 to
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
881 .I fakeusername
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
882 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
883 The man page
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
884 .Mp mh-tailor(5)
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
885 described the use case as being the following:
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
886 .QS
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
887 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
888 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
889 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
890 `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
891 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
892 ``First [Middle] Last <First.Last>''
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
893 .QE
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
894 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
895 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
896 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
897 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
898 does the reverse mapping for incoming mail (aliasing), too.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
899 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
900 mail software on the system.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
901 Hence, mmailid masquerading was removed.
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
902 .Ci 0836c8000ccb34b59410ef1c15b1b7feac70ce5f
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
903 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
904 The
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
905 .I username_extension
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
906 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
907 specified by the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
908 .Ev USERNAME_EXTENSION
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
909 environment variable, to it.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
910 This provided support for the
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
911 .I user-extension
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
912 feature of qmail and the similar
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
913 .I "plussed user
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
914 processing of sendmail.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
915 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
916 motivated by the fact that
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
917 .Pn spost
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
918 hadn't supported it already.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
919 .Ci 2abae0bfd0ad5bf898461e50aa4b466d641f23d9
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
920 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
921 .\" 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
922 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
923 The
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
924 .I draft_from
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
925 masquerading type instructed
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
926 .Pn post
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
927 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
928 .Hd From
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
929 header field as SMTP envelope sender.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
930 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
931 .Ci b14ea6073f77b4359aaf3fddd0e105989db9
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
932 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
933 with technical differences.
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
934 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
935 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
936 by the MTA.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
937 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
938 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
939 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
940 .Hd From
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
941 header field and thereby propose
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
942 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
943 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
944 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
945 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
946 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
947 message header (\c
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
948 .Pn sendmail 's
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
949 .Sw -t
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
950 switch).
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
951 The
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
952 .Hd From
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
953 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
954 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
955
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
956 .U3 "Remaining Options
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
957 .P
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
958 Two configure options remain in mmh.
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
959 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
960 .Sw --with-locking=[dot|fcntl|flock|lockf] .
76
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
961 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
962 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
963 requires deeper technical investigation into the topic.
2e61e0004a8f Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 74
diff changeset
964 The other option,
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
965 .Sw --enable-debug ,
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
966 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
967 This option is likely to stay.
72
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
968
bae9273b5802 Wrote about configure options (not finished yet).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 69
diff changeset
969
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
970
63
abbaca05ee8e More text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 62
diff changeset
971
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
972 .H2 "Command Line Switches
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
973 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
974 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
975 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
976 For example:
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
977 .Cl "-truncate" .
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
978 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
979 .Sw -help ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
980 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
981 .Sw -Version ,
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982 to tell what version of mmh the program belongs to.
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diff changeset
983 .P
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diff changeset
984 Switches change the behavior of programs.
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985 Programs that do one thing in one way require no switches.
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986 In most cases, doing something in exactly one way is too limiting.
97
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987 If there is basically one task to accomplish, but it should be done
93
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988 in various ways, switches are a good approach to alter the behavior
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diff changeset
989 of a program.
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990 Changing the behavior of programs provides flexibility and customization
97
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991 to users, but at the same time it complicates the code, documentation and
93
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992 usage of the program.
97
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993 .\" XXX: Ref
93
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994 Therefore, the number of switches should be kept small.
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995 A small set of well-chosen switches does no harm.
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996 But usually, the number of switches increases over time.
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diff changeset
997 Already in 1985, Rose and Romine have identified this as a major
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diff changeset
998 problem of MH:
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999 .[ [
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diff changeset
1000 rose romine real work
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1001 .], p. 12]
98
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1002 .QS
93
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diff changeset
1003 A complaint often heard about systems which undergo substantial development
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1004 by many people over a number of years, is that more and more options are
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1005 introduced which add little to the functionality but greatly increase the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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1006 amount of information a user needs to know in order to get useful work done.
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diff changeset
1007 This is usually referred to as creeping featurism.
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diff changeset
1008 .QP
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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diff changeset
1009 Unfortunately MH, having undergone six years of off-and-on development by
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diff changeset
1010 ten or so well-meaning programmers (the present authors included),
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1011 suffers mightily from this.
98
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1012 .QE
93
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1013 .P
97
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diff changeset
1014 Being reluctant to adding new switches \(en or `options',
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1015 as Rose and Romine call them \(en is one part of a counter-action,
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1016 the other part is removing hardly used switches.
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1017 Nmh's tools had lots of switches already implemented,
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1018 hence, cleaning up by removing some of them was the more important part
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1019 of the counter-action.
93
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diff changeset
1020 Removing existing functionality is always difficult because it
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1021 breaks programs that use these functions.
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diff changeset
1022 Also, for every obsolete feature, there'll always be someone who still
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diff changeset
1023 uses it and thus opposes its removal.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1024 This puts the developer into the position,
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diff changeset
1025 where sensible improvements to style are regarded as destructive acts.
97
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diff changeset
1026 Yet, living with the featurism is far worse, in my eyes, because
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1027 future needs will demand adding further features,
93
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diff changeset
1028 worsening the situation more and more.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1029 Rose and Romine added in a footnote,
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diff changeset
1030 ``[...]
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diff changeset
1031 .Pn send
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1032 will no doubt acquire an endless number of switches in the years to come.''
97
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1033 Although clearly humorous, the comment points to the nature of the problem.
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1034 Refusing to add any new switches would encounter the problem at its root,
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1035 but this is not practical.
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1036 New needs will require new switches and it would be unwise to block
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1037 them strictly.
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1038 Nevertheless, removing obsolete switches still is an effective approach
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1039 to deal with the problem.
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1040 Working on an experimental branch without an established user base,
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
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1041 eased my work because I did not offend users when I removed existing
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
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diff changeset
1042 functions.
93
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1043 .P
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diff changeset
1044 Rose and Romine counted 24 visible and 9 more hidden switches for
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1045 .Pn send .
97
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1046 In nmh, they increased up to 32 visible and 12 hidden ones.
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1047 At the time of writing, no more than 7 visible switches and 1 hidden switch
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1048 have remained in mmh's
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
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diff changeset
1049 .Pn send .
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parents: 96
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1050 (These numbers include two generic switches, help and version.)
93
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1051 .P
154
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1052 The figure displays the number of switches for each of the tools
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
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parents: 145
diff changeset
1053 that is available in both, nmh and mmh.
100
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1054 The tools are sorted by the number of switches they had in nmh.
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parents: 98
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1055 Visible and hidden switches were counted,
97
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1056 but not the generic help and version switches.
93
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1057 Whereas in the beginning of the project, the average tool had 11 switches,
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1058 now it has no more than 5 \(en only half as many.
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diff changeset
1059 If the `no' switches and similar inverse variant are folded onto
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
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parents: 98
diff changeset
1060 their counter-parts, the average tool had 8 switches in pre-mmh times and
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
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parents: 98
diff changeset
1061 has 4 now.
93
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1062 The total number of functional switches in mmh dropped from 465
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1063 to 234.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1064
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1065 .KS
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1066 .in 1c
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1067 .so input/switches.grap
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1068 .KE
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1069
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
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parents: 51
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1070 .P
93
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1071 A part of the switches vanished after functions were removed.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1072 This was the case for network mail transfer, for instance.
97
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1073 Sometimes, however, the work flow was the other way:
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1074 I looked through the
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1075 .Mp mh-chart (7)
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1076 man page to identify the tools with apparently too many switches.
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1077 Then considering the value of each of the switches by examining
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1078 the tool's man page and source code, aided by recherche and testing.
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1079 This way, the removal of functions was suggested by the aim to reduce
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1080 the number of switches per command.
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1081
93
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1082
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1083 .U3 "Draft Folder Facility
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1084 .P
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
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parents: 98
diff changeset
1085 A change early in the project was the complete transition from
93
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1086 the single draft message to the draft folder facility.
97
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1087 .Ci 337338b404931f06f0db2119c9e145e8ca5a9860
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
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parents: 108
diff changeset
1088 The draft folder facility was introduced in the mid-eighties, when
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
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parents: 98
diff changeset
1089 Rose and Romine called it a ``relatively new feature''.
93
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diff changeset
1090 .[
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diff changeset
1091 rose romine real work
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1092 .]
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
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parents: 109
diff changeset
1093 Since then, the facility had existed but was inactive by default.
93
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1094 The default activation and the related rework of the tools made it
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diff changeset
1095 possible to remove the
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1096 .Sw -[no]draftfolder ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1097 and
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1098 .Sw -draftmessage
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1099 switches from
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1100 .Pn comp ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1101 .Pn repl ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1102 .Pn forw ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1103 .Pn dist ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1104 .Pn whatnow ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1105 and
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parents: 89
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1106 .Pn send .
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1107 .Ci 337338b404931f06f0db2119c9e145e8ca5a9860
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parents: 96
diff changeset
1108 The only flexibility removed with this change is having multiple
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1109 draft folders within one profile.
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diff changeset
1110 I consider this a theoretical problem only.
93
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diff changeset
1111 In the same go, the
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diff changeset
1112 .Sw -draft
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1113 switch of
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1114 .Pn anno ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1115 .Pn refile ,
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parents: 89
diff changeset
1116 and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1117 .Pn send
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1118 was removed.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1119 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
1120 the rework of the draft system.
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1121 (df. Sec.
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1122 .Cf draft-folder )
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1123 Equally,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1124 .Pn comp
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1125 lost its
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1126 .Sw -file
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1127 switch.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1128 The draft folder facility, together with the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1129 .Sw -form
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1130 switch, are sufficient.
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1131
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1132
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1133 .U3 "In Place Editing
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1134 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1135 .Pn anno
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1136 had the switches
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1137 .Sw -[no]inplace
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1138 to either annotate the message in place and thus preserve hard links,
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1139 or annotate a copy to replace the original message, breaking hard links.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1140 Following the assumption that linked messages should truly be the
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1141 same message, and annotating it should not break the link, the
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1142 .Sw -[no]inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1143 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
1144 .Sw -inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1145 was made the only behavior.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1146 .Ci c8195849d2e366c569271abb0f5f60f4ebf0b4d0
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1147 The
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1148 .Sw -[no]inplace
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1149 switches of
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1150 .Pn repl ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1151 .Pn forw ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1152 and
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1153 .Pn dist
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1154 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
1155 .Pn anno .
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1156 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1157 .Pn burst
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1158 also had
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1159 .Sw -[no]inplace
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1160 switches, but with different meaning.
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1161 With
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1162 .Sw -inplace ,
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1163 the digest had been replaced by the table of contents (i.e. the
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 109
diff changeset
1164 introduction text) and the burst messages were placed right
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1165 after this message, renumbering all following messages.
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1166 Also, any trailing text of the digest was lost, though,
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1167 in practice, it usually consists of an end-of-digest marker only.
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1168 Nontheless, this behavior appeared less elegant than the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1169 .Sw -noinplace
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1170 behavior, which already had been the default.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1171 Nmh's
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1172 .Mp burst (1)
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1173 man page reads:
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1174 .sp \n(PDu
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1175 .QS
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1176 If -noinplace is given, each digest is preserved, no table
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1177 of contents is produced, and the messages contained within
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1178 the digest are placed at the end of the folder. Other messages
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1179 are not tampered with in any way.
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1180 .QE
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1181 .LP
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1182 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
1183 .Sw -inplace
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1184 behavior was supported by the code complexity and the possible data loss
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1185 it caused.
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1186 .Sw -noinplace
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1187 was chosen to be the definitive behavior.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1188 .Ci 68a686adeb39223a5e1ad35e4a24890ec053679d
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1189
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1190
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1191 .U3 "Forms and Format Strings
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1192 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1193 Historically, the tools that had
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1194 .Sw -form
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1195 switches to supply a form file had
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1196 .Sw -format
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1197 switches as well to supply the contents of a form file as a string
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1198 on the command line directly.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1199 In consequence, the following two lines equaled:
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1200 .VS
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1201 scan -form scan.mailx
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1202 scan -format "`cat .../scan.mailx`"
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1203 VE
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1204 The
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1205 .Sw -format
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1206 switches were dropped in favor for extending the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1207 .Sw -form
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1208 switches.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1209 .Ci f51956be123db66b00138f80464d06f030dbb88d
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1210 If their argument starts with an equal sign (`='),
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1211 then the rest of the argument is taken as a format string,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1212 otherwise the arguments is treated as the name of a format file.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1213 Thus, now the following two lines equal:
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1214 .VS
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1215 scan -form scan.mailx
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1216 scan -form "=`cat .../scan.mailx`"
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1217 VE
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1218 This rework removed the prefix collision between
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1219 .Sw -form
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1220 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1221 .Sw -format .
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1222 Now, typing
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1223 .Sw -fo
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1224 suffices to specify form or format string.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1225 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1226 The different meaning of
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1227 .Sw -format
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1228 for
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1229 .Pn repl
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1230 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1231 .Pn forw
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1232 was removed in mmh.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1233 .Pn forw
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1234 was completely switched to MIME-type forwarding, thus removing the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1235 .Sw -[no]format .
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1236 .Ci 6e271608b7b9c23771523f88d23a4d3593010cf1
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1237 For
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1238 .Pn repl ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1239 the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1240 .Sw -[no]format
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1241 switches were reworked to
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1242 .Sw -[no]filter
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1243 switches.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1244 .Ci 67411b1f95d6ec987b4c732459e1ba8a8ac192c6
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1245 The
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1246 .Sw -format
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1247 switches of
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1248 .Pn send
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1249 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1250 .Pn post ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1251 which had a third meaning,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1252 were removed likewise.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1253 .Ci f3cb7cde0e6f10451b6848678d95860d512224b9
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1254 Eventually, the ambiguity of the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1255 .Sw -format
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1256 switches was resolved by not anymore having any such switch in mmh.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1257
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1258
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1259 .U3 "MIME Tools
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1260 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1261 The MIME tools, which were once part of
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1262 .Pn mhn
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1263 [sic!],
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1264 had several switches that added little practical value to the programs.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1265 The
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1266 .Sw -[no]realsize
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1267 switches of
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1268 .Pn mhbuild
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1269 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1270 .Pn mhlist
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1271 were removed, doing real size calculations always now
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1272 .Ci 8d8f1c3abc586c005c904e52c4adbfe694d2201c ,
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1273 as
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1274 ``This provides an accurate count at the expense of a small delay.''
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1275 This small delay is not noticable on modern systems.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1276 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1277 The
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1278 .Sw -[no]check
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1279 switches were removed together with the support for
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1280 .Hd Content-MD5
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1281 header fields.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1282 .[
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1283 rfc 1864
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1284 .]
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1285 .Ci 31dc797eb5178970d68962ca8939da3fd9a8efda
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1286 (cf. Sec.
