Here's a draft of the mhonarc faq to be sent out with the final
release of v1.2. I am looking for comments/questions/additions
to the faq.
The FAQ will be in HTML and ASCII. The ASCII version is created
via Lynx from the HTML version.
--ewh
-----------
MHONARC FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
* About the FAQ
+ Author
* General
+ What is MHonArc?
+ What's the latest version of MhonArc?
+ Where can I get MHonArc?
+ How much does MHonArc cost?
+ Where can I get help on MHonArc?
* Supported Platforms and Environments
+ What platforms can MHonArc run under?
+ What about Mac?
+ What version of Perl is required to run MHonArc?
* Supported Mail User Agents (MUAs)
+ What MUAs does MHonarc support?
+ Why does a message get split into mulitple messages with no
headers?
* Threading
+ How does threading work?
+ Why isn't threading working for me?
+ Why not use subjects for detecting threads?
+ How can I get my MUA to define the References or In-Reply-To
field?
* MIME
+ What is MIME?
+ Does MHonArc support RFC 1522?
+ How can I get MHonArc to recognize content-types it states it
does not recognize?
* Archive Indexes
+ Can I have additional indexes beyond the default main and
thread index?
+ Can I sort messages by author?
* Archive Maintenance
+ Do I have to respecify the resource file each time I update
an archive?
_________________________________________________________________
About the FAQ
This documents contains answers to some of the frequently asked
question on MHonArc. MHonArc is a Perl program for converting e-mail
messages as specified in RFC 822 and RFC 1521 (MIME) to HTML. MHonArc
has the ability to maintain an archive of converted messages, or it
can be used as basic e-mail->HTML converter.
The FAQ is intended to compliment the documentation provided in the
MHonArc distribution. Hence, the documentation is still the key
source to answers to any question you may have.
AUTHOR
Earl Hood, ehood(_at_)convex(_dot_)com
_________________________________________________________________
General
WHAT IS MHONARC?
MHonArc is a Perl program for converting e-mail messages as specified
in RFC 822 and RFC 1521 (MIME) to HTML. MHonArc has the ability to
maintain an archive of converted messages, or it can be used as basic
e-mail->HTML converter.
WHAT'S THE LATEST VERSION OF MHONARC?
1.2.0.
WHERE CAN I GET MHONARC?
The latest information on MHonArc, and its availability, may be
obtained at <URL:http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/mhonarc.html>.
HOW MUCH DOES MHONARC COST?
Its FREE! MHonArc is distributed under the GNU General Public License.
A copy of the license is included in the distribution. Please read it
for more information.
WHERE CAN I GET HELP ON MHONARC?
The first place to try is the documentation that comes with MHonArc.
The documentation is quite extensive, and may provide answers to most
of your questions.
Second, you can read this FAQ.
Third, a mailing list,
mhonarc(_at_)rosat(_dot_)mpe-garching(_dot_)mpg(_dot_)de, is available
to provide a discussion forum on the usage and development of MHonArc.
Appropriate topics for the list include: usage questions, bug reports,
behavioral enhancements, documentation bugs, and general help.
To subscribe to the mailing list, send mail to
mhonarc-request(_at_)rosat(_dot_)mpe-garching(_dot_)mpg(_dot_)de with the
command,
subscribe
as the message body.
If you send mail mhonarc(_at_)rosat(_dot_)mpe-garching(_dot_)mpg(_dot_)de,
your message will
be distributed to all subscribers on the list.
The mailing list is archived by Majordomo. You can also use the WWW to
access the archive (with full text search using glimpse) at
<URL:http://www.rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de/mailing-lists/mhonarc/>
_________________________________________________________________
Supported Platforms and Environments
WHAT PLATFORMS CAN MHONARC RUN UNDER?
MHonArc can run under Unix, MS-DOS/Windows, WinNT, and Win95.
WHAT ABOUT MAC?
MacPerl support is in the works. (I need volunteers to test under
MacPerl)
WHAT VERSION OF PERL IS REQUIRED TO RUN MHONARC?
MHonArc can run under Perl 4 or 5. The documentation goes into some
detail on the versions of Perl and environments MHonArc is known to
run under.
_________________________________________________________________
Supported Mail User Agents (MUAs)
WHAT MUAS DOES MHONARC SUPPORT?
