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>>>>> "BM" == Bob Myers <bob@intelenet.net> writes:
BM> I don't understand Rich's comment about breaking mail programs that
BM> sort by message headers. Messages could still be sorted, but they'd
BM> also be broken down by the mailing list. What's broken about that?
In a perfect world there would be none. The problem is that some mail
clients do odd things with Subject lines, such as the German version of
Exchange using "Aw:" instead of "Re:". So, the person responsible for the
code that inserts the tags has a choice: either keep up with all the
brain-damaged mail clients and constantly update his leader regular
expressions, or say the hell with it and scan for the existance of the tag
string. Each results in misplaced tags for different reasons; the former
will cause unnecessary tags to be added to the Subject header, the latter
can cause tags that should be added not to be if an instance of that string
occours somewhere else in the header -- not uncommon for topical mailing
lists.
To wit, you can get a subject that looks like this:
Mj Re[3]: Mj Aw: Re: Mj Need help with Mj
or like this:
Re: Need help with Mj
when both "should" look like this:
Re: Mj Need help with Mj
The former case will break "subject threading" (not really threading
because References headers are not being used) of subjects because the tag
string looks like the "top" of a thread when the message is not. The
latter completely fails to "fit" with other "Mj" list articles after
subject sorting. Either way, the type of confusion that subject tag
strings are supposed to prevent not only cause them but exacerbate them.
Besides, modification of Originator headers is verboten by RFC 822.
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--
Rich Pieri <rich.pieri@prescienttech.com> | Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
Prescient Technologies, Inc. |
A Stone & Webster Company |
I speak for myself, not PTI or SWEC |
References:
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