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1287 .Cf content-md5 )
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1288 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1289 The
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1290 .Sw -[no]ebcdicsafe
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1291 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1292 .Sw -[no]rfc934mode
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1293 switches of
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1294 .Pn mhbuild
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1295 were removed because they are considered obsolete.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1296 .Ci 01a3480928da485b4d6109d36d751dfa71799d58
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1297 .Ci 3363e2624dce0eb8164cf8b3f1ab385c8ff72e88
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1298 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1299 Content caching of external MIME parts, activated with the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1300 .Sw -rcache
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1301 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1302 .Sw -wcache
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1303 switches was completely removed.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1304 .Ci d1fefd9f614e4dc3cda16da6c69133c1b2005269
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1305 External MIME parts are rare today, having a caching facility
96
12348d620245 Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 95
diff changeset
1306 for them is appears to be unnecessary.
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1307 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1308 In pre-MIME times,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1309 .Pn mhl
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1310 had covered many tasks that are part of MIME handling today.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1311 Therefore,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1312 .Pn mhl
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1313 could be simplified to a large extend, reducing the number of its
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1314 switches from 21 to 6.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1315 .Ci 350ad6d3542a07639213cf2a4fe524e829c1e7b6
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1316 .Ci 0e46503be3c855bddaeae3843e1b659279c35d70
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1317
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1318
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1319
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1320
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1321 .U3 "Header Printing
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1322 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1323 .Pn folder 's
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1324 data output is self-explaining enough that
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1325 displaying the header line makes few sense.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1326 Hence, the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1327 .Sw -[no]header
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1328 switch was removed and headers are never printed.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1329 .Ci 601cc73d1fa05ce96faa728f036d6c51b91701c7
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1330 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1331 In
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1332 .Pn mhlist ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1333 the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1334 .Sw -[no]header
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1335 switches were removed, too.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1336 .Ci b24f96523aaf60e44e04a3ffb1d22e69a13a602f
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1337 But in this case headers are always printed,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1338 because the output is not self-explaining.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1339 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1340 .Pn scan
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1341 also had
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1342 .Sw -[no]header
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1343 switches.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1344 Printing the header had been sensible until the introduction of
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1345 format strings made it impossible to display the column headings.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1346 Only the folder name and the current date remained to be printed.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1347 As this information can be perfectly retrieved by
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1348 .Pn folder
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1349 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1350 .Pn date ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1351 consequently, the switches were removed.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1352 .Ci c477dc5d1d03fa6d9a8ab3dd3508c63cbddc044e
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1353 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1354 By removing all
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1355 .Sw -header
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1356 switches, the collision with
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1357 .Sw -help
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1358 on the first two letters was resolved.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1359 Currently,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1360 .Sw -h
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1361 evaluates to
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1362 .Sw -help
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1363 for all tools of mmh.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1364
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1365
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1366 .U3 "Suppressing Edits or the Invocation of the WhatNow Shell
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1367 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1368 The
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1369 .Sw -noedit
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1370 switch of
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1371 .Pn comp ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1372 .Pn repl ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1373 .Pn forw ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1374 .Pn dist ,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1375 and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1376 .Pn whatnow
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1377 was removed, but it can now be replaced by specifying
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1378 .Sw -editor
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1379 with an empty argument.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1380 .Ci 75fca31a5b9d5c1a99c74ab14c94438d8852fba9
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1381 (Specifying
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1382 .Cl "-editor true
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1383 is nearly the same, only differing by the previous editor being set.)
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1384 .P
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1385 The more important change is the removal of the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1386 .Sw -nowhatnowproc
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1387 switch.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1388 .Ci ee4f43cf2ef0084ec698e4e87159a94c01940622
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1389 This switch had introduced an awkward behavior, as explained in nmh's
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1390 man page for
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1391 .Mp comp (1):
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1392 .QS
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1393 The \-editor editor switch indicates the editor to use for
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1394 the initial edit. Upon exiting from the editor, comp will
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1395 invoke the whatnow program. See whatnow(1) for a discussion
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1396 of available options. The invocation of this program can be
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1397 inhibited by using the \-nowhatnowproc switch. (In truth of
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1398 fact, it is the whatnow program which starts the initial
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1399 edit. Hence, \-nowhatnowproc will prevent any edit from
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1400 occurring.)
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1401 .QE
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1402 .P
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1403 Effectively, the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1404 .Sw -nowhatnowproc
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1405 switch creates only a draft message.
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1406 As
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1407 .Cl "-whatnowproc true
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1408 causes the same behavior, the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1409 .Sw -nowhatnowproc
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1410 switch was removed for being redundant.
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1411 Likely, the
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1412 .Sw -nowhatnowproc
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1413 switch was intended to be used by front-ends.
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1414
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1415
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1416
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1417 .U3 "Various
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1418 .BU
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1419 With the removal of MMDF maildrop format support,
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1420 .Pn packf
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1421 and
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1422 .Pn rcvpack
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1423 no longer needed their
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1424 .Sw -mbox
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1425 and
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1426 .Sw -mmdf
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1427 switches.
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1428 .Sw -mbox
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1429 is the sole behavior now.
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1430 .Ci 3916ab66ad5d183705ac12357621ea8661afd3c0
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1431 In the same go,
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1432 .Pn packf
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1433 and
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1434 .Pn rcvpack
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1435 were reworked and their
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1436 .Sw -file
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1437 switch became unnecessary.
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1438 .Ci ca1023716d4c2ab890696f3e41fa0d94267a940e
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1439
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1440 .BU
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1441 Mmh's tools will no longer clear the screen (\c
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1442 .Pn scan 's
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1443 and
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1444 .Pn mhl 's
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1445 .Sw -[no]clear
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1446 switches
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1447 .Ci e57b17343dcb3ff373ef4dd089fbe778f0c7c270
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1448 .Ci 943765e7ac5693ae177fd8d2b5a2440e53ce816e ).
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1449 Neither will
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1450 .Pn mhl
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1451 ring the bell (\c
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1452 .Sw -[no]bell
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1453 .Ci e11983f44e59d8de236affa5b0d0d3067c192e24 )
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1454 nor page the output itself (\c
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1455 .Sw -length
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1456 .Ci 5b9d883db0318ed2b84bb82dee880d7381f99188 ).
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1457 Generally, the pager to use is no longer specified with the
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1458 .Sw -[no]moreproc
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1459 command line switches for
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1460 .Pn mhl
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1461 and
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1462 .Pn show /\c
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1463 .Pn mhshow .
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1464 .Ci 39e87a75b5c2d3572ec72e717720b44af291e88a
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1465
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1466 .BU
96
12348d620245 Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 95
diff changeset
1467 In order to avoid prefix collisions among switch names, the
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1468 .Sw -version
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1469 switch was renamed to
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1470 .Sw -Version
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1471 (with capital `V').
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1472 .Ci 32b2354dbaf4bf934936eb5b102a4a3d2fdd209a
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1473 Every program has the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1474 .Sw -version
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1475 switch but its first three letters collided with the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1476 .Sw -verbose
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1477 switch, present in many programs.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1478 The rename solved this problem once for all.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1479 Although this rename breaks a basic interface, having the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1480 .Sw -V
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1481 abbreviation to display the version information, isn't all too bad.
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1482
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1483 .BU
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1484 .Sw -[no]preserve
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1485 of
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1486 .Pn refile
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1487 was removed because what use was it anyway?
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1488 .QS
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1489 Normally when a message is refiled, for each destination
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1490 folder it is assigned the number which is one above the current
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1491 highest message number in that folder. Use of the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1492 \-preserv [sic!] switch will override this message renaming, and try
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1493 to preserve the number of the message. If a conflict for a
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1494 particular folder occurs when using the \-preserve switch,
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1495 then refile will use the next available message number which
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1496 is above the message number you wish to preserve.
98
d894191d7a33 style: Changed the block quote approach. New QS and QE.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 97
diff changeset
1497 .QE
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1498
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1499 .BU
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1500 The removal of the
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1501 .Sw -[no]reverse
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1502 switches of
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1503 .Pn scan
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1504 .Ci 8edc5aaf86f9f77124664f6801bc6c6cdf258173
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1505 is a bug fix, supported by the comments
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1506 ``\-[no]reverse under #ifdef BERK (I really HATE this)''
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1507 by Rose and
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1508 ``Lists messages in reverse order with the `\-reverse' switch.
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1509 This should be considered a bug.'' by Romine in the documentation.
97
29a7454fcded Added references to commits.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 96
diff changeset
1510 The question remains why neither Rose and Romine had fixed this
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1511 bug in the eighties when they wrote these comments nor has anyone
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1512 thereafter.
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1513
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1514
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1515 .ig
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1516
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1517 forw: [no]dashstuffing(mhl)
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1518
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1519 mhshow: [no]pause [no]serialonly
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1520
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1521 mhmail: resent queued
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1522 inc: snoop, (pop)
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1523
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1524 mhl: [no]faceproc folder sleep
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1525 [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
1526
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1527 prompter: [no]doteof
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1528
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1529 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
1530
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1531 send: [no]forward [no]mime [no]msgid
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1532 [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
1533 attach attachformat
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1534 whatnow: (noedit) attach
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1535
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1536 slocal: [no]suppressdups
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1537
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1538 spost: [no]filter [no]backup width [no]push idanno
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1539 [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
1540
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1541 whom: ???
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1542
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1543 ..
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1544
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1545
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1546 .ig
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1547
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1548 .P
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1549 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
1550 or on the three-letter prefix for the `no' variants.
96
12348d620245 Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 95
diff changeset
1551 Reducing switch prefix collisions, shortens the necessary prefix length
93
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1552 the user must type.
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1553 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
1554
093ccf39a45e Write text about removal of switches; Included the grap figure.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 89
diff changeset
1555 ..
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1556
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1557
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1558 .\" XXX: whatnow prompt commands
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1559
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1560
95
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1561
edac7e46a9f2 More text about switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 93
diff changeset
1562
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
1563 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------
74
cefaa856d431 A lot of new text about configure switches.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 72
diff changeset
1564 .H1 "Modernizing
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1565 .P
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1566 In the over thirty years of MH's existence, its code base was
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1567 extended more and more.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1568 New features entered the project and became alternatives to the
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1569 existing behavior.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1570 Relicts from several decades have gathered in the code base,
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1571 but seldom obsolete features were dropped.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1572 This section describes the removing of old code
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1573 and the modernizing of the default setup.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
1574 It focuses on the functional aspect only;
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1575 the non-functional aspects of code style are discussed in Sec.
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1576 .Cf code-style .
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1577
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1578
100
6ae7dc4a3a02 Included changes proposed by Lydi.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 98
diff changeset
1579 .H2 "Code Relicts
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1580 .P
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1581 My position to drop obsolete functions of mmh, in order to remove old code,
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1582 is much more revolutional than the nmh community likes to have it.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1583 Working on an experimental version, I was able to quickly drop
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1584 functionality I considered ancient.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1585 The need for consensus with peers would have slowed this process down.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1586 Without the need to justify my decisions, I was able to rush forward.
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 109
diff changeset
1587 In December 2011, Paul Vixie motivated the nmh developers to just
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1588 do the work:
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1589 .[
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1590 paul vixie edginess nmh-workers
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1591 .]
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1592 .QS
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1593 let's stop walking on egg shells with this code base. there's no need to
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1594 discuss whether to keep using vfork, just note in [sic!] passing, [...]
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1595 we don't need a separate branch for removing vmh
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1596 or ridding ourselves of #ifdef's or removing posix replacement functions
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1597 or depending on pure ansi/posix "libc".
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1598 .QP
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1599 these things should each be a day or two of work and the "main branch"
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1600 should just be modern. [...]
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1601 let's push forward, aggressively.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1602 .QE
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1603 .LP
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1604 I did so already in the months before.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1605 I pushed forward.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1606 I simply dropped the cruft.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1607 .P
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1608 The decision to drop a feature was based on literature research and
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1609 careful thinking, but whether having had contact to this particular
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1610 feature within my own computer life served as a rule of thumb.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1611 Always, I explained my reasons in the commit messages
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1612 in the version control system.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1613 Hence, others can comprehend my view and argue for undoing the change
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1614 if I have missed an important aspect.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1615 I was quick in dropping parts.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1616 I rather re-included falsely dropped parts than going a slower pace.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1617 Mmh is experimental work; it required tough decisions.
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1618
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1619
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1620 .U3 "Forking
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
1621 .P
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1622 Being a tool chest, MH creates many processes.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1623 In earlier times
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1624 .Fu fork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1625 had been an expensive system call, because the process's image needed
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1626 to be duplicated completely at once.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1627 This was especially painful in the common case when the image gets
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1628 replaced by a call to
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1629 .Fu exec()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1630 right after having forked the child process.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1631 The
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1632 .Fu vfork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1633 system call was invented to speed up this particular case.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1634 It completely omits the duplication of the image.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1635 On old systems this resulted in significant speed ups.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1636 Therefore MH used
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1637 .Fu vfork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1638 whenever possible.
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1639 .P
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1640 Modern memory management units support copy-on-write semantics, which make
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1641 .Fu fork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1642 almost as fast as
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1643 .Fu vfork() .
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1644 The man page of
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1645 .Mp vfork (2)
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1646 in FreeBSD 8.0 states:
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1647 .QS
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1648 This system call will be eliminated when proper system sharing mechanisms
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1649 are implemented. Users should not depend on the memory sharing semantics
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1650 of vfork() as it will, in that case, be made synonymous to fork(2).
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1651 .QE
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1652 .LP
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1653 Vixie supports the removal with the note that ``the last
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1654 system on which fork was so slow that an mh user would notice it, was
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1655 Eunice. that was 1987''.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1656 .[
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1657 nmh-workers vixie edginess
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1658 .]
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1659 I replaced all calls to
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1660 .Fu vfork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1661 with calls to
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1662 .Fu fork() .
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1663 .Ci 40821f5c1316e9205a08375e7075909cc9968e7d
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1664 .P
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1665 Related to the costs of
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1666 .Fu fork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1667 is the probability of its success.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1668 In the eighties, on heavy loaded systems, calls to
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1669 .Fu fork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1670 were prone to failure.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1671 Hence, many of the
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1672 .Fu fork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1673 calls in the code were wrapped into loops to retry the
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1674 .Fu fork()
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1675 several times, to increase the changes to succeed, eventually.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1676 On modern systems, a failing
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1677 .Fu fork()
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1678 call is unusual.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1679 Hence, in the rare case when
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1680 .Fu fork()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1681 fails, mmh programs simply abort.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1682 .Ci 5fbf37ee68e018998ada61eeab73e035b26834b6
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1683
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1684
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1685 .U3 "Header Fields
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1686 .BU
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1687 The
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1688 .Hd Encrypted
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1689 header field was introduced by RFC\|822,
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1690 but already marked as legacy in RFC\|2822.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1691 Today, OpenPGP provides the basis for standardized exchange of encrypted
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1692 messages [RFC\|4880, RFC\|3156].