MHonArc can convert mail that is stored in UUCP mailbox format (ie.
all messages are in a single file), or in the format used by the Rand
Message Handler (MH) (messages are contained in separate files within
a directory). MHonArc is known to work with the following MUAs: MH,
mail, Mail, Elm, Eudora, WinVN, Windows Trumpet, and NUPop.
WHY DOES A MESSAGE GET SPLIT INTO MULITPLE MESSAGES WITH NO HEADERS?
If you are processing UUCP mailbox files, messages are separated by a
line starting with "From " (ie. The word "From" followed by a space).
Some mail software will prefix lines in message bodies with a `>' to
avoid MUA's from incorrectly treating the line as a message separator.
However, some mail software doesn't.
To avoid incorrect separator detection, many MUAs perform a more
stricter detection of separators beyond "From ". MHonArc, by default,
will treat lines starting with "From " as a message separator, which
can lead to incorrect message termination if the From line has not
been escaped with a `>'.
To fix the problem, use the MSGSEP resource to instruct MHonArc to use
a stricter test detecting a message separator. The following MSGSEP
resource setting is known to work well:
<MSGSEP>
^From \S+\s+\S+\s+\S+\s+\d+\s+\d+:\d+:\d+\s+\d+
</MSGSEP>
_________________________________________________________________
Threading
HOW DOES THREADING WORK?
MHonArc utilizes the References and In-Reply-To fields of mail
messages for generating threads. It is up to the mail user agents
(MUAs) to define these fields. The References field is normally
utilized by news software, while In-Reply-To is normally utilized be
e-mail software.
WHY ISN'T THREADING WORKING FOR ME?
If the mail you archive does not contain References and In-Reply-To
fields, MHonArc will not detect a thread, even though there are
messages that are follow-ups to existing messages.
WHY NOT USE SUBJECTS FOR DETECTING THREADS?
Subject text is imperfect. Problems with subject based threading:
* Completely separate threads may contain the same subject.
* A thread may contain different subject lines (ie. A person changes
the subject line to reflect the change in topic).
It is possible to use some heuristics combined with References and
In-Reply-To fields, but I have not had the time to work on it.
HOW CAN I GET MY MUA TO DEFINE THE REFERENCES OR IN-REPLY-TO FIELD?
The answer varies depending on your MUA. You'll need to look at the
documentation of your MUA to find the answer.
For MH users, the following in your replcomps file will work:
%<{date}In-reply-to: Your message of "\
%<(nodate{date})%{date}%|%(pretty{date})%>."%<{message-id}
%{message-id}%>\n%>\
Or, you can use the following if you prefer the References field
format:
%<{message-id}References: \
%<{references}%(void{references})%(trim)%(putstr) %>
%(void{message-id})%(trim)%(putstr)\n%>\
_________________________________________________________________
MIME
WHAT IS MIME?
MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. MIME is defined
by RFC 1521 and 1522. An HTML version of the RFCs are available at
<URL:http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/MIME/MIME.html>.
In sum, MIME "redefines the format of message bodies to allow
multi-part textual and non-textual message bodies to be represented
and exchanged without loss of information." [RFC 1521]
DOES MHONARC SUPPORT RFC 1522?
Not yet.
HOW CAN I GET MHONARC TO RECOGNIZE CONTENT-TYPES IT STATES IT DOES NOT
RECOGNIZE?
This question can be anwsered by reading the "MIME" section of the
MHonArc documentation.
_________________________________________________________________
Archive Indexes
CAN I HAVE ADDITIONAL INDEXES BEYOND THE DEFAULT MAIN AND THREAD INDEX?
Yes. In version 1.2, a resource file element was added called
OTHERINDEXES. With this element, you are able to define an arbitrary
number of indexes you desire. Refer to the documentation for more
information.
CAN I SORT MESSAGES BY AUTHOR?
No. Since the existance of author names is not guaranteed, or
consistent, sorting messages by author would not be perfect.
_________________________________________________________________
Archive Maintenance
DO I HAVE TO RESPECIFY THE RESOURCE FILE EACH TIME I UPDATE AN ARCHIVE?
No. The archive database stores all resource settings. The only time
you need to respecify the resource file is if changes are required in
the layout of the archive.
_________________________________________________________________
Generated 02/15/96 at 18:33pm
