Hi David,
$ comp -ed false
whatnow: problems with edit--draft left in /home/ralph/mail/drafts/,42
I see your point but don't feel strongly about it. It looks like it
was intentional, and has been that way for nearly 27 years (though the
error message changed along the way):
After writing the email, I did find whatnow(1) says
BUGS
If the initial edit fails, whatnow deletes your draft (by
renaming it with a site-dependent prefix (usually a comma);
failure of a later edit preserves the draft.
The distinction between initial and later edit seems odd, and not quite
accurate.
$ comp -ed false -use last
whatnow: problems with edit--/home/ralph/mail/drafts/42 preserved
So I guess it's happy to comma a draft it thinks it's just created, and
therefore of no value. Its content can be of interest though, e.g. if
repl(1) is used instead of comp, and conceivably the email being replied
to might be deleted as the user thinks a reply is underway.
Consistency would suggest always doing `42 preserved'. The likeliehood
of an edit failing is low and therefore might warrant investigating and
ensuring the draft is still around would be of use. And it will shorten
BUGS. I'll open a Savannah bug so it's not forgotten, including by me.
--
Cheers, Ralph.
https://plus.google.com/+RalphCorderoy
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