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1693 Hence, the support for
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1694 .Hd Encrypted
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1695 header fields is removed in mmh.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1696 .Ci 064527f7b57ab050e5af13e15ad99aeeab125857
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1697 .BU
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1698 Native support for
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1699 .Hd Face
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1700 header fields has been removed, as well.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1701 .Ci 8e5be81f784682822f5e868c1bf3c8624682bd23
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1702 This feature is similar to the
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1703 .Hd X-Face
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1704 header field in its intent,
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1705 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
1706 Instead of encoding the image data directly into the header field,
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1707 it contains the hostname and UDP port where the image
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1708 date can be retrieved.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1709 There exists even a third Face system,
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1710 which is the successor of
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1711 .Hd X-Face ,
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1712 although it re-uses the
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1713 .Hd Face
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1714 header field.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1715 It was invented in 2005 and supports colored PNG images.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1716 None of the Face systems described here is popular today.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1717 Hence, mmh has no direct support for them.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1718 .BU
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
1719 .Id content-md5
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1720 The
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1721 .Hd Content-MD5
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1722 header field was introduced by RFC\|1864.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1723 It provides detection of data corruption during the transfer.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1724 But it can not ensure verbatim end-to-end delivery of the contents
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1725 [RFC\|1864].
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1726 The proper approach to verify content integrity in an
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1727 end-to-end relationship is the use of digital cryptography.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1728 .\" XXX (RFCs FIXME).
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1729 On the other hand, transfer protocols should detect corruption during
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1730 the transmission.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1731 The TCP includes a checksum field therefore.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1732 These two approaches in combinations render the
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1733 .Hd Content-MD5
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1734 header field superfluous.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1735 Not a single one out of 4\|200 messages from two decades
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1736 in an nmh-workers mailing list archive contains a
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1737 .Hd Content-MD5
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1738 header field.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1739 Neither did any of the 60\|000 messages in my personal mail storage.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1740 Removing the support for this header field,
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1741 removed the last place where MD5 computation was needed.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1742 .Ci 31dc797eb5178970d68962ca8939da3fd9a8efda
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1743 Hence, the MD5 code could be removed as well.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1744 Over 500 lines of code vanished by this one change.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1745
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1746
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1747 .U3 "MMDF maildrop support
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1748 .P
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1749 This type of format is conceptionally similar to the mbox format,
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1750 but uses a different message delimiter (`\fL\\1\\1\\1\\1\fP',
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
1751 commonly written as `\fL^A^A^A^A\fP', instead of `\fLFrom\0\fP').
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1752 Mbox is the de-facto standard maildrop format on Unix,
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1753 whereas the MMDF maildrop format became forgotten.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1754 I did drop MMDF maildrop format support.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1755 Mbox is the only packed mailbox format supported in mmh.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1756 .P
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1757 The simplifications within the code were moderate.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1758 Mainly, the reading and writing of MMDF mailbox files was removed.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1759 But also, switches of
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1760 .Pn packf
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1761 and
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1762 .Pn rcvpack
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1763 could be removed.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1764 .Ci 3916ab66ad5d183705ac12357621ea8661afd3c0
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1765 In the message parsing function
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1766 .Fn sbr/m_getfld.c ,
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1767 knowledge of MMDF packed mail boxes was removed.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1768 .Ci 684ec30d81e1223a282764452f4902ed4ad1c754
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1769 Further code structure simplifications may be possible there,
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1770 because only one single packed mailbox format is left to be supported.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1771 I have not worked on them yet because
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1772 .Fu m_getfld()
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1773 is heavily optimized and thus dangerous to touch.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1774 The risk of damaging the intricate workings of the optimized code is
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1775 too high.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1776 .\" XXX: move somewhere else
155
75f20c925999 Fixed macro typo; and added typo fix found by Boris.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 154
diff changeset
1777 This problem is known to the developers of nmh, too.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1778 They also avoid touching this minefield.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1779
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1780
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1781 .U3 "Prompter's Control Keys
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1782 .P
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1783 The program
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1784 .Pn prompter
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1785 queries the user to fill in a message form.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1786 When used by
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1787 .Pn comp
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1788 as
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1789 .Cl "comp -editor prompter" ,
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1790 the resulting behavior is similar to
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1791 .Pn mailx .
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
1792 Apparently,
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1793 .Pn prompter
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1794 hadn't been touched lately.
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1795 Otherwise it's hardly explainable why it
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1796 still offered the switches
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1797 .Sw -erase
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1798 .Ar chr
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1799 and
84
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1800 .Sw -kill
c35ec2b7de5d style: New macros .Ar (argument) and .Hd (header field)
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 82
diff changeset
1801 .Ar chr
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1802 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
1803 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
1804 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
1805 with the standard tool
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1806 .Pn stty .
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1807 The switches are removed now
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1808 .Ci 0bd9750710cdbab80cfb4036dd87af20afe1552f .
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
1809
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1810
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1811 .U3 "Hardcopy Terminal Support
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1812 .P
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1813 More of a funny anecdote is a check for being connected to a
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1814 hardcopy terminal.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1815 It remained in the code until Spring 2012, when I finally removed it
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1816 .Ci b7764c4a6b71d37918a97594d866258f154017ca .
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1817 I would be truly happy to see such a terminal in action today,
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1818 maybe even being able to work on it.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1819 But I fear my chances are null.
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1820 .P
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1821 The check only prevented a pager to be placed between the printing
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1822 program (\c
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1823 .Pn mhl )
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1824 and the terminal.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1825 In nmh, this could have been ensured statically with the
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1826 .Sw -nomoreproc
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1827 at the command line, too.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
1828 In mmh, setting the profile entry
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1829 .Pe Pager
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1830 or the environment variable
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1831 .Ev PAGER
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1832 to
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1833 .Pn cat
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1834 does the job.
104
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1835
2818ca27d24c Various text rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 102
diff changeset
1836
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
1837
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
1838
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
1839 .H2 "Attachments
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
1840 .P
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1841 The mind model of email attachments is unrelated to MIME.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1842 Although the MIME RFCs (2045 through 2049) define the technical
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1843 requirements for having attachments, they do not mention the word
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1844 ``attachment''.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1845 Instead of attachments, MIME talks about ``multi-part message bodies''
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1846 [RFC\|2045], a more general concept.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1847 Multi-part messages are messages
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1848 ``in which one or more different
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1849 sets of data are combined in a single body''
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1850 [RFC\|2046].
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1851 MIME keeps its descriptions generic;
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1852 it does not imply specific usage models.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1853 One usage model became prevalent: attachments.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1854 The idea is having a main text document with files of arbitrary kind
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1855 attached to it.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1856 In MIME terms, this is a multi-part message having a text part first
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 109
diff changeset
1857 and parts of arbitrary type following.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1858 .P
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1859 MH's MIME support is a direct implementation of the RFCs.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1860 The perception of the topic described in the RFCs is clearly visible
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1861 in MH's implementation.
109
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1862 In result, MH had all the MIME features but no idea of attachments.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1863 But users don't need all the MIME features,
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1864 they want convenient attachment handling.
2b094b8fb422 Rework of existing text.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 108
diff changeset
1865
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1866
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1867 .U3 "Composing MIME Messages
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1868 .P
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1869 In order to improve the situation on the message composing side,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1870 Jon Steinhart had added an attachment system to nmh in 2002.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1871 .Ci 7480dbc14bc90f2d872d434205c0784704213252
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1872 In the file
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1873 .Fn docs/README-ATTACHMENTS ,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1874 he described his motivation to do so as such:
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1875 .QS
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1876 Although nmh contains the necessary functionality for MIME message handing,
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1877 the interface to this functionality is pretty obtuse.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1878 There's no way that I'm ever going to convince my partner to write
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1879 .Pn mhbuild
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1880 composition files!
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1881 .QE
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1882 .LP
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1883 With this change, the mind model of attachments entered nmh.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1884 In the same document:
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1885 .QS
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1886 These changes simplify the task of managing attachments on draft files.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1887 They allow attachments to be added, listed, and deleted.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1888 MIME messages are automatically created when drafts with attachments
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1889 are sent.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1890 .QE
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1891 .LP
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1892 Unfortunately, the attachment system,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1893 like any new facilities in nmh,
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 109
diff changeset
1894 was inactive by default.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1895 .P
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1896 During my work in Argentina, I tried to improve the attachment system.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1897 But, because of great opposition in the nmh community,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1898 my patch died as a proposal on the mailing list, after long discussions.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1899 .[
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1900 nmh-workers attachment proposal
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1901 .]
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 109
diff changeset
1902 In January 2012, I extended the patch and applied it to mmh.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1903 .Ci 8ff284ff9167eff8f5349481529332d59ed913b1
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1904 In mmh, the attachment system is active by default.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1905 Instead of command line switches, the
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1906 .Pe Attachment-Header
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1907 profile entry is used to specify
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1908 the name of the attachment header field.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1909 It is pre-defined to
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1910 .Hd Attach .
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1911 .P
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1912 To add an attachment to a draft, simply add an attachment header:
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1913 .VS
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1914 To: bob
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1915 Subject: The file you wanted
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1916 Attach: /path/to/the/file-bob-wanted
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1917 --------
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1918 Here it is.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1919 VE
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1920 The header field can be added to the draft manually in the editor,
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1921 or by using the `attach' command at the WhatNow prompt, or
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1922 non-interactively with
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1923 .Pn anno :
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1924 .VS
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1925 anno -append -nodate -component Attach -text /path/to/attachment
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1926 VE
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1927 Drafts with attachment headers are converted to MIME automatically by
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1928 .Pn send .
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1929 The conversion to MIME is invisible to the user.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1930 The draft stored in the draft folder is always in source form, with
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1931 attachment headers.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1932 If the MIMEification fails, for instance because the file to attach
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1933 is not accessible, the original draft is not changed.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1934 .P
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1935 The attachment system handles the forwarding of messages, too.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1936 If the attachment header value starts with a plus character (`+'),
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1937 like in
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1938 .Cl "Attach: +bob 30 42" ,
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1939 The given messages in the specified folder will be attached.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1940 This allowed to simplify
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1941 .Pn forw .
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1942 .Ci f41f04cf4ceca7355232cf7413e59afafccc9550
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1943 .P
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1944 Closely related to attachments is non-ASCII text content,
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1945 because it requires MIME too.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1946 In nmh, the user needed to call `mime' at the WhatNow prompt
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1947 to have the draft converted to MIME.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1948 This was necessary whenever the draft contained non-ASCII characters.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1949 If the user did not call `mime', a broken message would be sent.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1950 Therefore, the
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1951 .Pe automimeproc
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1952 profile entry could be specified to have the `mime' command invoked
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1953 automatically each time.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1954 Unfortunately, this approach conflicted with with attachment system
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1955 because the draft would already be in MIME format at the time
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1956 when the attachment system wanted to MIMEify it.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1957 To use nmh's attachment system, `mime' must not be called at the
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1958 WhatNow prompt and
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1959 .Pe automimeproc
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1960 must not be set in the profile.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1961 But then the case of non-ASCII text without attachment headers was
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1962 not caught.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1963 All in all, the solution was complex and irritating.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1964 My patch from December 2010 would have simplified the situation.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1965 .P
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1966 Mmh's current solution is even more elaborate.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1967 Any necessary MIMEification is done automatically.
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1968 There is no `mime' command at the WhatNow prompt anymore.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1969 The draft will be converted automatically to MIME when either an
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1970 attachment header or non-ASCII text is present.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1971 Further more, the special meaning of the hash character (`#')
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1972 at line beginnings in the draft message is removed.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1973 Users need not at all deal with the whole topic.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1974 .P
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1975 Although the new approach does not anymore support arbitrary MIME
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1976 compositions directly, the full power of
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1977 .Pn mhbuild
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1978 can still be accessed.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1979 Given no attachment headers are included, the user can create
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1980 .Pn mhbuild
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1981 composition drafts like in nmh.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1982 Then, at the WhatNow prompt, he needs to invoke
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1983 .Cl "edit mhbuild
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1984 to convert it to MIME.
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 109
diff changeset
1985 Because the resulting draft does neither contain non-ASCII characters
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1986 nor has it attachment headers, the attachment system will not touch it.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1987 .P
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
1988 The approach taken in mmh is tailored towards todays most common case:
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1989 a text part with possibly attachments.
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1990 This case is simplified a lot for users.
101
e8e6adb14beb Wrote about attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 100
diff changeset
1991
112
4e6a9ae1b53c Added a bit of text on modern defaults; plus added code refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 110
diff changeset
1992
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1993 .U3 "MIME Type Guessing
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1994 .P
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1995 The use of
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1996 .Pn mhbuild
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1997 composition drafts had one notable advantage over attachment headers
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1998 from the programmer's point of view: The user provides the appropriate
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
1999 MIME types for files to include.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2000 The attachment system needs to find out the correct MIME type itself.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2001 This is a difficult task, yet it spares the user irritating work.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2002 Determining the correct MIME type of content is partly mechanical,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2003 partly intelligent work.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2004 Forcing the user to find out the correct MIME type,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2005 forces him to do partly mechanical work.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2006 Letting the computer do the work, can lead to bad choices for difficult
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2007 content.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2008 For mmh, the latter option was chosen.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2009 .P
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2010 Determining the MIME type by the suffix of the file name is a dumb
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2011 approach, yet it is simple to implement and provides good results
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2012 for the common cases.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2013 Mmh implements this approach in the
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2014 .Pn print-mimetype
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2015 script.
112
4e6a9ae1b53c Added a bit of text on modern defaults; plus added code refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 110
diff changeset
2016 .Ci 4b5944268ea0da7bb30598a27857304758ea9b44
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2017 Using it is the default choice.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2018 .P
112
4e6a9ae1b53c Added a bit of text on modern defaults; plus added code refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 110
diff changeset
2019 A far better, though less portable, approach is the use of
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2020 .Pn file .
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2021 This standard tool tries to determine the type of files.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2022 Unfortunately, its capabilities and accuracy varies from system to system.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2023 Additionally, its output was only intended for human beings,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2024 but not to be used by programs.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2025 It varies much.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2026 Nevertheless, modern versions of GNU
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2027 .Pn file ,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2028 which is prevalent on the popular GNU/Linux systems,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2029 provides MIME type output in machine-readable form.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2030 Although this solution is highly system-dependent,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2031 it solves the difficult problem well.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2032 On systems where GNU
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2033 .Pn file ,
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2034 version 5.04 or higher, is available it should be used.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2035 One needs to specify the following profile entry to do so:
112
4e6a9ae1b53c Added a bit of text on modern defaults; plus added code refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 110
diff changeset
2036 .Ci 3baec236a39c5c89a9bda8dbd988d643a21decc6
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2037 .VS
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2038 Mime-Type-Query: file -b --mime
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2039 VE
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2040 .LP
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2041 Other versions of
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2042 .Pn file
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2043 might possibly be usable with wrapper scripts to reformat the output.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2044 The diversity among
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2045 .Pn file
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2046 implementations is great; one needs to check the local variant.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2047 .P
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2048 If no MIME type can be determined, text content gets sent as
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2049 `text/plain' and anything else under the generic fall-back type
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2050 `application/octet-stream'.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2051 It is not possible in mmh to override the automatic MIME type guessing
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2052 for a specific file.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2053 To do so, the user would need to know in advance for which file
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2054 the automatic guessing does fail, or the system would require interaction.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2055 I consider both cases impractical.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2056 The existing solution should be sufficient.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2057 If not, the user may always fall back to
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2058 .Pn mhbuild
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2059 composition drafts and ignore the attachment system.
