Mailman 3 November 2003 - SpamBayes

Install problem: conflict between Python versions using Mandrake 9.1
by Parzival Herzog Dec. 31, 2003

Dec. 31, 2003

Hello, I am in tp process making a transition from using Windows to using Linux, so I am quite inexperienced in the ways of Linux... I would like to install Spambayes, but I noticed that the requirements suggested Python 2.3 would be better thanPython 2.2. Since Mandrake 9.1 comes with Python 2.2.?, and I am a Python programmer, I thougth I would upgrade to Python 2.3. However, it seems that other software on mandrake requires 2.2 to be installed. So I downloaded built and installed Python 2.3.2. I wondered how the two versions would co-exist, and whether or not the Spambayes code would resolve the Python 2.3 interpreter and libraries, so I took a peak at the setup.py script, and the first line says: #!/usr/bin/env python It seems that neither the installed Mandrake, nor the new Python 2.3 installation configures a system-wide or user "PYTHON" variable, so I configured my .bash_profile with PYTHON=`which python2.3` export PYTHON The result is that in a bash shell PYTHON is defined: [parz@---- parz]$ env | grep PYTHON PYTHON=/usr/local/bin/python2.3 [parz@---- parz]$ So I ran setup.py as root, and I got the following failure: [root@---- spambayes-1.0a6]# ./setup.py install running install Traceback (most recent call last): File "./setup.py", line 97, in ? classifiers = [ File "/usr/lib/python2.2/distutils/core.py", line 138, in setup dist.run_commands() File "/usr/lib/python2.2/distutils/dist.py", line 893, in run_commands self.run_command(cmd) File "/usr/lib/python2.2/distutils/dist.py", line 912, in run_command cmd_obj.ensure_finalized() File "/usr/lib/python2.2/distutils/cmd.py", line 112, in ensure_finalized self.finalize_options() File "/usr/lib/python2.2/distutils/command/install.py", line 273, in finalize_options (prefix, exec_prefix) = get_config_vars('prefix', 'exec_prefix') File "/usr/lib/python2.2/distutils/sysconfig.py", line 427, in get_config_vars func() File "/usr/lib/python2.2/distutils/sysconfig.py", line 332, in _init_posix raise DistutilsPlatformError(my_msg) distutils.errors.DistutilsPlatformError: invalid Python installation: unable to open /usr/lib/python2.2/config/Makefile (No such file or directory) So it seems that the distutils are retrieved from the Python 2.2 installation, not the Python 2.3 installation. So how do I get around this? Since I want to program using Python 2.3, and I can't apparently remove Python 2.2 without also removing other Mandrake 9.1 installed software, this problem affects me in a wider sense than just the ability to install and use Spambayes. Surely it must be a common situation faced by Python developers on Linux, with a straightforward solution.

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feature request
by Rayfes Mondal Dec. 8, 2003

Dec. 8, 2003

Hello, First I want to say thank you for making such a wonderful product available to everyone! It has worked wonders for me. I have a small feature request though. I am using Outlook and my computer and speakers are always on but I leave my monitor off when I'm not using my computer. When I receive email I hear Outlook's new mail sound but I have no way of telling whether the message is spam or not without going to my computer and turning on the monitor. Is there any way to have SpamBayes play a sound every time is marks a message a spam and maybe a different sound for possible spam? That way if I hear a new message come in I could just wait a few seconds to hear whether it was marked spam. If I happen to get multiple messages at time I may miss realizing that some Ham messages came in with some spam but that's ok with me. What do you think? I think others might find that feature useful. Anyway, great product! I'm an engineer and found out about from EDN (Electronic Design News) magazine. Cheers! Rayfes

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Outlook Envelope Tray Icon
by Bob Chojnacki Dec. 4, 2003

