I haven't adopted nmh yet --- but I probably will soon.
one thing I would *really* like to see in MH is an "anottation
draft/sent tracking" facility implemented in the repl, forw,
refile, folder (-pack) and maybe some other utilities.
Basically what I'm thinking of would work something like this:
When I start a reply or forward this would add an
X-MH-Draft: <draftnumber> header to the original
message (assuming that a given user enabled this
option in their mh profile). It would also
put an X-MH-In-Reply-To: +<folder>/<msgnumber>
header in the draft. (Forwards would
presumably use distinct headers like
X-MH-Forwarded: and X-MH-Forward-of:)
When I sent the draft the original message would
have the X-MH-Draft: header removed, but might
(if I elected and was using Fcc:'s) add
X-MH-Replied-With: +<folder>/<messagenumber> lines
for each of the Fcc:' lines that I had in my
draft).
The refile and folder -pack support would work
by finding these X-MH- headers and updating them as
as messages were moved and renumbered.
'dist' might add a header like X-MH-Bounced-To:
to the original and (if there was an Fcc: of the
bounce?) an X-MH-Bounce-of: +<folder>/<messagenumber>
We might want 'send' to remove any X-MH headers as the message
goes out (so that our X-MH-* headers don't get confused with
those of others). We might also want to patch 'inc' and/or
'rcvstore' to filter out or "quote" any X-MH- headers on incoming
messages (again so that the X-MH annotations in messages by other
users don't confuse our mailstore. Maybe there would be an
option to leave the X-MH- headers in but use X-MH-*: user@host:
prefix (or something).
I don't claim to be an MH expert --- and this may not be the
best approach. So I'll describe what I'd like and why I want
it independent of the proposed mechanism.
I primarily use mh-e (but I think my needs would be
similar regardless of front end). When I start a
reply to or forward of a message (creating a draft),
I frequently get interrupted. Often I start a reply
immediately (as a "To Do" placeholder) and then move
along to other mail. I'd like a quick way to "find the
original." Although I quote the message when I
start the reply --- I also trim out quite a bit
especially the headers. Sometimes finding the original
is very difficult (even with glimpse/glimpsindex).
Another problem is that the annotation facility doesn't
seem to work if I start a reply --- read other mail
and then finish the reply (my guess is that MH has no
way to track which message I've replied to).
Another issue is that I sometime try to "clean" my
inbox and close out my replies. Sometimes finding
the draft that corresponds to a given message is also
very difficult. So I'd like to create an "in place"
bi-directional link between the draft and the message
to which is a reply or of which it is a forward.
When I create this bi-directional link I'd like to be
maintained (updated) during refiles and folder renumbering.
I especially hate it when I start two draft replies
to the same message and when I reply to a message
twice. This mechanism hopefully would eliminate that
problem --- since I (and the nmh utilities) would see
the links.
Anyway, thanks for considering this suggestion. If it wasn't
obvious I'm not a coder --- and I wouldn't want to inflict y'all
with my attempts at C. I might eventually; but these features
would probably be better implemented by someone with some
familiarity with the nmh code base (if at all).
--
Jim Dennis (800) 938-4078 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Proprietor, Starshine Technical Services: http://www.starshine.org