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2060
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2061
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2062 .U3 "Storing Attachments
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2063 .P
108
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2064 Extracting MIME parts of a message and storing them to disk is done by
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2065 .Pn mhstore .
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2066 The program has two operation modes,
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2067 .Sw -auto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2068 and
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2069 .Sw -noauto .
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2070 With the former one, each part is stored under the filename given in the
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2071 MIME part's meta information, if available.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2072 This naming information is usually available for modern attachments.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2073 If no filename is available, this MIME part is stored as if
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2074 .Sw -noauto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2075 would have been specified.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2076 In the
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2077 .Sw -noauto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2078 mode, the parts are processed according to rules, defined by
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2079 .Pe mhstore-store-*
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2080 profile entries.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2081 These rules define generic filename templates for storing
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2082 or commands to post-process the contents in arbitrary ways.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2083 If no matching rule is available the part is stored under a generic
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2084 filename, built from message number, MIME part number, and MIME type.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2085 .P
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2086 The
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2087 .Sw -noauto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2088 mode had been the default in nmh because it was considered safe,
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2089 in contrast to the
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2090 .Sw -auto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2091 mode.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2092 In mmh,
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2093 .Sw -auto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2094 is not dangerous anymore.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2095 Two changes were necessary:
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2096 .BU
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2097 Any directory path is removed from the proposed filename.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2098 Thus, the files are always stored in the expected directory.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2099 .Ci 41b6eadbcecf63c9a66aa5e582011987494abefb
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2100 .BU
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2101 Tar files are not extracted automatically any more.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2102 Thus, the rest of the file system will not be touched.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2103 .Ci 94c80042eae3383c812d9552089953f9846b1bb6
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2104 .LP
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2105 Now, the outcome of mmh's
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2106 .Cl "mhstore -auto
110
4c0f13b1e0e8 Spellchecked.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 109
diff changeset
2107 can be foreseen from the output of
108
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2108 .Cl "mhlist -verbose" .
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2109 .P
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2110 The
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2111 .Sw -noauto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2112 mode is seen to be more powerful but less convenient.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2113 On the other hand,
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2114 .Sw -auto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2115 is safe now and
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2116 storing attachments under their original name is intuitive.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2117 Hence,
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2118 .Sw -auto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2119 serves better as the default option.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2120 .Ci 3410b680416c49a7617491af38bc1929855a331d
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2121 .P
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2122 Files are stored into the directory given by the
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2123 .Pe Nmh-Storage
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2124 profile entry, if set, or
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2125 into the current working directory, otherwise.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2126 Storing to different directories is only possible with
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2127 .Pe mhstore-store-*
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2128 profile entries.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2129 .P
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2130 Still, in both modes, existing files get overwritten silently.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2131 This can be considered a bug.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2132 Yet, each other behavior has its draw-backs, too.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2133 Refusing to replace files requires adding a
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2134 .Sw -force
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2135 option.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2136 Users will likely need to invoke
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2137 .Pn mhstore
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2138 a second time with
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2139 .Sw -force
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2140 then.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2141 Eventually, only the user can decide in the concrete case.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2142 This requires interaction, which I like to avoid if possible.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2143 Appending a unique suffix to the filename is another bad option.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2144 For now, the behavior remains as it is.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2145 .P
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2146 In mmh, only MIME parts of type message are special in
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2147 .Pn mhstore 's
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2148 .Sw -auto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2149 mode.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2150 Instead of storing message/rfc822 parts as files to disk,
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2151 they are stored as messages into the current mail folder.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2152 The same applies to message/partial, only, the parts are reassembled
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2153 automatically before.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2154 Parts of type message/external-body are not automatically retrieved
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2155 anymore. Instead, Information on how to retrieve them is output.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2156 Not supporting this rare case saved nearly one thousand lines of code.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2157 .Ci 55e1d8c654ee0f7c45b9361ce34617983b454c32
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2158 .\" XXX mention somewhere else too: (The profile entry `nmh-access-ftp'
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2159 .\" and sbr/ruserpass.c for reading ~/.netrc are gone now.)
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2160 Not special anymore is `application/octet-stream; type=tar'.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2161 Automatically extracting such MIME parts had been the dangerous part
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2162 of the
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2163 .Sw -auto
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2164 mode.
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2165 .Ci 94c80042eae3383c812d9552089953f9846b1bb6
dd5620bf8659 Wrote about storing attachments.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 107
diff changeset
2166
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2167
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2168
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2169 .U3 "Showing MIME Messages
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2170 .P
114
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2171 The program
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2172 .Pn mhshow
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2173 had been written to display MIME messages.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2174 It implemented the conceptional view of the MIME RFCs.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2175 Nmh's
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2176 .Pn mhshow
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2177 handled each MIME part independently, presenting them separately
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2178 to the user.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2179 This does not match today's understanding of email attachments,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2180 where displaying a message is seen to be a single, integrated operation.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2181 Today, email messages are expected to consist of a main text part
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2182 plus possibly attachments.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2183 They are not any more seen to be arbitrary MIME hierarchies with
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2184 information on how to display the individual parts.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2185 I adjusted
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2186 .Pn mhshow 's
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2187 behavior to the modern view on the topic.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2188 .P
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2189 Note that this section completely ignores the original
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2190 .Pn show
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2191 program, because it was not capable to display MIME messages
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2192 and is no longer part of mmh.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2193 Although
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2194 .Pn mhshow
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2195 was renamed to
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2196 .Pn show
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2197 in mmh, this section uses the name
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2198 .Pn mhshow ,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2199 in order to avoid confusion.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2200 .P
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2201 In mmh, the basic idea is that
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2202 .Pn mhshow
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2203 should display a message in one single pager session.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2204 Therefore,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2205 .Pn mhshow
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2206 invokes a pager session for all its output,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2207 whenever it prints to a terminal.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2208 .Ci a4197ea6ffc5c1550e8b52d5a654bcaaaee04a4e
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2209 In consequence,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2210 .Pn mhl
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2211 does no more invoke a pager.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2212 .Ci 0e46503be3c855bddaeae3843e1b659279c35d70
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2213 With
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2214 .Pn mhshow
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2215 replacing the original
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2216 .Pn show ,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2217 output from
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2218 .Pn mhl
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2219 does not go to the terminal directly, but through
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2220 .Pn mhshow .
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2221 Hence,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2222 .Pn mhl
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2223 does not need to invoke a pager.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2224 The one and only job of
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2225 .Pn mhl
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2226 is to format messages or parts of them.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2227 The only place in mmh, where a pager is invoked is
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2228 .Pn mhshow .
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2229 .P
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2230 .Pe mhshow-show-*
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2231 profile entries can be used to display MIME parts in a specific way.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2232 For instance, PDF and Postscript files could be converted to plain text
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2233 to display them in the terminal.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2234 In mmh, the displaying of MIME parts will always be done serially.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2235 The request to display the MIME type `multipart/parallel' in parallel
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2236 is ignored.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2237 It is simply treated as `multipart/mixed'.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2238 .Ci d0581ba306a7299113a346f9b4c46ce97bc4cef6
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2239 This could already be requested with the, now removed,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2240 .Sw -serialonly
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2241 switch of
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2242 .Pn mhshow .
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2243 As MIME parts are always processed exclusively , i.e. serially,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2244 the `%e' escape in
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2245 .Pe mhshow-show-*
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2246 profile entries became useless and was thus removed.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2247 .Ci a20d405db09b7ccca74d3e8c57550883da49e1ae
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2248 .P
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2249 In the intended setup, only text content would be displayed.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2250 Non-text content would be converted to text by appropriate
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2251 .Pe mhshow-show-*
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2252 profile entries before, if possible and wanted.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2253 All output would be displayed in a single pager session.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2254 Other kinds of attachments are ignored.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2255 With
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2256 .Pe mhshow-show-*
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2257 profile entries for them, they can be displayed serially along
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2258 the message.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2259 For parallel display, the attachments need to be stored to disk first.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2260 .P
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2261 To display text content in foreign charsets, they need to be converted
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2262 to the native charset.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2263 Therefore,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2264 .Pe mhshow-charset-*
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2265 profile entries used to be needed.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2266 In mmh, the conversion is done automatically by piping the text through
114
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2267 the
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2268 .Pn iconv
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2269 command, if necessary.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2270 .Ci 2433122c20baccb10b70b49c04c6b0497b5b3b60
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2271 Custom
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2272 .Pe mhshow-show-*
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2273 rules for textual content might need a
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2274 .Cl "iconv -f %c %f |
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2275 prefix to have the text converted to the native charset.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2276 .P
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2277 Although the conversion of foreign charsets to the native one
114
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2278 has improved, it is not consistent enough.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2279 Further work needs to be done and
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2280 the basic concepts in this field need to be re-thought.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2281 Though, the default setup of mmh displays message in foreign charsets
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2282 correctly without the need to configure anything.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2283
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2284
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2285 .ig
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2286
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2287 .P
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2288 mhshow/mhstore: Removed support for retrieving message/external-body parts.
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2289 These tools won't download the contents automatically anymore. Instead,
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2290 they print the information needed to get the contents. If someone should
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2291 really receive one of those rare message/external-body messages, he can
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2292 do the job manually. We save nearly a thousand lines of code. That's worth
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2293 it!
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2294 (The profile entry `nmh-access-ftp' and sbr/ruserpass.c for reading
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2295 ~/.netrc are gone now.)
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2296 .Ci 55e1d8c654ee0f7c45b9361ce34617983b454c32
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2297
92cbd3fa1c40 Wrote text about displaying mime messages.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 112
diff changeset
2298 ..
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2299
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
2300
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
2301
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
2302 .H2 "Digital Cryptography
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
2303 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
2304 Signing and encryption.
112
4e6a9ae1b53c Added a bit of text on modern defaults; plus added code refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 110
diff changeset
2305 .P
4e6a9ae1b53c Added a bit of text on modern defaults; plus added code refs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 110
diff changeset
2306 FIXME
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
2307
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
2308
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
2309
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2310 .H2 "Draft and Trash Folder
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2311 .P
14
55ec590cfa07 Wrote about the draft folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 12
diff changeset
2312
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2313 .U3 "Draft Folder
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
2314 .Id draft-folder
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2315 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2316 In the beginning, MH had the concept of a draft message.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2317 This is the file
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2318 .Fn draft
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2319 in the MH directory, which is treated special.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2320 On composing a message, this draft file was used.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2321 As the draft file was one particular file, only one draft could be
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2322 managed at any time.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2323 When starting to compose another message before the former one was sent,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2324 the user had to decide among:
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2325 .BU
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2326 Use the old draft to finish and send it before starting with a new one.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2327 .BU
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2328 Discard the old draft, replacing it with the new one.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2329 .BU
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2330 Preserve the old draft by refiling it to a folder.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2331 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2332 This was, it was only possible to work in alternation on multiple drafts.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2333 Therefore, the current draft needed to be refiled to a folder and
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2334 another one re-using for editing.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2335 Working on multiple drafts at the same time was impossible.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2336 The usual approach of switching to a different MH context did not
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2337 change anything.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2338 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2339 The draft folder facility exists to
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2340 allow true parallel editing of drafts, in a straight forward way.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2341 It was introduced by Marshall T. Rose, already in 1984.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2342 Similar to other new features, the draft folder was inactive by default.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2343 Even in nmh, the highly useful draft folder was not available
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2344 out-of-the-box.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2345 At least, Richard Coleman added the man page
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2346 .Mp mh-draft (5)
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2347 to better document the feature.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2348 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2349 Not using the draft folder facility has the single advantage of having
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2350 the draft file at a static location.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2351 This is simple in simple cases but the concept does not scale for more
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2352 complex cases.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2353 The concept of the draft message is too limited for the problem.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2354 Therefore the draft folder was introduced.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2355 It is the more powerful and more natural concept.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2356 The draft folder is a folder like any other folder in MH.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2357 Its messages can be listed like any other messages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2358 A draft message is no longer a special case.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2359 Tools do not need special switches to work on the draft message.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2360 Hence corner-cases were removed.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2361 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2362 The trivial part of the work was activating the draft folder with a
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2363 default name.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2364 I chose the name
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2365 .Fn +drafts
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2366 for obvious reasons.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2367 In consequence, the command line switches
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2368 .Sw -draftfolder
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2369 and
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2370 .Sw -draftmessage
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2371 could be removed.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2372 More difficult but also more improving was updating the tools to the
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2373 new concept.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2374 For nearly three decades, the tools needed to support two draft handling
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2375 approaches.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2376 By fully switching to the draft folder, the tools could be simplified
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2377 by dropping the awkward draft message handling code.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2378 .Sw -draft
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2379 switches were removed because operating on a draft message is no longer
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2380 special.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2381 It became indistinguishable to operating on any other message.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2382 There is no more need to query the user for draft handling.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2383 It is always possible to add another new draft.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2384 Refiling drafts is without difference to refiling other messages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2385 All these special cases are gone.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2386 Yet, one draft-related switch remained.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2387 .Pn comp
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2388 still has
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2389 .Sw -[no]use
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2390 for switching between two modes:
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2391 .BU
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2392 .Sw -use :
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2393 Modify an existing draft.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2394 .BU
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2395 .Sw -nouse :
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2396 Compose a new draft, possibly taking some existing message as a form.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2397 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2398 In either case, the behavior of
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2399 .Pn comp
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2400 is deterministic.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2401 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2402 .Pn send
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2403 now operates on the current message in the draft folder by default.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2404 As message and folder can both be overridden by specifying them on
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2405 the command line, it is possible to send any message in the mail storage
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2406 by simply specifying its number and folder.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2407 In contrast to the other tools,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2408 .Pn send
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2409 takes the draft folder as its default folder.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2410 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2411 Dropping the draft message concept in favor for the draft folder concept,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2412 removed special cases with regular cases.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2413 This simplified the source code of the tools, as well as the concepts.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2414 In mmh, draft management does not break with the MH concepts
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2415 but applies them.
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2416 .Cl "scan +drafts" ,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2417 for instance, is a truly natural request.
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2418 Most of the work was already done by Rose in the eighties.
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2419 The original improvement of mmh is dropping the old draft message approach
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2420 and thus simplifying the tools, the documentation and the system as a whole.