Dec. 4, 2003

Hi, I really like SpamBayes and the Outlook plugin. It is working much better than other spam filters, considering I get 85-95% spam. I am currently using version 008.1. I read your FAQ about the problems with making the Outlook envelope tray icon go away. (I am also not sure if this is the right email address to send this comment, so please bear with me if it isn't.) Is the following link helpful? (Keep in mind that I am not a Windows programmer): http://www.slipstick.com/dev/code/clearenvicon.htm Thanks, Bob P.S.: http://www.techhit.com/autoread/ may also be of use. ------- Page text attached ------ To clear the Outlook envelope icon from the Windows system tray A common issue for people who subscribe to many mailing lists or use Net Folders to share data is controlling when Outlook puts an envelope in the system tray in the right side of the Windows task bar. Typically, they want to see the envelope icon only when they have new mail in the Inbox that is not from one of those lists and not part of a Net Folders transmission. Since the envelope goes away after a user opens the latest items, you might think that setting the Unread property on those lower priority items to False would be enough to do the job. However, it doesn't suffice. Even if you use code or a Rules Wizard rule to mark items as Read, the envelope icon persists. The icon placed in the system tray is governed by hidden window that developers don't have direct access to via the Outlook Object Model or Collaboration Data Objects. Therefore, you need to go outside Outlook for a solution. Outlook MVP Neo has come up with an Outlook 2000/2002 VBA method that uses Windows API calls to remove the icon from the system tray. You can copy and paste the code below to your project or download the clear_icon.txt file. One application of the RemoveNewMailIcon subroutine might be to run some code when the Application.NewMail event fires to see if any "interesting" new items have actually come in -- "interesting" here meaning items for which you want to see the envelope in the system tray. If not, call the RemoveNewMailIcon subroutine to clear the icon: Private Sub Application_NewMail() ' add some code to check whether the latest items are "interesting" ' if not interesting, clear the envelope icon Call RemoveNewMailIcon End Sub It turns out that integrating Neo's code into Outlook events isn't as straightforward as you might like. A discussion in the microsoft.public.outlook.program_vba newsgroup uncovered some apparent timing issues. Code | More Information Code ' Code sample by Outlook MVP "Neo" ' Removes the New Mail icon from the Windows system tray, ' and resets Outlook's new mail notification engine. ' Tested against Outlook 2000 (IMO) and Outlook 2002 (POP Account) ' Send questions and comments to neo(a)mvps.org ' WARNING: Due to the use of AddressOf, code must ' go into a module and not ThisOutlookSession or ' a class module ' Entry Point is RemoveNewMailIcon. Option Explicit Public Const WUM_RESETNOTIFICATION As Long = &H407 'Required Public constants, types & declares 'for the Shell_Notify API method Public Const NIM_ADD As Long = &H0 Public Const NIM_MODIFY As Long = &H1 Public Const NIM_DELETE As Long = &H2 Public Const NIF_ICON As Long = &H2 'adding an ICON Public Const NIF_TIP As Long = &H4 'adding a TIP Public Const NIF_MESSAGE As Long = &H1 'want return messages ' Structure needed for Shell_Notify API Type NOTIFYICONDATA cbSize As Long hwnd As Long uID As Long uFlags As Long uCallbackMessage As Long hIcon As Long szTip As String * 64 End Type Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" _ (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, _ ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Any) As Long Declare Function GetClassName Lib "user32" _ Alias "GetClassNameA" _ (ByVal hwnd As Long, _ ByVal lpClassName As String, _ ByVal nMaxCount As Long) As Long Declare Function GetWindowTextLength Lib "user32" _ Alias "GetWindowTextLengthA" _ (ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long Declare Function GetWindowText Lib "user32" _ Alias "GetWindowTextA" _ (ByVal hwnd As Long, _ ByVal lpString As String, _ ByVal cch As Long) As Long Declare Function EnumWindows Lib "user32" _ (ByVal lpEnumFunc As Long, _ ByVal lParam As Long) As Long Declare Function Shell_NotifyIcon Lib "shell32.dll" _ Alias "Shell_NotifyIconA" _ (ByVal dwMessage As Long, _ lpData As NOTIFYICONDATA) As Long Declare Function FindWindow Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowA" _ (ByVal lpClassName As String, _ ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long ' This is the entry point that makes it happen Sub RemoveNewMailIcon() EnumWindows AddressOf EnumWindowProc, 0 End Sub Public Function EnumWindowProc(ByVal hwnd As Long, _ ByVal lParam As Long) As Long 'Do stuff here with hwnd Dim sClass As String Dim sIDType As String Dim sTitle As String Dim hResult As Long sTitle = GetWindowIdentification(hwnd, sIDType, sClass) If sTitle = "rctrl_renwnd32" Then hResult = KillNewMailIcon(hwnd) End If If hResult Then EnumWindowProc = False ' Reset the new mail notification engine Call SendMessage(hwnd, WUM_RESETNOTIFICATION, 0&, 0&) Else EnumWindowProc = True End If End Function Private Function GetWindowIdentification(ByVal hwnd As Long, _ sIDType As String, _ sClass As String) As String Dim nSize As Long Dim sTitle As String 'get the size of the string required 'to hold the window title nSize = GetWindowTextLength(hwnd) 'if the return is 0, there is no title If nSize > 0 Then sTitle = Space$(nSize + 1) Call GetWindowText(hwnd, sTitle, nSize + 1) sIDType = "title" sClass = Space$(64) Call GetClassName(hwnd, sClass, 64) Else 'no title, so get the class name instead sTitle = Space$(64) Call GetClassName(hwnd, sTitle, 64) sClass = sTitle sIDType = "class" End If GetWindowIdentification = TrimNull(sTitle) End Function Private Function TrimNull(startstr As String) As String Dim pos As Integer pos = InStr(startstr, Chr$(0)) If pos Then TrimNull = Left(startstr, pos - 1) Exit Function End If 'if this far, there was 'no Chr$(0), so return the string TrimNull = startstr End Function Private Function KillNewMailIcon(ByVal hwnd As Long) As Boolean Dim pShell_Notify As NOTIFYICONDATA Dim hResult As Long 'setup the Shell_Notify structure pShell_Notify.cbSize = Len(pShell_Notify) pShell_Notify.hwnd = hwnd pShell_Notify.uID = 0 ' Remove it from the system tray and catch result hResult = Shell_NotifyIcon(NIM_DELETE, pShell_Notify) If (hResult) Then KillNewMailIcon = True Else KillNewMailIcon = False End If End Function More Information AutoRead for Outlook -- Custom action for Rules Wizard to mark messages that meet certain criteria as read and suppress the new mail indicator in the system tray.