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2421 Although my part in the draft handling improvement was small,
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2422 it was an important one.
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2423
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2424
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2425 .U3 "Trash Folder
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
2426 .Id trash-folder
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2427 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2428 Similar to the situation for drafts is the situation for removed messages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2429 Historically, a message was ``deleted'' by prepending a specific
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2430 \fIbackup prefix\fP, usually the comma character,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2431 to the file name.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2432 The specific message would vanish from MH because only files with
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2433 non-digit characters in their name are not treated as messages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2434 Although files remained in the file system,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2435 the messages were no more visible in MH.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2436 To truly delete them, a maintenance job is needed.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2437 Usually a cron job is installed to delete them after a grace time.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2438 For instance:
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2439 .VS
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2440 find $HOME/Mail -type f -name ',*' -ctime +7 -delete
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2441 VE
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2442 In such a setup, the original message can be restored
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2443 within the grace time interval by stripping the
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2444 the backup prefix from the file name.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2445 But one can not rely on this statement.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2446 If the last message of a folder with six messages (1-6) is removed,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2447 message
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2448 .Fn 6 ,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2449 becomes file
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2450 .Fn ,6 .
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2451 If then a new message enters the same folder, it will be given
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2452 the number one higher than the highest existing message.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2453 In this case the message is named
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2454 .Fn 6
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2455 then.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2456 If this message is removed as well,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2457 then the backup of the former message gets overwritten.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2458 Hence, the ability to restore removed messages does not only depend on
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2459 the ``sweeping cron job'' but also on the removing of further messages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2460 It is undesirable to have such obscure and complex mechanisms.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2461 The user should be given a small set of clear assertions.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2462 ``Removed files are restorable within a seven-day grace time.''
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2463 is such a clear assertion.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2464 With the addition ``... unless a message with the same name in the
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2465 same folder is removed before.'' the statement becomes complex.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2466 A user will hardly be able to keep track of any removal to know
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2467 if the assertion still holds true for a specific file.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2468 The the real mechanism is practically obscure to the user.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2469 The consequences of further removals are not obvious.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2470 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2471 Further more, the backup files are scattered within the whole mail storage.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2472 This complicates managing them.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2473 It is possible, with help of
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2474 .Pn find ,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2475 but everything would be more convenient
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2476 if the deleted messages would be collected in one place.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2477 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2478 The profile entry
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2479 .Pe rmmproc
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2480 (previously named
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2481 .Pe Delete-Prog )
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2482 was introduced very early to improve the situation.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2483 It could be set to any command, which would be executed to removed
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2484 the specified messages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2485 This would override the default action, described above.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2486 Refiling the to-be-removed files to a garbage folder is the usual example.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2487 Nmh's man page
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2488 .Mp rmm (1)
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2489 proposes to set the
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2490 .Pe rmmproc
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2491 to
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2492 .Cl "refile +d
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2493 to move messages to the garbage folder,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2494 .Fn +d ,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2495 instead of renaming them with the backup prefix.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2496 The man page proposes additionally the expunge command
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2497 .Cl "rm `mhpath +d all`
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2498 to empty the garbage folder.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2499 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2500 Removing messages in such a way has advantages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2501 The mail storage is prevented from being cluttered with removed messages
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2502 because they are all collected in one place.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2503 Existing and removed messages are thus separated more strictly.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2504 No backup files are silently overwritten.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2505 Most important is the ability to keep removed messages in the MH domain.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2506 Messages in the trash folder can be listed like those in any other folder.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2507 Deleted messages can be displayed like any other messages.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2508 Restoring a deleted messages can be done with
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2509 .Pn refile .
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2510 All operations on deleted files are still covered by the MH tools.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2511 The trash folder is just like any other folder in the mail storage.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2512 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2513 Similar to the draft folder case, I dropped the old backup prefix approach
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2514 in favor for replacing it by the better suiting trash folder system.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2515 Hence,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2516 .Pn rmm
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2517 calls
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2518 .Pn refile
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2519 to move the to-be-removed message to the trash folder,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2520 .Fn +trash
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2521 by default.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2522 To sweep it clean, one can use
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2523 .Cl "rmm -unlink +trash a" ,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2524 where the
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2525 .Sw -unlink
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2526 switch causes the files to be unlinked.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2527 .P
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2528 Dropping the legacy approach and completely converting to the new approach
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2529 simplified the code base.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2530 The relationship between
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2531 .Pn rmm
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2532 and
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2533 .Pn refile
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2534 was inverted.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2535 In mmh,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2536 .Pn rmm
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2537 invokes
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2538 .Pn refile ,
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2539 which used to be the other way round.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2540 Yet, the relationship is simpler now.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2541 No more can loops, like described in nmh's man page for
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2542 .Mp refile (1),
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2543 occur:
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2544 .QS
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2545 Since
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2546 .Pn refile
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2547 uses your
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2548 .Pe rmmproc
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2549 to delete the message, the
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2550 .Pe rmmproc
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2551 must NOT call
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2552 .Pn refile
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2553 without specifying
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2554 .Sw -normmproc
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2555 or you will create an infinite loop.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2556 .QE
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2557 .LP
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2558 .Pn rmm
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2559 either unlinks a message with
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2560 .Fu unlink()
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2561 or invokes
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2562 .Pn refile
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2563 to move it to the trash folder.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2564 .Pn refile
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2565 does not invoke any tools.
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2566 .P
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2567 By generalizing the message removal in the way that it became covered
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2568 by the MH concepts made the whole system more powerful.
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2569
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2570
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2571
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2572
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2573
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2574 .H2 "Modern Defaults
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2575 .P
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2576 Nmh has a bunch of convenience-improving features inactive by default,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2577 although one can expect every new user wanting to have them active.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2578 The reason they are inactive by default is the wish to stay compatible
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2579 with old versions.
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2580 But what is the definition for old versions?
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2581 Still, the highly useful draft folder facility has not been activated
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2582 by default although it was introduced over twenty-five years ago.
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2583 .[
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2584 rose romine real work
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2585 .]
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2586 The community seems not to care.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2587 This is one of several examples that require new users to first build up
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2588 a profile before they can access the modern features of nmh.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2589 Without an extensive profile, the setup is hardly usable
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2590 for modern emailing.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2591 The point is not the customization of the setup,
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2592 but the need to activate generally useful facilities.
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2593 .P
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2594 Yet, the real problem lies less in enabling the features, as this is
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2595 straight forward as soon as one knows what he wants.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2596 The real problem is that new users need deep insights into the project
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2597 before they find out what they are missing and that nmh actually
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2598 provides it already, it just was not activated.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2599 To give an example, I needed one year of using nmh
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2600 before I became aware of the existence of the attachment system.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2601 One could argue that this fact disqualifies my reading of the
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2602 documentation.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2603 If I would have installed nmh from source back then, I could agree.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2604 Yet, I had used a prepackaged version and had expected that it would
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2605 just work.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2606 Nevertheless, I had been convinced by the concepts of MH already
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2607 and I am a software developer,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2608 still I required a lot of time to discover the cool features.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2609 How can we expect users to be even more advanced than me,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2610 just to allow them use MH in a convenient and modern way?
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2611 Unless they are strongly convinced of the concepts, they will fail.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2612 I have seen friends of me giving up disappointed
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2613 before they truly used the system,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2614 although they had been motivated in the beginning.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2615 They suffer hard enough to get used to the toolchest approach,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2616 we should spare them further inconveniences.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2617 .P
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2618 Maintaining compatibility for its own sake is bad,
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2619 because the code base collects more and more compatibility code.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2620 Sticking to the compatiblity code means remaining limited;
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2621 not using it renders it unnecessary.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2622 Keeping unused alternative in the code is a bad choice as they likely
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2623 gather bugs, by not being well tested.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2624 Also, the increased code size and the greater number of conditions
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2625 increase the maintenance costs.
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2626 If any MH implementation would be the back-end of widespread
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2627 email clients with large user bases, compatibility would be more
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2628 important.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2629 Yet, it appears as if this is not the case.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2630 Hence, compatibility is hardly important for technical reasons.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2631 Its importance originates rather from personal reasons.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2632 Nmh's user base is small and old.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2633 Changing the interfaces would cause inconvenience to long-term users of MH.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2634 It would force them to change their many years old MH configurations.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2635 I do understand this aspect, but it keeps new users from using MH.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2636 By sticking to the old users, new users are kept away.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2637 Yet, the future lies in new users.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2638 Hence, mmh invites new users by providing a convenient and modern setup,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2639 readily usable out-of-the-box.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2640 .P
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2641 In mmh, all modern features are active by default and many previous
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2642 approaches are removed or only accessible in manual ways.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2643 New default features include:
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2644 .BU
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2645 The attachment system (\c
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2646 .Hd Attach ).
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2647 .Ci 8ff284ff9167eff8f5349481529332d59ed913b1
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2648 .BU
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2649 The draft folder facility (\c
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2650 .Fn +drafts ).
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2651 .Ci 337338b404931f06f0db2119c9e145e8ca5a9860
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2652 .BU
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2653 The unseen sequence (`u')
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2654 .Ci c2360569e1d8d3678e294eb7c1354cb8bf7501c1
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2655 and the sequence negation prefix (`!').
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2656 .Ci db74c2bd004b2dc9bf8086a6d8bf773ac051f3cc
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2657 .BU
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2658 Quoting the original message in the reply.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2659 .Ci 67411b1f95d6ec987b4c732459e1ba8a8ac192c6
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2660 .BU
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2661 Forwarding messages using MIME.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2662 .Ci 6e271608b7b9c23771523f88d23a4d3593010cf1
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2663 .P
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2664 In consequence, a setup with a profile that defines only the path to the
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2665 mail storage, is already convenient to use.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2666 Again, Paul Vixie's ``edginess'' appeal supports the direction I took:
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2667 ``the `main branch' should just be modern''.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2668 .[
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2669 paul vixie edginess nmh-workers
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2670 .]
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2671
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2672
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2673
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2674
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2675
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2676 .\" --------------------------------------------------------------
131
7c741bc8f719 Reorganized: Converted 4-parted discussion into 3-parted discussion.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 130
diff changeset
2677 .H1 "Styling
16
81f703140554 Wrote about the trash folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 14
diff changeset
2678 .P
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2679 Kernighan and Pike have emphasized the importance of style in the
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2680 preface of their book:
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2681 .[ [
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2682 kernighan pike practice of programming
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2683 .], p. x]
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2684 .QS
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2685 Chapter 1 discusses programming style.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2686 Good style is so important to good programming that we have chose
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2687 to cover it first.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2688 .QE
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2689 This section covers changes in mmh that were motivated by the desire
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2690 to improve on style.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2691 Many of them follow the rules given in the quoted book.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2692 .[
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2693 kernighan pike practice of programming
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2694 .]
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2695
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2696
127
4a9a97d9d6b5 Exchanged the section titles `Style' and `Code Style'.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 126
diff changeset
2697
4a9a97d9d6b5 Exchanged the section titles `Style' and `Code Style'.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 126
diff changeset
2698
4a9a97d9d6b5 Exchanged the section titles `Style' and `Code Style'.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 126
diff changeset
2699 .H2 "Code Style
154
63e885fb48ba Converted some internal references to the new macros.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 145
diff changeset
2700 .Id code-style
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2701 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2702 .U3 "Indentation Style
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2703 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2704 Indentation styles are the holy cow of programmers.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2705 Again Kernighan and Pike:
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2706 .[ [
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2707 kernighan pike practice of programming
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2708 .], p. 10]
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2709 .QS
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2710 Programmers have always argued about the layout of programs,
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2711 but the specific style is much less important than its consistent
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2712 application.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2713 Pick one style, preferably ours, use it consistently, and don't waste
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2714 time arguing.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2715 .QE
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2716 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2717 I agree that the constant application is most important,
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2718 but I believe that some styles have advantages over others.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2719 For instance the indentation with tab characters only.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2720 Tab characters directly map to the nesting level \(en
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2721 one tab, one level.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2722 Tab characters are flexible because developers can adjust them to
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2723 whatever width they like to have.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2724 There is no more need to run
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2725 .Pn unexpand
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2726 or
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2727 .Pn entab
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2728 programs to ensure the correct mixture of leading tabs and spaces.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2729 The simple rules are: (1) Leading whitespace must consist of tabs only.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2730 (2) Any other whitespace should consist of spaces.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2731 These two rules ensure the integrity of the visual appearance.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2732 Although reformatting existing code should be avoided, I did it.
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2733 I did not waste time arguing; I just reformated the code.
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2734 .Ci a485ed478abbd599d8c9aab48934e7a26733ecb1
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2735
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2736 .U3 "Comments
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2737 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2738 Section 1.6 of
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2739 .[ [
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2740 kernighan pike practice of programming
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2741 .], p. 23]
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2742 demands: ``Don't belabor the obvious.''
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
2743 Hence, I simply removed all the comments in the following code excerpt:
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2744 .VS
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2745 context_replace(curfolder, folder); /* update current folder */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2746 seq_setcur(mp, mp->lowsel); /* update current message */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2747 seq_save(mp); /* synchronize message sequences */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2748 folder_free(mp); /* free folder/message structure */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2749 context_save(); /* save the context file */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2750
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2751 [...]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2752
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2753 int c; /* current character */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2754 char *cp; /* miscellaneous character pointer */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2755
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2756 [...]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2757
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2758 /* NUL-terminate the field */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2759 *cp = '\0';
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2760 VE
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2761 .Ci 426543622b377fc5d091455cba685e114b6df674
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2762 .P
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2763 The program code explains enough itself, already.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2764
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2765
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2766 .U3 "Names
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2767 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2768 Kernighan and Pike suggest:
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2769 ``Use active names for functions''.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2770 .[ [
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2771 kernighan pike practice of programming
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2772 .], p. 4]
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2773 One application of this rule was the rename of
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2774 .Fu check_charset()
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2775 to
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2776 .Fu is_native_charset() .
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2777 .Ci 8d77b48284c58c135a6b2787e721597346ab056d
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2778 The same change fixed a violation of ``Be accurate'' as well.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2779 The code did not match the expectation the function suggested,
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2780 as it, for whatever reason, only compared the first ten characters
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2781 of the charset name.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2782 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2783 More important than using active names is using descriptive names.
145
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 139
diff changeset
2784 .VS
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 139
diff changeset
2785 m_unknown(in); /* the MAGIC invocation... */
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 139
diff changeset
2786 VE
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 139
diff changeset
2787 Renaming the obscure
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2788 .Fu m_unknown()
145
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 139
diff changeset
2789 function was a delightful event, although it made the code less funny.
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2790 .Ci 611d68d19204d7cbf5bd585391249cb5bafca846
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2791 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2792 Magic numbers are generally considered bad style.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2793 Obviously, Kernighan and Pike agree:
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2794 ``Give names to magic numbers''.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2795 .[ [
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2796 kernighan pike practice of programming
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2797 .], p. 19]
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2798 One such change was naming the type of input \(en mbox or mail folder \(en
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2799 to be scanned:
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2800 .VS
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2801 #define SCN_MBOX (-1)
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2802 #define SCN_FOLD 0
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2803 VE
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2804 .Ci 7ffb36d28e517a6f3a10272056fc127592ab1c19
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2805 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2806 The argument
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2807 .Ar outnum
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2808 of the function
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2809 .Fu scan()
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2810 in
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2811 .Fn uip/scansbr.c
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2812 defines the number of the message to be created.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2813 If no message is to be created, the argument is misused to transport
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2814 program logic.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2815 This lead to obscure code.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2816 I improved the clarity of the code by introducing two variables:
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2817 .VS
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2818 int incing = (outnum > 0);
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2819 int ismbox = (outnum != 0);
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2820 VE
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2821 They cover the magic values and are used for conditions.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2822 The variable
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2823 .Ar outnum
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2824 is only used when it holds an ordinary message number.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2825 .Ci b8b075c77be7794f3ae9ff0e8cedb12b48fd139f
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2826 The clarity improvement of the change showed detours in the program logic
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2827 of related code parts.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2828 Having the new variables with descriptive names, a more
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2829 straight forward implementation became apparent.
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2830 Before the clarification was done,
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2831 the possibility to improve had not be seen.
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2832 .Ci aa60b0ab5e804f8befa890c0a6df0e3143ce0723
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2833
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2834
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2835
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2836 .H2 "Structural Rework
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
2837 .P
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2838 Although the stylistic changes described up to here improve the
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2839 readability of the source code, all of them are changes ``in the small''.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2840 Structural changes affect a much larger area.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2841 They are more difficult to do but lead to larger improvements,
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2842 especially as they influence the outer shape of the tools as well.
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2843 .P
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2844 At the end of their chapter on style,
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2845 Kernighan and Pike ask: ``But why worry about style?''
136
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2846 Following are two examples of structural rework that show
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2847 why style is important in the first place.
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2848
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2849
470d5db0c06c Minor rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 134
diff changeset
2850 .U3 "Rework of \f(CWanno\fP
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2851 .P
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2852 Until 2002,
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2853 .Pn anno
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2854 had six functional command line switches,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2855 .Sw -component
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2856 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2857 .Sw -text ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2858 which took an argument each,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2859 and the two pairs of flags,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2860 .Sw -[no]date
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2861 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2862 .Sw -[no]inplace.,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2863 .Sw -component
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2864 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2865 .Sw -text ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2866 which took an argument each,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2867 and the two pairs of flags,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2868 .Sw -[no]date
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2869 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2870 .Sw -[no]inplace .
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2871 Then Jon Steinhart introduced his attachment system.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2872 In need for more advanced annotation handling, he extended
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2873 .Pn anno .
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2874 He added five more switches:
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2875 .Sw -draft ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2876 .Sw -list ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2877 .Sw -delete ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2878 .Sw -append ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2879 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2880 .Sw -number ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2881 the last one taking an argument.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2882 .Ci 7480dbc14bc90f2d872d434205c0784704213252
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2883 Later,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2884 .Sw -[no]preserve
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2885 was added.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2886 .Ci d9b1d57351d104d7ec1a5621f090657dcce8cb7f
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2887 Then, the Synopsis section of the man page
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2888 .Mp anno (1)
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2889 read:
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2890 .VS
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2891 anno [+folder] [msgs] [-component field] [-inplace | -noinplace]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2892 [-date | -nodate] [-draft] [-append] [-list] [-delete]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2893 [-number [num|all]] [-preserve | -nopreserve] [-version]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2894 [-help] [-text body]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2895 VE
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2896 .LP
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2897 The implementation followed the same structure.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2898 Problems became visible when
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2899 .Cl "anno -list -number 42
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2900 worked on the current message instead on message number 42,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2901 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2902 .Cl "anno -list -number l:5
124
3d30fd938aa9 Spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 123
diff changeset
2903 did not work on the last five messages but failed with the mysterious
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2904 error message: ``anno: missing argument to -list''.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2905 Yet, the invocation matched the specification in the man page.
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2906 There, the correct use of
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2907 .Sw -number
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2908 was defined as being
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2909 .Cl "[-number [num|all]]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2910 and the textual description for the combination with
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2911 .Sw -list
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2912 read:
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2913 .QS
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2914 The -list option produces a listing of the field bodies for
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2915 header fields with names matching the specified component,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2916 one per line. The listing is numbered, starting at 1, if
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2917 the -number option is also used.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2918 .QE
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2919 .LP
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2920 The problem was manifold.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2921 The code required a numeric argument to the
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2922 .Sw -number
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2923 switch.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2924 If it was missing or non-numeric,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2925 .Pn anno
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2926 aborted with an error message that had an off-by-one error,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2927 printing the switch one before the failing one.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2928 Semantically, the argument to the
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2929 .Sw -number
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2930 switch is only necessary in combination with
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2931 .Sw -delete ,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2932 but not with
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2933 .Sw -list .
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2934 In the former case it is even necessary.
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
2935 .P
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2936 Trying to fix these problems on the surface would not have solved it truly.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2937 The problems discovered originate from a discrepance between the semantic
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2938 structure of the problem and the structure implemented in the program.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2939 Such structural differences can not be cured on the surface.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2940 They need to be solved by adjusting the structure of the implementation
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2941 to the structure of the problem.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2942 .P
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2943 In 2002, the new switches
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2944 .Sw -list
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2945 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2946 .Sw -delete
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2947 were added in the same way, the
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2948 .Sw -number
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2949 switch for instance had been added.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2950 Yet, they are of structural different type.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2951 Semantically,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2952 .Sw -list
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2953 and
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2954 .Sw -delete
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2955 introduce modes of operation.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2956 Historically,
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2957 .Pn anno
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2958 had only one operation mode: adding header fields.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2959 With the extension, it got two moder modes:
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2960 listing and deleting header fields.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2961 The structure of the code changes did not pay respect to this
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2962 fundamental change to
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2963 .Pn anno 's
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2964 behavior.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2965 Neither the implementation nor the documentation did clearly
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2966 define them as being exclusive modes of operation.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2967 Having identified the problem, I solved it by putting structure into
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2968 .Pn anno
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2969 and its documentation.
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2970 .Ci d54c8db8bdf01e8381890f7729bc0ef4a055ea11
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2971 .P
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2972 The difference is visible in both, the code and the documentation.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2973 The following code excerpt:
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2974 .VS
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2975 int delete = -2; /* delete header element if set */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2976 int list = 0; /* list header elements if set */
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2977 [...]
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2978 case DELETESW: /* delete annotations */
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2979 delete = 0;
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2980 continue;
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2981 case LISTSW: /* produce a listing */
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2982 list = 1;
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2983 continue;
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2984 VE
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2985 .LP
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2986 was replaced by:
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2987 .VS
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2988 static enum { MODE_ADD, MODE_DEL, MODE_LIST } mode = MODE_ADD;
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2989 [...]
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2990 case DELETESW: /* delete annotations */
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2991 mode = MODE_DEL;
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2992 continue;
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2993 case LISTSW: /* produce a listing */
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2994 mode = MODE_LIST;
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2995 continue;
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2996 VE
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
2997 .LP
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2998 The replacement code does not only reflect the problem's structure better,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
2999 it is easier to understand as well.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3000 The same applies to the documentation.
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3001 The man page was completely reorganized to propagate the same structure.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3002 This is visible in the Synopsis section:
120
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3003 .VS
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3004 anno [+folder] [msgs] [-component field] [-text body]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3005 [-append] [-date | -nodate] [-preserve | -nopreserve]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3006 [-Version] [-help]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3007
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3008 anno -delete [+folder] [msgs] [-component field] [-text
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3009 body] [-number num | all ] [-preserve | -nopreserve]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3010 [-Version] [-help]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3011
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3012 anno -list [+folder] [msgs] [-component field] [-number]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3013 [-Version] [-help]
e49780100ffb Wrote about the rework of anno(1).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 118
diff changeset
3014 VE
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3015 .\" XXX think about explaining the -preserve rework?
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
3016
16
81f703140554 Wrote about the trash folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 14
diff changeset
3017
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
3018
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3019 .U3 "Path Conversion
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3020 .P
134
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3021 Four kinds of path names can appear in MH:
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3022 .IP (1)
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3023 Absolute Unix directory paths, like
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3024 .Fn /etc/passwd .
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3025 .IP (2)
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3026 Relative Unix directory paths, like
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3027 .Fn ./foo/bar .
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3028 .IP (3)
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3029 Absolute MH folder paths, like
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3030 .Fn +friends/phil .
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3031 .IP (4)
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3032 Relative MH folder paths, like
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3033 .Fn @subfolder .
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3034 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3035 The last type, relative MH folder paths, are hardly documented.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3036 Nonetheless, they are useful for large mail storages.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3037 The current mail folder is specified as `\c
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3038 .Fn @ ',
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3039 just like the current directory is specified as `\c
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3040 .Fn . '.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3041 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3042 To allow MH tools to understand all four notations,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3043 they need to convert between them.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3044 In nmh, these path name conversion functions were located in the files
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3045 .Fn sbr/path.c
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3046 (``return a pathname'') and
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3047 .Fn sbr/m_maildir.c
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3048 (``get the path for the mail directory'').
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3049 The seven functions in the two files were documented with no more
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3050 than two comments, which described obvious information.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3051 The function signatures were neither explaining:
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3052 .VS
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3053 char *path(char *, int);
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3054 char *pluspath(char *);
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3055 char *m_mailpath(char *);
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3056 char *m_maildir(char *);
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3057 VE
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3058 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3059 My investigation provides the following description:
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3060 .BU
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3061 The second parameter of
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3062 .Fu path()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3063 defines the type of path given as first parameter.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3064 Directory paths are converted to absolute directory paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3065 Folder paths are converted to absolute folder paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3066 Folder paths must not include a leading `@' character.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3067 Leading plus characters are preserved.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3068 The result is a pointer to newly allocated memory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3069 .BU
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3070 .Fu pluspath()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3071 is a convenience-wrapper to
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3072 .Fu path() ,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3073 to convert folder paths only.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3074 This function can not be used for directory paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3075 An empty string parameter causes a buffer overflow.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3076 .BU
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3077 .Fu m_mailpath()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3078 converts directory paths to absolute directory paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3079 The characters `+' or `@' at the beginning of the path name are
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3080 treated literal, i.e. as the first character of a relative directory path.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3081 Hence, this function can not be used for folder paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3082 In any case, the result is an absolute directory path.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3083 The result is a pointer to newly allocated memory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3084 .BU
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3085 .Fu m_maildir()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3086 returns the parameter unchanged if it is an absolute directory path
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3087 or begins with the entry `.' or `..'.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3088 All other strings are prepended with the current working directory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3089 Hence, this functions can not be used for folder paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3090 The result is either an absolute directory path or a relative
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3091 directory path, starting with a dot.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3092 In contrast to the other functions, the result is a pointer to
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3093 static memory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3094 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3095 The situation was obscure, irritating, error-prone, and non-orthogonal.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3096 No clear terminology was used to name the different kinds of path names.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3097 The first argument of
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3098 .Fu m_mailpath() ,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3099 for instance, was named
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3100 .Ar folder ,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3101 though
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3102 .Fu m_mailpath()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3103 can not be used for MH folders.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3104 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3105 I reworked the path name conversion completely, introducing clarity.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3106 First of all, the terminology needed to be defined.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3107 A path name is either in the Unix domain, then it is called
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3108 \fIdirectory path\fP, `dirpath' for short, or it is in the MH domain,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3109 then it is called \fIfolder path\fP, `folpath' for short.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3110 The two terms need to be used with strict distinction.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3111 Having a clear terminology is often an indicator of having understood
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3112 the problem itself.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3113 Second, I exploited the concept of path type indicators.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3114 By requesting every path name to start with a clear type identifier,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3115 conversion between the types can be fully automated.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3116 Thus the tools can accept paths of any type from the user.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3117 Therefore, it was necessary to require relative directory paths to be
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3118 prefixed with a dot character.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3119 In consequence, the dot character could no longer be an alias for the
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3120 current message.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3121 .Ci cff0e16925e7edbd25b8b9d6d4fbdf03e0e60c01
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3122 Third, I created three new functions to replace the previous mess:
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3123 .BU
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3124 .Fu expandfol()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3125 converts folder paths to absolute folder paths,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3126 without the leading plus character.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3127 Directory paths are simply passed through.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3128 This function is to be used for folder paths only, thus the name.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3129 The result is a pointer to static memory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3130 .BU
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3131 .Fu expanddir()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3132 converts directory paths to absolute directory paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3133 Folder paths are treated as relative directory paths.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3134 This function is to be used for directory paths only, thus the name.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3135 The result is a pointer to static memory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3136 .BU
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3137 .Fu toabsdir()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3138 converts any type of path to an absolute directory path.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3139 This is the function of choice for path conversion.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3140 Absolute directory paths are the most general representation of a
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3141 path name.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3142 The result is a pointer to static memory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3143 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3144 The new functions have names that indicate their use.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3145 Two of the functions convert relative to absolute path names of the
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3146 same type.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3147 The third function converts any path name type to the most general one,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3148 the absolute directory path.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3149 All of the functions return pointers to static memory.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3150 All three functions are implemented in
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3151 .Fn sbr/path.c .
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3152 .Fn sbr/m_maildir.c
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3153 is removed.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3154 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3155 Along with the path conversion rework, I also replaced
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3156 .Fu getfolder(FDEF)
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3157 with
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3158 .Fu getdeffol()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3159 and
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3160 .Fu getfolder(FCUR)
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3161 with
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3162 .Fu getcurfol() ,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3163 which is only a convenience wrapper for
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3164 .Fu expandfol("@") .
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3165 This code was moved from
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3166 .Fn sbr/getfolder.c
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3167 to
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3168 .Fn sbr/path.c .
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3169 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3170 The related function
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3171 .Fu etcpath()
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3172 was moved to
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3173 .Fn sbr/path.c ,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3174 too.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3175 Previously, it had been located in
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3176 .Fn config/config.c ,
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3177 for whatever reasons.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3178 .P
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3179 .Fn sbr/path.c
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3180 now contains all path handling code.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3181 Only 173 lines of code were needed to replace the previous 252 lines.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3182 The readability of the code is highly improved.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3183 Additionally, each of the six exported and one static functions
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3184 is introduced by an explaining comment.
edf46861132b Wrote about path conversion; Dropped the idea to write about scan listings
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 133
diff changeset
3185 .Ci d39e2c447b0d163a5a63f480b23d06edb7a73aa0
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3186
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3187
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3188
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3189
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3190 .H2 "Profile Reading
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3191 .P
138
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3192 The MH profile contains the configuration for the user-specific MH setup.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3193 MH tools read the profile right after starting up,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3194 as it contains the location of the user's mail storage
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3195 and similar settings that influence the whole setup.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3196 Further more, the profile contains the default switches for the tools,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3197 hence, it must be read before the command line switches are processed.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3198 .P
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3199 For historic reasons, some MH tools did not read the profile and context.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3200 Among them were
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3201 .Pn post /\c
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3202 .Pn spost ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3203 .Pn mhmail ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3204 and
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3205 .Pn slocal .