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FAQ 3.8 How can I get rid of the envelope tray icon for spam?
by Phil.Jollans＠MESSRING.de Dec. 4, 2003

Dec. 4, 2003

Hi, with regard to the FAQ 3.8 How can I get rid of the envelope tray icon for spam? for Outlook. I have found that if I select "Mark All as Read" from the context menu for the Spam folder, then the envlope icon disappears. It may be possible to do this via the outlook automation interface, I have no idea. If not, I think it would be worth a mention in the FAQ list, instead of just stating that "you'll have to put up with the little envelope, sorry". Thanks for a really excellent product. Regards Phil Jollans MESSRING Systembau MSG GmbH Robert-Stirling-Ring 1 82152 Krailling Tel: +49-89-898139-712 Fax: +49-89-898139-924 phil.jollans(a)messring.de http://www.messring.com ____________________________________________________ Bitte beachten Sie unseren Haftungsauschluss unter: Please note our exclusion of liability at: http://www.messring.de/html/e-mail_disclaimer.html

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Outlook plugin - training
by Moore, Paul Dec. 3, 2003

Dec. 3, 2003

When the Outlook plugin filters mails, it classifies them as either spam or potential spam, and can put them in appropriate folders. In the spam/potential spam folders, there is a "Recover from Spam" button available, and in other folders there is a "Delete as spam" button. These buttons add the message to the training database as well as taking the appropriate action. One thing I don't see, however, is a means of confirming the classifier's decisions as correct. A "yes, that is spam" button for the spam folder, and a "yes, that's ham" button in non-spam folders. As I'm starting from a very small message base, I worry that correct classifications are still somewhat based on "luck", and training based on correct decisions would help to increase both my and the classifier's confidence level. I can do this by regular retraining, but that has 2 disadvantages: it's much clumsier than simply clicking on a "clever boy!" button, and it relies on me not deleting messages until I do a training run. Much of the ham I get is "read and forget", so I'd rather delete immediately. When I get a chance to dive into the code, I'll see how hard this would be to implement. Paul.

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RE: [Spambayes] Outlook plugin - training
by Piers Haken Dec. 3, 2003

Dec. 3, 2003

I don't believe you need this. I think that the classifier automatically trains on messages as they arrive (or at least on messages that it's sure about). You only need to retrain if it has made a mistake, or if it's unsure. Piers. > -----Original Message----- > From: Moore, Paul [mailto:Paul.Moore@atosorigin.com] > Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 2:09 AM > To: Spambayes (E-mail) > Subject: [Spambayes] Outlook plugin - training > > > When the Outlook plugin filters mails, it classifies them as > either spam or potential spam, and can put them in > appropriate folders. > > In the spam/potential spam folders, there is a "Recover from > Spam" button available, and in other folders there is a > "Delete as spam" button. These buttons add the message to the > training database as well as taking the appropriate action. > > One thing I don't see, however, is a means of confirming the > classifier's decisions as correct. A "yes, that is spam" > button for the spam folder, and a "yes, that's ham" button in > non-spam folders. > > As I'm starting from a very small message base, I worry that > correct classifications are still somewhat based on "luck", > and training based on correct decisions would help to > increase both my and the classifier's confidence level. > > I can do this by regular retraining, but that has 2 > disadvantages: it's much clumsier than simply clicking on a > "clever boy!" button, and it relies on me not deleting > messages until I do a training run. Much of the ham I get is > "read and forget", so I'd rather delete immediately. > > When I get a chance to dive into the code, I'll see how hard > this would be to implement. > > Paul. > > _______________________________________________ > Spambayes mailing list > Spambayes(a)python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/spambayes >