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3206 The reason why these tools ignored the profile were not clearly stated.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3207 During the discussion on the nmh-workers mailing list,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3208 .[
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3209 nmh-workers levine post profile
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3210 .]
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3211 David Levine posted an explanation, quoting John Romine:
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3212 .QS
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3213 I asked John Romine and here's what he had to say, which
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3214 agrees and provides an example that convinces me:
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3215 .QS
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3216 My take on this is that post should not be called by
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3217 users directly, and it doesn't read the .mh_profile
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3218 (only front-end UI programs read the profile).
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3219 .QP
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3220 For example, there can be contexts where post is called
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3221 by a helper program (like 'mhmail') which may be run by
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3222 a non-MH user. We don't want this to prompt the user
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3223 to create an MH profile, etc.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3224 .QP
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3225 My suggestion would be to have send pass a (hidden)
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3226 `\-fileproc proc' option to post if needed. You could also
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3227 use an environment variable (I think send/whatnow do
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3228 this).
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3229 .QE
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3230 I think that's the way to go. My personal preference is to use a command line option, not an environment variable.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3231 .QE
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3232 .P
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3233 To solve the problem of
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3234 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3235 not honoring the
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3236 .Pe fileproc
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3237 profile entry,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3238 the community roughly agreed that a switch
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3239 .Sw -fileproc
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3240 should be added to
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3241 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3242 to be able to pass a different fileproc.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3243 I strongly disagree with this approach because it does not solve
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3244 the problem; it only removes a single symptom.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3245 The problem is that
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3246 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3247 does not behave as expected.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3248 But all programs should behave as expected.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3249 Clear and simple concepts are a precondition for this.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3250 Hence, the real solution is having all MH tools read the profile.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3251 .P
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3252 Yet, the problem has a further aspect.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3253 It mainly originates in
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3254 .Pn mhmail .
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3255 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3256 was intended to be a replacement for
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3257 .Pn mailx
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3258 on systems with MH installations.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3259 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3260 should have been able to use just like
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3261 .Pn mailx ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3262 but sending the message via MH's
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3263 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3264 instead of
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3265 .Pn sendmail .
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3266 Using
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3267 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3268 should not be influenced by the question whether the user had
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3269 MH set up for himself or not.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3270 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3271 did not read the profile as this requests the user to set up MH
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3272 if not done yet.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3273 As
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3274 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3275 used
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3276 .Pn post ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3277 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3278 could not read the profile neither.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3279 This is the reason why
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3280 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3281 does not read the profile.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3282 This is the reason for the actual problem.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3283 It was not much of a problem because
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3284 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3285 was not intended to be used by users directly.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3286 .Pn send
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3287 is the interactive front-end to
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3288 .Pn post .
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3289 .Pn send
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3290 read the profile and passed all relevant values on the command line to
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3291 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3292 \(en an awkward solution.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3293 .P
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3294 The important insight is that
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3295 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3296 is no true MH tool.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3297 The concepts broke because this outlandish tool was treated as any other
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3298 MH tool.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3299 Instead it should have been treated accordingly to its foreign style.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3300 The solution is not to prevent the tools reading the profile but
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3301 to instruct them reading a different profile.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3302 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3303 could have set up a well-defined profile and caused all MH tools
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3304 in the session use it by exporting an environment variable.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3305 With this approach, no special cases would have been introduced,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3306 no surprises would have been caused.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3307 By writing a clean-profile-wrapper, the concept could have been
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3308 generalized orthogonally to the whole MH toolchest.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3309 Then Rose's motivation behind the decision that
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3310 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3311 ignores the profile, as quoted by Jeffrey Honig,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3312 .[
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3313 nmh-workers post profile
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3314 .]
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3315 would have become possible:
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3316 .QS
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3317 when you run mh commands in a script, you want all the defaults to be
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3318 what the man page says.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3319 when you run a command by hand, then you want your own defaults...
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3320 .QE
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3321 .LP
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3322 Yet, I consider this explanation short-sighted.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3323 We should rather regard theses two cases as just two different MH setups,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3324 based on two different profiles.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3325 Mapping such problems on the concepts of switching between different
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3326 profiles, solves them once for all.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3327 .P
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3328 In mmh, the wish to have
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3329 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3330 as as replacement for
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3331 .Pn mailx
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3332 is considered obsolete.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3333 Mmh's
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3334 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3335 does no longer cover this use-case.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3336 Currently,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3337 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3338 is in a transition state.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3339 .Ci 32d4f9daaa70519be3072479232ff7be0500d009
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3340 It may become a front-end to
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3341 .Pn comp ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3342 which provides an interface more convenient in some cases.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3343 In this case,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3344 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3345 will become an ordinary MH tool, reading the profile.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3346 If, however, this idea will not convince, then
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3347 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3348 will be removed.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3349 .P
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3350 Every program in the mmh toolchest reads the profile.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3351 The only exception is
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3352 .Pn slocal ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3353 which is not considered part of the mmh toolchest.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3354 This MDA is only distributed with mmh, currently.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3355 Mmh has no
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3356 .Pn post
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3357 program, but
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3358 .Pn spost ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3359 which now reads the profile.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3360 .Ci 3e017a7abbdf69bf0dff7a4073275961eda1ded8
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3361 With this change,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3362 .Pn send
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3363 and
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3364 .Pn spost
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3365 can be considered to be merged.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3366 Direct invocations of
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3367 .Pn spost
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3368 are only done by the to-be-changed
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3369 .Pn mhmail
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3370 implementation and by
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3371 .Pn rcvdist ,
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3372 which will require rework.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3373 .P
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3374 The
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3375 .Fu context_foil()
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3376 function to pretend to have read an empty profile was removed.
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3377 .Ci 68af8da96bea87a5541988870130b6209ce396f6
cc35686f359e Wrote about profile reading.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 136
diff changeset
3378 All mmh tools read the profile.
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3379
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3380
127
4a9a97d9d6b5 Exchanged the section titles `Style' and `Code Style'.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 126
diff changeset
3381
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3382 .H2 "Standard Libraries
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
3383 .P
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3384 MH is one decade older than the POSIX and ANSI C standards.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3385 Hence, MH included own implementations of functions
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3386 that are standardized and thus widely available today,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3387 but were not back then.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3388 Today, twenty years after the POSIX and ANSI C were published,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3389 developers can expect system to comply with these standards.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3390 In consequence, MH-specific replacements for standard functions
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3391 can and should be dropped.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3392 Kernighan and Pike advise: ``Use standard libraries.''
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3393 .[ [
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3394 kernighan pike practice of programming
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3395 .], p. 196]
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3396 Actually, MH had followed this advice in history,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3397 but it had not adjusted to the changes in this field.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3398 The
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3399 .Fu snprintf()
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3400 function, for instance, was standardized with C99 and is available
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3401 almost everywhere because of its high usefulness.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3402 In project's own implementation of
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3403 .Fu snprintf()
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3404 was dropped in March 2012 in favor for using the one of the
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3405 standard library.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3406 .Ci 0052f1024deb0a0a2fc2e5bacf93d45a5a9c9b32
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3407 Such decisions limit the portability of mmh
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3408 if systems don't support these standardized and widespread functions.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3409 This compromise is made because mmh focuses on the future.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3410 .P
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3411 I am not yet thirty years old and my C and Unix experience comprises
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3412 only half a dozen years.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3413 Hence, I need to learn about the history in retrospective.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3414 I have not used those ancient constructs myself.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3415 I have not suffered from their incompatibilities.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3416 I have not longed for standardization.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3417 All my programming experience is from a time when ANSI C and POSIX
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3418 were well established already.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3419 I have only read a lot of books about the (good) old times.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3420 This puts me in a difficult positions when working with old code.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3421 I need to freshly acquire knowledge about old code constructs and ancient
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3422 programming styles, whereas older programmers know these things by
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3423 heart from their own experience.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3424 .P
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3425 Being aware of the situation, I rather let people with more historic
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3426 experience replace ancient code constructs with standardized ones.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3427 Lyndon Nerenberg covered large parts of this task for the nmh project.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3428 He converted project-specific functions to POSIX replacements,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3429 also removing the conditionals compilation of now standardized features.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3430 Ken Hornstein and David Levine had their part in the work, too.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3431 Often, I only needed to pull over changes from nmh into mmh.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3432 These changes include many commits; these are among them:
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3433 .Ci 768b5edd9623b7238e12ec8dfc409b82a1ed9e2d
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3434 .Ci 0052f1024deb0a0a2fc2e5bacf93d45a5a9c9b32 .
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
3435 .P
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3436 During my own work, I tidied up the \fIMH standard library\fP,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3437 .Fn libmh.a ,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3438 which is located in the
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3439 .Fn sbr
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3440 (``subroutines'') directory in the source tree.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3441 The MH library includes functions that mmh tools usually need.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3442 Among them are MH-specific functions for profile, context, sequence,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3443 and folder handling, but as well
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3444 MH-independent functions, such as auxiliary string functions,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3445 portability interfaces and error-checking wrappers for critical
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3446 functions of the standard library.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3447 .P
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3448 I have replaced the
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3449 .Fu atooi()
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3450 function with calls to
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3451 .Fu strtoul()
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
3452 with the third parameter, the base, set to eight.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3453 .Fu strtoul()
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3454 is part of C89 and thus considered safe to use.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3455 .Ci c490c51b3c0f8871b6953bd0c74551404f840a74
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3456 .P
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3457 I did remove project-included fallback implementations of
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3458 .Fu memmove()
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3459 and
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3460 .Fu strerror() ,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3461 although Peter Maydell had re-included them into nmh in 2008
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3462 to support SunOS 4.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3463 Nevertheless, these functions are part of ANSI C.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3464 Systems that do not even provide full ANSI C support should not
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3465 put a load on mmh.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3466 .Ci b067ff5c465a5d243ce5a19e562085a9a1a97215
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3467 .P
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3468 The
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3469 .Fu copy()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3470 function copies the string in argument one to the location in two.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3471 In contrast to
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3472 .Fu strcpy() ,
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3473 it returns a pointer to the terminating null-byte in the destination area.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3474 The code was adjusted to replace
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3475 .Fu copy()
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3476 with
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3477 .Fu strcpy() ,
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3478 except within
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3479 .Fu concat() ,
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3480 where
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3481 .Fu copy()
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3482 was more convenient.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3483 Therefore, the definition of
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3484 .Fu copy()
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3485 was moved into the source file of
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3486 .Fu concat()
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3487 and its visibility is now limited to it.
121
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3488 .Ci 552fd7253e5ee9e554c5c7a8248a6322aa4363bb
102
a782488c85f5 More text about attachments mainly, plus some rearrangements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 101
diff changeset
3489 .P
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3490 The function
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3491 .Fu r1bindex()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3492 had been a generalized version of
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3493 .Fu basename()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3494 with minor differences.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3495 As all calls to
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3496 .Fu r1bindex()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3497 had the slash (`/') as delimiter anyway,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3498 replacing
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3499 .Fu r1bindex()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3500 with the more specific and better-named function
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3501 .Fu basename()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3502 became desirable.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3503 Unfortunately, many of the 54 calls to
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3504 .Fu r1bindex()
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3505 depended on a special behavior,
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3506 which differed from the POSIX specification for
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3507 .Fu basename() .
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3508 Hence,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3509 .Fu r1bindex()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3510 was kept but renamed to
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3511 .Fu mhbasename() ,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3512 fixing the delimiter to the slash.
121
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3513 .Ci 240013872c392fe644bd4f79382d9f5314b4ea60
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3514 For possible uses of
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3515 .Fu r1bindex()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3516 with a different delimiter,
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3517 the ANSI C function
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3518 .Fu strrchr()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3519 provides the core functionality.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3520 .P
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3521 The
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3522 .Fu ssequal()
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3523 function \(en apparently for ``substring equal'' \(en
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3524 was renamed to
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3525 .Fu isprefix() ,
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3526 because this is what it actually checks.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3527 .Ci c20b4fa14515c7ab388ce35411d89a7a92300711
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3528 Its source file had included the following comments, no joke.
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3529 .VS
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3530 /*
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3531 * THIS CODE DOES NOT WORK AS ADVERTISED.
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3532 * It is actually checking if s1 is a PREFIX of s2.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3533 * All calls to this function need to be checked to see
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3534 * if that needs to be changed. Prefix checking is cheaper, so
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3535 * should be kept if it's sufficient.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3536 */
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3537
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3538 /*
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3539 * Check if s1 is a substring of s2.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3540 * If yes, then return 1, else return 0.
edbc6e1dc636 New text on Standard Libraries plus spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3541 */
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3542 VE
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3543 Two months later, it was completely removed by replacing it with
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3544 .Fu strncmp() .
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3545 .Ci b0b1dd37ff515578cf7cba51625189eb34a196cb
121
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 120
diff changeset
3546
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
3547
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
3548
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
3549
133
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3550
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3551 .H2 "User Data Locations
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3552 .P
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3553 In nmh, a personal setup consists of the MH profile and the MH directory.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
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parents: 131
diff changeset
3554 The profile is a file named
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3555 .Fn \&.mh_profile
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3556 in the user's home directory.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3557 It contains the static configuration.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3558 It also contains the location of the MH directory in the profile entry
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3559 .Pe Path .
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3560 The MH directory contains the mail storage and is the first
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3561 place to search for personal forms, scan formats, and similar
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3562 configuration files.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3563 The location of the MH directory can be chosen freely by the user.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3564 The default and usual name is a directory named
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3565 .Fn Mail
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3566 in the home directory.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3567 .P
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3568 The way MH data is splitted between profile and MH directory is a legacy.
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3569 It is only sensible in a situation where the profile is the only
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markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3570 configuration file.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3571 Why else should the mail storage and the configuration files be intermixed?
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3572 They are different kinds of data:
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3573 The data to be operated on and the configuration to change how
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3574 tools operate.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3575 Splitting the configuration between the profile and the MH directory
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3576 is bad.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3577 Merging the mail storage and the configuration in one directory is bad
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3578 as well.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3579 As the mail storage and the configuration were not separated sensibly
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3580 in the first place, I did it now.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3581 .P
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3582 Personal mmh data is grouped by type, resulting in two distinct parts:
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3583 The mail storage and the configuration.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3584 In mmh, the mail storage directory still contains all the messages,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3585 but, in exception of public sequences files, nothing else.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3586 In difference to nmh, the auxiliary configuration files are no longer
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3587 located there.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3588 Therefore, the directory is no longer called the user's \fIMH directory\fP
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3589 but his \fImail storage\fP.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3590 Its location is still user-chosen, with the default name
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3591 .Fn Mail ,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3592 in the user's home directory.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3593 In mmh, the configuration is grouped together in
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3594 the hidden directory
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3595 .Fn \&.mmh
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3596 in the user's home directory.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3597 This \fImmh directory\fP contains the context file, personal forms,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3598 scan formats, and the like, but also the user's profile, now named
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3599 .Fn profile .