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RE: [Spambayes] SpamBayes vs. Outlook Mailbox Rules
by Ryan Malayter Dec. 2, 2003

Dec. 2, 2003

From: Dejonghe, Manuel [mailto:Manuel.Dejonghe@cycos.com] > Is there a way to delay the sb-filter-process ? This has been an option in the INI file since (at least) version 0.7 of the SpamBayes plug-in, and is now configurable in the GUI of v0.81. > Is this what the "Background Scanning" in the "Advanced" tab means ? Yes, looks like you found it! > I wasn't able to find anything about that feature. It's been documented on this mailing list, and in the INI files themselves as comments. Not sure about anywhere else. Regards, Ryan

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RE: [Spambayes] sb_imapfilter.py AssertionError: hamcount <= nham
by Tony Meyer Dec. 1, 2003

Dec. 1, 2003

> When I classify through sb_imapfilter.py, I am getting an > AssertionError. Any ideas? I am using spambayes from CVS; courier > IMAP; python 2.2.2; and a fresh database. See below for commands. [...] > assert hamcount <= nham > AssertionError How fresh? This error says that you have a token in your database that has appeared in more ham than you have trained it on - which isn't possible. IOW, the database is corrupt. You can try to manually fix the db via db_expimp.py, but it's easier (especially if you call it fresh already) to just retrain from scratch. If this happens regularly, it would be great to know the sequence of events that can reproduce it (in a sf bug tracker <http://sf.net/projects/spambayes>), as we still don't really know what causes this error. =Tony Meyer

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n-way in outlook?
by Tiago Estill de Noronha Dec. 1, 2003

Dec. 1, 2003

have some1 made a n-way classification code for using with the outlook plugin? or does the nway code on the contrib folder works on outlook? if so, how do I make it run and classifie the emails? ********************* Tiago Estill de Noronha TiagoTiago(a)Globo.com --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.537 / Virus Database: 332 - Release Date: 6/11/2003

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sb_imapfilter.py AssertionError: hamcount <= nham
by Tony Lownds Dec. 1, 2003

Dec. 1, 2003

Hi, When I classify through sb_imapfilter.py, I am getting an AssertionError. Any ideas? I am using spambayes from CVS; courier IMAP; python 2.2.2; and a fresh database. See below for commands. Thanks -Tony [tony ~]$ rm hammie.db spambayes.messageinfo.db [tony ~]$ /usr/bin/sb_imapfilter.py -t SpamBayes IMAP Filter Beta1, version 0.1 (September 2003), using SpamBayes IMAP Filter Web Interface Alpha2, version 0.02 and engine SpamBayes Beta2, version 0.2 (July 2003). Loading state from hammie.db database hammie.db is a new database Loading database hammie.db... Done. Training Training ham folder INBOX.Ham ************** 14 trained. Training spam folder INBOX.Spam ******************************************** 44 trained. Persisting hammie.db state in database Training took 2.87554502487 seconds, 58 messages were trained [tony ~]$ /usr/bin/sb_imapfilter.py -c SpamBayes IMAP Filter Beta1, version 0.1 (September 2003), using SpamBayes IMAP Filter Web Interface Alpha2, version 0.02 and engine SpamBayes Beta2, version 0.2 (July 2003). Loading state from hammie.db database hammie.db is an existing database, with 44 spam and 10 ham Loading database hammie.db... Done. Classifying *.Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/bin/sb_imapfilter.py", line 821, in ? run() File "/usr/bin/sb_imapfilter.py", line 811, in run imap_filter.Filter() File "/usr/bin/sb_imapfilter.py", line 676, in Filter self.unsure_folder) File "/usr/bin/sb_imapfilter.py", line 595, in Filter evidence=True) File "/usr/lib/python2.2/site-packages/spambayes/classifier.py", line 158, in chi2_spamprob clues = self._getclues(wordstream) File "/usr/lib/python2.2/site-packages/spambayes/classifier.py", line 395, in _getclues prob = self.probability(record) File "/usr/lib/python2.2/site-packages/spambayes/classifier.py", line 242, in probability assert hamcount <= nham AssertionError

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