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3600 The location of the profile is no longer fixed to
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3601 .Fn $HOME/.mh_profile
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3602 but to
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3603 .Fn $HOME/.mmh/profile .
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3604 Having both, the file
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3605 .Fn $HOME/.mh_profile
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3606 and the configuration directory
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3607 .Fn $HOME/.mmh
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3608 appeared to be inconsistent.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3609 The approach chosen for mmh is consistent, simple, and familiar to
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3610 Unix users.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3611 .P
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3612 MH allows users to have multiiple MH setups.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3613 Therefore, it is necessary to select a different profile.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3614 The profile is the single entry point to access the rest of a
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3615 personal MH setup.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3616 In nmh, the environment variable
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3617 .Ev MH
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3618 could be used to specifiy a different profile.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3619 To operate in the same MH setup with a separate context,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3620 the
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3621 .Ev MHCONTEXT
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3622 environment variable could be used.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3623 This allows having own current folders and current messages in
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3624 each terminal, for instance.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3625 In mmh, three environment variables are used.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3626 .Ev MMH
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3627 overrides the default location of the mmh directory (\c
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3628 .Fn .mmh ).
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3629 .Ev MMHP
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3630 and
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3631 .Ev MMHC
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3632 override the paths to the profile and context files, respectively.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3633 This approach allows the set of personal configuration files to be chosen
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3634 independently from the profile, context, and mail storage.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3635 .P
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3636 The separation of the files by type is sensible and convenient.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3637 The new approach has no functional disadvantages,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3638 as every setup I can imagine can be implemented with both approaches,
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3639 possibly even easier with the new approach.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3640 The main achievement of the change is the clear and sensible split
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3641 between mail storage and configuration.
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3642
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3643
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3644
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3645
02660c14f6a8 Further re-ordering of the sections.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 131
diff changeset
3646
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
3647 .H2 "Modularization
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
3648 .P
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3649 The source code of the mmh tools is located in the
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3650 .Fn uip
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3651 (``user interface programs'') directory.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3652 Each tools has a source file with the same name.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3653 For example,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3654 .Pn rmm
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3655 is built from
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3656 .Fn uip/rmm.c .
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3657 Some source files are used for multiple programs.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3658 For example
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3659 .Fn uip/scansbr.c
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3660 is used for both,
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3661 .Pn scan
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3662 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3663 .Pn inc .
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3664 In nmh, 49 tools were built from 76 source files.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3665 This is a ratio of 1.6 source files per program.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3666 32 programs depended on multiple source files;
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3667 17 programs depended on one source file only.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3668 In mmh, 39 tools are built from 51 source files.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3669 This is a ratio of 1.3 source files per program.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3670 18 programs depend on multiple source files;
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3671 21 programs depend on one source file only.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3672 (These numbers and the ones in the following text ignore the MH library
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3673 as well as shell scripts and multiple names for the same program.)
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3674 .P
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3675 Splitting the source code of a large program into multiple files can
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3676 increase the readability of its source code.
124
3d30fd938aa9 Spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 123
diff changeset
3677 Most of the mmh tools, however, are simple and straight-forward programs.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3678 With the exception of the MIME handling tools,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3679 .Pn pick
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3680 is the largest tools.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3681 It contains 1\|037 lines of source code (measured with
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3682 .Pn sloccount ), excluding the MH library.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3683 Only the MIME handling tools (\c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3684 .Pn mhbuild ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3685 .Pn mhstore ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3686 .Pn show ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3687 etc.)
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3688 are larger.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3689 Splitting programs with less than 1\|000 lines of code into multiple
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3690 source files seldom leads to better readability.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3691 For such tools, splitting makes sense
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3692 when parts of the code are reused in other programs,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3693 and the reused code fragment is not general enough
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3694 for including it in the MH library,
124
3d30fd938aa9 Spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 123
diff changeset
3695 or, if the code has dependencies on a library that only few programs need.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3696 .Fn uip/packsbr.c ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3697 for instance, provides the core program logic for the
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3698 .Pn packf
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3699 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3700 .Pn rcvpack
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3701 programs.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3702 .Fn uip/packf.c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3703 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3704 .Fn uip/rcvpack.c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3705 mainly wrap the core function appropriately.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3706 No other tools use the folder packing functions.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3707 As another example,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3708 .Fn uip/termsbr.c
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3709 provides termcap support, which requires linking with a termcap or
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3710 curses library.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3711 Including
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3712 .Fn uip/termsbr.c
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3713 into the MH library would require every program to be linked with
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3714 termcap or curses, although only few of the programs require it.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3715 .P
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3716 The task of MIME handling is complex enough that splitting its code
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3717 into multiple source files improves the readability.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3718 The program
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3719 .Pn mhstore ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3720 for instance, is compiled out of seven source files with 2\|500
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3721 lines of code in summary.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3722 The main code file
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3723 .Fn uip/mhstore.c
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3724 consists of 800 lines; the other 1\|700 lines of code are reused in
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3725 other MIME handling tools.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3726 It seems to be worthwhile to bundle the generic MIME handling code into
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3727 a MH-MIME library, as a companion to the MH standard library.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3728 This is left open for the future.
118
48e28eaee6f9 Wrote intro to Modernizing and new text about Code Style.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 116
diff changeset
3729 .P
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3730 The work already done, focussed on the non-MIME tools.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3731 The amount of code compiled into each program was reduced.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3732 This eases the understanding of the code base.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3733 In nmh,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3734 .Pn comp
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3735 was built from six source files:
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3736 .Fn comp.c ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3737 .Fn whatnowproc.c ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3738 .Fn whatnowsbr.c ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3739 .Fn sendsbr.c ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3740 .Fn annosbr.c ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3741 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3742 .Fn distsbr.c .
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3743 In mmh, it builds from only two:
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3744 .Fn comp.c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3745 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3746 .Fn whatnowproc.c .
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3747 In nmh's
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3748 .Pn comp ,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3749 the core function of
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3750 .Pn whatnow ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3751 .Pn send ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3752 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3753 .Pn anno
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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diff changeset
3754 were compiled into
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3755 .Pn comp .
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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diff changeset
3756 This saved the need to execute these programs with
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3757 .Fu fork()
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3758 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3759 .Fu exec() ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3760 two expensive system calls.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3761 Whereis this approach improved the time performance,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3762 it interweaved the source code.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3763 Core functionalities were not encapsulated into programs but into
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3764 function, which were then wrapped by programs.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3765 For example,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3766 .Fn uip/annosbr.c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3767 included the function
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3768 .Fu annotate() .
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3769 Each program that wanted to annotate messages, included the source file
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3770 .Fn uip/annosbr.c
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3771 and called
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3772 .Fu annotate() .
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3773 Because the function
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3774 .Fu annotate()
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3775 was used like the tool
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3776 .Pn anno ,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3777 it had seven parameters, reflecting the command line switches of the tool.
122
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3778 When another pair of command line switches was added to
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
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3779 .Pn anno ,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3780 a rather ugly hack was implemented to avoid adding another parameter
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3781 to the function.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3782 .Ci d9b1d57351d104d7ec1a5621f090657dcce8cb7f
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3783 .P
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3784 Separation simplifies the understanding of program code
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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3785 because the area influenced by any particular statement is smaller.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3786 The separating on the program-level is more strict than the separation
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3787 on the function level.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3788 In mmh, the relevant code of
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3789 .Pn comp
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3790 comprises the two files
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3791 .Fn uip/comp.c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3792 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3793 .Fn uip/whatnowproc.c ,
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3794 together 210 lines of code.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3795 In nmh,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3796 .Pn comp
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3797 comprises six files with 2\|450 lines.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3798 Not all of the code in these six files was actually used by
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3799 .Pn comp ,
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3800 but the code reader needed to read all of the code first to know which
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3801 parts were used.
122
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diff changeset
3802 .P
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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diff changeset
3803 As I have read a lot in the code base during the last two years,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3804 I learned about the easy and the difficult parts.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3805 Code is easy to understand if:
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3806 .BU
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
3807 The influenced code area is small.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
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diff changeset
3808 .BU
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
3809 The boundaries are strictly defined.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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diff changeset
3810 .BU
139
b7b81ae9c9d8 Removed and moved some paragraphs.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 138
diff changeset
3811 The code is written straight-forward.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3812 .P
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3813 .\" XXX move this paragraph somewhere else?
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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parents: 122
diff changeset
3814 Reading
122
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3815 .Pn rmm 's
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3816 source code in
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3817 .Fn uip/rmm.c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3818 is my recommendation for a beginner's entry point into the code base of nmh.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3819 The reasons are that the task of
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3820 .Pn rmm
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3821 is straight forward and it consists of one small source code file only,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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diff changeset
3822 yet its source includes code constructs typical for MH tools.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3823 With the introduction of the trash folder in mmh,
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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parents: 121
diff changeset
3824 .Pn rmm
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3825 became a bit more complex, because it invokes
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3826 .Pn refile .
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3827 Still, it is a good example for a simple tool with clear sources.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3828 .P
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3829 Understanding
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3830 .Pn comp
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3831 requires to read 210 lines of code in mmh, but ten times as much in nmh.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3832 Due to the aforementioned hack in
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3833 .Pn anno
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3834 to save the additional parameter, information passed through the program's
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3835 source base in obscure ways.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3836 Thus, understanding
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3837 .Pn comp ,
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3838 required understanding the inner workings of
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3839 .Fn uip/annosbr.c
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3840 first.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3841 To be sure to fully understand a program, its whole source code needs
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3842 to be examined.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3843 Not doing so is a leap of faith, assuming that the developers
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3844 have avoided obscure programming techniques.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3845 By separating the tools on the program-level, the boundaries are
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3846 clearly visible and technically enforced.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3847 The interfaces are calls to
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3848 .Fu exec()
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3849 rather than arbitrary function calls.
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3850 .P
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3851 But the real problem is another:
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3852 Nmh violates the golden ``one tool, one job'' rule of the Unix philosophy.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3853 Understanding
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3854 .Pn comp
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3855 requires understanding
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3856 .Fn uip/annosbr.c
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3857 and
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3858 .Fn uip/sendsbr.c
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3859 because
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3860 .Pn comp
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3861 does annotate and send messages.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3862 In nmh, there surely exists the tool
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3863 .Pn send ,
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3864 which does (almost) only send messages.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3865 But
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3866 .Pn comp
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3867 and
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3868 .Pn repl
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3869 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3870 .Pn forw
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3871 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3872 .Pn dist
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3873 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3874 .Pn whatnow
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3875 and
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3876 .Pn viamail ,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3877 they all (!) have the same message sending function included, too.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3878 In result,
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3879 .Pn comp
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3880 sends messages without using
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3881 .Pn send .
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3882 The situation is the same as if
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3883 .Pn grep
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3884 would page without
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3885 .Pn more
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3886 just because both programs are part of the same code base.
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3887 .P
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3888 The clear separation on the surface \(en the toolchest approach \(en
123
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 122
diff changeset
3889 is violated on the level below.
122
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3890 This violation is for the sake of time performance.
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3891 On systems where
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3892 .Fu fork()
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3893 and
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3894 .Fu exec()
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 121
diff changeset
3895 are expensive, the quicker response might be noticable.
124
3d30fd938aa9 Spellchecking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 123
diff changeset
3896 In the old times, sacrificing readability and conceptional beauty for
3d30fd938aa9 Spellchecking.
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3897 speed might even have been a must to prevent MH from being unusably slow.
122
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3898 Whatever the reasons had been, today they are gone.
123
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3899 No longer should we sacrifice readability or conceptional beauty.
122
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3900 No longer should we violate the Unix philosophy's ``one tool, one job''
c234656329e0 Wrote about modularization.
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3901 guideline.
123
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3902 No longer should we keep speed improvements that became unnecessary.
122
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3903 .P
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diff changeset
3904 Therefore, mmh's
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3905 .Pn comp
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3906 does no longer send messages.
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3907 In mmh, different jobs are divided among separate programs that
122
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3908 invoke each other as needed.
123
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diff changeset
3909 In consequence,
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diff changeset
3910 .Pn comp
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3911 invokes
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3912 .Pn whatnow
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3913 which thereafter invokes
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diff changeset
3914 .Pn send .
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3915 The clear separation on the surface is maintained on the level below.
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diff changeset
3916 Human users and the tools use the same interface \(en
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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diff changeset
3917 annotations, for example, are made by invoking
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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3918 .Pn anno ,
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3919 no matter if requested by programs or by human beings.
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3920 The decrease of tools built from multiple source files and thus
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diff changeset
3921 the decrease of
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diff changeset
3922 .Fn uip/*sbr.c
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diff changeset
3923 files confirm the improvement.
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3924 .P
145
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diff changeset
3925 .\" XXX move this paragraph up somewhere
123
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diff changeset
3926 One disadvantage needs to be taken with this change:
740f4128dea7 Reworked and extended the text about Modularization.
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diff changeset
3927 The compiler can no longer check the integrity of the interfaces.
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diff changeset
3928 By changing the command line interfaces of tools, it is
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diff changeset
3929 the developer's job to adjust the invocations of these tools as well.
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diff changeset
3930 As this is a manual task and regression tests, which could detect such
124
3d30fd938aa9 Spellchecking.
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diff changeset
3931 problems, are not available yet, it is prone to errors.
123
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diff changeset
3932 These errors will not be detected at compile time but at run time.
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diff changeset
3933 Installing regression tests is a task left to do.
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diff changeset
3934 In the best case, a uniform way of invoking tools from other tools
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diff changeset
3935 can be developed to allow automated testing at compile time.
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diff changeset
3936
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3937
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3938 .ig
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3939 XXX consider writing about mhl vs. mhlproc
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3940
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diff changeset
3941 sbr/showfile.c
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3942
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diff changeset
3943 23 /*
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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3944 24 ** If you have your lproc listed as "mhl",
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3945 25 ** then really invoked the mhlproc instead
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3946 26 ** (which is usually mhl anyway).
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3947 27 */
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diff changeset
3948
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diff changeset
3949 Sat Nov 24 19:09:14 1984 /mtr (agent: Marshall Rose) <uci@udel-dewey>
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diff changeset
3950
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3951 sbr/showfile.c: if lproc is "mhl", use mhlproc for consistency
3361e53dfcd6 Added comments and a source quote.
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diff changeset
3952 (Actually, user should use "lproc: show", "showproc: mhl".)
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diff changeset
3953 ..